Learn Microsoft Excel. Free Videos Lesson #14

iBall CompBook i360 Is a Laptop With 360-Degree Rotating Display

iBall has launched the CompBook i360 convertible laptop with 360-degree rotatable display in the Indian market. Available in Vogue Soft Gold colour, the new iBall CompBook i360 is powered by Windows 10. 

iBall says the laptop "shall be available at leading retail stores in many places and within a week at all prominent stores across India." The company had aso launched the CompBook Flip-X5 laptop with a 360-degree rotatable touchscreen display in October earlier this year.

The company says that the multi-tasking tools made available with the iBall CompBook i360 laptop will help it find users in students, small-businesses, and even first time users. "With RDS3T (Robust Double Spindle 360-degree Technology), it can convert into four modes: Laptop, Tablet, Stand Mode and Tent Mode," iBall said in its release.

iBall ComBook i360 sports an 11.6-inch HD touchscreen display with support for multi-touch. The new ComBook i360 laptop is powered by a 1.84GHz Intel quad-core processor (unspecified) coupled with 2GB of RAM. It comes with an internal storage of 32GB, which is expandable via microSD card (up to 64GB).

The iBall ComBook i360 360-degree convertible laptop from the company houses a 10000mAh battery that, as per the company's claims, gives an average usage time of up to 7 hours, and video playback time of up to 7 hours. In terms of connectivity options, the iBall CompBook i360 offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (v4.0), HDMI port, and 2 USB ports (1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0)

iBall CompBook i360 features a front camera for video-chatting, dual-speakers, and a 3.5mm jack. As the name suggests, it features a 360-degree rotatable hinge as well.

Commenting on the launch of the iBall CompBook i360, Sandeep Parasrampuria (CEO and Director, iBall), said, " Mr. Sandeep Parasrampuria, Director and CEO of iBall said, "In this era of touch screen devices, our strategic partnership with Microsoft and Intel has created a seamless combination of futuristic design and functionality. The iBall CompBook i360 is by far the most affordable Touch Screen and 360 Convertible laptop in the market. Outfitted with the finest, the i360 powered by Windows 10 will strike the right connect with the dynamic needs of today's first-time aspiring user audience, looking for a touch-based laptop."

Samsung to play Plus card with S8, sport Beast mode and launch late

The next Galaxy smartphone, which may act as the knight in shinning armour for the Korean giant, was expected to launch or at least showcased at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona but now a new date in April is being sought.

Samsung might be going for the kill with the new Galaxy S8 due to its setback with the Note 7. It no longer wants to hurry but take its time and go in for a bulls-eye.

The next Galaxy smartphone, which may act as the knight in shinning armour for the Korean giant, was expected to launch or at least showcased at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona but now a new date in April is being sought. 

Change in Launch Strategy

Experts claim that the delay in the launch is to make sure that all battery issues are resolved unlike Note 7 and also ensure that marketing and communications teams have enough time to bring back confidence about the brand after the fiasco. The time might also be used to harvest some hype about the flagship as well.

The date change has tactical advantages as well, experts said. The push back to April gives Samsung a different tactical angle to take with its press launch. Even if Apple does not release the equivalent of an iPhone SE 2, the Galaxy S8 launch will come a few weeks after all of Samsung’s Android-powered rivals will have shown off the handsets at Mobile World Congress. Samsung’s press launch will be in the enviable position of making the last move with this generation of handsets.

                                                            Beast Mode

Apart from launch strategy, the new phone is expected to come with a ‘Beast’ mode. Samsung, which unveiled the mode in a trademark application, is expected to launch the mode in competition to battery-saving modes currently available in Android. The ‘Beast’ mode may be able to leverage greater processing power, graphical ability and increased memory of the handset.

Hardware Changes

The Korean giant is also expected to emulate Apple’s startegy of adding an ‘S’ or ‘Plus’ variant with the upcoming flagship. It is rumoured to be making two different Galaxy S8 sizes - one, called Galaxy S8, will have a display around five inches in size, just like its predecessor - the Galaxy S7. The other phone will be the company’s first 6-inch phone. The Plus is also speculated to arrive at the same time with a AMOLED display. However, experts claim that the S8 Plus has similar overall footpront as the now-discontinued Galaxy Note7.

According to a tipster on weibo who has been accurate on previous calls related to Samsung devices, the Samsung Galaxy S8 will feature 8GB of RAM. In addition, it will also sport a UFS 2.1 flash storage chip. In addition, S8 Plus might sport a dual-camera set up at the rear just like the iPhone 7 Plus.

Both the phones, either might be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor or an Exynos 8895. The devices are expected to be running on Android 7.0 Nougat.

New Artificial Intelligence

Samsung might also include its new AI powered assistants reportedly named Bixby (male) and Kestra (female) with the Galaxy S8. Speculations are adrift that Google is talking to the Galaxy device-maker about making Google Assistant the only voice activated personal assistant on the device.

This startup once thought it would 'put a bullet through Google's head' — now it's killing its own operating system

Cyanogen, the startup that once claimed its customized version of Android would "put a bullet through Google's head," has quietly announced that it's throwing in the towel on direct competition as it pivots its business after a tough year of layoffs and executive shuffles.

"As part of the ongoing consolidation of Cyanogen, all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued no later than 12/31/16," writes Cyanogen in a blog post released late on Friday night.

In plainer terms, this means that the Cyanogen operating system — which people could buy pre-loaded on smartphones like the OnePlus One or Lenovo ZUK Z1 — won't be getting any further updates. And Cyanogen will be discontinuing its homebuilt services, like the "Find My Phone" feature.

Cyanogen has raised $185 million in funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Rupert Murdoch. And while Cyanogen had some limited success partnering with companies like OnePlus to preinstall its operating system on new phones, and a close relationship with Microsoft, manufacturers were hesitant to ditch Android entirely for fear of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

In July 2016, following reports that Cyanogen had laid off 20% of its workforce, founder and former CEO Kirt McMaster told Business Insider that while the company was hard at work on a "modular OS" concept, it was committed to continuing to build the Cyanogen operating system.

In October 2016, Facebook veteran Lior Tal took the CEO role, with McMaster becoming executive chairman. Tal announced a renewed focus on that "modular OS" approach, where phone manufacturers can integrate bits and pieces of Cyanogen technology into their own Android phones, in lieu of investing as heavily in its own operating system.

"Android is this huge continent that everyone lives on," Tal says. "That's just how it is."

This announcement doesn't mean the end of Cyanogen as a concept: CyanogenMod, an open source version of the Cyanogen operating system that anybody can download and modify, still enjoys an active community who will keep hacking away at it as an Android alternative free from corporate control.

But for the average user, it's way more of a hassle to download and maintain an open source operating system like CyanogenMod than it is to use Cyanogen, the company's more streamlined, Google-like approach to system updates and services. It also means that if you already have a Cyanogen phone, it'll get far less useful as of January 1st.

All in all, Cyanogen's new mission is less dramatic than the company's original mission of "[taking] control of Android away from Google," but it provides those manufacturers an alternative way to offer their products without relying as heavily on the search giant's services and technology.

"I think we can achieve the same mission within Android today," Tal told Business Insider in October.

Apple working with Consumer Reports to pin down inconsistent MacBook Pro battery test results

On December 22nd, Consumer Reports said it could not recommend the MacBook Pro — a first for a Mac laptop. It caused a stir! Consumer Reports’ reasoning was simple: it got wildly inconsistent battery test results every time it tried to test multiple versions of the laptop. Its test is one that’s pretty common across the industry, loading up web pages one after another:

"For the battery test, we download a series of 10 web pages sequentially, starting with the battery fully charged, and ending when the laptop shuts down. The web pages are stored on a server in our lab, and transmitted over a WiFi network set up specifically for this purpose. We conduct our battery tests using the computer’s default browser—Safari, in the case of the MacBook Pro laptops.

In that test, CR saw the 13-inch MacBook Pro (with the Touch Bar) get results from 16 hours all the way down to less than 4 hours — again, wildly inconsistent. Similarly, the 15-inch version saw results range from a “that can’t be right” 18.5 hours down to 8 hours. Because the results ranged so widely, CR concluded that it’s not a good idea to buy this laptop until we know more about why these battery results are so inconsistent.

Yesterday, Apple’s Phil Schiller tweeted that the company itself doesn’t see anything like these results and is “Working with CR to understand their battery tests.”

That stir I referred to? It’s very real, and it happened mainly because the MacBook Pro was already at the center of very strong feelings amongst the Apple faithful. The laptops have not been as well-received as Apple might have hoped — for reasons ranging from dongles to processor power to price. You can add battery life to the list of things people don’t fully trust about the MacBook Pro now — especially after Mark Gurman reported in Bloomberg that Apple originally wanted to use some more advanced battery technology but had to fall back to something more traditional. Oh, and Apple decided that giving you an estimated “time remaining” time in the menubar was a bad idea and so pulled the feature from MacOS.

In short, this particular Consumer Reports battery test drama isn’t happening in a vacuum. Now, the going argument right now is whether or not its test is trustworthy. CR says it “tests hundreds of laptops each year, using identical procedures in highly controlled conditions,” presumably without varying results on those other machines. After Apple and CR hash out what happened with these tests, we will hopefully get more clarity about what is going on here.

he Verge also uses a looping website battery test, though unlike CR we use live data on the web. Because battery tests have a lot of variables, we don’t assume ours is objectively accurate in all cases — it’s better as a guide. In fact, every battery test should be treated more as a guide for what you might expect in real world use rather than an objective measure. The most diligent publications limit every possible variable to come to objective, comparable measures — work that is useful and laudable. But in the real world, the variables are infinite, so you want to do your best to describe real world results whenever possible.

In our review of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, we did both. Our looping battery test clocked in at 10.5 hours for the 13-inch model, but in real world (and not very intensive) usage, we got less than 6 hours of life on two different machines.

It’s too much to ask for objective, universally applicable battery life estimates. But it’s not too much to ask that these machines at least be a little predictable. Perusing 9to5Mac’s roundup of reviews, I’m sad to say you’ll find an equal number of reviewers suggesting battery life is an inconsistent question mark and others saying it’s in line with Apple’s 10 hour estimate.

Here’s one more result: in the three hours I’ve been awake today, the MacBook Pro (sans Touch Bar) has gone from 100 percent to 25 percent. But I have consistently had 15+ Chrome (a known battery hog, despite Google’s protestations) tabs open alongside Slack and Tweetdeck. In short: battery life varies and your results won’t line up with objective tests.

Whether or not the truth of the inconsistent battery results some are seeing on the MacBook Pro comes down to flawed tests, flawed software, or flawed hardware is unfortunately not something we can definitively say right now. What we can say is that it’s worth looking into. These are Apple’s flagship Macs, and the Mac’s reputation is built as much on trust as it is on finely milled aluminum.

Despite IT Boom, over 90% of Africa Has No Internet Access

Internet access: Vital to providing wider access to education and health awareness in rural communities in Mozambique

The Internet is one of the most important enablers of social development and education. While Internet services have been quite phenomenal in the rest of the world, access to the Internet remains very low in Africa, especially in the rural communities. According to the Internet World Stats for Africa 2016 (http://APO.af/AvhzA), only 9.3% of people across the African continent are Internet users.

“A few years ago anyone who could not read and write was considered illiterate, but today this concept goes further, encompassing people who do not know how to use information and communication technologies. Health organizations and schools in Africa often face a unique set of obstacles, including a lack of access to much-needed health education and counselling platforms. The Community Tablet was created to help solve these problems”, says Dayn Amade.

In today’s digital world, bringing Internet access to rural communities is a tremendous step in the right direction of social development and education. Mozambican technology start-up company Kamaleon (http://Kamaleon.co.mz) has developed an innovative and engaging way of promoting digital literacy through a shared platform called the “Community Tablet” (“Tablet Comunitário”). The Community Tablet is a solar powered mobile computer with touch screen displays and virtual keyboards built in on a trailer to provide Internet access to remote areas. In order to facilitate interaction with the virtual world, Kamaleon also offers training on how to use the Internet and its features to members of the community and the local workforce.

Launched in November 2016 in Mozambique, the Community Tablet ultimately aims to promote digital inclusion and a knowledge based society in Africa. Beginning in Mozambique with an astounding 24 million people with no Internet connection, the Community Tablet will be used to support campaigns on various Health and Education initiatives in partnership with governmental and private organisations. Spreading up-to-date messages and interactive lessons that showcase symptoms, prevention and treatment options – replacing the need for leaflet distributions to convey life saving information. Kamaleon is on a mission to close the digital divide and empower more people in Africa to engage in the digital economy and its educational benefits.

“I believe technology and digital literacy can contribute to greater effectiveness of civic education campaigns in various communities”, says Dayn Amade.

HTC Schedules Product Announcement for January 12; New Smartphone Expected

HTC has started sending media invites for an event on January 12 where the company says it will make its "next big announcement." The company has shared a teaser invite with "for U" as a tagline. Unfortunately, not many details about HTC's upcoming announcement are available right now.

It's worth noting that the January 12 launch date is just after the CES week which means HTC doesn't want its announcement to get lost in a host of launches during the event. The Taiwanese company has not dropped any hints in the invite for the launch event, however, recent rumours have pointed to the launch of the HTC X10 mid-range smartphone in January. The event could also see the launch of the company's next flagship or be about the company's recent virtual reality push, or both.

Starting with the HTC X10, the successor to the HTC One X9 is said to launch in January and cost around CNY 2,000 (roughly Rs. 19,500). It is said to sport a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920) display, a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor (Cortex-A53 cores), Mali-T860 GPU, 3GB of RAM, and a 13-megapixel rear camera with OIS.

Another recent report claimed that HTC has been working on its next flagship, the HTC 11. According to initial rumours, HTC 11 may sport a 5.5-inch QHD (1440x2560) display and run on Android 7.0 Nougat customised with HTC's Sense 8 UI on top. The handset is rumoured to pack a dual-camera setup of 12-megapixel at the back while an 8-megapixel front-facing camera is also expected on board. Under the hood, the HTC 11 is expected to be powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 CPU, along with Adreno 540 GPU for graphic performance. It is said to pack a whopping 8GB of RAM under the hood, with an inbuilt storage of 256GB. The device is said to be backed by a 3700mAh battery. According to rumours, HTC's next flagship will launched with a price tag of $691 (roughly Rs. 47,000). However, all these leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt as HTC has not mentioned anything about the upcoming device and the leaks legitimacy remains questionable.

Xiaomi Redmi Note goes to India come January.

Xiaomi is ready to brings its Redmi Note 4 to India, claim reports online. A blog called MakTechBlog says the company is launching the new version of the Note 4 in January 2017. Redmi Note 4 is the successor to popular Redmi Note 3, which was one of the bestselling devices for the company in India. Xiaomi itself has not confirmed any launch event for January.

For the Chinese technology company, the Redmi series has done well in India in 2016. The company claims to have sold over 2.3 million units of just the Redmi Note 3 smartphone. According to numbers from IDC, Redmi Note 3 was the most successful smartphone in India’s online channels, so it’s not surprising if Xiaomi hopes to replicate this success with a new Redmi phone.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is quite similar to Redmi Note 3 in terms of design and specifications, but has a Type-C USB port. However, the processor will likely be a Snapdragon one from Qualcomm, instead of MediaTek chip version which sells in China, given that Xiaomi faces a ban on selling MediaTek devices in the country.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 was unveiled in China in the  in the ‘affordable’ mid-range market. It features a full metal unibody design and a big 4,100 mAh battery. The Redmi Note 4 comes in two storage options – 2GB RAM+16GB ROM and 3GB RAM+64GB ROM. The price starts at 899 yuan (Rs 9,000 approx) for the 2GB RAM variant and 1199 yuan (Rs 12,081 approx) for the 3GB RAM version.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 gets a 5.5-inch full HD display (1920×1080 pixels) with 2.5D arc glass design. The smartphone is powered by a 2.1 GHz 10-core Helio X20 processor in China. The storage is expandable up to 128GB via micro SD card. Redmi Note 4 runs on company’s latest MIUI 8 OS.

The smartphone features a 13MP primary camera, and 5MP front camera. The Note 4 has a fingerprint scanner at the back. The fingerprint scanner can also be used to pay for purchases and view private files. Redmi Note 4 is listed in three colour variants in China.

Given the price-point and battery size, the Redmi Note 4 will compete with the likes of Lenovo K6 Power and Asus Zenfone 3 Max in India. For Xiaomi’s, its affordable Redmi series with phones like Redmi Note 3, Redmi 3, and Redmi 3S Prime, has done well in the country. We’ll have to wait and see if Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 further boosts up sales for the company in India.

News, Rumours , Specs, Release dates and Prices of Nokia Android phones in 2017

Nokia Android Phones (2017)

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW NOKIA ANDROID PHONES

It’s official: New Nokia smartphones are on the way. Here’s what we know so far, including the Nokia Android phones’ release date, specs, price, as well as all the latest news and rumours.

In December, we heard official word that new Nokia handsets were in development, and that they would run on Google’s Android OS. This is a big deal, because it’s been quite a while since we saw authentic Nokia phones.

Nokia started making portable phones in 1987, and became the best-selling handset brand by 1998. But despite strong beginnings, it wasn’t long before Nokia slumped. In 2011, after a sales slump caused by competition from Android and the iPhone, Nokia signed its own death warrant by agreeing a pact with Microsoft to ship all its phones on the ailing Windows Phone OS. Nokia eventually stopped making phones in 2014, selling its mobile business to Microsoft and switching focus to mobile network equipment.

Microsoft sold phones under Nokia’s Lumia brand for a while, but that’s basically been killed off now – cue the new Surface Phone, expected 2017. Microsoft’s ownership of the Nokia brand license eventually expired this year, and that’s why we’re now about to see new Nokia handsets – stay tuned.

Unfortunately, it’s still early days, so many of the actual hardware details are a mystery. Here’s what we know so far.

1. THE PHONES ARE COMING IN EARLY 2017

The good news is that the first new Nokia smartphones will be released “in the first half of 2017”. That’s not very specific, but we can take a guess at when the handsets might launch.

The first major opportunity is CES 2017, the big Las Vegas-based technology tradeshow that takes place in January each year. However, we’re not entirely convinced the Nokia smartphones will be ready for launch that early.

The next big chance is Mobile World Congress, a similar tradeshow that’s focused on mobile technology. That kicks off in Barcelona on February 27, and is sure to be a hotbed of smartphone launches. There’s no reason why a new Nokia smartphone couldn’t debut at the show.

Alternatively, the new Nokia phones could get their own dedicated launch event, bypassing trade shows altogether.

2. BUT THE HANDSETS AREN’T BEING BUILT BY NOKIA

It’s very important to note that Nokia isn’t actually building the handsets.

After Microsoft’s ownership of the Nokia brand license expired, new Finland-based company HMD Global Oy secured rights to the brand. HMD has exclusive rights for the next decade, which means no other company will be able to launch Nokia-branded handsets during that time.

On the software front, HMD has partnered up with Google so the new phones will run on Android. And although HMD will design the hardware, the actual handset will be built by FIH Mobile Limited, a subsidiary of Foxconn – one of the companies that builds the iPhone.

3. NOKIA IS STILL VERY MUCH INVOLVED

Just because Nokia isn’t building the phones doesn’t mean it’s not involved. Nokia will have a representative on HMD’s board of members, and will set performance and brand requirements – as per the licensing agreement. Nokia will also receive royalty payments for the use of its patents, and will let HMD use its research and development properties.

Microsoft's Lumia handsets are no more – long live Nokia?

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm shown around the world for the return of the Nokia brand to smartphones,” said Brad Rodrigues, Interim President of Nokia Technologies. “The HMD Global team has the ambition, talent and resources to bring a new generation of Nokia-branded phones to market, and we wish them every success. I’m sure our millions of Nokia fans will be excited to see their new products!”

But perhaps most importantly, HMD Global Oy is comprised almost entirely of former Nokia staffers. For instance, CEO Arto Nummela, Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas, and President of HMD Global Florian Seiche all previously held senior positions

If we had to take a guess though, we’d expect a flagship smartphone launching in the first half of 2017 to be running Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 chipset. But that’s all we can guess at, for now.

6. ANDROID GUARANTEED – BUT WHICH VERSION?

As we mentioned earlier, HMD Global Oy has teamed up with Google to launch the new smartphones with Android. That’s a welcome change from the old Windows Phone-powered Nokia handsets of yore.

However, it’s not quite clear what operating system the phones will run on. The most likely bet is Android 7.0 Nougat, the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system. It rolled out this autumn, and is likely to appear on many of the handsets launching in the first half of 2017 – Nokia phones included.

But there are two other alternatives: Android 6.0 Marshmallow, or the currently unannounced Android 8.0. We’d say the former is unlikely, but it could feature if HMD has already developed the phones and plans to release them very early on in 2017. Alternatively, if the handsets miss their 1H2017 deadline, we could see them running on Android 8.0, which we’re expecting to be announced between May and July next year.

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Receiving December Security Patch

                                                                               

Android’s security updates are designed to improve security on smartphones which run on Android. All changes take place under the hood and consist of vulnerability patches, meaning that these updates should be top priority for any Android smartphone user wanting to access online services and content in a secure environment. Well, it is now early December and if you happen to own a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge in Australia, which is not locked to any wireless carrier, then you should be receiving the December security patch in the coming days or in a couple of weeks time.

The update which is being pushed out to the Galaxy S7 Edge, comes with the firmware version G935FXXU1BPJG and the changes the update will bring about is likely minor, though we can’t be certain until Samsung releases the full changelog for the December security patch. Earlier this week, Samsung detailed the vulnerabilities and bugs which have been fixed with the December security update on its high end devices, though the company did not specifically mention the bugs which have been fixed on the Galaxy S7 Edge. Samsung hasn’t given any confirmation regarding the countries which are receiving the update now but Australia happens to be the only one receiving it at the moment, but more markets should be receiving it in the coming days or weeks.

If you haven’t already received the notification prompting you to update your device, you could check whether the December security update is available for your Galaxy S7 Edge, and all you have to do is proceed to Settings, select About Device, tap on Software Update, and tap the option titled Download Updates Manually. On the other hand, you could wait for the system to prompt you to install the security update when it is available for your device. However, for that to happen, you will need to have at least 50% of battery life remaining in your device or it is plugged into an outlet. As the December security update is being delivered over-the-air (OTA), it might take a few days for you to receive it as it is released to compatible devices in stages to avoid the possibility of the servers being overloaded.

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