Samsung finally took the wraps of its next Galaxy flagship, the Galaxy S6 alongside the much-anticipated Galaxy S6 Edge at the MWC 2015 in Barcelona. The company also revealed the new mobile payment service called Samsung Pay, set to rival Apple Pay.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will be available globally starting April 10 and will be available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage variants. The company announced that the new Galaxy smartphones will come in White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Blue Topaz (Galaxy S6) and Green Emerald (Galaxy S6 edge only). The South Korean giant touts that the Galaxy S6 Edge has the "world's first curved display on both sides."

Samsung at the launch touted that both the handsets have been "beautifully crafted from metal and glass."

Both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge feature 5.1-inch Quad HD (1440x2560 pixels) Super AMOLED display with a pixel density of 577ppi. The only difference being the latter sports a dual-edge display.

The new Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge run Android 5.0 Lollipop and feature a 14nm octa-core mobile processor with 64-bit capability. The company writes, "The world's first 14nm mobile processor with 64-bit platform, new LPDDR4 memory system and UFS 2.0 flash memory provides higher performance and enhanced memory speed with lower power consumption."

Both the handsets are powered by octa-core (quad-core 2.1GHz+ quad-core 1.5GHz) processor (chipset not specified, possibly Exynos) coupled with 3GB of RAM (LPDDR4).

There is a 16-megapixel rear camera with OIS (optical image stabilisation) and LED flash while there is a 5-megapixel front camera on board. Both the handsets come with a slew of camera features such as quick launch, tracking AF, auto real-time HDR, f/1.9, IR detect white balance, low light video, high clear zoom, virtual shot, slow motion, fast motion, pro mode, and selective focus.

The South Korean giant to rival Apple's payment system finally introduced the Samsung Pay, which it claimed will be "compatible with more locations than any competing offering in a single application."

Samsung Pay will debut on the flagship Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge in the US during second half of 2015. Samsung notes, "Samsung Pay works with both Near Field Communication (NFC) and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology to make it device, merchant and card issuer agnostic." With MST support for magstripe readers, it is claimed to work with 90 percent of US retailers, making it more 'universal' than Apple Pay according to Samsung. To make it work in store, users have to activate the card, authenticate it with their fingerprint, and then hold up the smartphone to the magstripe reader.

Much like the Samsung Galaxy S5, the new premium Galaxy handsets also pack fingerprint scanning with an enhanced touch-type fingerprint scanner on the home button. Additionally, both the handsets will come pre-installed with upgraded Samsung Knox. As rumoured previously, Samsung's premium handsets come preloaded with Microsoft apps such as OneDrive offering 115GB for 2 years, and OneNote. The Galaxy S6 is backed by a 2550mAh battery while the Galaxy S6 Edge comes with 2600mAh battery. For connectivity, both the handset support LTE Cat. 6 that supports up to 300Mbps of download speed. Both phones support wireless charging built-in, with support for WPC and PMA standards. The fast charging batteries charge (only when wired) 1.5 times faster than that on the Galaxy S5, and provide "about 4 hours of usage after only 10 minutes of charging."

 

 

Commenting on the launch, JK Shin, CEO and head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung said, "With the all new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, Samsung is offering what's next in mobility, along with a new standard to drive the global mobile agenda. By listening to our customers, and learning from both our success and missteps, we continuously push forward new technologies and ideas. With a reimagined design, robust partner network and novel services, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge offer users the ultimate experience in smartphone options."

Alcatel OneTouch launched a new smartphone - the Idol 3 - at Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona on Sunday. Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3's unique feature is that it is reversible. Alcatel claims that you can speak on the phone with the top side down.

This isn't a big problem for most people and seems like a gimmicky feature to grab people's attention. However, quite a few Android smartphones feature symmetrical designs that make it hard to quickly tell which side is up. Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 eliminates that problem as it is reversible.

The specification sheet reveals that the 7.7-mm thick Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 has two variants under the same name. The larger variant has a 5.5-Inch Full HD IPS display while the smaller one has a 4.7-Inch 720p display. These phones are priced at EUR 250 (roughly Rs. 17,300) and EUR 200 (roughly Rs. 13,800) respectively, which puts them in the mid-range bracket. Both these phones run Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 5.5-Inch variant comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC that has a 64-bit octa-core processor, 2GB RAM and lets you choose between 16GB and 32GB inbuilt storage. This phone has a 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.0 lens, while its front camera is an 8-megapixel one. The phone comes with a large 2910mAh battery.

The smaller 4.7-Inch variant of the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 has a smaller 2000mAh battery, 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC and a 5-megapixel front camera. Other than that, its specs are similar to that of its bigger sibling.

Truecaller earlier this week updated its iPhone app to version 5.0, and added a new Today Widget apart from redesigning the UI to optimise it for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and improving other features.

The new Today Widget, called Truecaller Widget Search, is meant to help quickly identify a missed call, and lets users copy a phone number from call history, and then drag down Apple's Today View to see the Truecaller widget and identify the caller. The updated app is available on the App Store.

The feature is available for iOS 8 users, and can also be used to search for people within and outside the user's phonebook. The firm says the app will first help search for the number or name inside the user's phonebook, and if it is not available, will search from within the Truecaller database that is claimed to have 1.6 billion names.

Users can now also information and photos from social media profiles to the Truecaller phonebook, a feature that Android users got back in December. Users will be able to choose the way they look in their friends' Truecaller phonebooks by updating their profile.

Apart from this, the new user interface allows for quick ways to send text messages or place calls to user profiles just discovered. Once a user profile is pulled, users will need to swipe left to place a call or text. The updated Truecaller app for iPhone also brings updated Spam filters for better protection against unwanted calls, and the app is claimed to be faster than before.

Alan Mamedi, co-founder and CEO of Truecaller, spoke of the changes in the new app in a statement, "We want to streamline and personalize the experience for our users as much as possible and a smarter design was essential to improving the experience. This is the next big step we're taking to increase the utility of our app, while helping the iOS community save time with tools they need to identify unknown numbers. We think the new Truecaller will improve the way millions of people use the service every day, and based on some of the great feedback we've had so far, we're confident that we're moving in the right direction toward our next 100 million users."

Samsung is expected to launch its next Galaxy flagship smartphone alongside a curved-display variant at the company's Galaxy Unpacked 2015 event during MWC scheduled for March 1, which is just a couple of days away from now. But the leaks related to the device just don't stop coming in.

The latest in the series of leaks is from mobile carrier Sprint. The US carrier along with T-Mobile, and AT&T earlier this week unveiled pre-registration pages that featured a side view of the Galaxy S6 Edge along with the words 'Six Appeal'. Soon after, AT&T's site code confirmed the names - Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

More recently though, Sprint briefly put up a contest page (now pulled down) which showed the top-halves of both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. In the meanwhile, more live images of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge have surfaced on the Internet, matching the phones seen on the Sprint contest page, alongside new details about UI on the handset.

First spotted by Android Police, Sprint's promotional teaser pages are for interested consumers to sign up for alerts on the handsets. Another promotional contest page shows the front panels of both the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge.

The image only shows the upper half body of both the Samsung handsets that house the company logo just above the display while the screen has March 1 date potentially tipping the launch day. Sprint's contest page seemingly also spills the names of the two handsets, in-line with previous reports, and says, "Pre-register for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge that are coming soon and you'll be entered for a chance to win one of six GS6 (Galaxy S6) devices that are given away each week for a limited time."

In another leak, Sammobile reports that the Galaxy S6 will come preloaded with just two in-house apps while it will also include the themes feature that debuted on the Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5. The report claims that Galaxy S6 users will be able to change "icons, colour bar, voice tones, background image and background colour in menus."

The report adds that the new themes should be available to download from the company's Theme Centre; though there is no word on whether the handset will support third-party themes.

Lastly, more live images of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge have emergedon XDA forum (via GSM Arena). On Thursday, some images of the Galaxy S6 were leaked via XDA forum showing the brushed metal frames alongside front and rear panels, as well as the lack of a microSD card slot and removable battery.

The latest images show the front and rear panels of both the yet-to-be-announced handsets. In one of the images the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are seen with switched-on screens. The curved-display edge of the Galaxy S6 Edge on one side is also visible in the image. The rear images of both the Galaxy S6 and the curved-display variant look identical with a protruding camera, a notable feature that's visible. As mentioned before, the images match that of the Sprint contest page, and we can now be reasonably sure the two phones will arrive in the form leaked by the carrier.

Based on previous reports, the Samsung Galaxy S6 is likely to feature a 5 or 5.1-inch QHD Super AMOLED display; run Android 5.0.2 Lollipop; octa-core Exynos 7420 processor; 3GB of RAM; a 20-megapixel camera with OIS (optical image stabilisation); 5-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 2600mAh battery with fast charging features.

Micromax has finally revealed the pricing of the Canvas Selfie smartphone, which will be available at Rs. 15,999 in India. Initially announced in December, the Micromax Canvas Selfie is expected to go on sale soon.

The company at the launch stressed that the Canvas-series smartphone has been designed for image-conscious women. It features a faux leather rear finish.

The highlight of the Micromax Canvas Selfie is its 13-megapixel front and rear cameras that are both accompanied by LED flash modules and Sony sensors. The smartphone's features few inbuilt camera tools such as eye enhancement; face slimming; skin smoothening; teeth whitening; remove oil; fade dark circles, and make-up.

The Canvas Selfie is powered by 1.7GHz octa-core (unspecified chipset) processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. The smartphone runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat out-of-the-box and supports dual-SIM (GSM+GSM).

It features a 4.7-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Micromax Canvas Selfie includes 16GB of inbuilt storage which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

It includes a 2300mAh battery with no word on talk time and standby time. Connectivity options on the Canvas Selfie include Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, GPRS/ EDGE, and 3G. It will be available in Mystic Blue and Angelic White colours.

An established Mumbai-based retailer on Thursday claimed that Micromax's new Bolt Q324 smartphone has launched at Rs. 3,990. So far Micromax is yet to officially announce or list the device. The retailer tipped that the Micromax Bolt Q324 will be available for Rs. 3,990 against an MRP of Rs. 4,699.

 

 

Panasonic has silently launched the successor of the Eluga U, the Eluga U2, in Taiwan at TWD 7,990 (approximately Rs. 15,700). As yet, there is no information of its global release.

The smartphone can be grabbed from Yahoo online store in Taiwan. The Panasonic Eluga U2 is a single-SIM device unlike the dual-SIM Eluga U. The smartphone runsAndroid 5.0 Lollipop with the company's Fit Home UI out-of-the-box, making it the first device to run Lollipop by Panasonic.

Upfront, the Panasonic Eluga U2 features a 5-inch full-HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display and is powered by a 64-bit quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM.

The Panasonic Eluga U2 sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and a 5-megapixel front facing camera. Inbuilt storage on the Eluga U2 is 16GB, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

Connectivity options on the Eluga U2 include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS/ A-GPS. The handset measures 141.5x71x7.95mm, weighs 131 grams, and comes with a 2500mAh battery.

Last year in July, Panasonic had launched the Eluga U smartphone in India, priced at Rs. 18,990. The dual-SIM (Micro-SIM) Panasonic Eluga U features a 5-inch (720x1280 pixels) IPS OGS display, and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. Other specifications include, a 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera; a 2-megapixel front-facing camera; 16GB of built-in storage expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB), and a 2500mAh battery.

  

You hand over your phone to someone to make a call, or look up something on the Internet and the next thing you know, they're browsing through your messages. Most people know better than to be so rude, but we all know that one person who really doesn't understand why this is bad manners.

It's not like everyone has something to hide, but these days we all carry a virtual record of our lives in our pockets. Our smartphones have a lot of personal information we do not want other people to see.

One way to protect your privacy is to set a password lock on your phone. While that serves the purpose in most cases, it's no use when you pass your phone to someone for a quick call or if they want to check something. It's for times like these that a password lock for individual apps can come in handy. There are lots of apps for Android that let you do this, but Smart AppLock is our favourite.

This is how you can set up Smart AppLock to protect your apps from the curious friend:

1. Download Smart AppLock.
2. When you first fire up the app, it'll ask you to set the password. The default password is 7777, as you'll see in the password hint on screen. Tap those numbers in to open the app.
3. Now the App Lock tab will show up.
4. Tap the green + button at the bottom.
5. Select apps you want to lock down with a password. All you need to do is tap the checkmark next to each app that you want to protect.
6. Tap ADD.
7. Next to each app, you'll see a button labelled FAKE. Tap this button to enable a fake app crash message. Whenever you open that app, you will see a message like, "Unfortunately, WhatsApp has stopped." This will show the name of whichever app you have enabled the setting for. If someone sees the message and taps OK, Smart AppLock returns to the home screen. But if you tap and holdOK, you'll be asked to enter the app password.

That's it. Now all the apps you selected are hidden behind a password. But it's a good idea to change the default password and here's how you can do that:

1. Swipe left to the Settings tab.
2. Tap Password & Pattern Settings.
3. Tap Password and key a new numeric code.
4. Tap Password hint to replace the hint set by default.
5. You can also switch to a pattern lock, gesture lock or character password lock. Tap Lock Type to switch.

This will set a common password for all the apps you picked. If you want a different password for any of your apps, try these steps.

1. Open Smart AppLock and swipe left to the Settings tab.
2. Tap Multiple Passwords.
3. Tap Add Password.
4. Here you can select individual apps by tapping Locked Apps.
5. Tap the checkmark next to the apps you want to lock and tap Add.

We really liked Smart AppLock because it doesn't just protect your apps. It does this in a way that prevents any unauthorised user from knowing that something is up. This way, you can keep your stuff private, without getting into a fight with someone over it.