Snapchat Outage Prompts Complaints on Twitter

Snapchat faced a worldwide outage for at least four hours on Monday, prompting a flood of complaints on rival mobile application Twitter a day before posting its third-quarter earnings as a public company. “We’re aware of the issue and working on a fix,” Snapchat said on its support Twitter account, recommending that users stay logged on.

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Many users tweeted about being unable to sign on after logging off the app, which is popular among people under 30 for posting pictures that are automatically deleted within 24 hours. Twitter user @bradleykeegan11 wrote, “(Snapchat)Won’t let me log in and keeps saying ‘could not connect’.”

A spokesman for the Snap unit did not immediately respond to a query about the size and cause of the outage. Snapchat had at least a couple of technical issues in October, according to its Twitter support page. Snap, which went public in May, is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Its stock closed down 2.8 percent at $14.83 on Monday, below its initial public offering price of $17.

Source: http://www.news18.com/news/tech/snapchat-outage-prompts-complaints-on-twitter-1569195.html

Some iPhone X buyers are having problems activating their phones

Users who have gotten their phones activated in the past couple hours are saying the process is slow or takes multiple times to work. This could be network congestion, as one MacRumors reader said an AT&T rep told them, or something more serious.

“I checked with customer support and can confirm that customers that purchased iPhone X from Verizon are not having activation issues.“ a Verizon spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. In a similar statement, AT&T said the issue was not limited to its users. “Some of our customers experienced a delay activating their iPhone X,” an AT&T spokesman said. “The issue was not specific to our customers and is resolved.”

It appears the issue could just be related to iPhones purchased directly from Apple and not from the carriers.

Sprint declined to comment. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Update Nov, 3rd, 4:40PM ET: Sprint customers are also having issues activating the iPhone X, this post has been updated to reflect that.

Update Nov, 3rd, 6:10PM ET: Updated with a statement from Verizon.

Update Nov, 3rd, 11:30PM ET: Updated with a statement from AT&T.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/3/16604392/iphone-x-activation-issues-att-verizon-apple

Cut off from WhatsApp for an hour, it felt like ages for netizens

Afootball coach who usually communicates with her students regarding class hours through WhatsApp groups faced inconvenience during that phase of the day . “Groups are always considered a convenient medium of messaging than individual texts. I usually contact parents through WhatsApp groups. The suspended service was quite troublesome for me,” said Runa Kedia.
Parents encountered trouble contacting their children who stay overseas as WhatsApp calls couldn’t be made.
Park Circus resident Nihar Banerjee, 76, was trying to call her grandson when the service crashed. She panicked as she tried to figure out what had gone wrong. “My grandson is studying MBA in the US.It has become a routine for me to call him every morning.When the call did not get connected, I started worrying about him,” she said.
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Some even complained about the trouble they faced while trying to transfer important documents through WhatsApp. Financial consultant Somnath Sen, a resident of Jadavpur, was trying to call his doctor during the outage.While his doctor was unable to take the call, he thought of sending some reports to him through WhatsApp. “Initially , I thought there were some snags with my mobile service provider. Later on I found out that it was a problem with the messenger. Thankfully , it did not take long to be fixed,” he said.
For youngsters who are hooked on WhatsApp, it was troublesome as they kept on checking for new messages in vain. Atif Hassan, a student at IIT-Kharagpur, was perturbed as he couldn’t connect to his friends. “We are habituated with WhatsApp and there was afrustration initially . But later on, most of my friends started getting connected via other messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, IMO and Instagram,” he said.

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Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/cut-off-from-whatsapp-for-an-hour-it-felt-like-ages-for-netizens/articleshow/61501697.cms

Android Circuit: New Galaxy S9 Leaks, OnePlus 5T Confirmed, Samsung’s Secret Power

Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes new Samsung Galaxy S9 leaks, Samsung’ secret power inside the S9, Pixel 2 XL screen burn solutions, Razer’s first smartphone, OnePlus confirms the 5T, the Pixel Visual Core advantage, the budget friendly Nokia 2, and the burger emoji fight.

Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week (and you can find the weekly Apple news digest here).

Talking About The Leaked Back Of The Galaxy S9

Details on the Samsung’s Galaxy S9 continue to leak out and we’re starting to get some clear indications on what we can expect from the South Korean flagship when it arrives in early 2018. The latest information concerns the rear of the smartphone. Forbes Gordon Kelly reports:

Of course the most obvious way the Galaxy S9 would change in a big way would be with the addition of dual cameras, as seen on the excellent Galaxy Note 8. With dual camera pressure from Apple, LG and Huawei as well as Google’s superlative Pixel 2 camera, this is nailed on in my opinion.

But there are two other areas where Samsung could also greatly improve the back of the Galaxy S9. Firstly it must move the fingerprint sensor into a more central, easier to reach position. Secondly it should copy Google’s Pixel 2 smartphones with a mix of aluminium and glass – the former adds durability, the latter is necessary to retain wireless charging which (unlike some) Samsung does right.

More here on Forbes.

The Lesser-Spotted SnapDragon 845

Some of the changes inside the Galaxy S9 are a little bit more predictable, such as the latest SnapDragon chipset from Qualcomm. Not only will Samsung have a power advantage if it uses the SnapDragon 845 it’s also going to have a commercial advantage thanks to a rumored period of exclusivity, as I reported earlier this week:

But the increased capability of the 845 will not be available to everyone in the first half of the year. The Galay S9 is expected to have a period of exclusivity where it will be the only handset that will carry the 845. After that period is up the volume of Galaxy S9 sales will likely preserve an effective monopoly until other manufacturers build up sufficient stock to go to market.

This follows a similar pattern from 2017, where the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus launched with exclusive access to the SnapDragon 835, which is now the de facto chip for many Android flagship handsets.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2017/11/03/android-google-news-headlines-samsung-galaxys9-razer-nokia-oneplus-leak/#60ff3fec8122

Nokia 2 vs Xiaomi Redmi 4A vs Moto C Plus: Price in India, Specifications, Features Compared

Nokia 2 is finally official after weeks of leaks and speculation, adding more competition to the budget segment of the Indian smartphone market. HMD Global says it is targeting the market for $100-150 smartphones with the Nokia 2, which has modest hardware to speak of but is said to offer battery life of up to 2 days. While HMD Global may have high hopes from it, the going will not be easy for Nokia 2 as it will square off against the popular Xiaomi Redmi 4A and Moto C in this segment. We take a look between the major differences between the three entry-level smartphones, including the prices in India, specifications and the unique features they offer, so that you can make an informed choice.

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Nokia 2 vs Xiaomi Redmi 4A vs Moto C Plus price in India
Nokia 2 price in India has not been announced so far, with the company only saying it will bear a global average retail price of EUR 99 (approximately Rs. 7,500). So it is likely that the brand would keep the price under Rs. 7,500, going by how much the likes of Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 cost in the country. The Redmi 4A comes in two variants in India – one with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, the other with 3GB and 32GB internal storage. The former costs Rs. 5,999 and the latter Rs. 6,999. Moto C Plus is available in only one configuration, with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, and is priced at Rs. 6,999.

Nokia 2 vs Xiaomi Redmi 4A vs Moto C Plus specifications and features
Nokia 2, slated to launch in India mid-November, has a 5-inch HD display; the company says its LTPS panel delivers 1:1300 contrast ratio for a crisp viewing experience. Then there’s the premium design that the company is touting as a highlight of the phone, with polycarbonate body and frame made of 6000 Series Aluminium. Other notable features include the Gorilla Glass 3 protection for display panel, the 4100mAh battery that is said to deliver 2-days’ worth of juice, and the promised upgrade to Android Oreo.

Source: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/nokia-2-price-in-india-xiaomi-redmi-4a-moto-c-plus-specifications-compared-1769686

OnePlus co-founder shares new Portrait mode photo, is it from OnePlus 5T?

OnePlus 5T smartphone is expected to be unveiled soon by the company. Ahead of the launch, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has tweeted out a photo, which is expected to be taken with OnePlus 5T. The image has been taken in ‘Portrait’ mode, and it is accompanied by a caption that reads, “What phone is he taking that photo with?…” Of course, Pei doesn’t explicitly mention that the photo has been taken using OnePlus 5T. Portrait mode lets people people take pictures with subject in sharp focus while the background is blurred.
Portrait mode or ‘bokeh’-styled photos remain exclusive to dual camera smartphones. However, Google takes advantage of enhanced software to achieve this effect on Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones which feature a single camera lens at the back.
Pei had tweeted a camera sample from unknown smartphone previously as well. He shared black and white photo of a disco light ball emanating light rays. “Cool photo, must have come from a great camera,” he wrote on Twitter. meanwhile, CEO and co-founder of OnePlus Pete Lau also took to Twitter to share a camera sample that highlights great detailing in photo in low-light.
OnePlus 5T is rumoured to have the same dual camera setup that we saw on the OnePlus 5. While dual cameras on OnePlus 5 get 8x zoom capability, people can zoom up to 2X while using the Portrait Mode. There’s a 16MP Sony IMX 371 wide-angle lens along with a 20MP Sony IMX 350 telephoto camera on the rear, with dual LED flash. The front shooter is 16MP with f/2.0 aperture.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/mobile-tabs/oneplus-co-founder-shares-portrait-mode-photo-is-it-from-oneplus-5t-4916731/