Sometime in the middle of last month, the Sony C530X (otherwise known as the C5303 as well), which carries the code name HuaShan, was seen in an AnTuTu benchmark, where it was revealed to the world that the HuaShan will carry a 1.7GHz processor after picking up a not half bad score of 16,133 in the benchmark. Other than that, very little else was revealed concerning the smartphone, but its latest outing on GLBenchmark has lifted the curtain a wee bit more.
Little else was known at that stage, but an outing on GLBenchmark reveals a few more details, as spotted by the Xperia Blog.
The Sony C530X (C5302, C5303, C5306) will be armed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro MSM8960T chipset with a 1.7GHz dual-core processor and Adreno 320 graphics. The benchmark also reveals that HuaShan will have a 720 x 1280 display with onscreen touchscreen buttons. The handset tested was running Android 4.1.2. We don’t know whether HuaShan will make an appearance at CES next week, but if not, MWC in February is a dead cert.
Beginning last year, Sony had decided to use a different nomenclature for naming its devices. We saw many devices in the Xperia series differentiated with alphabets like U, S, J and so on. But these didn’t clearly indicate what the user should expect from the handset.
Sony’s upcoming Xperia Z (or Yuga), the company’s entry into the 5-inch smartphone space, will reportedly sport a “skeleton frame structure” and HDR video recording capabilities. Will these be the kind of features that get Sony into the same race as Samsung and Apple?
According to a leaked promotional video, the Xperia Z has a “skeleton frame” and is water/dust resistant. In addition, it has an Exmor RS image sensor and can take images and record video in HDR.
The so-called skeleton frame is composed of individual components, according to Sony, upon which the phone is assembled. In addition, there’s an OptiContrast panel, a 13-megapixel Exmor RS camera, a full HD Reality display, and the ability to both take images and record videos in the HDR mode. Also demonstrated is its water-resistant body, with images showing the handset covered in large droplets of water.
As we previously mentioned, the Xperia Z is expected to launch alongside a slightly smaller Xperia ZL. The Xperia Z will feature a 5-inch 1080p display, 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP camera, and what we hope is a huge battery.
According to leaked images, it is running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. So far, everything we’ve seen points to an exceptional, sleek handset.
Sony today sent out an email to subscribers informing them that something worth noticing was going to be announced in three days.. that’s during CES.. it’s very likely to be this device. We can’t wait!
Microsoft’s complaint that Google is hoarding its YouTube metadata has fueled a new conspiracy theory: The search giant has pulled levers to prevent Windows Phones from accessing Google Maps. In reality, this phenomenon likely has little if anything to do with chicanery on Google’s part and everything to do with Microsoft’s reluctance to support the WebKit browser framework.
While Google Maps was never officially built for or supported by the Windows Phone platform, prior to this complaint, the service was accessible to a certain degree. Users of Windows Phone 7 and 8 both seem to be facing this issue.
Google released an explanation for the issue, saying that Google Maps rely on WebKit on mobile devices and Internet Explorer for Windows Phone does not utilise the rendering engine.
Microsoft, over the past few months, has publicly sparred with Google over its shutting down of Exchange Activesync support at the end of January. Microsoft expressed “disappointment” in the action and implored any affected users to transition to Outlook.com, its new (and excellent) mail offering. By turning off Activesync access (which applies to all platforms, not just Microsoft’s), Windows Phone users will not be able to sync Google contacts or calendars. Because Microsoft has yet to implement CalDAV and CardDAV support in its mobile OS, users will be out of luck by the end of the month.
Apple, on the other hand, will be unaffected by the change as it implemented the new calendar and contact sync standards in its latest version and has push support for mail via a native app. Android users, of course, will suffer no such issues with sync as their phones tie directly into Google’s activation servers.
While it’s currently assumed that the redirect is a bug and not the status quo going forward, we’ve yet to hear from Google on the issue.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 will the company’s direct competition to Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 so if this image is anything to go by then Samsung believes bigger is better. SamMobile claims it comes from a huge tip from a “Samsung insider”. SamMobile also goes on to say that, while it can’t be 100 per cent certain it’s genuine, the fact that it looks so much like the Samsung Galaxy S III adds credibility to its authenticity.
The official Samsung Lebanon Facebook page answered a question about the pending release of the GS IV, stating “The Galaxy SIV won’t be released before May 2013.”
Another rumour doing the rounds indicates that Samsung’s Vice Chairman Jay Le will be showing off a prototype of the Galaxy S IV to select executive and partners at CES next week. It’ll happen behind closed doors.
Considering the amount of caution Samsung went to protect the design and features of the Samsung Galaxy S III, it’s possible that the above pic is an early prototype. Samsung made several variations and employees led a “double life” to protect to final GS III product. Everything with unfold itself over the next few months.
The rumoured specs so far reveal :
– Exynos 5450 Quad-Core CPU clocked at 2.0GHz – Mali-T658 GPU – 2GB of RAM – 4.99” SuperAMOLED FULL HD resolution (1080×1920) Display – 13 Megapixel Rear Facing Camera – 2 Megapixel Front Facing Camera – Android 4.2.1 (Out of the box)
In the near future, people will wear head-mounted computers and control them by moving hands through the air. They’ll learn guitar using programs that track the placement of each finger on each string. And in online combat games, they’ll smite an enemy with their fists.
Those are some of the applications that founders of Leap Motion foresee for motion sensing, as precision improves and pricing declines. And as the company prepares to launch its first product in Q1 – a $70 motion-sensing device that works with a computer – VCs are buying into the vision.
Leap Motion announced that it has raised $30 million in Series B funding. Co-founder and CEO Michael Buckwaldsaid that the company is still planning to ship its gesture-based controller sometime during the first quarter of this year, and he’s also announcing a partnership with Asus that should help get Leap Motion into the hands of consumers.
In this case, Asus is supposed to bundle the Leap Motion controller with its All-In-One PCs and high-end notebooks.
[quote]
“Leap Motion is poised to fundamentally change human/computer interaction, and this new funding will help us bring our technology to the mass global market,” said Leap Motion CEO Michael Buckwald. “With this influx of capital, coupled with the major OEM partnership we also announced today, we’re ready to make 2013 the year of the new interface.”
[/quote]
The new funding round will be used to scale manufacturing in preparation for the retail launch of the Leap Motion controller in early 2013. Leap Motion’s technology can track movements to 1/100th millimeter — smaller than the tip of a pin — with no visible lag time. The Leap Motion controller has a 150-degree field of view, and tracks individual hands and all 10 fingers at 290 frames per second.
HTC may not be happy with the lastest leak hitting the rumor mill today. According to Android Authority, an internal security breach has exposed the codenames for 35 smartphone models.
While some of these phones have already been revealed (the Deluxe model was released as the HTC Butterfly, for example), there’s a few that stand out to us.
One of the main nuggets to pull out of this list is the eight variations of the HTC M7, a phone we’ve heard rumblings of before. Previously we had heard that the phone will sport a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a 4.7-inch 1080p display and a 13 megapixel camera. While the code names don’t confirm the specs, the number of variations suggests that this is a phone HTC will likely market worldwide.
If anything, this could be a list of names to keep in the back of your mind for the coming months, especially with CES around the corner.
The Samsung Galaxy M Pro was Samsung’s answer to a possible end of time for Blackberry, for those who were shifting over to Android anyway. The Galaxy M Pro II sequel to the original should expect a bunch of changes. As apparent from the image, the phone will have a completely new trackpad and keyboard design. The Samsung Galaxy M Pro II will also feature a new shell, or mostly an upgraded color with a metal-effect design.
Rumors are pegging the display back to the original version with a 4×3 grid and a 480 x 360 capacitive touchscreen. It is also know that the phone will now be running Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, juiced from a 1,200mAh battery, HSPA 3G and has a micro-SIM slot.
The device has been in schedule for the past 6 months offering a more keyboard and trackpad controlled design and UI, but it is known if the GT-B7810 will make it to the market or not.
When you look at the tech world this year, there have been plenty of innovations, but of course where there are successes, there are certainly going to be failures. Coming up with a list of the top 10 tech fails of 2012 was a bit of a challenge however, not because there weren’t enough, but because there are so many. And most of the entries on this list are debatable to some extent.
1. Aakash Tablet!
In October 2012, Indian politician Kapil Sibal called a press conference. Indian politicians call press conferences all the time, even those with a last name that is not Gandhi. And with two portfolios–he is both India’s minister of human-resource development and its minister of communications and information technology–Sibal typically has a lot he wants to talk about.
But this time he actually had news that would be noticed beyond New Delhi. With a phalanx of reporters and photographers gathered in a government auditorium, Sibal, a Harvard Law grad with a halo of white hair, held up a device he called the Aakash, which is Hindi for “sky.” It looked like an iPad.
The most remarkable Aakash data point was its price: $35. Meant for the millions of students who can’t even afford textbooks, the Aakash is supposed to be India’s iPad knockoff. “There are some moments in history,” Sibal said, taking a long pause, “that will be milestones recognized by future generations. This is one such moment.”
Indians take a certain pride in making things cheaper. The Hindi word to describe this is jugaad, roughly translated as “frugal innovation.” However, the Aakash, never made it to market.
I’ve yet to come across any college student who bought the tablet, either at the subsidized rate or the normal cost. So it tops our list as the biggest fail for 2012!
2. Apple Maps
Along with the rollout of the much anticipated iPhone 5 in September 2012, Apple overhauled iOS, the operating system that runs the phone, its iPad and other mobile devices. A much-hyped feature of the change was Apple’s first effort at its own mapping app — after dumping rival Google’s map software.
The result was so bad that a few days later Apple’s CEO was essentially telling customers to use Google Maps.
Entire cities appeared in the wrong place. Landmarks such as the Washington Monument showed up submerged in bodies of water, and big chunks of the globe appeared as roadless wastelands.
It was a little more than a month later when Scott Forstall, vice president in charge of iOS, was ousted from the company, reportedly, in part, for not wanting to apologize for Maps.
Apple fails are few and far between, but Apple Maps were a definite fail!
3. Motorola India
Motorola Mobility, which is totally independent from Motorola Solutions, had incurred heavy loss last year. Google took over the company for $12.5 billion in May this year. Google had earlier said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Motorola Mobility shut down its India-specific product website as part of its global streamlining process.
“We are streamlining our business and support systems, and unfortunately, we’ll no longer have a dedicated website for India,” a message on Motorola Mobility India’s website said.
“Your local support site will remain open well into the future, and we’ll continue to provide support for our existing products,” it added.
This move seems to be a part of the company’s global downsizing process. In August, it had confirmed its decision to cut off 20 percent of work force and shut down operations in many countries.
So after capturing the Indian customer’s imagination with devices like the MotoRazr and the MotoRokr, Motorola finally bid adieu to the country, leaving many disappointed.
4. HTC One X Wi-Fi Issue
HTC did extremely well for themselves with their new line of Smartphones, the One Series. In June, several reports of WiFi issues on the HTC One X came to light, issues that led to difficulty connecting to Wi-Fi networks and annoying lag when playing games. The issues, which can also negatively affect the handset’s battery life, may have been related to a flaw in manufacturing, was actually confirmed.
Taiwanese manufacturer, HTC, officially confirmed that the device was infact suffering said issues. But having finally come clean on the issue, the Taiwanese Smartphone Giant also claimed to have found its fix, and had changed its production process for the One X to tackle the problem.
It replaced many handsets in the process, earning itself a place in our top 10 fails.
5. Stop Online Piracy Act ( SOPA )
The new law was supposed to be about fighting online piracy. Who’s going to be against that, right?
Answer: Pretty much the whole Internet.
Members of Congress sponsored the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and related bills to make it easier to shut down websites that illegally share music, movies and other content.
But opponents argued it went too far and could end up shutting down legitimate sites while stifling free expression in the process.
Unfortunately for backers of SOPA, Web heavyweights such as Google, Facebook, Reddit and Wikipedia joined the fight against the bill. Sites went black on January 18 to raise awareness. Members of communities such as Reddit put intense pressure on lawmakers (including soon-to-be GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan) until they dropped their support or went on record opposing the bill.
The unprecedented backlash eventually caused supporters to shelve SOPA, and quite possibly ushered in a new age of Web activism.
6. Blackberry Outage
This tweet just about sums it up!
It was a case of worst possible timing as BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) confirmed it had suffered a significant outage across Europe and Asia, just as the iPhone 5 was launching to the now familiar queues in Apple stores around the world.
An October outage at a data center caused users to lose messaging ability in parts of Europe, the Middle East, India, Africa, Latin America and North America. (To their credit, RIM ultimately gave away a pile of free apps to the folks affected).
The outage lasted for several days and was the final straw for some users, who abandoned ship for other phones. Add that to a list of Blackberry fails.
7. Zynga
Zynga was riding high. Love them or hate them, its games like “Mafia Wars” and “FarmVille” were everywhere, clogging up Facebook pages and spurring millions of bored casual gamers to pay real cash for virtual cows. Then, it all came crumbling down.”
OK, maybe “crumbling down” is an overstatement. But things in The ‘Ville definitely didn’t go Zynga’s way in 2012.
In October, Zynga announced it was laying off 5% of its employees, Facebook, which gets a cut when people spend money on games such as “FarmVille,” said that income from Zynga was down 20% over last year.
And yesterday, the company announced that it was closing down 20 of its game titles in order to cut costs. FAIL!
8. Windows 8
Many eyebrows were raised on November 12, 2012 when Microsoft announced that Stephen Sinofsky—the president of the Windows division, a driving force behind Windows 8, and a long-time leader at Microsoft—was leaving his post, effective immediately. The odd timing and abrupt announcement led to a rash of speculation. Was Sinofsky fired or did he quit? Was it planned? Are Windows 8 sales that bad? The answer is yes!
Aside from the app selection, many early criticisms targeted the modern UI itself, which throws everything you know about navigating Windows, well, out the window. Early adopters—especially nontechie types—have reported running into issues with the overhauled interface, which is made worse by Windows 8’s near-complete lack of instructions when you boot it up for the first time.
Microsoft hasn’t been forthcoming with sales numbers, and the company declined to comment when asked by various journalists. That institutional reticence makes it hard to divine just how well Windows 8 is actually selling on the streets.
All that said, sporadic leaks, whispers, and data from third-party channels help us paint a partial picture of Windows 8’s sales success—and what we’ve learned suggests that the OS is stumbling out of the gate.
A fail so far, we’re afraid.
9. Facebook IPO
Maybe the dumb money wasn’t so dumb this time.
From the point of view of the company, Facebook itself, of course it was a roaring success. They were able to raise a good chunk of capital to develop and expand the business. That’s what an IPO is, at heart, about. Early investors in the company did well too: they were able to cash out some portion of their earlier investment at good prices. But things went horribly wrong!
If the market were to judge Facebook not a a potential promise but as actual worth today, the stock should be trading around $4.50. It could lose over 85% of its current value (90% from the IPO price, which started at $38) and still have room to fall further. That’s how big a fail the IPO has turned out to be!
10. IPC Sec 66A Of The IT App
The Section 66 (A) of the Indian IT Act continues to haunt the cyber population of India. At a time when a public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme court questioning the constitutional validity of the section, questions are also being raised about the need for such “draconian” section.
Section 66A of the IT Act criminalises any person who electronically sends any information that is deemed grossly offensive, has a menacing character, which he\she knows to be false but still transmits to cause annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will, persistently by making use of the electronic communication medium. It also includes emails or text messages that have been sent with the deliberate purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or mislead the recipient. The punishment can be a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 years.
The act has been in the eye of the storm after it caused the arrest two Palghar girls for allegedly posting Facebook comments against a political party. Earlier, the police had used the same law to arrest Aseem Trivedi for allegedly mocking the Indian Constitution through cartoons that had been put up as banners during Anna Hazare’s rally in Mumbai.
It definitely earns its place in the top fails!
Epic Fail
But the biggest fail of 2012 has to be the inability of our nation to respect women. The recent gang-rape and eventual death of the girl, named by the press as “Nirbhaya” (or fearless) is a BIG black dot on our society. Change is needed, not only in our laws and government, but within ourselves.
So many Big Statements coming in. Where are the big actions?
Have we missed any? Let us know in the comments section below!
Sony is expected to announce their new 2013 flagship device on January 7th at CES. Leaked images of the “Xperia Z” – previously known as the Yuga – have appeared online and it’s rumoured to have an availability date of January 15th. It’s always nice to have confirmation from a manufacturer that a leaked device exists before the official unveiling. Sony has uploaded a press image of the Xperia Z onto their site that shows off its design and name.
From the looks of it, the smartphone has a design similar to the Xperia T and Xperia SL smartphones. However, the transparent band seen in most Xperia phones at the bottom is missing and so is the Xperia branding itself. The Sony logo is seen at the top.
Going by the specifications, the Sony Xperia Z is expected to pack in:
5-inch full HD display with OptiContrast Technology
Incase you are not following our Facebook or Youtube channel you are missing out on what will be the most exciting giveaway this season.
iGyaan is giving away an iPad Mini along with a Micromax Funbook Tablet and a Karbonn Smart Tab as second and third prize. along with a bunch of Jabra Bluetooth headsets and Philips headphones. Plus lots and lots of iGyaan T-Shirts. Excited yet?
How to Play?
All you need to do is visit us on the contest page here : bit.ly/igyaanplay and you can take part in the Apple iPad Mini Giveaway. Hurry now because we will be shutting the contest soon, so take part now remember you can only take part in the contest at : bit.ly/igyaanplay.
Terms
You can also take out time and read the Contest Terms : Contest Terms
On the Internet, it can be difficult to show feelings of grief regarding senstitive topics, much less offer support to those grieving. Despite this, simple things stand out amidst the darkness.
Google has joined India in honoring the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim whom most now call the Delhi braveheart after her death on December 29. The Indian version of the Google homepage now has a candle below the search bar, a silent offering of virtual light to remember her by.
The body of the gang-rape victim, who became the focus of countrywide protests and prayers, was cremated early Sunday soon after it was flown in from Singapore at 3.30 a.m. Since Saturday evening, a large number of people have assembled at various places in Delhi to offer their condolences.
The 23-year-old woman was brutally assaulted and gang-raped Dec 16 by six men in a moving bus in south Delhi before being thrown out of the vehicle. She battled for life — first in Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi and then in a Singapore hospital — before dying of her injuries Dec 29.
Thousands of people poured out onto the streets Saturday to light candles; some lay on the roads with black bands across their mouths and others just marched. But all of them grieved, vowing that the girl would never be forgotten.
Plenty of people we know love their iPhone, but when pressed for what they love most, it’s from a cracked feature coming from something like Installous and AppSync – well, those days are over, folks. Hackulous is no more. The team behind Installous, the popular jailbreak app that allows for the installation of unofficial iOS apps, says as much.
First reported by iDownloadBlog, the shutdown is announced and explained by the team through a short note on the Hackulous website:
[quote]
Goodnight, sweet prince.
We are very sad to announce that Hackulous is shutting down. After many years, our community has become stagnant and our forums are a bit of a ghost town. It has become difficult to keep them online and well-moderated, despite the devotion of our staff. We’re incredibly thankful for the support we’ve had over the years and hope that new, greater communities blossom out of our absence.
With lots of love, Hackulous Team
[/quote]
Installous and AppSync created by the Hackulous team made it very easy to install pirated apps on your jailbroken iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. If you’re a developer then the good news is that Hackulous has shut down, which means that users won’t be able to install Installous and AppSync.
This is certainly not the end of mobile app piracy, but it is one small step forward for developers who want to earn an honest living for building fun mobile applications, and for those of us users who are happy to pay the the dollar or two it takes to download an app the honest way.
We don’t support piracy and the installation of pirated apps, the purpose of jailbreaking an iOS device should be to gain access to features that Apple does not allow. The Hackulous repository, Installous for iOS and AppSync have been around for a very long time. We are sure that many jailbreakers won’t be too happy with the fact that these tools will never exist, ever again.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 P3100 received thefirst Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1) update to two weeks ago. While the previous update started rolling out from India, this time the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 P3100 users that have been chosen by Samsung to be blessed with the first Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean firmware update are French. The new update has already started rolling out and you can get it via Samsung Kies and on-device software update feature. You can check for the OTA update from Setting> About> Software Update.
In case you are not from France, or if you are unable to get the OTA update to Android 4.1.2 on your Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 P3100 because you have rooted it or for some other reason, you can still update your device to the latest version of Samsung’s Jelly Bean update version 4.1.2. In fact the firmware released for France is an Unbranded one, therefore it can be flashed on any Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (model number GT-P3100) across the globe that is not locked to a mobile operator/carrier.
Samsung has added a lot of new features for Galaxy devices with the Android 4.1.2 update, most of these features are found from the Galaxy Note II. Here are some few features on 4.1.2 :
Multi-Window (Multi-View allows users to run two apps splitting on the screen at the same time)
Even though black is considered as standard color for smart phones, Samsung always tries different colors in smart phones. It generally releases the smart phones with Titanium Grey and Pebble Blue colors. Such colors are seen in the case of Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy S3 mobiles.
Rumours say Samsung may be about to release a stunning matte black version of the venerable phablet. According to Android Slash, the new colour will be introduced to markets in early 2013.
A hi-resolution press rendering was discovered showing off the Samsung GALAXY Note II in black. With CES 2013 just weeks away in Las Vegas, and MWC 2013 coming the following month to Barcelona, we could see a whole new color range for the device introduced at either show. Last month, an anonymous tipster passed along the information that the Samsung GALAXY Note II was fitted for three new colors, Amber Brown, Topaz Blue and Ruby Wine. The new colors are supposed to be available and the end of this year or during Q1 of 2013, but this tip did not mention black as one of the new colors.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 rumor mill got heated up Friday when a new report, coming straight from South Korea, hit the web saying that the next generation Galaxy S smartphone would be released in April 2013 with S Pen functionality.
This would imply Samsung’s looking to go at least 5 inches as far as display size goes, but that’s another story for another day. The S4 would introduce all the familiar S Pen features we’ve come to know and love, as well as new features that Samsung’s sure to be cooking up as we type.
A refresh of previous rumours had Samsung launching this in April 2013 and once again increasing the size of their flagship Android to a 5-inch display (1080×1920 resolution) with 441 pixels per inch (ppi), embedding a quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel camera, plus running Jelly Bean.
In addition, the report also indicated that the GS IV will be 9.1mm thin, which is also a bit thicker than the current Galaxy S III at 8.6mm thin.
Samsung found quite the niche market with the Samsung Galaxy Note, and combining the two would help line its pockets even more. After all, what sense does it make to have your main flagship play second fiddle to the “little big brother” each year? While some characteristics of the Galaxy S3 — such as its less encumbering size — are more desirable for some people, it’s no secret that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 either matches it or outclasses it in every other way.
