Finally... iPhone 5 revealed!!!

Apple launches the 5th Generation of iPhone... Bigger.. Better & Smarter

The Apple iPhone 5 features a 4-inch Retina display with a resolution of 1136x640 pixels (that's 326ppi), 100Mb LTE connectivity, dual-band Wi-Fi. The new iPhone is thinner - 7.6mm and lighter - 112 grams than its 4S counterpart.

The iPhone 5 runs on the Apple's latest A6 chipset, which is said to offer 2x faster processor and graphics performance. There is still no word on the number of cores and clock speeds though.

The camera features the same 8megapixel sensor as the on on the iPhone 4S, but the sensor is 25% smaller this time. There is a newly announced panorama mode, which obviously stitches together full res photos as the sample showcased had 28megapixel resolution.

The Apple iPhone 5 also comes with an upgraded front-facing camera, which now supports 720p video recording.

The new specs sheet continues with three microphones, noise-cancelling earpiece, smaller speaker and brand-new Lightning connector. The latter is 80% smaller, has 8 pins and is reversible. An adapter for the old 30-pin cables has been announced as well.

Samsung launches first Windows 8 Smartphone

BERLIN/SEOUL: Samsung became the first handset maker to announce a smartphone using Microsoft's latest mobile software, making its surprise, hurried announcement just days before the highly anticipated launch of Nokia's version.

The brief announcement on Wednesday at a Berlin electronics show comes amid expectations that smartphone makers may turn increasingly to Windows devices after a US jury decided many of Samsung's Google Android-based phones infringed Apple Inc patents.

"It looks like a good phone, and seems like a pre-emptive announcement ahead of Nokia," said Sid Parakh, an analyst at investment firm McAdams Wright Ragen, of the Samsung phone.

"Microsoft or Windows never got their best teams, never got their best designs, just because Android was doing so well. With the change in the legal environment, there's a case to be made that Samsung will likely shift some of those resources to broaden out or diversify their own exposure."

Nokia, the ailing Finnish mobile firm, once the world's leading producer of phones but now struggling to reverse losses, is due to unveil its new Lumia line of smartphones using Windows Phone 8 in New York on September 5.

Samsung's new phone called ATIV S -- tacked onto the end of a long news conference in Berlin that focused on other products -- may elevate expectations for the Lumia. Samsung's ATIV S Windows phone sports a high-end 4.8-inch display, Corning "Gorilla" glass, and an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera, Microsoft posted on its official blog on Wednesday.

"Expectations for a 40 megapixel or possibly 20 megapixel camera model are running high. If Nokia does not unveil a monster camera handset next week, many will be disappointed," said Tero Kuittinen, analyst at mobile analytics firm Alekstra.

But "this leaves Nokia plenty of room to draw a clear contrast with its upcoming announcement."

Samsung's Windows-based smartphone, introduced on Wednesday, marks the first in a "big lineup of new hardware" from the South Korean company based on Microsoft's software, Microsoft executive Ben Rudolph said in a blog posting.

Analysts say the introduction of Samsung's Windows phone may be designed to assuage concerns that Microsoft will favor Nokia, whose Chief Executive Stephen Elop -- himself a former senior Microsoft executive -- has staked its future on the Windows platform.

"The fact Samsung was allowed to be the first to announce is Microsoft's backhanded way of letting other vendors know that Nokia is not getting special treatment," Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said.

But Jack Gold, an independent mobile consultant who runs J. Gold Associates, argued Samsung had signalled its commitment to Windows for a while, but Nokia will remain the primary driver of the new breed of Microsoft-powered devices.

"Samsung has crossed the start line first and set the bar for Nokia's launch," said Geoff Blaber, analyst at CCS Insight.

Pinterest: A new platform to share your intrests

Discover, collect, and share inspiration

After Likes and Tags, tweets and retweets... here comes the latest buzzword...Pinning. Yes, you can Pin your interests and see what your friend is Pinning on his board, this is Pinterest.

 

Pinterest is a new free app for Android as well as iOS, which lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Launched recently, the app is already getting fair amount of popularity and downloads.
Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

lets see what all you can do on Pinterest-

• Find recipes that will surprise your friends
• Plan destinations for your next vacation
• Collect your favorite music videos
• Discover design ideas for your home
• Save and compare items you’re shopping for

Features:
• Pin what you love from around the web
• Discover content by browsing interest categories
• Explore pins and boards curated by pinners you follow
• Repin, like and comment on your favorite pins
• Pin with your camera

To download Pinterest on your Android device click-

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pinterest&feature=featured-apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwMywiY29tLnBpbnRlcmVzdCJd

5 Smart Phones the World is waiting for...

The World of Smart Phones is getting bigger and crazier by the day. With more advanced, more feature packed, more loaded smart phones debuting every now and then, the excitment and anticipation for new launch products have dimmed a bit. Still, there are some special ones, which are making all the techmaniacs wait eagerly. We have picked 5 of those special smart phones which are making the World wait...

1. iPhone 5

The most eagerly awaited gadget in the World right now, the fifth edition of Apple's master creation The iPhone 5. Everybody wants to know how will it look, will it have altogether different style? What will be the new add on? What would be the screen size? thousands of questions are in the air. And with the guessing game on, tech freaks are busy, with their imaginative skills at full throttle, different images that claim to be leaks of its design, its feature, its looks are doing the rounds in the cyber world. However, Apple secrets don't get out that easily. So, the bottom line is, the best thing to do is wait till the official 5th Avatar of iPhone appears, hopefully within a month.

2. Google Nexus Next gen

The Nexus franchise of Google Smart phone is another device, which is spinning the rumor mills for quite sometime now. The biggest question is, whether it be a Phone, a Tablet or a Fablet. Another question, which is triggered is will it be like Samsung Galaxy Note II. With Nexus 7 eyeing a good fight  in the Tablet market against iPad and Microsoft Surface, Nexus 2 is pegged by the tech wizards to take on iPhone5.

Read detailed information about Nexus 2nd Generation Phone in the Post : Google Nexus D- Superphone with Smart Curves.

3. Galaxy Note II

The Successor of Super successful Galaxy Note from the stable of Samsung is also creating lot of buzz in the Tech circuits. As per the Tech Website GSM Arena, The Galaxy Note 2 should arrive with a quad-core CPU clocked at 1.5 GHz which integrates an Exynos 4 Quad chip, right besides a huge 5.5-inch wide Super AMOLED display that’s capable of 1280 x 800 pixel resolutions. The display will occupy a large portion of the device but the pixel density will be far below Apple’s Retina standard, even for a device so big.

The Galaxy Note 2 should also integrate the same camera sensor as the Samsung Galaxy S3, one that’s capable of 8-megapixel pictures, but others claim that a far more advanced camera may be added instead.

According to the source, the Note 2 will NOT support full-HD qualities because of battery concerns over such a wide display. As far as the operating system goes, it will be most likely shipped with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and swiftly upgraded to 4.1 Jelly Bean until the end of the month.

4. Droid Razr HD

Moto now is expected to release the Droid Razr HD in October, according to sources. The  Android 4.0 successor of Droid Razr, is rumored to include a 720x1,280-pixel HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors, and maybe even a 13-megapixel camera.

5. Nokia Lumia (Windows 8)

First Smartphone loaded with Windows 8 OS can be launched in the first week of September, around the same time when Apple will be unvealing iPhone5. Nokia can launch the rumoured Lumia Phi , which is said to have a 4.3-inch touchscreen, runs on Qualcomm S4 dual-core Snapdragon processor, and has NFC and LTE capabilities. This device, if launched, will probably take the place of Nokia Lumia 900 as the flagship device of the company.

Google to trim down Motorola Mobility

Cyber Giant to cut 4,000 Motorola Mobility jobs

(Reuters) - Google Inc said it would cut 20 percent of the workforce of Motorola Mobility, the money-losing cellphone maker it bought for $12.5 billion last year, and shut nearly a third of Motorola's offices worldwide.

The news sent Google's shares up as much as 1.5 percent and Morgan Stanley also upgraded the company to "overweight".

Motorola Mobility has lost money in fourteen of the last sixteen quarters and in its latest quarter reported an operating loss of $233 million on revenue of $1.25 billion.

"These changes are designed to return Motorola's mobile devices unit to profitability," Google said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Google had evaded questions about its plans for Motorola Mobility when it reported quarterly results last month, saying it was yet to complete its homework on the various businesses.

"While lower expenses are likely to lag the immediate negative impact to revenue, Google sees these actions as a key step for Motorola to achieve sustainable profitability," Google said on Monday.

Morgan Stanley said Google may bring more discipline to Motorola Mobility than was assumed.

"We see management becoming somewhat more communicative, having recently enumerated key strategic growth areas, and cancelling underperforming projects," analysts at the brokerage wrote in a client note.

"We believe that Google is planning to reduce Motorola Mobility's smartphone portfolio to a few reference Android devices, and perhaps a couple of tablet devices."

Google expects to take a severance-related charge of up to $275 million mostly in the third quarter, it said in the filing.

Google, which expects to record the remaining severance-related costs by the end of 2012, said it could also incur other related restructuring charges mainly in the third quarter.

Deciding the OS to go for

So my previous post was all about what is an operating system and this one deals with which OS to opt for…

I personally have used from low end phones to the latest powerful mean machines…but until now, my favorite has been Android. This might be against a few people’s opinion but this is basically because either they are die-hard fans of others or they are not aware of the Droid’s power. 

Symbian Platform

This one is from, once king of this market, handset manufacturer NOKIA. It has come a long way with minor advancements in all its versions. The ignorance of software’s role in a mobile phone cost NOKIA its throne. I have used its three versions and its basically the simplest one to use when a user is advancing from the low cost handset towards the smartphones. The once elite smartphone software is now available with the mid range handsets too. The new additions to the handsets from the firm do have an advanced version of this operating system- Symbian^3. The applications market has a considerable amount of applications. I would recommend that the new users of smartphones should first try a hand on this and then later upgrade to other. The sad part is NOKIA might discontinue giving updates to this platform in near future.

Windows Phone

Windows name is not new to anybody and this one is the last anchor that has hopes of sinking NOKIA tied to it. The platform is developed by Microsoft and has a completely unique interface as compared to any other operating system. The Mango OS is brilliant to run on any processor ranging from 800 MHz to 1.4Ghz and not many may notice the difference. This platform is virus free, claimed by the manufacturers and many handsets lag when it comes to having an external storage. The major drawback when it comes to sharing multimedia is that it does not support Bluetooth FTP so you will not be able to send or receive files from and to the handset. This majorly comes with most of NOKIA’s handsets while HTC, LG, Dell and Samsung too have a few in their range. Here too, there are considerable applications in the market. The phone is best suited for you if you want to go for looks, powerful usage and a completely different form the rest phone.

Android

Google’s operating system can be found on most of the devices and in almost all ranges. The different variants have always come better off than the previous one. There are millions of applications and the open source nature gives us full freedom to customize the handset as per our ease. The feature loaded OS is just right for a smartphone buff. The system gives us full value for money and you got to love it for its features and lessens the dependency of the user on desktops and laptops. This platform is highly recommended for all to experience once but I personally feel that a straight jump to it causes a bit of initial confusion to the users.

Blackberry

Go for it if you have interest in its messenger. The rest I have found in Android, either built in or through an external application. The once phone for the business class is now with all segments. The major reason being the BBM factor. The OS is simple and easy to use. There are applications in the store. The mail delivery service too is its USP. This is for those who just need a mobile phone with messenger and need emails on the go all the time.

IOS

Apple’s operating system is no doubt, everyone’s dream to use but I find it over priced. Why should one pay for a phone twice the amount when we can have the similar features in Android?  The platform has huge and almost the biggest collection of applications but all the services are priced. The first hurdle is getting an apple id for making account to download applications from the store which requires debit/credit card of the users. Then, almost all the useful applications are charged. This one is for those who need it for a style statement and have cash reserves overflowing :) 

Operating Systems

Android, IOS, Symbian, Mango, Bada and Palm are a few examples of operating systems. I have always seen people who do not have any idea about which operating system to opt for and how it affects their usage, usually end up buying a handset according to the retailer's choice.

For us to decide which one is the best OS(operating system), we need to have a bit of insight of what exactly does an operating system do and hows it significant?

Operating system is a set of programmes which are loaded into the memory and it manages the other programmes in the system. Just as XP, Lion, Vista are to the computers, Android and all the others are for the cell phones. The software capabilities of any handset lies in its OS and even other applications interact with the OS to make use of required functions. Having said that, the operating system is the soul of a mobile phone.

Android is the most happening OS in today's world amongst others and is owned and developed by Google. The operating system is used widely across all brands of phones(except a few rivals) and in all price range. The OS is very much optimised to stay hang proof. There are millions of applications on this platform. While,Mango OS is the recently developed platform from Microsoft. Its gaining popularity steadily and offers a totally new interface.

Operating systems may be multitasking, which means you can do more than one work at a time like we use our PCs. On such platforms, we can perform more than one task like now search web with your favourite songs in the background.

The operating systems are the platforms that decide which application can be run and which not. There exists different readable formats for different platforms. Ease of use, speed, battery life etc too depend on OS to a large extent.

In low end handsets, there are Generic OS that run merely java while do not have much capabilities.

Opting for a an apt OS certainly helps the user in long run.

No YouTube on iPhone 5

Apple and YouTube end their relationship

Apple Inc's new version of its iPhone and iPad software will not include a pre-loaded app for Google Inc's popular video website, YouTube, Apple said on Monday.

images for reference only

It was the latest sign of the growing rivalry between the technology companies the once were closely aligned but now are vying for supremacy in the fast-growing mobile computing market.

Earlier this year, Apple said it would dump Google's mapping software from its mobile devices.


"Apple and Google are the mobile operating systems for the future and this is where the battleground is going to lie," said Needham & Co analyst Kerry Rice.

"If it's going to be a two-horse race, you certainly don't want to give the other horse any kind of lead," he said.

Google, the world's No.1 Web search engine, is also the maker of the most popular smartphone software with its Android operating system

Apple said in a statement on Monday that its license to include the YouTube app in the iOS operating system "has ended."

Apple noted that "customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the app store."

courtesy- Reuters

Use Blackberry on Samsung & Sony Smartphones!

RIM may license BlackBerry 10 to other smartphone manufacturers

The BlackBerry smartphones by Research In Motion (RIM), has been the losing horse in the smartphone race, being defeated by Google’s Android OS by a margin of more than 8 to 1, in terms of sales. According to RIM Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, the company plans to license their upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS to other manufacturers of smartphones such as Samsung and Sony. Heins also said that the company is not in trouble. "If you look at the platform it's still growing, if you look at the devices we've got a single phone that's sold 45 million units," he said.

Heins said in an interview with the Telegraph that BlackBerry doesn’t have the resources to compete with some of the major smartphone manufacturers in terms of the sheer number of handsets produced each year. So the company might need to look at some other business models. "We have to differentiate and have a focused platform," said Heins. "To deliver BB10 we may need to look at licensing it to someone who can do this at a way better cost proposition than I can do it."

The BlackBerry 10 OS is set to offer what Heins refers to as a “true multitasking experience”, that enables users to run a number of systems at the same time. He is confident that the new version of the OS will be a success. “I think a lot of people are going to be surprised,” he said.

The upcoming BlackBerry 10 is highly anticipated. RIM has also released its developer tools for BlackBerry 10. Building a strong library of applications for the new BlackBerry platform is crucial to its success as its existing library of apps is far smaller than rival offerings from Apple and Google. Many of its available apps are incompatible with the upcoming BlackBerry 10. RIM is struggling to reverse years of slowing sales, delayed and disappointing product launches, and an embarrassing global outage of its prized network

Microsoft Reboots Email Service

Techcrunch:
Continuing its rollout of updated and revamped services, Microsoft today is releasing a preview of its upcoming mail client reboot. Outlook, as it will be called going forward, is a fresh take on a dated service (cough: Hotmail) that some people still use.

So what’s new in Outlook? A cleaner design for more content, social network (Facebook, Twitter and soon Skype) integration, and 7GB of free cloud storage are just the tip of the iceberg. Microsoft has stripped out ads from personal email accounts and even figured out a way to manage those dreaded newsletters we all sign up for but can’t figure out how to unsubscribe from. (Yes, there are others who do this but Microsoft isn’t really going after email power users.)

Over the next few months (possibly year(s)), Hotmail users will be prompted to upgrade to the new Outlook. Watch the video for a high-level rundown of the new service. We weren’t given access to the new service ahead of time, so there may be loads of new features other than the ones listed above.

Sign up for the preview at Outlook.com and grab your preferred handle now!

Facebook Phone: Not on cards?

Building out a whole phone wouldn't really make much sense for us to do - Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook founder and internet entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg stated that fielding a Facebook-based smartphone is not the answer.

'Building out a whole phone wouldn't really make much sense for us to do,' the CEO exclaimed.

Zuckerberg explained that the social network is currently the most used app on all current mobile platforms, and bringing out a Facebook smartphone is not an adequate solution

Although Facebook’s mobile users have surged over the years with approximately 540 million users, from its current 955 million user base, accessing the website through a phone.

The Facebook founder, in a conference call to investors, revealed losses of 100 million pounds in the company’s first earnings reports since its IPO in May

Investors are concerned over the social networking website’s ability to generate revenue from mobile advertising. 

Facebook also revealed earnings of 750 million pounds, 20 million pounds more than expected by analysts.

Samsung launches Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 in India, priced @ Rs 32,990

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 has officially launched in India. The tablet is available on the company's e-store priced at Rs 32,990. Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is successor to its earlier launched Galaxy Tab 750. The tablets runs on a 1GHz dual core processor and comes with 1GB of DDR 2 RAM. Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 comes pre-installed with Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.

The tablet's 10.1 inch display features a capacitive screen with new PLS (Plane to Line Switching) technology. For connectivity the tablet has HSPA+, HSPA+ 3G options.

There's a 3 megapixel rear camera which can record videos in HD 720p resolution. There's also a VGA camera for video conferencing and video calling. The tablet has a 7000 mAh battery.
The tablet comes only in 16GB variant only.

Android 4.0 unique experiences
Samsung GALAXY Tab 2 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 2 7.0 mobile tablet, running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, bring a brand new user interface and more diversified functions which upgrades the overall mobile tablet experience. The brand new task and program management user interface allows all running applications to be viewed simultaneously, and simply by sweeping an application to the side will enable you to close the running application. The GALAXY Tab 2 series, which run Android 4.0, has a built-in data usage control system that allows users to easily keep track of and manage on usage.

In addition, all of the Android 4.0 applications are applicable to both the GALAXY Tab 2 and smartphones that run on Android 4.0, allowing users to enjoy a wider variety of applications and entertainment experience. The GALAXY Tab 2 mobile tablet series support advanced photo and video editing tools and panorama mode shooting, in which users can enjoy the unique entertainment experience for mobile tablets.

Voice call and powerful hardware configurations
GALAXY Tab 2 10.1 and GALAXY Tab 2 7.0 come with 10.1 inch 1280x800 WXGA PLS and 7 inch 1024x600 WSVGA PLS screens. Both devices include voice and video call functions, which allows users to feel like they share the same space with their friends and family. GALAXY Tab 2 10.1 and 7.0 use 1GHz dual-core processors, enhancing the overall work and entertainment speed and allowing faster and smoother experience.

Whether browsing the web, watching high-definition multimedia videos or editing complex images, GALAXY Tab 2 makes it handy and easy to cope with high-performance programs. GALAXY Tab 2 mobile tablet series also has a MicroSD card slot, allowing users to store more multimedia content, and retain and relive moments at any time.

Integration of rich content and instant sharing of fun
A number of pre-loaded Google applications including Google+™, Google Search™, Google Maps™ and other exciting Google™ services provide users an extremely rich content which allows them to enjoy endless fun with their families. Samsung’s exclusive TOUCHWiZ interface follows more closely to users’ needs. With Mini Apps shortcut programs, users can enable common functions such as calendar, message centre, call, music player, memo, calculator or task manager etc., all simply through a touch of soft key without having to switch the screen. Users may also enjoy the experience of multifunctional operations and even edit or delete mini apps as they wish. Users can use the AllShare™ function through the DLNA and connect wireless networks to television, computer or audio devices to play pictures, high-definition videos and music on GALAXY Tab 2.

Samsung GALAXY Tab 2 also provides a wide range of content, including Readers Hub and Game Hub; both restless and quiet users can now build a personal entertainment platform on GALAXY Tab 2. Users can download a wide range of applications through Samsung’s exclusive Samsung Apps store, including Samsung’s own cross-platform SMS system ChatOn, which allows users to communicate with friends and family on an unrestricted platform. They can send text messages, chat in groups, broadcast messages, and also share pictures, videos and other multimedia content and stay connected with friends and family.

Microsoft unveils Office 2013: Cloud based, touch friendly, and Skype

Microsoft Corp unveiled a new version of its Office suite tailored for tablets and other touch screen devices, in the company's largest-ever overhaul of the workplace software it relies on for much of its profit.

The revamped Office, touted by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer on Monday as the most

ambitious version so far, takes advantage of cloud computing and is designed for use with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

It makes use of cloud computing by storing documents and settings on the Internet by default, and is compatible with touch screens widely used in tablets. It also incorporates Skype, the video-calling service Microsoft bought for $8.5 billion in 2011.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer presents Office 2013: AP

The latest version of Office comes as Apple Inc and Google Inc make inroads into the workplace, long

Microsoft's stronghold. Office is Microsoft's single-biggest profit driver. 

"The Office that we'll talk about and show you today is the first round of Office that's designed from the get-go to be a service,"Ballmer said at a news conference. "This is the most ambitious release ofMicrosoft Office that we've ever done."

Microsoft has a lot riding on the 15th version of Office. Windows is one of the world's biggest computing

platforms, and the Office applications -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other tools -- are used by more than 1 billion people around the world.

The company last updated Office in 2010, when it incorporated online versions for the first time. The full version of Office 15 is expected to be available in early 2013.

The suite will be compatible with tablets that use Windows 8 -- due for release in October. Screens appear less cluttered with icons and menus than in current Office applications.

Microsoft did not say whether it planned to launch versions of Office compatible with Apple's iPad or tablets

running Google's Android platform.

courtsey-firstpost.com

USB Drive of the future

2012: U-Transfer USB

The U Transfer lets you transfer files between USB sticks without the need of a PC. The USB drives slot together to transfer information, and the small touch screen on the device itself would presumably be used to select files and folders to trade between the memory sticks.