North America Smartphone Sales Dropped 6.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015

Smartphone business is now highly saturated specifically in the high end models from established Samsung and Apple and, from Chinese makers like Huawei and Xiaomi. According to a report from GfK a research firm from Nuremberg, Germany smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 reached $23.9 billion in North America which decreased from $25.6 billion for the fourth quarter of 2014.

In the U.S., smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 was $20.5 billion, down from $21.8 billion for the same periods.

Other region which experience major declines in the fourth quarter of 2015 was Latin America, which saw a 12.7% decrease. In Cenral and Eastern Europe the sales in value decreases by 10.8% though their unit sold actually increased by 3.6%.

However, in China smartphone sales are experiencing huge increase of 12%. China’s influence is massive, with double the number of smartphones sold compared to any other region, at 106 million for the quarter, GfK reported.

iPhone
Samsung
Xiaomi
Huawei

BlackBerry Priv

BlackBerry Priv is the first BlackBerry smartphone, that run on Android OS. It has a 5.6-inch display and a QWERTY keyboard that can be slide out. The called it "Priv" because of the privacy and privilege that it offers. It has a built-in software designed to keep you and your information safe.

The smartphone is powered by a Qualcomm 808 processor, 32GB of storage, and a 18-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization.

BlackBerry Priv Specs:

Display: 5.6-inch display 1440 x 2560 pixels Corning Gorilla Glass 4
OS: Android OS, v5.1.1 (Lollipop)
CPU: Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808 Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57 & quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53 with Adreno 418
Storage: 32 GB expandable using microSD, up to 200 GB
RAM: 3 GB
Camera: Main 18 MP, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, optical image stabilization, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED
Secondary Camera 2 MP, 720p
Battery: Li-Ion 3410 mAh battery

BlackBerry Priv will be available on AT&T or through BlackBerry.com starting November 9, 2015.

Microsoft Office for Android Updated with new look and features

- Microsoft launches Office preview for Android phones
- Microsoft gives Office mobile apps for Android phones new features and new look

Microsoft has upgraded the Microsoft Office for Android phones with an updated look and new features. They launched the Android tablet version back in January, which has the same look with the iOS version. The Android phone version is like the version of the tablet app but trimmed down. The updated App will eventually replace the existing Office Mobile.

For the most part, the App looks like the Android tablet version. You can find the finger-friendly versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that let the user create, open, and edit office documents. The App is free! It gives the user the ability to do basic and quick edits.

You can save your file in the cloud.

Google Play Movies Expands to 37 new countries

Google Play Movies which is a popular movie download and streaming service is now offered in 37 new countries of the globe.

The new countries that can now us the Google Play Movies service are:

Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, Gabon, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Luxembourg, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Rwanda, Senegal, Sweden, Togo, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zambia.

Google Play Movies will allow users to rent or purchase movie titles and watch them on the internet. Users from these countries can now be able to purchase or rent popular titles right from their tablet or smartphone.

In addition to this, Google will also update the supporting app for standard-definition film and TV downloads and for recognizing 40 additional languages.

However, renting and buying TV episodes is still restricted to only a few countries: Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Twitter on Android Updates photo function

Android's Twitter App has been updated, it includes an improvement on photo sharing. You will now have option to include applying pre-defined square or wide crops, as well as a little rotation magic.

If you upload a picture of people, it will remind you to mention your friends in the Tweet together with the photo. Twitter is also increasing the amount of recommendations that popup in your timeline.

The latest Twitter app will have you pull-to-refresh your feed as usual, but when there's no new tweets to display, it will pull down a panel showing more recommendations. These will include things like suggested people to follow, trending topics, and specific tweets.