April 30, 2011

Nokia CEO Talks about New Tablet

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop confirmed that Nokia is working on a Tablet. In an interview with YLE.fi, Elop commented that out of hundreds of tablets on the market, there is just one that is doing well. So when Nokia launches its tablet, it will be unique and will distinguish itself from its competitors. He said that they (Nokia) are always in a hurry to do the right things.

He also said that the team working on the tablet is weighing in its options on what software to use. It could use a Windows-based OS from Microsoft or simply go for MeeGo, which could make for a very interesting device.

In the 20 minute interview, Elop discussed its recent job cuts, current competitors like Google, its tie-up with Microsoft and the resulting Windows Phone 7 devices. A delay in entering the tablet market seems to be a smart move on the part of Nokia, especially with the uncertainty on the OS part, and taking the slow and steady approach on this one could give them a better chance of winning the race.

YouTube Founders Buy Delicious

Yahoo! today announced that Delicious, a social bookmarking web service for storing, sharing, and discovering web bookmarks has been acquired by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen who are the founders of YouTube. The deal was settled at $5 million when it was rumored to have been available for up to $3 million. Yahoo! bought Delicious for $30 million in 2005, and dealt a huge loss to a service that was touted to bring the company a lot of profit.


Yahoo! states that the founders of YouTube are committed to running and improving Delicious! They have experience in enabling millions of users to share their experiences with the world as creators of the largest online video platform: YouTube.

Yahoo! will continue to operate Delicious until around July 2011. This will enable a smooth transition period for both the users and the companies. User’s information will be moved over to Delicious’ new owner once the transition is complete.

From today onwards, when users login to Delicious, they will be prompted to agree to let Yahoo! transfer their bookmarks to the new owner.
 

AMD Releases Catalyst 11.4 Update

AMD has released the April update of the Catalyst Drivers for their graphics cards. Catalyst 11.4 brings with a host of functionality and performance improvements.

Users are now notified when new drivers are available, a feature that was for too long found lacking in the Catalyst Center. The update also adds new task based Display Management controls and allows easier Eyefinity group setups. Performance improvements include a new OpenCL runtime that will improve performance on APUs and also for PCIe transfers between a CPU and discrete GPU. Call of Duty: Black Ops, Battleforge, Civilization 5 and Lost Planet 2 are just some of the games that will benefit from a 10-20 percent rise in performance. Apart from this, the new drivers also result in lower GPU load when running Firefox 4 with hardware acceleration enabled, and Bulletstorm, F1 2010 and PowerDVD will now all have a relatively bug-free experience.

Android Devices to Get Video Chat Via Gtalk

Google's announced that it's going to start rolling out Google Talk for video chat for Android devices. Android users will be able to voice and video chat with other Android users using Google Talk over 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi. Google says that this feature will be available for Nexus S users over the next few weeks with the next over the air OS update. Video talk will be on other Android 2.3 and higher devices soon.

After the update comes through, on your Google Talk list of contacts on your Android device, you will see a video and a voice icon next to each contact. As is obvious, you just need to touch the button for the feature you want and chat away. Video chat can be placed on 'hold' while audio chats can go on if you need to multitask on your device. During a voice or a video chat, text chats from the contact you're chatting (over video or audio) with will overlay on the video/audio chat.

So far, this service, much in the style of FaceTime, is restricted to Android to Android devices. We're hoping that Android goes the way of Skype though, and opens up the video chat goodies to various other operating systems.

April 29, 2011

Toshiba Launches Write Once SD Cards

Toshiba Japan has just launched an SD card which can be used to store data only once. That means once a user has copied data to the said SD card, it cannot be modified or deleted. The SD card looks just like your standard SD card, apart from the Write Once label on the top. The SD Card features has 1GB of storage space which is just about enough for you to store any media that you may so choose.

We are sure you must be wondering why on earth one would need a write once SD card. Well, according to Toshiba, the storage device is aimed at ‘government offices’ and businesses where data can be written once and not be tampered with again.

We hope this remains a one off product and that it doesn’t start a trend with manufacturers making USB flash drives and other storage devices Write Once as well. For most of the people using it tend to write, re-write, copy, modify and delete the same data alteast a few hundred times in a day 

LG Optimus Me P350 Creeps into India

We told you about LG launching the Optimus Me way back in January, and it now looks like the phone has stealthily made its way into India, what with the LG India website listing it along with an official price. The launch has been made without much fanfare, a stark contrast to when the LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black made it here.

The Optimus Me looks to entice those looking for a smartphone on a rather stringent budget. Check out the specs below:

  • 2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen at 240x320
  • 600MHz processor
  • Google Android 2.2 FroYo
  • 3G and HSDPA 3.6Mbps connectivity
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP + EDR
  • 3.15 megapixel camera with Autofocus and Geotagging
  • Stereo FM with RDS
  • GPS with A-GPS support
  • 1250mAh battery
  • Storage expansion upto 32GB via microSD slot

As you can see, this phone isn't really going to give the LG Optimus 3D a run for its money, but it will be a decent option for quite a few people. While we’re not sure when exactly the Optimus Me P350 will be available in stores across the country, we’re fairly certain it’s going to be very soon. According to the LG website, the Optimus Me is going to be priced at an MRP of Rs. 8,999.


Philips Launches a New Range of LED Backlit and LCD Monitors

Philips today announced a wide range of new Philips LCD, LED Monitors and Monitor TVs which will mark a market revitalization campaign for Philips in India.

One of the product highlights is the Ultra-Slim Philips Blade LED backlit monitor, which has a pretty thin profile with a 12.9mm chassis. Philips says that the design is inspired by skating blades and that its slim silhouette is a study in elegance and function.

The Monitors are packed with Philips proprietary image technologies and feature many smart display technologies. One of which is SmartImage, which lets you select various image profiles such as Office, Image, Entertainment and Economy. The monitors also include SmartControl Premium, which is an icon based GUI which lets the user fine-tune a wide range of parameters as per his or her liking.

Benjamin Wong, Managing Director, MMD Singapore said, “With the India launch of these products, the next step in our endeavor is to position Philips as one of the leading brand in the PC display market, The Indian market is sophisticated and mature to appreciate high quality, good design and innovative technologies that Philips monitors deliver.”

Mr. Gautam Ghosh, Country Director, MMD India, adds: “These product offerings are carefully selected with the India consumers at heart. We want to give more choice. Our product innovation is driven by market response, and we shall be introducing with more products in the IT display space.”

Mango Update to be Called Windows Phone 7.5

It looks like Windows Phone 7 users (unlike some other smartphone users) will not have to succumb to some fruit name after all! There are some rumours doing the rounds that latest Windows Phone 7 firmware upgrade, initially called as only ‘Mango’, will actually be called Windows Phone 7.5.

On the Microsoft Partner Network site, the Spotlight section clearly said “Preview the New Windows Phone OS 7.5”. However, if you check the site now it’ll say “Preview the Next Version of Windows Phone”.

 According to sources, Microsoft has gone round and round, trying to fix a name for their Operating System. The first name was Windows Mobile with the version number succeeding it. It later moved on to Windows Phone, followed by “Windows Phone 7 Series” and finally what we see is Windows Phone 7. In comparison to that, Windows Phone 7.5 came relatively quick!

Honestly, it definitely sounds a lot better than calling it as ‘Mango’.  Let’s hope that’s the name that Microsoft will be sticking to and there won’t be any further hiccups.

fring Announces Group Video Chat for Android and iPhone

Mobile communication service provider, fring announced today, the world’s first mobile group video calls for iPhone & Android devices. The app once installed on your device allows for up to four friends to engage in voice and video calls via Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G. fring uses proprietary DVQ technology, that delivers the highest quality video for all four participants.


According to Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring, ‘fring leap-frogs sluggish, expensive PC Group Video Calling solutions by giving users the world’s 1st mobile Group Video service, free. There is no reason why users need to run home to their PC in order to have a ‘spontaneous’ video call with their friends and family. Users love seeing all their friends at the same time, on one screen, but want to be able to do it, when and where they want. Just as fring was the 1st to liberate video calls from the PC back in 2009, we are the 1st to give users the ability to see all their friends on their phone at the same time, anywhere. This video call revolution lets fringsters be free to get together, wherever.

April 28, 2011

Apple iPhone 6 to get Sharp LCDs

Rumors of the iPhone 5 continue to rife and images of purported prototypes are already soaring on the web. Amidst that craziness, Japanese news daily Nikkei, reported that Apple will partner with Sharp to create next-generation low-temperature poly-silicon LCD displays for the iPhone 6. That means the iPhone 6 would have thinner and lighter display compared to the iPhone 4 and also offer more durability, higher aperture ratios and few connection pins.

Even in the past, Apple employed the Retina Display technology in the iPhone 4 providing crisper images, bright and improved contrast ratio. However, Apple seems to be trying out another option for the iPhone 6 scheduled to hit production floors in mid-2012.

For iPhone 6, Apple will use Sharp's LCD displays with Thin Film Transistors made from polycrystalline silicon (p-Si). These p-Si LCD displays are thinner, lighter and consume less power compared to the traditional LCD display screens. Apart from that, the p-Si LCD displays have high aperture ratio, more durability and less number of connection pins.  

Apple is expected to make use of these p-Si LCD displays as the technology allows putting optical sensors and other components on the glass substrate. So there's no need to add any additional layer of 'touch panel' to the device. In short, it will be part of more compact and slimmer iPhone device which we're currently referring as iPhone 6.

According to the images of iPhone parts circulating online, loads of assumptions can be made about the form factor, size and display technology to be used in the iPhone 6. However, nothing can be confirmed beforehand since Apple may just change the plans/designs for iPhoen 6. Take it with a pinch of salt.
  

Google Chrome 11 bring support for HTML speech input

Google Chrome 11 might not have a big list of features to boast of, over the significant update that was Google Chrome 10, but it does bring one very important feature to the web browser. With this latest release Google Chrome now supports speech input through HTML.

This may not seem like a big deal to many, however fact is that despite the web being an important innovation in making data available to people all across the world, access to the internet for those with disabilities is still quite limited.They are cut off from a majority of this brilliant innovation in communication.

Speech input is a great way to enable people to interact with the web in ways they couldn't before, while improving accessibility for those with disabilities that prevent them from using computers via traditional means.
Google Translate also boasts of this feature, allowing one to input text in a known language merely be speaking it, and then translating it to any one of the supported languages. The translation can even be spoken aloud by the browser.

Google Chrome 11 also comes with an updated browser icon that is a simplified / 2D version of the previous Google Chrome icon.


Google revamps upload features in Docs

Google Docs has seen significant updates in recently, and for good reason. Google Docs is one of Google's central arguments in favour of a completely cloud-based computing future. Google recently made available a free add-on that would brings it's much coveted collaboration features to Microsoft Office.

They also upgraded Google Docs from a store for documents created online to a full fledged cloud storage service which could be used for any kind of file. Yet Google Docs failed to be a capable host to move your files to since it required to upload your files using its lackluster web-interface.

Google Docs (like GMail) forgoes folders for tags, or what it calls collections. It allows a file to belong to more than one collection, this allows better organization than your filesystem, but is also a pain to migrate from / to. Each time you had to upload a file, you'd have to drag and drop it in a marked area on the upload page, or select it on your file-system (for a browser that doesn't support drag and drop) and select a collection to place it into. This awkward upload mechanism is a huge hindrance to anyone aiming to move to Google's Cloud.

Google has now released a number of updates to Google Docs that make much simpler to move your files there.

The first and most important new feature is the ability to upload folders. Uploaded folders appear as collections and the folder structure is maintained as nested collections on Google Docs. This is obviously a huge and important feature that makes it feasible to move your document collection to Google Docs or use it as a backup target. However Firefox and Safari users will need to install a "small applet" to use this feature, what that means isn't clear, but it probably indicates that a browser add-on will be required.

Another change is is the upload progress display, which will not appear in a windows in your document list itself instead of a separate page.

TweetDeck 2.0 for iPhone released

Popular Twitter client TweetDeck has been redesigned and rebuilt from scratch to be faster and sleeker. And that’s not all. The older version has been temporarily removed from the iTunes App Store as version 2.0 is supposed to be much more than an upgrade, a replacement app. The older app will resurface once they've updated it to point existing users to the new version.

They call the new TweetDeck a Hollywood-esque “re-imagining” where the soul of the application remains the same but is brought up to speed. It still supports Facebook, MySpace and Twitter but the app’s interface has been revamped. Better graphics, addition of comon gestures for access control like blending timelines, DMs, Mentions, favorites, Facebook News feed into a personalized column, and being resolved for retina-displays are the upgrades worth mentioning. A version modified for iPad is also on its way.

There is much better multiple account handling in this new app. In the Home, Me and Inbox pre-defined columns you can choose exactly which accounts will be used.

The blending of accounts into a column is also very flexible. You can see DMs from one account, blended with your Facebook news feed, plus a couple of Twitter Lists, for instance.

April 27, 2011

G'Five to bring low-cost Android smarpthones and tablets

It was back in January when G’Five introduced 21 mobiles that we got an inkling it would be bringing low-cost Android tablets and netbooks to the country, with some basic devices present at the launch. Now, various reports over the past week confirm that G’Five will also be bringing entry-level and mid-range Android phones to the country.

Jaideep Chopra, VP of G'Five, spoke to the Mobile Indian about the upcoming devices, saying: “We will enter the Android smartphone space with multiple devices with different hardware options, but all phones will be based on Android 2.1 version.” With Android 2.1 onboard, G’Five might not even be able to capture the extreme low-end of the market, with Huawei already offering Froyo phones for peanuts, and other major manufacturers like LG and Samsung strong in the entry-level segment. Of course, Spice, Videocon and Micromax and their low-end devices have also to be reckoned with.

As for tablets, a 7-inch device is expected, with a capacitive touchscreen and an 800MHz processor, priced at around Rs. 13,000.

LG launches Cinema 3D TVs based on FPR in India

After getting a firsthand experience at Seoul, LG has finally launched its Cinema 3D TVs based on its new patented FPR technology in India. The best part is the pricing which is pretty aggressive as compared to existing 3D TVs. Prices start from Rs. 94,990 for a 40-incher and goes all the way up to Rs.1,64,990 for its flagship model.  


LG will also be launching its Smart TV line-up which will give users access to Internet apps like YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, etc as well as India centric content through various tie ups with Hungama, NDTV,  Indiatimes, CarWale and Zapak. All Cinema 3D TVs will come with patent technology like 3D Light Boost for a brighter and vivid picture, 2D to 3D conversion on the fly and DivX HD support. The initial roll out will include a total of seventeen models in various price segments and they will be bundling four sets of glasses with every TV. Additional glasses are considerably cheaper compared to shutter glasses at just Rs. 1,000 a pop. The Cinema 3D TVs should start rolling out in all major stores in the coming weeks.  

Facebook Improves Groups, Adds 'Send' Button

Facebook Groups, launched just six months ago, was designed to make it easier for the social network's 500 million users to share information with a subset of their friends. Rather than share embarrassing pics of your Vegas bacchanalia with Mom, Dad, and your boss, you could limit their exposure to a smaller, more receptive group, such as your roommates--or cellmates.

Groups has proven a success thus far, with users creating over 50 million groups since the feature's October 2010 debut, Facebook announced in a Monday blog post. And now Groups is adding several new features, including the ability to post questions and polls that only members can respond to.

You can now save time by uploading an entire picture album to a group, rather than individual photos. There's also a new control that lets a group owner approve people before adding them to the group.

The new Facebook Send button is an offshoot of the venerable 'Like' feature, which makes it easy to share your favorite Web content with friends. Send, in fact, is simply Like for a subset of friends--perhaps one or two people who may find a particularly article or service interesting.

The Send window lets you enter a friend's name, group, or email address, as well as a personal message. It replaces the "email to a friend" button.

More than 50 major websites currently feature the Send button, Facebook says, with many more to follow.

RIM launches BlackBerry Style 9670 in India

Research in Motion has launched the new BlackBerry Style 9670 in India. This CDMA based smartphone runs the new BlackBerry OS 6.0. It has 360 x 400 resolution internal display and 240 x 320 resolution external display. The 9670 has a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash and can record videos in VGA resolution. It has the standard BlackBerry full QWERTY keypad and the optical trackpad, along with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.  

The phone has 512MB internal memory and comes with an 8GB microSD card. The 9670 is priced at Rs. 24,999 in India and is available on Reliance and Tata networks.

Gmail enables Sending emails in Background

Google's Gmail Labs is known for making nifty tweaks to the email service and thereby making it more efficient. This time, Google has added a new Background Send feature in Gmail Labs that lets users carry on with other tasks while the emails will continue being sent in background.

New Background Send feature can be enabled by accessing the Gmail Labs options available in Settings. Once you've enabled it, all you have to do is hit Send after you've composed an email and then carry on checking other emails.  


Here's a condition which indeed is important - browser tab/window needs to be active while sending email. Means you need to be logged in and must have an active connection. Enabling Background Send, hitting Send button and then simply shutting down the PC or Mac won't guarantee that your mail has been sent.

In case the recipients address is not correct or if there's any other issue while sending an email in background, Gmail will show a warning message on top of your Inbox. The warning message will offer you an option to fix it instantly or fix it later. On a successful dispatch of messages, user will receive text - your message has been sent, just above the Inbox.

What we can notice here is that slowly, Gmail is acting like a proper application with background sending of messages. Though it's not more of a visual effect, it's still quite an implementation. 

April 26, 2011

Samsung Announces the W200 Pocket Camcorder

If you’re still in shock and grief for the Flip Cam’s passing away, here’s something to make you feel a lot better. Samsung has announced a pocket camcorder for outdoor full high definition filming, called the W200.

The camera is said to be shock, water and dust-proof, thanks to the rugged body that it boasts of. It’s specially devised for taking videos and pictures underwater, which means that the W200 is also capable of submerging underwater to a maximum level of three meters.

The W200 has a built-in USB arm that can help transfer movies and videos to and from a PC or a laptop. The pocket camcorder is integrated with a 5 megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and an F2.2 Bright Lens. It has a special Aqua mode setting which automatically realizes the environment for underwater videos. The camcorder has an anti-water coating which is meant to keep the 2.3-inch LCD screen away from condensation. The W200’s embedded lens is also said to have an anti-fog coating which is supposed to help in getting blur-free pictures.

The pocket camcorder also has a Record Pause feature that lets the user pause the recording and then resume it later from that particular point. It has some extra features like Smart Filter and Fish-Eye Settings meant to add some more options while taking pictures or videos.

The W200 will be no sale from next month and is said to be priced at $159 (approx Rs. 7,100). We definitely hope to see this pocket camcorder hit Indian shores soon, especially because it might survive after hitting the shore as well!

Sony unveils Honeycomb based S1, S2 Tablets

Sony has finally joined the tablet scene by unveiling two Android 3.0 Honeycomb based tablets codenamed S1 and S2 (dual screen). These two tablets would be PlayStation Certified so you can play PlayStation titles meant for Android platform. Users will also be able to stream music and videos through Sony's Qriocity multimedia content streaming service. Packing dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 SoC processor, these new tablets would be available later this year in Fall (late September). At this moment, both tablets don't bear any brand name and Sony's referring to them as - Sony tablet to extend its VAIO products family.

Finally, even Sony has joined the rich and heavily competitive tablet segment. Two months ago, we reported about the S1 PlayStation tablet and here we have it. Today that report has finally turned true and we have the Sony tablet codenamed S1. Its 9.4-inch touchscreen display is big enough to enjoy web browsing and multimedia content. As of now, it's too early to determine whether this screen would be LCD or OLED display. 

The S1 has a unique 'wrap design' that looks as if a magazine has been folded and the press images clearly show it. In a way, that wrap will proved a bit of an elevation to keep the top part higher for ease of typing over the onscreen keyboard. Under the hood, S1 houses a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 System on Chip processor which will power the Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. Sony has customized the touch panel UI to be "quick and smooth" and the web browsing will be powered with "swift" web browser. S1 tablet has two cameras for video chat as well as imaging - front facing and back panel.

Users will be able to browse, download and read eBooks from the Reader Store eBook store of Sony. The S1 tablet also has an Infrared Port (yeah!) to make it act like a universal remote for broader range of DLNA certified electronics. 

At first, the S2 tablet appears to be a stretched Nintendo DS in a clamshell form factor. The S2 tablet has dual touchscreen displays where each screen is 5.5-inch and 1024x480 pixel resolution. Even S2 is equipped with dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 SoC processor and it too has Android 3.0 Honeycomb running on it. What would be interesting is to use both panels independently for same or different purposes. For instance, if you are browsing on the top panel, then the bottom touchscreen panel will show on-screen keyboard for text input.  

Sony has equipped both tablets with Wi-Fi and WAN (3G/4G) but there are several other details about the hardware that are missing. As of now, this is just an announcement and in due course of time, we'll get to see most important detail - the price of these Android 3.0 Honeycomb based tablets.  

YouTube Introduces Movies On Demand Service

Life just got better for all YouTube loyalists. After a dull week, rife with updates on how to transfer videos from a slowly dying Google Videos onto an over-worked YouTube, the worst seems to be over.

YouTube has now officially entered the online movie rental space. The service that is all set to launch this week will charge users for streaming mainstream Hollywood movies. YouTube is poised to give the popular iTunes service a stiff competition. iTunes currently is the most popular paid video streaming service, and now with YouTube entering the space with a host of big names backing it; the competitor seems to have toughened overnight.

YouTube, to say, was in plans of launching its own video streaming service since long. But, it was in the process of getting in the biggest names in the market under its hood. YouTube has so far managed to get in studios like Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal, as also independent studios like Lionsgate and Kino Lorber. However, Paramount Pictures, Fox and Disney have not given in their consent to licensing their movies, as yet.

Hollywood, however,  is now optimistic about YouTube’s this move, since its being seen as an excellent revenue generating mode. All the more crucial, since the revenues coming in from the home entertainment sector has been on a steady decline.

April 25, 2011

Nokia’s App Store and Ovi Maps to Come to Windows Phone 7

That Nokia and Microsoft have cracked a deal is stale news, really. One obvious reason being Nokia smartphones running a better OS, it looks like the Finnish company will be retaining a few of their current applications on the new Windows Phone 7-based smartphones as well.

Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO has said that the Ovi Maps app will be integrated to the Windows Phone 7 operating system which means future Nokia smartphones will be having a pre-loaded Ovi Maps app. Another addition will be a Nokia branded application store which apparently “combines the Windows Marketplace back-end with the convenience of operator-billing from Nokia”.

Some good news for Windows Phone developers is that the registration fee which is something around $99 (approx Rs. 4,400) will be waived for the first year for all published Nokia developers. Finally, speaking about the deal with Microsoft, Elop feels that the tie-up can bring payments worth “billions of dollars” over the next five years.

That’s quite a bit of positivity for the Espoo company which was initially struggling with their outdated OS problems. However, Elop is not willing to drift away from the Symbian scenario either, as we can clearly see through the Anna update that they brought for their smartphones.

Source : Nokia’s App Store and Ovi Maps to Come to Windows Phone 7

Fujitsu's New Lifebook Laptops

Fujitsu's most recently announced Lifebook laptops pack some pretty unusual features: The Lifebook S761 and P771 replace the optical drive with a pico projector, while the E741 boasts a contact-less authentication system that reads the veins in your palm. The new laptops may seem like solutions in search of a need to many, but there may be a (very) niche market for them too.

For example, salespeople who are already lugging around an external projector along with their laptops might prefer the slide-out pico projector built into the Lifebook S761 and P771. Specs for both laptops are about average: Second-generation Core i3 or i5 processors, a 160GB hard drive, and 1GB of RAM. The S761 has a 13.3-inch (1366 by 768 pixel) HD display, while the P771's screen is a squarer 12.1-inch WXGA (1280 by 800 pixel display).

If you're not a salesperson who wants an integrated projector-laptop combo, perhaps the battery conserving, palm vein-sensing Lifebook E741 is for you. Looks like you just hold your palm over the world's first "palm vein" sensor to log in. Fujitsu also describes the E471 as having "ECO Sleep"--a standby power mode that reduces power consumption in hibernation mode to as close to zero as possible. The Lifebook E741 has a 15.6-inch HD (1366 by 768 pixel) screen, 1GB of memory, a 160 GB hard drive, and Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors.

All three laptops will be available in mid-May in Japan first at pretty steep prices: 219,450 yen (about $2,675) for the S761, 255,150 yen (about $3,110) for the P771, and 240,135 yen (about $2,932) for the E741.

Intel Working with Many Phone Manufacturers

Nokia, one of the largest phone manufacturers had decided that they wouldn’t be making phones based on Intel’s microprocessors. The company has announced that it continues to work with many other phone manufacturers on phones based on the x86 architecture.

Intel has been working on their Medfield processor, which is a SoC based on the 32-nm fabrication process.  Paul Otellini, CEO, Intel was heard saying that they were putting in resources on other vendors. There were initial rumours that Nokia was planning on launching a smartphone powered by Intel’s Medfield SoC running their Meego OS. Those rumours quickly dissolved as Nokia went the Windows 7 way. Intel continues to push for their Medfield. Otellini suggested that Intel powered phones would land in the market within a year from now.

Skyfire Announces Skyfire Web Browser 4.0 for Android

We saw a couple of mobile web browsers launching last month like the Opera Mini and Mozilla’s Firefox for Android. It looks like Skyfire wants to up the ante by launching the fourth iteration of their Skyfire Web Browser. And like every new version of a software or app, the Skyfire Web Browser has some features added.

Primarily, the browser seems to cater users who are constantly stuck to their Facebook or Twitter accounts. There are one touch access buttons for quick access to Twitter, plus there’s also a Facebook Like button added for users’ convenience to like a particular page. Skyfire’s toolbar, the Skybar has been made customizable and is also scrollable.

Other added features include the Google Reader option that aggregates content from various websites that a user has selected. Three new buttons are the Sports, News and Finance buttons that is supposed to give one touch access to the latest events happening around the globe.

There’s not much mentioned about any improvement in the speeds of the browser, but the added features look pretty cool. The browser is free of cost and is available for download at the Android Market.

April 24, 2011

Apple to Launch Music Service Before Google

According to Reuters, Apple has almost finished development of their upcoming cloud-based music storage service. It’s been known through a number of sources that Google too has been working on a similar service for a while now. It turns out that Apple might beat Google to make their service public.

Apple is still in talks with music labels for licenses. Some of these labels include Universal, Sony Music, Warner Music and EMI. The service will allow its users to store their music on an online server and be able to access it from anywhere using an internet connection.  Amazon had recently launched a music service. Google and Apple have both been buying music service companies. Google had bought Pushlife and Simplify Media. Apple too had bought a service called Lala, which they closed back in April 2010. There has been no official statement on the launch of such a service, although Google was to said to have launched the service around Christmas last year.

Dell Announces New Customer Solutions

Multinational information technology corporation Dell announced its partnership with Seventymm and Healthhiway offering customers solutions that allow them to balance the demands of home and family while enjoying a healthy and entertaining lifestyle.  Along with this announcement Dell has also launched Dell Stage a new user interface preloaded on Windows based Dell Inspiron and XPS laptops and desktops.

Seventmm is India’s largest online movie rental service and in partnership with Dell, customers can access over 20,000 original DVDs and VCDs in 18 languages across various genres. Exclusive for Dell customers is a free four week subscription which is renewable on expiry with free home delivery and pick-up along with no late fees or due dates.

Dell in association with Healthhiway allows consumers to avail off their very own Healthhiway PHR cost free for six months. This solution enables them to access specific tools to manage a variety of health conditions, from tracking blood pressure to monitoring weight loss; these tools store and chart readings letting users take an active role in monitoring their health and well-being through the health record.

Dell Stage which was launched last year on the Dell Streak Android tablets and Android smartphones is now preloaded on all Dell Inspiron and XPS laptops and desktops. With Dell Stage users can access photos, videos, music, documents and other personal content easily over a single user interface.
 

Nikon launches entry level DSLR - Nikon D5100

Nikon has launched a new dSLR, the Nikon D5100. Bearing a 16.2MP DX-format CMOS image sensor with an EXPEED 2 image-processing engine, the Nikon D5100 is one of the cheapest entry level dSLR offerings from a major brand – priced at Rs. 34,450.


The Nikon D5100 has a 3-inch super sharp 921K dot Vari-angle LCD onboard, and for video buffs, delivers a full 1080p HD video recording experience at 30 fps, complete with full-time autofocus. As an offering for prosumers, the camera has a wide range of electronic features more common to point-and-shoot cameras, as well as a Special Effects mode for both videos and stills – a first for a Nikon dSLR. 

The complete Nikon D5100 kit for Rs. 39,950, with a AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens included. HDR functions are enabled, and, it has standard sensitivity settings ranging from ISO 100 to 6400, with a boost using Hi 2, up to ISO 25600 (equivalent). The Nikon D5100 also supports the add-on stereo microphone ME-1, rounding it up as a versatile entry-level dSLR, both as a still and video camera.The Nikon D5100 is sold with a DSLR bag and a 4GB card as part of the standard equipment.

Source : Nikon launches entry level DSLR - Nikon D5100

Samsung Unveils Notebook Series 9

Samsung showed off a deluge of products yesterday. One of those products was the new Series 9 notebook range. The new range of notebooks are powered by the Core i5 processors from Sandy Bridge family. They come with a 13-inch screen that supports a resolution of 1366x768 and weigh a meagre 1.31 kg, much like a netbook and only 16.3 mm in thickness. The notebook is built using an alloy called duralumin, which means lighter but a strong body.

The storage drive on the Notebook Series 9 is a 128GB SSD but that can be extended to 256GB. Samsung claims that their SuperBright Plus is two times brighter than traditional displays and that the new series of notebooks were designed and tested to ensure that they could be used at home and also while on the go. Although, the new notebooks weigh the same as a netbook, the attractive sleek design and performance from the Sandy Bridge processors should make this a notebook to look forward to.