Google launched its Android One initiative in New Delhi, India.

Android One, one Android

While Android has a dominant grasp of the market, one knock competitors like Apple always mention is that the software's ecosystem is fragmented. Because it's an open platform, meaning anyone can use and adapt it, hardware partners like Samsung have modified it to fit their needs, leaving users and software developers to wade through Android's many iterations.

But the very name Android One -- and Google's rule that hardware partners run stock Android -- seems to suggest the company wants to home in on a more consistent experience. Onstage at I/O, Pichai emphasized that all the software on Android One comes from Google.

GOOGLE LAUNCHED ANDROID ONE IN NEW DELHI TODAY

"Google has been quietly clamping down on OEMs [or hardware manufacturers] from making things too custom," said Melissa Chau, an analyst at IDC, who covers the smartphone market in Asia.Google's main play here, though, is reeling in manufacturers who are using Android, but are not certified for Google Mobile Services, or Google apps like Maps or Search, said Chau. "They want to make sure, if you're buying a $100 phone, you're actually using Google services," she said. "They're trying to clean out all that super fragmented stuff."

The company has also been aiming toward more uniformity with other Android projects. For Android Wear -- a modified version of the operating system tailor-made for wearable devices like smartwatches -- software updates come more directly from Google, instead of first having to be tested by carriers. That's because smartwatches typically must be connected to smartphones, so carriers are not involved. (Though an exception is Samsung's Gear S watch, which has a built-in modem.)

Apps that you can use on an Android phone

Several weeks ago on Twitter I made a few comments. Just some ‘thinking aloud’ kind of tweets.

While going through my timeline, I saw a tweet saying that True Caller, a popular app that gives you the identity of a caller even if the number is not saved in your phone, has partnered with Twitter.

So, I tweeted, “I don’t use True Caller.”

Next, I said that I also don’t use Instagram, one of the most popular apps in the world.

I got several replies and one of them said that if I don’t use these popular apps, then what is it that I use on my phone.

The apps a user likes depends on how he or she uses the smartphone. Is it an entertainment device? Or a communication device? Or portable PC? Or a digital diary?

You can use a smartphone in different ways and hence will have different favourite apps. I mostly use the phone as a communication device or as a portable PC. And here are the most-used apps on my phone — Nexus 5:

Plume For Android: This is the most used app on my phone. I use Twitter a lot. This is something of an occupational hazard considering that as a journalist I deal with information in real time. And currently Twitter is all about real time and information.

Twitter experience on Android is broken. It used to be much better earlier when TweetDeck and Falcon existed. But Twitter bought TweetDeck and killed it. Falcon was killed with an artificial limit on how many users it can serve.

Currently, there is no Twitter app for Android that can meet all my requirements. In particular I want an app that can regularly fetch tweets and store them on the phone, so that even if I browse my timeline for four hours I can start from where I had left. For me only Plume can do this. (For some reason Robird doesn’t work on my phone). But Plume has a limitation of 1,000 tweets. This means it can’t cache more than 1,000 tweets. Yet, this is better than what other apps manage.

In terms of user interface, Plume is an average-looking app. But I can live with that. It is feature-rich and serves my purpose better than any other Android app.

I use a paid version of Plume. But you can also use the free version, which is supported by ads.

SwiftKey: Before Google introduced a new stock keyboard in Ice Cream Sandwich, the Android keyboard used to be terrible. In fact Google’s hardware partners – hey Samsung, I am looking at you – still put terrible keyboards in their phones. These keyboards have poor accuracy of recognizing touch and poor auto correct or prediction.

SwiftKey is an amazing app. In particular, its prediction is fantastic. I have typed 500-word news stories on my phone with SwiftKey without missing the physical keyboard.

Nowadays Google keyboard has improved a lot and it may be good enough for users. But just in case you are not happy with the keyboard on your Android phone, give SwiftKey a try. It is a paid app but is often available at a discount.

ES File Explorer: I grew up tinkering with a computer and belong to the old school. This is the reason I totally love the flexibility that a desktop computer provides. Much of this flexibility is because of the open-file system. You can cut, copy, paste, and modify almost any file in a computer. On mobile phones, it is not possible. But with an app like ES File Explorer, you do get the ability to cut, copy, rename, move, and see details for almost all files that are user accessible. The app has a clean user interface and can also connect to services such as DropBox. This is a free app.

Gmail: OK, this one needs no introduction. Gmail is used on my phone all the time. I don’t use any other email app because Gmail acts as a unified inbox for me. I have also found that the Gmail experience is best on Android. If I was using iPhone or iPad, I might have used some other email app, but on Android, Gmail is almost perfect.

I also used GTalk a lot but then Google killed the clean and easy-to-use GTalk app and replaced it with Hangouts, which is rubbish and probably the worst app Google has ever made. It is bafflingly useless.

Whatsapp: This is a new addition. With GTalk useless after the Hangout update, I needed a new IM messaging app. Facebook messenger was one option but after briefly using both, I found Whatsapp to be slightly better. The UI of Whatsapp can be improved but in terms of functionality, this is an amazing app.

Chrome: While I am a Firefox user on computer, on Android Chrome is really good. It is fast and has a user interface that makes it incredibly simple to use. It is the default browser on my Nexus 5.

Facebook: This one also doesn’t need an introduction. But I use Facebook app only for going through my timeline. I don’t use Facebook Messenger.

CamCard: This is one of those apps that have potential to change the way you work. Basically, the life changing stuff! OK, not really that but CamCard is an incredibly useful app which shows how smartphones are more than a communication tool. This app helps me manage the business cards that I get while meeting people. Earlier, I used to keep business cards in a folio. Then if I wanted to look for a card, I would have to flip through the folio. It is all very time consuming and tedious. Now when I get a new business card, I scan it with CamCard. The app automatically recognizes the information on the card and saves the details. It also saves the image of the card. The scanned information can be directly added to Contacts. Or I can leave it inside CamCard. The scanning also makes cards searchable. With a price of around Rs 650, this is an expensive app. But it is worth the price.

MX Player: On computers we have programs like VLC Player or KM Player, which can handle almost all video formats with ease. On Android, MX Player is similar to VLC Player. It is an incredible app and can handle videos in almost all popular formats. AVI, WMV, FLV, MKV… You don’t have to encode videos on a computer into MP4 format before putting them into your phone. MX Player will recognize and play them in their native format. A lot of video playback depends on the hardware in the phone. But even if the hardware encoding is lacking in a phone, MX Player will use software-based encoder to play a video. It doesn’t always succeed in this case, but yet it is better than nothing. I use the free version of MX Player.

AnyDo and Cal: The first one is a to-do list app while the second one is a calendar. Both are incredibly simple and joyful to use. I often list the stuff I need to do in AnyDo. Because it seamlessly syncs with Cal, the tasks are automatically added to the calendar. Cal connects to Google calendar. So I can directly add an event or task to it from the Gmail. Cal also hooks into Facebook and fetches the information on birthdays of my contacts. All in all, AnyDo and Cal make for a nice little package. AnyDo and Cal are free apps.

DOTS: There was a time, when I used to play Angry Birds almost all the time. But now when I am in mood for some casual gaming, I play DOTS. The game has a fresh and playful approach – the bouncy dots are amazing. It is also very simple to play and yet is challenging enough to keep a person hooked. DOTS is a free game.

GT Racing 2: This is the game I play when I am looking for little bit more thrills than what DOTS can provide. Racing games work very well on smartphones and tablets – easy controls – and GT Racing 2 takes full advantage of it. It is a game with gorgeous graphics and fun gameplay. It is not as explosive as Asphalt 8 but I like the closer-to-reality feel it offers.

Keep: While there are many note-taking apps, the one that I use is Google Keep. The reason: It is simple to use, even though not as feature rich as Evernote or some other apps out there. This is a free app.

Pocket: Every day I come across articles on the web that I want to read but don’t have time. So I save them in Pocket. This also means that while I discover most of my content on my phone, I read most of the stuff on iPad. The pocket app is cross-platform, which means I save an article in the app on my phone but then read it on the iPad because reading, especially long articles, is a much better experience on a tablet. Pocket is a free app.

Smart Voice Recorder: This is an app I have to use. As a journalist, I have to record interviews and conversations all the time. Smart Voice Recorder helps me do that.

Tiny Flashlight: Well, everyone uses a flashlight aka torch app. After trying several, this one created by Nikolay Ananiev is what I like most.

Two apps I don’t use anymore: Earlier, I was using Runkeeper, an app that tracks a user while walking or running to measure the pace and distance, and Pedometer Pro, an app that counts the steps of a user while he is walking. Both are fantastic apps if you want to track your runs or walks. But around a month ago I bought FitBit force, a fitness band which does the same thing. So, I don’t use these two apps anymore.

These are most used apps on my phone currently. There are some more that are installed on my phone, but they are not used frequently.

What are your favourite apps? Let us know in comments.

Top 8 affordable Quad-Core tablets compared

The defining benchmark of a Post PC era is that tablets are becoming hugely popular and are giving a stiff competition to laptops and ultrabooks. And why not? They are much more portable and offer almost all the features and capabilities one can get on a laptop. Most modern-day tablets are easily as powerful (if not more) as two-three year old laptops.

The ‘slate’ has been prevalent for quite a few years but the modern age tablet gained popularity and traction in the year 2010. In our opinion, the credit goes to Apple for shaping the tablet market when it released the first iPad in 2010 and pushed tablet segment into the mainstream consumer market. The company also brought in capacitive touchscreens to the tablet category which meant that users could just tap away with their fingers without having to rely on a stylus pen. A number of manufacturers followed Apple’s move and today every hardware-based technology company operating in the consumer space has a tablet to offer.

SAMSUNG GALAXY 10.1"

According to the International Data Corp. (IDC) the year 2013 saw a rise of 50.6% in tablet sales with the worldwide tablet shipments totalling to 217.1 million, an increase from 144.2 million in 2012. For the Indian market, researchers have predicted that the period of 2013- 2014 will see a boost of 50% in the sales on tablets. These numbers are actually huge and are a big threat for laptop makers as the tablet has been marginalizing PCs and laptops for quite some time.

A large chunk of the total number of tablets in the market is occupied by Android as it has become the dominating platform in the mobile device industry purely by number of devices adopting it. Apart from Android one can even get their hands on a Windows 8.1 running tablet under a budget of `25,000 which provides the Modern UI, as well as proper desktop mode just like a PC. Today, manufacturers like Apple and Samsung offer tablets in a premium range but a large portion of consumers in the Indian market opt for more affordable tablets to fit their budgets.

While we are on the subject, the budget category of tablets has widened a lot and with Indian brands bringing in a mix of their own products, there has been an increase in variety as well. If we look back to 2013, getting your hands on a powerful tablet meant shelling out a lot of money. But times have changed and one can easily get a tablet running on a quad-core processor with plenty of features under a budget of Rs 20,000 without breaking a sweat.

For this shootout we have picked tablets from well-known companies and also some indigenous brands which provide some competitive features. The focus here is on tablets selling around `25,000 which attracts the majority of the consumers. We have included eight Android tablets namely the Dell Venue 7 and Venue 8, iBerry Auxus CoreX8, iBall Slide 3G Q1035, Micromax Canvas Tab, Google Nexus 7 (2013), MTV Slash 4X and Simmtronics XPad Turbo. We have also included two Windows 8.1 tablets one from Dell and one from Acer.

THE PLATFORMS

Android had stepped into the tablet game by releasing a different version altogether (3.0 Honeycomb) which was specifically designed for tablets. It did not gain a lot of popularity back then, so Google scrapped it off and made a unified version (4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich) that would run both on smartphones and tablets. Today the platform is on the verge of becoming the most selling tablet operating system and the numbers are just going stronger by the day. Almost all of the Android tablets that we have tested run on Android 4.2 and the only tablet with the latest KitKat update was the Nexus 7.

Hopefully manufacturers will be announcing some new tablet this year with Google’s latest 4.4.2 update. With almost 2 million apps available on the Google Play store, Android tablets are poised to take over the industry. When Microsoft had announced that Windows 8 will feature an app ecosystem on top of the traditional desktop layout, it seemed logical that the OS would be ported to tablet devices. The good part is that one can get a full-fledged desktop/laptop experience but the bad part is that using its touchscreen on the desktop mode is a real pain. The tiled UI is similar to what we have seen on Windows Phone devices and the apps work in a similar fashion. With the app development steadily going stronger, Windows 8.1 tablets could soon gain a decent market share.

HTC One Windows Phone Leaks in Press Render, Shows Premium Design

Although we got many leaks regarding the upcoming Windows Phone handset from HTC, the alleged W8, there were few photos showing the smartphone in all its beauty.

HTC One W8 is expected to be officially unveiled on August 19, probably along with other products from the Taiwanese company. Given the fact that we're so close to the official announcement, the flow of leaks seems to get bigger and bigger.

Anyway, it looks like the folks over at Neowin have just published the first clear press render of the back side HTC One W8, which, no surprise here, bears Verizon Wireless' logo on it.

While this doesn't mean that the HTC One W8 won't be available internationally, there's a high chance that this will be exclusively available in the United States through Verizon Wireless.

According to latest rumors, the One W8 will have the same hardware configuration as its Android counterpart, the One M8. Obviously, the former will ship with Windows Phone 8.1 operating system out of the box, instead of Android OS.

We reported a few days ago that the One W8 may also come with the same open bootloader of the One M8, which means that owners will theoretically flash Android OS on it, while One M8 users may install Windows Phone 8.1 on their smartphones.

However, these are just speculations that are likely to increase the hype around HTC's next Windows Phone flagship smartphone, the W8. 

Considering that Windows Phone handsets are always cheaper than their Android counterparts even though they offer the same hardware configuration, there will be lots of Google OS fans who would want to purchase a cheaper Windows Phone and install Android on it.

Which is why we believe there's only a slim chance for HTC to allow the One W8 owners to install Android OS on their devices. Anyway, let's see what other features the Windows Phone handset has to offer.

First of all, HTC One W8 is expected to come equipped with a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor inside, an Adreno 330 graphics processing unit, and 2GB of RAM.

In addition, the smartphone will sport a 5-inch Super LCD3 capacitive touchscreen display that supports full HD (1080p) resolution and features Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coating.

On the back, the One W8 is rumored to boast an UltraPixel camera with autofocus, dual-tone LED flash, and video recording, while on the front there will be an impressive 5-megapixel camera for selfies and video calls.

As shown in the pictures, the smartphone will pack dual front speakers, as well as HTC BoomSound audio technology. There will be 32GB of storage inside the One W8, but users will also be able to further expand storage up to 128GB via microSD card slot.

The first round Android Wear: MOTO 360

The Moto 360 -- which holds the distinction of being the first circular Android Wear timepiece -- is available in the US starting September 5 for $250. It will come to other parts of the world later this year (local pricing has yet to be determined).

MOTO 360

It's been a long time coming. Despite its end of summer launch window, the Moto's curved stylings were enough to overshadow the first pair of Android Wear watches, the squared off, uninspired, cheap-looking LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. In the meantime, though, a second wave of Android Wear watches has already begun jockeying for attention (and disposable income).

DIFFERENT DIALS OF MOTO 360

But those new models are still over the horizon. The 360 is here now. But was it worth the wait?

I finally have one on my wrist, and have had a chance to start playing around with it. It's definitely an eye-catcher, but not entirely as exciting as it once was on paper.

FEATURES 

The Moto 360 is the first round Android Wear smartwatch. Others will come, including the LG G Watch R, but this is the first you can buy. At $250 in the US (it'll arrive in other countries later this year), it's $30 more than the original LG G Watch, and $50 more than the Samsung Gear Live.

It has a look that definitely feels premium: everything about the Moto 360 looks clean and well-made: polished steel, a thin watchband that tucks underneath, and a beautiful set of specially-designed software watch faces.

The Moto 360 has a few hardware features that could set it apart besides design: it has inductive charging, which works without any dongle. Yes, you still need the included charging dock to drop the watch into, which still saddles you with an accessory. Still, it's a lot nicer than most clip-on charging accessories.

There's also an optical heart rate monitor on the watch's backside, like Samsung's smartwatches have. Motorola's is differently engineered, and also has different software: a beautiful round dial shows not only your heart rate, but your activity intensity, estimated by heart rate. The app will track how many targeted active minutes a day that you exercise, with a goal of 30 moderate activity minutes five days a week.

The Moto 360 leans heavily on voice commands, like all Android Wear watches, but Motorola promises an extra dash of natural language processing and noise-cancelling microphone excellence on the Moto 360. The Moto 360 understands what I say, but in noisy places it might have an edge on the competition.

SIZE

The Moto 360's 1.56-inch-diameter round display is big, bold, and feels a lot larger than a square display. It has a 320x290 resolution, effectively, at 205ppi. Actually, it's not fully round: there's a bit of a black bar on the bottom, perhaps a consequence of Motorola going for such a thin bezel that a custom round display needed to be crafted. That bit of black ruins the effect a bit, and mars the look of Motorola's pre-installed beautiful round watch faces. In a way, it shatters some of the illusion that the watch is trying to create when it's in watch mode. It's a shame, because every other part of the Moto 360's screen, and its really thin bezel, is really impressive to behold.

HP Omni 10 review: A tablet for working men

Over four years after Apple introduced iPad - and dazzled the world - tablets remain a work in the progress. iPad is more or less amazing at what it does. But at the same time, it is a device that has limited appeal, especially in the developing countries where people don't want to carry more than one or two devices at a time, because of what it can't do. For most people it doesn't replace a laptop. People who carry an iPad also carry a laptop with them. Usually.

Microsoft, which realised the disrupting power of tablets late, understands this. Windows 8, launched in 2012, was an attempt to combine the power of PC into the convenience and appeal of a tablet. It didn't succeed. But Microsoft and its hardware partners haven't given up. The company has worked on improving Windows 8 while its partners have polished the hardware that is supposed to replace the tablet-laptop combo with one device.
Omni 10, a tablet by HP, is one such device. Powered by Windows 8.1 (upgradable to Windows 8.1 Update 1 for free), Omni 10 promises consumers full Windows functionality in a form factor that offers the ease and convenience of a tablet. Does it succeed? Let's find out...

Build quality, screen and camera
Compared to some other Windows tablets - Microsoft Surface is one example - Omni 10 is a budget device. But HP has managed to strike a good balance between keeping the price low and opting for premium build material. The shell of Omni 10 is made of plastic that has soft rubber coating. The tablet has a tried-and-tested rectangular design with rounded edges, which makes it easy to hold. The whole design is very minimalistic. On the back, there is a shiny engraved HP logo and a small camera slot. On the left, there is a 3.5mm jack for headphones. On the right, there is a volume rocker that sits flushed with shell of the tablet. This too adds to the minimalist design.



The power button is on the top right. The tablet has stereo speakers, which are very loud for their size but the quality of sound is nothing special. The speaker grills are on the bottom side along with a micro HDMI port, a micro USB port and a covered micro SD card slot.
The ports and buttons are well disguised and that gives the tablet a design that looks clean and seamless.

Omni 10 has a 10-inch screen, covered by tough (Gorilla Glass 3) glass. The screen has a resolution of 1200 X 1980 pixels. It is not among the best screens we have seen in a tablet but it gets the job done. Colours look punchy on Omni 10 and contrast is good. The brightness is on the lower side, but is adequate unless you are standing under the sun.

Compared to the screen in iPad Air, Omni 10 doesn't look that good. The iPad screen is sharper, has better viewing angles and shows punchier colours. But compared to screens that you will get in a similarly priced laptop or a Windows tablet, HP Omni 10 does a very good job. The Omni 10 screen won't dazzle you but whether you are browsing the photos you snapped during your latest holidays or reading a book on it, it will look pleasant to you.



The tablet has two cameras. Both are passable. The 8MP primary camera shoots images that lack contrast. Though the level of detail it captures is decent and focus is usually sharp. If you are using Omni 10 for taking photos - we don't recommend it because it is a large tablet and it is little awkward to hold it as a camera - you can click images that are fit to be shared on social media. But just don't expect it to match the images that similarly-priced smartphones can click.

The 2MP camera on the front captures noisy footage, especially indoors where it is likely to be used. But it offers enough clarity to hold video chats.

While it is mostly a good show from HP in Omni 10, we have one complaint: The capacitive home button under the screen is not sensitive to touch. There were instances when we had to tap on it twice or thrice before it registered the touch.



Overall, we like the design and build quality of Omni 10. The quality of plastic used to build the shell of tablet and the use of Gorilla Glass give it a solid feel. Finishing is top notch, buttons don't wobble and due to the rounded edges it is easy to carry and use Omni 10.

Software and performance
Omni 10 runs the full and fat version of Windows. It uses Windows 8.1 and not the Windows RT that some other tablets use. In terms of hardware requirements, the full version of Windows is more demanding than the iOS that powers iPad or Android.
Omni 10 is powered by Intel Atom Z3770 quad-core processor running at 1.46GHz. It uses 2GB DDR3 RAM and 32GB Samsung hard drive - of which around 10GB is available to users.

Atom Z3770 is top of the line processor. In a tablet like Omni 10, it is a necessity too. For most part, Omni 10 offers performance that is very good. A user gets the full Windows experience optimized for touch and with Omni 10 you can do almost everything that you can do on a laptop.

Earlier Windows tablets suffered due to performance issues but Z3770 offers enough speed and power to make the experience better on Omni 10. Web browsing is smooth on Omni 10. And so is working on Word or PowerPoint documents. Demanding games like Asphalt 8 can be played but the gameplay is not entirely smooth and there is a hint of lag.

The biggest strength of Omni 10 is that it runs the full version of Windows. This means you get access to the "desktop" mode as well as the Modern UI mode. This also means that you can install almost any Windows application on it.

In terms of user interface, Windows 8.1 one big advantage over iPad or Android tablets: Full multi-tasking. If you use Omni 10 in desktop mode, you can enjoy the same multitasking that you get on a laptop or computer. Even in modern UI mode, you can snap two applications side by side - the windows are resizable - and work on both of them simultaneously.



But the biggest disadvantage of Omni 10 is also Windows. It is not as elegant or easy to use as an iPad or an Android tablet. If you are familiar with computers and like working on them, you will feel comfortable with Omni 10. But it will not delight you the way an iPad does.

Omni 10 can run almost any Windows app. But the good Windows apps that are optimized for Windows 8.1 and are available through the Windows App store are still not as abundant as iPad specific apps or Android apps. If you are using an iPad or an Android tablet, you will have access to higher quality games and better looking apps compared to what you will get with Omni 10.

In the past, battery life has been an issue with Windows tablets. Omni 10 fares better. It still doesn't offer 15 hours of battery life that the latest iPads or some Android tablets can manage but depending on your use, it is easy to get battery life of around 10 to 11 hours from the device. The fact that Omni 10 is a Wi-Fi only device (it doesn't support cellular connectivity) also helps.

Should you buy it over iPad?
In general, Windows tablets are still not at a stage where we can recommend them over iPad or a good Android tablet. But there are some specific exceptions.

If you are looking to get a Rs 30,000 tablet to browse the web and social media sites, use apps like Gmail, watch movies an play games, we still recommend iPad. But if you want a good portable device that can run some specific Windows apps that you use at work, or offer you a fully-functional file system, Omni 10 is a good option. It is not as good as Surface Pro but then it also costs almost half of what Surface Pro would cost if Microsoft launches it in India.

In a way, with a price of Rs 29,990 Omni 10 is a poor man's Surface Pro. It is fast enough and good enough to be recommended over a Rs 30,000 laptop if you are looking for a portable Windows device. Buy it if you REQUIRE a Windows tablet. Don't buy it if you just want a tablet because in that case iPad Mini/iPad Air or a device like Nexus 7 is a better option.

SAMSUNG Z RUNS ON TIZEN

If you only remember three things about the Samsung Z, make them these: 1) it's the company's first phone to run Samsung's home brew Tizen operating system; 2) it launches first in Russia in Q3; and it looks a lot more like the Android-based Samsung Galaxy S5 flagship phone than you might expect.

Tizen on the Samsung Z

The most important thing about the Samsung phone demoed at the Tizen Developer Conference in San Francisco is the Z's OS and interface. As with its custom TouchWiz layer on top of Android, you get multiple home screens, an app tray, a notifications tab, and widgets. It all just looks a little different.

Also like Android (and others), you'll slide down a shade at the top of the screen to access notifications and system settings like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and power-saving mode. You can also hold down the physical home button to view tabs of your recent apps and slide them away. Also familiar? A long press on the home screen (or tap of the menu button) calls up options to change the wallpaper and add widgets, which Samsung calls "Dynamic Boxes" in Tizen.Samsung has employed a kind of split screen mode that lets you swipe among widget-festooned home screens on the top portion of the screen, while a block of circular icons sits along the bottom. You can tap these shortcuts -- for the dialer, messenger, and browser, for instance -- or slide them up to reach the app tray.

The Z's lock screen layout is also the spitting image of its Android frenemy the Galaxy S5, with the look and placement of its camera icon, the nearly-identical Settings menu, and the camera module, complete with filters like Beauty Face, Dual Shot using the front and rear cameras, HDR, and panorama. Neither the settings menu or camera app has every one of the Galaxy S5's options, but the main functionality and feel is there in spades.

Apps and features

Samsung also carries over a tremendous amount of functionality that we saw built on top of the S5's Android OS to the new Tizen-based Z, including safety assistance, the ultra power-saving mode, and the fingerprint scanner. There's Private Mode, a simple start screen mode, blocking mode, the download booster that utilizes both Wi-Fi and the data network, and split screen multitasking.

You'll also find Samsung's bevy of apps, like the new S Health, S Voice, S Translator, and the WatchOn remote for controlling your TV. Color themes is a new addition that adds a little more visual pep. I wouldn't be surprised if it cropped up in the Galaxy line as well.

HTC IS COMING WITH SMART WATCH NEXT YEAR.

Like LG, Motorola, and Samsung for one of its smartwatches, HTC would base its device on Android Wear, Google's platform for wearable devices. But the company will likely use an altered version of Android Wear that would include different elements and features.
A similar opportunity could arise for HTC on the wearables side. The company also has to solve a few common complaints about smartwatches, including the bulkiness of the devices and the battery life. While Apple offers a design that is slightly slimmer than the competition (it is still a fairly thick watch), the company was mum on battery life on Tuesday.

AFTER MOTO, APPLE AND SAMSUNG HTC IS COMING WITH ANDROID WEAR NEXT YEAR

HTC could use the spark. Once hailed a pioneer in Android -- having built the original Android smartphone in the G1 -- the company has seen its market share evaporate as larger companies such as Samsung muscled it out of the premium smartphone game. Despite winning rave reviews for its metallic body, the HTC One M8 hasn't made a huge dent in the market.

The early 2015 time frame does represent a delay from HTC's previous target of putting out a smartwatch in time for the holidays this year, which Chairwoman Cher Wang laid out in an interview in February.

With the market likely frozen until Apple offers its watch for sale early next year, HTC has a little extra time.

HTC desire 510

The 4.7-inch phone comes encased in polycarbonate plastic in a choice of black, white, grey or a very luxurious midnight blue. The choice of colour may depend on where you buy it, however.The Desire 510 is a Category 4 LTE phone. Cat 4 is one of the fastest current flavours of 4G, but you can only enjoy the extra speed of a Cat 4 device if you live in a country that has a Cat 4 or LTE-Advanced network.

Even if you don't live somewhere covered by LTE-Advanced signal, 4G LTE is still an order of magnitude faster than 3G, and sees you surf the Web, stream video and music and connect with apps much faster. The only caveat is that with that extra speed you will burn through your data allowance (and battery) faster, and as 4G is still relatively new in many countries, that can cost you.

Inside the 510 is a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor with 1GB of RAM. There's 8GB of on-board memory for music, movies, and photos, with a microSD card slot for extra legroom.

While the 4G and processor speed are pretty respectable, the most disappointing specs are the 854x480-pixel screen and the cameras: the main snapper is a 5-megapixel job, with a low-resolution 640x480-pixel camera on the front for blocky video chat.

The 510 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat software, the latest version of Google's operating system. You can download more apps from the Google Play app store, including any apps you've already downloaded if you've had an Android phone before.On top of regular Android is HTC Sense, an interface only found on HTC phones, which adds extra features to the basic Android experience. The home pages also include BlinkFeed, which pulls together news and updates from your social networks to show you what's going on with the world and your friends every time you look at your phone.

Like the  HTC One M8 , HTC's flagship phone, you can check out what's going on with your 510 without opening the case. HTC's DotView case, which costs extra, covers the phone, but with teeny-tiny holes on the front through which you can see the screen, forming a cool dot matrix-style pattern.While at rest, the phone shows a display specially designed to be viewed through the small holes without opening the case. The 510 does not have the smart sensor features of the One M8's DotView case, but it does give you a choice of 18 wallpapers and themes.

We'll meet the HTC Desire 510 next week at annual technology trade show IFA in Berlin, where we'll be on hand to bring you the first photos, videos and hands-on first impressions of this and all the cool new kit heading your way before the end of the year.

Nexus 6 Specs Leak Online

The previously thought to be canceled Nexus 6 has just been spotted online in a benchmark’s database, along with some of its specs. We reported yesterday that the smartphone appeared in GFXBench as Motorola Shamu, but apart from its performance score, no other details on the device were made available.

However, it looks like Dutch blog TechTastic uncovered the specs of the device that’s been listed in GFXBench’s database as Nexus 6, so we now know what to expect from Google’s next flagship smartphone.

For those unaware, Google was previously rumored to have canceled the Nexus lineup of smartphones, and some sources claimed the search giant might have replaced it with the new Silver series.

Soon after these speculations hit the Internet, several Google officials denied that the company had decided to cancel the Nexus lineup and that a new device would be launched, as expected, this fall, along with the next version of Android.

The problem is that we still don’t know which company will manufacture the next Nexus smartphone. Google worked with LG, Samsung and HTC in the past, but now it appears that the search giant is going to pick one of the not-so-successful handset makers.

We’re talking about Motorola, the company purchased by Google and then sold to Lenovo. Even though the US-based handset maker had a rough start this year, according to the latest financial results, Motorola made a lot of money from Moto G and Moto E sales.

Regardless of the reasons, there’s a high chance that Motorola will produce the next Nexus device, which was recently spotted in GFXBench and seems to pack lots of top-tier specs.

First of all, the alleged Nexus 6 has been listed with a 5.2-inch QHD display that supports 1440 x 2560 pixels resolution. At the heart of the flagship smartphone, there’s an incredible quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor clocked at 2.7GHz.

The phone’s powerful CPU is complemented by a no less impressive Adreno 420 graphics processing unit and 3GB of RAM. The smartphone also packs 32GB of internal memory, but only 24GB will be available to use, while the rest will be occupied by the Android L operating system

On the back, the Nexus 6 will boast a 12-megapixel photo snapper with autofocus, LED flash and 4K video recording. In the front, the handset will pack a standard 2-megapixel camera for selfies and video calls.

The Nexus 6 is expected to arrive around the same time Google announces Android L, which means we should expect it this fall.

Sony Xperia Z2

The Sony Xperia Z2 is the latest flagship super-phone from Sony, replacing the Xperia Z1 released last year. The new phone keeps the same aluminium-edged design, sexy glass front and back, Full HD display, quad-core processor and impressive 20.7-megapixel camera. Like its predecessor, it's completely waterproof.

You might wonder, then, exactly what is new on the Z2?

Well, it has a slightly larger 5.2-inch display, a slimmer bezel around the edge, a marginally faster 2.3GHz Qualcomm processor, the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat software and a camera capable of capturing 4K video. Although those are only marginal upgrades, the Z1 was already a smashing piece of kit, and it might be slightly too soon for a full overhaul, given that it was only released in September last year.

It's available to preorder in the UK and wider Europe now for an eye-watering price of £600 (€700). The company is yet to confirm if it will ever get a US release, but I wouldn't get your hopes up -- the Z1 never got a proper release in the States, and the Z1S was announced at CES earlier this year as a US variant of the older phone. It's listed as "coming soon" on Sony's Asia site (with no pricing given), but there's no sign of it yet for Australia.

The Z2's glass panels do make it rather more susceptible to scratches from keys in your pocket, so if you want to keep it looking pristine -- which I imagine you will, given how much you've paid for it -- you should pop it in a case. Like its siblings, the Z2 is completely waterproof, but the waterproof rating has been slightly increased. It's IP55 and IP58 rated which basically means you can completely submerse it in up to 1.5 metres of water for up to 30 minutes at a time.

The 5.2-inch display packs the same 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution as the previous Z1. As the Z2 is marginally bigger, the screen has a slightly lower pixel density -- 423 pixels per inch against the Z1's 440 -- as the same number of pixels are being stretched over a larger area. In reality though, it's not a difference you're ever likely to notice.

The Z2 arrives running the latest version of Google's mobile operating system, Android 4.4.2 KitKat. You'd be right to expect the latest version of software on new launches, but Sony does have a habit of using older Android iterations -- the Z1 Compact launched only recently with the ageing Jelly Bean -- so it's refreshing to find the latest software on board as standard.

Around the back of the phone is the same 20.7-megapixel camera you'll find on both the Z1 and the Z1 Compact. It's an impressive amount of megapixels, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee better pictures. 

The Z2 has a trick up its sleeve in the form of 4K video capture -- that's considerably more than the resolution previously available. I put it against the S5, which can also shoot 4K, and watched the footage back on a 65-inch Panasonic 4K TV.

Moto 360 smartwatch First Impression

The much awaited Android Wear-powered 'timepiece' is finally here and we were among the few to play with it.

Is the Moto 360 the best smartwatch among the current crop? It's difficult to answer that without spending a few days with it but it did make an impression during the few minutes we were able to get our hands on it.

MOTO 360

The first thing that comes to your mind when you see the Moto 360 is that it looks like a real watch. Unlike some of the other smartwatches that we've used, it doesn't look like a miniature wrist smartphone. This is essentially where the Moto 360 leaves the others behind.
                                
While it's not in the league of jewel-adorned, crafted Swiss timepieces, the Moto 360 looks stunning thanks to the stainless steel case and Horween leather strap. The watch is water resistant (IP67) which means it can handle occasional spills and splashes. 
But does it also look good on the wrist? Not quite. The Moto 360 looks oversized, especially on petite wrists. The big dial is overbearing and looks a little odd compared to conventional wrist watches. It is also pretty thick at 11.5mm and heavy at 49gram. The watch has a single crown-like hardware button that brings up the system menu. 

Moto 360 sports a 1.56-inch backlit LCD display with 320x290p screen resolution. The display has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection against scratches. It offers excellent viewing angles and brightness levels, despite being slightly reflective. The different watch-faces come to life, making it look like a real watch.

The one oddity that remains is the black strip at the bottom that prevents the display from being truly circular. It looks awkward at first but you tend to forget about it as you start using the watch.


The Moto 360 is powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP 3 processor and 512MB RAM. It runs Google's Android Wear operating system and has to be connected with smartphones running Android 4.3 or higher via Bluetooth LE. You can access the menu and navigate through the different apps and functions through the touch display or make use of voice commands (the watch has two microphones).

The "Ok Google" command can help you give instructions to the watch to send text messages, set a reminder, check the weather, track your heart rate, open an app control music or ask for directions. The demo unit at the launch venue did not really respond to the commands due to excessive ambient noise and poor internet connectivity. Voice commands work for offline features work even if the watch is not connected to the internet.
Motorola has got a lot of things right with the Moto 360 but we'd want our smartwatch to last longer than just a day. The watch costs $249.99 (Rs 15,000 approximately) in the US and is slated to arrive in India, later this month. We'll have a full review up when we get a chance to use the watch for a few days.

Xolo announces Q510s, a 4-inch budget quad-core smartphone with 1GB RAM

Xolo has introduced a new Android smartphone called the Q510s. Priced at Rs. 6,499, the Xolo Q510 runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The smartphone has been spotted on the company's official website.

The Xolo Q510 is a dual-SIM smartphone featuring a 4-inch display with 480x800 pixels WVGA IPS display. It sports a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and 0.3MP front-facing camera. Camera features include Scene detection & tuning, Face Recognition, Panorama, Geo tagging, Best shot, Smile shot, HDR. The smartphone comes with 8GB of built-in storage, supports expandable storage up to 32GB via microSD.

In terms of connectivity, the Xolo Q510 supports dual-SIM, 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and microUSB. It is powered by a 1500 mAh battery. 

While the Q510 is targeted at the entry-level segment, Xolo's recently launched the Play 8X-1200 smartphone aimed at the gaming enthusiasts. Called the Xolo Play 8X-1200, the smartphone runs Android 4.4 KitKat OS is powered by a 2.0GHz true octa-core processor along with Mali 450 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The smartphone is available for Rs. 19,999.