Soon after Spice and Micromax, Karbonn has now announced the start of the rollout of its Android 5.1 Lollipop update for the Karbonn Sparkle V Android One phone in India. Last week the other two Android One smartphones - Micromax Canvas A1 and Spice Dream Uno started receiving the Android 5.1 Lollipop update, which is the first major update to Android Lollipop.
Karbonn Mobiles in a press statement confirmed that the Android 5.1 Lollipop update is now available to download OTA (over-the-air), while it can also be upgraded via any Karbonn service centres. Users can also manually check for the update by going to Settings > About phone > Software update on the Karbonn Sparkle V.

The domestic handset brand however has not revealed the changelog for the update. It notes, "Android Lollipop 5.1 offers a bold, colourful Material design for fluid, purposeful motion and easy access to preferred menu options. The Lollipop update has also successfully addressed random app crashes issue and includes quick heads-up notifications and enhanced security settings for improved user experience."

Some of the features of Android 5.1 Lollipop include support for multiple SIM cards, Device Protection and HD voice on compatible devices. Other changes include easy handling of Wi-Fi toggles and Bluetooth from Quick Settings; fix for random app crashes; improved security in case the smartphone has been stolen or is lost; improved heads-up notifications that let users swipe up to collapse; better handling of system audio while playing a media file, and new 'No interruptions until next alarm' option in Priority mode.

Android One phones in India started receiving Android 5.0 Lollipop update in the last week of February. Despite Google's promise to deliver the Android updates soon after they are released to Android One phones; the company has disappointed consumers with months of delay in Android 5.0 Lollipop update.

Facebook services were briefly unavailable for some users on Friday for what the world's largest social networking website termed required maintenance.

Several users from across the world reported the problem, with most complaints seem to be originating from US and Europe. At least some users in India and other parts of Asia also experienced the problems.

Users trying to login to the Facebook website saw the following message instead of the regular Facebook News Feed:

Facebook Will Be Back Soon !!
Facebook is down for required maintenance right now, but you should be able to get back on within a few minutes. In the meantime, read more about why you're seeing this message. Thanks for your patience as we improve the site.

Facebook's website offers the following explanation for the error:
If you're seeing this error message when you try to log in, it usually means that we're making an improvement to the database that your account is stored on. While we're doing this, you won't be able to access your account. We're sorry for the inconvenience.
A few things to note:

After the maintenance is over, you'll still be able to log in with the same password
Your account won't be affected by the maintenance

We don't do site maintenance on all accounts at the same time, so it's possible that your friends will be able to access the site while your account is unavailable

We are all familiar with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious dream to connect the whole world with Internet.org.

The social network has already begun working on ways to beam Internet to people from the sky. Now, Zuckerberg has shared some details of Facebook’s Connectivity Lab that is working at building drones, satellites and lasers to deliver the internet to everyone.

“We’ve made good progress so far. Over the past year, our work in the Philippines and Paraguay alone has doubled the number of people using mobile data with the operators we’ve partnered with, helping 3 million new people access the internet,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.

He emphasised on how there will be need for new technology in order to help connect the world and that’s what the company is planning to work at with the new Connectivity Lab. While the Facebook team is already working with experts in aerospace and communications technology (including from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and Ames Research Center), the company has now added a new team, Ascenta, that has helped build unmanned connectivity aircrafts for Facebook.

Ascenta is a small UK-based company whose founders have built the early versions of Zephyr that is the world’s longest flying solar-powered unmanned aircraft.

Facebook will be working with Internet.org partners and operators across the world to deploy these technologies.

Recently, Facebook announced Internet.org in India and Google is also all set to bring its internet project that uses high-altitude balloons to offer connectivity to remote areas here.

Microsoft has announced that the next build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones will support a lot more devices.

"I get a ton of questions every day on Twitter about when your favorite phones will be usable, and I’m happy to report that the vast majority will be supported with the next flight," said Windows Insider manager Gabriel Aul in a blog post.

Aul explained that the reason the first build, which was released last month, supported a limited number of devices was that the company had to select from the set of phones that had sufficient system partition sizes configured by the manufacturer.

He, however, added that the problem has been resolved by implementing a feature called “partition stitching”, using which they can now re-size the system partition dynamically and hence support a larger set of phones.
Hit the Source link below to see the list of phones that the software giant expects to support in the next build. "If, during our testing, we find a device specific bug it MAY be pulled from the list," Aul said.

Since July 2014, Xiaomi has introduced five smartphones and one tablet based on the Android-inspired MIUI user interface in India. So far, the Chinese electronics startup has been selling those devices in partnership with Indian e-commerce company - Flipkart.

Xiaomi sells its smartphones in China through carrier stores and its own website for China. Similarly for India, the company partnered with Airtel, an Indian telecom operator, to sell the Redmi note 4G in its official stores.

But now, Xiaomi has entered into an exclusive partnership with The Mobile Stores to sell the Redmi Note 4G and Mi 4 smartphones in the physical stores starting with the capital city.
Earlier this week, the company announced its plans to sell 100 million smartphones this year and expansion of its offline reach is part of the strategy.

Manu Kumar Jain, Head for India region, Xiaomi shared a Twitter update confirming that the Mi devices indeed will be sold offline at The Mobile Stores in New Delhi, India. The Mobile Stores has over 800 stores across the country and plans to make the Mi phones available in its top 300 stores.

BlackBerry announced the third generation Porsche Design P’9983 handset last year. The luxury smartphone is now available in Canada for $1,950 CAD ($1,545).

BlackBerry has once again teamed up with the Porsche Design team to build the successor of the P’9982 and the P’9981. Bearing a Porsche Design logo on its back in forged stainless steel, the P'9983 has a leather cover at the rear.
The physical QWERTY keyboard sports glossy finish and stainless steel frame. BlackBerry P’9983 features a 3.1" display with a resolution of 720x720 pixels, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus chipset, 2GB RAM, 8MP rear camera with 1080p video capture, 2MP front camera, and 2,100 mAh battery.
This Porsche Design P’9983 smartphone also comes with limited edition PIN for the BlackBerry Messenger.

The Delhi government has asked union Information Technology ministry to block mobile applications of taxi-hailing companies Uber and Ola in the capital city, a state government official told Reuters on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Delhi transport officials asked U.S. cab company Uber and its Indian rival Ola to cease operations if they want their applications of radio taxi licence to operate in the city to be processed, letters seen by Reuters showed.

India had ordered all unregistered web-based taxi companies to halt operations nationwide in December after a female passenger reported she had been raped in New Delhi by a driver contracted to Uber.

Similar to its 'Look Back' and 'Year in Review' features, Facebook can now show you what you did/ posted on the same day in the past. The social networking site on Tuesday introduced a new feature called 'On This Day' to take you through those old memories that you may have forgotten.
Announcing the new feature, Facebook noted that it is not yet available to all users, and will be rolling out globally over the next few days.

The On This Day feature will show you posts, photos, videos shared by you or tagged by others from the same date in the past years, all on a single page, unlike the curated video format in Look Back but similar to the timeline format of Year in Review.

Facebook's new On This Day feature will be accessible on both desktop and mobile in the bookmarks menu, search, News Feed stories, and also on a dedicated page - https://www.facebook.com/onthisday.

Once on the page, users can choose to subscribe to notifications so that they will get an alert whenever they have memories to look back on. Users will also be able to edit and delete old posts, or decide to share the memories with their friends, notes Facebook.

"For example, you might see past status updates, photos, posts from friends and other things you've shared or been tagged in - from one year ago, two years ago, and so on. Only you will see this content unless you decide to share it with your friends."

Just to remind you, this feature had previously rolled out to some users as a test in 2013. To see what has been improved, we will have to wait for the feature to roll out to us.

Google Inc hired Morgan Stanley Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat as its own finance chief, a sign Google is aiming to rein in costs as it invests in new businesses such as self-driving cars and internet-connected eyeglasses.

Porat has helped execute a sweeping cost-cutting strategy across several business lines at Morgan Stanley. The bank cut its expenses, excluding compensation, to 29 percent of its revenue last year, down from 34 percent in 2012.

Google's costs have jumped as the company embarked on an increasing number of ambitious projects. Last year, the company's revenue grew 19 percent, while total expenses rose 23.4 percent, a trend that alarmed some analysts.

"You want someone to come in there and push back against the free spenders," said Colin Gillis, an equity research analyst at BGC Partners, a brokerage, adding that investors hope Porat will be that person.

Google's shares rose as much as 2.5 percent on Tuesday after Porat's appointment was announced by both companies. She will start her new job on May 26.

Porat is the latest among a string of Wall Street executives to leave an industry that is increasingly regulated to move into the more free-wheeling technology sector, where fortunes can be built fast but businesses can also become irrelevant overnight.

Total compensation to Google's departing CFO was twice as much as Porat's for the three years through 2013 - $62.2 million vs $29.6 million, according to public filings by the companies. Google has not disclosed how much it expects to pay Porat.

She joined Morgan Stanley in 1987, and led Morgan Stanley's investment banking business for tech companies during the Internet boom, working with Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc , among others.

Some analysts took her appointment as a sign Google acquisitions could pick up.

Porat ran the investment banking business for financial companies including banks, and during the financial crisis she became Morgan Stanley's point person with regulators and other government officials in Washington.

Porat, 57, was considered a potential candidate to become chief executive whenever current CEO James Gorman steps down.

But several high-level Morgan Stanley sources who have spoken to Reuters about succession planning over the past two years said she was not seen as a top contender. Instead, they pointed to two other executives - Gregory Fleming, 52, who runs wealth management and asset management, and Colm Kelleher, 57, who runs investment banking and trading - as more likely contenders.

Some observers saw gender bias at play, given her qualifications and Wall Street's history as a male-dominated industry. At an event last year, Porat criticized the lack of female leadership in corporate America as "an embarrassment."

"If a woman 'leans in,' but is leaning against a door that is nailed shut, no amount of leaning will bust down the door," she said. "So I think we must hold our organizations accountable where they control the doors by demanding clarity and transparency around succession planning."

Critics have also accused Silicon Valley's culture of being hostile to women. Ellen Pao, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is suing her firm for discrimination. The trial heads into final arguments on Tuesday.

Wall street is less fun
Porat joins an array of bankers, analysts, and other executives that have left Wall Street as strict post-crisis regulations have made the business safer and stodgier. Some of these executives have headed into the technology sector, including Anthony Noto, once an investment banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, who last year became CFO at Twitter Inc. In 2010, Mary Meeker, a widely followed tech analyst at Morgan Stanley, left the bank to join Kleiner Perkins.

Porat has ties to Silicon Valley, having spent much of her childhood in California and attended Stanford University, where she serves on the board of trustees.

She has spent time building her connections with Washington. During the financial crisis, she led the Morgan Stanley teams advising the U.S. Treasury on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the New York Federal Reserve Bank on American International Group Inc .

Those ties to Washington could have translated into a government post - she was widely reported to have been a candidate to be the Treasury deputy secretary, but said she was not interested.

Porat will replace Patrick Pichette at Google, who said on March 10 that he planned to retire.

At Morgan Stanley, Jonathan Pruzan, co-head of the bank's global financial institutions group in investment banking, will become CFO. Pruzan, 46, joined Morgan Stanley in 1994.

"He understands the current regulatory environment, having shepherded clients through the Fed's stress test ..." Gorman said in a memo to staff.

E-commerce power Amazon.com blasted federal regulators on Tuesday for being slow to approve commercial drone testing, saying the United States is falling behind other countries in the potentially lucrative area of unmanned aviation technology.

Less than a week after the Federal Aviation Administration gave Amazon.com the green light to test a delivery drone outdoors, the company told U.S. lawmakers that the prototype had already become obsolete while the company waited more than six months for the agency's permission.

"We don't test it anymore. We've moved on to more advanced designs that we already are testing abroad," said Paul Misener, Amazon.com's vice president for global public policy.

"Nowhere outside of the United States have we been required to wait more than one or two months to begin testing," Misener testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security.

The Amazon.com case illustrates the frustrations of many industry representatives, who say the U.S. regulatory process is not keeping up with rapidly developing drone technology that could generate new revenues and cost savings for a range of industries.

Ahead of Tuesday's hearing, the FAA sought to alleviate some of that frustration by announcing a new "blanket" approval that allows companies with exemptions from a U.S. ban on commercial drone use to fly limited operations without seeking new approval for each project.

The change affects only flights of up to 200 feet (61 metres) during daylight hours and within a drone operator's line of sight.

Seattle-based Amazon.com, the largest e-commerce company in the United States, wants to use drones to deliver packages to its customers over distances of 10 miles (16 km) or more, which would require drones to travel autonomously while equipped with technology to avoid collisions with other aircraft.

Misener said European and other international authorities have more "reasonable" approaches that recognise the potential economic benefits of commercial drone operations.

"This low level of government attention and slow pace are inadequate, especially compared to the regulatory efforts in other countries," Misener said, calling on regulators to begin planning now for drone systems capable of autonomous travel.

Margaret Gilligan, FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety, defended the pace of FAA drone actions on safety grounds, saying U.S. airspace is more complex and more heavily traveled than that of other countries. She told the Senate panel that regulators could set new standards for autonomous drone operations within a year.

The FAA recently proposed rules that would lift the current ban on most commercial drone flights, but several restrictions attached would make package delivery and other business applications unfeasible.

Among other constraints, the proposed rules would limit commercial drones to an altitude of 500 feet (150 metres), allow flights only during daytime and require operators to keep the aircraft in sight at all times.

The agency does not expect to finalise the rules until late 2016 or early 2017, according to government officials. During this period, the current ban will stay in place; companies can apply for exemptions to use drones for specific business applications.

Gilligan said the FAA has granted more than 60 exemptions out of several hundred requests.

Meanwhile, Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom have progressed towards airspace integration and allow for commercial use, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report to the subcommittee.

Australia has granted operating certificates to 185 businesses, while several European countries have granted licenses to more than 1,000 operators, according to the report.

While the GAO said overseas restrictions are similar to those proposed by the FAA, it noted that France has begun to allow beyond-line-of-sight operations on a limited basis.