Category: Tech

Latest Technology News, Alternative, Bio-Tech, Medical, R&D and Innovations

Apple iPhone 5C 8GB Officially Launched

Apple has officially unveiled the 8GB variant of the iPhone 5c on the UK Apple store for a price of £429.00 For an unlocked variant. It is worth noting that the price is about £40.00 cheaper than the outgoing 16GB model which costs US $ 549 in the US and Rs. 39000 here in India. Which means that the price for the iPhone 5c 8GB model for the Indian market should be Rs. 34,500 or around that region.

The iPhone 5C has received huge response since its launch alongside the iPhone 5S in India last year, especially thanks to the EMI and cash back offers from banks. The Apple iPhone 5c features a 4-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display with a resolution of 640×1136 pixels and a 326ppi pixel density. It is powered by the Apple A6 chipset, which is also seen on the iPhone 5. It also features a hard-coated polycarbonate body an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. Essentially the 5c is the iPhone 5 in new clothes.

Stay tuned for more updates.

March 18, 2014
Microsoft To Launch Office For iPad on 27th March in San Francisco

Satya Nadella was recently appointed as the CEO of Microsoft, and he is now all set to host his first press event as a CEO. Microsoft has scheduled an event on March 27 2014, which will be a special cloud- and mobile-focused event.

According to reports, Microsoft is all set to launch the Office for iPad. Having said that, the Office app for iPad should not be any different than the Office for iPhone which was launched last year. The features and the user interface is expected to be the same as seen on the office app for iPhone.

This event will work as a warm up for the upcoming events, Microsoft has also scheduled the Build conference next month followed by another anticipated launch of a new version of Windows.

March 18, 2014
Samsung’s First Windows Phone 8.1 Device Shows Up in a Leaked Image

Samsung has been rumored to be working on a Windows Phone 8.1 device. A leaked image had earlier suggested that the Korean giant is working on a device of this kind. Adding surety to the past rumours, notorious tipster @evleaks has posted new press images of the Samsung ATIV SE Windows Phone 8.1 handset with Verizon branding. If we consider previous rumoured specifications, the device will sport a 5 inch full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and will be powered by a Quad-Core Snapdragon 400 CPU and a Adreno 305 GPU.

The design cues also follow along the new line of Samsung Galaxy Devices including that oh so familiar hardware button on the front. The sides are rounded and more identical to the new Galaxy S5 suggesting that this phone is of the same era.

Other specifications are not yet available, But it looks like we wont have to wait for long. The day and date on the leaked image is Thursday the 17th, which will be seen in the month of April, which incidentally also is around the launch time of Microsoft Windows Phone 8.1 Update. Co-incidence Much ? Lets find out.

March 18, 2014

Micromax Canvas Knight A350 Unboxing and Hands On

The Micromax Canvas Knight is a sequel to the Micromax Canvas series of devices, and on paper it does not seem to disappoint. With a set of good specifications and impressive design along with build quality to match the aforementioned, the phone has been all the rage in the market since its launch last week.

Box contents

The Micromax Canvas Knight A350
Snap on Back Panel
Flat Cable USB
Flat Cable Earphones
USB wall Charger
Additional Ear tips
Sim Removal Tool
Documentation and Warranty

Specifications

Price	Rs 19,990/-
Chipset	MT6592T Mediatek
CPU	OctaCORE 2.0 GHz
GPU	MALI – 450 MP
Camera Primary	16 MP
Camera Secondary	8 MP
Display	5 inch 1920 x 1080p
RAM	2 GB DDR 2
STORAGE	32 GB
Battery	2350 mAh

Initial Impressions

The first thing that one should consider is that the Micromax Canvas Knight is running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, which is a far cry from the standard Android 4.4 KitKat seen on many of todays launches. The Canvas Knight is designed well, subtle Micromax branding and flat design cues make it look a lot more elegant. The Glass back and front add to the design and remind us of the iPhone 4/4s designing. The front is laden with a 1920 x 1080 p IPS display of 5 inch size with excellent viewing angles and vivid brightness especially outdoors.

The front also has an 8 MP camera which sort of takes on handsets like the Gionee E7 (even though they are a different spec set), the rear has a 16 MP snapper, of which not a lot of detail is present, it does however manage a full HD video. The battery on the inside is a 2350 mAh which seems a lot less than needed for a OctaCore chipset and in our initial tests we did find the handset heating a bit from the earpiece region. Whether this will affect battery life performance or not is unknown.

The Canvas Knight A350 seems like a promising product from the company, check out the hands on Images on top and stay tuned for the Video Unboxing and Full Review.

March 18, 2014

Xiaomi Confirms 5.5 inch Redmi Note in a Teaser

Xiaomi’s latest Redmi phone was spotted online a couple of days back thanks to a leaked image. The company has now confirmed in an official teaser that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.5 is headed for the Chinese markets.

The addition of the “note” moniker could mean that the device may come with a stylus, or not as the teaser doesn’t indicate either. What is confirmed is the 5.5-inch screen supposedly of 720p resolution and the octa-core processor (1.4GHz or 1.7GHz).

The phone is expected in the market for a price of around US $ 200 or approximately Rs. 12600. The phone goes up for pre order on the 19th of March for those in China, and the others may need to wait.

March 16, 2014
WhatsApp’s VOIP functionality for iOS Leaked in a Screenshot

During WhatsApp’s recent Facebook acquisition, CEO Jan Koum hinted that WhatsApp may get voice call functionality by the summer. This new leaked screenshot of the App’s upcoming update for iOS shows off those supposed calling capabilities, designed to work along with iOS 7’s design layout.

The camera button on the top also hints at video call functionality. WhatApp will allow free voice calls and video calls with your friends on your WhatsApp list over Wifi and Cellular.

It is also rumored that this functionality comes via Skype or using Skype’s voip technology as Facebook currently integrates Skype calling within its chat windows.

With this feature WhatsApp may become the single point of social networking that everyone has been looking for. Now if only they could work out their battery drain.

March 16, 2014
Nokia’s Refocus App comes to all Lumia Phones on WP8

Own a Nokia Lumia phone running Windows Phone 8? Its time to hit the App store and download the Nokia Refocus app. The app was earlier thought to be reliant on the Pure View Camera tech. But it appears that Nokia has made the App available to all.

How the picture can be refocused is reliant on the apps ability to scan the area, a Focus Sweep while you hold the camera steady. The phone camera and app will then capture multiple images at various focal lengths and combine into one dynamic image which can then be refocused later. Sort of like the Lytro camera.

In other news it looks like the new HTC One (aka M8) will also have this functionality inbuilt.

March 14, 2014
Nikon’s 1 V3 is a $ 1200 camera that does 120fps slow motion

Nikon has just launched the new Nikon 1 V3, the third iteration in their lineup of their 1 series micro 4/3 mirror less cameras. The new unit packs a 18.4MP sensor, built-in WiFi, 1080/60p video capability and a new image processing chip.

The fast sensor captures 20fps stills with autofocus possibly the fastest mirror less yet. The Nikon V3 also does 720p slow motion video recording at up to 120fps and has a massive 171 focus points that Nikon claims make it better to track moving objects than traditional DSLRs.

The camera now comes with two new less in the Nikon 1 lineup a 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-Zoom and a 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 priced at $300 and $1,000, respectively. A standard full kit is priced at $ 1200, which contains the body, the 10-30mm lens and a viewfinder. The new V3 also has a tilt touch screen display of 3 inches.

March 13, 2014
LG’s G3 may come with the Quad HD Screen that Samsung Galaxy S5 Fans Wanted

Samsung’s recent launch of the Galaxy S5 left a lot of people disappointed due to the lack of the rumored 2560 x 1440 display aka the Quad HD display. However, LG might be one up again this year with the upcoming G3.

Thanks to the User Agent Profile found by known tipster @eveleaks, the LG G3 will have a QHD display or 2560 x 1440 or 2K. Its also known that the LG D850 is set to launch soon, with the D800 being the code for the G2, the D820 was the code for the NEXUS 5 and the D830 was the code for G Pro 2 launched earlier at MWC. It is assumed that the D850 will be the LG G3.

LG seems to be moving fast in releasing the G3 and supposedly wants to bring it out in June vs the September launch cycle to battle competition.

Other confirmations lead us to believe that Samsung will also launch the 2K Galaxy S5 later this year.

March 13, 2014
Xiaomi’s next Budget Phone with Octa Core Mediatek Chipset bounces online

Xiaomi’s new Redmi handset is supposed to be a sequel to their previous budget phone, has now finally been spotted online. The sub Rs. 10,000 / US $130 handset supposedly is called the Redmi aswell thanks to the red android buttons on the front of the handset.

It’ll feature a 5.5-inch, 720p IPS display), as well as Android 4.2.2, 1GB of RAM and an octa-core processor coming in two versions: 1.4GHz and 1.7GHz.

Designed to be sold for China Mobile the handset will be unlocked to 3G, TD-SCDMA, WCDMA option and CDMA 2000.

The Camera bundle includes a 5 MP front camera and a 13 MP main shooter. There is 8 GB of storage and 32 Gb expandability for the handset that comes with just 1 GB RAM. The Redmi will still miss out on LTE whereas other manufacturers are now gunning for LTE handsets in the sub 10,000 price bracket.

March 13, 2014
Instagram updates Android App, is now Faster and More Responsive.

Instagram’s latest updated Android app may come as a great welcome to selfie fans on Android. With version 5.1, Instagram has cut the footprint of the app in half, while making the app faster. Profile pages, for example, now load twice as quickly. The buttons have also been rearranged to make the app easier to navigate on different sized handsets.

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Instagram” link=”http://blog.instagram.com/post/79272915088/android-update”]We’ve worked to make sure that Instagram feels native and at home on any Android device, We’ve simplified our visuals throughout our app, making use of valuable screen space for small devices and feature phones and rearranging our design to keep buttons within easy reach as you navigate the app on a larger device.[/quote]

The Update did not however bring the much desirable “Lux Tool” that came out for iOS users earlier this week. This slider lets users define the saturation of Range in their images. The company does claim that the Android App will get the “Lux Tool” soon.

March 13, 2014
Google Translate for Android, Brings the Love for Handwriting in 13 new Languages including Punjabi, Gujrati and Arabic

Google’s latest translate app update will offer a lot of help to travelers and locals of the middle east and South Asia including India. With handwriting recognition added in 13 new languages including Arabic and Persian as well as Indian dialects like Gujarati, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. You’ll also find support for Bosnian, Cebuano, Hmong, Maltese, Mongolian and Somali.

Google is constantly updating their language tools and it becoming easier and easier to communicate with people of a different language thanks to these updates. With handwriting support added, those from India who cannot type can now scribble directions to the nearest bar on this app. Lovely!

March 13, 2014
New HTC One Sold on Ebay for $500

The revision to the HTC One aka the new HTC One or the HTC M8 was purchased by a lucky bidder on popular bidding website eBay for a meager price of $500 box packed in Verizon packaging.

Considering a number of leaks of the handset in the past, the box gives more details than required of the handset all set to launch on the 25th of March.

According to the box, the handset features a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 chipset, a 5-inch 1080p display, microSD slot for expandable memory and 32GB internal storage, a 5MP front-facing camera, UltraPixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, a Nano-SIM slot and 2GB of RAM.

The Ultrapixel camera in question is bound to be an 8 MP variant with 4k video recording as per sources. The phone will run Android 4.4 out of the box with the latest iteration of Sense UX.

March 13, 2014
The Amazing Spider Man 2 is the Sequel most have been Waiting for

The new Amazing Spider-Man movie is coming out this year, and Gameloft is simultaneously working on a game to launch along with the upcoming movie.

This game will be the successor to the Amazing Spider man launched in 2012, which is still available on Android for just 6 INR , and also available on iOS for 390 INR. The Amazing Spider Man 2 game will be available soon for download on Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms.

The Amazing Spider Man 2 Game by Gamloft, has been teased in a trailer which can be seen above. The game is expected to launch after the movie launches, which will be in May 2014.

[quote text_size=”small”]Web-sling through a free-roam Manhattan in the ultimate playground, as Spider-Man rushes to save New York City from the chaos of a disastrous crime wave. Combined with an original story inspired by the film, the stage is set for Spidey’s greatest battle against film villains Electro and Green Goblin, as well as other iconic foes![/quote]

The Amazing Spider Man 2 is expected to bring better graphics in the game compared to what users have seen on the previous The Amazing Spider Man game. No information on what price this game will launch at, but it is confirmed for May 2014.

March 12, 2014
Dong Nguyen May Bring ‘Flappy Bird’ Back

Flappy Bird has enjoyed ample of attention ever since its demise on the App store and Play store. Creator Dong Nguyen, decided to take the game off the stores because it was to much for him. As per his interview with the Rolling Stone, he said “I was just making something fun to share with other people.”

[quote text_size=”medium”]I couldn’t predict the success of Flappy Bird[/quote]

On February 9, a new tweet was seen on Nguyen’s account. Reading ,”I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.” This tweet not only marked the end of Flappy Birds from stores but also worried players who were addicted to this game. Having said that, this message was retweeted more than 1,45,000 times.

Dong Nguyen says he never wanted that fame, he could not take it. However, after removing the game he says: ” I can’t go back to my life before, but I’m good now.” He has turned all offers down, that have come across to purchase this game. When asked if he will bring the game back in the stores ? “I’m considering it,” Nguyen said.

Irrespective of when Flappy Bird will go live again, it will surely be a success for both ends. Android users can still download the game(unofficially), but iPhone users still cannot reach it. If the game does return, it will bring joy back to the lovers, and to Dong Nguyen as he was apparently earning $50,000 per day with this game.

March 12, 2014