গুগলের অ্যান্ড্রয়েড অপারেটিং সিস্টেমনির্ভর স্মার্টফোনগুলোর মধ্যে অর্ধেকের বেশি স্মার্টফোনে ব্যবহূত হচ্ছে জেলি বিন সংস্করণটি। ৩১ অক্টোবর অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের কিটক্যাট সংস্করণটি উন্মুক্ত করার ঘোষণা দেওয়ার পর গুগল সম্প্রতি মোবাইল অপারেটিং সিস্টেমের বিভিন্ন সংস্করণের তথ্য জানিয়েছে।
গুগলের তথ্য অনুযায়ী, বর্তমানে সবচেয়ে বেশি চলছে জেলি বিন সংস্করণটি। এর মধ্যে জেলি বিনের সর্বশেষ আপডেট ৪.৩ চলছে ২.৩ শতাংশ স্মার্টফোনতে। ৪.২ সংস্করণটি চলছে সাড়ে ১২ শতাংশ স্মার্টফোনে। জেলি বিনের ৪.১ সংস্করণটি সবচেয়ে বেশি ব্যবহূত হচ্ছে। বর্তমানে ৩৭.৩ শতাংশ স্মার্টফোনে অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের এ সংস্করণটি চলছে।
অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের পুরোনো সংস্করণগুলোর জনপ্রিয়তা কমছে। গুগলের সাম্প্রতিক তথ্য অনুযায়ী বর্তমানে অ্যান্ড্রয়েড ৪ বা আইসক্রিম স্যান্ডউইচ সংস্করণটি চলছে ১৯.৮ শতাংশ স্মার্টফোনে। অ্যান্ড্রয়েড ২.৩ বা জিঞ্জারব্রেড সংস্করণটি বর্তমানে ব্যবহূত হচ্ছে ২৬.৩ শতাংশ স্মার্টফোনে যার এক মাস আগেও ২৮.৫ শতাংশ বাজার দখলে ছিল। অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের পুরোনো সংস্করণ ফ্রয়ো এখনও ১.৭ শতাংশ বাজার দখল করে রেখেছে। 
বাজার বিশ্লেষকেরা বলছেন, অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের পুরোনো সংস্করণ হিসেবে এখনও আইসক্রিম স্যান্ডইচ ও জিঞ্জারব্রেড বিশাল অংশ জুড়ে রয়েছে। স্মার্টফোন নির্মাতারা এখনও অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের  জিঞ্জারব্রেড ও আইসক্রিম স্যান্ডউইচনির্ভর স্মার্টফোন তৈরি করছেন। কিন্তু অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের এ সংস্করণগুলোতে সুবিধাজনক আপডেট পথ না থাকায় অ্যান্ড্রয়েড ব্যবহারকারী ও অ্যান্ড্রয়েড অ্যাপ নির্মাতাদের জন্য নানা অসুবিধা হচ্ছে।
গুগল কর্তৃপক্ষ জানিয়েছে, অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের বিচ্ছিন্নতা দূর করতে তারা অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের নতুন সংস্করণ ৪.৪ বা নেসলের জনপ্রিয় চকলেটের নাম অনুসারে রাখা কিটক্যাট সংস্করণটি উন্মুক্ত করেছে। এলজির তৈরি নেক্সাস ৫ স্মার্টফোনের সঙ্গে উন্মুক্ত হওয়া অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের কিটক্যাট সংস্করণটি শিগগিরই নেক্সাস৪, নেক্সাস ৭ ও নেক্সাস ১০ ট্যাবলেটের জন্য উন্মুক্ত হবে। এ ছাড়াও স্যামসাং গ্যালাক্সি এস৪ গুগল প্লে সংস্করণ ও এইচটিসি ওয়ানেও এটি আপডেট করা যাবে। তবে দুই প্রজন্ম আগের স্যামসাংয়ের তৈরি গ্যালাক্সি নেক্সাসে কিটক্যাট আপডেট করা যাবে না।

 

The United States monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders according to classified documents leaked by fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden, Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Thursday.

Phone numbers were passed on to the US National Security Agency (NSA) by an official in another government department, according to the documents, the Guardian said on its website.

It added that staff in the White House, State Department and the Pentagon were urged to share the contact details of foreign politicians.

"We are not going to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity, and as a matter of policy we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations," a White House spokeswoman said, reacting to the report.

The revelations come after Germany demanded answers from Washington over allegations Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone was bugged, the worst spat between the two countries in a decade.

The White House did not deny the bugging, saying only it would not happen in future.

"In one recent case, a US official provided NSA with 200 phone numbers to 35 world leaders," reads an excerpt from a confidential memo dated October 2006 which was quoted by the Guardian.

The identities of the politicians in question were not revealed.

The revelations in the centre-left Guardian suggested that the bugging of world leaders could be more widespread than originally thought, with the issue set to overshadow an EU summit in Brussels.Phone numbers were passed on to the US National Security Agency (NSA) by an official in another government department, according to the documents, the Guardian said on its website.

It added that staff in the White House, State Department and the Pentagon were urged to share the contact details of foreign politicians.

"We are not going to comment publicly on every specific alleged intelligence activity, and as a matter of policy we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations," a White House spokeswoman said, reacting to the report.

The revelations come after Germany demanded answers from Washington over allegations Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone was bugged, the worst spat between the two countries in a decade.

The White House did not deny the bugging, saying only it would not happen in future.

"In one recent case, a US official provided NSA with 200 phone numbers to 35 world leaders," reads an excerpt from a confidential memo dated October 2006 which was quoted by the Guardian.

The identities of the politicians in question were not revealed.

The revelations in the centre-left Guardian suggested that the bugging of world leaders could be more widespread than originally thought, with the issue set to overshadow an EU summit in Brussels.

A pair of Google Inc employees involved with the internet company's security systems have publicly lashed out at the National Security Agency, with one of the employees accusing the organisation of subverting the law by intercepting communications on cables linking Google's various data centres.

Nobody at the US National Security Agency or the British intelligence agency "will ever stand before a judge and answer for this industrial-scale subversion of the judicial process," wrote Mike Hearn, an engineer at Google, on his personal Google+ page on Tuesday.
The comments follow a report in the Washington Post last week that the NSA had gained access to an overseas cable or switch that relayed Google and Yahoo Inc traffic through an unnamed telecommunications provider. The report is the latest revelation based on secret NSA documents leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden.
Hearn, whose profile on the Google+ website lists him as a Zurich-based software engineer who has worked at Google since 2006, said in the post that he had worked on an "anti-hacking system" at Google for two years.
"We designed this system to keep criminals out. There's no ambiguity here," Hearn wrote. "Bypassing that system is illegal for a good reason," he said, noting that the judicial system of warrants and rules of evidence provided an effective and time-honoured way to prevent crime while limiting excessive intrusions into privacy.
Hearn said he was issuing a "giant fuck you to the people who made these slides," referring to the illustrations in the leaked documents that depicted how the NSA was able to access the data.
The strident comments echo those last week by Brandon Downey, who identified himself as a network security engineer on his personal Google+ Web page.
"Even though we suspected this was happening, it still makes me terribly sad," Downey wrote. "The US has to be better than this," he said in a post that opened with "fuck these guys," referring to the NSA.
A person close to the company confirmed that Hearn and Downey are Google employees.
Both Hearn, who personally thanked Snowden in his post, and Downey said they were voicing their personal opinions and not speaking on behalf of Google. Google declined to comment on their postings.
Google, the world's No.1 internet search engine, said last week that it was "outraged" by the government's actions and called for urgent reform.
The internet company has faced its own criticism about intercepting data in the past, most notably when it acknowledged in 2010 that a fleet of cars it operates to map the world's streets had mistakenly collected passwords and other personal data from home consumers' wireless networks over a two year-period.
The newly disclosed NSA program, operated jointly with the United Kingdom's Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, amassed 181 million records in one recent 30-day span, according to one document reported by the Post. It could not be learned how much of that included material from US residents, how the agency redacted data on them or how much of the information was retained.
An NSA spokesperson said in a statement last week that the suggestion in the Post article that the agency relies on a presidential order on foreign intelligence gathering to skirt domestic restrictions imposed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and other laws "is not true."
"The assertion that we collect vast quantities of US persons' data from this type of collection is also not true," the statement said. "NSA is a foreign intelligence agency. And we're focused on discovering and developing intelligence about valid foreign intelligence targets only."

 

 

Apple Inc on Tuesday offered free upgrades for life on its operating system and business software, and unveiled thinner iPads and faster Mac computers ahead of a competitive holiday shopping season.

The debut of the one-pound iPad Air and MacBook Pro with sharper 'retina' display repeats a pattern of recent launches with improvements in existing lines rather than totally new products, and Apple shares fell 0.3 percent for the day.
Apple said upgrades to its Mac operating system and iWork software suite, which compete with Microsoft Corp's Excel, Word and other applications, will now be offered for all MacBooks and Mac computers.
That brings Apple's model of free system software upgrades on phones and tablets to the computer market, where Apple is still the underdog to Microsoft's Windows.
Apple may be trying to safeguard its grip on mobile software as Microsoft revs up its Windows-powered Surface Pro, which runs applications, such as Word or Excel, that are the standard for business customers, analysts said.
"We are turning the industry on its ear, but this is not why we're doing it," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook told media and technology executives at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center.
"We want our customers to have our latest software."

The market is awash in inexpensive tablets running Google Inc's Android software, but the company may be focused on fending off a threat from the high end.
"In the tablet PC market, they do think Microsoft is a bigger threat than Android," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "The iPad Air will compete with Surface Pro, not some rinky-dink Android tablet."
Gartner estimates that Apple's share of the global tablet market will slip to 47.2 percent in 2014, with Android-based tablets just overtaking Apple's this year. The IT research outfit expects Microsoft tablets to grab 3.4 percent of the market this year, double the 1.7 percent forecast for 2013.
PRESSURE
Microsoft gets 65 percent of its Windows revenue, which totaled $19.2 billion last fiscal year, from PC manufacturers which put the system on its machines, and 35 percent from other sources, chiefly people and businesses buying its software separately to install themselves.
The latest version of Windows, when bought separately to install on an old computer, starts at $120 for a home version and goes up to $200 for the full ‘Pro' version. The latest Windows 8.1 upgrade was free for customers running Windows 8.
Apple's product launches on Tuesday were evolutionary, with the new iPads equipped with faster processors and better screens. Cook, at an industry conference in May, had hinted at "several more game changers" from Apple which could include wearable computers, but had not given a time frame.
"As always with Apple, expectations on systematic breakthrough hardware innovations are irrational," said Forrester analyst Thomas Husson said. "Apple is good at inventing new products and at maximizing profitability of its product range over time through software innovations and clever marketing."
Apple's new iPad Air - its full-size tablet - is about 20 percent thinner than the previous generation of tablets, weighs one pound and starts at $499. It will go on sale on November 1.
The iPad mini now has a "retina" high-resolution screen and starts at $399, compared with $329 for the previous mini model. The two new tablets would face stiff competition, with Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon.com Inc all plugging rival devices in coming months.

Apple also showed off a new Mac Pro, a premium and high-powered cylindrical desktop computer that will be assembled in United States. It had shown the computer at a previously event.
For the first, Apple will launch the new iPads simultaneously in the United States and China, its biggest market, which is also a key growth region.
Apple, which jumpstarted the tablet computing market in 2010 with the first iPad, has already come under increasing pressure from cheaper devices ranging from Amazon's Kindle Fire to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Note.
But while Apple is ceding market share to rivals, its superior library of apps and content should safeguard its lead for years to come, analysts say.
Longer term however, investors hope to see real device innovation from a company that has not unveiled a new breakthrough product in years.
Cook on Tuesday dismissed the competition as directionless.
"Our competition is different: they're confused," he said. "Now they're trying to make PCs into tablets and tablets into PCs. Who knows what they'll do next?"
"We have a very clear direction and a very ambitious goal. We still believe deeply in this category and we're not slowing down on our innovation."

Women are better than men, ahead of the tablet computer. Recently, a study in the UK found the information.

For fast portable tablets are popular all over the world now. Nearly three thousand people in the UK 824 members led to one of the studies, about 52 percent of women who use the tablet. The popularity of the iPad acheayapalera ahead. The study found 60 percent of women preferred the iPad.'s IPad Mini in 58 percent of women would prefer to use.

Iugabha Research Institute of Technology and telikamasera operator of the director John Gilbert said, "The new men prayuktipanya after purchasing the old one was sold in the market or with other members of the house. As a result, these devices are more women in the hands of the members. "It is now 35 years of age in women is mostly used for iPad. Women aged 18-34 years more tablet users. The study said, the last part of the 18 percent of women had their own tablets, which now stands at an increased percentage. The rates are quite satisfactory to use it in tablet technology experts. The idea is to increase the involvement of women in IT.

পুরুষদের চেয়ে নারীরা ট্যাবলেট কম্পিউটার ব্যবহারের দিক দিয়ে এগিয়ে আছেন। সম্প্রতি যুক্তরাজ্যের এক গবেষণায় এ তথ্য পাওয়া গেছে।
দ্রুত কাজ করার জন্য বহনযোগ্য ট্যাবলেট সারা বিশ্বেই বর্তমানে বেশ জনপ্রিয়তা পাচ্ছে। যুক্তরাজ্যে প্রায় তিন হাজার ৮২৪ জন নারীর ওপর চালিত এক গবেষণায় দেখা গেছে, প্রায় ৫২ শতাংশ নারী ট্যাবলেট ব্যবহার করেন। এর মধ্যে জনপ্রিয়তার তালিকায় এগিয়ে আছেঅ্যাপলের আইপ্যাড। গবেষণায় দেখা যায়, ৬০ শতাংশ নারীর পছন্দের তালিকায় রয়েছে আইপ্যাড।এর মধ্যে আবার ৫৮ শতাংশ নারী আইপ্যাড মিনি ব্যবহার করতে পছন্দ করেন। 
গবেষণা পরিচালনাকারী প্রতিষ্ঠান ইউগভ টেকনোলজি অ্যান্ড টেলিকমসের প্রধান পরিচালক জন গিলবার্ট জানান, ‘বর্তমানে পুরুষেরা নতুন নতুন প্রযুক্তিপণ্য কেনার পর পুরোনোটা বাজারে বিক্রি করে দেন অথবা বাড়ির অন্য সদস্যদের দিয়ে দেন। যার ফলে নারী সদস্যদের হাতে এসব যন্ত্রাংশ বেশি থাকে।’ এ ছাড়া বর্তমানে ৩৫ বছর বয়সের মধ্যে থাকা নারীদের বেশির ভাগই আইপ্যাড ব্যবহার করেন। ১৮-৩৪ বছর বয়সী নারীরাই বেশি ট্যাবলেট ব্যবহারকারী। গবেষণায় জানানো হয়, সর্বশেষ ভাগে ১৮ শতাংশ নারীর নিজের ট্যাবলেট ছিল, যা এখন বেড়ে দাঁড়িয়েছে ২২ শতাংশ। নারীদের ট্যাবলেট ব্যবহারের এমন হার বেশ সন্তোষজনক বলে মনে করছেন প্রযুক্তি বিশেষজ্ঞরা। এর ফলে নারীদের তথ্যপ্রযুক্তি সংশ্লিষ্টতা বাড়বে বলে ধারণা তাঁদের। 

Major overhaul at Microsoft

Microsoft Corp launched its biggest internal overhaul in five years to streamline the development of products from Windows to tablets, hoping to catch nimbler rivals in mobile and cloud computing.

Lack of coordination and infighting have hurt innovation within the $74 billion revenue, 98,000-employee organisation, which hopes to accelerate the design of products that appeal to a new generation of users more accustomed to smartphones and tablets than laptops or desktop PCs.

Some analysts see Thursday's moves, which include centralising business-oriented functions such as marketing and research expenses under separate units, as helping shore up Ballmer's control over the sprawling corporation.

Removing major responsibilities for profit and revenue accounting allows the main divisions to focus on innovative products and eliminates the fiefdoms - Windows, Office for instance - that may have encouraged infighting in recent years, analysts said.

"You don't do a major reorganisation like this unless you have some serious problems," BGC analyst Colin Gillis said. "It consolidates power around the CEO."

Development of Windows will now be folded into one group headed by Terry Myerson. He had previously focused only on Windows Phone and now has responsibility for tailoring the flagship operating software for devices ranging from the traditional PC to tablets and gaming consoles.

Julie Larson-Green, previously co-chief of the main Windows division, will oversee a new division charged with all hardware devices, from the Surface tablet to the Xbox.

Nearly all of the most senior managers have a new role after the reorganisation, which did not include any major new hires.

The moves realign the company that helped revolutionise the personal computing industry in the 1980s into what Chief Executive Steve Ballmer calls a "devices and services" corporation - a nod to Apple, which has surpassed it in profit and market value in recent years.

It is also an implicit rejection of "software", the business which Microsoft helped pioneer and drove the worldwide adoption of personal computing, but in which it faces stiff competition from new rivals that have popularised Internet-based services.

Executives told reporters and analysts on a conference call they did not plan layoffs for now. But a certain amount of employee disruption is to be expected as the company modifies its device marketing and development strategies.

"It can be a major distraction. The details have to be ironed out, there will be a lot of water-cooler talk and that's happening as the company has some critical products coming out, like a unified phone, Xbox," Gillis said.

Microsoft's shares have gained almost 30 percent this year, helped by a rally that began in late April when the company released strong revenue and earnings during what was one of the worst quarters for PC sales on record.

They closed Thursday up 2.8 percent at $35.685.

Microsoft's stock hit a high of more than $59 at the height of the first dotcom boom, but have mostly been in a range of $23-$32 for the last decade. While rivals Apple and Google have shot ahead of it in market value, Microsoft is nearly unique in its staying power near the top of the tech pyramid, and its Windows and Office businesses keep it a profitable giant.

Be like Apple

Ballmer, who took over as CEO from co-founder Bill Gates in 2000, said he wants the company to be more like Apple, which has roared past Microsoft in sales and stock market value in the past few years by smoothly melding its devices with online services such as iTunes.

He is trying to bring products to the market faster and make the company more efficient, and wants to entice people to use Microsoft products on a variety of devices besides personal computers.

Microsoft, which has been struggling to compete in a world of mobile devices and Web-based services dominated by Apple and Google, launched the Surface tablet in 2012. But the device has failed to make meaningful headway against the iPad or Android devices made by Samsung Electronics and others.

Its Windows 8 release last year also alienated PC users accustomed to a long-established interface, prompting Microsoft to bring back, among other things, the familiar "Start" button in a hasty update. All operating systems now come under Terry Myerson, who had previously headed up Windows Phone and the software giant's efforts to crack the mobile market.

"We are rallying behind a single strategy as one company — not a collection of divisional strategies," Ballmer said in a memo to employees published on Microsoft's website on Thursday.

Microsoft's last significant reorganisation came in July 2008 when Ballmer split Microsoft's 'Platforms & Services Division' into three separate units - Windows, Online Services and Server and Tools - in the wake of the failure to buy Yahoo Inc.

Microsoft has been struggling with sharply declining personal computer sales that cut into its software revenue as consumers and some businesses increasingly favour smartphones and tablets. Worldwide PC shipments declined 11.4 percent in the second quarter, the fifth consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline, according to industry research firm IDC.

Now, the four new engineering groups include Myerson's operating systems unit, and applications and services engineering to be led by Qi Lu, who had previously overseen the perennially money-losing online services arm. He also will be responsible for Office software, one of Microsoft's biggest cash cows.

Kurt DelBene, the former president of Microsoft Office, will retire. His departure follows that of gaming chief Don Mattrick, now CEO of Zynga, and Steven Sinofsky, formerly head of the Windows unit.

Satya Nadella, the company's leading authority on Internet infrastructure, takes over all Web-based cloud services such as Azure, which competes with Amazon.com Inc's AWS.

It was unclear whether the changes will mean that Microsoft will offer less financial data about certain products.

"It's a major concern if they use this opportunity to reduce the transparency, so we're hoping that's not the case," Cross Research analyst Richard Williams said.

"From a strategic perspective, it seems that they're just streamlining the operating groups to bring all ... into one group, all the applications all the cloud focus, all the devices," he added. "There's a certain logic to that that makes sense to us."

Yahoo trims sales outlook as ad effort falters

Yahoo Inc trimmed its outlook for 2013 revenue after revealing a sharp 12 percent slide in ad prices in the second quarter, signs that CEO Marissa Mayer's attempts to revive the struggling Internet giant may not produce quick results.

The company is now forecasting revenue of $4.45 billion to $4.55 billion this year, down from $4.5 billion to $4.6 billion previously. Yahoo also reported that second-quarter net revenue was down slightly at $1.071 billion, though it posted adjusted profit that was ahead of Wall Street targets.

Yahoo, in a novel post-results livestream akin to a TV newscast with Mayer and CFO Ken Goldman playing news anchors, acknowledged the pressure on prices but stressed that Yahoo was developing new ad formats and technology that would reverse the trend.

"We can do better in display, and this is going to be a clear focus for the business," a relaxed Mayer said onscreen, referring to Yahoo's display advertising business.

On Tuesday, the company reported a 12 percent slide in price-per-ad in the second quarter from a year earlier, outstripping the first quarter's 2 percent decline.

Analysts said advertising exchanges, which help get ads on spots on various Internet websites, are putting pressure on prices, especially for premium advertising.

"If there is some kind of genius happening here, it needs to start materializing later this year, and taking your guidance down is not a step in that direction," BGC analyst Colin Gillis said. "We have had eight quarters of decline for the number of display ads sold. And the price per ad dropped significantly this quarter - that's huge."

"This is just the beginning of the trend, of the drop in the price per ad. You still have a pretty big gap between what you can get direct and what you can get selling on an exchange," Gillis said.

The stock rebounded after an initial 2 percent to 3 percent slide, trading 1.1 percent higher at $27.19 after the company disclosed better-than-expected results from China's Alibaba, the Internet giant of which Yahoo owns 24 percent.

Open Sesame

Shares of Yahoo have gained about 70 percent since Mayer took over a year ago, in large part due to share buybacks that stem from its slice of Alibaba, which is preparing to go public in what could be the largest debut from a Chinese Internet company.

On Tuesday, Yahoo clarified that it planned to repurchase an additional $1.9 billion of its stock, part of a previously announced $5 billion buyback plan. During the past several quarters, Yahoo has repurchased $3.65 billion of its shares using proceeds from the sale of part of its stake in Alibaba Group.

Yahoo also shared details of Alibaba's first-quarter performance. The company founded by English schoolteacher Jack Ma increased revenue 71 percent to $1.4 billion in the quarter and almost tripled net income, to $669 million.

As for Yahoo itself, net revenue, which excludes fees paid to partner websites, was $1.071 billion in the second quarter, within its forecast of $1.06 billion to $1.09 billion, but below the $1.081 billion it posted in the second quarter of 2012.

Revenue from its display advertising business in the second quarter fell 11 percent from the year before on an adjusted basis, while search advertising revenue was up 5 percent on an adjusted basis.

Yahoo said it earned 35 cents per share, excluding certain items in the second quarter, compared with 30 cents in the year-ago period. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial I/B/E/S were looking for 35 cents in adjusted earnings per share.

"They had guided to basically expect some sort of growth in the second half of the year," said Sameet Sinha, analyst at B. Riley & Co, on the full year net-revenue guidance. "Now that thing is coming down, and you never know, you might end up the year just being flat in terms of revenue."

Nokia's halting turnaround hit by handset sales

A disappointing set of quarterly sales figures for Nokia's smartphones and basic models raised the pressure on its chief executive on Thursday and took a bite out of the company's share price.

Investors are hoping that its Lumia smartphone range, which CEO Stephen Elop decided to base on Microsoft Corp's untested Windows Phone software in 2011, will help the company revive its ailing fortunes and close the yawning lead of frontrunners Samsung and Apple, but progress has been slower than analysts expected.
Nokia shares fell as much as 6 percent after the company said it shipped 7.4 million Lumia phones in the second quarter, up 32 percent from the first quarter but fewer than the 8.1 million units forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
The shares were down 2.7 percent at 3.014 euros at 1222 GMT.
Sales of regular mobile phones, which still account for over half of its device revenues and are a valuable source of revenue while Nokia waits for Lumia sales to take off, were also weaker than expected.
Shipments of such handsets fell 4 percent from the previous quarter to 53.7 million units, while the market's average forecast had been 56.2 million.
Analysts have said weak regular mobile phone sales for Nokia in the past two quarters showed customers are moving up to smartphones more quickly than expected and switching to rival brands.
The pace of the decline has raised fears the company might may run low on cash before smartphone sales pick up.
Nokia has been cutting costs and selling off assets to buy time for a turnaround. Its net cash reserves fell to 4.1 billion euros ($5.4 billion) from 4.5 billion euros in the previous quarter, in line with expectations.
"The work with Lumia is still challenging, although there has been some progress," said Mikko Ervasti, analyst at Evli. "But they have to pick up the pace, as in mobile phones they have large volumes they may lose."
Nokia has launched several new handsets this year, including a 15-euro phone and new Lumia models. But the new handsets, while impressing many critics, have failed to halt a shift to phones running Android software developed by Google.
Phones using Android and Apple's iOS software accounted for well over 90 percent of the global smartphone market, while Windows Phone handsets account for around 3 percent, an IDC report said in May.
One bright spot in the quarterly report was the improved profitability at Nokia Siemens Networks, a formerly troubled joint venture with Siemens. Nokia agreed earlier this month to buy Siemens's stake.
NSN's operating margin rose to 11.8 percent from 7 percent in the first quarter, which put an even better complexion on the 1.7 billion euro deal Nokia had struck to buy the rest of it.
"It seems that the price they paid for the acquisition was very cheap," said Juha Varis, portfolio manager at Danske Capital.

Samsung bets on storage devices

Samsung Electronics Co on Thursday launched storage technology aimed at replacing computer hard disk drives as it targets the rapidly expanding memory devices market to offset slowing sales growth for smartphone memory chips.

Samsung is the world's top maker of the NAND flash memory chips commonly used in smartphones and solid state drives, or SSDs, which are faster, lighter and consume less power than hard disk drives found in most personal computers.

Global demand for SSDs is expected to grow by 75 percent this year to 78 million units, brokers Nomura said, while shipments of NAND chips for use in smartphones are expected to increase 41 percent, weakening from 44 percent last year and 58 percent in 2011, as smartphone sales growth starts to wane.

SSDs are widely used in high-end ultra-thin laptops such as Apple's MacBook Air but hard disk drives remain PC maker's dominant choice because of the huge price difference.

The 1 terabyte SSD Samsung launched costs $650 while a same-capacity hard disk drive by biggest manufacturer Western Digital Corp sells for less than $100.

Some analysts, however, expect hard disk drive usage in PCs to fall below 50 percent by 2015 as SSD prices fall and hybrid solutions emerge.

Chipmakers are also betting on SSDs to become a fresh earnings driver in the $24 billion flash memory market, which is currently booming thanks to strong demand for cut-price tablets and smartphones in China.

Samsung is building a $7 billion chip plant in China, while Toshiba Corp and SK Hynix are also boosting production.

SSDs are likely to account for nearly a quarter of total flash memory sales this year from 15 percent this year, according to Daewoo Securities, and this proportion is set to rise to 45 percent by 2015.

Samsung accounts for around 40 percent of global NAND flash market and competes with Toshiba, Micron Technology and SK Hynix. In the SSD market, it competes with Toshiba, Sandisk and Intel.

Apps to monitor health

There's no shortage of health and fitness apps monitoring everything from sleep patterns to calories and caffeine consumption.

   

Free apps such as MyFitnessPal track diet and weight and can connect with apps like RunKeeper, which monitors fitness, to adjust calorie intake based on the speed and duration of a run.
Sleep 101, for the iPhone, and Sleep Bot, for Android devices, monitor sleep patterns and quality.
Now there's Argus, a free app for iPhones released last week. It combines multiple factors to take detailed snapshots of sleep, diet, activity and vital signs such as heart rate. It also shows how each factor relates to the others.
"People are getting more health conscious and lifestyle diseases are an increasingly large problem, especially in the last two decades," said Peter Kuhar the chief technology officer of Palo Alto-based Azumio, the company that developed the app.
"This is where mobile technologies can help to guide you to a healthier lifestyle and with that help reduce the risk," he said.
Using built-in sensors, Argus can determine whether a person is walking or running. It also pairs with the company's Sleep Time app to track sleep patterns. Heart rate is measured when a finger is placed on the device's camera.
"The importance of tracking the data is that we can increase users' awareness of their health-affecting habits and help steer them on the right path," said Kuhar, adding that the app is also useful for observing trends over time.
By correlating the data the app can show, for example, how water consumption affects sleep and how caffeine impacts heart rate.
Other apps connect with wristbands to track activity, sleep and diet. They include the Jawbone UP, for iPhone and Android, and Fitbit and Larklife, both for iPhone. The wristbands cost between $60 and $150.
Kuhar said apps that connect to devices such as wristbands may be more accurate because they are worn on the body.
MyFitnessPal also integrates with Withings, a WiFi-enabled scale; Runtastic, a fitness tracking app; and Fitbit, a wearable wristband that tracks sleep and activity for automatic logging of weight, sleep and activities.
Last month the company MyFitnessPal teamed up with RunKeeper, the iPhone and Android app that tracks running speed and duration.
"When we started MyFitnessPal we tackled nutrition first, and as we've grown, we've set our sights on other pillars that are crucial to health and wellness," said Mike Lee, co-founder of San Francisco-based MyFitnessPal.
"Diet is one piece of the puzzle but by tracking diet and exercise alongside each other, we're able to give a more complete view of a person's health," he added.

 Samsung fans have been waiting for the end. Finally, after a lot of imagination to speculate on March 14 in a series of new smartphone gyalaksi gyalaksi esaphora (G esaphora) showed the South Korean electronic giant Samsung. G esaphora fans will be expected to complete a long list of coverage, or competing against iPhone's performance should be - will have to wait a few more days to get the answer. However, based on the information available on the state of the tech boddhara, G. esaphora is a groundbreaking product, rather than the three straight gyalaksi words (jiesa three) developed a model. Tech boddhadera of the three phicaragulokei more step forward in the Samsung.
Design and construction of structures
It will be the first smartphone darsanei G esaphora jiesa three identical fake, not only are large. 130 grams of weight in just three jiesa jiesa phore Home button. 7.9 mm thick smartphone around 136.6, and 69.8 mm caoraya. Technology of the site in accordance with Senate editorial columns, the size of the gyalaksi jiesathri mid-G esaphora notes.
The iPhone Five or eicatisi One does not like Metal Casing smartphone. The cost of construction of the facility was chosen in view rekhei plastic instead of metal kesinyera Samsung. I like to listen to the smartphone market yacchilo, it also has a five inch screen jiesa phore. Super ayamoleda by 1080 pixels, the display has a full HD screen rejuliusana 19 and 0. 64 GB internal memory and microSD card jiesa phorera has 64 GB of additional memory use. The 600 ml ayampera have more powerful battery.
Operating system and app
Google created the Android operating system (OS), the latest update to the Android 4. Said. Giving it the jelly G esaphora. The OS may need to be considered within a couple of months in the G esaphora. May 15 launch of the new version of Google Android, Android key lime pie. The new version of the Android market after Samsung 'old' key lime jelly bean from the wind how to quickly update the facility will, his success is dependent on the smartphone.
However, application development of any deficiency Samsung Blog. The application is on or off the touch uija. Wi - Fi, Bluetooth and GPS as well ayapaguloo can be turned on or off in one finger touch uijera badaulate sparsei.
Many features have been added gyalaksi note tuyera jiesa phore. Skrinei can play together as well as the two apps. It will compete with Google khelatei gugalakei, even though the UN has added the Samsung jiesa phore translate tool.
The friends who have owned four of them jiesa with the new features for sharing content 'group play'. Group play using Bluetooth or Near Field Communication (enaephasi) connection can be exchanged without the use of songs or pictures, you can even play video geimao. Group play mode to play songs and bitumen Seven Brothers geima two highest specific changes have been made.
The most notable new feature is the voice jiesa phorera drive. Kanthanirbhara instructions while driving from the direction of the call will receive a message or send a message to listen to the latest weather -'s all you drivers.
I - tracking technology
Three of jiesa - the tracking feature jiesa phore. But like everything else ayai - tracking phicaratiteo Samsung has added a new dimension, has been smart and smart scroll nPause. Looking at the top or bottom of the screen phorera jiesa naralei smartaskrala the top of the screen - getting off the screen to the bottom of the page.
More interesting is the smart features nPause. Vision screen video viewing time nPause be automatically removed from the actual video. The screen will go towards takale video. The prototype uses jiesa phorera, I - tracking features two takes a little more work would have been editorials Senate. Tabeo commercially marketable jiesaphore may not be the problem.
Air view jesacara
Air view jesacare slowly on the screen the user can see the nariyei photo gallery pictures, or play list of songs. Has a flexible exchange can take. Nariyei tyabagulokeo in turn can be seen in the browser. Scroll down the list that can be used by Air view. But I - like Air view phicaratio tracking feature takes a little more work. The senate, I - like Air view phicaratio tracking response time is less than half a second.
Camera and Video
Phore jiesa the 13 Megapixel camera. There are two Megapixel front camera for video chat. The powerful camera that Samsung did not break. There are many interesting features. The dual - shot mode. Dual shot mode, the front and back with two cameras that can capture pictures and videos together. The camera pictures or videos can be made across a video or picture. The background of the picture from the camera and behind the front of the camera from the front of the picture.
More interesting is the sound modagulora shot and shot and drama. Set the image to be shot is not recorded with sound and second audio. The short drama shot or shot one frame back into position jiesaphora images.
Processor and memory
Four gyalaksi the smartphone market can be found in two models. The two will be the same, but the main difference between smartphone processors. One of the core koyada 1.9 gigahartajera koyalakama ¯ œ Fusion Pro processor and the other one in eight yapadragana - 1.6 gigahartajera Samsung eksinoja five akta silicon processor cores. Two of the smartaphonei phoraji (elatii) connection facility.
Stay smart and jiesaphore at 600 miliayampera powerful battery, but the battery will drive the cost of the majority of the features pechanei. I more or less khelale video geima the battery duration. I have the memory of jiesaphore GB RAM, 64 GB internal memory and 64 GB microSD card to use the facility.
It is the latest in a series of four gyalaksi gyalaksi Samsung products. Jiesa phorera Success in the market is estimated at around comes back a namai - iPhone Five. Apple iPhone smartphone market directly to the challenge with five G esaphora. We feature the latest technology in any direction dhamdhano no shortage of jiesa phorera. Five of the iPhone should still fighting jiesa phorera performance, it can not be understood out smartphone sold commercially. Five or G esaphora iPhone, the market for car jhumkabe - For answers to these questions will have to wait a few days more

শেষ হয়েছে স্যামসাং ভক্তদের অপেক্ষা। অনেক জল্পনা কল্পনার পর অবশেষে ১৪ মার্চ গ্যালাক্সি এস সিরিজের নতুন স্মার্টফোন গ্যালাক্সি এসফোর (জি এসফোর) দেখিয়েছে দক্ষিণ কোরিয়ার ইলেকট্রনিক জায়ান্ট স্যামসাং। জি এসফোর ভক্তদের প্রত্যাশার লম্বা তালিকাটি কতোটা পূরণ হবে, বা প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বী আইফোনের বিপরীতে এর পারফরমেন্স কেমন হবে- এই প্রশ্নগুলোর উত্তর পেতে অপেক্ষা করতে হবে আরো কয়েকটি দিন। তবে প্রাথমিক অবস্থায় পাওয়া তথ্যের ওপর ভিত্তি করে টেক বোদ্ধারা বলছেন, জি এসফোর কোনো যুগান্তকারী পণ্য নয়, বরং সোজা কথায় গ্যালাক্সি এস থ্রির (জিএস থ্রি) উন্নত একটি মডেল। টেক বোদ্ধাদের মতে, এস থ্রির ফিচারগুলোকেই আরো একধাপ এগিয়ে নিয়ে গেছে স্যামসাং।

ডিজাইন ও নির্মাণ কাঠামোপ্রথম দর্শনেই জি এসফোর স্মার্টফোনটিকে মনে হবে জিএস থ্রির হুবহু নকল, কেবল আকারে বড় করা হয়েছে। জিএস থ্রির মতোই ১৩০ গ্রাম ওজনের জিএস ফোরে রয়েছে হোম বাটন। ৭.৯ মিলিমিটার পুরু স্মার্টফোনটি লম্বায় ১৩৬.৬, আর চওড়ায় ৬৯.৮ মিলিমিটার। প্রযুক্তি বিষয়ক সাইট সিনেটের সম্পাদকীয় কলাম অনুসারে, আকারের দিক থেকে জিএসথ্রি আর গ্যালাক্সি নোটের মাঝামাঝি জি এসফোর।
তবে আইফোন ফাইভ বা এইচটিসি ওয়ানের মতো মেটাল কেসিং নেই স্মার্টফোনটির। মূলত নির্মাণ সুবিধা আর দামের কথা মাথায় রেখেই ধাতব কেসিংয়ের বদলে প্লাস্টিক বেছে নিয়েছে স্যামসাং। স্মার্টফোনটির বাজারে আসার আগে যেমন শোনা যাচ্ছিলো, ঠিক তেমনি জিএস ফোরে রয়েছে পাঁচ ইঞ্চি স্ক্রিন। সুপার অ্যামোলেড ডিসপ্লেটির রয়েছে ১৯২০ বাই ১০৮০ পিক্সেলের ফুল এইচডি স্ক্রিন রেজুলিউশন। জিএস ফোরের রয়েছে ৬৪ জিবি ইন্টারনাল মেমোরি এবং মাইক্রোএসডি কার্ডের মাধ্যমে বাড়তি ৬৪ জিবি মেমোরি ব্যবহারের সুবিধা। আরো আছে ২৬০০ মিলি অ্যাম্পের শক্তিশালি ব্যাটারি।

অপারেটিং সিস্টেম এবং অ্যাপগুগলের তৈরি অ্যান্ড্রয়েড অপারেটিং সিস্টেম (ওএস) সর্বশেষ আপডেট অ্যান্ড্রয়েড ৪.২.২ জেলি বিনে চলবে জি এসফোর। তবে ওএস বিবেচনা করতে গেলে মাস দুয়েকের মধ্যেই বিপাকে পড়তে পারে জি এসফোর। গুগল আগামী ১৫ মে লঞ্চ করবে অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের নতুন ভার্সন ‘অ্যান্ড্রয়েড কি লাইম পাই’। অ্যান্ড্রয়েডের নতুন ভার্সন বাজারে আসার পর স্যামসাং ‘পুরনো’ জেলি বিন থেকে কি লাইম পাইয়ে কতো দ্রুত আপডেট করার সুবিধা দেবে, তার ওপর অনেকটাই নির্ভর করছে স্মার্টফোনটির সাফল্য।
তবে অ্যাপ্লিকেশন ডেভেলপমেন্টের দিক থেকে কোনরকম কমতি রাখেনি স্যামসাং। দ্রুত অ্যাপ্লিকেশন চালু বা বন্ধ করার জন্য রয়েছে টাচ উইজ। ওয়াই-ফাই, ব্লুটুথ আর জিপিএস ছাড়াও অ্যাপগুলোও এখন চালু বা বন্ধ করা যাবে টাচ উইজের বদৌলতে আঙ্গুলের এক স্পর্শেই।
গ্যালাক্সি নোট টুয়ের অনেক ফিচার যোগ হয়েছে জিএস ফোরে। এক স্ক্রিনেই একসঙ্গে পাশাপাশি চালানো যাবে দু’টি অ্যাপ। আর গুগলের খেলাতেই গুগলকেই টেক্কা দিতে হবে, এমন চিন্তা থেকেই যেন স্যামসাং জিএস ফোরে যোগ করেছে এন ট্রান্সলেটর টুল।
বন্ধুদের মধ্যে যাদের মালিকানায় আছে জিএস ফোর তাদের সঙ্গে কন্টেন্ট শেয়ারিংয়ের জন্য রয়েছে নতুন ফিচার ‘গ্রুপ প্লে’। গ্রুপ প্লে ব্যবহার করে ব্লুটুথ বা নিয়ার ফিল্ড কমিউনিকেশন (এনএফসি) সংযোগ ব্যবহার করেই আদান প্রদান করা যাবে গান বা ছবি; এমনকি খেলা যাবে ভিডিও গেইমও। গ্রুপ প্লে মোডে খেলার জন্য গান ব্রাদার্স টু এবং অ্যাসফল্ট সেভেন গেইম দু’টিতে বিশেষ পরিবর্তনও আনা হয়েছে।
জিএস ফোরের নতুন ফিচারের সবচেয়ে উল্লেখযোগ্য বলা যায় এস ভয়েস ড্রাইভ। গাড়ি চালানোর সময় কণ্ঠনির্ভর নির্দেশের মাধ্যমে দিকনির্দেশনা থেকে শুরু করে কল রিসিভ করা, মেসেজ পাঠানো বা সর্বশেষ আবহাওয়া বার্তা শোনা- এর সবই করতে পারবেন চালক।
আই-ট্র্যাকিং প্রযুক্তি
জিএস থ্রির আই-ট্র্যাকিং ফিচারও রয়েছে জিএস ফোরে। তবে অন্য সবকিছুর মতোই অ্যাই-ট্র্যাকিং ফিচারটিতেও স্যামসাং দিয়েছে নতুন মাত্রা; যোগ হয়েছে স্মার্ট স্ক্রল এবং স্মার্ট পজ। জিএস ফোরের স্ক্রিনের দিকে তাকিয়ে স্ক্রিনটি উপরে বা নিচে নাড়ালেই স্মার্টস্ক্রল করে উপরে-নিচে নামবে স্ক্রিনের পেইজটি।
আরো মজার ফিচার হচ্ছে স্মার্ট পজ। ভিডিও দেখার সময় দৃষ্টি স্ক্রিন থেকে সরিয়ে নিলে নিজে থেকেই পজ হয়ে যাবে ভিডিওটি। আবার স্ক্রিনের দিকে তাকালে চলা শুরু করবে ভিডিও। তবে জিএস ফোরের প্রোটোটাইপটি ব্যবহার করে, আই-ট্র্যাকিং ফিচার দু’টি কাজ করতে একটু বেশি সময় নেয় বলেই জানানো হয়েছে সিনেটের সম্পাদকীয়তে। তবেও বাণিজ্যিকভাবে বাজারজাত করা জিএসফোরে নাও থাকতে পারে এই সমস্যা।

এয়ার ভিউ জেসচারএয়ার ভিউ জেসচারে স্ক্রিনের উপর দিয়ে ধীর গতিতে হাত নাড়িয়েই ব্যবহারকারী দেখতে পারবেন ফটো গ্যালারির ছবি, বা প্লে লিস্টের গানগুলো। বদলে নিতে পারবেন ইচ্ছেমতো। ব্রাউজারের ট্যাবগুলোকেও ঘুরে ফিরে দেখা যাবে হাত নাড়িয়েই। যে কোনো তালিকা স্ক্রল করে উপরে নিচে নামাও যাবে এয়ার ভিউ ব্যবহার করে। তবে আই-ট্র্যাকিং ফিচারের মতোই এয়ার ভিউ ফিচারটিও কাজ করতে সময় নেয় একটু বেশি। সিনেট জানিয়েছে, আই-ট্র্যাকিং এর মতো এয়ার ভিউ ফিচারটিও সাড়া দিতে সময় নেবে কম বেশি আধা সেকেন্ড।
ক্যামেরা ও ভিডিও
জিএস ফোরে রয়েছে ১৩ মেগাপিক্সেলের ক্যামেরা। ভিডিও চ্যাটের জন্য রয়েছে দুই মেগাপিক্সেলের সম্মুখ ক্যামেরা। শুধু শক্তিশালী ক্যামেরা দিয়েই ক্ষান্ত হয়নি স্যামসাং। রয়েছে অনেক মজার ফিচারও। যেমন ডুয়াল-শট মোড। ডুয়াল শট মোডে সামনের এবং পেছনের দু’টি ক্যামেরা দিয়েই একসঙ্গে তোলা যাবে ছবি ও ভিডিও। দুই ক্যামেরার ছবি বা ভিডিও জুড়ে দিয়ে বানানো যাবে একটি ভিডিও বা ছবি। ব্যাকগ্রাউন্ডে থাকবে পেছনের ক্যামেরা থেকে তোলা ছবি আর সামনে থাকবে সামনের ক্যামেরা থেকে তোলা ছবি।
আরো মজার মোডগুলোর মধ্যে রয়েছে সাউন্ড অ্যান্ড শট এবং ড্রামা শট। সাউন্ড অ্যান্ড শটে স্থির ছবির সঙ্গে রেকর্ড হবে নয় সেকেন্ডের অডিও। আর ড্রামা শটে বা শর্ট শটের ছবিগুলোকে জিএসফোর নিয়ে আসবে এক ফ্রেমে।
প্রসেসর ও মেমোরি
গ্যালাক্সি এস ফোর স্মার্টফোনটি বাজারে পাওয়া যাবে দু’টি মডেলে। মডেল দু’টি দেখতে একই রকম হলেও মূল পার্থক্য হবে স্মার্টফোনটির প্রসেসরে। একটিতে থাকবে কোয়াড কোর ১.৯ গিগাহার্টজের কোয়ালকম ¯œ্যাপড্রাগন ফিউশন প্রো প্রসেসর এবং অন্যটিতে থাকবে আট-কোরের ১.৬ গিগাহার্টজের স্যামসাং এক্সিনোজ ফাইভ অক্টা সিলিকন প্রসেসর। দু’টি স্মার্টফোনেই থাকবে ফোরজি (এলটিই) সংযোগ সুবিধা।

জিএসফোরে ২৬০০ মিলিঅ্যাম্পের শক্তিশালী ব্যাটারি থাকলেও স্মার্ট স্টে এবং এস ড্রাইভের মতো ফিচারগুলোর পেছনেই খরচ হবে ব্যাটারির সিংহভাগ। ভিডিও দেখলে বা গেইম খেললে আরো কমে আসবে ব্যাটারির স্থায়িত্ব। আর মেমোরির দিক থেকে জিএসফোরে আছে ২ জিবি র‌্যাম, ৬৪ জিবি ইন্টারনাল মেমোরি এবং ৬৪ জিবি মাইক্রোএসডি কার্ড ব্যবহারের সুবিধা।গ্যালাক্সি এস সিরিজের সর্বশেষ স্যামসাং পণ্য গ্যালাক্সি এস ফোর। বাজারে জিএস ফোরের সাফল্যের কথা হিসেব করতে গেলে ঘুরে ফিরে একটি নামই আসে- আইফোন ফাইভ। স্মার্টফোন বাজারে সরাসরি অ্যাপলের আইফোন ফাইভের সঙ্গে প্রতিদ্বন্দ্বীতা করবে জি এসফোর। চোখ ধাঁধানো ফিচার বা সর্বশেষ প্রযুক্তি কোনো দিক থেকেই কমতি নেই জিএস ফোরের। তবুও আইফোন ফাইভের বিপরীতে লড়াইয়ে জিএস ফোরের পারফরমেন্স কেমন হবে, তা বোঝা যাবে স্মার্টফোনটি বাণিজ্যিকভাবে বিক্রি শুরু হলেই। আইফোন ফাইভ নাকি জি এসফোর, বাজার কার দিতে ঝুঁকবে -এই প্রশ্নের উত্তরের জন্য অপেক্ষা করতে হবে আরো কিছুদিন।