IntellectBeat

Smartphones, that have become so essential in our lives, are otherwise quite well designed pieces of technology, until you need to place them on a flat surface for easy viewing. Because smartphones don’t come with built-in kickstands, we need to invest in a phone stand or place the phone against another object, whenever there is a need to place the phone at an angle - say to watch a long video. The next time you need a phone holder, don’t reach for that water bottle (to rest your phone on) or log in to an e-commerce website. Just look around your house and you are sure to find things that can be converted into a handy stand for your phone - that too in less than a minute. A series of instructional GIFs below demonstrates how you can easily make phone stands out of everyday items. It's time to bring your old pair of sunglasses to some good use. And in case, if you have only one pair that you often use, you now know how to bring it to use when you're out with friends and s...

Here’s a list of phones which are first-of-their-kind. From feature phones to smartphones, flat screen to curved, fragile to shatterproof, mobile phones have evolved over the years. Although many industry analysts would like to call the current level of innovation reaching a stagnation point, there still are some manufacturers which have been able to surprise consumers by truly packing something different in their smartphones. We have compiled a list of phones which offer first-of-its-kind features, and they are not merely concepts. 1. Motorola X force - Shatterproof display Display today is the most vulnerable yet the most neglected element in modern smartphones. But Motorola finally paid heed to the fragile screen with the launch of the the Motorola X Force – the world’s first smartphone with a shatterproof display. The phone uses the Moto ShatterShield display technology, which is said to be an integrated system consisting of five layers designed from material...

Microsoft is reportedly gearing to launch its next and what is believed to be the  "last Lumia" smartphone , the Lumia 650 on February 1. After the launch of the Lumia 650 smartphone, the Redmond giant is said to concentrate on its Windows 10 Mobile-based Surface Phone range and will no longer launch smartphones under the Lumia moniker. Windows Central  reports that it has heard "multiple times" that the Lumia 650 may be the last Lumia. This is not the first time we have heard about the Surface Phone series from Microsoft. Last month, Chris Capossela, Chief Marketing Officer of Microsoft,  tipped  that the company may reveal the 'Surface' branded smartphone in the second-half of 2016. The new phone range is said to be powered by Intel processors instead of the Qualcomm chipsets. If this comes out to be true then this will be an end of era for Microsoft that launched its Lumia range of smartphone to compete other brands and platforms.  The report also s...

Now that every smartphone has at least one camera built into it, we’re taking more photos than ever. The downside is that these photos, collectively over time, take up a lot of room. Throw in videos, time-lapses, and burst shots, and you’ll easily fill up a 16GB device. The cause is that users don’t edit, back up,® or delete their photos, turning their phones into digital graveyards. If you want to archive your photos to use later – whether to share or edit – make it a habit to get them off your phone. It will not only free up space, but you can store them safely for future viewing. There are a few ways to transfer photos from your Android phone to your computer, and they’re all easy, so take your pick and start shooting. Google Drive Backup Google Drive’s Backup service is by far the simplest method for both backing up your photos and subsequently getting off your Android phone. The service is standard on almost all Android phones and wo...

Android 6.0 Marshmallow is finally rolling out to the Moto X Style handset. The Lenovo-owned company has started to roll out the software update to the handset, according to multiple reports. The update is improving the Moto X Style's battery life. The update comes a week after the company began to soak test Android 6.0 on the Moto X Style in several European countries. Several users on Reddit note that the update is substantiallyimproving the battery life on their device. A user, for instance, said that after upgrading to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the Moto X Style now offers 7-8 hours of screen-on-time on a single charge. The handset, according to the user, offered up to six hours of screen-on-time prior to the update. Several other users have chimed in to support the claim. If this is indeed the case,Motorola has fixed one of most annoying issues in an otherwise pretty decent smartphone. It is not known exactly which regions are getting Android 6.0 currently,...

InFocus on Monday added a new handset to its growing mid-range lineup in India. Called the InFocus M680, the highlights of the handset are its 13-megapixel front-facing camera, and 4G capability. The InFocus M680 is priced at Rs. 10,999, and will be sold on Snapdeal via flash sale in Silver and Gold colour images. The first sale is on December 21, with registrations beginning Monday. The InFocus M680 is the bigger sibling of the InFocus M535, which was launched in India in November. For the new smartphone, the company is upping the display and camera resolutions. Inside the all-metal shell, the  infocus M680 sports a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display with 401ppi density. It is powered by MediaTek's MT6753 octa-core SoC clocked at 1.5GHz, and 2GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, and allows users to expand via microSD card (up to 32GB), with a hybrid dual-SIM slot (Nano-SIM card). Other features of the handset include a 13-megapixel re...

Xiaomi Redmi Note Prime is priced at Rs 8,499 and will be available exclusively on Amazon.in and Mi.com Xiaomi Redmi Note Prime is an enhanced version of Redmi Note 4G with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage. Xiaomi India’s second ‘Made in India’ smartphone, Redmi Note Prime has been announced. The handset will go on sale from December 15. The Redmi Note Prime is priced at Rs 8,499 and will be available exclusively on Amazon.in and Mi.com. Sale for this phone will start at 10 am on December 15. Xiaomi announced in August this year that it would manufacture its devices locally in India, and had announced the Redmi 2 Prime as part of this. Redmi Note Prime is the second Mi phone to be manufactured in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, in partnership with Foxconn Technology Group. Redmi Note Prime is an enhanced version of Redmi Note 4G with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage (expandable to 32GB) and a Snapdragon 410 64-bit processor. Other specs of the Redmi Note Prime are 5.5-inch HD IPS display (1280 X...

Online taxi-hailing service Uber will give Saudi Arabian women lifts to polling stations for free on Saturday to help boost female participation at the first elections in the deeply conservative Islamic kingdom open to female voters. Saudi Arabian women are both running for election and voting for the first time in local elections in what is viewed as a pigeon step towards gender equality in the autocratic nation where women are still legally barred from driving. The free service to take women to vote is a joint effort between US-based tech company Uber and Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women, a Saudi women's empowerment group. Uber has proved popular with women in the wealthy desert state to get around amid limited public transportation and general unease about the safety of taxis, said Al-Nahda's Chief Executive Rasha Alturki. "We needed to play a role because we found this really empowering to women," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "With reg...

After Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai Comes Out in Support of Muslims After Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has come out in support of Muslims, saying that we must support Muslim and other minority communities in the US and around the world. Responding to a recent wave of prejudice against Muslims - especially in the wake of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump asking for a ban on Muslims entering the US - the Indian-born top Google executive reiterated his own experience and said let us not let fear defeat our values. "I came to the US from India 22 years ago. I was fortunate enough to gain entry to a university here, and time after time, I saw that hard work opened other doors. I have built a career and a family and a life here. And I've felt as much a part of this country, as I felt growing up in India," he posted on the social message platform Medium on Saturday. "My experience is obviously not unique. It's been ...

2016 might be the year that virtual reality finally takes hold in the tech world. Sony, Microsoft and Oculus VR are all planning to launch their own hardware before the end of next year, with tons of developers already hard at work on games, apps and other software to ensure that VR hits the ground running. But if you don’t want to wait until next year to see what VR has to offer, you can take a sneak peek at the innovations today without putting a strain on your wallet. The first and most obvious way is to acquire a Google Cardboard viewer, which should run you about $20 (if you can’t find one available for free somewhere). As the name implies, the viewer isn’t an especially advanced piece of hardware, but it’s all you need to try out a whole ecosystem of VR apps with your smartphone. If cardboard isn’t your preferred VR viewer material, you can spend a few extra dollars and pick up the Mattel View-Master for $25 instead. Cardboard works fine, but if y...

Xiaomi is reportedly working on a new smartphone. A smartphone codenamed as Xiaomi Kenzo has surfaced on benchmarking website GeekBench revealing some of  its specifications. The device is expected to be Xiaomi Redmi 3 smartphone. As per the listing, the Kenzo is powered by a Qualcomm MSM8952 Snapdragon 617 chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM. The listing shows that the processor has six core CPU clocked at 1.4GHz while actually this processor comes with eight cores with clock speed of 1.5GHz. On software front, it runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop operating system. As for benchmark scores, the Kenzo scored 1561 and 4541 points in single-core and multi-core tests respectively. Rest of the specifications of the phone are scarce as of now and are likely to surface in the coming days. This information should be taken with a pinch of salt since Xiaomi has not revealed any details about the smartphone officially yet. Rumored Specifications & Features Of...

10 Tips: How To Keep Your Smartphone Secure We use our smartphones for numerous tasks such as browsing social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter etc, sending and receiving e-mails, capturing and sharing images, making audio and video calls, making online payments and so on. For accomplishing all these tasks we enter some crucial information on our devices like our e-mail id’s, passwords, credit card details etc. What if this crucial information is leaked or hacked? What if our phone is stolen and all the information is misused by someone. In order to protect the data on our devices, we need to take some security measures. In this post, we have listed few simple tips on how to keep your smartphone secure. Follow these precautions to protect your smartphone as well as the data you store in it. How To Keep Your Smartphone Secure Try these simple tips to keep your Android, iPhone, BlackBerry or Windows Phone safe. 1. Use a PIN or Pattern To Lock Your Smartphone Put a screen lo...

A South Korean court on Friday acquitted a senior LG Electronics executive on charges of sabotaging rival Samsung washing machines at a trade fair in Germany last year. The Seoul Central District Court dismissed the case against Jo Seong-Jin, the president of LG's home appliance division, citing a lack of compelling evidence. The two South Korean tech giants have been fierce competitors for years, and the washing machine spat broke out after Samsung claimed surveillance video footage from the September 2014 fair in Berlin showed LG executives, including Jo, destroying door hinges on its washers. The court ruled the prosecution failed to prove Jo actually broke the washers or had intended to do so. In March this year, the two companies decided to end all their legal disputes, but Jo's trial went ahed because the criminal case had already been launched. Bitter competitors in home appliance and TV markets both at home and abroad, Samsung and LG have lock...

Updated on 11th December 2015 It seems that leaks around Xiaomi’s upcoming flagship smartphone, Mi 5 won’t stop coming. Now a new leaked image of the device has surfaced online. The image that has surfaced on Weibo, shows thin bezels and a physical home button. The bezels are super slim and the device seems to feature 2.5D curved glass over the display. The physical home button below the display is expected to house fingerprint scanner. The image is blurry but earpiece above the display is also visible. Read on to find more details on rumored specifications and features of Xiaomi’s upcoming Mi 5 smartphone. Rumored Specifications Of Upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 •Processor: 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 •Display: 5.2-inch full HD •RAM: 4GB •ROM: 16GB/32GB (expandable via microSD card) •Rear Camera: 16 mega pixel •Front Camera: 8 mega pixel •Battery: 3030 mAh All this information should be taken with a grain of salt since these details have not bee...

LG  is reportedly working on its next flagship smartphone, called the LG G5.  As per a Weibo post, the device will be unveiled in February. The report reveals that the device will come with metal unibody design unlike LG G4 which bears leather back. The device is also said to pack fingerprint scanner and iris scanner which were missing on the erstwhile LG G4. The report also sheds some light on the specifications of the device. Read on to find out details on rumored specifications and features of upcoming LG G5. As for specifications, it is said to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC and feature a 5.6-inch QHD display with 2560×1440 pixels resolution. On camera front, it is likely to sport a 21 mega pixel rear camera and an 8 mega pixel front facing camera. Rest of the specifications are not knows as of now and are likely to surface in the coming days. Rumored Specifications & Features Of LG G5 •Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 •Displ...

Xiaomi   seems to be gearing up for the launch of Xiaomi redmi 2   Prime smartphone in India. The Chinese handset manufacturer has shared teaser images on its Twitter and Facebook pages saying #PrimeIsComing. The images also shows the front of a device that looks similar to Redmi Note 2 Prime hinting that the company is bringing the phone to India. To recall, the Redmi Note 2 Prime was launched in China in August 2015. Read on to find more details on specifications, features and availability details of the phablet. Advertisement As for specifications, the Redmi Note 2 is powered by an octa-core Helio X10 processor clocked at 2.2GHz paired with PowerVR G6200 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Running Android Lollipop operating system wrapped under MIUI7, it features a 5.5-inch full HD dispay with 1920×1080 pixel resolution. The phone houses 32GB of internal memory which can be expanded via microSD card. It sports a 13 mega pixel rear camera with LED flash and ph...

OnePlus  is reportedly working on its next flagship smartphone, called the OnePlus 3. Render images of the device have surfaced online. A website named, Mobile Dad has shared two renders of a device which appears to be the OnePlus 3. The device looks similar to OnePlus One smartphone with few changes. The device sports two front speakers at the top and bottom. On the rear of the phone, there is rear camera accompanied with LED flash. OnePlus logo is towards the rear bottom of the phone. The image does not show fingerprint sensor or touch capacitive buttons. The phone sports stripes on the edges, purpose of which as of now is not known. Read on to find more details on rumored specifications and features of the device. Another leakster, called Upleaks has revealed specifications of the device. It is rumored to be powered by a  64-bit quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and feature a full HD display with 1920×1080 pixels resolution. Rest of the spec...

Apple  is set to bring its Apple iPad Pro to India in the coming days. While the company has not made any official announcement about the same, an established Mumbai based retailer, Mahesh Telecom has revealed the pricing of the tablet for the Indian market. The retailer also mentions that stocks will be received in few days. The 32GB Wi-Fi variant of Apple iPad Pro will be priced at Rs. 67,900, the 128GB Wi-Fi version will be priced at Rs. 79,900 and the 128GB Wi-Fi + Cellular variant will cost Rs. 91,900. Prices for Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil have not been revealed yet. There is no word on exact availability of the device. It is however expected to go on sale in the coming days. As for specifications, the iPad Pro is powered by a 64-bit Apple A9X processor. Running iOS 9 operating system, it features a 12.9-inch Retina display with 2732×2048 pixels resolution and 264 ppi pixel density. On camera front, it sports a 8 mega p...

Samsung realises that gamers might find its Galaxy View tablet a little too large to play games on. Which is perhaps why the South Korean technology company has released S Console Gamepad app that users can install on their Samsung smartphones, and then pair to play games on the large-screen tablet. The App is especially designed for users who don't want to use a physical Gamepad . Several Android devices offer support for gamepad. The app offers support for more than 100 well-known gamepad optimised games on the big-screen tablet, the company said. The app works exclusively with Samsung smartphones running Android 5.0 or above, and so far, no details have been released about if the app's functionality will extend to tablets other than the Galaxy View. In addition, it also supports six different gamepad layouts for different genres such as racing and role playing games. The company insists that setting up the app with the tablet is easy too. Furthermore, the ...

Two months after unveiling the Pixel C, Google on Tuesday announced that its Android tablet is available for purchase in select markets. The 10-inch tablet is priced at $499 (roughly Rs. 33,000). Alongside the launch of the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 5X at its September event,Google unveiled the Pixel C tablet, the company’s first Android tablet in the Pixel lineup. At the time, the company had said that it would begin shipping the device sometime later this year. The Pixel C is also one of the most premium Android tablets you can purchase today. Unlike the plastic body that you would find on the Nexus and most other tablets, the Pixel C sports a slick aluminium unibody frame, and comes equipped with a USB Type-C port, a technology that only a few other devices have. As for other specifications, the Pixel C sports a 10.2-inch display with a 2560x1800 pixels screen resolution. It is powered by Nvidia Tegra X1 SoC with 3GB of RAM and houses 32GB of ...