Author: Shivaank Rana

New Leaked HD Images Show Off RIM’s BlackBerry 10 L-Series

For those that are still firmly in the RIM camp, a slew of new high-resolution pictures of the BlackBerry L-Series smartphone were leaked this evening. When it comes to new product leaks, we’re used to being hit with the “blurry cam” treatment. But surprisingly, these images of this Blackberry are high resolution and capture the L-Series from nearly every angle.

It certainly isn’t too terrible as far as looks are concerned, and there’s plenty to discern from the pictures alone: microSD card slot, 1800mAh battery, 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, micro USB, HDMI and a teenie-tiny microphone under the BlackBerry logo on the front of the device.

Of course, nothing is confirmed until RIM unveils Blackberry 10 devices on January 30th, 2013. Check out all the pics below.

December 12, 2012
Adobe Photoshop And Illustrator CS6 Updated With Retina Display Support

Adobe has released an update to its Premier Pro Creative Suite 6 (CS6) that will enable users to view and edit images and video at the resolution of the Retina Display found in the Apple iPad and the new Macbook Pro.

The Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 6.0.2 update is available now and should not only make images clearer but also any text should appear crisper and cleaner.

[quote]With this update, customers can see more detail in images, text, and in the Illustrator user interface when working on high-resolution displays, including the new Retina display available on MacBook Pro. The HiDPI feature in Illustrator is currently only available on Mac OS. It is expected to be available in the future on additional operating systems.[/quote]

Adobe had announced in late August that it would be bringing Retina display support to a number of its titles over the following months, with Photoshop and Illustrator being two of the highest-profile applications receiving the upgrade. At the time, Adobe noted that the upgrade process for Photoshop alone required the replacement of 2500 icons and cursors, as well as other engineering work to optimize the experience for Retina displays.

The update – which is also available for PCs and will support Windows 8 – promises to iron out any bugs customers have claimed to experience and will also be able to handle fully the GT 650M CPU found in the new MacBook Pro.

However, Adobe has said that Mac owners who use Premier Pro should update their computer to Mac OSX v10.8 Mountain Lion to ensure a better experience.

December 11, 2012
BBM 7 With BBM Voice Now Available In BlackBerry App World

Research In Motion officially released the latest version of its BlackBerry Messenger mobile social networking service, adding new voice calling capabilities as well as expanded notifications and synchronization features.

BBM 7 first went to beta back on the 14th of November last month, with beta testers saying things like “the voice feature is easy to use and the audio quality is excellent”, with the full version now out and presumably featuring sounding even better than during the beta process.

RIM said Monday that the new BlackBerry Messenger 7, issued in beta in mid-November, will be available for download from its BlackBerry World storefront within the next 24 hours. Optimized for devices running BlackBerry 6 and higher, with support expanding to BlackBerry 5 early next year, BBM 7 enables consumers to make free voice calls to other BBM users across the globe over a Wi-Fi connection. A split-screen feature allows toggling between messaging and voice options–users may also talk and text at the same time, enhancing business collaboration possibilities.

BBM Voice is included in BBM 7 (version 7.0.0.121) and is now available, or will be within 24-hours, in the BlackBerry App World. Next on the BBM agenda is BBM Video Chat – this will be included in the big BlackBerry 10 launch. In the meantime, RIM made a demo of BBM Voice in action, check it out below.

December 11, 2012
“Office Mobile for iPhone” Shows Up In Microsoft Support Documents

Building upon a series of reports about Microsoft’s apparent efforts to bring its Office productivity suite to iOS, The Verge last month shared a few screenshots and noted that the suite would be offered in early 2013 as a set of free apps with viewing abilities that could be upgraded with basic editing tools through a Microsoft 360 subscription. Microsoft has, however, been rather cryptic in its public comments on the Office for iOS project, leaving a number of questions about just what the company’s plans are.

Today, with special thanks to Microsoft Romania, there’s a slight sign of progress and confirmation. As noted by Mac4ever, references to several Office for iOS applications have begun creeping into Microsoft’s support site, albeit as product tags that appear to have been applied improperly to support articles. In their support documents they reveal “Office Mobile for iPhone” and list “Excel for iPad,” “PowerPoint for iPad.” Unfortunately there’s no other information about specifically when Microsoft will make this available. In addition, Microsoft Office for Android is also expected early 2013.

Like other Microsoft apps, the leaked Office Mobile for iPhone uses Microsoft’s “Metro” Modern UI design language. The app appears to support all files types and syncs them via SkyDrive.

The Software giant will likely limit the mobile apps when they do come to iPhone and iPad. The company will likely require Office 365 for certain aspects of the apps like the ability to edit or create new documents.

December 11, 2012
Samsung Releases New Ad, Promises ‘Something New’ at CES 2013

Samsung, the world’s largest maker of both cellphones and smartphones by volume, is gearing up for CES 2013, which runs January 8-11 in Las Vegas and has put together a nice teaser suggesting “something new is coming”.

Could it be the release of the Samsung Galaxy S IV?

Reuters speculated the Galaxy S IV may come with “a breakthrough unbreakable screen” which can be folded. Other rumors have pointed to a 13-megapixel camera, a quad-core chip and a five-inch display likely sporting full HD 1,920-by-1,080 pixel resolution at 441 pixels per inch, a big improvement in pixel density from both the Galaxy S III’s 306 ppi and the iPhone 5?s 326 ppi screen. But we think Samsung might want to release the S IV at one of it’s own events.

Although the show isn’t traditionally a mobile exhibition, major mobile brands have been a growing presence over the last few years, so a new smartphone isn’t out of the question. The timing seems better for a tablet, however, since its last major release in the category was August’s Galaxy Note 10.1.

But considering Samsung’s long CES heritage, the new product is more likely to be from the audio-visual side of the business. And, considering that CES 2012’s big product launch was centred around the ES8000 TV and its face recognition, motion control and upgradability, we wouldn’t be surprised if it was a new television. A commercially available Samsung ultra high-definition TV, anyone?

What do you think Samsung will bring to CES? Let us know!

December 11, 2012
Google Doodle Celebrates The Birth Of Ada Lovelace, World’s First Computer Programmer

Ada Lovelace, the mathematician known as the world’s first computer programmer, is celebrated today in a Google Doodle on the anniversary of her birth. Augusta Ada King, was the daughter of Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella Byron, and was born in London in 1815. Her original name was Augusta Ada Byron and on her marriage to William King she became Ada King and later her husband became an earl, she became the Countess of Lovelace. Ada Lovelace died at the young age of 36 on November 27, 1852 of uterine cancer.

Her work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and notes on it are seen as the world’s first algorithm, thus earning her the the distinction of being the world’s first computer programmer.

Today is the 197th anniversary of her birth, and the Google Doodle in her honour portrays the Countess writing equations onto a long sheet of paper with a quill.

The progression from her calculations to the modern day laptop is also detailed in the image, with three interim images of technological breakthroughs in computing since the 19th century.

Charles Babbage called her the ‘Enchantress of Numbers’. Though there has been some disagreements over the extent of Ada Lovelace ‘s contribution to early computing, the computer language Ada is named after her and a medal is awarded in her name by the British Computer Society.

December 10, 2012
Instagram Photos No Longer Appearing On Twitter Feeds

If you’re wondering what happened to those Instagram photos you were trying to share on Twitter, you’re not alone.

Photo images from the popular photo sharing service went dark Sunday on Twitter, a decision, Twitter says, that was made by Instagram, which was acquired earlier in the year for $1 billion by Facebook.

[quote]”Instagram has disabled photo integration with Twitter,” the micro-blogging site wrote in a status update. “As a result, photos are no longer appearing in Tweets or user photo galleries.”[/quote]

Before you go throwing your smartphone into the wall, however, that’s not to say that Twitter has banished Instagram entirely from its service. That’s not what we mean. You can still take a photograph on Instagram, automatically upload it to your linked Twitter account, and your message will appear on the website with the standard “instagr.am” link to your pic following it.

What appears to be different now, for unknown reasons, is that the photos themselves aren’t showing up in feeds. In other words, there’s no cropped image to accompany the post – just the raw text and the Instagram link.

What remains to be seen is whether the issue at-hand is a purposeful act by Twitter or Instagram, or whether some kind of glitch is affecting Instagram shots on Twitter.

December 10, 2012
Apple Maps Can Be “Life Threatening” : Australian Police

Australian police Monday, December 10, warned motorists about using the map system on new Apple iPhones after rescuing several people left stranded in the wilderness, saying the errors could prove deadly.

The warning comes after after a number of people trying to find the town (Mildura) of 30,000 people have become hopelessly lost in scorching temperatures.

One man was stranded for 24 hours last week in temperatures of up to 46 degrees centigrade, and at least three more have had to be rescued after following the directions given on Apple’s new maps, which locate Mildura far from its actual position.

Authorities said tests on the mapping system had confirmed that it lists Mildura, around 500 kilometers (310 miles) northwest of Melbourne, as being in the heart of the Murray Sunset National Park.

[quote] “It’s quite a dangerous situation, so we would be calling for people not to use the new Apple iPhone mapping system if they’re traveling from South Australia to Mildura.[/quote]

Apple dropped Google as its map provider in September with the launch of its iOS 6 software for the iPhone and iPad. But problems quickly emerged with the map detail. Apple received criticism over inaccuracies in mapping data like the mislocation in Victoria, which led to the termination of several people involved with the Maps project, including Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall and Maps manager Richard Williamson.

December 10, 2012
Apple And Google Join Forces To Acquire Kodak Patents

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple and Google could be joining forces to buy Eastman Kodak patents out of bankruptcy for around $500 million.

Apple’s groups aiming for the Kodak patents included Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures Management LLC, sources said, while Google’s associates included patent risk solutions company RPX and the makers of Google’s Android phones.

Kodak went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and got a cash infusion based largely on the value that could be realized on the auction of its patent portfolio. Kodak has a huge amount of digital imaging patents and estimates the stack’s value at over $2bn at current market rates.

Unlikely partnerships are typical in patent sales because they allow competitors to neutralize potential infringement litigation. A group including Apple,Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. bought Nortel Networks Corp.’s more than 6,000 patents for $4.5 billion out of bankruptcy last year. Google lost the auction for those patents after making an initial offer of $900 million.

[quote]”Apple and Google learned a lesson from the Nortel’s auction,” said Richard Ehrlickman, former vice president of Intellectual Property at International Business Machines Corp. and president of IP Offerings, a patent brokerage and consulting company in the Bloomberg report. “They have decided to come together in this process to reduce the cost of purchasing the Kodak patents, while meeting their business needs.”[/quote]

What exactly the two companies would do with the Kodak patents is unclear, but owning patents is a thing companies like to do. So, maybe they’ll just own them to own them. There’s always that option.

December 9, 2012
Woman Orders One iPad From Best Buy, Gets Five! Told To Keep The Rest!

A Best Buy customer was pleasantly surprised after she opened a package from the store. The woman ordered one iPad from Best Buy but instead of getting one iPad tablet she got five of them. She wondered what to do and after a while she called the Best Buy hotline to report the mistake to the company.

A store rep from Best Buy’s 1-800 number acknowledged their mistake. Again, to the woman’s surprised she was told to keep the extra iPads.

[quote]”We, here at Best Buy, acknowledge that we obviously made a mistake, but in the spirit of the holidays, we encourage you to keep the additional iPads and give them to people in need – friends, family, a local school or charity,” Best Buy responded.[/quote]

Another customer reported a similar situation that happened to him. He ordered an iPad and received a package with five iPad tablets from Best Buy

[quote]”I called Best Buy’s 1-800 number and the rep told me there was nothing he could really do because the system only reported one as being sent to me,” the customer wrote to the Consumerist. “He told me I could try and drop them off at the Best Buy store, but I had reservations about how traceable this return would be.”[/quote]

That customer said he was keeping the iPads in his closet “until Best Buy comes knocking at my door or a reasonable amount of time goes by.”

Looks like Christmas came early for these customers. Next time I want to buy an iPad, I’ll keep Best Buy in mind!

December 9, 2012
Developer Finds Loophole In Jelly Bean To SIM Unlock Galaxy S3 And Note 2!

In case you happen to own one of Samsung’s 2012 flagship smartphone, either the Galaxy S3 or the Galaxy Note 2, you’ll be happy to hear that you can unlock them from the shackles of your carrier free of charge. And you can do all that by yourself, as long as your handset runs a Jelly Bean version.

An enterprising XDA Developer named owl74 has discovered a loophole inside the Jelly Bean software on Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III devices that unlocks the SIM slot for free.

The hack is quite simple to pull off and doesn’t require the phone to be rooted or running custom software. It does, however, involve some precise timing and a bit of luck — not all users are finding success with the process, and it won’t work if your Galaxy S III is still running Android 4.0.4, only Jelly Bean.

While we can’t guarantee the safety of this little hack, nor can we verify the efficacy of its claims, but several reports online suggest that the hack is legitimate.

(Note : We do not encourage hacking!)

December 9, 2012
Woman Sued For Defamation After Writing Negative Review On Yelp!

A negative Yelp review could cost one woman close to $1 million.

Jane Perez, a Virginia woman who wrote a scathing Yelp review of the contracting company that worked on her home, is being sued by Christopher Dietz for $750,000, according to the Washington Post.

Unhappy with the work Dietz’s company, Dietz Development LLC, did on her house, Perez took her anger to the web, alleging that the company had done damage to her home and that jewelry had disappeared. On Wednesday, a judge in Fairfax County Virginia ruled in a preliminary injunction that certain accusations be deleted—and as of Thursday Perez’s comments are no longer viewable on the Yelp page for Dietz Development.

A police investigation found no connection between the missing jewelry and Dietz or his company.

Perez was also ordered to change a reference to a previous lawsuit filed by Dietz because it included incorrect legal terminology.

The actual online review websites–Yelp, Angie’s List, TripAdvisor, etc.–are protected from lawsuit by the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 of the law protects online service providers from liability based on actions of third parties (a.k.a site users.) But the claims made by the reviewer can be subject to defamation charges, which vary based on state laws.

In Virginia, where Dietz is bringing his suit, the state says that someone can be found guilty of defamation charges if he or she makes or even implies statements that are not factual that harm a person or businesses’ reputation.

December 9, 2012
YouTube Rolls Out New Design

It was a long time coming. The new YouTube was officially unveiled on Thursday.

Available to a limited amount of users since June 2012, the new interface marks a turning point in the history of the social network, whose emphasis in now on channel promotion.

Google is pushing how the subscription-focused design is “just like adding your favorite shows to your DVR.” Watching videos has changed, too, with content edging closer to the top of the screen, and playlists showing up just to the right, making it easier to flip through other videos on the same channel.

With YouTube investing heavily in its own original channels, it only makes sense that it would try to make that content as easy as possible to access and navigate through, and the new design is a big step in that direction.

Major website design changes are rarely received well by their users, however the feedback to this particular YouTube design is particularly nasty. Almost every YouTube video with comments from the past few hours features some sort of complaint relating to the changes, often relating to how YouTube has made it harder to perform certain actions

December 7, 2012
2013 Skoda Octavia Unveiling In Prague This Week, Will Launch In India Next Year

The 2013 Octavia (Laura to us) is set to be unveiled in Prague this week, and will most probably end up in India in the last quarter of 2013.

Latest leaked images reveal some design traits of this new car. The 2013 Octavia carries the new Skoda design language which has been heavily influenced by the VisionD concept and the lines on the car are silky smooth.

The looks are now more like the VW cars, especially the side profile. The picture of the rear styling shows a complete transformation over the current one and has a more European look to it.

Image Courtesy : AutoCZ

The 2013 Skoda Octavia is seen with 5 spoke alloys on 17″ wheels, bumper design is more angular while boot area looks to have enhanced capacity of approximately 590 liters. Interiors too have been overhauled and fitted with quality material with better equipment.

Engine choices for international markets range from 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol engines and 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesels mated to either 5 or 6-speed manual transmissions and a 6-speed DSG ‘box.

2013 Skoda Octavia will stand 4,659mm in length, 1814mm in width and will sit on a 2,686 long wheelbase. Skoda expects this vehicle to be at the top of the charts of best selling cars in the world.

In India, the Octavia will be launched as the all-new Laura and will compete with the current crop of D-segment luxury sedans including the Volkswagen Jetta, Chevrolet Cruze, Renault Fluence and the recently launched Hyundai Elantra. It will go up against some stiff competition given the fact that the new Elantra is selling in big numbers.

December 7, 2012
HTC’s M7 Flagship Android Phone Rumoured For Early 2013

HTC is prepping a new flagship Android phone for launch, new reports have suggested, with a rumoured HTC M7 release date pegged for early 2013.

According to Focus Taiwan, HTC plans to stage a huge comeback in 2013, focusing on a few core products. This time it intends to actually sell them, ordering up to five million M7 devices from its manufacturing partners.

Such a device would have to be plenty powerful and plenty beautiful, right? The M7 is expected to feature a 5-inch 1080p Super LCD 3 screen, a 1.5Ghz quad-core APQ8064 SoC, 2GB RAM and 13MP camera, along with a unibody aluminum shell.

2012 wasn’t the best year for HTC, in the first three quarters the company failed to impress on the smartphone market and the financial results didn’t look to well for it.

HTC’s revenue for November increased over previous months, to $732 million USD, but is still down 31% over the same time last year. Products like the One X+, Windows Phone 8X and Droid DNA have helped bring the company back into the spotlight, but the brand has lost much of its recognition in recent months as Samsung continues to dominate the Android ecosystem.

December 7, 2012