Tech News Round-Up: Week 3, April 2014

Catch-up with this week's big news from the world of technology.

Chandrakant 'CK' Isi
19th Apr 2014

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Last week, the technology world was buzzing with the developments surrounding Microsoft’s mobile platform. Now in the third week of April, it’s the software giant’s rival Google that made headlines in the technology world. There weren’t too many smartphone launches this time around, but enough appealing stuff to keep you busy. So here are the top news that you shouldn’t miss out on.

Google Camera Now Available For Kitkat Devices
Getting inspiration from Nokia camera on Windows Phone, the search giant launched Google camera for Android handsets. The app brings Photo Sphere to the table. It also comes with the Lens Blur mode, which is very similar to Nokia’s Refocus app. It's currently on compatible with Android Kitkat. Click here to download it on your Kitkat handset.

Google Acquires A Drone Manufacturer
After Facebook's acquisition of drone-maker Ascenta, now Google has added Titan Aerospace to its kitty. Both Titan and Ascenta are in the business of building high altitude drones which fly near the edge of the earth's atmosphere. Both Google and Facebook claim that they plan to use these drones to provide cheap Internet connectivity and not take over the world.

Google's Project Ara Phone To Release Next Year
Started by Motorola, Project Ara is expected to be an insanely customisable phone hardware platform. It's now being developed by Google and if everything goes according to the plans, building a smartphone would be as simple as playing with Lego blocks. How soon? Well, according to Google, it will be ready by January 2015.

Samsung Showcases A Curved Battery
Samsung has built a tiny 210 mAh curved battery, which it plans to use in upcoming wearables. With this new hardware the Korean brand has got a step closer towards its goal of making a bendable smartphone by 2016. You can find more information by clicking here.

Gionee Launches ELife E7 Mini Smartphone
Chinese manufacturer Gionee has launched a compact version of the Elife E7. Dubbed E7 Mini, this phone boasts of a swivelling 13 megaixel camera that can produce high-quality selfies. The phone has been priced at Rs 19,000. You can find detailed specs here.

Samsung's Gear Now Compatible With 20 More GALAXY Devices
Samsung announced that its Gear range of devices will now support more handsets and tablets. There are about 20 new devices from its Tab, Mega, Grand, and Note series that will play nice with Samsung’s smartwatches. Click here to check the list of compatible devices.