A customisable Android smartphone, Google unveils Moto X

Motorola on Thursday unveiled a new smartphone that consumers can personalize with a choice of colors and materials, hoping to stand out in a crowded market and justify the $12.5 billion that Google Inc paid for the ailing handset maker.

The highly anticipated "Moto X" marks the cellphone maker's first flagship device since Google bought the company in 2012, and is its latest attempt to break into a smartphone market dominated by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

The phone's customization options are a novel touch which may appeal to fashionistas, analysts said. But some analysts questioned whether the Moto X offers the kind of technological breakthroughs that will vault Motorola back into the top rungs of the mobile rankings.

"We would have expected magic from somebody like Google, and this is not magic," Roger Entner, an analyst with Recon Analytics, said.

"Motorola could have done this without Google equally well. Or for that matter, another hardware manufacturer not owned by Google could have made this phone," he said, citing the phone's average hardware specifications.

The Moto X will go on sale in the United States at the end of August or the beginning of September for a suggested retail price of $199.99 to customers who sign a two-year contract at five of the biggest U.S. mobile network operators.

Google faces a steep climb in its effort to revive Motorola, which once claimed the No. 2 spot in the global phone market but according to research firm Strategy Analytics now commands a mere 2 percent market share. Shut out of the Apple-Samsung battle, Motorola competes with other smaller players such as HTC, Nokia and BlackBerry.

Motorola is betting that it can win over consumers by offering a huge palette of colors to personalize their phones, as well as unusual phone materials such as wood.

"They're not playing the 'mine is bigger than yours game,'" Avi Greengart, an analyst with Current Analysis, said. "Their approach is that this is what consumers actually need.

"I have no doubt there are people who want to customize their phones. The question is how many of them," Greengart added.

AT&T Inc, the No. 2 U.S. mobile service provider, will have exclusive rights to let its customers customize the phone from a selection of 18 colors for the back, two for the front and seven accent colors for an undisclosed time period.

While AT&T will allow customers to customize their phones, rivals Verizon Wireless , Sprint Corp, T-Mobile US and U.S. Cellular will only be able to offer black-and-white versions of the device.

In order to promise delivery of customized phones within four days, Motorola had contract manufacturing partner Flextronics International Ltd build a factory in the United States.

Samsung working on 12.2 and 10-inch tablets

Samsung is in the news again with a new report now claiming that the South Korean device maker is allegedly working on tablets with 12.2-inch and 10-inch displays.

Twitter user @evleaks has revealed the specifications of Samsung SM-P900 and P600 which he claims are the model numbers of tablets featuring a 12.2-inch and 10-inch display, respectively. The tweet by @evleaks said, "Samsung SM-P900: 12.2-inch, Exynos 5 octa, 2560x1600, S-pen; P600: 10-inch, Snapdragon 800, also 2560x1600."

The tweet clearly mentions that the alleged 12.2-inch and 10-inch tablets will boast of a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels and would be powered by Exynos Octa 5 and Snapdragon 800 processor, respectively. The SM-P900 will supposedly support S-Pen, as per @evleaks.

Another technology site, RB Men has also published specifications of the alleged 12.2-inch model variant of the Samsung tablet dubbed as SM-P900. The site suggests that the SM-P900 tablet will run Android 4.2.

We had earlier reported about Samsung developing a 12.2-inch tablet of its own. The report claimed that the displays will be made by Sharp and will be based on IGZO (Indum-Gallium Zinc Oxide) technology. They'll sport a resolution of 2560x1600 pixels and will come with an S Pen stylus, which is usually bundled with devices under the Galaxy Note series. Samsung is likely to launch the tablet in the third quarter of 2013. It's worth mentioning that Apple is also said to be testing a large screen iPad measuring slightly less than 13-inches diagonally as per rumours.

Samsung has been launching tablets and phablets in various display sizes, one can fathom so it doesn't really come as a surprise but the tablets appear to be targeted at power users judging by their specifications. The South Korean device maker's list of screen sizes includes devices across 6.3-inch, 7-inch, 8-inch and 10.1-inch screens. The alleged SM-P900 will be the biggest device from the stable of Samsung in terms of screen size. However, there's no official word from the company about the two devices.

Meanwhile, Samsung's next generation Galaxy Note phablet, the Galaxy Note III has also been in the news for quite some time though there's no official word from the company, yet. The latest rumour claims that the alleged Galaxy Note III will feature a 5.7-inch display, 3GB of RAM and the latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS.

Major 9 Tips to Manage your Android Device

Android's open nature may be lauded by many but it also leaves your device vulnerable to malware, freezes & slowdowns. Here we show you how to keep your devices running like new with little effort.

Manage your applications

Most if not all android devices have a built in task manager which shows you all the background apps (running apps) and lets you selectively remove them from memory.Keeping them running will pull them up faster when you need them, but beyond a point, too many apps will slow the device down. the app manager is usually pulled up with a long press on the home or options button.If you need to install a third-party app to do the same thing, you can get advanced task manager (by infolife) or android app manager (by smartwho).

The advantage that either of these apps can offer is a home screen widget which allows you to close running apps with just one tap.

Guard against malware & bad apps

If you download a lot of apps from unknown sources (places other than google's play store), chances are that your phone is already infected with malware.Trend micro reports that there are over 500 sources that host malicious apps. While most malware will send texts to premium numbers without your knowledge, some could also be mining data (and consequently slowing down your device)If you must get apps from unknown sources, you should get an anti-virus app. some of the best free options include avast, avg, lookout, norton, eset & zoner.Note that you shouldn't install more than one of these at one time and having one isn't a guarantee against bad apps — but it helps.

Manage RAM for smooth multitasking

One of the biggest reasons why your device runs out of steam is limited available RAM. This is more true of devices with 512MB and to a certain extent, 1GB of total RAM

Depending on the number of applications you have installed (and how many of them are running in the background), the amount of free RAM your device has may not be enough to smoothly switch between apps.To solve this problem, get a free app called Clean Master by KS Mobile. Not only does it have a task killer (to free up RAM), but it can also delete history (web browser data & history), clean the cache, properly uninstall apps and remove residual files (remnants of previously deleted apps) to free up space on the device memory.

Get your settings straight

Take a look at your device's settings page. are you signed in to any accounts that you are not using? remove them. you can also check for sync intervals (how often these accounts check for updates).Are additional functions like bluetooth, nfc and wifi on when you don't need them? some of these might keep hunting for a connection and slow down other services. if you are using a third-party launcher, set it as the default.

If you use more than one launcher at a time, resources are usually shared between them, making everything slower. it also helps if you remove any widgets that you aren't using (because they keep updating in the background) and remove any extra homescreen pages.

Get a fresh start

Sometimes, whatever you do may not be enough. If your phone or tablet still keeps freezing or drags its feet with even the simplest of tasks, it may be time for a factory reset. A factory reset restores your device to original settings — like the way it was when you first got it

Luckily, every Android device has a factory reset option built in.

Initialising the factory reset is a simple, one-step process — just head to settings and 'privacy' or 'backup & reset'. Keep in mind that doing a factory reset erases everything on the device: all installed apps, contacts, calendar entries, photos, texts, videos & any accounts that you're signed in to will be removed. So before you reset, use an app called inDefend to backup your contacts & messages, use App Backup & Restore (by Infolife) to backup apps, SMS Backup & Restore for SMS & Dropbox to save your photos & videos to the cloud.

Periodically clean out messages and gallery

If you've owned your phone for a while, chances are you have thousands of texts, photos & videos stored. You can take a backup of all essential data and clean out stuff — starting from the oldest first. Since these apps won't have to cache as much data, they'll load much faster.

Moving data to external memory card

Even if you have 16GB storage, some of that is taken up by the operating system and essential apps. You should keep at least 2GB of that free. Move all non-essential data and apps to the external memory card using the file manager and a free app called App2SD.

Nova Launcher

Phone makers have a tendency to use heavy interfaces with animations & features that you may never use. Download Nova Launcher from the app store to give your device an instant speed boost. It's also way more customisable than the stock interface that you get.

Switch off live wallpapers

Using a live (animated) wallpaper on your device uses up a fair bit of processing power — power that could easily be put to use by making apps load up faster and making the interface smoother. While this is more true of budget devices, switch off your live wallpaper and you'll also see better battery life.

Latest version of mobile operating system 7 sports new flat-design; may be released later this year

Apple has unveiled iOS 7 after months of speculation.

"iOS 7 is the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone," said CEO Tim Cook, introducing iOS 7. "It's packed with amazing new features, and a stunning new user interface."

The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system represented the biggest change to the look and feel of iOS since the first iPhone launched in 2007.

As anticipated, iOS7 sports a flat-design, with the skudeomorpism of the previous design done away with.

"We wanted to take an experience that people know very well and add to it," Ive explains in a video shown during the keynote event. "We see iOS 7 as defining an important new direction ... and in many ways, a beginning."

The redesign of iOS has reportedly been underway for the last six months since Craig Federighi took over software development for the mobile platform.

Very little of the new operating system resembles the old version of the software. Almost every part of the software has been redesigned.

Among the new features are multiple pages within folders and the introduction of a today view for notification centre.

Apple also showed off its new Control Centre, which offers a quicker and simpler way to control many of the most used settings.

Another major change includes the introduction of a revamped multitasking interface, which is part of the Control Centre. Instead of icons, iOS 7 displays a preview of the screen. It is also smart enough to recognise when you use an app a lot during the day – such as Facebook – and devote more power and processing time to it to keep you updated.

iOS also introduces a raft of small, but all the same useful features, such as a Flashlight built into the device, and AirDrop, allowing you to share files and photos without needing to send them via email or text.

Other small features introduced in the latest version include FaceTime audio, per app VPN and perhaps long overdue, the ability to block people from calling you on the phone and via FaceTime, and sending texts via Message.

Siri sounds more human like in iOS 7. It's also smarter and faster – very much needed with the superior processing available via Google Now. Siri also now has Twitter, Wikipedia, and most interestingly, Bing support.

Apple has also beefed up security on the device, enabling enterprise single sign on support for those of you who used your iPhone in the workplace, and a revamp of find my iPhone that locks the device until you sign in with your Apple ID and password.

Apple has said that the software is still under development at the moment and will be released later on in the year.

Take a look at our full iOS 7 rundown features in our video below:

New 10 most beautiful apps on Android

Apps that offer functionality on a simple and easy-to-use interface are not only a pleasure to use but also soothe the eyes. Google has released its list of most beautiful apps on the Android marketplace.

The Beautiful Design Summer 2013 Collection has a few familiar faces, along with some new entrants, each with simple and elegant interfaces. Check out the 10 most beautiful Android apps…

Pattrn

Developed by Lucas Rocha, Pattrn is a free wallpaper app with access to a huge repository of colourful patterns for each day of the week. Users can download and share these patterns, depending on colour and keyword.

Eye In The Sky

Eye In The Sky is a weather app with features like four widgets, expandable notifications and DashClock extension. The app is ad-supported, though users can opt for the paid version in order to get rid of the advertisements.

Pocket

Pocket is a content aggregation app by Read It Later, which allows users to save articles, videos, web pages etc to view them later. This free app syncs the content across laptops, tablets and phones.

Timer

Timer by Opoloo is a paid timer app that depicts the interface in Holo aesthetics. Users can save unlimited number of timers, with customized labels, and back them up with their Google accounts.

Grand St

Grand St is an app that showcases well-designed hardware products that its team has picked out and tested, with one new device listed each day. The app describes the design, functionality, user experience and price of the products it lists.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a social media app that allows users to pin pictures of things they like on a virtual board. They can collect and share these photos under various labels, including music, travel etc and also follow others via social networking logins.

Press Reader (RSS)

Press is a simple RSS feed collection app that curates data from sources like Feedly, Feed Wrangler, Feedbin etc. This app does not have ads and boasts of features like vertical and horizontal swiping, background syncing, offline reading, image zooming and DashClock extension.

Expedia

Expedia Hotels and Flights, the app version of the popular travel booking website, brings all the features that it is famous for on the mobile screen. It allows users to find and book hotels as well as flights, along with deals and discounts.

Flipboard

Social news aggregation app Flipboard boasts of a magazine-style layout that enables users to flip through news and articles on the mobile screen.

Upcoming mobile lists

Apart from One Mini, HTC will release two more smartphones this year, according to MobiFlip which cited a list of upcoming mobile phones, available at O2 (a leading mobile service provider in Europe). According to the list, HTC is to bring the One Mini, One Max and Desire 500.

The HTC One mini is rumored to be available in select regions in the first week of August. Previously leaked information about the HTC One Mini points that the device will carry the same aluminum form factor as the HTC One. The stripped down version of HTC One is said to feature a 4.3-inch display with 720p HD resolution. It will pack dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile processor and will run Android Jelly Bean update with the Sense 5.0 features.

HTC One Max, on the other hand, will feature a 5.9-inch touchscreen display. HTC will pack a quad-core 2.3 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 mobile processor to power this device. Apart from that, the One Max will also have UltraPixel camera along with BoomSound experience. The overall hardware will be supported by a 3300 mAh battery. HTC is expected to make the One Max as thick as 9.4 mm. Hopefully HTC will load Sense 5.0 UI on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean MR2 for this phablet.

There will be another mid-range Desire device to join the Desire 200 and Desire 600 models. The new Desire 500 is expected with mid-range features while the Desire 200 would remain an entry level dual-SIM device. The Desire 500 can be expected to run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Sense UI on top of it.

As of now, the approximate timeline of these new handsets is not clear but we can expect both devices to be launched before the end of this year.