Author: Bharat Nagpal

Samsung announces 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad as basis for Galaxy S3

Samsung has announced that it will launch the next Galaxy phone based on its new Exynos 4 Quad 1.4GHz Chipset. With its High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) low-power technology, it boasts twice the performance of its predecessor, and about 20-percent battery savings.

The application processor is a crucial element in providing our customers with a PC-like experience on mobile devices, Samsung’s next Galaxy device, which will be officially announced soon, offers uncompromised performance and ground breaking multitasking features, thanks to Exynos 4 Quad’s powerful performance and efficient energy management technology.”

Hankil Yoon, Senior VP of Product Strategy Team at Samsung

Samsung is also shipping the chipset to other manufacturers like Meizu for their new handset, and the Exynos 4 Quad is pin-to-pin compatible with the Exynos 4 Dual (used in S2 and Note). Allowing previous adaptors to update the specs without many hardware changes.

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Samsung’s New Quad-Core Application Processor Drives Advanced Feature Sets in Smartphones and Tablets

Designed on 32nm HKMG process, new energy-efficient chip exceeds 1.4GHz per core

SEOUL, Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced the industry’s first quad-core application processor built on the High-k Metal Gate (HKMG) low-power process technology. With unprecedented performance capabilities exceeding 1.4GHz based on the ARM® CORTEXTM A9 quad-core, the powerful, yet energy-efficient Exynos 4 Quad, allows system-level architects to integrate maximized power efficiencies into smartphones and tablets which enables double the processing power at a 20 percent lower power bill over its predecessor, the 45nm process-based Exynos 4 Dual.

“The quad-core processor offers phenomenal multitasking abilities surpassing any single or dual application processor. Since all the cores must share a single battery, the power management and efficiency in the limited battery capacity are indispensable for mobile computing devices,” said Taehoon Kim, vice president of System LSI marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. “Given the diverse functionalities consumers are demanding from their mobile devices today, the Exynos 4 Quad meets those high-performance needs while keeping power consumption very low.”

Multi-core processing delivers enhanced performance, enabling users to accomplish more tasks in a shorter period of time. For example, a task such as streaming video can run on one core while the other cores update applications in the background, connecting to the web and scanning virus-check simultaneously.

Benefitting from a use case where the parallel processing and workload sharing among the four cores is necessary, the Exynos 4 Quad is particularly well-suited for heavy-load applications such as 3D games, video editing, and calculation-intensive simulation.

Due to its 32nm HKMG low-power process and power-saving design, the Exynos 4 Quad has two times the processing capability over the 45nm process based Exynos 4 Dual while consuming 20-percent less power. To improve power efficiency, Samsung adopted hot-plug functionality to support on-off switching for each core as well as the per-core dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), which offers a dramatic reduction in power consumption by adapting different levels of voltage and frequency when changing workloads.

Having identical form factor measurements (12mm X 12mm X 1.37 mm), the Exynos 4 Quad is pin-to-pin compatible with the 32nm process based Exynos 4 Dual, allowing mobile device designers to immediately adopt the new solution without additional cost, engineering or design efforts.

In addition, the new processor incorporates a full HD 30 frame per second video hardware codec engine for high resolution 1080p video recording and play-back, an embedded image signal processor interface for high-quality camera functionality and an HDMI 1.4 interface for sharp and crisp multimedia content transmission.

Samsung developed a power management IC (PMIC), the S5M8767, as a companion chip to power the Exynos 4 Quad processor. By integrating various circuitry such as nine highly efficient and programmable buck converters and 28 low-dropout regulators (LDOs) into the small package of 5.0 mm x 5.0mm x 0.4mm, the S5M8767 is designed to scale up or down the dynamic voltage depending on the clock speed in 6.25mV step for managing power delivery and maximizing battery life at the system level.

Already in production, the Exynos 4 Quad is scheduled to be adopted first into Samsung’s next Galaxy smartphone that will officially be announced in May. Samsung’s Exynos 4 Quad is also sampling to other major handset makers.

“The application processor is a crucial element in providing our customers with a PC-like experience on mobile devices. Samsung’s next Galaxy device, which will be officially announced soon, offers uncompromised performance and ground breaking multi-tasking features, thanks to Exynos 4 Quad’s powerful performance and efficient energy management technology,” said Hankil Yoon, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy Team, Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business.

Last year, Samsung introduced a new online hub dedicated to its Exynos processor. Designed to facilitate easy communication with industry partners and end users, the new micro-site takes you a step closer to the ultimate experience Exynos delivers; product information, user experience and information on promotion events. More information can be found at http://www.samsung.com/exynos.

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April 26, 2012
Apple Q2 Earnings show net profit of $11.6 billion, $39.2 billion in revenue

Talk about big bucks, while companies stubble to hit the million mark, Apple continues to show good results Quarter over Quarter. The new numbers rank in at US $ 39.2 Billion in Revenue for the company , with upwards of 30 million iPhones sold and 12 million iPads sold.

The new $12.30 earnings per share, compared to an estimated $10.04 earnings per share – adds up to $39.2 billion in revenue and $11.6 billion in profit. The iPhone sales show an 88% growth from the previous years quarter and the iPad sales show a whopping 151% increase over the last years same quarter.

Apple also sold over 4 million Mac units, making it a 7 % increase, with the same quarter last year.

We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter. The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.”

-Tim Cook , CEO Apple

In a comparison with the last 2 years, Apple’s profits ar double compared to Q2 2011, and Four times compared to Q2 2010.

[Apple]

April 25, 2012
Google Launches Drive 5 GB Cloud on the Go

After many a rumors Google has now finally launched Google Drive cloud service. Still in Beta stage with limited access to users the cloud service offers up quite a unique mix to fend off the competition. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet (iOS coming soon). Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology.

When you sign up You can get started with 5GB of storage for free, an choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.

You can attach photos from Drive to posts in Google+, and soon you’ll be able to attach stuff from Drive directly to emails in Gmail. Drive is also an open platform, and Google is working with many third-party developers so you can do things like send faxes, edit videos andcreate website mockups directly from Drive.

Google has also launched the Drive SDK to enable developers to work closely with Google on taking this forward.

April 25, 2012
Samsung Galaxy SIII GT – i9300 Benchmarks leaked : Own the competition

The Samsung GT-I9300 Galaxy S III benchmarks were found on the website of GLBenchmark, left there by a careless tester, and snapped by a smart man. The chipset appears to be a Exynos 4412 clocked at 1.4GHz, which comes with an ARM Mali-400 GPU, but clocked at 400MHz, making it 50% faster than the current edition in the Galaxy S II.

The graphics boost is low when compared to the 5 times boost offered by the Exynos 5 chip which is being designed for the next gen of Samsung Tablets.

At the current state the benchmark results outweigh all current gen devices including the One X, S4 chipset the iPhone 4s and the iPad 3. The finalized version may further be tweaked to take on the possible next gen iPhone with the A5x chip.

April 24, 2012
Microsofts new Patent shows off usefulness of Back panels in a Smartphone

Microsoft’s new patent for Interactive back panel displays could actually change the way we utilize a smartphone today, or tomorrow. The new patent by Microsoft simply describes a device with two screens. The Second Screen is however a low power screen with a lot of potential ( something like an e-ink display) displaying different information based on the current state and information on the original front facing screen. Looking at the patent images you can see a curved back panel which can be used as a display for clock connectivity or simply a status bar.

According to the patent, the display will continue to work even if the device is off. This is something that actually is exciting and hopefully can actually make it to devices in one form or another.

April 23, 2012
Samsung launches 3 new Mirror-less Micro 4/3 cameras with 20.3 MP sensors (PR)

Samsung has just added three new Micro Four Thirds cameras to its lineup, the NX20, NX210 and the NX1000. All three of these tiny Compact Sensor mirror less cameras sport a 20.3 MP APS-C CMOS sensor with an ISO range up to 12,800 and 1080/30p video capabilities.

The camera bodies also have inbuilt WiFi and 3 inch displays, the interface however for each camera is different.

The NX20

The Most expensive camera of the lot features a hotshoe and a price of $1,100 (Rupees 55,000/-) including an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens.The camera has an interchangeable lens body with a popup flash and built-in SVGA EVF. There is also a tilt-and-swivel 614k-dot, 3-inch VGA PenTile AMOLED display.

The NX210

Slightly lower priced but shares the same sensor as big brother up there and also ships with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. The camera body has built-in image stabilization, a focus mode switch and an iFunction button along with built-in WiFi.. The camera will be available for $900 (Rupees 45,000/-) in mid-May

The NX1000

The NX1000 is possibly the cheapest of the lot, but, there is no pricing available. The design is similar to many cameras already available in the market including Sony NEX and Nikon 1. The NX1000 has a 3-inch LCD and will come with a compact 20-50mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. The whole body_lens weighs in only at 360 grams and has the same 20.3 MP APS-C CMOS sensor.

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Capture, connect and share with a Samsung SMART CAMERA

Share life in perfect detail with the NX1000, NX20 and NX210 – the world’s first SMART compact system cameras with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity

BEIJING, China – April 19, 2012 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies is breaking new ground with its award-winning NX series with three new compact system cameras (CSC) that pioneer built-in Wi-Fi connectivity: the NX1000, NX210 and NX20. Now professional quality images can be easily captured, shared and stored straight from your camera – wherever you are in the world.

Introducing the NX1000, NX210 and NX20

The innovative additions to Samsung’s NX range represent the future in CSC technology: SMART cameras with in-built Wi-Fi technology that allow users to connect to wireless networks without any additional cards or devices. Full Wi-Fi connectivity is complemented by an impressive range of features, continuing the heritage of innovation that the NX series has been consistently recognized for since the launch of the NX10 in 2010.

As standard, all three NX models feature a 20.3 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, developed in-house by Samsung to give high quality images in rich color and detail. They are also fully compatible with the NX series’ unique i-Function system, enabling users to control parameters using the lens itself, adjusting the image without ever having to move off target. With Samsung’s range of nine lenses and professional standard accessories, the NX eco-system ensures that all imaging ambitions can be realised, whatever the user’s photographic speciality or interest.

Enhancing Samsung’s 2012 SMART CAMERA ecosystem, these latest additions to the NX range have been designed to satisfy the ambitions of users of all abilities, whether an experienced professional or someone just looking to trade-up from their point-and-shoot.

The NX1000 is highly portable and its eye-catching compact design makes it as useable as it is attractive. Available in stunning White, classic Black or eye-catching Pink it houses a feature-rich range of specs, with technology such as Smart Auto 2.0 and the Smart Link Hot Key, making it simpler than ever to shoot and share great images instantly.

The NX210 follows the NX’s design heritage, with a premium metallic finish. Like its predecessor the NX200, the NX210 also offers a 3.0″ AMOLED display for viewing images and Full HD movies in brilliant resolution. With easy access to Wi-Fi functions, the NX210 allows quick sharing with friends and family, whilst with Samsung Mobile Link users can show off their best images on phones and tablets, or on the big screen with TV Link connecting the NX210 wirelessly to internet-enabled TVs.

The NX20 is the perfect match for enthusiast amateur or professional photographers looking for a highly portable camera that gives the professional look and feel of a DSLR but at a fraction of the size and weight, with the addition of an ergonomic grip to fit comfortably into the hand. Delivering impressive speed with its 1/8000s Fast Shutter, breath-taking images are shown on its clear 3.0″ clear AMOLED swivel display, increasing visibility by approximately 20%. The NX20 also incorporates a range of functions and manual controls in order to deliver pro-standard pictures every time, including SVGA EVF so users can frame images like a professional.

In-Built Wi-Fi for simple sharing and saving

With Samsung’s latest SMART features, users can share pictures at the touch of a button, uploading to social networks including Facebook and Picasa, or emailing them to friends and family – all straight from their new NX camera. The cameras also offer further options for capturing and displaying images via other devices, including the ability to link to a Samsung smartphone and use as a remote viewfinder, and – with the Samsung Mobile Link function – to display images on devices such as tablets or internet-enabled TV.

Creative control at the touch of a button

Pictures shared on the spur of the moment are no longer restricted to simply shooting and sending – with the creative features of the new NX cameras, Facebook pictures can be artistic without ever going near a computer. The ten Smart Filters and added Selective Color function, for example, mean that users can adjust the look and feel of shots as they take them. In addition, all three cameras also feature Panorama and 3D Panorama, allowing the whole story to be told in one complete picture. With the Smart Panel featured on all the new models, settings and features can be easily accessed and applied, making creative photography easier than ever.

Mr. Myoung Sup Han, Senior Vice President and Head of the Digital Imaging Business, Samsung Electronics, commented: “The three new additions to the NX range mark an evolution in Samsung’s SMART CAMERA offering, demonstrating our understanding that digital imaging is about sharing the best moments with family and friends, and not only about taking great pictures. Samsung is paving the way, introducing the world’s first SMART Compact-System-Cameras for professional standard images that are worth sharing.”

“With the inclusion of in-built Wi-Fi connectivity, our customers can now share pictures and videos straight from their NX camera. More importantly, however, the NX camera’s wireless connectivity does not mean sacrificing fantastic image quality – you can now have the best of both at your fingertips. This dedication to innovation will make Samsung a leader in the SMART CAMERA market.”

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April 20, 2012
Barnes and Nobles shifts from e-readers to Headphones : Enter Nook Audio

Barnes and Noble, popular book vendor and online book store has launched their own series of Branded Headphones. Known as nook Audio, details are scant on the cans but looks like there is only one variant and only one color. Check out the link below for more updates.

More details when available.

[Barnes & Noble]

April 19, 2012
IKEA makes TV what it should have been : Simple and Easy

We can keep waiting for Apple’s supposed iTV but looks like IKEA is in no mood for waiting. Global Furniture and household goods giant Ikea has announced “Uppleva” a customizable, TV cabinet which has a DVD player and TV built right into it. You also have Surround Sound with a wireless subwoofer.

This brilliant piece of furniture can be picked up in various options with prices starting from US$ 960 ( about INR 50,000). As far as the TV is concerned, it is a Full HD LED display along with Smart features, Fm Radio, Internet streaming, apps, and multiple inputs including 4 HDMI and 2 USB inputs.

Of-course the cabinet also comes with custom spaces to add more units like, Xbox, PS, Wii , Blue Ray or any other TV attachments you may have.

Available in various color options and sizes, hopefully Ikea brings it to India When they launch here early next year.

April 17, 2012
Tech: Magnetic Super-Paper repels Water and Bacteria

Researchers at Italy’s Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia have created the ultimate Paper, that’s waterproof, antibacterial, and magnetic. The new revolutionary paper is made with a special blend of individual molecules, or monomers, in paper fiber and nano particles. Once the compound is ready ( called “polymetric matrix”) it is applied to the paper molecules as it covers each molecule creating a protective cover of sorts.

To give this super paper magneto properties iron oxide is added to the mixture, silver nanoparticles are added to repel bacteria. Researchers at Italy’s Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia claim that more particles can be added to the mix to create fluorescent and waterproof mixes, ideal for currency applications.

Think of all the possibilities.

[Giz]

April 17, 2012
The new iPad confirmed for India, April 27th, Starting Rs. 30,500

Apple has confirmed that the new iPad is coming to India on the 27th of April 2012. The third generation iPad, adds a retina display, a quad core GPU and better optics to the mix, among other things. The iPad will we on first come first serve basis , so best get in line at your favorite Apple retailer.

Incase you missed it you can check out our unboxing video below.

April 17, 2012
Samsung will launch the next Galaxy Phone on May 3, in London!

Samsung has officially announced the world will meet the next Galaxy phone in London on May 3rd with this invite, being sent out to various news sites across the world. Almost all rumors point to the release of the Samsung Galaxy S III. The Samsung Mobile unpacked event is usually a birthplace of all great phones from Sammy’s house, including the Galaxy S, SII and even the Note.

It is speculated that the device will have a 1.5GHz quad-core Exynos processor, a 4.8-inch 1080p HD display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 4G LTE connectivity, Android 4.0 and a ceramic case.

The image below has also been doing rounds on the blogo-sphere (looks fake to us, what say?).

April 16, 2012
Intel Ready to Launch Ivy Bridge Processors on April 23rd

Intel may be ready to announce their next in line Ivy Bridge Processors on the 23rd of April 2012 according to Digitimes. With companies like ASUS, Acer, Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard ready to launch their new ultrabooks in early May the timing only seems perfect for the new launches.

Intel has also reportedly setup a budget of $300 million to assist partners in promotion of the new chipsets on ultrabooks. Rumors also point to the fact that Apple is planning to refresh its iMac family of computers with Intel’s 22nm-based Core i5 and Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors in June or July.

Apple is also set to launch newer Macbook Pro models with a thinner design and possibly without the dvd slot drive boasting the new platform of chipsets.

April 16, 2012
Nokia 808 PureView Hands on At Launch in New Delhi

Nokia announced its plans for the new Nokia PureView 808 for India, yesterday at a press conference in New Delhi. The company is excited about the technology and is pleased to bring its flagship camera device to the Indian shores. The device will be available early next month with a price tag around the 45k range. The Nokia 808 purview sports a stunning 41MP sensor (38 effective) with Carl Zeiss optics.

The new PureView oversampling technology allows the device to render 41 MP photos to a 5MP size for easy photo sharing over networking sites like Facebook and Flickr. Users can also click at full resolution and modify the images on a pc if so required. Nokia claims that the device is capable of effective 38MP images via the sensor with a file size of approx 14-20 mb. All files are stored in jpeg format and the company has no plans to include RAW or any other format.

The device also uses the same oversampling technology to downsize the video to 1080p at 30fps and 25fps among other formats, you also get 3x lossless zoom and super image stabilization in full hd 1080p , come down to 720p to get 6x lossless zoom and to 360p for upto 12x lossless zoom and capture.

The company also plans to introduce many add-on accessories for the device, including a tripod mount and an extended battery pack which will offer an additional charge in a compact form.

We went hands on , so check out the images and stay tuned for a quick hands on video.

Nokia 808 PureView

April 11, 2012
HTC One X Unboxing and Hands On

The One X is possibly one of the most sought after Android devices in the market today. After playing much with it at the launch of the device, we finally got the box of the device and were itching to get it unboxed.

A wonderful polycarbonate shell and an amazing display, mixed with an amazing camera and beats audio is what is being projected, but thats not all that makes the device. A slim and wonderful device with a great look and feel. Check out our images below and stay tuned for a video.

Price of the Device is Rs. 37000/-

Specifications

April 10, 2012
Facebook will buy Instagram (PR)

Talk about big acquisitions! Social networking giant Facebook will buy popular imaging app Instagram for $1 billion in cash and shares. This comes soon after the app was developed for Android.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

-Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom

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Facebook to Acquire Instagram

MENLO PARK, CALIF.-April 9, 2012-Facebook announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire Instagram, a fun, popular photo-sharing app for mobile devices.

The total consideration for San Francisco-based Instagram is approximately $1 billion in a combination of cash and shares of Facebook. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close later this quarter.

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, posted about the transaction on his Timeline:

I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We’re looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we’re going to be able to build together.

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April 10, 2012