OnePlus One Receiving Update to Fix Touchscreen Issue and More

While the successor of the OnePlus One is officially lined-up to launch next year, the company is updating its One smartphone to fix existing issues.

The company on Tuesday has announced the slow roll-out of an OTA (over-the-air) update dubbed CM 11S 38R for the One smartphone, which importantly fixes a major problem users had been complaining about - an unresponsive touch screen that required reboot to fix. In August, OnePlus had pushed the CM 11S 33R update for the touch unresponsiveness, but it had only fixed the issue partially.

The CM 11S 38R update for OnePlus One also brings some enhancements along with bug fixes. The OnePlus One camera gains the ability to take photos in RAW format and the app gets a pause button during video recording. The other camera related issues such as camera exposure compensation stuck in 'auto' and camera not starting when LED torch is already on, have also been fixed with the CM 11S 38R update.

For music playback, the OnePlus One smartphone now supports playback for 24-bit, 96/192khz flac/ alac/ wav files without resampling. It also adds a new lock screen, ANT+ support for connecting health accessories, and direct bug reporting ability.

As the OTA update is slowly rolling out to OnePlus One users, those who are interested in getting the update quickly can download the signed apk for manual installation from Android Police. The team has also published (see below) a video of the improved touchscreen after the update.

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Xiaomi Teases Mi 4 India Launch on Twitter? (Updated)

Xiaomi has posted a teaser via its official Twitter handle for India, @MiIndiaOfficial, hinting at a new product launch on Wednesday, October 8.

Update: Xiaomi has on Wednesday revealed a festive Diwali offer instead of the Mi 4, called the Share the Light campaign, which will be valid till midnight, October 17. Users have to share the 'light' on Facebook, and will get the chance to win a different prize each day - including Redmi 1S phones.

The tweet, posted on Tuesday, reads, "Tomorrow. =) Help RT?", and is accompanied by an image (seen above) that is blurred-out - leaving nothing but the '8 Oct 2014' date readable.

The image also features a recognisable 'diya' or a traditional Indian oil-based light, most obviously symbolising the festive Deepavali season ongoing in the country.

The October 8 date unfortunately does not tie-in with anything the Xiaomi has announced for the month so far. October 6 saw the company once again making its Mi 3 and Redmi 1S smartphones available in the country, with 1,50,000 Redmi 1S units put up for sale, and 25,000 Mi 3 units automatically added to the carts of Flipkart users that were unsuccessful in their attempts to buy the popular phones during the numerous flash sales.

The next Redmi 1S flash sale falls on October 14, and Xiaomi has not provided the exact number of units that will be available at this sale yet - which would constitute the sixth Redmi 1S flash sale.

Of course, the most anticipated product that Xiaomi could launch on Wednesday could be the company's latest flagship smartphone, the Mi 4. The India launch of the Mi 4 certainly fits in with Xiaomi's announcement that Monday's offer would be last time the Mi 3 would be on sale in India. The company certainly needs a flagship in its India portfolio to make up.

Announced back in July, the Xiaomi Mi 4 features a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz alongside 3GB of RAM. The smartphone will come in two storage variants 16GB and 64GB.

The Mi 4 sports the same 5-inch full-HD display (1080x1920 pixels) found on the Mi 3; although this time the company has used a JDI OGS full lamination display. There is a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera on the Xiaomi Mi 4, with both sporting Sony's stacked CMOS sensors. The smartphone is backed by a 3080mAh Li-ion battery.

Of course, it is possible Xiaomi may launch the Mi Band low-cost fitness tracker, the MiPad tablet, the Mi Box set-top box, or Mi TV. We'll have to wait and see.

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Google Rolls Out Bill Reminder Feature to Search App for Android and iOS

Google on Tuesday has officially updated its Search app for Android and iOS platforms with the ability to show upcoming and past bills, dug out of users' Gmail accounts.

The updated Google Search app can now search the Gmail account for bills. Users can tap the microphone icon in the Search app, ask a query like "Show me my bills" or "My bills due this week," and it will show the summary based on the information available in users' Gmail account.

The feature, announced via Google+ post, will work if a user has turned on Google Now and given Google the required permissions to access information from their Gmail accounts - as Google already does in the case of flight information, and more.

"When you can't remember whether you've paid your bills - or you simply can't remember how much money you need to pay - you can now just ask Google," notes the announcement post on Google+.

Google has also tried to address the privacy concern, as the query result on top mentions that "Only you[user] can see the result."

(Also see: Google Now Starts Tracking Prices of Flights You Search)

In August, Google had updated the Search app for Android with a feature that checks for flight alternatives in case a user's flight gets delayed, and displays them in the form of Google Now cards. The latest app update for the Google Search Android app had also added train and bus reminders from Gmail reservations, once again showing in Google Now card form.

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Facebook to Release Anonymous Sharing App in the 'Coming Weeks'

Facebook is reportedly working on a way to provide its users to anonymously interact with one another, enabling them to discuss topics they may not want connected with their real names.

A New York Times report has detailed the new app, citing two people with knowledge of Facebook's plans. The app is said have been in development for the past year, under the lead of Josh Miller, Branch co-founder and its chief executive till Facebook acquired the company - announced back in January this year.

Branch, a social network that specialised in small discussion groups, had said it would be forming Facebook's Conversations group in New York after the acquisition. Miller had written the social networking giant had acquired them "with the goal of helping people connect with others around their interests. Their pitch to us was: 'Build Branch at Facebook scale!'"

The new discussion app, which is said to allow the user to assume multiple pseudonyms, is expected to be released in the "coming weeks". The New York Times report claims it's unclear as to just how the app will be integrated with Facebook.

Of course, there is nothing really new about being pseudonymous on the Web. Numerous online discussion groups have existed since the early days of the Internet, with users anonymously sharing content and discussing topics. Facebook's attempt at this market - to compete with sites like Reddit and anonymous sharing apps likes Secret and Whisper - appears plausible, but seems riddled with risks for leaks of the true identities behind the aliases.

Recently, the social networking giant had come under pressure again because of its real name policy, and had allowed people to use assumed names, subject to verification.

When asked, Facebook told the New York Times it does not comment on rumour or speculation, and the publication added that Josh Miller did not respond when queried. The company had been reported to be adding anonymous features to its service back in April this year.

The new app will possibly be used to power "health community discussions", which is in-line with Facebook's reported interest in healthcare last week. The company was said to be in meetings with medical industry experts and entrepreneurs, and planning 'online support communities' apart from other health-based apps.

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Google News & Weather App for iOS Now Available for Download

Google, in its latest effort to make some of its most popular services available for Apple's iOS platform, has released the Google News & Weather app for the iPhone and iPad.

The new app from Google is now available on the App Store for free and is about 10MB in size. The official app listing notes that it will be available for all iOS devices running 7.0 or later and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Google claims that the News and Weather app has been optimised for the iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.

The new Google News & Weather app for iOS also brings a Google account sign-in option for personalised news, and coverage from 65,000 publications.

The News & Weather app for iOS expands Google's overall app offerings for Apple's mobile and tablet operating system which already included popular apps such as Gmail, Chrome, Google+, YouTube, Google Drive, Google Maps, and Hangouts among others.

The search engine giant had revamped its News & Weather app for Android back in August. The updated version 2.0 of the News & Weather app for Android brought a Google account sign-in option for personalised news along with improved support for tablet devices.

The signed-in account and the news menu could be accessed from the left slide-out navigation toggle, similar to the Google Drive interface. The update also included a help and feedback option along with quick access for add and remove news sections, which could also be accessed from the top-right corner menu.

Lastly, two new sizes of widgets were also introduced for the News & Weather app - 4x1 and 2x3 widgets, while the old 3x1 widget was removed in the update.

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Asus Fonepad 8 and MeMO Pad 8 Prices Revealed

Asus is releasing 2 new tablets - the 8-inch Asus Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) and MeMO Pad 8 (ME581CL) - in the Malaysian markets. The tablets were both announced at Computex 2014 without pricing.

According to Hardware Zone Singapore (via Phone Arena), the Asus Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) and MeMO Pad 8 (ME581CL) will be available in local markets starting October 10 and have been priced at SGD 299 (roughly Rs. 14,300) and SGD 499 (roughly Rs. 24,000) respectively.

Initially announced at Computex 2014, the Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) is a refreshed version of its predecessor while the MeMO Pad 8 (ME581CL) is the LTE-enabled version of the Asus MeMOPad 8.

The Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) tablet runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box with company's Asus ZenUI on top. It comes with built-in 3G connectivity and phone functionality.

The dual-SIM supporting Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) features an 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels resolution. Notably for the Fonepad 8, the company narrowed bezels to 5.06mm to provide a 72.2 percent screen-to-body ratio. The new 8-inch Asus Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) measures 12cm across.

It features the latest 64-bit Intel Atom Z3530 1.3GHz quad-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM. Notably, the company at Computex had announced Fonepad 8 tablet's version powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3560 1.8GHz quad-core processor.

The Asus Fonepad 8 (FE380CG) includes a 5-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The tablet weighs 328 grams and will be available in Black, White, Gold and Red colour variants.

The MeMO Pad 8 (ME581CL), on the other hand, was launched in partnership with KIDDI and was touted to be the "world's lightest 8-inch LTE tablet", by Asus. At 299 grams the tablet runs on Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box with company's latest intuitive Asus ZenUI on top.

The 8-inch Asus MeMO Pad 8 (ME581CL) features a full-HD 1920x1200 IPS display. It is powered by a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 2.3GHz quad-core processor with no detail about the RAM size as of yet.

The Asus MeMO Pad 8 is same as the FonePad tablet at 5-megapixel rear camera and a front 2-megapixel camera. Connectivity on the tablet includes Wi-Fi 802.11ac, 4G LTE, and NFC.

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