Author: Shivaank Rana

ASUS MeMO Pad HD7 Announced With A $129 Price Tag, Along With The FHD 10

Asus is on a roll here. After announcing an entire lineup of new products, it has now unveiled the Asus MeMO Pad HD7 and the Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10.

While the Asus MeMO Pad HD7 retains much of the same design (and most of the same name) as that of its predecessor, it is tweaked a bit to make it both thinner and lighter than it’s predecessor — down to 10.8mm thick and 302g in weight. On the display side ASUS bumps things to “HD” with a 1280×800 IPS display, up from the original 1024×600 panel.

On the inside, the Asus MeMO Pad HD7 is running an ARM Cortex A7 quad-core CPU, but didn’t specify a clock speed or manufacturer. It did specify that the tablet will have both Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS, however, along with the addition of stereo speakers and a 5MP rear camera (keeping a 1.2MP shooter up front). Pinning this device at the low-end are some appealing prices too: 16GB for $149, 8GB for $129. The MeMO Pad HD7 will be released in a few different bright color options, with no specific sales dates given at this point.

The Asus MeMO Pad FHD 10, meanwhile, runs on the Intel Atom Z2560 processor, also known as Clovertrail+, with a dual-core 1.2GHz Saltwell CPU and PowerVR SGX 544 MP2 GPU. It also has a 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution display, 2GB RAM, 16/32GB internal storage, 5 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus, 1.2 megapixel front camera, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and a 10-hour battery life.

No word on Indian pricing and availability yet! Stay tuned for more!

June 3, 2013
Asus Launches Tranformer Pad Infinity And Fonepad Note

During its press conference, held at Computex , ASUS announced the Tegra 4 based Transformer Pad Infinity and Fonepad Note.

The latest addition to the Transformer line will come with Nvidia’s 72-core GeForce graphics card in addition to the Tegra 4 Cortex A15 CPU clocked at 1.9GHz with 2GB of RAM. It runs on Android 4.2.2. This means it can handle the most demanding mobile games you’ll find in the Google Play store.

It boasts a 2560 x 1600 IPS display and also comes with a mobile dock that includes a touchpad and keyboard. It also features the hallmark metallic finish you’ll find on other Asus flagship products such as its line of Zenbook ultrabooks. There’s 32GB of internal storage.

It also has a USB 3.0 port, 32GB of storage, a 5-megapixel camera, and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. It sports a HDMI 1.4 output with support for 4K / Ultra HD and Wi-Fi 802.11n dual band.

Asus has yet to reveal pricing or availability for the Transformer Pad Infinity.

Image Credit : The Verge

Asus then announced the Fonepad Note, a tablet that also serves as a smartphone. It sports a Super IPS + “(1920 x 1080 pixels) display with a stylus and is powered by a 1.6GHz Z2560 “Clover Trail” Atom processor (the Z2560) with 2GB of RAM, and a typical 8-megapixel rear-facing camera round out the spec list.

Connectivity is based on the 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth as well as 3G + up to 42 Mb / s.

More developing!

June 3, 2013
Report : Apple To Launch iRadio At WWDC, Inks Deal With Warner Music

The New York Times reports that Apple is still hoping to launch its much-rumored streaming music service at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week, pressing to complete deals with record labels that would allow the company to announce the service.

Apple’s service, a Pandora-like feature that would tailor streams of music to each user’s taste, has been planned since at least last summer.

The Cupertino based company successfully signed a deal over the weekend with Warner Music Group and its publishing arm, Warner/Chappell Music, for recorded music rights and music publishing rights.

About a month ago, it signed another deal with Universal Music Group for its recorded music rights. Negotiations are still going on with Sony, which has been going back and forth with Apple over some specifics about features built into Apple’s product.

iRadio streaming music service is said to be a free, ad-supported offering, with the labels reportedly seeking similar revenue rates to that seen from Pandora, although Apple is seeking more extensive licenses to provide more flexibility for users.

The Wall Street Journal has more on Apple’s deal with Warner:

Under the deal, Apple will give Warner Music Group’s publishing arm 10% of ad revenue — more than twice what Internet radio giant Pandora Media Inc. pays major music publishers. Warner’s terms with Apple could pave the way for other major publishing deals to follow.

Apple has indicated to people involved in the negotiations that the service could be announced at its annual developers conference, which begins June 10 in San Francisco.

[NYTimes, WSJ, MacRumours]

June 3, 2013
Asus Announces Zenbook Infinity With Gorilla Glass 3 Lid, Touchscreen Display

Asus has unveiled its new Zenbook Infinity Ultrabook during Computex 2013 today, the world’s first Ultrabook to sport a lid comprised entirely from Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3.

The Gorilla Glass has been fused directly to the aluminum frame, allowing for a thickness of just 15.5-mm thin (about 0.61 inches). That’s 14-percent thinner than the previous generation Zenbook, the company said.

Image Credit : Engadget

New Corning Gorilla Glass 3 has the same durability and thinness as Gorilla Glass 2, but uses Corning’s proprietary NDR glass composition for superior scratch resistance, reduced scratch visibility and improved toughness. Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with NDR has three times the scratch resistance of Gorilla Glass 2, and gives a 40% reduction in the number of highly visible scratches with a 40% improvement in retained strength if a deep scratch does occur.

The Asus Zenbook Infinity has a built-in touchscreen as well as a backlit keyboard. Inside, there is a 28W dual-core Haswell part with GT3 graphics, otherwise known as Iris 5100. It will come in at a similar 13.3-inches like the Asus Zenbook Prime.

It also has a USB 3.0 port on each side, along with an SD card slot, micro-HDMI port and a Mini DisplayPort.

The new Zenbook Infinity isn’t slated to hit the market until Q4, and hence further specifications have not been revealed yet! Stay tuned!

June 3, 2013
Acer Launches Liquid S1 Phablet With A 5.7″ Display

Acer unveiled its first phablet handset, the Liquid S1, previously hinted at during MWC.

With a whopping 5.7″ HD display supporting a resolution of 1280×720 and 257PPI, the Liquid S1 runs the latest version of Google’s Android operating system (OS) Jelly Bean 4.2.

“The Acer Liquid S1 uses fine craftsmanship and materials to deliver a premium, minimalist design, ideal for assertive businesspeople and passionate explorers. With a slender profile, it features curved details on the front and the sides, aluminum side grips, and is available in matte black or white,” Acer announced.

The new smartphone arrives on the market with a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor packed inside, and should be able to provide users with a day’s worth of battery power, the company announced.The smartphone also packs 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory, a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space, and a 2400mAh battery.

An 8MB camera on the back can shoot 1080p video, while the front 2MP snapper can grab 720p.

A feature Acer is really underlining is the Float UI, which can have various widgets running on top of apps for a seemingly more efficient multitasking experience.

Acer Cloud is also included, which automatically syncs your photos to the Internet. It also allows documents and files of many different formats to be sent to, viewed, and edited from the smartphone itself.

There’s no word yet on precise specs, pricing or availability. But a dual-SIM option and the specs listed above make the Liquid S1 an interesting choice

June 3, 2013
Acer Launches World’s Smallest Windows 8 Tablet, The Iconia W3

Acer has officially announced the Iconia W3 today at Computex 2013, packaging Windows 8 inside an 8-inch tablet for the first time.

At 0.45 inches thick and 8.1 inches on the screen, the tablet specs announced today all agree with the leaked specs we’d already heard, and make it the smallest Windows 8-packing slate seen so far.

The Acer Iconia W3 is powered by an Intel Atom ‘Clover Trail’ Z2760 processor at 1.8 GHz, it has an 8-inch 1280 x 800 display and either 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage plus microSD card expansion. You also get front and rear facing two-megapixel cameras, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB, micro-HDMI and an optional full-sized keyboard dock that contains a keyboard similar to that of Acer’s 13-inch notebooks.

The Iconia W3 will be capable of eight hours of battery life, according to Acer, and the unit will weigh around 540 grams with 11.35 mm of thickness. The tablet runs Windows 8 Pro out of the box, and will also come with Office 2013 Home & Student bundled at no extra cost.

This device will be offered in two storage size options, either 32GB or 64GB (internal), with a microSD card slot included with both that’ll allow 32GB more with your own microSD card.

When it first appeared on the web it was priced at around $380 (Rs. 21,500/-) without the keyboard dock, so we can expect a price approaching $480 (26,500/-) for the set. So far, Acer hasn’t set a launch date for the Iconia W3, but this tablet’s appearance can be taken as a sign that Windows 8 may soon be rolling out to more small-format hybrid tablets, making a new set of rivals for the iPad, iPad Mini and Android tablets.

June 3, 2013
New Leaked Image Shows Samsung Galaxy S4 Active In Teal Colour

@evleaks, known for its recent leaks, has dug up some images of the purported Samsung Galaxy S4 Active in teal. We’ve already seen this pop up in Red, plus it seems that there will also be a grey version.

Over the past number of weeks the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active has arrived online in both picture and video format. This rugged device will most likely be announced at Samsung’s upcoming “Premier” event on June 20th. The device will attract people who work in the field, or those simply who are prone to dropping their precious Android.

According to rumours, the ruggedized version of the Galaxy S4, the Galaxy S4 Active, which is expected to be a water and dust resistant phone, is likely to feature a 5-inch full-HD super AMOLED display. It would be powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor and Adreno 320 graphics processor. The phone is expected to have 2GB of RAM and run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, the latest iteration of the OS. The phone will offer 16GB internal storage expandable via microSD card and is expected to come with a 2600mAh battery. The Galaxy S4 Active will come with Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, and NFC connectivity options in addition to an IR blaster just like the Galaxy S4.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 currently is available in 2 colours only.

[@evleaks on twitter]

June 2, 2013
HTC One Android 4.2.2 Update With Sense 5.0 Detailed

According to a report by Android Revolution, HTC One users can expect an update from the current Android 4.1 to 4.2.2 soon, with the international model already receiving the update.

“There were quite a lot of rumours about upcoming HTC Sense and Android 4.2.2 update for HTC One and HTC Butterfly. All were expecting HTC Sense 5.1 to show up, but instead, the version of HTC UI in latest Android 4.2.2 update is still 5.0,” wrote AndroidRevolution which got the screenshots of HTC One Android 4.2.2 update.

The new software release lands on handsets with some appealing new features packed inside, such as a percentage battery level indicator and extended quick settings, along with enhancements to Blinkfeed.

Android daydream and the ability to remove the docked icons are also coming to smartphone with the update. The ability to long press the home button for menu settings is another clever touch which is set to arrive on the One with Android 4.2.2.

This update adds the ability to work with Android-native sound profiles – aka EQS or equalizer controls. These controls can be found by tapping one’s EQS icon in the upper right corner of the notifications menu.

The HTC One was unveiled earlier this year as the company’s new flagship smartphone hosting a bundle of features including a 4.7-inch screen with a full HD resolution, 4MP camera, and two front-facing speakers for stereo sound.

You can read our review of the HTC One here.

[Android Revolution]

June 2, 2013
Rumour: Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 To Be Powered By Intel Clover Trail+ Chip

Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Tab refresh, known in certain circles as the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, will be powered by Intel’s Clover Trail+ SoC and not, as widely expected, an ARM-based chip.

According to Reuters and the Korea Times, Samsung is taking Intel’s foray into mobile chips quite seriously, and plans to release other devices — likely only tablets — with its newer, faster, more energy-efficient technology. The Times says that up to 50 Intel engineers are working with Samsung in Korea to develop chips optimized for all use cases, though we’re assuming that does not extend to high-end phones. ARM’s advantage, especially with Qualcomm, is too great at the moment.

Samsung is holding a conference in London on June 20th to show off some of its new Galaxy and ATIV products. It is rumoured that among them will be a new Galaxy Tab, though it’s unclear whether it will remain an entry- to mid-range device like its predecessor or if Samsung will offer a premium experience akin to the hardware on the Nexus 10 (or both).

Apparently LG is also considering using Intel chips as the U.S.-based chip maker lobbies increasingly hard in Korea for the two largest electronics companies to adopt its chips. Intel has also been working very hard to adapt and optimize Android for x86-based processors in recent years, and now has a version of Android 4.2 that appears to be indistinguishable from its ARM-based counterpart.

Applications processors based on technology from ARM and designed by Qualcomm Inc, Samsung and Nvidia now dominate a market that research firm Strategy Analytics estimated could hit $25 billion by 2016 versus $9 billion in 2011.

Intel today launched it’s next generation of chipsets, the Haswell series, which boast of better performance, battery life and better graphics.

Intel is rushing to adapt its powerful PC chips to use less energy and work more efficiently in mobile devices.

[Reuters, Mobile Syrup]

June 1, 2013
Intel Haswell Chips Launched With Better Performance, Graphics And Battery Life

Intel is launching its 4th generation Core processor family, code-named “Haswell,” and we should start to see computers based on the new chips at the Computex trade show starting June 4th .

Intel’s Haswell chips will try to take up where Microsoft’s Windows 8 failed to invigorate the PC and laptop market. The firm announced a slew of quad-core desktop and laptop chips, with the Core i7-4770K heading the desktop line and the Core i7-4930MX topping off the firm’s laptop range, the former of which will require Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge owners to undergo a motherboard upgrade, as the chip uses the new LGA-1150 socket.

Intel has also signficantly revised the required spec laptop makers must hit in order to earn the ‘Ultrabook’ moniker. Performance, obviously, is one of the major highlights of the new chip.

As PCPro reports – Our benchmark results on the first Haswell desktop processor – the Core i7-4440K – show significant performance improvements over the last generation chips, especially when it comes to graphics.

The Core i7-4440K showed an overall improvement of almost 10% in our Real World Benchmarks, scoring 1.16 compared to 1.06 for the last-generation Ivy Bridge i7-3770K.

Haswell also promises to deliver significant advantages for mobile users. Forthcoming Haswell processors aimed at Ultrabooks and tablets promise to extend battery life by combining the chipset into the CPU package, but Intel has yet to release the mobile processors for testing.

Some of these power savings come because Haswell is the first architecture tailored specifically for the 22nm process rather than being designed for a larger process and then shrunk down, as Ivy Bridge was. Others come from improvements that Intel has made it to idle power usage and the amount of power used when switching between those active and idle states.

Improving the performance of its chips’ integrated graphics is another key area where Intel seems to have put in a lot of work. This has, resulted in an integrated graphics solution that delivers double the performance of Ivy Bridge-powered laptops and thrice that of Ivy Bridge-based desktops.

If you’re looking for specific information about U- and Y- series low-voltage chips for Ultrabooks or anything belonging to the Core i3, Pentium, or Celeron families, you’ll have to wait a little while longer. We’ll be sure to pass that information along as we have it.

[PCPro, Lilliputing]

June 1, 2013
Apple iPhone’s India Sales Grows By 400%, Are EMI Schemes To Thank?

India has become Apple’s test bed for emerging markets, with the company rolling out a series of discounts and payment plans in order to entice purchases and improve its market standing in the 1.24 billion people market.

According to analyst Sunil Tirumalai, Apple’s equal monthly installment (EMI) and cash-back programs have jump-started sales in India, which used to be around 70,000 to 80,000 units per month before the aggressive pricing schemes, reports Economic Times.

These efforts are paying off as iPhone sales have risen 400 percent over the past four months.

Tirumalai says the benefit of the new initiatives is clear, “The 4-9 percent implicit discount coupled with the option of easy EMIs spread over 6-12 months became popular. Within a few months, our discussions with handset retailers indicated that iPhone sales went up 3-4x, forcing companies to respond.”

Based on those numbers, Apple only trails Samsung in terms of overall sales in the country. Samsung, however, offers a much larger range of devices in India, including entry-level smartphones and feature phones which attract less well-to-do buyers.

Apple’s recent success in India also followed a rebranding of the iPhone as an affordable product rather than a high-end luxury item.

Apple had introduced the cash back scheme for its iPhone 4. Under this scheme consumers had to bring in their old smartphone and could take home a brand new iPhone 4 at a minimum discount of Rs. 7,000. As per the conditions of the scheme, Rs. 5,000 was the cash back discount given and the additional Rs. 2,000 was the minimum resale value pegged for the old smartphone.

If the consumers tried to exchange a smartphone, whose resale value was more than Rs. 2,000 then the effective cash back to them was Rs. 5,000 plus the value the resale of the phone. Initially, the scheme was launched for just 15 days. However, given the popularity the scheme was extended till May.

Even now, Apple is running a scheme, where in students are eligible for Rs. 7,777 discount on purchase of Apple iPhone 4. Apart from this, the American Express card holders can get an additional 10 percent on purchasing this smartphone.

Apple also sells older models of the handset in India that pre-date the iPhone 4 and are not officially sold by the company in any other country.

[The Economic Times]

June 1, 2013
Facial Recognition Apps For Google Glass Will Not Be Approved For Now

Google has attempted to assuage some of the privacy concerns surrounding Google Glass with a new Google+ post on facial recognition.

As Google has said for several years, we won’t add facial recognition features to our products without having strong privacy protections in place. With that in mind, we won’t be approving any facial recognition Glassware at this time.”

The company also said developers would not be allowed to disable the Google Glass display while using the device’s camera. This comes in response to concerns that Glass wearers could surreptitiously take photos and videos of their surroundings, without those nearby able to see that they were doing so by noticing the lit display in front of their faces.

Glass, despite its holding pattern in beta, has already been scrutinized from an ethical perspective by many technology watchers, some of whom have said they’re troubled by the challenges to privacy posed by a wearable computer which could potentially be used to photograph people in public spaces without fair warning.

Google Glass is currently only available to Explorer Program members, with #ifihadglass contest winners joining them soon. Google says that it’s using this early period in Glass’s lifecycle to listen to users and the public and to shape its policies accordingly.

Google has in recent years been a target of privacy hawks concerned with the company’s access to growing amounts of personal information through its search services and mobile device software.

[PCMag, AllThingsD]

June 1, 2013
Rumour : HTC One “Google Edition” With Stock Android To Be Released Next Month

Despite denying its existence, rumours persist of an HTC One “Google Edition”. During the Google I/O keynote address earlier this month, Google announced it was partnering with Samsung to bring a Galaxy S4 to Google Play that runs vanilla Android. While that particular device will only be available in the United States, it stoked the rumours that other manufacturers such as HTC would be getting in on the “almost-Nexus” game.

During the keynote, one of HTC’s PR mavens intimated that there would be a similar model of the One released with stock Android, presumably a newer version than is currently running on the device. But official channels quashed the rumour, leading to a short cessation of any talk.

In recent days, though, several sites including Geek.com and Android Central have independently confirmed that such a device does exist, and will be announced in the coming weeks.

The news comes from Geek.com’s Russell Holly, who claims that “multiple sources” are saying that HTC has plans to launch a stripped-down version of its flagship handset.

This comes after a string of negative press, including several executives leaving the company, news of relatively underwhelming sales of the One, and indications that its Facebook phone, the First, has been unceremoniously discontinued.

It’s likely that HTC is going ahead with the project after seeing the positive reaction to the stock Galaxy S4, aware that there is a global market for devices running unblemished Android and, perhaps more importantly, ones that receive updates directly from Google.

One thing to keep in mind about an HTC One “Google Edition” is that it will unlikely be sold in India. The same thing is true of the HTC One Developer Edition and the upcoming Play Store Galaxy S4, so you’re going to need a source in the United States to obtain one.

While the HTC One has been well received critically and by the public, sales have still lagged significantly behind those of rivals Samsung and Apple.

The company was also forced to admit it would be postponing the launch of the HTC First in the UK. It blamed poor customer feedback in the US for the move.

If HTC does release a One running stock Android, would you buy one?

[Geek, Android Central, Mobile Syrup]

May 25, 2013
Blackberry Playbook Set To Receive Blackberry 10 Update?

A Blackberry PlayBook user asked via Twitter whether BlackBerry 10 (BB10) would be coming to the beleaguered tablet and he received a response directly from the official BlackBerry Mexico Twitter account.

The response read :@carlos_wmg Hello. In the next few weeks will be available OS10 update w/ the #PlayBook ! Please be alert!”

Back in January, various blogs online reported some comments from Blackberry’s CEO that claimed the new BlackBerry 10 software would be coming to PlayBook.

Rumours pointed toward Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry’s CEO, to update the masses during their Blackberry Live developer conference last week, but no such talks occurred. Instead, the company is betting on licensing out BBM and its BES technology out to Apple and Android developers.

The Blackberry Playbook tablet was released a couple of years ago, but unfortunately the tablet was not met with the resounding success that Blackberry had initially planned for.

BB10 is Blackberry’s home-cooked operating system and it took the company years to bake it. The OS represents one of the company’s last best hopes for maintaining a foothold in a smartphone and tablet market dominated by Apple, Samsung and others.

This certainly brings hope, but unfortunately the tweet has since been deleted. Hopefully, the BB10 update will come to fruition and the PlayBook will be given a second lease on life.

Leave your thoughts in the comments.

[N4BB]

May 25, 2013
Microsoft Targets Another 25 Million Xbox 360 Sales

Microsoft is still aiming for another 25 million sales of their eight-year-old Xbox 360 console, bringing the total to 100 million units sold. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s senior VP of Interactive Entertainment Business, speaking to OXM, said they expect half of these sales will come from new Xbox 360 owners, while the other half will be old console replacements.

Speaking with OXM, Mehdi said of Microsoft’s hopes for Xbox 360, “We believe over the next five years we can break a 100 million unit installed base. That’s something we’re shooting for, it’s not a financial plan as such, it’s just rough numbers if you will.

The company plans to bolster 360 sales with a “Huge Announcement” at the upcoming 2013 E3 show, according to the report.

Microsoft Game Studios executive Phil Spencer recently told GameSpot:

“I think the Xbox 360 is going to be very vibrant for many years. In fact, we have a huge, I think it’s huge, Xbox 360 announcement for E3 that I keep wanting to talk about, but I can’t. I think it will surprise people. I loved what we did last year with Minecraft; bring Minecraft to the box; six million units later it’s kind of a beast. I think there’s a lot of life in the Xbox 360 for years to come.”

As regards hopes for Xbox One, it’s obviously a bit early to say, but Medhi does think next gen consoles as a pack can trump sales of their predecessors as handily as the latter trumped sales of theirs.

“Every generation, as you’ve probably heard, has grown approximately 30%,” he said. “So this generation is about 300 million units. Most industry experts think the next generation will get upwards of about 400 million units. That’s if it’s a game console, over the next decade.”

May 24, 2013