Author: Shivaank Rana

Honda Brio Sedan Video Released

Honda has released the first teaser video of an upcoming model that is reportedly based on the Brio hatchback.

Described as the “sedan of your dreams,” the car has a generic design with upward sweeping character lines, large taillights and chrome trim.

Power will be provided by a 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine that develops 88 HP (65 kW) and 109 Nm (80 lb-ft) of torque, however, specifications of its diesel engine are yet elusive. New tail lamps, a boot of 300 to 350 liter capacity, a generic design with upward sweeping lines are part of the Brio Sedan make up, which once launched is likely to compete with Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Tata Indigo eCS and the Verito.

Check out the video below :

October 28, 2012
Record 10 Crore Mobile Handset Sales

Mobile phones shipment to India during the first-half of 2012 crossed 10 crore units, registering a growth of 16.6 per cent over the same period over the previous year, according CyberMedia Research (CMR).

“During January-June 2012, the total India shipment of mobile handsets was recorded at 102.43 million units (10.24 crore),” CMR said in its report.

The total number of smartphones shipped during the period was 55 lakh units.

Nokia has 22.2 per cent share in the overall shipments, followed by Samsung at 13 per cent.

In smartphone category, Samaung’s share is 41.6 per cent, followed by Nokia and Blackberry handsets maker Research-In-Motion with 19.2 per cent and 12.1 per cent, respectively.

CMR’s Lead Analyst for Telecoms Practice Faisal Kawoosa said the first-half of calendar year 2012 witnessed high -decibel launch of phones like Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One X and second half of 2012 continues to see launch of a number of high value smartphone models such as the Nokia Lumia 910, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Apple iPhone 5.

“This push from vendors and the increasing maturity of the India mobile subscriber community is expected to further push up smartphones as a proportion of total mobile handset shipments in the country in the next few quarters,” Kawoosa said.

As per this report, Google’s Android platform dominated among mobile operating system, with 56.4 per cent share, followed by Nokia’s Symbian at 17.4 per cent share, Blackberry 12.1 per cent, Bada 8.5 per cent, Apple’s iOS 3 per cent and Windows mobile phone with 2.6 per cent.

According to CMR, the total mobile phone shipments for sales in India market was 18.3 crore units by end of 2011.

[Economic Times]

October 28, 2012
Google Event Cancelled Due To Hurricane Sandy

It must be a rude shock for many but Google’s Nexus 4, Nexus 10 and Android 4.2 release event in New York has been cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy

Android and Google fans must be feeling very disappointed. They were all expecting several new Google products and an improved version of Nexus 7. But there seems to be disappointment in store as Google has reportedly cancelled its media event in New York slated for October 29. Besides the hardware, Google was expected to introduce Android 4.2 during the much publicized event.

But alas, like everything under attack in New York thanks to Hurricane Sandy, Google was forced to cancel the event. The company hasn’t yet announced the new dates for the launch event. But insiders suggest that as there is no problem with either hardware or software updates the rescheduled even should be held within a short period of time.

“We are canceling our Monday morning event in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. We will let you know our plans as soon as we know more,” Google said.

Google’s event was planned to compete with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 event taking place in San Francisco the same day.

Android chief Andy Rubin is still expected to speak at the All Things D “Dive Into Mobile” conference in New York City on Monday afternoon.

October 28, 2012
Nexus 10 Captured On Video!

What we have here is a brief 5 second video of the upcoming Google Nexus 10 by Samsung, courtesy of BriefMobile who recently leaked images of the the device. The launch date for the 10.1-inch tablet is unknown, but we should be hearing specific details in the coming days. The specs included are a 1.7 GHz dual-core processor, runs Android OS 4.2 Jelly Bean and sports a 5MP camera – you can check out the full specs here. In the meantime, brace yourself for the 5 seconds… it goes fast. Video below.

October 28, 2012
More Light Shed On The Nexus 10 As Images And Specs Leaked

Come Monday and Google is expected to unveil multiple Nexus devices that will be released this fall including a Nexus 10 tablet, which has surfaced online recently.

There have been less number of rumors regarding the Nexus 10 tablet as compared to the LG Nexus 4 or other Nexus devices. The first images of the rumored Nexus 10 tablet leaked on Friday

The tablet is 10.1-inches and sports a Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 (298.9PPI), runs Android OS 4.2 Jelly Bean (not Key Lime Pie), and has a 1.7GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos 5250 processor. Other notable specs have the Nexus 10 coming with NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 16GB of internal storage, 2gigs of RAM, plus dual stereo speakers. The display looks like a fingerprint magnet, or somebody really has greasy fingers. The back is reportedly brushed aluminum with “rubber coated edges.”

In addition, as suspected by the picture captured this morning, the rear-facing camera is a 5MP shooter, but no word on what the front-facing camera is. Apparently the camera features in OS 4.2 have been improved, now bringing a new slide-to-activate menu and a redesigned camera icon. Finally, as previous leaks suggested, OS 4.2 will bring the ability to have multiple user accounts.

October 27, 2012
HTC Manages Small Profit In Q3

HTC is doing everything it can to stay afloat these days. Its Q3 2012 revenue was $2.4 billion — a nice number, granted — but nowhere close to Samsung’s $40+ billion quarter. And while it’s still making a profit, the $133 million takeaway is down 80% from the same time last year.

From the outside, it would seem that everything is going right for the Taiwanese company. In February it announced its best lineup ever, and created a brand out of thin air that has endured in the minds of tech writers and consumers. Its One series included the gorgeous One X, the thin-and-light One S, and the endearing One V. But shortly after the phones’ launches, Samsung brought out its Galaxy S III, which seemed to overshadow all the good will and excitement from HTC’s launch.

HTC is back this fall with two Windows Phone 8 devices, the 8X and 8S — on multiple carriers — and a refreshed One X, which is coming to TELUS. But its guidance for Q4 warns of further revenue drops and smaller margins. Its current cash-on-hand situation is getting worrying, too, as the company has halved its liquid assets in the past year. The next step for the already-small handset maker will likely be layoffs if it can’t manage to lift sales in the coming months.

October 27, 2012
LG Nexus 4 Quick Start Guide Leaked Online, Shows 8GB and 16GB Models, Wireless Charging

The Nexus leak factory has been relentlessly churning its goods in the past weeks, and it doesn’t look like there’s any sign of slowing down. Two days ago the world got their hands on the Nexus 10 tablet manual early, now the Nexus 4 too has its “Quick Start” booklet revealed ahead of its introduction.

LG UK uploaded the LGE960 “Quick Start Guide” for the Nexus 4 and have also reveals that the pure Android will come in both an 8GB and 16GB models.

The only other bit of news is that the manual confirms the device will have wireless charging capabilities: “If you use a wireless charger, you must use an approved model and only as direct- ed. The Nexus 4 travel adapter may not generate enough current to power a wireless charger.”

Although Google’s Android event will be held on Monday, don’t discount the possibility of seeing more leaks — if there’s still any left.

October 27, 2012
MacBook Pro Retina 13-Inch Teardown : Redesigned battery, Samsung flash, Soldered RAM

The $1,699 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display has a reconfigured battery that is much easier to remove, an iFixit teardown reveals.

Now that Apple has taken the wraps off its latest MacBook Pro, a 13-inch notebook updated with the company’s high-definition Retina display, the teardown team over at iFixit has taken the screws to it—or out of it, as the case may be. During the analysis, the company noted the most striking change was the redesign of the device’s battery—which has been changed in a few ways.

The flash storage in the 13-inch MacBook Pro taken apart by iFixit is a Samsung MZ-DPC2560/0A2 unit rated at 3.3 volts and 2.39 amps with 256 gigabytes of storage.

The disassembly discovered that the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro has the same AirPort card as its 15-inch counterpart, while the heat sink has been slightly scaled down to fit into the smaller notebook. Apple has also once again used fans with asymmetrical blade spacing to reduce fan noise.

And like the 15-inch model, the RAM is surface-mount soldered to the logic board, meaning no upgrades are possible. Apple does not offer any more than 8 gigabytes of RAM on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Another strange inclusion found in the notebook is a flash memory chip on the trackpad board. The same feature is also found in the 15-inch model, but iFixit doesn’t know why a trackpad would require flash memory.

“The 13in MacBook Retina is slightly more recyclable than the 15in Retina,” the Ifixit team said on its Macbook teardown page. “Once inside, it took us ‘only’ 15 minutes of prying to remove the battery, and we didn’t puncture the battery cells.”

Ifixit also found that the battery fitted inside is glued into the laptop’s top case, but is slightly less difficult to remove compared to the 15in model.

One of the biggest worries for the Ifixit crew is the display assembly, which it says is almost impossible to take apart. “If anything ever fails inside the display, you’ll need to replace the display as a whole,” it said.

As a device repair site, iFixit rates the repairability of the electronics it disassembles. They found that the 13-inch MacBook Pro is a slight improvement over the 15-inch model in terms of recyclability and repairability, specifically with relation to the removal of the device’s batteries. Still, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display could only earn a repairability score of 2 out of 10.

October 26, 2012
Royal Enfield Targets 150,000 Sales In 2013

Royal Enfield, India’s oldest maker of motorcycles, is looking at doubling its sales at 150,000 units during the next year (2013) as against 75,000 units sold in 2011. For the year 2012, the company is aiming at selling 100,000 bikes.

In order to meet the growing demand for its high performance motorcycles, the company is setting up second manufacturing unit at Oragadam near Chennai at an investment of Rs 150 crore. It has bought 50 acres land for the purpose. The plant will commence production during the first quarter of 2013, Shaji Koshy, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Royal Enfield said.

[quote]“Last year we sold 75,000 units, whereas we have achieved that mark in the first three quarters of this year. Our monthly sales volume has increased to 10,000 units from 7,000 units in January this year. With the launch of Thunderbird 500 we hope to double our sales in 2013,” he said.[/quote]

Talking to reporters after the launch of Thunderbird 500 and all-new Thunderbird 350 in Bangalore on Thursday, Koshy said the company would have a combined manufacturing capacity of 150,000 units in 2013. The company has also increased its dealer network in the country to 237 outlets. The company will start delivering the newly launched bike from end of November and the customers, who have booked Thunderbird 350 would be given a choice to shift to Thunderbird 500 before commencing the booking for new customers, he added.

The company plans to export about 5 per cent of its total capacity next year. It currently exports its bikes to USA, UK, Canada, and Latin America among other markets.

Thunderbird 500 is available for Rs 186,622 (On-road, Bangalore) and Thunderbird 350 comes with a price of Rs 146,466 (On-road, Bangalore)

[Business Standard]

October 26, 2012
New 12W Adapter Will Charge iPads Quicker Than 10W Adapters Says Apple

The morning of Apple’s iPad mini event earlier this week, there was a handful of new accessories coming including four new Lightning adapters and a 12W USB power adapter. We didn’t hear much about them during the event, but the new cables and adapters have hit Apple’s online store now, including a Lightning Digital AV adapter and Lightning to VGA adapter, with most shipping in “2-3 weeks”.

On the product page for the new 12W USB charger, Apple confirmed it would indeed ship with Retina iPads. With the new fourth-gen replacing the third-gen iPad—that would essentially cover just the iPad 4. It is, however, selling the adapter by itself for $19 online and listing compatibility with iPad 2, iPhone 4S, and iPod touch fifth-gen and up. Many readers have wondered whether the adapter would allow for faster charging with the iPad 3 and fourth-gen iPad.

9to5Mac received confirmation of this super-charging power from Apple which said, “We don’t have an exact percentage of how much faster it would charge but you should see an increase in speed.”

This is good news to iPad third generation owners who were disappointed with the slow charge times from the original 10W adapter.

Customers who want to turbocharge their device can buy the new 12W USB power adapter for $19 from Apple’s online store.

[9to5Mac]

October 26, 2012
General Motors To Launch Sail U-VA in November; New Spark Launched Today

General Motors India have successfully launched the new Spark at a base price of Rs 3.16 lakhs, and a topend price of Rs 4.10 lakhs for the LPG variant. Now, the American car maker is all set to launch their next car, Chevrolet Sail U-VA, in India. Chevy Sail is a sub 4 meter hatchback and is expected to be launched in November.

This is the first model to be launched in India from the General Motors SAIC joint venture. Sail U-VA will sit on a 2465mm wheelbase, promises a generous amount of internal space while external styling is also up to expectations. The vehicle will be fitted with a 79 bhp 1.2 liter petrol engine and a 1.3 liter diesel engine, while prices are expected to be in the Rs.4.2 lakh range for the petrol variant and going upto Rs.5.8 lakhs for the diesel counterpart. ARAI has pegged mileage to be at 22.1 kmpl for the diesel variant

The company website displays the Sail U-VA with a new front fascia, interiors are done up in a two tone finish while safety features are at a premium. Fuel tank being strategically positioned means that boot capacity is extended to 1134 liters when seats are folded down. Once launched, Sail U-VA will compete with Maruti Swift, Ford Figo and Toyota Etios. Chevrolet has also launched a new video to promote their new Sail hatchback in India.

[Rush Lane]

October 25, 2012
Leaked : Samsung Nexus 10 Quick Start Guide

If you needed any more proof that the Nexus 10 is coming next week, here it is. The Samsung Nexus 10’s quick start guide has leaked online, courtesy of Korean site Seeko.

The photos show the name “Nexus 10” on the cover of the guide, and inside it are basic images of a tablet with both Samsung and Nexus branding. The outlines show that the Nexus 10 has a camera and notification LED on its face and a second camera with a flash on its rear. On the left side is a 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB port, and over on the right side is a microHDMI port, and speakers are on either side of the display. The power/lock button looks to be on the top of the device along with a volume key.

There are no specs confirmed for the tablet but, from we’ve been hearing this could well become the Samsung tablet that packs a wonderful 2560×1600 display and a quad-core Exynos 5250 with Android 4.2, which would make for a compelling tablet, Android or otherwise.

The Nexus 10 name popped up on our radar last week when it appeared in the EXIF data of a photo posted to Picasa.. This purported manual doesn’t confirm or debunk any of those details, but it does give us a peek at what the (basic) design of the Nexus 10 will be like, which appears to be similar to the Galaxy Note 10.1 with the speakers on its face and a panel around the rear camera.

While none of this is official until Google makes it so, the company’s Android event is just a few days away, so it may not be long before we get to see the Nexus 10 in real life. Are you interested in a 10-inch Nexus tablet from Google and Samsung?

All will be revealed on Monday!

October 25, 2012
Gorilla Glass Now On More Than A Billion Consumer Electronics Devices

Corning’s Gorilla Glass is widely popular and incredibly strong. We’ve seen various durability tests at CES, both for Gorilla Glass and Gorilla Glass 2. If you have the Motorola RAZR HD LTE, Samsung Galaxy S III, HTC One S, or any of the plethora of devices on the market, then you are part of the one billion strong.

Corning announced their Q3 2012 numbers today and Gorilla Glass sales specifically brought in $363 million, up 21% over last year. Apart from the revenue, the real number is that Gorilla Glass is now on over 1 billion devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

[quote]James B. Flaws, Corning vice chairman & CFO, said “Gorilla Glass, now available on more than one billion consumer electronics devices around the world, has been a resounding success for Corning, and we continue to bring other new technologies to market. We are excited about the development of Corning Willow Glass, an ultra-slim flexible glass that we believe could revolutionize the shape and form of next-generation consumer electronics technologies”[/quote]

October 25, 2012
Microsoft Officially Unveils Windows 8 and the Surface RT tablet

Microsoft has brought thousands of people to New York to celebrate the launch of its Windows 8 operating system and its Surface RT tablet, available October 26th. Touting 670 million users of Windows 7 and over 15 petabytes of data stored in its Skydrive cloud, Microsoft is confident that Windows 8 will become even more successful than its predecessor.

One major aspect of the announcement is bringing more attention to Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 optimized to run on ARM-based processors such as Nvidia’s Tegra 3 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 family. This is the version of Windows that will first become available on Microsoft’s Surface tablet — the Intel-powered Pro version will be available in the coming months — and will be limited to running apps downloaded from the Windows Store. While this severely limits the potential audience of Windows RT, Microsoft has promised that the Windows Store will contain more apps upon its launch than any other ecosystem did when it launched.

Microsoft claims that there have been over 1,000 PCs, in varying styles and sizes, certified to use Windows 8. The ARM-based PCs and tablets will have extensive peripheral support, supporting the majority of mice, keyboards and printers. As for apps, Microsoft promises that top brands will feature in the Store, as well as first-party apps such as Xbox Music, Games and Movies.

October 25, 2012
Facebook Shares Jump Finally!

Facebook Inc’s shares headed towards their biggest one-day jump on Wednesday after the company reported a surprising rise in mobile advertising, easing concerns it was having trouble capitalizing on soaring use of smartphones and tablets.

Facebook shares, sold for $38 each in their initial public offering in May, were up 20 percent at $23.61 in late morning trade. The stock was the top percentage gainer on the Nasdaq.

Several brokerages raised their price targets on Facebook shares. Barclays Capital raised its target to $26 from $23, Jefferies & Co to $32 from $30 and Macquarie Equities Research to $24 from $21.

Facebook, which reported third-quarter results on Tuesday, said it now gets 14 percent of its advertising revenue from mobile ads, a far bigger increase than mostly skeptical analysts had expected.

Mobile advertising has been a key investor concern hanging over Facebook, shaving more than $50 billion off its market value since its IPO.

The world’s largest social network passed 1 billion active users in September but failed to dispel doubts about its mobile strategy.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday that the mobile opportunity was “the most misunderstood” aspect of Facebook’s business.

Rivals such as Google Inc are also struggling with a shift in consumer preference to mobiles from PCs.

Marrisa Mayer, chief executive of struggling internet pioneer Yahoo Inc, said on Monday her top priority was to fashion a coherent strategy to manage the industry’s transition to mobile devices.

Facebook said that some advertisers had pulled money out of desktop campaigns in favor of mobile, which caused desktop ad revenue to decline sequentially.

Over time, Facebook’s growing expertise in mobile advertising, combined with more user data, will drive mobile monetization for the company, Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co, wrote on a note.

Sebastian has an “outperform” rating on the stock and a price target of $32.

Analysts were also positive about the company’s ability to add advertising revenue from new streams.

“Facebook has the potential to utilize user data to better match its users with advertisers,” Wedbush Securities Inc analyst Michael Pachter, who has an “outperform” rating on the stock with a $35 price target, wrote in a note.

Needham & Co analyst Laura Martin said Facebook had opportunities to increase branded advertising revenue as top brands increase their association with the company in some form.

Facebook’s advertising revenue increased by 36 percent to $1.09 billion in the third quarter.

Facebook had a painful trading debut in May as investors fretted about its slowing revenue growth and the large pool of additional shares set to hit the market as “lock-up” restrictions on employee share sales expired.

“The stock has seen its lows and should be able to withstand the coming share lockups,” Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jason Maynard said in a note to clients.

October 24, 2012