Sony working on Windows-based smartphone: Report

 Sony is reportedly mulling over offering a Windows-based handset in mid-2014. 

The electronics giant has been making Android devices for years, but a potential partnership with Microsoft could change games for both the tech companies. 

According to Cnet, if the deal between Sony and Microsoft actualizes, it would be the first time the company would get into the Windows Phone space. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft has also been trying to rope in other device manufacturers to expand its PC-dominant software to the mobile phone platform and has also cut software-licensing fee to lure manufacturers.

Apple‘s Mac Pro easy to repair: iFixit

Apple's latest Mac Pro appears straight out of a sci-fi flick but it has scored high on repair company iFixit's repairability scale. 

The Mac Pro is fairly easy to be taken apart as iFixit found its cylindrical design closer to that of an aluminum soda can than a trash can, to which it was initially compared. 

According to Cnet, opening the 3,000 dollars Mac Pro requires just a snap of the lock switch thereby exposing the first layer of cards and components. 

iFixit said that the RAM modules are easily accessible and replaceable, and one simply needs to turn a screwdriver to reveal the flash storage and flash controller. 

However, the data connectors for the graphics card are a little tricky and the iFixit team said that this stacks up fairly well for current Apple GPU offerings, the proprietary nature, and lack of an elegant external GPU option, may age this device before its time. 

The team found that the logic board, the dual graphics cards, and the I/O port board all connect to a single disc-shaped 'daughterboard' and despite few tricky parts, the Mac Pro is relatively easy to dismantle. 

iFixit said that the computer's design is 'surprisingly modular and easy to disassemble', but added that with some proprietary new connectors and tight cable routing, working on the device without a repair manual could be risky. 

The device scored 8 out of 10 on the repairability scale, for 10 being the easiest to repair, the report added.

Google reveals 2013's hottest diet

Google trends annual Zeitgeist list has confirmed Paleo diet as 2013's most searched diet.

The diet's basis is that people should eat what was available to the caveman in the earlier days, and avoid all processed foods, grains and dairy, according to Examiner.com.

Google Trends has predicted that Gluten-free and Paleo is going to be 2014's most popular diet plans.

About three million people follow Paleo diet, which is roughly 1% of the population.

Revealed! Most downloaded smartphone apps of 2013

Snapchat, Vine, and Candy Crush Saga earned coveted spots on smartphones this year, making them among the most downloaded apps of the year. 

There are more than a million apps on Apple's App Store and Google's Play store, the two dominant marketplaces for apps, which see billions of downloads each year. 

This year, the most downloaded apps were new takes on communication, gaming, and entertainment, according to mobile app experts. 

"2013 was a really interesting year in terms of maturation, milestones and new trends," said Craig Palli, chief strategy officer at Fiksu, a mobile marketing company based in Boston. 

"The most downloaded apps were in familiar categories, but offered new twists," he added. 

While old favorites such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter — available for iPhone, Android and other devices - continued to be popular ways of communicating with friends, Snapchat eclipsed them in downloads in 2013, becoming the sixth most downloaded free app of the year on the App Store, according to Apple. 

"Snapchat went from being a niche app to achieving much more critical mass, so much so that Facebook was reportedly willing to spend billions of dollars to acquire the company," said Palli. 

With Snapchat, users can send photos and videos that disappear shortly after they are viewed.

Launched in 2011, the app's user base continued to grow rapidly in 2013, with over 13 million people using the app in October, according to the latest available estimates from global information and measurement company Nielsen. In December alone, over 400 million pieces of content were shared through the app, according to Snapchat, based in Venice, CA. 

Vine, a video sharing app released earlier this year by microblogging company Twitter, was the fourth most downloaded free app in 2013. The app, for iPhone, Android and other devices, allows users to share videos under six seconds in length. Nielsen estimates over 6 million people in the US were using the app in October of this year. 

Snapchat and Vine fall into a category that mobile analytics firm Flurry calls camera-enhanced messaging, which they said grew eightfold in 2013. 

"The communications category underwent phenomenal growth this year. Messaging apps like Snapchat, Line, Kakao (KakaoTalk) and WeChat are all exploding and becoming bigger than the carriers in their home countries in terms of users," said Simon Khalaf, chief executive of San Francisco-based company Flurry. 

Crushing saga

Games were another popular category, with Candy Crush Saga for iPhone, Android and Kindle Fire securing its position as the top downloaded free app, and as the top revenue grossing app. It has been downloaded over 500 million times since its launch last year, according to its creator King, based in the UK. Nielsen estimates that over 20 million people in the US were playing the game in October of this year. 

In the entertainment category, Pandora continued to be the leading way to stream music and was the ninth most downloaded, and third top grossing, app in 2013. 

"Clearly the device has swallowed radio," said Palli. "Despite the new entrants, Pandora remains the dominant player in the space," he added. 

But the biggest trend of 2013, according to Palli, is the emergence of apps as a way to control companion devices, which he believes will continue to grow in 2014. 

On Christmas Day, apps that pair with devices were among some of the top downloaded apps on the App Store. 

The Fitbit app, for iPhone and Android, pairs with an electronic wristband to track metrics such as steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned. It was the 16th most downloaded app on December 25, according to Palli, who monitored the Apple rankings. 

Other apps that pair with devices, such as Chromecast, UP by Jawbone, and GoPro were also among the top downloads that day. 

Khalaf predicts that apps for televisions will be the trend to watch for 2014. 

"I think 2014 could be the year the TV industry gets disrupted by mobile," said Khalaf. 

"If you think about it, every American spends $100+ dollars per month on a service that is not personalized and not mobile. It's an area that's ripe for disruption and I think someone will come up with new content, maybe a new device and more importantly a better business model."

India to have 155 mn mobile Internet users by March: IAMAI

The number of users accessing the web on their mobile handsets in India is expected to reach 155 million by March this year, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). 

This number is further expected to grow to 185 million by June, 2014. 

"The number of mobile internet users is going to reach 155 million in India by the end of March 2014, and 185 million by June 2014, maintaining a quarter-on-quarter growth of 20 per cent," a report by IAMAI and IMRB International said. 

At the end of December 2013, the number of mobile internet users stood at 130 million as against a userbase of 110 million in October 2013. 

According to the report, the number of mobile Internet users in urban India is expected to grow from 103 million in December 2013 to 126 million in March 2014 and further touch 153 million by June. 

Rural India, though accounting for the smaller share, is also expected to register strong growth to touch 32 million users (in June 2014) from 27 million in December 2013. 

The report also found that the average revenue per user (ARPU) has dropped to Rs 387 from Rs 460 in 2012. 

However, the percentage amount spent on mobile Internet has gone up to 45 per cent in 2013 from 43 per cent in the previous year. 

Also, 35 per cent of the mobile Internet users are spending between Rs 100 and Rs 500 monthly on their phone expenses. 

While nine per cent are believed to be spending over Rs 500, six per cent are spending less than Rs 100 every month, the report said.

Samsung Galaxy S5 to have premium version: Report

Buzz about Samsung launching a new premium smartphone featuring a metal body is getting hotter. According to a report in Korean publication ETNews, the device dubbed Galaxy F may make a debut around the same time as the company's upcoming smartphone flagship Galaxy S5. 

As per the report, the prototype of the metallic smartphone was developed in Europe and later moved to the company's production facility in Vietnam. An earlier report had said that Samsung is preparing a new Galaxy F line of devices, which will be placed above the S and Note series. However, it was also being speculated that the Galaxy S5 could also sport a metal frame. 

Previously, alleged images of a metal frame of a Samsung smartphone too had leaked online. It was reported that the metal frame was provided by a Samsung sub-contractor, which has been asked to manufacture it without specifying the model. 

The frame was 143.83mm in length and 72.27mm in width, compared to the 136.6mm long and 69.8mm wide Galaxy S4. These dimensions suggested a larger screen than 5-inch. It is also rumoured that the Galaxy S5 will have 2K display resolution and 560ppi pixel density, the highest for any smartphone. 

A Samsung device with model number SM-G900F device, believed to be a higher-end variant of S5, had also appeared on AnTuTu benchmarks. The device that showed up on the benchmark results is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip and 3GB of RAM. The Krait processor part of the chip had been clocked at 2.5GHz. The phone was detected as having 1080p display, though it's possible that Samsung locked the resolution to that particular resolution (Galaxy S5 is said to sport a 2K display). The device was running Android 4.4 KitKat and featured a 16MP camera. It is likely that this device was Galaxy F.