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HTC confirms Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update for One X and One S

HTC has confirmed plans to roll out out the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update to  HTC One X, S and XL. The company, however, has not revealed tentative availability for the update yet.

Earlier, Australian carrier Telstra was spotted promising Jelly Bean in the works for the HTC One S and One XL. At the time, the One X was not mentioned there.


It's notable the HTC One X and One S, already launched in India, come with Android 4.0 ICS straight out of the box along with HTC Sense 4.0 UI. The company has already announced its plans to roll out the ICS update for its non-One series of smartphones.


Google had unveiled Android Jelly Bean last month. The OS made its debut on Google's Nexus 7 tablet. The latest Android iteration is reportedly going to bring a number of improvements to the HTC One X and One S such as performance enhancements, new photo gallery features and improved home-screen widgets.

Microsoft Office 2013 will not support Windows XP and Vista

Microsoft has released the system requirements for their upcoming Office 2013 and is giving users of Windows XP another reason to upgrade to Windows 7 or their upcoming Windows 8. The latest release of Office will not support Windows XP or Vista. The systems supported by Office will be Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012.

Some of the other system requirements for Office include at least a 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM for the 32-bit version and 2GB for the 64-bit version, at least 3GB of free space in the hard disk and a graphics card that can provide at least a resolution of 1024 x 576.

While the hardware requirements won’t be a problem for most users, the OS requirements may pose a problem. The number of people using Vista has been dropping, most of them probably upgrading to Windows 7 by now. Stats from Net Applications showed Vista’s market share is less than 7 percent in June, and still dropping. But Windows XP is still being used widely, even after more than ten years. Though it looks like Windows 7 will gain the larger market share this year, Windows XP will still hold 40 percent of the market. 


The extended technical support for Windows XP will also end by April 2014, which means no more patches or bug fixes. While normal people will be able to upgrade their computers easily, the main problems are faced by businesses, who will have to face the time and resources to upgrade.

Microsoft had announced Office 2013 recently. “We are taking bold steps at Microsoft,” Ballmer said at the press conference in San Francisco. “The new, modern Office will deliver unparalleled productivity and flexibility for both consumers and business customers. It is a cloud service and will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8.”

One of the biggest additions to the new version of Office is SkyDrive. Office will save documents to SkyDrive by default, so your content will always be available across your tablet, PC and phone. Your documents will also be available offline and will sync when you reconnect.

Here are some of the subscriptions users can opt for when the new Office comes out:

Office 365 Home Premium — designed for families and consumers. This service also includes an additional 20 GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype world minutes per month.

Office 365 Small Business Premium — designed for small businesses. This service also includes business-grade email, shared calendars, website tools and HD webconferencing.

Office 365 ProPlus — designed for enterprise customers who want advanced business capabilities and the flexibility to deploy and manage in the cloud. 






Source:- Tech2

Android 4.0 ICS-based Funtab Fit tablet launches at Rs. 5,999

Another day, another budget tablet launch news! Go Tech, a Delhi-based company, has launched Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-based tablet PC called Funtab Fit. Priced at Rs. 5,999, the Funtab Fit is being touted as a health-oriented device, as it comes pre-loaded with various health-related applications.

Speaking about specifications, the Funtab Fit features a seven inch display with 800 X 480 pixels resolution. The Funtab Fit is powered by a 1GHz processor. It has 512 MB of RAM and comes with 4GB internal storage capacity, which is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. It has a 0.3MP camera for video chats.


The device comes with a 3,600 mAh battery, which is rated to deliver 4 hours of movie playback and 8 hours of music playback. For connectivity, the Funtab Fit supports Wi-Fi, 3G, and USB 2.0.


The device features a health application called Guide My Treatment, which the company says will help you to get timely attention to your health problems in a simple and hassle free manner.


The Funtab Fit is also pre-loaded with educational content. It has Attano Ebook reader, which features more than 1500 books and 7500 educational videos for the students and preparatory material fro entrance exams like IIT Jee and AIEEE etc.


For entertainment, the device has more than 20 games and applications such as Angry Bird, Tic Tac Toe, Solitaire, Minesweeper etc. Also, users have access to Hungama Playstore, which offers more than 3000 videos and 6000 songs. Moreover, users of Funtab Fit tablet can access free Wi-Fi at all the Ozone hotspots. More details of the device are available here.


The Funtab Fit is yet another budget tablet in the Indian market, already flooded with such devices. Zen Mobile, Karbonn and Micromax, the Indian mobile manufacturers, have also forayed into the tablet business. If you are spoiled for choice, check out our Top 10 Budget Tablets.




Source:- ThinkDigit

LG launches Optimus 4X HD and Optimus L5 in India

LG wants launched its LG Optimus 4X HD and the LG Optimus L5.

The LG Optimus 4X HD 

• Quad-core NVIDIA 1.5GHz Tegra 3 processor
• 1GB of RAM 
• Android 4.0 ICS
• 4.7-inch touchscreen HD-IPS display with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels
• 8.9 mm thickness
• 8MP rear camera, can record video in 1080p at 30fps
• 1.3MP camera
• Connectivity: NFC as well as Bluetooth with A2DP
• 6GB internal storage expandable via microSD card.

The LG Optimus 4X HD is priced at Rs. 34,990. 

The LG Optimus L5 

•  Android ICS 
• 800MHz processor 
• 512MB of RAM.
•  4-inch TFT LCD capacitive Touch HVGA display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels
• Connectivity: NFC as well as Bluetooth 3.0
• 5MP rear camera 
• 4GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card.

Priced at Rs. 13,199.

Samsung Galaxy Beam officially launches in India at Rs. 29,990

Samsung has officially released its projector phone, Galaxy Beam, in India. The Galaxy Beam is available at Samsung India's e-store for Rs. 29,990. Samsung had announced its Galaxy Beam also known as the Galaxy Beam GT-I8530 at the Samsung Forum event held earlier this year. The device went up for pre-order in India earlier this month.

The Samsung projector phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. Right now there's no word on whether the device will be upgraded to the Ice Cream Sandwich or the latest Jelly Bean.


Some of the key specs of the Galaxy Beam are:

• 4.0-inch touchscreen with 480 X 800 pixels resolution. 
• 5MP auto focus camera 
• 1.3MP front facing camera.
• 8GB of internal storage with a microSD slot up to 32GB
• 1GHz dual-core processor
• 2,000 mAh battery.
• Connectivity : Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz, MicroUSB, USB 2.0 and GPS.

Reliance 3G Tab V9A launches in India at Rs. 14,999

Reliance Communications (RCom) has introduced another 3G tablet in the country. Priced at Rs. 14,999, the new Reliance 3G Tab V9A comes with several improved features such as a faster processor and better screen resolution. RCom is bundling affordable data and voice plans with the new tablet as well, which is going to the hit the shelves very soon.

The new Reliance 3G Tab V9A features a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 600 pixel resolution. The device runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system (surprisingly not ICS) and is powered by a 1.4GHz processor. It has a 512MB of RAM. Moreover, the new Reliance tablet has a better 3MP camera along with a front camera for video calling.


The 3G Tab V9A comes pre-loaded with applications such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Leading News Sites, Reliance TV and BigFlix. It also has Google Play store.


Reliance also aims to target professionals as the tablet features push email, 'documents to go' that has support for Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint and PDF formats. The device also supports multiple email accounts of GMAIL, IMAP and POP3 accounts and Lotus Traveler, Microsoft Exchange for Enterprise Email Solutions. Check out more features of the new Reliance 3G Tab here.

iPad 3 goes on sale in China after suit settled

Apple released its newest iPad in China on Friday after settling a lawsuit over ownership of its name and requiring buyers to place orders in advance to control crowds. Watched by security guards, a few dozen shoppers waited outside stores in Beijing and Shanghai, which opened on time at 8 a.m. That was in contrast to the chaotic scene outside Apple's main Beijing store in January, when some customers who wanted to buy a new iPhone shouted and threw eggs after managers delayed the opening due to safety concerns about the hundreds of people waiting.

Sun Xufei, a 32-year-old computer technician who was the first customer in line in Shanghai, said he had put off buying an iPad so Apple had time to develop "a perfect one." The 30 customers in line when the store opened were outnumbered by the reporters watching them.
"I am very surprised to see there is nobody here waiting," Sun said.

Apple Inc. cleared a potential legal hurdle to the release when it paid $60 million this month to settle a dispute with a local company, Shenzhen Proview Technology Ltd., over ownership of the iPad name. Apple said it bought global rights to the iPad name from Proview in 2009 but Chinese authorities say the rights in China were never transferred.

China is Apple's second-largest market after the United States and the source of much of the Cupertino, California-based company's sales growth.

Qu Hongyu, a 20-year-old university student in Shanghai, expressed frustration that Apple waited four months after the new iPad debuted abroad to release it in China. Qu said she could have asked a friend abroad to send her one, "but I think it's better to get the product here, because I don't want to owe somebody a favor."






Source:- Tech2

Android Jelly Bean rolling out for the Nexus S

. Google has started seeding the update over the air (OTA) in select regions and as far we can tell, users are starting to get the update. As always, Google is dispatching the update in batches so if you haven’t received a notification yet, hang tight, you’ll get it. If you’re the impatient type, then you can also grab the update from Google directly and flash via CWM. It’s best if you Google around for the steps on how to do it but here’s the gist of it – simply copy the ‘zip’ files in the root of your internal storage, boot into CWM and flash. The update is 114M in size and brings the build version of the Nexus S to JRO03E. The update should simply upgrade the phone from ICS to Jelly Bean so you shouldn’t lose any data.

Here are some of the key changes from the official changelog: 

• With Jelly Bean, blind users can use 'Gesture Mode' to reliably navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output.
• TalkBack, a screenreader for Android, now supports gestures to trigger actions, navigate applications, and traverse text.
• Browser has improved performance, CPU and memory efficiency. With better performance for animations and HTML5 canvases and an updated JavaScript Engine (V8), pages load faster and feel smoother.
• Browser now has better HTML5 video support, and has a new user experience. Just touch the video to play and pause, and smoothly transition into and out of fullscreen mode.
• Calendar is more buttery. Content fades in, animations are sprinkled throughout, and swiping/paging between days is smoother.
• You can now swipe from the camera viewfinder to quickly review photos you've taken without having to leave the camera app. You can swipe back to the camera viewfinder to start snapping photos again.
• When taking a photo, a new animation sweeps your photo off the screen. There is now a new paging animation when swiping between photos.
• You can now enter text in one of 18 new input languages, including Persian, Hindi and Thai. Additional Indic languages Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam are now supported by the platform.
• You can use custom keyboard input styles for more than 20 languages, with keymaps for QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak, Colemak, and PC styles.
• Notifications from the same application are grouped together, and the first item is automatically expanded. You can also pinch notifications to expand or collapse them.

Source:- Tech2

Play Angry Birds on your Samsung Smart TV

Samsung has announced the global availability of the Angry Birds game on its Smart TV platform.


According to Samsung's blog



Samsung Electronics announced the global availability of the Angry Birds app for Samsung Smart TV. Angry Birds is one of the top smartphone apps worldwide developed by Rovio Entertainment, a Finnish entertainment media company.

                     
 The game’s fun and colorful characters and engaging gameplay have made it beloved by fans around the world. Since its launch in November 2009, Angry Birds has been downloaded more than one billion times, across multiple platforms and all versions of the game.

Utilizing Samsung’s Motion Control technology, consumers can play Angry Birds on the large TV screen for the first time ever, and enjoy a maximized, immersive and interactive gaming experience. With just the wave of the hand, fans can control gameplay features including initiating the slingshot and activating the unique skills of each bird. 

The first Smart TV game developed to work with Motion Control, Samsung has worked closely with Rovio over the past year to apply its advanced technology to the Angry Birds app for Samsung Smart TVs. Launching worldwide in July, the Angry Birds app for Samsung Smart TV will be available on Samsung 2012 Smart Interaction enabled models by updating the latest firmware.

Samsung plans to offer Video-on-Demand Angry Birds animations developed by Rovio after the official app launch. The animations will be available first on Samsung Smart TVs.

MeeGo to get an app store

Recently, in an interview with Tietekone magazine, Managing Director of Jolla mobile Jussi Hurmola announced that MeeGo would be getting a software store where users can get apps for their Meego devices.

Hurmola said that it is clear that Jolla’s next phone needs an ecosystem for third party apps. “We have now published our Qt/QML story but this is not enough. We are all the time building our ecosystem and we will also create a software store where consumers can buy applications for their phone.”

“When the smart phone hits the market, it must absolutely have large number of applications available.” Hurmola also said, “When we will publish the phone, we will also tell more about the availability of applications.”

Nokia and Meego had parted ways earlier this month. A group of former Nokia employees along with enthusiasts of the MeeGo OS had then announced that they had started a new company, Jolla, with the primary goal of bringing a MeeGo-powered smartphone to the market.

Jolla is Finnish for rescue sail boat or dinghy, and is a reference to what they aim to bring to the table when they launch their MeeGo-based smartphone. Jolla is being led by Chief Operating Officer Marc Dillon and in a statement he had said, “Jolla Ltd. is a Finland based smartphone company which continues the great work that Nokia started with MeeGo. The Jolla team is formed by directors and core professionals from Nokia's MeeGo N9 organization, together with some of the best minds working on MeeGo in the communities.” He had gone on to add, “Nokia created something wonderful - the world's best smartphone product. It deserves to be continued, and we will do that together with all the bright and gifted people contributing to the MeeGo success story.”

The open source community was very excited when MeeGo was first announced in February 2010 by Intel and Nokia in a joint press conference. According to Intel, MeeGo was developed because Microsoft did not offer comprehensive Windows 7 support for the Atom processor. The MeeGo core operating system is a Linux distribution based on Intel’s Fedora-based Moblin and Nokia’s Debian-based Maemo. Though adored by a niche audience, MeeGo never saw much mainstream success, especially here in India where Nokia didn’t launch the N900.

The last phone to come out of Nokia's factories to run on MeeGo was the N9. After the release of the Windows Phone line-up, Nokia has backed off from efforts to revitalize MeeGo, focussing most of its resources instead on its new partnership with Microsoft.






Source:- Tech2

Windows 8 launching on October 26th

As per the post The Windows Blog, the author Brandon LeBlanc has stated, “October 26th, 2012! That’s right! Just a few minutes ago, Steven Sinofsky announced at Microsoft’s annual sales meeting that customers will be able to get Windows 8 – whether in upgrade fashion or on a new PC – starting on October 26th. Earlier this month at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, Tami Reller told attendees Windows 8 would be available in October. But now everyone has a specific date to mark on their calendars. It’s on mine!”

If you're itching to get your hands on the latest version of Windows, now would be a good time as Microsoft recently announced that they will be offering Windows 8 Pro for $39.99, as part of a promotional scheme. This offer is up for grabs up to the 31st of January, 2013 and will be available in 131 markets. What may come as even better news is that it is not only PCs running Windows 7 that will be eligible for this offer, but also users who have Windows Vista and XP. Microsoft has not just stopped there; they have also stated that users can even add Windows Media Center for free through the “add features” option within Windows 8 Pro after the upgrade procedure.


Microsoft has also provided details on the upgrading process and has said that when one uses Windows.com to purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant makes the procedure simple by offering a walk through the upgrade process, which is a step-by-step process from purchase to download and then installation. They state that the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant will check to make sure a user’s PC is ready for Windows 8. It will then provide a detailed compatibility report that lets a user know of anything that he may have to address before or after the upgrade and outlines the actions to take.

Sony Xperia Neo L up for pre-order at Rs. 18,499

Sony's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-based Xperia Neo L is now up for pre-order in India via online shopping site Flipkart. Priced at Rs. 18,499, the Xperia Neo is likely to be released in the fourth week of July. Sony hasn't officially announced the phone in India yet.

Here’s a look at the specifications of the Sony Xperia Neo L:
• 4.0-inch TFT touchscreen with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution
• 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 processor, 512 MB of RAM
• Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich 
• 1GB internal storage
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, 720p video recording
• Secondary VGA camera
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket
• 1500 mAh Lithium - ion battery 


The device comes pre-loaded with various applications such as Google Talk, Google Voice Search, Google Mail and Google Maps. The Sony Xperia Neo L is available in two colours - black and white.

Nokia launches Asha 305 in India

The Nokia Asha 305 phone is now officially available in India. Priced at Rs. 4,688, the Nokia Asha 305 is a dual-SIM (GSM+ GSM) handset with some decent features. The 3-inch touchscreen phone comes with 40 pre-loaded games and memory support up to 32GB to keep your music and video files.

The Nokia Asha 305 is available in three colours – black, red and blue. You can buy it from Nokia's online store or wait for them to appear at your nearest Nokia dealer or retailer.


Some of the key specs of the Nokia Asha 305 are:

• 3-inch WQVGA resistive touch screen with 240 x 400 pixels resolution
• dual-SIM (GSM+ GSM)
• 2MP camera with 4x zoom
• 10MB built-in storage (2GB included and extendable up to 32GB  via microSD)
• 40 pre-loaded EA games, including Tetris, Need for Speed and FIFA 2012 
• 1110 mAh battery
• Integrated IM services
• Nokia Maps

MakeMyTrip launches Android and iOS apps

MakeMyTrip has announced the launch of mobile apps for Android devices and the iPhone, apart from an upgraded HTML 5-based Mobile Site for smartphones. Earlier, a Blackberry app for MakeMyTrip was available.

Mr. Amit Somani, Chief Products Officer, MakeMyTrip.com, shared, “India is amongst the top 5 countries in the world in mobile search queries, growing at 170% year-on-year. MakeMyTrip became one of the top 5 most-downloaded travel apps in India with only the Blackberry app on offer. This overwhelming response encouraged us to extend our product offering to other popular mobile platforms. With this launch, all smartphone users will now be able to have a seamless experience with MakeMyTrip through their devices.”


The MakeMyTrip app allows users to search and book flights. Passenger details are stored on the device to avoid having to type-in the details every time. Users can view booking details, make cancellations, request e-tickets and even track refunds.


The flight booking app boasts of fully secure and safe transactions and is supported by all modes of payment – credit and debit cards of all major banks as well as netbanking. The MakeMyTrip app also provides alerts on updated flight schedules; users can check the status of a flight with real time flight schedules. Users also receive details on exclusive travel deals and also get instant personalized deal notifications.


Other features of the MakeMyTrip app include itinerary-sharing via Facebook and Twitter; thereby enabling them to share instant travel updates. The app also uses the device’s GPS capabilities to find nearby restaurants.


These apps are available for free on the Google Play store and the Apple App Store.


The BlackBerry version of the app is available here:

Evernote for Android updated

As per an official blog post, Evernote for Android (v4.1) has now received a host of updates, especially for tablet users. The changes include a completely redesigned tablet interface, coupled with a new note view, and other improvements. The post further claims that the popular note taking application will work well on 7-inch tablets such as the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire. Detailing further, the post adds that the Evernote app for Android users now boasts of a new homescreen. The user needs to only tap on the screen to create a new note, or view his or her notebook, tags and place views. The update also brings in a host of swipe interactions, which Evernote believes improves navigation through the app. Users can swipe the note list to view it on full-screen mode or swipe it in the opposite direction to get back to the left panel. On the homescreen, users can also tap on Notebooks to see a notebook panel slide in.  




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Mozilla releases Firefox 14

Mozilla have recently announced the availability of Firefox 14. Mozilla has added a many new features in this latest upgrade, with priority given to security.

 Firefox automatically secures Google searches to protect a user’s data from potentially prying eyes such as network administrators, when using public or shared Wi-Fi networks. Google is currently the only search engine that allows Firefox to make a user’s searches private, but Mozilla is looking forward to supporting additional search engines with this feature in the future.


Firefox makes it easier to see a website’s verified identity by changing the way that a user displays the icon to the left of the URL.  Firefox now supports Pointer Lock API to allow applications, including first-person games to better control the mouse. Firefox now supports native full screen mode on OS X Lion 10.7 for a better experience with videos and Web games like Mozilla’s BrowserQuest.


To download the latest version of Firefox, click the link here.

AVerMedia announces the AVerTV Box PVR recording box

AVerMedia Technologies today announced the availability of the AVerTV Box PVR (A229), a standalone TV recording box used with TV set or PC monitor. The AVerTV Box PVR features direct file recording to USB hard drives, scheduled recording and TimeShift, providing users a convenient way to enjoy TV programs at any time. It is equipped with 3D Y/C separation technology that ensures the superior video quality. Besides TV recording, it can also be used to preserve your favorite video from various external source devices through the Composite interface. With the advantages of ease of operations, high video quality and multi-use capability, the AVerTV Box PVR is a cost-effective solution for TV and video enthusiasts.The AverTV Box PVR is available at a price of Rs. 8750.

The hardware and function design of the AVerTV Box PVR satisfies all the demands of live TV recording. Its inputs of TV antenna and composite video allow users to capture analog cable TV, as well as TV content from satellite/cable TV set-up-box. With only one press, the AVerTV Box PVR records your favorite variety shows, drama series, football games, and sitcoms to an external USB hard drive. Moreover, the device provides multiple recording options to ensure your TV entertainment. Besides real-time recording while watching TV programs, it is capable of cyclic scheduled recording with auto power on and off, which means capturing the whole TV series with one-time setting to save your trouble and electricity expense when you are away from home. The TimeShift function enables pause, fast-forward and rewind live TV clips so that no prime moments will be missed because of any sudden interruption, and those breath-taken moments can be re-played. The AVerTV Box PVR adopts the NEC chipset with advanced 3D Y/C separation technology, which helps to present higher video quality from analog TV signal due to the powerful noise reduction and color separation capabilities.



Other than TV-related functions, the AVerTV Box PVR also allows video recording from camcorder, DVD player and game console. This feature makes it a convenient tool for digitizing piles of old VHS tapes. Moreover, the composite input and output work together to present you real-time gameplay experience while recording in background.

Microsoft announces limited edition Halo 4 Xbox 360 bundle at $399

Microsoft would release a limited edition Halo 4 Xbox 360 and today, these rumours have finally been put to rest.The bundle that will cost gamers $399 (Rs. 22,000 approx.), and will hit store shelves at the same time as the release of the game, i.e., 6th November 2012.

The Halo 4 limited edition system comes with some snazzy artwork on the console as well as the controller, a copy of Halo 4 (duh!), 2 wireless controllers, a wireless headset, and download codes for the Halo 4-themed avatar items and in-game DLC. The HDD size on the console is 320GB.The LED indicators on the system are blue to match the colour theme of the limited edition console.

Micromax X259 solar phone launches in India at Rs. 2,499

Micromax has launched its first 'green phone', called X259. Priced at Rs. 2,499, the Micromax X259 comes with a solar panel that allows users to charge battery using solar energy. The company says its solar-powered mobile phone will be highly useful in rural areas of the country where power cuts are high.

Back in April, Micromax had revealed its plans of launching a phone with built-in solar charger. The Micromax X259 is a dual-SIM phone, featuring a 2.4-inch display with 240x320p resolution and 118mm X 50mm X 16mm dimensions. It has a 0.3MP camera. Micromax's X259 multimedia features include audio and video player and FM radio with recording. The device supports GPRS and Bluetooth. The X259 comes with a 1,000mAh battery, which is rated to deliver 4.5 hours of talktime and 200 hours of standby time.


Specifications of the Micromax solar phone are apparently nowhere close to the smartphones we have in the market currently. But then solar phones is quite an innovative concept, especially for countries like India grappling with acute electricity shortage. Hopefully, manufacturers come up with solar-powered smartphones in India in near future.


It's notable that Micromax's X259 isn't the first solar phone in India. In 2010, Vodafone had launched a solar powered mobile phone called VF 247. The Vodafone device, however, cost much cheaper at Rs. 1,500. Samsung India had also introduced a solar phone in 2010 called Solar Guru E1107 with a price tag of Rs. 2,799. 




Source:- ThinkDigit

Google starts shipping Nexus 7 pre-orders

TThe Google Nexus 7 tablet is available in two storage capacities - 8GB and 16GB - and the brand has priced it extremely competitively at $199 and $249, respectively. This put a rest to the countless rumours surrounding the pricing of the tablet, some of which pointed out that the price would be in the sub-$200 price bracket.

Recently, retailers seem to have jumped the gun and had started selling the product online, according to reports. This was at a time when Google officially claimed that the product was not out for sale yet. One of the online stores to sell the product was Adorama. They were selling the 16GB ASUS Google Nexus 7 at a price of $249.99 (approximately Rs. 14,000). Another site to sell the product was EBuyer. Now, Google seems to have slammed the brakes on this and have asked Adorama to stop sales.

World's Smallest Desktop announced by Lenovo

Lenovo has announced two new desktop models, the ThinkCentre M72e and ThinkCentre M92p. Both the devices boast of a slim and small form factor and pack in quite a punch under the hood.


Targeted at enterprise customers only, the device boasts of Intel’s Core i5 (Ivy Bridge) processors and support up to 16GB of RAM for the M72e and 32GB for the M92p.

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p boasts of a 1TB HDD or a 128GB SSD. In terms of connectivity, both the Lenovo ThinkCentre systems are well equipped boasting of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB 2.0 ports and in case of the M92p, USB 3.0. The products will not be available for the home users, as the device will available only on bulk purchases.


The devices are small, boasting of dimensions of 1.4-inches x 7.1-inches x 7-inches. Since the devices are targeted at the enterprise market, it is evident that the build quality is impressive. The PCs have a rugged metal enclosure, with a VESA mounting bracket that gives users multiple mounting options.


The ThinkCentre M72e and M92p are priced at Rs. 23,500 and Rs. 26,500 respectively for the basic specifications. The mentioned prices are exclusive of taxes. The bottom of the line specifications includes an Intel Celeron Dual-Core processor, 2GB of RAM, and 320 GB HDD.





Source:- ThinkDigit

Sony Xperia Go up for pre-order at Rs.18,999

Sony had announced two new, water-resistant handsets just before the monsoons, and the Xperia Go is now finally available for pre-order on online stores like Flipkart. It shouldn't be too long before the Xperia acro S shows up on retail shelves, as well. The Xperia go is priced at Rs.18,999 and is expected to be launched in the third week of July. This puts it in very close quarters with Sony's very own Xperia Sola, which retails for a grand more. Both phones share very similar feature sets, except, the Xperia go has a smaller screen with a lower resolution, However, it’s also dust and water resistant with the same wet finger tracking system we first saw on the Xperia Active. Both phones are powered by a dual-core CPU, have a 5 megapixel camera capable of 720p recording and feature expandable memory, so in the end, it really boils down to what you’re looking for in a phone.

Boasting premium specifications with beautiful design, extra durability and water resistance, the Xperia go features a scratch-resistant mineral glass display and meets industry standard IP (International Protection) ratings to fight off dust and the effects of water immersion. The Xperia enables effortless connectivity to share and enjoy content on a TV, smartphone, laptop or tablet. It also comes pre-loaded with Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited from Sony Entertainment Network, giving you access to Hollywood blockbusters, TV series and a range of music tracks. Despite being dust and water resistant, the phone is still surprisingly slim at just 9.8mm, so it’s not overly bulky in your hand or pocket.

Some of the key specs of the phone are:

• 3.5-inch capacity touchscreen display with a 480 x 320 pixel resolution
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi capabilities for net access
• GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (Micro)
• 5MP camera with LED flash and secondary camera up front
• FM radio
• 8GB internal + microSD card support for up to 32GB more memory

Acer introduces TravelMate P243 laptop for SMBs, starting Rs. 35,000

Acer India has launched a new notebook range in its TravelMate series, the Acer TM P243, features a suite of security and manageability solutions, designed for optimum user experience and a high level of data protection, with such software as Acer ProShield Security, Acer Backup Manager, Acer Office Manager (AOM) and eRecovery Management.


The Acer TravelMate P243 features a 3rd generation Intel Core i5 processor (Ivy Bridge) with the choice of dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 630M GPU. It has a 14-inch LED-backlit display with a 16:9 aspect, which reportedly uses 30% less energy. Storage and memory options extend up to a 750 GB HDD, and 8GB of RAM.

Other features of the Acer TravelMate P243 include Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet and USB3.0 (with power-off charging) connectivity, as well as Acer’s SignalUp wireless technology.


Acer TravelMate P243 features Acer’s Acer FineTouch keyboard, which is spill-resistant, with a water drainage design. It also comes with a multi-gesture touchpad. The notebook also offers a 25,000-cycle recharge, supposedly making it extremely sturdy and powerful for SMB users. The Acer TM P243 is a perfect blend of effective manageability with truly reliable security features, with prices starting from Rs. 35,000 (exclusive of taxes).


Mr. S. Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India, spoke on the launch of the Acer TM P243: “Machine specs, astounding visual graphics with multimedia capabilities, modern software solutions etc are a given in this era. We have consciously made an effort to redesign the entire range of Acer products keeping in mind the key aspects that are important for the SMB segments such as Security and Durability. The TravelMate P243 boasts of Acer’s own dynamic security technology solution that takes care of Data Protection. At the same time, we also believe that the TM P243 is one of the sturdiest notebooks in the market.”


The Multi-level Acer ProShield Security features pre-boot authentication (PBA) with BIOS/HDD password that will help in protecting the notebook. It allows creating a Personal Secure Drive (PSD) to seamlessly store and encrypting all critical files, so that even if the notebook is stolen or lost the data cannot be accessed. It also offers the automated solution to manage IT assets remotely on the go.


Another layer of security offered by Acer is the Backup/eRecovery Manager to backup all valuable data and media library. Acer eRecovery Manager provides recovery on demand. The TravelMate P243 also comes with an option of Acer Office Manager (AOM), a manageability solution which allows SMB to deploy security policies, monitor IT assets, and schedule maintenance tasks in one simple manageability package.




Source:- ThinkDigit

Vuclip launches women-centric mobile video portal, 'Mira!'

Magazine stands always have a slew of women-centric magazines, and a new mobile portal tailored just for women depicts how we’ve been moving from paperbacks to electronic platforms. The new portal has been launched by Vuclip and is known as Mira!. Designed for new-age women, the mobile site includes content from different areas of interest like health, beauty, fashion and style tips, parenting, cooking recipes, career, entertainment, celeb-speak, astrology and more. According to Vuclip, the content on Mira! has been provided by 30 leading content providers across the world, including India.

Speaking at the launch, Delhi's Women Development Minister, Prof. Kiran Walia, said, “Studies show that the mobile phone has helped women feel safer, more independent and connected, and has opened new professional avenues and income sources for women. As India’s first mobile video channel for women, I hope that this initiative will help boost mobile adoption among women, and will encourage the creation of more women-oriented mobile content.”


At the event, Vuclip highlighted a report by the Cherie Blair Foundation and the GSMA Development Fund which stated that only 28 percent of Indian women had access to mobile phones, as compared to 40 percent of Indian men. The company also unveiled the findings of its global survey, which covers almost 40,000 women users from 176 nations, including 13,000 women from India. The survey reveals that 60 percent of the Indian women surveyed use their handsets as a primary source of entertainment and as many as 80 percent of the respondents acknowledged that there has been a steady increase in the time that one spends with their mobile phones. Besides watching movies and listening to music, Indian women also confirmed watching TV soaps, cute/funny videos, sports, home and lifestyle, news, celeb gossip and amazing/whacky videos on their mobile. Among the women who participated in the survey, women in the age group of 18-35 years comprised 65 percent of the Indian respondents, while 24 percent were under 18 years and another 11 percent were over 36 years of age.


Meera Chopra, Vuclip's Vice President Advertising in India, said that even as the adoption of mobile among women grows in India, it is encouraging to note that mobile is already becoming a woman's preferred source for content. “While 37% women from India reported that they spend more than one hour daily on TV, print or radio media, a close 32% women reported that they spend over an hour to access mobile content every day. Currently, women constitute only 14% of the total 11 million users on Vuclip in India. We hope that by the end of this year, Mira! will help Vuclip double its existing 1.54 million women users in India. Already, Mira! provides you access to thousands of videos on yoga, aerobics and fitness, fashion and style, hobbies and pets, food and cookery, Bollywood, popular TV shows, animated stories, cartoons and rhymes for children, as well as devotional and astrology-related content, all on your personal mobile screen," she added.






Source:- Tech2

Facebook for Android updated to version 1.9.7

Facebook for Android received its newest update, yesterday, that takes it to version - 1.9.7. The new version of the app, features the following improvements, over the previous one - 

• Facebook for Android 1.9.7 requires Android 2.2 and up
• A front-facing camera makes it easier to take photos
• New messaging features let you switch between conversations, include friends of friends, share bigger photos, and see who’s available
• Various bug fixes
• Made a security improvement
• Faster app login and navigation

To get yourself the updated version of Facebook for Android, head over to the Google Play store.

Mysore to host international summit on space research

About 3,000 scientists and students from 75 countries, including India, will deliberate on the benefits of space for humankind at a summit in Mysore, 150 km from here, beginning Monday. "The week-long summit (July 16-22) will deliberate on a global vision for space in 2020 and beyond.

Scientists from world over will deliberate on the contemporary issues related to the usage of space assets," a senior space official told IANS Friday. Hosted by the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the seven-day biennial 39th Scientific Assembly of the Committee on Space Research (Cospar-2012) will have six inter-disciplinary lectures, a presentation on 'A space astronomy global roadmap for the next decades' and a public lecture on exo-planets by experts.

ISRO is hosting COSPAR-2012 

As the Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd. is co-host of the international event, the assembly will be held at the N.R. Narayana Murthy Centre of Excellence in its sprawling campus on the outskirts of Mysore."The delegates will get an overview of the challenges the space community faces in utilising space resources and assets being built by space-faring countries from the 3,600 scientific papers, posters and reports that will be presented through 630 sessions during the summit," the official said.ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan will unveil India's space vision at a round-table conference on the inaugural day (Monday).

Being held for second time in India after the first one (23th session) in Bangalore in 1979, the scientific assembly reflects the prowess of India's space advances."The activities of ISRO in the recent past has attracted the attention of the international space-faring nations following the successful lunar mission Chandrayan-1 in 2008 and launch of multiple satellites for several international customers over the years in polar and geo-synchronous orbits using our rockets," the official said.Prior to the summit, the assembly will observe the 'International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Day' Saturday, which will be followed by scientific and technical sessions Sunday onwards."The assembly is an ideal platform to present India as a significant venue for space research and innovation.

Hosting such a prestigious event offers our scientists an opportunity to get involved and benefit from interactions with their global counterparts," the official said.Former ISRO chairman and Physical Research Laboratory Council chairman U.R. Rao currently holds the chair of Cospar's scientific programme committee, while European Space Agency's advisor council Giovanni F. Bignami is its president. Set up in 1958 by the International Council for Science (ICSU), Cospar is a premier space science research association with national scientific institutions and international scientific unions as members.

"The association's objectives are to promote international space research, with emphasis on the exchange of results, information and opinions. These objectives are achieved through scientific assemblies, publications and other means, " the space agency said in a statement here.The scientific assembly also provides an interdisciplinary forum to exchange results in space research.The event also encourages students' participation and provides opportunities for them to interact with space science professionals, members of academia, space industries and government bodies from all over the world.






Source:- Tech2

Screenshots of Grand Theft Auto V released by Rockstar

Rockstar has released two new screenshots for the upcoming open world game, Grand Theft Auto V. These are the first screenshots to come out since the game's debut trailer last November and they show off the massive scale of the game. Rockstar recently 'leaked' the screenshot on their Asked & Answered boards.

Rockstar has confirmed is that there will be no 'beta' test for the game. “There is absolutely no ‘beta’ test for the game. If you see ads or solicitations to join a beta program, beware as this could be a dodgy online phishing scam. Your best bet is to only trust information as official if you’re seeing it announced here at the Rockstar Newswire,” the company stated.

Grand Theft Auto V is one of the most anticipated games this year. Rockstar claims this is the biggest open world game they’ve ever made.

How to create 3D Facebook Covers

Wanna create cover like this

Though they are not 3D facebook covers, but I like to call them 3D Facebook Covers. You can also save yourself a trouble of creating this. Just like TechBiscuits Facebook Page and you will get a 3D cover (leave comment in this post or message Tech Biscuits if you want a 3D cover). So now to create them, follow these steps (in this tutorial, I am going to show a three layer cover. You can create the above cover by creating several layers.):

• First of all you are required to take screenshot of you facebook profile page. Make sure that all the ads are hidden. To take screenshot, open you FB profile page and press Print Screen.

Closing the ads. After Closing, refresh this page.

• Now go to Photoshop. Press Ctrl+N to open a new blank workarea.  Paste the screenshot in this box.
• Now you need to erase the portion where your cover photo is displayed. You can use eraser or rectangular marquee tool.  After erasing, make a copy of that image.

After Erasing the cover photo area

Making Copy of the base image

• As you can see, the so called ‘3D’ look is on the cover photo area and the copied image (which you have created in the end of step 3) is smaller than the base image. So you are now required to reduce the size of the copied image by 197 pixels. Go to Image-> Image size and reduce the size of the copied image by 197. Make sure that the Constrain Proportion box is ticked.

Adjusting the layer's size

• Now place the copied image in the box of base image. Make sure that the layers are adjusted in increasing order from the top (see the small box in the bottom right corner of the image below.) You can adjust the layers by simply drag and drop.

Adjusting layers

• After the layers are adjusted, adjust layer 2 in layer 1 as given in the image.

The video of this How-To tutorial will be uploaded soon, so stay tuned for updates.