All Brands and Company Names
A banner being put up by ground staff at the WWDC event being held this year at Moscone West. There have been other leaks of high res MacBooks with Retina displays and a new design. But the above image pretty much confirms the announcement of iOS 6, below which if you read correctly you will find the moniker ” World’s most Advanced Mobile Operating System” (Proud much Apple? )
The event happens on Monday, so stay tuned for the whole low down.
Google maps are set to add a new dimension! The announcement was made by Google from their San Francisco office where a press conference was held, keeping in mind Apple’s press event, the WWDC, which is set to take place next week. It is deploying a fleet of small, camera-equipped airplanes, via contractors, above several cities, the Internet search company’s latest step in its ambitious and sometimes controversial plan to create a digital map of the world. The images would be recorded at a 45-degree angle and would be integrated with Google Earth.
[quote]We’re trying to create the illusion that you’re just flying over the city, almost as if you were in your own personal helicopter, said Peter Birch, a product manager for Google Earth. [/quote]
Brian McClendon, Google’s head of engineering for its maps product, said that privacy issues were the same as that accompany aerial imagery. Privacy has been an issue for various countries, especially when Google’s Street View cars had been inadvertently collecting emails, passwords and other personal data from people’s home wireless networks.
A demo of a San Francisco map in 3d was showcased and it was nothing short of spectacular.
It also announced that Google maps for Android would soon get an offline caching feature, allowing users to download a part of a map on their devices and use them later.
Google doesn’t want to say when these features will become available, making it pretty obvious that today’s announcement is meant to preempt Apple’s rumored announcements next week.
Nokia has now dropped the type from their Touch and type series of Asha Phones, by launching three new full touch phones in the lineup. The Asha 305, 306 and 311 will add to the already existing and popular Asha series.
The phones all have 3-inch screens and run the Asha Touch UI (we all know what that is based on), also to lure the buyer are free Nokia Browser 2.0 and free games from EA
The 305 and 306 have a WQVGA resistive touch screen along with 2MP cameras, the 306 is the one with WiFi out of the two. The 311 has a capacitive glass screen, HSPA modem, 1GHz CPU and 3.2MP camera.
As Far as price is concerned the devices will be priced
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Nokia accelerates the journey to mobile internet with the introduction of Asha Touch device range
Fun, colorful range of touch screen phones will bring fast mobile web browsing, social networks and gaming to millions
Bangkok, Thailand – Nokia has today taken another step towards connecting the next billion consumers by unveiling the Asha Touch family of mobile devices, taking the full touch experience to new price points. The three new phone models – the Nokia Asha 305, Nokia Asha 306 and Nokia Asha 311 – further expand the successful Asha family, first introduced in October 2011. Today, there are 10 Asha devices available in more than 130 markets, providing young, social consumers with a choice of phones to match their own lifestyle.
These latest phones have been designed to provide an incredibly rich, smartphone-like experience to consumers who want to be set free from excessive data consumption costs and short battery life. The Nokia Asha 305, Asha 306 and Asha 311 offer a new, fully re-designed touch user interface, combining the proven ease-of-use from Nokia’s heritage with digital design innovations specifically fit for the purpose.
The beautifully crafted Nokia Asha 311 is a fast and fluid 3.5G capacitive touchscreen device, powered by a 1GHz processor to provide a great internet experience. The bright and edgy Nokia Asha 305 is a fun and affordable phone, featuring the exclusive Easy Swap dual SIM. Its sister, the Nokia Asha 306, is a single SIM model, and becomes Nokia’s most affordable Wi-Fi handset to date.
“By introducing the Asha Touch phones to the market, we’re accelerating our commitment to connect the next billion consumers,” said Mary T. McDowell, Nokia’s executive vice president for Mobile Phones. “These phones deliver on what young, urban people value most — a great-looking device; and an intuitive and affordable experience for connecting to the internet, to their friends, and to a world of entertainment, web apps and content.”
Great for fast, affordable mobile internet and gaming entertainment
The new devices take full advantage of the Nokia Browser 2.0, a major recent update which uses Nokia’s cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90%, meaning that consumers can enjoy faster and cheaper internet access. Web sites load up to three times faster in comparison to devices without cloud-accelerated browsing, making it simple for users to find and select from more than 10,000 web apps available for download. They deliver a richer and more interactive consumer experience whilst using less data than a stand-alone internet connected app.
Consumers can easily stay connected with friends and family at the touch of a button as well as share files and links across their social networks. Furthermore, the Nokia Browser’s Download Manager feature helps consumers to manage external content easily, saving music, video or pictures on a memory card, while surfing the internet.
The Asha family is also getting positive support from developers and consumers. Nokia Store has just broken the 5 billion downloads landmark. From January to April, 42% of all content downloaded from Nokia Store was delivered to Asha and other Nokia devices based on the Java ecosystem. Just one year ago, that number was 10%. Also, there are 410 Nokia developers with apps which have achieved more than 1 million downloads. India Games and Pico Brothers just passed 100 million.
As well as providing a great, social online experience, the Nokia Asha 305, Asha 306 and Asha 311 have been created with entertainment in mind. All users will receive an exclusive gift of 40 EA games to download for free* and keep forever. These games range across action, arcade and sports, and include titles such as Tetris®, Bejeweled®, Need for Speed(TM) The Run and EA SPORTS(TM) FIFA 12. The Nokia Asha 311 also comes with 15 levels of Angry Birds pre-loaded onto the phone, perfect for making the most of the touchscreen and 1GHz processor.
“Nokia is taking another interesting step forward in connecting consumers to the Internet, seeking to improve their experience through a new touch user-interface that is allowing the company to compete in new mass-market price bands. The mass-market is a competitive segment, but we believe Nokia’s upgraded Asha portfolio has included an attractive package that can enable consumers to have lower running costs, taking advantage of things like its compressed browser and a long-life battery”, says Neil Mawston, Executive Director of devices research at Strategy Analytics. “It is also interesting to see how Nokia is promoting its Asha strategy with global launches taking place in important high-growth markets such as Asia. Nokia resonates well there and the response from local consumers is likely to be positive”.
Product details
The Nokia Asha 311 is a colourful, compact touch screen device that comes with all the features you’d expect for a fun and easy mobile experience. It boasts a bright and colourful, scratch resistant capacitive glass screen with polarization filters ensuring users get the best experience from the unique and visually entertaining user interface. The Nokia Asha 311 also features a 3.2MP camera and pre-installed Nokia Maps, in addition to the 15 level pre-bundled version of Angry Birds.
The pre-loaded social client makes accessing Facebook, Twitter and many other global social networks simple while Nokia Browser makes using mobile internet fast and affordable. It also includes the most popular messaging services. “WhatsApp has a clear vision of creating a reliable and easy to use cross-platform messaging application that enables people to stay in touch with their family and friends from all around the world,” said, Brian Acton, Co-Founder of WhatsApp Inc. “By partnering with Nokia whose worldwide reach in mobile is well established, WhatsApp becoming available for the Asha Touch devices will enable us to further realize our core mission”.
The Nokia Asha 305 is a fun and entertaining Easy Swap dual SIM phone, helping users make the most of their phone while retaining control of their costs. The phone features a bright and colorful 3″ WQVGA resistive touch screen along with Bluetooth and Dual Band connectivity. Forty EA games are available for download with every phone as well as a 2MP camera, Nokia Maps and the revolutionary Nokia Browser which helps significantly lower data costs.
The Nokia Asha 306 is the sister device to the Nokia Asha 305. Along with all the great features that come with its sister, such as bright and colorful, 3″ WQVGA resistive touch screen and 40 EA games for download – a Nokia exclusive offer, the Nokia Asha 306 also provides WLAN, enabling users to stay connected while on the move. It also supports video streaming through both GPRS and WLAN, meaning this handset truly is a fun way to stay in touch.
The estimated retail price for Nokia Asha 305 is EUR 63 and it’s expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2012. The estimated retail price for Nokia Asha 306 is EUR 68. The Nokia Asha 311 has an estimated retail price of EUR 92. Both devices are expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2012. Above mentioned prices exclude taxes and subsidies.
The new devices images are available at Nokia.com/press.
*Data costs may apply.
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Apple has filed a third challenge against HTC on June 4th claiming claims HTC is still violating patents with their new One series devices. If this case goes anywhere near success, Apple would slap down 29 devices including the new One Series, the One X, the One V and the One S. A full list of implicated handsets is in the source link below.
The latest suit contains a quote by Steve Jobs.
[quote]We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it, We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours. [/quote]
They are at it again. Apple and Samsung are in legal hot waters yet again, only when things couldn’t get worse. Apple has called for early ban on Samsung’s new flagship device the Galaxy SIII. According to Apple the Galaxy S III violates at least two patents, one is the data tapping patent, the exact on in their suitagainst HTC and the other a unified search patent that covers Siri.
Apple is also arguing that a Million Pre-orders are evidence of the potential damage if the US court lets the dispute slide. Samsung has confirmed that the injunction will not affect the US launch schedule. But knowing how this battle has heated up, we can only wait nd watch what really will happen.
If you’re thinking of buying a new laptop/desktop and are worried bout being left with the older version of Windows, Microsoft comes with the solution! If you buy your machine between June 2, 2012 to January 31, 2013, and it comes preloaded with Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate that includes a matching and valid OEM certificate of Certificate of Authenticity (COA), just visit the Microsoft website and register there so that when Windows 8 is launched officially, it would be made available for download at a price of just Rs 699!
Just a few days ago, Microsoft launched a preview of Windows 8 and was made available for download from it’s website. Moreover, PC’s running Windows 7 would not need any hardware change to run Windows 8. The basic requirements are a 1Ghz processor, 1gb RAM, DirectX 9 compatible (recommended).
Intel on Tuesday launched a whole new range of Ultrabooks, along with their new 3rd Gen Core Processors. The new range of products are designed on their 22nm platform, with added benefits of better battery life, more flexible designs and light mobile ultrabooks. The new inbuilt features will offer more security and theft protection by allowing new services like remote locking.
Intel said devices such as Ultrabooks, powered by Ivy Bridge, would give consumers ability to play games, upload videos to the Internet and movies without purchasing expensive, separate graphics card.
[quote]Similar to introduction of Intel Centrino nearly a decade ago, this is a time of revolutionary change in personal computing
-Ms Debjani Ghosh, Managing Director, Sales and Marketing Group, Intel South Asia[/quote]
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We would see around 30 new designs coming which are touch-enabled and 10-12 designs which are convertible like sliders by end of this year. Sliders are designs that can be used as tablet as well as laptop.
-Mr Sandeep Aurora, Director Marketing, Intel South Asia
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Though Intel has kept the cost of Ivy Bridge similar to that of Sandy Bridge, products such as Ultrabooks would remain as a niche product for at least next 12 months. Intel was also keen to mention that the staring SKU’s of the new ultrabooks would cost upwards of Rupees 50,000. But, the company is working closely with OEM manufacturers to bring pricing to the older time Centrino levels.
Along side their new Ultrabooks, Intel tied up with Satya Paul Designs to launch a new range of Ultrabook accessories at the event
Nokia’s newest offering, the 808 PureView, which boasts of a massive, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and has full HD 1080p video recording and playback, is all set to hit Indian stores tomorrow. The PureView was made available for pre-booking last month on Nokia’s website. The cost is expected to be around the Rs 30,000 mark.
Some features of this smartphone :
The company’s flagship smartphone model, Nokia Lumia 900and Nokia Lumia 610 will also hit the market this month expected to be around Rs 28,000 and Rs 11,000 respectively.
Check out our hands on Video!
For the past 5 years, Microsoft has been the star at E3 gaming event. Hence, it was only natural to think that they wouldn’t disappoint this year either. Oh, we were mistaken. The lack of a big surprise and a relative dearth of brand new titles stopped this from being a great conference. Even Usher couldn’t bring the crowd off their seats.
The event started out with a loud and action-filled (obviously) trailer of Halo 4, which was followed by Don A. Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft taking over the stage and announcing “We’re on a mission to make entertainment even more amazing”. How we wish.
Cut to footage of Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Ubisoft Toronto’s first announced title, developed under the stewardship of Jade Raymond. Seems Splinter Cell has morphed into a cross between Ghost Recon and Black Ops. However, an interesting feature was the use of the Kinect Mic to attract the attention of your enemies.
Andrew Wilson, Head of EA SPORTS at Electronic Arts, took to the stage and announced that Kinect support will be coming to Madden 13 and FIFA 13. A Video showed players making subsititutions and adjustments to team formation by shouting at Kinect, just like a real manager probably. Though I’m not sure my neighbor wants to hear me yelling “get Mario off the pitch he’s a liability!”
Microsoft then turned their attention to their first party franchises. Fable The Journey had a brief trailer. Seems like last year’s lukewarm reception to the game made an impact, it looks much better. However, that was only in terms of visuals, with no gameplay showed, so quite how the game has developed in the past 12 months remains a mystery. In a quickfire volley of trailers, Gears of War Judgment got its first airing, apparently casting Baird in the lead role which came as a shock as nobody quite liked Baird. Again, no gameplay but it will be interesting to see how new developer People Can Fly (Bulletstorm) bring their unique attitude to shooters, and how they can make Baird less of a jerk. Forza Horizon and a whopping dollop of dubstep rounded out the trailer, taking the detailed visuals and handling of Forza and transplanting it into open road racing and motor festivals. Resident Evil 6 and Tomb Raider too made blink and you miss appearances.
What turned out to be the most interesting announcement of the event was the announcement of Xbox Music and SmartGlass. Microsoft revealed the details of the two concepts at their pre-E3 press conference. Xbox Music will go up against popular music streaming services like Spotify, Apple’s iTunes etc. to bring music to your Xbox console as well as Windows tablets and smartphones. There was no indication of the release date, but Microsoft insisted that while Xbox Music will replace their not-so-successful Zune, it will be more than a simple revamp of that application. The teaser video showed users being able to queue up music and share what they are listening to with friends, much in the same way Spotify does. However, Microsoft said that the unique features for the service will be detailed in the coming weeks.
Xbox SmartGlass allows users to interact with their Xbox console and television screen using their tablet computers –including Apple’s iPad– and smartphones. The concepts on display included being able to watch a movie on your tablet computer and then transfer it directly to your Xbox and television to pick up where you left off. Interestingly, while you are watching a television show or playing a game on your television with Xbox SmartGlass enabled on your tablet device, the two screens will interact with each other in different ways. For games, there was a concept demo of a player of American football game Madden 13 choosing plays on their tablet while playing the main game on the television, and a concept for FPS Halo where the player could examine weaponry and interact with friends over the Xbox Live service on their tablet. This seems similar to Nintendo’s Wii U console, which comes with a tablet style controller. Microsoft also revealed that Internet Explorer would be making it’s way into Xbox and would be compatible with Kinect and SmartGlass.
The show was rounded off by a Call of Duty Black Ops II trailer which nearly brought the whole center down by sheer volume. It showcased some interesting gadgets, with the player controlling a small drone to wipe out enemies and a sniper rifle that can see through walls. It was classic Call of Duty gameplay, though the near future twist and vehicles add flavour to this most ubiquitous of series.
Sony has launched their new smartphone the “Sola” in the Market, and we go unboxing and hands-on, iGyaan Style. The new smartphone has a different build as far as all Xperia net devices are concerned.
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At Computex-world’s largest computer related exhibition, tech giants Acer showcased a number of devices, including Windows 8 based machines. The company said that this year it would launch two tablets (W700 and W510), Aspire 7600U and Aspire 5600U all-in-ones, and Aspire 7 series ultrabook powered by Windows 8.
[quote]The unique part of the W510 tablet is the tri-mode, allowing users to touch, type and view. Aside from the conventional tablet mode, it can be used in productivity mode. A detachable keyboard dock can be connected to the tablet for optimal typing as well as extending the battery life up to 18 hours. Rotating the tablet 295 degrees allows it to be used in presentation mode, which is excellent for watching a video, browsing a webpage or viewing a PowerPoint presentation, the company said.[/quote]
In addition, the W510 has Always On, Always Connect technology, and a 10.1-inch touchscreen, which delivers wider viewing angles and vibrant colours, while W700 has a full HD 11.6-inch screen.The smaller tablet will be priced at Rs $799 while W700 will cost at least $999.
Source : TOI
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Theme Sense 4 CM9/AOKP (Rs 64)
For all those android users using a CyanogenMod 9 or AOKP ROM (Oh yes, we know), who want their phones to run HTC’s beautiful Sense 4.0 UI, here comes the app that you’d been waiting for! This theme from BlackDub imitates the new streamlined and functional interface to perfection. A must have for spicing up your phone.
JetAudio Basic (Free)
This is an app worthy of replacing the default music player on your Android Smartphones.
It comes with 32 equalizer presets that will provide a wide array of listening experience.
For those who would like to customize their own sound experience, it also allows 10 bands graphic equalizer and other advanced playback functions including playback speed control, crossfading, AGC and much more. It’s available for free on the Play Store.
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SkyDrive (Free)
It comes as a shock, but Microsoft online storage service has been available for iOS users. The latest release adds a couple of new features such as support for Retina displays on the new share of apple devices. Features such as the option to upload multiple pictures and videos, sharing of these files via e-mail or web link help it to be the app of the week. The SkyDrive app also lets the user open files uploaded to SkyDrive using other iOS apps. So, if you fancy additional-based cloud storage, head to the iTunes store for the latest version.
Music Unlimited (Free Trial + subscription)
Yet another music streaming service, but this time, from Sony. It’s biggest advantage is that it is offered across a ton of Sony hardware-Android, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and Sony TVs and Blu-ray players. It also boasts music from all the major labels, not just Sony’s own music division. If you’re interested, you can get a free 30-day trial.
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WizTiles
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When Google completed a $151 million acquisition ofrestaurant rating firm Zagat in September it was seen as an attempt to compete with Yelp’s popular online rating service and it was only a matter of time before they integrated the service into their products. On Wednesday, Google Maps for Android was updated to prominently feature Zagat-based reviews on many restaurants around the world. The changes announced on Wednesday, a video on youtube by googlemaps, eliminates an annual $25 subscription fee that Zagat had been charging for online access to its surveys of diners. Those diners have rated about 35,000 restaurants in more than 100 cities around the world.
This integration is part of a larger rollout called Google+ Local, on which you can get personalized recommendations from people in your Google+ Circles. According to Google’s Lat-Long Blog,[quote] Each place you see in Google+ Local will now be scored using Zagat’s 30 point scale, which tells you all about the various aspects of a place so you can make the best decisions. For example, a restaurant that has great food but not great decor might be 4 stars, but with Zagat you’d see a 26 in Food and an 8 in Decor, and know that it might not be the best place for date night.[/quote]
Google’s check-in services have never really taken off, so Local’s renewed focus on personalized recommendations goes a long way to making Places relevant again.
The update for Google maps was made available in the play store on Wednesday.
Research In Motion(RIM), manufacturer of BlackBerry, is all set to open it’s first innovation zone for the Asia Pacific region in Kerala. It will do so in collaboration with Startup technologies and will be located at Rubus Labs in Kerala-based Startup Village, the Innovation Zone will be the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, and will showcase the latest in BlackBerry technologies.
Alec Saunders, vice-president of Developer Relations and Ecosystems Development, Research In Motion, said they will provide Rubus Labs access to the latest BlackBerry products and technical information.
The release added that the labs would host regular developer activities such as BlackBerry Hackathons and Bar Camps and that training sessions will be conducted across the 126 engineering colleges in Kerala under the BlackBerry BASE (BlackBerry Apps by Student Entrepreneurs) programme by using the outreach of Startup Village.
Opera on Friday releases the new version of their popular mobile browser, called Mini 7, aimed at capitalizing on the social networking wave. The biggest change that makes its way into the browser is a new feature called “Smart Page” which brings all the latest feeds from your Facebook and Twitter accounts, your favorite websites (via RSS feeds) on your homepage. The SmartPage also uses Opera’s page compression technology, which shifts a large part of user-end calculation, such as running javascript, to special servers which reduces the data charges involved in mobile browsing.
Other updates include
The website made the new version available for download for free from their website, m.opera.com, for BlackBerry, Symbian S60 and Java phones. No news yet on when it’ll be made available for iOS and Android users.