Manish Singh

Source tells BetaNews that MixRadio -- currently exclusively available on Microsoft’s Windows Phone -- will "soon" make its way to Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS mobile platforms. An executive at the music platform -- who asked not to be identified -- didn’t wish to confirm the development at this stage, but noted that the company recently quietly released an Android beta to select testers.

MixRadio offers free music streaming curated in a radio-like way. Available in 31 countries including US, China, and India, the service is estimated to have millions of users -- though the exact numbers have never been disclosed. The on-demand music streaming has been rebranded and restructured a couple of times since its launch in 2007 by Nokia. It was formerly known as OVI Music Store, Nokia Music Store, and also Nokia Music.

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A year after announcing its plan to add a voice calling feature to its instant messaging client, WhatsApp began to test the feature in late January. The feature -- as we noted last week -- was rolling out to users on an invite basis. But the company is finally easing up on that as now it is allowing anyone to get the call feature provided they have an Android phone with the v2.11.561 installed on it, and a friend with the feature willing for you to call them. BetaNews is able to report and confirm that the aforementioned trick is working worldwide.

WhatsApp isn’t the first messaging client to get the internet voice calling feature. Rival apps such as Viber, Hangouts (it charges for international calls), Skype, and even Facebook’s Messenger offer a similar feature. But what makes WhatsApp triumph over competing apps is the voluminous amount of users it has attracted since its launch in 2009. WhatsApp -- which Facebook acquired last year for a whopping sum of $19 billion -- has more than 700 million users as of earlier this year, and just this week, the messaging app become the second non-Google app (after Facebook) to be downloaded 1 billion times on the Google Play Store.

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In addition to the Redmi 2 smartphone, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi also launched its Android tablet Mi Pad in India today. The highlight of the Mi Pad is its top-of-the-line specifications that includes an iPad mini Retina Display-alike screen, and Nvidia Tegra K1 processor (same as used in the Nexus 9) at the enticing Rs 12,999 ($200) price tag.

As for the specifications, the Mi Pad sports a 7.9-inch display with 2048×1536 screen resolution, flaunting 326PPI and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection over it. Inside the device sits a 2.2GHz Nvidia Tegra K1 processor and 192-core Kepler GPU paired with 2GB of RAM, and 16GB internal storage with support for microSD that can add up to 128 gigs storage to the device.

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Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi today launched the Redmi 2 -- the successor to its dirt cheap Redmi 1S -- at an event in New Delhi. The company has once again partnered with e-commerce portal Flipkart to give it the exclusive rights to sell the smartphone in the country. Priced at Rs 6,999 ($110), the handset will be available for purchase starting March 24 and will be sold via flash sales. The registration will start at 6PM IST on Flipkart today.

Unveiled in China this January, the Redmi 2 sports a 4.7-inch IPS HD display with 312PPI. It is powered by a 64-bit 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor and Adreno 306 GPU paired with 1GB RAM. It comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card should you need more storage.

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Motorola today launched the Moto Turbo smartphone in India. The Lenovo-owned manufacturer has once again partnered with the number uno e-commerce portal Flipkart to exclusively sell the handset through the online channel. Priced at Rs 41,999 ($690), the smartphone packs in some of the best specifications you can ask for in an Android device.

As for the specifications, the Moto Turbo sports a 5.2-inch AMOLED display with 565 ppi protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Inside the smartphone sits a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor with 600 MHz Adreno 420 GPU, paired with 3GB of RAM and 64GB internal storage. On the camera front, the handset packs in 4K-capable, 21MP rear shooter with dual LED flash and a 2MP sensor upfront.

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Updated at 18:00 IST: Bluebox and Xiaomi are now confirming that the handset the security firm tested was a counterfeit product purchased through an unofficial channel. You can read Xiaomi's full statements below.

Xiaomi’s Mi 4 is one of the best smartphones you cannot purchase so easily -- but it might be for the best, it seems. Don’t get me wrong: The Mi 4 packs in top-of-the-line specifications, the latest Android-based operating system, and is incredibly cheap, but if data security firm Bluebox's latest report is to be believed, it also comes with malware and a host of other issues. The handset seems to have been tampered with by an unidentified third party, however. We’ll have more details on this later today.

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WhatsApp, the popular instant messaging client, is working on a voice-calling feature which it plans to release to the public soon. WhatsApp has been rolling out the functionality to select users as part of a beta test program, something the company had confirmed last month. BetaNews is now able to report and confirm that WhatsApp is once again rolling out the voice calling feature to many users, and the invite can be disseminated if a user with the feature working on their Android device makes a phone call from within the app to other Android users. We tried to make it work on an iPhone, but couldn't; and we're yet to try it on a Windows Phone handset.

Last year, WhatsApp announced that it was working on a voice-calling feature and would release it to users by the second half of 2014. While that obviously never happened, the company last month began to flip the switches for many users as part of a beta testing program. Last month, it had confirmed that it was beta testing the feature and would release to all as soon as it is satisfied with the initial results.

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Starting today, purchasing an iPhone in India will require you to pay more. The Cupertino-based company has revised the retail price of its entire iPhone range in the world’s second most populous nation. While the company is yet to officially offer an explanation behind the price bump, it is likely because of the changes introduced in the recent budget in the country. The new iPhones will cost Rs 2,500 ($40) more than the previous retail price.

First reported by FoneArena, the 16GB variant of iPhone 6, which was launched in India late last year for Rs 53,500 ($860) will now set consumers back by Rs 56,000 ($900). Similarly, the 64GB iPhone 6 is now available at Rs 65,000 ($1,045) while the top-of-the-line 128 gig edition costs Rs 74,000 ($1,188). The iPhone 6 Plus now costs Rs 65,000 ($1,045), 74,000 ($1,188) and Rs 83,000 ($1,132) for 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage-specced variants respectively.

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Apple will begin selling its first wearable -- the Apple Watch -- next month. The most basic variant of the Watch is priced at $349, whereas the top-of-the-line edition could cost up to $19,999, according to rumors. But regardless of the price tag at which the Cupertino, California-based company decides to sell it, there are a couple of reasons why you should not bother purchasing one.

Apple unveiled the Watch at its iPhone 6 event in September last year. The Watch is Apple's newest product line after the iPad which was launched in 2010, and also Tim Cook’s first product contribution to the company he took the mantle of from the late Steve Jobs. A recent interview of Jony Ive, Senior Vice President of Design at Apple reveals that the company started thinking about the Watch as early as 2011. The company has -- without a doubt -- put an incredible amount of effort, cash, and thought into the Watch. But has it got everything right? Is the Apple Watch what we were craving for? Not really. Here's why:

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YU Televentures, a Micromax Mobile-owned smartphone brand, grabbed headlines late last year for launching the Yureka smartphone. The Yureka packs in mid-range specification and runs on Cyanogen OS while maintaining an enticing affordable Rs 8,999 ($140) price point. The company is now working on the second iteration of the popular Yureka smartphone, YU’s co-founder Rahul Sharma confirms to BGR India.

Codenamed “Project Caesar”, the smartphone will come with improved specification, which Sharma doesn't want to reveal just yet. On the software front, it will run on Android Lollipop-based Cyanogen OS 12. Sharma noted that the smartphone will be launched in April.

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Just a week after getting caught for shipping Superfish adware in its recent computers, Lenovo announces today that it is done with placing bloatware on its systems. The world’s largest PC vendor promises that all its future computers will be running the pure Windows operating system and won't contain any inessential or trivial tools. In addition, the company also announces a free six-month subscription of the McAfee LiveSafe security suite for the Superfish-affected users.

"The events of last week reinforce the principle that customer experience, security and privacy must be our top priorities", the company writes in a blog post. "With this in mind, we will significantly reduce preloaded applications. Our goal is clear: To become the leader in providing cleaner, safer PCs".

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Gemalto, the world’s largest producer of SIM cards which reportedly had its encryption keys stolen by the NSA and GCHQ spying agencies, announced today that its network was hacked, but it didn’t result in massive theft of keys used to encrypt conversations, messages and data traffic, a conclusion it reached after a thorough investigation.

The Netherlands-based SIM manufacturer says that it noted sophisticated attacks on its networks between 2010 and 2011 that appear to have been carried out by the aforementioned intelligence agencies. But the company notes that the agencies couldn’t get in far enough to get access to SIM encryption keys.

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Google has finally begun to seed out Android Lollipop, the latest update to its mobile operating system, to Android One handsets in India. In a post on Google+, the Android maker notes that all of the three Android One handsets in the country -- Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, and Spice Dream UNO -- should be able to snag the update any time now. The update is rolling out in a gradual way so it may take a while before it hits your handset, the company notes.

Announced at the Google I/O event last year, Android One is an initiative by the Mountain View-based company wherein it makes cheap-Android smartphones with reasonably decent hardware specification for consumers living in emerging markets, starting with India. Priced at $100, the handset doesn’t require carrier’s approval and push to receive the new software release, as it directly gleans it from Google.

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Gemalto, the world’s largest producer of SIM cards, which made headlines last week for reportedly gettings its encryption keys stolen by the mighty NSA and GCHQ spying agencies, says its SIM cards, as well as banking cards, passports and other products are secure, a conclusion it reached after conducting a round of initial investigations.

The Intercept published a detailed report last week based on confidential documents it gleaned from whistleblower Edward Snowden, in which it revealed that America’s NSA and UK’s GCHQ hacked the systems at Gemalto to steal the encryption keys. By getting access to the keys, the agencies were able to directly tap phone calls, and monitor messages, among other things, on millions of mobile phones.

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It’s not only the smartphone market in which Samsung has lost the pole position, but tablets as well. The South Korean media conglomerate is no longer the largest tablet vendor in India, the emerging market for digital devices where the tablet share grew by 3.6 percent quarter-on-quarter, reports IDC.

As per the stats provided by the marketing research firm IDC, Indian OEM iBall captured the maximum market share (15.6 percent) in the country last quarter. Samsung managed 12.9 percent share, and was followed by Datawind with 9.6 percent share, Lenovo with 9.4 percent share, and HP with 8.7 percent market share.

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