64-bit Android* and Android Run Time

Introduction

The new buzz in the mobile marketplace is about Android 64-bit systems. In September 2013, Apple released the iPhone* 5 with a 64-bit A7 processor onboard. Thus began the mobile technology race.
It turns out that the Android-based kernel GNU/Linux* has been supporting processors with 64-bit registers for a long time. Ubuntu is "GNU/Linux" while Android is "Dalvik/Linux". Dalvik is the process virtual machine (VM) in Google's Android operating system, which specifically executes applications written for Android. This makes Dalvik an integral part of the Android software stack, which is typically used on mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers, as well as more recently on devices such as smart TVs and wearables. Nevertheless, all developers who use the NDK have to rebuild their programs under the latest architecture, and the ease or difficulty of this process depends on the tools that Google will provide. In addition, Google should provide backward compatibility, i.e., NDK 32-bit applications should run in Android 64-bit.
The first Intel 64-bit processors for mobile devices were created in the 3^rd quarter of 2013 and were the new powerful multicore System on a Chip (SoC) for mobile and desktop devices. This new SoC family consists of Intel® Atom^TM processors for tablets and 2 in 1 devices, Intel® Celeron^® processors, and Intel® Pentium^® processors for 2 in 1 devices, laptops, desktop PCs and All in One PCs.
In October 2014, Google released a preview emulator image of the 64-bit Android L for developers. This allowed them to test their programs and rewrite code, if necessary, before the OS is released. In a Google+ blog developers indicated that programs entirely created with Java* do not require porting. They ran them “as is” in the L- version of the emulator, which supports 64-bit architecture. Those using other languages, especially C and C++, will have to perform some steps to build against the new Android NDK. Several older versions of Android-based devices with 64-bit processors are on the market. However, manufacturers may have to update them rather quickly; otherwise, there will be a lack of software apps for users.

Android 64-bit L emulator

In June 2014, Google announced that Android would support 64-bit in the coming L release. This is great news for those who want the most performance possible out of their devices and apps. The list of benefits highlighted by Google in this update include a larger number of registers, increased addressable memory space, and new instruction sets.
The Android emulator supports many hardware features likely to be found on mobile devices, including:

• An ARM* v5 CPU and the corresponding memory-management unit (MMU)
• A 16-bit LCD display
• One or more keyboards (a Qwerty-based keyboard and associated Dpad/Phone buttons)
• A sound chip with output and input capabilities
• Flash memory partitions (emulated through disk image files on the development machine)
• A GSM modem, including a simulated SIM Card
• A camera, using a webcam connected to your development computer.
• Sensors like an accelerometer, using data from a USB-connected Android device

This is a great step forward for building our favorite devices and apps. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for Android L to drop before we can enjoy these new performance boosts. A few weeks after Android L releases, Revision 10 of the Native Development Kit (NDK) should be posted with support for the three 64-bit architectures that will be able to run the new version of Android: arm64-v8a, x86_64, and mips64. If you’ve built an app using Java, your code will automatically have better performance on the new x86 64-bit architecture. Google has updated the NDK to revision 10b and added an emulator image developers can use to prepare their apps to run on devices built with Intel's 64-bit chips.
Keep in mind, the NDK is only for native apps, not those built with Java on the regular Android SDK. If you have been looking forward to getting your apps running on 64-bit, or if you need to update to the latest version of the NDK, hit the developer portal to get your download started.

Developing with the x86_64 Android NDK

The Native Development Kit (NDK) is a toolset that allows you to implement parts of your app using native code languages such as C and C++. For certain types of apps, this can be helpful so you can reuse existing code libraries written in these languages, but most apps do not need the Android NDK. You need to balance the benefits of using the NDK against its drawbacks. Notably, using native code on Android generally does not result in a noticeable performance improvement, but it always increases your app complexity. You should only use the NDK if it is essential to your app and not because you simply prefer to program in C/C++.
You can download the latest version of Android NDK from: https://developer.android.com/tools/sdk/ndk/index.html
In this section I'll review how to compile a sample application using the Android NDK.

We will use the sample application, san-angeles, located in the Android NDK samples directory:

$ANDROID_NDK/samples/san-angeles
Native code is located in the jni/ directory:
$ANDROID_NDK/samples/san-angeles/jni
Native code is compiled for specified CPU architecture(s). Android applications may contain libraries for several architectures in one apk file.
To set target architectures you need to create the Application.mk file inside the jni/ directory. The following line will compile the native libraries for all supported architectures:
APP_ABI := all
Sometimes, it’s better to specify a list of target architectures. This line compiles the libraries for x86 and ARM architectures:
APP_ABI := x86 armeabi armeabi-v7a
Because we are building a 64-bit app, we need to compile the libraries for x86_64 architectures:
APP_ABI := x86_64
Run the following command inside the sample directory to build libraries:
cd $ANDROID_NDK/samples/san-angeles
After the successful build, open the sample in Eclipse* as an Android application and click “Run”. Select the emulator or a connected Android device where you want to run the application.
To support all available devices you need to compile the application for all architectures. If the apk file size with libraries for all architectures is too big, consider following the instructions in Google Play Multiple APK Support to prepare a separate apk file for each platform.
Checking supported architectures
You can use this command to check what architectures are included in apk file:
aapt dump badging file.apk
The following line lists all architectures:
native-code: 'armeabi', 'armeabi-v7a', 'x86', 'x86_64'
Another method is to open the apk file as a zip file and view subdirectories in the lib/ directory.

Optimization of 64-bit programs

Reducing the amount of memory an app consumes

When a program is compiled in the 64-bit mode, it consumes more memory than its 32-bit version. This increase often goes unnoticed, but memory consumption can sometimes be two times higher than 32-bit apps. The amount of memory consumption is determined by the following factors:

• Some objects, like pointers, require larger amounts of memory
• Data alignment and data structure padding
• Increased stack memory consumption

64-bit systems have a larger amount of memory available to user applications than 32-bit systems. So if a program takes 300 Mbytes on a 32-bit system with 2 Gbytes of memory but needs 400 Mbytes on a 64-bit system with 8 Gbytes of memory, in relative units, the program takes three times less memory on a 64-bit system. The one disadvantage is performance loss. Although 64-bit programs are faster, extracting larger amounts of data from memory might cancel all the advantages and even reduce performance. Transferring data between the memory and microprocessor (cache) is not very cheap.
One way to reduce memory consumption is to optimize data structures. Another way is to use memory-saving data types. For instance, if we need to store a lot of integer numbers and we know that their values will never exceed UINT_MAX, we may use the type "unsigned" instead of "size t", as discussed in the next section.

Using memsize-types in address arithmetic

Using ptrdiff_t and size_t types in address arithmetic might give you an additional performance gain along with making the code safer. For example, using the type int, whose size differs from the pointer's capacity, as an index results in additional data conversion commands in the binary code. We might have 64-bit code and the pointers' size is 64 bits while the size of int type remains the same - 32 bits.
It is not easy to give a brief example to show that size_t is better than unsigned. To be impartial, we have to use the compiler's optimizing capabilities. But two variants of the optimized code often get too different to easily demonstrate their difference. We managed to create something like a simple example after six tries. But the sample is far from ideal because instead of the code containing the unnecessary conversions of data types discussed above, it shows that the compiler can build a more efficient code when using size_t. Consider this code, which arranges array items in the reverse order:

01	<code1.txt>

02	unsigned arraySize;

03

...

04

05	for (unsigned i = 0; i < arraySize / 2; i++)

06

{

07	float value = array[i];

08	array[i] = array[arraySize - i - 1];

09	array[arraySize - i - 1] = value;

10

}

The variables "arraySize" and "i" in the example have the type unsigned. You can easily replace it with size_t and compare a small fragment of assembler code shown in Table 1.
Table 1 - Comparing the 64-bit assembler code fragments using the types unsigned and size_t

array [arraySize - I - 1] = value;
arraySize, i : unsigned	arraySize, i : size_t
mov eax, DWORD PTR arraySize$[rsp] sub eax, r11d sub r11d, 1 add eax, -1 movss DWORD PTR [rbp + rax*4], xmm0 …	mov rax, QWORD PTR arraySize$[rsp] sub rax, r11 add r11, 1 movss DWORD PTR [rdi + rax*4 - 4], xmm0 …

The compiler managed to build a more concise code when using 64-bit registers. We do not want to say that the code created using the type unsigned (column 1) will be slower than the code using the type size_t (column 2). It is difficult to compare the speed of code execution on contemporary processors. But you can see in this example that the compiler built a briefer and faster code when using 64-bit types.
Now let us consider an example showing the advantages of the types ptrdiff_t and size_t from the viewpoint of performance. For the purposes of demonstration, we will take a simple algorithm of calculating the minimum path length.
The function FindMinPath32 is written in classic 32-bit style with unsigned types. The function FindMinPath64 differs from it only in the way that all the unsigned types in it are replaced with size_t types. There are no other differences! Now let us compare the execution speeds of these two functions (Table 2).

Table 2 - The time of executing the functions FindMinPath32 and FindMinPath64

	Mode and function	Function's execution time
1	32-bit compilation mode. Function FindMinPath32	1
2	32-bit compilation mode. Function FindMinPath64	1.002
3	64-bit compilation mode. Function FindMinPath32	0.93
4	64-bit compilation mode. Function FindMinPath64	0.85

Table 2 shows reduced time relative to the speed of execution of the function FindMinPath32 on a 32-bit system. This table was developed for the purpose of clarity. The operation time of the
FindMinPath32 function in the first line is 1 on a 32-bit system. This represents our baseline as a unit of measurement.
In the second line, we see that the operation time of the FindMinPath64 function is also 1 on a 32-bit system. No wonder, because the type unsigned coincides with the type size_t on a 32-bit system, and there is no difference between the FindMinPath32 and FindMinPath64 functions. A small deviation (1.002) only indicates a small error in measurements.
In the third line, we see a performance gain of 7%. We could well expect this result after recompiling the code for a 64-bit system.
The fourth line is of the most interest for us. The performance gain is 15%. By merely using the type size_t instead of unsigned, the compiler built a more effective code that works even 8% faster!
This simple and obvious example shows how data that are not equal to the size of the machine word slow down algorithm performance. Mere replacement of the types int and unsigned with ptrdiff_t and size_t may result in a significant performance gain. This result applies first of all to those cases where these data types are used in index arrays, in address arithmetic and to arrange loops.
Note: PVS-Studio is a commercial static program analysis tool for C, C++, and C++11. Although it is not specially designed to optimize programs, it may assist you in code refactoring and therefore make the code more efficient. For example, you can use memsize-types when fixing potential errors related to address arithmetic, thus allowing the compiler to build a more optimized code.

Intrinsic functions

Intrinsic functions are special system-dependent functions that perform actions that cannot be performed at the C/C++ level of code or that perform these functions much more effectively. Actually, they let you get rid of inline assembler code because it is often undesirable or impossible to use.
Programs may use intrinsic functions to create faster code due to the lack of overhead expenses on calling common functions. The code size is a bit larger of course. MSDN gives a list of functions that can be replaced with their intrinsic versions. Examples of these are memcpy, strcmp, etc.
Besides automatic replacement of common functions with their intrinsic versions, you may use intrinsic functions explicitly in your code. This might be helpful due to these factors:

• Inline assembler is not supported by the Visual C++ compiler in the 64-bit mode while intrinsic code is.
• Intrinsic functions are simpler to use as they do not require knowledge of registers and other similar low-level constructs.
• Intrinsic functions are updated in compilers while assembler code must be updated manually.
• The built-in optimizer does not work with assembler code.
• Intrinsic code is easier to port than assembler code.

Using intrinsic functions in automatic mode (with the help of the compiler switch) will let you get some percentage of performance gain and using the "manual" switch helps even more. That is why using intrinsic functions is a good way to go.

Alignment

Data structure alignment is the way data is arranged and accessed in computer memory. It consists of two separate but related issues: data alignment and data structure padding. When a modern computer reads from or writes to a memory address, it will do this in word-sized chunks (e.g., 4-byte chunks on 32-bit systems) or larger. Data alignment means putting the data at a memory offset equal to some multiple of the word size, which increases the system's performance due to the way the CPU handles memory. To align the data, it may be necessary to insert some meaningless bytes between the end of the last data structure and the start of the next, which is data structure padding.
For example, when the computer's word size is 4 bytes (which is 8 bits on most machines, but could be different on some systems), the data to be read should be at a memory offset that is some multiple of 4. When this is not the case, e.g., the data starts at the 14th byte instead of the 16th byte, then the computer has to read two 4-byte chunks and do some calculation before the requested data has been read, or it may generate an alignment fault. Even though the previous data structure ends at the 13th byte, the next data structure should start at the 16th byte. Two padding bytes are inserted between the two data structures to align the next data structure to the 16th byte.
Although data structure alignment is a fundamental issue for all modern computers, many computer languages and computer language implementations handle data alignment automatically
It is good in some cases to help the compiler by defining the alignment manually to enhance performance. For example, Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) data must be aligned on a 16-byte boundary. You may do this in the following way:

1	// 16-byte aligned data

2	__declspec(align(16)) double init_val[2] = {3.14, 3.14};

3	// SSE2 movapd instruction

4	_m128d vector_var = __mm_load_pd(init_val);

Android Runtime

Android Runtime (ART) applications were developed by Google as a replacement of Dalvik. This runtime offers a number of new features that improve performance and smoothness of the Android platform and apps. ART was introduced in Android 4.4 KitKat; in Android 5.0 it will completely replace Dalvik. Unlike Dalvik, ART uses a Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler (at runtime), meaning that ART compiles an application during its installation. As a result, the program executes faster and that improves battery life.
For backward compatibility, ART uses the same byte code as Dalvik.
In addition to the potential speed increase, using ART can provide a second important benefit. As ART runs app machine code directly (native execution), it doesn't hit the CPU as hard as just-in-time code compiling on Dalvik. Less CPU usage results in less battery drain, which is a big plus for portable devices in general.
So why wasn't ART implemented earlier? Let's look at the downsides of Ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation. First, the generated machine code requires more space than the existing byte code. Second, the code is pre-compiled at install time, so the installation process takes a bit longer time. Finally, it also corresponds to a larger memory footprint at execution time. This means that fewer apps can be run concurrently. When the first Android devices hit the market, memory and storage capacity were significantly smaller and presented a bottleneck for performance. This is the reason why a JIT approach was the preferred option at that time. Today, memory is much cheaper and thus more abundant, even on low-end devices, so ART is a logical step forward.
In perhaps the most important improvement, ART now compiles your application to native machine code when installed on a user’s device. Known as ahead-of-time compilation, you can expect to see large performance gains as the compilers are set for specific architectures (such as ARM, x86, or MIPS). This eliminates the need for just-in-time compilation each time an application is run. Thus it takes more time to install your application, but it will boot faster when launched as many tasks executed at runtime on the Dalvik VM, such as class and method verification, have already taken place.
Next, the ART team worked to optimize the garbage collector (GC). Instead of two pauses totaling about 10ms for each GC in Dalvik, you’ll see just one, usually under 2ms. They’ve also parallelized portions of the GC runs and optimized collection strategies to be aware of device states. For example, a full GC will run only when the phone is locked and responsiveness to user interaction is no longer important. This is a huge improvement for applications that are sensitive to dropping frames. Additionally, future versions of ART will include a compact collector that will move chunks of allocated memory into contiguous blocks to reduce fragmentation and the need to kill older applications to allocate large memory regions.
Lastly, ART makes use of an entirely new memory allocator called Rosalloc (runs of slots allocator). Most modern systems use allocators based on Doug Lea’s design, which has a single global memory lock. In a multithreaded, object-oriented environment, this interferes with the garbage collector and other memory operations. In Rosalloc, smaller objects common in Java are allocated in a thread-local region without locking and larger objects have their own locks. Thus when your application attempts to allocate memory for a new object, it doesn’t have to wait while the garbage collector frees an unrelated region of memory.
Currently, Dalvik is the default runtime for Android devices and ART is optionally available on a number of Android 4.4 devices, such as Nexus phones, Google Play edition devices, Motorola phones running stock Android, and many other smartphones. ART is currently in development, and seeking developer and user feedback. ART will eventually replace Dalvik runtime once it becomes completely stable. Until then, users with compatible devices can switch from Dalvik to ART if they’re interested in trying out this new functionality and experience its performance.
To switch or enable ART, your device must be running Android 4.4 KitKat and be compatible with ART. You can easily turn on ART runtime from “Settings” -> “Developer options” -> “Runtime option”. (Tip: If you can’t see Developer options in Settings, then go to “About phone”, scroll down, and tap the Build number 7 times to enable developer options.) The phone will reboot and start optimizing the apps for ART, which can take around 15-20 minutes, depending on the number of apps installed on your phone. You will also notice an increase in the size of installed apps after enabling ART runtime.
Note: After switching to ART, when you reboot your device for the first time, it will optimize all the apps once again; which is kind of annoying.
As Dalvik is the default runtime on Android devices, some apps might not work on ART, though, most existing apps are compatible with ART and should work fine. But in case you experience any bugs or app crashes with ART, then it’s wise to switch back and stay with ART.
Switching to ART on devices requires you to know where to find the switching option on the device. Google has hidden it under Settings. Fortunately, there is a trick to enable ART runtime on device that are based on Android 4.4 KitKat.
Disclaimer: Before trying this, you should make a backup of your data. Intel won’t be responsible if your device gets bricked (won’t turn on regardless of what you try). Try it at your own risk!

• Requires Root
• Don’t try if you have WSM Tools installed as they don’t support ART.

To enable ART, carefully follow these steps:

1. Make sure your device is rooted.
2. Install ‘ES File Explorer’ from the Play store.
3. Open ES File Explorer, tap the menu icon from top left corner and select Tools. In tools, enable the ‘Root Explorer’ option and grant full root access to ES explorer when prompted.
4. In ES explorer, open the Device (/) directory from Menu -> Local-> Device. Go to the /data/property folder. Open the persist.sys.dalvik.vm.lib file as Text and then select ES note editor.
5. Edit the file by selecting the edit option from top right corner. Rename the line from libdvm.so to libart.so
6. Go back to the persist.sys.dalvik.vm.lib file and select ‘Yes’ to save the file. Then reboot the phone.
7. The phone will reboot now and start optimizing the apps for ART. It can take time to reboot depending on the number of apps installed on your device.

In case you want to revert back to Dalvik runtime, simply follow the above steps and rename the text in persist.sys.dalvik.vm.lib file to libdvm.so.

Conclusion

Google has released a 64-bit emulator image for the forthcoming Android L - but only for the Intel x86 chip. The new emulator will allow developers to build or optimize older apps for the upcoming Android L OS and its new 64-bit architecture. Moving to 64-bit increases the addressable memory space, and allows a larger number of registers and a new instructions set for developers, but 64-bit apps aren't necessarily faster.
Java apps automatically gain the benefits of 64-bit because their byte code will be interpreted by the new ART VM which is 64-bit.This also implies that no changes to pure Java apps are necessary. Those built on the Android NDK will need some optimization to include the x86_64 build target. Intel has advice on how to go about porting code that targets ARM to x86/x64. Using the new emulator, developers will only be able to create apps for Intel® Atom™ processor-based chips.
Intel has been providing developers with tools and good system support for Android particularly its Intel® Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager (Intel® HAXM) and a range of Intel Atom OS images. Many Android programmers regularly test on emulated Intel architecture even though most of their deployment is to ARM devices. As well as the new emulator there is a 64-bit upgrade to the HAXM accelerator which should make using HAXM even more attractive. To quote Intel:
"This commitment is evident not only in the delivery of the industry’s first 64-bit emulator image for Intel architecture, and 64-bit Intel HAXM within the Android L Developer Preview SDK, but also in many other innovations along the way such as the first 64-bit kernel for Android KitKat earlier this year, the 64-bit Android Native Development Kit (NDK), and other 64-bit advancements over the last decade."
Could it be that a change to Intel architecture might happen as part of the change from 32-bit mobile to 64-bit mobile?
The Android SDK includes a virtual mobile device emulator that runs on your computer. The emulator lets you prototype, develop, and test Android applications without using a physical device. The Android emulator mimics all of the hardware and software features of a typical mobile device, except that it cannot place actual phone calls. It provides a variety of navigation and control keys, which you can "press" using your mouse or keyboard to generate events for your application. It also provides a screen in which your application is displayed, along with any other active Android applications.
To let you model and test your application more easily, the emulator utilizes Android Virtual Device (AVD) configurations. AVDs let you define certain hardware aspects of your emulated phone and allow you to create many configurations to test many Android platforms and hardware permutations. Once your application is running on the emulator, it can use the services of the Android platform to invoke other applications, access the network, play audio and video, store and retrieve data, notify the user, and render graphical transitions and themes.

Related Articles and Resources

• Get information and download Android NDK, Revision 10d here.
• For more information about Android 5.0 Lollipop here.
• Read about developing apps using x86 Android* 4.4 (KitKat) emulator here.

Got Lollipop? 10 cool things to try with Android 5.0

Google's Android 5.0 release is more than just a pretty makeover. Here are 10 fun features you'll definitely want to explore once you have Lollipop in front of you.

 

All right -- you've heard all about Google's Android 5.0 Lollipop release. You've read the reviews. Now what should you do once you actually get your hands on the software? 
There's plenty of new stuff to see, of course -- but once you've finished exploring all the fresh and fancy visuals, here are 10 cool things to try with Lollipop on your Android phone or tablet:

Android 5.0 Lollipop

1. Set up a trusted Bluetooth device.

If you have a Moto phone, you may have done this before -- but for the rest of the world, it's uncharted terrain: the ability to have your Android device stay unlocked anytime a specific Bluetooth device is present and paired. 
To set it up, head into your phone or tablet's system settings and tap "Security." Make sure you have "Screen lock" set to something other than "Swipe"; you'll need to have a pattern, password, or PIN established so your phone can automatically secure itself whenever your trusted Bluetooth device isn't around.Once you've done that, tap "Smart Lock" on that same menu and then tap "Trusted devices." Tap the red plus sign and follow the prompts to pair your smartwatch, car stereo, portable speaker, or practically anything else -- then sit back and enjoy having easy access to your Android gadget whenever the Bluetooth device is nearby.
(You probably don't have access to it yet, by the way, but you'll soon be able to set a trusted place as well. An incoming update to Google Play Services should add that option to all Lollipop devices within the coming days.)

2. Check out the revamped Face Lock feature.

While you're in that same "Security" menu, go back into "Smart Lock" and tap "Trusted face." Follow the prompts to train the system to recognize your face, then press the power button and give it a whirl. 

As you'll see, Face Lock works far faster and more reliably than it did in the past, when it was novel but just too darn finicky and slow to be practical. With Lollipop, the system starts working to identify your face the second the screen is activated. More often than not, by the time you swipe away the clock, it'll already have you recognized and ready to get through without the need for further security.

3. Take Lollipop's always-listening voice command system out for a spin.

Provided your phone or tablet supports it, you can now give voice commands anytime -- even when your device's display is off. 
The option to activate the feature is a bit buried: Head into your system settings, tap "Language & input" and then "Voice input," then tap the gear icon next to "Enhanced Google services" and look for a line labeled "'Ok Google' Detection."
Tap it, then tap the line labeled "Always on" and follow the prompts to train the system to recognize your voice. While you're in that menu, think about whether you want voice commands to work even when your phone is locked with a pattern, PIN, or password; if you do, tap the line labeled "When locked" before you exit out.
Once you're all done, just say "Okay, Google" and your phone will start listening. You can then ask it a question or give it all sorts of commands and have it work for you whether it's in your hands or not.

4. Interact with a notification on the lock screen.

Lollipop brings a whole new look to the Android lock screen, and your personal notifications are the main attraction. Next time you press your device's power button and see a notification waiting, try swiping it horizontally in either direction to dismiss it. You can also tap on it twice to open it or swipe downwards on it to expand it and gain access to any quick commands available (like archiving or replying to an email).

5. Set up and try priority notification mode.

One of Lollipop's more complex but also potentially useful features is the system's new priority notification mode -- essentially a customizable "do not disturb"-style setting for your tablet or phone. Whenever the priority mode is active, only notifications that are considered "high priority" will make a sound and alert you; any other notifications will show up but remain silent. 
To get started, press your device's volume up or volume down key while the display is on and then tap "Priority" in the panel that appears at the top of the screen. Select either to leave that mode on indefinitely (the default) or to specify a finite amount of time -- an hour, two hours, whatever -- for which it'll remain active.

While you have that panel open, take a minute to visit the priority notification settings to make sure it's set up the way you want: After pressing a volume key and tapping "Priority," tap the gear icon next to the words "Priority interruptions only." Now think about what types of notifications you want to alert you when you have the priority mode active. You can opt to allow any combination of events and reminders, calls, and messages -- and with the latter two, you can either allow any calls and messages to come through or allow only calls and messages from approved contacts.

6. Schedule a recurring priority notification mode.

Lollipop's priority notification mode can automatically activate itself at certain recurring times -- if, say, you want your phone to remain silent except for emergency calls and messages during the night. 
Go back into that same menu we were just in (you can also get to it by going into the main system settings and tapping "Sound & notification," then "Interruptions"). Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and select what days and times you want the priority mode to activate.
Once you've done that, your device will automatically go into priority notification mode during those windows -- and you'll be bothered only by the notifications you absolutely need.

7. Customize how app notifications behave.

Want to take things a step further? Lollipop lets you customize notifications on an app-by-app basis so that any app's alerts can be considered "high priority" all the time. 
If you set an app to be high priority, you're effectively whitelisting it: Any notifications generated by that app will always alert you, even if your device is in priority-only mode. The app's notifications will also always appear at the top of your notification panel, above any others.

All you have to do is head into your system settings, select "Sound & notifications" and then select "App notifications." Tap any app you want to customize, then toggle the switch for "Priority" to whitelist it.

8. Prepare your phone for guest access.

If you ever pass your phone or tablet off to a friend, Lollipop's new guest mode is well worth exploring. 
To see how it works, open up your device's Quick Settings panel by swiping down from the top of the screen and then swiping down a second time. Tap the circular avatar at the far right corner, then tap "Guest."
When you're ready to switch back to your own account, do that same thing but tap your name instead of "Guest." If you have a security pattern, PIN, or password set, you'll be prompted to enter it before proceeding.

9. Pin something to your device's screen.

We've all been there: Someone you know needs to borrow your phone "for a quick sec" to make a call or look something up online. Or maybe you want to hand your device over to the little one so she can play a game while the grown-ups talk. A new Lollipop feature called Screen Pinning is designed to let you do those types of things without any hassle -- and without having to worry about the person getting into something they shouldn't. 
Take a moment now to enable it: Go into the main system settings, select "Security," scroll down to "Screen Pinning," and set it to "On."
Then take it for a test run: Tap the Recent Apps key (the square to the right of the Home key) and scroll upward. You'll see a pushpin icon on the most recent app or process you've had open. Tap it and then confirm that you want to pin that process.

Your device is now locked to that one process -- so if you hand it off to anyone, it's the only thing they'll be able to use. No returning to the home screen, no seeing notifications, no opening up anything else on the device.
To exit the pinned mode, press the Back and Recent Apps (apparently also now known as "Overview") buttons at the same time. If you have a PIN, pattern, or password set -- which you should if you want this feature to have much meaning -- you'll need to enter it in order to return the device to its normal state.

10. Beam something to another device.

Android Beam has been around for a while, but it's always been hard to know exactly when and how it can work. With Lollipop, Beam is integrated into the system sharing function and is consequently easier to use and more versatile than ever. 
See for yourself: Open up the Photos app on your device and tap any image you like. Then tap the share icon at the bottom of the screen and select "Android Beam" from the list of choices that appears.
Your phone or tablet will instruct you to bring another Android device against its back. Just make sure the other device is unlocked, then bring them back to back -- and shazam: The photo you selected will transfer wirelessly from one device to the other, even if the other device isn't on Lollipop. No wires, no special apps, no third-party services required.
(Both devices will need to support NFC in order for this to work, but pretty much every reasonable Android device released in the past few years does.)
You can do the same thing anywhere the share command is available -- a social media app, a file manager, you name it. Images, links, contacts, and any other type of shareable content should work.

Bonus: Try your hand at Lollipop's hidden Flappy Bird game.

Google loves including fun little Easter eggs in its products, and Lollipop is no exception. Go into your system settings, select "About phone" (or tablet) and then tap the line labeled "Android version" a bunch of times in a row.
When you see a large Lollipop graphic appear on your screen, tap the circle part of the image about five times and then press and hold your finger to it. You'll then be taken into an Android-themed Flappy Bird-like game, with lots o' lollipop obstacles to jump through and avoid.
Flap, flap, flap. One final tip: If you find yourself playing for more than 10 minutes, put down your device and smack yourself in the head with the nearest rubber mallet. You'll thank me later.

 

Facebook gives priority to friends in News Feed change

The change is, in large part, geared to giving users more information from their favorite friends.
The concern is that Facebook is deciding for users who those best friends are, which may be a problem for some users.
The world's largest social network, though, says it's trying to give users more of what they want.
"The goal of News Feed is to show you the content that matters to you," wrote Max Eulenstein, Facebook's product manager, and Lauren Scissors, the company's user experience researcher, in a blog post. "This means we need to give you the right mix of updates from friends and public figures, publishers, businesses and community organizations you are connected to. This balance is different for everyone depending on what people are most interested in learning about every day."
The social network recently surveyed users, asking them what could be better about their News Feeds, which is the main page where users see posts and comments from their friends, as well as pages from businesses and organizations they follow.
Based on user response, Eulenstein and Scissors said they are making three changes.
For people who don't have a lot of online friends or who don't follow many pages, they will now be able to see multiple posts in a row from the same source.
The second change is for users who many Facebook friends. Now they'll see more content from their favorite friends.
"We've also learned that people are worried about missing important updates from the friends they care about," the network's execs wrote. "For people with many connections this is particularly important, as there is a lot of content for them to see each day. The second update tries to ensure that content posted directly by the friends you care about, such as photos, videos, status updates or links, will be higher up in News Feed so you are less likely to miss it."
The third change will give a lower priority to stories and posts that users' friends comment on and a higher priority to friends' own posts.
"This makes a lot of sense," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. "The key to keeping eyeballs is to maintain relevance. If you see more of what you like seeing, you will come back more often. It's a little creepy having Facebook figure out who you care more about, but it shouldn't be hard, and I think few people will object. Most will be pleased."
By giving users more of what Facebook thinks they want, users should be happier with their social experience on the site, Gottheil added.
Not all analysts agree, though.
Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group, said the next few weeks should be telling. If users see a big difference in the information their getting in their News Feed, they might not be so happy with Facebook making these decisions for them.

However, Enderle also noted that people with a lot of friends and pages that they follow would be inundated with information if Facebook didn't parse through it all and pull out what users are likely to want to see most.
"It does look like Facebook is trying to increase the utility of the service, but they [aren't very good] at explaining that," he said. "The utility with Facebook drops the more people you follow, and that likely speaks to why they have been losing a high percentage of customers. If this works, it should increase the value of Facebook and help them retain a higher percentage of users."
Jeff Kagan, an independent industry analyst, said his concern is that this algorithm change will further anger users who already are angry about Facebook's making decisions about what posts they see on a regular basis.
"This typically ticks off the customer, and that's exactly what Facebook is doing more and more, year after year," said Kagan. "The problem is what Facebook… chooses to focus on and the methods they choose simply poke at the users."
Even if users are angry, they're unlikely to ditch Facebook because of the lack of choice in popular social networks where they can connect with their friends and relatives.

A new WiFi technology delivers 10 times the current speeds

A new development in the technology uses LEDs to boost transmission speeds, and it’s cheap to boot

 

•  A new LED light-based technology can boost WiFi speed 10 times

WiFi gets a light-assisted boost, with a new LED-based system that can up transmission bandwidth by a tidy 10x. Researchers at the Oregon State University who invented this new technology claim that it can be integrated with present-day WiFi systems, helping alleviate bandwidth issues that generally plague congested locations--public access areas and offices for example--where a multitude of devices are online concurrently.

These advancements are thanks to recent developments in the ability to modulate LED light--the process of rapidly switching the light off and on to conform with the data signal being transmitted. Since this technology is light-based, it works in free-space systems where the transmitting and receiving stations are within line of sight of each other.

“In addition to improving the experience for users, the two big advantages of this system are that it uses inexpensive components, and it integrates with existing WiFi systems,” said Thinh Nguyen, an OSU associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.

This new wireless technology, christened WiFO, can theoretically transmit data at up to 100 mbps, a speed that some of today’s new standards can match. However, WiFO is capable of delivering 50 to 100 megabits per second to individual users; current-day systems are capable of providing only a tenth of that speed per user. The eventual gains are better user experiences across the board. Also the technology can purportedly be manufactured using relatively simple components--photodiodes that cost less than a dollar each--that are connected via a USB port for current systems. All of this implies its time to market can be expectedly short.

Given that a provisional patent has already been secured for this technology, it could make its way to upcoming laptops, tablets and smartphones soon.

New Motorola Moto E 4G up for sale in India via Flipkart at Rs 7999

Online retailer Flipkart has started selling the second generation of Motorola’s Moto E 4G which went up for pre-order last week, for a price of Rs 7999. This launch comes more than a month after the plain old 3G version of the smartphone was released in India for Rs 6999, a whole Rs 1000 less than the newer handset.
The one major improvement that the 2nd gen Moto E 4G LTE has over the 3G variant is its chipset. The latter device runs on a 1.2GHz quad core Snapdragon 200 processor, while the former uses a quad core Snapdragon 410 SoC clocked at the same rate. Motorola (now owned by Lenovo) dishes out its software updates pretty quickly.


So you can expect this year’s Moto E to get an upgrade to a revamped version of Android Lollipop whenever it’s available. Right now, the latest version of Android which is Lollipop 5.1, is yet to hit the series. As for the specifications, Motorola has disappointed us with the 5MP camera without flash, VGA webcam, 1GB RAM and qHD quality display.

2nd gen Moto E 4G LTE specs you should know:
– Android Lollipop 5.0 OS (out of the box)
– Quad core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor
– 4.5-inch 960 x 540p IPS screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
– 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal memory, up to 32GB expandability
– Dual SIM capability (GSM + 4G)
– 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
– 5MP auto-focus camera without flash, VGA front-facing lens
– 2390mAh battery
– 66.8 x 129.9 x 12.3 millimeters
– 143 grams


             

Things not to put on your resume

Most should be aware that people in charge of reviewing your resume only take a quick glance at it before they move on to the next one; one simple unpleasing anecdote, and your resume will find itself in trash. Therefore, you must set up your resume in a fashion where any bit of unprofessionalism is nonexistent. There are simply certain things that many people incorporate in their resumes that simply have no place – to many, not including these things may seem like common sense but many still continue to add them in. Here are some things to NOT include in your resumes.

Private Information

Private information includes anything beyond your contact information – phone numbers, e-mail, and address. Things like marital status, age, race, ethnicity, etc.; simply put, it’s anything that could be used to discriminate against you. Photographs are another item in this criterion you want to stay away from incorporating.

Irrelevant Work Experience

This is a tricky scenario; on one hand, displaying experience in various avenues could work well for you as it will make you look versatile, but on the other hand, placing it in to fill in the empty space will only work against you. The best way to go about this is to only include your 2-3 (great) experiences from your recent past; if you are of a significant age, say 30, and you’ve had numerous jobs since you were the age of 18, then you simply want to stay away from inserting the early job experiences you may have had. You can discuss your past experiences in more detail if/when you get asked about it during the face to face interview.

Unprofessional E-mail Address

We all have that email address from our younger days that we simply can’t let go – classy_girl_1994@blah.com is not a phrase your potential future employer wants to see. Stick to the basics; simplify your email address to your proper name and a decent domain name.

Current Business Contact Information

Jumping from one job to another is an experience that will be faced by most people. But, the last thing you want to do is make your current employer aware of your intentions. This could be your office e-mail ID and office phone number – most employers can access all your office emails and receiving a phone call from a potential future employer while you are at work is like asking to be fired.

Salary Information

Including this information on the resume used to be quite a thing but it’s considered repulsive by today’s standard. Most jobs you will be applying to will display how much they are offering right from the get go so for you to have your desired salary in your resume just comes off as arrogant. You might get the chance to negotiate your desired salary during the interview so save this conversation for then. Only include it if it is asked!

Boring Fonts

The main idea behind this tip is to avoid using the overly typical sans serif fonts; these are your Arial and Helvetica. Many recommend using Times New Roman but this font is now overly used and too commonly seen. Calibri, Garamond, and Georgia are a few great professional alternatives worth trying out instead.

Big, beautiful photos of the giant flying saucer NASA is using to send humans to Mars

The way we think of flying saucers is about to get a pretty serious makeover.
Instead of transporting aliens across the universe (as portrayed in sci-fi films), rocket-powered flying saucers could send the first humans to the surface of Mars.
At least, if everything goes according to NASA's plans.
Right now, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California is testing its low-density supersonic decelerator (LDSD) project, which includes the test model of an actual flying saucer that will carry heavier loads — including astronauts — to Mars in the not-too-distant future.

The technology NASA used to land its Curiosity rover on the red planet in 2012 won't cut it when it comes to heavier payloads like manned missions. So, NASA is pushing the boundaries of spacecraft technology with their LDSD project to design the safest, most cost-effective way of slowing a spacecraft down once it has entered the Red Planet's atmosphere.

The most cost-effective way to slow down larger loads as they approach Mars is to take advantage of the natural drag, or friction, in the atmosphere. The LDSD's large, flat, saucer-like surface will maximize this potential, generating a lot of drag to help slow it down as it falls to Mars.

Still, the craft could benefit from even more drag. That's why scientists created the Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (SIAD). It slows it down even more by making the object larger.

Einstein Ring ancient galaxy spotted through the ALMA telescope

The miracle of birth, not of anything on Earth but of a galaxy, has been captured in photo images by the ALMA telescope. The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope snapped pictures of what looks like a glowing ring hailing from the most distant reaches of outer space. It’s actually a galaxy forming around a very old star.

The gravitational lensing of the ALMA telescope allowed it to capture an image of the effect of bending light from a distant source by an obscuring object’s gravity. This effect is the most suitable example of Einstein’s infamous theory of relativity, a turning point for modern physics. For this fact scientists dubbed the glowing ring of a baby universe an “Einstein Ring”.


The Hubble telescope, which orbits Earth in space, is known for the use of gravitational lensing to capture awe-inspiring images of the universe around us, but the ALMA telescope captured this breath-taking image of the Einstein ring, or galaxy SDP.81, from right here on Earth where it is located in the in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

ALMA has been considered the best and most powerful observatory standing on the planet since it recently started operating. Its recent capture of the “Einstein Ring” proves that ALMA has the ability to photograph objects in space in high resolution and very fine detail. The technology employed by ALMA allows it to view a galaxy within the earliest 15 percent of its actual, current age. The baby galaxy it captured most recently is estimated to be 12 million light years from Earth.

New hope in Aids battle as novel HIV drug weakens virus for 28 days

Washington, Apr 9 (ANI): In first human study, new anti-HIV antibody has shown promise.
A single infusion of an experimental anti-HIV antibody called 3BNC117 resulted in significantly decreased HIV levels that persisted for as long as 28 days in HIV-infected individuals, according to Phase 1 clinical trial at The Rockefeller University.




Before its first-in-human testing, the 3BNC117 antibody had neutralized many diverse HIV strains in laboratory tests and had protected humanized mice and macaques from HIV and its simian equivalent.
To determine if the investigational product would be safe and potentially effective in people, the research team conducted a small clinical trial among 29 volunteers, 17 HIV-infected and 12 uninfected individuals.
Study participants received a single intravenous dose of 3BNC117 of 1, 3, 10 or 30 milligrams. The investigational product was well-tolerated by all participants. Among HIV-infected participants, 3BNC117 had the greatest effect on the eight participants who received the highest dose, resulting in significant and rapid decreases in viral load. HIV resistance to 3BNC117 was variable, but some individuals remained sensitive to the antibody for 28 days.
Based on the findings, the authors conclude that 3BNC117 is safe in people and can have a substantial effect on controlling HIV levels and should, therefore, be explored further for use in HIV prevention and treatment.
Additionally, in the future the investigational antibody may be used to help eradicate HIV from latent reservoirs in an infected person's body, according to the authors.
The study is published online in Nature. (ANI}

Here's how unused CDs and DVDs can help slash carbon footprints

Washington, Apr 9 (ANI): A new study has revealed that unwanted CDs and DVDs can help cut carbon emissions.
Now that most consumers download and stream their movies and music, more and more CDs and DVDs will end up in landfills or be recycled, but soon these discarded discs could take on a different role by curbing the release of greenhouse gases.



Scientists report a way to turn the discs into a material that can capture carbon dioxide, a key greenhouse gas, and other compounds.
Mietek Jaroniec and colleagues from Poland and the U.S. note that manufacturers typically use natural sources, such as coal and wood, to make activated carbon. The material is then incorporated in a wide range of applications from decaffeination to gas purification.

More recently, scientists have been preparing activated carbon out of everyday plastic products. Jaroniec's team wanted to try this with optical discs, a fast-growing part of our waste stream.
The researchers processed disc fragments into two kinds of activated carbon with high surface areas and large volumes of fine pore. These key characteristics allowed the materials to capture carbon dioxide.

They also adsorbed hydrogen gas and benzene, a carcinogenic compound used in industrial processes. The researchers say that in addition to carbon capture applications, their materials could be used to separate volatile organic compounds and store hydrogen.
The study appears in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. (ANI)

75 million years old relics of dinosaurs discovered by scientists

Scientists of University of Alberta recently said that a dinosaur couple called ‘Romeo and Juliet‘ now, has been found buried beneath the Mongolia-based Gobi Desert for over 75 million years. According to the Alberta University palaeontologists, this is the mated pair and was preserved for the aforementioned duration alongside each other. These two raptors died and buried side by side, have found to be dead because of a huge sand dune collapsing on them.

 The scientists do not know the sex of these oviraptors yet because according to Scott Persons, the research’s lead author, it is highly intricate to determine the gender of a dinosaur. This is so because soft anatomy does not fossilises easily. This is the reason that the fossil of a dinosaur does not easily provide any direct reference to the gender of it.

In 2011, Scott Persons, along with this team of researchers had published their findings regarding the oviraptors’ tails. Despite being strictly land-bound, these dinosaurs had long features that rested on the tails. This raised a valid question that what was the objective of these features of the tail when oviraptors were land-bound?

Persons, in this context, explain that the theory stated that the purpose of these feature fans was same like the modern ground-based birds, such as prairie chickens, peacocks and turkeys. These feature fans were used for enhancing the display of courtship.

After carefully observing the specimen of these recently discovered oviraptor specimens, the new study established about the sexual dimorphism.

Persons says that, even though, both these specimens are of the same age, have same size and are more or less similar in all regards of anatomy, but ‘Romeo’ encompasses specially-shaped and larger tail bones. According to him, these two may be the mated pair, thereby making for the romantic story because they were preserved alongside for over 75 million years.

Just toss it in the air and this drone will take off, land itself

The new technology makes drones much safer

Researchers at the University of Zurich have unveiled new technology enabling drones to recover stable flight from any position and land autonomously in failure situations. It will even be possible to launch drones by simply tossing them into the air like a baseball or recover stable flight after a system failure. Drones will be safer and smarter, with the ability to identify safe landing sites and land automatically when necessary.

"Our new technology allows safe operation of drones beyond the operator's line of sight, which is crucial for commercial use of drones, such as parcel delivery," says Prof. Davide Scaramuzza, co-inventor and Director of the Robotics and Perception Group at the University of Zurich.

The growing popularity of drones has raised major safety concerns. Because drones can run out of power, forcing them to land immediately, they must be able to detect safe landing spots and properly execute landing operations. Furthermore, potential crash situations arise when drones temporarily lose their GPS position information, for instance, when flying close to buildings where GPS signal is lost. In such situations, it is essential that drones can rely on back-up systems and regain stable flight.
The UZH drones are equipped with a single camera and acceleration sensors. Their orientation system emulates the human visual system and sense of balance.

 

 As soon as a toss or a failure situation is detected, computer-vision software analyses the images to identify distinctive landmarks in the environment and restore balance. All image processing and control runs on a smartphone processor onboard the drone. 

 

This renders the drone safe and able to fulfil its mission without any communication or interaction with the operator."Our system works similarly to a tight-rope walker. When you balance on a rope, you fixate on some static points in the environment and shift your weight accordingly to restore balance," says Matthias Faessler, co-inventor of the technology and researcher in Scaramuzza's group. The same software builds a 3D model of the environment. If an emergency landing is required, the drone automatically detects and lands on a flat, safe location without human intervention.
University of Zurich

Audi TT 2015 to be Launched on April 23: Get expected price, features and specification of the new 2015 TT Coupe

German luxury car maker Audi is all geared up to launch its third generation 2015 TT Sports Car in India this month. With a launch date slated for 23rd of April, the new facelifted TT brings forward a number of cosmetic changes both on the inside and outside along with mechanical upgrades. Similar to its predecessor, even the 2015 Audi TT will come in two variants: Audi TT and Audi TTS. As of now Audi has shown no signs of a plan to launch the TTS variant in India. Though we are yet to receive a definite price tag for the new Audi TT, industry experts believe that the sports car will be priced a little bit higher than the outgoing model at around INR 60 Lakh (ex-showroom).

On the exterior front there is no doubt that the new Audi TT is as amazing as its predecessors. While overall the sports car carries the same look and feel of the first and second generation TT, there are some exclusivities that sets it apart. Unlike the curvy body of the first-gen TT, the new 2015 model looks much sharper via its cutting edge design. The new Audi TT comes with an aluminium body along with the usual bulging wheel arches.

At the front we have the very prominent trapezoidal grille and a new muscular bumper with wide air in-takes on either side. The fascia is further enhanced by Audi’s new sharper looking Matrix Beam LED headlamps. At the back you get the deployable rear spoiler, similar to the previous generation and a new set of LED tail lamps.

Seeing the inside we can definitely say that it is among the finest offerings from Audi. The impressively designed dash, the driver oriented ergonomics and expensive sports styled seats truly make the car a bang for the buck. Simply put, the superbly built cabin looks amazing and fells perfect. Right from the plastic used for the switches to the overall layout every bit of the interior is top notch. Additionally as opposed to how it looks from the outside, the sports car offers some great all around visibility to the driver.

Coming to its powerhouse the new 2015 Audi TT will come fitted with a 2.0-litre turbo-charged petrol engine under the hood which churns out 230 PS of power and can do a 0-100 kmph sprint in a mere 5.3 seconds. As for the powerful TTS version, it produces a massive power output of 300 PS and can do the same 0-100 kmph sprint in nearly 4 seconds. Both the engines come mated to a 6-speed dual clutch automatic transmission. Efficiency Audi claims the sports car can return up to 14.3 Kmpl, which is not really a problem considering the fact that it is made for serious aficionados and not for efficiency seekers.

Nokia Lumia 930 Gold edition gets unveiled

One of the finest Windows Phone smartphones available in the market right now is the Nokia Lumia 930, and it has just been blessed with a swanky new gold-trimmed version by Microsoft. This special model is ready to be sold in the form of an unlocked variant by select carriers in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

The usual silver trim that is present on the regular Nokia Lumia 930 models has been replaced with a golden one. For the overall color of the device, only the choice of black and white will be provided according to CNET, as the orange and green variants won’t quite look as attractive with gold trims.



The Lumia 930 was announced back in April last year as a global version of the Lumia Icon device which was being sold in the US as a Verizon-exclusive handset. It features a 5-inch 1080 full HD display and is highlighted by its 20MP main camera which comes with 4K recording support.
Also Read: Microsoft unveils MS-DOS Mobile for Lumia smartphones
A 2.2GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor can be found inside the device, apart from 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 330 GPU. An HD front camera, a 2420mAh battery and 32GB of storage are some of its other important components.

Here’s a cleaner look at the specs of the Nokia Lumia 930:
– Display: 5-inch, 1080p full HD
– OS: Windows Phone 8.1
– CPU: 2.2GHz quad core Snapdragon 800
– GPU: Adreno 330
– Memory: 2GB RAM, 32GB storage
– Camera: 20MP rear, 1MP front
– Battery: 2420mAh


At the moment, there seem very less chances of the Nokia Lumia 930 making it to India, but if it does arrive in the country, we’ll make sure to inform you about that.

Hero MotoCorp’s Splendor iSmart clocks record mileage

Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp Wednesday reported that its Splendor iSmart has clocked a record mileage of 102.50 kilometre per litre of petrol, thereby setting a new global benchmark in fuel efficiency.

According to the company, the latest March, 2015 fuel efficiency values, Splendor iSmart delivered a mileage of 102.50 kilometre per litre, making it the world’s most fuel-efficient bike.
“These fuel efficiency values are certified by the iCAT (international centre for automotive technology) and obtained in the mandatory emission test specified in Rule 115 of the central motor vehicle rules (CMVR) 1989,” the company said in statement.

The company’s iconic brand Splendor consists of a range of popular brands such as Splendor+, Splendor Pro, Splendor Pro Classic, the 125cc Super Splendor and Splendor iSmart. It is also the largest selling motorcycle brand in the world with over two million unit sales every year.
The company has already sold over three lakh units of Splendor iSmart in cumulative sales since its launch just about a year back.

The motorcycle is powered by a 100-cc air-cooled, four stroke single cylinder OHC engine. The bike is priced between Rs.50,000.00 and Rs.51,100 ex-showroom. (IANS)

OnePlus One price not to be revised upwards in India

After claiming a few weeks ago that the company may well have to raise the price of its handsets in the Indian market, Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus has said that its smartphone OnePlus One price will not be revised upwards in the market.

OnePlus One is without doubt the best handsets in the market in the price range. It is even less pricey than Xiaomi’s Mi4 and has been selling rather well in the market here since its launch in association with Amazon.in a few months ago.

The Indian government earlier this year had doubled the excise duty from six percent to 12.5 percent. This is a massive hike and the company had subsequently indicated that a price hike was on the card.


Many smartphone makers have since hiked the prices of their handsets here. Apple has gone with the hike in iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus price by as much as Rs 2500. Others too are going to follow the footsteps of Cupertino based smartphone maker.

Nonetheless despite announcing a hike, the company has decided to stick with Rs 21,999 price for One Smartphone in India. Vikas Agarwal, the company’s General Manager for the Indian market is of the opinion that that OnePlus is committed to the market and wants to make the phone available at an attractive amount. There’s also the ‘Never Settle’ philosophy which the OEM wants to protect. One Plus One seems to be the most attractive handset. Its 16GB white and 64GB black models are available for Rs 18999 and Rs 21999, respectively on Amazon’s India affiliate.

Huawei Honor 6 Plus is finally up for pre-order in India at Rs 26499

Two week after its official launch in India, the Huawei Honor 6 Plus phablet has finally been made available at the same Rs 26499 price. Well, you cannot purchase the handset just yet, but preorder it through Flipkart which is bundling various offers with the smartphone.
You’ll basically get up to 3 months of free streaming and downloads through the Hungama application, Rs 5000 worth of coupons to shop 5 different brands, Rs 3000 added to your Yatra wallet and more. The Huawei Honor 6 Plus is a beast of a smartphone and also a pretty attractive release in its category.



The handset is the beefed up version of the original Honor 6 and not only does it carry a larger display, but better hardware as well. The biggest change here is that the Kirin 925 octa core processor delivers the steam with many improvements over the 920. Then there are dual 8MP cameras on the rear which enable various functions and SLR-like capabilities.

The Huawei smartphone also has an 8MP shooter on the front for taking high resolution selfies. Android 4.4 KitKat with the EMUI 3.0 UX runs the show here and for memory, there’s 3GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The phone also has a large 3600mAh battery which can deliver up to 23 hours of 3G talk time.

Huawei Honor 6 Plus specs roundup:
– 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS LCD panel
– 1.8GHz octa core Kirin 925 processor
– 3GB RAM
– 32GB internal storage (expendable by up to 128GB)
– 8MP front camera, dual 8MP rear shooters
– 3600mAh battery
– Android 4.4 KitKat
You can preorder the Huawei Honor 6 Plus on Flipkart in black white and gold options. However, the last choice will cost you a bit more at Rs 27499.

HTC Desire 626G+ Dual SIM With Octa-Core SoC Launched at Rs. 16,900

While HTC launched its One M9+ and One E9+ in China on Wednesday, it also launched the Desire 626G+ Dual SIM in India at Rs. 16,900. The smartphone, which is yet to appear on the company website, will be available with major retailers and mobile operators soon as per the company.
The HTC Desire 626G+ Dual SIM features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) resolution display and is powered by an unspecified 1.7GHz octa-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. A 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera with BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture and LED flash is onboard, apart from a 5-mgepixel front-facing camera with the same sensor and f/2.8 aperture. Both are capable of recording full-HD videos.
The handset equips 8GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB). However, the Android-based handset will come with HTC BlinkFeed and Sense UI on top. 3G connectivity is also included in the handset besides Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS. The Desire 626G+ Dual SIM, measuring 146.9x70.9x8.1mm and weighing 138 grams, will be available in Blue Lagoon & White Birch colour variants. A 2000mAh Li-Po non-removable battery backs the smartphone.
"We are excited to share with our customers about the HTC Desire 626G+ Dual SIM, a truly capable high speed mobile experience for all," said Faisal Siddiqui, President, South Asia, HTC during the launch of the smartphone.
HTC in China on Wednesday launched the One M9+ and One E9+ with high-end specifications. The firm has launched the smartphones only in China for now with no word on their availability outside the region or their prices.

Key Specs:

 Display

5.00-inch

Processor

1.7GHz

Front Camera

 5-megapixel

Resolution

 720x1280 pixels

RAM

 1GB

OS

 Android

Storage

8GB

Rear Camera

13-megapixel

Battery capacity

2000mAh

See full HTC Desire 626G+ Dual SIM specifications

Also see

HTC DESIRE 210 - WHITE ₹ 6,400

HTC DESIRE 210 (BLACK) ₹ 6,999

HTC DESIRE 620G (DUAL SIM, MILKYWAY GREY) ₹ 13,159