#Moto X coming to India in “next few weeks”

NEW DELHI: After a successful launch of the low-cost Moto G smartphone, Motorola is bringing its Moto X handset to India in the next few weeks. 

Responding to a query about the India launch of Motorola's flagship smartphone on Twitter, the company tweeted, "In next few weeks Moto X will launch in India and Australia." 

However, Moto Maker - the online tool that allows users to customize Moto X - may not be available at launch. The company tweeted that Moto Maker, which is currently available only in the US, will be rolled out in Western Europe and Mexico in the second quarter of the year, leaving doubts whether this customization tool will be launched in India any time soon. 

Moto Maker allows users to choose the colour of the front panel (black or white only), back cover (18 colour options), and the hue of the keys on the side and the camera rim. Motorola says there are over 2,000 possible combinations of colours and build materials. 

Moto X is the only flagship smartphone by a major company that aims to lure customers with the promise of optimized user experience instead of beefed up hardware. The device has a 4.7-inch HD screen, dual-core processor, 10MP camera and 2GB RAM. 

However, the smartphone comes with a unique always-on voice assistant that listens to the commands even if the user is not operating the handset. It also comes with a Quick Capture feature, which allows users to jerk their wrist twice to open the camera app. The camera of Moto X also features ClearPixel technology that allows 75% more light to enter, thus producing better low light pictures. 

Much like Nokia's Glance Screen, Moto X comes with Active Display; this feature shows the time, unread messages and emails, missed calls and other notifications even when the screen is turned off. The device is preloaded with the Migrate app, which allows users to transfer data like contacts, photos, videos and even call log and SMSs from any Android 4.2-powered phone. 

It is expected that Motorola will stick to selling Moto X online only via Flipkart at the time of launch. The strategy has worked well in the case of Moto G, which is currently out of stock in India. 

However, the India launch of Moto X may be too late, as the next version of the smartphone is in the offing. The update to Moto X will be launched globally next summer, tweeted Motorola. 

Rick Osterloh, the company's senior vice-president of product management, also revealed that Moto G has become the highest selling Motorola smartphone of all time. 

Motorola also opened up about its plans for a smartwatch via tweets. The company said "We are working on a watch that will be available this year. We aim to address consumer issues like style & battery life." 

Google sold Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion in January, less than three years after acquiring the company. Though Motorola's handset business is going to Lenovo, Google will retain its research division and modular smartphone initiative (Project Ara).

Ref - TOI

#MWC2014: #WhatsApp's worth is more than $19 billion, #Facebook #CEO #MarkZuckerberg says

Billionaire Facebook founderMark Zuckerberg defended his huge $19 billion takeover of free mobile messaging service WhatsApp, saying it is actually worth much more. 

The 29-year-old Facebook chief announced the stock and cash purchase on Wednesday, a deal that marries his social network of 1.2 billion active users with Whatsapp's 450 million users. 

Asked about the price tag during an on-stage discussion at the February 24-27 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Zuckerberg saidWhatsApp was attractive as a company by itself, and as a strategic fit with Facebook. 

"I just think that by itself it is worth more than $19 billion [14-billion-euro]," said Zuckerberg, wearing a grey t-shirt, sneakers and black trousers. 

"I mean it is hard to exactly make that speech today because they have so little revenue compared to that number," he conceded. 

"But the reality is that there are very few services that reach a billion people in the world. They are all incredibly valuable, much more valuable than that," he added. 

"I could be wrong. This could be the one service that gets to a billion people and ends up not being that valuable. I don't think I am." 

Other Android messaging applications such as KakaoTalk, Vine and WeChat were already bringing in two to three dollars a person "with pretty early efforts", he said. 

"That shows that if we can do a pretty good job of helping WhatsApp to grow then this is just going to be a huge business," Zuckerberg said. 

"So even just independently I think it is quite a good bet." In partnership with Facebook, WhatsApp can focus on connecting "one, two, three billion people over the next however long that is going to take," Zuckerberg said. 

The Facebook boss said he and WhatsApp founder Jan Koum shared a vision of connecting everyone in the world to the Internet, delivering development benefits and in the longer term profits, too. 

Zuckerberg said Facebook planned to leave the WhatsApp service unchanged. 

"WhatsApp doesn't store the content," he said. "We would be pretty silly to get in the way of that." 

Hours earlier, WhatsApp's Koum said the messaging service would launch free voice calls by mid-year, putting it on a par with key competitor Viber which already does so. 

He, too, stressed that Facebook did not plan to change WhatsApp. "Mark really understands that for WhatsApp to be successful it really needs to stay independent," he said. 

Zuckerberg has come a long way in the mobile world in a short time. When Facebook sold its shares to the public in an initial public offering in May 2012, "it literally had no mobile advertising revenues", said Eden Zoller, analyst at the research house Ovum. 

"It did actually have a pretty strong mobile user base at IPO but what it had failed to do at that time was actually monetise those mobile users," she said. 

At the time of the float, worries over the lack of money coming in from the mobile business sent Facebook's shares sliding. 

But the social network -- boasting more than 1.2 billion members -- quickly repaired its strategy. 

By the end of 2013, mobile devices accounted for 53% of Facebook's advertising revenue, bringing in $1.2 billion in the last quarter and more than $3 billion over the whole year.

Ref - TOI

#Facebook to buy mobile messaging app #WhatsApp for $19 billion

Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stock, as the world's largest social network looks for ways to boost its popularity, especially among a younger crowd.

The acquisition of the hot messaging service with more than 450 million users around the world stunned many Silicon Valley observers with its lofty price tag.

But it underscores Facebook's determination to win the market for messaging, an indispensable utility in a mobile era.

Combining text messaging and social networking, messaging apps provide a quick way for smartphone users to trade everything from brief texts to flirtatious pictures to YouTube clips - bypassing the need to pay wireless carriers for messaging services.

And it helps Facebook tap teens who will eschew the mainstream social networks and prefer WhatsApp and rivals such as Line and WeChat, which have exploded in size as mobile messaging takes off.

"People are calling them 'Facebook Nevers,'" said Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed and an early investor in Snapchat.

WhatsApp is adding about a million users per day, Facebook co-founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg said on his page on Wednesday.

"WhatsApp will complement our existing chat and messaging services to provide new tools for our community," he wrote on his Facebook page. "Since WhatsApp and (Facebook) Messenger serve such different and important users, we will continue investing in both."

Smartphone-based messaging apps are now sweeping across North America, Asia and Europe.

"Communication is the one thing that you have to use daily, and it has a strong network effect," said Jonathan Teo, an early investor in Snapchat, another red-hot messaging company that flirted year ago with a multibillion dollar acquisition offer from Facebook.

"Facebook is more about content and has not yet fully figured out communication."

Even so, he balked at the price tag.

As part of the deal, WhatsApp co-founder and chief executive officer Jan Koum will join Facebook's board, and the social network will grant an additional $3 billion worth of restricted stock units to WhatsApp's founders, including Koum.

That is on top of the $16 billion in cash and stock that Facebook will pay.

"Goodness gracious, it's a good deal for WhatsApp," Teo said.

TERMS

Shares in Facebook slid 5 percent to $64.70 after hours, from a close of $68.06 on the Nasdaq.

Facebook said on Wednesday it will pay $4 billion in cash and about $12 billion in stock in its single largest acquisition, dwarfing the $1 billion it paid for photo-sharing app Instagram.

The price paid for Instagram, which with just 30 million users was already considered overvalued by many observers at the time.

Facebook promised to keep the WhatsApp brand and service, and pledged a $1 billion cash break-up fee if the deal falls through.

Facebook was advised by Allen & Co, while WhatsApp has enlisted Morgan Stanley for the deal.

Ref - TOI

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#Samsung, #LG may set up chip making units in #India

NEW DELHI: South Korean multinational conglomerates Samsung and LG are considering setting up units to manufacture electronic chips in India, following the government's clearance to build two such semiconductor units. 

Republic of Korea's Ambassador to India Joon-gyu Lee at a recent event said the Indian government wants to get companies like Samsung and LG, which manufacture semiconductors, to start this operation here as well. 

"The companies (LG and Samsung) are considering the Indian request. The problem is Indian style of slow processes," Lee said. 

No comments were received from the companies. Last week, the Cabinet approved setting up of two semiconductor units entailing total investments of Rs 63,410 crore. One unit would be set up by a consortium led by Jaiprakash Associates and the other by Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (HSMC). 

In September, the Cabinet had given in-principle nod to the projects. 

India does not have a semiconductor plant yet. Semiconductor, or electronic chip, is the main hardware component that is key to the functioning of devices such as mobiles and computers as well as hi-tech defence equipment. 

These components are vital for cybersecurity too as they can used to manipulate functions in a product or for spying purposes. 

China already has a wide lead over India as it has about 100 facilities. Demand for electronic products in India is expected to rise about 10 times to reach $400 billion by 2020. 

As per market research firm Gartner, Samsung was among top 5 semiconductor companies in terms of revenue in 2012. 

The worldwide semiconductor foundry market totaled $34.6 billion in 2012. Samsung was ranked 5th with market share of 3.7% at revenue of $1,295 million. 

Israel-based Tower Jazz and US-based IBM, which are investing in India as part of the Jaiprakash Associates led consortium, were ranked 6th and 7th in terms of revenue in global market, as per Gartner. 

The consortium led by HSMC has ST Microelectronics and Silterra as partners. 

Details pertaining to LG's semiconductor business could not be ascertained. 

India has announced it would provide 25% subsidy on capital expenditure and tax reimbursement under Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme Policy and exemption of basic customs duty for non-covered capital items for companies setting up semiconductor plant(s). 

In addition, investing companies will be eligible for 200% deduction on expenditure on research and development under Section 35 (2AB) of the Income Tax (IT) Act and investment-linked deductions under Section 35AD of the IT Act. 

The government will also provide interest free loan of approximately Rs 5,124 crore to each facility.

Ref - TOI

#Nokia to unveil low-cost #Android phone: Report

Nokia will unveil a low-cost smartphone running a version of Google Inc'sAndroid operating system, despite the company's close partnership with Microsoft Corp and its competing Windows system, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The handset division of the Finnish company, which is in the final stages of being acquired by Microsoft, will show off the new phone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month, the report said on Monday, citing unidentified sources who were familiar with the matter.

Nokia and Microsoft declined to comment.

The new Android phone will be aimed at emerging markets and will not feature some of Google's higher-end, custom Android features.

Microsoft and its main handset partner Nokia have struggled to make an impression in the smartphone market dominated by Samsung's Android devices and Apple Inc's iPhone.

According to technology research firm, Strategy Analytics, 79 percent of smartphones shipped worldwide last year ran on Android, 15 percent were iPhones running Apple's iOS and only 4 percent ran Windows Phone software.

Ref - TOI

#Motorola Moto G review: The budget performer

The much awaited Moto G, Motorola's economy Android smartphone, has finally been launched in India. The phone has won accolades the world over for its low price and great performance combo, and for bringing the focus back to usability instead of high-end specifications, a trend Motorola started with the Moto X, its flagship smartphone. We try to find out if Moto G really lives up to the hype surrounding it, in our review.

What's in the box
Unlike the international version of the Moto G, the Indian version imported by Flipkart includes a charger and a headset. It doesn't include a USB cable so you'll need to buy one to transfer data to the phone. Other than these, you'll find the user manual and a warranty-related document. The Moto G comes with a standard black coloured back panel, but additional back panels in other colours can be ordered separately.



Build and design
One of the most striking things about the Moto G is its minimalist no-frills design. The phone's look is essentially based on Moto X which is not available in India at this moment.

Moto G feels good to hold despite it being heavy at 143 gram and a bit thick at 11.6mm due to its curved back and rounded corners that take care of ergonomics. The phone is made from plastic materials but feels durable. Although it comes with a removable back panel, the construction is excellent. The back panel fits snugly, with no creaks and wobbles.

At first glance, the only thing you notice is the Moto G's shiny black front panel devoid of any distractions. There's no branding and no hardware buttons. The 1.3MP front camera and a notification LED placed next to the earpiece are the only other components visible.

Turn on the phone, and the 4.5-inch 720p IPS edge-to-edge display comes to life bursting with pixels. The phone's front bezel is designed in a manner so as to put all the focus on the display, making it the centre of attention. On the sides, the bezel is pretty narrow, but it takes up considerable amount of space below the display, which is a good thing as the navigation controls are easily accessible.
There's a minor gap between the edge of the front panel, which is slightly raised, and the display that tends to attract dust particles. The edge may also be susceptible to wear and tear once you start using the phone. The display comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection guarding the screen against scratches. Moto G is the only phone in this price range to feature Gorilla Glass 3.

The right edge of the Moto G features the narrow Power/ Screen lock keys which are made of metal and offer decent tactile feedback. However, we wish the volume rocker key would have been a little longer as we ended up hitting the power key during the initial period of use.

The 3.5mm headset jack sits at the top while the micro-USB port is placed at the bottom edge of the phone. There are no ports or buttons on the left edge.

The back of the phone, which is essentially the removable back cover, is curved and sports a rubberized soft matte finish, that makes holding the phone a pleasant experience. It features the phone's 5MP rear camera lens, an LED flash and Motorola logo (in an indent). We also found the back prone to smudges, but it is thankfully easy to clean.

Moto G also comes with a nano-coating that makes is water resistant up to a certain level. It will be able to handle minor splashes, but most likely won't survive a dip in the pool.

Overall, the Moto G is a compact and durable no-frills smartphone that is built to last.

Software
The dual-sim version of Moto G available in India comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Motorola has promised that the phone will get the Android 4.4 KitKat software update in the coming days. At the time of filing of this review, our Moto G unit had not received an update and was still running Jelly Bean.

Moto G runs an almost stock version of Android complete with on-screen navigation controls. The interface is close to Google's Nexus 4 except that Motorola also includes some of its own apps. Thankfully, these apps are not bloatware and add to functionality. One of the Motorola app called Assist changes how the phone alerts you during meetings or sleep. If you've used an iPhone, you must have used or come across the Do Not Disturb; Assist is similar and allows you to silence or auto reply to missed calls while you're in a meeting or sleeping. You can choose exceptions for Favourite callers or when someone calls twice.

Another Motorola app bundled with the phone is Moto Care. The app is not only a searchable user guide featuring Tutorials, FAQs, How-tos and actionable tips, it also offers a shortcut key to get in touch with Motorola's customer care. Motorola Migrate allows you to transfer content and settings from your old Android phone or iPhone.

The dual-sim Moto G also comes with settings for managing the behavior of two sim cards, allowing you to choose the default connection for data, calls and messaging.

That's about it. You get a pretty neat slate to customize as per your own preference and use the apps that you wish to.

The Android 4.4 KitKat update is expected to bring some minor cosmetic improvements including white notification icons and a transparent notification bar, a new Phone dialer app, some camera improvements in addition to other changes under the hood.

Camera
Moto G is an economy smartphone and despite the phone delivering more than what other smartphones in the price segment offer, the limitations are apparent when it comes to the camera.

The phone comes with a 5MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front facing camera. The rear camera can capture 720p video and also comes with an LED flash for taking pictures in low-light conditions.



Motorola ships its own camera app with the phone which is pretty bare bones when it comes to offering granular settings but designed keeping in mind the casual camera user. You'll only see two controls - one for switching to the video camera and the other to switch between the front and rear lenses till you swipe from the edge to the right side of the screen to reveal an arc shaped dial that features controls for HDR mode, LED flash, focus & exposure, slow motion, Panorama mode, geo-tagging, widescreen mode and shutter sound. Similar to the Windows Phone camera app, you click pictures by tapping anywhere on the screen. The soft viewfinder can be moved up and down to zoom in and out or shift focus.

We were pretty impressed by the images captured by the Moto G outdoors, during daylight. The images had good amount of detail, reproduced colour accurately and good contrast, especially in HDR mode. Pictures captured in low-light conditions and indoors were not that great but noise levels were comparatively lower than other phones in the same price range.


The rear camera can capture 720p video and we found the quality to be satisfactory.

The front camera comes in handy for taking selfies and for video chats, and does a decent job.

Performance
Moto G is known for offering the level of performance which is only delivered by phones costing Rs 10,000 more than it. At the heart of the phone is the 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with Adreno 305 graphics and 1GB RAM. We did not notice any lag whatsoever while navigating through the phone's menu, launching apps and switching between them.

We were able to play games like Temple Run 2, Banana Kong, and Asphalt 8 without encountering frame drops or freezes. Despite the limited RAM, the phone is a great gaming device.

In synthetic benchmarks, it beats competitors like the Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini by a margin. The phone scored 17,404 in Antutu, 8574 in Quadrant and 57.9 in Nenamark 2 benchmark tests. Some of these scores are better than the Nexus 4.



Out of the 16GB storage, 12.92GB is available to the user. Unfortunately, you can't expand the storage as the phone doesn't come with a memory card slot. Google is offering 50GB free cloud storage in Google Drive with the phone but we don't see cloud storage going mainstream till data connectivity gets better and data tariffs go cheaper.

Moto G offers Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS connectivity options. Interestingly, it comes with a trusted Bluetooth feature allowing you to disable lock screen when the phone is paired with a device specified as 'trusted.' This means you don't need to unlock the screen to change tracks when listening to music via Bluetooth headphones.

Moto G offers excellent call quality and signal reception and we did not encounter issues while making calls even in areas where cell signal is relatively weaker. The phone was able to lock to GPS without any hiccups.

Moto G offers FM radio but unfortunately, you can't listen to it through the phone's speaker even when you've plugged in the headphones to use as an antenna. It also doesn't offer a recording feature. We were able to play most popular video and audio file formats.

The external speaker on the phone offers loud sound output though it lacks bass. Of course the sound gets muffled when the phone lies on its back, which is an issue.

The phone is backed by a 2070 mAh battery and will last you a complete day even if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and use 3G data all the time. You'll be able to make about 2-3 hours of phone calls, play some casual games and browse the web in this time period. The phone can play video continuously for 7 to 8 hours.

Overall, the Moto G offers impressive performance and using it as our daily driver turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Verdict
There has been a vacuum in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 price segment when it comes to quality Android smartphones. Indian brands do somewhat fill the gap but the after-sales experience has left many customers high and dry. Also, the build quality and finish of these devices leaves a lot to be desired.

The Moto G addresses this very segment delivering great performance at an affordable price. We would not shy away for calling it a value for money proposition as the phone is well built and comes with the promise of latest software. We hope Motorola (even after completion of its acquisition by Lenovo) continues to offer software updates and ensures good level of on-ground after sales support.

There's no other Android phone we can recommend in the price segment. If you're fine with Windows Phone and want a better camera, the Nokia Lumia 720 is a good option.

Ref - TOI

#WindowsPhone 8.1 notification center leaked online

The much awaited Windows Phone 8.1 Notification Center has made its first appearance, courtesy of a screenshot from an internal Microsoft presentation that details the feature. 

Microsoft is reportedly working on a majorWindows Phone 8 update which is expected to bring the much demanded Notification Center which will offer all notifications in a centralized location in addition to toggles for commonly used settings. 

The screenshots, published by Winphollowers, reveal that the Windows Phone 8.1 version is inclusive of the notification center, dubbed 'Action Center', which comes out when a user takes a short swipe from the top of the screen. 

According to a report by The Verge, the center displays four basic quick settings that are shortcuts to options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other system settings, apart from showing date and a battery level percentage. The four settings toggles are customizable, as per the report. 

When the Notification Center is pulled down further, a full 'Action Center' is displayed, showing notifications from apps, which can also be silently added, updated and deleted in the view. 

Previously leaked screenshots had revealed that Microsoft was finally splitting volume controls for ringer, notifications and media, and apps in the upcoming update.

Ref - TOI