A physical keyboard on a Samsung flagship, now that is something frankly nobody could have predicted. The photo was just recently posted on twitter, courtesy Evan Blass or @evleaks, which leads us to believe it might actually turn out to be genuine.

S6e+ keyboard cover — clever. http://pic.twitter.com/4eAJKPq9ph— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 7, 2015

The odd accessory seems more like an April Fools’ Day joke, but it looks like the Korean tech giant believes there might be a market for it. The keyboard appears to be a cover for the bottom half of the Galaxy S6 edge+ or rather a clip-on. It is quite reminiscent of the physical keyboards on some older Samsung models, like the Galaxy Pro. It even has buttons for back, home and menu at the bottom.

The concept of clip on keyboards for touchscreen devices is definitely not new and was even around back in the monochrome screen days. However, resurrecting the idea seems slightly odd nowadays, especially on a device that shows off Samsung’s latest and greatest curved AMOLED screen technology on a phablet scale.

Still, Samsung has offered stranger things in the past and there might still be a market for the gadget. It fact, various sliding, folding and attachable keyboards have always been available from third parties, so there is at least some demand.

We will leave it up to you to decide whether or not the photo is legitimate and does come from a proper press release as is supposed. In the meantime all we can do is wait for Samsung’s grand Unpacked event”, which is set for August 13 and will be the venue at which the Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 edge+ are officially unveiled. If the keyboard case is in fact a reality, it will most-definitely be there. And who knows, maybe Samsung made one for the Note as well.

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If you are the Android-tinkering type then it is more than likely that you have heard of the recent Stagefright vulnerability found in Google’s OS. And if not, well it all boils down to a bug, related to some core Android messaging and multimedia capabilities that could potentially allow a hacker to high-jack your Android device by simply sending you a message.

The bug, discovered by Joshua Drake from the Zimperium security firm is pretty dangerous and could potentially affect any Android device starting from version 2.2 Froyo and up, which is almost any Android device currently out there. As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir in the community. Companies like Google and Samsung were quick to respond, promising a path, with the latter already applying the necessary fixes to AOSP, which was also vulnerable itself.

Motorola is also already working on a fix and has recently released a full list of devices that it will be rolling out the required patch to as soon as possible. If you own one of these be sure to check for an OTA in the coming days and definitely install it for some extra piece of mind. The eligible handsets are:

Moto X (1st generation and 2nd generation)

Moto X Pro

Motorola Droid Turbo / Moto Maxx

Moto G (1st generation, 2nd generation and 3rd generation)

Moto G LTE (1st generation and 2nd generation)

Moto E (1st generation and 2nd generation)

Moto E LTE (2nd generation)

Motorola Droid Ultra, Droid Mini, and Droid Maxx

As you might have noticed, the company’s recently announced trio of moto X devices – Moto X Style, Moto X Play and Moto X Pure Edition are not on the list. That is because they will come with the fix bundled, as will all other future phones, since the changes have already been committed to AOSP.

And for those of you aching for some more info on the Stagefright bug it is quite aptly named as it affects one of Android’s core components, responsible for handling certain multimedia formats, such as MP4. The vulnerability itself exploits some integer overflow vulnerabilities and can be leveraged by delivering the necessary code to the victim as a multimedia message. In most cases the said message gets downloaded by the OS without need for confirmation from the user, after which the attacker can execute code remotely.

As it turns out most any recent Android or Android-based OS is vulnerable to the bug, but luckily there are still no reports of actual attacks using Stagefright. However, if you are feeling concerned you should check if you are affected using this free app and look into disabling automatic background downloading of MMS messages, where possible of course.

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For those of you who are waiting for the next iPhone, here is some good news: Apple will unveil the device in the second week of September, most likely on September 9, according to a latest report.

The report also notes that alongside the new iPhone, the Cupertino-based company will also announce the iPad Pro as well as the next-gen Apple TV, something which is in-line with what we’ve already heard earlier.

If recent reports are to be believed, the next iPhone will be called the iPhone 6S. It will feature a Force Touch display and the Series 7000 aluminum, which is up to 60% tougher than the current aluminum…

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Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi is definitely doing well on its home market. The Brand has managed to build up a lot of user trust and even a formidable fan base, thanks to competitive pricing and Apple-style viral marketing. Expanding into international markets has been on Xiaomi’s roadmap for some time and the company has already made significant steps to enter the emerging India market.

However, this might be Xiaomi’s biggest plunge into India sales yet, as the company announced that it will be offering its products in brick and mortar stores throughout the country. Currently, Xiaomi devices are selling mostly through India’s largest e-commerce company Flipkat and that partnership is sure to continue. However, Xiaomi now hopes that through collaboration with Redington – one of the country’s leading cellphone distributors, it will gain access to around 1000 to 1500 physical stores throughout 15 major cities, including Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mysore and Visakhapatnam.

Those stores will initially offer a total of four Xiaomi products – Redmi 2, Mi 4, Mi 4i and Mi Pad for INR 5,999, INR 14,999, INR 12,999 and INR 12,999 respectively. The hopes are that the product line will expand soon and more locations will be added to the list as well. As for this first phase, Xiaomi plans to launch it in the next 45 to 60 days. If everything goes smoothly and the idea picks up speed, Manu Jain, India operations head at Xiaomi, believes that a total of 25% to 30% of all of the company’s sales in India will be from physical stores.

This is quite an ambitious step for Xiaomi, but definitely not one taken lightly. A few months ago the Chinese manufacturer entered into an exclusive partnership with The Mobile Stores – another India retailer. The deal included selling the Redmi Note 4G and Mi 4 smartphones in physical stores, mostly within the capital city. We are not certain what has become of the said venture, but it can definitely be seen as a smaller scale field test for the expansion.

Last, but not least, to reaffirm its intentions for the India market, Xiaomi has also announced that it will set up a research and development unit in Bangalore. All things considered, the Chinese company is slowly, cautiously, but steadily covering new ground and the emerging India market is an ideal place to start. Hopefully this might be the stepping stone Xiaomi needs to enter the US market as well, which VP Hugo Barra has hinted is also on the roadmap, albeit still at least an year away.

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