Prajyot Mainkar
Apple Inc has launched first public beta for iOS 10 following its announcement last month. This means iPhone, iPad and iPod users will be able to check the latest Apple OS version before it goes official later this year. Along with iOS 10, Apple is also releasing macOS Sierra’s first public beta today. During the official announcements of iOS 10, Apple presented a bunch of new features and improvements. The features include new messaging experience, redesigned maps and photos, a new home app to control connected-home devices, a Today screen of interactive notifications and much more. If you wish to get access to iOS 10 public beta, you can sign-up with an Apple ID at beta.apple.com. Once the beta is live, you will receive an email link with the download procedure. Before downloading, please note that since this is a beta edition, it might have bugs but according to apple, the build is stable enough to be tested on devices.
This week also witnessed interesting announcements from LG who announced a partnership with German automaker Volkswagen that will allow them to develop a connected car platform that would enable vehicles to communicate with external devices. Under this project, both companies will develop technologies that aim to bring together the connected car and smart home. That means, drivers will be able to control and monitor smart devices in their homes, like household appliances, lights and security systems by sitting in the car. The announcements also mentioned that both companies would work on building a notification centre that understands context and delivers notices in an intuitive and safe manner. It will also help drivers get optimised recommendations to respond to real-time situations.
Blackberry has bid adieu to its classic smartphone and also mentioned that it will be manufacturing its BB 10-powered BlackBerry Classic smartphone. This phone was the company’s last with tactile keys and trackpad. BlackBerry has been struggling as they have sold just 5 lakh phones globally in the first fiscal quarter this year, which was down from 6 lakh in the previous quarter. Chief operating officer and general manager, devices, BlackBerry, Ralph Pini quoted: “For many years, Classic (and its BBOS predecessors) has been in our portfolio. It has been an incredible workhorse device for customers, exceeding all expectations. But, the Classic has long surpassed the average lifespan for a smartphone in today’s market. We are ready for this change so we can give our customers something better – entrenched in our legacy in security and pedigree in making the most productive smartphones.” The company, however, did mention that they will continue to update Blackberry 10 software with version 10.3.3 next month and they will roll out another update next year.
Intex Aqua Power 4G smartphone was launched in India this week for the price of `6,399. The device sports a 5 inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280 pixels x 720 pixels. The phone is powered by a 1GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P 64-bit processor with mali-T720 GPU. The phone has Android v6.0 Marshmallow on board and features 1GB RAM. The phone has an 8 megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and a 2 megapixel front camera. This dual sim supported phone supports network connectivity such as 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. The phone is backed by a 3800mAh battery and also features matrabhasha service that enables communication in 21 regional languages. The Intex Aqua Power 4G is available in champ golden and deep blue colours.
Samsung released Galaxy Wide with a 5.5 inch HD display with a resolution 1280 pixels x 720 pixels. The phone is powered by 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) processor with Adreno 306 as GPU. The phone has 2GB RAM and comes with 8 GB internal memory which can be expanded up to 128GB with microSD. The phone comes with Android v6.0 Marshmallow OS; and has a 13 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5 megapixel front facing camera. Network connectivity options include 4G LTE / 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS/ GLONASS. The phone is backed by a 3000mAh battery. Samsung Galaxy Wide comes in black and white colours and is expected to be around US $275.
Samsung also launched Galaxy J2 (2016) edition with a 5 inch HD super AMOLED display. The phone has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 720 pixels. It comes with a 1.5GHz quad-core Spreadtrum (SC8830) processor with mali-400MP2 GPU. The phone comes with 1.5GB RAM and packs 8GB internal memory. Memory can be expanded up to 32GB with a microSD. With Android v6.0 Marshmallow OS on board, this phone supports dual-sim. The phone has an 8 megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED Flash and a 5 megapixel front-facing camera. The phone supports connectivity such as 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS. The phone has a 2600mAh battery, is available in gold, silver and black colours and is priced at `9,750.