Samsung's first Tizen phones go on sale in India

Samsung's first smartphones to be powered by its Tizen operating system have gone on sale.

The Z1 handsets are available in India for 5,700 rupees ($92; £60) and, according to the firm, offer faster boot times and longer-lasting battery life than many budget-priced rivals.

Samsung had previously planned to sell Tizen phones in Russia and Japan, but cancelled the launches.

One expert said the Indian move represented a shift away from Android.

"Tizen is Samsung's big software platform bet," said Ben Wood from the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight.

"However, it's now finding it increasingly challenging to differentiate what it offers with Android-powered devices versus its rivals. Hence the difficulty it's having standing out from the crowd with its products and the related market share loss that it's suffered."Until now, its software strategy has been predicated by the decisions Google has made with Android, and it's been able to use that relationship to enormously positive benefit.

"By using Tizen, Samsung can make its phones very skinny indeed and there are also battery life advantages versus Android, which we've already seen with its Tizen-powered smartwatches."

Samsung is currently the world's bestselling manufacturer of handsets running Android,

However, the firm was a notable holdout when Google announced its Android One programme for India in September - an effort by the search giant to help manufacturers release low-cost "high quality" phones in the country by setting minimum standards and sourcing several of the hardware components for them.

Bollywood downloads

Samsung's Z1 handsets features:

• A 4in (10.2cm) providing 480p resolution
• A 3.1 megapixel rear camera and a 0.3 megapixel front one
• Four gigabytes of internal memory that can be further expanded via the addition of a microSD card
• Support for two Sim cards at once - a popular feature in the country as it helps users obtain the best rates by switching provider when crossing states

The South Korean firm says it can provide up to eight hours of talktime or seven hours of non-stop video playback between charges.

To aid its appeal, the firm is also providing free access to Bollywood songs and movies for three months via tie-ups with local services Hungama, nexGTv and Box TV

Facebook at Work app aims for role in the office

Facebook is launching a new app that aims to expand the US firm's presence within companies and other places of work.

The software is designed to provide a way for users to communicate as an alternative to email and other intranet systems.

The firm says information posted within the service is kept "secure, confidential and completely separate" from personal Facebook profiles.

The move poses a challenge to LinkedIn.

The work-focused social network recently announced its own plan to release a new app to help co-workers share information.

Facebook's move also threatens other established collaboration tools targeted at businesses including Yammer - which Microsoft bought for $1.2bn (£788m) in 2012 - Jive and MangoApps.

Email overload

The service is designed to help avoid important messages being missed because of email overload

Facebook already has about 1.4 billion people using its platform at least once a month, but it is currently blocked in some workplaces.

The Menlo Park, California-based firm suggested one advantage it had over rival work communication tools was that people were already familiar with the way it worked, meaning firms could save on training costs.

Many companies are keen to adopt such software because of complaints that a deluge of messages has made email a poor tool to keep in touch with.

"Facebook at Work is a separate experience that gives employees the ability to connect and collaborate efficiently using Facebook tools - many that they're likely already using such as News Feed, Groups, messages and events," the social network said in a statement.

"The information shared among employees is only accessible to people in the company."

A spokeswoman added: "Internally at Facebook we've been using our product for years, and we're now looking forward to the feedback from our pilot partners to create the best possible experience."

One industry watcher said the move was no surprise.

"If you look how popular things like Yammer have already been, that shows that there is definitely an appetite for a business skew of Facebook itself," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe.

"Yammer already has a lot of the look, feel and functionality of Facebook, so it is a logical thing for Facebook to follow Yammer into the marketplace."

China's Xiaomi unveils two thinner, lighter phablets

                                         

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has unveiled two flagship phablets in Beijing on Thursday, comparing them directly with Apple's largest iPhones.

Chief executive Lei Jun introduced the Mi Note, saying it was shorter, thinner and lighter than the iPhone 6 Plus.

Priced at 2,299 yuan ($371; £244), the 16 gigabyte model is less than half the price of Apple's handset and Samsung's phablet, the Galaxy Note 4.

Analysts say Xiaomi became the world's third bestselling phone firm in 2014.

Phablets are generally mobile devices that have features of both a smartphone and a tablet, but are too big or small in size to be classified as either one.

Xiaomi - which was only founded in 2010 - announced that the Mi Note was 6.95mm (0.27in) thick and weighed 161g (5.7oz).

That makes it 1.05mm thinner than the iPhone 6 Plus and 11g lighter.

The flagship Mi Note Pro has a higher resolution display and a faster processor than the basic model

It also features a 13 megapixel (MP) rear camera, made by Sony, and a 4MP front one.

In addition, Xiaomi announced the higher-end Mi Note Pro, which will be released at a later date. This model has:

• a higher resolution 2K display (515 pixels per inch)
• a faster 64 bit Snapdragon processor and 4G chip, which is capable of 450 megabits per second (Mbps) downloads
• more RAM memory (4GB)
• 64GB of built-in storage

It will sell for 3,299 yuan ($532; £350).

The company has been accused of copying iPhones in the past and Wee Teck Loo, head of consumer electronics research at market research firm Euromonitor, said a lot of emphasis was put on a side-by-side comparison with the iPhone 6 Plus at the start of the launch.

"Xiaomi appears like a teenager who wants to act like an adult and yet, cling on to his blanket for comfort - Apple bashing," he said.

Kiranjeet Kumar, senior market analyst at IDC Asia Pacific, said Xioami's comparisons to the iPhone implies the firm believes it is a product they look up to.

"They are trying to position against Apple or are trying to appeal to the Chinese consumer who still aspire to iPhones," he said.

Price war

In terms of features, analysts said that the specifications of Xioami's new devices did not show a "breakthrough in innovation" and its low prices were still the biggest attraction.

"Xiaomi changed the game in a way. Instead of keeping everyone's focus on ground-breaking innovative features coming on flagship phones, it has switched attention to packing great specs at modest price points," Mr Kumar said. "The key would be if they surpass the competition and its earlier models at those price-points."

The flagship devices basically extended what Xiaomi was good at - models that were targeted at Apple and Samsung, the only firms that still outsell it, Mr Loo added.

"The new models are definitely an upgrade compared to their predecessors - Xiaomi desperately needed to refresh its line-up to keep up with its competitors," he said.

China's Huawei says operating profit rose 17% in 2014

Chinese tech giant Huawei said its operating profit in 2014 rose by about 17% from the previous year.

The telecoms equipment maker's growth was driven by the global adoption of fourth-generation (4G) mobile technology.

Its revenue also increased by about 20% in the same period, the company said.

The Chinese conglomerate competes with the likes of Sweden's Ericsson for technology infrastructure such as mobile phone masts.

It is also in the race with other tech giants to develop 5G technology, while also being a player in the smartphone market.

Huawei's consumer business saw revenue rise by about 32% from a year ago thanks to the higher sales of its mid- to high-end range of mobile phones, it said in a statement.

The firm's growth comes despite it facing challenges in several major economies. In the US it was scrutinised for posing a security risk because of its alleged close ties with the Chinese government.

It has been banned from being involved in broadband projects in the US and Australia over espionage fears.

The company's final audited earnings results will be released in March.

Microsoft hits out at Google team over bug report

Google has been criticised by Microsoft after the search giant publicised a security flaw in Windows - which some said put users at risk.

Microsoft reacted angrily when Google posted details of the bug online before a patch to fix the issue was released.

The disclosure was part of Google's Project Zero initiative that seeks to pressure firms into dealing with security problems more quickly.

Several security researchers disagreed with Google's actions.

"I feel sorry for the users, who could be impacted by Google's schoolyard antics," tweeted expert Graham Cluley, who noted the company had been criticised for similar behaviour in the past.

Discussion on Google's bug reporting site was divided on the matter.

"Google was wrong with what they did," wrote one developer.

"They don't have all of the OS code so they have no idea how much other code would have to be rewritten to correct the problem.

"That extra coding takes time to ensure that something else doesn't get broken in the process."

But another said: "Google is not evil. Microsoft just slept and did not fix the vulnerability in time. Good job Google."

Inflation rate joint lowest on record in December (UK)

The UK inflation rate fell sharply to 0.5% in December, the joint lowest on record, official figures show.

Inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index fell from 1% in November to its lowest rate since May 2000, helped by cheaper fuel prices.

Low inflation could mean lower interest rates for longer, Bank of England governor Mark Carney told the BBC.

However, he said he still expected rates to "move up over the course of the next couple of years".

A fall of inflation below 1% triggers a letter of explanation from Mr Carney to the chancellor.

This is because the CPI rate is more than one percentage point away from the Bank's 2% target.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also said that the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation fell to 1.6% from 2%.

The ONS said that in addition to falling fuel prices, the drop in inflation was also due to the rises in gas and electricity prices in December 2013 falling out of the equation.

WhatsApp: Record number of messages sent each day

Every day more than 30bn WhatsApp messages are now sent, according to new figures revealed by the company's CEO, Jan Koum.

There are also a record 700m monthly active users.

Koum says the organisation is "humbled and excited" by the amount of users it now has.

But the numbers are so huge that they are almost impossible to understand - so let's break them down into something a bit more straightforward.

WhatsApp CEO Jan Koum's official statement