Lenovo dragged to court over Superfish security flaw

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BY Unknown 02:02 0

Lenovo dragged to court over Superfish security flaw

Just days after Lenovo admitted that the Superfish software, which comes pre-installed on some of its consumer laptops, could leave systems vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, it has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit.

Filed by Jessica Bennett, whose laptop was damaged due to what she termed a “spyware”, the lawsuit charges both Lenovo and Superfish with fraudulent business practices, breaching users’ privacy, and tracking their Internet browsing habits.

For those who aren’t in the know, Superfish is a software which Lenovo claims enhances users’ shopping experience by displaying extra advertisements while they’re browsing a website, even if it uses HTTPS. Under the hood, the software installs its own root certificate on systems as a means to bypass the secure connections. It affects non-ThinkPad models such as G Series, U Series, Y Series, Z Series, S Series, Flex, Miix, Yoga, and E Series.

Lenovo has already released an Automatic Removal tool as well as a step-by-step guide to ensure complete removal of Superfish. The software can also be removed by using Microsoft’s Windows Defender and McAfee’s security applications.

Sixth Lenovo smartphone confirmed for its MWC lineup

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BY Unknown 00:58 0

Sixth Lenovo smartphone confirmed for its MWC lineup

Yesterday, we reported on Lenovo's upcoming line-up of five smartphones for MWC 2015, but we've been tipped that there's in fact one more phone that will debut there. As it turns out, the sixth new Vibe member is the Vibe Max, which isn't the same as the Vibe Shot.

The Lenovo Vibe Max, as MXPhone.com tipped us, is a big screen device with a 6.0" display boasting QHD resolution. It's performance oriented, but specifics on the chipset aren't available yet. The Vibe Max will be the first Android smartphone from Lenovo to pack a stylus. It's called AnyPen and we suspect it will be able to do some cool stuff, although details are scarce.

The Vibe Max also packs a big battery, probably north of 4,000mAh and the phone will include a fingerprint sensor and NFC connectivity. Sadly, photos of the phone aren't available yet.

At the Mobile World Congress this year, Lenovo will reveal its 2015 Android line-up including the Vibe S1, Vibe X3, Vibe P1, Vibe P1 Pro and the Vibe Shot in addition to the Vibe Max.

Lenovo Vibe Shot packs a 16MP camera with OIS

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BY Unknown 01:44 0

Lenovo Vibe Shot packs a 16MP camera with OIS

Aptly named, the new smartphone focuses on camera capabilities and comes with a feature-rich 16MP main unit, utilizing a BSI sensor. A triple tone LED flash should provide consistent lighting in various environments, while optical image stabilization ensures usable images in low-light scenarios.

However, the "laser" part of the auto focus inscription on the back, we saw in the previous images, has been mysteriously dropped. A dedicated shutter release button is on board, though.

The Vibe Shot features a 5-inch FullHD screen and is powered by 64-bit Snapdragon 615 chipset. It doesn't skimp on RAM either, packing the generous 3GB. Translation is fuzzy, but internal storage is likely 32GB, and is expandable up to 128GB via microSD.

The new smartphone sports a premium build with a brushed metal frame all around and various other metal accents. The Lenovo Vibe Shot will boot Android 5.0 out of the box, but no details have been disclosed yet on price and availability.

Samsung slips to number five in Chinese smartphone market

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BY Unknown 02:14 0

Samsung slips to number five in Chinese smartphone market

Samsung, which was dethroned in China by local upstart Xiaomi last year, has slipped to the fifth position in the country's smartphone market now, according to a latest report from the market research firm IDC.

As per the report, in Q4, 2014, the South Korean company captured just 7.9% of the market, a whopping 50% decline compared to the year ago quarter.

On the other hand, with an year-on-year growth of 150%, Xiaomi occupied the first place, capturing 13.7% of the market. Next came in Apple, with 12.3% market share, followed by Huawei and Lenovo, with 11% and 9.5% market share, respectively.

Overall, a total of 107.5 million smartphones were shipped in the country in Q4 last year, representing a 2% quarter-on-quarter growth.

Lenovo plans to upgrade 7 phones to Lollipop in Q2

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BY Unknown 02:47 0

Lenovo plans to upgrade 7 phones to Lollipop in Q2

While other mobile device makers have been busy updating their products to Android 5.0 Lollipop for many weeks now, Lenovo has just announced which of its handsets will eventually run the latest version of the OS. And it's not a long list. In fact there are only seven phones on it. Sure, the company may add more in the future, but for now these are the only Lenovo devices confirmed to get Lollipop.

We're talking about the A5000, A6000, P70, S90, Vibe X2, Vibe Z2, and Vibe Z2 Pro. That's it.

The updates to Android 5.0 Lollipop for these smartphones are still far out, though, with Lenovo only committing to releasing them sometime during the second quarter of this year.

That could be at any point between April 1 and June 30, so if you own one of these you're still looking at quite a wait. But at least in this case you know your particular Lenovo handset will taste Lollipop. If you have another device made by the company, things aren't looking good.

Lenovo P70 launches in China with 4,000 mAh battery

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BY Unknown 14:05 0

Lenovo P70 launches in China with 4,000 mAh battery

Lenovo has made a new smartphone available in China today. It's called P70, and it's a midranger with the battery capacity perhaps being its main claim to fame. The P70 comes powered by a whopping 4,000 mAh cell, which the Chinese company says may last you up to 34 days on standby.

That's quite an achievement for a smartphone in this day and age, though the number does only refer to 2G standby. It goes down to 30.5 days on 4G, and 29 days on 3G. Still, respectable nevertheless.

Aside from that, the Lenovo P70 boasts a 5-inch 720p IPS touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash, as well as a 5 MP front-facing unit. Running the show is MediaTek's MT6752 64-bit chipset, coming with a 1.7 GHz octa-core CPU and a 700 MHz Mali T760-MP2 GPU.

The handset has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot, dual-SIM functionality, and 4G LTE support (Cat.4, up to 150Mbps download and 50Mbps upload). It's being offered in "midnight blue" only.

It runs Android 4.4 KitKat and its dimensions are 142 x 71.8 x 8.9 mm, while it weighs 149 grams. It costs CNY 1,399, which right now means about $224 or €198.

20,000 Lenovo A6000 phones sold in 3 seconds

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BY Unknown 20:19 0

20,000 Lenovo A6000 phones sold in 3 seconds

Lenovo conducted its second flash sale of the A6000 and it was as an unmitigated success. The affordable LTE-enabled smartphone went up for sale of Flipkart in India and 20,000 units were snatched in a matter of three seconds.

This is becoming a norm for this particular handset as last Wednesday (January 28) the initial flash sale event saw 10,000 phone sales in just two seconds. The particular sales model seem to be so effective that Lenovo has already announced its intention to have a third round on February 11.

Willing customers, who have missed the narrow window to get their hands on the A6000 need to register for the shopping frenzy. The manufacturer did not reveal how many units will be going on sale next week, but judging from the avalanche of sales the number of available units should be ramped-up even higher.

The Lenovo A6000 is a decent mid-range offer, built-around a 64-bit capable Snapdragon 410 chipset with four Cortex-A53 cores, clocked at 1.2 GHz. It comes equipped with 1GB pf RAM and 8GB internal memory and boasts a 5.0-inch 720p IPS screen.

Cameras are an 8MP main shooter and 2MP front one. The device is dual-SIM supporting and comes with Dual-Mode LTE (TD-LTE Band 40 and FD-LTE Band 20), WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat with Lenovo's own Vibe UI 2.0 on top.

The Lenovo A6000 currently retails for INR 6,999 or about $113. This is an awesome deal for an LTE device and it's no wonder the handset is taking the developing India market by storm. The push continues to deliver high-tech current technology on a budget to this new emerging huge market and Lenovo is definitely on the right track along with ambitious undertakings such as Android One.

Lenovo Vibe Z3 Pro leaked, premium body and specs

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BY Unknown 01:29 0

Lenovo Vibe Z3 Pro leaked, premium body and specs

The MWC is right around the corner, and an unexpected Lenovo flagship appears to be in the pipelines, ready to be launched at the March event. Leaked images accompanied by hardware specs have made their way to Chinese social network Weibo.

  

Lenovo Vibe Z3 Pro

The Lenovo Vibe Z3 Pro is powered by the top-end Snapdragon, and 4GB of system memory is present, hitting the chipset's ceiling. A generous 64GB of onboard storage should be sufficient, but the previousVibe Z2 Pro had a microSD slot, so this one might too.

The new device is equipped with a 5.5-inch QHD display which is a step back from the 6-inch screen of the predecessor. Still, many users find 5.5 inches to be the sweet spot for a pocketable device offering enough screen estate. The predecessor featured a huge 4,000mAh battery, which didn't impress in screen-on time, so we'll see how this one fares with 3,400mAh and a smaller display.

Lenovo has put quite a lot of effort into the main camera. It packs a 16MP sensor with optical image stabilization and laser focusing. The flash has no less than three differently tinted LEDs. Another welcome appearance is the hardware shutter button, a rarity these days.

Lenovo Vibe Z3 Pro camera and shutter button

The device is rather good-looking too, with glass and metal all over. The brushed aluminum back has been inherited from the older generation, but the gently curved edges have been replaced by a chiseled aluminum frame. The front is all glass and unfortunately keeps bezel size a mystery at this point.

The Lenovo Vibe Z3 Pro will launch on Android 5.0 and is expected to be officially announced at the MWC in the beginning of March.

Lenovo A6000 selling in bucketloads in India

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BY Unknown 22:48 0

Lenovo A6000 selling in bucketloads in India

Lenovo has proudly announced that its recent flash sale of the A6000 budget-minded smartphone was a success, selling out 10,000 pieces in just 2 seconds. The marketing stunt, pioneered by Xiaomi and later adopted by emerging brand Yureka, has proven to work miracles on the Indian market and is now being exploited even by the more established Chinese phone manufacturer Lenovo.

With over 255,000 registrations for the sale on the online store Flipkart, it's no wonder the stock was promptly cleared. The smartphone's attractive price tag of Rs. 6,999 ($113) could be the chief reason for the hype.

That amount of cash lands you a 5-inch screen of 1280x720px resolution in an understated, but reasonably good-looking package. The innards are nothing to write home about, but you still get the popular Snapdragon 410 chipset with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage, expandable via microSD.

If you had your mind set on the Lenovo A6000 but were left out of the last flash sale, fret not, for a new batch is coming soon and registrations are already underway.