iPhone 6 launch date disclosed as July

iPhone 6 to be launched in July according to new report

Rumors were popping up that iPhone launch will shift back to summer from its fall launch schedule. It happened with the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5s, and now happening with the highly anticipated iPhone 6. a new report claims that the next-gen iPhone will likely launch much sooner than expected in July.

According to research delivered to clients on Wednesday by Mizuho Securities analyst Abhey Lamba, the iPhone 6 and Apples's new phablet will probabyl launch this coming July rather than in september or October, as most are expecting.

Lamba says his checks with Apple's suppliers in Japan and across Asia suggest that things are ramping up much earlier than expected, which could point to a summer launch. "Recently, the company has been introducing new lineup in September time frames whereas the next-gen phones could come out in July this year," Lamba sain in his note, which was picked up by StreetInsider.com. "The earlier launch will be helpful for Apple as it will ensure significant availability and distribution of the new device during holiday season."

Apple is expected to debut two completely different redesigned iPhones in 2014 and if that is in fact the case, record sales seem inevitable. The analyst also believes that iOS 8 will include enhancements that opne up the iPhone's touch ID fingerprint scanner to developers. A summer launch for the iPhone 6 and "iPhablet' still seem unlikely - but July is the month of launch.

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Top iOS 7.1 features you should try out

Features of iOS 7.1 to be tried out right now

Early this week the world got their hands on to the latest iOS offering the iOS 7.1, which brought a wide range of fixes, improvements and new features for compatible iPhones, iPads and iPod touch handhelds. Some of them are listed below to be checked out. These are a must try features of the new iOS 7 as listed below.

1. Keep the zoom effect but kill parallax
2. Manners can be taught to Siri
3. Buttons can be brought back
4. HDR Auto enabling
5. New visibility option

Kill parallax, keep the zoom

Apple has made it possible in iOS 7.1 to disable the annoying parallax wallpaper effect without eliminating the great zooming transition animations when opening and closing apps. First ensure that "Reduce motion" is toggled off in Settings > General > Accessibility. Then go to Settings > Wallpapers & Brightness and tap your lock screen wallpaper. Toggle "Perspective Zoom" to off and tap set, then do the same thing for your home screen wallpaper. 

Teaching Siri some manners

iOS 7.1 includes a number of enhancements to Apple's virtual personal assistant Siri.

Siri is a great interrupter. By default Siri does not know when you've ended a question or command and often misinterprets a pause as the end of your query. But in the new iOS 7.1, you can easily correct Siri's poor manners. Simply holding the Home button until you've finished your entire question or comment. This way Siri waits until it interrupts you. 

In iOS 7.1 the languages sound more authentic and natural. Change Siri's voice to male or female and languages like Australian English, U.K English, Canadian English and American English. Other languages include Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean. Here's how you do it.

1. Open the Settings screen, tap on the General tab, and then tap on Sire.
2. Tap the language option and select your favourite language. Tap on the Back link and then tap on voice Gender to choose Male or Female.
3. Tap on the Home button to exit the Settings screen. Now Siri's accent-tinged responses should sound closer to the real thing.

By default, you can activate Siri one of the two ways: lifting the phone upto your ear or holding down the Home button. But sometimes Siri inadvertently pops up when you raise the phone to talk to someone or press the Home button a second too long. And both methods require a hands-on approach

1. Open settings screen tap on the General tab, and then tap on Accessibility.
2. Scroll down toe ht Accessibility screen until you see a section called Physical and Motor. Tap on the option for Switch control.
3. In Switch control screen, tap on the settings for Switches. In the Switches screen, tap on add New Switch.
4. In the Source screen, tap on Camera. In the Camera screen, tap on the option for Left Head Movement.
5. Scroll down the Actions until you see Siri listed. Tap on the Siri option. iOS shows you that your head movement will now activate Siri.
6. Tap on the Back link to return to the Switch control Screen. Tap on the button for Switch control to turn on the feature. tap on the Home button to exit the Settings screen. Now move your head to the left, and Siri should pop up, awaiting your command.

Bringing the buttons back

iOS 7 compared to earlier versions of Apple's mobile software had tap targets were confusing in the minimalistic OS. With iOS 7.1 users can now add button shapes to the software's text-only tap targets.

Adding button shapes is simple. Just go to Settings > General > accessibility and toggle "Button Shapes" to on.

Enable HDR Auto

iOS 7 had an awful bug that caused devices to constantly disable HDR each time the camera app was closed. In iOS 7.1, Apple repented for its annoying mistake by introducing a new "HDR Auto" setting on the iPhone 5s that will monitor the surrounding lighting conditions and enable or disable HDR automatically. Enabling this feature simply tap on  "HDR on" or "HDR Off" at the top of the screen with the camera opne. Then select "HDR Auto" and you'll never have to think about it again.

New visibility options

Apple iOS platform is a clear leader when it comes to accessibility options for the disabled. In the iOS 7.1 it has added new fine-tuned options for increasing the contrast on the screen of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. To enable this go to Settings > General > Accessibility and tap "Increase contrast." Three options will be found.

"Reduce Transparency" will remove all of the transparency effects in areas including the home screen dock, folder backgrounds, the Notification Center and the Control Center.

"Darken Colors" will do just that: Darken all of the colors on the device's display to make them more visible.

"Reduce White Point" will make whites on the screen less bright, which is another way to improve visibility.

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Cortana is Microsofts Siri Rival

Screenshots of Microsoft's Siri-rival, cortana leaked online

Finally Microsoft is bringing a Siri-like voice based personal digital assistant Cortana. It is a part of the company's upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 OS, it will replace the built in Bing search functionality, and will take the appearance of an animated, circular icon, according to a report by The Verge.

Just like Apple's Siri the Cortana icon will animate while speaking or processing information, and allow users to choose how they'd like to be addressed. As per the report which also features screenshots, cortana will have the ability to save information and data in a Notebook system that will allow it to access information like location data, behaviour, personal information, reminders, and contact information. It will also offer notification alerts similar to Google Now.

One of the screenshots, which features Cortana's main screen, shows a blue coloured, circular icon. It also shows a Google Now like search box complete with the voice icon. The screen also features an icon for music which is most likely related to Bing's music recognition feature.

Another screenshot features Cortana's Settings screen. It offers a toggle for 'Cortana suggestions' warning users that they won't get suggestions, reminders, alerts and ideas from Cortana if they turn it off though nothing would be deleted from Cortana's Notebook. It also offers the opinion to allow Cortana to track flights and other information through email and the ability to change the name cortana uses for addressing the user.

It's worth pointing out that Cortana will be backed by data from services like Bing, Foursquare, and others in order to lend it some of the contextual power of Google Now.

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Cheaper Windows Tablets coming soon

Microsoft launching sub Rs 10,000 windows tablet

The slashing of license fees of Windows will enable Windows low cost tablets also like it has gathered the audience in low-cost Windows Smartphones. The required hardware specification will be reduced to bare minimum that is required for a good experience. The competitive edge is focused towards Android. 

Windows tablets are designed for the "pro"users but not the budget conscious audiences. The high-end tablets are nowhere near the iPads. Android tablets dominate the budget segment. Feeling its loss in high end market it is trying to enter the budget market dominated by Android. It is doubtful that the Microsoft will not be entering the entry-level tablet segment of Rs 5,000 but starting from Rs 10,000 in Mid 2014 in India.

There is no confirmed notice from Microsoft regarding the lowering of license fees for Windows 8.1, it is highly anticipated that to create cheaper tablets this move will be made in the near future. Microsoft has allegedly slashed the licensing fees and joined hands with local players like Karbonn and Xolo.

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Free Windows 8.1

Free Windows 8.1 being experimented by Microsoft

Microsoft is reportedly testing a free version of its Windows 8.1 which comes bundled with its Bing search engine this is a bid to persuade customers to upgrade to the latest version. Microsoft has provided its partners new affiliate assembly with additional SKU versions:9600.17024.WINBLUE_GDR_S14SKU_PARTNER.14 0214-1700, for example, connected with Bing Core Edition Windows 8.1 with maps Bing. Early versions of the software have already been leaked online and it looks like 'Windows 8.1 with Bing' is an experimental project that will bring a low-cost version of Windows to consumers.

The installation keys required in each install holds the key. Each SKU version requires your valid key installation. Personal keys we can not afford. Connected Core with Bing Edition Windows 8.1 worked. You can install Windows 8.1 Update 2014 Connected core with Bing Edition but will not be able to activate the assembly.

This is all increasing the number of versions of Windows in the Market and Bing edition will make it even confusing as to what to choose. Microsoft making it free will break many shackles and people will come back to Windows to see what it has to offer. With Bing making new inroads it is a worthy try.It is also suggested by the report that Microsoft is aiming to position Bing-powered version of Windows 8.1 as a free or low-cost upgrade for Windows 7 users. Microsoft is betting largely on Bing as a platform it can monetize in the future. it aims to make the new system easier for touchscreen users and give the same experience across PCs, phones and tablets.

Microsoft Windows finally free but what will it add up to us or Microsoft is what we have to wait and watch.

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