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Tech heads won’t be unfamiliar with Ubuntu, a Linux-based operating system for desktops. Its developers, Canonical, have gone to great lengths to offer high-quality computing for free, and today they’ve announced that they’re going to be building software to mobile phones, as well.
Calling the product launch a “significant next step in our history”, Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Ubuntu, demoed the device and spoke of Canonical’s plans for taking the device to an already saturated mobile market. The company says its eventual plan is to offer consumers a unified experience on TVs, phones and PCs.
Ubuntu for phones looks to rely heavily on gestures for its day to day operation, masking power behind a clean design. For instance, the “welcome screen” in the center of the above three phones will feature a user’s notifications and will allows users to swipe in different directions to get to apps. While we’re only getting a brief glimpse of how the OS works, it looks to take on iOS, Android and Windows phones despite their sizable head start.
[quote]”We expect Ubuntu to be popular in the enterprise market, enabling customers to provision a single secure device for all PC, thin client and phone functions. Ubuntu is already the most widely used Linux enterprise desktop, with customers in a wide range of sectors focused on security, cost and manageability,” said Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical. “We also see an opportunity in basic smartphones that are used for the phone, SMS, web and email, where Ubuntu outperforms thanks to its native core apps and stylish presentation.”[/quote]
The team will offer full native app support in C++ or OpenGL, and claims that apps run faster on cheaper hardware because all apps are native and there is “no Java overhead.”
Earlier this year, Canonical announced Ubuntu for Android phones, which has yet to materialize. The mobile team plans a release for the Galaxy Nexus very soon, though no official date has been set. Ubuntu OS has support for both ARM and x86 processors. This means it could be made to run on most, if not all, of today’s Android-powered smartphones without too much effort.
In the company’s video, they explain that the phone looks to provide support for web apps, games and bringing a PC-like experience to mobile. As most users will know, the operating system is famous for both its customization and its steep learning curve: the company will hopefully be looking to eliminate the latter for the general public.
Ubuntu phones will be released in 2014, and the company intends to freely distribute the code like Google does with Android.
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!
Huawei will be officially unveiling a few devices at CES. The Windows Phone powered W1, the Ascend D2 the mongo Android-powered Ascend Mate. We’ve seen these devices make an appearance online, either leaked or pleasantly shown off by a Huawei exec.
Now a new set of images, courtesy of reliable tipster EVLeaks, has popped up online. It looks like the W1 will come in white, blue, pink and blue. The specs have it sporting a 4-inch display and a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 2000mAh battery.
The D2 has a 5-inch display with a resolution of 1920×1080, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 13MP camera and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera, runs Android OS 4.1 Jelly Bean, 3,000mAh battery. As for the Ascend Mate, this is the massive phablet that was shown off by Huawei last week, has a 6.1-inch 1080p Full HD display, quad-core 1.8 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, 13MP camera and 9.9 mm thin.
While several of the spec details for these three devices have surfaced, some details that we’re still without at this point relate to their release dates and whether or not they’ll be made available here in India. The good news is that CES 2013 kicks off next week, so it won’t be long before Huawei spills the beans on these devices, and you can bet that we’ll be live at the big show when it does. Huawei will be expanding its presence in several different categories with this trio of phones, and it’ll be interesting to learn what the company’s plan of attack is when it comes to availability and pricing. Which of these three handsets do you prefer so far?
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
December was a tough month for Zynga, the company pulled the plug on 11 games, as the gaming company reallocates resources to more successful titles as well as creating new ones. While this is an important move for Zynga, it couldn’t have been easy, and it has to be even harder for the gamers who spent months or in some cases years playing these games and now have nothing to show for it.
Zynga had a brilliant start by launching titles after titles and grew as Facebook grew. Everything seemed to go great till the IPO. But recently Zynga shares prices have been plummeting. Investors feared it had become bloated, free virality on Facebook had been curtailed, competitors were proliferating, and the shift of Facebook users to mobile from Zynga’s stronghold on the desktop canvas would break the company. Zynga’s share price is down 3.52% to $2.33 from its $10 IPO price a year ago.
Those that weren’t shut down or pulled from the app store already no longer accept new sign ups and will stop altogether next month. Here’s the full list:
PetVille – Shut down December 30th Mafia Wars 2 – Shut down December 30th FishVille – Shut down December 5th Vampire Wars – Shut down December 5th Treasure Isle – Shut down December 5th Indiana Jones Adventure World – Closed to new players, shuts down January 14th Mafia Wars Shakedown – Pulled from app stores Forestville – Pulled from app stores Montopia – Shut down December 21st Mojitomo – Pulled from app stores Word Scramble Challenge – Pulled from app stores
To numb the pain and try to get gamers hooked on titles that will keep running, Zynga offered people who played FishVille, Adventure World, and some other titles a free bonus package of virtual goods in one of its flagship games CastleVille, ChefVille, FarmVille 2, Mafia Wars, or YoVille.
This might be good news for most Facebook users who were irritated by the repeated requests from these games!
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.
Earlier we posted about some new BB10 photos of the Z10 which is the touch screen only BlackBerry due to be announced next month.
BlackBerry are known for their keyboards though and a BB10 handset is also in the making we believe to be called the X10. Some photos were posted recently of the said device but now there are even more photos with the X10 switched on to give you a better idea of what to expect.
The pictures clearly show the X10’s relatively tiny (in today’s world of 4″ and 5″ displays) display and QWERTY keyboard that extends from edge-to-edge.
The back of the phone also shows the camera lens and flash. Given that this is likely a prototype unit, we can excuse the rather cheap looking finish of this X10 pictured. Hopefully the production models will have better graining than what’s currently shown.
BB10 launches on 30 January — so a month to the day exactly. Many people think it’ll be make or break time for RIM, after its recent troubles. There was a rumour a while ago that RIM would have to split the company in half and sell off its networking business, or join forces with Microsoft. BB10 has already been delayed twice, so let’s hope 30 January is indeed the day it launches.
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)
Research In Motion’s long awaited BlackBerry Z10 has popped up once again, showing off what an attractive handset it’s turning out to be. That all-black black candybar design and matted look really accentuate the company’s much anticipated OS, which is slated for a full unveil and release on Jan. 30 of next year.
The pics were posted online via a blog called “Fou6an” and have since been removed. So we’ll really only know if these images, along with all the others, are a true when RIM announces them.
The latest speculation has the BlackBerry Z10 offering a 4.2 inch screen with resolution of 768 x 1280 with a high pixel density of 356ppi, well above the Retina display on the Apple iPhone 5.
A dual-core 1.5GHz processor will be doing the heavy lifting and the U.S.models are expected to have the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 under the hood. 2GB of RAM is on board while there is 16GB of native storage that can be expanded using a hot swappable microSD slot.
The 8MP camera on back captures video in 1080p while there is a 2MP front-facing shooter. An 1800mAh cell powers the device. The Blackberry Z10 will have LTE connectivity and supports NFC.
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.
Additional shots of Huawei’s upcoming Ascend Mate have leaked out, showing off a neatly curved rear shell and that enormous 6.1-inch screen. The photos obtained by MyDrivers, show what is essentially a big black slab, with on-screen buttons.
There appears to be a slight curve to the back of the device, which should make it a little nicer to hold in the hand. If a 6.1 inch smartphone could ever, truly feel nice in the hand.
The Ascend Mate with is entering the phablet market, currently dominated by Samsung Galaxy Note devices. The rumoured specs of the Ascend Mate have it coming with a 6.1-inch 1080p Full HD display, quad-core 1.8 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, 13MP camera, 9.9 mm thin and packing an impressive 4,000 mAh battery.
Huawei intends on unleashing this 6.1-inch titan at next month’s CES.
