Samsung Galaxy Core Mini 4G G3568V goes official

The Galaxy Core Mini 4.3-inch TFT display, 5MP rear camera and Android 4.4 .

Samsung has introduced a new smartphone – Galaxy Core Mini 4G G3568V – in China. There's no official comment on the pricing and availability of the phone in the global market

The Samsung Galaxy Core Mini runs Android 4.4 KitKat and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core along with 1.5GB of RAM. The smartphone has 4.3-inch TFT display with a WVGA (480x800 pixels) resolution. It sports a 5MP rear camera with auto focus and LED flash. The smartphone supports expandable storage up to 64GB via microSD. 

For connectivity, the Samsung Galaxy Core Mini supports 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 4.0 and USB 2.0. The smartphone measures 127.8 x 66.2 x 10.6 mm and weighs around 136g. It is available in white colour option currently. You can check out the Galaxy Core Mini 4G G3568V listing here.

As said above, there's no official information about the pricing and availability of the smartphone. Looking at the specifications, the Galaxy Core Mini seems to be a budget or mid-range smartphone and likely to be launched in emerging markets such as India.

Nokia X2 officially announced, for 99 Euros

Nokia has officially announced its third Android based smartphone with a Snapdragon 200 processor, 1GB RAM, 5MP camera and a 4.3-inch Clear Black display 

While Nokia’s first attempt in launching an Android device was quite disappointing, it seems that Nokia is going to give it another shot as we just witnessed the announcement (live web launch) of the Nokia X2 smartphone. The device now has a 4.3-inch display with Nokia’s Clear Black technology which means better contrast and vivid colours just like most of the Lumia smartphones. The display will also have Nokia Glance screen, scratch resistant glass and double-tap to wake features.

The X2 will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz with 1GB of RAM and will be running on the same UI that was seen on the Nokia X with some new features including new home and back buttons, proper multitasking support, a new app list, and also a tile colour picking feature. The X2 will come preloaded with Microsoft-made apps like Skype, Outlook.com, OneNote, OneDrive with 15GB storage and also apps like Bing Search, Yammer, Xbox games, HERE Maps and MixRadio. Apart from these you also have access to Android apps which you can side-load or download from third-party app stores.

In the camera department you get a 5MP auto-focus snapper with an LED flash capable of shooting 720p videos and also a front facing VGA camera. There is an 1800mAH battery, 4GB internal memory with expansion slot, Bluetooth 4.0 and will be featuring dual-SIM card slots as well.

For now Nokia has priced the smartphone at €99 which means it will be definitely cost below Rs.10,000 in India. The Nokia X2 is expected to launch officially in Indian very soon.

The Nokia X2 is very similar to the latest Nokia Lumia 630 running on Windows Phone 8.1 OS. Here's a comparison from Nokia's website.

Android 'L' overview and what it brings new to Android

The developer preview for the new version of Android is now available and here's what's new about it. 

We know it only as L right now, but Android L brings some major changes to Google’s design philosophy along with some other new features. According to the company, this is the biggest update to Android made till date. Here’s a quick look at the changes, but read on for a detailed report.

- New flatter ‘material’ design UI

- DALVIK runtime scrapped for ART

- Support for 64-bit processor architectures

- New Google keyboard resembling the one from Windows

- New themes

- New APIs for custom shadows and animations for developers

- New notifications and lock screen

Google has already made the developer preview available with all the above changes. According to comments made on the Google+ developer preview page for Android L, it is available for the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 2013 WiFi only. But enough about that, there’s a lot to cover and we’ll get right down to it.

Material Design

Google’s ‘material’ design entails a flatter look, which in some cases (like the new Google keyboard) is very similar to the Windows and iOS platforms. It is perhaps best explained through the following:

Notifications

Perhaps the biggest change in Android L is in terms of the UI. Google goes for a flatter card-based system, which up untill now has been seen on its Google Now assistant. This new design is more apparent on the notifications and lock screen, both of which have card based views on them.

The standard drop down menu has been done away with on Android L, to be replaced by a drop down card. This is followed by a thin line in between, which differentiates each new notification and other ongoing processes (like Connected to a media device etc). Further, you can swipe down again to reveal the quick settings menu, which contains Wi-Fi status, Auto Rotate and other settings.

The menu doesn't reach till the bottom of your phone’s screen, showing the home screen in the background. Google has also added a ‘Do Not Disturb’ function to the notifications menu, which allows the user to silence notifications for a designated time period.

The company has also taken advantage of the ‘heads-up notifications’ feature in Android. Since the introduction of JellyBean, Android allowed apps to mark their notifications under high, low, default, min, max priority. The heads up notifications will show up even while you’re playing full screen games etc. based on the priority the app gives to them. So, you can get a small actionable notification on the top of the screen notifying you about calls and texts (Right side of image above).

Lock Screen

Your lockscreen now gives you the lock/unlock, phone and camera options at the bottom, which will perform their designated activities. On the top you see the battery status, services provider and profile picture. Below this, is the clock, which takes up approximately a fourth of your screen.

The major change though is below the clock, where the top four notifications will show up in the same card format mentioned above. These will be accompanied by a ‘+’ sign or a number, showing the notifications available below it.

Google Keyboard

The keyboard now uses a slate-grey theme with borderless keys, which looks almost exactly like the Windows keyboard seen on Lumia devices. Google has also packed some other themes for the keyboard and you can also shift to the standard keyboard you currently see on KitKat.

Out with DALVIK in with ART

With the launch of KitKat, there was some talk of Google allowing users to shift from the default DALVIK to ART runtimes (do this from ‘Developer Options’ on Settings). Well, Android L brings ART to the forefront, obliterating DALVIK completely.

ART is a cross-platform runtime that allows you to run apps on MIPS, ARM and x86 architectures simultaneously. The difference between the two runtimes is in how they process code, with DALVIK processing only the code that is needed (just-in-time), while ART processes code ahead-of-time.

This makes ART much faster than DALVIK and allows for smoother performance. Moreover, ART is compatible with the present app ecosystem, which means that developers don’t really have to make any major changes for it. It also supports 64-bit systems.

Of course, this is only the developer preview of Android L and there’s a lot that can still happen till the OS is actually rolled out to users.

Android “L”

Android “L” is coming later this year, and on-stage at Gogole I/O, we got a preview of what the newest version was bringing us. Though it’s far from finished, the sneak-peak is meant to give Developers an idea of what they will be able to do with the release. The new release is not a massive upgrade, but here are some key points to take away from the sneak preview.

Nameless

Android “L” has no name. It may never have a name, either. It’s entirely possible that Google either hasn’t decided on a moniker, or will simply call it “L”. There is also the handshake KitKat deal to think of, where no money exchanged hands, but a cross-promotional deal was reached. Google may just be honoring whatever terms that agreement had.

It’s getting a facelift

Not a massive one, but the “L” release will tighten up the interface just a touch. A new color palette will lighten things up, and Google is encouraging Developers to make smart choies about what they use for an overall scheme. This all falls into Google’s material design, a youthful and exciting take on what an android device should look like. They’ve also streamlined the guidelines, so apps will have a bit more of a generic feel, but improve much more as a result.

Notifications

Perhaps the most important part of the “L” release is notifications, which are getting a lot better. They’ve been improved to a card-based layout, and will be much more interactive. From the lock screen, you can swipe them away or double-tap to get into the app itself. When you’re in an app, a pop-up will show you what’s going on, and give you choices about how to interact (a call would let you answer or dismiss, for instance).

”L” might mean “Locked”

Or unlocked, as the case were. Android “L” will have a really neat way of unlocking, should you have another device with you. Let’s say you’ve got a Moto 360 on, and a pin code set on your HTC One. Android “L” will recognize that your smartwatch is nearby, and relax that passcode lock. It also works with other handhelds like a tablet.

            

                               

                       Chrome

If you use a Chromebook, Android “L” will be nice for you. Not only will your Chromebook get notifications on calls and texts you receive, it will also keep tabs on your battery, so you know when to charge your phone in. If that weren’t enough, there is one more major feature that is being teased and worked on at Google.

We will soon be able to run Android apps on our Chromebooks, natively. The on-stage demo showed Evernote for Android running natively in Chrome OS, acting exactly the same as the mobile version. It’s an early concept, but a really neat one.

Business

The “L” release for Android is getting a lot better about enterprise, too. Like we’ve seen with various third-party OEMs, Android “L” will natively support multiple profiles — one for personal, and another for business. It effectively creates a partition, so your two profiles don’t access information from one another.

                           

                          ART

ART, the runtime we first saw with release of Android KitKat, is now going to be standard. Google says nothing has to be done from a Developer perspective, either. ART is also touted as being snappier than the previous Dalvik runtime, so the lag we experience from time to time should diminish.

   

Conclusion

As we pointed out at the beginning, this is simply a new iteration of Android, not a massive overhaul. The time for big, sweeping changes is gone. This version of Android makes things simpler for Developers, but also increases the value we see as consumers. Overall, we like what we’re hearing, and look forward to see what Developers can do with some of the new APIs Google is rolling out with this release.

Google I/O 2014: 5 Things To Expect

At this year's I/O conference we expect to see some major developments to the Android ecosystem.

With this year's instalment of the Google I/O developer conference upon us, the rumour mills are buzzing about what may or may not happen. While there is a lot that is already known, over the years Google I/O has been known to surprise even the best amongst us. So, what do we actually expect from this year's I/O? Here are five things we should see.

1. Android Wear
 Many an expert has said that wearables will soon oust smartphones from the market. While that remains an argument for another day, the Android Wear platform, which will make its debut at the I/O will be a big step in the direction. Formerly Google-owned Motorola and South Korean LG are both showcasing the Moto 360 and LG G Watch smartwatches at the event, respectively. Both devices will be the first ever to run on Google's Android Wear platform, which is designed specifically for wearable devices.

2. Android TV
The all but confirmed Android TV by Google is also going to be seen at the Google I/O this year. This is Google's third attempt at entering the home entertainment arena. The company took a big hit with the failure of the Google TV, but has done comparatively well with Chromecast. The Android TV is Google's attempt at taking over the set-top-box domain.

3. Web apps
This one will need some explaining. There is a chance that Google's next attempt at its smart OS will try and bring the desktop and mobile ecosystems together. Imagine a Gmail application, which looks, works and feels the same on the desktop and on your mobile. This would be the same as what open source giant Ubuntu is trying to do as well. There have been leaked reports on the above mentioned Gmail application being tested and the Google I/O could be the place where the feature is showcased for developers to build on.

4. Android Silver
Will it? Will it not? Reports have said that Google is going to scrap its Nexus line of devices, only to take back control over Android from the OEMs. How you ask? Well, Android Silver is perhaps going to be a spin on the Google Play Editions (also being scrapped) that we have seen up till now. So, you might find HTC making an HTC One (M8) Silver edition, which comes with the pure Android platform, with guaranteed first updates like the Nexus devices. This would be a good shift from hardware to a pure software focus for Google.

While the Nexus 6 is not going to be shown, there have been multiple reports pointing towards Nexus 8 and Nexus 10 tablets from Google.

5. Lollypop
 Ok, the name for the next Android version hasn't been confirmed yet. But going by the trend, Android 5.0 will have a name starting with the letter 'L' and speculations have been pointing towards Lollypop being the name for the next Android version. While Google may or may not unveil the name of the version or tell us exactly what it is going to be, the company is almost sure to point towards updates that will lead up to the next version. This could involve a camera update to strengthen Android's camera performance and bring a lot more to the domain.