Tag Archives: Mobile Phones

LG G4: Five rumored features to beat other Android phones

Cellcom
Cellcom Communications
Cellcom Montreal
Bell Mobile
Fido
Rogers
Telus
Mobile Phones

 

 

The latest LG G3 packs a 5.5-inch screen display, a quad core Snapdragon 801 chipset, an Adreno 330 graphics chip, the latest Android operating system, a 13 MP back camera and a 3000 mAh battery. Buyers can take home the device for $99 with a two-year contract with carriers offering the smartphone.

Meanwhile, it is rumored that the LG G4 will be released in May 2015 just like the LG G3. Will it be better than the current offering from the company?

Below are the five rumored features of LG G4 that will beat other Android smartphones, including its predecessor.

Sapphire screen display

Rumors claim that the forthcoming LG G4 will pack the sturdy sapphire screen display first seen in the new Apple Watch, but was not included in the iPhone 6 handsets. If this particular rumor proves to be true, then the LG G4 will have an edge over other smartphones packing Gorilla Glass 3, which is weaker than the sapphire protector.

64-bit Snapdragon 810

Devices with the forthcoming Snapdragon 810 chipset from Qualcomm will come early next year, and it’s likely that they will start appearing at the CES 2015 in January and continue throughout the year. It is expected that the LG G4 will be one of those devices and will most probably arrive in May. Snapdragon 810 is a 20nm processor to rival Samsung’s Exynos 5433 and Apple’s A8 processors. The upcoming chipset will support both 32- and 64-bit operating systems.

 Adreno 430 GPU

In order to support the Snapdragon 810 and possible inclusion of a screen with higher resolution as well as power hogging features, the LG G4 will most likely equip the handset with an Adreno 430 graphics chipset.

Android 5.0 Lollipop OS

With the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop OS by Google, it is a no-brainer that it will roll out to all Android-based devices. In the lineup are Samsung Galaxy S6, HTC One M9, and LG G4.

20.7 MP back camera

Lastly, latest rumors attest that the LG G4 will come with a 20.7 MP camera and will also feature improved optical image stabilization technology, which is a big improvement from LG G3’s 13-megapixel camera. Moreover, the improved OIS should help the camera take better shots in low-light situations.

New York City Police to Be Equipped With Smartphones and Tablets

Cellcom
Cellcom Communications
Cellcom Montreal
Bell 
Bell Mobility

 

The New York Police Department will begin equipping all of its officers with smartphones and outfitting many police cars with tablet computers in an effort to modernize the nation’s largest police force, the Manhattan district attorney’s office announced on Thursday.

The program, the N.Y.P.D. Mobility Initiative, will distribute 41,000 devices across the department; each of its 35,000 officers will receive a hand-held device, and 6,000 “ruggedized” tablets will be installed in police cars, a statement from the district attorney’s office said.

“We must have 21st-century tools to deal with 21st-century threats,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement, “and this infusion of new resources will arm our officers with the technology and information they need to fight crime and protect the city against terrorism more efficiently and more effectively.”

The initiative, which will cost $160 million over the next three years, is being paid for by forfeitures from a settlement with BNP Paribas, a French bank. The settlement, which required BNP to pay $8.83 billion to the United States for violating financial sanctions, gave $448.7 million to the district attorney’s office and $447 million to New York City. The district attorney’s office will contribute $90 million to the program, and the city will provide the remaining $70 million.

Each device will hold several applications, such as a mobile version of the Domain Awareness System, a computer surveillance system that joins video feeds from thousands of closed-circuit cameras to law enforcement databases, allowing them to track and gather information about criminals and possible terrorists.

The devices will also ensure access to relevant 911 data, including notes by call-takers and information about the location of the call, the statement from the district attorney’s office said. The office is looking into adding GPS features to the devices, it said, which could help in coordinating backup.

The program also anticipates adding the capability to scan fingerprints in the field, sometime next year.

The announcement came weeks after the police department began a pilot program to equip some officers with body cameras, an independent initiative by Commissioner William J. Bratton, which had also been ordered by a federal court as a way to evaluate the effectiveness of cameras in preventing unconstitutional stop-and-frisk tactics.

Though New York has the nation’s largest police force, other forces in major metropolitan areas have already taken steps to update the patrol beat for the digital age. In the Los Angeles Police Department, each of that city’s 21 geographic regions has two social media coordinators, who post to Twitter and Facebook about crime and public safety incidents, a spokesman for the department said.

Los Angeles has also begun to roll out a program, the one upon which the New York initiative was modeled, to outfit officers with body cameras. All officers will receive them over the next year and a half.

There is scant research on the effects of cameras on community policing, but a police spokesman from Los Angeles said, anecdotally, that reviewing footage had already helped solve disputes between officers and members of the community.

The body cameras could provide visual evidence when disputes arise between the police and the public over the unfolding of events. The chorus of voices asking for them has grown, after a summer in which the twin issues of police brutality and police accountability have captured national attention, from Eric Garner’s death on Staten Island to the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Mo.

The statement released by the district attorney’s office emphasized the effects the program would have on fairness in the criminal justice system, and seemed to suggest that the new devices would help ensure that the right people are charged for their crimes.

However, Eugene O’Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former prosecutor in Brooklyn and Queens, said, “I don’t see this as a game changer for prosecution, but I do think it could be transformative to policing,” by providing officers with updated referral information to other city agencies, and access to databases that contain information about prior arrests or active orders of protection.

“The most promising aspect,” he said, “is the potential to standardize justice across the city, making sure all of the officers have access to the same information, which of course helps the criminal justice system.”

 

 

How to Completely Wipe Your BlackBerry 10 Phone

bb_z10_usage_635.jpg

 

If you are reselling your old phone, or just handing it over to a loved one, you want to make sure that all your personal data is completely deleted before you do this. We’ve already described the process in case you’re moving on from an iPhone, Android, orWindows Phone. If you have a BlackBerry 10 phone, this is what you need to know.

microSD card

In case you’re moving to another BlackBerry or an Android handset, then you can just transfer your old microSD card, but if you’re moving to a phone without a microSD card, or to a newer, bigger microSD card, and plan to give the existing one away, then you want to make sure that all the data on the card is deleted first.

First you’ll want to back up all files on the microSD card.

1. On your phone, go to Settings > Storage and Access. Scroll to the bottom, and turn on the switch marked USB Mass Storage. Tap Continue.

2. Connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable.

3. Open My Computer on your PC, or Finder on your Mac.

4. Navigate to the SD card and copy all the files you want to save to your computer.

5. After the copying is done, you can safely eject your phone.

Now, you can erase your memory card.

1. On your phone, go to Settings > Storage and Access. You have to turn off USB Mass Storagefor the next step.

2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Erase SD card. You’ll see a warning message telling you that you’ll lose all the data on the card. According to BlackBerry, this permanently deletes all the contents of the card. Tap OK to continue. You’re given one last warning and have to tap OK again, and then the process may take a few minutes, depending upon the size of your card.

3. Once this is done, all the data on the card is erased but the card cannot be used right away. In case you are handing over the card along with your phone, then you need to format the card. To do this, just tap Format Media Card in the same menu. This is a much quicker process and usually takes just about a minute.

Backing up the data on your phone
Your BlackBerry can be set to use Google accounts – this will back up your contacts and calendar. If you’ve set up Gmail on your phone then this should already be active, and your contacts and calendar data is already backed up to Google’s servers, provided you haven’t changed anything in the last 30 minutes (the default sync interval). If not, this is how you can enable it:

1. Go to Settings > Accounts. Tap Add Account from the bottom of the screen and then tap Email, Calendar and Contacts.

2. On the next page, enter your Gmail address and tap Next. Then enter your password and tap Sign in. This will set up the account. Make sure that all three switches are on

blackerry_sync_details.jpg

You can also back up your messages, call records and other information using theBlackBerry Link software for Windows and Mac. Once that is done, start the software, and connect the phone to your computer using a USB cable.

Once the software is running, all you need to do is sign in with your BlackBerry ID, and the first thing it does is make an automatic backup of all your data. In case the backup doesn’t start automatically, in BlackBerry Link click on Back Up and Restore > Back Up Device. There is no easy way of transferring this data to a non-BlackBerry device, but you can use this in case you are switching to a new BlackBerry phone.

Delete everything
Now that you’ve made a backup, you can safely delete everything on your phone.According to BlackBerry the Security Wipe is meant to permanently delete all data so it can’t be recovered. This operation should not be interrupted and takes around 15 minutes, so you should connect your phone to the charger before wiping it. Here’s what you want to do:

1. First, fully erase the SD card as discussed above or take it out and keep it safely if you plan to use it in your new phone.

2. Next, you have to perform a Security Wipe, which removes all the data and accounts on your phone. Go to Settings > Security and Privacy > Security Wipe.

3. A warning informs you this will delete all the data on the device, all apps and synced accounts. Also, if you had used the encryption settings to encrypt the SD card, it will become completely inaccessible. To go ahead with the wipe, you have to type in blackberry in the text box, and then tapDelete Data.

4. You get one final warning, and you have to tapOK – and then the phone deletes everything. This is a slow process that took around 20 minutes, with multiple restarts. It also took more than half our battery to complete but once this is done, your phone is ready to recycle.

Restoring your files on another phone
If you followed the steps mentioned above in backing up properly, then you should be able to get all your data back without any difficulty at all. For one thing, if you’re continuing to use your old microSD card in your new phone, then your movies, music and photos get transferred automatically.

Otherwise, when you get your new phones, just sign in with the same Google account to carry over your contacts and calendar data, and transfer the files from your computer using the USB cable in the same way that you copied them to the computer, as described above. The same steps should work for most Android phones too.

In case you are switching to an iOS device, you can still sync your Google account to transfer your contacts and calendar, while you can use iTunes to transfer the backed up media files.

If you’re moving to a new BlackBerry, then you should ideally have used the desktop software. When you connected your new phone to the computer, just sign in with the same BlackBerry ID as before and it will automatically recognise the new device and ask if you want to restore your data from the backup. Just keep tapping OK until it’s done. In case the automatic restore doesn’t take place, run BlackBerry Link and go toBack Up and Restore > Restore Device. Select the latest backup file, and clickRestore.

IPhone Demand Provides Apple With Record-Breaking Quarter

Cellcom
Cellcom Communications
Cellcom Montreal
Bell
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobile
Fido

 

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple’s biggest cash cow, the iPhone, is gaining weight.

Sales of iPhones, including the new, big-screen iPhone 6 models released last month, helped carry Apple to a record-breaking quarter and offset slowing sales of one of Apple’s other major products, the iPad, the company announced Monday. Apple sold 39 million iPhones in the quarter that ended Sept. 27, a significant bump from the 33.8 million it sold in the same period last year.

Apple appears to be gorging on consumer demand for its smartphone. The company’s $8.5 billion in net profit for its fiscal fourth quarter was 13.3 percent higher than the same quarter a year ago. Revenue over the quarter was $42.1 billion, up from $37.5 billion in the same period last year.

“Demand for the new iPhones has been staggering,” Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said in a financial earnings call with investors. He added: “I’ve never felt so great after a launch before.”

But impolite as it may be to point out in the middle of such exuberant returns, those numbers — while enviable for most companies — do pose some risk for Apple, which gets about 70 percent of its profits from the iPhone, said Toni Sacconaghi, a financial analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein research.

As with any company increasingly reliant on a single product, should development of that product falter or if competition from companies like Samsung grows even tougher, Apple would be vulnerable.

“Increasingly Apple is the iPhone story,” Mr. Sacconaghi said.

Shares of Apple rose about 1.5 percent to $101.25 in after-hours trading Monday.

Phone sales have steadily grown even though overall sales of smartphones are slowing in developed markets like the United States and parts of Europe. But Apple has aggressively fought that trend. Last year, it for the first time released two new iPhone models instead of just one. Last month, Apple again released two new iPhones, this time with bigger screens.

The larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones drew a strong reaction early. In the first weekend that the new iPhones went on sale in September,Apple sold 10 million of the devices, up from the nine million new iPhones sold last year on their opening weekend.

In addition, Apple has teamed up with phone carriers in important markets, particularly China.

Apple’s quarterly revenue beat Wall Street expectations for $39.9 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters. Apple’s $1.42 a share profit also exceeded analysts’ expectations for $1.31 a share. For Apple’s full fiscal year of 2014, profit was $39.5 billion on revenue of $182.8 billion.

Now for the bad news: The company on Monday said it sold 12.3 million iPads over the quarter, down from 14 million in the same quarter last year. The company’s iPad sales were down in the previous quarter, too.

 

J.P. Gownder, a technology analyst for Forrester Research, said that it appeared tablet makers had not established a steady pattern for how often people upgrade to new tablets. He added that the faster and thinner iPad Air 2, which was announced last week, could give incentive for professional customers to buy a tablet, but an iPad with an even bigger screen would have driven more new demand.

Apple also said it sold 5.5 million Macs over the quarter, a major improvement from the 4.6 million it sold in the same period last year. But the Mac is still small fry compared with the iPhone.

In the earnings call, Mr. Cook said that Apple continued to be very bullish about the iPad’s prospects. He noted that over four years, Apple had sold about 230 million iPads, which was double the number of iPhones it sold over the first four years.

He added that sales of some of Apple’s other products might be eating into iPad sales, and that was not a concern.

“I’m sure some people looked at a Mac and an iPad and decided on the Mac,” Mr. Cook said, “and I’m fine with that, by the way.”

Apple executives are optimistic about the coming holiday quarter. Apple told investors that it expected to make $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion of revenue for its fiscal first quarter next year. That compares with $57.6 billion in revenue in the same quarter one year ago.

The question remains if a brand-new product — the Apple Watch due for release early next year — could one day become a star that rivals the iPhone in terms of sales and profit.

Notably, Apple said in the call that in its future financial reports, the company would include sales numbers for the watch in the “Other” category, along with the Apple TV and iPods — products that have been less successful. That made analysts wonder if Apple had low expectations for the watch.

Mr. Cook said Apple did not form the category based on expectations and acknowledged that he was lumping the watch in with other products for competitive purposes. “I’m not very anxious in reporting a lot of numbers on Apple Watch and giving a lot of detail on it, because our competitors are looking for it,” Mr. Cook said.

 

 

OnePlus One Won’t Have a Windows Phone Version

oneplus one windows phone

 

OnePlus plans to release its OnePlus One smartphone by the end of the year and enter one of the worlds biggest markets. OnePlus One will be available in India from December and according to the company it’ll be rolling out invites for a pre-order scheme very soon.

And Pei’s interview with The Economic Times caused some confusion over the internet lately. The site reported OnePlus is possibly looking for a deal with Microsoft, in order to produce a Windows Phones smartphone.

But they also revealed that it wasn’t clear whether Pei meant there would be a Windows Phone version of the OnePlus One, or the company will build an entirely new device powered by Microsoft’s OS.

After that debatable interview Carl Pei has spoken to The Economic Times again and clarified the misunderstanding. A spokesperson for OnePlus said:

“Carl Pei was speaking to the fact that we are open to choice for our users and had even at one point spoken with Microsoft about perhaps having Windows as a choice for install on the One. We have no plans to make a Windows phone.”

So everything is clear now. OnePlus doesn’t want to get involved with the Windows Phone operating system, at least not for now. But besides the discussion about the Windows Phone, the interview also revealed a couple of other interesting things, especially regarding the OS which will power the future OnePlus devices.

Pei revealed that OnePlus has its own development team working on some improvements and fixes. He also said that the development team are working on a light version of Android and the company may give up from CyanogenMod with the OnePlus Two and other future devices.

Speaking of the India release of the phone, Pei revealed that the 64GB will be available first, and the 16GB version will follow later, probably in the early 2015. OnePlus will also open an office in India, in order to provide valid customer service for the users in the country.

BBC spends more than £200,000 on staff iPhone training

Reuters / Yuya Shino

 

The BBC has reportedly spent 200,000 pounds training its staff to use iPhones, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act. Over three years, 783 employees took part in training courses costing 300 pounds per person.

It was also revealed that over the past two years the BBC has spent 2.5million pounds on state of the art technology for employees. In total, the BBC bought 4,266 iPhones, 427 iPads and 815 MacBooks between January 2012 and October 2013.

In the course of two years, the BBC bought iPhones at a rate of 200 per month.

The spike in tech spending has provoked anger among TV license fee payers. Viewers pay 145.50 pounds a year for a color TV, which is spent on BBC services and programming.

Andrew Sylvester, of the Taxpayers Alliance said: “It’s absolutely incredible that the BBC has run up a bill of this size teaching staff to use mainstream technology.”

He called the spending unnecessary, adding that “school teachers across the country know full well that teenagers can master an iPhone, so professionals should be able to.”

In response to the claims, the BBC revealed that last year’s training bill was 42,000 pounds, which is the lowest ever figure.

According to the BBC’s 2013 Annual Report, the entire training cost of 42,000 pounds accounted for less than 0.5 percent of its total operating budget.

Mark Wray, Head of the BBC’s College of Journalism, refuted claims that the spending was “incredible.”He states that the world is undergoing a “revolution in newsgathering” whereby the use of smartphone technology is providing unprecedented access to breaking news.

He further claims that by spending money on training journalists to maximize the use of their smartphones, they will reduce the cost of journalism in the long run.

“It’s fair and appropriate to ask whether the sizeable sums quoted are providing value for money,” said Wray. “Sadly that’s the part of the story some of our critics don’t want to hear. This form of newsgathering is arguably the cheapest most efficient means currently available.”

Wray noted the hypocrisy of other news outlets criticizing the BBC’s practice. “It’s something that even some of the newspapers which criticized us are doing in order to gather and produce content for their own digital platforms,” he said.