Category: Brands and Companies

All Brands and Company Names

Samsung Exec. Confirms Sept. 4 Launch For The Galaxy Gear Smartwatch

Lee Young-hee, Samsung’s EVP of mobile business, all but confirmed its entry into wearable devices by declaring that they’ll unveil the Galaxy Gear smartwatch on September 4th.

According to an interview in the Korean Times, Young-hee stated “We Will be introducing a new wearable device concept called Galaxy Gear at our own event in Berlin on Sept. 4. The new device will enhance and enrich the current smart mobile experience in many ways. It will lead a new trend in smart mobile communications.”

The Galaxy Gear will be marketed to ‘young trend setters’ and will be available in several colour options. The final design will be shown off on September 4th, but the exec also confirmed that the Galaxy Gear will not have a flexible display. Samsung will be saving that technology for ‘future products.’ As for specs, rumours point toward the Gear coming with a 2.5-inch OLED full colour display (320 x 320 resolution), touchscreen gestures and accelerometer, dual-core 1.5GHz Exynos 4212 processor, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC.

The September 4 event will also definitely see the introduction of the new Galaxy Note 3, which will reveal what’s next for the phablet category Samsung basically pioneered with the original Note. Some new rumors suggest the Galaxy Note 3 will shoot 4K video, and be powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor with a 2.3GHz clock speed, with a 5.7-inch display and 3GB of RAM.

[Via. Via]

August 27, 2013
Blue HTC One Spotted, Early Android 4.3 Build For The Device Leaks

A blue version of the HTC One is coming, and what was previously only a render is now a fully-fledged leaked device.

A version of the device in a sea-coloured hue was spotted on a subway train in China, and was uploaded to Mobile01, a smartphone-related forum. This confirms the previous leak by evleaks and a leaked casing of the handset in the same colour.

HTC must be planning its HTC One follow-up already, as the device was announced in February and released in April. Rumours of a One Max persist, with an announcement slated for early next month.

At present, the HTC One has been released with 3 colour variants, Silver, Black and Red.

An early build of Android 4.3 has leaked to XDA, and one developer, LlabTooFeR, has already released a custom ROM with the build as a base. Build 3.09.401.1 still uses Sense 5.0, but has a number of minor improvements, including Bluetooth LE support, improved animations throughout the OS, the ability to use your own music for video highlights and, unfortunately, a task manager added to the app drawer.

[Via]

August 27, 2013
Controlling Drone With Google Glass And Javascript- Made Possible By Developer Blaine Bublitz

Developer Blaine Bublitz has hacked into Google Glass to give us a controller option which can be used to fly a drone. Ever since the Glass was released for developers, we’ve been seeing all sorts of apps being created for it. Google itself implied that tasks like clicking a picture, sending a message, translations and so on would probably need verbal input to function.

But Bublitz’s creation is the latest and probably the best. This was made possible mainly using Google Glass and JavaScript, the developer has made it possible to control and fly a Parrot AR Drone. The flying robot was controllable with help of some simple head movements. The controls were not smooth, but that can be considered keeping in mind that the project is still developing.

If you look at the video below, you will see that that drone is been controlled by the Glass. If you need more information on how this was made possible and what coding was used for the JavaScript, you can click here to go the developers blog.

[vimeo clip_id=”71405845″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

These experiments can lead to great results which can be useful to one as a person or may be to the country in the near future.

[via]

August 27, 2013
iPhone 5S & 5C Show up in a Video

iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, the rumored next-generation iPhone and the so called ‘cheaper iPhone’ respectively, are supposed to be unveiled on September 10. As the date approaches closer, we’re seeing details leak out often, but this time its not an image, or group of iPhones, But a video showing the possible golden iPhone 5S and the cheaper version of the iPhone famous as the iPhone 5C.

Looking at the video, there’s no way to tell if the parts shown in this video are real, but they line up with previous leaked photos.

[youtube id=”m-Ib6NME-DE” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

The video clearly shows both the alleged upcoming iPhones together. The 5S might get launched with a faster processor as per the rumors but there is not much information about the ‘5C’ except it being made with a polycarbonate shell. We will have to wait and see if Apple will really launch two phones, specially a cheaper one ? This question will remain unanswered till September 10 irrespective of any new leaked images that might come up.

[via]

August 27, 2013
Sony Launches Two New Cameras: Alpha 3000 And NEX 5T

Camera fans have split into groups. As they choose from point-and-shoot cameras or smaller mirrorless models and alot of u like the bulky, professional look and feel of DSLR cameras.

Sony has launched two new DSLR like cameras today Alpha 3000 and NEX 5T.

Sony Alpha 3000:

The Alpha 3000 has a Sony E-mount interchangeable lens with a Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor with an effective picture resolution of 20.1 pixels. It can also capture videos in high-definition resolution at 60 frames per second. This camera has a 3X digital zoom and the focal length is 27 to 82.5 mm. It has a 3-inch display with a “live view” feature. The camera has a rechargeable 1080 mAh Lithium NP-FW50 rechargeable battery. This camera weighs 281 grams and is priced $400 and is up for pre-booking.

NEX 5T:

The NEX-5T is a 16.1-megapixel device with Sony E-mount interchangeable lenses. It has the same Exmor CMOS sensor and can shoot 10 frames per second. It has a 3X optical zoom and a 4X digital zoom. The focal length is 24 to 77 mm. The camera has a 3-inch touchscreen display that can tilt 180 degrees. It also has NFC and built-in WiFi. This is a more compact camera, with approximately half the weight of the Alpha 3000, this camera weighs 116 grams. This camera is priced $700 and is up for pre-booking.

“These target the entry-level user,” said Kenta Hanjo, a product manager at Sony Electronics, in a press briefing. “It’s for someone who owns a smartphone and point and shoot and wants to step up their photography.”

Both of these cameras have the same shipping date which is 8th of September 2013 for US. We will have to see when and for what price will these cameras come to the Indian market.

August 27, 2013
HTC’s new Branding Campaign heats up
What does HTC stands for? Your answer might be High Tech Computer Cooperation, apparently HTC stands for ‘Happy Touching Cruise-liner’ or may be ‘Habanero Telephone Champion’, it might also stand for ‘Hysterical Turning Coconut’ or may be ‘Happy Tantalizing Catapult’.

HTC has launched a word generator. Simply click the “Here’s to change button,” and the HTC Generator give’s you a three word phrase with the initials H, T, and C. HTC is letting you think of new ideas. Try your hands on it – here.

Few combinations we think they missed on are
Did we miss any?

Once you use the generator many times, a longer version of the video that we saw before appears and features Robert Downey Jr. The video also features a Bollywood song, have a look at it below:

[youtube id=”OVE1OcfB1E4″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]
August 26, 2013

Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 A240 vs Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 : Fight

Samsung has been the leader in the “phablet” segment for quite some time, but Indian brands are trying to change that and fast. With the iBerry Auxus Nuclea N1 coming awfully close to the title. But, today its the Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 A240 vs Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 ,the Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 is almost the same when it comes to screen size and dimensions. There are pros and cons on both devices, and in most cases users tend to choose Samsung over any other brand, for the sheer brand value and service network.

The Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 has one major disadvantage in all of this, the inability to accept microSD cards for storage expansion. We saw that with just a few games and music we ran out of space which can be really crucial on Smartphones these days. However the Canvas Doodle 2 wins hands down against the Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 in a few departments including cameras, where the doodle 2 carries a 12 + 5 MP combo the Mega 5.8 carries a 8 +1.9 MP combo. The display on the Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 also leaves Samsung Galaxy mega in the pixel dust, with a 1280 x 720 pixel on a 5.7 Doodle 2 inch vs a 960 x 550 px on a 5.8 inch Galaxy Mega 5.8.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 is not ready to go down without a fight simply because, what it loses in the hardware department it brings in an additional 0.5 GB of RAM and the TouchWiz experience which some like and some hate. Most can also argue that the heavy to use TouchWiz itself will be responsible for additional RAM requirements.

PHONE	MICROMAX A240 CANVAS DOODLE 2	SAMSUNG GALAXY MEGA 5.8
Display	5.7-inch 720p HD LED-backlit IPS	5.8-inch qHD TFT
Processor	1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 MediaTek MT6589 quad-core	1.4GHz dual-core Broadcom
RAM	1GB	1.5GB
Internal Storage	16GB (12GB user-accessible)	8GB (around 5GB user-accessible)
MicroSDcard slot	No (unconfirmed, but most probably ‘no’)	Yes
Cameras	12MP rear camera with LED flash, 5MP front camera	8MP rear camera with LED flash, 1.9MP front camera
Dimensions	161 x 82.5 x 9.3mm	162.6 x 82.4 x 9 mm
	240 g	182 g
Battery	2600 mAh	2600 mAh
Connectivity/ Ports	Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0/ microUSB v2.0, 3.5mm audio jack	Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0/ microUSB v2.0, 3.5mm audio jack
Android version	Android 4.2 with custom interface	Android 4.2 with Touchwiz interface
Price	INR 19,990 (current)	INR 22,990 (current))

Buy Now

August 26, 2013

Epic Monday Treat : Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 A240 Unboxing

Micromax is all set to launch its new flagship smartphone the Micromax A240 Canvas Doodle 2, the phone is a revision of the original doodle which created a new pen/stylus+ phone category for the company. The new Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 has a Aluminum back with a unibody chassis and a matching two tip stylus.

The two major highlighting factors of the Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 are the 5.7 inch 1280 x 720p inch display and the cameras, a 12 MP out back and a 5 mp in the front. A few things users may not like are the non replaceable battery and the non expandable storage which is fixed at a 16 GB out of which 12.64 + 0.98 GB are user available. The Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 is powered by a 2800 mAh battery pack and runs the Mediatek 6589 Quad Core 1.2 GHz chipset with the PowerVR SGX544MP GPU, which might create a bit of stir.

The device fits beautifully in the hands and is really convenient to hold, the stylus is ergonomically for both tiny and large hands thanks to the oval-ish design which creates two differential holding points. The two tips on either side of the stylus also offer two levels of firmness which might be appreciated by artists and doodlers alike.

The Doodle 2 is fairly pocketable too, considering its size it actually fits quite well into pockets, this could also be due to the 9.3mm thickness vs the 10+ on the previous version (although the tapered edges help too.). In the box there is a usual mix up of things, a flat cable charging cable, a flat cable set of earphones + ear tips, the USB wall charger, a flip case that also converts into a stand and documentation.

When compared to the Galaxy Mega 5.8 by Samsung the Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 misses the MicroSD card Slot and also a customized UI that offers additional features, the Canvas Doodle 2 however has a higher resolution display a better build quality and bigger MP cameras .

BUY NOW

August 26, 2013
Google Wants To Build Its Own Self-Driving Car

Google is designing its own self-driving car and has plans to build a fleet of cars it dubs “robo taxis,” blogger Jessica Lessin reports. The news comes on the heels of Google Ventures investing $258 million into the personal mobile car service Uber, a company now valued at $3.5 billion, according to TechCrunch.

The company, which made its name with its search engine, has held talks with a number of manufacturers to build cars to Google’s specifications – a bit like the company’s early approach to Android.

But the talks failed to yield a deal, so Google is planning to build the vehicles itself instead – a bit like its more recent approach to laptops with Chromebooks.

Continental, a German automotive supplier, is reportedly establishing a partnership with Google and IBM for self-driving cars, according to a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine on Thursday. Owing to the enormous complexity and difficulty of manufacturing and selling a car, Google would still prefer to partner with a major auto manufacturer, saysources.

Silicon Valley darling Uber, whose app lets users book taxis and car services in real time, has also raised $258 million in funding led by Google.

Uber will use the funding to “expand into new markets, accelerate customer and driver acquisition, and fight off protectionist, anti-competitive efforts,” CEO Travis Kalanick wrote in a blog post Friday confirming Google’s investment.

[Via, Via]

August 24, 2013
Google Buys Virtual Imaging Patents From Hon Hai

Google has bought patents for wearable technology used in gaming and training simulations from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., a primary assembler for Apple Inc.

Hon Hai, a major supplier for Apple and other top IT brands, sold a portfolio of Head Mounted Display (HMD) patents, the company said in a news release on Friday.

The technology, dubbed Head Mounted Display, is commonly used in aviation and ground displays, engineering and scientific design applications, gaming devices and training and simulation tools.

Hon Hai assembles iPhones and iPads, and the company is hiring as many as 90,000 workers in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhengzhou to meet client demand in the fourth quarter. It said it had applied for over 55,000 patent rights globally, of which over 5,000 have been approved.

Hon Hai has said it will focus on developing new technology, intellectual property rights and e-commerce as it looks to reduce its reliance on Apple.

Google has been working on the release of Google Glass, a wearable device with a head-mounted display that currently is only available to developers and hand-picked testers.

Last month, Google invested in a Taiwanese chip maker that manufactures components used in the wearable device. It said it would buy shares to hold a 6.3 percent interest in Himax Display, a subsidiary of Himax Technologies.

[Via]

August 24, 2013
Apple iWork For iCloud Beta Now Open For Everyone

Previously available only to Apple’s registered developers and and later on to some select users, Apple has today decided to open iWork for iCloud web apps to everyone ahead of its September 10 keynote.

This online version of the iWork suite offers Web-based versions of the three iWork apps—Pages, Numbers, andKeynote—enabling you to create and edit iWork documents stored in iCloud from almost any Web browser.

In addition to Pages, Keynote and Numbers, Apple of course offers other web-based applications via the iCloud interface, including Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders and Find My iPhone, which was yesterday updated on the iOS side.

Apple first introduced iWork for iCloud during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference back in June, and sent invites to registered developers soon after before gradually adding non-developer users. The web services work on both Mac and Windows computers in various browsers with support for Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer, as well as mobile devices. iCloud itself also received an iOS 7-inspired makeover earlier this month on the beta site, although iWork for iCloud icons on the beta site have so far retained their iOS 6 look.

If you’ve got an Apple ID already, just head over to iCloud.com, sign in, and you’ll see the Web apps show up. If you don’t have one, you can sign up at Apple’s website, activate iCloud on an Apple device, and you’ll be good to go.

August 23, 2013
Sony Honami ‘Waterproof’ Smartphone Teased

Following yesterday’s teased Twitter image of the power button on the upcoming Xperia Z1 “Sony Honami” flagship, the latest tweet from Sony highlights the smartphone’s underwater capabilities.

Sharing a picture via Twitter, Sony had yesterday shown off the now-iconic power button from the side of its next device. The wording that Sony has chosen is rather playful too. “It’s the smartphone everyone’s been talking about”, reads the Tweet.

The second image is a bit more revealing because it shows the phone submerged in water alongside the claim that Sony’s new smartphone is “about to make a splash.”

Sony will unveil its newest smartphone in early September, and the device, codenamed Sony Honami, is rumoured to have a 5-inch 1080p display, a 2.2Ghz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM and a 20MP Exmor RS camera sensor with the company’s new G-Lens technology.

Sony has been a generation behind the competition in screen and camera quality, so it’s nice to see the company facing those issues head-on with this release. Though their smartphone division has grown tremendously in the past year, mainly on the strength of the Xperia Z and mid-range devices like the Xperia U, they are still far behind Samsung and LG in total sales.

Using the “Best of Sony” slogan, the Sony Honami should also provide users with water- and dust-proofing, along with an IR blaster for TV and stereo controls.

It remains to be seen whether the Sony Honami will be able to stand up against the flood of product announcements that are also expected to take place in the same event (IFA), such as the HTC One Max and the Samsung Galaxy Note III.

August 23, 2013
Xbox One At Gamescom 2013

Xbox One claims a new generation of gaming and entertainment and to push the boundaries of realism. With Xbox One, you can quickly jump from TV to movies to music to a game. Just with the sound of your voice says Microsoft.

Xbox One is said to be the perfect balance of power and performance. In addition to Xbox One’s architecture, the combination of its CPU, GPU and ESRAM is made to give users the best experience like having a supercomputer in your living room claims the company.

There’s been 50 games announced for the console so far, 23 of which will be available at launch. The other ones includes titles like Watch Dogs, Dead Rising 3, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Killer Instinct and Ryse: Son of Rome.

Few more include games from Electronic Arts(EA), 2014 editions of Madden, NBA Live and FIFA. For starters, EA has confirmed that you’ll be able to carry over a season from current-generation consoles to next-generation and Microsoft has announced that all consoles pre-ordered in Europe will include a free copy of the game.

Xbox One consoles require the Kinect motion controller to be plugged in at all times. However, that’s not deterring the company’s plans to keep the Kinect a mandatory addition to any future console bundles.

“Xbox One is Kinect. They are not separate systems. An Xbox One has chips, it has memory, it has Blu-ray, it has Kinect, it has a controller. These are all part of the platform ecosystem,” Phil Harrison, a Microsoft corporate vice president said in response to a question on whether or not the Xbox One will ever be sold without the Kinect.

What will be your choice, the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox one ? Both are said to be available in the month of November.

August 23, 2013
PlayStation 4 Ready For November Launch

Sony on August 20 at Gamescom revealed the dates for the PlayStation 4, which will launch in North America on November 15 and in European regions on November 29.

The European date includes launches in Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, but no dates were given for South East Asia and Japan. The console will be supported by 15 disc-based titles at launch, including vibrant all-ages platformer “Knack” social racing game “DriveClub”, and futuristic shooter “Killzone: Shadow Fall”, as well non-exclusives by way of “Assassin’s Creed IV”, “Battlefield 4”, “Call of Duty: Ghosts”, “Just Dance 2014”, “Lego Marvel Super Heroes”, “Skylanders: Swap Fore” and more.

The Sony PlayStation 4 has many new and useful features. The new controller seems very different from the old one it has a built in speaker, and a headphone jack that helps to interact with friends who are online, the controller has a ‘share’ button which will allow you to share your game play videos on social networking sites and the new controller also has a touchpad, which allows the use of touch gestures in some of the games.

[youtube id=”player_embedded#t=3″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

Sony has also created a PlayStation app by which an user can chat with friends and share the gameplay or some tips for playing the games this app will be available for both mobiles and tablets as per Sony. The new PlayRoom, that gives reality experiences on PS4 claims the company.

[youtube id=”vv5uI2vlXE8″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

With all these new features, Sony is ready to launch the new PlayStation soon. What is your take on it ?

August 23, 2013
Single Developer Accounts For A Third Of 120,000 BlackBerry 10 Apps

Earlier this year BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins touted a much-improved 120,000 apps in the App World store. What he failed to mention was that one single developer accounts for far more than his fair share.

According to a Berryreview.com report, developer S4bb has an incredible 47,000-plus applications residing within the company’s understocked app portal..

While the quantity of apps in your store is something to brag about, the quality of apps is arguably more important. As AllThingsD reports, S4BB traffics in some pretty weak stuff, software that often fails to meet even the loosest definition of “app.” Among its offerings: Innumerable lock apps, repurposed city guides, audiobooks, and an array of content apps that seem to be built around RSS feeds from the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Weather Service and the CDC. And then there’s Mega Shaver, Mega Machine Gun and, inevitably, Mega Fart.

According to the company’s site, S4BB develops “applications for the mobile market like ebook readers, ebook readers bundled with ebooks, games, productivity applications, administration tools, wallpapers, videos optimized for mobile devices, mobile VoIP solutions, desktop applications for preparing data for your mobile device, multimedia mobile applications, applications combining famous web services with mobile platforms and even more interesting mobile products.”

BlackBerry has been offering $100 per approved app, while top notch offerings can scoop up to $10,000 for when they’re submitted to the app world. It appears one developer has figured out a way to take advantage that benefits neither BlackBerry, beyond the number boasts, or its users.

BlackBerry has issued a statement on the massive number of apps that one developer, S4BB, has in BlackBerry World. They note that BlackBerry World is an open market and developers do what they need to do to bring in revenue – which is true for any business – and that they’ve also built up the Built for BlackBerry program that makes distinctions between the abundance of apps by highlighting quality apps:

“Developers in all app stores employ a number of different monetization tactics. BlackBerry World is an open market for developers and we let market forces dictate the success or failure of these tactics. Discoverability in overcrowded stores continues to be an issue affecting all developers. This is why we have worked hand in hand with developers on the Built for BlackBerry program to help showcase apps and games that exemplify the power of BlackBerry 10.”

[Via, Via]

August 22, 2013