From Samsung’s marketing strategy with the record-breaking Oscar selfie to privacy groups asking to halt the Facebook-WhatsApp deal, a lot has happened in the tech space in the past week. For all those who missed on their daily dose of tech, here’s a quick recap of the top news this week.
Ellen Degeneres’ star-studded Oscar selfie: Most retweeted post ever disrupts Twitter
What can bring Twitter down? It seems all it takes is a selfie with some of the biggest movie stars in the world tightly packed together. That’s what happened at the Oscars ceremony earlier this week when Ellen DeGeneres encouraged about ten movie stars to pose for a big group selfie.
Women’s Day 2014: Google celebrates with a globe-trotting video doodle
Google is celebrating the International Women’s Day with a new video doodle. The doodle shows several ‘animated’ distaffs, the women’s gender symbol around a bigger distaff, the second ‘O’ in Google. Click on the play button inside the bigger distaff and here’s what plays.
Google celebrates International Women’s Day
Micromax launches Canvas Knight with octa-core CPU and 16MP camera for Rs 19,999
Eralier this week, Micromax launched its first octa-core smartphone, the Canvas Knight A350. The new flagship is available at a price of Rs 19,999 and in three colours – black, white and gold, and black and gold. At the moment, only the full black version is available on the official site.
Yahoo rolls out redesigned homepage in India, featuring infinite scrolling
Yahoo has completely revamped its Yahoo India homepage. Along with India, the all-new homepage has been rolled out in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, while it has been live in the US for almost a year now.
Apple CarPlay brings iOS to luxury cars: Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Honda onboard
As expected, Apple finally released CarPlay, a new software platform that will give iPhone users unprecedented integration with iOS in automobiles. With CarPlay, users will have a new way to make calls and reply to messages within the car, use Apple Maps for navigation, and listen to music through their iTunes account.
The much-rumoured CarPlay is now official
Samsung uses Oscars stage to showcase Galaxy S5′s heart rate monitor
In case you had somehow missed the biggest smartphone announcement of 2014, Samsung’s Galaxy S5 is about to launch soon. And the company has made sure the S5 gets the attention at the right time by showcasing the first TV spot for the phone during the 86th Academy Awards in Los Angeles today morning.
Google Now Launcher and Play Store work on Nokia X after root access
The Nokia X platform has now been rooted and developers have managed to install the Google Play Services framework as well as the Play Store on the phone. Root access gives users system-level privileges, which allows installation of custom ROMs and aftermarket system software.
Critical VPN security flaw detected in Android Jelly Bean, KitKat versions: Cert-In
Cert-In, that has been actively issuing security alerts lately, detected a critical flaw in the virtual private network (VPN) offered by Android operating systems in the Indian cyberspace. The flaw reportedly leads to hijacking of personal data of users.
India’s Supreme Court to resume hearing of Nokia appeal on March 11
India’s Supreme Court will resume hearing on March 11 Nokia’s appeal against a lower court ruling over transferring ownership of its local mobile phones plant which is the subject of a tax dispute to Microsoft.
US judge spurns Apple’s appeal to ban patent-infringing Samsung Galaxy devices
US judge Lucy Koh said Apple has failed to prove that the South Korean company’s patent infringement caused irreparable harm to Apple sales. She denied Apple’s request to permanently ban Samsung from selling 23 older-model smartphones and tablets that a jury found infringed on patents held by the maker of iPhones and iPads.
Patent war continues
Google Play Store turns two, celebrates birthday with special offers on games, books and more
Google had rebranded the Android Market to Google Play in 2012, though Android’s app and content storefront has been in existence since 2008. The Play Store is celebrating its second birthday and there are discounts and special offers on games, books, etc.
62 percent of 195.4 million tablets sold in 2013 ran Android; Apple remains top vendor
A new report by Gartner on global tablet sales has underscored the Android’s dominance in the space, but in good news for Apple, has named the company as the top vendor. Worldwide sales of tablets to reached 195.4 million units in 2013 which was a 68 percent increase on 2012 sales numbers, Gartner said. According to the report, Android captured 62 percent of the tablet market.
Samsung to ship Galaxy S5 loaded with freebies worth $575
Samsung is trying every trick in the hat to attract users to its latest offering – Galaxy S5. In one such attempt, the company has bundled loads of freebies with the device that are claimed to be worth $575, which amounts to approximately Rs 35,500.
Facebook Election Tracker launched to track online discussion of 2014 Lok Sabha polls and candidates
Keeping the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in view, Facebook has launched a new ‘India Election Tracker’ tool, a dashboard that is capable of tracking online mentions of candidates and parties during the election season.
Tracks mentions, offers graphical representation
Indian-American scientist helps build world’s first 3D fingerprint
A team of Michigan State University computer scientists led by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur alum Anil Jain have built the first three-dimensional model of a human fingerprint. This development will not only help today’s fingerprint-matching technology do its job better, but could eventually lead to improvements in security, according to information posted on MSU website.
Google brings indoor maps to India: Explore malls and museums on your Android and iOS device
Google has finally launched indoor maps for India. So now users can virtually browse through and locate specific locations inside venues like malls and museums. The service, available as part of Google Maps, is already available in countries like the US, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
Facebook Messenger finally arrives on Windows Phone Store
The Facebook Messenger version 3.0.12.0 can now be downloaded for free from the Windows Phone Store. With the app, Windows Phone users can view all their messages without the need to open the Facebook app, and also send stickers and photos privately.
Oppo’s next flagship Find 7 may have a jaw-dropping 50MP camera
Oppo has been rather innovative when it comes to smartphone cameras. After making heads turn with its swivel camera design for phones, the company is now all set to break the 41MP barrier set by Nokia 1020. News has it that Oppo’s upcoming Find 7 smartphone will be featuring a massive 50MP snapper.
The swivel camera seen on the Oppo N1
Google updates Gmail app on iPhone: Now sign-in to Maps, YouTube etc through Gmail
Google has released an update for the Gmail app on iPhone which adds some much desired features. The update, which hits the app on iOS 7, will bring pre-fetching of emails, but more importantly acts as a single-point sign-in window to the major Google services available for iOS.
Microsoft plans popup alerts to warn Windows XP users of April 8 deadline
As the Microsoft deadline for the end of Windows XP support on 8 April draws closer, Microsoft has announced that it will start sending pop-ups and warning messages to users reminding them to upgrade to Windows 8.1. Interestingly as this chart shows, Windows XP still has a 29 percent market share worldwide.
Yahoo to stop Facebook, Google sign-ins for its services
The change, which will be rolled out gradually according to a Yahoo spokeswoman, will require users to register for a Yahoo ID in order to use any of the Internet portal’s services. The move marks the latest change to Yahoo by Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, who is striving to spark fresh interest in the company’s Web products and to revive its stagnant revenue.
WhatsApp creators Jan Koum and Brian Acton feature in Forbes’ latest list of billionaires
Marking one of the biggest acquisitions so far, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for a whopping $19 billion last month. While we’ve been hearing the rags to riches tales around its creators Jan Koum and Brian Acton, here’s yet another feather in their cap. The duo has now secured a place in Forbes’ list of imminent billionaires.
Samsung introduces Milk, a free music streaming service
Samsung has unveiled a new free music service for its phones that it touts as a significant improvement from the apps already on the market. The South Korean gadget maker’s Milk Music service, which launched in the US on Friday, includes over 200 stations and 13 million songs. It’s designed to be extremely fast, easy to use and highly customisable.
Privacy groups want to halt Facebook’s WhatsApp acquisition
Privacy advocates have asked US regulators to halt Facebook Inc’s $19 billion acquisition of messaging service WhatsApp until there is a clearer understanding of how the company intends to use the personal data of WhatsApp’s 450 million users. WhatsApp, a service that allows mobile phone users to send each other messages, has had a longstanding commitment to not collect user data for advertising purposes.
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