ZTE to provide Voice-over LTE solutions to E-Plus

ZTE and German network operator E-Plus, on Monday announced that they are cooperating on the deployment of an IMS (IP multimedia services) based core network infrastructure. This will be the basis for a commercial voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) service in the E-Plus network.
Since 2013, when large-scale commercial LTE networks began to be established all around the world, the question of how to launch 4G voice services has been important to all major operators. By using 4G LTE’s high-speed mobile communications technology , VoLTE provides high-quality voice services for end users through the IMS core network.

“It has become a tradition that E-Plus, with our strategic partner ZTE, leads the market in introducing new technologies in the core network. The introduction of IMS in such a short time is a true masterpiece by ZTE,” said Christoph Bladoschewski, Department Manager Voice and Services at E-Plus.

"We are very honoured to provide IMS network and VoLTE solutions for E-Plus. ZTE's VoLTE solution will help E-Plus to provide high-quality voice services and guarantee high-bandwidth data services based on LTE access. ZTE’s implementation of the VoLTE technology will also help improve E-Plus's network profitability," said Li Jun, CEO of ZTE Deutschland GmbH.

With ZTE'S help, E-Plus deployed the IMS core network within only a few months and has already started testing VoLTE services for commercial use in the E-Plus network. Compared with CSFB (circuit switched fall back) technology that makes voice calls ‘fall back’ to the 3G network, VoLTE provides higher-quality voice services for end users and improves the user experience. In addition, the eSRVCC (enhanced single RAN voice call continuity) flow for switching voice services from the 4G IMS network to the 3G CS network ensures that when a 4G LTE user migrates from a place covered by the 4G network to a coverage hole in the 4G network, the user's voice services can be smoothly switched to the 3G network. In this way, 4G LTE users can enjoy uninterrupted and stable voice services.

Since 2009, ZTE has been providing 3G and 4G radio products, PS (packet switch) and EPC (enhanced packet core)  products and iVAS (integrated value-added services) products for E-Plus. In 2013, ZTE was named as the "Best Supplier" by E-Plus. The commercial UMTS network and PS core network have been deployed with ZTE's devices in the existing E-Plus network, and the LTE network and the EPC were put into commercial use in early 2014.

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Baidui and BMW join forces to create semi-autonomous cars in China

According to Baidu the next step in development will involve what the company calls ‘Highly Autonomous Driving’ or HAD. This means that ultimately there is still a human involved in the driving process, but certain functions such as highway cruising and parking can be fully automated.

We have seen BMW show off their automated driving technology before, but this new partnership will help its development specifically in China and involves shared R&D resources. The out come is not necessarily to develop a BMW/Baidu branded car, but does underline the influence of Baidu as a company with big ambitions that is willing to use its data to develop artificial intelligence systems.

“This is actually an intelligent assistant collecting data from road situations and then operating locally, we don’t call this a driverless car.” – stated Kai Yu of Baidu’s Deep Institute of Learning.

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The ZMAX is an LTE smartphone

The ZTE ZMAX, a 5.7-inch smartphone.

Chinese smartphone maker ZTE is hoping to drum up smartphone sales in the U.S., with a new 5.7-inch phablet that'll be available exclusively on T-Mobile from Sept. 24.

The ZMAX is an LTE smartphone, built with a large 3,400 mAh battery, but comes at a low one-time payment of US$252 or $10.50 a month on a two-year subscription plan with T-Mobile.

In designing the ZMAX, ZTE wanted to create a mid-range phone, still packed with some premium features. The phablet's large battery can last two days on a single charge, the company said on Tuesday.

The phone has a 1280 by 720 screen resolution, runs a largely unchanged version of Android 4.4, and has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core 1.2GHz processor. Inside is 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded through its micro SD card slot to 32GB.

The ZMAX weighs in at 6.7 ounces, and has a 8-megapixel camera in the rear and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera.

The smartphone vendor is better known for its low-cost handsets, but the company has been working to introduce more higher-end products in the U.S., a market with better profit margins than ZTE's home market in China.

In this year's second quarter, ZTE was tied with Motorola for fourth place in the U.S. smartphone market, with a 6 percent share, according to research firm Canalys.

The ZMAX could help ZTE tap the U.S.'s growing phablet market, where the Samsung Galaxy Note is a top product, according to research firm IDC. The U.S. is the world's second largest phablet market behind China, IDC added.

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Spice Dream UNO will be the first Android One phone, will most likely feature an MT6582 CPU

Looks like Spice (or Flipkart?) couldn’t hold the excitement till tomorrow, which is when the first batch of Android One phones are set to release. The reason why we say this is because a listing with the ‘Spice Dream UNO’ phone went live briefly on Flipkart, which is believed to be Spice’s Android One entry.

Micromax and Karbonn are the other two OEM partners that will be working with Google to deliver Android One phones. As announced by Google at this year’s I/O, the prices will hover around the $100 mark. In this case, the Spice Dream UNO will get a 6,999 INR or US$115 price tag based on the listing on Flipkart. AndroidOS.in managed to catch the screen:

Source: http://chicmob.net/

Oppo N3 launch confirmed plus purported leaked images

Last year Oppo released the Oppo N1, a camera centric smartphone with some interesting features including a rotating camera, rear touch panel and bluetooth remote. The phone managed to even spawn a Oppo N1 Mini version with smaller display, now now a successor is planned.

Teasers indicate that the next camera phone from Oppo will be the Oppo N3, and judging by the image we can expect the phone to launch in Singapore in October.

Confirmed details of the Oppo N3 aren’t available but if the leaked render shown above is the real deal we can hopefully see a more compact device than the previous model, with dual LED flash. We also hope to see a better optimised camera, LTE, and more powerful processor present in this version of the phone.

Source: http://chicmob.net/

Huawei Honor 6 review

Over the years, we have come to see some little signs in the packaging to mean great things. For example, it isn’t always a representation of value for money when you open a package and find a ton of accessories in side, but rather the phone maker’s attempt to distract you from something. On the oth

Over the years, we have come to see some little signs in the packaging to mean great things. For example, it isn’t always a representation of value for money when you open a package and find a ton of accessories in side, but rather the phone maker’s attempt to distract you from something. On the other hand, if you open up a box to find the phone and little else, chances are the manufacturer are selling a device close to cost (real value for money). Don’t believe us? Take a look at the lack of accessories with the OPO, Xiaomi Mi4, Nubia Z7 etc.

The Huawei Honor 6 joins this category well with only the phone, USB wire, charger and two screen protectors in the box (for the front and rear of the glass phone). The lack of number, and earphones isn’t Huawei being cheap, its simply that they cannot offer them at such a competitive price with this level of hardware.er hand, if you open up a box to find the phone and little else, chances are the manufacturer are selling a device close to cost (real value for money). Don’t believe us? Take a look at the lack of accessories with the OPO, Xiaomi Mi4, Nubia Z7 etc.

The Huawei Honor 6 joins this category well with only the phone, USB wire, charger and two screen protectors in the box (for the front and rear of the glass phone). The lack of number, and earphones isn’t Huawei being cheap, its simply that they cannot offer them at such a competitive price with this level of hardware.

Source: http://chicmob.net/

Refunds for Pirate3D backers mistakenly ‘delayed’ by two years, sparking complaints

 
Last we heard, Pirate3D had raised US$1.43 million in crowdfunding, and seemed set for big things. Today, the team woke up to a rude shock on their Kickstarter campaign page, which was flooded with an influx of complaints with regards to the date of refunds to backers. Understandably so, since those backers had apparently been informed that they were only going to see their money returned in two years’ time.

In lieu of a delay in their shipments, the team had sent out a survey last month to offer backers the choice of getting their money refunded, or waiting for a longer period of time to get their Buccaneer 3D printer. Those who chose the former were previously promised that they would receive their money by the year’s end, according to a backer named Sally ‘Qwill’ Janin:

Depending on the volume of refunds requested, Pirate3D will disburse the refunds in stages between August 2014 to December 2014 to all backers who have filled in the refund form.
​

However, an autoresponder email sent out yesterday said otherwise:

This email serves as a confirmation that you have selected a REFUND for your order of the Buccaneer 3D Printer.
Refund Amount: $497.00
Paypal Address to Receive the Refund:
Your refund has been queued based on a First Come First Serve basis and will be processed in chronological order.
It is expected that you will receive your refund on September 2016
Fair winds,
Pirate3D
​

Naturally, this caused an uproar among their backers, some of whom were told that they would be getting their money as late as 2017 instead. The Pirate3D team was quick to respond first thing in the morning, attributing this to an error in the script they had used to calculate the refund dates:

 
However, it seems that the damage has been done, with certain backers stating that they had “lost the faith” and not expecting to receive their money at all. We’ve reached out to Pirate3D for comments, and will update this article as soon as we get a response.

See: ‘Fake’ Pirate3D campaign raising money on Indiegogo​

Source: http://chicmob.net/

Zopo ZP320 review, a 5 inch 4G smartphone

At A Glance

PROS

• 4G
• Sleek design
• Price
• Micro SD card slot (up to 64GB)

CONS

• Sub 720p display
• Limited internal storage

7.5
The ZP320 is one of the latest releases by the Chinese smartphone maker Zopo. It features a quad-core MediaTek processor and a 5 inch display. Running Android 4.4, this 4G smartphone is worth checking out.

Zopo has been making Android smartphones for several years, but this is the first time I have had a chance to review one. Earlier this year MediaTek released a new multimode LTE modem chipset – the MT6290. As a result, Chinese OEMs, like Zopo, have started to ship their new generation of 4G-LTE phones. I received a ZP320 a few days ago and I have been testing it to see what Zopo can bring to the table.

Spec sheet

Display5 inch, IPS, 960 x 540
Processor1.3GHz, quad-core Mediatek MT6582, Cortex-A7
RAM1GB
Storage8GB, microSD card slot, up to 64GB
Camera8 Megapixel Rear Camera, 2 Megapixel Front Camera
Battery2300 mAh
ConnectivityGPS, microUSB 2.0, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth
NetworksGSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz. 3G 900/2100MHz. 4G LTE 800/1800/2600MHz.
SoftwareAndroid 4.4 with Google Play
Dimensions142 x 71 x 9.8 mm.
ColorsWhite, Black
SIM slots1x micro SIM

Design

For a five inch device the Zopo ZP320 looks sleek, even thin. The numbers tell me that the device is the same size and thickness as many other five inch devices, but yet to my eyes it just looked thinner and narrower. After studying it closely I have come to the conclusion that the bezels are a fraction thinner than I was expecting and the top and bottom areas are not as wide as on other phones. At the top the ear piece grill and camera are almost touching the edge of the phone. The result is that the phone looks more compact than it really is. We are only talking about fractions of a millimeter but it does the trick. The designers at Zopo should be congratulated.

The corners of the ZP320 are distinctly rounded in three directions. On the front side the drop off from the corner is flat but not sharp. Running around the whole phone is a think silver band which marks the edge of the phone and the start of the back cover.



On the very top edge of the device is the micro USB port (used for charging and data transfer) and the headphone jack. On the bottom edge the smooth plastic is interrupted only temporarily for the small microphone hole. All the controls are on the right, first comes the volume keys, and below them the power button. If you hold the phone in your left hand it is very easy to reach the buttons with your fingers.

The back covered has a small dimple effect in plastic, which gives it a slight matte appearance, but it also means the device is easy to grip and doesn’t feel slippery. On the back is the 8MP camera along with an LED flash. The camera lens has a silver ring around it which ever so slightly protrudes from the back of the device. This means it doesn’t lay perfectly flat on a table, however the small dots on either side of the speaker grill are just as much to blame. Of course they are there to ensure that the speaker isn’t muffled when placed down. On the back there is also a second microphone, something that is often missing on lower end phones. The second mic should give better sound when recording video.



The IPS display on the ZP320 is bright and vibrant, with good viewing angles, however its sub 720p resolution is a bit of a disappointment. The bottom bezel houses the three capacitive keys which light up when pressed.

                   
Performance

At the heart of the ZP320 is a MediaTek MTK6582 . It is a quad-core Cortex-A7 based processor that is coupled with an ARM Mali-400 MP GPU. The device isn’t going to win any gold medals for performance, however the MediaTek processor easily ensures that the overall experience is fluid and responsive.

The ZP320 AnTuTu scores are respectable considering the low-end processor and the price point. Antutu v5.0 gives the device a score of 18795 which means the device is comparable to the Nexus 4 and the Moto G. For Epic Citadel, the demo app for the Unreal 3D engine, the ZP320 managed 53.8 frames per second (fps) on the High Performance setting, and 53.6 fps in the High Quality mode.



The GPS performance of the ZP320 is excellent. I tested the device inside my house and it was able to get a lock using the signals from a dozen satellites. Getting a lock while indoors is quite unusual for a low- to mid- range phone. Very impressive.

Battery

The ZP320 has a good sized battery at 2300 mAh. After some testing I found that the battery performance was on-par with my expectations, maybe even better. When running Epic Citadel, in its Guided Tour mode, the device lasts just under 5.5 hours before it runs out of juice. For YouTube streaming (over Wi-Fi) the device can handle around 10 hours on one charge. Watching an MP4 movie from the internal storage yields around 10.5 hours of viewing pleasure. All the tests were carried out with the screen on half brightness, syncing enabled and Wi-Fi on.



Connectivity

The Zopo ZP320 is a single SIM device and supports 3G on 900/2100MHz and 4G on 800/1800/2600MHz. The different 4G providers around the world use pre-defined frequency bands. My carrier uses 1800MHz, so the ZP320 worked with 4G without any problems. The speed tests I performed confirmed much higher throughput than those I get on 3G. The bands listed are popular ones used in many parts of Africa, some but not all parts of Central and South America and large parts of Asia. In Europe, basically every carrier uses one of the bands supported by this device. Unfortunately none of the North American carriers use these frequencies. Before buying the phone you should check with your carrier to ensure compatibility, or if you trust Wikipedia then it has a global list of LTE networks.

This device is compatible with two 3G frequencies, 900 and 2100MHz. The latter is the most common 3G frequency and should work in most places around the world, however a lot of carriers also use secondary 3G spectrum ranges. In Asia and South America this is often 850MHz and 1900MHz, for Europe it tends to be 900MHz. The 3G won’t work in the USA, however 2G calls should work fine. You need to check with your carrier to ensure compatibility or check the List of UMTS networks page.

I compared the Wi-Fi signals strengths of the ZP320 with other devices I have and it performed equally as well. I was able to access the Internet from all around the house and outside without any problems.

Camera

The 8MP camera on the ZP320 is distinctly average. The auto-focus can have trouble with close-up shots and there is a danger of bleaching in strong sunlight. However with care, you can still take reasonable pictures. The built-in camera app has all the normal features and functions like face detection, HDR and panorama mode. Because the phone runs Android 4.4 KitKat you can also use Google’s camera app if you don’t like the built-in one. The best thing to do is to look at the pictures below and decide for yourself.

        
Software

The ZP320 comes with stock Android 4.4.2 with a slightly modified launcher and a few other minor tweaks. The settings page uses color icons (rather than the standard monochrome ones) and there are a few special functions like HotKnot, a NFC alternative; some simple gesture sensing, which don’t really work; and smart wake functions, which allow you to draw on the screen when the device is asleep to wake it directly into certain apps like the camera.



The ZP320 comes with full Google Play support and all of the normal Google apps are available. For those Google apps not pre-installed, a quick trip to the Play Store gets you everything you need.

The 8GB of internal storage will be limiting for many users. Only 6.06GB of the 8GB is usable. 0.88GB is set aside for apps (marked as internal storage) and 5.18GB is for data (marked as phone storage). There is a micro SD card slot which accepts cards up to 64GB and the phone can be set to use the SD card as the default write location. However even with an SD card installed, the internal storage is still used for apps. There is the option to move apps to the phone storage, however there doesn’t seem to be away to get the device to move apps to the SD card.

Source: http://chicmob.net/

LeanDroid – Indie app of the day

What is LeanDroid?


LeanDroid is an application that allows you to manually manage your data connections, Bluetooth, and GPS. There are a myriad of benefits to doing this yourself and they include things like better data management (for those on limited data plans) and better battery life. It’s a little complicated but aren’t the best things in life a little complicated?

Okay here’s how it works. Inside of this application is what is essentially a set of instructions on when to turn your various resources on and off. You can alter these instructions to be pretty much whatever you want. If you want your data to turn off a certain amount of time after turning your screen off, you can do that. If you’re downloading something, you can create an exception that prevents your data from shutting off until after the download is finished. That is just one example. There are many others.

Once you get in there, learn the interface, and get everything set up, your phone will begin to automatically turn services off under certain conditions in order to save battery life and your data plan. The instructions are set up in two parts. Step one is the “enable when” part where you enter in the details of when you want these things to be enabled. Step two is the “disbable when” part where you choose the parameters that you want your data disabled.

The interface is a little wonky and old school which will be delightful for those who like old school, text-driven interfaces. Those who are used to more graphical interfaces may balk at the sight of so much text but we assure you it isn’t as bad as it looks. Other than that, the app does what it says it does.


Battery life management for experts.

PROS

• Manually manage when your resources turn on and off to squeeze as much battery life as possible out of each charge.
• It's also really good for helping to conserve your data plan.
• Once you get used to it, it's not all that difficult to use.
• Free with in app purchases (which means you can use most of the app without paying for it to see if you like it).

CONS

• Interface is a little unattractive and complicated.
• Some people have reported features not working on some devices. The developer is working on it but there are still a few issues to hammer out.

7.5
If you’re really big into squeezing every conceivable second of battery out of your device, this is a great way to do it. You can set it to your habits and style so the device only saves battery when you actually aren’t using it. Half of the features require the premium version but there is enough in the free version to let you try it out and see if you like it.


Check out the last indie app of the day: SB Wallpaper Changer
Check out the indie app of the day discussion in the Android Authority forums!

Source: LeanDroid (Google Play Store);

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