The rumoured iPad mini shell that was leaked earlier has gotten a new life thanks to new images prior to the 12th Sept 2012 iPhone 5 launch. The shell appears to be thicker in size and the claimed iPad mini will not have a sim card slot, making a stab at the success of the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 tablets. The tablet also touts dual speaker arrangement and the new style dock connector that is seen in the leaked mockups of the iPhone 5 as-well.
According to Reuters, Nokia will start selling its new smartphone, potentially its last chance to break into the most profitable part of mobile phone market and secure its future, in November, sources at European telecoms operators said on Friday.
The Lumia 920, which uses Microsoft’s Windows software, is Nokia’s bid to catch up with Apple’s iPhone and a string of popular phones using Google’s Android software, like Samsung’s Galaxy models.
The new phone, which with its rounded edges and colorful covers look similar to its predecessors, was unveiled on Wednesday and drew a thumbs down from many analysts, who felt it lacked the “wow” factor to make big inroads against rivals.
They were also unsettled by Nokia’s refusal to say when the phone, and the smaller Lumia 820 models, would go on sale, or to give details on the price and operator partners.
Once the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia fell behind rivals in the fast-growing smartphone market and has struggled to catch up, racking up more than 3 billion euros in operating losses in the last 18 months and forcing it to cut 10,000 jobs, as well as sell assets.
By going on sale in November, the Lumia 920 will hit stores in time for the key holiday sales season. It will be priced similar to Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S3, operators in several countries said. The Galaxy S3 sells for around 580 euros.
But the phone will probably land more than a month after Apple’s new iPhone and will face stiff competition from Samsung, which last week unveiled the world’s first smartphone with the Windows Phone 8 software that the Lumia 920 will use, as well as new models from HTC and Google’s Motorola.
An executive at an eastern European telecoms operator said he would start selling the Lumia 920, which features a high-quality camera and touch screen that can be used with gloves, in the second half of November, adding larger countries would receive the model earlier that month.
[quote]”The problem is that Nokia has temporarily destroyed the market for its own phones. Nobody will buy the old Windows phone and until the new Lumia comes, the market is absolutely dead,” the executive said, declining to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media on the subject.[/quote]
Industry sources said on Thursday that Nokia had cut the prices of its older smartphones in a bid to boost demand until its new phones reach the market.
Analysts expect the Finnish firm to lose another 700 million euros in the July-September quarter and to sell around 3.6 million Windows phones, down from last quarter.
In comparison, Samsung sold more than 20 million Galaxy S3 smartphones in just 100 days.
Samsung has become the world’s biggest smartphone maker as Nokia’s share of the market has plunged to less than 10 percent from 50 percent during its heyday before the iPhone was launched in 2007.
The Lumia 920 is expected to go on sale in the United States around the same time as in Europe.
[Reuters]
Intel Corp will tout a new generation of processors, named Haswell, next week that consume less power, hoping to reinvigorate a stagnant personal computer industry and soothe increasing concerns about its growth.
Intel said it has improved performance and graphics in the upcoming version of its Core chip line, while also slashing power consumption by a whopping 41%.
That, say industry analysts, could help laptop manufacturers build and sell, thinner and smaller computers with significantly longer battery life, which could be a boost to the sluggish PC industry.
Intel is also expected to show off a range of Ultrabook laptops powered by recently launched Ivy Bridge processors, as well as hybrid devices with screens that detach from keyboards to be used as tablets.
Intel’s processors are used in 80 percent of the world’s PCs but the Santa Clara, California company has been slow to adapt its chips for smartphones and tablets and now trails Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which design their chips using power-efficient technology licensed from ARM Holdings Plc.
Apple is planning a Pandora-like music service, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, as part of a bid to become a major player in the online music space.
According to people “familiar with the matter,” the report says Apple would like to create stations similar to the ones on Pandora or Spotify, which play genres of music and are interspersed with ads from sponsors.
The Wall Street Journal said Apple’s service would work on the company’s hardware, including the iPhone, iPad and Mac computers, as well as potentially on PCs using Microsoft’s Windows operating system.
In recent years, though, with the proliferation of smartphones, iPads and wireless Internet access that perpetually connects those devices to online sources of music, Apple’s iTunes approach to selling songs for $1 or so apiece has come to seem antiquated in comparison with music streaming services like Spotify and others.
Yet another video of Apple’s “iPhone 5? has found its way online – this time getting compared to the iPhone 4s from all angles, plus showing the boot up screen attempting to connect to the iPhone developer portal.
[quote]According to leak on Chinese website Vgooo, they report that it was [translated] “accidentally found just assembled iphone 5 engineering machine, visual inspection, he said that the iPhone 5 becomes long, with a 4-inch screen, feeling thinning. Texture and hold it in the hands of feeling more than 4s, headphone jack also changed in the bottom. Connection port, the iPhone 5 is no longer using the standard 30pin connection, switch to smaller 19pin connection. Hurriedly take a few boot”[/quote]
Of course, it’s unconfirmed until the real deal gets announced on September 12th. Thoughts? Real or Fakery? More pics and video below.
[Mobile Syrup]
Nokia revealed its first smartphones to run the next version of Windows, a big step for a company that has bet its future on an alliance with Microsoft.
The Nokia Lumia 920 is the company’s new flagship smartphone and has a touchscreen with all- new PureMotion HD+ technology and is powered by a 1.5 GHz Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM. It also has 32GB of inbuilt storage with 7GB of SkyDrive storage available.
It features an 8 megapixel (MP) rear camera with PureView technology that can capture HD videos. The lenses on its camera shift to compensate for shaky hands, resulting in sharper images in low light and smoother video capture, Nokia said. Other features of the Lumia 920 include a 2,000mAh battery as well as wireless charging capabilities. However, you have to buy the charger, called Fatboy, separately.
With better than HD resolution, overdrive technology for keeping moving images pixel-perfect and sunlight enhancements for easy viewing even in the brightest sunlight, the 4.5 inch display of the Lumia 920 produces a totally amazing experience.
The WXGA (1,280 x 768 pixels) display is also super sensitive–it will be usable even with gloves or fingernails. PureMotion displays are super-sensitive with any touch interaction, enabled by the ClearPad Series 3 technology.
The other device, Lumia 820, comes with a 4.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen and it runs on a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor coupled with 1GB RAM. The other features include a 8 megapixel (MP) camera with dual-LED flash, wireless charging and a 1650mAh battery and all exclusive apps that Lumia 920 has. The 8GB model comes with changeable back covers in Red, Yellow, Grey, Cyan, Purple, White & Black.
Both handsets feature near-field communication (NFC)–Nokia has been a fervent supporter of the technology, and the handsets will come with the usual Nokia Drive and Maps apps. In fact, Maps is now the default for Windows Phone 8, a result of the close partnership between the Finnish company and Microsoft.
The price and availability date of the new phone weren’t immediately available.
Could this be Nokia’s comeback to the pinnacle of the smartphone segment? Let’s wait and see! Expect a hands-on soon!
We already know of Nokia’s and Apple’s press events in Spetember, apart from the Moto-Intel launch in the UK, now HTC has announced a press event on the 19th, possibly launching Windows 8 phones that were leaked weeks ago. Looks like this time around it may not be Apple’s month at all.
Apple has invited members of the Press and media to attend, what is supposedly going to be the next iPhone Launch, at San Francisco. Several rumors and leaks despite the lock downs by Apple, seem to have shaken the world of technology. Apple products have by far been the best kept secret, but this time around it just seems everyone knows what to expect. Although rumours of a separate iPad -Mini event seem to be doing rounds, we are still skeptical of any such announcement.
The event starts at 10:30:00 PM IST on 12 September 2012 , we will bring you all the dirt and coverage as we can.
A hacker group has claimed to have obtained personal data from 12 million Apple iPhone and iPad users by breaching an FBI computer, raising concerns about government tracking.
The UDIDs were reported to be stolen from FBI special agent Christopher Stangl’s laptop. Earlier this year Stangl was one of the FBI agents participating in a call that was breached by Anonymous hackers.
According to a Pastebin post, hackers used a then-new Java exploit to get into Stangl’s machine.
[quote]”During the second week of March 2012, a Dell Vostro notebook, used by Supervisor Special Agent Christopher K. Stangl from FBI Regional Cyber Action Team and New York FBI Office Evidence Response Team was breached using the AtomicReferenceArray vulnerability on Java,” the posting states. “During the shell session some files were downloaded from his Desktop folder one of them with the name of ‘NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv’ turned to be a list of 12,367,232 Apple iOS devices including Unique Device Identifiers (UDID), user names, name of device, type of device, Apple Push Notification Service tokens, zipcodes, cellphone numbers, addresses, etc. the personal details fields referring to people appears many times empty leaving the whole list incompleted on many parts.”[/quote]
The hackers say that the hacked database included user names, name of device, type of device, Apple Push Notification Service tokens, zipcodes, cellphone numbers and addresses of iPhone and iPad users. According to AntiSec they have stripped personally identifiable information prior to publication.
It was also added that Apple was looking for alternatives to the UDID system. The post goes on to say, in this case it’s too late for those concerned owners on the list.
The next iPhone/ New iPhone / iPhone 5 will have some serious changes in design if all the recent leaks are to be considered. German website iFun has spotted what appear to be nano sims, at the IFA floor. If the website is to be believed the German Carrier T-Mobile (formerly Deutsch Telekom) is all set to start selling the upcoming iPhone, or atleast is ready with Sim Cards.
The only thing that really worries everyone at iGyaan is the lack of support for nano sims from our Carriers here in India. Just imagine after receiving a shiny white iPhone 5 (or 4 of them) just after launch, I’ll have to hacksaw my micro sim – Ugh!
[iFun]
Vincent Kang has posted a photo of the pre-release mirrorless camera on Weibo for everyone to see. This upcoming NEX 6 has been the star of the Micro four thirds rumours for quite some time now. The camera is a step up from the NEX 5r recently launched at IFA in Berlin and just below the NEX 7 slotted at the prime. Main things to notice, the camera has an electronic viewfinder, a pop-up flash and a dedicated function key near the shutter release among other features.
Its expected to be announced in the coming weeks, maybe even at Photokina 2012.
According to a report by The Verge, Nokia, which is all set to launch its Lumia 920 smartphone powered by Windows 8 OS tomorrow in New York, will include wireless charging with the phone. The smartphone will have a PureView Camera although the megapixel capacity will be much less than the original PureView smartphone. An image of the charging pad of Nokia was leaked on Twitter via @evleaks, the same account that leaked the original image of the Lumia 920.
It is also believed that the Nokia Lumia 920 will have a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of storage along with a 4.5-inch HD display.
If the report is true, then Nokia has finally dished out a phone capable of challenging the big guns of this segment.
We all saw the BMW Thermaltake concept mouse some time back.The company has made it real and will sell it for a 100 US $. Specs include : five programmable keys and a Z-key for quick profile changes, an optical unit with 5,000 DPI, can be increased up to 8,200 if needed. The vented top allows for air to pass through during long hours of gaming.
It’s available right now for $100 in the US.
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Computer Mouse designed by BMW Group DesignworksUSA revolutionizes the world of gaming. A futuristic piece of High Tech gives a boost to electronic gaming / Global product launch of Thermaltake´s Level 10 M Mouse in August 2012.
Munich/Taipei. Totally focused and oblivious to his surroundings, the young man speaks urgently but quietly into his headset. One hand hovers above the keyboard, the other on the computer mouse. On the monitor screen in front of him a virtual figure is chasing through a labyrinth of alleys and dead-ends, veering off, flattening itself against walls, reacting to opponents – all this happening at split-second commands. The speed with which these cyber scenes unfold is breathtaking. It’s like being taking along for a spin with a Formula One pilot. This is Kai “Kaii” Schäfer, one of the best German professional gamers, at work. Together with Thermaltake, renowned provider for electronic gaming accessories and based in Taiwan, BMW Group´s think tank of creative specialists, DesignworksUSA, has developed a high-end computer mouse specifically for tech pros like Schäfer and all those dedicated amateurs hoping to match their wits against the lightning-fast best. You need a speedy mouse for this.
Support from the Gaming Pro.
This piece of technology, resembling a tiny racecar, has about as much to with those grey plastic shells scooting over mouse pads like a family van does with a high performance supercar. Niko von Saurma, the director of the Munich studioof DesignworksUSA, takes up one of the three prototypes and handles it with the care afforded a rare artifact. And that is what this sleek concoction, outfitted for the rigors of professional computer sports, is set to become. Officially, this latest innovative example of industrial design is called Pro-Gaming Computer Mouse Level 10 M. Anyone who’s ever tried their hand at a computer game knows that Level 10 is reserved for the very, very good. Someone like the pro-gamer “White Ra”, who shared his first-hand experience during the developing process. Level 10 M has the potential to become a “game changer”, says Tony Liu. For the director of T t esports, the gaming division of Thermaltake, “the mouse is an extension of the player´s soul”. It is no less than the conduit into the game. Just like a basketball shoe, a golf club or a cockpit, a professional´s mouse needs to be customized to meet the competition needs of tech’s best athletes.
Design a new ingredient for digital athletic top performance.
DesignworksUSA´s mighty mouse does indeed fulfill the mantra of every designer: form follows function. It is a two-part construction, with the upper half seeming to float above the base. Made of an alloy also used in aeronautics and architecture, Level 10 M is both lightweight and immune to corrosive effects. The top part, where the gamer´s hand would be resting for hours during competitions, can be individually adjusted for height and lateral inclination. The mouse is also outfitted with a number of keys, which a gamer can set to meet specific demands. The software packed into the stunning hardware is also able to read out DPi-rates for gaming visuals. The drilling in the upper shell serves to ventilate a player´s palms during the game – even top-seeded gamers break into a cold sweat at heart-stopping moments. As a special highlight this mouse can even be illuminated in different colors.
This has now been the second project where Thermaltake and DesignworksUSA pooled their respective resources. The first was the Level 10 computer chassis, which made a huge splash in gaming circles. With a computer up and running and a mouse set to go, both companies are contemplating enlarging the Level 10 gaming portfolio of must-haves. The blogosphere was buzzing with anticipation when the designers and Thermaltake together presented their high-tech mouse at the international computer fair CEBit in Germany in the spring of this year. Equally at COMPUTEX Taipei in the early summer the mouse received a lot of praise and positive feedback in the web as well as the “COMPUTEX Design and Innovation”-Award.
Key Role for Ergonomic solutions.
The Level 10 M Mouse is an ingeniously designed piece of High Tech. The greatest challenge for the designers was to translate the geometric language of the lead product, the Level 10 Computer chassis onto a piece of equipment which naturally asks for ergonomic solutions. DesignworksUSA profited from its vast work for a great variety of industries far from the automotive world in which the designers discover trends, new phenomena and design developments in order to create world class creative solutions for its mother company BMW Group as well as for other clients outside the automobile field.
Game or Sports? The New Formula 1 of Tomorrow?
Two of the most popular electronic games at the international meets drawing pros are car racing and football. To compete at a high level in computer and video games demands the same set of skills as spending off-time with a Nintendo or Playstation set-up at home: hand-eyes coordination, reaction time, spatial awareness, control and tactical acumen. Except that these talents have been honed to the expertise that separates a weekend golfer from a Masters champion. In this business success is a matter of split seconds. Professional gamers, especially those qualifying for the annual World Cyber Games, train as seriously and assiduously as their more physically oriented counterparts in the real world. Putting in six to ten hours per day, immersed in the augmented reality of their virtual game scenario, navigating mouse and keyboard at the blink of an eye, is necessary in order to compete against the best in this brotherhood. But these computer athletes also need to train physically to have the stamina for twelve-hour bouts and often spend time in a kind of boot camp to prepare for the big events. Contrary to the geek image of gaming, players aren´t generally loners, however, but form teams that are financed and outfitted by sponsors such as the Apollos, that sport the T t esports colors. In gaming circles these groups are called clans, based on a legendary computer game called “Quake”.
Phenomenon with high prize money.
What draws the young gamers to this form of sport is not just the thrill of performing at Level 10. By now there is big money involved. Winners can easily cash into a million dollars, much like the top poker stakes, not least because big-name sponsors like Nike and Pepsi-Cola have discovered the hip allure of e-sports for themselves. A good professional can earn up to 250 000 dollars a year. Within Asia there are special stations televising the competitions, with the US and Europe following lead. For these TV shows, the pro teams get trained, styled and coached for the public show down. There are gaming stars in this locked-in world of halls full of busy computer screens just as there is the usual media hype.
It is only really since the eighties that the fledgling virtual world began offering a state of play. Ever since the advent of home computers, the rise of the Internet and faster and more powerful broadband technology has electronic gaming evolved into that – still somewhat hidden – mass phenomenon. Tony Liu pointed out, that at times up to 15 million people are online to play a game. Which is also why it was a real-time, real-world disaster when Sony´s online gaming platform was hacked, disclosing account holders’ data.
The features of the Level 10 M Mouse:
3D Steering Axis Movement: The Mouse is divided into lower and top part which seems to float over the base. This part which is also the essential steering element of the mouse can be adjusted in regards to height and angle. The 3D dimensional character of the mouse provides for new and highly sufficient axis movements in various directions and makes the mouse fit as many gamers’ preferences as possible.
Solid Aluminum base: Commonly used in the aerospace industry and in architecture, this material is characterized by its high resistance to corrosion. It ensures that the user’s Level 10 experience is durable and resilient to mouse-gliding movement.
Air-Through Ventilation System: Additionally the Mouse is fitted with exquisite texture – a perforated surface which provides for a better air and temperature exchange as a means of passive ventilation, solving issues due to heavy use and direct touch of gaming equipment and the rise of temperatures of the hand.
Intelligent Software Application: The Level 10 M Mouse is a programmable gaming mouse capable of using the most comprehensive software application to customize settings based on user’s needs. The Mouse has 2 regular keys on top and 5 additional keys at the side. Each key is programmable by software application by a single press with the finger. The so called “Z” key is especially designed for 5 different commands. There is a total of 11 programmable command keys on Level 10 M Mouse while the “Z” key offers another function: During the gaming mode this key can switch between up to 5 gaming profiles. In addition, the polling rate and the 7 lighting-effect colors of the Mouse are also customizable. The Level 10 M Mouse is equipped with 8200 DPI, adjustable from 800, 1600, 3200 to 5000 (default setting), and customizable by software application up to 8200 DPI. The Function-Lock Mechanism also serves to avoid accidental error command by locking side keys during gaming mode.
Level 10 Mouse in the market.
As of August 27th, 2012, the mouse will be available at most major retailer stores and online stores in the US, in Europe and Asia. The Level 10 M Mouse will also be displayed at Tt eSports’ website at www.ttesports.com
Available in four colors: Diamond Black, Iron White, Military Green and Blazing Red. Sales price will be around 99 US Dollar.
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Days ahead of the launch of Nokia’s new Lumia phones, the 920 and the 820, in New York this Wednesday, someone using the Twitter account @evleaks has released images purporting to be of those very phones.
The pictures show the handsets, which look similar to Nokia’s earlier Lumia models, in a range of colours, including yellow and red.
According to the Telegraph, the larger of the two, the Lumia 920, has a 4.5-inch display and the smaller Lumia 820 has a 4.3-inch display but comes in more colours. It is also rumoured that the 920 will come with PureView, which, if true, could be a major selling point. The Nokia 808 PureView phone came with a whopping 41-megapixel camera, and it would have been an awesome little phone if not for the fact it also came with the Symbian operating system. But then again, this could all be a hoax!
It all comes down to Wednesday! Also, we might just get our hands on these devices pretty soon! So stay tuned!
Karbonn Mobiles has launched the Karbonn Smart A18, a new dual-sim flagship phone under the ‘Smart’ lineup, priced at Rs 12,990/-.
The phone is powered by a 1 GHz processor and comes with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box. The Smart A18 features a 4.3-inch IPS display and runs on a 1,500 mAh battery. It sports a 5.0 MP camera and has a 1.3 MP front-facing camera as well.
Sim 1 of the phone supports 3G, while sim 2 supports 2G. The smartphone has Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Hotspot, USB tethering capability and supports expandable memory upto 32GB.
The Smart A18 will be competing with the 2 new Micromax phones, the A90 and the A100. Expect a review soon!