Blog

Audi R8 Catches Fire During 2013 Parx Supercar Rally In India

Courtesy : Pardaphash

The Parx Supercar Rally at Mumbai is a ‘must-go’ for every supercar owner and fan in this region of the country. The Parx offers one of the biggest assemblage of supercars in the country and attending the show has always been a memorable experience for the participants.

This year, the supercar show has got even bigger with more ‘drool-maal’ and a lot more horsepower. However, an incident today has left everyone terrified and saddened. An Audi R8 supercar caught fire on the Bandra Worli Sea Link. The car that costs anything between Rs 1.36 Crore to Rs 1.75 Crore was burnt while the owner revved to let its engine heat enough to catch fire.

Courtesy : Pardaphash

The Audi R8 sportscar which was engulfed by flames, was not part of the 2013 Parx Supercar Rally. Lucky for the driver of R8, his life was saved by the prompt action from participants of the 2013 Parx Supercar Rally.

Michael Perschke, Head of Audi India and a part the rally asked media to be patient until his team judges the exact cause of the fire. The unlucky R8 is now in possession of Audi India and initial research suggests that the car had been modified by the owner.

Gautam Singhania, Founder and Chairman of the Supercar club of India, who too was a part of the Rally, addressed the media stating that the car did not belong to their club. He added that the Audi R8, in the picture here, raced at a very fast speed and overtake their cars who participated in the Rally. In doing so, the Audi R8 caught fire. Being an experienced supercar driver, Gautam was asked, what could be the reason behind the fire that engulfed Audi R8. To this he replied that the manufacturer will be able to give a better answer.

He later tweeted. “Today had a unique opportunity to save an unknown hapless driver out of an Audi R8 which caught fire on Sea Link, along with my SCC members.”

[Pardaphash]

January 27, 2013
Samsung GT-N5110 is the Galaxy Note 8

A new upcoming device the GT- N5110 is now confirmed to be the alleged Galaxy Note 8 thanks to a filing at the FCC. But here is the catch, the device has only WiFi and Bluetooth radios and is described as a “personal tablet”. The company has been kind enough to show the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 2 Screen dimensions to confirm that this is indeed a Galaxy Note device.

The Galaxy Note 8 is said to be powered by a Exynos 4 Quad SOC which has a processor clocked at 1.6 GHz. The image filed at the FCC clearly shows the S-Pen housing and the rear facing camera as even spotted in the Galaxy Note 8 leaked images.

Will Samsung peg the Galaxy Note 8 in the low budget tablet market space or the upper middle segment is yet unknown. But, the fact that the company is only filing for a WiFi only device indicates that there indeed may be a a Sub US$ 300 Galaxy Note 8 tablet after all. Translating to roughly 18000 Indian Rupees, the tablet would really attract eager buyers, thanks to the S Pen functionality.

N5110 Dimensions

January 27, 2013
Samsung Spoils the fun, Launches Cheaper Quad Core Galaxy Grand in Korea

Samsung has just announced the South Korea variant of the Galaxy Grand which was launched last week in India. While the looks of the device are identical to the global variants, there are several changes inside, including a Quad core SOC. The phone is also apparently capable of LTE networks, as opposed to the dual-core chip and 3G capable variant launched in India.

The best part is that the South Korea version of the Galaxy Grand also has NFC capabilities and a USB 3.0 port for faster data access. The phone retains the WVGA display and 5 inch screen along with the 8 megapixel rear and 2 Megapixel front camera. The phone also carries Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS from Google along with TouchWiz user interface.

Interestingly the Galaxy Grand South Korea version is based on an Exynos chipset with a MALI GPU, and will be available in South Korea for 350,000 won (around $325 / or INR 18,000 approx) which is about 5k cheaper than the low spec’d variant in India.

Does this mean Samsung is going to refresh the Indian variant soon?

[Samsung]

January 27, 2013
Carphone Warehouse Internal Database Leak Shows BlackBerry Z10 Priced At INR 40,000!

As we await for the arrival of the rumoured BlackBerry Z10 at the end of January, not much has been shared about pricing. However according to a new leak, it will be £30 less than an unlocked iPhone 5. Engadget has received a photo, claiming to be a shot of Carphone Warehouse’s internal listings, showing a BlackBerry Z10 in white for the SIM-free price of £479.95 or roughly Rs 40,000.

We know what RIM’s flagship BlackBerry Z10 smartphone will look like, what it’s capable of and when it’ll be launched. Now we’ve got the first indication of how much it will cost.

RIM is set to officially unveil its BlackBerry 10 operating system and the first two devices that will first carry it on 30 January in several countries around the globe. One has to wonder whether RIM will have anything left to surprise us with when its global launch events kick off on Wednesday.

BlackBerry 10 and the BlackBerry Z10 have already been completely exposed by several leaks online. The touchscreen Z10 – with the BlackBerry X10 being the Qwerty keyboard-touting phone of the launch duo – has a 4.2-inch display. It’s not Full HD, being only 1280 x 768, but is powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz OMAP 4470 processor with 2GB of RAM.

So BlackBerry fans should prepare their wallets as this one won’t come cheap.

Via Engadget

January 27, 2013
Latest Chrome Beta Has Hidden Full Screen Mode

A curious Nexus 7 user (Smackel from Reddit) accidentally found out we can turn this hidden feature, Chrome running full screen on an Android device, on by pulling some strings and making a few tricks.

Full screen browsing is top of many an Android fans wish list for Google’s mobile version of the Chrome browser. On smartphone screens in particular, display space is important. It seems it might not be all that far away.

As we know, the latest beta build brought about support for WebGL in the mobile browser, and the first thing we need to do is go ahead and enable it. Type the magic line — “chrome://flags/ — into the address bar, and scroll down the list presented before you until you find WebGL. Tap on enable, then follow the prompt to restart the browser.

When Chrome has restarted, you want to head on over to the Chrome Experiment Boids and Buildings. Tap on the “launch experiment” button, then the “run” button when the main screen pops up. Then it’s simply a case of sitting back and watching. You don’t need to let it run right through, but it is pretty cool to watch this city get drawn out and constructed in front of you. At this point it’s also worth noting that it seems to run pretty well in the mobile browser.

When you come back out of the experiment though, you’ll notice the status bar at the top of the screen has vanished, and the address bar in Chrome has gone a little translucent. After a couple of seconds of doing nothing it just disappears completely. And there we have it, full screen browsing.

It is buggy, but it does work, and expands your web pages to take up the full display — on screen buttons not included. To get the address bar back takes just a swipe down from the top, although said swipe doesn’t bring the status bar back with it. Full screen mode seems to stay in place until you exit the app completely.

Via Android Central

January 27, 2013
Leaked : Blackberry Z10 Press Shots

Courtesy of @evleaks, we get to see a pair or high-quality press pics of the yet unannounced BlackBerry Z10, a device which some consider to be the company’s Hail Mary Pass as their financial situation has been on a steady decline for months. While these aren’t the first images we’ve seen of BlackBerry’s upcoming Z10 smartphone, they do appear to be the first official press images of the device which might be released as early as February 5th. The beleaguered RIM is pinning its hopes on its new BlackBerry 10 OS so it’s possible that the future of the company is riding on the success of the Z10.

The BlackBerry Z10, the very first one, has already leaked out countless times in images and video and judging by all we’ve seen so far we have no reason to doubt its veracity.

The BlackBerry Z10 is rumored to feature a 4.2 inch HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels, it will also come with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built in storage, plus a 1,800 mAh battery.

RIM will officially launch Blackberry Z10 on the 30th of January along with two BlackBerry 10 devices, the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10, we should have full details on both handsets after the official announcement.

Overall, we definitely like the design. It’s nothing too special by any means, but it’s sleek and stealthy, and it definitely has that BlackBerry feel to it. Since BlackBerry 10 seems to be a competent platform, we can’t see a reason why the Z10 wouldn’t be a success for RIM, but we’ll ultimately have to wait and see later this month.

January 26, 2013
France Bans the Word ‘Hashtag’

#RIP the hashtag. It had a good run, August 2007 – January 2013. At least it’s still alive and respected in every other country apart from France.

It’s a dark day for the Gallic Internet, as the French Government drive to preserve their language by altering the settled will of the online community. The hashtag will no longer be used in official communications or papers.The replacement term will be mot-dièse.

The decision was made by a government office, the Commission Générale de Terminologie et de Néologie, which is tasked with inventing French-language equivalents to foreign-language terms found popping up in France.

While Twitter users in France won’t be penalized for referring to hashtags, all official French government legislation and correspondence will be required to refer to mot-dièses instead of hashtags. Back in 2003, the same commission mandated French citizens refer to email as courriel with some success. Compared to other Western governments, France actively takes an interventionist approach to Internet use within the country: Various protectionist Internet laws have been proposed, including taxing Internet companies for data mining. All this is in addition to paternalist policies surrounding the French language to stop cross-cultural fusion like le hamburger. Maybe they’re just nostalgic for the days of the Minitel?

[Forbes]

January 26, 2013
H.265 Video Format Approved, Ensures High-Quality Video At Half Bit-Rate

Back in August we reported that MPEG had released a new draft for a video codec, H.265, also informally known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) – now, the video format has been approved by the ITU. This approval could eventually see Ultra HD 4K video to future networks, as well as making streaming HD video on low bandwidth mobile networks.

The new video format is the successor to the H.264 codec, which nearly every video publisher has standardized after the release of the iPad and several other connected devices. It seems crazy now, but once upon a time, Apple’s adoption of H.264 and insistence on HTML5-based video players was controversial — especially since most video before the iPad was encoded in VP6 to play through Adobe’s proprietary Flash player.

The hope is that, through improved compression techniques, H.265 will enable publishers to stream 1080p video with about half as many bits as required today. That should make true streaming HD video available not just in broadband households, but on mobile and tablet devices, using networks that are a lot more bandwidth-constrained. Doing so could make online video more widely available in markets with poor connectivity or mostly mobile connections.

In places where there is decent broadband connectivity, H.265 could enable even higher-quality video. With 4K TVs finally becoming available, there’s an opportunity for even greater video resolution. The only problem is that networks aren’t built to support the load that streaming that video would require. With H.265, 4K streaming could be possible with as little as 20-30 Mbps of bandwidth. Still a lot by today’s standards, but not completely unheard of.

We should see software encoders by the end of the year, but hardware? Not in the short-term. Broadcom announced at CES that they had their new BCM7445 chip which was one of the first to support H.265. Devices with this chip won’t be seen until 2014 at least, as high-volume shipments aren’t expected to ramp up until then.

[Tech Crunch]

January 26, 2013
Sony Releases Jelly Bean Alpha ROM For Xperia T

Sony Mobile has just announced that they have rolled out the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean alpha ROM for the Xperia T, and if you prefer to go by model numbers, then LT30p would fit the bill nicely. This is certainly in line with the corporate character of Sony Mobile, as their tradition had always been to introduce alpha and beta ROMs for upcoming firmware updates. Needless to say, you ought to take into consideration that pre-release firmware is only meant for folks who want to check out what is to come in the most recent update.

A few caveats apply here — radio functionality like Bluetooth, Wifi and mobile data is not included (likely for regulatory reasons), nor are Google apps. In addition, Sony says the UI has not yet been updated to reflect the final look and feel of the Xperia Jelly Bean firmware — i.e. what’s on the new Xperia Z. And crucially, if you unlock your Xperia T and apply this alpha ROM, you won’t be able to update to the official Jelly Bean firmware once it’s released. So this ROM really is one for advanced users and adventurous devs only.

The Xperia T is a great phone, and should find itself significantly better with a dash of Google Now and Project Butter, the main ingredients in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Hopefully today’s release will accelerate the progress of Jelly Bean-based custom ROMs for the Xperia T. If nothing else, we’d expect this to be hacked into something with working radios and Google Apps in a relatively short space of time. If you possess both a Sony Xperia T and a strong sense of adventure, you can find full instructions over at the source link.

Source: Sony Developer World Blog , Android Central

January 26, 2013
Waterproof and Rugged Xcover 2 by Samsung announced with Jelly Bean

Samsung has announced what is going to be the most notable, rugged launch ahead of schedule in 2013, the Xcover 2. Along with a 1 GHz dual core processor, 4-inch WVGA display all on Android 4.1 with TouchWiz, the device also has a 5-megapixel camera with a dedicated camera shutter button.

The Xcover 2 also has GPS and GLONASS to cater to the explorer in you. The Xcover 2 will also pack a Cardio trainer Pro workout app along with a physical hand strap and mount.

[toggle_box title=”Press Release” width=”Width of toggle box”]

Samsung GALAXY Xcover 2

January 25, 2013

SEOUL, Korea – January 25, 2013 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, today unveiled the Samsung Xcover 2, the ideal smartphone for active explorers who are enjoying outdoor lifestyles and seeking a durable mobile device with essential smartphone capabilities.

• The GALAXY Xcover 2 is optimized to endure against the most rugged outdoor conditions, whether you’re at work or
play. Protected against the elements, it is dust and sand proof. It’s even water resistant to a depth of one meter for up to
30 minutes (IP67 Certified). You can now take photos under water with the direct camera key, hold on tight to your
device with the strap holder and not worry about dropping your phone as the battery cover lock gives added protection.

• Pre-downloaded Google map data, an enhanced GPS ? GLONASS which shortens the satellite signal detection by
up to 20? to tracks your location more accurately, LED Flash next to the camera which can be used like a torch and
a huge battery capacity of 570 hours(1,700mAh), making the GALAXY Xcover 2 is the best possible smartphone partner
for outdoor exploration.

• In addition, the Cardio Trainer Pro workout application will also help you achieve your fitness goals by creating a
tailored training program, checking your progress and recording your track and speed.

• For everyday, users can expect the powerful performance characteristic of a Samsung smartphone with the robust
GALAXY Xcover 2 shell. Its vivid 4.0″ (100.8mm) WVGA display provides a clear and wide viewing experience,
a 5-megapixel camera and VGA front camera that will let you record precious moments in high resolution,
Bluetooth® v 4.0 gives a better connection that consumes less power and detects devices 50 meters away.
An impressive 1GHz dual core processor powers the core of the GALAXY Xcover 2, which ensures
a fast operating speed for seamless multitasking, faster webpage loading and softer UI transitions.

• Samsung GALAXY Xcover 2 runs Android™ 4.1 (Jelly Bean) enabling faster and smoother screen transitions and
providing an enhanced user interface featuring a new, easier-to-use notification panel. As a premium Samsung
Android™ phone, the device is packed with a series of innovative features and services to boost performance and
the overall user experience. The intuitive Motion UI understands your movements to shake and update or turn over
to mute; data can be synced, backed up and restored with S-Cloud; S Voice lets users control the phone using
their voice, allowing you to see the weekly weather forecast, the contact number you’re trying to find or even take
a picture as you speak; Best Shot recommends the best shot from a series of photos; Smart Stay recognizes
whether the user is looking at the screen to dim the screen accordingly. Users can also enjoy all the benefits of
Samsung Hubs, including the latest versions of Readers Hub, Video Hub, Game Hub and Music Hub.

[/toggle_box]

January 26, 2013
Huawei Ascend P2 Press shots leak to confirm 13 MP camera, Slim Design

Wondering why Smartphones are still so fat? Well Huawei might be there with an answer to all the bulk with the new Huawei Ascend P2, a smartphone thats only 6.45mm thick.

The leaked images confirm that the Huawei Ascend P2 is indeed in the pipeline, and that too with a mammoth 13 MP camera and a slick metal body. Apart from the details mentioned little is known about the P2 , although rumors are pegging a full 1080p HD display at only 4.5 inches, 2GB of RAM, and a big 3000mAh battery for power.

The Huawei Ascend P2 is said to be Shipping with Jelly Bean 4.x, and the only think keeping the media vary is the 1.8 GHz Quad Core SOC which is of an unknown / self developed / Chinese nature. Keeping performance estimates on this device low. However, with the recent trend of phablets, Huawei might just do well in a market like India with a Quad Core Full HD Phone, with 2 Gb of RAM at the price of say a Galaxy Grand.

[ Unwired View]

January 25, 2013
Microsoft Q2 2013 Earnings Indicate $21.56b Revenue, $6.38b Profit

Microsoft says its fourth-quarter earnings slipped 4 percent, despite a lift from its latest version of Windows.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant posted revenue of $21.46 billion and net income of $6.38 billion, with earnings per share of 77 cents. That’s largely in line with what Wall Street had been expecting, though a bit lower on the revenue side and higher on the earnings side — ahead of today’s financial report, the analyst consensus was that Microsoft would post earnings of 75 cents a share on $21.53 billion in revenue.

The results announced Thursday are the first to include Windows 8. The program is a dramatic overhaul of the Microsoft Corp operating system that powers most PCs. Windows 8 came out 26 October with slightly more than two months left in Microsoft’s fiscal second quarter.

When Windows 8 finally hit the market, Microsoft also unveiled its own tablet computer, Surface, as a showcase for the operating system. Microsoft didn’t disclose Thursday how many Surface devices were sold in the October-December period.

Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices division, which is responsible for the Xbox and Surface, saw an 11% decline from last year, with only $3.77 billion of revenue. This comes after Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 was the top-selling gaming console for two years straight. It looks like holiday sales weren’t as great as the company expected.

Microsoft’s Online Services division saw more growth, however, with $869 million in revenue, which is an 11% increase year-over-year. Thanks to the upcoming Office 365 suite and SkyDrive, Microsoft’s online services don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon, especially with the deal that Microsoft made with the city of Chicago to bring Office 365 services to city employees.

January 25, 2013
Apple Launches ‘Get Stuff Done’ Promotion For Mac App Store

Apple on Thursday kicked off a three-week promotional campaign offering discounts on a number of productivity apps in the OS X App Store, with each week featuring a new section and a different batch of titles from which to choose.

New discounted Apps will be made available every week, under the categories of “Prioritize”, “Organize” and “Utilize”. This week, Apple is focusing on the first category, offering certain To-Do apps for way less than they would generally be sold for, some as much as 50% off. Many well-known apps are on offer, namely Things 2 (available for $24.99), Todo (for $6.99), Due ($4.99), The Hit List ($24.99), BreakTime ($2.99), TaskPaper ($11.99), 2Do ($14.99) and Clear ($6.99).

As reported by TUAW, if you are looking to snap up a good deal, you should hurry, since these offers are expiring on January 31^st. If you to-do lists are not your thing, worry not, since Apple will offer more discounted apps starting next week, first under the “Organise” category and “Utilize” the week after.

January 25, 2013
Samsung Posts Record Q4 Net Profit

Samsung announced its Q4 2012 financial results today and, as expected, they are impressive. Consolidated operating profit over the three-month period hit a new record of 8.84 trillion won (circa $8.3 billion), from revenue of 56.06 trillion won (approximately $52.4 billion). The firm saw its profit increase 10 percent on the previous quarter — that’s 89 percent year-on-year– while revenue was up 7 percent on Q3 2012 and 19 percent year-on-year).

Mobile has always been a key market for Samsung, but the release is terribly vague when it comes to breaking down exactly how the company did with regard to units sold. Even so, revenue from Samsung’s Mobile Communications division grew 4 percent from the prior quarter, and Samsung specifically calls out the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II as key performers — the inclusion of the latter isn’t much of a shock considering it sold around 5 million units in its first two months on the market, and is reportedly nearing 10 million units sold globally. Taking a step back, Samsung’s IT and Mobile Communications unit as a whole reported 5.44 trillion won ($5.09 billion), slightly down from Q3 but more than double the 2.56 trillion won ($2.39 billion) Samsung recorded in the year-ago quarter.

[quote]Robert Yi, senior vice president and head of Investor Relations, said: “Despite uncertainties in Europe and concerns over the US fiscal cliff creating a difficult business environment, we did our best this quarter to achieve strong earnings based on a strategic focus on differentiated and high value-added products as well as our technological competitiveness.”[/quote]

However, despite the firm’s impressive Q4 profits, Yi remains cautious with regards to Samsung’s position in the market over the coming 12 months.

The company has suggested that the significant number of new products coming to market and the inevitable price competition to follow will make 2013 a challenging year.

January 25, 2013
HTC Launches Budget Desire U with single-core 1GHz processor

HTC has launched a brand new budget phone targeted at developing markets like our very own. The HTC Desire U will come with a 1 GHz Single core CPU along with Android 4.0 with HTC Sense. The HTC Desire U will have 4 GB of Store and 512 MB of RAM along with microSD card expandability.

The working bands will include HSPA/WCDMA : 900/2100 MHz / GSM/GPRS/EDGE : 900/1800/1900 MHz. Connectivity includes WiFi, Blutooth 4.0 and micro-USB 2.0. A 5-megapixel WVGA Video capable camera and Beats audio support inbuilt into the device.

As far as battery is concerned 1650mAh is the number, and the display is a 4 incher with a resolution of 480 x 800 px.

While this device could be a good replacement for the HTC explorer in India, pricing will be key to the success of this HTC

[HTC]

January 25, 2013