technology updates

Nokia X hits 1 million pre-orders in China

Numbers suggest that the budget Android handset is going to be a big hit.

Officially launched at the Mobile World Congress in February, Nokia's Nokia X phones use a ‘forked' version of the Android operating system rather than the Windows Phone operating system of its new owner, Microsoft.

However, rather than plugging into Google's cloud services, such as the Google Play app store and Google search, the operating system instead points users to Nokia Here Maps and Microsoft's Bing search engine as well as a special Nokia developed app store.

Using Android was seen as a very controversial choice but Android allows Nokia to use cheaper hardware components to build the phone which in turn means a more affordable handset. The cheapest Nokia X phone is just €89.

And, according to Nokia's Weibo account, the gamble is paying off. The company has already received 1 million pre-orders for the handset in China, 11 days before it officially goes on sale.

Designed to win customers in emerging markets over to the Windows ecosystem, the handset is already on sale in Malaysia and will officially hit the shelves in India on Saturday. However, Nokia hasn't provided any details about pre-orders or demand for either country.

Twitter's 'longest outage' since IPO lasts 45 minute

Microblogging site Twitter reportedly went down for about 45 minutes, affecting many users on both web and mobile version.

The 140-character site posted a statement on its blog noting the cause and timing of the outage, saying that the service was unavailable for many users starting 11.01a.m, but was fully recovered by 11.47a.m.

According to Cnet, the company revealed that the outage was due to an unexpected complication experienced during a planned deploy in one of their core services.

This had been Twitter's longest outage since its uber-hot 2013 IPO.

The report said that in its IPO paperwork, Twitter acknowledged its history of outages dating back to the 'fail whale' days, but the service has since improved its stability as its user base and tweet volume has soared.

'Optimised' iOS 7.1 update for iPhone4 not fast as iOS 6

Apple officially rolled out its iOS 7.1 update for its devices, however, the updated OS reportedly isn't much in favour of the old iPhone 4.

The updated OS included a number of changes and improvements for latest devices, including an 'optimised' version for iPhone 4.

Although, the updated OS significantly improved the performance of the phone, it still didn't match up to iOS 6 levels, Mashable reports.

After a thorough examination of how the update runs on the iPhone 4, it was found that in general, apps run noticeably faster on the iPhone 4 after updating to iOS 7.1, but there's still a significant gap when compared with iOS 6.1.3.

It was found that if the Camera app takes 2.63 seconds to load in iOS 7.0, it took just 2.2 seconds in iOS 7.1, but that was still slower than iOS 6.1.3, which loads it in 1.9 seconds.

The report said that most of the apps ran faster in the older OS, except for Messages, whose launch time got stretched from 1.57 to 2.8 seconds upon the jump to iOS 7, but is now down to 1.5 seconds.

The performance improvements in iOS 7.1 likely represent the last set of changes that would bring any meaningful enhancement for iPhone 4 users, as the phone is almost four years old, and Apple typically ends support for the most recent version of iOS after a multi-year period, the report added.

HeadWatch, the smartwatch that clips to your ear

Pitched somewhere between a Bluetooth hands-free headset and a wrist-worn notification and apps center, the device has just hit Indiegogo looking to secure $300,000 in funding.

Its Portuguese creators claim that the device offers a totally new way of interacting with a smartphone, but anyone who attended the Mobile World Congress in February will note the similarities between the HeadWatch and the Huawei TalkBand B1.

The TalkBand is essentially a fitness tracker band that has a pull-out earpiece for making phone calls. And while the HeadWatch offers the same functionality, it does so in a different way.

The whole watch face detaches from the strap and can be clipped on to the ear in order to make hands-free calls and when worn as a standard smartwatch, it is focused on being a second screen for a smartphone, rather than competing with the likes of the Jawbone Up and Nike Fuel Band.

It has a color touchscreen and uses Android as an operating system but should also pair with the iPhone. Embedded colored light strips above and below the watch face illuminate when there's a new notification and, rather than being packed with motion and tracking sensors, the device only offers a temperature sensor and accelerometer, but should be water resistant to a depth of at least one meter.

The HeadWatch is attempting to address an issue that the current crop of smartwatches face. How can they be used discreetly for making and receiving voice calls? The majority of devices with this functionality already on the market ether require the user to talk into them like Dick Tracy or, like Qualcomm's Toq, to pair the device with a Bluetooth earpiece, meaning that users need to carry two gadgets plus a smartphone with them wherever they go. Not the ideal situation.

Whether or not the HeadWatch's novel solution to this problem will entice potential backers remains to be seen -- $300,000 is a large amount to source via a crowd-funding site and, according to the company's projected timeline, it doesn't expect to ship finished devices to its initial backers until mid-2015. This suggests that the development and testing process still has some way to go. Still, it is offering early-bird backers the chance to snap one up for $169 (plus $15 in shipping charges) rather than $199.

New Chinese phone can last two weeks on single charge

For those tired of finding charging points for their smartphone every place they visit, a Chinese company has reportedly unveiled an e-reader cum smartphone that can last for up to two weeks on a single charge.

China-based Onyx has unveiled its MIDIA InkPhone, the 4.3-inch device, which boasts of better battery life, compared to any other modern day hi-end smartphone.

However, the smart device is sans camera, is low on speed with a relatively low-end Rockchip CPU with a small amount of RAM and 4GB of storage, Fox News reports.

The Android-powered Inkphone also carries a 1,800-mAh battery, which is small compared to the likes of today's smartphones such as the Galaxy S5 and the HTC One, but it also requires less energy to run.

With minimal specs, the device has its reader app with access to a proprietary e-book store, and app downloads form Google or Amazon isn't possible without loading the app stores first.

The device would be available via Amazon.com in April for approximately 195 dollars.

Azoi launches health monitoring device embedded in mobile case

US-based technology start-up Azoi launched a health monitoring device embedded within a mobile case, which measures vitals such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and electrocardiography (ECG), etc.

The device, will be available in India on pre-order through its website starting August for Rs. 12,350.

"We are targetting the health conscious people like those nearing 30s or above who want to track their health on a regular basis," Azoi Co-founder and Head of Strategy Ami Karnik told reporters here.

She said though its not a clinical device but the accuracy levels are pretty good.

The device can measure six key vitals including heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, ECG, blood oxygenation and lung functions.

It will be available on iOS 6, iOS 7 and Android Kit Kat operating system.

The device, which fits in a mobile case, can be used to track the multiple profiles. It will be available in 35 countries in a staggered manner starting August.

India second in list of countries facing cyber attack on mobiles

India is the second-most prone to cyber attacks on mobile devices, with a major chunk of these intrusions designed for phishing and stealing banking details, a report by security software maker Kaspersky said.

Russian cyber security solutions firm Kaspersky Lab said Russia topped the list of attacks on mobile phones, accounting for 40.34 per cent of all attacked unique users.

India, with 7.9% of attacks, stood at the second spot, followed by Vietnam (3.96%), Ukraine (3.84%) and the UK (3.42%).

Other countries in the top 10 included Germany (3.2%), Kazakhstan (2.88%), the US (2.13%), Malaysia (2.12%) and Iran (2.01%).

During 2013, nearly 100,000 new malicious programs for mobile devices were detected, more than double the previous year's figure of 40,059 samples, Kaspersky said.

"About 98.1% of all mobile malware detected in 2013 targeted Android devices," it added.

The report also found that about four million malicious applications were used by cybercriminals to distribute mobile malware for Android-based devices.

"The majority of mobile malware in 2013 targeted users money. The number of mobile malware modifications designed for phishing, the theft of bank card information and money from bank accounts increased by a factor of almost 20," it said.

Kaspersky added that it had blocked about 2,500 attempted infections by banking Trojans.

"Banking Trojans are by far the most dangerous type of mobile malware for users. Some of those detected in 2013 were more geared towards stealing money from bank accounts rather than from a victim's mobile account, which significantly increases the potential losses," it said.

Vulnerabilities in the Android OS architecture and its growing popularity were important factors behind the increase in Android banking Trojans in 2013.

Cybercriminals appear to have become obsessed with this method of making money. At the beginning of the year there were just 64 known banking Trojans, but by the end of 2013 Kaspersky Lab's collection contained 1,321 unique samples.

"Today, the majority of banking Trojan attacks target users in Russia and the CIS. However, that is unlikely to last for long: given the cybercriminals' keen interest in user bank accounts, the activity of mobile banking Trojans is expected to grow in other countries in 2014," Kaspersky Lab Virus Analyst Victor Chebyshev said.