ASUS joins ‘Make in India” initiative with help from Foxconn
As one of the hottest mobile device markets around the world today, India’s government took some steps to capitalize on the interest shown by manufacturers in selling to their citizens. The “Make in India” initiative was created to encourage production of smartphones within the country rather than having them shipped there from other manufacturing plants in other countries. The project appears to be proving successful with several smartphone manufacturers announcing plans to locate production facilities in India. The latest to join the list is ASUS, in partnership with Foxconn, which announced plans to commence production of some of their Zenfone series of devices in India.
According to sources, ASUS will start producing their Zenfone 2 Laser device and the ASUS Zenfone Go smartphone in India. Early indications are that the facility will be capable of producing 150,000 units on a monthly basis. At current levels, this would meet about 80% of demand for ASUS smartphones in India. Peter Chang with ASUS says the manufacturer is hoping to capture 5% of market share in India. Chang added,
“India offers us a huge opportunity as smartphone penetration is just 10%. We are excited to announce our local manufacturing facility that will cater to the growing demands of the market. The Indian government’s focus on ‘Make in India’ has opened a plethora of opportunities for international companies. It is an opportune time to make the announcement as it will enable us to bring our cutting-edge products to consumers who are looking for features and design sensibilities of a high-end smartphone at an economic price.”
To celebrate the announcement, ASUS India released the video below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
source: PhoneRadar
Come comment on this article: ASUS joins ‘Make in India” initiative with help from Foxconn
LG V10 to be available on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon
LG’s New York is event is underway, and after unveiling the LG V10 last night ahead of the event, the company has announced that the device will be available through three major US carriers–AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
Interestingly, Sprint was missing from the list, which will certainly disappoint some customers. As a quick refresher, the LG V10 is the first device in LG’s new “V” line of smartphones, sporting dual front-facing cameras and a secondary display.
It has most of the same innards as the LG G4, but the noticeable difference is the main 5.7-inch QHD display and then the secondary 2.1-inch display. It seems to act in a similar fashion as the edge does on the Galaxy S6 Edge series of devices. Some other notable specs include 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a removable 3,000mAh battery. Unfortunately, there’s still no details on carrier pricing and availability.
Anyone plan on picking one up in favor of the Galaxy S6 Edge+ or Note 5?
Come comment on this article: LG V10 to be available on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon
Google to reveal more details about ‘Instant Articles’ solution next week
The dust is still settling from Google’s press event this past Tuesday when they announced their lineup of new devices for the fall, including the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P along with the second generation Chromecast and new Chromecast Audio. Nevertheless, Google is already getting back in front of the media, this time with plans to hold a press event next Wednesday to reveal “a new open source initiative for the mobile Web.” The initiative is believed to be their new “Instant Articles” platform that first surfaced a few weeks ago.
The new publishing platform from Google is meant to compete against offerings from Facebook, Snapchat and Apple. To differentiate their solution, Google plans to open source the tool and to use cached content rather than hosting the content. Indications are that Twitter has already partnered with Google on the tool and both The New York Times and The Guardian have agreed to provide content. The press event may provide more details about the business arrangements Google will be undertaking to get content in front of smartphone users and hopefully information about a release schedule.
source: Re/code
Come comment on this article: Google to reveal more details about ‘Instant Articles’ solution next week
Introducing the AndroidGuys Device Database
If you are a regular visitor to AndroidGuys you may have noticed some subtle changes taking place over the last few weeks. Namely, as we discuss various smartphones and devices, we’re linking to specific pages dedicated to said products. In other words, when we mention the Motorola Moto X Pure Edition, we’ll hand off a link to a page gives readers a number of tools and details.
Depending on the model you might find a short blurb about the phone, a link to its official announcement post, links to tagged articles, a gallery, and buttons to purchase the product. Perhaps the coolest thing you’ll see on the product pages is a handy embedded widget with all of the hardware details for the device.
We’ve worked closely with the wonderful team at Graphiq (FindTheBest) to put together a widget that delivers all of the stuff we think you’ll find most relevant to the phones, tablets, and other devices. Starting with today’s top models and working back a generation or two, we’ll continue to add devices and improve the experience.
If you want an at-a-glance view of things like processor speeds, screens sizes, memory, and connectivity, it’s there. Moreover, you’ll also be able to check whether a product has support for 4K video or features a particular screen technology. And, should you want to dig deeper, there’s a link at the bottom to head out to the full Graphiq listing. Once there you can also pin the phone or two against each other to see how they stack up.
The widgets are dynamic, which means they can and will change over time. As software updates roll out or new details are made more obvious, the widget will adapt. You’ll note that we’re also doing this for unannounced products, too. Indeed, it’s a great way to keep an eye on the growing specifications for rumored products.
We’re extremely happy to bring these pages to you and think they’ll help to better serve our audience. AndroidGuys has transitioned away from being a strictly news and rumors site to one that offers more insight, analysis, and guidance. We have a ways to go before we’re where we want to be but today’s news was a big step for us – and you.
Here are a handful of recently announced devices to check out!
The post Introducing the AndroidGuys Device Database appeared first on AndroidGuys.
New Stagefright attack targets Android users with audio files
Android users are under attack again. The Stagefright bug that Google and OEMs scrambled to fix, only to have a second bug discovered, is back. Users are being targeted with faked audio files that exploit the multimedia preview function in Android to gain access to sensitive areas of a users phone or tablet.
The target is sent an mp3 or mp4 file that is encoded with a malicious program and can compromise the Android file system and its security, once opened. More troubling is that an attacker may be able to leverage public Wi-Fi hotspots to infect victims by having them download a file or visit an infected site to infect their phone.
Zimperium Security found the exploit, which isn’t covered by the two rounds of security patches released since July.
Many phone makers like Samsung, LG and HTC have recently committed to begin releasing monthly security updates to their phones but as of yet, this new exploit hasn’t been patched. SMS apps like Textra have recently updated to add Stagefright protection as a feature.
Google is working on fixing the Stagefright exploit in the core code of Android that is distributed to OEMs. A security patch will be available in the October monthly security update that will roll out to Nexus phones on October 5th.
Source: The Verge
The post New Stagefright attack targets Android users with audio files appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Aaron Sorkin on ‘Steve Jobs’: ‘I Think We Made a Good Movie’
In a new interview with Wired, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin spoke freely on his job of being hired to pen the new Steve Jobs movie and all of the issues he had to face in writing about a person he didn’t know much about. Sorkin’s initial fear of tackling the film — hesitant to use the term “biopic” — was in adapting Walter Isaacson’s comprehensive biography of Jobs into a traditional, three act structure, which he wasn’t entirely comfortable with.
When you’re doing a biopic, it’s very hard to shake the cradle-to-grave structure that audiences are so familiar with. People are going to come into the theater knowing that first we’re going to see a little boy with his father, and he’s looking into the window of the electronics store, and then we’re going to hit these famous signposts along the way in Steve Jobs’ life. Also, I’m not really a screenwriter; I’m a playwright who pretends to be a screenwriter. I’m most comfortable writing in claustrophobic pieces of geography and periods of time.
It was then that Sorkin emailed producer Scott Rudin, and pitched him the idea of taking some factual liberties with three of Jobs’ biggest product launches, and identifying “five or six conflicts in Steve’s life and have those conflicts play themselves out in these scenes backstage—in places where they didn’t take place.” Sorkin also hopes that the fans who are pre-judging the movie give it a chance and see that it won’t be “one big champagne toast to Steve Jobs.”
The screenwriter decided to use Jobs’ daughter Lisa as one of the doors into the former Apple CEO’s life, finding his initial refusal to accept paternity of his daughter hard to get past, but noting its integral quality to the backbone of the movie. Wired also asked Sorkin about his apparent growing reputation in Hollywood as the “go-to guy for the binary system,” thanks to his work on another technology-inspired true-life story The Social Network.
This isn’t an origin story or an invention story. It’s not about how the Mac was invented. And The Social Network wasn’t about the technology that went into creating Facebook. Nonetheless, I knew that there was going to be no way I could write this movie without a lot of tutors. There are lines that I wrote in the movie that I don’t understand.
Ultimately, as the movie grows closer to release, Sorkin knows that Steve Jobs may be a divisive experience for a lot of fans of Apple.
There are going to be people who say we were rough on him, and there are going to be people who say we weren’t rough enough on him. But I think we made a good movie, and I think that if you asked 10 writers to write 10 movies about Steve Jobs, you’d get 10 different movies that wouldn’t resemble one another.
There have been a handful of stories in the news about the soon-to-be-released film, including some new behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews, a public dispute between Sorkin and Apple CEO Tim Cook, and even the first reactions to the film as it made its debut at film festivals across the country.
The full Wired interview goes more in-depth with Sorkin, touching on topics like the film’s casting drama behind the scenes and even last year’s Sony hack and the repercussions it had for Steve Jobs and its cast and crew.
‘Tweetbot 4’ Debuts With Universal iPad Support, Split-Screen Multitasking and New Activity View
Tapbots today launched its long-awaited Tweetbot 4 update, which brings a slew of important changes to the popular Twitter client. Most notably, today’s update expands support to the iPad, making Tweetbot 4 a universal app for the first time and bringing an updated look to the tablet version of the app.
Tweetbot 4 on iPad, landscape mode
Tweetbot for the iPad has not been updated since June of 2014 and it was never given a refreshed look in line with the design updates introduced in iOS 7, so today’s new iPad app is a welcome change. On the iPad, Tweetbot 4 includes the same clean design that was introduced on the iPhone with Tweetbot 3. Tweetbot 4 includes support for Apple’s newest operating system, iOS 9, and it works with the split-screen multitasking feature on Apple’s newer iPads.
Tweetbot 4 split-screen multitasking
For the first time, Tweetbot 4 introduces a landscape view that’s available on the iPad and the iPhone. In landscape mode on the iPhone 6/6s Plus or iPad, the app is able to display two windows side-by-side, so users can watch their timelines and another section like mentions or lists at the same time.
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UK consumer rights laws now cover digital downloads
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 becomes official legislation in the UK today, pulling several, previously separate consumer rights laws together into a simpler structure. The Act also brings in clearer rules, such as a mandatory 30-day period in which sellers must fully refund customers who’ve received faulty goods, and for the first time, digital products are now covered. That means consumers who download games, software, music, e-books, films and TV shows are legally entitled to refunds, repairs and replacements if that content is deemed “faulty.” Digital goods must be “of satisfactory quality,” “fit for particular purpose” and “as described,” according to the Act’s legalese, though there is some wiggle-room within these broad statements.
It’s reasonable to expect new software might include a few bugs, for example, but consumers now have the legal right to a refund or price reduction if, say, they bought a digital copy of Halo: The Master Chief Collection to discover multiplayer is utterly broken. Similarly, if you rent a film online and the provider’s servers go down, meaning you’re unable to watch it, the same rights apply. In addition to the new Consumer Rights Act responding to our evolving consumption habits, it imposes stricter rules on service providers. Specifically, consumers are now able to challenge terms and conditions they consider unfair, or may have been purposefully buried in contract small print. This is likely to be particularly relevant to telecoms providers, and will give you the legal right to argue the toss if you’re stung with price hikes or exit charges you weren’t aware of when you signed on the dotted line.
Via: Ofcom, Citizens Advice
Source: Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, The Consumer Rights Act 2015
Rate your friends like they’re restaurants with Peeple
A ‘Yelp’-style app for rating people is not a new idea, but nobody’s been terrible enough to actually build one in real life — until now. A startup company has launched an app called “Peeple” which has already raised $7.6 million in venture capital, according to the Washington Post. It lets anyone with a Facebook account and cell phone rate another person and assign them a star rating out of five in one of three categories: personal, professional and romantic. Though Peeple calls itself “a positivity app for positive people,” the idea of the app is largely being panned on social media.
Genuinely don’t understand how anyone who’s ever been on the internet could think #peeple is a good idea. Is it a parody? Is this art?
— Rachel Feltman (@RachelFeltman) October 1, 2015
For the many, many people who raised concerns about online bullying and shaming, Peeple founder Julia Cordray told the Post that the app’s “integrity features” will largely stem such problems. Namely, you must be 21, have a Facebook account at least six months old, and make reviews under your real name. In addition, you must affirm that you know the person you’re reviewing and input their cellphone number if they’re not in the database. Negative ratings for people won’t show unless they’ve registered for the site, and you have 48 hours to dispute a negative rating if you do register.
As Twitter users have already pointed out, there are a host of potential issues, however. Isn’t assigning a person a number Orwellian and ridiculous? What about the aforementioned bullying? What about the fact that reviews for restaurants, objects or sites are usually biased, a problem that could be exponentially worse with people? What if you give your phone number to someone on a date and they decide to use it to rate you romatically? And finally, what if you don’t want unsolicited opinions? Even the founder thinks that’s a bad idea, apparently.
Such issues haven’t discouraged the team, however — they think they’re “bold innovators” who help people get “feedback” on their lives. In fact, they created a blog post dedicated to themselves called “An Ode to Courage,” saying that “people are scared and they don’t understand” the app. “We are… sending big waves into motion and we will not apologize for that because we love you enough to give you this gift.” (We’re assuming the whole thing isn’t a joke, of course, because it certainly seems like one.)
Ironically, for a time they set the Peeple Twitter account to private following the deluge of criticism, though it’s now public again. In response, one Twitter critic said, “color me shocked; two blond-haired, conventionally pretty, well-off white women can’t conceptualize of why a ‘Yelp for people’ is a bad idea.”
Via: Washington Post
Source: Peeple
Children’s picture books get an internet-era makeover
Remember those customized children’s books that the rich kids in school used to get, featuring a story with their name and face pasted onto the pages? It turns out that these things are still going, but now the companies that make them are harnessing the power of the internet to make them even more personal. Lost My Name is a UK company that’s launching a new customized book, entitled The Intergalactic Journey Home that incorporates information like satellite images of the kid’s home. That way, the star of the show will actually fly over their own home during the dramatic conclusion of the book. Cool, huh?
If the company is to be believed, The Intergalactic Journey Home is the world’s most advanced children’s picture book ever created. As well as pictures of their home, the book mashes NASA photography and algorithmically-generated images for artwork that’s unique to each individual book. All of that creativity will cost you, however, with the book priced at $29.99 with free worldwide shipping. If you want to make something beautiful to celebrate your kid’s birthday, then head over to the site and enter their name and zipcode and you’ll be on your way.
Source: Lost My Name
AIVAnet 