Flipkart founders on Tuesday sent an email to its customers apologising for the problems they experienced during the Big Billion Day Sale the day before.

"Yesterday was a big day for us. And we really wanted it to be a great day for you. But at the end of the day, we know that your experience was less than pleasant. We did not live up to the promises we made and for that we are really and truly sorry," says the email from Flipkart co-founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal that was sent to all customers.

Unlike the media statement the company released on Monday that boasted of $100 million (Rs. 615 crores approximately) sales in 10 hours but was strangely silent on theproblems customers experienced during the day, the Flipkart email addresses almost all issues that people complained about on Monday.

This included the price change issue, wherein many alleged that Flipkart had increased prices of products leading up to the sale, which misled customers to believe the discount on offer was higher than usual.

"As we were preparing various deals and promotional pricing in the lead up to the sale, the pricing of several products got ​changed to their non-discounted rates for a few hours​," the email from Flipkart says. " We realise that this breaks the trust our customers have put in us. We are truly sorry for this and will ensure that this never happens again."

On the inability of people to access the website at times, Flipkart said it had deployed nearly 5000 servers, and had prepared for 20 times the normal traffic growth, but "the volume of traffic at different times of the day was much higher than this."

The email also addresses other problems Flipkart customers faced like cancellations and out of stock issues.

Here's Flipkart email in full:

Dear Customer,

Yesterday was a big day for us. And we really wanted it to be a great day for you. But at the end of the day, we know that your experience was less than pleasant. We did not live up to the promises we made and for that we are really and truly sorry.

It took enormous effort from everyone at Flipkart, many months of preparation and pushing our capabilities and systems to the limit to be able to create this day. We were looking at fulfilling the dreams of millions of Indian consumers through deals and offers we had painstakingly put together for months.

And though we saw unprecedented interest in our products and traffic like never before, we also realized that we were not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event. We didn't source enough products and deals in advance to cater to your requirements. To add to this, the load on our server led to intermittent outages, further impacting your shopping experience on our site.

An unprecedented 1.5 million people shopped at Flipkart yesterday. While we stand humbled by the sheer faith that such a large number of customers have shown in us, we are unhappy that we were unable to live up to the expectations of millions more who wanted to buy from us yesterday.

And this is not acceptable to us.

Delighting you, and every single one of our customers, is absolutely the top most priority for Flipkart and we have worked very hard over the last seven years to earn your trust. Yesterday, we failed that trust. We have learnt some valuable lessons from this and have started working doubly hard to address all the issues that cropped up during this sale.

Price Changes As we were preparing various deals and promotional pricing in the lead up to the sale, the pricing of several products got ​changed to their non-discounted rates for a few hours​. We realise that this breaks the trust our customers have put in us. We are truly sorry for this and will ensure that this never happens again.

Out-of-stock Issues We ran out of the stock for many products within a few minutes (and in some cases, seconds) of the sale going live. For example, most of our special deals were sold out as soon as they went live. We had ensured availability, anywhere from hundreds to a few lakh units for various products, but it was nowhere near the actual demand. We promise to plan much better for future promotions and ensure that we minimise the out-of-stock issues.

Cancellations We had large number of people buying specific products simultaneously. This led to some instances of an order getting over-booked for a product that was sold out just a few seconds ago. We are working round-the-clock to ensure availability of additional units for these products and will do our level best to ensure that we minimise any cancellations.

Website Issues ​We realise that the shopping experience for many of you was frustrating due to errors and unavailability of the website at times. We had deployed nearly 5000 servers and had prepared for 20 times the traffic growth - but the volume of traffic at different times of the day was much higher than this. We are continuing to significantly scale up all our back end systems so that we do a much, much better job next time.

Everything that we have achieved at Flipkart is purely on the basis of our customer's trust and faith. This is why we come to work each day and continue to remain extremely passionate about building the best possible customer experience for Indian consumers. We failed to live up to this promise yesterday and would like to apologise once again to every single customer for our failure.

We all use USB storage devices and accessories - in fact there are billions of them in the world right now, according to the USB Implementers Forum - and we take for granted that they'll just work when plugged in. Before the standard existed, plugging anything in to a PC usually involved shutting it down, restarting, and installing drivers.

This simplicity is achieved using microcontrollers in each USB device which negotiate connections with host PCs and tell both parties how to recognise each other. Now, nearly 20 years after the first USB devices became widespread, a lack of forethought about security in the original implementations of those controllers is being exploited.

Security researchers Adam Caudill and Brandon Wilson announced that they had reverse-engineered one widely used USB controller chip and demonstrated how they had been successful in reprogramming commonly available USB pen drives to behave in unexpected ways. Their methods can be expected to be replicated for malicious purposes since the two have released all their findings, including source code, to the public.

A previous report on the potential vulnerability, which has come to be known as BadUSB, was published earlier this year although no information was released that could have been used by attackers. Caudill and Wilson believe that the scale of the problem is so immense that the entire industry needs to be jolted into action, or nothing will be done about it. It is also possible that the flaw has been known to attackers (including government agencies) for a long time and has been exploited without anyone knowing. Forcing knowledge of BadUSB into the public domain will make potential victims aware of that possibility.

Terrifyingly, fixing the problem will require a completely new set of USB protocols and the scrapping of all devices that are currently in existence. People are so used to USB that they will not hesitate to plug in a storage device, keyboard, or any other product - even a smartphone. This complacence can be exploited by attackers, for example, by leaving a doctored pen drive lying around in public or giving thousands of them away for free in a promotion - no one would hesitate to plug it in.

Because the drive's firmware has been modified, formatting it won't do any good. Malware detection tools can only scan storage locations, not firmware. Experts citied by Wired estimate that it could take over a decade for a new, secure version of USB to become dominant, and even then there would be no way to ensure that every single previously sold USB device had been destroyed.

Even commonly available password-protected pen drives can be compromised - the duo demonstrated a technique by which any password set by a user could be invalidated. The user might continue thinking his device is secure, but unbeknownst to him, any combination of characters will be able to unlock it.

Another demonstration involved modifying a commodity pen drive so that it contains a completely hidden partition which is only mounted by plugging a pen drive into a PC and then ejecting it. When unmounted, the secret partition's contents are not detectable even to forensic examination tools. The final demo was of a virtual keyboard which was capable of taking over input and entering commands on a PC - just plugging in any USB device could trigger a flood of keyboard inputs that could potentially be used to install malware, steal passwords, or anything else.

In effect, USB itself should now be considered fundamentally insecure. Users concerned about device and data security should not use any new USB device that comes into their possession. Affected devices cannot be detected and there is no patch. At most, according to the two demos, PCs might be able to detect fishy behaviour but would not be able to prevent it before it happened. The USB-IF has not responded, although at least one secure device vendor, Ironkey, has publicly announced that its products are not vulnerable because they use signed firmware code, and signatures are verified on each use to make sure the code has not been tampered with.

USB as a standard is already set to become a lot more confusing with the impending debut of the new, backwards-incompatible Type-C connector which will work with existing USB 3.0 and older devices as well as upcoming USB 3.1 standard.

On the heels of a major launch of large-screen iPhones, Apple has scheduled an October 16 event to update its iPad line, technology news website Re/code reported Friday.

The event also will include a look at next-generation software for powering Macintosh computers, Re/code said, citing unnamed sources.

The gathering is to take place in an auditorium at Apple's headquarters in the California city of Cupertino, according to the report.

Apple did not reply to an AFP request for comment.

If the report is on target, the iPad event will take place a day before Apple begins selling its latest iPhones in China.

Apple launched the large-screen iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on September 19 and has rolled the smartphones out to an array of countries, but not China where it took some time to clear licensing hurdles.

Apple's revenue in Greater China - which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan -- is second only to the United States, and chief executive Tim Cook has said he expects it to become the company's biggest market in time.

Apple, which popularized tablets with its iPad, remained the largest single global vendor in the second quarter but its market share fell to 26.9 percent from 33 percent last year, as Android makers boosted their share, according to the research firm IDC.

iPhone 6 sales soar

The first day of global sales for the phones was a huge success, with Apple breaking its sales record for an opening weekend of a new iPhone model, delivering 10 million in three days and boasting it could have sold more if it had them.

Both new iPhones have larger screens as Apple catches up with the "phablet" trend pioneered by competitors such as Samsung, which has had success with its Galaxy Note series.

The iPhone 6 has a screen of 4.7 inches and the iPhone 6 Plus is 5.5 inches, reflecting a growing preference for big screens on smartphones.

Main rival Samsung has long had a range of larger handsets, which are popular in Asia.

Apple made a rare apology last week for a software bug in a freshly released version of iOS mobile operating system that saw iPhone users lose service, and sought to quell a storm over reports that its new handsets are susceptible to bending.

Apple downplayed reports on bending of its newly released oversize iPhone -- one analyst described the damaging claims as "a black eye" for Apple --- saying it had only received nine complaints about the matter.

The statement said that "with normal use a bend in iPhone is extremely rare and through our first six days of sale, a total of nine customers have contacted Apple with a bent iPhone 6 Plus."

Apple released fully updated iOS 8.0.2 software to fix trouble with the original version of the mobile operating system for its gadgets.

Xiaomi India and Flipkart on Saturday announced 'a special festive surprise' for consumers who failed to buy the Xiaomi Mi 3 smartphones despite repeated attempts. The company is offering a chance to purchase Mi 3 to 25,000 consumers who unsuccessfully tried to purchase the device at least five times or more in previous flash sales.

According to Xiaomi, these 25,000 consumers will find the device added to their cart on Flipkart.com on October 6, without having to register or hit the 'buy' button, as was the practice followed during flash sales. 

Consumers will be intimated directly on October 5, if they have been selected, and upon selection they will have about one to two hours on October 6 to purchase the Xiaomi Mi 3. If some of the consumers do not buy the Mi 3 in the given time, then the device will be offered to a second batch of selected customers on the same day.

The company added via Twitter that this will be the 'last chance' to buy the Xiaomi Mi 3 in India.

Xiaomi Vice President, Hugo Barra had talked about this new system of sales called the Xiaomi Priority Pass at an event in Bangalore last month.

Since the first flash sale of the Mi 3, Xiaomi had faced a lot of criticism from potential customers, with people frustrated about the fact that they had to faced difficulties such as orders being cancelled immediately after being booked, or simply finding that the phone went out of stock in the time it took for the buy button to show up on their screens.

Along with the offer on Saturday, Xiaomi India has also announced that it has sold out more than 3,00,000 Mi phones - Xiaomi Mi 3 and Xiaomi Redmi 1S - since its launch in India two months back. The company did not give a breakup of the sales at this time, but it's known that the company sold around 1,00,000 Mi 3 units, so the split is roughly 1:2 between the Mi 3 and the Redmi 1S .

Manu Jain, GM and Head of India Operations at Xiaomi said, "We would like to pay tribute to our most passionate fans through this little gift of recognising their passion for our products. Even though they have repeatedly tried to get the device and failed, their determination to get Mi 3 clearly sets them apart as fans that any brand would be lucky to have. We do recognise this and have taken this initiative to provide them direct access to purchase the Mi 3. We wish all our fans a happy Dussehra, Eid, and Diwali, and thank them for their love and support."

Xiaomi is known for setting a low price on its smartphones and selling them in batches of several thousand in weekly sales. In nearly all of these sales, 10,000 to 60,000 phones were sold out in a few seconds. This has frustrated several people who have failed to buy a Xiaomi smartphone even after several attempts.

Sensing the high demand and low supply, quite a few people have started adding these phones to their cart on Flipkart and trying to sell them at a profit on classifieds websites. As soon as Xiaomi's weekly sales close a little after 2 pm every Tuesday, a lot of people have also tried to sell these phones via the comments here at NDTV Gadgets (comments that we promptly delete). What is Xiaomi doing to tackle this problem? NDTV Gadgets spoke to Xiaomi's India head Manu Jain at a conference in Bangalore to find out.

Jain is very vocal about his displeasure at people trying to resell Xiaomi smartphones.

"I personally hate this [reselling at profit]," says Jain, adding that Xiaomi is aware of the problem and is actively trying to curb it.

"We are working closely with Flipkart to block people who are gaming the system. Flipkart has an algorithm that blocks people from buying phones if they add repeatedly add [Xiaomi] phones to their carts but don't buy them," Jain says. This is just one of the various flags that the algorithm works on.

Jain says that he himself has bought Xiaomi smartphones for his family members via Flipkart.

"I keep buying phones from Xiaomi and even rival brands, just to see what the competition is doing. After I bought 7 or 8 phones, my account was blocked from buying phones on Flipkart," Jain says, adding that the algorithm probably flagged his account as similar to those of resellers.

Jain says Xiaomi is aware of certain people using scripts and browser extensions to automatically add phones to their carts.

"Flipkart is trying to block those scripts because it's not fair to buyers. I recently saw some people complaining online that they couldn't buy [Xiaomi] phones in spite of using these scripts. That means Flipkart's block is working," he says. When asked whether Xiaomi has considered approaching browser makers such as Google to block extensions, Jain laughs, "That's a good suggestion. Thank you." He adds, "We hadn't thought of that, but we'll consider it."

That's just one of the steps Flipkart has taken. It took just 5.2 seconds for Xiaomi to sell 60,000 Redmi 1S smartphones in its most recent sale on Flipkart. This is the time taken for people to add it to their carts on Flipkart. After this, buyers have to complete the checkout process within four hours, Jain says.

"Earlier, we gave people almost one-and-a-half days to complete checkout which used to give [some people] a lot of time to sell these phones on other websites. This time it was just 4 hours. We had to extend this by some time because of certain technical issues, but we're trying to shorten the checkout time as well," he says.

He says Flipkart and to a lesser extent, Xiaomi, have also been checking websites where people were trying to resell Xiaomi smartphones. "We're trying to track these people and get their accounts blocked," Jain says.

All of these are short-term solutions to solve the problem. One long-term solution that Xiaomi announced recently is the introduction of a priority pass. The company announced that those who have tried to buy its phones repeatedly and failed will be offered a priority pass, which will automatically add a phone to their carts. They will have to complete the checkout process within a stipulated period of time.

Jain says Xiaomi will put a significantly higher number of smartphones for sale every week. Although he didn't mention an exact number, reports suggest that Xiaomi could be offering as many as 1,00,000 smartphones for sale every week.

When popular Chinese handset maker Xiaomi Inc admitted that its devices were sending users' personal information back to a server in China, it prompted howls of protest and an investigation by Taiwan's government.

The affair has also drawn attention to just how little we know about what happens between our smartphone and the outside world. In short: it might be in your pocket, but you don't call the shots.

As long as a device is switched on, it could be communicating with at least three different masters: the company that built it, the telephone company it connects to, and the developers of any third party applications you installed on the device - or were pre-installed before you bought it.

All these companies could have programmed the device to send data 'back home' to them over a wireless or cellular network - with or without the user's knowledge or consent. In Xiaomi's case, as soon as a user booted up their device it started sending personal data 'back home'.

This, Xiaomi said, was to allow users to send SMS messages without having to pay operator charges by routing the messages through Xiaomi's servers. To do that, the company said, it needed to know the contents of users' address books.

"What Xiaomi did originally was clearly wrong: they were collecting your address book and sending it to themselves without you ever agreeing to it," said Mikko Hypponen, whose computer security company F-Secure helped uncover the problem. "What's more, it was sent unencrypted."

Xiaomi has said it since fixed the problem by seeking users' permission first, and only sending data over encrypted connections, he noted.

Industry issue

Xiaomi is by no means alone in grabbing data from your phone as soon as you switch it on.

A cellular operator may collect data from you, ostensibly to improve how you set up your phone for the first time, says Bryce Boland, Asia Pacific chief technology officer at FireEye, an internet security firm. Handset makers, he said, may also be collecting information, from your location to how long it takes you to set up the phone.

"It's not that it's specific to any handset maker or telco," said Boland. "It's more of an industry problem, where organisations are taking steps to collect data they can use for a variety of purposes, which may be legitimate but potentially also have some privacy concerns."

Many carriers, for example, include in their terms of service the right to collect personal data about the device, computer and online activities - including what web sites users visit. One case study by Hewlett-Packard and Qosmos, a French internet security company, was able to track individual devices to, for example, identify how many Facebook messages a user sent. The goal: using all this data to pitch users highly personalized advertising.

But some users fear it's not just the carriers collecting such detailed data.

Three years ago, users were alarmed to hear that U.S. carriers pre-installed an app from a company called Carrier IQ that appeared to transmit personal data to the carrier.

Users filed a class-action lawsuit, not against the carriers but against handset makers including HTC Corp, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics which, they say, used the software to go beyond collecting diagnostic data the carriers needed.

The suit alleges the handset firms used the Carrier IQ software to intercept private information for themselves, including recording users' email and text messages without their permission - data the users claim may also have been shared with third parties. The companies are contesting the case.

And then there are the apps that users install. Each requires your permission to be able to access data or functions on your device - the microphone, say, if you want that device to record audio, or locational data if you want it to provide suggestions about nearby restaurants.

Shedding some light

But it isn't always easy for a user to figure out just what information or functions are being accessed, what data is then being sent back to the developers' servers - and what happens to that data once it gets there. Bitdefender, a Romania-based antivirus manufacturer, found last year that one in three of Android smartphone apps upload personal information to "third party companies, without specifically letting you know."

Not only is this hidden from the user, it's often unrelated to the app's purpose.

Take for example, an Android app that turns your device into a torch by turning on all its lights - from the camera flash to the keyboard backlight. When users complained about it also sending location-based data, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission forced the app's Idaho-based developer to make clear the free app was also collecting data so it could target users with location-specific ads. Even so, the app has been installed more than 50 million times and has overwhelmingly positive user reviews.

While most concerns are about phones running Android, Apple Inc's devices aren't free from privacy concerns.

Carriers control the code on the SIM, for example, and this is one possible way to access data on the phone. And, despite stricter controls over apps in Apple's app store, FireEye's Boland says his company continues to find malicious apps for the iOS platform, and apps that send sensitive data without the user knowing. "The iPhone platform is more secure than the Android platform, but it's certainly not perfect," he said.

Apple says its iOS protects users' data by ensuring apps are digitally signed and verified by Apple's own security system.

Back in the seat

The problem, then, often isn't about whether handset makers, app developers and phone companies are grabbing data from your phone, but what kind of data, when, and for what.

"If we look at the content sent by many apps it's mindboggling how much is actually sent," said Boland. "It's impossible for someone to really know whether something is good or bad unless they know the context."

Handset makers need to be clear with users about what they're doing and why, said Carl Pei, director at OnePlus, a Shenzhen, China-based upstart rival to Xiaomi. OnePlus collects "anonymous statistical information" such as where a phone is activated, the model and the version of software that runs on it, Pei said, which helps them make better decisions about servicing customers and where to focus production.

Unlike Xiaomi, Pei said, OnePlus' servers are based in the United States, which in the light of recent privacy concerns, he said, "gives people greater peace of mind than having them based out of China."

That peace of mind may be elusive as long as there's money to be made, says David Rogers, who teaches mobile systems security at the University of Oxford and chairs the Device Security Group at the GSMA, a global mobile industry trade association.

"Users are often sacrificed to very poor security design and a lack of consideration for privacy," he said. "At the same time, taking user data is part of a profit model for many corporations so they don't make it easy for users to prevent what is essentially data theft."

By the end of the original "Alien" film, warrant officer Ellen Ripley had been attacked by an android, stalked by an extraterrestrial and stranded in space. That's just the beginning of the interstellar mayhem that awaits Ripley's daughter in "Alien: Isolation," a video game out Tuesday that aims to pay interactive tribute to filmmaker Ridley Scott's seminal 1979 sci-fi horror movie.

Other than a brief flashback, the game casts players strictly as Amanda Ripley, who was mentioned in a scene from the 1986 sequel "Aliens." In "Isolation," Amanda is a matter-of-fact engineer solely focused on tracking down the flight recorder from her long-gone mama's ship 15 years after it disappeared.

"For us, there was really only one choice," said the game's creative lead Alistair Hope of the protagonist. "The fact that Ellen Ripley had this daughter and that story hadn't really been told was an amazing opportunity. We wanted to take this character who had never been at the forefront and put her in the spotlight."

The game, from British developer Creative Assembly, mostly takes place on the recently decommissioned Sevastopol , a sprawling space station much larger than the original film's setting, the space ship Nostromo. The hub's enclaves, including a medical facility and a multi-level mall, maintain the retro-futuristic aesthetic of "Alien" - right down to bulky computers that whir to life when they're turned on.

Unlike previous games based on the "Alien" franchise, where alien xenomorphs and facehuggers served as cannon fodder, "Isolation" is strictly a moody first-person tale of survival. If an alien spots Amanda as she maneuvers throughout the space station, there's little she can do to survive an attack. Instead, Amanda must create distractions with gadgets and sneak around.

Sigourney Weaver, who played Ellen Ripley in four "Alien" films, not only gave her blessing to the "Isolation" creators, but also her likeness and voice, a first for a game based on the 20th Century Fox series. She reprises her role as Ripley in bonus levels that allow players to portray Nostromo crew members as they explore the doomed ship and attempt to lure the menacing alien into space.

"I'm always astonished by the depth of feeling people have for these movies," said Weaver. "It's wonderful. I'm not always aware of it, but I'm always touched by it. The idea that they would take this tangent idea, run with it and make an interactive game of it, I thought that's cool because it's breaking new ground, not going over the same old conventions."

While the extraterrestrial species in "Alien" has gone on to wreak havoc in other movies and mediums, Weaver acknowledged the original saga didn't satisfactorily conclude with 1997's "Alien Resurrection," the fourth film that ended with Ripley's clone arriving on Earth. (The original Ripley scarified herself in 1992's "Aliens 3.") Weaver is game for another extraterrestrial encounter.

"Ultimately, we never really finished the story," she said while promoting the 35th anniversary release of the original film on Blu-ray. "That was partially my choice. I really didn't want to go to Earth and have the alien pop out of a haystack. I feel that the story belongs in outer space where no one should be, but it's been an amazing role to get to come back to every few years."

Baris Gultekin, the engineer who developed Google Now, a sort of "personal assistant" for users, imagines a future in which mobile phones "will work" for us and will give us useful information without having to ask for it.

"We call today's phones smart, but in reality they are not. They don't do things for you. They have to be constantly told what they have to do," Gultekin said in an interview with Efe news agency at Google headquarters in California.

According to Gultekin, Google Now "can change the future".

"We are in the beginning stage of something that can be phenomenal," the engineer said.

Considered as a rival to Siri, an application by Apple for the iOS operating system which responds to the questions of users and gives recommendations, Google Now is focussed on helping in the management of daily tasks, as well as offering travel information and leisure activities such as sports and movies.

"We started this project in parallel with another engineer," Gultekin said, adding that Google Now feeds on other Google services, like "gmail" and "maps", and offers information based on the context of the person using it, for which the physical location of the user can be key.

"We can give a traffic update for your everyday travel to work... or the weather forecast just when you wake up," said the engineer, who believes that the technology should help make people's life easier and not stand in their way when not needed.

"Or, if you are planning a trip and want to remember the time of your flight, the information will be provided without even asking, when you land, or heading to a hotel, the same thing. You will not need to search your 'gmail' for the reservation number," he added.

Gultekin believes that the evolution of Google search has made the emergence of Google Now possible.

The search started offering a series of links to websites related to a series of words and took a step forward by adding images and videos to the web pages.

The third big step came with what Google called the "knowledge graph" which offers structured and detailed information about a topic, and also, links to other sites.

The objective is that users utilise that information to solve their problems without having to navigate to other places for the information needed.

"What knowledge graph does is understand different things and the relation between them" and helps finding answers quickly, Gultekin said.

For the engineer, Google Now is the next step in that evolution, offering answers even before one looks for them.

If the service knows that only a few hours are left for a flight, it will share the trip information with the user by itself, or if it knows that the phone owner has a meeting at a certain time and there is a problem with public transport, it will recommend a new route.

Apple filled a gaping hole in its product lineup with new iPhones boasting larger screens like Samsung's flagship Galaxy smartphones. Now, Samsung is coming out with a smaller phone that looks and feels more like an iPhone.

The new iPhones measure 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches diagonally, up from 4 inches before. Still, that's smaller than the 5.1 inches on the Galaxy S5 and the 5.7 inches on the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 4 phones.

But even Samsung is stepping back from its recent practice of releasing ever-bigger phones. The new Galaxy Alpha matches the 4.7 inches on the iPhone 6 and has a metal frame like the new iPhones, reflecting Samsung's attempt to mirror Apple's emphasis on design.

Unfortunately, the Alpha falls short in a few ways, including the resolution of its display. Other shortcomings will become apparent as I go through the various features.

The Alpha will be available in the U.S. starting Friday through AT&T. It will cost $200 with a two-year service contract, or $613 without one. The $613 price, which can be paid in installments, is less than the $650 starting price for the Galaxy S5 and the iPhone 6. You also get double the storage with the Alpha, but it's still a high price to pay for technology that isn't top of the line.

The build

The Alpha's metal frame represents a departure from previous Samsung Galaxy phones, which primarily consisted of polycarbonate plastics.

However, the Alpha still has a plastic back, albeit one that feels smoother and nicer than what's on the S5. You can swap in a spare battery, but can't add a memory card.

What struck me most was how the Alpha feels much like last year's iPhone 5s. The sides are smooth and straight, and the edges are at right angles, like the box for a deck of cards. The corners, though, are curved.

By contrast, the new iPhones feature curved edges, so they feel thinner, lighter and less boxy. But the Alpha is actually smaller, thinner and lighter than the iPhone 6 - by a tad. Compared with both, the S5 feels giant.

The screen

Size isn't all that matters. The screens on the iPhone 6 and the S5 are both sharper than the Alpha's. The Alpha's screen is decent for reading text and viewing images, but it's about the same resolution as what Samsung built into the Galaxy S III phone back in 2012.

Like other Samsung phones, the Alpha uses a screen technology called AMOLED, for active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes. This is designed to produce richer colors than iPhones, but sometimes the technology goes overboard. For instance, some people complain that AMOLED technology distorts color, so human skin looks too orange, for instance. There was a hint of that when viewing photos and video, but not enough to bother me.

The camera

The Alpha's camera is 12 megapixels, less than the 16 megapixels on the S5. Although the Alpha's megapixel count is still higher than the iPhone's 8 megapixels, Apple has squeezed many other technological touches into iPhones to deliver consistently good images.

I took dozens of photos with all three phones and found the megapixel count mattered only in a handful. In good light, street signs and posters on a store window across the street came out slightly better on both Samsung phones.

However, the iPhone 6 was typically better at getting the focus right, particularly for low-light and close-up shots. The iPhone 6 quickly captures text on a bottle of contact lens solution, while it took a few tries with the Samsung phones to get the focusing right.

On some evening shots of the New York skyline, I could make out the rectangular windows of apartment buildings when using the iPhone, thanks to anti-shake stabilization technology. With both Samsung phones, the lights from the windows were bleeding into one another.

In my test shots, the iPhone 6 also had better white balance to offset the yellowish coloring of indoor lighting. That said, the Alpha produced the richest colors in a few of my shots.

The remaining hardware

Like the S5, the Alpha has a heart-rate monitor for fitness apps and a fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone. But the Alpha lacks the S5's waterproof coverings. The new iPhones have only the fingerprint sensor. The Alpha and the iPhone 6 have comparable battery life in my tests.

The Alpha's storage stands out. It offers 32 gigabytes for about the same price as a 16-gigabyte phone from most rivals. With the new iPhones, Apple has doubled the storage in the pricier models, but the base models are still at 16 gigabytes. Most phones cost $100 more for a 32-gigabyte version.

Even with the added storage, the Alpha just seems too expensive for what you get. Given that memory costs have been coming down, more storage ought to be as routine as faster processors in each generation of phones.

The Alpha's design is impressive, but the rest of the phone is only adequate. HTC and Apple, for instance, have both been able to produce stunning designs while squeezing in the latest technologies.

Apple has made design central to its iPhones since its first model in 2007. Samsung seems to embracing the importance of design with the Alpha. Along the same lines, the upcoming Galaxy Note 4 phone will have a similar metal frame as Samsung attempts to ratchet up its rivalry with Apple. With better hardware, that phone will have a better chance than the Alpha at challenging the new iPhones.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

• KEY SPECS

Display

4.70-inch

Processor

1.8GHz

Front Camera

 1.2-megapixel

Resolution

 720x1280 pixels

RAM

 2GB

OS

 Android 4.4

Storage

32GB

Rear Camera

12-megapixel

Battery capacity

1860mAh

See full Samsung Galaxy Alpha specifications

When Sony released the Xperia Z1 Compact, a non-outsized phone with specs nearly identical to the flagship Xperia Z1, we hoped it would be the beginning of a new trend. Large screens might be nice, but users who prefer something a little easier handle had been left out of the flagship market altogether. Unlike its "mini" counterparts, the Z1 Compact boasted of a top-end processor and camera, with only the screen really scaling down to suit the smaller body.

Sony didn't refresh the Z1 Compact when the Xperia Z2 was released, but thankfully the company hasn't given up on the idea altogether. After skipping a generation, the brand new Z3 Compact is here. It's a little less premium and a lot more expensive than before, which means there isn't much of a gap between it and its full-fat sibling. We're curious about whether the Z3 Compact will carry on the mission its predecessor started, or will find a new niche for itself in the market.

Look and feel

The first thing that struck us about the Z3 Compact is that it has ditched the metal frame that stood out so prominently on the Z1 Compact. There's plastic all around, which gives it a slightly lower-end feel, but the aesthetics have actually improved. Sony has toned down the colours - beyond the standard black and white, you can now choose a deep orange or a pale green instead of the bright pink and yellow.

The opaque front and back sandwich a translucent middle band. The corners have the same shock-absorbing properties as the ones on the new Xperia Z3 (Review |Pictures), but you won't find any of its slick curved metal. The advantages of this are that the magnetic dock connector is far better concealed, and the flaps covering the ports and slots are easier to open. One thing the two siblings do have in common is that their glass backs are so smooth, they both slide around on flat surfaces like air hockey pucks.

Sony's trademark round silver power button is in its usual place on the right edge, with the volume rocker right below it. Both are too low to be used easily, and we wish Sony had placed them more appropriately considering how this phone will typically be held. There's also a dedicated two-stage camera shutter button which doubles as a shortcut to launch the camera app even when the phone is in standby.

There are twin stereo speakers on the front. Our white review model had clearly visible cutouts for the front camera and sensors. All the other variants have black front panels, which we think looks a little better. The Z3 Compact has the same IP68 rating as its sibling, which means it is resistant to damage from exposure to dust and liquids. That's always a good thing, but the tradeoff is that you'll have to deal with the fiddly side flap every time you need to plug this phone in to charge.

The Z3 Compact is only a hair bigger than the Z1 Compact was , but it's also nearly a millimetre thinner. It's light enough to be comfortable, and it isn't too much of a stretch to use it with one hand. In terms of size, this phone is a little wider than an iPhone 5s and about the same height, but its screen occupies more of the front face. Interestingly, the Z3 Compact is smaller than (but not as thin as) the newly announced iPhone 6.

Specifications and software

The list is pretty much identical to that of the Xperia Z3. Both use the same quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 running at 2.5GHz with integrated Adreno 330 graphics and LTE modem. However, while the Z3 has 3GB of RAM, the Z3 Compact has only 2GB. 16GB of internal storage and support for 128GB microSD cards are common to both, along with Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS, and a full complement of environmental sensors.

The biggest difference is of course the screens. The Z3 Compact steps down from full-HD to 720x1280. It's a little less crisp in absolute terms of pixels per inch (ppi), but it still looks very crisp and should be more than enough for most people. Interestingly, the screen has been bumped up to 4.6-inches diagonally, from the Z1 Compact's 4.3 inches, without any significant increase in body size.

As a result of the smaller body and less power-hungry screen, the Z3 Compact can get by with a 2,600mAh battery rather than the 3,100mAh required by the Z3. We'll be very interested in seeing whether this compromises battery life in our tests and in real-world usage.

The camera is the same 20.7-megapixel unit as the one on the Z3, and is also capable of recording 4K video. High-resolution audio support and PS4 Remote Play also make their way over. Nothing has been reserved or made exclusive to the more expensive model. Considering our excellent impressions of the Z3, these are all tempting reasons to buy the Z3 Compact instead, and we're glad we get to choose between the two.

The software is identical to that on the Z3 - Android 4.4.4 with Sony's rather overbearing UI skin. The two phones behave identically and their software looks just the same. You can read all about the software usage experience, including the unfortunate bloatware and the new camera app modes, in our detailed review of the Z3.

Now that Apple has announced its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus with nearly identical specifications, comparisons to the Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact are inevitable - no one else offers such similar hardware in two sizes. However, where Apple has tweaked its software to offer more options and a richer UI on its larger model's bigger screen, Sony has just scaled things up and down, pixel for pixel.

Performance

If you were expecting lower performance than that of the Xperia Z3, prepare to be surprised. The Z3 Compact actually pulls ahead in a number of tests - the lower-resolution screen is easier to push, giving the smaller model an edge in tests that measure graphics performance. The score of 41.2fps in GFXbench is the highest of any device we've tested all year, and is comfortably higher than the Z3's score of 29.9fps (and a decent improvement over the Z1 Compact's 34.9).

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Similarly, the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test gave us 19,465 points as against the 16,995 that the Z3 managed. AnTuTu 5, which is a mixed test, showed a lesser advantage to the Z3 Compact with a score of 42,493 compared to 39,441. Quadrant's overall score tipped in favour of the Z3 Compact, but the CPU and memory sub-scores indicated that the Z3 a clear advantage in these areas - they just get overshadowed by graphics performance.

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All this means that the Z3 Compact will be an excellent device for gaming on. The experience might not be very immersive, but games will be smoother and look better. HD videos played perfectly, and the sound from the front stereo speakers was impressively loud, though just a little tinny. This isn't just the most powerful compact phone on the market - it's one of the most powerful, period.

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Real-world performance is also just as good. We couldn't find anything to complain about in terms of UI responsiveness or app behaviour. This phone was a total pleasure to use. Call quality was perfectly good, though you have to make sure you position the tiny earpiece correctly.

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We weren't entirely sure how the battery life equation would work out, with a smaller battery but less demanding screen than the Z3. It turns out we shouldn't have been worried - the Z3 Compact posted one of our best ever battery life results with a very impressive 15 hours and 5 minutes of uninterrupted video playback. You should easily get two or three days of usage out of every full charge.

We were constantly impressed by how slowly the battery life percentage reduced, even during demanding test situations. We charged the phone fully and put it away in storage one night, only to find it happily kicking back at 99 percent the next morning. In fact we tested the battery twice, because our initial finding of 11 hours, 13 minutes (despite being impressive on its own) didn't adequately bear out our impressions of what we should find.

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We were also very happy to note that the Z3 Compact's camera is every bit as good as the one on the Z3. There's still a lot to discover, especially since Sony only makes various features available as separate "camera apps", no matter how useful (or frivolous). Despite the 20.7-megapixel rating, we'd stick with the default 8-megapixel setting which really is good enough, and makes storage and management easier.

In terms of image quality, we were more than happy with the camera's performance in all conditions. Low-light and video reproduction could have been a little better, but what we have is still miles ahead of the competition at this price point.

Verdict

As you can probably tell, we are tremendously impressed with the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. If you've ever wanted a top-end phone but held back because of the sheer size of the things today, this is easily the one for you. The only thing working against it is its price - at Rs. 44,990, you might not see much point in "stepping down" from the Z3, which costs Rs. 51,990. It's also quite a bit more expensive than other manufactures' full-sized flagships - the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8)included. The decision truly comes down to just screen size, not budget.

This disappoints us a bit, because the Z1 Compact had the same equation with its bigger sibling yet cost a lot less when it launched, making it a very attractive proposition. In fact, the Z1 Compact is still available for around Rs. 29,500 today, which makes it not only one of the best choices at that price, but also a very compelling reason not to buy the Z3 Compact.

There isn't much difference between the Z1 Compact and Z3 Compact - a little CPU speed, LTE support, a few camera tricks, a marginally smaller screen, and 1mm of width. Despite all its amazing qualities, the Z3 Compact has a deadly competitor in the form of its own predecessor. As we noted in our wrap-up of the Xperia Z3 review, it's a fantastic device when seen on its own, but it really makes its lower-priced predecessor look even better.

The Xperia Z3 Compact represents a criminally under-exploited market segment and we're still waiting for competition to jump in. Maybe the strategy will catch on now that Apple has adopted it. It's high time that our fixation with huge screens was reined in, and for now, Sony has the only options in town on the Android side of the fence.

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact

Rs. 42,149

• REVIEW

• Design
• Display
• Software
• Performance
• Battery life
• Camera
• Value for money

• Good
• Massive power in an unobtrusive package
• Great camera
• Good screen and speakers
• Dust- and water-resistant

• Bad
• Software could use improvement

Read detailed Sony Xperia Z3 Compact review