BlindSquare, Launch Center Pro, GV Connect and Wordbox, updated and become the first Apps for iOS to offer Fleksy predictive touch keyboard instead of iOS default

Close on the heels of announcement by Syntellia that it would be making it’s Fleksy predictive touch keyboard SDK available to other developers to incorporate in their own iOS apps, the first 4 apps to take advantage of this have now hit the App Store.  

They are BlindSquare, Launch Center Pro, GV Connect - Call & SMS client for Google Voice and Wordbox - Simple Beautiful Text Editor.  These Apps have been updated as of today to give you a option of either using native iOS keyboard or the Fleksy predictive touch keyboard.

A little bit about the Fleksy, It is a stand alone keyboard App for iOS and Android and only today it announced that it introduced a new SDK for its gesture-based keyboard with the aim of convincing developers to bake it into their Apps.  The Fleksy blog stated that 

 “That means any developer can incorporate Fleksy into his app, giving his users the choice to type with our award-winning keyboard.” 

You can download the stand alone Fleksy keyboard App for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch from Apple Store here.  

You can download the updated Apps for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch by clicking on the link below

 

BlindSquare

Launch Center Pro

GV Connect - Call & SMS client for Google Voice

Wordbox - Simple Beautiful Text Editor

Sony launches on-the-go functionality USB drives which can be used with your Android smart phones and tablets

Circa 2013, the only way to use a USB drive (Pen drive) on your computer would be through the PC application, through a paid App or by rooting your smart phone or tablet.  Circa 2014 Sony's new release will mean that you can now use the USB drive (Pen drive) directly with your smart phone. So no more worries if you are not into rooting and/or your smart phone/tablet has a limited memory, Sony mobile USBs will now solve almost all storage problems.

Yes Sony, today announced the release new pen drives with 8GB, 16GB and 32GB storage that are compatible with smartphones and tablets.  They will be bringing USB on-the-go functionality to your Android smart phones and tablets.  This gamechanger devices will have twin options "2-in-1 devices"  You can either use them as USB 2.0 or with microUSB connectors which essentially means that you can connect them with your smart phones and tablets and also your PCs and Laptops.  

Viviano Cantu, director of consumer media marketing, Sony Electronics, while announcing the release said, 

"These new drives combine convenience, peace of mind and performance and are perfect for mobile multi-tasking."

If you are worried that this will cost a bomb dont worry they are relatively costlier then the normal USB drives but not that expensive.  A 8GB version will cost around $19.99 (approx. Rs 1240.00) while the 16GB one will be at $29.99 (approx. Rs 1860.00) and the 32GB version will set you back by $62.99 (approx. Rs 3906.00). 

This new Sony mobile USB drives can be used with Android devices running on Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean but as of now not on Android 4.4 KITKAT.  Sony said that it is working to bring support for devices running on the newest Android KitKat version. You can use this pen drives  to copy data between devices or as additional or temporary storage for your smartphones and tablets.  As per Sony, these drives are pretty strong and will come with locking caps to avoid any kind of damage and the body can withstand everyday knocks and pocket bumps.

These pen drives are expected to release globally in January 2014. Just hope that the drives are available at the quoted price in India.

Twitter Page Rank down to ZERO is it revenge of Google or are corporate wars fought over page ranks

Today Google unveiled its second pagerank update for 2013 and surprise surprise, Twitter has been given a big Zero!!! This was discovered by my fellow blogger Robin Sharaya of Askoverflow.com 

This is highly surprising considering Twitter had a 10/10 page rank as on yesterday.  Though no reasons or explanations are forthcoming from both Google or Twitter, it is just to hope that this isnt another case of corporate wars fought on the internet.

Another thing to note that there is big ambiguity in the Twitter's page rank because moonsy gives both www.twitter.com and twitter.com's a nil rank, while the http://bagics.com/pr.html still gives www.twitter.com 10/10 while it ranks the naked domain at 0/10.  

The ranks will be clearer tomorrow when the dust is settled.

Update : As I said in the post, there was this ambiguity which has now been removed and www.twitter.com and twitter.com have been given 10/10 pagerank.  I would also bring to notice that even Amazon was given a 0/10 pagerank!!!

Google updates Google Page Ranks for websites for second time in 2013, many big PR sites get booted in 2013'second updation

Today Google updated its Page Ranks for websites and blogs and I am thankful to my readers and visitors that ComboUpdates got a GPR of 2/10.  In fact my associate sites TechWorm and TropicalPost also got a GPR of 2/10, a hearty congrats to them as well.

Use This Free Tool To Check The Page Rank Of Your Blog Or Any Web Page !

Check More URLs - Click here to refresh the page and check more URL's

Click on the Pagerank button and copy the code to put it in your website/blog!

Interesting thing about this years second page rank updation (yes the first was in Feb 2013)  is that many top blogs and websites have been deranked from their previous high perch.  This must be a direct result of the Google's Hummingbird updation of search algorithm.

WWW.COMBOUPDATES.COM

Google released the Google Page Rank update despite the Head of the Webspam team at Google denying that Google would release page rankings in current calendar year.

Hope you got the Pagerank you wished for.

VSCO Cam, the ultimate Camera App for your Android smart phones and tablets comes to Google Play for free

After months of waiting the ultimate camera App finally comes to Android smart phones and tablets.  VSCO Cam, a FREE camera App is now available on Google Play.  

VSCO Cam published by Visual Supply Co allows you to do what a normal camera does like capture, edit and share images, but with a nice touch.  Those of you who dont like the native Camera Apps on your Android smart phones and tablets are going to like this one. VSCO Cam has the ability to choose the strength of the Presets and Tools using the Precision Slider as well as the ability to edit the exposure, temperature, contrast and more.  You can also preview the image before finalizing it along with all the crops and rotations. 

VSCO Cam App is also very good in organisation.  You can use the App to organize and browse your library of images and also view the image data which includes geolocation, date, presets used and other details.

The VSCO Cam App released today supports all Android devices running Android 4.0 and up.  There are additional premium features which you can purchase in-App.  You can download the VSCO Cam App for your Android smart phones and tablets from Google Play here.

FIFA World Cup Fever : FREE iOS and Android Apps launched, will stream the final draw live to your mobile screens

“From the Bundesliga to the Barclays Premier League, MLS to La Liga, the World Match Centre provides unrivalled coverage of 197 leagues across the globe,” this is what the description of the App launched by FIFA for Android smart phones and iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch  says.  And what it says is true, this FREE App offers you complete information of anything related to football right across from the Americas to Asia. 

A must have App for football fanatics and fans the App also has a packed gallery of images powered by Getty Images.  It has a breaking news feature which gives you latest interesting news in the world of football or soccer.  The App also has videos from FIFA TV studio and archives.  

Additionally, FIFA will stream the FINAL DRAW to be held next week on December 6th, live on the App.  If you have booked your place at the biggest sporting spectacle of 2014, the App will keep you updated with information with the schedule, some exclusive destination guides, FIFA Coca-Cola world rankings, team rankings of both men's and women's teams.

Keeping in mind the popularity of football in the European continent, FIFA has released the App in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese in addition to the default English. You can download the FIFA app for your Android smart phones and tablets from the Google Play Store and for your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch from the Apple Store. 

Time to say Fooooobaaaall!!

HTC gets a face palm, HTC One Mini banned in United Kingdom from 6th December after losing court case on Patents to Nokia

As if struggling sales, no new launches, cheaper and better competition and falling share prices were not enough, a United Kingdom today passed a ruling that will effectively ban HTC  One Mini in the whole of United Kingdom.  

The court case which has been raging over past couple of years has now come to its logical conclusion with Nokia winning the Patents Infringement rights hands down.  The court case between Nokia and HTC was in regard to a hardware component being used in HTC One and HTC One Mini in total violation of the Patents held by Nokia.  

As I had predicted in May, 2013, this may yet be the final nail in the HTC's coffin.  HTC was lucky enough to escape with a ban on just HTC Mini because the Hon Judge felt that banning HTC One being a flagship smart phone will cause considerable damage to the manufacturer.  The Judge also gave HTC some time to appeal.  

But for HTC One Mini its is adiós UK because it'll still have to suspend UK imports of HTC One Mini until that second hearing comes to its logical conclusion.

Mega App for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch released, comes with a whopping 50GB FREE cloud storage

Only months after it was launched for Android smart phones and tablets, Mega Ltd. of Megaupload today launched its Mega App for iOS devices.    Megaupload's Kim Dotcom had promised the Apple App in month of July 2013 so this shouldnt come as a surprise.  

The Mega for iOS device is a FREE download and comes with a cloud storage of whopping 50GB.   The Mega App also has a pro version if you are a avid megauploader.  The pro version which gives you 500GB cloud storage space and 1000GB bandwidth costs $10.99 (Rs.682.00) per month and $119.99 (Rs.7440.00) per year. While the Free App with free 50GB storage should be enough for any avid iOS user, in case you want to upgrade to the pro verion you can do so from in-App purchase.

The Mega App for iOS allows you to preview and stream supported media files as well as let you send file and folder links directly within the App. The only condition is that you should have a iOS device running on iOS 6.0 and up.  The other downside of this App and megaupload in particular is that no one can be pretty sure for how long it will last.  Kim Dotcom has run afoul with the authorities time and again so use this one as a temporary backup rather than a permanent one.

Interested You can download Mega for your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch from Apple iTunes Store here. 

In case you own a Android smart phone or tablet a similar App is available, kindly read about it here.

The amazing journey of Google's Android operating system. Enter the colourful world of Android devices

Colourful world of Android devices

7 years back in month of October 2007, Google launched its Android operating system and the very first Android smart phone was launched in October of 2008. The first device to feature the Android OS was the HTC Dream.  At that time, the world was caught in the Nokia and Symbian frenzy and hardly anybody noticed the launch. 

But Google had other plans for Android.  In 2009 Google launched the very first version of Android 1.5.  It also started the practise of naming the Android versions after desserts.  The Android 1.5 was known 'Cup Cake'.

The rest they say is history.  From 2009 to 2013, from then up until now the Android has been so successful that Google have successfully rolled out its 9 version.  In a departure from the tradition, Google as named the most recent launch as  'Kitkat' after the Nestle and Hershey's KIKKAT Chocolate Candy.

All through these years, Android not only was successful in mobile phones and tablet, but also slowly making its way into Camera, Lap Tops, watches, Television, Microwave etc.  Here is a brief look at the convergence that is taking place in the technology space vis-a-vis the Android operating system.

1. Smart Digital Camera: with the success of Google's Android operating system and the popularity, camera manufacturers finally brought the operating in use in smart digital cameras.  A few of them are listed below :

Nikon's CoolPix S800C, is a 16 megapixel camera with 10x optical zoom. working on android 2.3. the camera supports Google Play and can be used to download photo editing apps supported by Android devices.

The smartphone giant Samsung also have Galaxy series camera with 16 megapixel, and 1.4 ghz quadcore processor. the device works on android 4.1 jelly bean. smart digital camera have almost every features that are included in smart phones. you can also share the photo by sending it to your Facebook or Twitter accounts. 

2. Smart Microwave: Yes, its all true, your very lovable Android is running microwaves too. Smart microwaves are one of the most interesting android devices I heard off.   A smart micro wave will do all the work that a normal microwave s capable of and in addition to these you can connect smart microwave to internet and can download receipes. with active voice command in smart microwave, it can help you with voice assistant to read the ingredients of food and how to cook it. some of these smart microwaves also enables users to download and play videos related to cooking.

3. Smart Refigerators: Yes you can buy android smart refrigerators from market. and your refrigerator can stay connected with world wide web while it is placed in your kitchen or dining.  Samsung the leading electrical and electronic appliance maker is one of the manufacturer that have brought the smart refrigrators to market. Most of these smart refrigerators is having a small LCD screen on the front and will be Wi-Fi enabled which helps it to stay connected with  internet. You can keep watching weather forecast. news, your calender, social network updates from Twitter and Facebook Picassa photo albums and much more all within confines of your refrigerator.

4.Smart watch: I guess some of you must already purchased a Android smart watch.  The smart watch technology is supposed to the next in thing in the world of tech.  The first one was launched by Sony, with the name of smart view while the most recent one was launched by Samsung named as Galaxy Gear. This smart watch acts as a extension of your galaxy smart phone and has almost all features that are enabled in your smart phone. and the best part is you have a gadget that looks like the ones used by spies :).

5. Smart media player and music system: Most of the music lovers still loves to have one media player in addition to their smartphones that surely can do greater works than their ordinary Media Player or Boom Box.  As of now many of the media device manufacturers are working Android OS to their devices. Phillips Go Gear Connect and Samsung Galaxy Music Players 5.0 are some of the Android enabled media players available in the market. Most of these media devices not only have audio capabilities but also are inbuilt with video features.

Phillips Go Gear Connect runs on Android 2.3 Ginger Bread OS with 3.2 inch display. The Go Gear is Wi-Fi enabled so you can stay connected with internet.  It also allows you to Google Play Store to download Music. You can also access your favourite social media networks as well as access thousands of online sites offering free  media downloads.

6. Smart robots: In future robots will be enabled to work on with your Android devices with accessing some of the Android Apps. Robot developers inspired from Google Bug Droid have developed a robot name 'Baro', which works on android operating system and can be controlled by Android devices by downloading the suitable Apps made to control it. 'Baro' is a open source robot which is built with 2 infrared transmitter which help it to act as a navigation expert.  

7: PhoneSat: yep thats a satellite. NASA have recently sent three smart phone satellites in space which is named as PhoneSats. These nano satellites are inbuilt with HTC Nexus One and Samsung Nexus S both of which work on the Android operating system.  The PhoneSat does not have  the calling and messaging features.  Both of these smartphones are fitted in a square box which acts as a computer connected to the satellite. The sensors enabled in the satellite are used to measure the distances and take photographs from different reasons of our Planet Earth. These smart phones have also added radio transmitter facilities to the PhoneSat to send and receive instructions.

These are only a few of examples that work on Android Operating System. But the day isnt far when Google's Android will be running probably all the devices in our day to day  life including  medical infrastructures, military, space projects, electrical and electronic appliances, glasses and much more.

This guest post has been written by Abhishek Kumar who is a Security Analyst and works on various ethical hacking practices and is the CEO and founder of  Techworm.  Every once in a while he uses his Android device to make a call!!

After winning the Kitkat Contest, where is my Nexus 7 2013 : A question to the contest organisers ?

Exactly two weeks have passed since I received the messaged from the Nestle guys that my documents were found in order and I should get the delivery within 6 - 8 weeks.  I am waiting and so are the 897 others (there are total 898 winners as per the KIKAT contest winners list).

Now my patience and the patience of the winners including the commentators on this post is wearing out fast.  A probable winner Kruti Patel has filed a complaint on a redressal portal, which I think was premature on the winners part.  The Nestle has promised delivery within 6 to 8 weeks and counting the contest date of 22.11.2013, by all accounts the maximum time Nestle should deliver the Google Nexus 7 2013 (16GB) is  3rd Jan to 17th Jan, 2014.  

It seems that many of the winners (actually most) have not received any confirmation message like I did.  Here also I would opine that as long as the Nestle or the Agency (GroupM) has not called you explicitly informing you the non receipt of the documents, it is safe to assume that your documents have reached and have been accepted.

I would once again like to congratulate and thanks the winners for not only winning the Google Nexus 7 2013 but also making comboupdates a lot of fun and answering queries of winners.

1. Manu Prasanna Kumar 

2. Abhishek Mishra

3. Vishal Vodro

4. Sreeraj (sorry I got your name wrong the first time)

5. Parthokarmakar

6. Deepak M.S.

7. Dhairyadev Arora

8. Pam

9. Anita Swain (she is a dear friend and she won two!!)

10. Ravi Sekar Reddy 

11. Anshul Bahukhandi (Bro you will receive your Google Nexus 7)

12. KKK

13. Ricky Gourea

14. Shankar 

15. Olo (I dont know what your real name is)

16. Sushrut Sharma

17. Mayur Patil

18. Pawan Kumar

19. Tanu

A blogger who goes by the name Unknown and the very helpful Anon gentlemen who have given their valuable inputs. 

I request you all to start commenting here.  I will post any update, mail or SMS I receive from Nestle or GroupM.  You can also add me to your Google Plus circle and send me any updates you may get.  

The comments load slowly after reaching the 200 comments limit. You are requested to click on the 'notify me' box in case you want the updated comments in your email inbox.  

This is in continuation to the earlier posts

Nestle KITKAT contest, extension of date and the delivery schedule for Google Nexus 7 2013 to the contest Winners

and

Winning the Google Nexus 7 with KitKat contest, a dream come true

You are also requested to share this article on your Circle or Facebook so that most winners can give their insights 
Regards
Vijay

Hey friends Google is advertising Nexus 7 on the search tab itself 

Clicking on the tab takes us to the Google Play Store here where the Nexus 7 is listed  for Rs.20999.00.

UPDATE :

SMS received from +919555290764 :Congratulations, this is from KITKAT.  I would like to inform you that your audit is cleared...your Tab will be despatched soon.

Nice but no information about the make :((

Cheated.... Please visit this post and bring it to the notice of Nestle, Google and the world

SMS vulnerability all Nexus phones including your newly acquired Nexus 5 lets anybody make it go crazy or stop functioning, check out the fix here

Security researcher Bogdan Alecu has found out very high risk and new SMS vulnerability in the Nexus phones.  This vulnerability can be used by any hacker or attacker to force your Nexus smart phone to overide whatever you are doing and malfunction, restart, freeze or even lose network. 

Bogdan's finding were brought to light in the PCWorld and all Nexus phones right upto the latest Nexus 5 are affected.  The attack operation is simple and easy to execute.  Any potential attacker has to just send 30 flash SMS messages to your Android 4.0 above based Nexus phones.  This messages get displayed immediately on your screen and cause the the phone malfunction.  

The report further adds that the loophole exists because the Nexus phones do not automatically alert users with an audio tone on receiving a flash message.  This allows the potential hacker to send several messages one after another which causes the Nexus to go mad due to radio failure or a full system reboot.  

Alecu added that he found the vulnerability in all the three latest Nexus smart phones running on Android v4.0 to v4.4 but it didnt work on other phone models he tested, concluding that this vulnerability exists only in Nexus devices.  

On his part he has reported the issue to Google but Google is yet to take any action.  Therefore Alecu has build a Android firewall App to stop this exploitation through rapid Flash SMS bombardment. 

The App called Class0Firewall is available in Google Play Store here and provides a workaround to you.  You can install the App and set a threshold for the number of flash messages (called Class0 messages) you can receive successively.  This negates the vulnerability completely. To avoid your precious Nexus from being attacked you can also set how long the messages will stay blocked till Google comes up with a patch or fix for this issue.

Samsung ChatON with instant Chat, SMS and MMS integration for Android smart phones and tablets

Follow the leader has always been the mantra of tech firms. Close on the heels of Google merging its Hangout with SMS and MMS Samsung has updated its popular chatting App ChatON to support for SMS and MMS on the Android platform. With a new update, Samsung ChatON users will be able to see their phone’s native messaging combined with ChatON messages now. 

This update now takes Samsung ChatON to version 3.2.115 and is mainly for bringing the SMS and MMS integration to the App.   The users in Brazil and Germany get a bonus, ChatON users there will even see contacts on ChatON buddy list in addition to a combined stream for messages and chat. The update also brings a new notification badge indicating the number of unread messages on the ChatON.

The ChatON update for Android tablets brings far more changes then the smart phone update.  ChatON will get a new UI design and you will also be able to change the background of “My page” and upload multimedia contents such as images, videos and location information on PostON. 

Reader may note that ChatON is installable on any Android smart phone and tablet running on Android version 4.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and up. If you are interested in getting the newly updated ChatON for your Android smart phone and tablet you can download Samsung ChatON from the Google PlayStore here.

Fight the Grineer with free WARFRAME for PlayStation 4 download now from PlayStation Store

The launch of PlayStation 4 last week was good news for gaming community but lack of games for PS4 is a big turn off.  Steadily and surely Sony is building up the games portfolio to match the hype and the sales that PlayStation 4 created.  

The latest game to be available for PS4 is a free sci-fi game called Warframe.  And the added bonus is that this game is free to download.  You can download the game from the PlayStation store directly from your console.  

Digital Extremes' Warframe debuted on PC last year and was a proven hit.  The game is fun filled especially when you team up with your three other friends online to scale the missions together.

The gameplay involves a militarized race called Grineer, whose armies are now spreading throughout our solar system.  Your aim is to fight this Grineer thing with all your might.  At the start of the game you've been pulled out your cryostasis chamber and trained alongside other warriors(your online chums) known as the Tenno.

You then take advantage of an ancient exoskeletal technology called "Warframes" which essential gives you superpower to kill the Grineer.  

If you are interested in playing this free for all game, visit this link and download now.

Facebook Messenger gets Indian twist with Chumbak stickers, buy them and communicate in true Indian street style lingo

Facebook is setting up a new trend in the stickers world from today and it will have a nice Indian twist to it.  The company today launched new stickers which are designed by a Indian company and are called Chumbak stickers.  You can use them on both Facebook on PC as well as your smart phone and tablets.  

Over the years we had been seeing the same stickers over and over again up until WeChat entered the seen with its nicely designed stickers.  A new sticker messaging phenomena started all over the world with the launch of these stickers.  Not to be left behind Facebook too came up with its own version of stickers but they did not have the desired impact.

With a aim of changing the sticker messaging scene with these lovely Chumbak stickers Facebook hopes to do what WeChat did with its stickers.   The sticker characters are pretty cute, colourful and spew Indian catch phrases. You can say “Heppy Budday”, “Fully fed up”, “Louve is coming” and  “Wanna Fraanship,” 

The Bangalore based Chumbak simply put up a Facebook post on its page saying, “We’ve been working on some really fun stuff for the past couple of months,” promising to reveal the story behind how this partnership came to be. 

If you want to communicate in true Indian street lingo style you should head over to the Facebook Messenger Sticker Store from either the Messenger app on your phone or from the web and add it to your messages.  You can visit the Chumbak's Facebook page here to know more about it

Nokia to give free WhatsApp App through OTA update next week for Nokia Asha 501

Nokia Asha 501 users in India can be a part of the most popular cross-platform messaging app WhatsApp when Nokia releases a Over the Air update for Nokia Asha 501.  This was revealed by Nokia on its official blog.  The update will be released in next week as per the blog.

If you own a Nokia Asha 501 all you have to do is download the update and install the WhatsApp App.  When you log into WhatsApp for the first time on the Asha 501, WhatsApp will automatically be able to find and add contacts from your contacts list of the people who are already using the service. 

WhatsApp also allows all the features which are available to other phones to Asha 501 users like you can add emoticons to messages or add photographs and video files as well as record and send voice messages. You will also be able to see all the WhatsApp activity via Fastlane, the second home screen on the handset that acts as a short cut to favourite apps and content.

In another news, Nokia also announced that WhatsApp will come pre-insta1lled on the recently announced Asha 500, Asha 502 and the Asha 503 which will be available in India shortly.

Instagram finally comes to Windows Phone 8 in beta avatar, but it lacks all the Instagram essentials options

After promising users about Instagram for Windows Phone since May 2013, the publishers of Instagram today finally published the Beta version of Instagram on Windows Phone store.  The App was made available almost after three years since it landed on Apple Store.

The beta version is free to download and works on all Windows Phone 8 devices like the Lumia 520, Lumia 620 etal but there are some serious issues with the all new Instagram beta App.  For starters you can take any photos with the App.  For some peculiar reason the worlds most popular and famous photography sharing App can not take snaps from within the App rather you have to use the default or the native camera to snap pictures and import them into the Instagram and share them on the Instagram social engine. This is not the only anomaly, the new beta App cant be used for the video feature.  Yes, you cant use the Instagrams video feature too with this App.

The publishers say this is a beta version hence it is being run for a testing purpose.  The publishers also add that the new features will be available as soon as the beta testing is over but know one knows when.  

"We wanted to make Instagram available to people with Windows Phones as quickly as possible, so we focused on creating an awesome experience with Instagram's core features. We're not finished, and our team will continue developing the Windows Phone app to keep releasing features and bringing you the best Instagram possible."

A rather meek App but a must have if you are a avid photographer and would like to reach out to the millions of Instagramers online. You can download the App for your Windows Phone 8 from Windows Phone Store here.

Android 4.4 KITKAT powered 16GB Nexus 5 to be available in India on 25th November, 2013 for Rs.29990.00, 32GB version to be released later

The latest buzz in the smart phone world, the Nexus 5 made by LG of South Korea is to be released in India on Monday, 25th November, 2013.  

Sadly only the 16GB version will be available as of now for the Indians.  Though the Google Play list the price of the 16GB Black Nexus 5 at Rs.28,999.00 it will be sold in the physical shops and online portals for Rs.29990.00.  You can buy the 16GB Nexus 5 in LG Shoppes or LG branded stores starting Monday and it will be available elsewhere after 2 to 3 days.  The Google Play sale will also go live on Monday but the delivery will be a big issue.  

The Google Nexus 5 manufactured by LG is the most innovative smart phone to be launched in recent times after the Moto X.  The Nexus 5 boasts of the Googles latest operating system, the Android 4.4 KITKAT aboard it.  Specwise it is a masterpiece for the price announced by Google.  The Nexus 5 boasts of a 4.95 inch full HD display with LG patented in-cell touch technology.  The Nexus 5 will run on a quad core Snapdragon 800 processor clocking a speed of 2.3GHz and runs on  2GB of RAM.

For creativity it comes with a 8MP rear camera with OIS, LED Flash, Auto Focus and the front shoot is a 1.3MP affair.  For connectivity the Nexus 5 has all the necessary options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and expansion slot for MicroSD card.  The Nexus 5 will come in 16 and 32GB versions with 16GB available as of now.

For my money, Google Nexus 5 will change the price equation in the mobile market.  Its very competitive pricing and nice specs will lead to a churning among the major players like Samsung, Apple, Sony and HTC.  As of today, the high end smart phones cost anywhere between Rs.35000.00 and above.  With Google Nexus 5 entering the fray at sub Rs.30000.00 and Motorola announcing plans to launch Moto g in India soon, the Indian buyer may indeed have a very happy ending to the otherwise very dull year.

Nestle KITKAT contest, extension of date and the delivery schedule for Google Nexus 7 2013 to the contest Winners

This is in continuation to my Winning the Google Nexus 7 with KitKat contest a dream come true article which was very much appreciated by the readers and well as participants in the contest.  I am writing this post to clear many a doubts which have come up in the minds of all the participants of the Nestle KitKat Contest.  This post became necessary on two counts.  

One of the reasons was the extension of the contest by Nestle.   The Nestle today extended the contest upto 22nd November 2013.  And in this five days it will be giving out 100 Google Nexus 7 2013.  The reasons for this extension has not been given by Nestle but it can be safely assumed that these 140 Google Nexus 7 2013 tablets (100 + 40 are part of the original 1000 tablets but due to some reason the contestants/participants may not have been confirmed and/or they would not have sent the required documents to Google.  Another reason may be that the Nestle couldnt verify the authenticity of such documents.

But do remember that Nestle/its agency GroupM made a call to each of the contestants whose documents had not reached Ms.Subarna Nandy.  Some of the contestants have sent the documents through SpeedPost, the caller from GroupM had requested these winners to resend the documents alongwith a photocopy of the Nestle KITKAT wrapper, if available.  

It is safe to assume that if you have not received such a call asking you to resend the documents from GroupM means that your documents are in order and Nestle will deliver the Google Nexus 2013.

The Google Nexus 2013 delivery schedule.  The Nestle today began sending SMSes to the winners informing them thus :

This is to inform you that we have received your documents and they are upto mark..your gift will reach your doorstep after 15th november within 6-8 weeks..for queries you may contact 09555290764

regards nestle

I received this message today at 10.00 am in the morning.  Further I also received a email from Nestle stating that the delivery will take place within next 6 to 8 weeks.

In this regard I would assume that the delivery process has been initiated by Nestle and we should our Google Nexus 2013 within the end of November.  Those staying in remote areas may get it by mid December.

Another of the most asked question on the previous post was that which Google Nexus 2013 will Nestle give.  In my opinion Nestle will give out the latest Google Nexus 7 2013 16GB.  My belief comes from this image posted on the contest page.

In this image from Kitkats contest page, it is clear that the winners will be given a ALL NEW NEXUS 7 TABLET and you will be among the first 1000 to get it.

Others may have different opinions but I am going to stick with this one.  I also think that the 6-8 weeks given by Nestle is a generalised maximum period so that anxiety does not set in among winners. Those staying in cities and Metros will get it earlier than those staying in remote places.

I would also like to thank my reader Manu Prasanna Kumar who went out of the way to answer the queries of readers.  I would also like to thank a certain Anonymous visitor who sadly wants to remain anon,  who time and again gave valuable comments on the readers queries.  I hope both of you will continue helping out the readers as well as me.

Hope you get your GOOGLE NEXUS 7 2013 soon and believe me it is the most wonderful tablet I have laid my hands on!!!

For those who have not won, you can still try your luck for next four days.  Remember there is no fixed strategy as such, just plain luck.  

KITKAT contest will close today :)

Read this post for further happenings on the Google Nexus 7 2013

After winning the Kitkat Contest, where is my Nexus 7 2013 : A question to the contest organisers ?

Cheated.... Please visit this post and bring it to the notice of Nestle, Google and the world

Apple releases iOS 7 patch for Apple Store vulnerability, but dont download the 7.0.4 patch yet if you intend to jail break your iPhone

Apple on Thursday released the fix for all sorts of bugs it was facing on its iOS 7 version.  The version number is called 7.0.4 and build number "build 11B554a." is now available for all iOS 7 devices viz. iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

The fix is important because Apple claims to have finally fixed a very critical security flaw which let anybody make a purchase from the online Apple Store without a valid password.  The security bulletin released by Apple gave following comments

Vulnerability assigned as CVE-2013-5193 

 "A signed-in user may be able to complete a transaction without providing a password when prompted. This issue was addressed by additional enforcement of purchase authorization."

The above released patch restores the necessary authentication check and will allow app store transactions only if anybody has a valid Password henceforth.  The update also addressed an issue that would cause FaceTime calls to fail sometimes.

You are requested to update your iOS 7 devices immediately as per Apple's suggestion.  The easiest method to install the 7.0.4 update is to can download and install it through iTunes. You can also try OTA by going to your device Settings and selecting General > Software Update.

However a word of warning for those who intend to jailbreak their iOS 7 devices.  In his tweet, posted Nov 14, master iOS Jail Breaker @MuscleNerd advised via Twitter that those waiting for the official Evasion iOS 7 jailbreak  to avoid the 7.0.4 patch

Those at 7.x waiting for JB, maybe treat 7.0.4 as exercise in restraint. Won’t affect JB if you slip up, but test your ability to avoid it!
— MuscleNerd (@MuscleNerd) November 14, 2013

He also Tweeted that those applying the iOS 7.0.4 patch may have a iOS device which cannot be jailbroken i.e. the process may be irreversible

…but for those enjoying the 6.x JB, avoid 7.0.4 . There’s no going back (always worth saying that for sake of JB newbies)
— MuscleNerd (@MuscleNerd) November 14, 2013 

However another jail breaker has Tweeted that the iOS 7.0.4 is a safe update.

According to jailbreak guru @MuscleNerd, iOS 7.0.4 should be a safe update! pic.twitter.com/RUTlDmYBnb
— iPadJailbreak.com (@iPadJailbroken) November 16, 2013

As of now it is not confirmed by the leaders of the iOS Jail Breaking Community whether the patch is safe or not.  As such it would be prudent to avoid the iOS 7.0.4 patch, if you intend to jailbreak your iPhone.

Learn while playing with PICS QUIZ free for Android smart phones and tablets, good for Kids 3 years and above

A nice little Quiz game from Mob in Life for kids, the Pics Quiz is a free game which throws up pictures which you have to identify. The game is very simple and if you download it today, you get 500 coins worth $1.99 free.  

The game works on Android 2.3.3 and above and is particularly good for kids by making them understand different animals, birds, fruits etc.  The features of the game are

- easy to play: 1 premium pic to guess, a few letters and 2 jokers. No complicated rules, just an easy and fun thinking game!

- hundreds of challenges to solve. Will you need hints to reveal letters and solve the riddles?

- solo mode: guess 3 words per pic on over 400 levels.

- multiplayer quiz: guess more words than your friends in 80 seconds. 

- play with your friends: send each other hints to find the right letters and guess the photos!

- an addictive game for everyone

- new premium pics added frequently.

- multilingual thinking game.

- online and offline brain game.

You can download this game for your Android smart phone and tablet from Google Play here