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Monday, 15 June 2015

Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users

t’s official, folks: Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for existing Windows users—as long as you claim it quickly.

Kicking off the consumer-focused Windows 10 event in Redmond on Tuesday, January 21, Microsoft operating system chief Terry Myerson announced that current users of Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 will be able to upgrade to the new operating system for free as long as they do so within one year of Windows 10's launch. Once you’ve claimed the upgrade, it's permanent, and Microsoft will keep you updated for the supported lifetime of the device.

“We think of Windows 10 as a service,” Myerson said.

UPDATE: Windows 10 will be available to download July 29, and existing Windows 7 and 8 users can "reserve" their copy today.

Here's the fine print from the Windows 10 page on Microsoft's site:

“It is our intent that most of these devices will qualify, but some hardware/software requirements apply and feature availability may vary by device. Devices must be connected to the internet and have Windows Update enabled. ISP fees may apply. Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 Update required. Some editions are excluded: Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to Windows 10 Enterprise outside of this offer. We will be sharing more information and additional offer terms in coming months.”

Did you catch that? Windows RT tablets won't be upgraded to Windows 10—though they'll get some of the new features—and business users will have to pay to upgrade and receive continued support.

The decision to make Windows 10 a free upgrade for existing users makes sense. Windows 8 users have vocally expressed their displeasure with the operating system, prompting happy Windows 7 users to stay put on that OS. That hinders Microsoft's ability to execute its vision for a service-centric, cloud-connected future for Windows; making Windows 10 free could spur more users into embracing a modern Microsoft operating system.

And hey, it'd be weird to charge for Windows 10 after Windows 8 flopped so hard and Apple started giving away OS upgrades. Right?

Here's how to give the Windows 10 Technical Preview a test drive today, if you're the adventurous sort. Once you're in, you'll want to check out these killer new features first, and once you're feeling comfortable, dive deep into the myriad tips, tricks, and tweaksburied under the hood.

Source : http://www.pcworld.com/

OnePlus India offers 3 months extended warranty to under-service devices

OnePlus has recently announced in their blog post that all devices with pending repairs or stuck in service centres for longer than 15 days will get a three-month warranty extension. This move comes as part of OnePlus’s expanding customer care services in India. From now on, present OnePlus users including pre India release buyers will get a three-month extension in warranty if repair and maintenance services are delayed at OnePlus centres.

This service will include OnePlus One, and future products rolled out from the OnePlus stable will also get this service. With promotional activities for the OnePlus 2 under way, this step is being directed to increase India’s customer base. OnePlus recently introduced their Indian customer care hotline, and spoke about further expanding its after-sales services.

OnePlus has been a major success in India, with OnePlus One winning several awards for being one of the best smartphones in recent times. Rumours about OnePlus 2 was rife until OnePlus finally started its promotional activities. General Manager of OnePlus India, Vikas Agarwal, stated, “A few of you have been repeatedly communicating to us on the delay in getting their devices some running into more than a month. This is disturbing especially when we live in such a digitally connected world where our phones are our window to the world and the work each of us are involved in. In a first across the consumer device landscape, all service related issues till date that have faced delays or have been pending for longer than 15 working days in our support centres will automatically get a 3 month extension on their warranty for their OnePlus One in India. And just to make things sweeter, all future smartphones from our stable will follow this service guarantee.”

With increasing customer care services arriving in India and growing interest in OnePlus products, this was a necessary move by the company to sustain its self-stated caption as a “flagship killer”.

- See more at: http://www.digit.in/mobile-phones/oneplus-offers-three-months-extended-warranty-to-customers-26345.html#sthash.I45p8JoE.dpuf

Cyanogen OS 12.1 beta available for Yu Yuphoria

YU Yuphoria and YU Yureka to get the Cyanogen OS 12.1 update. The update is currently in its final testing phase.

Micromax's second phone, the YU Yuphoria, which falls in the Rs. 7,000 segment, will be updated to Android 5.1 based Cyanogen OS 12.1 soon. Company founder, Rahul Sharma teased this news on YU’s official forums that the software is in its final stages of testing and will be out soon.

Going over some changes and bug fixes that are being addressed via this upcoming update Sharma said, “A very limited set of devices had issues with proximity sensor. We have addressed this now and will be providing patches which include the auto calibration of proximity sensor. We also have an updated firmware for the keyboard to improve typing and gestures. Additionally, the entire camera stack has been rebuilt with reworked camera tunings. This will greatly improve the camera to capture more details under various lighting conditions.” He added that other enhancements like audio, thermal and dialer performance have been added to the upcoming update as well.

Related: Cyanogen OS to integrate Playphone gaming social network in phones

He also announced that nightly builds (beta) of Cyanogen OS 12.1 based on Android 5.1 for YU Yureka and YU Yuphoria are now available for download. Android 5.1 is an incremental update on the Lollipop platform which will bring features like simplification of quick settings, better security and tracking if your phone gets stolen, improved volume interruptions and fix for memory leak issues. Besides these, there are some small animation changes and bug fixes. However, we are not sure how many of these updates will make it through to Cyanogen OS 12.1.

Related: Cyanogen not bundling or preinstalling Microsoft apps into CyanogenMod [Updated]

Recently Valuekart started selling unboxed units of the YU Yureka at a discounted price of Rs. 7,299. However, if you want a fresh piece of either phone, you will need to register for the online sale on Amazon India.

Source: YU forum

How to unlock your Android phone's bootloader & install a Recovery

You may want to root your Android phone to get access to tweaks that add features, improve performance or you may want to flash a custom ROM. Both of these require you to unlock your bootloader.

Basically, unlocking allows you to flash images onto your device. You can flash a recovery, by which you can install ROMs, root your phone, etc.

Here are the steps to unlocking your device and installing a custom-recovery:

Download the necessary tools

You need to download ADB and Fastboot to actually unlock the bootloader and to flash the images onto your Android Device. You also need a custom Recovery for your device, and for the purposes of this article, we are choosing TWRP.

You usually needed to download the Android SDK, but an XDA-Developer has extracted ADB and Fastboot programs from the SDK into a single small package: Minimal ADB and Fastboot. You can download it here.

The TWRP Recovery can be downloaded here.

Enable USB Debugging

For adb to detect your device, go to the About Page and keep on tapping the Build Number a couple of times. Then, go back to Settings, and you will see a new option, Developer Options.

Tap on it and ensure USB Debugging is enabled.

Now go to Storage, click on the button on the top-right and select Camera Storage instead of Media Storage. Connect your device to your computer.

Start Minimal ADB and Fastboot, and type ‘adb devices’. If you see your device, then continue.

Backup

Since unlocking, deletes all data on your device (Including Pictures, Videos, etc), you need to backup your device storage.

Open Minimal ADB and Fastboot, and ensure your device is there with ‘adb devices’. Now for the backup, type this command:

“adb backup -alll -storage -system”

Swipe your device and tap Backup. The Backup will take a while, depending on the amount of data it needs to backup.

Unlocking

This is extremely easy. Just put your device in Fastboot Mode (Every device has a different button combination), and type ‘fastboot devices’.

You should see your device. Now, ‘fastboot oem unlock’ will unlock the bootloader of your device whilst deleting everything.

Flashing Recovery

Copy the Recovery Image to the folder where Minimal ADB and Fastboot is installed, and rename it into ‘recovery.img’.

Now execute ‘fastboot flash recovery recovery.img’.

Related: How to backup your data on Android

IMPORTANT: Once the above step is completed successfully, power off your device and boot into Recovery Mode before you boot into the OS, else the stock recovery will be restored.

You now have a custom recovery, that can be used for flashing custom ROMs and other tweaks.

Source : http://www.digit.in/

OnePlus 2 launch confirmed, to include Oxygen OS for Android v5.1

OnePlus has finally confirmed the OnePlus 2's launch in its official forums; pre-launch contests point to the upcoming smartphone featuring Oxygen OS. Latest rumors also point to a $322 price point. oneplus-confirms-oneplus-2-launch-to-include-oxygen-os-for-android-v51

OnePlus has finally confirmed the much-rumoured OnePlus 2, by introducing two new promotional competitions. After achieving success with the OnePlus One, the much-awaited OnePlus 2 is now scheduled for launch soon. Projected specifications state that the smartphone will feature an octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor (1.5GHz Cortex A53 + 2GHz Cortex A57), Adreno 430 GPU, 3GB of RAM, 5.5” LTPS LCD multi-touch display at 1080x1920 pixels resolution, 16 megapixel primary camera and 5 megapixel front camera, and options for 16GB or 64GB of internal storage. The primary camera will reportedly record 30fps videos at 2160p, while the front camera will record 30fps videos at 1080p. The OnePlus 2 will be launched with Android v5.1 based Oxygen OS. As per latest rumors, the expected price point is around $322 (conversion).

After issues with Cyanogen Inc., OnePlus launched the Oxygen OS for Android v5.0.3. However, OnePlus One users will need to wait until OnePlus 2 is launched for an Android v5.1 based Oxygen OS update. Until then, a new update to Cyanogen OS, v12.1, is being rolled out for existing OnePlus users. OnePlus is also expected to address its touchscreen issues by releasing a fix for both Oxygen and Cyanogen OS.

OnePlus released details of two new contests in its forums that hint at an upcoming launch of the OnePlus 2. Photo Mania 2015 will require users to upload unedited no-filter photos to Instagram, tag OnePlus (@oneplustech) and add a caption stating light and setting details. The other contest, ‘Your OnePlus Story’, requires OnePlus fans and users to create a video featuring themselves and share their experience of using OnePlus phones. One winner from Photo Mania and two from the video contest will win an all-expenses-paid trip to Hong Kong, an exclusive preview of the OnePlus 2 and take part in a ‘secret project’ that it has planned for the OnePlus 2 launch. Entries close on Monday, June 15, at 9:30pm IST.
More details about the OnePlus 2 and its new Oxygen OS are yet to be revealed by OnePlus, although OnePlus has said it will provide more frequent updates following the OnePlus 2 launch.

Source: GSM Arena

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Asus ZenFone 2 Price Revealed; India Launch Expected in April

Asus at CES 2015 revealed the ZenFone 2 promising a March release date for the handset. The Taiwanese company, as promised, on Monday announced the Asus ZenFone 2 in Taiwan and also unveiled new variants of the handset.

According to a Korean publication, apart from Taiwan, the ZenFone 2 will be available in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and France starting in March while other countries such as Italy and other Southeast Asian markets including India will launch in April. The Asus ZenFone 2 will be also released in Brazil in June.

The new ZenFone-series (via Asus Taiwan) include the Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (4GB RAM) priced at TWD 8,990 (approximately Rs. 18,000); the Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (2GB RAM) at TWD 6,990 (approximately Rs. 13,900); Asus ZenFone 2 ZE550ML comes at TWD 5,990 (approximately Rs. 11,900), and Asus ZenFone 2 ZE500CL priced at TWD 4,990 (approximately Rs. 9,900).

The Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML, as seen above, will be available in two RAM variants - one with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, and another with 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM.

Asus at the launch had claimed that the ZenFone 2 is the "industry's first smartphone" packing 4GB of RAM. The 4GB RAM variant is powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 quad-core processor running at 2.3GHz while the model packing 2GB of RAM is backed by a quad-core Intel Atom Z3560 clocked at 1.8GHz. The ZenFone 2 ZE550ML is also powered by the same Intel Atom Z3560 chipset. The basic ZenFone 2 ZE500CL model features a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 processor. All the versions support expandable storage via microSD card (up to 64GB).

The top model of the Asus ZenFone 2 will feature 4GB of RAM alongside 32GB inbuilt storage and 5.5-inch full-HD display while the ZE551ML model will also feature a 5.5-inch full-HD display; though it will pack just 2GB of RAM alongside 32GB of storage.

The Asus ZenFone 2 ZE550ML, on the other hand, features a 5.5-inch HD display coupled with 2GB of RAM and 16GB inbuilt storage. The ZenFone 2 ZE500CL is the basic model of the series and features a 5-inch HD display alongside 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage. It only supports single-SIM, unlike other variants in the ZenFone-series.

All four variants runs the company's new ZenUI based on Google's Android 5.0 Lollipop. The Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML (4GB and 2GB of RAM) and ZenFone 2 ZE550ML both sport 13-megapixel rear PixelMaster camera while there is a 5-megapixel front camera on board as well. Both the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML models feature dual-tone flash. The Zenfone 2 ZE500CL sports an 8-megapixel rear PixelMaster camera alongside a 2-megapixel camera.

For connectivity, both the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML models and the ZenFone 2 ZE550ML include 4G LTE (Cat 4. support with up to 150Mbps download speeds), dual-SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS, and GLONASS. The ZenFone 2 ZE500CL supports 3G connectivity apart from dual-SIM, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS, and GLONASS.

Both the ZenFone 2 ZE551ML models and the ZenFone 2 ZE550ML are backed by a 3000mAh battery while the Zenfone 2 ZE500CL features a 2500mAh battery.

Asus at the launch in January had claimed that the ZenFone 2 models support fast-charging technology and can charge up to 60 percent in just 39 minutes. It includes sensors such as accelerometer, proximity, ambient-light, gyroscopic, and digital compass.

Asus ZenFone 2

Display

5.50-inch

Processor

2.3GHz

Front Camera

5-megapixel

Resolution

1080x1920 pixels

RAM

4GB

OS

Android 5.0

Storage

32GB

Rear Camera

13-megapixel

Battery capacity

3000mAh

See full Asus ZenFone 2 specifications

Asus ZenFone 2 ZE550ML

Display

5.50-inch

Processor

1.8GHz

Front Camera

5-megapixel

Resolution

720x1280 pixels

RAM

2GB

OS

Android 5.0

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

13-megapixel

Battery capacity

3000mAh

See full Asus ZenFone 2 ZE550ML specifications

Asus ZenFone 2 ZE500CL

Display

5.00-inch

Processor

1.6GHz

Front Camera

2-megapixel

Resolution

720x1280 pixels

RAM

2GB

OS

Android 5.0

Storage

16GB

Rear Camera

8-megapixel

Battery capacity

2500mAh

See full Asus ZenFone 2 ZE500CL specifications

Source: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/

Asus outs a new Zenfone 2 promo video, enlists a 64 GB storage version, too

If you have been following along the smartphone exploits of ASUS lately, you are likely as excited as we are to see the official launch of the ASUS ZenFone 2, expected later in March in the U.S. To keep the excitement going ASUS has launched a new video that does a great job of highlighting the new Android powered phone.

ASUS first introduced the ZenFone 2 alongside the ZenFone Zoom back at CES in January. “TwoFones,” as Kevin the Tech Ninja would say. The specifications list was something we were very happy to see, with a 5.5-inch HD display backed by a 64-bit Quad-Core processor, up to 4GB of RAM, up to 64GB of internal storage, a 3000mAh battery and a 13MP main shooter.

With specs like those, many expected the device to churn out a typical flagship price tag, in the $600+ range. However, ASUS has a little cost savings trick up their sleeve: their chosen processor is actually an Intel SoC, with an Imagination GPU. The end result, ASUS recently launched the ZenFone 2 in Taiwan, with the top tier unit just under $300. Downgrade to a 720p display, a slower processor, 2GB of RAM, a smaller battery and 8MP shooter for just $160.

Now that ASUS has released a teaser video for the western markets, we are hoping this means the device will soon follow. Sadly, we still have no word on when that may take place, but initial reports led us to believe later this month, we’ll have to wait and see.

For now, best hit the bottom of this article to check out our first touch of the device from CES and official announcement for all the details on this interesting, and very affordable Android 5.0 Lollipop offering from ASUS.

Source: http://www.androidauthority.com/