Category: Brands and Companies

All Brands and Company Names

iPhone 5 to have interchangeable camera lens?

This implies that the coming generations of the iPhones could sport a removable back cover

US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals one of their research projects involving a camera device that provides the user with configurable optic options. The unique aspect to this is the device’s removable back panel. Although Apple’s patent background mentions a mobile phone, their actual summary and patent detailing mention nothing of a phone in any traditional way. So the device could either represent a next generation iPhone or a standalone camera that Apple has been playing with since 2009. While Apple has toyed with the idea of adding various lenses to handhelds via an external accessory in the past, their concepts were never in-line with Apple’s great design ethic. Today’s design seems to properly address the need for better portable device optical options while retaining an Apple-like form factor. The only real question remaining is this: Is Apple designing this removable back panel design as part of a standalone camera or as part of the iPhone’s reinvention. Which do you think it’ll be?

Source : Patently Apple

June 18, 2012

Smartphone Camera Shootout – Galaxy S3 vs Xperia S vs One X vs Xperia P vs iPhone 4s

No matter how many specs a phone has to offer, one of the biggest factors that affect our choice when we’re buying a new phone is the Camera! We put 5 smartphones to the test! Here they are (We rank them in 3 categories) –

Warning: Images are in Original size and may take long to load.

Outdoor- Close-up, Brightly Lit, Macro

Whoops! Something went wrong! — Xperia S

5/5

4.5/5

4/5

3/5

2.5/5

Indoor- Dim Lighting, Macro

4.5/5

4/5

3/5

2.5/5

2/5

Outdoor- Far focus, Brightly Lit

5/5

4/5

3.5/5

3/5

1. Outdoor – Close-up

Undoubtedly the best, the Xperia S with its 12MP camera produced an image that even Bharat Nagpal was proud of! Rich in colour and detail, it was hard to flaw the image. A close second was the Xperia P which clicked the image with a sharp focus and brilliant colours. The S3 delivered an image that was nicely detailed and sharply focussed, though the colours seemed a tad bit brighter than normal. The iPhone 4s captured a rather off-focus image but the colours and detailing were top-notch! On the bottom of the pile was the One X, not too surprisingly producing a dull and off-focus image.

2. Indoor – Dim Lighting

The iPhone 4S was the best in this category, with an image which had had perfect focus, brilliant colours and amazing detail! Out of the rest the One X surprised us by clicking a near perfect picture, which was lagging just a bit in detail. The Xperia P and Galaxy S3 followed with images which were didn’t have accurate colours but decent detailing. Last came the Xperia S, which disappointed us a lot as we expected more from it’s camera.

3. Outdoor – Far Focus

The Xperia S was once again the best, evenly focused, accurate colours, perfect image. Tied for second place were the One X and the Xperia P, with high detail images which were slightly off-colour. The Galaxy S3 produced an image which even though wasn’t as detailed as the rest, was perfectly focused. And at the bottom was the iPhone 4s, with an image which wasn’t focused or detailed, only the colours were accurate.

Summary

Xperia S (12/15)

With its 12-megapixel camera, the Xperia S is THE best of the lot when it comes to outdoor shooting, though indoor shooting could have been better.

Xperia P (11.5/15)

A close second was the S’s sibling, the Xperia P, which produced images that were sharply focused and amazingly detailed.

iPhone 4S & One X (10.5/15)

While the iPhone performed excellently indoors, it let us down in outdoor shooting with slightly off-focus images. The One X too was not as impressive as we would like it to be.

Galaxy S3 (10/15)

The biggest disappointment was the Galaxy S3 which boasts of an 8-MP camera but did not produce any exceptional image.

June 18, 2012

Apple I gets US $374.5K at Sotheby’s auction and Steve Jobs’ Atari Note gets US $ 27500

Original Apple 1

Sotheby’s Auction house had announced a couple of weeks back that they would auction off an Apple 1 motherboard, cassette interface and its BASIC programming manual, originally set to fetch upwards of $180,000. However the original machine, made by Steve Jobs himself in 1979, was sold to one lucky phone bidder for an impressive US $374,500 (Rs 2,08,42,500).

According to Apple Insider, the computer is one of six known out of 50 that are likely still out there. Now that the fetching price is known we might see more come out in the open. Apart from the massive price fetched for that machine, a hand-written note from Steve Jobs during his time at Atari was also on auction, going up to a final price of US $27,500 (Rs. 15,28,450) even though it was only estimated to sell for less than half that price.

[Sotheby’s (1)]

[Sotheby’s (2)]

June 18, 2012
HTC One S with S3 processor available for INR 33K

The One S comes with an older S3 processor instead of the S4

The HTC One S, which has drawn flak for being fitted with the dual-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm S3 processor instead of the better Qualcomm S4 Krait processor in some countries, is available for online purchase at a starting price of Rs 33,000.

The phone features a 4.3 inch AMOLED qHD display, 8MP rear camera, front camera, Android 4.0, HTC Sense 4.0, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and 1650mAh battery. It is also company’s thinnest phone till date with just 7.8mm thick body.

The pricing seems to be perfect but the old processor may just turn out to be a deal breaker.

June 17, 2012
Hotmail undergoes a makeover, now called Newmail

Liveside.net leaked screenshots of the new interface

Most of us had our first email accounts at hotmail.com, but somehow after the arrival of Gmail, it faded into oblivion. Even though it still has the most number of users, 10 million more than Gmail, its growth rate has been alarmingly low! In a bid to bring it back to its former glory Microsoft has renamed and revamped Hotmail, now called Newmail, which is understood to have a ‘clean look’ when it comes to the font that has been used for the labels in the inbox, which resembles its adversary(Gmail).

The new email service will also be linked to Facebook and Twitter and will allow users to keep their contacts automatically in sync and see what their friends are doing on the service. However, all new accounts would still have the @hotmail tag.

June 16, 2012
Google+ adds YouTube Party App

Ever been to a party where you start showing friends your favorite YouTube videos? Well YouTube and Google+ think you have. If you are in a Google+ Hangout and as long as everyone has the web app running, they can share individual videos or whole playlists that run in sync. Voice chat, flips to a push-to-talk requirement to prevent friends from talking over your favorite clip or creating a fish market of the situation.

Everyone can add videos in the Hangout through a search tool in the app, or remove the videos you don’t like. All your friends in the Hangout can drag and drop videos to sort the order in the playlist, or skip forward or backward to play the next one.

If you like a video that’s playing, you can share the video with your Google+ circles at any time. Since great playlists are works of art, you can also save the playlist that you and your friends created to your YouTube account as public or private to enjoy later.

June 15, 2012
Sony’s NXT phones get Transparent Bar Notification Alerts – via third party app

If you are rocking one of the new Xperia NXT phones then you might like to know about this new app called “Illumination Bar Notification”. The app is meant only for Xperia S, P and U and allows you to set up notification alerts by making the light in the transparent bar flash.

The illumination bar can blink with different speeds or have a constant light depending on your preference. This app will only work on the latest range of Sony Xperia mobile phones that have the illumination bar (the transparent bar at the bottom of the phone). Currently this is the following models: Xperia S, Xperia P & Xperia U. On Xperia U multiple colors are available to choose from (Red, Green, Blue, etc).

Various Settings allow for custom notifications, including the light staying on till the SMS is read, or till the screen is unlocked. Go to the link below to download the app yourself.

[Google Play]

June 15, 2012
Developer teases iOS apps running on BlackBerry PlayBook

A developer working on the Playbook has been able to run iOS apps on the BlackBerry PlayBook. The developer likens his project to WINE, which doesn’t do hardware emulation, but rather relies on a custom set of APIs to make the apps boot and run on the Playbook. The dependency of the said port is only possible properly if the app does not rely on Apple’s UIWebView or CoreData frameworks. businesscat2000 the developer, has yet to make the software publicly available, although he’s expressed a bit of interest. It remains to be seen whether this project will ever see the light of day.

check out the demo videos posted by him below.

June 14, 2012
Sony announces Xperia Miro, Tipo, Tipo Dual
The Miro will be available in various colours

Sony yesterday announced three colorful, entry-level Android handsets (9 days before the official countdown) via its Facebook page that are expected to ship in the third quarter of the year. Though no spec-sheets have been revealed, here they are!
- Xperia Miro
The Miro is an entry level Xperia

Xperia miro packs a 3.5″ screen, 5MP camera, DLNA, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and, of course, a bunch of Sony exclusive software tricks to go with the adjustable illumination effects of the handset. There’s also a front facing camera for video chat. This is a Sony’s Facebook-centric smartphone, with the social networking site being integrated into the device.
- Xperia Tipo, Tipo Dual
The Tipo dual has a dedicated sim-switch button

The Xperia tipo and tipo dual are basic Android ICS handsets with a 3.2″ display and 3.2 MP camera. The phones run on an 800 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor but only 2.5 GB user accessible memory out of the 4 GB onboard memory. The tipo dual features a dedicated SIM-swap key to help switch between SIM cards. Users can also preset the phone to swap between SIM cards at a particular time during the day. Both the devices feature identical specifications except for the dual-SIM capabilities on the Xperia tipo dual.

Check out these introductory videos put up by Sony-
June 14, 2012
My Xbox Live update turns iPhone into controller

The app will turn the iPhone into an Xbox controller

Microsoft on Wednesday released an update for their My Xbox Live application for iOS (4.3 or later) which allows iPhone users to use the app to control their Xbox 360 consoles using a simple touch interface. The app also lets users launch games or apps on the 360 from the app on their phone without having to wade through tons of menus on the Xbox 360.

Even when the device is not connected to the Xbox, users can make changes to their profile, view their stats etc from their iPhone. Other additions to the iOS My Xbox Live app include improved authentication for increased stability, and high-resolution images for the new iPad. Remote control functionality is not yet available on the iPad.

The app was also released for Android but with restrictions, that is, users cannot gain any practical control over the Xbox, they can now check their Xbox Live profiles, friend statuses and the highlighted games.

June 14, 2012
Google Chrome Browser for Retina Macs shown off

Now that Apple has already released their new Retina Display MacBooks, the biggest question remains if the non-retina apps will look as good on the laptops. Google has already started working on a Chrome browser for Retina MacBooks, and it looks pretty nice. In a blog post the team showed off the image above with a comparison on what the high res edition will look like compared to its current counterpart based on “early results.” Users on the Canary channel should see the upgrades first, with more rolling out over the next few weeks and eventually reaching all as they go along.

[Google Chrome Blog] [VIA]

June 14, 2012
Nokia PureView launched in India, MRP Rs. 33,899

The device sports a massive 41-megapixel sensor

The Nokia 808 PureView was launched at an event here in New Delhi today. The device is priced at Rs 33,899/- and sales are going to start today. Throughout the keynote, conducted by Mr. Vipul Mehrotra, the emphasis was on the massive, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics. The device, hailed as a “Camera SmartPhone”, has truly amazing imaging and video quality, arguably one of the best we’ve seen on smartphones till now, including 4x loss-less zoom at 1080p.

Only the white and black colours will be available for now

[quote]Vipul Mehrotra, Director and Head of smart devices, Nokia India said, “Nokia has always been known for its imaging legacy. What started off with a simple objective to create the most advanced imaging device, the Nokia 808 PureView has evolved into something extremely revolutionary.[/quote]

Vipul Mehrotra during the keynote

It was also announced that Airtel will offer a bundled data package of 500MB with the phone, which for now is available in 2 colours-Black and White. Various Apps are also available to make use of the phone’s mutli-media capabilities.

The camera on the phone was highlighted the most

However, it was made clear that this does not signal the end of Nokia’s previous flagship device, the N8.

Nokia also announced there collaboration with Dolby Worldwide, the press release of which is below :

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

Nokia ushers in a new era in smartphone innovation

Inspired by satellite imaging, revolutionary Nokia 808 PureView now available in India

Collaborates with Dolby Laboratories to offer cinema-like entertainment on-the-go

New Delhi, June 13, 2012— Nokia India today announced the launch of much awaited Nokia 808 PureView with 41 MP sensor and the most advanced imaging innovation featuring Nokia’s award winning PureView technology. Nokia 808 PureView brings together high resolution sensors, exclusive Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia developed algorithms to offer a break through imaging experience to the consumers. Nokia also announced its collaboration with Dolby Laboratories to bring outstanding cinematic sound experience for entertainment enthusiasts – Nokia 808 PureView is the first mobile device to feature both Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Headphones technology. The Nokia 808 PureView features a large, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology which is set to revolutionize high-end imaging in the smartphone sector. With superior low-light performance and the ability to save in compact file sizes for sharing in email, MMS, and on social networks, the Nokia 808 PureView makes it possible for anyone to capture professional looking images in any conditions.

Speaking at the launch, Vipul Mehrotra, Director and Head of smart devices, Nokia India said, “Nokia has always been known for its imaging legacy. What started off with a simple objective to create the most advanced imaging device, the Nokia 808 PureView has evolved into something extremely revolutionary. Nokia 808 PureView stands for industry leading innovation – it represents Nokia’s highest level of smartphone imaging experiences and marries it effectively with Dolby’s cinematic sound experience, resulting in a smartphone that has set new standards in mobile technology. This was possible due to our long expertise in imaging, partnering with the best companies in the world such as Dolby Laboratories and Carl Zeiss, incredible craftsmanship and unwillingness to compromise on performance. We are proud of what we have jointly created, world’s first super camera phone.”

“In the past, entertainment was confined to the living room but the current trend witnesses more and more entertainment available not only at home but on the go. The Nokia PureView 808 is an amazing device and has really allowed us a platform to showcase Dolby technologies, and deliver an outstanding entertainment experience that is perfectly aligned with the device’s capabilities,” said Pankaj Kedia, Country Manager, Dolby Laboratories India. He further adds, ““The PureView 808 is the latest Nokia smartphone to showcase Dolby Digital Plus, which delivers an outstanding entertainment experience that is perfectly aligned with this groundbreaking phone’s capabilities. Meanwhile, a software upgrade for other Nokia smartphones unleashes the power of Dolby technology in those devices, enabling cinematic 5.1 surround sound for music and movies.”

Through this collaboration, both the pioneers are creating new benchmarks in smartphone technology. Nokia and Dolby will also unlock the Dolby technologies on other Nokia smartphones – specifically the Nokia 700, Nokia 701 and Nokia 603 with the latest Nokia Belle feature pack software upgrade. The inclusion of Dolby technologies in Nokia smartphones brings an extra dimension to their performance, transforming them into devices which can deliver high-definition (HD) content with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel surround sound to HDTVs, audio/video receivers, and home theater systems. In addition, Dolby Headphone, available on the PureView 808, transforms content into a personal surround sound experience over headphones to create a natural, engaging, and authentic listening experience.

In addition to superior still imaging technology, the Nokia 808 PureView, also includes full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom and the world’s first use of Nokia Rich Recording. Rich Recording enables audio recording at CD-like levels of quality, previously only possible with external microphones. Dolby technology delivers rich, full-impact audio. Whether the content is video or music, Dolby technology unlocks the surround sound experience from Video content and optimizes the playback of music.

The Nokia 808 PureView will be available across Nokia retail outlets starting tomorrow. Nokia 808 PureView will be priced at Rs. 33,899/- and will be available in white and black colour.

About Nokia

Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia’s technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia

About Dolby Laboratories

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE:DLB) is the global leader in technologies that are essential elements in the best entertainment experiences. Founded in 1965 and best known for high-quality audio and surround sound, Dolby creates innovations that enrich entertainment at the movies, at home, or on the go. For more information about Dolby Laboratories or Dolby technologies, visit www.dolby.com.

Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. W12/25383 DLB-G

[/toggle_box]

June 13, 2012
HTC announces Desire C and V

The Desire V is the first Dual-sim smartphone from HTC

After the recent success of their ‘One’ series handsets, HTC has shifted its focus to two new Desire series cellphones, called the Desire C and V.

Both handsets run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS and come with Beats Audio technology. These devices come with only 4GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD), along with 25GB of free Dropbox space for two years.

An interesting feature of the Desire V is that it is the first Dual sim phone to come out of HTC’s stable, and is expected to hit indian stores later this year.

The Desire C device sports a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with 320×480 pixels resolution, powered by a Snapdragon S1 600MHz processor, with 512MB RAM, Sense 4.0 UI on top of Ice Cream Sandwich. It is expected to cost somewhere around Rs 14,299.

HTC released an introductory video for the Desire C :

June 13, 2012
iOS 6 and How : Top 6 Features of iOS 6

Apple has just announced the new iOS 6 for their iOS Devices, and incase you have any doubts we have a compiled list of what device gets what features from iOS 6: here. The new iOS 6 has 200 new features. Some are minor, like Mail VIP inbox, and some are intense and exciting, like a brand new Maps app complete with 3D rendering. Now, Apple only showed off ten of the new features and we are taking about the top 6 of those features.

1.Phone

The biggest new improvement to the iOS has to be the Phone app, if you swipe up during an incoming call (much like the Camera shortcut), two small banners will appear at the bottom of the screen right above the Answer and Ignore buttons. These banners will allow you to either remind yourself to call said person back, or text message them.

With options for reminders like, when i leave (current location) or when i reach home, etc. Making the phone a completely different device all together. There are also text replies, which Nokia devices have had forever now, there are a couple quick replies like “I’ll call you later” or “What’s up?” which can be sent with the press of a button.

Apple has also added a Do Not Disturb mode, Users will be able to block out all incoming calls and messages. The messages and notifications will come but the screen will not light up. Also banners, alerts, noises, flashing LED lights will not be a bother. ‘

2. Maps

After acquiring three mapping companies over the past few years, Apple has finally released their own Mapping solution for their iOS devices, and bid Google a fair goodbye. This couldn’t have happened sooner, considering the non-reliable Google Maps especially in countries like India.

Apple designed the whole system themselves, including the cartography, which is why you may notice a differently colored icon for Maps come iOS 6 update time. The app will offer turn-by-turn navigation and, most notably, a 3D “Flyover”, You’ll be able to pan, tilt, zoom, and rotate inside Flyover mode.

Turn by Turn directions are said to be made available globally, hopefully in India as-well. They a spoken aloud in the familiar voice of Siri, the maps will be available to be viewed in 3D mode, and will offer different routes should traffic conditions change up the ETA. Traffic conditions will be monitored by crowd sourced updates, (it is known that these updates are powered by Waze, Getchee, Localeze, Urban Mapping, DMTI, MapData Sciences and, of course, TomTom.)

The Maps will be available full-fledged for the whole world and according to Apple have listings for over 100 million small businesses, with Yelp listings integrated.

3. Facebook Integration

Although it was already known that Apple was going to implement this add-on in iOS, but the sheer method and deep integration has left us in awe of the OS. After signing in once with your username and password, you’ll be able to post instantly to Facebook from anywhere in the new mobile operating system. In fact, if your hands are busy , Siri can do it for you.

Photos, links, locations, Game Center content, “and more” can all be posted straight to the Social Network, and you are now able to “Like” different apps and songs in iTunes and App Store. Apple also opened up a public Facebook iOS 6 API, for developers to include integration in their apps.

All your event and Birthdays from your Facebook are seamlessly synchronized with the calendar app to give you updates and reminders in real time on your personal iOS device.

4. Passbook

Imagine a world where you didn’t have a huge stack of promotional membership cards, discount cards, access cards, tickets etc, Just one simple consolidated pass. That may actually come true with Passbook, Apples new app that allows you to store movie tickets, boarding passes, coupons, and retail loyalty cards in one place. You can scan your iPhone to check in for a flight, get in to a movie, or redeem a coupon.

The App also has geolocations, so the minute you walk into your favorite coffee shop, (example used Starbucks) the card will pop up as a notification, it will display the balance and can be scanned to be redeemed while ordering. Similarly, you arrive at the airport, your boarding pass will appear as a notification on the home screen for easy access.

The Passbook app can even check to see if your flight is delayed or if your gate has changed, and alerts you immediately. If the Gate number is changed it automatically updates on your Passbook.

This service will kick off in the US , but we are pretty sure globally it will become a hit, especially with retailers looking to cut costs. Starbucks, Fandango, Target, Amtrak, United, the Apple Store, MLB.com, and W Hotels are already on board, but none of those are a part of the Indian Businesses list.

We are Hopeful that passbook catches on really fast in India. So all your movie tickets show up in your iOS device.

5. Siri

Siri comes to the world fully, with local searches and total availability. But, thats not the big news. The big news according to Apple is that Siri can now open apps, so if you are like us and have a ton of Apps on the iOS device. Then you will constantly find yourself searching for the App in spotlight, iOS 6 eliminates that by allowing Siri to open these Apps. Now all you need to do is say ” open Temple Run” and the game starts playing. But , do we really need that?

Siri advancements include access to sports, restaurant, and movie information, with the ability to look up Yelp reviews, ratings and prices along with making reservation on Open Table. Now again most of these features remain US centric, but hopefully they come our side soon. You could then probably look Up IPL rankings by just asking Siri.

The most interesting reveal was possibly the “Eyes Free” link. This will allow car manufacturers to integrate Siri into their Cars system, by a simple button on the cars steering wheel, which would call up Siri but not light up the display of the phone. Then you can make calls send messages all without taking your eyes off of the road, or hands off of the wheel.

The other important fact is that Siri will come to the newest gen iPad (launched this year).

6. Safari

The major chunk of the mobile internet access comes from iOS devices every year, it was only fair that Apple upgrade their browser, to become even better. iCloud Tabs keeps track of which pages you have open on your devices, so you can start browsing on one device and pick up right where you left off on whatever device is handy.

Safari now saves web pages, not just links, in your Reading List, so you can catch up on your reading even when you can’t connect to the Internet. The best addition according to us is the ability for the browser to upload images from the photo gallery, when you want to create a listing on Ebay etc, or wanna share a photo on Facebook from the browser.

You can take photos and video, or choose from your Camera Roll, without leaving Safari. When you really want to see the whole picture, turn your iPhone or iPod touch to landscape and tap the full-screen icon to view web pages without distractions.

iOS 6 was released as a beta yesterday, but the final version will ship “This Fall”. iOS 6 will also allow FaceTime calls over cellular (Read – 3G – 4G) and new accessibility features, that will allow you to lo

What is your favorite feature of the new iOS?

June 13, 2012
HTC will sell ONE S with 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 in select markets

HTC plans to launch the One S in two different variants across the globe. While the US, UK, Japan, Korean, France and Germany enjoy the new Dual core Snapdragon S4 processor, HTC will launch a different model with an older yet higher clocked S3 chipset for Asia-Pacific regions and some (as-yet unspecified) European markets.

So in short if it’s got a dual-core 1.7GHz processor, you’ve got the Snapdragon S3, if it’s 1.5GHz then you have the newer S4. Be very careful if you have been saving up for the HTC One S, India might just get the S3 variant.

[The Verge]

June 13, 2012