Technology news

Twitter says usernames and images will no longer count against 140-character limit
Twitter has announced that it will simplify tweets in the coming months, making it faster and easier for people to express themselves in 140-characters. Twitter says media attachments, such as photo and video, will no longer count toward character limit.
Also @names in reply to tweets will be removed from the character count. Twitter says the new update will make micro-blogging service faster and more intuitive f

The Bolt Selfie is priced at Rs 4,999 and is available exclusively on Flipkart.
Micromax has launched two new selfie centric smartphones- Bolt Selfie and Canvas Selfie 4. The Bolt Selfie is priced at Rs 4,999 and is available exclusively on Flipkart. Micromax will announce the price of Canvas Selfie 4 by the end of this month.
Micromax Bolt Selfie sports a 5MP front shooter with face and beauty mode; and gesture capture. The 4G-enabled smartphone has a 4.5-inch screen and a 1,750 mAh battery. I

Indian smartphone maker Micromax on Tuesday launched two new devices ‘Bolt Selfie’ and ‘Canvas Selfie 4’ for the first-time consumers and selfie lovers.
“With smartphones becoming the first device to capture precious moments with friends and family, a top class camera becomes a must-have feature while buying a phone,” said Shubhajit Sen, chief marketing officer at Micromax, in a statement.
The Rs 4,999 ‘Bolt Selfie’ smartphone is equipped with a 5M

Chinese smartphone maker Meizu on Tuesday announced that it has received over three lakh registrations within two weeks of Meizu M3 Note’s launch.
The device will be available on e-commerce website Amazon from May 31.
The Rs 9,999 smartphone packs 5.5-inch full high-definition display and is powered by Octa-core Helio P10 processor clocked at 1.8 GHz CPU.
The 5mm thin Meizu M3 Note is 32 percent bigger than its predecessor M2 Note. The device runs on Android 5.1 lollipop Operating System (

Apologising for banning an ad that showed a model wearing a bikini, social media giant Facebook has reversed its decision that it took claiming the image in the ad was a violation of the company’s health and safety standards.
The social media site banned the photo of Tess Holliday — a plus-size model — saying that the photo was against the guidelines that prohibit displaying “body parts in an undesirable manner”, the New York Post reported.
“Our team processes

Datawind remains on top in the tablet market in India, according to IDC numbers.
India’s tablet market for Q1 2016 remains flat with a total of 0.86 million units (including slate and detachable form factors) getting shipped, even as the detachables saw triple digit yearly growth, according to the latest numbers from research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
IDC says shipments grew by a marginal 1.3 per cent over the same period last year thanks to declining consumer interest.
D

Micro-blogging site Twitter will soon roll out an automatic “Night Mode” user interface (UI) to its Android app that will swap out the white background and replace it with a darker appearance.
The testing of the new feature is happening among a small number of alpha testers, technology website DroidLife reported on Tuesday.
As of now, the standard white background UI with black text is the only option available to users.
“Not only is Twitter testing a “Night Mode”,

Twitter says usernames and images will no longer count against 140-character limit
Twitter has announced that it will simplify tweets in the coming months, making it faster and easier for people to express themselves in 140-characters. Twitter says media attachments, such as photo and video, will no longer count toward character limit.
Also @names in reply to tweets will be removed from the character count. Twitter says the new update will make micro-blogging service faster and more intuitive f

Twitter is bringing Night UI to Android app along with different button placement
Twitter will soon roll out an automatic “Night Mode” user interface (UI) to its Android app that will swap out the white background and replace it with a darker appearance.
The testing of the new feature is happening among a small number of alpha testers, technology website DroidLife reported on Tuesday.
As of now, the standard white background UI with black text is the only option available to users.

Syska powerbank is the first powerbank to support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology
Syska Accessories has launched India’s first Quick Charge support Power Elite100 (QC) powerbank. The company designing mobile phone and computing acessories claims the power bank is enriched with next generation Qualcomm Quick Charge support that refuels devices faster than conventional charging method.
Syska Power Elite (QC) power bank has a capacity of 10,050mAh and features dual USB port for char

Mitashi has a quad core processor and features screen-mirroring too.
Mitashi has launched a 65-inch smart TV LED panel at Rs 98,990. The smart TV is available across retailers and online as well.
Mitashi 65-inch smart LED TV comes with an Air mouse feature to maneuver through the content. The smart TV works with Android 4.4 OS which helps access apps on the Google Playstore.
Mitashi 65-inch smart LED TV has a quad-core processor and features screen-mirroring, that allows users to share content

The Bolt Selfie is priced at Rs 4,999 and is available exclusively on Flipkart.
Micromax has launched two new selfie centric smartphones- Bolt Selfie and Canvas Selfie 4. The Bolt Selfie is priced at Rs 4,999 and is available exclusively on Flipkart. Micromax will announce the price of Canvas Selfie 4 by the end of this month.
Micromax Bolt Selfie sports a 5MP front shooter with face and beauty mode; and gesture capture. The 4G-enabled smartphone has a 4.5-inch screen and a 1,750 mAh battery. I

LeEco LeMe headphones have a fancy ‘droplet’ design, which is supposed to accentuate the comfort
Wireless headphones, collectively, don’t please me. But for this review, I chose to keep my prejudices aside and give the LeMe Bluetooth headphones a real chance. At the end of a week of using them extensively, I’m just left with my stance reinforced.
The headphones have a fancy ‘droplet’ design, which is supposed to accentuate the comfort but doesn’t delive

Datawind remains on top in the tablet market in India, according to IDC numbers.
India’s tablet market for Q1 2016 remains flat with a total of 0.86 million units (including slate and detachable form factors) getting shipped, even as the detachables saw triple digit yearly growth, according to the latest numbers from research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
IDC says shipments grew by a marginal 1.3 percent over the same period last year, and blames declining consumer interest f

Google’s Project Abacus could be the next best method of user authentification after Apple’s TouchID and Microsoft Windows Hello
Google wants to turn passwords obsolete. So at I/O 2016, the search giant showed off its plans to achieve just that. Google’s idea is to use a combination of metrics like users’ typing patters, walking patterns, current location and other data as the new login method.
Google already has a similar feature by the name ‘Smart Lock&

Facebook said its investigation showed that conservative and liberal topics were approved as trending topics at nearly identical rates.
Facebook Inc said on Monday that it had changed some of the procedures for its “Trending Topics” section after a news report alleging it suppressed conservative news prompted a US Congressional demand for more transparency.
The company said an internal probe showed no evidence of political bias in the selection of news stories for Trending Topics, a

More than 2,500 Twitter accounts have been compromised to tweet links to adult dating and sex websites, global cyber security leader Symantec said on Tuesday.
There were a number of high-profile accounts caught up in the hacking, including ones belonging to the band Chromeo, a journalist working for The Telegraph, stand-up comedian Azeem Banatwala, Houston Texans wide receiver Cecil Shorts III and the late New York Times reporter David Carr, the report added.
The attackers changed the profile ph

Xander Audios XA299BT is sleek and comes with a wooden cabinet to reduce distortion.
Xander Audios has launched XA299BT multimedia speaker at Rs 3,490. The speaker features a 4000 Watt PMPO, that provides a crisp sound.
Xander Audios XA299BT is sleek and comes with a wooden cabinet to reduce distortion. The speaker can be connected to a TV set or tablet. The bass from BIG 5.25 subwoofer ensures clarity from the lowest to the highest tones.
The speaker comes with USB port, SD card slot and inbui

Datawind led the market with 27.6 per cent share, followed by Samsung (15.2 per cent), Lenovo (13.6 per cent), Micromax (11.3 per cent) and iBall (8.7 per cent). (Reuters) Indian tablet market grew marginally by 1.3 per cent to 0.86 million units in the first quarter of 2016 from the year-ago period as consumer preference for large-screen smartphones continues to gain traction, according to research firm IDC.
However, shipment (of slate and detachables) remained flat compared to the October-Dec

User names and media attachments such as photos and videos will no longer count towards the length of a tweet, Twitter Inc said on Tuesday, but the 140-character limit will stay. (Reuters) User names and media attachments such as photos and videos will no longer count towards the length of a tweet, Twitter Inc said on Tuesday, but the 140-character limit will stay.
Twitter said the change, part of its efforts to simplify its micro blogging service, will come into effect in the next few months.

LeEco has sent out invites for a June 8 event in New Delhi, where it will launch the Le 2 and Le Max 2. 
LeEco Le 2, Le 2 Pro, and Le Max 2 are expected to launch in India on June 8. LeEco, which launched the three smartphones in Beijing last month, has sent out press invites for the same.
Le 2 comes with a 5.5-inch full HD display and is powered by Mediatek’s new Helio X20 deca-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage space and a 16-megapixel rear camera plus eight-megapixel front came

LeEco, which launched the three smartphones in Beijing last month, has sent out invites for a June 8 event in New Delhi.
LeEco Le 2, Le 2 Pro, and Le Max 2 are expected to hit the Indian smartphone market early June. LeEco, which launched the three smartphones in Beijing last month, has sent out invites for a June 8 event in New Delhi.
Le 2 comes with a 5.5-inch full HD display and is powered by Mediatek’s new Helio X20 deca-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage space and a 16-megapixel r

Apple is reportedly bringing OLED display touch bar and TouchID to 2016 MacBook Pro lineup
Apple is reportedly planning to launch a revamped version of MacBook Pro notebooks this year. According to MacRumors, the new revamped version will feature an even thinner form factor, and Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
Apple MacBooks have been long rumoured to get Touch ID. MacRumors reports the 2016 MacBook Pro will feature a new OLED display touch bar above the keyboard and Apple will drop the func

In India, Nokia Networks is part of Telecommunications Standards Development Society which is working on 5G, and is in discussion with telecom operators to start 5G trials. (Reuters) Nokia Networks is in talks with Indian telecom operators to start trials of next generation 5G networks even as the country is yet to see full-scale roll out of 4G technology based mobile voice and data services.
The Finnish telecom equipment maker is already testing the fifth-generation networks with global teleco

Samsung’s next Galaxy Tab is a ‘Made in India’ device with 1.5GB RAM and quad-core processor (Source: Samsung)
Samsung will introduce a new tablet in India on May 25. The Korean company has sent out media invites for the launch which hints at a ‘Made in India’ tablet.
In terms of specifications, the tablet is a 7-inch device with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and will have 1.5GB RAM. The tablet is powered by a quad-core 1.3GHz processor with 8GB in-built storage whic

HTC 10 smartphone will launch in India on May 26.
HTC is set to launch its new flagship, the HTC 10 smartphone, in India on May 26. HTC 10 was globally unveiled in April, and is priced at $699 in the US. Now, the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has sent out invites for a launch event in India on Thursday. The launch has been delayed by over a month.
HTC 10 is the make-or-break smartphone for the Taiwanese company, which used to figure in the list of top smartphone vendors till a few quarters

HTC 10 smartphone will launch in India on May 26.
HTC is set to launch its new flagship, the HTC 10 smartphone, in India on May 26. HTC 10 was globally unveiled in April, and is priced at $699 in the US. Now, the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has sent out invites for a launch event in India on Thursday. The launch has been delayed by over a month.
HTC 10 is the make-or-break smartphone for the Taiwanese company, which used to figure in the list of top smartphone vendors till a few quarters

HTC 10 smartphone will launch in India on May 26, which is today. The big question will be how the HTC 10 is priced. 
HTC is set to launch its new flagship, the HTC 10 smartphone, in India today. HTC 10 was globally unveiled in April, and is priced at $699 in the US. Now, the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has sent out invites for a launch event in India on Thursday. The launch has been delayed by over a month.
HTC 10 is the make-or-break smartphone for the Taiwanese company, which used

HTC 10 smartphone will launch in India on May 26, which is today. The big question will be how the HTC 10 is priced.
HTC is set to launch its new flagship, the HTC 10 smartphone, in India today. HTC 10 was globally unveiled in April, and is priced at $699 in the US. Now, the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has sent out invites for a launch event in India on Thursday. The launch has been delayed by over a month.
HTC 10 is the make-or-break smartphone for the Taiwanese company, which used to fi

Casio G-Shock GWG-1000 is equipped with the Triple Sensor capabilities that provide instant access to direction, barometric pressure, temperature information and mud-resist construction. Casio has introduced G-Shock Mudmaster GWG-1000 wrist watch with armoured toll design, priced at Rs Rs 35,995.
Casio G-Shock GWG-1000 is equipped with the Triple Sensor capabilities that provide instant access to direction, barometric pressure, temperature information and mud-resist construction that ensures no

Nokia employs around 104,000 people worldwide. Last week the company specified its plan for its home country, saying it was cutting around 1,000 Finnish jobs, compared to an initial target of 1,300 jobs. (PTI) Telecom network equipment maker Nokia is likely to cut 10,000 to 15,000 jobs globally as part of a cost-cutting programme following its acquisition of Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent, a Finnish union representative said.
Nokia kicked off the programme in April with a target to slash

Mobile wallets won’t die out just because of UPI. (Representational Image)
By Upasana Taku 
A lot of people are confusing Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with an end-user app. Let’s be very clear, UPI is an infrastructure on top of which end-user apps can build and implement the features offered by UPI.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Payment System Vision Document (2012-15) says that UPI envisages a payments architecture that is directly linked to achieving the goals of unive

The HD 451 has a single-sided cable which eliminates tangling,and has been priced at Rs 5000.
Sennheiser has launched its HD 400 series of over ear headphones, which includes three models: HD 451, HD 461 and HD 471.
Sennheiser’s HD 451 and HD 461 models feature bass experience, whereas the HD 471 offers a more balanced sound. The HD 461 and HD 471 have detachable cables, with inline remotes and microphones. These models are available in dedicated versions for Android and Apple iOS devices

Samsung’s next Galaxy Tab is a ‘Made in India’ device with 1.5GB RAM and quad-core processor (Source: Samsung)
Samsung will introduce a new tablet in India tomorrow. The Korean company has sent out media invites for the launch which hints at a ‘Made in India’ tablet.
In terms of specifications, the tablet is a 7-inch device with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution and will have 1.5GB RAM. The tablet is powered by a quad-core 1.3GHz processor with 8GB in-built storage which

LeEco Le 2, Le 2 Pro, and Le Max 2 are expected to hit the India early June. LeEco, which launched the three smartphones in Beijing last month, has sent out invites for a June 8 event in New Delhi.
Le 2 comes with a 5.5-inch full HD display and is powered by Mediatek’s new Helio X20 deca-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage space and a 16-megapixel rear camera plus eight-megapixel front camera.
Le 2 Pro version is powered by Helio X25 processor and comes with a 21-megapixel rear camera. L

Josh Mobiles Nest features a 4-inch IPS display and runs Android 4.4 KitKat.
Josh Mobiles a dual SIM, 3G enabled budget smartphone called Nest at Rs 3,499. Nest is available in PianoBlack colour variant, both offline and online.
Josh Mobiles Nest features a 4-inch IPS display and runs Android 4.4 KitKat. It is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core processor, with 256MB RAM and 512MB internal memory (expandable up to 32GB).
“We are pleased to announce our latest 3G smartphone Nest. It is sure to str

HTC 10 smartphone will launch in India on May 26.
HTC is set to launch its flagship HTC 10 smartphone in India on May 26. HTC 10 was globally unveiled in April, and is priced at $699 in the US. Now, the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has sent out invites for a launch event in India on Thursday.
HTC 10 is the make-or-break smartphone for the Taiwanese company, which used to figure in the list of top smartphone vendors. Sales for the company have fallen drastically, and HTC has been trying to

Facebook acquires Two Big Ears to bring 3D audio to VR devices powered by Oculus (Source: Reuters)
Pushing its virtual reality (VR) dreams, social media giant Facebook on Tuesday acquired Edinburgh-based company Two Big Ears that specialises in spatial 3D audio in cinematic and gaming experiences.
Facebook will make the Two Big Ears’ “3Dception” technology free for developers as part of their new “Facebook 360 Spatial Workshop,” technology website TechCrunch report

Apple is reportedly bringing OLED display touch bar and TouchID to 2016 MacBook Pro lineup
Apple is reportedly planning to launch a revamped version of MacBook Pro notebooks this year. According to MacRumors, the new revamped version will feature an even thinner form factor, and Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
Apple MacBooks have been long rumoured to get Touch ID. MacRumors reports the 2016 MacBook Pro will feature a new OLED display touch bar above the keyboard and Apple will drop the func

Amazon is no longer accepting returns on electronics like Laptops, Tablets, etc. (Amazon App Representational picture)
Amazon has changed its returns policy for electronic items like tablets, laptops, desktops, monitors, cameras and camera lenses.  According to the Amazon policy page if you’ve bought a laptop or tablet or any of the other item in the list on or after May 11, you can’t simply return the product and hope for a full refund. Exchange in case of a defective product

Xiaomi Mi Drone is set to launch on May 25 in China.
Xiaomi is all set to launch its first Mi Drone on May 25 in Beijing China, based on the recent social media announcements by the company.
Xiaomi’s Global VP Hugo Barra posted about the launch event on his Facebook and Twitter accounts with the description, “Something incredibly awesome from Xiaomi is flying your way on May 25!”
Check out his tweet belowSomething incredibly awesome from Xiaomi is flying your way on May 25

Asus Zenfone Max has been launched in India with a new improved processor. Here’s our quick review of the phone.
Asus Zenfone Max is a new variant of the smartphone that comes with an improved processor. The Zenfone Max is now available in two memory options, both with 32GB ROM. The company has priced the 2GB RAM variant at Rs 9,999 and 3GB one at Rs 12,999.
Apart from an extra-large 5,000 mAh battery, Asus is also banking on a faster octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor for an improved mul

Asus Zenfone Max has been launched in India with a new improved processor. Here’s our quick review of the phone.
Asus Zenfone Max is a new variant of the smartphone that comes with an improved processor. The Zenfone Max is now available in two memory options, both with 32GB ROM. The company has priced the 2GB RAM variant at Rs 9,999 and 3GB one at Rs 12,999.
Apart from an extra-large 5,000 mAh battery, Asus is also banking on a faster octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor for an improved mul

Asus Zenfone Max has been launched in India with a new improved processor. Here’s our quick review of the phone.
Asus Zenfone Max is a new variant of the smartphone that comes with an improved processor. The Zenfone Max is now available in two memory options, both with 32GB ROM. The company has priced the 2GB RAM variant at Rs 9,999 and 3GB one at Rs 12,999.
Apart from an extra-large 5,000 mAh battery, Asus is also banking on a faster octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor for an improved mul

As part of a tie-up with the Google Cultural Institute, which allows art lovers to explore artifacts from all over the world on its website, the Indian Museum is launching an e-version of its exquisite exhibition titled Indian Buddhist Art tomorrow. (Reuters) Beginning with its prized collection of Buddhist art including the famous Gandhara sculptures, the Indian Museum is now putting all of its galleries for 360- degree panoramic viewing for anyone to see online.
As part of a tie-up with the G