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Apple Suffers Setback In iPhone Trademark Apple In Mexico

Apple’s appeal to overturn a previous ruling against its sole ownership of the “iPhone” trademark in Mexico was rebuffed on Friday, with the Mexican Supreme Court saying a local tech company holds the official rights to the “iFone” name in the country.

In a case of David vs. Goliath, the Mexican Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that iFone, a small IT company in Mexico City, is the rightful owner of the iPhone name in that country.

The company registered the name in 2003, four years before Apple rolled out the smartphone it dubbed the iPhone, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The case goes back to 2009, when Apple tried to register the phone brand name in Mexico and the Mexican Industrial Property Institute said it was already taken. Apple tried to take the name by suing, arguing that it had expired for iFone, but a federal court disagreed.

Ifone, based in Mexico City, specializes in server-based telecommunications systems, such as software that controls IP telephony, and is the local representative for software-based communications solutions provider AltiGen Communications Inc.

The ruling marks another setback for Apple in Latin America. A month ago, Brazilian authorities rejected Apple’s attempts to register the iPhone name because Brazilian electronics maker IGB Eletronica SA, better known by its brand name Gradiente, already owned rights to the name.

Last year Apple fought with Chinese company Proview over the rights to the iPad trademark in the country. That dispute, which threatened sales of the popular tablet, was settled last July for $60 million.

[Via LA Times]

March 16, 2013
Duke Nukem II Coming To iOS

Duke Nukem 3D is already available to play on the App Store now, and just in time for the sequel’s 20th anniversary, Duke Nukem 2 is coming to the App Store soon.

Interceptor Entertainment, the team behind the Rise of the Triad reboot, is handling the reins of the project, with 3D Realms overseeing.

The game will include 32 levels of carnage from the original game, but with new music, touchscreen support, replays and integrated leaderboards. The port preserves the original’s 256-color palette and “future” game setting of 1998. The wisecracking hero can use four weapon types, and fights aliens to save the Earth from invasion.

“Before Duke Nukem 3D, before the sunglasses, before the one-liners, and before the strippers – many gamers never knew there was another incredible alien ass-kicking Duke game, a cutting-edge game for its time that still holds up 20 years later,” said CEO and co-founder of 3D Realms, Scott Miller.

The game was originally released in late 1993 for DOS, but was successfully ported onto the Color Gameboy later that decade, though the latter edition had substantial differences. It arrived two years after the original Duke Nukem, and is set a year after the original story, with Nukem having to escape a kidnapping by the evil Rigelatins, foiling their plan for enslaving the Earth and saving the day.

Check out the trailer below :

March 15, 2013
BlackBerry To Bring Secure Work Space To iOS And Android

BlackBerry will launch its Secure Work Space solution for iOS and Android devices in Q2, with a formal announcement at BlackBerry Live in May.

BlackBerry Secure Work Space promises to emulate some of the functions of BlackBerry Balance, which is an integral part of BlackBerry 10, and allows enterprises to have control over confidential data while still providing employees with a fully functioning smartphone.

BlackBerry Balance effectively creates two different profiles on any device, with administrators able to create their own application store that host custom apps as well as software from the public BlackBerry App World that has been approved for use in the workspace. Once approved, these applications can interact with other work apps and secure data.

Secure Work Space will operate slightly differently, but will provide secured client applications for email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, secure browsing and document editing, while additional apps can be secured and added to the workplace without the need to modify the source code

The Canadian manufacturer claims that the update will save its enterprise customers effort and expense as they will no longer have to configure and maintain expensive VPNs to provide access to data and applications behind a corporate firewall. It hopes that its reputation for mobile security and management will tempt companies who operate in a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environment.

“With Secure Work Space for iOS and Android devices, we’re extending as many of these (Balance) features as possible to other platforms,” said David Smith, BlackBerry’s head of mobile enterprise computing, in a statement.

BlackBerry’s move comes just as Samsung, whose line of Galaxy devices have gained great popularity, attempts to make itself a more viable option for enterprise customers with security features such as Samsung Knox and SAFE, or Samsung for Enterprise.

[Reuters]

March 15, 2013
Apple Releases OS X 10.8.3 With Boot Camp Enhancements

After a significant amount of time in beta, the next version of Apple’s Mountain Lion, 10.8.3 has finally been released to the public.

The main people that will be happy with this update are Boot Camp users. First of all, Windows 8 is now supported with Boot Camp, which is obviously a big deal for those of you who dual boot your Macs. Secondly, Boot Camp now supports Macs with a 3TB drive.

The 10.8.3 update is recommended for all OS X Mountain Lion users and includes features and fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including the following:

– The ability to redeem iTunes gift cards in the Mac App Store using your Mac’s built-in camera
– Boot Camp support for installing Windows 8
– Boot Camp support for Macs with a 3TB hard drive
– A fix for an issue that may cause Logic Pro to become unresponsive when using certain plug-ins
– A fix for an issue that may cause audio to stutter on 2011 iMacs
– Includes Safari 6.0.3

For detailed information about this update, please visit:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5612

Overall, OS X 10.8.3 spent three-and-a-half months in beta, with 13 different beta version being released over that timeframe. That’s a long time for such a small OS update, but this isn’t anything new from Apple. They’ve been known to release several beta versions of updates before seeding it out to the public.

The newest version of Mountain Lion is available for download from the Mac App Store or the software update option on your Mac.

[Via SlashGear]

March 15, 2013
Samsung Galaxy S4 Keyboard Is Powered By SwiftKey

Word has come from SwiftKey’s co-founder in an emailed statement to Forbes stating that Samsung has, indeed, utilized the predictive keyboard, adding onto the myriad of other features offered by it’s Galaxy S4 smartphone.

Dr. Ben Medlock, co-founder and CTO of SwiftKey, said from the New York launch: “Following our great success with the SwiftKey 4 launch last month, we are excited to confirm that Samsung has chosen SwiftKey’s innovative keyboard technology to be at the heart of its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4. This is fantastic progress for our vision of bringing the best touchscreen typing experience to as many people as possible.”

Despite not knowing the extent of the companies’ partnership as yet, we think the move looks like a solid one. Samsung gets some ultrapowerful typing technology to power its keyboard, while SwiftKey extends its reach with placement on a high-profile device. To be clear, though, the Galaxy S4 ‘s keyboard will not be branded as a SwiftKey product. It will just have the tech baked in.

The inclusion of such software shouldn’t really come as a surprise as Samsung is likely to throw everything but the kitchen sink into the new device.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 5-inch 1920 x 1080 Super AMOLED display and houses a 1.6GHz octo-core processor and 2GB of RAM and yes, has the option for storage expansion via microSD.

SwiftKey was founded in late 2008 by two Cambridge graduates, who went on to launch their popular predictive keyboard in 2010. The app works by learning the words commonly used by the handset’s owner as he or she types. This allows SwiftKey to offer predictive functionality.

[Pocket-Lint]

March 15, 2013
Xolo X1000 Unboxing and Hands On

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With many a options available, the Android market space has yet another competitor in the Rupees 20,000 price segment. The Xolo X1000 was launched yesterday for a price that was lower than expected, but does it truly offer what the market is looking for?. Interms of Hardware we have an Intel Atom medfield platform at Single core and 2GHz on the clock, for the Graphics we have a 400 MHz GPU.

The front has a brilliant 4.7 inch SHARP™ HD 2.5 D edge curved glass display, which has a resolution of 1280 x 720p. The cameras are 8 and 1.3 MP with with former being the rear camera with full HD 1080p video, and the latter being the front facer.

[pullquote_left] Get ready for premium feel![/pullquote_left] Holding the phone in the hand for the first time might just take you by surprise, the touch and feel of the phone is far from expected (in a positive sense). The phone feels really premium and does a fantastic job of making you feel like you are holding a truly premium device.

The HD Display is truly commendable as well, with brilliant viewing angles and fantastic color reproduction, its easily one the best displays of the price segment. The response from the screen is also snappy and initially gave instant feedback. A couple of facts that did let us down start with the fact that the device runs on Android 4.0.3 and Xolo is not yet ready with a jelly bean software update yet.

Check out the video above or the images below. Stay tuned for the Gaming and benchmarks videos.

March 15, 2013
Samsung Galaxy S4 Brings Along New Set Of “Smart Features”

The Galaxy S4 was officially unveiled tonight in New York City at the famed Radio City Music Hall. As widely expected, the new smartphone has some notable improvements on the hardware side, including a bigger display and a thinner body.

On the software side of things, the Samsung Galaxy S4 will come to market with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean running beneath Samsung’s TouchWiz UI. Unsurprisingly, Samsung will also be including several new features with its TouchWiz overlay.

Samsung has expanded its “Smart” set of features that debuted last year with Smart Stay on the Galaxy S III. The Galaxy S 4 will come to market with Smart Pause, which will pause a video when the phone detects that the user is no longer looking at the screen.

Smart Scroll will scroll the content of the browser or emails by monitoring a user’s face looking at the screen as well as his or her wrist movement.

Samsung has also ported its Air View feature from the Galaxy Note series to the Galaxy S4, allowing users to preview the content of emails, photos and videos by hovering their finger over the display.

Along with Air View, the Air Gesture functionality allows users to change a music track, scroll around a page or accept a call by waving their hands in front of the device’s display.

The list of new functionality doesn’t stop there, though, as Samsung also introduced a slate of S-branded features like S Voice Drive for voice control functionality while behind the wheel of a car, S Translator for translating either a voice or text and S Health, which utilizes the Galaxy S4’s sensors to monitor a user’s health. Rounding out the list of features is Samsung Optical Reader for scanning text and business cards and Group Play, which can beam content like music, photos/videos and games to others without needing a Wi-Fi or cellular signal.

The Galaxy S4 has shown that Samsung has decided that they can innovate a new beginning without just developing on old fortunes. Will the features demonstrated above be good enough to keep the market happy, and make the people want to buy the Galaxy S4?

March 15, 2013
Galaxy S4 SmartPause, eye tracking, and new lock screen Leaked in videos

Several videos higlighting the new features of the Galaxy S4 have gone online just before the launch of the proported super phone from the Korean manufacturer. The Samsung Galaxy S4 will be launched in less than an hour at an event being held in New York, USA.

SmartPause eye tracking and floating touch control features have been leaked, SmartPause automatically stops a playing video when you are not looking at it and floating touch control is a no pen implementation of the floating scroll feature from the Galaxy Note 2

The Galaxy S4 will decide for Samsung whether they can innovate a new beginning or just develop on old fortunes. Will the features demonstrated below be good enough to keep the market happy, and make the people want to buy the Galaxy S4.

[youtube id=”tN7o_AhIlTM” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

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March 15, 2013
Samsung Unpacked 2013 for the Galaxy S4 Live Blog

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We will be giving you step by step into the Galaxy S4 launch right here on iGyaan.

March 15, 2013
Xolo X1000 Launched in India for Rs. 19,999

Xolo has launched the new X1000 Intel based Smart phone, with an 2 GHz Intel Atom Processor with Hyper threading. along with a PowerVR SGX540 clocked at 400 MHz.

The Xolo X1000 has a 4.7 inch 1280x720p display, which has a 314 pixel per inch density along with Sharp TFT transmissive LCD. On the back of the device is an 8mp camera with LED light and 1080p full HD recording, and a 1.3 MP front facing camera. Xolo X1000 also boasts of 10bursts at 15fps, with several shooting modes.

The Memory of the Xolo X1000 is 8GB and it has 1GB of RAM, making it limited when compared to several other devices presently in the market.

The Xolo A1000 will be available online starting today for a price of Rs.19,999 and will go on sale in the retail market starting March 21st. Xolo is really pushing the speed capabilities of the device pegging it against devices like Galaxy Note 2, One X+ and even the recently launched Galaxy Grand, Putting the X1000 at twice the speed in benchmarks like Linpac.

The Xolo X1000 also is running Android 4.0.4 ICS and the development for the Jelly Bean Update is going on, and will be available next quarter. This would put the Xolo X1000 behind several other devices including the recently launched budget phones.

The launch of the XOLO X1000 builds upon the successful introduction of the first Intel-based smartphone last year, the XOLO X900. We congratulate Lava on the new XOLO X1000 and believe that consumers will appreciate the increased performance and computing experience that comes with Intel Inside. said Debjani Ghosh, MD, Sales and Marketing Group, Intel India”

We will be going hands on with the phone soon, so stay tuned.

March 14, 2013
Google Removes Ad-Blocking Apps From Google Play for Violation Of Terms

Usually when Google removes apps from the Play Store it’s because they’re malicious, stealing your data, or otherwise messing with your phone in a way you don’t actually want. Today we’ve learned of Google’s most recent wave of culling apps from the Play Store, only this time the apps themselves weren’t doing anything naughty, and instead Google decided to interpret its Android Developer Distribution Agreement to prohibit all ad-blockers.

Google has decided that all these apps are in violation of Section 4.4 of the Android Developer Distribution Agreement, and has removed all of them from the official storefront.

Even open source software such as AdAway has been removed from the app portal, and is expected to never appear there again.

4.4 Prohibited Actions. You agree that you will not engage in any activity with the Market, including the development or distribution of Products, that interferes with, disrupts, damages, or accesses in an unauthorized manner the devices, servers, networks, or other properties or services of any third party including, but not limited to, Android users, Google or any mobile network operator. You may not use customer information obtained from the Market to sell or distribute Products outside of the Market.

Basically, Google seems to be saying don’t mess with advertising — which is the Web giant’s central source of revenue.

Jared Rummler, the developer for the Ad Blocker Root app, announced on Twitter that his app was yanked from Google Play today.

Some of these apps are still available as cache on the Play Store, but all have been removed the affected developers’ app listings. We’ll update this story as we learn more.

March 14, 2013
Well Well! LG Announces Optimus G Pro Eye Recognition Feature Hours Before S4 Launch

All eyes are on Samsung this week, as it prepares to launch its next flagship device, the Galaxy S IV. Some of the latest leaks and rumors have suggested that one of the main selling points of the device will new eye recognition features built into the TouchWiz overlay. Thanks to leaked builds of the software, we can guess that with the device you will be able to control your browser and email simply with your eyes. It’s also safe to assume that the same feature will be added to the video app so you can pause a video by simply looking away from the screen.

LG, however, has beaten Samsung to the punch by introducing its new eye recognition software, called Smart Video, on Wednesday for the Optimus G Pro.

With Smart Video, the phone will recognize the position of your eyes, and automatically play or stop a video based on whether or not you’re looking at the screen. So, if you get distracted while watching the latest “Harlem Shake” video, it will stop; when your eyes return to the monitor, however, it will pick up right where you left off.

LG says the feature will help set it apart from competitors in the coming months.

“LG is continuously innovating to offer creative ways to offer a user experience that adds value to our customers,” said Jong-seok Park, company president and CEO. “It’s the positive user experience that will differentiate smartphones in 2013 and beyond, not only cutting-edge hardware specs.”

In addition to the eye-tracking, LG also added a dual-camera function, allowing you to simultaneously take a picture with the front and rear cameras.

Well done LG!

[Mashable]

March 14, 2013
IIT Graduate Sundar Pichai Takes Over For Andy Rubin As Head Of Android At Google

Andy Rubin, head of Android at Google, is leaving that job to take on another unspecified role at the company in a surprise management switch up, Google CEO Larry Page announced in a blog post today. Sundar Pichai, head of Chrome and Apps, is now in charge of Android.

Pichai will take on leading Android in addition to his existing duties spearheading efforts with Chrome and Apps, which indicates a move to unify all these platforms.

“Having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android — and with a really strong leadership team in place — Andy’s decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google,” Page wrote. “Andy, more moonshots please!

The merger of the Chrome and Android divisions helps resolve a longstanding tension in the Mountain View, California-based company’s corporate strategy, and reflects a convergence of mobile and desktop software.

When Google poured resources into launching the Chrome web browser five years ago, the company laid out a vision of the Internet and an ecosystem of Google apps based on the Web. But the Android operating system, acquired by Google in 2005, has also been a runaway success, enabling third-party handset makers like Samsung to overtake Apple Inc while also spawning a massive economy of third-party apps that are only loosely affiliated with Google.

Under Pichai’s direction, Google has released several netbook computers using the Chrome operating system. Last month, when Pichai unveiled the Chromebook Pixel, the first Chrome-based laptop with a touch-screen interface, analysts noted that Chrome and Android appeared to be on converging paths.

It’s not the first time in recent memory that one of the biggest names within a top tech company has moved on to pastures new. In fact, iOS Vice President Scott Forstall left Apple towards the end of last year, closely followed by the departure of Windows chief Steven Sinofsky over at Microsoft.

[Reuters]

March 14, 2013
Blackberry Says It Sold 1 Million Blackberry 10 Devices In Single Order

In a press release today BlackBerry announced a massive endorsement for what they label as the “largest ever single purchase order in BlackBerry’s history.” Apparently an unknown “partner,” probably a carrier in the States, has placed an order of a whopping 1 million units.

It will be interesting to hear if it is a government agency or private company who made the purchase.

This is definitely news that will boost the flagging spirits of those over at the ailing smartphone company, where they have seen their market share plummet drastically over the past few years, with the recently introduced BlackBerry 10 platform as well as a couple of devices touted to be the company’s last chance saloon – succeed, and they will live to fight for another day, fail, and it would be curtains.

“An order for one million devices is a tremendous vote of confidence in BlackBerry 10,” said Rick Costanzo, EVP Global Sales, BlackBerry. “Consumers are ready for a new user experience, and BlackBerry 10 delivers. With strong partner support, coupled with this truly re-invented new platform, we have a powerful recipe for success.”

We’ll hopefully know a lot more about the company’s BlackBerry 10 sales when it reports its quarterly earnings on March 28th.

BlackBerry scored another big customer win with the German government earlier this month and has also been successful in picking off some Android and iOS users with its new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. We’ll hopefully know a lot more about the company’s BlackBerry 10 sales when it reports its quarterly earnings on March 28th.

March 14, 2013
BitTorrent Live Enters Beta, Delivers P2P Broadcasting To All

BitTorrent Inc. seems to be working constantly on new technologies and products. Last year, the company released OneHash, a technology to stream torrents directly in the web browser and BitTorrent Live, a broadcasting solution based on P2P technology. BitTorrent Live back then was available as a closed beta that you had to sign up for to get access to the client. Yesterday, that restriction was lifted so that it is now available as an unrestricted and direct download on the BitTorrent Live website.

BitTorent has opened the BitTorrent Live Beta to everyone, offering users with mobile video or webcams a new way to live broadcast news and stories.

The site is “designed to deliver high quality video to large audiences,” according to its release, though broadcasting costs are refreshingly low—all you need is a laptop and camera.

“We’ve demonstrated scaling and improved stability during our invite-only period, and are excited to open our service up to anyone who wants it,” said Bram, a spokesperson, in the press release.

Since November, BitTorrent Live has been working with several digital creators and broadcasters to get its program up and running, and now the network is taking off.

It works how you’d expect torrent-based broadcasting to work. One person (the broadcaster) puts up the initial stream. As additional viewers join in, they become seeds and help distribute the load across the network.

For smaller broadcasters looking for a way to reach a bigger audience without impacting their in-house bandwidth too much, BT Live may be a good alternative to other streaming options. Perhaps not so much for individuals who can live stream with apps like uStream and YouTube, but certainly for indie broadcasters that might otherwise have considered using something like Brightcove’s cloud service.

[Via Ghacks, The Verge]

March 13, 2013