Android Masters Incorporated

21 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS Google posted a video on Twitter announcing the launch on Oct. 4 Google Pixel, Pixel XL phones are tipped to launch The new smartphones will run Android 7.1 Nougat Google late Monday sent out invitations to an October 4 event, hinting that the Internet titan will show off a new smartphone powered by its Android mobile software. Emailed invitations revealed only the time and place for the gathering in San Francisco, the message topped by blue, red, yellow, and green dots of color. Google fired off  a Twitter message  with hashtag #madebygoogle and a video of what appeared to be a long rectangular search term box morphing into a silhouette of a smartphone. Industry trackers have been expecting Google in October to show off its own smartphone, showcasing the prowess of its new Nougat version of Android software. Google may stamp its latest smartphones with a "Pixel" brand instead of the "Nexus" name i

21 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS Allo is Google's new instant messaging app It was launched alongside video chat app Duo at Google I/O Allo integrates chat with Google's new AI assistant There are almost too many ways to send a quick message to someone right now. Most people have a collection of apps on their phones now to connect with all their contacts – from the ubiquitous WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, to Telegram, Hike, Hangouts and many more such as Viber and WeChat to name just a couple. Google clearly felt there was room for one more, because it's launched Allo for  Android  and  iOS . Gadgets 360 had a chance to try out Allo for around a week before its release, and also spoke to Amit Fulay, Project Manager for Real Time Communications at Google. Allo was announced alongside Duo, a fast and simple video chat app, at this year's Google I/O, as apps designed to enhance its messaging capabilities. This doesn't mean that Hangouts is

21 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS Coolpad Max is available through Amazon India It is currently priced at Rs. 13,999 It was launched back in May Coolpad's flagship smartphone, the Max, is now available at Rs. 13,999 after a flat discount of Rs. 11,000 during the Coolpad Anniversary sale on Amazon India, which began on Tuesday and is scheduled to last three days . Coolpad is also celebrating 1 million customers in India with its new Anniversary sale on Amazon India. The price cut is temporary and is applicable till the sale lasts. Apart from the discount on the Coolpad Max, the company is also offering 100 percent cashback to select customers who purchase the Coolpad Mega 2.5D, priced at Rs. 6,999. To recall, Coolpad launched the Coolpad Max in May priced at Rs. 24,999. It was launched exclusively on Amazon India and was available in Rose Gold and Royal Gold colours. The Coolpad Max runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with the company's CoolUI 8.0 skin on top. Th

21 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS It doesn't come with the 8GB of RAM variant that was expected Like previous LeEco flagships, the smartphone bears no 3.5mm jack Users will have to utilise the USB Type-C port to connect headphones As expected, Chinese technology firm LeEco on Wednesday launched its latest flaghship smartphone - the Le Pro 3. The smartphone has been launched in China, and interested buyers can already register for the first flash sale next week. The smartphone will be available in Gold, Grey, and Silver colour variants. The LeEco Le Pro 3 has been launched in four variants. The 4GB RAM + 32GB inbuilt storage version has been priced at CNY 1,799 (roughly Rs. 18,100), while the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage version has been priced at CNY 1,999 (roughly Rs. 20,100). The company also unveiled two Zhang Yimou editions, named after the famous Chinese filmmaker. The 4GB RAM + 64GB storage Zhang Yimou edition is priced at CNY 2,499 (roughly Rs. 25,100), a

  13 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS Chrome OS 53 releases into the stable channel Certain Chromebooks have yet not received the update There is no word on Android apps availability After releasing Chrome 53 for PCs and Android last week, Google has finally brought Chrome OS 53 to the stable channel. The biggest addition in the latest Chrome OS overhaul is Overview mode in the Material Design layout. Of course, the most anticipated feature of Chrome OS 53 was the availability of Android apps, however, support for that feature has not yet made it the general release. As of now, there is no clarity on when Google intends to release Android apps to Chrome OS. Notably, only three Chromebooks have Android app access via the beta channel till date - the Google Chromebook Pixel (2015), Acer Chromebook R11, and Asus Chromebook Flip C100PA. These three laptops, as well as HP Chromebox CB1 and Acer C7 Chromebook, will not be receiving the Chrome OS update immediately.

  10 September 2016 Facebook on Friday reversed its decision to remove postings of an iconic 1972 image of a naked, screaming girl running from a napalm attack in Vietnam, after a Norwegian revolt against the tech giant. Protests in Norway started last month after Facebook deleted the Pulitzer Prize-winning image by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut from a Norwegian author's page, saying it violated its rules on nudity. The revolt escalated on Friday when Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg posted the image on her profile and Facebook deleted that too. Initially, it stood by the decision, saying it was difficult to create a distinction between allowing a photograph of a nude child in one instance and not others. But late Friday it said it would allow sharing of the photo. "In this case, we recognize the history and global importance of this image in documenting a particular moment in time," Facebook said in a statement. "Because of its s

 4  September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS Dell launches new laptops in its Alienware gaming series New Alienware laptops powered by latest Nvidia graphic cards Alienware 17 lets you power on device by merely looking at logo Gamers around the world wait eagerly for Alienware laptops for a reason. Dell's Alienware brand has developed a name for itself for great gaming performance on the go. The latest entrants to this series unveiled by the company are all VR-ready - the refreshed Alienware 13, Alienware 15, and Alienware 17. The company launched the laptops alongside celebrating its 20-year anniversary, Unveiled at PAX West on Thursday, the new Alienware 13 will be launched on November 16 in the US alongside the GeForce GTX 1080 variant of the Alienware 17. The Alienware 15 and Alienware 17 are due on September 30 in the US. All three laptops pack Nvidia's GeForce GTX 10-series graphic cards for notebooks. Alienware 13 comes with an option for the Nvidia GeFor

 4  September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS TP Vision's 901F television carries Philips Ambilight technology Philips Hue lighting products trigger with people's movements Speakers Fidelio B8 Soundbar and Philips PixelPop also launched TP Vision, the company well known for selling televisions under the Philips brand, at IFA 2016 launched the brand's first 4K Oled television, complete with its iconic Ambilight Technology. Philips 55-inch 901F television comes with Perfect Pixel Ultra HD engine and produces superior black levels that most of the others, the company said in its release. The Perfect Pixel Ultra HD engine has the processing power of 4 billion pixels that allows the system to continually monitor and adjust each individual pixel for sharpness and brightness, the company said  in its release . With the Philips Ambilight technology, the television produces lights from its three sides in accordance with the colours on the screen. The television c

  3 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS Lenovo A Plus has been priced at EUR 69 (approximately Rs. 5,200) Lenovo P2 has been priced at EUR 249 (approximately Rs. 18,500) Both smartphones will initially be available in Europe Apart from launching the K6, K6 Power, and K6 Note smartphones, Lenovo at IFA 2016 in Berlin also revealed the new A Plus and P2 smartphones. The Lenovo P2 has been priced at EUR 249 (approximately Rs. 18,500) while the Lenovo A Plus will be available at EUR 69 (approximately Rs. 5,200). Both the handsets will be initially available in the European markets. The Lenovo P2 will start shipping in November while the A Plus will go on sale from this month. For specifications, the Lenovo A Plus features a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480x854 pixels) display and is powered by a MediaTek MT6580 processor clocked at 1.3GHz. The handset comes with 1GB of RAM and packs 8GB of on-board storage which can be expanded via microSD card (up to 32GB). It sports a 5-megapix

  2 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS ZTE Axon 7 mini is the smaller variant of the Axon 7 Available first in Europe, the phone will also be coming to India It bears a 5.2-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display ZTE on Thursday unveiled the latest smartphone in its Axon lineup at IFA 2016, the Axon 7 mini. It has been priced at EUR 300 (roughly Rs. 22,400), and will become available starting this month in Europe and Russia. The smartphone is also slated to arrive in India, apart from Australia, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. It will be priced at $400 (roughly Rs. 26,700) in the US, where it is already up for pre-order. It will be available in Gold and Grey colour variants. The dual-SIM ZTE Axon 7 mini runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and sports a 5.2-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) Amoled display that doesn't really match the 'mini' in its name. However, it is smaller in size than the ZTE Axon 7, which sports a 5.5-inch QHD (1440x2560 pixels) Amoled displ

  2 September 2016 HIGHLIGHTS The PS4 Slim is up for sale in the UAE Sony has not commented on its existence yet It is expected to be announced officially on September 7 Sony has yet to announce the existence of the PS4 Slim and not only has it been  purchased  and  reviewed , but a retailer in the UAE has taken it a step further by showing off the console itself on Instagram. Game Street , a Dubai-based game store posted images of the console along with a caption stating it would be available soon. This comes hours after games business website MCV UK  claimed  that the PS4 Slims out in the wild originated from the UAE. The image has now been taken down. According to several gamers residing in the UAE speaking to Gadgets 360, the PS4 Slim has been available unofficially for awhile. And though we've seen this in the past with titles as recent as No Man's Sky and The Division, this is the first time actual console hardware has bypassed the offic