Reseller lists OnePlus Two ahead of launch, reveals some specs

Just a day after OnePlus confirmed that the company’s next smartphone, allegedly dubbed OnePlus Two, will be launched by Q3 of next year, Chinese resellers have started listing the device with complete specifications as well as price.

According to online store Coolicool, the smartphone will sport a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 5.5-inch display, 32GB internal memory, 5 mega-pixel front camera, 16 mega-pixel rear camera, and 3300mAh battery. As for the pricing, the website says $551.99.

Needless to say, none of this has been officially confirmed by OnePlus, so take it with a pinch of salt.

In other news, OnePlus One was lunched in India yesterday at a price point of INR21,999 for the 64GB model, which is approximately $355.

Twitter adds more photo filters to Android and iOS apps

Twitter is taking a cue from Instagram and adding new filters to enhance photo sharing experience. The micro blogging site is bringing new photo filters to Android and iOS apps.

Filters can be enabled after a photo is added to a tweet by selecting the image, which brings up Twitter’s in-app photo editing menu. All filters are now presented at the bottom of the image page similar to Instagram. Filter options slide out in a swipeable line and users can select from Radiant, Positive, Warm, Breeze, Glow, Golden, Fame, and Stark. Double tapping a filter after making a selection brings up an adjustable slider that enables users to adjust the filter density.

The latest update comes from Twitter two years after it had first introduced photo filters in 2012. Earlier today, Twitter improved tools for reporting online abuse on the site.

Yotaphone 2 goes official in the UK, pre-orders start soon

The Yotaphone 2 went official with a 5" 1080p AMOLED on the front and a 4.7" e-paper display on the back. The dual-screened phone should become available in the UK later today (no price or shipping date info is available yet).

Both the front and the back screens are protected with Gorilla Glass 3. The one on the back is always on and has qHD resolution (540 x 960px, 235ppi) and displays 16 levels of gray. Yota doesn’t clarify if it’s LCD-based e-paper or Kindle-like e-ink.

This display can be used both for customizing the back with widgets and for reading text (while using very little power). It's not clear yet what software support for e-books is available (will Amazon's and B&N's apps work?).

The Yotaphone 2 runs Android 4.4 KitKat on a Snapdragon 800 chipset with 2GB of RAM. There's a 8MP/1080p main camera and a 2.1MP front-facing camera, plus 32GB of storage to keep your photos and videos on (but no expansion slot).

Connectivity includes LTE (Cat. 4, 150Mbps downlink), Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, A-GPS + GLONASS and microUSB 2.0 with SlimPort. Inside is a 2,500mAh battery, wireless charging is supported out of the box.

You can now sign up on Yotaphone 2's homepage, delivery will be on a first come, first serve basis. Pricing is yet to be confirmed and in terms of availability the UK is all there is for now (but it won't be coming to the US).

#66 Live Tech Q&A Session with Geekyranjit - 2 Dec 2014

Project Ara challenger Puzzlephone should launch in the second half of next year

Google's modular Project Ara handset appears to have another challenger on the way. The appropriately named Puzzlephone will give users the option to change three parts of the handset. The Brain is where the electronics of the phone will live, including the camera. Want a better snapper on your Puzzlephone? Simply snap out the current Brain and snap in a new one. 

The Spine is where you will find the speakers, microphone and display. And the Heart is where you will find the Puzzlephone's battery. The modular handset is being built by Finnish startup Circular Devices. A forked version of Android will drive the phone. Eventually, the device will support other platforms, like Windows Phone, Sailfish and Firefox OS.

Puzzlephone is expected to launch sometime during the second half of 2015, priced the same as a mid-range smartphone. You might not get the full customization of Project Ara, but you still will have choices to make. One decision you'll have to make, is whether you want a modular phone without the Google Play Store.

Lollipop runs on less than 0.1% of all Android devices, KitKat now powers 34% of them

Google released the Android distribution report for the month of November. Android 4.4 KitKat continued its increase in share - the OS version now runs on one out of three devices out there (33.9% to be precise).

Android 4.4 KitKat’s distribution number is up from 30.2% for the month of October. The KitKat share increase comes at the expense of Android Jelly Bean. The latter saw its share drop below 50% (it was 50.9% last month).

Shares of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and Android 2.3 Gingerbread dipped 0.7% each from a month ago to 7.8% and 9.1% respectively. Version 2.2 Froyo on the other hand is still alive and kicking - it boots on 0.5% of all Android devices out there.

Android 5.0 Lollipop is yet to appear on the distribution charts. We will have to wait another month to find out how big an entry the latest build will make.