XOLO B700 budget Android phone now available online for Rs. 8,999

Just days after revealing the X1000 Android smartphone, XOLO has made the B700 budget Android phone available for purchase online for Rs. 8,999. THe XOLO B700 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and comes with a PowerVR SGX531 GPU, the same GPU that also powers the XOLO X1000 and the Micromax A110 Canvas 2. The B700 also has 512MB of RAM and an impressive 3450 mAh battery.

The phone is claimed to provide 20 hours of continuous talktime on 3G and 86 hours of continuous music playback thanks to higher than normal battery rating. The phone has a 4.3-inch IPS display with a resolution of 960x540 pixels and 256 ppi (pixels per inch).

The B700 runs on Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and offers 4GB of internal storage and support for microSD cards up to 32GB. The XOLO phone also provides most modern connectivity features such as Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS. The B700 is the first phone launched by XOLO from its B series (the B stands for Big Battery) and will join phones already being sold from the X, A and Q series.

The XOLO B700 is available to purchase online from sites like Flipkart and eBay.

Source : XOLO B700 budget Android phone now available online for Rs. 8,999

Sony lists Xperia phones due for Jelly Bean update

Sony has released a list of phones due to get the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update in a statement. The announcement clarifies the doubts on which Xperia smartphones will get the next Android version, after the recent upgrades across the 2011 and the 2012 ranges of Xperia phones from Android Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.4 version).

According to the update statement, the latest Xperia phones - the Xperia T, TX and V will get Jelly Bean from the middle of Q1 2013, around February.

The slightly older phones, the Xperia Ion, Xperia S, Xperia arco S, Xperia P and Xperia Go will also receive the Jelly Bean upgrade. However, Sony says that the rollout schedule for these phones will be announced “in due course”. This is notable, as the Ice Cream Sandwich rollout earlier this year first covered the 2011 Xperia phones and then covered the newer Xperia S and Xperia U phones. If Sony carries on with the same tradition, then the early-2012 range of Xperia phones should expect the goodness earlier than the very recent launches.

Unfortunately, for those of you using a 2011 range Xperia smartphone, the upgrades will stop with the recently rolled out Ice Cream Sandwich update. Sony says, “We were glad to provide the Android 4.0.4 upgrade for our 2011 Xperia portfolio across most markets and the majority of models but, after thorough evaluation, we have concluded they will not be upgraded beyond Ice Cream Sandwich.”

Source : Sony lists Xperia phones due for Jelly Bean update

Reports - Nokia prepping a new flagship smartphone, Lumia 900

If reports are to believed, Nokia is prepping a new Windows Phone operating system based device. The rumoured device, dubbed as the Nokia Lumia 900, does not have physical buttons on the front panel. A leaked image posted by My Nokia Blog suggests that Nokia is likely to launch its next flagship smartphone at the forthcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held in Las Vegas in January second week. The Nokia Lumia 900 will be accompanied by other new Nokia smartphones as well.

According to reports, the Nokia Lumia 900 will feature a 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display and will come with the latest Windows Phone Tango update. The Lumia 900 is reportedly powered by a 1.4GHz processor and features an 8 megapixel rear camera with single LED flash. The upcoming Nokia smartphone is likely to sport a front-facing camera and is expected to come in a variety of colour options.

The rumours of new Nokia flagship device come in the backdrop of reported battery issues in the newly launched Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone. However, Nokia has clarified that the battery glitch is likely to have minimal India impact.

Source : Reports - Nokia prepping a new flagship smartphone, Lumia 900

Samsung Galaxy devices to get Android 4 ICS update by Q1 2012

Samsung has already announced its plans to roll out Ice Cream Sandwich update to its Galaxy devices. However, it did not then provide any time-table for the roll-out. According to the latest reports, the company has now confirmed that it will update the Samsung S II and Galaxy Note to the latest Android OS by the first quarter of 2012. Apart from the S II and Note, Samsung will be rolling out Android 4.0 ICS update to the he Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 7.7, and Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus.

Meanwhile, SlashGear reports that Samsung has held back Android 4.0 updates for Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus. It further says that the company was holding the update to “monitor feedback”, after several users complained about the high battery drain. The reported glitch can also be associated with a recent update to Android 4.0 Galaxy Nexus. The Galaxy Nexus users had earlier complained about similar problems.

Earlier this month, Motorola said that it would announce next month which of its devices would be getting the upgrade and when. Back in November, LG had announced that the ICS update would be available for the Optimus 2X, the Optimus Black, the Optimus 3D and the Optimus LTE, but did not reveal exactly when that would take place. Huawei Honor is also arriving in February with the ICS OS.

It appears that all the smartphone players are pushing for most of their top handsets to get the ICS. It will be interesting to see which of the manufacturers make most of the ICS update in near future.

Source : Samsung Galaxy devices to get Android 4 ICS update by Q1 2012

Ice Cream Sandwich for LG Phones in Mid-2012

Android 4, also known as Ice Crean Sandwich, will be coming to a number of LG smartphones sometime in the middle of next year, according to a post on the company's Facebook page. According to LG, the company will begin introducing updates to Ice Cream Sandwich in the second and third quarters of 2012 (that's April-September) to select smartphones, with a "global roll out" following sometime thereafter.

According to the posting, the following LG phones will get Ice Cream Sandwich during the second quarter (April-June) of 2012:

• Optimus LTE
• Prada by LG 3.0
• Optimus 2X
• Optimus Sol
• myTouch Q
• Eclipse

LG will update five more phones in the third quarter (July-September) to Google's latest tasty mobile OS treat:

• Optimus 3D
• Optimus Black
• Optimus Big
• Optimus Q2
• Optimus EX

One thing to note here: Armando Rodriguez, PCWorld's resident Android expert, points out that the phones LG lists are all European versions of the phones, not US versions. Some LG phones go by different names in the US, though (as Cnet notes, the Optimus LTE goes by the AT&T Nitro HD in the US, for instance), so it may be possible that US versions of these phones will get the update too.

Still, if you're in the US, you may want to double-check with your carrier to see whether or not your LG phone will be getting Ice Crean Sandwich.

If you don't want to wait for LG to release an update and you're not afraid to hack your phone, keep an eye out for the upcoming CyanogenMod 9, a custom variant of Android (also known as a "ROM") for rooted Android phones. CyanogenMod 9 will be based on Ice Cream Sandwich, and it should be out sometime in January. The catch: We don't yet know for sure what hardware CyanogenMod 9 will support--the current release supports only two LG models as of this writing. Check the CyanogenMod blog for ongoing updates on future releases.

Source : Ice Cream Sandwich for LG Phones in Mid-2012

Google Helps You Follow Santa with Smartphones and Social Media

Technology is making it easy and fun to follow Santa this Christmas.

Android phones, Twitter, Google, and YouTube are among the tools you can use to keep tabs on the jolly old elf during his travels for Sunday's holiday.

Google Earth and Google Maps

The easiest way to see what Santa's up to is to visit NoradSanta.org where you can see an embedded map of Santa's journey. The North American Aerospace Defense Command says the man in red officially began his annual journey across the globe at 2 a.m. EST time Saturday morning. If you'd rather see Santa in all his glory on Google Earth, click the "Track Santa On Google Earth" button in the bottom right corner of the map. This will prompt you to download the Google Earth Plug-in for your browser (Windows 2000 or higher and Mac OS X 10.5 or higher).

Smartphones

You can easily track Santa from any mobile device equipped with Google Maps, including Android smartphones and tablets, the iPhone, and the iPad. Open up Google Maps on your device and search for "Santa" to see the man in red's most recent location. If you don't have a Google Maps app on your device, point your web browser to m.google.com/maps. Android and iPhone users can also download NORAD's free official Santa tracking app from the App Store or Android Market. Both stores have many Santa-tracking apps, so make sure you get the official version called NORAD Tracks Santa by Visionbox. The app updates with Santa's current location and you can also play a game called Elf Toss where you try to help the elves load Santa's sleigh in time for Christmas Eve.

Social Media

One of the fastest ways to keep tabs on Santa is through NORAD's official Track Santa Twitter feed providing constant updates of Santa's location and links to the latest videos recording his journey. You can also find NORAD tracking Santa on Facebook, Google+, and Santa's latest videos for 2011 on NoradSanta.org or NORAD Tracks Santa page on YouTube. Just like last year, you can also visit SendACallFromSanta.com to send a personalized holiday greeting from Santa to any phone number in North America. And you can have the kids call Santa's Google Voice number at 1-855-34-SANTA (72682) to leave a voicemail for the man in red. Santa's sleigh, dubbed Santa One, was recently cleared to fly over American skies at an altitude of 50,000 feet.

Tracking Santa Through the Years

The annual tradition of using military technology to track Santa was born in the 1950s.

A newspaper ad that was intended to publish a special telephone number for calling Santa on Christmas Eve instead printed the direct number for the commander-in-chief of Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), the predecessor to NORAD. As calls started pouring in to CONAD that night, Director of Operations Colonel Harry Shloup did not disappoint the young callers and had his staff check the radar for signs of Kris Kringle's sleigh.

Source : Google Helps You Follow Santa with Smartphones and Social Media