iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus More Durable Than Samsung Galaxy S5

Apple's new and bigger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are more durable than last year's model and a leading Android phone, a study says.
Apple's iPhone 6, whose screen measures 4.7 inches (11.9 centimeters), did the best across a variety of tests that measures how prone smartphones are to break due to every day accidents, SquareTrade, a company that provides extended protection plans, says.
The iPhone Plus 6, whose screen measures 5.5 inches (14 centimeters), wasn't far behind but lost points because it could slip out of a person's hand since some users may have a hard time gripping its large but slim form, SquareTrade says.
The iPhone 5s (Pictures), which measures 4 inches (10 centimeters) and came out last year, fared better than Samsung Galaxy S5 (Review I Pictures), which measures 5.1 inches (12.95 centimeters). The Samsung phone got poor marks on several tests including the slide test. The more a phone slides, the greater its chance of falling off the edge of a table.
Still, all four of the smartphones tested had a medium risk of breakage and had no drastic differences among them.
"The phones are getting more and more durable," says Ty Shay, chief marketing officer at SquareTrade. "Manufacturers are paying more attention."

SquareTrade examines the phones based on eight factors, including size, weight, grip and the quality of the front and back panels. The company measured how far the phones slide when pushed across a table on their backs and how well they withstand drops from 4 feet (1.2 meters) and being dunked in water for 10 seconds.
SquareTrade says it uses robots to do the testing to ensure consistency, and rates the phones on a 10-point durability scale, with 10 signifying the highest risk. Apple's iPhone 6 scored the best at 4; the iPhone 6 Plus scored a 5; the iPhone 5s a 6; and Samsung Galaxy S5 a 6.5.
Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus passed the slide test, but the iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy's S5 got poor marks in that area. The iPhone 6 Plus was the only one that didn't fare as well when dropped 4 feet (1.2 meters) by the robot. The glass screen survived, but the case separated from the glass. All four phones fared well in the water resistance test.
SquareTrade provided The Associated Press with the results ahead of Monday's announcement.
Aside from larger screens, the new Apple iPhones 6 and 6 Plus announced this month promises faster performance and offers a wireless chip for making credit card payments at stores by holding the phone near the payment terminal. The phones start at $199 with a two-year service contact. The phones went on sale this past week in the U.S. and nine other countries.

Google Unveils Android Wear

Google has announced 'Android Wear,' their effort to bring the Android mobile operating system to wearable devices. Android Wear provides an interface to control other devices through a smartwatch, adds support for Google Now's voice commands, and lets wearables integrate with various apps. Google has made a developer preview available for download immediately. Google's Motorola division concurrently announced a smartwatch that's powered by Android Wear called the Moto 360. LG announced one as well.

Karbonn launches hexa-core powered Titanium Hexa phablet with Android KitKat for Rs 16,900

Even though Karbonn is one of the new hardware partners in India for Windows Phone, the bulk of the company’s revenue is still through Android smartphones. And while we are still awaiting the first Windows Phone device from the company, Karbonn has gone ahead and launched its first smartphone with a hexa-core processor. Called the Titanium Hexa, the phone is priced at Rs 16,900 and will be available in the first week of April.

The hexa-core processor makes it only the second smartphone to have such a CPU. This time around though, it’s MediaTek’s MT6591 1.5Ghz hexa-core CPU. If you recall, Samsuing had used the Exynos 5260 SoC for its Galaxy Note 3 Neo, the first hexa-core smartphone.

Micromax Canvas Turbo mini A200

Micromax’s Canvas Turbo mini A200 entered the Indian market priced at Rs 14,490 with a not-so lucrative specs sheet.

Specs-
The Turbo mini is clearly a stripped down version of the popular Canvas Turbo. Sporting a smaller 4.7-inch display with lower 720p resolution, its pixel density limits to 312 ppi, similar to the Iris Pro 30. The similarities don’t end here; the Turbo mini supports 4GB onboard storage, microSD card slot up to 32GB, 8MP rear snapper and most of the connectivity options. It is slightly lighter than the Iris Pro 30 at 111 grams, but slightly thicker at 7.9 grams. There’s a better-sounding 5MP front camera.

Karbonn’s octa-core Titanium Octane and Octane Plus running KitKat launched for Rs 14,490, Rs 17,990

Joining the octa-core brigade, Karbonn has launched two smartphones using MediaTek’s low-cost octa-core chips. Dubbed the Titanium Octane and the Titanium Octane Plus, they are priced at Rs 14,490 and Rs 17,990 and, will be available in the first week of April.

41 Hidden Siri Features You should Know

41 Hidden Siri Features is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.
Siri is a big part of iOS 7, but many iPhone and iPad owners don’t know everything that the personal assistant is capable of. After using Siri for a few year’s we discovered a collection of hidden Siri features that only come to light when you get past the basics of setting an alarm and making a phone call.
It’s true that Siri is not always reliable thanks to connectivity issues, but when it comes down to it there is a lot that Siri can do on the iPhone and iPad even with the occasional miss.
These hidden Siri features are not locked behind a special code and there is no need to use the iOS 7 jailbreak to unlock them. No, these Siri features are available to everyone on iOS 7, but most users have no clue that these features exist, or how to use them.

Here is a look at 41 hidden Siri features to help you do more.

In this look at 40+ hidden Siri features we’ll dive deep into the personal assistant to show users the lesser known tasks Siri is capable of. While Siri users will surely know a few things on this list already, we expect everyone will learn a few tricks.
We’ll start with a few Siri tricks that users are more likely to know and move into the lesser known.

John Sculley Former Apple CEO to launch smartphone handsets brand in India; to sell mobiles at Rs 12,000 and less

John Sculley, the man who fired Steve Jobs, is targeting India's growing smartphone market by selling handsets at Rs 12,000 and less, starting next month. InflexionPoint, an investment and acquisitions company promoted by Sculley, has hired Ajay Sharma, former head of smartphones at Micromax, to head the Indian operations. Sharma had earlier worked with HTC India.

Sculley, who was the CEO at Apple between 1983 and 1993, will fund the venture, Sharma told ET. The investments will flow into Dragon Technology, a distribution company owned by InflexionPoint in China. It will oversee production and supply chain of smart devices coming into India.

Women's Day: Google reveals most searched 20 Indian women

On the occasion of International Women's Day, Google search trends (for over a period of 2 months

Jan 2014 to Feb 2014) reveals the names of most searched 20 successful Indian women.

These include B-town personalities and politicians among others. Two sports women also make it to the top 20 Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom. Arundhati Roy and Shobha de were also among top 20 women searched on Google. Top 20 searched women:

1. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

2. Vidya Balan

3. Sonia Gandhi

4. Jayalalithaa

5. Saina Nehwal

6. Ekta Kapoor

7. Kiran Bedi

8. Mamata Banerjee

9. Nita Ambani

10. Sushma Swaraj

11. Arundhati Roy

12. Ritu Kumar

13. Shabana Azmi

14. Neeta Lulla

15. Meera Nair

16. Indra Nooyi

17. Mary Kom

18. Shobha de

19. Shikha Sharma

20. Dimple Yadav

Top 20 laptops By Techdailydose - Budget Friendly laptops

Overview

 Choosing the right laptop is even more confusing than ever - so we're here to help with our regularly updated guide to the best laptops.

The release of Windows 8.1 has pulled the OS further towards the touch and tablet future, even if the Start menu has returned. This, along with the performance boost Windows 8.1 offers, is a boon for the vast array of laptop-tablet hybrids now flooding the market.
Apple's range of MacBooks still continue to impress and we've even seen Chromebooks gradually emerge as not only affordable laptops but as fashionable coffee-house companions.
Thankfully, cheap laptops are more powerful and capable than ever before as the likes of ARM, AMD, Intel and Nvidia continue to squeeze and integrate both processor and graphics for optimum performance. This has meant that high-end devices are becoming perfectly good replacements for your desktop computer, able to cope with more intensive programs.
Those after a fast boot up time and a lightweight machine to carry might drool over an Intel Ultrabook, which is essentially a marketing name for a thin and light laptop with an Intel Core processor, but there are also plenty of manufacturers pumping out ultraportable equivalents.
Serious gamers will want a machine tailored to their processing needs, which will still generally means discrete graphics, while those after flexibility might fancy a convertible laptop-tablet hybrid.
Here we look at some of the best laptops from the last six months - those that really excel themselves in our extensive testing processes this year. We've arranged them into categories to help you find the best one to suit your needs.
We also list the current selling prices in the UK, Australia and the US, although in some cases a laptop listed here may not be available in every territory.
All of the machines listed here are laptops. We have also listed the convertible laptop-tablets that fall more on the side of laptop than tablet, and that includes devices, such as Microsoft's Surface Pro.
Similarly, all-in-one touchscreen computers and other desktop PCs are in our PC and Mac desktop reviews page.

Panasonic's latest Toughpad has the strength of 10 smartphones

Panasonic may have bowed out of the consumer smartphone game, but gadgets for businesses are a completely different story. That's why the Japanese company came to Mobile World Congress with a new pair of rugged Toughpad smartphones in tow. You can't mistake them, despite their identical looks, because one runs Android 4.2.2 and the other has Windows Embedded 8 Handheld -- and we just got a chance to see what they're made of.

Samsung unveils Galaxy S5, to go on sale in April 11th in 150 countries

Samsung has just announced that the Galaxy S5 will be available starting April 11th in 150 countries. Over here in the US, it'll be available on Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS and U.S. Cellular. Ma Bell is going one step further, offering up the Gear 2 and the Gear Fit smartwatches as well. If you'd rather go elsewhere for your mobile needs, retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Target and Walmart will have the GS5 plus all three of Samsung's newly announced wearables. As for our friends across the Atlantic, UK providers EE, Three and Vodafone UK have jumped aboard the GS5 bandwagon, as have retailers Phones4u and Carphone Warehouse. Though it hasn't been announced, we expect other carriers such as O2 will support the phone too. No word on pricing just yet, but we expect we'll find that out closer to the phone's April launch date.
The phone has a 16 megapixel camera, sharper than the 13 megapixels in its predecessor. It promises faster auto focus and the ability to blur the foreground or background of an image to emphasize a subject.

LG L70 Android Phone with Android 4.4.2 KitKat – Hands-on Video, Photos & Specs

The LG LIII series Android smartphones were a part of the lineup of devices that were announced by the company at the MWC 2014 event, and one of the decent phones in the budget range from the company, is the LG L70 that comes with the 4.5-inch display, a dual-core processor and a 2100 mAh battery (the other devices were the LG L65 and the LG L40).
The processor that powers the L70 is the MSM8210 / MSM8610 clocking at 1.2 GHz and there is a support by 1GB of RAM. There is a low internal storage, but the user can expand the storage with the MicroSD card. There are two cameras – 8-megapixel rear and 5-megapixel front, with the rear camera having the LED flash support.

The LG L70 runs the Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS, the latest version of Android and it has its own customized interface with the several new features like the KnockCode for the enhanced security while trying to unlock the screen of the device.

First Impressions of LG L70 at MWC 2014
The LG L70 does look like a budget device from LG, but the screen size makes it a little better than the other devices announced by the company at the MWC, and the phone looks pretty neat with the plastic body having a matte black colored back panel while the display doesn’t really impress as it is the WVGA display with the screen resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The LG L70 has a dual-core processor clocking at 1.2 GHz, and the Android OS running in it, surprisingly wasn’t looking anything different from the previous versions of Android, although the About page would show the Android 4.4.2 version running  in it.

Camera wise, there was nothing special looking although LG claims that there is a 8-megapixel rear shooter and a 5-megapixel front one (we found that the 5MP front camera won’t be seen in all the regions, could be limited to Korea), and the quality wasn’t really that good with the front camera, at least for the 5MP that it says.

LG L70 Specifications

Specification	LG L70
Screen size	4.5-inch capacitive touchscreen
Display	WVGA display, 480 x 800 pixels resolution
Processor	1.2 GHz dual-core processor (MSM8210, MSM8610)
RAM	1GB
Storage	4GB
Expandable storage	Yes, with MicroSD card
Rear camera	8-megapixel, LED flash
Front camera	5-megapixel
Battery	2100 mAh
Connectivity	Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS
Special features	Plug and Pop, Knock Code, Clip Tray, Guest Mode

HTC Desire 610 Android device with 4.7" Display & 1.5GB RAM - Specs

Joining HTC's "flagship mid-range" Desire 816 at MWC is this smaller, but similar-looking Desire 610. As the cheaper model of these two LTE phones, many things have been downsized a little here: There's a 4.7-inch 960 x 540 display, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 chip, 1GB of RAM and a fixed 2,040mAh battery. The cameras are also more modest, with the main one sporting an 8-megapixel sensor with f/2.4 aperture, and the front imager featuring a 1.3-megapixel sensor. Both can only handle 720p video recording. On the flip side, the Desire 610 has preserved some of the goodies from its bigger sibling: microSD expansion (but up to 64GB instead of 128GB) on top of the built-in 8GB of space, BoomSound stereo frontal speakers, nano-SIM support and LTE radio for either EMEA or Asia.

BBM coming to Windows Phones this summer

BlackBerry is slowly, but surely covering all its bases in an effort to turn BBM into a cross-platform messaging monster. The quest to return the standard-bearer to its former glory started with iOS and Android, but this summer it'll be coming to Windows Phones as well. According to the Canadian company, it will ship with all the same functionality as its counterparts on other OSes, including stickers and voice. More importantly though, BBM Groups (which allows you to chat with up to 50 people at once) and Channels will be included as BlackBerry works to fight off challenges from the likes of WhatsApp and Hangouts. Sadly those are all the details we have for now, but hopefully Waterloo will lock down a release date sooner, rather than later.

Hands-on with Nokia's X family of Android smartphones

The Nokia X is the company's inaugural Android-based devices -- three of them, in fact -- although it's been tweaked a little bit to fit Microsoft's and Nokia's preferences. The devices are known as the X, X+ (pictured above) and XL (pictured after the break), each of which differed by only a small number of factors; and at a cost of 89 euros ($122) for the X, 99 euros for the X+ and 109 euros for the XL, the family fits roughly in-between the Asha and Lumia series in terms of pricing and functionality. The X will be available immediately in growth markets (sorry, enthusiasts in the US, Korea and Japan, it won't be heading to your neck of the woods through official channels), while the X+ and XL will come later in the second quarter and will come in white, black, cyan, green, red and yellow.

 

Nokia announces the X and X+, its first Android phones Beware Samsung

Nokia is officially launching its very first Android devices, known as the X and the X+, on stage at its annual Mobile World Congress press conference. We were all taken aback by the second (and third) device (since only one leaked), so it's incredible to see Nokia make such a huge foray into enemy territory. The X will have a 4-inch, 840 x 480 IPS screen, 512MB RAM, 4GB of storage expandable storage via microSD slot and 3-megapixel camera, while the X+ sports the same specs but more RAM (768 MB) and an included 4GB microSD card. You won't be getting Google's apps or Play store, however as both handsets will be based on the forked AOSP Android OS. Nokia says that'll have the advantages of the Android ecosystem, but with a "differentiated experience." So far, Here Maps, MixRadio, Skype and Outlook are being featured on the Nokia Store. You can access the Nokia and third party stores using the devices, but not Google Play, obviously. We've heard SwiftKey will be available on the Nokia X range (and for free, too), as will BBM, which is also coming to Windows Phone sometime "this summer."
The new devices are featuring a ported version of FastLane for Asha devices as a sort of skin, to give a similar experience as its other budget handsets. When you swipe across it, it'll bring up a sort of notification bar showing recently used apps, missed calls and texts and other activities. During the demo, Elop showed both the Nokia Store also Yandex, where he pulled down Aero Express, a Russian-flavored app. The X will be available immediately in growth markets (ie, not the US) and run 89 euros. The X+, meanwhile, will run 99 euros but won't arrive until sometime in Q2 this year.

Autoplay video ads coming to Facebook soon

WASHINGTON: Facebook has been reportedly testing an auto play video ad unit, which is now in its final stages and will be released soon.
David Lawenda, head of global marketing solutions at Facebook said that he will be meeting with the movie studios this week to help them see what is possible, adding that they should look at us like every other media platform that they're doing business with.
According to PC World, while the company's march to a mobile-first mindset and delivery has been persistent and widely recognized, Facebook is rising to the video occasion with a more deliberate rollout.
Facebook hired Lawenda, who has more than 25 years of experience in broadcast, cable TV and ad agencies, to oversee Facebook's sales relationships with big brands and agencies domestically.

why is Facebook spending so much money(19 Billlion $) for WhatsApp?

This is the fun part, because every tech pundit thinks they’ve figured out the “real” reason for the acquisition, when in reality everyone’s just making educated guesses.
If there is a “real” answer, it’s probably a combination of several theories, some of which are related. Here’s a sampling:

• Facebook wants the photos. See the above statistics about how more people share photos on WhatsApp than on Facebook. It’s too big of an activity for Facebook not to own, says Sarah Lacy at PandoDaily.
• Facebook is becoming a social media conglomerate. Kara Swisher at Re/Code paints Facebook as a Disney-like media giant. It may not be able to own every popular service, but it can become the dominant player with different tools like Instagram and WhatsApp in its arsenal. Each one does things that the other property can’t.

Google Wants to Protect Your Password with Sound

Google has purchased SlickLogin, a three-person startup out of Tel Aviv, to help bolster the search giant’s two-step authentication efforts.
Today, if you’re looking to fortify your Google account beyond a single password, the two-step authentication process consists of you first logging in with your password, and then entering a second verification code that’s sent to your phone by way of a text message, a phone call or by using Google’s Authenticator app (which basically turns your phone into one of those number-cycling RSA keyfobs).

SlickLogin would ostensibly automate second stage of this verification. Instead of having to wait for a call or a text message or having to fumble around with the Authenticator app, you’d apparently just place your phone next to your computer.
According to the AFP:

The technology involves sending barely audible sounds through computer speakers and then having the users’ smartphones recognize the unique tones and respond in kind. It also reportedly factors in the location of smartphones.

According to the announcement on SlickLogin’s site, “Google was the first company to offer 2-step verification to everyone, for free – and they’re working on some great ideas that will make the internet safer for everyone. We couldn’t be more excited to join their efforts.”
It would be interesting to see one of these “great ideas” consists of Google beefing this up so that it could be used for people who haven’t opted for two-factor authentication — or to make opting for two-factor authentication unnecessary in the first place. Imagine being prompted to enter your password, and just having your phone next to your computer would be enough. Don’t lose your phone, though.
And don’t forget that this all might be a mere stepping stone to bigger things. Google may have sold its Motorola hardware wing to Lenovo, but it kept the Motorola research team. That team is working on a once-daily password pill you’d ingest, the idea being that your body is the ultimate authentication device.
Sound-based login startup joins Google tech chorus [AFP]

Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $19 Billion: Yup, It’s a Deal of Historic Proportions

Facebook is buying WhatsApp, the wildly popular communications app for smartphones that has 450 million users a month. The price it’s paying is $19 billion: $12 billion in Facebook stock, $4 billion in cash and $3 billion in restricted stock units. Even in an era of stunning prices for hot startups, that’s a stunner. (Was it really less than two years ago that the $1 billion Facebook paid for Instagram sounded like an epic price?)
This is by far the biggest tech-related deal since AOL agreed to buy Time Warner in 2000 for $160 billion — a deal that was far more epic, but which involved venerable, highly profitable assets such as TV networks, movie studios, cable-TV systems and (*cough cough*) magazines rather than one really popular app.
WhatsApp was formed in 2009 and is profitable, even though it spurns advertising: After the first year, it charges users a service fee of 99 cents a year. It’s already been disrupting the test-messaging business, historically a cash cow for wireless carriers. But what Facebook is buying is the potential WhatsApp has to grow even further, until it matches or exceeds Facebook’s own scale and impact. (Facebook says it’s going to leave WhatsApp’s brand and management alone, much as it’s done with Instagram.)