Knowledge Update

​New York, March 6 (IANS) The 5.8-inch iPhone 8 with an OLED display -- that may be called 'iPhone X' -- is reportedly being launched along two other devices -- updated iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus (with brand names as iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus), a media report said. According to the financial newspaper Nikkei, Apple will shrink the top and bottom bezels to make iPhone 8 smaller than the iPhone 7 Plus. The report also claimed that priced at $1,000, iPhone 8 will be the most expensive smartphone Apple has ever released. In February, a report claimed that out of the a 5.8-inch display, only 5.15-inch would be usable. The rest of the space would feature a "function area". Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 would also come with wireless charging. The company was also planning to introduce a new connector type for accessories for the iPhone, iPad and other devices through its official Made-for-iPhone (MFi) licensing programme. Called 'Ultra Accessory Connector' (UAC), the eight-pin connector is slightly less thick than USB-C and near half as wide as both USB-C and Lightning.

New York, March 4 (IANS) US tech giant Google will release a new Pixel smartphone later this year. The device, with the built-in personal Google Assistant, will directly competes with the Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. "The device will remain 'premium' in its next iteration and the company is not interested in offering a low-cost version, preferring instead to let that segment be addressed by its external hardware partners," techcrunch.com quoted Rick Osterloh, Google SVP of Hardware as saying. Launched last year, Pixel is the first smartphone that works as an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator. The 5-inch smartphone is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset, 4GB of RAM and runs on Android Nougat 7.0 operating system. The device also has Pixel Imprint -- a fingerprint scanner on the back of the smartphone for quick access to all apps, texts and e-mails.

Seoul, March 4 (IANS) South Korean electronics major LG will update two of its smartphone models -- the G4 and V10 -- with the latest operating system (OS). LG plans to offer the upgrade of the OS with Android 7.0 for the V10 in the second half of this year and for the G4 in the third quarter, Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday. The schedule applies to phones sold in South Korea, with consumers abroad to be notified of a separate schedule later. The G4, which debuted in April 2015, had its OS updated twice. The V10 was released in October the year and also has had two OS updates. But LG had announced plans to discontinue updates, saying the phones are not optimised with the latest version. Kicking off an era of premium smartphones with the unique 18:9 screen aspect ratio, LG introduced the G6 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year in Barcelona, Spain that features a bold new display format complemented by a cinematic viewing experience. The device has Google Assistant built-in, empowering users to get quick answers, manage everyday tasks, enjoy the best music and videos and search G6 more efficiently than ever.

New York, March 3 (IANS) The worldwide wearables market reached a new all-time high as shipments reached 33.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016, growing 16.9 per cent year over year, with Fitbit leading the way by shipping 6.5 million units, according to a new report. Shipments for the entire year grew 25 per cent as new vendors entered the market and previous champions refreshed their product lineups with Xiaomi and Apple taking second and third spots respectively, the report from the market research firm IDC said. "With the entrance of multiple new vendors with strengths in different industries, the wearables market is expected to maintain a positive outlook, though much of this growth is coming from vendor push rather than consumer demand," Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst for IDC Mobile Device Trackers, said in a statemnet. The year came to a close with 102.4 million devices shipped. Early on, the market was bifurcated between smart wearables -- those capable of running third party apps -- and basic wearables, which lack this ability. In the past few months, two major platforms, WatchOS and Android Wear, have pivoted towards fitness and health applications. Fitbit maintained its dominance, holding the top position with 19.2 per cent of the market share in the fourth quarter. Xiaomi's growth helped to close the gap between it and Fitbit. The Chinese electronics major shipped 5.2 million units and took 15.2 per cent market share. Apple Watch Series 1 and Series 2 proved to be a magnificent success for the company as it was the company's best quarter ever in the wearables market with the company shipping 4.6 million units capturing 13.6 per cent market share. US-based Garmin experienced a slight decline of four per cent and shipped 2.1 million units capturing 6.2 per cent of market shar in the fourth quarter of 2016. Samsung rounded out the top five with the launch of two new models -- Gear S3 Classic and Frontier. It shipped 1.9 million units and had 5.6 per cent market share. Ear-worn devices (hearables) surpassed one per cent of all shipments for the first time in a quarter and sensor-laden clothing accounted for more than one per cent of the entire market for the full year 2016.

​New York, March 3 (IANS) US tech giant Microsoft will start shipping the "Mixed Reality" headset later this month in a bid to make Wndows 10 the most complete platform across the broadest range of devices. Mixed Reality (MR) is a combination of virtual and augmented reality to produce new environments and visualisations where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time. "When we begin the phased rollout of the developer kits this month, the kits will include the Acer headset, along with documentation and access to Windows 10 Insider preview builds and the software development kit (SDK) to enable developers to build mixed reality applications," said Alex Kipman, Technical Fellow, Microsoft. Acer Windows Mixed Reality Development Edition headset include two high-resolution liquid crystal displays at 1440 x 1440 resolution, display refresh rate up to 90 Hz (native), built-in audio out and microphone support through 3.5mm jack, single cable with HDMI 2.0 (display) and USB 3.0 (data) for connectivity. Microsoft plans to bring mixed reality content to the Xbox One family of devices, including Project Scorpio, in 2018. To empower even more developers to create in mixed reality, we gave a "golden ticket" to game developers who attended our Windows Mixed Reality session at Game Developers Conference, and those developers will receive the Acer developer edition headset in the coming months, added Kipman.

Washington, March 2 (IANS) Apple's corporate reputation took a hit in the first quarter of 2017, according to a recent market research study that placed the Cupertino-headquartered tech giant at 20th place, far behind Google, placed fifth. In 2017, Apple slipped 10 spots from last year's ranking, according to Reputation Institute's Global RepTrak 100, a ranking that measures public perception towards the world's top companies. The study assigns rankings to large corporations across a number of industries, including tech, automotive, consumer goods and luxury brands. The survey measured the public perception twoards the top companies on seven key rational dimensions of reputation -- products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and performance. More than 170,000 ratings were compiled for the study. Luxury watchmaker Rolex took the top spot on this year's RepTrak 100 list released this week. Consumer toymaker LEGO followed in second place, while Walt Disney took the third position. Apple's rival Samsung posted the most notable decline this year, taking 70th place overall from last year's 17th. Microsoft dropped out of the top 10 in the first quarter to finish in 11th place, Appleinsider.com reported.

​Barcelona, Feb 27 (IANS) Samsung Electronics unveiled its end-to-end portfolio of 5G mobile network products and solutions for 2017 that will provide foundation for the first commercial 5G network launches expected in 2018. Showcased products included consumer devices for fixed wireless access connectivity, a 5G Radio Base Station (5G Access Unit), Next-Generation Core Network infrastructure, and more. "With pre-commercial deployment of our 5G products already underway in the US, we are starting to see some of the earliest evidence of the potential for new and compelling 5G-driven services," Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of Next Generation Communications Business Team at Samsung Electronics, told reporters here. With pre-commercial versions of the equipment already under deployment in trial networks across the globe, Samsung's commercial 5G portfolio is backed by a continually growing foundation of experience, knowledge and concrete trial results, the company said in a statement on Sunday. The 5G Home Router will provide direct and straightforward connectivity to the wireless network, with the simple placement of the 5G Home Router in a window facing a nearby 5G Radio Base Station. A peak data rate of up to 1Gbps will allow service providers to dimension networks that provide an attractive alternative to often-costly Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployments. The 5G Radio Base Station itself is a natural extension of today's LTE small cells, designed to be installed in a dense configuration that allows for very high network capacities.

​Barcelona, Feb 28 (IANS) Smartphone manufacturer Meizu on Tuesday unveiled its latest fast-charging solution "Super mCharge" at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 here. "Super mCharge" is a major breakthrough among existing direct charging solutions that enable batteries to top up at a much faster rate, the company said in a statement. The charging connector has a maximum power of 55W for an accelerated full charge time of 20 minutes, providing a significant enhancement in user experience. "'Super mCharge' is not only the fastest charging technology, but the safest one of all," said Li Tao, Supervisor of Meizu's R&D team in a statement.

​Barcelona, Feb 27 (IANS) Extending its tablet portfolio, South Korean tech giant Samsung unveiled two new tablets -- Galaxy Tab S3 and Galaxy Book --- at Mobile World Congress (MWC) here featuring HDR, S Pen and Samsung Flow. On March 29, Samsung Electronics will unveil the newest Galaxy as part of its endeavor to unbox your phone, the company teased in an invite on Sunday. Running on Android 7.0 operating system, the Galaxy Tab S3 comes with a 9.7-inch Super AMOLED display and the Galaxy Book is offered in a 10.6-inch TFT LCD version and 12-inch Super AMOLED version and runs on Windows 10. "At Samsung, we are committed to expanding the boundaries of the mobile and computing experience by providing best-in-class products that satisfy mobile users' diverse needs and demands," DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics, told reporters here. For a safe and secure login, Samsung Flow uses biometric authentication to log-in and can wirelessly tether compatible devices to transfer documents from a mobile device to a tablet. The S Pen includes convenient features such as "Screen Off Memo" to quickly jot down notes, PDF annotation for easy editing and professional-level drawing with advanced drawing tools. The Galaxy Tab S3 is the first Samsung tablet to feature quad-stereo speakers tuned by AKG by HARMAN. Both tablets include 13MP rear camera which includes auto-focus and a 5MP front camera and supports up to 12 hours of video playback on the Galaxy Tab S3 and up to 10.5 hours of video playback on the Samsung Book (12-inch). Both devices also support Pogo keyboards with no separate charging or pairing required. The Samsung Galaxy Book 12-inch is equipped with a 7th Generation Intel Core i5 processor, dual core 3.1GHz and the 10.6-inch with an Intel Core m3 processor, dual core 2.6GHz. Samsung also announced the Gear VR with Controller powered by Oculus, the company's first-ever Gear VR headset with a controller. The Gear VR with Controller expands Samsung's virtual reality ecosystem and makes it easier for consumers to enjoy Gear VR experiences.

​Barcelona, Feb 27 (IANS) Seventeen years after its debut, the much-awaited Nokia 3310 has been relaunched in an all new revamped look featuring a colour screen at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) here. The device, to be sold under licence by the Finnish start-up HMD Global, is available in four distinctive colours - gloss-finished warm red and yellow, and a matte-finished dark blue and grey. It will cost buyers only 49 Euros ($52) and will be available from the second quarter of this year. Considered as iconic because of its popularity and sturdiness, Nokia sold more than 126 million devices before it was phased out in 2005. "Our efforts in bringing together world class manufacturers, operating systems and technology partners sees us proudly unveiling our first global portfolio of smartphones with a Nokia soul, delivering the very best experience to everyone," Arto Nummela, CEO of HMD Global, said in a statement. Having a 2.4-inch display, the new Nokia 3310 qualifies as a "feature phone" rather than a smartphone as it only provides limited internet facilities. It relies on 2.5G connectivity and is powered by the S30+ operating system. With 1,200mAh battery, the device offers a 22 hours of talk time and has up to a month's standby time. The battery of the new device is removable, like its older version. However, the 2017 model is rechargeable through a microUSB port. Its single camera is also restricted to 2MP. According to HMD Global, which owns the rights to the Nokia brand, the device also comes with the modern version of the classic game Snake pre-installed. The device will power through up to 51 hours of MP3 playback too, as well as up to 39 hours of FM radio playback. "What HMD has created is remarkable. We're excited to see the launch of a new family of smartphones, built to the standards that Nokia is known for." "We believe that their strong design and quality will appeal to Nokia fans around the world and the return of the Nokia 3310 has us smiling too!" Brad Rodrigues, interim President of Nokia Technologies, added. HMD also confirmed the Nokia 6 Android smartphone would be released worldwide following its China debut in January. The device has a 16MP rear camera and a 5.5-inch 1080p display. The new range of Nokia smartphones run on Android Nougat OS and offer a pure and secure experience with an all-feature Google Assistant. The unibody of the Nokia 6 is crafted from a single block of 6000 series aluminium. The smart audio amplifier with dual speakers allow consumers to experience a deeper bass and clarity, whilst Dolby Atmos sound delivers a powerfully moving entertainment experience. Available in four colours - Matte Black, Silver, Tempered Blue and Copper - the Nokia 6 will retail at an average global retail price of 229 Euros ($242). With 64GB storage and 4GB RAM, Nokia also unveiled Nokia 6 Arte Black Limited Edition available for retail price of 299 Euros ($315). In addition, the firm showed off smaller, lower-range Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 models. Nokia 5 has a Corning Gorilla Glass laminated 5.2-inch IPS HD display. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor and is available in four colours -- Matte Black, Silver, Tempered Blue and Copper. It is priced at 189 euros ($199). The Nokia 3 has a Corning Gorilla Glass laminated 5-inch display and 8MP wide aperture front and back cameras. Available in four distinctive colours -- silver white, matte black, tempered blue and copper white - the Nokia 3 will retail at an average global retail price of 139 euros ($146).