BlackBerry Z3 review: Great design and battery life but too pricey at Rs 15,990.

When the BlackBerry Z10 was launched in early 2013, interest was red hot, but the exorbitant price tag killed interest. BlackBerry was hardly a brand with the appeal of Apple so pricing the Z10 close to Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhone was suicidal. Thanks to a well-publicised write down, the Z10 today has a price tag of Rs 17,999 in India, but retails for as low as Rs 15,000 and is reportedly selling reasonably well.

The point of bringing that up isn’t to rehash the Z10’s woes. Rather, because of the Z10’s price today, the point is to question where BlackBerry India will place the Z3, BlackBerry’s new kid on the block and supposedly BlackBerry’s smartphone for the masses. Because the Z3 now squarely competes with what should have been its far more premium predecessor – the Z10 – thanks to fairly close price tags.

Built by Foxconn and jointly designed by BlackBerry and Foxconn, with the Taiwanese ODM taking up supply chain risks, the BlackBerry Z3 may fall in the mid-range for Indian smartphone buyers but for BlackBerry, it’s at the low end of its BlackBerry 10 line of smartphones.

Top 5 Android KitKat smartphones in India priced under Rs 10,000.

The Motorola Moto E launched earlier this month, and as expected, it shook the entry-level segment by offering a product and features no other company provided. It was little surprise then that the device sold out within the first 16 hours, and the company is still struggling to keep up with the demand. This success hasn’t gone unnoticed by others and local brands have almost immediately responded by launching Android KitKat running smartphones in the same price point. These include the Micromax Unite 2, Lava Iris X1, the recently updated Xolo Q1000 Opus, and the Micromax Canvas Engage.

MOTOROLA MOTO E

We start with the Motorola Moto E, which features a 4.3-inch qHD (960×540 pixels) display with a pixel density of 256ppi. It is powered by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 dual-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM, and also included is 4GB internal storage that can be expanded up to 32GB using a microSD card.

The smartphone also features a 5-megapixel rear camera, but misses out on a front-facing camera, a 1,980mAh battery and runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. It also features a nano coating on the inside as well as the outside which will keep the device safe from that accidental splash of water.

We were quite impressed with the device for its value for money proposition.

MICROMAX UNITE 2

Micromax was the first to respond to the Moto E’s threat with the Unite 2. The device features a 4.7-inch WVGA (800×480 pixels) with a pixel density of 199ppi and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM.

The device also features a 5-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 4GB internal storage that can be expanded using a microSD card, and a 2,000mAh battery. Like the Moto E, the Micromax Unite 2 is also priced at Rs 6,999.

XOLO Q1000 Opus

Almost immediately after the launch of the Moto E, Xolo announced that the Android KitKat update for Q1000 Opus. This made it Xolo’s first smartphone to run on Android KitKat, and the local smartphone vendor has also revealed that other smartphones in its portfolio too will be updated to the latest version of Android.

As far as specifications are concerned, the Q1000 Opus features a 5-inch FWVGA (854×480 pixels) display and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor paired with 1GB of RAM. The device also features a 5-megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, 4GB expandable internal storage and a 2,000mAh battery.

The Xolo Q1000 Opus is available on e-commerce sites for Rs 7,328.

LAVA Iris X1

And last, but not the least, is Lava’s Iris X1, which was launched earlier today. The smartphone features a 4.5-inch FWVGA (854×480 pixels) display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB internal storage that can be expanded using a microSD card. Also featured are 8-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 1,800mAh battery. This device is the most expensive of the lot with a price tag of Rs 7,999.

MICROMAX CANVAS ENGAGE

Earlier today, yet another Micromax budget smartphone running on Android KitKat was spotted on an Indian e-commerce website. The Micromax Canvas Engage features a 4-inch WVGA display, 1.2GHz quad-core SoC paired with 512MB of RAM and 4GB expandable internal storage.

Also included is a 5-megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, a 1,500mAh battery and on the software front, it runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. It is priced at Rs 6,199 and should be officially launched by the company soon.

FEATURES	MOTOROLA MOTO E	MICROMAX UNITE 2	LAVA IRIS X1	XOLO Q1000 Opus	MICROMAX CANVAS ENGAGE
DISPLAY	4.3-inch qHD	4.7-inch WVGA	4.5-inch FWVGA	5-inch FWVGA	4-inch WVGA
PROCESSOR	1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 dual-core	1.3GHz quad-core	1.2GHz quad-core	1.2GHz quad-core	1.2GHz quad-core
RAM	1GB	1GB	1GB	1GB	512MB
STORAGE	4GB expandable	4GB expandable	4GB expandable	4GB expandable	4GB expandable
CAMERAS (REAR/FRONT)	5-megapixel/ -	5-megapixel/ 2-megapixel	8-megapixel/2-megapixel	5-megapixel/VGA	5-megapixel/VGA
BATTERY	1,980mAh	2,000mAh	1,800mAh	2,000mAh	1,500mAh
ANDROID OS	4.4.2 KitKat	4.4.2 KitKat	4.4.2 KitKat	4.4.2 KitKat	4.4.2 KitKat
PRICE	Rs 6,999	Rs 6,999	Rs 7,999	Rs 7,328	Rs 6,199

Hottest selfie phones.

1.HTC one M8

2.Oppo Find 7

3.Micromax Canvas Knight

4.HTC Desire 816

5.Lenovo Vibe X

6.Huawei Ascend G6

7.Apple iPhone 5S

  

New wristband sensor makes hiding your emotions impossible.

Wearing your emotions on your sleeve is now an idiom you can explore in real life via a biosensor wristband made by Studio XO, a London startup that turns technology into fashion statements. The pulse-tracking bracelets debuted Thursday at at the Cannes Lions advertising conference in France. More than 2,000 audience

 members attending the Saatchi & Saatchi's "Feel the Reel" New Directors Showcase wore the high-tech mood bracelets. As the audience watched a series of artsy ads and video shorts, LED lights embedded in their wristbands changed from cool blue through red to reveal each viewer's agitation level, their data transmitted to a screen that aggregated the overall mood of the room. Anyone brought to embarrassing tears by a particularly poignant long-distance commercial can figure out the many uses — and abuses — of such a product.

Amazon Fire Phone: Top 7 Features

After years of speculation, Amazon today announced the Fire Phone, an Android-based device that features an innovative “dynamic perspective” imaging, a revamped UI, and, not surprisingly, strong integration with Amazon’s ecosystem, including Mayday live help. Here’s a look at the top seven features of the new Fire phone, available on AT&T for $199 with a two-year contract.  

Design

The all-black Fire phone features a machined aluminum design with a Gorilla Glass 3 display. and rubber frame. While the 4.7-inch IPS display on the Fire phone isn’t the highest resolution (just 720p), it has a rated brightness of 590 nits, which would make it the brightest among smartphones. Additionally, it has a circular polarizer, so the display won’t disappear if you’re wearing polarized sunglasses and you tilt the phone to landscape mode.

Inside is a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 quad core processor, an Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM, and 32GB of storage. A version with 64GB of storage will cost $100 more. 

Measuring 5.5 x 2.6 x 0.35 inches and weighing 5.64 ounces, the Fire is heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S5 (5.3 x 2.9 x 0.25 inches, 5.1 ounces) as well as the HTC One M8 (5.8 x 2.8 x 0.37 inches, 5.6 ounces).

Amazon says the Fire phone’s 2,400-mAh battery will last up to 11 hours on video playback.

Camera

The rear-facing camera on the Fire phone has a 13MP lens, which is similar to the Samsung Galaxy S5, but with a faster f/2.0 lens and optical image stabilization, the phone will better be able to take images in dark settings that are crisp and have less noise than competing smartphones. The Fire phone will also have a dedicated shutter button, so that users will be able to take photos quickly from anywhere in the OS. Finally, Amazon will offer free unlimited photo storage on Amazon Cloud Drive. That’s a step up from Apple’s photo stream, which will only store up to 1,000 images. Unlimited storage doesn’t apply to videos, though.

Video and Music

Like Amazon’s HDX tablets, the Fire phone will feature Amazon’s X-Ray for music, movies and TV shows, and will support slinging to a second screen, such as Fire TV. Like the Fire TV, it will use predictive caching to anticipate your favorite shows and pre-buffer them so that they will start streaming instantly. 

The Fire phone will have dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus for virtual surround sound, and come with magnetized earbuds and flat cables, which are intended to prevent tangles.

Customer Support

Introduced with the last version of its Fire tablets, Mayday support is also coming to the Fire phone. This feature will work over 4G, and calls will be answered in seconds. Additionally, if you have an issue with AT&T’s service, Mayday will hand off the call to AT&T customer support. 

FireFly

Using the camera, FireFly can recognize products — be it games, food, soap, books, or anything–and shows you its Amazon rating, as well as a link to purchase it through the phone. It can also identify music, like Shazam, and give you a link to buy the song or album you’re listening to. Amazon will also release an SDK, so that third parties can build actions for FireFly. For example, iHeart Radio can create a station based on the song FireFly recognized. MyFitnessPal will bring up nutrition information if you take a photo of, say, a bag of Cheetos.

Other clever features of FireFly include the ability to identify audio tracks from TV shows and movies. In the on-stage demo, FireFly was able to recognize a particular scene from “Game of Thrones,” and displayed a link to its IMDB page, as well as links to purchase or rent the episode. If you take a photo of a piece of art, FireFly will also bring up information about the painting, artist via Wikipedia.

Users will be able to access FireFly via a dedicated button just below the volume controls on the left side of the phone, which will work even from the lock screen.

Dynamic Perspective

It’s like Apple’s Parallax feature on steroids. With four cameras mounted at each corner, the Fire phone detects where a user’s head is in relation to the phone, and then adjusts what appears on screen accordingly. On the lock screen, for instance, you can tilt the phone to see different aspects of images, which are redrawn in real-time. Apart from making images look cool, though, Dynamic Perspective will let you scroll through Web pages and documents simply by tilting the phone; the more you tilt, the faster it will scroll. It’s also used in maps and games to create a more immersive environment. 

Each of the cameras has a 120-degree field of view, and works using infrared technology so it can track your face, even in the dark. Using Global shutter technology, the lenses are 10 times as efficient as more traditional cameras, and will only turn on as needed. 

Active Widgets

The Fire phone features a slightly redesigned interface from the Kindle Fire. In the top half of the screen are icons showing your apps in a carousel, but the bottom half now features active widgets, which enable you to perform basic actions without having to open the app. For example, if the top half of the screen has the email icon in the center, it will show your most recent emails on the bottom half of the display. From there, you can delete or reply to messages. Or, if the calendar widget is in the top half of the screen, your upcoming appointments will appear below.

The Amazon Fire phone is currently available for pre-order, and will ship on July 25. It will cost $199 with a two-year contract on AT&T, or consumers can opt for AT&T’s NEXT program, which will cost $27 per month. Consumers will also get 12 months of Amazon Prime service ($99 per year) for free, even if they’re already Prime members. 

Stay tuned for our hands-on with the Amazon Fire phone. 

BlackBerry Z3 expected to launch in India soon for Rs. 11,000.

BlackBerry will reportedly soon launch its Z3 smartphone in India for Rs. 11,000 approximately. The Z3, first budget full touch smartphone from BlackBerry, was recently launched in Indonesia where it is said to have received good response.

The BlackBerry Z3 has a 5-inch display with 540 x 960 pixels resolution. It runs BlackBerry 10.2.1 OS and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8230 Snapdragon 400 along with 1.5GB of RAM.

The Z3 comes with 8GB of built-in storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD. The smartphone sports a 5MP rear camera and 1.1MP secondary camera. For connectivity, the BlackBerry Z3 GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, NFC and microUSB 2.0. A 2,500 mAh battery powers the device.

The BlackBerry Z3 will compete against a range of budget smartphones including the popular Moto G, Xolo Q1200 and Nokia's Lumia 630. Also read: BlackBerry Z3 Jakarta Edition goes official, priced under $200 and TOP 10 BEST BUDGET SMARTPHONES UNDER RS. 15,000 IN INDIA.

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BlackBerry Z10 to reach End of Life (EOL) on July 10?

The BlackBerry Z10 is reportedly approaching its end of life (EOL) after just one and a half years on the market, according to a new report.

Once at the top of the food chain, BlackBerry saw itself overwhelmed by an increasingly-competitive smartphone market and was dethroned by rivals. The company has been struggling for quite some time to keep its head above the water and re-establish its relevance, but so far without much success.

The BlackBerry Z10 launched as the first smartphone to run the company's BB10 operating system, as well as the first one to ditch BlackBerry's iconic QWERTY keyboard in favor of an all-touch design.

After 1.5 years on the market, during which it failed to see the success BlackBerry likely hoped for, the BlackBerry Z10 is reportedly ready to reach its end of life.

According to a new report from HWZBB, a BlackBerry community site in Singapore, the BlackBerry Z10 will hit EOL as soon as next month, on July 10, when the company will cease production of the device.

As a reminder, the BlackBerry Z10 sports a 4.2-inch WXGA display, a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage capacity, a micro SD card slot for additional memory of up to 64GB, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front shooter, and a 1,800 mAh battery.

Despite the production deadline, however, the device will reportedly continue to be available for purchase as long as supplies last. Those who have recently purchased a BlackBerry Z10 likely have no reason to worry, as the two-year warranty should be applicable regardless of the EOL. When it comes to future updates, BlackBerry is expected to continue supporting the device even if it ceases production.

While BlackBerry was already struggling even before introducing its BlackBerry Z10, the company's downfall is widely attributed to this smartphone. Those accustomed to BlackBerry's iconic QWERTY handsets did not recognize the company's style in the Z10, while those who favored all-touch devices mainly preferred to purchase one running on Android, iOS, or Windows Phone. Nevertheless, BlackBerry continues its all-touch push with new devices, none of which seem to be a stellar success so far.

Nokia X2 Dual SIM Android Phone Spotted on AnTuTu With Specifications

A device with model number Nokia X2DS (RM-1013) is currently listed on the AnTuTu benchmark site along with some detailed specifications.

After reports of an AnTuTu benchmark listing of the alleged successor to the Nokia X smartphone, theNokia X, now the actual listing (via G for Games) of what seems to be a Nokia X2 Dual SIM smartphone with model name Nokia X2DS (RM-1013) has been spotted on the AnTuTu benchmark.

Earlier this week, the alleged Nokia X2 was reportedly spotted with a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8210 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of built-in storage. Now, with the new listing of what seems to be the anticipated Nokia X2 Dual SIM (RM-1013), we have a lot more specifications listed.

The AnTuTu benchmark listing of the Nokia X2DS (RM-1013) shows the device running Android 4.3 on a dual-core MSM8x10 processor capable of clocking up to 1190MHz, alongside an Adreno 305 GPU and 1GB of RAM.

Other specifications listed on the alleged Nokia X2 Dual SIM AnTuTu benchmark include a 4.3-inch display with a 480x800 pixel resolution, a 5-megapixel rear camera, and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. An overall AnTuTu score of 11827 is also visible, matching the previous AnTuTu leak precisely.

Notably, like with the alleged Nokia X2 specifications leak earlier this week, the AnTuTu benchmark listing has been accompanied by an image of the smartphone shared by a Baidu account, one that quite plainly features a home button (in the shape of a Windows logo) in the front, instead of just the central back button in the first-generation of handsets in the Nokia X series.

Microsoft earlier this week was rumoured to be working to include a home button in the next series of Nokia X Android phones, a feature that was much-requested by users.

Looking at the specs in the alleged Nokia X2 Dual SIM AnTuTu benchmark listing, the Nokia X2DS (RM-1013) does seem like a decent successor for the Nokia X Dual SIM smartphone, which waslaunched in India at Rs. 8,599 in March, before receiving a price cut to Rs. 7,729. With similar specifications, we can expect the alleged Nokia X2 Dual SIM to cost around the same as the Nokia X Dual SIM at launch.

The Nokia X offers dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) support with dual standby. The first Android phone from Nokia features a 4-inch IPS LCD display with a 480x800 pixel resolution, translating to a pixel density of 233ppi. The smartphone is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, alongside 512MB of RAM.

It sports a 3-megapixel rear camera. The Nokia X Dual SIM handset comes with 4GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. It supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS, EDGE, GPRS and 3G connectivity options. It is backed by a 1500mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 13 hours of talk time and up to 672 hours of standby time on 2G network.

Mass production of Apple's smartwatch to begin in July

Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc will start mass production of Apple Inc's first smartwatch in July, a source familiar with the matter said, as the US tech giant tries to prove it can still innovate against rival Samsung Electronics.

The still-unnamed watch, which Apple followers have dubbed the iWatch, will be the company's first foray into a niche product category that many remain skeptical about, especially as to whether it can drive profits as growth slows in tech gadgets.

The production will be a boost to Quanta, whose work for Apple so far has focused on laptops and iPods, product lines that are in decline.

Quanta's role, though, is likely to raise questions about what involvement Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, one of Apple's biggest suppliers, will play in production.

While the watch has been widely expected, the start date of its mass production and the extent of Quanta's involvement were not known until now.

"Mass production will start in July and the commercial launch will come as early as October," according to the source and another person familiar with the matter. The sources requested anonymity because Apple's production plans are private.

Apple will introduce a smartwatch with a display that likely measures 2.5 inches diagonally and is slightly rectangular, one of the sources said. The source added that the watch face will protrude slightly from the band, creating an arched shape, and will feature a touch interface and wireless charging capabilities.

The source said Apple expects to ship 50 million units within the first year of the product's release, although these types of initial estimates can be subject to change.

The watch is in trial production at Quanta, which will be the main manufacturer, accounting for at least 70 per cent of final assembly, the source said.

Like many other smartwatches, Apple's watch will be able to perform some functions independently, but tasks like messaging and voice chat will require connection to a smartphone, according to the source.

The device will only be compatible with gadgets running Apple's iOS, like its flagship iPhone, one of the sources said.

Most mainstream smartwatches collect data about the user's heart rate and other health-related metrics, in addition to facilitating tasks like checking e-mail and making phone calls.

A third source said LG Display Co is the exclusive supplier of the screen for the gadget's initial batch of production. It also contains a sensor that monitors the user's pulse. Singapore-based imaging and sensor maker Heptagon is on the supplier list for the feature, two other sources said.

Apple declined to comment. Quanta, LG Display and Heptagon also declined to comment.

GAME-CHANGER?

Apple's smartwatch will follow similar devices by Samsung, Sony Corp, Motorola and LG Electronics Inc - gadgets that tech watchers say have not been appealing or user-friendly enough to ignite a wave of mass adoption.

But the market is growing fast, with data firm IDC saying that worldwide shipments of wearable computing devices, including smartwatches, will triple this year over 2013.

Apple has already dropped hints of its plans in this arena, hiring the former chief executive of French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, a unit of Kering SA, and proclaiming that it will introduce "new product categories" this year. 
Many are hoping that Apple's entry into the field of so-called smart wearables will transform the industry like the company's iPhone did in 2007.

Some forecast that smartphone sales, the current cash cow of the consumer tech world, will lose momentum as the market reaches saturation. IDC predicts that worldwide smartphone sales will increase 23 per cent this year, slower than the 39 per cent last year, and that annual growth will average only 12 per cent from 2013 to 2018.

Tech experts on Amazon Fire: Not good enough to take down Apple, Android

Amazon Fire smartphone

Amazon’s Fire phone is finally out and the smartphone comes with features like Dynamic Perspective (which will allow 3D viewing in some apps), a FireFly button (to help you shop for anything once you’ve taken its picture) and other Amazon services bundled along with it. To know the top five features, read our earlier piece here. You can also read our detailed specifications review here.

So what are the critics saying about this smartphone? We take a quick look:

According to The Verge’s Dieter Bohn the Dynamic Perspective makes for a cool demo, “but in real use it turns out that when you have a phone in your hands, you happen to have fingers that are right there and ready to be used to do stuff on your phone.” 

He notes though that the 3D effects will be interesting for developers and  says, “3D gaming on phones was a (well-deserved) bust, but this perspective stuff could be less annoying and inspire new ways of doing things in a game.”  

As far as design is concerned, Bohn writes, “The hardware fares a lot better, though to be clear this doesn’t feel as premium and amazing as something like the HTC One. That said, it does feel super solid, if just a tad on the chunky and heavy side. “ 

Mashable’s  Samantha Murphy Kelly gives a sense of how Dynamic Perspective works. She writes, “The ability to tilt the device one way or another to reveal this information works seamlessly and adds to Amazon’s vision of making it easier for users to get what they want without trying as hard…I just tilted the device slightly downward and it started to automatically scroll. When it landed on a paragraph I wanted to read, I held the screen straight up again and it stopped — you can use a finger to stop the scrolling too.”

Engadget’s Chris Velcazo calls Fire the ultimate hardware weapon and notes,  “the company’s made something that lets you text mom and use a powerful image-based search system to shop Amazon.com with one touch. It’s the Fire phone, and it feels like the inevitable marriage of Amazon’s device and services initiative.”   But he also points out that for Amazon, the success of Fire will depend on how many devices it can sell and given that it’s currently tied to just one carrier, “Amazon’s looking at a limited market.”

He adds, “sure, the Fire phone might be a tempting lure for customers that have already gone all-in on Amazon’s Prime ecosystem. But with so many impressive smartphones currently retailing for that same price, the Fire phone’s likely to go unnoticed by the iPhone crowd Amazon’s chasing after.” 

Re/Code’s Ina Fried  notes that the Amazon smartphone fails to pose a serious threat to other Android devices and that it didn’t to live up to its potential.  She writes, “With the Fire phone, Amazon hasn’t really shaken up the economics of the traditional cell phone business at all. If Amazon believes that the commerce opportunities the device creates will afford it greater pricing flexibility, the company’s not letting on.” 

In short while critics are impressed with the Fire phone, but are also pointing out to the obvious: this won’t be enough to woo the iPhone and Android fans.

Alleged iPhone 6 Dummy Pictured Again; New iPad Air Purportedly Spotted With Touch ID

It seems keeping Apple's next generation iPhone out of the news is almost impossible. After beingcompared with the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S5, the fresh bunch of leaked images of the rumoured iPhone 6 show the handset posing alongside iPhone 5s and HTC One (M8).

The leaked images of the alleged iPhone 6 dummy show the handset from different angles and reveals the unannounced smartphone in its full glory. The purported leaked images of the alleged iPhone 6 corroborate what's has been widely expected based on earlier leaks, that the next iPhone will take design cues from Apple's current generation iPod touch and would come with curved edges.

The alleged wider, thinner iPhone 6 (seen in the middle) seems to feature a 4.7-inch display, and is slightly shorter than the HTC One (M8) (which sports a 5-inch display) in side-by-side comparison. The alleged iPhone 6 in the leaked image also appears to be thinner than currentiPhone 5s, which is 7.6mm thick.

The new bunch of leaked images come courtesy a Korean publication and a Japanese publication, both first reported by GSM Arena.

On Monday, a set of leaked images posted on Twitter claimed to reveal the alleged 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 dummy models. It's worth noting that this was the first time both the rumoured iPhone models (Apple has for a while been rumoured to be making 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch variants of the iPhone) were pictured side-by-side.

Amidst the alleged iPhone 6 leaks, we have for the first time also been treated with leaked images of Apple's next-generation iPad, first spotted by Phone Arena, that claim to purportedly show the tablet from different angles.

One of the prominent features tipped by the leaked iPad images is the fingerprint scanner feature. The leaked images show the alleged iPad Air 2 or iPad 6 embedding a circular home button; reminiscent to the one found on the iPhone 5s.

If the leaked images of the alleged iPad tablet comes out to be true, we might see Apple introducing its much-touted fingerprint scanner feature on the next-generation iPad tablets.

Motorola Moto X+1 boot animation revealed in a leaked video

The tipster of the latest leak has more leaks in store which are meant to be revealed soon.

We have had a good share of discussion regarding Motorola's upcoming high-end Android smartphone, the Moto X+1. Now at last, we have the first concrete leak of the device in the form of a video showing off the boot animation screen of the smartphone.

The video has been released by TK Tech News and is a 30-second "video of Moto X+1." The leakster says that the video was "not intended for public viewing," and therefore has edited and hidden all the identifying marks to protect the source. This is video is the first leak of the so called 5 leaks the tipster intends to reveal over time.

TK Tech News says that the phone in the video is in preproduction and that's why "it looks like crap." According to Phone Arena, TK Tech News managed to get hands on an X+1 after offering a $25,000 bounty to anyone who gives them the smartphone. Apparently, a Motorola employee who had the X+1 gave it up for the cash.

It will be interesting to see the future leaks that TK Tech News has in store for us as we near the launch of Moto X+1.

BlackBerry to offer access to Amazon Appstore

BlackBerry announced a deal Wednesday with Amazon.com that will allow users of its devices to access the Amazon Appstore for app purchase, a move that BlackBerry hopes will attract new consumers and bolster sales of the smartphone brand.

The deal adds the Appstore's 240,000 applications to BlackBerry mobile devices. The Appstore will be available for BlackBerry users when the BlackBerry 10.3 operating system is released in the fall.

"Making the Amazon Appstore available on BlackBerry 10 devices will help BlackBerry continue to meet two essential needs: greater app availability for our smartphone users and enhanced productivity solutions for enterprises," BlackBerry CEO John Chen said in a statement.

BlackBerry has struggled to counter the popularity of competitors, due in part to the lack of an expansive application marketplace. BlackBerry currently offers about 130,000 apps through its own online store, compared to more than 1 million available in both Apple's App Store and Google Play for Android.

The deal comes one day before BlackBerry announces its first-quarter fiscal results, which are expected to show a loss. Wednesday's announcement could appease BlackBerry investors and provide optimism that the company is on the rise, despite a low first quarter.

It is a busy day for Amazon, as the company is expected to announce its own smartphone Wednesday. Chen told the Wall Street Journal Wednesday that Amazon's smartphone release shouldn't affect BlackBerry's deal with Amazon, as the two company have different focuses.