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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Latest Buy back offers by Apple

Apple India offers up to Rs. 40,000 buy back discount on purchase of new laptops

When everybody is heading towards the mobile platform and smaller devices, Apple is trying to lure laptop customers by giving buy back offers to boost sales.

It is offering up to Rs 40,000 buy back discount on purchase of new Mac laptop in India when turning  in your old Mac for exchange. It is an advertisement in a leading daily, apple offering discounts upto Rs 40,000 if you give a Mac that is less than two years old in exchange. It offers Rs 30,000 for turning in Apple portables between two and three years old and for those between three and four years old it is Rs. 25,000. If your Mac is older than four years you are out of luck. There is no end date mentioned.

These discounts are offered only on Mac laptops and not on Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro. 

You can even try your hand with Windows laptops by querying at your local apple dealer and check the buy back offer. But for the windows side it will be on the lower side.

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Facebook Messenger for Desktop to be shutdown on March 3

Next Web report states that Facebook Messenger for Windows desktop will be shutting down on March 3. It coincides within days of Microsoft's announcement that the official Facebook Messenger app will be coming to Windows Phone 8 devices within weeks.

Facebook messenger to shut down on March 3

"We're sorry, but we can no longer support Facebook Messenger for Windows, and it will stop working on March 3, 2014. We really appreciate you using Messenger to reach your friends, and we want to make sure you know that you can keep chatting and view all your messages on http://www.facebook.com,"the message on top of the app stated.

Facebook messenger for Win was  released Mar 12. An Apple update for OS X version was expected to be launched but given that the Win version has shut down, it seems unlikely. Facebook is likely to concentrate on Messenger for Windows Phone devices, and other mobile devices, instead of focusing on desktops. Another report stated that Facebook Messenger for Firefox was also shutting down on March 3.

Facebook is cutting of all these services in order to focus mainly on mobile related activities where it has a lot of scope. It has axed a lot of services like email, desktop messenger firefox messenger. 

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Micromax Funbook Mini P41oi

Micromax Funbook Mini P410i

The Micromax Funbook mini P410i tablet is with a 7-inch TFT LCD display with 1024x600 pixels resolution. The Android base version is 4.1.2  and supports dual SIM (GSM+GSM) with voice calling.

Features

It is powered by a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek (MT8377) processor along with 1GB of RAM. The rear cam is 5MP rear fixed focus camera, 2MP front-facing fixed focus camera, 4 Gb inbuilt storage which is expandable upto 32GB and a 2800mAH battery. It can deliver upto 6 hours of talk time and up to 120 hours of standby time. The Micromax Funbook Mini tablet will be available in White

It is still unlisted.

Key specifications

• 7-inch TFT LCD display with 1024x600 pixels resolution
• 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek (MT8377) processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 5MP rear fixed-focus camera
• 2MP front-facing camera
• 4GB internal storage (exp upto 32 GB)
• Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
• Dual SIM suppor
• 2800mAH battery

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Micromx Canvas Tab

Micromax Canvas Tab P650E

The Micromax Canvas Tab P650E is available online via an e-commerce website at Rs 8,999. This is a CDMA variant of the Canvas Tab P650 launched last year.

Features

It comes with a 7-inch display and is powered by a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz along with 512 MB of RAM. It runs on the older Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0. The rear cam is 2MP, VGA front-facing camera, 4 Gb inbuilt storage which is expandable upto 32GB and a 3000mAH battery. It supports single SIM with support for CDMA networks.

It is listed on Infibeam.

Key specifications

• 7-inch display
• 1.2GHz quad-core processor
• 512MB of RAM
• 2-megapixel rear camera
• VGA front-facing camera
• 4GB internal storage (exp upto 32 GB)
• Android 4.0 ICS
• SIM support (CDMA)
• 3000mAH battery

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Making Voice calls on WhatsApp

Now you can speak on WhatsApp, that is what is the latest buzz after takeover by Facebook. This is to come to WhatsApp from coming June. It has 450 million customers and has been bought by Facebook last week and a lot of developments and new additions are being made to WhatsApp. The facility of voice calls is another one. This will rolled out in a phased manner first in Android, Apple iOS phones and then later in blackberry, Nokia, Windows based phones. Currently WhatsApp has got voice messages but that can be only heard only after the message has been received by the person. In the latest effort here two persons can make voice calls between one another. There are many other services like viber, line, wechat offering voice calls but let us watch out what change WhatsApp brings about with the competition.

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Samsung opening up fingerprint scanner to all apps

Finger future

The future comes back to haunt is all on the basis of our finger or the biometric scanner which scans fingerprints. Passwords are going to passe here comes the fingerprint scanner and Samsung has done an ante with Apple by letting all the developers use the Galaxy S5's fingerprint scanner in their own apps.

The fingerprint-friendly Pass API was released as part of the S5's development kit, which also includes all the information devs need to create apps for the Gear2 and Gear Fit. This fingerprint scanner was already more useful than most, allowing you to control certain parts of the phone with your biometric data.

Pass API

"With Pass, you can provide reinforced security, since you can identify whether the current user actually is the authentic owner of the device".

Using you phone and the fingerprint scanner combo to pay for things in participating stores is first utilised by PayPal as it is using the open API. Apple's TouchID has stayed tightly guarded so you can only use it to unlock your iPhone 5S and authorise payments in Apple's own products like iBooks, iTunes and App Store.

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Samsung Galaxy Grand 2

The Galaxy Grand 2 is Samsung's smartphone offering for the mid range customers. It has a 5.25 inch HD TFT LCD Screen display that looks similar to Note 3. It is good for those who want really big screen at small price. As the Note 3 is priced high this becomes as a trimmed down version of it. The back of the Grand 2 is a plastic leather-effect and pretend stitching that we first saw on the Note 3.

The display is 1,280x720 pixel count, which is a decent resolution, but not as sharp as the 1080p on high end devices. The display is perfect on the eye, bright, colourful with movies photos loading blazingly fast. The displays made by Samsung is really good and vivid.

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The Thinnest, Lightest Tablet unvieled by Sony

Xperia Z2

Sony has unvieled Z2 the Xperia series of Tablets. The tablet which is claimed by Sony as the thinnest and
lightest. IT measures 6.4mm in thickness and weighs just 426gm, it is thinner and lighter than the iPad Air.

It has been announced at the MWC(Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the 10.1-inch Android tablet runs on a 2.3 Ghz quad-core processor with 3 GB RAM and 16 Gb internal storage, which can be increased upto 64Gb via microSD card.

The latest tablet by Sony sports a 1,200 x 1,920 Full HD screen with Sony's Triluminos and new Live Colour LED technology. Android 4.4 Kitkat is the OS and an 8-MP rear cam and 6,000 mAH battery.

It can withstand 1.5m of water upto 30 minutes and stay waterproof as claimed by the company. Globally launching from March.

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Android users of Whatsapp can Hide now

The $19 billion aquisition of Whatsapp by Facebook has brought in some changes and one of that coming up after a lot of Android users requests from around the world. It is now confirmed that WhatsApp will now let them hide their timestamps.

The was till now only a coveted feature of WhatsApp's iOS users, lets people keep to themselves when they were last seen online. This new feature will extend to the purview of visibility of status messages and profile photos same as the way Facebook lets users customize what they want to show publicly. 

Now this feature is available only to Android users meanwhile WhatsApp's iOS users will have to wait for it.

This is not yet available on Google Play. For users who want to experience it soon have to download the apk file from the official website of WhatApp. You have to change security settings on Android devices need to be changed before the new update can be installed.

Once installed onto an android device, the APK file will present users with two options - to use either 'package Installer' or 'Verify and Install'. WhatsApp asks users to choose the Package Installer option, which will seek permission to make changes to the app. When allowed, the installer will not affect the user's existing Whatsapp data.

From the settings menu on the app privacy option provides users with three choices, namely, 'Everyone', 'My contacts' and 'Nobody'. This comes with a catch; Once a user hides their online presence,they will simultaneously forego the ability to see other people's timestamps, whether or not they have changed their privacy settings.

One option that Android users will have an interesting edge over their iOS counterparts: They can switch between being 'seen' and 'unseen' more than once in a day - there is no upper limit on the number of times they can switch. iPhone users need to wait an entire 24 hours before they can change their visibility.

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Latest launches of Smartphones 2014

Latest launches of Smartphones 2014

1. Samsung Galaxy Grand 2

The Galaxy Grand improved and renamed into a new version as Galaxy Grand 2. This comes in the category of a phablet and unlike the prior it has a bigger RAM, large screen and good battery support. Screen size is 5.25-inch HD screen, 1.5 GB RAM and 2,600 mAh battery with a talktime of 17 hours. The price is Rs 22,500 and sometimes less online on sites such as flipkart.

2. Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

Sony's flagship hit Xperia Z1 has brought out its mini version in the form of Xperia Z1 compact. The design is the same as Z1 and has its 20MP camera too. The latest triluminos technology is used to build the 4.3 inch display. Under the hood it hosts a Snapdragon 800 processor, 2 GB RAM. 16 GB storage space internal and external storage expandable 32 GB. The energy needs are met by 2,300mAh battery.

3. Micromax Canvas XL

The six inch display screen stands to its name in being very XL the model from Micromax with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. The processor is 1.3 Ghz Quad core with one GB of RAM. It comes with 4 GB internal and expandable memory upto 32 GB. The rear camera is 8 MP and front one is 5 MP. It supports 3G, WiFi and bluetooth with dual SIM. The cost is Rs 13,899. The 2,450 mAh battery offers 9.5 hours of talk-time.

4. Intex Aqua Octa

The octa core processors are here and Intex is the first one to launch it  which enables faster functioning. It sports a 6-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. 2 GB RAM makes all apps load in a jiffy without the annoying loading screen. internal storage is 16 GB and microSD card slot also provided for expansion. 2,300 mAh battery is provided to ensure 6 hours back-up. It is preloaded with productivity and multimedia apps. It is a slim design with thickness of 7mm and weighing 180grams. Rear cam is 13MP and front is 5MP. Cost is Rs 20,000/-.

5. Intex Aqua Curve.

A budget phone price at Rs 12,500/- it sports a curved 5 inch display of 960 x 540 pixels. Its a quad core processor at 1.3 Ghz with 1 GB RAM. The internal storage is 4 GB of which 1.7GB is made available for the user. The microSD card supports upto 32GB. The front cam is 2MP and rear is 8MP. The battery is a letdown loaded with 2,000mAh it lasts only a mere 4.5 hrs. Some advanced features have been included like the air gesture, flip to silent and auto call recording.

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The next Android-Android 5.0 release dates, news and rumours

After the appearance of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich(ICS) in late 2011, followed by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean in July 2012. Then two more flavours or updates r Jelly Bean were to follow in the form of  Android 4.2 in Nov 2012 and then Android 4.3 during July 2013. Then on 31 October 2013,  Google officially revealed its minor update, Android 4.4 Kitkat, which has cleared the road for Android 5.0

The time period that it will be out is considered to be Mid of 2014
The dessert themed code name of Android version in the line next is the Alphabet L is everyone's guess at this stage but what will be the name is a little bit mind boggling, it can be Lemon Cheesecake or Lemon Meringue Pie.

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Using Apps even before they debut in Google Play Store

Interested in trying out apps before they are out for the public to use them in the Android market. Being first in seeing what is there in the new releases is a voracious appetite in the the current environment of smartphones. Alternatively, what if you just have to be first in the queue and learn what new apps are about to be unleashed onto the Android market. You can go before the original date of release and become a beta tester.

First utilising an early version and being able to test it in the real world improves the robustness of the app as it faces possibly unknown situations that can lead it to fail in programming terms. Real life is a tough testing environment and it allows the app to face new conditions, different phone types, it brings it into contact with unique settings setups and app configurations and also allows beta testers to keep in contact with the developer- helping to get to know why the particular feature is not implemented or why this app is not able to do this when it can do it.

Google to that end has tried to encourage more development by providing a supportive testing environment, opening up facilities in Google+ for beta testing. As tweaks are initiated and improvements are made, then the app can become more accessible with a higher percentage of testers allowed to see it an trial it, until it finally goes public.

When you are on the Google Play website and you find the app that you would like to get to know better and help develop further, enter their page and scroll down to the base of the page to the 'Additional Information' section. If you have past experience of being a beta tester you can test the app and provide information to the developer that things that could be improved. This and other similar ploys will help to get  yourself noticed and possible selected. Another way is to keep a look out for news of beta testing programs and invitations to join. Some of these can be found with the internet news media but others can be found if you hang around the Google+ communities.
Just search for Google+, create your profile and, when you're done, click on the communities option on your home page. When you're in, enter the word 'beta' in the search bar and a whole host of beta programmes will appear, allow you to investigate and possibly join.

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