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Google Appoints Morgan Stanley's Ruth Porat as CFO

Google Inc hired Morgan Stanley Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat as its own finance chief, a sign Google is aiming to rein in costs as it invests in new businesses such as self-driving cars and internet-connected eyeglasses.

Porat has helped execute a sweeping cost-cutting strategy across several business lines at Morgan Stanley. The bank cut its expenses, excluding compensation, to 29 percent of its revenue last year, down from 34 percent in 2012.

Google's costs have jumped as the company embarked on an increasing number of ambitious projects. Last year, the company's revenue grew 19 percent, while total expenses rose 23.4 percent, a trend that alarmed some analysts.

"You want someone to come in there and push back against the free spenders," said Colin Gillis, an equity research analyst at BGC Partners, a brokerage, adding that investors hope Porat will be that person.

Google's shares rose as much as 2.5 percent on Tuesday after Porat's appointment was announced by both companies. She will start her new job on May 26.

Porat is the latest among a string of Wall Street executives to leave an industry that is increasingly regulated to move into the more free-wheeling technology sector, where fortunes can be built fast but businesses can also become irrelevant overnight.

Total compensation to Google's departing CFO was twice as much as Porat's for the three years through 2013 - $62.2 million vs $29.6 million, according to public filings by the companies. Google has not disclosed how much it expects to pay Porat.

She joined Morgan Stanley in 1987, and led Morgan Stanley's investment banking business for tech companies during the Internet boom, working with Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc , among others.

(Also See: Wipro Appoints TCS Veteran Abid Ali Neemuchwala as COO)

Some analysts took her appointment as a sign Google acquisitions could pick up.

Porat ran the investment banking business for financial companies including banks, and during the financial crisis she became Morgan Stanley's point person with regulators and other government officials in Washington.

Porat, 57, was considered a potential candidate to become chief executive whenever current CEO James Gorman steps down.

But several high-level Morgan Stanley sources who have spoken to Reuters about succession planning over the past two years said she was not seen as a top contender. Instead, they pointed to two other executives - Gregory Fleming, 52, who runs wealth management and asset management, and Colm Kelleher, 57, who runs investment banking and trading - as more likely contenders.

Some observers saw gender bias at play, given her qualifications and Wall Street's history as a male-dominated industry. At an event last year, Porat criticized the lack of female leadership in corporate America as "an embarrassment."

"If a woman 'leans in,' but is leaning against a door that is nailed shut, no amount of leaning will bust down the door," she said. "So I think we must hold our organizations accountable where they control the doors by demanding clarity and transparency around succession planning."

(Also See: Tinder Appoints Chief Executive to Replace Sean Rad)

Critics have also accused Silicon Valley's culture of being hostile to women. Ellen Pao, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is suing her firm for discrimination. The trial heads into final arguments on Tuesday.

Wall street is less fun
Porat joins an array of bankers, analysts, and other executives that have left Wall Street as strict post-crisis regulations have made the business safer and stodgier. Some of these executives have headed into the technology sector, including Anthony Noto, once an investment banker at Goldman Sachs Group Inc, who last year became CFO at Twitter Inc. In 2010, Mary Meeker, a widely followed tech analyst at Morgan Stanley, left the bank to join Kleiner Perkins.

Porat has ties to Silicon Valley, having spent much of her childhood in California and attended Stanford University, where she serves on the board of trustees.

She has spent time building her connections with Washington. During the financial crisis, she led the Morgan Stanley teams advising the U.S. Treasury on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the New York Federal Reserve Bank on American International Group Inc .

Those ties to Washington could have translated into a government post - she was widely reported to have been a candidate to be the Treasury deputy secretary, but said she was not interested.

Porat will replace Patrick Pichette at Google, who said on March 10 that he planned to retire.

At Morgan Stanley, Jonathan Pruzan, co-head of the bank's global financial institutions group in investment banking, will become CFO. Pruzan, 46, joined Morgan Stanley in 1994.

"He understands the current regulatory environment, having shepherded clients through the Fed's stress test ..." Gorman said in a memo to staff.

Xiaomi 'Ferrari' With Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 SoC Spotted in Benchmarks

Xiaomi has so far launched three new smartphones this year, including the new Redmi 2, Mi Note, and the Mi Note Pro. These smartphones haven't really reached many markets; but the company seems to have more planned for this year - with what appears to be a new mid-range smartphone leaked in benchmark results.

Tech Gadgetsz.com (via PhoneArena) spotted two new benchmark listings of a new device called the Xiaomi Ferrari, which is likely to be a codename of an upcoming mid-range smartphone. According to the GFXBench results, the Xiaomi Ferrari will purportedly feature a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor clocked at 1.66GHz coupled with 2GB of RAM and Adreno 405 GPU. The handset is seen sporting a 4.9-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display while running Android 5.0.2 Lollipop; though considering that Xiaomi handsets run MIUI on top of Android, we can expect the Ferrari smartphone to also run a new version of MIUI.

There is a 12-megapixel rear camera capable of recording full-HD videos while a 4.8-megapixel front camera is also on board. The GFXBench further tip that the handset comes with 16GB of built-in storage out of which only 12GB will be user accessible.

The Geekbench Browser benchmark listing of the Xiaomi Ferrari on the other hand shows a single-core score of 692 and a multi-core score of 2481. The benchmark listing also shows upload date back from January tipping that Xiaomi has been testing the device for a while.

Considering that the popular Xiaomi Redmi 1S got a successor in the form of the Redmi 2, it is probable the Xiaomi Ferrari is the successor of the Redmi Note. Further cementing the speculation is the relatively large 4.9-inch display; though we will have to still wait for the Xiaomi's confirmation.

Clash of Clans Maker Supercell Sees Revenue Hit EUR 1.5 Billion

The maker of hit game Clash of Clans said Tuesday its revenues shot up to EUR 1.55 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2014, a 130 percent bound over the prior year.

Finnish mobile game studio Supercell, in announcing its results from last year, reported making EUR 515 million in operating profit as defined by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

The revenue figures make Supercell 10 times larger than its rival and fellow Finnish game maker Rovio, which is behind Angry Birds.

"We're very thankful to the millions of players around the world who play our games," Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen said in a statement.

Born as a start up in 2010, Supercell was bought in 2013 by Japanese telecom group SoftBank and game studio GungHo which paid EUR 1.1 billion for 51 percent of the company.

At the time Supercell only had two games: Clash of Clans, a strategy game where players build a village while battling competitors, and farm management game Hay Day. The company rolled out a third strategy game Boom Beach in March 2014.

For many of us, the most important characteristic of our phone is its battery life. After all, what's the use of the latest and greatest features if your phone stops working in the middle of something important?

More processor cores and camera megapixels are great, but unless you're planning on investing in - and regularly charging - battery packs, you might want to pay some attention to the battery life too. There are some new phones that really embody this concept, such as the Wickedleak Wammy Titan 4, with a 5,330mAh battery, which launched a few weeks ago.

The Lava Iris Fuel 20 also launched just before that, and comes with what is possibly the biggest battery in the sub-Rs. 6,000 range. We haven't reviewed those two yet, but if you want a phone with great battery life, there are plenty of other options we've already tested.

Here are our best performing phones with the best battery life across different price bands.

Under Rs. 5,000
The Nokia Asha 502 is probably the best phone you'll get under Rs. 5,000 and its 1010mAh battery keeps going for really long. It isn't taxed by high-end components; it has only a 3-inch 240x320 display and just 64MB of RAM, but its design is good and if you're looking for a basic device then this is not a bad option.

Under Rs. 5,000, you could also check out the Maxx Mobile MX200 (Review). We can't honestly recommend that phone as anyone's primary device, since the only good thing about it is its 5200mAh battery. You could think of this phone as a portable battery that lets you make calls.

Under Rs. 10,000
There are more options in this price bracket, but in the end, we'd recommend the Lava Iris Fuel 60 (Review | Pictures), which you can get for just under Rs. 9,000. This 5-inch phone has a large 4,000mAh battery that keeps it running for a long time. The 720x1280 display, powered by a 1.3GHz processor alongside 1GB RAM is nothing special, but the performance is not bad, and the software loaded on it is relatively free of bloat. The camera could be better, but again, we're not complaining at this price level.

If you want to spend a little less and are willing to compromise on the camera as well as the Android app ecosystem, then the Windows Phone-based Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM (Review | Pictures) is an alternative. It costs less than Rs. 7,000, and has good build quality. Its relatively small 1830mAh battery nonetheless kept the phone running for 11 hours in our non-stop video playback test.

Under Rs. 15,000
Lots of competition in the Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 range in terms of long-lasting batteries in phones, but in the end, our winner is the Nokia Lumia 730 Dual SIM (Review | Pictures). Its good design, display and camera along with excellent battery life make this the right choice if you're not set on getting an Android phone. The phone went on for 12 hours and 44 minutes in our video loop test, which is excellent, and if you're not strongly entrenched in Android then this is a good option for the price, even setting aside battery life.

If you absolutely need an Android phone then all the different options out there come with some compromise at this price point. We would go with the slightly more affordable Micromax Canvas Nitro (Review | Pictures). The phone comes preloaded with lots of unnecessary software and the camera is quite disappointing, but the display and performance are not bad, and the battery kept going for 16 hours and 9 minutes in our video loop test.

Under Rs. 20,000
Between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 20,000, the best phone to go with if you need a long battery life is the Sony Xperia C3 Dual (Review | Pictures) - this 5.5-inch phone has a 720p display, a 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. It also has an 8-megapixel rear camera. Its display, and camera both do good jobs. There's nothing that really stands out, but it consistently delivers a good experience, and the 2,500mAh battery keeps it going for nearly 14 hours when looping video.

The Lenovo P780 (Review | Pictures) could well be credited with starting the trend of extra long battery life in smartphones, and with price cuts, it is now a little cheaper than the Sony Xperia C3. Its 4,000mAh battery lasted 16-17 hours with medium to heavy usage. However, it falls a little short in terms of design, display and camera, which is why we would recommend you go with the Sony.

Under Rs. 30,000
Over Rs. 20,000, you see more phones that have great batteries without too many compromises. Our pick is easy - the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (Review | Pictures) - this phone scored very well in all our review categories except for the camera, which still got a 7 on 10. Solid battery life is matched by a sleek design, display and performance.

The less expensive Samsung Galaxy Neo is an option if you are trying to keep the price down, but the camera is mediocre and graphics performance is poor, so don't plan on this phone for gaming sessions. The S-Pen and long battery life do potentially make it a good choice for workaholics though.

Under Rs. 40,000
Between Rs. 30,000 and Rs. 40,000, the choice is really between the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact (Review | Pictures) which is nearly Rs. 40,000, and the Samsung Galaxy S5 (Review | Pictures) which is selling at just over Rs. 30,000. The Samsung has the edge in its display, camera and performance in our review, but the Sony edges it out on battery life, running 3 hours longer on our looped video test.

A mention has to go to the LG G Flex (Review | Pictures) - the curved phone was launched for nearly Rs. 70,000, and is now available for approximately Rs. 35,000. Its display and camera both rated poorly, which is why we would prefer the other two phones instead, but if you really want a curved phone, the new price is tempting.

Over Rs. 40,000
Once you cross Rs. 40,000, choices narrow again. We think that the only phone you should seriously consider if battery life is the prime concern, is the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (Review | Pictures). Launched with an MRP of Rs. 61,500, the Note 4 is now available for just over Rs. 50,000, and while its gaming performance is a little below what you might expect, it has a fantastic screen, powerful general performance, outstanding battery life, and the S-Pen adds a lot of functionality.

Otherwise, you can consider the BlackBerry Passport (Review | Pictures) but some will find it awkward to hold, and Android app support is not guaranteed. The iPhone 6 Plus (Review | Pictures) offers better battery life than its smaller counterpart, making it an option as well. If you want the latest and greatest, then the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge (Review | Pictures), which costs nearly Rs. 65,000 is the phone to buy, but it doesn't feel like as much value for money as its non-curved counterpart. If you're buying a phone that will keep working while you're working around the clock, then the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is the one we would pick.

Are you going to pick one of these phones for yourself? How do you plan to use that battery life? Tell us via the comments.

Htc desire update news official

HTC is currently updating all its flagship devices to Android 5.0 Lollipop but HTC engineers also focused on popular mid-range devices like Desire 816 and Desire 820. Here, we got a sweet news for Desire 816 owners. According to senior HTC custom ROM developer @LlabTooFeR, the owners of Desire 816 will get Android 5.0.2 Lollipop update by next month. At this time, we cannot disclose exact date but expecting in late April would be safe bet.The new Lollipop update will bring tons of refinements and features to your device. The regular goodies like Lockscreen notifications, ART run time to reduce execution times by half and Material design inspiration across the whole UI are expected things. In addition to that, we will also see completely re-designed notification panel, improvements to Sense UI and material themed HTC apps and updated BlinkFeed with more services. The major bug fixes including battery improvements using Project Volta will improve device’s battery life by 20-30%. Users will have great experience on Lollipop update.

However, we are yet to see whether the update will bring Sense 7 or not. We will update more details in coming days so Stay Tuned to WhatsOnTech and Follow us in Social media for quick updates.

More Lollipop News: These are the smartphones currently receiving Lollipop update

Ok..here is your question, do you think, HTC will bring Sense 7 to Desire 816 ? Share your opinion with us by dropping a comment below

Blackberry prices slashed

BlackBerry has slashed prices of the BlackBerry Z3 and BlackBerry Z30 touchscreen smartphones in India.

According to information received by NDTV Gadgets, BlackBerry Z3 will now be available at Rs. 13,990, a price cut of Rs. 2,000. The BlackBerry Z3 (Review | Pictures) was launched in June last year at Rs. 15,990 and this is the first time that the handset has received a price cut in India.

The Z3 features a 5-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) display offering an aspect ratio of 16:9. It is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8230) processor with 1.5GB RAM.

BlackBerry Z3 sports a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera and also houses a 1.1-megapixel fixed-focus front-facing camera. The smartphone includes 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. It packs a 2500mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 15.5 hours talk time and up to 384 hours of standby time. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GPS, NFC and Micro-USB.

The BlackBerry Z30, on the other hand, will retail at Rs. 24,990 down from the previous best price of Rs. 29,990 - a drop of Rs. 5,000.Prior to this, BlackBerry's phablet Z30 (Review | Pictures) received price slash in June last year when the company offered a discount of Rs. 5,000 on the handset.

BlackBerry launched the Z30 for the Indian market at Rs. 39,990 in 2013.

BlackBerry Z30 comes with a 5-inch Super AMOLED display featuring 720x1280 pixels resolution, translating to a pixel density of 294ppi. It is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with Adreno 320. The BlackBerry Z30 sports an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

Lollipop update news for HTC Desire 816

Released about a year ago, the Desire 816 is arguably one of HTC's best mid-range handsets to date. At launch, the 816 ran Android KitKat, and it still does. Fortunately, it looks like HTC is almost ready to start updating the smartphone to Android 5.0 Lollipop. 

According to HTC ROM developer LlabTooFeR, the Desire 816 will be updated to Android 5.0.2 Lollipop next month (April). It's not clear if the handset will also get HTC's Sense 7 UI (which debuted on the One M9flagship), or if it's going to keep using the current Sense 6 UI. But we'll let you know when we find out more about this. 

The Desire 816 is currently available for as low as $200 in the US (off contract, Virgin Mobile version). It's one of HTC's largest Desire smartphones ever, as it offers a 5.5-inch 720p display alongside a pair of front-facing speakers. The handset also features LTE connectivity, a 5 MP front-facing camera, 13 MP rear camera, 1.5 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of expandable internal memory. Furthermore, the 816 comes with a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.6 GHz, and a 2600 mAh battery. 

Do you have an HTC Desire 816? If yes, do you think Lollipop will make it a significantly improved device

Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge Price in India Confirmed

Samsung has announced the launch of Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge flagship smartphones in India. The Samsung Galaxy S6 will be available at Rs. 49,900 for the 32GB variant while the equivalent Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is priced at Rs. 58,900.

Both the smartphones will be available for purchase starting April 10, with pre-orders opening on Monday. Customers who pre-book will get price protection for the next 6 months. If Samsung reduces the price of Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 Edge - or introduces any cashback schemes - in India during that time, customers who pre-book will get the difference back as Payback points. 

The Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge feature 5.1-inch Quad HD (1440x2560 pixels) Super Amoled display with a pixel density of 577ppi. The only difference is that the latter sports a dual-edge display. The new Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge run Android 5.0 Lollipop and are powered by a 64-bit octa-core (quad-core 2.1GHz+ quad-core 1.5GHz) processor coupled with 3GB of RAM (LPDDR4). Three storage variants are available: 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB.

The 64GB and 128GB Samsung Galaxy S6 variants are priced at Rs. 55,900 and Rs. 61,900 respectively, while the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge will be priced at Rs. 64,900 and Rs. 70,900 respectively for same storage capacities.

There is a 16-megapixel rear camera with OIS (optical image stabilisation) and LED flash while there is a 5-megapixel front camera on board. Both the handsets come with a slew of camera features such as quick launch, tracking AF, auto real-time HDR, f/1.9, IR detect white balance, low light video, high clear zoom, virtual shot, slow motion, fast motion, pro mode, and selective focus.

The new premium Galaxy handsets also pack fingerprint scanning with an enhanced touch-type fingerprint scanner on the home button. Additionally, both the handsets will come pre-installed with upgraded Samsung Knox. Both handsets come preloaded with Microsoft apps such as OneNote and OneDrive with 115GB cloud storage free for 2 years.

The Galaxy S6 is backed by a 2550mAh battery while the Galaxy S6 Edge comes with 2600mAh battery. For connectivity, both the handsets come with LTE Cat. 6 featuring up to 300Mbps download speeds and support for India's 4G LTE networks.

New Apple TV With App Store, Siri to Be Announced at WWDC: Report

Apple will show off the much-awaited, revamped Apple TV at the upcoming World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, a new report indicates.

The current Apple TV is pretty limited in its capabilities, essentially functioning as a media streamer. It's long been rumoured to get additional capabilities like the ability to run apps, similar to the iPhone and iPad. It seems Apple is finally ready to make this move and graduate the Apple TV from a mere 'hobby' by giving it more powerful hardware and an App Store of its own, amongst other new features.

BuzzFeed quotes "sources familiar with the company's plans" to report that Apple will use its annual developers conference - dates for which are yet to be confirmed, though it's usually held in June - to unveil the new Apple TV as well as a software development kit (SDK) that developers can use to build apps for the next-generation hardware.

To drive these apps, Apple will reportedly fit the new Apple TV with the A8 SoC seen inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as enhanced storage. The report adds that the new Apple TV is also likely to ship with a brand new remote and "will "support Siri voice control of Apple TV, and enable it remotely for a selection of HomeKit-enabled home automation devices."

The report ties in with recent developments like the price of current-generation Apple TV getting slashed to $69 and reports of Apple planning to launch its own online TV service.

Inside the Secret Apple Watch Test Facility

Most multipurpose smartwatches that can also double up as fitness trackers have been panned by critics for inaccurate collection of data like number of steps walked, heart rate, etc. To counter this problem, Apple reportedly collected over 18,000 hours of health and fitness data spread across 10,000 workout sessions.

A segment of ABC News' Good Morning America show featuring Apple executives Jeff Williams and Jay Blahnik took the audience around a secret testing facility where Apple employees participated in these workout sessions for almost two years. In typical Apple fashion, these employees were kept in the dark about the purpose of this experiment until the Apple watch was unveiled to the world. The employees wore masks, to check how hard they were breathing, and other expensive sensor equipment. An Apple Watch prototype was also attached to their hands.

Jay Blahnik, Director of Fitness and Health technologies, Apple, stated that Apple tested the Watch's resistance in extreme climes by transporting to the device to places like Alaska and Dubai. Moreover, the secret fitness labs were also fitted with special 'climate chambers' that could simulate extreme heat or cold. Not surprisingly, these labs were also used to test HealthKit.

If Blahnik is to be believed Apple might have collected 'one of the world's largest pieces of data on fitness.'

It is quite unlike Apple to allow media inside its secret labs and the last time it did so in 2010, the company was trying to salvage itself from bad press it received for its iPhone 4 'Antennagate' issue.