Is Samsung Ready to Leave Android?

Samsung is getting a lot of buzz for being the first company to unveil a Windows Phone 8 device, beating the mobile OS' flagship manufacturer, Nokia (NYSE: NOK [FREE Stock Trend Analysis]), by roughly one week. Is this a sign of things to come for Samsung? Or will the company stand by Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) beloved operating system?

Not likely. Samsung makes too much money with Android to leave the platform behind. That said, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has yet to sue Samsung for building Windows Phone 7 devices. It did, however, sue Samsung for developing a multitude of Android devices. In the United States, those lawsuits have already cost Samsung more than $1 billion.




By developing for Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) platform -- which appears to be free of patent disputes with Apple and other tech companies -- Google might have a reason to be concerned. If the Windows Phone 8 devices prove to be big sellers, Samsung will have fewer reasons to develop for Android. In time, the company's biggest and most important phones could move to the Windows Phone platform. If that happens, the entire market is likely to shift.

Again, this is not likely to happen any time soon. Samsung is still a big supporter of Android. In fact, without the Galaxy Note 2 (an Android-based phone), Samsung would not have any hope of undercutting the iPhone 5's unveiling. Without Android, Samsung would not have beaten Apple's smartphone sales figures by more than 20 million units. And without Android, Samsung could not have sold a ton of smartphones after losing a silly lawsuit.

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Dropbox makes a post-hacking security fix, Introduces two factor user authentication

 DIGITAL LOCKER SERVICE Dropbox has added two factor authentication that it promised customers following a data security breach it suffered in July.

The cloud storage provider implemented the new user authentication scheme on Monday. The change means that users will now need their password and a security code that will be texted to their mobile phone to verify their account.

"Two-step verification is one of several steps that we're taking to enhance the security of your Dropbox. We've also created a way for you to view all active logins to your account on the Security tab, and we're working on automated mechanisms to identify suspicious activity," said Dropbox in a blog post.

The new verification system is one of several security features promised by Dropbox. The new features were announced in August after the company admitted suffering a data breach.

The breach saw a number of customers email addresses and account details become compromised after criminals managed to successfully hack into a Dropbox employee's email account.

"A couple weeks ago, we started getting emails from some users about spam they were receiving at email addresses used only for Dropbox. We've been working hard to get to the bottom of this, and want to give you an update," read Dropbox's statement.

"Our investigation found that usernames and passwords recently stolen from other websites were used to sign in to a small number of Dropbox accounts. We've contacted these users and have helped them protect their accounts."

The data breach was taken as evidence by security vendors that Dropbox remains unsuitable for business use and caused massive damage to the company's reputation.

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Android 4.1 causing problems with paid apps

The Google Android Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system employs encryption which is creating problems especially for paid apps.

Google's latest operating system, the Android Jelly bean 4.1 is apparently causing serious problems with paid applications. Owing to the newly added application encryption system adopted for the Android Jelly Bean, the paid applications are loosing their credentials and information after the device restarts.

The Google Android Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system employs encryption of applications especially in the case of paid application in order to reduce and eliminate piracy of apps. This is done by choosing a different install location for paid applications. This potentially eliminates all the possible piracy options.

While Google has addressed piracy issues with each new OS release such as with Jelly Bean's App Encryption, its solution has ended up being worse for developers. Apparently developers are claiming encryption (the location of installed and encrypted apps from the Play Store) makes their apps completely unusable because account information is removed after a device reboot.

Due to lack of information, the paid applications and widgets fail to proceed as the information they seek is either not accessible or has already been removed due to reboot of the device.

As of now, there is no official solution to this problem but Google has disabled the encryption feature. But the developers are working hard as to get the security and encryption feature back on track as soon as possible.

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No more "Metro UI" for Windows 8

Microsoft no longer wants to use the term "Metro User Interface" for its upcoming Windows products.

Global software giant Microsoft has been using the term 'Metro' for the new user interface that made its debut with the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. But with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft is set to rename the 'Metro User Interface' as the 'New User Interface' or the 'Windows 8 style User Interface'.

As reported by ARS Technica, Microsoft's legal and corporate affairs team has issued an internal memo banning the use of the word "Metro" with regards to Windows. As per the report, Microsoft has in the memo clarified that the decision was taken after German retailer, Metro AG, sent a notice to Microsoft threatening legal action for infringing the "Metro" trademark held by it.

The new terminology that Microsoft will be using in regard with its upcoming operating system will be "Windows 8-style UI" when talking about Windows 8 applications, and "New User Interface" when talking about the company's product line-up.

As per a Microsoft spokesman, "We have used 'Metro style' as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names."

Whatever might be the reason for the change but finally no Metro user interface will be available for Windows 8 which is to be launched in the month of October this year.

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Just forward unsolicited SMSs to punish sender

In recent months, mobile users have seen a resurgence in messages from real estate agents, travel agents and even those offering to send bulk SMSs.

With unsolicited SMSs still haunting mobile users in India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has now come out with a new proposal under which telecom users just need to forward the SMS to 1909 to punish the sender.

According to a proposal by the telecom regulator, apart from providing an easy way to complain about unsolicited messages, there will also be a provision of Rs 500 fine from the first violation itself and cancellation of connection of unregistered telemarketers on the tenth violation.

The plan is to get access providers to put in place a system that blocks the delivery of unsolicited SMSs that carry similar signatures and come from a number that sends more than a specified number of messages every hour. Even banks or travel portals that send messages related to transactions will now have to hire registered telemarketers, the regulator suggested.

In recent months, mobile users have seen resurgence in messages from real estate agents, travel agents and even those offering to send bulk SMSs, which TRAI said came from unregistered telemarketers who used 10-digit numbers.

One of the reasons behind the surge, a senior officer in the regulator agency said, was the Delhi High Court order lifting the ceiling of 200 text messages a day, a decision which the regulator has decided to appeal against in the Supreme Court.

Although the regulator and the government have moved from a system of a Do-Not Call register a few years ago, it was revamped last September with mobile users given the option to register to fully block or partially block pesky messages. Besides, only registered telemarketers could call.

While the messages did stop, they resumed within a few days as marketers discovered a loophole and started routing messages from other countries. The TRAI official, however, said the regulator had plugged the gap, referred to as modem farming, as it had asked service providers to scrub bulk messages coming from foreign shores.

The draft regulation proposes that operators collect an undertaking from consumers at the time of purchase that the SIM purchased will not be used for telemarketing; and one from transactional message sending entities that they will use only registered telemarketers for their promotional activities.

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RIM wanted BlackBerry with Android OS?

Research in Motion has no second thoughts about leaving BlackBerry OS or options for any other operating system, but still there were certain options.

After the announcement of the delay of the BlackBerry OS 10 by Research In Motion, there were quite a few rumors about RIM in search of different operating systems for its device just in case the BlackBerry OS 10 fails to do the magic. But while the company might be warding off the rumors by saying they will stick with BlackBerry OS, the chief executive officer of RIM Thorsten Heins did mentioned a slight inclination towards Android when it comes to choices. Although not said clearly, this indeed confirms that RIM did think about Android as a viable option for sustaining the BlackBerry platform.

According to an interview given to the telegraph, Thorsten Heins said "We took the conscious decision not to go Android. If you look at other suppliers' ability to differentiate, there's very little wiggle room. We looked at it seriously - but if you understand what the promise of BlackBerry to its user base, it's all about getting stuff done. Very little time to consume and enjoy content - if you stay true to that purpose you have to build on that basis. And if we want to serve that segment we can't do it on a me-too approach."

Although it was not the preferred choice for the developers out at RIM but it certainly was one of the options.

BlackBerry has always been a great platform and while with the new operating system company will be coming up with a host of new things as well. BlackBerry OS 10 will allow for "true multitasking", potentially running a car's navigation, entertainment and gaming systems for the whole family.

Well all things have settled now, and RIM will be showcasing the BlackBerry OS 10 based devices next year and looking at the present beta version of the operating system, we would say that some pretty exciting times are just up the horizon.

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Convert your TV into an Android tablet

There are a lot of options that convert your TV into an Android device without the need to change anything inside the TV. Here are the options available in India.

We have had a wave of low cost tablet PCs and Android smartphones, now it seems that the time for micro PCs based on Android is coming up. These devices use a TV screen or computer monitor as display. The pricing currently starts at $48 (Rs 2,500) but unfortunately the prices in India are still very high.

We hope that Indian brands will soon bring these mini PCs to India at an affordable price, just the way they did with smartphones and tablets. In the meanwhile you can have a look at some of the devices that you can get shipped through eBay (apart from the three devices sold in India officially). You can also ask your friends abroad to help you get these.

Razor Bee (Rs 2,999)
The Razor Bee smartTV upgrader is a box shaped device that is based on Android 2.2, and comes with an ARM Cortex A8 processor and 256 MB RAM. This product is being sold by a Hyderabad based manufacturer.
It comes with a touchpad based remote, allows web browsing, Youtube video playback, quick and TV-friendly search, and plays media from USB or SD cards.

It comes with DLNA player that allows DLNA enabled mobile phones, tablets or PCs to push music, photo and videos to the TV.
On the down side the box doesn't have WiFi connectivity, though you can attach a WiFi router. It comes with two USB ports that can be used to attach a webcam, keyboard etc. However, it doesn't support 3G dongles. The connectivity is through an RJ45 jack for internet. It also has a 3.5 mm jack for a mic and headphone.
The box is priced at Rs 2,999 and some of the sites are offering basic mobile phones free from Micromax and Olive. Only three months warranty is offered for this box.

Google TV Cloud Stick (Rs 5,045)
This is a very neat pen drive shaped device that you can plug into the TV's HDMI port (in case your TV doesn't have an HDMI port, this is not for you); and here you go, your TV starts running Android 4.0 with full access to Google Play store. You can even stream video from your PC over WiFi.
The dongle gets 4 GB internal storage. Unfortunately there is no external storage option. For attaching a keyboard or mouse you have a full USB port. There is no battery in the device and therefore you will have to keep the charger attached all the time, but then that's alright since it's not a mobile device anyway.

This cloud stick supports full HD playback and almost all the popular file types. It also supports cloud storage like Dropbox and streaming of media.
In terms of hardware you get a 1 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, and 4 GB memory. There is no keyboard or mouse in the box. Though it is a very useful device, unfortunately it is costly due to it being imported by the seller. Otherwise, it is a $48 (Rs 2,500) device only.

Portronics Limebox smart (Rs 6,999)
This smartTv box comes with full one year warranty and is based on Android 2.3. It has a 1.2 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 4 GB internal memory and up to 32 GB through SD card. You also get WiFi support and an RJ45 jack for internet connectivity.
In terms of ports you get two USB, 1 HDMI, and three audio out jacks (you can therefore connect 5.1 speaker systems). You can also attach a USB pen drive, or hard disk for storage.

Because it's meant to be used with your TV or any other large monitor, the UI has been greatly modified from the stock Android interface. There's no lock screen, menu screen, multiple home screens or any of that - just one simple screen with folders. There's media, internet TV, browser, game, apps and settings on the front screen with each of them housing their respective widgets.
Limebox comes in white and lime colour combinations and is a good looking piece of hardware. It is a good buy considering that it comes with full warranty. However, we think it is overpriced at Rs 7,000, given that similarly specced tablets are priced at the same level and additionally get battery and a screen, both of which are among the costliest components of the tablet. But if you really want it to be attached to the TV all the time, it is better than a laptop attached using an HDMI cable provided that you get a user interface designed for TVs, and also many ports which are not there in any tablet (like the RJ45 port which allows you to connect wired broadband).

Internet TV Box (Rs 4,490)
This internet TV box being sold on eBay comes with a 1.2 GHz processor coupled with 3D GPU and 512 MB DDRIII RAM. It is based on Android 2.3.
You get 4 GB internal storage, WiFi support, infrared remote (though you will need a keyboard for typing,) and also Bluetooth (which can be used for a wireless keyboard and mouse).

In terms of connection you get a USB port (which you can use for storage), an SD card slot, and stereo audio output jacks.
The box supports all major audio and video file types, and also Adobe Flash. The internet TV box comes with 1 year seller warranty and, at Rs 4,490, is the cheapest after Razor Bee.

Amkette EvoTV (Rs 9,999)
This is the costliest smart TV box here and is made by Amkette, which was market leader of floppy drives (now floppy drives don't exist). The box is based on a modified version of Android 2.3 OS and comes with an Arm Cortex A9 processor coupled with Mali 400 GPU

It supports a USB keyboard, mouse, webcam and 3G dongle, and comes with an Evo Touch (wireless) remote, which works in the range of 10 meters and doubles up as a mouse so that moving the remote moves the cursor. There is also an Evo Touch function for on-screen control that offers motion sensors for games. The device has an inbuilt microphone for video conferencing and voice commands, and the remote works using universal remote functions for standard TV controls. There is also a 700 mAh battery for power backup.

In terms of features the box is great but then Rs 9,999 doesn't really justify the purpose that it serves. The box comes with a 1 year warranty.

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