Micromax’s A100 smartphone has popped up on an online shopping website (Homeshop18.com), though it’s listed as out of stock. The device was first reported on our website (read here).
According to the listing, the smartphone will be priced at Rs 9,999 and has a 5-inch display with 480×854 resolution. This dual SIM device runs on Android 4.0.4(ICS) and offers 3G connectivity.
Micromax A100 comes with a 2000 mAh battery, a 5MP camera, and 4 GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 32 GB.
HCL Infosystems Ltd., launched its latest 3G enabled tablet –HCL ME Y2 priced competitively at Rs 14,999. This third generation tablet from HCL is a trendy and stylish device, based on the latest OS and designed specially to suit the needs of the Indian consumers.
The HCL ME Y2 is packed with applications and special offers. The Hungama Application comes with a special offer for HCL ME Y2 customers – free three months subscription to download and play unlimited music, videos and ringtones. Bigflix again offers unlimited streaming of movies for a month for just Rs. 1. The Y2 also has the ThinkFree Office Mobile that enables the user to create, view, edit or share MS Office docs. The HCL tablet also has useful applications like LinkedIn, Twitter, 3D Digital Weather Clock, Games, Sweet’ N ‘Spicy (huge collection of Indian Foods and Recipe), iBrowser (makes downloading and browsing on the tablet easy and smooth), ICS Browser (to view multiple open pages at once), Bollywood Hungama and Saavn (to listen to Bollywood and Indian music).
[quote]Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gautam Advani, EVP & Head, Mobility, HCL Infosystems Ltd. said, “The HCL ME Y2 is yet another value product from our company. This third generation tablet delivers enhanced experiences to our customers through advanced connectivity and innovative features. With the growth in tablet market and increasing adoption, on-the-go connectivity has become vital and the ME Y2 promises seamless connectivity with great user interface. The Y2 is yet another innovation from HCL and we expect it to meet the growing demand of our diverse customers to meet their specific use cases on the tablet.”[/quote]
The new HCL ME Y2 offers 3G connectivity with its in-built SIM slot. Based on Android OS 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich), the device is equipped with a 2-mega pixel rear camera and a 0.3-mega pixel front camera which enables video chatting with HD display. The tablet sports a 7-inch multi touch capacitive screen with a 1024*600 pixel display. The tablet runs smoothly on a powerful Cortex A9 and 1 Ghz processor. It comes with a 1 GB RAM and 8 GB internal memory, along with a memory card slot that can add another 32 GB. HCL ME Y2 also has a mini USB, mini HDMI and a Micro SD card slot. It has a robust 4000 mAH battery to deliver long hours of high definition audio and video playback. The Y2 is enabled with bluetooth and also provides for wi-fi connectivity.
The HCL ME Y2 will be supported by an integrated back up service – HCL Touch, a 24X7 one touch service facility. HCL ME Y2 tablet will be available in stores in Delhi and across the country from today onwards.
Check out the Press Release below :
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New Delhi, August 13, 2012: HCL Infosystems Ltd., India’s premier hardware, services and ICT Systems Integration and Distribution Company, launched its latest 3G enabled tablet –HCL ME Y2. Combining unique features, content and connectivity, the HCL ME Y2 promises an exciting experience to its users. This third generation tablet from HCL is a trendy and stylish device, based on the latest OS and designed specially to suit the needs of the Indian consumers.
The HCL ME Y2 is packed with applications and special offers to suit the requirements of the Indian consumer. The Hungama Application comes with a special offer for HCL ME Y2 customers – free three months subscription to download and play unlimited music, videos and ringtones. Bigflix again offers unlimited streaming of movies for a month for just Rs. 1. The Y2 also has the ThinkFree Office Mobile that enables the user to create, view, edit or share MS Office docs. The HCL tablet also has useful applications like LinkedIn, Twitter, 3D Digital Weather Clock, Games, Sweet’ N ‘Spicy (huge collection of Indian Foods and Recipe), iBrowser (makes downloading and browsing on the tablet easy and smooth), ICS Browser (to view multiple open pages at once), Bollywood Hungama and Saavn (to listen to Bollywood and Indian music). Along with the pre-loaded apps, The Y2 also has an exclusive access to the ME App store which has over 15000 applications capturing the latest and the best android apps in the world for the tablet users.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Gautam Advani, EVP & Head, Mobility, HCL Infosystems Ltd. said, “The HCL ME Y2 is yet another value product from our company. This third generation tablet delivers enhanced experiences to our customers through advanced connectivity and innovative features. With the growth in tablet market and increasing adoption, on-the-go connectivity has become vital and the ME Y2 promises seamless connectivity with great user interface. The Y2 is yet another innovation from HCL and we expect it to meet the growing demand of our diverse customers to meet their specific use cases on the tablet.”
The new HCL ME Y2 offers 3G connectivity with its in-built SIM slot and is priced competitively at Rs 14,999. Based on the super fast Android OS 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich), the device is equipped with a 2-mega pixel rear camera and a 0.3-mega pixel front camera which enables video chatting with HD display. The tablet sports a 7-inch multi touch capacitive screen with a 1024*600 pixel display. The tablet runs smoothly on a powerful Cortex A9 and 1 Ghz processor. It comes with a 1 GB RAM and 8 GB internal memory, along with a memory card slot that can add another 32 GB. HCL ME Y2 also has a mini USB, mini HDMI and a Micro SD card slot. It has a robust 4000 mAH battery to deliver long hours of high definition audio and video playback. The Y2 is enabled with bluetooth and also provides for wi-fi connectivity.
The HCL ME Y2 will be supported by an integrated back up service – HCL Touch, a 24X7 one touch service facility. HCL ME Y2 tablet will be available in stores in Delhi and across the country from today onwards.
About HCL Infosystems:
HCL Infosystems Ltd, with revenue (LTM) of US$ 2.4 billion (Rs.10,754 crores) is India’s premier hardware, services and ICT systems integration company offering a wide spectrum of ICT products that includes Computing, Storage, Networking, Security, Telecom, Imaging and Retail. HCL is a one-stop-shop for all the ICT requirements of an organization. India’s leading System Integration and Infrastructure Management Services Organization, HCL has specialized expertise across verticals including Telecom, BFSI, eGovernance & Power. HCL has India’s largest distribution and retail network, taking to market a range of Digital Lifestyle products in partnership with leading global ICT brands, including Apple, Cisco, Ericsson, Kingston, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Microsoft, Nokia, Toshiba, and many more. HCL today has India’s largest vertically integrated computer manufacturing facility with over three decades of electronic manufacturing experience & HCL desktops is the largest selling brand into the enterprise space. With India’s largest ICT services network that reaches to every corner of India, HCL’s award winning Support Services makes it the preferred choice of enterprise and consumers, alike. For more information please visit us at www.hclinfosystems.in
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Samsung Electronics today announced its plans to strengthen its Home Appliance business by announcing the launch of its new Direct Cool refrigerator and Semi automatic washing machine range in the country.
The company today launched new direct cool refrigerators and semi-automatic washing machines with a price range of Rs 11,300 and Rs 18,900 for refrigerators and Rs 10,950 and Rs 11,950 for washing machines.
[quote]“We are targeting a growth of 25 per cent in both refrigerator and washing machines segments in 2012,” company’s Vice President (Home Appliances) Mahesh Krishnan told reporters here.[/quote]
With a growth of 20 per cent, the Korean electronics major sold 1.7 million refrigerators and seven lakh washing machines last year, he said.
According to the latest rumors, HTC is set to unveil three new Windows Phone 8 devices in October, the Zenith, Accord and Rio. To date there hasn’t been any images of these devices surface online, but new details have potentially risen this morning. According to WPDang, HTC will beholding a media event in both New York and London sometime during the third week of September (17th – 24th) to announce their upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices.
The Zenith, Accord and Rio all come with various specs, but the flagship Zenith will be the star player and have a quad-core processor, 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD 2 display (300ppi), and an 8MP camera. It is rumored to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor.
The HTC Accord appears to sit in the middle of the range and is rumoured to have a 4.3 inch touch-screen, dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. It’ll also have a 5 mega-pixel and support for both NFC and 3G.
Sitting at the bottom of the range is the HTC Rio which will be an affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphone. It’s specification is rumoured to include a 4 inch touch-screen, dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and a 5 mega-pixel camera.
The IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany seems to be the ground center for several new devices that run on Google’s Android mobile operating system. Samsung is probably one of the most-discussed companies that are expected to launch new smartphones at the event, but Sony doesn’t fall too far behind.
If rumors are anything to go by, the Japanese electronics giant has three smartphones and one tablet lined up for this event.
This Xperia-branded tablet has earlier leaked via a set of slides, which detailed some very attractive specifications. A 9.4-inch 1280 x 800 screen can be seen up front, while a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset provides the power. It boasts an 8-megapixel and a 1-megapixel camera, a 6,000mAh battery that promises up to 10 hours of endurance, and wireless connectivity options that include 3G, Bluetooth 3.0 and Wi-Fi. Models with 16, 32 and 64GB of internal storage will be available.
Ice Cream Sandwich should be the most likely operating system of the device, but the presentation leaves open the possibility of some Jelly Bean action going on. The slides also include one with pricing details for the tablets themselves as well as the planned accessories. The base price for the entry-level 16GB unit falls at $450, while the larger options tack on $100 or $200 on top.
Photos of the upcoming device also reveal an evolutionary shift from the current Sony Tablet S, which de-emphasizes the latter’s wedge shape, while keeping its folded paper-like styling cues.
Today Crytek released a trailer that serves as a preview of Crysis 3‘s graphics and the capabilities of their proprietary tech CryEngine 3. It’s pretty much porn for you video game artists out there.
The in-game footage is probably from a high-end PC. While the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Crysis 3 will be easy on the eyes, it seems unlikely they’d be capable of this level of quality. Look at it as a preview of next-gen consoles’ potential, I guess.
Tesselated vegetations, displacement mapping and real-time volumetric cloud shadows are among the features touted in the trailer. I understand about half of those words. The video seems to be targeted at fellow developers. Fortunately purty graphics are easy to decode even if the tech jargon isn’t.
Crysis 3 is due in February of next year.
Yet another enthralling Google Doodle! This time, you get the chance to be the next Peter Schmeichel! Save shots from a notoriously obese player as he starts off slow but somehow manages to fire bullets as the game goes on! I managed a score of 39 (Beat That!) and have been trying better that ever since! Go check it out now and post your score below!
The international version of the HTC One X will be getting its Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich update today, the same update that began rolling out for the AT&T version of the device just a short time ago.
HTC has announced, courtesy of Engadget, that the HTC One X’s Android 4.0.4 update will begin to roll out today and that it will be bringing a number of enhancements along with it.
Owners of the international HTC One X will now be able to map a menu function to the ‘recent app’ key in the lower right hand corner of the device. This will improve presentation in applications that currently do not support Ice Cream Sandwich. So obviously, this makes the button more useful than it already was.
The update will also new abilities to the device’s camera including white balance and continuous autofocus, both of which will be welcomed improvements.
HTC has also included a dedicated tab switching button in the browser to make it easier for owners to switch between tabs in the browser.
The update for the HTC One X will also bring better overall browsing, more stability to the device, and more. So, it’s a pretty substantial update and one that users will want to take advantage of as soon as they possibly can.
Of course, the update is not Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Google’s latest piece of mobile software that is all the rage right now in the Android world.
HTC has promised Android 4.1 for the HTC One XL, HTC One X, and the HTC One S at some point down the road but first, it needs to take care of some devices that are still limping their way to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Account details for millions of players have been stolen in a hack attack on Blizzard, the maker of World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo.
Blizzard revealed details of the breach in a message posted to its Battle.net account management service. Players in North America should change their login details for the account management service, said Blizzard.
So far, it said, there was no evidence that credit card numbers and other personal details had been taken.
In the message, Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime said it discovered on 4 August that there had been “unauthorized and illegal access” to its internal network.
Its investigation into the breach revealed that whoever broke in got a copy of a list of all email addresses for Battle.net users outside China.
Battle.net is the overarching account management and login service gamers use to play Blizzard games including World of Warcraft, StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3.
Also accessed was information about the security questions and account authenticators used by players on North American servers. As well as players in the US and Canada this includes people in Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia.
The attackers also stole a cryptographically scrambled list of the passwords used on North American Battle.net accounts. The technique Blizzard used to conceal these passwords, said Mr Morhaime, made it hard to unscramble them.
Blizzard said that, as far as it knew, the information stolen would not be enough for attackers to gain unauthorised access to Battle.net accounts.
Despite this, it urged players on North America servers to change their passwords, especially if that secret phrase or character combination was used on other services.
It said it had begun an automatic process to force players to change their secret questions and get those who use authenticators to update their devices.
It said it had found “no evidence” that credit card numbers, billing addresses or real names had been exposed.
“We are truly sorry that this has happened,” said Mr Morhaime.
Paul Ducklin, a researcher at security firm Sophos, said the breach was “painful but probably not too bad” in a blogpost about the attack. He said the way Blizzard stored and managed login and password data was “sensible” and should reduce the theft’s impact.
Google is creating an information bridge between its influential Internet search engine and its widely used Gmail service in its latest attempt to deliver more personal responses more quickly.
The experimental feature unveiled Wednesday will enable Google’s search engine to mine the correspondence stored within a user’s Gmail account for any data tied to a search request. For example, a query containing the word “Amazon” would pull emails with shipping information sent by the online retailer.
Such Gmail results will typically be shown to the right of the main results, though in some instances, the top of the search page will highlight an answer extracted directly from an email. For example, the request “my flight” will show specific airline information imported from Gmail. Something similar could eventually happen when searching for a restaurant reservation or tickets to a concert.
Although Google has a commanding lead in Internet search, it remains worried about the threat posed by social networking services such as Facebook Inc. As social networks have made it easier to share information online, the Web is starting to revolve more around people than the keywords and links that Google’s search engine.
Google has been trying to adapt by building more personal services and plugging them into its search engine.
Blending email information into general search results could raise privacy worries. Google is trying to mitigate that by showing Gmail results in a collapsed format that users must open to see the details. For now, users must sign up to participate.
Google Inc. ran into trouble over privacy in 2010 when it tapped the personal contact information within Gmail accounts to build a social networking service called Buzz. Google set up Buzz in a way that caused many users to inadvertently expose personal data from Gmail. An uproar culminated in a Federal Trade Commission settlement requiring the company to improve its privacy controls and undergo audits for 20 years.
Google is treading carefully as it hooks Gmail up to its Internet search engine. The new feature initially will be available to 1 million Gmail users who sign up at HTTP://G.CO/SEARCHTRIAL . That’s a small fraction of the more than 425 million Gmail accounts that have been set up since Google launched its free email service eight years ago to compete against the offerings from Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
After getting feedback from the test participants, Google hopes to give all Gmail users the option of plugging their accounts into the main search engine, according to Amit Singhal, a senior vice president for the company.
Singhal said Google is also willing to display information from other email service in its main search results. The gesture could avoid spurring additional complaints about Google abusing its position as the Internet’s search leader to favor its other services. That issue is the focal point of an antitrust investigation by antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe.
Microsoft said it has no plans to make information in its competing Web mail service available to Google’s search engine. Yahoo, which operates another Gmail rival, had no comment.
Google Inc showed off enhancements to its voice-based search technology for Apple Inc’s iPhone and said it was testing a new service that will combine its Web-based email with its search engine.
The new version of Google’s search app for the iPhone and iPad, expected to be available within a few days, will let users find information about everything from the weather to nearby movie showings by speaking into the devices, matching some of the capabilities offered by Apple’s own Siri technology.
Google’s new app recites answers to search results in a human sounding voice, similar to Apple’s Siri, which some analysts and technology observers believe could make iPhone users less reliant on Google’s search service.
The news comes as the relationship between the two companies grows increasingly competitive. On Monday Apple said it would no longer offer Google’s YouTube app as a pre-loaded app in future versions of its iPhone.
Google, which unveiled a version of the voice-based search app for its Android software earlier this year, showcased the version for Apple devices at a press event at its San Francisco offices on Wednesday.
The company also announced a test version of a new service that will integrate users’ personal emails into searches on the Google website. The service, which Google said will initially be available to 1 million users, aims to make it easier for consumers to access information such as flight schedules or shipping orders.
A truly universal search will “have all the information that humanity has put on the Web and information that’s your information,” Amit Singhal, senior vice president of Google Search.
The initial “field trial” will work with Google’s Gmail, but Singhal said the company was open to working with other email providers.
Source : Reuters
MapmyIndia, provider of digital maps, navigation and location-based services, has launched CarPad 5, a connected car product. Built on Android OS, CarPad 5 is an all-In-One GPS Navigator, Smart Phone and 3G Tablet. It 5 runs on a 1GHz Samsung processor (Cortex A8, S5PV210) and features a 5 inch capacitive touch screen. It is priced at Rs 19,990 and contains the CarPad windshield mount and Car charger.
The navigation device has built-in 3G & Wi-Fi and comes preloaded with Aura, MapmyIndia’s fully 3D and connected GPS navigation interface.
Rakesh Verma, managing director at MapmyIndia said that the CarPad 5 is one of the many in-car productivity gadgets they plan to launch in the near future.
The company claims Aura maps offers real-time traffic updates, house level search, security (track and trace) and discount offers in the vicinity. It covers over 6.3 million places, 5,79,000 towns and villages, 4000 cities at street-level, house-level data for 36 cities and 3D landmarks and building footprints for 34 major cities.
The navigation device is 3G enabled and allows users to call, message, mail and chat, search and browse the web at high speed, and access social networks.
India ranked second in the number of education queries on Google, the search engine major said today.
India was ranked 8th in 2008, and is now behind only to the US, reveals a study titled ‘Students on the web’ compiled by Google India. The study was compiled by combining Google search query patterns and an offline research conducted by TNS Australia on behalf of Google India
[quote]“With over 60 million Internet user population in India being in age group of 18-35, educational related search queries are exploding on Google. Our core objective behind compiling this study was to understand the impact Internet is having on this young population with regard to education related decision making by the students,” Google India Vice President and Managing Director Rajan Anandan said.[/quote]
Education related queries on Google in India are growing at over 46 per cent year on year that highlights strong demand for information on institutes and courses that are available in the country.
Out of all education related search queries on Google, over 40 per cent of queries were for higher education courses and institutes.
Search queries from mobile phones have considerably grown showing a growth of over 135 per cent and amounting to over 22 per cent of all education related search queries.
iBall has brought in Kareena Kapoor as its brand ambassador for its mobile phones.
Commenting on Kapoor’s appointment, Sandeep Parasrampuria, director, iBall, said, “Kareena is an icon for the youth. Her hard work makes her a performance-powered actor and besides, she has always been associated with style, glamour, vibrancy and all things chic. She is also known for setting trends and doing things differently. There is thus no doubt that she would provide the perfect brand fit for us.”
Kapoor will feature in a TVC created by an in-house team at iBall. The film will go on air after 15 August.
Cleartrip launched its mobile app for iPhone with its special split-screen search facility.
The split screen design was invented by Cleartrip when it launched six years ago.
The new search form hosts some handy features like geo-location for selecting departure airport for current location, recently searched airports and the ability to easily swap the “from” and “to” cities with a tap. Additionally, there are filters that help narrow down the search by sorting results by specific airlines, flight timings or non-stop flights.
Payments can be made using credit cards, debit cards or net banking account. Alternately, by signing into the Cleartrip Account, payments can also be made using Expressway. The cards selected on Cleartrip’s desktop site are also available on this app.