Apple

You'll just LOVE Apple's latest called 'Air'

As expected, Apple refreshed its iPad lineup on Tuesday morning. Unexpectedly, it renamed its top-of-the-line 9.7-inch tablet to the iPad Air.
Seeing as how the MacBook Air has been one of Apple's most successful products in recent years, it's perhaps no surprise that Cook & Co.'s marketing folks decided to borrow some of that branding mojo for their latest iteration of the iPad.

The new Cupertinian fondleslab is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, with a reduced bezel size – 43 per cent thinner than the bezel on the previous version. It now weighs in at just 1 pound, down from the 1.4 pounds of the model it replaces. In addition, it's now 7.5 millimeters thick, down from 9.4 millimeters – a reduction of 20 per cent.
"To make an iPad this thin took a huge amount of work over years," Apple marketing headman Phil Schiller said during today's rollout event in San Francisco.
"The team has just been remarkable in finding every tenth and every hundredth of a millimeter from every level of the system, from the bezel to the multitouch surface to the display and battery and enclosure," he added, calling the slab the lightest full-size tablet in the world.

A fraction of a millimeter here, a fraction of a millimeter there – it all adds up (click to enlarge)

The iPad Air is powered by the same 64-bit A7 application processor that's in the iPhone 5s announced in September, and it also includes the battery-saving M7 motion processor that's in the top-of-the-line iPhone, offloading sensor-monitoring and processing duties from the A7.
Wi-Fi has been upgraded to a dual-antenna MIMO implementation of Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n – not 802.11ac – which Schiller promised will provide "up to twice as fast" 802.11n performance; Apple
If you were hoping for greatly improved cameras, however, the iPad Air will disappoint. It still has a 5-megapixel ƒ/2.4 rear-facing iSight camera and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing FaceTime HD camera, as did its predecessor. The iPhone 5s, by comparison, has an 8-megapixel, ƒ/2.2 iSight camera. Schiller did claim, however, that the low-light performance of the iPad Air's FaceTime camera has been improved.
Despite rumors that a gold iPad was in the offing, the iPad Air will only be available in "silver and white" and "space grey and black" – that much gold bling, in our opinion, would have been too much for even the most "look at me" fanboi.
Schiller emphasized the processor and graphics performance improvements of the iPad Air over previous Apple tablets, saying that CPU performance is up to eight times greater than that of the original iPad, and GPU performance as much as 72 times greater.

The original iPad was known for it's 'tap and wait' performance lag; the iPad Air promises improvements

The iPad Air's Imagination Technologies GPU cores promise to provide a hefty graphics boost

The iPad Air will be available in 41 countries – and Schiller was quick to point out that one of those "wave one" countries will be China – when it goes on sale on November 1. Pricing for the Wi-Fi–only versions starts at $499 for the 16GB model, with $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64GB, and $799 for 128GB. The "Wi-Fi + Cellular" versions will run to $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, $829 for 64GB, and $929 for 128GB.

Latvians, Liechtensteiners, Lithuanians, and Luxembourgers take note: you have not been forgotten

The iPad 2 will remain in Apple's product line, and will be available for $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $529 for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model from both AT&T and Verizon in the US.
"This is probably out biggest leap forweard in a full-sized iPad," Schiller opined. Whether or not the market agrees will be discovered in the coming months, but from where we sit the improvements are far from Earth-shattering though welcome, especially the weight reduction and improved performance.
As for the camera? We've always thought that taking photos or videos with an iPad was, well, more than a wee bit silly. ®

Lenovo

Lenovo announces A10 Android laptop amid slumping PC sales

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After unintentionally leaking its existence, Lenovo has today officially announced the A10 Android laptop. It's the first laptop from the world's top PC vendor to ship with Android 4.2 on board. As we learned before the A10 features a 10.1-inch HD display, 1.6GHz process, up to 32GB of storage, and a max 2GB of memory. That quad-core Cortex-A9 processor allows the laptop the reach nine hours of video playback, according to Lenovo's estimates.

Lenovo builds a file manager into Android

The A10's "laptop mode" brings Lenovo's customized Android user interface to the forefront, including an app launcher, task bar and status bar for "quick, intuitive access to the app library and desktop." The company has also built file manager software into the A10, which it claims "makes it easy to locate and manage a library of documents, videos and music." Laptop mode also nets users a full-size keyboard, though the A10 also accepts input via its multitouch display. But the A10 can also be flipped around into a "stand mode," which Lenovo says has been optimized for touch-enabled apps and entertainment. Stereo speakers are there for your Spotify and Netflix streaming, though don't expect to be taking many keepers with the integrated 0.3-megapixel webcam.

Lenovo's Android laptop leaked earlier this month when service manuals for the device appeared on the company's website. A spokesperson would later confirm its existence, though it's unclear how aggressively Lenovo plans to market the A10 — or why interested customers won't opt instead for a Chromebook. But with Windows PC sales slowing recently, we can't fault Lenovo for trying something new. We've reached out to the company for pricing and availability information.

Update: Lenovo tells us that the A10 won't be made available within the US (or North America as a whole). Instead, it will be sold in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific countries.  It's definitely a budget offering, with pricing set to start around $249 USD equivalent.

Blackberry

Blackberry's premium smartphone Z30 may release in India on October 24

BlackBerry Z30, also known as the A10 or A-Series under the codename 'aristo', was unveiled at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last mont
Blackberry is expected to launch their recently launched premium smartphone in India on October 24. The phone maybe priced around Rs45,000. 

Blackberry sent out a media invite stating that 'they would be unveiling latest offering built to keep you moving'.
It is heavily rumored that the Z30 would be unveiled among other important announcements on October 24 as it is the latest offering by Blackberry in their smartphone kitty.
BlackBerry Z30, also known as the A10 or A-Series under the codename 'aristo', was unveiled at an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month.
Specs
The smartphone comes with a 5-inch Super AMOLED display and is powered by a 1.7 GHz processor with quad-core graphics.
It is equipped with 8MP rear camera and 2MP front camera.
This smartphone also has a 2880 mAh battery, the largest battery ever built into a BlackBerry smartphone. BlackBerry claims that this battery will last up to 25 hours of mixed use.
The Z30 has 2GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage and comes with micro SD memory card slot for expanding its internal storage.
The phone runs on the company's latest operating system.
The event on October 24 could hopefully also shed more light on the ever-so-long stall of BBM for Android and iPhone users.
BlackBerry some weeks earlier also unveiled a 4.7 billion dollar dealwith billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial, who is touted to be Canada’s Warren Buffet. The preliminary deal, subject to a six-week period of due diligence, is expected to be completed by November 4, valued the sinking smartphone manufacturer’s at 9 dollar-a-share.
Blackberry's new addition could give direct competition to the November 1 release of iPhone 5S. Samsung. LG and HTC's flagship phones will all now have one more warrior to face in the game.

Sony

Sony launches Galaxy Grand rival Xperia C at Rs 21,490

 Sony India has launched its Xperia C phablet in India, bringing yet another rival of the popular Samsung Galaxy Grand in the market. This device has a 5-inch screen, Android 4.2, dual-sim functionality and a quad-core processor and has been priced at Rs 21,490.

Xperia C will compete against the likes of Samsung Galaxy Grand, Micromax Canvas 4 and the upcoming LG Optimus G Pro Lite.

The new Xperia C has a TFT display with 960x540p resolution and has the Omnibalance design that Sony uses in its top-end smartphones. This phone comes with 4GB internal storage, microSD support up to 32GB, 1GB RAM and runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core Mediatek processor.

On the back, Xperia C sports an 8MP camera with LED flash, while a VGA unit is used in front. Connectivity options in the phablet include 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. Powered by a 2,390mAh battery, this device is available in white, black and purple colours.

Sony is offering headphones worth Rs 1,490 with the Xperia C for free. It is also offering six months of accidental damage protection with the handset. The company has tied up with Airtel to offer 1GB of free data usage for two months for this device.

The Xperia C has been retailing at e-commerce websites in the country for around Rs 20,000. It was unveiled globally in June this year at Mobile Asia Expo.

Acer C720 Chromebook

Acer C720 Chromebook Available In India Now

The much-awaited Haswell-based Acer C720 Chromebook, which was launched last week by Acer, is now available exclusively at select Croma and Reliance Digital outlets in Mumbai and Delhi. This would also be available on Flipkart online e-store. Chromebooks are laptops powered by Google’s Chrome OS operating system.

The new Acer C720 is slim and sleek, and  features a  29.5 cms (11.6 inches) ComfyView HD  display with a 1366×768 resolution, and   includes a full-sized keyboard.  The device weighs only 1.25 kg, making it easily portable and can be easily fit  in a backpack or bag. This device has over 8.5 hours of battery life.
The Acer C720 connects to popular consumer electronics devices such as camcorders, digital cameras and smart phones via its fast USB 3.0 port as well as a USB 2.0 port. It also has an HDMI port for pushing video and content to external displays and HDTVs.The Acer C720’s integrated HD webcam delivers sharp and detailed images and rich color saturation.
In addition, consumers can easily access their content at home or on the go – with 100 GB of free storage on Google Drive for two years. By visiting the Chrome Web Store users can customize their Acer C720 Chromebook with applications for work or play.  Other media and files can also be accessed through the SD card reader.
The Acer C720 has been launched with 2GB of memory and a 16GB SSD at a retail price of only Rs. 22,999 in India.
Acer has introduced some unique offerings for the benefit of consumers. This device is available with easy financing schemes from Bajaj Finance at nominal processing fee. Users can also enjoy high speed wireless connectivity on their Acer C720 through exciting data bundle plans by Airtel and Tikona, the service is only available in selected locations depending on the service provider. At just Rs. 2499, consumers can opt for a free Airtel 4G dongle worth Rs 1500 with monthly 10 GB data for 2 months, or choose a free Airtel 3G dongle worth Rs. 1299 along with monthly 6 GB data for 3 months. Consumers desiring broadband connectivity at home can get a free 4 mbps speed Tikona home broadband connection of 8GB data with a validity of 45 days or 100 GB data with a validity of 20 months at just Rs. 3499. Consumers can also receive a free Wi-Fi router along with 100 GB data with a validity of 20 months at just Rs. 4999.

Angry Birds

Angry Birds Playground Coming To India – Learning Will Be Fun And Creative!

In just a couple years from now, your kid could be taking his first steps towards life and education in an Angry Birds school. Finnish game-app developer Rovio Entertainment has collaborated with suitable partners in India to launch its fun learning project in the country. Henri Holm, Rovio Entertainment’s Senior Vice President (Asia) stated about this venture- “Angry Birds Playground is Finnish education packaged into a fun way of learning. The first product will be for pre-school, children aged five and six.” He added that there’s a great demand in Indian market for fun and creative learning, so they know they’ve an audience who would want to connect with this brand. Rovio is seeking Indian partners in several areas to make this connection possible.

Angry Birds Playground is mostly based “but not limited to” the Finnish National Curriculum for Kindergarten. Sanna Lukander, Vice President Learning and Book Publishing at Rovio, stated in her blog post that the concept was scientifically analyzed and proven in cooperation with the University of Helsinki’s Cicero Learning Network. The key here is to inspire children in various life skills such as language, interaction, math, music, arts, craft and both physical and social education. Rovio has partnered with some Chines organizations to debut Angry Birds Playground in Shanghai.

Angry Birds revolutionized the mobile gaming ecosystem, enjoying over 2 billion downloads across platforms and all its games. The success of the Angry Birds brand has prompted Rovio Entertainment to develop a revenue model which skips the virtual world, which means that apart from the games and video delivery channel which have been embedded in the newer version of Rovio’s games, you’ll even have options in merchandises and activity parks where you’ll get to physically interact with the bad green pigs and the vengeance seeking birds across the world, even in India. Holm may be right when he says that it’s the world’s fastest growing franchise.

The new game from Rovio Entertainment- Angry Birds Go!- is scheduled to launch December 11, 2013.

Tata Sky launches TV on mobile for subscribers

Company will charge Rs 60 per month from its existing customers, who can initially watch over 50 channels on their mobile phones

DTH (direct to home) company Tata Sky on Wednesday announced the launch of Everywhere TV, by which its subscribers will be able to enjoy all their favourite TV channels and movies on demand on their mobile. The services entitle a subscriber to access 50 channels with a monthly payment of Rs 60.

Available to Tata Sky subscribers, this service could be availed by downloading Tata Sky's mobile app from the Apple and Android stores. Everywhere TV will be accessible on 3G and broadband services.

On the latest innovation, Vikram Mehra, chief commercial officer, Tata Sky, said, "Our research has shown lifestyles are getting busier in today's day and age. People spend hours in transit or waiting daily. Today over 60 per cent of the (Tata Sky) population use the internet to view videos on their smartphones and tablets either at home or at office. Everywhere TV is a unique service for all those valued subscribers who want to keep in touch with their favourite shows,  programmes and channels that they have subscribed on Tata Sky even when they are on the move through their mobile handsets."

Consumers will be able to view varied TV content on a single platform with Everywhere TV instead of downloading and paying for multiple apps offering different channels or services, as had been done traditionally. In addition to Everywhere TV, one can also use the Tata Sky mobile app to record on set-top box their favourite TV shows, browse the EPG when they are outside their homes and use their mobile devices as a Wifi remote at home.

With the launch of this service, Tata Sky will extend its range of services from indoors (at home) to outdoors and on-the-move.

Xolo

Xolo launches Play Tab 7.0 at Rs 12,999

Smartphone maker Xolo has expanded its tablet portfolio with the launch of Xolo Play Tab 7.0 – the first of its Tegra series of tablets.
The Play Tab 7.0 is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra mobile processor, which sports quad-core architecture and a fifth battery-saver core resulting in extended battery life, the company said in a statement.
"We're replicating the success we've achieved in the smartphone category now in tablets. Xolo Play Tab 7.0 marks the first tablet in the XOLO Play category of products. Similar to XOLO Play T1000 smartphone launched in July, the Tab delivers similar entertainment now on a bigger 7-inch screen," said Sunil Raina, Business Head at Xolo.
Last month, Xolo entered a new segment of devices with the launch of Xolo Tab after launching various phones in the mid- to high-end smartphone segment. With the Xolo Play category of products, the brand is particularly focused on the growing mobile gaming community in the country, said the company.
The 7'' device has 1280 x 800 WXGA IPS LCD display and 8 GB inbuilt memory which can be expanded up to 32 GB with Micro SD card. The tablets has full HD 1080p video playback and comes packed with a 4000mAH battery for long power back-up
​The Play Tab 7.0 comes pre-loaded with TegraZone, where consumers can find, explore and download Tegra-optimized Android games, for a console-quality gaming experience, with more realistic, interactive and challenging gameplay and graphics.

Key Specifications

NVIDIA Tegra 3 mobile processor with quad-core CPU and 5th battery-saver core
12-core NVIDIA ULP GeForce GPU
NVIDIA TegraZone for Gaming
7" 1280 x 800 WXGA IPS LCD Display
Full HD 1080p video playback
4000mAH battery for long power back-up
8 GB inbuilt memory with facility of Micro SD card up to 32 GB

tiny remote

Indian techies develop tiny remote for smartphones

 Indian technologists have developed a Bluetooth-enabled device that can serve as a Swiss army knife for smartphones.

Gecko, which is about the size of a quarter, can be programed to perform a host of functions, like lost-and-found, a personal photographer, a pet sitter and a home security system.

According to Mashable, Gecko is a tiny wireless remote that lets the user control his smartphone by shaking or turning it.

The device can also operate as a motion detector that sends alerts to your phone and its built-in ambient temperature sensor allows for climate tracking too, the report added.

Gecko will be compatible with smartphones having Bluetooth 4.0, including iPhone 4S and above, Android phones running Android 4.3, or Samsung devices running 4.2.

YouTube

Google in talks with DTH cable providers to bring YouTube to TV screens

 Google is making a big push to boost YouTube usage in India and is in talks with direct-to-home cable providers to bring the service to televisions screens, its global director of platform partnerships, Francisco Varela, said.

Varela, who is on his first trip to India, said the country was among the video service's fastest-growing markets and that talks were on with partners to boost usage further. Strategically, YouTube is an important part of Google's revenues, which crossed $50 billion (about Rs 3.1 lakh crore) in 2012.

About 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube and about 100 hours of video are uploaded to the service every minute. "When we talk to direct-tohome providers or television makers or device makers, it's so that you can watch YouTube on every screen you have, in a fully scalable way," Varela told ET.

Varela declined to name the DTH providers he was in discussions with and would only say the company was working on a tie-up "as soon as possible". The video platform receives more than 55 million unique monthly users from India, up from 15 million in 2011, a number set to grow as internet and mobile penetration in the country rises.

Access to DTH subscribers would open up more viewers for YouTube, which has already become a key component of companies' digital marketing and advertising spend. According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, there were about 54 million DTH subscribers, at the end of last year.

The major DTH players are Dish TV, Tata Sky, AirtelBSE 2.77 Digital TV, Videocon D2H, Reliance Digital TV and Sun Direct. YouTube already has partnerships with television makers like Samsung, LG, Sony for making the video sharing site available on their smart TVs. As of March, India had about 164 million users, with seven out of eight of them accessing the internet from their phones. But network speed still remains a barrier for YouTube in India.

Apple Inc's iPhone

Apple Inc's iPhone 6 to have 4.8-inch retina display

iPhone lovers who always wished to have a much bigger screen might have their dreams come alive when Apple Inc. launches its most awaited 1Phone 6 as forecasted by Jefferies analyst Peter Misek.
Soon after the brief meet with the Apple's Asian suppliers, Misek issued a note to investors on Monday saying the iPhone 6 would offer a 4.8-inch screen. Obviously a great news as currently the iPhones come with only 4 inch display screen.
Apple Inc. may unveil iPhone 6 at a top end price of Rs 60,335
Though the analyst did not disclose the reason behind his prediction, he mentioned in his note that the new screen size would drive a huge number of upgrades.
"We think the 85M iPhones eligible for an upgrade when the iPhone 6 launches (we think Apple is targeting Sep 2014) could be boosted by another 5-10M from people who skipped the 5S/5C cycle," Misek wrote.
On the downside, iPhone 5C sales have been weak, according to Misek. As such, manufacturing builds are being slashed to 15 million to 20 million from 30 million, he said.
On the plus size, that could lead to an even larger number of upgraders who gravitate toward the iPhone 6.
In the past, Apple has lost significant market share to the Android phones having larger display size.
Last year, Apple has raised the display size of iPhone 5 to 4 inches from the prior 3.5 inches, so time is right for another development.

curved screen phones

LG announces curved screen phones to launch in 2014

 

LG has announced it is to start mass-production of what it calls the "world's first flexible OLED [organic light-emitting diode] panel for smartphones".

The South Korean firm said it hoped to start selling the first handsets to feature the tech next year.
The news comes weeks after Samsung made a similar announcement.
Samsung said it intended to launch its first product - a special edition of the Galaxy Note 3 - later this month.
Both companies already use the technology to offer curved OLED television sets.
Although the displays used in the TVs are in theory "flexible", they are mounted in fixed shells so they cannot be bent or otherwise re-shaped by the owner.
A press release from LG's display division indicated its handset screen would curve from top-to-bottom rather than side-to-side, the design Samsung described in a recent patent.
It said the advantage of using the tech was that the panel was "bendable and unbreakable".
"The new display is vertically concave from top to bottom with a radius of 700mm [28in], opening up a world of design innovations in the smartphone market," LG added.

 

"What's more, it is also the world's lightest, weighing a mere 7.2g [0.25oz] even with a 6in screen, the largest among current smartphone OLED displays."
One industry watcher was not convinced the product, as described, would have much appeal.
"I think LG is doing this to show it is innovative, to do something different and to stand out from the rest of the bar-style screen devices that we have at the moment," said David McQueen, a mobile device expert at tech consultants Informa.
"But I don't think consumers are going to be that interested by a slightly curved design.
"However, we do think there will be interest if flexible screens are used to offer different form factors.
"For example a device that you snap round your wrist or a traditional shaped smartphone whose screen wraps around the sides onto a bit of the back so that the edges become touchscreen rather than hard buttons."

smartwatches

Samsung's new Galaxy Gear ad shows historic use of smartwatches by sci-fi heroes

In a bid to promote its latest smart watch Galaxy Gear, Samsung has reportedly taken to sci-fi heroes being the pioneer users of smartwatches in its new ad.
Samsung’s new ad goes with the claim that people’s favourite heroes have ‘ALWAYS’ talked to their watches, featuring Dick Tracy, Captain Kirk and even Fred Flintstone.
According to Cnet, Samsung is trying hard to sell its ‘Next Big Thing’ Galaxy Gear smartphone, after consumers found it falling short of expectations.
With Apple next in line for its iWatch release, it is speculated that smartwatches might be able to get more consumer attention after the tech giant’s anticipated launch.

Samsung Galaxy Round smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Round smartphone with a curved display may be launched this week

Samsung said last month it would introduce a smartphone with a curved display in October as the world's top handset maker seeks to set the pace of hardware innovation amid slowing growth in the high-end smartphone market.
Curved displays are in the early stages of development and allow bendable or foldable designs that could eventually allow mobile and wearable gadgets to take new forms that could radically change the high-end smartphone market.
LG Display Co Ltd said on Monday it has started production of a six-inch display curved top to bottom. LG Electronics plans to launch a smartphone with the curved display in November, a source familiar with the matter said.
By contrast, Samsung's phone will have a display curved side to side, another source who has direct knowledge of the matter said.
In January Samsung, which has taken over from Apple Inc as the global smartphone leader, showed off prototype products with a flexible screen and a display that extends from the side of a device.
Technology firms have yet to figure out how to mass produce the parts cheaply and come up with display panels that can be thin and heat resistant.
Curved displays are already commercially available in large-screen televisions. Samsung and LG Electronics started selling curved OLED TV sets this year priced at about $9,000.