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Nokia : Blackberries Make a Great Snack, But For The World’s Best Business Smartphone Try a Lumia

The big news today comes from the company-formerly-known-as-RIM and their new OS and flagship smartphone. Blackberry has always been loved by businesses for it’s many business features, but in the past few years the competition, such as Windows Phone, has made big strides to be business ready. This has lead a lot of businesses to adopt “bring your own phone,” which lets employees use many different popular smartphones, not just Blackberry devices.

Nokia has taken to Facebook to point out that Lumia devices are just as business-ready, if not more, than Blackberry devices.

[quote]Nokia Canada’s Facebook page stated that “Blackberries make a great snack, but for the world’s best business smartphone try a Lumia.” This is of course part of the new “Make the Switch” marketing campaign that encourages people to use the Lumia.[/quote]

Windows Phone has native Skype support along with Office applications, plus SkyDrive for backup. BlackBerry is known in the industry for having the best, probably most secure, email support for businesses, but Windows Phone 8 also added many modern security protocols. In addition, BlackBerry has SAP support, Box and Dropbox for cloud storage and will soon be adding Skype to their list of apps.

It’ll be very interesting to see who wins the battle for 3rd place.

January 31, 2013
Windows Phone 7.8 Rollout Starts For Many Devices Including Nokia Lumia 900

Nokia has started to roll out the Windows Phone 7.8 update to all its smartphones currently sitting on Windows Phone 7.5.

Handsets confirmed for the upgrade so far are the Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800 and 900, with Windows Phone 7.8 arriving over the coming weeks on all the handsets.

Annoyingly you’ll have to dig out your USB cable, turn on your computer and fire up the Zune desktop software to get Windows Phone 7.8 downloaded and installed on your handset, as over-the-air support only arrived with Windows Phone 8.

Windows Phone 7.8 update will add new features like a new start screen UI with resizable live tiles, as found in Windows Phone 8. The update brings Windows Phone 8 branding to existing Lumia devices on the splash screen and icons for Games, Office and Windows Phone Store.

Windows Phone 7.8 doubles the number of theme and accent colours to 20 and adds other new lock screen features: the option to automatically display the Bing Picture of the Day plus the ‘A1B2C3’ PIN/password challenge to prevent accidental device wipes on phones connected to Exchange accounts.

No word yet from the likes of Samsung and HTC on Windows Phone 7.8 update plans for their devices.

January 31, 2013
White Blackberry Q10 spotted

While Blackberry was busy renaming their parent company and launching the new OS along with black variants of the Z10 and Q10 a white version of the BOLD series replacement the Blackberry Q10 has been spotted at the event.

The Blackberry Q10 is packed with a 720 x 720 Super AMOLED 3.1-inch display, the Blackberry Q10’s screen is slightly larger than its touch-hybrid predecessor, the Bold 9930, and has a pixel density of 328ppi. Other specs include the 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and 2GB of RAM, 10.3mm-thick body and a 139g weight.

January 31, 2013
Blackberry Announces Blackberry Q10, With Physical QWERTY Keyboard

The BlackBerry Q10 is the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone with a physical keyboard, it features a glass laminated back which is reportedly lighter and stronger than plastic. The handset features a stainless steel build, “edge-to-edge glass”, and what it’s calling a three-dimensional weave on the back.

The Blackberry Q10 sports a 1.5GHz processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage, which is expandable with a microSD slot. The 3,1-inch touchscreen has 330ppi, 720 x 720 display.

[quote]”We have the aspiration to be the best keyboard experience period,” Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said during an event in New York.[/quote]

BlackBerry 10 will also launch with applications and games such as Foursquare, Skype, Twitter, Facebok, Angry Birds Star Wars, Where’s My Water, Cisco WebEx and many more. The BlackBerry Z10 will be available in the UK starting tomorrow, in Canada February 5th, the UAE February 10th and in the US in late March.

Heins, meanwhile, discussed other features of the new products and operating system, including BlackBerry Flow, which allows users to move between apps. The technology allows users to open and minimize apps through swipes, and everything keeps working. BlackBerry Peek allows users to play a video and check notifications at once.

BlackBerry has confirmed that it will be getting some big name apps including Amazon Kindle, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

It was also announced earlier in the week that BlackBerry had signed a deal with the major TV studios and film networks confirming that big titles such as Prometheus, American Dad and Friends would all be available on BlackBerry 10.

January 30, 2013
Blackberry Launches New Flagship Z10

In a move that shocked precisely nobody, the new BlackBerry Z10 has been launched.

[quote]When introducing the BlackBerry Z10, Thorsten Heins said, “This is the most beautiful BlackBerry we have ever launched. I can’t wait for you to try it out. We knew a large beautiful display was important. This is the window into the BlackBerry 10 experience.”[/quote]

The new handset features BlackBerry 10 OS as the obvious talking point. The Blackberry Z10 also has a 4.2-inch HD screen, dual core processor and 16GB of onboard storage.

The BlackBerry Z10 contains a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 8960 SoC with an Adreno 225 GPU, the same part found in the Lumia 920.

The 356ppi pixel density is sharper than the iPhone 5, though it doesn’t match the ridiculous 440+ found on recently-announced Android products like the Sony Xperia Z.

The BlackBerry Z10 has two cameras, a 8MP back shooter and a 2MP front-facing lens. They offer a few nifty features, such as the ability rewind and get the picture you wanted, rather than the one you actually took, called TimeShift.

[quote]”We have been on a journey of transformation, to transform our business and our brand, but also one that will transform mobile communications to true mobile computing,” Heins said on stage. “Saying we have reinvented this company is simply not enough. Today is a new day in the history of BlackBerry.”[/quote]

BlackBerry also discussed a feature called BlackBerry Balance, which allows you to create different areas of the phone for work and your personal life. Additionally, it’s new BlackBerry Messenger will have voice and video chatting functionality, allowing users a way around using their minutes.

The BlackBerry Z10 is has a specially designed screen for precise touch input, so typing on the BlackBerry keyboard can be faster and more accurate. The BlackBerry Z10 screen uses the latest technology to ensure images are sharp, clear and incredibly vivid.

[quote]”We will be the platform launching with the highest number of apps on day one,” Boulben said. The company has worked with software developers to stock its BlackBerry World store, which includes apps and music and movies, to have 70,000 apps out of the gate. RIM announced that popular apps like Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds, Evernote, Rdio, ESPN Scorecenter, Flixter and Cut the Rope will be in the store for consumers.[/quote]

Like all previous BlackBerry smartphone and, with clear sights on its utilitarian roots, the Z10 has a removable battery cover with a replaceable battery cell. The new battery, LS1, is taller and narrower than in previous RIM products and, at 1800mAh, is slightly larger.

RIM also includes a Siri-like Voice Assistant that is activated by holding down the play/pause button on the side of the phone. It can perform many of the same tasks as its iOS counterpart: send texts and emails, search the web, schedule an appointment or make a Remember note.

The Blackberry Q10 has also been announced. We’re still awaiting the magic of things like prices or a release date, but we’ll update the story as soon as we hear.

Specs

– BlackBerry 10 OS
– 4.2-inch 1280×768 pixel TFT display
– 1.5Ghz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 SoC
– 2GB RAM / 16GB internal storage (w/ microSD)
– 8MP BSI back camera / 2MP front-facing camera
– 1080p video capture @ 30fps
– WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS/GLONASS, NFC
– 1800mAh removable battery
– 130mm x 65.6mm x 9mm
– 135.4 grams
– 3G (850/1900) / LTE (700/AWS)

January 30, 2013
Microsoft Launches Office 365 For Consumers

Today, Microsoft Corporation announced the availability of Office 365 for consumers, a reinvention of the company’s flagship Office product line. Families can now subscribe to Office 365 Home Premium, which includes the latest and most complete set of Office applications; works across five PCs/Macs plus five mobile devices; and comes with extra SkyDrive storage.

[quote]“This isn’t just another version of Office. This is Office reinvented as a consumer cloud service,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft Corp. “Together with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, Office 365 gives you the freedom to do things when and how you want.”[/quote]

Microsoft also announced it will now deliver many new features and services to the cloud first, transforming the company’s traditional three-year release cycle. Now, new features and services stream to subscribers as soon as they’re ready, eliminating the hassles of upgrading and keeping subscribers always up-to-date.

[quote] “This is a major leap forward,” said Ramkumar Pichai, GM – Microsoft Office Division, Microsoft India. “It’s a service designed to help you manage the tasks of your work and home life, wherever you are, whenever you need, online or offline. Also, it’s a perfect fit for busy families and individuals who can connect multiple devices with a single subscription.”[/quote]

The new 365 Home Premium will be available for purchase in India at an annual subscription of INR 4,199/-. Simultaneously, Microsoft also announced in India the availability of the updated FPP version of its traditional Office suite for consumers – Office Home and Student 2013.

January 30, 2013
Rejoice! iOS 6 Jailbreak Confirmed, May Come Out On Sunday!

After many tantalizing hints, the team behind the upcoming evad3rs jailbreak has confirmed it will come as early as Sunday. The crew, noted jailbreak developers @pod2g, @planetbeing and @musclenerd, are working hard on the front-end code for the jailbreak, but the team members have individually assured the world that it is untethered and compatible with iOS 6.0, 6.0.1, 6.0.2 and the newly-released 6.1.

According to the team, the new jailbreak will support every iOS device on the market except for the Apple TV 3rd gen, including the iPhone 5 and iPad 4. While jailbreak has since lost some of its steam due to the addition of many consumer-facing features in iOS 6, many users still clamor for the enhanced experience of BiteSMS and Infinidock, among others.

[quote]”We (+ @MuscleNerd @planetbeing @pimskeks) are the @evad3rs. We don’t take any donations ATM, please don’t be fooled at donating to others,” tweeted Pod2g.[/quote]

For those unaware, the iOS jailbreak eliminates the limitations forced by Apple on devices running the company’s latest operating system through the use of software tweaks on devices that include iPhones, iPads, and more. A tethered system means the procedure must be repeated every time the smartphone reboots.

The information about evad3rs possession of the jailbreak was revealed by pod2g to iDigitalTimes.

[quote]The hacker talked about the success of the team of developers saying: “6.0 is jailbroken, 6.1 beta 4 also. Now we are waiting 6.1 to confirm and release. For your information and this is important to me that everybody knows about it also, this jailbreak will be @planetbeing and @pimskeks.”[/quote]

Pod2g also added that he was only a small part of the jailbreak’s discovery as the majority of the work was done by @planetbeing and @pimskeks.

While the team allegedly has the iOS 6 untethered jailbreak, they are holding on to it until Apple releases iOS 6.1.

January 30, 2013
Lamborghini Aventador Roadster Hits 210 mph On Maimi Airport Runway

Airplanes weren’t the only things moving fast and furiously along the runways at Miami International Airport on Monday.

For a few minutes in the afternoon, the south runway became a speedway as 12 new Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Roadster sports cars took a ride on it, warming up at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.

What came next was the first-ever high-speed auto demonstration on the runway as five Aventadors individually attempted to beat the airport’s 150 mph maximum aircraft take-off speed.

And surpass it they did. Easily.

[quote]”The high-speed test runs exceeded 180 mph, so the cars beat the speed of any aircraft currently taking off from our runways,” airport spokesman Greg Chin said.[/quote]

The speed test event was part of several festivities planned in Miami for the launch of the 2013 Aventador LP 700-4 and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Italian luxury automotive brand.

The new Aventador, which can be ordered at Lamborghini Palm Beach, Lamborghini Miami and a Lamborghini dealership in Orlando, has a list price of $445,300, according to Lamborghini.

Some of the Aventador’s features include a lightweight two-piece removable roof, a 700-horsepower, 6.5-litre V12 engine, hand-crafted leather interior upholstery and a two-tone exterior finish.

The two-seater sports car can accelerate from zero to 62 miles per hour, or 100 kilometers, in only 3 seconds flat and has a top speed of about 217 mph/350 km, according to Lamborghini.

During the demo, the 700 horsepower supercar exceeded the passenger airliner take off speed on a runway which is between 150 mph and180 mph, clocking 210 mph. The car then lined up for a photoshoot with an American Airlines Boeing 777, and then set off for the official presentation party at Miami Beach.

What a phenomenal showing by Lambo.

[Sun Sentinel]

January 29, 2013
Tata Launches Indica Vista D90 For Rs 5.99 Lakh

Tata Motors has launched the new Vista D90 hatchback in India that is powered by the Quadrajet diesel engine with variable geometry turbocharger (VGT).

Price of the car starts from 5.99 lakh rupees and at present it is available in two variants- VX and GX+.

The new Vista D90 is around 15000 Rupees more than corresponding 75PS Vista trim (ex-Delhi price).

In terms of exterior, it is quite identical to the usual Vista, with the only difference being the black contrast roof which was seen on 10th anniversary car. Various external accessories are offered by Tata and these include rear spoiler and side skirts.

Major changes can be observed in the interiors. Vista got the dashboard like that of Manza. Vista also offers the automatic air-con along with three modes. Apart from this, there is an all-new touch-screen stereo system accompanied with the Bluetooth and GPS.

At present, Vista is available in three engine choices and these include two diesels and one petrol version (65PS).

On the safety front the Vista D90 gets ABS, EBD and dual airbags. The Vista D90 is being offered in five different colours; Porcelain white, Spice Red, cavern Grey, Jet Silver and a new shade called Ultra Violet.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Tata Motors sold 2,202 units of Nano in December 2012 in the domestic market as compared to 7,466 units in same month previous year. Exports also came down to 40 units during the month, from 548 units in December 2011.

January 29, 2013
Apple adds a 128 GB model to the iPad 4th Generation (PR) Rs 49,900

Apple has just confirmed yesterdays rumors with an official statement. The iPad 4th generation has been bumped up to a 128GB mode which will go on sale in India starting Feb 5th 2013. The 128GB variant will be available at select Apple resellers for a price of INR 49,900 inc VAT (INR 47,523.81 ex VAT) for the iPad with Wi-Fi model and INR 56,900 inc VAT (INR 54,190.48 ex VAT) for the iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

For everything else on the iPad will remain same on this model.

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Apple Increases iPad with Retina Display to 128GB

Offers Twice the Storage Capacity to Create & Enjoy Even More Incredible Content

CUPERTINO, California?January 29, 2013?Apple today announced a 128GB* version of the fourth generation iPad with Retina display. The 128GB iPad with Wi-Fi and iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular models provide twice the storage capacity of the 64GB models to hold even more valuable content including photos, documents, projects, presentations, books, movies, TV shows, music and apps.

“With more than 120 million iPads sold, it’s clear that customers around the world love their iPads, and everyday they are finding more great reasons to work, learn and play on their iPads rather than their old PCs,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With twice the storage capacity and an unparalleled selection of over 300,000 native iPad apps, enterprises, educators and artists have even more reasons to use iPad for all their business and personal needs.”

iPad continues to have a significant impact on business with virtually all of the Fortune 500 and over 85 percent of the Global 500 currently deploying or testing iPad. Companies regularly utilising large amounts of data such as 3D CAD files, X-rays, film edits, music tracks, project blueprints, training videos and service manuals all benefit from having a greater choice of storage options for iPad. The over 10 million iWork users, and customers who rely on other incredible apps like Global Apptitude for analysing team film and creating digital playbooks, Auria for an incredible 48 track recording system, or AutoCAD for drafting architectural and engineering drawings, also benefit greatly from having the choice of an iPad with more storage capacity.

“Our AutoCAD WS app for iOS was designed to give customers seamless access to their designs anywhere, anytime,” said Amy Bunszel, vice president of AutoCAD products for Autodesk. “These files are often large and highly detailed so having the thin and light iPad with its Multitouch display, integrated camera and all-day battery life, is a real advantage for iPad users to view, edit and share their AutoCAD data.”

“The features and capabilities of iPad give us the ability to set a new standard for multitrack recording and editing on a mobile device,” said Rim Buntinas, WaveMachine Labs’ CEO. “Users of the Auria app can play 48 mono or stereo 24bit/96 kHz tracks simultaneously, record up to 24 of those tracks simultaneously, and also edit and mix with familiar tools. With its portability and all-day battery life, iPad has revolutionised recording for audio professionals allowing artists to record anywhere.”

“The bottom line for our customers is winning football games, and iPad running our GamePlan solution unquestionably helps players be as prepared as possible,” said Randall Fusee, Global Apptitude Co-Founder. “The iPad’s unbeatable combination of security, being thin and light, having an incredible Retina display and also being powerful enough to handle large amounts of data enables us to deliver a product that takes film study to a new level and ultimately gives our users the best opportunity to prepare, execute and win.”

The fourth generation iPad features a gorgeous 9.7-inch Retina display, Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera, iOS 6.1 and ultrafast wireless performance**. iOS 6.1 includes support for additional LTE networks around the world***, and iTunes Match subscribers can download individual songs to their iOS devices from iCloud.

iPad runs over 800,000 apps available on the App Store, including more than 300,000 apps designed specifically for iPad, from a wide range of categories including books, games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. iPad also supports the more than 5,000 newspapers and magazines offered in Newsstand, and the more than 1.5 million books available on the iBookstore.

Pricing & Availability
The new 128GB versions of the fourth generation iPad will be available starting Tuesday, February 5, in black or white, for a suggested retail price of INR 49,900 inc VAT (INR 47,523.81 ex VAT) for the iPad with Wi-Fi model and INR 56,900 inc VAT (INR 54,190.48 ex VAT) for the iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular model. All versions of the 128GB iPad will be sold through select Apple Authorised Resellers.

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January 29, 2013
Exclusive : HTC Butterfly Hands On

HTC finally launched the new HTC Butterfly in India, while the phone will be available in a totally limited fashion, it is truly worth admiring. The HTC Butterfly is powered by a quad core 1.5 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and 2 GB of in built RAM.

While it follows along the previous design elements of HTC devices, the HTC Butterfly seems more refined any classy. The design has a curved back so feels a lot more slim and fits well in the hands. Including a 2020 mAh battery HTC feels that the device is powered well enough, that is if you probably dont consider the heavy consumption of the 5 inch 1080p LCD3 display which has a whopping 440 ppi.

HTC Butterfly also emphasizes on authentic sound and amazing camera, continuing along with their 8-megapixel f/2.0 28mm wide-angle lens, 5-level automatic flash, backside illuminated sensor (BSI) equipped main camera and upping the game by adding a 2.1-megapixel, f/2.0, 88-degree, ultra-wide angle, front-facing camera. Everything does sound fancy, we found that the main camera does instantly click images, even if the flash is on.

The HTC Butterfly runs Android 4.1 along with HTC Sense 4+ so it has improved features such as Google Now pre-loaded. HTC has also confirmed that a update for 4.2 is in works and will be out sooner than later.

We will be coming out with an unboxing and extended comparison of the butterfly shortly so stay tuned. Till then check out our hands on images and Video shortly.

January 29, 2013
HTC Launches the new HTC Butterfly at 45,990

HTC has just launched the new HTC Butterfly in India at a price of Rs. 49,990 with a best buy price of Rs. 45990/- .

The HTC Butterfly is the global version of the J Butterfly launched in Japan last year. The phone features a 5 inch 1920 x 1080p full HD LCD3 panel which comes with Gorilla Glass 2, making it a whopping 440ppi pixel density.

It is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) with HTC Sense UI.

It has a 8MP auto focus camera with a 28mm lens and F2.0 aperture, BSI sensor and LED flash, 1080p HD video recording and a 2.1 MP 1080p front-facing camera. Other features include, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, 32GB expandable memory with microSD.

The connectivity features include, 3G, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX, HDMI via MHL, GPS + GLONASS and a 2020 mAh battery.

The unboxing and hands-on video will be coming up soon! Stay tuned!

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HTC INTRODUCES THE ULTIMATE SMARTPHONE – HTC BUTTERFLY – IN INDIA

New Delhi – January 29, 2013 – HTC Corporation (TWSE: 2498), a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today announced the availability in India of HTC Butterfly, the ultimate smartphone and the first with a full HD 1080p display. HTC Butterfly not only offers the first full HD 1080p display with the highest pixel density of any smartphone, but also features the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor, HTC Sense 4+ and Android Jelly Bean.

“HTC Butterfly is quite simply the most stunning smartphone HTC has created to date, with a display that people will fall in love with instantly,”said Faisal Siddiqui, Country Head, HTC India. “It offers the best experience in terms of performance, design and innovation, and is our most eagerly anticipated smartphone with rave reviews from media and consumers alike.”

The Ultimate Smartphone

With technology rivaling the latest HD TV’s, HTC Butterfly is the first smartphone to feature a true 1080p full HD super LCD 3 display with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2 protections. It boasts an extraordinary 440 pixels per inch (PPI) on a 5-inch screen for unprecedented in-hand HD experiences that delivers the maximum pixel clarity available on a smartphone.

Designed to accentuate the incredible display, the smooth glossy finish and microgrill pattern of the sidewalls echo the superb styling and power of high tech racing cars. The beautifully crafted smartphone feels thinner than other devices of a similar size as the edges of the curved back taper to a mere 4mm for a comfortable feel in the hand or pocket.

The Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 Pro processor, featuring a quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU, high-performance GPU and a full 2GB of RAM enable the seamless use of multiple apps simultaneously. With HTC Sense® 4+ and Android™ 4.1 (Jelly Bean), you get great software experiences including Google Now. HTC Butterfly is equipped with a 2,020 mAh battery and power saving software that enables long-lasting endurance, while users will also appreciate the expandable SD card slot in addition to 25GB of free Dropbox cloud storage. HTC Sense 4+ offers a wealth of easy-to-use and customizable features bringing highly sought after personalization to your phone and placing the most important content front and center. A series of intelligent features powered by HTC Sense 4+ also provides a number of improvements to the camera.

Amazing Camera

HTC Butterfly has a world-class camera that delivers fast image capture, great images even in low-light and an easy interface to capture stills and video. With an 8-megapixel f/2.0 28mm wide-angle lens, 5-level automatic flash, backside illuminated sensor (BSI), and superfast autofocus, you’ll capture amazing moments without the worry of missing a single one. Instead of choosing between photos and video, HTC VideoPic™ allows you to capture video and still images at the same time. And by simply holding the shutter button, Continuous Shooting takes multiple photos at up to four frames per second to catch all the action.

It also includes a new best-in-class 2.1-megapixel, f/2.0, 88-degree, ultra-wide angle, front-facing camera that allows more to be captured in self-portraits, and up to four people for group shots. Auto Portrait makes it easier to take photos of yourself and your friends with automatic face detection and a countdown timer so you can focus on your pose and not the shutter button. Capable of capturing 1080p HD video, the front-facing camera also provides a sharper picture during video chat.

Authentic Sound

The HTC Butterfly’s unique, built-in headset amplifier and dedicated amp for the external rear-speaker helps boost the audio signal to deliver crystal clear sound with less distortion, even at maximum volume. The combination of amplified hardware and the rich, authentic, studio-quality sound of Beats Audio™ allows music to be heard the way the artist intended, and enhances the sound quality while playing games or watching video.

Availability

HTC Butterfly will be available at a MOP (Best Buy) of Rs 45,990/- and MRP of Rs 49,900/- from January 2013 onwards in India.

About HTC

Founded in 1997, HTC Corporation (HTC) is the creator of many award-winning mobile devices and industry firsts. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC pushes the boundaries of design and technology to create innovative and personal experiences for consumers around the globe. HTC’s portfolio includes smartphones and tablets powered by HTC Sense™, a multilayered graphical user interface that vastly improves user experience. HTC is listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE: 2498). For more information, please visitwww.htc.com.

# # #
HTC and the HTC logo are the trademarks of HTC Corporation. All other names of companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks
of their respective owners.

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January 29, 2013
Spice Stellar Nhance Mi-435 & Mi-530 Dual SIM Handsets Surface Online for Rs 7,499 & Rs 13,999

S Mobility is all set to introduce two new dual-SIM Android smartphones namely the Spice Stellar Nhance Mi-435 and Spice Stellar Mi-530. Both these smartphones are currently listed on the online portal Saholic. While the Spice Stellar Nhance Mi-435 is already available and priced at Rs. 7,199, the 5.3-inch Mi-530 is expected to come soon with a price tag of Rs. 13,999.

The Spice Mi-530 has a 5.3-inch qHD (540×960 pixel) IPS display, taking on a range of other budget phablets available in the market such as the Micromax Canvas 2 A110, Micromax A116 Canvas HD,WickedLeak Wammy Titan and Lava Iris 501. The phablet runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. It has 1GB of RAM. The built-in storage of the Mi-530 is 16GB and it has a microSD card slot that supports storage up to 32GB.

There’s an 8MP rear camera with dual-LED flash as well as a 5MP front camera. For connectivity, the device supports 3G/ HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and USB. The phablet comes with a 2550mAh battery.

The Stellar Nhance Mi-435 sports a 4-inch capacitive touch display with 800×480 pixel resolution and runs on Android 4.0. The device come with an 8-megapixel rear camera with fixed focus and 5x digital zoom and a 1.3-megapixel front camera.

On the inside, the dual-SIM device is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor with 512MB RAM. It has 4GB of internal storage with external expansion support upto 32GB. The Stellar Nhance Mi-435 boasts connectivity options like Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth, USB and GPRS. It comes with a 1,500mAh battery.

When it comes to specifications, both these handsets offer decent features that come in devices launched by rival companies.

January 29, 2013
Lego Patent Turns 55!

At exactly 1:58 p.m. today, I’m going to bang a gong or something. Lego turns 55! On January 28th 1958, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen patented the humble Lego brick. His company had existed, making other toys, since 1930—but it was 55 years ago today that the infamous studded plastic brick was officially born.

But it’s a story that began long before that in the genius mind of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish master carpenter who established a toy company in 1932. Two years later, he renamed it Lego, from the Danish “leg godt,” which means “play well.” In Latin, it means “I put together.”

For the most part, it is one of the great levelers in the toy world: kids love it, adults get excited about it, and you can build practically anything you like out of it. While most wholesome family fun turns out boring or desperate, Lego transcends age and gender and makes everyone want to play.

Since 1958, Lego has constantly evolved and adapted to a changing world, introducing new lines and technology. It has been used in ways the company may never have envisaged – from the vet who adapted Lego wheels (introduced in 1962) to help overfed tortoises in 2000 to the Canadian students who sent a Lego man into space in 2012.

News of Lego inventions of others continues to inspire. A father and son built a working Lego drone. Someone else built a Lego camera. And a youth in England built a working Lego harpsichord — it plays “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

The only trouble with the little plastic brick, it seems, is that some people still think of it as just a toy. It’s much more!

Via Engadget, Guardian

January 28, 2013
Twitter’s Vine App Turn Vile As Pornographic Clips Show Up

Since Twitter’s video capture application Vine was released for iPhone last week, plenty of users have been looking for interesting ways to utilise its six-second clip taking. There are some clever short animations, skilled cutting sequences and more. Oh, and of course there’s porn. Lot’s of it.

As with Twitter, Vine users can tag their clips with hashtags, and it doesn’t take much searching to find “#sex” and “#porn” well populated with the sort of content that wouldn’t be appropriate for younger Viners. Apple, for instance, rates the Vine app as suitable for those aged 12 or over, calling it out for infrequent or mild suggestive themes, nudity, or sexual content, though that description is at odds with the hardcore pornography readily available today.

In response, Twitter has said it has a two-stage complaints system which relies on users to initially report anything they deem inappropriate. Questionable content such as ”nudity, violence, or medical procedures” can be flagged within the app or on the website, the social company told Business Insider, at which point any future viewings will be preceded by a warning message.

However, that flag will also trigger a review by the Vine team itself, which will decide whether or not the content should be left in place or removed. Vine users can also have their accounts terminated, Twitter points out, if the material does not meet with the terms of service.

This may be enough for some, but Apple may take a tougher stance. Apple has a strict policy on applications that allow access to graphic sexual content, having removed picture app 500px for allowing users to see pornographic images in a similar way to Vine.

It will certainly be interesting to see what the Cupertino company will do about it. And, if it decides to remove the app, how Twitter will respond.

Via: businessinsider.com

January 28, 2013