Author: Shivaank Rana

Mushkin Unveils World’s First 480GB mSATA SSD

Mushkin announced on Wednesday the upcoming launch of the “world’s first” mSATA SSD with a 480 GB capacity on a single module. It’s the latest addition to the company’s Atlas family of mSATA drives, and is scheduled to be available early January 2013 in the U.S. at select resellers and distributors.

If you want an ultra-thin laptop like an Ultrabook, manufacturers are pretty limited on the components they can fit inside that slender case. Storage is no exception, with most relying on an mSATA SSD as the more typical 2.5-inch drives just won’t fit. That also means storage space has been quite limited to just a couple hundred of gigabytes. Until now, that is.

Although read/write speeds for the mSATA 480GB version haven’t been officially announced, the 256GB model achieves 560MB/s reads and 530MB/s writes over a 6Gb/s SATA III connection using a SandForce controller. The 480GB model will at the very least equal those speeds, if not improve on them slightly.

The Atlas ships with TRIM and S.M.A.R.T. support, comes with a 3-year limited warranty, and is expected to start shipping by the middle of January next year. It’s by no means cheap, though. On its own you can expect to pay $499.99, in the U.S that is, although that price is sure to drop significantly for any manufacturers wanting to ship one inside an Ultrabook. Still, at around a Rs 55 per gigabyte for such a speedy drive, it’s still a very tempting proposition.

Specifications:

– SandForce SF-2281 SSD processor with unthrottled IOPS
– SATA III (6Gb/s) interface
– Supports ATA APM, Security Set, NCQ
– TRIM support (OS/driver support required)
– S.M.A.R.T. support
– Built-in BCH ECC (Up to 55 bits correctable per 512 byte sector)
– High speed MLC NAND
– MO-300 (mSATA) form factor (50.80 x 29.85 x 4.85mm)
– Mini PCIe Interface
– User-upgradeable firmware
– RoHS, FCC, CE
– 3-year limited warranty

December 7, 2012
Snapseed Photo Editor Now On Android, Goes Free on iOS

Nik Software’s robust photo editing app, Snapseed, has finally made its way to Android. The app, which is also available on iOS, lets you edit your photos using simple gesture controls, and allows you to share your newly-minted masterpieces via Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Snapseed for Android is available for phones and tablets running Ice Cream Sandwich or above.

While this does limit the user base, Google is pushing people stuck on Android 2.2 and 2.3 to update their phones, or to purchase a Nexus device that will always stay updated.

Snapseed is very easy to use, and less onerous or labour-intensive than Photoshop Touch. It can aut0-fix photos, definitely, but it can be used to make subtle and even minute edits to photos that affect exposure, saturation, sharpness and contrast. In other words, it’s a fully-fledged photo editor that competes with iPhoto.

Google also updated the Snapseed’s iOS version, along with making it free. For reference, Snapseed for iOS was $4.99 until right this second.

Back in September, The Verge reported that Google had acquired Nik Software, the German startup behind Snapseed, a photo editing app that won Apple’s App of the Year in 2011.

December 6, 2012
Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 Hybrid Tablet Launched For INR 69,000

Fujitsu has introduced the Stylistic Q702 hybrid tablet in India aimed at the mobile business user. Fujitsu states that this hybrid tablet can be used as two-in-one replacement for a tablet and a notebook as it comes with a full-size notebook keyboard and an addition battery. It has been priced at Rs 69,000/-.

Fujitsu claims that the screen is easy to use even in direct sunlight. STYLISTIC Q702 comes with a standard 4 cell battery but there is a second battery in the keyboard as well. One can opt for 3rd Generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processor with optional Intel vPro Technology. Other features include 4GB DDR3 RAM, biometric fingerprint sensor and optional embedded support for 3G/UMTS or 4G/LTE mobile data.

Apart from the STYLISTIC Q702, Fujitsu has also showcased a redesigned version of LIFEBOOK T902. LIFEBOOK T902 is a convertible tablet PC, which according to the company, is targeted at the consumers who need more performance than a tablet. LIFENOOK T902 will come with 3rd Generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and support up to 16GB of RAM. This tablet can run Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and even Windows 7 Professional. However, the company did not reveal any further details about the pricing, or availability of LIFEBOOK T902.

December 6, 2012
Latest : Galaxy S IV To Launch In April With Breakthrough Unbreakable Screen?

Although the display of Samsung’s Galaxy S II uses Gorilla Glass, it’s certainly not unbreakable – as various videos on the web are demonstrating, and as some users have seen for themselves.

According to Reuters, the next flagship smartphone from Samsung may rock a cutting-edge OLED panel that resists cracks and scratches more easily, and would be “unbreakable”.

Unofficially dubbed the Galaxy S4, Samsung’s Next Big Thing could benefit from major advances in screen technology whereby the glass substrate protecting the display can be replaced with a more shatter-resistant plastic material. It would also be lighter, thus further reducing the chance of breaking the screen.

Samsung is already one of the pioneers of OLED technology and is hotly tipped to be the first to introduce it to mobile devices, as it was previously too expensive and experimental to do so. Naturally, the Galaxy S4 or at least its successor, would be a very likely to debut it.

Reuters also jumped on board the rumour train and sourced unnamed “analysts and tech blogs” stating that Samsung will unveil their new flagship Galaxy smartphone, internally called ‘Project J’ after head of its mobile division JK Shin, as early as April 2013. That is one month ahead of when the GS III was announced.

Rumoured specs of the GS IV have it running Android (potentially Key Lime Pie), larger display at 5-inches with a 441 pixels per inch (ppi), a quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel camera.

Of course, all this is a rumour until Samsung comes out with an official announcement.

December 6, 2012
RIM To Start “BlackBerry 10 Ready Program”, To Give Enterprises Free BlackBerry 10 Device

RIM announced their “BlackBerry 10 Ready Program” this morning, an incentive for their enterprise customers to “prepare their environments” for the upcoming BB10 OS. RIM will be rolling out various offerings in a phased approach and will include four components: BlackBerry 10 Ready Offer, BlackBerry 10 Ready Webcast Series, BlackBerry Enterprise Server License Trade Up, and the BlackBerry 10 Readiness Services. The BlackBerry 10 Ready Offer and BlackBerry 10 Ready Webcast Series are both available today, while the other two will go live before RIM fully unveils BB10 on January 30th.

[quote]We remain committed to our enterprise customers and want to provide them with a head start on understanding the power of BlackBerry 10 and preparing their existing environments for the new mobile computing platform,” said Bryan Lee, Senior Director, Enterprise at RIM. “The BlackBerry 10 Ready Program gives customers access to a variety of services, information, tools, and special offers to help ease their transition to BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.”[/quote]

The webcast series is simple, but incredibly important. This will be the educational portion and RIM will hold weekly webcasts to share info and answer questions about the upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS, plus demonstrate how enterprise customers can easily integrate BB10 when it launches.

Specifics of the “BlackBerry 10 Ready Offer” reveals that RIM will be giving out a free BB10 smartphone, but is limited to one per company and currently available to those in Canada and the United States. RIM states that more countries will follow.

BlackBerry customers with BlackBerry Technical Support at the Advantage level or higher are eligible to receive a free BlackBerry 10 smartphone. Customers will need to install and run BlackBerry Mobile Fusion (which will be succeeded by BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10), and successfully complete an exclusive online learning course to qualify. Upon the launch of BlackBerry 10, the organization will receive a free BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

RIM has 80 million BlackBerry customers and 60 million BlackBerry Messenger users. The big unveiling of BlackBerry 10 is happening on January 30th, 2013 .

[toggle_box title=”Press Release” width=”Width of toggle box”]

Research In Motion (RIM) (RIMM)(RIM.TO) today announced the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. The program is designed to address the needs of BlackBerry enterprise customers as they prepare their environments for the launch of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10, RIM”s powerful new multiplatform enterprise mobility management solution. The program will be introduced in a phased approach with four components. Two of the components – The BlackBerry 10 Ready Offer and the BlackBerry 10 Ready Webcast Series – are available today. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server License Trade Up and BlackBerry 10 Readiness Services components will be available ahead of the global BlackBerry 10 launch on January 30, 2013.

“We remain committed to our enterprise customers and want to provide them with a head start on understanding the power of BlackBerry 10 and preparing their existing environments for the new mobile computing platform,” said Bryan Lee, Senior Director, Enterprise at RIM. “The BlackBerry 10 Ready Program gives customers access to a variety of services, information, tools, and special offers to help ease their transition to BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.”

BlackBerry 10 Ready Offer

BlackBerry customers with BlackBerry Technical Support at the Advantage level or higher are eligible to receive a free BlackBerry 10 smartphone.* Customers will need to install and run BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion (which will be succeeded by BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10), and successfully complete an exclusive online learning course to qualify. Upon the launch of BlackBerry 10, the organization will receive a free BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

BlackBerry 10 Webcast Series

The weekly BlackBerry 10 webcast series is designed to share information, answer questions about RIM”s enterprise product portfolio, and prepare enterprise customers with the tools they need ahead of launch. The webcasts will be supported in multiple languages.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server License Trade Up

RIM will be offering customers who purchase BlackBerry 10 smartphones the ability to trade up their existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server licenses on a one for one basis for free, until December 31, 2013.** The license trade up offer will allow customers to secure and manage their BlackBerry 10 smartphones with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10. Customers will be able to access an online tool for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server License Trade Up in January 2013.

BlackBerry 10 Readiness Services

This set of services will provide customers with a smooth migration path to BlackBerry 10. Change management and planning migration tools, and application development services will be available in January 2013. For more details customers can email [email protected].

For more information about the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program please visitwww.blackberry.com/blackberry10ready.

To register for the BlackBerry 10 Webcast Series, and to get a complete list of dates and times, please visit www.blackberry.com/blackberry10webcasts.

* Offer available while supplies last. Limit one (1) device per company. Offer currently only available for customers in North America. (Additional countries are expected to follow with similar offers.) Offer deadline: February 28, 2013. For complete details see Terms and Conditions:http://www.blackberry.com/business/blackberry-10-ready/free-blackberry-10-device/terms-and-conditions.html.

** Offer applies to BlackBerry Enterprise Server licenses only; not applicable for BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express licenses. Additional Terms and Conditions apply.

About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (RIM.TO). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.

Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used herein, words such as “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “intend”, “believe”, and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by RIM in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that RIM believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause RIM”s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the “Risk Factors” section of RIM”s Annual Information Form, which is included in its Annual Report on Form 40-F (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on RIM”s forward-looking statements. RIM has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

BlackBerry, RIM, Research In Motion and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other brands, names and marks are the property of their respective owners. RIM is not responsible for any third party products or services.

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December 6, 2012
Airtel launches Green Data Centre in Mumbai

Bharti Airtel has launched a new Green Data Centre in Mumbai. The state of the art facility has been designed to achieve 1.7- 1.75 PUE, making it one of the most energy efficient facilities in India.

The new data center expands Airtel Business’s ability to offer collocation, managed hosting, disaster recovery, remote infrastructure management, application and cloud computing services to small, large and medium enterprises across verticals in Mumbai. This is Airtel’s eighth tier 3+ data centre in the country and is in line with Airtel’s growing focus on hosting and managed services segment.

The data centre has been jointly designed and commissioned with India’s NetMagic Solutions Pvt Ltd; is carrier neutral, and is connected to airtel’s first class bandwidth capacity and network support infrastructure to enable scalability, resilience and efficient delivery of services to its valued customers.

[quote]

Drew Kelton, President – Airtel Business, Bharti Airtel, said “Mumbai is the commercial capital of India and is also one of the world’s top centres of commerce as a result it offers humungous opportunity to provide IT managed and cloud services to enterprise customers. With the launch of this facility, Airtel takes another step in moving beyond its core connectivity services and into collocation, managed and hosting services and bringing these services closer to our clients in Mumbai. It supports our drive to be the preferred IT&T provider delivering end to end solutions to our customers.”

[/quote]

Airtel currently operates seven level 3/3+ data centres in NCR, Bangalore, Chennai, Bhubneshwar and Pune – giving PAN India presence and choice to enterprise customers for their both primary/DR requirements.

December 5, 2012
Windows Phone Now Home To 120k Apps : Microsoft

WP8 would share the same kernel as that of Windows 8 and Windows RT

The Windows Phone Store now has over 120,000 apps ranging from photo apps to those that help you stay in touch with friends across the globe. Out of the top 50 apps available for iPhone and Android, 46 of them are available for Windows Phone 8. Back in June, the company had announced that it had crossed 100,000 published apps, and now a 20 percent increase in just six months is something to applaud.

For Microsoft, growing its app store is an important goal around fostering the image of the Windows Phone platform. Seeing as consumers love apps, having a plethora of them available for download is a critical selling point.

Microsoft has also announced that since Windows Phone 8 was launched a few weeks back, WP developers have witnessed more than 100% increase in revenue. While the company didn’t give the specifics, it does seem that WP apps are finally gaining some traction among the users, something which is certainly good news for the developers who have invested their time and money into developing Windows Phone 8 apps.

December 5, 2012
YouTube App For iOS Updated, Adds iPad, AirPlay, iPhone 5 Support

In addition to the Gmail app for iOS, Google also updated the YouTube app today. It adds support for a variety of different Apple products and services. It at last fills up the entire 4-inch display of the iPhone 5. Having those black bars next to videos annoyed a lot of users. Plus, iPad users can rejoice as well thanks to YouTube’s optimization for the tablet as well.

One of the new features is the Guide of channels that you can access by tapping on the YouTube logo in the title bar; tap it, and you’ll go back to the app’s main sidebar, listing your account’s options and Channels.

Among other improvements — including clickable links in video descriptions and ability to add or remove a video from your playlists — a notable addition is AirPlay support: you can now natively stream videos to any AirPlay-compatible device such as the Apple TV or a Mac running Reflection.

YouTube 1.1.0.4136 is now available as a free download via App Store and it’s fully compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad devices running iOS 5 or later.

December 5, 2012
Gmail 2.0 For iOS Released, Gets New UI, Multiple Account Support

Google’s Gmail app for iOS received its 2.0 facelift on Tuesday and is now available through Apple’s iTunes App Store.

From the seamless multiple account integration to the use of Google profile photos, the Gmail app feels smooth and fresh, an equally potent combination of top-tier iOS app design and Google’s recent minimalist flair. Aesthetically, it hews closely to the recent flat, white upgrade Gmail’s desktop site recently received.

The Gmail app also integrates Google calendar invites, so you can accept or reject times from within the app itself. Links also start up in Chrome by default (if it’s installed on the phone) so you can stay away from mobile Safari completely if desired. Google has improved search within the app which, if you’re anything like me, involves instantly retrieving results from 15,000+ emails.

Gmail 2.0 also incorporates infinite scrolling, so it never appears like you have to dig into the servers for emails older than 30 days. It downloads headers and content on the fly and, as stated, makes searching huge databases even faster than before.

Multiple account integration is going to be the biggest boost to productivity for many users; I was previously getting around this by forwarding my second and third accounts to a main one, but this is no longer necessary, thank goodness. Lastly, users can reply to Google+ posts from within an email thread, something we’ll likely continue to see Google iterate on in future updates. We wouldn’t be surprised if, one day, Gmail and Google+ are only one app on both Android and iOS.

December 5, 2012
Rumour : Apple Hiring Former Texas Instruments Engineers in Israel

Apple is taking full advantage of the recent layoffs at Texas Instruments in Israel.

In November, Texas Instruments laid off about 250 employees in Israel as part of a worldwide effort to reduce its workforce by 1,700 people.

A fresh rumor is trying to convince us that Apple is on a hiring spree in Israel, where the company’s hunting for some talented engineers. What’s interesting about this particular story is that Apple is said to be hiring the same former Texas Instruments employees to work on its system-on-chip technology.

According to TI Israel’s website, the Ra’anana campus was responsible for wireless connectivity solutions like WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS and OMAP products. OMAP, or Open Multimedia Applications Platform, is a type of system-on-a-chip developed by the Texas-based company currently being used in portable devices like Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD.

Apple in April was reported to be gearing up for a major hiring campaign to fill spots at its Israel R&D center located in Haifa’s Scientific Industries Center, which boasts a collective of high-tech companies like Google, Intel and IBM. The recent TI Israel hires won’t be the first for Apple, as former Deputy CEO Etai Zaitsman is said to be working on the Haifa initiative headed up by Aharon Aharon, a veteran of Israel’s tech industry.

December 4, 2012
Jelly Bean Now On 6.7% of Android Devices : Google

Google’s latest iteration of their mobile OS, Jelly Bean, has enjoyed a good start so far – in the last thirty days alone, Jelly Bean has had a nice boost in scooping up more market share thanks to people buying Jelly Bean-based devices like the incredible Nexus 4 which comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean on-board. It now runs on 6.7% of all Android devices.

Gingerbread is still the most widely used version of Android and is installed on 50.8% of devices while Android Ice Cream Sandwich comes in at second place with 27.5% of handsets running it. Although the statistics are aimed at offering useful insights to developers they give a good overview of how fast the newer versions of Android are catching up and what the state of the operating system’s fragmentation is.

Incredibly, there are still traces of Cupcake, Donut and Eclair roaming around the Google Android universe, while Froyo still holds over 10-percent of the share.

These latest figures from Google are based on users who have accessed the Play Store within the last 14 days. The next few months should show a more rapid shift in the percentages as more devices get the Jelly Bean update, not to mention the inevitable future success of Google’s Nexus 4.

December 4, 2012
Gmail 4.2.1 Update Out For Android 4.0 And Later

Remember that huge upgrade to Gmail for Android we wrote about last month? Looks like Google was merely putting the finishing touches on the app before releasing it to everyone. While the big new features — pinch-to-zoom and swipe-to-archive — only work on devices running Ice Cream Sandwich and above, it looks like all Android devices received the requisite performance improvements and bug fixes.

Smaller changes to the Gmail app include removing the message text size option (because pinch to zoom is now present), contextual unread counts for each label (as opposed to just the inbox), and a permanent anchor for the “inbox” label on the drop-down menu at the top of the app. Oh, and praise all that is holy: attachments are back where they belong – at the bottom of the message.

Head to the Play Store to grab the latest version of Gmail now. And remember, this is only for Android 4.0 devices! You can also check out this post by the Gmail team on Google+ to learn more about the new update.

December 4, 2012
Apple Files Patent For Wireless Charging Technology

When it comes to wireless charging, today’s options aren’t exactly as cord-free as the label would suggest. Things like charging mats or other wireless docking options are fine and all, but adding more accessories and bulky cases to the mix is often more trouble than it’s worth. As Wired reports, a patent filed this week by Apple side steps these pesky add-ons and could offer true wireless charging for the first time on Apple hardware.

An Apple patent application published Thursday, “Wireless Power Utilization in a Local Computing Environment,” uses a different approach. Apple’s implementation would utilize a near-field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply to deliver juice to nearby devices that have an NFMR resonator circuit within.

In the patent filed by Apple, the company claims they will “utilize a near-field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply to deliver juice to nearby devices that have an NFMR resonator circuit within.” This approach would create a “virtual charging area” within about a yard of this power supply, which would thereby charge your device.

A secondary benefit is that wireless devices like the mouse and keyboard could ditch their batteries, helping the environment. Eco responsibility is a cause that, despite challenges with product repairability, Apple is quite dedicated to.

Interesting!

December 3, 2012
LG Optimus L9 Launched In India, Priced At INR 23,000

LG Electronics has launched LG Optimus L9 smartphone in India. The Optimus L9 is the latest addition in the style-focused L-Series smartphones from LG.

LG Optimus L9 comes with 1GHz dual-core processor and 4.7-inch IPS display. It has a qHD (960×540 pixels) display and runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The smartphone also comes with 1GB RAM, 5-megapixel rear camera and high-density 2150 mAH SiO+ battery.

[quote]

According to Mr. Soon Kwon, President South West Asia Region & MD, LG India, “Smartphones today have become an essential part of life. People see it as an extension of themselves. Smartphones have come a long way from where they had started and today’s smartphones are a far cry from their bulky ancestors. LG Optimus L9 has been designed in a way that it can cater to every need of smart consumers who demands a powerhouse of style, performance and efficiency in their smartphones.”

“With LG Optimus L9, users can take advantage of premium smartphone features – a stunning display, a powerful processor and a long-lasting battery – in a sleek design. LG Optimus L9 is equipped with the an updated software, state-of-the-art hardware, and several new exciting features, helping it elevate user experience to a whole new level”, added Mr. Soon Kwon.

[/quote]

The LG Optimus L9 is priced at MRP of Rs. 23000/-.

December 3, 2012
Facebook To Buy Whatsapp?

TechCrunch is reporting that Facebook is looking to acquire WhatsApp, according to sources close to the matter.

Whatsapp, the multiplatform mobile messaging app has been one of the runaway success stories for ad-free, paid services.

Founded in 2009, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company provides a smartphone app for Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian, and Windows Phone that delivers text messages as well as images and audio and video messages. The ad-free Whatsapp reportedly has about 100 million daily users, with a presence in 250 countries on a variety of platforms.

Whastapp announced in October 2011 that it was serving up 1 billion messages per day: “Just how much is 1 billion messages? That is 41,666,667 messages an hour, 694,444 messages a minute, and 11,574 messages a second,” the company wrote in a blog post at the time. The company added that it was a “small step closer towards our goal: providing a great mobile messaging system for a global market, regardless of your handset.”

Developing…

[Tech Crunch]

December 3, 2012