Google had recently put up the factory images of the Android 5.1 Lollipop for the developers and enthusiasts to flash it on their devices. Now the Nexus 5 users are getting the Android 5.1 Lollipop OTA update.

Measuring about 220.7 MB, the OTA update is being rolled out to Nexus 5 devices in phases across the world. The most signification feature that arrives with Android 5.1 is the Device Protection which keeps your device locked even after factory reset. Only after the owner signs in, the device can be unlocked.

HD Voice has been activated to improve the voice call quality. There’s no evidence of whether the fix for the memory leak, as reported earlier, has been patched with this…

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LG introduced the goofy looking AKA smartphone meant for the kids in Korea last year. Now the company confirmed that the AKA smartphone will be made available in other markets such as Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Turkey. Last week the phone was introduced in Taiwan.

The smartphone has eyes popping out to of the case to create an emotional connection with the user. The smartphone is available in four different personas – Eggy in yellow color who is like a compulsive lover, a goofy yet impulsive Wooky in white, Yo-Yo in pink, perpetually on a diet, and music-loving Soul in navy blue color.

Each of the colors have a personality and the eyes work like a notification reminder with different emotions. Even the color of the eye changes according to the type of notification you have.

The new AKA phones feature a 5-inch 720p display, 1.2 GHz quad-core processor with 1.5 GB RAM, 16 GB built-in storage, Android 4.4 KitKat and runs 2610 mAh battery. The AKA phone is priced at $455 in Korea for…

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The new Microsoft Lumia 430 was officially announced today and it is yet another step in Microsoft's endeavor to get a firm grip on emerging smartphone markets. The dual-SIM handset will be hitting stores in India, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus sometime this April. And color options include black and orange.

It will bear a price tag of about $70, which should help it get budget-conscious and novice smartphone users. The specs sheet is definitely not impressive, especially by 2015 standards, but given the tight budget, Microsoft has actually managed to put together a decent device.

The Lumia 430 is powered by a rather outdated Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset with 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, which is not going to ace any benchmarks, but should do the job without too much stutterting on a Windows Phone device. The good news is that in has 1GB of RAM, which means no apps will be left out due to RAM limitations.

It almost looks like this handset is Microsoft's upgrade to the Lumia 530. Just like it, the Lumia 430 has a 4-inch LCD screen, with a resolution of 800×480 pixels and a ppi of 235. Yet it comes with twice the RAM and internal storage has been bumped up to 8GB.

There is still a microSd card slot for up to 128GB more. Another improvement offered by the Lumia 530 is the front-facing camera, which is just a 0.3 MP VGA model, but is still better than nothing, but, sadly, the main shooter is only 2MP. A proximity sensor is also a nice update.

Jo Harlow, Microsoft's corporate vice president, had this to say about the new budget-friendly device:

People around the world have responded enthusiastically to our affordable Lumia range. We continue to invest in this segment to ensure that as many people as possible can enjoy signature Microsoft experiences, regardless of budget.The Lumia 430 Dual SIM continues our commitment to combining the right hardware, software, services and apps with the right price to give people a smartphone they can afford and be proud to use.

It looks like the Lumia 430 has a few right ingredients to become a hot seller in certain markets. And with Microsoft's promise to bring Windows 10 to all Lumia devices, the $70 investment sounds like a pretty good deal in the…

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Earlier we reported about Microsoft and Xiaomi signing an agreement to make the Windows 10 compatible with the Xiaomi Mi4 smartphone.

Now some fresh images of a Mi 4 unit running the Windows 10 Technical Preview have been spotted. It is unclear whether the Windows 10 build will be able to make the best of the Mi4 hardware and render the capacitive menu keys in the front useless.

This is just a glimpse of what can be expected in near future.
Source |…

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The European pricing of OnePlus One will rise from March 25 onwards. The Chinese manufacturer will make the adjustment because of the Euro’s plunge against the US dollar (currently €1 trades for $1.08).

Starting on March 25, the 16GB and the 64GB variants of OnePlus One will cost €299 and €349 respectively. That’s a €30 increase for the 16GB model, and €50 hike for the 64GB version of the smartphone.

It turns out that the plunge of the Euro has cut into the already slim OnePlus margins. Currently, the company is selling its “flagship killer” at a cost.

OnePlus One accessories will not be affected by the price increase. Users have until next week to take advantage of the old pricing of the smartphone.

Source…

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Purported live photos of a Sony Xperia Z4 protective cover made the rounds on Twitter. The successor of Sony Xperia Z3 is expected to make its official debut at some point this summer.

The images of the case appear to confirm what we saw in the leaked press renders from a couple of days ago. The TPU case features a cutout for that mysterious port, which sits alongside the microUSB of the upcoming smartphone.

Purported specs of Sony Xperia Z4 include Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, 5.2″ QHD display, 20.7MP camera, and Android Lollipop. The smartphone features design cues from its both its predecessor and Sony Xperia Z2.

Source…

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More than three quarters of all compatible devices now run Apple iOS 8. As of March 16, the adoption of the Cupertino giant’s latest mobile OS has reached 77%.

Apple’s App Store Distribution dashboard reveals that iOS 7 is still booting on 20% of all the company’s active mobile hardware. The remaining 3% is reserved for iOS 6 earlier builds of the platform.

There is no information on the specific adoption of iOS 8’s various versions. Apple has pushed several major updates to the platform since its release, with iOS 8.2 last week being the latest one.

The latest data from Apple reveals that iOS 8 adoption has jumped 4% since mid-February. However, compared to iOS 7 and its 90% adoption this time last year, iOS 8 still has a way to go to catch up.

The slower adoption of iOS 8 should hardly catch anyone by surprise. The early variations of the OS carried a number of bugs, which slowed down the upgrade cycle. Apple will reportedly focus mostly on performance and stability upgrades for its next major release of the platform – iOS 9.

However, compared to the adoption of the latest Android version by Google, Apple is doing a lot better. As of early March, Android 5.0 Lollipop runs on 3.3% of all hardware.

Source |…

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If you own a Motorola Droid Turbo and have been wondering when the update to Android Lollipop will hit your device, this is for you. Apparently the Droid Turbo will not get any build based on Android 5.0, but instead will be updated directly with Android 5.1 Lollipop – which is currently the absolute latest version of Google's mobile OS.

This probably means you still have some waiting to do until the new software will reach your handset, unfortunately. Google has just started rolling out Android 5.1 to its Nexus devices, and not even all of those have it yet. On the other hand, Motorola has been fast with updates lately, so perhaps it will move quickly with this one too.

The reason for the jump from KitKat straight to Android 5.1 Lollipop apparently has to do with Verizon. The carrier "demands" VoLTE support baked into the Turbo's software, and Android 5.1 provides that natively. So for Motorola working on backporting this feature to the first Lollipop release, only to then have to switch to Android's native implementation with the 5.1 update would have been a big waste of resources. Hence, the decision to skip 5.0 altogether.

All of this information comes from Luciano Carvalho, a software engineer at Motorola. He made the remarks in a few replies on Google+.

Source |…

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For a few weeks now, Huawei has been rumored to make the upcoming P8 official at an event on April 15, in London. And today we get confirmation that these rumors were true after all.

The Chinese company has reportedly started sending out press invites for the gathering, including to Dutch websites. The event will take place in London from 3 PM to 4:30 PM local time on March 15.

As you can see, the invite itself doesn't reveal anything about the event's theme, yet it does tell us that a mysterious "it" is coming.

It's pretty clear that this is the P8 it's talking about, so it should finally be announced on this occasion. Huawei has been teasing its next flagship in China for quite a while now, promising us a strong screen, better camera, as well as great battery life.

The company did hold a press conference at MWC too at the beginning of this month, but for whatever reason it chose not to unveil the P8 then, instead giving it its own dedicated event.

Past rumors and leaks had the Huawei P8 coming with a 5.2-inch 1080p touchscreen, a ceramic unibody construction, dual 13 MP cameras on the back, 3GB of RAM, and a 2,600 mAh battery. Huawei's own Kirin 930 SoC should be powering things up, sporting an octa-core CPU. The P8 may run Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Source (in…

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HTC US promised to deliver some big news today and it did. First HTC revealed the Uh-Oh protection program, which replaces your HTC One M9 unit in case it dies of water damage of a cracked screen during the first 12 months since purchase.

The second big news is the USA premiere date for the One M9 – April 10. The flagship will become available after April 10 in various retailers and you will be able to purchase it right away.

The USA carriers will be also offering the One M9 around April 10, though they will detail exact availability and pricing later down the road.

Finally, Jason Mackenzie, President of HTC Americas, reveled HTC has no plans to release a Google Play Edition of the HTC One M9.

So, the HTC One M9 is coming on April 10 – the very same day the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge will be hitting the shelves. Will you be getting one of…

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