8 tips to extend your smartphone‘s battery life

Ashlei Temena’s family trip to Disneyland last Thanksgiving break turned into a nightmare when her smartphone battery hit empty.

Temena, a San Francisco support technician, had gotten separated from her family and realized she had no way to find anyone. Instead of riding roller coasters, she wandered around searching for the group — eventually locating them four hours later watching fireworks.

“It sucked really bad,” Temena said. “I wanted to throw my phone on the ground by the end of the day.”

Many consumers can relate. Despite the leaps forward in mobile phone technology with crisp, clear screens and faster chips, batteries have made only sluggish progress. That has propelled a desire for longer battery life to the top of the list of factors considered by consumers when they purchase smartphones, according to a 2014 survey by the research firm IDC.

So why is battery technology still underwhelming? Plenty of companies have been developing smarter battery technology for years, including methods to increase battery capacity tenfold or charge devices by pulling energy from the air. But lithium ion, the technology that most mainstream batteries are based on, is low cost and easily reproducible while being safe — so we’ll be stuck with it for the foreseeable future, said Charlie Quong, an executive at Mophie, a battery accessory maker, in an interview.

“There’s a lot of investments on all fronts for improving the technology above and beyond that, but I don’t think we’re going to see that hitting any kind of mass market for several years out,” Quong said. In general, lithium ion improves about 10% a year in terms of the amount of energy that can be stored in a given space, which is partly why consumers perceive batteries as being far behind other technologies.

With that backdrop in mind, we teamed up with the Wirecutter, a product recommendations website, to run an array of tests to determine best and worst practices for preserving battery life on smartphones. For those who still need extra juice, the Wirecutter also picked some external battery products. Here are eight tips to extend your smartphone's battery life:

Use auto-brightness for the screen

A smartphone’s screen consumes more energy than any other component, so the easiest way to cut down battery drain is to reduce your screen brightness. In an hourlong test, an iPhone 6S used 54% less battery power with the screen brightness at minimum as compared with maximum brightness. An Android test phone used 30% less.

But it’s tough to use a dim screen in bright environments, so most phones offer an auto-brightness mode that automatically adjusts the screen’s brightness based on ambient light. The Wirecutter found that enabling auto-brightness saved a good amount of battery life.

Block power-sucking ads

When browsing the web, your smartphone also burns through power when it downloads mobile ads on websites. Installing an ad blocker will greatly extend battery life.

Tweak your email settings

Email can have a major impact on battery life if you have multiple email accounts and receive lots of email. Your smartphone can update your email automatically using a technology called push, which brings new messages to your phone the instant they are transmitted.

Push can be a power hog because it requires your phone to constantly listen for new messages, so if you get a lot of email, there’s a good chance your phone is using lots of energy.

Play downloaded music instead of streaming

The next tip may come as unwelcome news. Nowadays, online streaming is the most popular way to listen to music, with services like Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music — but this method guzzles lots of battery power. In the Wirecutter’s tests, streaming music over a Wi-Fi connection for two hours used 10% of an iPhone’s battery reserves; streaming the same music stored directly on a device over two hours consumed only 5%.

Fortunately, streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music still let you listen to songs the old-school way: by storing the music right on your device.

Turn off wireless when reception is poor

You may have noticed that when you’re in a place without good Wi-Fi or cellular coverage, your phone’s battery seems to drain much more quickly. That’s because the phone uses energy searching for a good signal and, if the signal is very weak, trying to get a better connection.

To conserve battery life, disable the phone’s wireless circuitry. Airplane Mode, an option that will turn off all wireless features, is a quick and easy solution in areas with poor reception.

Check the battery usage lists

Consumers can get even better results with a bit of sleuthing. Both the iPhone and Android systems provide a simple way to see which apps are using a lot of battery power.

For iPhones and Android phones, open the Settings app and in the Battery menu, there are sorted lists of apps that are using the most energy.

Disable unnecessary location tracking

Watch out for apps that track your location. Your phone’s GPS circuitry, which determines your geographic location for mapping and fitness features, consumes a lot of battery power. A run-tracking program that monitors your precise location for the duration of an hour-long run will lower your battery level.

If a location-based app is using a lot of power, especially in the background, there’s a good chance the app is using GPS, Wi-Fi and the phone’s sensors frequently. You can decide whether to disable location features for it (either via your phone’s Location Services settings, or by changing settings in the app itself). On an iPhone, you can disable the app’s ability to track your location by going to Privacy menu and Location Services.

To disable location tracking on Android, go inside the Settings app, tap Apps, choose an app and select “Permissions,” then tap to disable Location permission.

Shut off unnecessary push notifications

Both Apple and Google recommend disabling push notifications, which are essentially app alerts, to conserve battery life. Notifications require regular communication with notification servers, and each notification causes your phone to wake up for a few seconds, including turning on the screen, to show you a message and give you a chance to act on it.

On an iPhone, open the Settings app, tap Notifications, tap the app name and disable Allow Notifications. On Android, disable notification in an app’s settings menu, or long-press the notification itself and select the “i” icon. This will send you to that app’s App Notifications settings, where you can block all notifications.

This free app will make you ridiculously well-read in 20 minutes a day

In our busy modern world, reading a lengthy work of classic literature seems almost impossible. If you have 20 minutes free on your commute, say, or at the end of the day, you're much more likely to fire up Facebook or a relaxing mobile game than open your Kindle app � even if you know all the longterm benefits a great book can bring.

Why? Because reading a 500 or 600-page book, especially one written in florid 19th-century prose, is just way too daunting. You can imagine yourself sitting there, re-reading the same paragraph, growing despondent about the hundreds of pages stretching in front of you like a desert with no oasis.

That's what an iOS app called Serial Reader is trying to change. The free app, made by Chicago developer Michael Schmitt, breaks down books into manageable 20-minute chunks, delivered to your phone once a day at a time of your choosing.

Reading this way you can, for example, consume Mary Shelly's Frankenstein in 28 days, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment in 79 days, or George Eliot's Middlemarch in 146 days. (That may sound like a lot, but did you really think you were going to finish Middlemarch any faster on your own? We didn't think so.)

There's no limit to how many serials you can consume side by side, so long as you think you can keep the thread of all of them running in your head at once. (And we think you can � social media has trained you to multitask well.)

There's also a game aspect: The app keeps track of your reading "streak," so you can be constantly trying to improve your percentages in three categories (day, week and all time). If you've been waiting for the day that reading became a competitive sport, well, that day may just have arrived.

In testing the app, I found the 20-minute reading time to be an overestimate; I consumed all chunks of the books listed above in around 15 minutes, and I'm not a particularly fast reader. Your mileage may vary.

If you find yourself getting into the narrative, you can of course download a full free copy on Kindle, iBooks or dozens of other reading apps, but I'd advise against it. The joy of anticipating the next episode is what keeps us coming back to any serial, including Serial. That's a great feeling to start associating with classic literature, rather than despair.

Since the app is free, it relies on works that have fallen out of copyright (which is no bad thing � the list includes all Sherlock Holmes stories, H.G. Wells, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and hundreds of others that you really should have read by now.) There are other apps out there that are starting to grasp the concept, delivering book chunks for a fee, such as The Pigeonhole.

This just might be the reading mode of the future.

My only gripe with Serial Reader so far is that it fails to congratulate, or indeed notify you in any way, when you reach the end of your day's reading chunk; there's also no way to post your achievement to social media. Hey, you just read another 15 to 20 minutes of Moby-Dick in an increasingly dumb world, in the age of Trump, on a device where Facebook and thousands of addictive games were freely available to you! That's worth a gold star, if nothing else.

6 habits that will keep you safe on the Internet

Internet is changing the way every other individual approaches the world. From checking Facebook wall 24x7 in your mobile to using Maps for navigating in a foreign land, internet is everywhere. But while surfing the net you should keep these 5 things in mind to remain safe.

Often user don't know whether the post they are sharing on Facebook are shared publicly or just within their friend circle. Just in case you have tinkered with your FB settings before then do check whether the shared posts are set to Only Friends or Friends of Friends. Well, the obvious reason behind this is that your posts may contain some vital information including the photo of your home (making it prone to burglary), places your son/daughter visits frequently (making them prone to kidnapping) and what not!

It always better divide your resources into a few bank accounts. Well, the same philosophy applies in the world of internet world. So it is recommended to make separate email addresses which you can use for different purposes. For example, it's always better to have an email address for all your vital account and another less used one for signing into new sites which require sign up procedure to view content. Often than not these sites spam your mail box with unnecessary notifications which you could easily do without.

One needs to be careful while surfing internet from a public computer especially in cyber cafes. While surfing the net users leave traces of their search history on the computer which can be misused any time. Apart from that the computer also contains details of your various accounts like emails, e-commerce sites, social media etc. Hence it is recommended to always use Incognito Mode (Chrome)/In-Private Windows (Microsoft Edge) for browsing in such environments.

With piracy at its peak, the users are downloading files over torrent like never before. While it doesn't mean that all torrents contain malware, it's definitely true that some do. Always download torrent from trusted sources like Torrentz, Torbox etc. These sites will redirect you to other torrent hosting platforms. It is recommended to download the torrents from site which has a comments section. This will allow you to know the feedback of other fellow users before downloading it.

Very often software which you download for free come with popular add-ons which you might not want to install on your PC. Apparently the developers who are providing you the free software are earning their share of money by pushing other lesser known softwares onto your PC - in short this is called affiliate marketing. So while installing the popular software you downloaded, don't just blinding keep clicking on next. The boxes for downloading the additional bloatware is already checked, so you need to uncheck it if you don't want it to clog your PC.

With users going gaga over e-commerce, many portals have cropped up across the country. So always check whether or not the site comes 'https' at the beginning of the URL in the top bar of your browser. In case it doesn't and comes with just 'http' then it is recommended to avoid paying online at such a portal. It worth noting that the 's' stand for secure!

Smartphones to replace debit cards at ATMs

Here's another use for the smartphone as it invades daily life: in place of your debit card at your bank cash machine.

The "cardless" automatic teller machine (ATM) is gaining ground in the US and around the world, with smartphone technology allowing for speedier and more secure transactions.

Dozens of US banks are installing new ATMs or updating existing ones to allow customers to order cash on a mobile application and then scan a code to get their money without having to insert a bank card.

US banking giants Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase are in the process of deploying the new ATMs, as are a number of regional banks and financial groups around the world. Makers of ATMs and financial software groups are ramping up to meet this demand.

"We think our model (using smartphones) reduces a lot of vulnerabilities," said Doug Brown, who leads mobile technology for FIS Global, a major provider of software and technology for ATMs.

Brown said the FIS cardless system is being used at some 2,000 ATMs operated by at least 28 banks in the United States "and we're looking to rapidly expand that."

He said the system should be operational at some 80,000 machines in North America over the coming 18 months. And similar changes are coming in other countries, according to Brown.

Reducing 'skimming,' fraud

In addition to speeding the transaction time, the smartphone-based system aims to curb the growing problem of "skimming" in which criminals steal the data on a card, often by inserting devices into the ATM card slot.

By some estimates, skimming cost the global banking industry some $2 billion in 2015 and can lead to other kinds of fraud when card data is stolen.

"Consumers are aware of this, they really understand and welcome this," Brown said.

Another security benefit, Brown said, is that authenticating on the handset reduces the time spent at the ATM to around 10 seconds instead of the typical 30 to 40 seconds.

"The performance is kind shocking to some people, they almost jump back at the instantaneous response," Brown said. "But it provides more physical security because they can make the transaction faster."

Bank of America spokeswoman Betty Riess said the group is "currently developing a new cardless ATM solution" based on NFC or near field communication technology to allow customers to authenticate without the use of a card.

"We'll roll out this capability in late February to associates in select ATMs in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Charlotte, New York and Boston." Riess said. "It will be followed by a broader customer launch mid-year."

Chase said it is planning a similar rollout sometime this year.

"When we first roll this out, customers will be able to request an access code through the Chase mobile app and enter it at the ATM to do their transactions," said Chase spokesman Michael Fusco.

"Later on, they will be able to use their digital mobile wallet to complete the transaction at the ATM."

Wells Fargo is also on board, developing ATMs that will allow customers to use their smartphones to obtain and eight-digit token to authorize a cash withdrawal.

The Wells Fargo system will support Android Pay, "and we'll continue to evaluate additional wallets," said spokesman Kristopher Dahl.

Chicago-based BMO Harris, an affiliate of Bank of Montreal, began using smartphone technology at its 750 ATMs last March.

'Headless' ATMs

Some of the new technologies will require only a software update to the ATM, while others will need new hardware.

ATM manufacturer Diebold is testing a "headless" teller machine, without a screen or keypad, which dispenses cash from interaction on the smartphone.

"What we are saying with this is forget the card reader, forget the PIN pad, we all have these devices in our pockets," said Dave Kuchenski, Diebold's senior business development manager for new technology.

Customers need only verify their identity, which can be done with the device's fingerprint reader, or possibly with an iris scanner on the ATM.

While some existing Diebold ATMs can work with mobile applications, Kuchenski said the new concept, in testing with Citibank and others, could provide "a better user experience."

"We don't have to walk through the same process which we have had since the ATM has existed," he said.

"If we're using a mobile phone, we no longer have the need for a card, we no longer have a need for a receipt printer, we've dematerialized a lot of the devices. Banks like this, because it has fewer moving parts, so it reduces the total cost of ownership."

Freedom 251 is "impossible", says Datawind's Suneet Tulli

Datawind CEO, Suneet Singh Tulli, branded the Freedom 251 smartphone as "a marketing promotion for an existing Chinese product that is already selling in Nehru Place". Talking about how the Freedom 251 differs from the Aakash tablet, Tulli said that there is no way someone can make a product like this, adding that "it is impossible". Tulli explained that making a phone with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage costs about $5.5 (approx. Rs. 380) for the memory alone, reiterating that the product is impossible to make.

Tulli called the units that Ringing Bells has promised a "donation", adding that the economies of scale theory is "not going to work". In addition, Tulli also said that Ashok Chadha's other claim, that crores of people will come to the Ringing Bells website, and then buy some other product, is also something that no one else has been able to do.

"I'm sure they will deliver some, not that they'll not deliver any. I've heard that the guy's delivered 5 crore registrations and he will deliver 25 lakh units. He can deliver even 5 crore if he wants, but there's no way that he can make them at Rs. 251." Tulli said that the cost of the components for the device, at this time, would be around Rs. 2,000, which means that Ringing Bells is selling at nearly a tenth of the cost, which seems improbable to say the least.

Further, Tulli explained that the market price of the product would ideally be more than the cost, which is evident from the fact that the fact that the Adcom Ikon 4 sells online for about Rs. 4,000. Tulli spoke about how the Aakash tablet was launched at the UN, and it wasn't "somebody else's product with whitener on it", emphasising on the fact that there is no comparison between the Freedom 251 and the Aakash tablet. He also said that the Aakash tablet was a 1,00,000-unit deal with the government, and Datawind has sold its other product under the Ubislate brand, which is nothing like Ringing Bells' initiative.

You haven't known tech unless your parents listen to what you say without looking at you as if you speak hebrew.

5G is the next step for mobile carriers and tech companies around the world

GUILDFORD, ENGLAND: On the outskirts of this sleepy commuter town just south of London, plans are underway to build the fastest cellphone network in the world.

The work is being done at the University of Surrey, where a leafy campus is dotted with rundown Brutalist-style buildings. Here, researchers and some of the world's biggest tech companies, including Samsung and Fujitsu, are collaborating to offer mobile Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than anything now available.

Their work on so-called fifth-generation, or 5G, wireless technology is set to be completed in early 2018 and would, for example, let students download entire movies to smartphones or tablets in less than five seconds, compared with as much as eight minutes with current fourth-generation, or 4G, technology. Companies also could connect millions of devices — including smartwatches and tiny sensors on home appliances — to the new cellphone network, and automakers could potentially test driverless cars around the suburban campus.

"A lot of the technology already works in a laboratory environment," said Rahim Tafazolli, director of the university's research center that oversees the 5G project, which includes almost 70 powerful radio antennas around the two-square-mile campus. "Now, we have to prove it works in real life."

The work by Dr Tafazolli and his team puts them at the heart of a heated race. Fueled by people's insatiable appetite for accessing videos, social media and other entertainment on their mobile devices, many of the world's largest carriers, like AT&T and NTT DoCoMo of Japan, are rushing to be the first to offer customers this next-generation ultrafast wireless technology.

The competition has led to research worth billions of dollars from telecommunications equipment makers like Ericsson of Sweden and Huawei of China, which are hoping to secure lucrative contracts to upgrade the mobile internet infrastructure of operators like AT&T from the United States and China Mobile in Asia. Those plans have become even faster paced as tech giants including Google consider their own ambitions for the latest, and fastest, high-speed Internet.

"Everyone is rushing to demonstrate they are a leading player for 5G," said Bengt Nordstrom, co-founder of Northstream, a telecom consulting firm, in Stockholm.

The efforts around 5G will be on display at Mobile World Congress, a four-day tech and telecom event in Barcelona that begins on Monday. Most of the world's largest operators and device makers like Samsung are expected to announce their latest wireless technology, including smartphones, wearable products and digital applications at the trade show.

Not to be outdone, telecom manufacturers also have announced glitzy demonstrations — including driverless cars, remote-controlled drones and autonomous robots balancing balls on tablets — to showcase their 5G credibility. The need to persuade carriers to buy the latest wireless technology has become ever more important as operators consider cutting investment plans in the face of a global economic downturn.

"If we miss the chance to make our networks relevant, it will be a disaster," said Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson's chief technology officer. "The billion-dollar question is what will a 5G network look like?"

Despite companies' efforts to outspend each other, that question remains unanswered.

A global standard for 5G wireless technology will not be finished before 2019, at the earliest. Companies worldwide must agree on how their networks talk to each other, so users' mobile connections do not become patchy when traveling overseas. That involves lengthy negotiations over what type of radio waves the new technology should use, among other complicated global agreements, which can take years.

As a result, carriers, telecom equipment makers and tech companies are lobbying global-standard bodies and national lawmakers to promote their own technologies over rivals', according to industry executives and telecom analysts. Because of this jockeying, a widespread rollout of 5G networks is not expected until well into the next decade.

Some analysts question why carriers are focusing on the next generation of wireless technology when many parts of the world, particularly in emerging markets, still suffer from achingly slow mobile internet access. And industry experts say mobile internet speeds in much of the developed world, especially in places like South Korea, where connections are often comparable to traditional broadband, already meet people's needs.

"A lot of this is about carriers and equipment makers looking for new ways to make money," said Thomas Husson, an analyst at Forrester Research in Paris. "Consumers shouldn't expect great things until after 2020."

These challenges have not stopped companies from staking a claim in hopes of being at the forefront of 5G.

That is particularly true ahead of major global sporting events like the Olympics and the World Cup, at which carriers and national governments want to promote their technological know-how. At the 2018 World Cup, which will be held in Russia, for instance, the local operators MegaFon and MTS are expected to test 5G-style services, including ultrafast mobile Internet, even without global standards in place.

The Korean mobile operator KT also plans to offer its own version of 5G technology at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and NTT DoCoMo has said it will have similar trials ready for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

"The only way of learning is by doing," said Mats Svardh, head of networks at the Scandinavian carrier TeliaSonera, which will test its own 5G technology in both Stockholm and Tallinn, Estonia, in 2018. "It's about putting pressure on ourselves to move forward with specifics, not just theories."

United States carriers have also jumped on the 5G bandwagon, partly to offer people new services as current mobile speeds have become relatively interchangeable between major operators nationwide.

Last year, Verizon Wireless announced that it would start testing new wireless technology in 2016 in order to offer new services, including potentially ultrafast mobile internet, sometime next year. Last month, AT&T countered with its own tests — expected to start in Austin, Tex., by the end of 2016 — that could offer mobile speeds roughly 100 times faster than its current offering."We will be ready when it's ready," said John Donovan, AT&T's chief strategy officer, who added that traditional rivals like Verizon and new arrivals like Google could eventually compete to offer 5G services. "Everywhere you don't solve a problem, someone else might step in."

For Dr Tafazolli, of the University of Surrey, whose team started working on 5G in late 2011, these battles have led to an increasing number of companies offering support — including the use of high-speed computer servers, costly radio antennas and millions of dollars of financing to research and build the next-generation wireless network on his college campus, he said. Their primary goal: to test their latest technology in a real-world setting.

Ringing Bells to face action if it fails to deliver Rs 251 phone: Ravi Shankar Prasad

4 hrs ago | Posted By: rahul patil

NEW DELHI: The government is monitoring Ringing Bells, which has announced launching the world's cheapest smartphone, and will take action if the company fails to deliver the Rs 251 handset, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.

"Our Ministry enquired into how prepared they (Ringing Bells) are, whether they can provide a phone for Rs 251 or not. Whether they have the BIS certificate or not, we have spoken to them," Prasad told reporters here.

He added that this was done to ensure that there are no discrepancies later.

"If there are any, we will take action as per the law. Our department is keeping a watch," he said.

A new entrant in the flourishing Indian mobile handset market, Ringing Bells last week unveiled what is being touted as the world's cheapest smartphone. However, concerns have been raised by the industry on feasibility of a 3G smartphone at such a low price.

Ringing Bells has said the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs 2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.

The I-T Department is also looking into the financial structure of the company and has obtained documents, including those from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), in this regard.

A series of complaints were made to the Telecom Ministry against the company. Apart from BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, the Indian Cellular Association (representative of mobile handset manufacturers) had also approached the Ministry asking it to get into depth of the issue.

They said the price of the device with the said specifications could not be below Rs 3,500 even after a subsidised sale.

There was also a controversy around the Noida-based firm showcasing a rival company Adcom's handset as its own.

Despite the controversies, Ringing Bells managed to received over 6 crore registrations in two days.

10 hot Android smartphones coming to India

It's the time of the year when we get to see the best Android smartphones -- and these should all be coming to India soon. Here's a look at 10 hot Android smartphones set to launch in India in the coming months.

Samsung S7, S7 Edge­

The Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge Plus were widely regarded as the best Samsung phones ever. There were a lot of expectations from the next Galaxy S series and Samsung didn't disappoint.

Both the S7 and S7 Edge feature top of the line processors (quad coreocta core depending on region), 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 3000mAh battery (S7), 3,600mAh battery (S7 Edge) and expandable storage thanks to a hybrid SIM slot.

Both phones also have an updated camera module -­ primary 12MP dual pixel sensor and front 5MP camera -­ both with f1.7 aperture which is the best available on any smartphone today.

S7 and S7 Edge both have superAmoled displays with 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. While S7 has a 5.1-inch screen, the S7 Edge is a dual-curved 5.5-inch. Samsung focused on the software side too with features like an 'always on' display , game optimization and game tools. The design is similar, but the changes make the S7 and S7 Edge great successors to the S6 and S6 Edge Plus. Expected to launch in India mid-march.

LG G5

LG's 2016 flagship was high on innovation thanks to the unique modular design. The base can be popped out and replaced with other modules like a camera grip or a Hi-Fi DAC for better sound.

The 5.3-inch qHD display is an IPS panel but LG has still included an always-on display which consumes very little power. It boasts of a dual camera setup: A 16MP primary lens and an 8MP secondary wide angle lens with optical image stabilization, laser autofocus and 4k video recording.

Hardware specifications are top of the line -- Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage (expandable) and a 2,800mAh battery. The phone runs Android 6.0 with a completely overhauled user interface by LG.

Lenovo Vibe K5 Vibe K5 Plus

Lenovo teased its fans for a few weeks with glimpses of their upcoming smartphone and it was finally launched at MWC 2016. Called the Lenovo Vibe K5 and K5 plus, both phones are budget offerings priced between $129 to $150. While the Vibe K5 has a 5-inch HD display, K5 plus has a 5-inch full HD display.

Hardware on both devices includes 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 13MP primary camera, a 5MP front camera, expandable storage and a 2,750mAh battery. The difference is that the K5 has a Snapdragon 415 while the K5 Plus features the more powerful Snapdragon 616 processor.

Obi MV1

Obi announced just one smartphone at their launch party: The MV1. Unusually for a big MWC announcement, this is a budget smartphone with a 5-inch raised glass HD display, Snapdragon 212 processor, 12GB RAM, 16GB storage and a 2,500mAh battery.

You also get an 8MP primary camera, 2MP front camera, dual SIM slots, a microSD slot for expansion and integrated DTS audio technology. It is priced at $149 and is expected to arrive in India by April this year.

Sony Xperia X and XA

Both new Sony phones have a new metal design and feature a 5-inch displays (720p on XA, 1080p on X). The Xperia XA is the more affordable device with a Mediatek processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 2,300mAh battery, a 13MP primary camera and 8MP front camera.

The Xperia X, on the other hand, has a Snapdragon 650 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage and a 2,620mAh battery. Other impressive features of the Xperia X include 23MP primary camera, 13MP front facing camera, fingerprint scanner and expandable storage.

Sony also showed off a variant of the Xperia X called the Sony Xperia X performance -- it has the latest Snapdragon 820 processor for improved performance and is IP68-certified for dust and water resistance.

Gionee Elife S8

Apart from a change in their brand logo, Gionee announced a new flagship called the Elife S8. The S8 is the first smartphone (after iPhone 6S) to come with 3D touch technology. It has a 5.5-inch Amoled fullHD display & inside the phone is a Mediatek Helio P10 processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, hybrid SIM slot and a 3,000mAh battery.

Gionee boasted of this being the first all-metal smartphone with invisible antennas (the usual lines bands for the antennas were not visible anywhere). You get a 16MP f1.8 rear camera, 8MP front camera and a fingerprint scanner in the home button along with the usual 4G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

This is also the company's first smartphone to come with AmigoUI based on Android 6.0.

HP Elite X3

HP surprised everyone with a new Windows 10 phablet that uses Continuum to convert to a Windows 10 desktop computer. However, instead of the usual dock, the Elite X3 has its own cradle type dock to connect to a TV.

It is also the most powerful Windows 10 Mobile available today: Snapdragon 820, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage and a massive 4,150mAh battery.

The 6-inch display has a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels and you also get expandable storage, a fingerprint scanner and an iris scanner.

From smart phones to smart homes

In the IoT era, these devices are not standalone units but are capable of talking to each other

Nigel Eastwood

Sharing, connecting and collaborating are the most basic of things easily achieved by a smartphone. We have all benefitted from the experience -- mobile internet connectivity has made our lives simpler, helped us do routine tasks like paying bills, with ease and helped us in work and play. With so much available on the palm, why not extend the same to homes?

That vision of ‘smart homes’ where devices talk to each other; fingerprints are keys to doors; lights get switched on and off on their own; devices remind you where you have kept the car keys or your favourite music plays automatically when you sit down to relax is not new. But current technologies bring that vision closer to us than it has ever been in the past.

Long back, home automation and smart homes meant getting automatic washing machines or smart microwaves or smart refrigerators. These are now a given in almost all homes but remain standalone units, unable to communicate with each other. 

In the smart digital era, these devices are not standalone units but are capable of talking to each other. That’s what’s making homes smart. The scope of a smart home spans ventilation, air-conditioners, toilets, cleaning, leak and smoke detection, appliance control and more.

Much of this is increasingly becoming a reality as today internet senses, thinks and acts -- and devices exchange information via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or public telecom networks. 

For instance, in a few years, when you are at work, your washing machine powered by a smart grid or a solar panel can automatically switch on around mid-day when the solar power output is at its peak and complete the task of cleaning clothes -- saving time and energy. Of course you still have to put the clothes in the machine. Even if the machine is running low on detergent, it can send a message to your e-tailer to include that in the cart and ship it just when you need to replenish the washing powder! 

This vision might be outlandish but feasible with Internet of Things (IoT) -- that is sensors connected together and working as an intelligent grid to do the mundane tasks. 

In cities like Delhi and Mumbai, where people are concerned about pollution levels, sensors can automatically switch on air purifier after analysing the indoor air quality.

Such clever things will become routine. And this is not another promise in the distant future, but pretty much possible now. The whole connected era is about smart devices, embedded with sensors, regularly exchanging information and making our lives better. 

Research firm IDC believes that the global IoT market will grow from $656 billion in 2014 to $1.7 trillion in 2020, this growth fuelled by rise of connected homes, cars and wearable devices.

Not surprisingly, almost every company wants a slice of this connected devices era pie. 

Google Weave protocol and Brillo project are Android-based embedded operating systems platforms aimed to be used with low-power and memory-constrained IoT devices. Apple has HomeKit that allows developers to write software that discovers, configures, communicates and controls devices for home automation. And there’s an open alliance with members including Microsoft, LG, Canon and others. The goal of these platforms is to support growth of IoT. Key to this is low energy consumption and information sharing among multiple devices -- say a Sony TV should be able to interact with LG fridge and Kohler bathroom fixtures.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, there were plenty of connected home, smart home IoT devices on display, like televisions that double up as home assistants -- keeping an eye within and taking decisions -- like they could send an alert on your smartphone that you left a window open.

Take something mundane like a water leak. A large industrial and home equipment company displayed a Wi-Fi water leak detector that sends a notification on your phone if it senses a leaking pipe. And there are robot vacuum cleaners that send videos of areas cleaned to your smartphone and you can adjust the bot cleaners to focus on areas that need more attention. 

On your kitchen table, you will probably be keeping tea, sugar, cookies jars on smart mats that send signals to your phone alerting on when to replenish stuff. With such wonders, your home could soon be a fusion of tradition and technology -- rare artworks and smart homes. 

Nigel Eastwood is the group CEO of New Call Telecom

Nokia will re-enter smartphone market: Rajeev Suri

We all knew Nokia would come back to smartphones, but it’s good to have concrete confirmation on the same. Rajeev Suri, CEO of the Finnish Company has confirmed that Nokia will be re-entering the smartphone market in future. “There’s no timeline, there’s no rush,” said Suri, at a press event at MWC 2016. “It could happen in 2016, it could happen later,” he added. While this confirms that Nokia will re-enter the smartphone market, it seems that we may have to wait longer than 2016. Suri also explained that the Finnish firm will wait for the right partner, before it returns to the market. He also reiterated that Nokia will not actually make phones, but will license its name to partner(s).

Nokia’s phones were once the favourites and the company can take almost all of the credit for the design language introduced in Microsoft’s Lumia devices. While Nokia’s presence in the market has diminished over the years, the company holds many important patents related to mobile phones and will earn from them for the foreseeable future. The Finnish company was the creator of legendary phones like the Nokia 3310 and 1100, which have been known for their longevity.

4-Inch iPhone 5se, New iPad Air to Launch on March 15: Report

Apple is on target to introduce its next iPhone and iPad models on March 15, and aims to start selling the devices in the same week, technology blog 9to5Mac reported, citing sources.

Apple, which will introduce a new 4-inch iPhone, dubbed the "iPhone 5se", and a new iPad Air at a launch event, is unlikely to take pre-orders for the new devices, the blog reported, with devices set to go on dale March 18.

The technology giant has hit a trough in iPhone demand. The 0.4 percent rise in shipments in the fiscal first quarter was the slowest-ever increase in iPhone sales since the phone was launched in 2007.

The new 4-inch iPhone 5se is designed to spur iPhone hardware upgrades for customer seeking faster devices without upgrading to the far larger iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus screen sizes.

Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.

In the meanwhile, rap music legend Dr. Dre is starring in Apple's first original television show, according to a story published Friday in the Hollywood Reporter.

The co-founder of Beats Music, which Apple bought nearly two years ago in a deal valued at $3 billion, will star in and produce "Vital Signs," a six-episode series the report described as a semi-autobiographical "dark drama with no shortage of violence and sex."

Apple is financially backing the series, but it remained unclear what roles Apple Music, Apple TV, the iTunes stores and the California companies other resources would play when it comes to digitally delivering the show, according to the report.

LG TO UNVEIL NEW 'X' SMARTPHONE SERIES AT MWC

LG has announced that it will unveil a new 'X' series of smartphones at the Mobile World Congress next week. Two models from the series - X cam and X screen - will make their debut at the event. The company says the devices "are designed for customers who do not want or need all the bells and whistles that come with today's high-end phones but still desire a great camera or advanced display."

The X cam is powered by a 1.14GHz octa-core processor and sports a 5.2-inch FHD display. It comes with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory, and packs in a 2,520mAh battery. In terms of camera, the device features two (13MP and 5MP) rear units and an 8MP front shooter. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box, and weighs in at only 118g.

On the other hand, the X screen is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, and sports a 4.93-inch HD main display as well as a 1.76-inch LCD (520 x 80) secondary display, similar to the one the V10 sports. Memory configuration is 2GB/16GB, while the camera department is handled by a 13MP/8MP duo. The device packs in a 2,300mAh battery, and runs Android Marshmallow.

"Everyone has a favorite smartphone feature," said Juno Cho, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "At LG, we think there's room for devices that do one thing very well and that customers shouldn't have to pay for features that they don't want. At the end of the day, we're committed to offering consumers more choices."

The handsets will be unveiled on February 22, a day after the G5 event, and will go on sale in Asia, Europe and Latin America next month.

12 Best Android Hacking Apps

#1 Hackode

Hackode : The hacker’s Toolbox is an application for penetration tester, Ethical hackers, IT administrator and Cyber security professional to perform different tasks like reconnaissance, scanning performing exploits etc.

#2 Androrat

Remote Administration Tool for Android. Androrat is a client/server application developed in Java Android for the client side and in Java/Swing for the Server.

#3 APKInspector

APKinspector is a powerful GUI tool for analysts to analyse the Android applications. The goal of this project is to aide analysts and reverse engineers to visualize compiled Android packages and their corresponding DEX code.

#4 DroidBox

DroidBox is developed to offer dynamic analysis of Android applications.

#5 Burp Suite

Burp Suite is an integrated platform for performing security testing of web applications. Its various tools work seamlessly together to support the entire testing process, from initial mapping and analysis of an application’s attack surface, through to finding and exploiting security vulnerabilities.

#6 zANTI

zANTI is a comprehensive network diagnostics toolkit that enables complex audits and penetration tests at the push of a button. It provides cloud-based reporting that walks you through simple guidelines to ensure network safety.

#7 Droid Sheep

DroidSheep can be easily used by anybody who has an Android device and only the provider of the web service can protect the users. So Anybody can test the security of his account by himself and can decide whether to keep on using the web service.

#8 dSploit

dSploit is an Android network analysis and penetration suite which aims to offer to IT security experts/geeks the most complete and advanced professional toolkit to perform network security assessments on a mobile device.

#9 Arpspoof

Arpspoof is a tool for network auditing originally written by Dug Song as a part of his dsniff package. This app redirects traffic on the local network by forging ARP replies and sending them to either a specific target or all the hosts on the local network paths.

#10 Shark for Root

Traffic sniffer, works on 3G and WiFi (works on FroYo tethered mode too). To open dump use WireShark or similar software, for preview dump on phone use Shark Reader. Based on tcpdump.

#11 Nmap for Android

Nmap (network mapper) is one the best among different network scanner (port finder) tool, Nmap mainly developed for Unix OS but now it is available on Windows and Android as well. Nmap for android is a Nmap apps for your phone! Once your scan finishes you can e-mail the results. This application is not a official apps but it looks good.

#12 SSHDroid

Android Secure Shell: Secure shell or SSH is the best protocol that provides an extra layer of security while you are connecting with your remote machine.SSHDroid is a SSH server implementation for Android. This application will let you to connect to your device from a PC and execute commands (like “terminal” and “adb shell”).