Samsung Chromebox Equipped with Intel i5 Chip Spotted Online for Sale

During the first week of January, Samsung revealed Chromebox desktop on its official site powered by Chrome OS, which is a Linux-based operating system designed to work with web applications.

The latest on the news on the Chromebox is that the device has been spotted online for purchase for about $400(Rs.24700/- approx). Powered by an Intel i5 Chip, the new Samsung Chromebox is designed to work on Mountain View's cloud-based Google drive and web-application systems.

The design of Chromebox has been changed retaining its internal components. Specifications of the device include a 1.9 GHz Intel Celeron B940 processor, 16GB of SSB, Wi-Fi, 4 GB RAM, 2W mono-speaker, a DVI port, 6 USB 2.0 ports, 2 display ports and headset jack all at the weight of 1.48kg.

Additional specs of the new device include 6 USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, Ethernet, DVI jacks and a display port. CompSource is selling the device at a price of $405 (Rs. 22,000/- approx) while Amazon sells at $423 (Rs. 23,200/-approx).

Facebook Announces New Search Engine

Facebook announced a new search engine called “Graph Search” at a much-anticipated press event at its Menlo Park headquarters this morning.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the search engine would leverage Facebook’s one billion members’ 240 billion photos, and 1 trillion interpersonal connections. Zuckerberg said Graph Search is designed to handle more precise queries than general web search, like “Who are my friends who live in San Francisco, my friends who live in Palo Alto, California and like Game of Thrones, and Mexican restaurants in Palo Alto, CA my friends have been to, and friends who like Star Wars and Harry Potter?” As results come back, users can refine results using a control panel on the right side of the screen.

The search engine was developed by a team led by Lars Rasmussen, who co-created Google Maps and Google Wave, and by Tom Stocky, Facebook’s director of product management. (See WIRED’s exclusive look at the inside story of its development.) In a demonstration of the software, Stocky showed how Graph Search could be used for dating and matchmaking, typing the query “friends of friends who are single males in San Francisco California who are from India.” He also showed examples of searches recruiters might run, like “John Cumber’s friends who work at Google,” and “people who have been product managers and who have been founders.” Their official announcement is here.

Rasmussen, meanwhile, showed off photo oriented queries like “photos of my friends taken in national parks.” Graph Search also supports media queries like “videos by TV shows liked by my friends.”

Zuckerberg said Graph Search is now going into limited beta to a “very small number” of users and will be rolled out “very slowly” after that. “It’s an honor to be able to build this service and offer it to the world,” Zuckerberg says. “I don’t think people will start coming to Facebook to do web searches, but I think in time people will come to Facebook to do this [targeted queries] when they can’t find what they want.”

Zuckerberg summarized the search engine as “Giving people the tools to do the [data] cut they want and get the pictures they want. That’s the third pillar of search and we’re calling it Graph Search.”

To help users formulate queries, Graph Search offers a rich auto-complete system, along with what is called a “power bar” on the right-hand side of the page to refine search. “We wondered whether users would understand the natural language part,” Zuckerberg says. “But a lot of users are very trained from using web search for a decade… and that works in Graph Search.” At the same time, Graph Search rewrites ad-hoc queries to be more structured, training users how to enter future searches. “People learn very quickly to formulate queries,” Zuckerberg says. “So the feedback we’ve gotten is very positive.”

Marti Hearst, a professor specializing in search engines and information retrieval at the University of California, Berkeley, says Graph Search should prove useful for a narrow range of queries.

“This is a social awareness tool, rather than a general purpose search engine, and so I think will have more limited use than a search engine like Google or Bing,” she tells us. “There may be a ‘killer app’ usage for it, for instance, as a tool to find places your friends like when you visit an unfamiliar city.”

As for whether users will be able to adapt to Graph Search’s query language, Sullivan says “I really need to see how it works … auto-suggest can go a long way towards making long queries work well.”

Graph Search could be a hugely lucrative product for Facebook. Because people who run web searches are often close to making a purchase decision, advertisers are very eager to place ads next to search results. Close to 80 percent of Google’s billions in revenue is derived from this type of advertising.

Josh Elman, a former Facebook and Twitter product manager who is now a principal at the venture capital firm Greylock Partners, thinks Facebook will be able “To monetize incredibly well,” on Graph Search. That will happen, he adds, “Once Facebook changes enough behavior to create intention for searching for recommendations and items that result in a purchase.

“When that happens they will be able to monetize incredibly well, but it takes searching for local business recommendations, product recommendations, etc., which people will have to switch over time to Facebook.”

For the moment, Facebook is not running ads on Graph Search. “This could potentially be a business over time, but right now we’re focused on building a good user experience,” Zuckerberg says.

Elman also thinks Graph Search will be adopted widely by Facebook users for certain use cases. “It’s pretty incredible,” he says. “We are just at the tip of the iceberg of the potential ways you can tap the information stored in your network… To help service existing FB queries for people this will get adopted quickly. Looking for friends in a given city, for friends with recent updates or photos, etc.

“But I think it will take time to have people with intent look to Facebook for new queries like ‘I’m hungry, what are good restaurants?’ or ‘What movie should I see?’ But I think over time, people will realize that asking friends is as easy as just querying this.

“I think we are just at the beginning of tapping the power of what Facebook has stored up in the graph of connections and content.”

Facebook executives at today’s event hastened to add that Graph Search will be “privacy aware,” a nod to widespread consumer concerns about how much information Facebook has compiled about its users and how extensive its privacy controls are. The only results Graph Search will turn are things you could already see on Facebook, and privacy changes to content are instantly reflected in search.

Tech writers have packed a Facebook auditorium for the event, having descended on the social network’s Menlo Park, California campus to “come and see what we’re building,” as Facebook’s invitation put it, ensuring a flurry of coverage.

Wall Street had been expecting a lucrative new product, judging from the recent spike in the price of Facebook stock, which last week rose 9 percent to a new six-month high above $30.

Facebook did a masterful, almost Apple-esque job of subtly hyping the event, sending out mysteriously worded e-mail invitations to tech journalists during the Consumer Electronics Show, just at the moment those journalists were starting to grow bored with the Las Vegas gadget bonanza. This led to a flurry of speculation and publicity.

We’re live in the scrum at Facebook HQ and will continue updating this post as the event unfolds, so check back for the news and our analysis.

Amazon.de puts up the Sony Xperia Z for pre-order

Sony's brand new Xperia Z smartphone has appeared on Amazon.de. The impatient among you can now pre-order the phone for 649 Euro (approximately 867 US Dollar).

For that money, you are getting a phone with 5.0-inch, 1920 x 1080 resolution display, 13.1 megapixel camera, 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm APQ8064 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory wit microSD card slot, LTE support, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and water and dust resistant body.

Source

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review

Here's another tweener folks, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11, the little brother of the venerable Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 convertible Ultrabook. This time we're looking at a very lovely 11.6" IPS display with 350 nits of brightness and Windows RT with the same 360 degree hinge that turns this little laptop into a tablet or tent mode presentation machine. The Yoga 11 runs on a 1.4GHz Tegra 3 quad core CPU with GeForce mobile graphics that we've seen on the MS Surface RT, Asus VivoTab RT and various Android tablets. That means it runs the Windows Modern UI (formerly called Metro UI) with Live Tile apps but not Windows 7 x86 .exe apps like Adobe Photoshop or MS Access. It does however come with MS Office 2013 RT complete with MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint (but not Outlook, instead you'll have to make do with the built-in email app).

The Keyboard is a Star

For those of you who spend most of your time in the web browser, email and MS Office, the Yoga 11 is a compelling, highly portable companion with a sharp display and long battery life. Unlike pure tablet designs running on Tegra 3 and Atom CPUs, the Lenovo Yoga 11's keyboard is permanently attached, making it a prime pick for those who do a lot of typing. And the island style keyboard is simply amazing given its relatively small size (this is an 11.6" netbook-sized machine). Lenovo knows how to do keyboards, and the AccuType keyboard with Synaptics multi-touch trackpad are a pleasure to use. The keyboard handily beats the optional detachable docking keyboards found on Asus transformer style tablets, the Samsung ATIV 500T dock and Acer Iconia Tab W510. Sure, we wish it were backlit, but otherwise, it's a typist's dream. Unless you have very large hands, you'll likely be typing at your best rate quickly.

Yoga 11 vs. the Windows 8 Tablet and Convertible Competition

The price, at $699 for the 32 gig model and $799 for the 64 gig, is comparable to the Samsung ATIV 500T and Acer Iconia Tab W510 Intel Atom Windows 8 tablets with their keyboard docks but $100 more than the 64 gig MS Surface RT with Touch Cover. It's cheaper than the Windows 8 Atom-powered Asus VivoTab TF810C ($799) plus optional $199 keyboard dock (total $1,000). That said, it is the most expensive Windows RT product to date and is priced higher than the recently heavily discounted Asus VivoTab RT TF600 (it started life at $599 + $199 for keyboard dock but can be found for less these days). While the Yoga 11 might seem expensive compared to traditional notebooks, we don't consider it overpriced among Windows 8 tablets since you're getting the keyboard and bigger battery in the deal. In fact, it's the only Windows RT machine that offers a convertible design like the larger, heavier and more expensive Intel Core i5 convertible tablets that typically sell for $900 to $1,500. Keep in mind that Lenovo often has good sales on their website, and you might find it for less.

Design, Ergonomics and Audio

It's hard to argue with Lenovo build quality and design for their ThinkPad and IdeaPad products. ThinkPads are understated and built like tanks, while IdeaPads are stylish and also use very good quality materials and attractive industrial designs that set them apart from budget products. The Yoga has rubber paint finish over its metal casing, and that makes it easy to hold onto and it resists fingerprints. As with the Yoga 13, Lenovo offers two colors: silver gray and clementine orange, though we've yet to see the cool looking orange model on sale in the US. The inside surfaces are black and the keyboard deck has a soft touch textured finish. The island style keyboard is inset so the keys don't contact the display and the trackpad is roomy for an 11.6" notebook computer.

Like the Yoga 13, the Yoga 11 has a unique 360 degree hinge. It doesn't just open flat, the display bends over backwards until it rests against the bottom section, turning the Yoga into a tablet. There's also tent mode where you open it to an upside down V with the hinge up in the air and the edges of the display and keyboard dock resting on a desk or table. When in tablet or tent mode, the keyboard faces out. That means if you're using it like a tablet, the keyboard surface rests against your hands or desk. Lenovo claims to have designed the inset keyboard to take the abuse, but just in case it feels too weird, you can buy their sleeve that covers the keyboard deck. The hinges are very sturdy and stiff, and the display doesn't bounce when you touch it.

The charging port, full size SD card slot and a USB 2.0 port are on the right, as is the rotation lock button. The full size HDMI port, another USB 2.0 port and 3.5mm combo mic-stereo headphone audio jack are on the left. There's a volume rocker on the left as well so you can change volume when the Yoga is in tablet mode with the keyboard disabled. The power button is on the front left edge and stereo speakers flank the left and right sides toward the front. Volume is sufficient to fill a small room and quality is decent, though it certainly can't compete with big notebooks with high end audio. Sound through the headphone jack is very good and the tablet works with Bluetooth headphones and speakers. Since this is a single band 2.4GHz only tablet, we noted that WiFi can interfere with Bluetooth, sometimes resulting in audio delay when watching streaming video over WiFi with Bluetooth speakers connected.

Sharp IPS Display

The Gorilla Glass, 1366 x 768 IPS gloss display is a highpoint. It's very sharp, has very good color balance and factory calibration and good contrast. It's a great tablet for viewing photos and watching movies since flesh tones look natural and colors pop. Viewing angles are very wide since this is an IPS display. Though I truly appreciate the portability of 10.1" tablets like the MS Surface, the move to 11.6" surprisingly makes for a more enjoyable and immersive experience when viewing photos and videos. The Yoga 11 works well with YouTube, Netflix and Hulu streaming video and it can play Adobe Flash.

Performance

Since this is a Tegra 3 tablet with an ARM9 mobile CPU, we can't provide our usual army of synthetic benchmarks like the Windows Experience Index or PCMark scores (those run only on Intel and AMD x86 family CPUs). The 1.4GHz Tegra 3 with 12 core GeForce graphics is certainly up to the task of running Windows RT (Microsoft chose that CPU and optimized RT for it). We have no complaints about performance and it feels very responsive in the Live Tile interface. Desktop mode is surprisingly more spritely than Intel Atom Windows 8 machines, and we suspect the GeForce is better suited to the job and the drivers may be better for the Tegra 3 vs. Intel's licensed Imagination Technologies graphics used in Atom tablets.

Games we downloaded from the Windows store, including 3D games, actually played at higher frame rates on the Tegra 3-equipped Yoga 11 than on Atom tablets like the Acer Iconia Tab W510 and Samsung ATIV 500T. The included MS Office 2013 RT (the machine ships with the preview version but Windows will update it to the full version automatically) runs quickly and smoothly, though we noted a bit of keyboard lag when typing in MS Word that becomes more noticeable as the document gets longer. This is an issue with all Tegra 3 Windows RT tablets, and we assume Microsoft will eventually offer an update that fixes the issue. MS Excel and PowerPoint don't have keyboard lag.

Windows RT vs. Windows 8

While Windows RT looks and feels exactly like Windows 8 on a laptop or desktop, it has one limitation: it only runs apps from the new Windows Store. Why? Like mobile OS tablets, RT runs on an ARM family CPU rather than the x86 CPU used in traditional Windows machines. Your Windows apps that come on CDs like Adobe Creative Suite and Autocad are compiled for Intel compatible CPUs (Intel and AMD traditional processors), so you can't install them and run them on the Yoga 11 (the bigger Yoga 13 runs on an Intel Core i5, so you can run Windows x86 apps on it). Instead you'll use the included music and video players with XBOX Live integration, the capable photo viewer and various news-centric apps for weather, sports, news and travel. There's an email client that works with MS Exchange, Google (including push), POP3 and IMAP email, a good calendar app that can sync with Google, Live and Exchange and a People app that's your contacts plus Twitter, Live and Facebook social networking rolled into one. You can download more apps including Skype, Netflix, Kindle and Nook for the Windows app store on the laptop. Currently the store has 35,000 apps available for download (both free and paid) and that number is growing very quickly.

There are two versions of IE 10 here: the Modern UI IE runs in full screen mode and offers Adobe Flash for a list of Microsoft whitelisted sites. IE 10 on the desktop looks, feels and acts like the browser you're familiar with and allows Flash on all sites. There's no QuickTime or Evernote browser plugin at this point because they'd have to be re-written to run on ARM CPUs. And there's currently no Chrome web browser for Windows RT, but as a consolation, you can change your default search engine from Bing to Google in browser add-on settings under desktop IE 10. And no, iTunes isn't available for Windows RT.

Like Windows 8 Pro machines, the tablet has both the Modern UI with Live Tiles and the Windows desktop view (very similar to Windows 7, minus the Aero Glass visual effects). Thus you can use Windows Explorer to manage files, use the same control panel you're accustomed to on PCs and use IE 10 in desktop mode (windowed rather than full screen) and access the command prompt. Some long time Windows staples are here like MS Journal and calculator but not Windows Media Player. The standard USB 2.0 port has Windows drivers for keyboards, mice, hard drives, flash drives, optical drives and game controllers like Microsoft's own wired XBOX controller for Windows. It also has printer drivers for popular printers but no drivers for USB 3G/4G dongles. Since it's Windows, support for NTFS drives is included, along with FAT32 and ExFAT.

Battery Life

The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 has a relatively beefy 4 cell Lithium Ion battery that Lenovo claims is good for up to 13 hours of actual use time. We've averaged 11.5 to 12 hours use with brightness set to 60% and WiFi active. Standby times are superb, just as with mobile OS tablets like the iPad and Android tablets. Leave it sleeping for a few days and you've still got plenty of juice with little drain over time. There's no need to shut down the Yoga 11 given the excellent standby times and we found it the perfect instant-on companion for email, web, social networking and MS Office use.

The laptop comes with a small notebook style charger rather than a compact wall wart charger and it charges very quickly. The Yoga uses Lenovo's newer style rectangular charging connector rather than the old barrel connector.

Conclusion

We love most everything about the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 except the price. It's a brilliantly portable, high class convertible Windows 8 tablet with the best keyboard you'll find on an 11.6" machine. The display is top notch and we don't wish for 1080p on a screen this small. The Yoga 11 is responsive and has superb battery life and standby among Windows machines. The only drawbacks? The nice bits cost money and this isn't cheap compared to mainstream laptops. Windows RT can't run Windows 7 apps, so this won't be a main computer for those who need Windows 7 apps like Adobe Photoshop or iTunes. On the bright side, it requires fewer Windows updates and is less prone to viruses and is an excellent mobile companion and second machine. Oh, it has more than twice the battery life of the Yoga 13, Sony Vaio Duo 11 and Dell XPS 12 convertible Intel Core i5 Windows 8 Ultrabooks.

List Price: starting at $699

Website: www.lenovo.com

BlackBerry Z10 leaks in a lengthy 1080p video demo

Here's a lengthy video demo of the upcoming BlackBerry Z10 in its full glory. It's not an official demo, of course, we doubt we'll see one before RIM's unveiling event on January 30. But still, it's as good as it gets.

In fact, the 7 minutes worth of footage show the hardware and software of the BlackBerry Z10 (if that's the correct retail name at all) in such detail that we may as well stop reporting any future leaks before the announcement. Just kidding, alright?

The only downside to this clip is that the narrator speaks in German, which kinda leaves you without the first-hand commentary, if you are not fluent in the language. But hey, the action on the screen is more or less self-explanatory.

Of course, you shouldn't miss the the specs. The narrator mentions that the BlackBerry Z10 has a 1280x768px 4.2-inch screen (which kinda contradicts with the 4.3-inches we've heard before) and an 8 megapixel camera with a LED flash. It runs on a TI OMAP4470 chipset with 1.5Ghz dual-core processor. There's 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. The smartphone weighs only 125g.

The authors of the video from Telekom-Presse.at have also published a video, shot with the Z10, but the sample is rather shaky to judge anything from it (except perhaps the lack of video stabilization). If you are interested, check it out in the Source link below.

On the positive side, the title of the hands-on video embedded above says Teil 1, which means there is a Part 2 in the works. Stay tuned!

Source | Via

Facebook’s Bold, Compelling and Scary Engine of Discovery: The Inside Story of Graph Search

Beast had a birthday last week. The First Dog of social networking — live-in companion to Mark Zuckerberg and his bride, Priscilla Chan — turned two. The proud owners baked a cake for the Hungarian sheepdog and decided to throw an impromptu party. Naturally, when it came time to compile the guest list, the couple turned to Facebook, the $67 billion company that Zuckerberg founded in his dorm room nine years ago.

To date, sorting through your Facebook friends could be a frustrating task. Although the site has a search bar, there has been no easy way to quickly cull contacts based on specific criteria. But Zuckerberg was testing a major new feature that Facebook would announce on Jan. 15 — one that promises to transform its user experience, threaten its competitors, and torment privacy activists. It’s called Graph Search, and it will eventually allow a billion people to dive into the vast trove of stored information about them and their network of friends. In Zuckerberg’s case, it allowed him to type “Friends of Priscilla and me who live around Palo Alto” and promptly receive a list of potential celebrants. “We invited five people over who were obvious dog lovers,” he says.

For years now, Facebook watchers have wondered when the company would unleash the potential of itsunderpowered search bar. (Nobody has feared this day more than Google, which suddenly faces a competitor able to index tons of data that Google’s own search engine can’t access.) They have also wondered how a Facebook search product might work. Now we know. Graph Search is fundamentally different from web search. Instead of a Google-like effort to help users find answers from a stitched-together corpus of all the world’s information, Facebook is helping them tap its vast, monolithic database to make better use of their “social graph,” the term Zuckerberg uses to describe the network of one’s relationships with friends, acquaintances, favorite celebrities, and preferred brands.

In the weeks leading up to the launch, Facebook executives were still trying to come up with a name for the new product. They were hoping to stay away from the word “search,” to distinguish it from web search. (Only a few days before the launch, one Facebook executive slipped and referred to it as “browse.”) But after hours of contortionism, they relented; nothing topped Graph Search. “It’s descriptive — it’s search,” Zuckerberg says. “And the graph is a big thing.” The idea is that Facebook’s new offering will be able to extract meaning from the social graph in much the same way that Google’s original search unearthed the hidden treasures of the web. “People use search engines to answer questions,” Zuckerberg says. “But we can answer a set of questions that no one else can really answer. All those other services are indexing primarily public information, and stuff in Facebook isn’t out there in the world — it’s stuff that people share. There’s no real way to cut through the contents of what people are sharing, to fulfill big human needs about discovery, to find people you wouldn’t otherwise be connected with. And we thought we should do something about that. We’re the only service in the world that can do that.”

The result is surprisingly compelling. The mark of a transformative product is that it gets you to do more of something that you wouldn’t think to do on your own. Thanks to Graph Search, people will almost certainly use Facebook in entirely new ways: to seek out dates, recruit for job openings, find buddies to go out with on short notice, and look for new restaurants and other businesses. Most strikingly, it expands Facebook’s core mission — not just obsessively connecting users with people they already know, but becoming a vehicle of discovery.

Zuckerberg says that this is in fact a return to the company’s roots. “When I first made Facebook, we actually offered some functionality that was like this but only for your college,” he says. “Facebook then was arguably as much for meeting new people around you and exploring your community as it was for keeping in touch with the people you already knew. But it was such a hard problem to do it for more than a few thousand people at a time. We transitioned from connecting with whoever you wanted to primarily staying with people you already knew. But Graph Search is like the grown-up version of that discovery aspect. Exploring your community is a core human need, and this is the first big step we’re taking in that direction.”

The first of many steps, that is. Graph Search will be improved based on how people actually use it. So Facebook plans a slow introduction, limiting the initial rollout to a small number of users. Zuckerberg’s expectation is that by the time it becomes available to millions it will be considerably improved.

For example, he thinks he can make it easier to find invitees for a canine birthday party. “We don’t have the ‘who has dogs’ field yet,” Zuckerberg says.

Samsung to launch Galaxy S II Jelly Bean update in February

Just over a week ago, Samsung announced the details surrounding the upcoming Galaxy S II Jelly Bean update, but didn't mention an exact date when for the start of its rollout.

Today a company spokesperson has told CNET the update for the former Android flagship is coming in the beginning of February in Singapore, with the rest of the markets to follow.

The update will be downloadable only via the Samsung Kies app and not over-the-air, because of its extra large size.

Launched with Android 2.3 Gingerbread back in 2011, Samsung has been taking good care of its former flagship upgrading it to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and now to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. More than 40 million people have bought the device paving the company's road to the throne as the biggest smartphone manufacturer out there.

We'll continue to follow the news surrounding the update in the coming weeks.

Source

Huawei W1, Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate official photos leak

The first day of 2013 surely brought us a plethora of leaked images of upcoming phones. After we saw Sony's Xperia Z and ZL, now it's Huawei's turn.

We encountered the Ascend Mate phablet numerous times before - on leaked info, photos, even a Huawei Chairman showed the thing at a Huawei retail store in China.

Today, just a few days before the official announcement at CES, a new press shot made its way on the internet.

But the leaked images doesn’t stop with the Ascend Mate. The quietly announced Ascend D2 also got a higher resolution photo, where we can spot Huawei's Emotion UI in greater detail than before. Just like Mate, D2 will also get its official debut at CES.

BlackBerry N-Series smartphone shows up in a live photo

Only a few days after its touchscreen sibling made a couple of appearances, RIM's BlackBerry N-Series smartphone emerged in a duo of live photos. The soon to be revealed BlackBerry 10 smartphone packs a hardware QWERTY keyboard in addition to its capacitive touchscreen.

As you can see in the photos above, the BlackBerry N-Series looks a lot like the currently offered Bold 9900, save for the lack of navigation and menu buttons, which have given way to a larger screen. The QWERTY appears to be unsurprisingly well-made and comfortable, so the BlackBerry purists should have a good reason to look forward to the device.

The BlackBerry N-Series is all but certain to launch alongside the BlackBerry Z10 on January 30 in New York City. We will update you should we hear more about the upcoming device.

Sony Xperia T for Christmas Present

Sony has unexpectedly launched a firmware update for its flagship Android smartphone the Xperia T a couple of months ahead of what was initially scheduled.

The Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update then comes just like a Christmas present for Xperia T owners. It has hit the international version of the smartphone (LT30p) as well as the AT&T branded Xperia TL (LT30at).

As blog SonyViet reports, the update brings a significant improved in battery life, in addition to the smoothness added by Project Butter. Here are some screenshots from an updated device.

Yoga Massage Ayurveda Videos Massage Vibra Software,

Hey gals, here's the perfect companion to those that hold that cellphone up close to satisfy your nether yearnings. Now you don't have to wait for a phone call to engage in intimate activities with your cellphone if you have this Massage Vibra software. It works with any MIDP 2.0-compliant cellphone (such as the Nokia N95), sending that vibrating ringer into the gyrations of your choice. Let's look at some screen shots:

Acer's Cloud Mobile now up for preorder

Acer's upcoming smartphone, the Cloud Mobile will feature 720p HD 4.3-inch touchscreen display, dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and Android 4.0.

Acer's upcoming Cloud Mobile is now up for preorder from a UK based website, Expansys UK, for 285 GBP or Rs 24,910 approximately. Acer had announced the Cloud Mobile, which will come with Acer's own cloud storage technology, back in February this year.
As per the listing, the smartphone features a 4.3-inch touchscreen with 1280x800 pixel resolution. Measuring merely 1 cm thick, the Cloud Mobile will house a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 mobile processor and 1 GB RAM. This phone is expected to be available in couple of weeks from now in UK.

This smartphone features the Acer Cloud technology which aims to enhance the mobile productivity with seamless document management. Users get to access, edit, upload and even browse the documents from the Cloud Mobile and even have them printed wirelessly with Acer Print.
The Cloud Mobile will run the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and has a zero shutter lag promising camera app. At the back, the phone sports an 8 megapixel camera with Flash. It will also house a Near Field Communication chip.
Acer has built the Cloud Mobile with soft plastic at the back and stainless steel accents. This phone comes at an affordable price and aims to sell the extra through the Acer Cloud services and other related software products. As of now, we have no information on when this product would be made available in India.

Acer Takes on Apple With Its High-Res Iconia Tab A700 Android Tablet

Calling a new Android tablet a potential iPad killer is a cliche. But make no mistake: Acer's Iconia Tab A700 has its sights set on doing just that thanks to an impressive list of specifications that includes a 1920-by-1200-resolution display and 32GB of storage, and a $450 price that comes in at 25 percent below the price of a same-capacity iPad.

The Iconia Tab A700 goes on presale today, and will be shipping later this month at retail and directly from Acer; it will be available either in black or silver.

Acer was one of two Android tablet makers to introduce a high-resolution, “Full HD” 1920-by-1200-pixel display in January at CES 2012. Asus, the other manufacturer, followed up its CES announcement of a "Full HD" tablet with a renamed variant at the Mobile World Congress in February, but it has remained mum on U.S. availability. In the interim, Apple introduced its third-generation iPad with a 2048-by-1536-pixel display—264 pixels per inch—a move that effectively left Android tablets in dire need of playing catch-up.

Finally, three months later, Acer's A700 becomes the first model to do so. The A700's 1920-by-1200-pixel resolution doesn't quite match the pixel depth of the iPad, but it nonetheless provides a significantly enhanced viewing experience over existing 1280-by-800-resolution tablets (the pixel density is 55 percent higher at the new resolution). The demo unit I saw had crisp, detailed text, images, and video, and the best display I've seen yet from Acer or any other Android tablet maker. I'm eager to get my hands on a sample of this tablet and view my own test images on it. Acer says that the 16:10 aspect-ratio display has a 178-degree viewing angle—certainly sufficient for sharing. The display itself is a 10-point touch-capacitive screen, for improved responsiveness.

Acer also significantly undercuts Apple by offering 32GB of storage built in. That's double the capacity of the baseline Apple 16GB iPad, and Acer does this at a price that's $50 less than that 16GB iPad, and $150 less than a 32GB iPad. Not a bad deal at all. And if you need more storage, this Acer model has a microSD card slot, for use with cards of up to 64GB. I wish this model still had the full-size SD card slot that Acer's first-generation Iconia Tab had, simply because of the camera/tablet interoperability such a slot offers, but microSD at least provides some level of storage expansion—a critical point given that the high-resolution display means you'll want to have more, and larger, media files stored on your tablet.

As the company's premium tablet, Acer goes all-out with the rest of its specs. This model packs an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM, and it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It also has a micro-USB port for charging—a welcome change from the plethora of proprietary chargers we've seen—and data transfers. And it has a micro-HDMI port, via which you can output video to your home theater system (with 5.1-channel Dolby Surround Sound), or use the tablet as a dual display.

The A700 has Dolby Mobile 3 and improved audio capture capabilities, too. Also present are now-standard features such as integrated GPS and e-compass, 802.11 b/g/n wireless, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. The rear-facing 5-megapixel camera lacks a flash; the front-facing 1-megapixel camera suffices for video conferencing.

The 9800-mAh battery should last up to 10.5 hours for video playback, according to Acer.

Acer bundles Polaris Office 3.5 to read and edit documents, and preinstalls Evernote and its own Acer Print app and Acer Ring navigation interface, all in the name of getting you a head start on productivity.

The one disappointment about the Acer A700 is its size and weight. It comes in at 1.47 pounds—just 0.01 pound more than the current iPad, and about 0.2 pound heavier than some of the lighter Android tablets of the same screen size. And it's 0.06 inches thicker than the iPad. These numbers are competitive, but it would have been better still if Acer had been able to shave a bit off these dimensions to further outdo the iPad.

Next on deck in the high-resolution tablet race will be Asus; I expect the company will have some news soon, since it has previously targeted a summer release for its 1920-by-1200-resolution tablet. Less clear is when we'll hear anything from anyone else, since Acer and Asus are the only companies that had already discussed product plans for this summer. The lack of news from Samsung on the high-res front is of particular concern, considering that Samsung has been a front-runner in innovation and sales in the Android tablet market. They'll get there, I'm sure, but the bigger question is when—and at what price? That, apparently, only time will tell.

Plus and Minuses of 3G Technology

3G technology has taken the world by storm, with more and more users converting into the new platforms and systems that promise faster downloads, more efficient communication processes and better online experiences. You can get ahead by knowing the possible opportunities and pitfalls as well. Some people successfully make the transition from 2G to 3G, while others just prefer more traditional methods. Here are some starter tips.

New Technologies

3G technology is the latest one that offers faster data transfers through people's cellular phones. 3G stands for third generation mobile telephone communication systems technology. People will be able to receive and transmit data at a rate of 2 Megabits for every second. 3G cellular phones are also capable of having conventional fax, data and voice services, plus multimedia and high-resolution video services that can be used, while you are mobile. Other mobile office services are included such as online-billing, online banking, access to the internet, online entertainment and video conferencing.

This type of mobile telephone technology significantly improves the means of communication for millions of individuals all over the globe. They can also discover new functions and uses for their cellular phones for both work and personal use.

More Benefits

One of the more known advantages of 3G technology, is that it allows your phone's capacity to view television shows through your cellular phone. You can also experience video conversations with other individuals, regardless of the time and place, who are also investing in 3G technology.

3G phones have become one of the most powerful devices available. People get to conduct video conferencing if ever their flight gets delayed or they have other location problems. Some of the other useful applications of 3G phones include positioning services, map services and multiplayer gaming, which appeals to both teenagers and kids.

Getting More

The 3G technology allows cellular phones to be capable of work regardless of the owner's location and the time, because of the several available applications. You can instantly simply tasks and scheduled activities, such as shopping, so that you can order items that need to be restocked. You can require and order goods over the internet, and have them ready for pickup to help you save more time and energy.

You can also balance checks and pay your bills and debts, by simply logging on to your bank account via the 3G gadgets you have. You can book dinners and hotel reservations in advance, in other cities and countries. 3G technology also gives you enough time and space to work to optimum levels. Teleconferencing is among the most excellent applications for 3G technology at work.

Changes and Enhancements

Despite the fact that 3G technology provide new changes and advanced methods in telecommunication, there are a number of things that may make the technology consequential. These new 3G cellular phones are actually a lot pricier, compared to traditional models. People can also do video conferences only with other 3G subscribers. There are several enhancements to features and applications, which is why you should consider the kinds of work you plan to do, to determine if the technology is the best one for your needs.

Newer technologies are also in the works, such as 4G and 3.5G. You can choose to wait for these, or describe the new changes as worthy of your hard-earned cash.

DIGITAL CAMERAS & CAMCORDERS

Contour+ Camera Is a Hi-Def Third Eye

Half the fun of having an adventure is torturing your friends by forcing them to sit through the hours of video you shot. Here’s a camera that makes the experience less torturous for everyone — for your friends especially, but also for you, because it will make you look like a badass when you trot out the visual proof of your insane bike jumps and daring backcountry tree runs, all rendered in glorious HD.

We’ve seen a boom in POV (“point-of-view”) cameras over the last few years. These cameras are made to be attached to your body or your conveyance so they can be operated hands-free. Helmet-mounting a POV camera is very popular — when you turn your head the camera turns too. So when the video is played back, the viewer gets to experience your various stupid human tricks as if he or she was watching the events through your eyes.

Contour is one of the biggest names in POV cameras, and the company is really shooting for the sky with its Contour+ HD. Its 3.8-inch frame is packed with features: a 170-degree wide-angle f/2.8 lens, 1080p, 960p or 720p HD recording modes and a 5-megapixel photo setting, a housing that rotates up to 270 degrees for off-kilter and inverted mounting, a mini HDMI output that plugs directly into a monitor, and a mic plug for an external microphone. And that’s just what’s provided for recording.

There are a variety of mounts to let you attach the 5.3-ounce camera to helmets, snowboard goggles, surfboards, wakeboards, bikes or cars, among other options. I tried it in a number of scenarios, as you can see in this video compilation.

One of the best features of the Contour+ is that instead of a recording button, it uses a huge slider on the top. This may seem like a minute detail, but the 2-inch slider is much easier to use than a button when you’re wearing heavy gloves. More importantly, it makes the camera’s recording status obvious. Some POV cameras use a button to start and stop the recording, followed by a series of cryptic beeps that let you now whether or not you’re rolling. Worse are the ones with a red LED that turns green when the camera’s recording. How am I supposed to see that when I’ve got the camera strapped to my head? (Never mind that I’m red/green colorblind, which has led to countless clips of me staring quizzically at the camera, trying to figure out if it’s recording). The beefy slider never leaves you wondering whether or not your death with be recorded for posterity.

Last Year’s Model
We looked at the Contour GPS camera in 2011, giving it a rating of 8. The battery lasts longer and it’s only $350, but the lens isn’t as nice as the one on the Contour+.

Another great feature is the Contour+’s Bluetooth connectivity. When you download the corresponding app, you can connect your camera to your iOS or Android device. This turns your mobile device into a live viewfinder and lets you change your camera’s settings in the field. A nice touch: the app automatically shuts down when you start recording, so you’re not tempted to stare at the viewfinder while bombing down a hill.

An integrated GPS tracking system is activated when the camera turns on. The GPS antenna tracks your position, elevation, and speed. The GPS tracking really shines if you use Contour’s Storyteller softwareto edit your video and prep it for sharing. While your video plays, a smaller side window displays a Google satellite image of your location with the option to see a photo image, a topo map or a plain old road map. A dot tracks your movements while the video plays and displays your elevation and speed.

The camera only ships with a 2GB microSD card, and this limits the camera’s usefulness when you shoot in the highest-quality mode. Using the 1080p “Highest quality” setting, I got just over ten minutes of footage before the card filled up. It’s possible to upgrade to a 32GB microSD card, which holds about 8 hours of 1080p footage. That’s plenty of time to show all your friends how much fun they missed.

WIRED Crystal-clear 30fps picture with a 170-degree field of vision. Bluetooth controls and viewfinder are very handy. Giant sliding button makes it easy to know when you’re recording. Microphone input and streaming features turn you into a media mogul. Removable battery lasts about 2 hours, and spares are available for about $25 each.

TIRED No chest strap. Only comes with a 2GB card, which gets eaten up in minutes. If you want passable audio, plug in your own external mic

Mobile phones for women in India

We explore the mobile phones market to bring you the top 10 mobile phones for women

At Know Your Mobile we have been quite excited with the slew of women-centric mobile phones which have been lined up for release. From  Micromax's much awaited Bling 2, to Nokia's Pink N8, HTC Bliss to name a few, we are seeing a shift in the mobile market segment, which is rolling out phones catering specifically to women. If you are threading the crazy mobile market place and getting confused with what's the best out of the clutter out there, check out our list of Top 10 to explore the best mobile phones for you.

Micromax Bling 2   

My heart goes Bling Bling! Well that's what every women would be heard saying after they set their eyes on Micromax's Bling 2. Successor to the popular Bling Q55, Bling 2 with its smooth design and add-on fashion accessories will sweep you lovely ladies of your feet. Packed with Android 2.2 , 7.1 cm multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, 3 mega-pixel camera, Bling's comes with a touch of Swarovski Zirconia on both front and back. The device comes in a trendy carry case and has a special pouch which houses a compact mirror encased in pretty pink lining to make those quick touch ups when out and about. Priced at Rs. 8,999, Bling 2 comes pre-loaded with a range of entertainment and utility tools specifically for women like the what's app through which you can send  and receive messages, pictures, audio notes and video messages for free, money control app to keep you from going crazy while shopping and much more. If you are a guy and you always wondered  what women want - Micromax Bling 2 is the answer my friend!


Nokia N8 pink     

Nokia's flagship N8 has been dipped in pink! Adding a shiny exterior, to cater to the glamorous you, the pink N8 model packs in a 12-megapixels camera, HD video recording, Ovi Maps, Ovi Store for you to enjoy and explore. And Nokia didn't just stop at adding just the pink color, the new pink Nokia N8 also offers a host of pink themed apps like Little Pink Diva Theme, Pink Neon Clock to name a few. What we love the most is their ELLE fashion app, that lets the fashion conscious in you keep abreast with the trends and tips on fashion and beauty.  So if somebody was to ask you what surfs and texts and is pink all over? You know what to answer. 

Apple iPhone 4

We don't need to explain why Apple, right girls? This cutest little devil has stolen the hearts of many across the world and is now coming to India. A prized possession you will enjoy every slice of the Apple, be it its front-facing 5-megapixels camera, video calling with FaceTime, dual-mic noise suppression, 720p HD video recording, millions of apps, iBooks  and one-tap access to everything via home screen and iTunes Store and more. The most awaited Apple device of this year, Apple iPhone 4 also comes equipped with iPhone 4.0 (iOS4), Retina display with 960 by 640 resolution and a gyroscope to the accelerometer for the gaming crazy child in you. Get ready to pick your color, the sexy black or the sultry white, this device is high on style and will be the highlight, wherever you go. 

Nokia X3-02

Another great feature-rich phone from the Nokia X series family, Nokia X3-02 is sleek, stylish and most importantly comes in a range of bright colors. Add to that a 5 megapixel camera, 3G, Wifi, touch screen, 2.4 inch touchscreen as well as large alpha numeric keypad for the non-qwerty lovers, Nokia X3-02 indeed has it all. Based on a Symbian operating system, which is easy to use, the device packs in HSPA network (supports 10.2 Mbps), Bluetooth, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a 16 GB of expandable memory. Priced at Rs 8,450, Nokia X3-02 also comes with in-built music player and FM radio and provides a talk time of 300 minutes and standby time of 430 hours for those long chits chats with your girlfriends. 

BlackBerry Torch 9800

BlackBerry Torch 9800 will delight the tech savvy women in you. This stunning smartphone comes with a full Qwerty keypad and a 3.2 inch capacitive touch screen. Based on latest Blackberry OS 6, which brings in better browser, polished interface and improved multimedia features, Torch comes equipped with a 5 mega-pixel camera to snap some great pictures while on travel. Capable of video calling, Torch will keep you in touch with your girlfriends back home and fill you in with all the gossips you miss. The phone is priced at Rs 28,298 and features services like Push mail, Blackberry messenger and more from the Blackberry Apps World.

Nokia X2-01 

We love to chat, and a phone designed for social networking and fast communications, isn't that what we want? Targeted towards the younger generation who loves to text, chat and always stay connected, Nokia X2-01 with its user-friendly interface, full QWERTY keyboard coupled with shortcuts to Facebook and Twitter keeps you hooked on to all the gossips.

Priced at Rs 3,999, Nokia X2-01 comes with a 2.4-inch screen to snap pictures of those omg pumps and that oh so cute top. Supporting memory card up to 8G, ensures that you and your gals can capture every moment of fun and adventure anytime and anywhere. Consisting of a slew of cool features and available in hot red, silver, lilac and azure colors it is not without any reason that Nokia prides X2-01 is being the 'brand new hit mobile'.


Samsung S7070 Diva 

Displaying diamond-shaped crystal button on the front panel and a pearly-white quilted back cover, this yet another stylish phone from the Samsung household packs in a 3.2-megapixel camera and several women centric features like a 'Wish List' tab to synchronize shopping inventory, 'Etiquette mode', to control volume mode, 'SOS Message' and 'Fake Call' features. Priced at Rs. 7,499 Samsung S7070 designer phone with its elegant look and ergonomic design will add to your style statement. 


LG KF350 Ice Cream

With a name that cute we are sold. Add to that the LG manufacturer tag, ladies you can be assured that the phone will pack in loads of style and substance. Priced at around Rs. 6,695, LG KF 350 Ice Cream boasts of a 2.2 inch QVGA large display with sensor of luminous intensity and a 3-megapixels CMOS FF camera with hot key. The phone is uber stylish and will compliment you no matter where you go and what you wear.

Zen M26 

The stylish Zen M26 is one of the latest device from the Zen stable. Sporting a  candybar form, the white color of the phone contrasts well with the creamy pink color of the keypad and the shortcut key buttons. The numbers further have a grey background, which makes them pop out. Priced at under Rs 3000, Zen M26  boast of 8 shortcut keys, a 2" QVGA display, a 1.3 mega-pixel camera along with a digital zoom and some handy features like a torch, wireless FM radio, speakers and telescopic antenna and tons of more options to explore. 


LG KF900 Prada

When Prada 1 phone sashayed into the stores it created nothing short of a buzz with its touchscreen fashionista flavor, stunning design that made the style-conscious phone users sit up and take notice. LG and fashion house Prada launched a successor to their successful LG Prada 1 model, the LG KF900 Prada II.  In addition to the stylish looks this time around the device is seen supporting a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It may add a few extra millimetres to the profile of the device, but it also cranks up the messaging and note taking capabilities of this luxury handset. Equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with Schneider-Kreuznach optics, 3G multimedia capabilities, including video calling with a second front-facing camera, Prada II with its minimalist-chic black casing and chrome edging looks darn classy.