technology news – Reporters Nepal https://nepalireporter.com Impart Educate Propel Thu, 22 Aug 2013 08:06:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.6 https://nepalireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cropped-RN_Logo-32x32.png technology news – Reporters Nepal https://nepalireporter.com 32 32 Apple has two models up its sleeve coming soon https://nepalireporter.com/2013/08/15617 https://nepalireporter.com/2013/08/15617#respond Thu, 22 Aug 2013 08:06:32 +0000 http://nepalireporter.com/?p=15617 iphone-latest-versionApple has asked its Taiwan-based supplier to begin shipping two new versions of the iPhone next month, including a lower-cost model, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision, the parent company of Foxconn in China, was readying both a standard iPhone with new upgrades and a […]]]> iphone-latest-version

Apple has asked its Taiwan-based supplier to begin shipping two new versions of the iPhone next month, including a lower-cost model, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The Journal, citing unnamed sources, said Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision, the parent company of Foxconn in China, was readying both a standard iPhone with new upgrades and a less expensive model with fewer features.

Last week, the news site AllThingsD, part of the same company as The Journal, said Apple had scheduled a September 10 event to unveil the new smartphones as part of an effort to regain momentum.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Apple’s move comes with its chief rival Samsung reportedly set to unveil its own smartphones and other devices, including a smartwatch.

Speculation has centered around whether Apple will shift its strategy to include a lower-cost handset to appeal to more consumers, especially in emerging markets.

A survey released by Gartner last week said Apple’s share of the smartphone market worldwide fell to 14.2 percent in the second quarter, while Samsung’s share rose to 31.7 percent.

Gartner said the Google Android operating system was used on 79 percent of smartphones sold in the period.

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Facebook brings relief funds for rural Nepal school https://nepalireporter.com/2013/05/12339 https://nepalireporter.com/2013/05/12339#respond Tue, 21 May 2013 13:02:00 +0000 http://nepalireporter.com/?p=12339 Facebook brings relief funds for rural Nepal schoolFALEBAS: An appeal for support made on Facebook has helped raise funds for the establishment of an e-library in a school in Parbat. The Nawajagrit Higher Secondary School in Tilhar, Parbat has received a computer and Rs. 210,000 in cash from donors who responded to a call for support made by the School’s principal in […]]]> Facebook brings relief funds for rural Nepal school

FALEBAS: An appeal for support made on Facebook has helped raise funds for the establishment of an e-library in a school in Parbat. The Nawajagrit Higher Secondary School in Tilhar, Parbat has received a computer and Rs. 210,000 in cash from donors who responded to a call for support made by the School’s principal in his Facebook wall.

Former students of the school now in Italy and the Non-Resident Nepalis Association in Italy provided the initial support and have assured for additional assistance, said Principal Bishnu Prasad Subedi.

 

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Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 hits supply snags in U.S https://nepalireporter.com/2013/04/11376 https://nepalireporter.com/2013/04/11376#respond Thu, 25 Apr 2013 05:15:03 +0000 http://nepalireporter.com/?p=11376 SAN FRANCISCO: Supply issues have snarled the U.S. rollout of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s latest flagship smartphone, which will go on sale at carriers Sprint and T-Mobile later than expected, the wireless service providers said on Wednesday. Samsung attributed the disruption to unexpectedly strong demand for the Galaxy S4, the South Korean company’s direct challenge […]]]>

SAN FRANCISCO: Supply issues have snarled the U.S. rollout of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s latest flagship smartphone, which will go on sale at carriers Sprint and T-Mobile later than expected, the wireless service providers said on Wednesday.

Samsung attributed the disruption to unexpectedly strong demand for the Galaxy S4, the South Korean company’s direct challenge to Apple Inc’s iPhone.

“Due to overwhelming global demand of Galaxy S4, the initial supply may be limited. We expect to fulfill inventory to meet demands in the coming weeks,” the company said in a statement.

At T-Mobile, online orders will now begin April 29 instead of Wednesday as initially planned because of “an unexpected delay with inventory deliveries.” Sprint will take online orders starting Saturday as planned, but the phone will be sold at retail outlets only as it becomes available.

“We had planned to launch this next generation of the award-winning Samsung Galaxy line-up on Saturday,” Sprint said in a statement. “Unfortunately, due to unexpected inventory challenges from Samsung, we will be slightly delayed with our full product launch.”

AT&T, on the other hand, said everything was on track and the S4 would go on sale this Saturday as planned.

“Demand is far stronger than we had expected and as a result we are having difficulties in fully meeting initial supply requests,” Lee Don-joo, head of sales and marketing at Samsung’s mobile business, told reporters in Seoul.

He said the global launch would go ahead as planned on Saturday with carriers which had agreed to receive the initial supply. The phones would be shipped to other operators once network tests had been completed.

News of the patchy rollout came a day after Samsung, in one of its signature marketing strategies, took out an eight-page, full-color insert in the Wall Street Journal heralding the arrival of the device.

And by early summer, it will have set up Samsung “Experience” stores in about 1,400 Best Buy locations, designed to showcase its line-up of mobile and other electronics devices.

It was unclear what specific issues Samsung had encountered with the Galaxy S4 debut.

Supply shortages often plague the global launches of popular smartphones. iPhone buyers once routinely waited weeks or even months to receive their purchases.

Samsung’s “S” line of smartphones spearheaded its assault against Apple in past years and was instrumental in helping the company claim top-spot in the global smartphone market.

The new S4, which sports a host of software-enabled features, is seen as stealing a headstart on what’s widely expected to be an upgraded iPhone later this year. But the phone, which Samsung has said will be available in over 150 countries by the end of April, has drawn mixed reviews so far.

The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg, a widely followed gadget impresario, said the S4 was a good phone, just not a great one.

Industry watchers have said the success of the S4 could hinge on a supply back-up plan aimed at preventing a repeat of costly problems encountered in the launch of its premium smartphone last year.

Some analysts predict the new Galaxy could top 10 million unit sales in the first month after its launch, so any hiccups in the smooth delivery of core components could be disastrous.

The risks are high. A simple manufacturing error involving unsatisfactory design of handset cases cost Samsung 2 million units of lost sales in just a month after it launched the S III in May last year.

Shares in Samsung fell 0.5 percent in early Asian trade, lagging a 0.4 percent gain in the wider market.

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Samsung launches new premium ‘smart’ TVs https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/8025 https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/8025#respond Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:26:46 +0000 http://nepalireporter.com/?p=8025 Samsung's New High Definition Smart TVSEOUL (AFP) – South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Tuesday launched a range of giant Internet-enabled televisions as part of a strategy to cement its lead in slowing global markets by focusing on premium models. The 16 new “smart TV” models, which come in sizes ranging from 46 to 75 inches, allow users to navigate the Internet, […]]]> Samsung's New High Definition Smart TV

SEOUL (AFP) – South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Tuesday launched a range of giant Internet-enabled televisions as part of a strategy to cement its lead in slowing global markets by focusing on premium models.

The 16 new “smart TV” models, which come in sizes ranging from 46 to 75 inches, allow users to navigate the Internet, offer specialised apps such as video games and recognise various spoken queries and hand motions.

Questions such as “What’s today’s TV schedule for football matches?” or “Any action films scheduled on TV this weekend?” will result in a list of requested TV programmes.

They also zoom in and out, or rotate images on screen as well as change channels by recognising certain hand motions. The firm said the new models would hit South Korean stores on Saturday but did not say when overseas sales would start.

One 55-inch model is priced at nearly 6.0 million won ($5,550).

Samsung, the world’s biggest flat-screen TV maker, and domestic rival LG have aggressively promoted pricier premium TV models in recent years to cushion the fallout from the global slowdown which has dampened demand.

Samsung New Smart TV Launch
Samsung New Smart TV Launch

Kim Hyun-Suk, head of Samsung’s TV business, said global TV sales would likely grow about five percent this year in volume but remain stagnant or slightly shrink in revenue.

“We will create new growth momentum in the stagnant TV market… our strategy is focusing on the premium TV segment to further strengthen our lead,” Kim told reporters.

The market for high-end TVs larger than 60 inches was expected to grow more than 30 percent this year, he said.

“This… is a segment that we’re investing and marketing most aggressively,” Kim said.

LG said last week it would increase television sales by 15 percent this year by focusing more on premium models such as Internet-enabled TVs, or those using new display technologies such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLED).

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Hundreds of thousands line up for new mail app https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/8022 https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/8022#respond Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:11:28 +0000 http://nepalireporter.com/?p=8022 A customer holds up an Apple iPhone 5 as he poses for a photo during an exclusive sale by Belgian operator Mobistar in BrusselsTORONTO (Reuters) – More than 800,000 people are waiting to access a new iPhone app that aims to transform their email experience by helping them achieve the elusive “inbox zero” — a fully processed and empty inbox. The Mailbox app, which launched this month, is slowly rolling out invitations to people waiting in line. The […]]]> A customer holds up an Apple iPhone 5 as he poses for a photo during an exclusive sale by Belgian operator Mobistar in Brussels

TORONTO (Reuters) – More than 800,000 people are waiting to access a new iPhone app that aims to transform their email experience by helping them achieve the elusive “inbox zero” — a fully processed and empty inbox.
The Mailbox app, which launched this month, is slowly rolling out invitations to people waiting in line. The excitement, according to its creators, is a testament to their frustration with existing, out-dated methods of dealing with email.
“The big shift is away from a mobile email client that is a shrunken version of a desktop email client towards a mobile email client focused primarily around processing and triage,” said Gentry Underwood, the CEO and co-founder of Palo-Alto-based company Orchestra, which created the app.
The ability to “snooze” an email, which is to defer it to another time, whether later in the day, on the weekend, or until the following week, is one of the main features of the app.
“We want to decide ‘do I need to reply now’, ‘can I deal with this later’, or ‘should I get it out of the way and never deal with it again?'” he said.
The other strong point is its use of gestural swipes for quickly archiving, deleting and filing messages, or adding them to lists, such as “to read”, or “to buy”.
The company, which also created to-do list app Orchestra, pulls inspiration from author David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” system. The system outlines a rule of “do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it” to help people maintain empty inboxes.
“That creates a very different experience and peace of mind where you know that everything is in its place,” said Underwood.
However, one problem with this system, according to Underwood, is that it requires discipline to constantly review folders where tasks are stored for future reference. To overcome this, the Mailbox app provides push notifications for emails that have been snoozed on the day when they are relevant.
“All of a sudden you can have the blissful experience without developing the ninja-like discipline and that’s the secret sauce behind this more euphoric experience,” he said.
The company is rolling out invitations for the app daily, but cannot provide specific timelines. The wait, according to Underwood, is in place to maintain stability of their system, which he said presents more of a challenge than standard apps.
“Scaling something like an email service is really hard because it involves handling a lot of data and strange edge-cases — email, file attachments, content in all sorts of languages,” he added.
In the meantime, a countdown in the app keeps people in line up-to-date on where they stand.
The app provides many new features over the native iPhone mail app, however it lacks the ability to multi-edit or delete emails.
While the app currently only works with Gmail, the company plans to expand to other types of email and platforms in the future. It is available worldwide. (Editing by Paul Casciato)

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iPhablet, a 5-inch iphone, on the cards? https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/8019 https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/8019#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:59:24 +0000 http://nepalireporter.com/?p=8019 Iphone-5-LargescreenApple is coming out with iPhablet, a big screen iphone, by the end of this year. Last week Yahoo! TechScan brought to you some of the budget phablets available in India. Now the news about iPhablet makes us as excited as you are. The rumour is that the upcoming iPhablet will have a screen size […]]]> Iphone-5-Largescreen

Apple is coming out with iPhablet, a big screen iphone, by the end of this year. Last week Yahoo! TechScan brought to you some of the budget phablets available in India. Now the news about iPhablet makes us as excited as you are.

The rumour is that the upcoming iPhablet will have a screen size of 4.8 inches to 5.0 inches. The latest iPhone 5 has only 4.0 inches screen, which is largest of all previous models. Older versions like iPhone 4 and 4S have a screen size of 3.5 inches. It is predicted that iPhone 5S will have a larger screen size. Currently, Samsung Note II has a screen size of 5.5 inches, while LG Optimus Vu has 5-inch screen.

TechScan speculates why Apple might bring out iphablet. Popularity of larger screen smartphones is growing with Samsung’s Note series selling more than 15 million in 2012. iPhone 5 selling below expectation is another factor.

Earlier, Apple had rejected the idea of a 7-inch iPad. Later brought out the 7.9-inch iPad mini, which became hugely popular. Even then, Apple took its time before it launched iPad Mini. Similarly, even if it is bringing out a larger screen smartphone, it might not be in the near future.

According to most predictions, Apple will release iPhone 5S, an upgrade to the latest device, and a cheaper iPhone. Both will have 4.0-inch screens. Apple is working on these devices and not on a bigger iPhone. So, until credible sources report a release of iPhablet, wait and watch.

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Facebook hacking: What it reveals https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/7732 https://nepalireporter.com/2013/02/7732#respond Sat, 16 Feb 2013 08:58:09 +0000 http://nepalireporter.com/?p=7732 FACEBOOKSAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is getting an unwelcome look at the shady side of the hacking culture that CEO Mark Zuckerberg celebrates. Intruders recently infiltrated the systems running the world’s largest online social network but did not steal any sensitive information about Facebook’s more than 1 billion users, according to a blog posting Friday by the […]]]> FACEBOOK

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook is getting an unwelcome look at the shady side of the hacking culture that CEO Mark Zuckerberg celebrates.

Intruders recently infiltrated the systems running the world’s largest online social network but did not steal any sensitive information about Facebook’s more than 1 billion users, according to a blog posting Friday by the company’s security team.

The unsettling revelation is the latest breach to expose the digital cracks in a society and an economy that is storing an ever-growing volume of personal and business data online.

The news didn’t seem to faze investors. Facebook’s stock dipped 10 cents to $28.22 in Friday’s extended trading.

The main building at Facebook’s Menlo Park, California, headquarters lists its address as 1 Hacker Way. From there, Facebook serves as the gatekeeper for billions of potentially embarrassing photos and messages that get posted each month.

This time, at least, that material didn’t get swept up in the digital break-in that Facebook said it discovered last month. The company didn’t say why it waited until the afternoon before a holiday weekend to inform its users about the hack.

It was a sophisticated attack that also hit other companies, according to Facebook, which didn’t identify the targets.

“As part of our ongoing investigation, we are working continuously and closely with our own internal engineering teams, with security teams at other companies, and with law enforcement authorities to learn everything we can about the attack, and how to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Facebook wrote on the blog.

Online short-messaging service Twitter acknowledged being hacked earlier this month. In that security breakdown, Twitter warned that the attackers may have stolen user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords belonging to 250,000 of the more than 200 million accounts set up on its service.

Late last month, both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal – two of the three largest US newspapers – said they were hit by China-based hackers believed to be interested in monitoring media coverage of topics that the Chinese government deemed important.

Facebook didn’t identify a suspected origin of its hacking incident, but provided a few details about how it apparently happened.

The security lapse was traced to a handful of employees who visited a mobile software developer’s website that had been compromised, which led to malware being installed on the workers’ laptops. The PCs were infected even though they were supposed to be protected by the latest anti-virus software and were equipped with other up-to-date protection.

Facebook linked part of the problem to a security hole in the Java software that triggered a safety alert from the US Department of Homeland Security last month. The government agency advised computer users to disable Java on their machines because of a weakness that could be exploited by hackers.

Oracle, the owner of Java, has since issued a security patch that it says has fixed the problem. In its post, Facebook said it received the Java fix two weeks ago.

Facebook never mentioned the word “hack” in describing the breach. That, no doubt, was by design because hacking is a good thing in Zuckerberg’s vernacular.

To most people, hacking conjures images of malevolent behavior by intruders listening to private voicemails and villains crippling websites or breaking into email accounts.

Zuckerberg provided his interpretation of the word in a manifesto titled “The Hacker Way” that he included in the documents that the company filed for its initial public offering of stock last year.

“The word ‘hacker’ has an unfairly negative connotation from being portrayed in the media as people who break into computers,” Zuckerberg wrote. “In reality, hacking just means building something quickly or testing the boundaries of what can be done.”

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