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  • Apple Exec Eddy Cue Goes Defensive At E-Books Trial

    Apple Exec Eddy Cue Goes Defensive At E-Books Trial

    Eddy Cue, the Apple Inc. executive in charge of negotiating the company’s controversial e-book deals, defended how the tech giant started its online bookstore as he made his highly anticipated appearance on the witness stand in a federal antitrust trial.

    Cue testified that he didn’t know about any of the e-mails and more than 100 phone calls involving the CEOs of five of the biggest U.S. book publishers in late 2009 and early 2010.

    Apple

    Cue said he “struggled and fought” with the publishers, in individual talks before the introduction of the iPad, to get them to sign contracts to sell e-books on Apple’s iBookstore. Cue testified it’s his opinion the CEOs weren’t coordinating over their negotiations with Apple.

    “If they were talking to one another, I would assume I would have had a much easier time getting those deals done,” Cue testified.

    Steve Jobs closely monitored the negotiations but was “indifferent” about the outcome for Amazon, Cue testified. However, when asked if Jobs knew that there was a chance that once the iBookstore launched, publishers would withhold best sellers and new releases from Amazon, he responded, “I believe so, sure. Smart guy.”

    When Tim Cook was asked about the trial during his recent appearance at the All Things D conference, he called the trial “bizarre,” noting that Apple wasn’t going to settle and effectively admit to something it didn’t do.

    Cue’s testimony on Thursday marked the end of this week’s proceedings. The trial will resume next Monday and scheduled to wrap up late next week.

  • First HTC Butterfly S Images Leak, Show Design And BoomSound Speakers

    First HTC Butterfly S Images Leak, Show Design And BoomSound Speakers

    HTC is scaling its lauded One flagship down and up – we already saw the One mini, now thanks to some spy shots we’re getting a closer look at the HTC Butterfly S, an update on the company’s first 1080p phone with One hardware.

    HTC Butterfly S

    According to the source of the leak, the HTC Butterfly S still features a 5-inch 1080p screen, and the rear speaker has been deprecated by the new front-facers. It’s speculated that the internals have been upgraded too, and that the Butterfly S will be powered by a Snapdragon 600 chip. (We can see HTC’s latest Sense 5 UI on-screen.)

    htc butterfly s

    The biggest change we can see here, at least compared to the first Butterfly, is the move to give the handset a pair of front-facing speakers, like the BoomSound HTC first introduced on the HTC One. Another One trait – the two button arrangement has been replaced by standard three capacitive buttons.

    The camera is expected to use the One’s UltraPixel technology too, but there’s nothing in the pictures to tell us if this is a sure thing.

    We expect to hear the official word on the HTC Butterfly S from HTC on June 19, when the Taiwanese company is holding a special media event, so hold tight.

    [Via]

  • Mahi Racing secures double podium finish at Portugal

    Mahi Racing secures double podium finish at Portugal

    It’s happy days for MS Dhoni’s Mahi Racing Team India as both its riders, Fabian Foret & Kenan Sofuoglu, finished on the podium in the sixth race of the World Supersport season at Portimao in Portugal. Foret managed to pass two riders in the opening stages after starting from fourth place on the grid and took the lead in the latter half of the race due to the incredible pace of the Mahi Racing bikes. He was overtaken by eventual winner Sam Lowes on Turn 11. Foret tried his best to take back the lead but was unsuccessful in his bid and had to settle for a second place finish. 

    Reigning champion Sofuoglu had finished the race in third position after qualifying in third place. The Turkish rider however managed to set the fastest lap on lap 12 with a 1: 45.730 minute lap. The result leaves both Mahi Racing riders tied in second place on the championship standings. British rider Sam Lowes leads the table currently with 120 points after four wins on the trot. Nine races remain in the 2013 World Supersport season and both Mahi Racing drivers have enough opportunities to overtake Sam Lowes and win the championship.

  • Sony Xperia Z Ultra Phablet Teased, Announcement Rumoured This Month

    Sony Xperia Z Ultra Phablet Teased, Announcement Rumoured This Month

    An invitation to a Sony press event teases what looks like a Godzilla sized phablet. The rumoured Xperia Z Ultra is pictured and the translation reads “Sony mobile reserves a BIG surprise for you.” The Xperia Z Ultra has a speculated screen size of 6.44-inches with a stunning 1080p HD, plus shows a stylus with the words “Don’t forget to mark your calendars!” that indicates it’ll have input support similar to the Samsung’s Galaxy Note.

    Xperia Z Ultra

    The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is rumored to feature a 6.44 inch full HD Triluminos display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, the device is also rumored to feature the new quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with a clock speed of 2.2GHz.

    Other rumored specifications on the handset include 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built in storage, plus a microSD card slot with support for 64GB cards, the device is also expected to feature front and rear facing cameras.

    On the back of the Sony Xperia Z Ultra there will be an 8 megapixel camera for photos and video, up front there will be a 2.2 megapixel  camera for video calls, the device will come with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

    What we’re not sure about is that the Xperia Z Ultra is rumoured to be water resistant, yet the headphone jack is open with no port covering it. Hopefully all will become clear in the next few weeks regarding the exact specs, but either way we are looking at a very desirable device.

    [Via]

  • BMW claims it has 1,00,000 reservations for i3 programme

    BMW claims it has 1,00,000 reservations for i3 programme

    BMW’s sales boss, Ian Robertson, has said that there are 1,00,000 people around the world who have made reservations for the BMW i3, and a “significant number” of them have made deposits for the car.

    i3

    Robertson’s interview with Automotive News Europe reports him as also saying that the i3 differs from many of the EVs on the road today because it was developed as an EV from the start, rather than being conventional car with an electric powertrain dropped in.

    We are confident that with the i3 and i8 we will shift the [customer demand] needle because we will shape some of this technology.

    – Ian Robertson, Chief, Sales & Marketing, BMW

    His stance is in contrast with BMW CEO, Norbert Reithofer’s comments from last year, when he said that governments need to pony up more plug-in vehicle support or EVs just won’t be popular.

    i3

    When asked for the car’s starting price, Robertson said that it would be in the same range as the 3 series, which in Germany is priced between 28,800 and 38,800 Euros for base versions. We will finally get to see the production version of the i3 at the Frankfurt Motor Show this September, 30 months after the announcement of the ‘i’ subbrand, also including the i8 plug-in hybrid supercar. The BMW i3 goes on sale in Europe at the end of the year.

     

    [Automotive News Europe]

  • 2013 Tata Nano coming this month

    2013 Tata Nano coming this month

    The 2013 Tata Nano is all set to hit the markets next week, however you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between itself and its predecessor. The 2013 Nano comes only with minor cosmetic changes and no significant upgrades.

    The 2013 Nano gets new bumpers and strips of chrome both on the front and rear on what is otherwise a largely unchanged exterior. The rear bumper does get bigger air vents though for better cooling of the engine.

    The noticeable change on the inside is the addition of a glove box, with the rest of the interior staying largely the same except for some colour, trim and fabric changes. The top-end model however will come with an integrated music system (with both speakers placed on the dashboard) with CD, MP3, Aux-in, USB and Bluetooth capabilities. Such additions may make the Nano more appealing to its customer base.

    Other upgrades are largely focused on improving the quality and reliability of the car including a new clutch to replace the highly criticized one on the outgoing model. A few mechanical and electrical upgrades have also been done. The proven 623cc, twin-cylinder engine is carried over from the 2012 model and continues to deliver acceptable performance and impressive fuel economy.

    The 2013 Nano is something of a stepping stone for the much awaited power steering and CNG equipped variants, both of which are expected by the end of the year. The power steering would surely help Tata’s sales as the effort required to park this car due to its heavy steering is well accounted in the automotive world. The new Nano is expected to come with a marginal increase in price.

    [Autocar India]

  • Leaked Samsung Galaxy NX Mirrorless with Android 4.2

    Leaked Samsung Galaxy NX Mirrorless with Android 4.2

    Samsung had recently clarified that the company might be launching Android powered NX cameras, and here is the next logical answer. The Samsung Galaxy NX is Samsung’s answer to a market that does not yet exist; An Inter-changable lens camera with Android  4.2 to boot. 

    The body and design of the camera is much in line with the company’s existing NX series lineup, except the fact that these have fully equipped smartphones stuck to the back of the lens. You are looking at a 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor, with ISO from 100 – 25,600 and 1080p video recording. 

    Is this “big” product what Samsung had in mind when they cooked up the 20th June London event? The Galaxy NX is what the industry was possibly missing, but only if Samsung manages to pull off the execution of the lineup.

    [VIA]

  • Edit : iOS 7 Battery Life : One Word “Unfortunate”

    Edit : iOS 7 Battery Life : One Word “Unfortunate”

    Apple released iOS 7 for Beta testers and App developers a couple of days back. While we updated to the new OS in almost utter haste, 48 hours into the update few things are different. There are certain things that once you switch over you will simply adore and get used to. But then there are things that, while iOS 7 is in beta, beckon the user to simply flash back to iOS 6.

     

    Here is what we like about iOS 7

    A lot of things have become easier, and although small little changes don’t make sense to the observer, in the entirety of the situation they add up to an amazing overhaul of the usage experience.

      • Control Center : iOS 7 Control Center, according to my personal opinion, is the most awaited change in the OS. The only reason SBSettings ever existed and the only reason I ever Jailbroke my iPhone. Yes it has existed in Android forever, but Apple put it in a different location. Notifications from the top, control toggles from the bottom. Whether it is building on someone’s idea or simply changing a creation to make your own, it makes sense. Why has no one else ever thought of this? Our money is on multiple apps enabling this bottom toggle drawer on Android in 3 -2-1….. 
      • Page Swiping : To unlock iOS you can now swipe anywhere on the lock screen, you can also swipe back from your Text Messages and Emails to come back into your conversations. It’s not a big deal but I can’t imagine my iPhone without it anymore, and i have used it only for 48 hours with these gestures. Gizmodo shows it off in a beautiful way.
      • Minimal Design : As we progress into the future, a more minimal approach cleans up clutter and sort of de-stresses the effort. While many elements of the UI are truly unfinished and kiddish, the overall idea is marvelous. The interface is a lot more relaxed and “sober”, for the lack of a better word. It does a lot more with animations and highlight. Once Apple does fix the major design issues, and they must, the UI should be well appreciated by those in the iOS ecosystem.
      • Blocking: Over a hundred Apps on Android do this, iOS 7 has a wonderful new feature built in that simply lets you block all conversations from a particular number to you phone. Those annoying property sale messages are a thing of the past for me, any new spam number gets added almost instantly. The person calling on the other end gets a busy tone, and you don’t even get a notification. The blocking feature is also premature, I would like to select what all I want to block, only messages or only phone should be an option when they finally roll out. Another feature that would allow you to have a log of all the blocked calls or messages, which users could manually access, would make the feature perfect.

     

    Here is what we don’t like about iOS 7

    The OS is still in BETA stage and although it is a bit premature to give out opinion on Apple’s new iOS 7, these are things that may make us switch back to iOS 6.

      • Battery Life : There is only one word : Unfortunate. The battery life on iOS 7 is lower than ever, we do understand that the OS needs to be tweaked and so do the Apps to work with the ecosystem. But an iPhone 5 on iOS 7, heats up like a firecracker and is ready to go off any moment. Even for developers, the reliability of the battery needs to be perfect, before Developers can start testing their Apps on the OS. At present, only a few may be able to get any work done. 

     

    Get used to this symbol!

     

     

      • Tap Precision : While many will debate the fact that the OS is new, the overly minimal design has made it a lot more difficult to use the iPhone or iPod on iOS 7. At some deeper level this may be Apple’s way of improving concentration with people (Apple a Day, makes you witty and gray). All Apple puns aside, the company needs to ensure that the final build is either more relaxed in terms of precision of tapping, or less minimal.

    A lot more design improvements as well as software fixes are required to make iOS 7 stable and ready for public consumption. However, even with the changes that Apple has shown off, the interface lacks a certain finished feel. While some elements are overly appreciated, some bugs have forced us to revert. A phone that requires a charge every 2 hours if of no use. So, While its time for us to switch back to iOS 6.1.4 on our iPhone 5, it is safe to say Apple is headed in the right direction. Are you switching yet ?

    [youtube id=”S5-KmW1QhcE” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

  • Rovio Teases Their Upcoming Racing Game, Angry Birds Go!

    Rovio Teases Their Upcoming Racing Game, Angry Birds Go!

    Angry Birds creator Rovio has a new game in the works, which is teased on a newly released website that features a bird dashing down a pathway. “Something NEW is coming!” reads the site, and in a blog post, Rovio says the game is unlike its standard Angry Birds titles.

    “Those birds and piggies are getting ready for their most thrilling and action-packed game yet,” explains a post on Rovio’s blog.

    “All your favorite characters are returning for a brand new title that will bring you closer to Piggy Island than ever before. It’s Angry Birds, but not as you know it!”

    Angry Birds Go! will be the seventh game in Rovio’s series, following the original Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Star Wars and Angry Birds Friends.

    Angry Birds Go

    Rovio hasn’t announced what platforms Angry Birds Go! will be released for. The first four games were mobile titles, while Angry Birds Friends launched as a Facebook web game before crossing to mobile.

    The Angry Birds games attracted 263m monthly active players in December 2012, and helped Rovio generate €152.2m (£129m) of revenues in 2012, posting a net profit after tax of €55.5m (£47m).

    No release date was given, but Rovio says ‘be on the lookout for more updates over the summer,’ so it sounds like they’re shooting for a late summer/fall release. For updates, make sure you follow the official Facebook page.

  • Apollo Tyres stock plummets 20% on Rs.14,500 Cr acquisition of Cooper Tire

    Apollo Tyres stock plummets 20% on Rs.14,500 Cr acquisition of Cooper Tire

    The Apollo Tyres stock plummeted 20.87 per cent to Rs 72.80 in the late morning trade on Thursday on the BSE after the company announced that it will acquire the US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in an all-cash transaction of around Rs 14,500 crore ($2.5 billion). A consortium of four banks — Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered — will raise $2.5 billion of new debt to fund what is one of the largest overseas acquisitions by an Indian company.

    Under the terms of the deal, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, Cooper stockholders will receive $35.00 per share in cash. Apollo is paying Cooper shareholders a 43 per cent premium over yesterday’s closing price on the New York Stock Exchange.

    According to Neeraj Kanwar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Apollo Tyres, this deal will propel Apollo Tyres from 16th to 7th position in the global tyre manufacturing rankings, and get deeper market access in the US, Europe and China. Cooper Tire is ranked 11th globally with revenues of around $4 billion. As part of the deal, Apollo Tyres will take over 14,000 employees and the operations of Cooper’s eight plants across the world, taking Apollo’s headcount to 30,000.

    After the merger goes through, Apollo will have 14 plants worldwide, and will more than double its capacity to 3,500 tonnes per day from 1,500 tonnes per day now. The deal is expected to be concluded in the second half of this year, after regulatory approvals as well as getting approval from Cooper’s stockholders.

    Apollo was founded in 1972 and is reputed for high performance tires across a range of well-known premium and mid-tier brands, including the flagship Apollo brand and Vredestein. Cooper was founded in 1914 and today supplies premium and mid-tier tires worldwide through renowned brands such as Cooper, Mastercraft, Starfire, Chengshan, Roadmaster and Avon.

  • Maruti Suzuki announces month-long exchange program

    Maruti Suzuki announces month-long exchange program

    With the car market continuing on a downhill drive, India’s largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India has announced an exchange programme for its existing customers which will be valid for the whole of June 2013.

    The company is targeting to reach out to over 5 lakh customers across the country with special discounts and offers through the network of its pre-owned car business called ‘True Value’. A mega carnival will be held across 112 cities on June 15th and 16th as a part of the initiative. The carnival will go beyond the metro cities covering tier 1 and tier 2 locations like Ranchi, Patna, Indore, Bhubneshwar, Raipur, Karnal, Hubli, Sagar, Mandi, Vapi, Vardha, Jamnagar etc. to name a few.

    The month long Mega Carnival is an initiative for driving exchange and facilitating the new car sales. It will be led by our True Value chain which will act as catalyst to spur growth in of this segment. Maruti Suzuki is the market leader in this format of business. This initiative will provide a boost to an overall sluggish market and also create a positive sentiment for the entire automobile industry.

    – Mayank Pareek, chief operating officer, Maruti Suzuki India

    On offer will be a number of spot booking benefits, including attractive EMI schemes with bank partners, exchange bonus and loyalty bonus for the full range of Maruti Suzuki cars, during the month-long exchange campaign at all dealerships across India.

    Car sales in India fell for a record seventh consecutive month in May with a decline of 12.26 per cent at 1,43,216 units, prompting industry body SIAM to caution that the prolonged slump in the market could result in job losses in the automobile sector. Maruti Suzuki India registered 8.25 per cent decline in domestic sales at 66,342 units in May.

     

    [Times of India]

  • Nokia Will Ship Its Last Symbian Phones This Summer

    Nokia Will Ship Its Last Symbian Phones This Summer

    Nokia is set to ship its last batch of the outdated Symbian OS smartphones this summer, before devoting its smartphone production to Windows devices, The Financial Times reports.

    Nokia pointed long development of Symbian devices as one of the reasons to halt their production. According to the manufacturer it takes 22 months to bring a Symbian product to the market, compared to less than a year for a Windows Phone handset.

    “It took 22 months to get a Symbian phone out of the door. With Windows Phone, it is less than a year. We spend less time having to tinker with deep-lying code and more time on crafting elements of the experience that make a big difference, such as around photography, maps, music and apps in general.”

    SymbianOf course, there is also the matter of the number of units sold. Nokia moved only 500,000 Symbian smartphones in Q1 this year – significantly less than the 5.6 million Lumia devices sold during the same period. 

    Nokia will supposedly sell the last of the Symbian devices only in developing markets, that too only until stocks last. 

    In the past seven months, the company has released seven new Windows Phones, and with Nokia EOS rumors swirling the company is clearly committed to Microsoft’s mobile platform.

  • Yahoo Set To Recycle Inactive User Names

    Yahoo Set To Recycle Inactive User Names

    Yahoo will begin resetting each and every Yahoo ID that is been dormant for a period of more than 12 months. This will effectively free up millions of usernames that can be registered with new users.

    Starting in mid July existing and new users will have the opportunity to reserve their ideal username, unfortunately it will take up to a month to learn if the name you have chosen has became available.

    “We want to give our loyal users and new folks the opportunity to sign up for the Yahoo ID they’ve always wanted,” Jay Rossiter, Yahoo’s senior vice president of platforms, said in a blog post.

    The great Yahoo account purge begins on July 15, so if you have an account from yesteryear that’s inactive but holds a certainly sentimentality, log in before then.

    Yahoo’s new policy differs from approaches at some other large Web companies. Gmail and YouTube profile names aren’t up for grabs after they become inactive, a Google spokeswoman said, for security reasons. A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company can delete users’ account data if they go more than 270 days without signing in, though there are exceptions.

  • HTC One Mini Specs Leaked Along With New Image

    HTC One Mini Specs Leaked Along With New Image

    Photos of the HTC One Mini popped up just last week. Now there’s a new image to go along with some hardware specifications for HTC’s upcoming 4.3-inch phone.

    Bloomberg is confirming what we already knew. According to “two people familiar with the matter,” HTC will release a smaller version of their popular HTC One flagship phone. The report indicates that the One mini will have a 4.3-inch display and “will probably have a less-powerful Qualcomm Inc. processor and lower-resolution screen than the flagship.”

    When the images of the HTC One mini leaked online a couple weeks ago the resolution was confirmed to be 720p with a dual-core processor, 16GB internal storage, 2GB of RAM and the trademarked 4MP UltraPixel camera. No insight into what version of Android, probably 4.2 Jelly Bean. Bloomberg’s sources, “who asked not to be identified because details aren’t public,” stated the smaller version of the flagship One “will go on sale by August.” The price is expected to be around $550 (€400).

    The HTC One Mini will go head-to-head with Samsung’s Galaxy S4 mini.

    HTC One Mini

    Engadget too received some more info about the HTC One Mini, plus the image above. They note that the display is in fact 4.3-inches, comes with a 1.4GHz dual-core processor and has the similar aluminum unibody that the original HTC One features, but the front of the device has been outfitted with plastic. The One Mini comes with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with Sense, BlinkFeed, Zoe share, Beats Audio, but lacks the IR blaster.

    [Via, Via]

  • GM suspends production of diesel Sail and Sail U-VA

    GM suspends production of diesel Sail and Sail U-VA

    General Motors (GM) India has suspended production of the diesel variants of its newly launched Chevrolet Sail sedan and the Sail U-VA hatchback, suspecting problems with the 1.3-litre diesel engine used in these cars.

    GM India has also suspended production of the BS III variant of the Chevrolet Tavera due to emission concerns. Not only might the delivery of these cars might be delayed, the issue may lead to a product recall of all diesel models of the Sail saloon and Sail hatchback manufactured over a certain period. GM India, for now, did not say if a recall of the cars was likely. P Balendran, vice president, GM India, said, “We will come back to you with an update after thorough investigation in the coming days.”

    Neither issue is safety-related. The Tavera BS-IV and Sail HB & NB petrol models are unaffected and production of these vehicles is continuing.

     It is not clear when the company will resume production the three vehicles.  GM launched the Sail U-VA hatchback last year and the Sail sedan this year in the country.

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