Mozilla launched Firefox OS to compete in a field crowded by Android, iOS, and even Blackberry. Today, the company showed off seven new commercial handsets that will be available around the world, though not in the U.S.  Mozilla also announced plans to start a "flood" of $25 smartphones.
             "We are committed to an open platform [that] works across a variety of devices," Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, told the crowd of 200 media here at Mobile World Congress today. "It is called the Web." Alcatel OneTouch, Huawei, LG, and ZTE are all building handsets using Firefox OS. Panasonic has even announced it will use Firefox OS to power a Web-connected HDTV.



Although largely unknown in the U.S., Firefox phones launched in a variety of countries, including Hungary, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Greece. These markets are being underserved by the major players (think iPhone 5c), and Mozilla sees an opportunity. The U.K.-based research firm Mediacells estimated that consumers in India and China alone will purchase more than 500 million smartphones in 2014, about half of global sales. For more than 400 million of those buyers, it will be their first smartphone ever.
Although nowhere near the top-of-the-line Android and iOS devices, Firefox phones are getting better, with Alcatel and ZTE announced multiple dual-core handsets at the show.

The ZTE Open II has dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 480-by-320 display, and 2-megapixel camera, while the ZTE Open C (pictured above) comes with a Snapdragon 200 processor, an 800-by-480 display, and a 3-megapixel camera. Alcatel is also offering three different OneTouch models, all with dual-core processors: the Alcatel One Touch Fire S, Fire E, and Fire C. The Fire is the top-of-the-line device with 4G LTE, a 4.5-inch screen and an 8-megapixel camera.

Firefox also announced a new reference handset (above, right) that it will make available to developers worldwide, the Firefox OS Flame. It runs a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8210 Snapdragon CPU, has a 4.5-inch screen, runs quad band with 8GB of memory. Although it ships with 1GB of RAM, developers will be able to simulate lower memory configurations to tests their performance. It supports Wi-Fi, 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth.


source : www.pcmag.com

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It’s time to get down to basics with the plug-and-play customizable smartphone platform known as Project Ara - or Google Ara. Paul Eremenko took the stage at Launch this week to show off a non-working prototype of the device we’ve seen several times in the recent past. This is Google’s vision, not just for the future of smartphones, but for the future of the individual parts of smartphones.

             The device you’re seeing here is a high-fidelity industrial design prototype. While this is called "Project Ara" now, Eremenko suggests that, should it become a real device in the future (like Google Glass), it’d become Google Ara. As Eremenko takes the machine apart, piece by piece, it’s revealed that it all comes down to a piece of metal with a battery inside called an Endoskeleton.

Each slot in this Endoskeleton of Ara works with a 3 newton permanent magnet attached. Eremenko suggests that this is "just enough for you to put the modules in and be able to flip the device over without the modules falling out." You’ll also notice a bit of a lip over each segment to add a bit more hold - each area is a slot instead of a cubby.


The frame for this first iteration of Google Ara has a battery inside as well as connections between each of its slots. These connections allow for each module to communicate with the other, together creating a full smartphone experience. These connections use a protocol stack from MIPI (the mobile industry consortium) called M-PHY (on the physical layer), offering 10 Gigabits per 1x1 block.

In the base frame of Google Ara is a battery that's meant only as a reserve. To make the phone function fully, one of your modules must be a more traditionally-sized battery. The only thing Google restrains is the partitioning scheme - the 1x1, 2x1, etc sizing scheme for the hardware.

"Our goal here is to create a 3rd party ecosystem of module developers," says Eremenko, "to change the way innovation happens in the hardware space, and make it a lot more like the software and app store model."


Next what you’re seeing is a functional module. This module has a white enclosure - Eremenko is holding it in his hand - which is user-serviceable. This means that both the module bits inside and the casings are able to be swapped - you can make your phone look however you want as you make it function however you want.

Modules will be developed using a Module Developers Kit, that's an MDK, and we'll certainly be hearing a lot more about it as this project progresses. This includes an open platform specification and a reference implementation that allows developers to create for Google Ara. This developer program will be published in a little over a month.

Eremenko shows off a couple of custom-printed enclosures created by 3D Systems, a group that Google is partnered with for Ara to print 3D enclosures galore. This is the same company that’s 3D printing food, mind you.

"The consumer gets to decide exactly and only what functionality goes into the device," suggests Eremenko. "So if you don’t want a camera, if you want a really inexpensive and stripped-down phone, you can do that. In fact you can get a Wi-fi-only device."

The $50 Google Ara phone you may have heard of is also known - by the team here - as The Gray Phone. Working with only the basics - an application processor with Android, a display, and a Wi-fi module, this device is targeted at $50 for launch sometime in the near future.

"We're less interested in people's margins than we are in the pace of innovation in the hardware ecosystem." Eremenko continues, "I think that there are plenty of opportunities to make money out of a highly competitive ecosystem, but what we are after is getting the number of brains in that ecosystem up into the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. Comparable to Android app development."

New modules will be able to be printed. This opens up the door for at-home innovation and community-created creativity like we've never seen in the smartphone industry before.

One module could have a printed casing, but also a printed radio antenna, allowing the user to create connectivity to the carrier of their choice with only a file and the correct printer materials. You could also (even without printing yourself), hot-swap out a module to move your smartphone from one carrier to the other.

Another swapping opportunity comes in the containment of your data. Your identity - all of your settings and personal data - can be contained on one memory-based module that you can pull out easily. You can use this to switch between phones, to lend your phone to a friend, or whatever other odd bit you can think of.
source : www.slashgear.com

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          Top websites for downloading new android games.

Android mobiles are the first rival to iPhone from apple. Android phones are made not only to make phone calls or send/receive SMS, but also it can be used as a great Gaming engine. It gathers a huge number of Games and Apps to have fun while using such a mobile phone. Here I'm introducing 4 Websites to Download Android Games Alternative to Google Play.

Tegrazone

This website is powered by the Official company of NVidia. It introduces a big list of Free games and Paid Games to download with simple clicks. It also provides Download via QR Code, which make it simpler.

AndroidShock

Great website that gathers a huge list of APK Games (Free & Paid). It provides low price games to Download (direct link), Send directly to Phone, or Send link to Email.

Android Games Room

One of the best Alternatives to Google Play, it provides Direct Download Link and Download via QR Code. This website is auto-Updated weekly with more New Games & Apps. It provides a big list of FREE Games.

Android.Mob.Org

A great-looking website it provides Android Games & Apps Download, Direct Download Link for APK, QR Code download or even WAP Download. This great website is one of the best android app store especially for tablets.

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Nokia introduced a new family of smartphones, the Nokia X series of phones. The first three phones in the family - the Nokia X, X+ and XL - run on the new Nokia X software platform, that is based on Google's Android.

The phones under the Nokia X family are not pure Android phones; these phones instead run a forked variant of Android, similar to the way Amazon does for its Kindle Fire lineup. Nokia has taken the open-source elements of Android and has pulled in other elements of Asha and Windows Phone to offer users a different experience.
The downside here is that Nokia X users can't have access to the Google Play Store for apps. However, the phone will run Android apps, but Nokia will curate a list of such apps. A recommended source for the apps is the Nokia store, says the company. In other words, the new platform, Nokia X, is based on the Android Open Source project (AOSP).

   All three phones are dual SIM phones and are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor.

Nokia ditches many of the Google services that come with Android, which Google lets phone makers customise at will. Instead, the new Nokia X phone announced will emphasise Microsoft services such as Bing search, Skype communications and OneDrive file storage. Its home screen sports larger, resizable tiles resembling those on Windows phone.
Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL form a new family of Nokia's affordable smartphones. The Nokia X is the entry-level model in the family, will cost 89 euros, and will be available immediately in select markets. The Nokia X+ offers more memory and storage. It's priced at 99 euros and will be available in early Q2 2014. Finally, the Nokia XL packs a 5-inch screen, 5 megapixel rear-facing and 2 megapixel front-facing camera. It will be priced at 109 euros and be available in early Q2 2014.
These phones feature a brand new, tile-based home screen. The new OS also reintroduces a redesigned version of its Fastlane notifications centre - a second Home screen if you like - from the latest Asha devices.
"The X family boasts Nokia's exciting, high quality hardware design and a range of bright colours. The brand new, tile-based Home screen offers you a simple, elegant way to manage your apps and phone functions and also reintroduces a redesigned version of the enormously popular Fastlane notifications centre - a second Home screen if you like - from the latest Asha devices," said Nokia.
Here Maps with turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps are also included. Free cloud storage from Microsoft OneDrive with 7GB of space for free is included out of the box. There's also access to Outlook.com as your email service. And there's Skype with a month's free calls to international landlines in selected markets.
All three devices are powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor and are dual-SIM phones. A range of third-party apps comes pre-installed, including BBM, Plants vs Zombies 2, Viber, Vine and Twitter.
At launch, leading global apps will be available for the Nokia X family of devices, including Facebook, LINE Free Voice and Messages, LINE Camera, LINE Bubble, Picsart, Plants vs Zombies 2, Real Football 2014, Skype, Spotify, Swiftkey, Twitter, Viber, Vine and WeChat, among others. And in a first for Nokia customers around the world, BBM will also be available on the Nokia X family of devices in addition to Windows Phone.
Jussi Nevanlinna, Nokia's vice president for product marketing, said the Finnish company is positioning the Nokia X as a bridge to high-end Windows smartphones under the Lumia brand.
(With inputs from AP)

source : ibnlive.in

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At the end of 2010, Facebook implemented what it thought was a revolution in messaging with a new service that combined email, text messaging, and instant messaging into one for the social network. As part of that new system, every Facebook user got an @facebook.com email address.

We’re now in 2014, and Facebook has realized that its all-encompassing messaging revolution didn’t work out as planned. In fact, in the first few days of March the social network is planning to shutdown the Facebook email service completely.
                  Removing the ability for over a billion users to send and receive email through their own @facebook.com addresses should have alarm bells ringing, especially when it is set to go offline in as little as a week’s time. You’d be right if it wasn’t for the fact no one uses Facebook email.Facebook has admitted as much and claimed it is the main reason they no longer want to pursue email as a service on the social network. Users can continue to use the 3rd-party email address associated with their account, but facebook.com addresses will cease to work in the coming weeks. And the fact it will only be live for a couple more weeks shows you just how little the service must be used.
                  Hopefully no one reading this decided to use their facebook.com as a primary email address. That’s the problem with such bolt-on services, there’s no guarantee they will continue to exist several years down the line. You’re much better off selecting a service that puts email first, like Gmail, Outlook, or Fastmail to name a few.

source : www.geek.com

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WhatsApp which was recently acquired by Facebook is planning to take the battle on to the likes of Viber and other free calling applications. At the MWC 2014, it has just announced that it now has a user base of 465 million and it will finally jump on to the calling wagon in the second quarter of 2014.

Jan Koum who is the CEO of WhatsApp has stated that WhatsApp uses the least bandwidth and this will be a factor that aids the growth of Voice. Voice will be made available on Android and iOS which will be followed by BlackBerry and some of the Nokia handsets.

It has just witnessed an increase in 15 million users after it was bought by Facebook. The news comes on WhatsApp's birthday as it was founded 5 years ago on February 24. WhatsApp will be working in partnership with mobile carriers which will offer special tariffs to access the application. People will end up using a service providers data services instead of their calling services.

WhatsApp will continue to operate in the same manner as it does currently and there will be no marketing and advertisements which will be associated with it. Facebook surely has something in mind with the acquisition which it isn't really letting out of the bag. Let us see which way things turn out for WhatsApp and Facebook in future.

source : http://www.techdroid.in/

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The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the latest challenger from the South Korean brand to launch into an ever more crowded market, but at least this time the phone has focused on what users might actually want rather than useless gimmicks.

                 The Galaxy S4 was a strong phone in spite of the insistence that being able to wave your hands over a phone or scroll with your eyes was a good thing.The Galaxy S5 takes the DNA of that handset and improves on it in most areas. It's a quiet improvement though, which may disappoint a lot of people looking to see the world's highest-res display and an all new metal chassis, but it's one that at least delivers where consumers need it.

FULL SPECIFICATION (source : www.gsmarena.com )

 

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	4G Network	LTE (market dependent)
	SIM	Yes
	Announced	2014, February
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2014, April

BODY	Dimensions	142 x 72.5 x 8.1 mm (5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 in)
	Weight	145 g (5.11 oz)
		- Fingerprint sensor (PayPal certified) - IP67 certified - dust and water resistant - Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes

DISPLAY	Type	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1080 x 1920 pixels, 5.1 inches (~432 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3
		- TouchWiz UI

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 128 GB
	Internal	16/32 GB storage, 2 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, 42.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE, Cat4, 50 Mbps UL, 150 Mbps DL
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, LE
	NFC	Yes
	Infrared port	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB v3.0 (MHL 2), USB On-the-go, USB Host

CAMERA	Primary	16 MP, 5312 x 2988 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
	Features	1/2.6'' sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size, Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR
	Video	Yes, 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, HDR, video stabilization, dual-video rec.
	Secondary	Yes, 2 MP, 1080p@30fps, dual video call

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801
	CPU	Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
	GPU	Adreno 330
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture, heart rate
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM, RSS
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Black, White, Blue, Gold
		- Wireless charging (market dependent) - ANT+ support - S-Voice natural language commands and dictation - Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll - Air gestures - Dropbox (50 GB cloud storage) - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - TV-out (via MHL 2 A/V link) - SNS integration - MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.264/H.263 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/FLAC player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa - Voice memo/dial/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)

BATTERY		Li-Ion 2800 mAh battery
	Stand-by	Up to 390 h
	Talk time	Up to 21 h

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