Now that 2015 is officially over, Nokia can enjoy a well-deserved breath of freedom. If you don’t remember, the Microsoft buyout of the Finish’s Titan’s mobile business involved a particular non-compete clause that prevented the company from releasing smartphones under the Nokia brand. That expired on December 31, 2015 and eager fans can hardly contain their excitement at the possibility of new Nokia handsets.

Actually Nokia’s eventual return to the smartphone business in 2016 has been debated for quite some time now and after a lot of ups and downs and a few disappointing denials, it seems that the last official statement from Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri seals the deal. Now that the New Year is officially upon us, it is natural for the next wave of leaks and rumors to start rolling in, like this new shot that indeed appears to depict a Nokia-branded smartphone.

The image comes from Weibo, without any additional information, making it practically impossible to decide on its authenticity. The presence of what look like two antenna lines hints at metal build. It is hard to guess the size of the unit without any reference point, but judging by proportions, it seems to be in the 5.0 to 5.5 inch range. Also, it is encouraging to see that it bears a particular prototype text on the back, done in typical Microsoft font and style, adding a pinch of authenticity.

Still, it could also be a fake, or a dead old prototype, left over from the time before the Microsoft acquisition – we have seen a few of those in the past. Still, if everything checks out, the handset might very well be the Android-powered Nokia C1, that has been circulating in Rumorland for quite a while now. Industry sources now hint at a total of three new Nokia smartphones already in development and heading towards a release this year. By all accounts, the OEM will go about creating them in much the same fashion as the Nokia N1 tablet – in house design, followed by production by a third-party manufacturer, possibly Foxconn.

Source (in Chinese) |…

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Lenovo has launched the A7000 Turbo in India. The A7000 Turbo is identical to the K3 Note, except for the name and the price. It is priced at INR 10,999 ($164), slightly more than the INR 9,999 ($149) price tag of the K3 Note.

To reiterate, the A7000 Turbo has the same 5.5-inch 1080p LCD, MediaTek MT6752 SoC, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage with microSD, dual SIM support with LTE, 13 megapixel camera on the back and 5 megapixel on the front, 2900mAh battery and Android 5.0 with Vibe UI 2.0.

The A7000 Turbo branding makes more sense than K3 Note, as it looks identical to the A7000 and similar in many ways but better in others. It’s weird, though, that they are doing this seven months after the launch of the K3 Note.

Meanwhile, the older K3 Note has been phased out but can be purchased from Flipkart for the time…

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Following an invite-free sale at select locations in India late last week, the limited edition OnePlus X Ceramic is now available for purchase in the country exclusively through Amazon. The device carries a price tag of INR 22,999 (around $345).

Needless to say, you’ll only be able to purchase the handset if you have an invite. However, what’s worth mentioning here is that standard OnePlus X invites won’t do – you’ll need a specific Ceramic variant invite to make a purchase.

For those who aren’t in the know, the device’s availability is only restricted to Europe, India, and Hong Kong – it won’t be sold in the United States. OnePlus had earlier said that a total of only 10,000 units of the device would be…

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These are some of the best apps and games that came out this week.

Netflix

This might seem odd to some of you who have been enjoying Netflix for years in their country but to a lot of us the service just became available officially earlier this week. As such, the official apps are also now available to download on their respective stores. If you subscribed to the service, there is no reason you shouldn’t be checking it out on your smartphone or tablet. Netflix is one of the most universal apps out there, available on iOS, Android, as well as Windows.

Price: Free

Download: iOS • Android • Windows

AutoMate

AutoMate makes commonly used tasks easily available in apps so you can access them quickly while you are in a car instead of hunting around in different apps. It combines features such as maps, places, contacts, messaging, voice control, media control, and quick shortcuts and toggles. It’s still not recommended to use your phone while driving but if you must then AutoMate at least makes it easier and a safer.

Price: Free

Download: Android

Quadro

Quadro lets you control specific functions within your desktop apps. It works with Windows as well as OS X and lists all your installed apps. Then, you can use existing or create new commands to use on the app. You can then execute these functions from your iPhone or iPad and see them happen on your computer. You can also automate repetitive tasks on your computer by creating a string of shortcuts and commands and then execute them with a press of a button. Quadro also turns your iPhone or iPad into a keyboard for your computer.

Price: Free

Download: iOS

Don’t Screw Up

Don’t Screw Up is a simple game where you have to do basic tasks like tapping a particular number of times, tap and hold, or swipe based on the instructions that appear on screen. The game tells you what to do and you have to do it quickly before the timer runs out. It’s a game of reflexes and attentiveness, as sometimes it just tells you to wait and if you aren’t paying attention you could just tap and the game if over. The fun part is where the game takes great joy into hurling abuses at the player. It’s all in good fun but if that sort of thing offends you then you have been warned.

Price: Free

Download: iOS • Android

Blown Away

Blown Away is a 2D side-scrolling game. Your character has the ability to teleport anywhere on the screen, which is convenient to go through walls and reach heights you normally wouldn’t. You have to let his battery recharge between successive teleports. The trick is to time the teleports and to reach exactly where you want to collect the items between recharges.

Price: $2.99 (iOS) / Free (Android)

Download: iOS • Android

Surfingers

In Surfingers, you have to swipe up and down on the screen to move the water level up and down as you move along. If you don’t match the water level to the next block or hit an obstacle, then it’s game over. Bonus points for moving the water up and down to collect the gold stars. Simple but surprisingly addictive game.

Price: Free

Download: iOS •…

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Xiaomi has officially announced the Redmi 3 smartphone. The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 chipset, and sports a 5-inch 720P HD display. It comes with 2GB RAM and 16GB expandable internal memory, and packs in a large 4,100mAh battery.

In terms of camera, the device features a 13MP rear unit and a 5MP front shooter. Measuring 139.3 x 69.6 x 8.5mm and weighing in at 144g, the handset ships with the company’s MIUI 7 OS. The Redmi 3 offers support for dual-SIM functionality as well as 5V/2A fast charging.

Design-wise, the device comes with a full metal body and “an all-new lattice design, made up of 4166 stars woven together to reflect a gorgeous arrangement of diamonds,” the company said in the press release.

Priced at RMB 699 (around $105 at current exchange rates), the Redmi 3 will go on sale in China starting tomorrow on Mi.com and…

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While Fitbit’s Blaze smartwatch, which was unveiled at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), is claimed to be compatible with iOS, Android, as well as Windows Phone devices, the company has now confirmed that support for Windows Phone isn’t complete.

“You will be able to sync Fitbit Blaze with your Windows Phone bluetooth, but unfortunately call/text notification are still in the process of verification because the Microsoft Windows platform does not provide a GATT server,” the company said in a statement.

“Fitbit leverages this technology to provide notifications on our hardware. Microsoft and Fitbit are working together to bring a solution as soon as possible”

The wearable device costs around $200, and is currently up for pre-orders, with shipping starting in…

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A total of over 10 million people are now paying to use Apple Music, according to a new Financial Times report. This comes less than three months after CEO Tim Cook revealed 6.5 million paid subscribers.

For comparison, rival Spotify currently has over 20 million paid users, although it took the service six years to hit the 10 million milestone, something the Cupertino-based company did in only around six months – the music streaming service was launched back in June last year.

The Apple Music app is available for both iOS and Android platforms – the latter was launched just a couple of months…

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The life-time sales of Microsoft’s Xbox One gaming console stand at at-least 18 million. This was recently revealed by ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley citing a source with knowledge of the matter, although she said she couldn’t verify the figure.

Foley made the revelation at the latest episode of the Windows Weekly podcast while giving the breakdown of the 200 million Windows 10 devices – Microsoft recently revealed that more than 200 million monthly active devices worldwide are now running the OS.

As she was dissecting that 200 million figure, so it’s worth stressing that the 18 million Xbox One number includes only those consoles that Microsoft says are “active,” a term which refers to devices that have been active in the last 28 days.

Meanwhile, Sony recently revealed that a total of around 36 million PS4s have been sold until now, including 5.7 million that the Japanese company sold this past holiday season…

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Microsoft’s search engine Bing is displaying network speed test results directly on the search page for some users. A user who spotted the functionality shared the screenshots revealing that the behaviour is consistent on both mobile as well as the Web.

There’s no official information on the feature, so it’s a bit difficult to say at this stage whether the Redmond, Washington-based company has quietly started rolling it out or is just currently testing it.

We tried performing the same search on our side, but couldn’t reproduce the behaviour – both on the Web as well as…

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A couple of new images alleged to be of Xioami’s upcoming Mi 5 flagship smartphone have surfaced online. The images, which were posted on Weibo but have since been taken down, show the black-colored variant of the device.

This comes just a couple of weeks after new renders as well as a video featuring the Mi 5 leaked. The handset has already been the subject of several leaks and rumors until now.

The smartphone is confirmed to be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 SoC. Other rumored specs include 5.2″ QHD display, 4GB of RAM, 16MP/13MP camera combo, as well as a 3,600mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.

Its unveiling is set for January 21, while sales will begin February 8…

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