LG announces new K3, K4, K8, K10 and Stylus 3 ahead of CES

LG has officially announced its new K-series smartphones along with a new Stylus 3 smartphone, ahead of CES 2017 that is schedule for Las Vegas next month. As mentioned earlier, the new K-series phones and Stylus 3 handset will be marked in the mid range segment that will help the company strengthen its portfolio.

Juno Cho, the president of LG Electronics Mobile Communications went on to say at the launch that, “Our 2017 mass-tier, mid-range smartphones focus on giving our customers a wide variety of options and choices for their smartphone lifestyles. What's consistent in all our K Series and Stylus 3 devices is that they look and feel premium, offer replaceable batteries and all come with expandable memory slots, what customers consider key factors when buying smartphones in this category."

According to the company, its new mid-range phone will sport some features like rear fingerprint scanner and 120-degree wide-angle front camera lens. LG claims, that the new 2017 K-series phone have been designed with “"the diverse needs of consumers in mind" and will be making the devices available in weeks to come.

Following are the specs of phones officially launched by LG.

LG K3 (2017) 
The LG K3 features a 4.5 inch FWVGA IPS display with 480x854 pixels and sports a 1.1GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor, paired with 1GB RAM. For storage the phone comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded to 32GB using microSD card. For capturing images and recording videos, the phone at the back uses a 5 Megapixel rear camera with LED flash and 2 Megapixel sensor on the front. Running on Android v6.0 Marshmallow, the device comes in many connectivity options like 4G LTE, 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS, and Micro-USB. Powering this phone is a 2100mAh removable battery and the phone will be offered in two colours that include Metallic Titan along with Pink Gold.

LG K4 (2017) 
The LG K4 comes with a 5 inch FWVGA display with 480x854 resolution, with pixel density of 196ppi. This too runs on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor like the LG K3 and is backed with 1GB RAM along with 8GB internal storage, which can be increased to 32GB using a microSD card. This phone comes with a 5 Mega pixel camera, both front and back. The phone powers on a 2500mAh removable battery and will be offered in two colour options of Titan and Black.

LG K8 (2017) 
The LG K8 sports a 5 inch HD display with 720x1280 resolution with pixel density of 294ppi. It powers on a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, paired with 1.5GB RAM. For storage, the phone comes with 16GB inbuilt memory that is expandable to 32GB, using a microSD card. To capture images and record videos, the phone at the back comes with a 13 Megapixel rear sensor, whereas on the front is 5 Megapixel camera for video calling and clicking selfies. The K8 runs on Android v7.0 Nougat and powers on a 2500mAh removable battery. The phone will be available in four colour options of Titan, Silver, Dark Blue, and Gold.

LG K10 (2017) 
LG K10 features a 5.3 inch HD display with 720x1280 resolution and a pixel density of 277ppi. It powers on an octa-core MediaTek MT6750 processor, which is clocked at 1.5GHz, paired with 2GB RAM. The phone will come in two storage options of 16GB and 32GB memory that can be expanded to 2TB via microSD card. To click images and video recording, at the back is a 13 Megapixel rear camera, whereas towards the front is a 5 Megapixel camera. The phone powers on a 2800mAh removable battery and runs on Android v7.0 Nougat. The LG K10 will be available in colour options of Titan, Black and Gold.

LG Stylus 3 
The LG Stylus 3 comes with a 5.7 inch HD display with 720x1280 resolution and supports a Stylus Pen. It comes powered by an octa-core MediaTek MT6750 processor, similar to LG K10 and is backed with 3GB RAM. It supports 16 GB inbuilt storage that can be expanded to 2TB using a microSD card. At the back is an 13 Megapixel rear camera and towards the front is an 8 Megapixel sensor. The phone runs on Android v7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and powers on a 3200mAh removable battery.

How to Develop Your Technology Idea

It’s pretty clear that technology rules the world. No business would be caught without technology backing their infrastructure, and consumers rely on their various gadgets and software daily. Getting into this market is a sure moneymaker. But if you have a brilliant tech idea and no background in technology, can you make it?

Yes! Hundreds of technology companies got started in some of the most unlikely places with people who didn’t know much about technology. Instead, they knew how to build teams and roll with ideas that their customers would love.

The inspiration for building your tech idea can be found in looking at where some of the largest tech companies started. David Packard and William Redington Hewlett, two regular guys, founded Hewlett-Packard in a garage in Palo Alto in 1939. Now, Palo Alto, and that garage specifically, is considered by many to be the birthplace of Silicon Valley.

Steve Jobs was more of an inventor and designer than he was a technology builder. He also started Apple in the Silicon Valley and ran the business from his parents’ house for a while. He grew his business by relying on teamwork. One of his more famous quotes is, “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” He lived by that motto and the foundation of Apple was built by teams of inventors, tech gurus, customer service reps, and business professionals.

Getting started in tech, just like Apple and Hewlett-Packard, is possible for anyone with a great product and the perseverance to get it done. However, in order to get started, you’ll need to do a few things.

Find Money

You’ll need some cash to build your prototype and get started, but you don’t need money on hand to start a business. There are plenty of options for financing, including taking out a business loan.

One of the more popular ways to build capital for production is crowdfunding. Through this venture, you’ll attract money from friends, families, fans, supporters, and angel investors who want to see your product grow to fruition.

Learn a Little Tech

You would be wise to learn a little about the coding and/or technology that goes into your product development. Complete ignorance is a good way to let people take advantage of you. Take a couple of night classes or watch endless YouTube videos for a foundation in the technology used for the production of your product.

Find Someone to Build Your Product

This is the first step for most, especially if you only have a vision of what your product looks like. You can’t very well build a prototype in your own home if you don’t know how to connect wires and such. There’s only so much you can learn on YouTube, after all.

There are a few choices for having your product built. The most common is meeting with a third-party development company to discuss your product and make sure the prototype is viable. This is the more favorable option since you’ll work closely with the developers and make necessary tweaks as you go. The costs can be high for this option, however, so people often choose a different route out of necessity.

Many are going for a hybrid model of sorts in which you have a middleman find an excellent developer and keep your prices down. You’re able to maintain control of the product while reducing your bottom line and taking some of the responsibility off your plate.

Over time, you’ll need to focus on ways to build your products in more affordable ways. This may require bringing production in-house, although this won’t occur until after you’ve made money from the product.

File for Patents

If you don’t protect your product, there’s nothing to stop your developers from selling it themselves or selling it to the highest bidder. There will also be copycats who will utilize cheaper production and competitive pricing.

Talk with a patent lawyer at the very beginning of product production. Once you have a prototype, you can begin filing for the patents you’ll need to protect it.

Build Your Business Plan

You’ll also need a business plan that focuses on bringing in the revenue. Oftentimes, your plan will simply be to develop a product, sell it to the highest bidder, and collect royalties for the rest of your life.

If you want to make and sell the products through your own platform, you’ll need a business plan that can sustain your business. That warrants a completely separate post, but here’s a great guide for creating a business plan surrounding your product.

Lenovo plans on launching Chrome OS version of YogaBook next year

Lenovo’s Yoga Books are some of the most innovative notebooks around. Certainly more so than Apple’s stylish MacBook Pros in terms of design. But these are Windows-based notebooks which means they are bound to be expensive. To bring them to the masses, Lenovo is looking at launching Chrome OS based versions of the YogaBook in 2017 claims a report by LAPTOP Magazine.

Lenovo’s VP and General Manager for Android and Chrome computing business group Jeff Meredith has confirmed the same to the publication. Already, there are versions of the YogaBook that’s based on Windows and Android, so this points towards the popularity of Chrome OS especially in the education sector.

"We've had a lot of interest. It's an interesting idea for education, especially with the form factor. Over time, we probably see the Android and Chrome versions melding together, especially based on the fact that we've now seen Chrome roll out the Google Play store capability into Chrome. We'll probably maintain the three distinctive products throughout this year at least," said Meredith said about the possibility of the Chrome OS-powered YogaBook.

Meredith also claimed that new features like Real Pen which Lenovo introduced for the Android version of the Yoga Book at IFA in September will also be available on the Chrome OS model.

The very same laptop was launched in India last week for Rs 49,990 and is available on e-commerce website Flipkart. That being said, in India, Lenovo has chosen to launch the Windows model, not the Android model pointing towards the usability of the Windows model.

The Yoga Book in India has a halo keyboard which is a touch enabled keyboard and the Real Pen. It has a 10.1-inch full HD screen, an Intel Atom X5 quad-core processor clocked at 2.4GHz and 4GB RAM. It also comes with 64GB of internal storage and also has a microSD card slot supporting up to 128GB memory cards.

Chrome OS based products over the last few years have grown in popularity and have started to give Windows based alternatives stiff competition in developed markets like the US. That being said, the future of the platform is clouded as there are rumours rife which suggest that Google is planning to merge Android and Chrome OS and create one OS called Andromeda.

Google Chrome now enjoys 2 billion active installs in desktops and mobiles

For many Internet user, Google Chrome is the most favourite browser because it’s speedy, includes leading standards support, strong security features, and a clean interface. And now at the Chrome Dev Summit that it currently taking place at San Francisco, Chrome Engineering VP Darin Fisher has revealed that currently 2 billion Chrome installs are in active use across desktops and mobiles. This information was revealed in a keynote delivered by Chrome Engineering VP Darin Fisher.

According to a Tech Crunch report, Google, however, didn’t reveal how many people are currently using chrome. “I wanted to make this point that there are a lot of Chrome browsers out there. What’s exciting about this to you all is that when you think about building for the web, there’ a lot of browsers out there that implement the latest web standards — that implement the latest and greatest web features,” the report quotes Fisher as saying.

In April this year, Google came out with a blogpost where it had revealed that Chrome had crossed 1 billion monthly mobile users. Besides this, the post had also informed that 771 billion pages load each month, which is pretty much same the number of pages in over 821 million dictionaries. It was also showcased that Chrome helps users with the option to search autocomplete, which saves one from 18,6528 years of typing for users.

As of October 2016, StatCounter estimates that Google Chrome has a 63% worldwide usage share of web browsers as a desktop browser. Its success has led to Google expanding the “Chrome” brand name on various other products such as Chromecast, Chromebook, Chromebit, Chromebox and Chromebase.

Lenovo ZUK Edge to launch on December 20

Lenovo’s ZUK Edge has been the talk of the town since quite some time now, and Lenovo has finally lifted the veil over the release date for the smartphone. The device is set to be unveiled on the coming Tuesday, December 20.

The smartphone has been surrounded by leaks and rumours. Current leaks suggest that the smartphone sports a 5.5-inch full-HD display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The display sports minimal bezels, hence the ‘Edge’ nomenclature. Moreover, these bezels also come with a slight curve around the edges.

Coming to the hardware on the smartphone, ZUK Edge is reportedly said to be rocking Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 chipset paired with Adreno 530GPU. The device is expected to be available in 4GB and 6GB RAM variants, and 64GB or 128GB storage variants.

Coming to the optics on the ZUK Edge, the device is expected to sport a 13-megapixel primary rear camera and an 8-megapixel selfie camera at the front. There are no further details for the specs of the camera as of now.

The device is expected to run on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with ZUK’s near stock Android skin on top, which has been the case with almost all ZUK smartphones in the past. For battery, the device is said to sport a 3000mAh battery. The device would charge using a USB Type-C connector.

There are no hints for the device to support quick-charging as of now, but considering it’s rocking the 821 chipset, which already comes with Quick Charge 3.0, we could expect the quick charging capabilities be present on the ZUK Edge.

Google's Android Things is here to make IoT great again

Google's venture into the sphere of Internet-of-Things was through its Project Brillo. Now when IoT devices are increasingly coming under attack from hackers, Google announced a rebranding of the experimental project to 'Android Things' and even dropped a developer preview for users to test.

As the name suggest, this is Android for the smart devices that have started cropping up everywhere from the likes of a smart fridge to a room heater. Put it simply, it is a stripped down version of Android for low-powered IoT hardware. From today, the developer preview is offering 'turnkey' solutions for the NXP Pico, Raspberry Pi 3 and Intel Edison.

The new OS for IoT hardware enables developers to make smart devices using the Android APIs and Google ecosystem. In general, Android Things makes use of the usual Android Studio, official SDK and Google Play Services to 'smarten' up the devices. Developers also have the option of using Google Weave protocol to ensure communication between devices and Google Cloud Services.

Considering the dismal state of security when it comes to IoT devices, Google has actually taken some steps to improve the situation. While Android phones remain plagued with update issues and fragmentation, Google says it is trying to avoid the problem for IoT devices by promising updates directly from Google. The upcoming developer previews will have some sort of an infrastructure to allow developers push out OTA updates on their own.

Android Things joins Android Auto, Android TV and Android Wear as Google's answer for making everything from watches to cars to televisions to other consumer electronics smart enough to communicate with each other.

After the announcement, Project Brillo finally comes out of its closed 'invite' program and now awaits a public source code dump. Soon enough, we will realize the full potential of Google's venture into IoT.

4 Ways Technology is Improving Business Productivity

Productivity isn’t a buzzword that businesses can ignore. Productivity is at the heart of every single successful business process, regardless of the application or industry. But what happens when productivity wanes? Well, in 2016, your best bet is to utilize technology.

Boost Productivity One Step at a Time

In the business world, time is money. By spending a few extra hours on a process, you’re wasting money. By streamlining a process and finishing it ahead of schedule, you’re making money. It’s as simple as that. Thankfully, with new business technologies rising in prominence, saving time and enhancing productivity is possible.

Here are a few ways technology is leading the charge.

1.   Better Networking

In the past, if you met someone at a networking event or conference, you had to get their business card. Eventually, the majority of business cards got lost or thrown away. But today, you don’t need business cards. All you need is a name and you can send a LinkedIn invitation, find their email address, and set up an alert on your phone to touch base with them.

2.   Root Cause Analysis

For large organizations that operate warehouses and factories, avoiding bottlenecks and keeping things moving in a positive direction is tremendously important. The problem is that manual intervention can throw off processes and slow things down. That’s why many organizations are turning to root cause analysis.

According to Pinnacle Advanced Reliability Technologies, “Root cause analysis can help future-proof your facility by investigating why failures happen, leading to changes in procedures, processes, or design that can prevent similar failures from occurring unexpectedly.” In other words, it’s a tool that every business needs in their toolbox.

3.   Enhanced Collaboration

One of the most important business developments over the past decade has been the growth of telecommuting and mobilized workforces. At the heart of this trend is enhanced collaboration technology that cuts wires and allows employees to conduct work regardless of geographical location.

“Telecommuting can take either of two forms. One, perhaps the way people typically think of telecommuting, is an employee working from his or her home office or a coffee shop during normal working hours instead of going into the office,” says Jeffery M. Jones of Gallup. “But workers can also telecommute in addition to being in the office by logging on from home during evenings or weekends, when necessary.”

Some of the specific technologies that allow organizations to permit telecommuting include video conferencing, cloud-based servers and file storage, and remote desktop access.

4.   Improved Organization

Organization is a big thing for large companies. If you aren’t careful, you could end up having to hire someone full-time just to manage your data, spreadsheets, and critical information. Thankfully, there are technologies that ease this burden and make it possible to stay organized without overspending.

For example, let’s say your business employs a bunch of salespeople who spend their days driving around and calling on businesses and homes. In the past, businesses have tracked hours, mileage, and expenses using paper logs or spreadsheets, but this is a really inefficient way of doing things. Someone has to follow up, organize, and verify all of this data. Well, there are finally simple technologies that automate these otherwise complicated processes through singular interfaces that help companies maintain accuracy without demanding more human capital.

Productivity and Technology

Imagine for a moment that each individual in your organization had one extra hour per week in their schedules. If you employ 50 people, that’s 50 extra hours. How much more could you get done with an extra 50 hours of labor?

Well, by adopting the right technologies, you can streamline time-consuming processes and identify wasted hours. Plenty of other businesses are doing it – will you?