Friday, October 31, 2014

Hello, Lenovo: Motorola takeover completed at last

Google has one less thing to worry about, as Motorola Mobility is officially Lenovo property.



The most surprising tech purchase of the year has been finalized after eight excruciatingly long months of waiting. Excruciating for all parties involved, we presume, given Google’s eagerness to offload the financially struggling handset business of its daughter company, and Lenovo’s ardent desire to become relevant in the Western mobile décor.

Motorola? Well, they probably just wanted the insecurity to end. And perhaps a new team of owners who can appreciate their striking creative revival. Moto is likely light-years away from bringing in profits, but the 360 smartwatch, Nexus 6, Droid Turbo, second-generation X and G smartphones are among the best reviewed products in their respective categories.

Can Lenovo build on the thriving popularity of Moto gadgets? It depends on how involved they plan to be in further research and development. Up until now, we’ve heard a lot of encouraging promises. The Motorola brand will definitely stick around for at least a while longer.



Roadmaps will reportedly go unchanged, and “pure Android” should continue to be a main focus for… Lenovorola? Motovo? Also, Rick Osterloh is set to stay on as the president and chief operating officer of Motorola. Under the supervision of Liu Jun, president of Lenovo’s Mobile Business Group, but with a fair share of responsibilities and decision-making power, we’re guessing.

Basically, Lenovo doesn’t intend to significantly alter anything of importance, fire Motorola personnel, or relocate anybody. The Chicago HQ will still be there next year, and Moto is keen on maintaining offices “around the world, including in Silicon Valley”.

Aside from the Motorola name slapped on current and future devices, the Droid franchise isn’t going anywhere. But perhaps the most paramount change for both Moto and Lenovo will be in stature. Separately, they couldn’t hope to challenge the leading global smartphone vendors. Together, they’re already in third place worldwide, and the sky is the limit for their perspectives.

All things considered, doesn’t it feel like Lenovo made a phenomenal deal purchasing the makers of the Nexus 6 and Droid Turbo in exchange for a measly $2.91 billion?

Sources: Motorola Blog, Lenovo Newsroom *



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Korean mobile games giant Gamevil expands into Europe

Gamevil has added Berlin to its list of*offices in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing, Singapore, Taipei and Seoul; has appointed*David Mohr as General Manager in Berlin Gamevil, the popular Seoul-based mobile games developer that was founded back in 2000, has announced its expansion into Europe with the appointment of*David Mohr as General Manager in Berlin, Germany....



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How rebranding can enhance a successful business

WritePath is an unique example of how repositioning can boost*an already successful business. Here’s*how it replicated its success*across three distinct verticals The word ‘branding’ is thrown around so much as to seem to lose its meaning sometimes. Presumably, branding should*increase the value a business captures by enabling it to access a new market, enhance its*business...



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Oppo to establish factory in Indonesia

Following the lead of other mobile manufacturers, Oppo will establish facilities to produce 500K devices per month After ZTE revealed its plan to establish a factory in Indonesia last month, Oppo is reportedly preparing to do pretty much the same. The factory, which is planned to start operating in March 2015, aims to produce 500...



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Startuptravels wants to connect travelling entrepreneurs everywhere

Co-founder Rasmus Frandsen’s passion for travelling and meeting like-minded people has culminated in this social network for entrepreneurs Startuptravels is a brand new, two-week old social network for travelling entrepreneurs ‘made with love and coffee in Copenhagen’. e27 spoke exclusively with Co-founder Rasmus Frandsen, who is currently on a Masters programme at Duke University, North...



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PricePanda: Shopping trends, habits in Southeast Asia (Jul-Oct 2014)

How are shoppers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines searching for goods? Out of a million unique users in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia on PricePanda, 44 per cent were with a mobile device,*noted a recent*infographic published by the Rocket Internet-backed price comparison platform. The infographic was based on the data generated from...



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Frontier Digital Ventures invests US$3.5 million in PakWheels

This is the second deal by the firm in Pakistan, following its maiden investment in Zameen.com Frontier Digital Ventures, a*digital investment firm headquartered in Malaysia, has invested US$3.5*million*in PakWheels.com, Pakistan-based automotive website. PakWheels.com is a portal to buy and sell cars and motorcycles, read automotive reviews and news, check automotive prices and find solutions to...



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[Singapore] Y-trepreneur

Join us at Y-trepreneur to learn from well-established startups in Singapore! Synopsis: Do you have an idea and are keen to change it into reality, but unsure how and where to begin? Or you have started on your idea but encountered some obstacles along the way? Y-trepreneur aims to help you find your answers! Seize...



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Zoomcar raises US$8 million in funding round led by Sequoia Capital

The Indian self-drive car rental company will use funds for hiring, technological development and expansion to new cities over the next one year Zoomcar, the first self-drive car rental company from India, has raised US$8*million*in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital. Several new investors including former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, Abhay Jain of the...



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[Singapore] Lean Canvas Workshop

Learn how to use Lean Startup techniques and raise your chances of success for your product Synopsis: “Most products fail. Not because we fail to build what we set out to build, but because we waste time, money, and effort building the wrong product.” – Ash Maurya, Running Lean Many startups have*wasted time, effort and...



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This app aims for a pothole-free world

Aptly named*Pothole Watch, this app will help people of Mumbai, India — and later cities across the globe*–*use smartphones to report the GPS location of a pothole If you can walk 15 steps on Slater Road without landing on a pothole, you should thank your stars. If you can*ride a bike on Andheri-Kurla Road during...



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Lovesprk partners Lovebyte to create romance in Malaysia

Lovesprk has about 250 registered users so far. Lovebyte’s 120,000 users in Malaysia will definitely help the former extend its reach Malaysia-based date concierge portal Lovesprk*today announced that it has partnered with Singapore-based couple app Lovebyte to extend its reach to the latter’s 120,000 users in Malaysia. This is Lovesprk’s second partnership with a couple...



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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Samsung Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 officially announced with metal unibody design

Both smartphones are the first in Samsung’s Android lineup to feature a unibody design.



Following months of rumors and leaks, the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 have finally been made official by Samsung. After indulging in metal frames on the Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy Note 4, the Korean manufacturer has decided to go all in. Both the A3 and A5 have an all metal unibody exterior – that means the backs on the devices are non-removable, which, along with the metal unibodies, are a first for an Android device from Samsung.

The A3 and A5 are also the slimmest Samsung phones after the Galaxy Alpha. The A3 measures in at 6.9mm thin, while the A5 is even thinner at 6.7mm. Of course, with Oppo having taken the crown for the thinnest smartphone with the R5, Samsung isn’t doing anything groundbreaking, but it is surely reiterating that the race for thinner and thinner smartphones is one that isn’t going to get over anytime soon.

Samsung is targeting young consumers with the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5, which is why both phones feature 5-megapixel front-facing cameras. The company has thrown in all the new camera features from the Galaxy Note 4, including four – yes, four – modes specifically for taking selfies. But that’s not it. In a bid to attract the youth, Samsung will also be offering the A3 and A5 in five different color options:*Pearl White, Midnight Black, Platinum Silver, Soft Pink, Light Blue and Champagne Gold, though it’s likely all of these won’t be available at launch.

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In terms of hardware, there’s not a lot to be impressed about. The Galaxy A3 and A5 feature 4.5-inch qHD and 5-inch HD Super AMOLED displays, a quad-core 1.2GHz processor, 1/2GB of RAM, 13/8-megapixel cameras, 16GB of expandable internal storage, LTE connectivity, and 1,900/2,300 mAh batteries. Both devices run on Android 4.4.4 KitKat, with an option to choose between four different themes, another feature that we haven’t seen on any Samsung-made Android phone before.

Samsung wasn’t very forthcoming about release details, though it does mention that a launch will be limited to select markets when the devices go on sale in November. That’s probably a good move as it would help the company test the demand for devices that form part of its plan to take back the market share it has been ceding to the competition; hopefully, it will also be pricing both devices well enough.





Source: Samsung Tomorrow



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I need team players, not superstars: Tiwa York talks people management

In the second part of the interview, OLX Head Coach shares lessons learned plus thoughts on agile, team building and Thailand’s potential This concludes the two-part e27 exclusive with OLX Head Coach Tiwa York. Read Part 1 here. What are some of the best things you’ve done or learned about developing your own people? Wow,...



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Startup nears completion of consumer-ready flying car

A little startup based in Slovakia has just shown off what could be the future of modern transportation, a flying car capable of hitting a top-flight speed of 100 miles per hour.

The vehicle, which is about the size of a minivan, was unveiled at an annual innovation conference at Vienna’s Hofburg Palace. The operable ‘Aeromobil 3.0’ boasts a 100-horsepower Rotax engine that helps to hoist the car up to 9,800 feet (any further and a pressurized cabin is required).



As far as space-age construction is concern, the flying car is composed of mainly carbon fiber, which includes the retractable wings. On the ground, the car can achieve a max speed of 70 miles per hour, with the range varying between air and land. The car, however, is reportedly capable of traveling 500 miles before it needs to refuel

Internally, the vehicle seats two, and comes with a bevy of high-tech components such as autopilot features, GPS, and even an emergency parachute system. Depending on whether or not you’re in the air or on the ground, pilots can switch to a steering wheel and vice versa.



Although the prototype has proven itself to be a capable flying machine, there are still many obstacles for the Aeromobil team to overcome before their futuristic dual-purpose vehicle can reach mass production. For one, regulations for such technology are nearly non-existent, which means the Aeromobil must comply with both ground and air regulators. Furthermore, to own one of these vehicles, potential buyers will have to fork over cash that’s comparable to the price of most supercars.



There’s no timetable on when we might be able to see a consumer-ready Aeromobil hovering above us, but the company’s head of public relation thinks that the technology is there and that we’re only a few years away from cruising on land and skies.

Source: aeromobil



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ASUS ROG Maximus VII Impact Motherboard Review

ASUS ROG Maximus VII Impac is a mini ITX form form factor Motherboard packed with

features. You find everything from ROG SupremeFX Audio, 6Gbps SATA, Sonic Radar II, PCI

Express 3.0 x16 and much more!



ASUS ROG Maximus VII Impact - ASUS ROG Maximus VII Impact - Tweak.dk









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Don't hold out for a cheap iPhone

An Apple executive says that its not happening.





There were countless rumors and reports every single day of last year before iPhone 5c was unveiled that Apple will soon launch a cheap iPhone that will help it go head to head against Android devices in emerging markets like India and China. While iPhone 5c was relatively cheaper than the iPhone 5s, it was no where in the “cheap” or “affordable” category that caters to hundreds of millions of people in the emerging markets.

If you have been waiting for Apple to come up with such an iPhone then allow me to be the one to tell you that there’s no use in holding out for that to happen anymore. Apple’s vice president of iPhone, iPod and iOS marketing Greg Joswiak said during a talk at a conference recently that Apple won’t be doing a cheap iPhone anywhere in the near future.

The reason why the company won’t be doing that is simple. Joswiak says that Apple believes it doesn’t have to follow the pack and do what everyone else is doing. Apple believes that if it makes a decent product that provides a better experience there will always be a healthy market for that product.

However it is evident that price hasn’t hampered iPhone sales in any major way. Apple’s smartphones count themselves among one of the best selling devices all around the globe, even in emerging markets, so perhaps it might not serve the company’s perfectionist image to compromise in quality just to be able to compete with other OEMs in the low-end segments of the market.

Source



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Analyst predicts iPhone 6 will outsell Galaxy Note 4 10-to-1

]This won’t be music to Samsung’s ears.





We often see comparisons of how Samsung’s products perform in the market as compared to Apple’s iPhones. Samsung retains its crown of the world’s largest smartphone vendor only because it makes and sells dozens of different handsets every year whereas Apple only releases two new iPhones per year. Nevertheless Apple has continued to hold its ground against the Korean company and an analyst is of the view that its iPhone 6 will perform so well that it’ll actually outsell Galaxy Note 4 10-to-1.

Last month Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 4 at IFA 2014. The phablet is more of an evolutionary update as opposed to a revolutionary one but still it has got some pretty nice features and upgrades under the hood.

Kim Young-chan, or Shinhan Investments, writes in a note sent out to investors that he predicts Apple to sell 10 iPhone 6 units for every one of Galaxy Note 4 units sold by Samsung.

This prediction may not be entirely off. Reports coming in from Korea reveal that this is indeed happening to some extent, with pre-orders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus crossing 80,000 in Korea as opposed to just 30,000 pre-orders for the Galaxy note 4.

That’s just one market and some analysts are of the view that we might see the same response in other markets around the world. With Samsung posting a*74 percent drop in mobile business profits this quarter, this will give it something to think about.



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