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Flipkart : first Indian app to cross 50 million install

Flipkart recently announced that its Android app had crossed the 50 million installs landmark on the Google Play Store in the first week of February 2016. With a rating of 4.2 it is currently ahead of its competitors Snapdeal and Amazon which both have a rating of 4.1. Flipkart is now the first Indian app across all genres including- communication, social, entertainment, to cross the 50 million install benchmark.

The company launched its android app in Sep 2013 and has achieved the feat in less than 30 months.

A SimilarWeb report ranked Flipkart as India’s number one shopping app with 47% of the share of visits. The report also stated that the combined traffic share of Flipkart and Myntra stood at 63%. Amazon was in the third position with 15.86% followed by Snapdeal with 13.84%.

The Morgan Stanley report on ‘E-commerce in India for 2016’ placed Flipkart as the number one e-commerce company in India with a dominant market share of 45%. According to the report, Flipkart’s market share of 45% is equivalent to the combined market share of the next three players (Snapdeal, Amazon and Paytm).

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Truecaller : Third-party apps use caller profiles for verification

Truecaller has launched a user verification SDK (Software Development Kit) for third-party apps which will allow apps to verify users based on their information with Truecaller. As of now the SDK is only on Android and is available to registered third party apps on that platform.

The company has partnered with 12 Indian apps including Quikr, Mobikwik, redBus, CarDekho, BharatMatrimony.com, ixigo, OYO Rooms, TO THE NEW Digital, FreshMenu, Terraa, Cash Care and ShopClues. TrueSDK will help users utilise their Truecaller credentials to log in to third-party apps and verify their phone numbers. TrueSDK is also free for developers to use and has no plans to charge them for the service any time soon.

The company, which generates revenue only from premium subscriptions, is also planning a lot of partnerships to increase their consumer base. Currently, Truecaller has partnerships with Airtel, Tata Docomo, Gionee, Obi, Celkon, Micromax, Microsoft, Cyanogen among others.

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Samsung to start rolling out Android 6.0 Marshmallow to Galaxy devices

Samsung has announced it will bring the latest flavor of Android to its devices. The company said Android 6.0 Marshmallow update has started rolling out to Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, followed by other Galaxy devices. The new update starts rolling just a week ahead of Samsung’s Unpacked event wherein it is expected to launch the new flagship devices.

So, if you are an owner of the Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge, the update should be coming to you soon. The roll out is expected for other Galaxy devices soon. There is no time frame or mention of which other models in the Galaxy series will be getting the update. For up gradable models, the company is expected to make separate announcements on details of OS updates for each market depending upon the market situation and carriers’ requirements.

Samsung says, “With the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update, Samsung provides the enhanced edge screen and new edge screen features, which are the unique user interface of the beautifully curved edge screen to the next level, making it faster and more convenient than ever.

Google’s Android 6.0 Marshmallow brings new features such as the new Google Now on Tap, a predictive assistant.

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Huawei Honor Holly 2 Plus goes on sale on day after tomorrow

Huawei’s Honor Holly 2 Plus will go on sale starting February 15 at midnight via Amazon and Flipkart at a price of Rs 8,499. This smartphone is said to be designed for the Indian market and supports 2G/3G/4G LTE and CDMA as well.

In terms of specifications, the Honor Holly 2 Plus sports a 5-inch IPS LCD display with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz QuadCore processor paired with 2GB RAM. Running Android 5.1 Lollipop, the device comes equipped with a 13MP rear camera along with a 5MP front facing camera with features such as Auto Flash, Continuos Shooting, Face detection, Geo tagging, High Dynamic Range mode (HDR) and Touch to focus.

The smartphone features an inbuilt storage of 16GB which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. Connectivity features include Wi-Fi 802.11, b/g/n, Bluetooth, A-GPS and USB connectivity. A 4000 mAh battery completes the package.

Huawei sold one million smartphones in 2015 that includes 8,00,000 Honor branded phones. Globally, Huawei shipped 108 million smartphones in 2015 and became the third largest player after Apple and Samsung.

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LeEco Le1s goes all silver in its 3rd flash sale via Flipkart

The LeEco Le1s will now be available in an all silver variant in its third flash sale via Flipkart on February 16. According to a company press statement, “LeEco has created three incredible records: The largest number of orders received in a single flash sale; the shortest ever time for the orders received and the highest presale registration number. LeEco’s international stature, superior technology and lower-than BOM cost pricing have contributed immensely to creating these amazing records.”

Priced at Rs 10,999, LeEco is the most recent Chinese player to have entered the Indian market, but its LeEco Le 1s boasts of excellent build quality and a fingerprint scanner. The Le 1s features a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) In-cell display. It is powered by a 2.2GHz, octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795T) processor with a PowerVR G6200 GPU with 3GB of RAM.

The camera department consists of a 13MP rear camera, which is an ISOCELL sensor. It’s accompanied by a single LED flash and sports a bright, f/2.0 aperture and Phase Detection Autofocus (PDAF). On the front we have a 5MP camera for selfies. The ‘super value phone’, as LeEco refers to it, has a 3000mAh battery. According to the company, the device comes with fast charging and 5 minutes of charge time provides 3.5 hours of talk time.

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WhatsApp Now Supports Up to 256 Users in Group

It appears Facebook-owned WhatsApp has silently pushed a server-side update to its app on Android that increases the number of users included in a group chat. Until now, a WhatsApp group chat could include up to 100 users. However, the update now pushes the limit to 256 users. iOS users have also received an update that brings the same functionality, with version 2.12.13 of the app.

For Android, the expanded group limit is visible on v2.12.367 and above. Those Android users who do not see the update yet can download the latest version (v2.12.437) from the application from the company’s website. It is worth mentioning that the new group limit is only visible on Android and iOS for now. However, it should reach Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and other platforms soon.

It has been reported that WhatsApp could soon introduce a feature to allow its users to integrate their Facebook account with the instant messaging and voice calling app. The version 2.12.413 of WhatsApp for Android reveals company’s intention to allow users to link the messaging service with their respective Facebook account.

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Gmail has over 1 billion monthly active users

Speaking on Google’s Q4 2015 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai announced that at the end of 2015, Gmail had over one billion monthly active users. That’s an absolutely massive number, but considering that we’re talking about the scale of Google, it’s actually the seventh product from the company to surpass that milestone.

The one billion monthly active user number is also shared by Google Search, Android, Google Maps, Chrome, YouTube and Google Play. Considering the synergies between these products it’s not too surprising that Gmail finally made its way up to the top, especially since Google announced that the user figure was over 900 million as of Google I/O 2015.

Pichai also notes that the growth in active Gmail users is fueled particularly by mobile users, though we could’ve guessed that considering the absolutely massive number of Android phones in the wild.

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Android Emulator for Auto Developers

Google is releasing the Desktop Head Unit (DHU), a new testing tool for Android Auto developers. The DHU enables a developer’s workstation to act as an Android Auto head unit that emulates the in-car experience for testing purposes.
Once a developer has installed the DHU, they can test Android Auto apps by connecting a phone and workstation via USB. The phone will behave as if it’s connected to a car and the app is displayed on the workstation, the same as it’s displayed on a car.
This allows Android developers to test pre-released versions of an app in a production-like environment, without having to work from a car. With the release of the DHU, the previous Android auto simulators are deprecated, but will be supported for a short period prior to being officially removed.
Developers will need an Android phone running Lollipop or higher, with the Android Auto companion app installed.
More Details : Android Developer
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Google’s new Street View app – upload your own 360-images

Google’s mobile Street View app is getting a big update on iOS and Android today: you can now contribute your own 360-degree photos to Google Maps.

Screen-Shot-2015-09-03-at-11.31.33-AM-1200x1048It works with any cellphone using Google’s photo sphere stitching technology, but the app also now supports dedicated 360-degree cameras, like Ricoh’s Theta S camera, announced earlier today.

Meanwhile, a new ‘Explore’ section lets you see explore both official content from Google, as well as images contributed by the public.

The new functionality helps Google flesh out its Street View content without sending out more 360-degree camera rigs, it could be especially useful for mapping the interiors of businesses and restaurants. That said, there’s no word on how the images are being curated, but we imagine Google will want to prevent poor quality or inappropriate images from staying on Maps.

The new app is rolling out to the iOS App Store and Google Play today.

Introducing the new Street View app from Google Maps [Google Maps Blog]