SE Live with Walkman selling online for as little as Rs.11,150

Sony’s newest Walkman phone has received a pretty hefty price cut on eBay.in and a couple of reputed distributors are already selling this Android smartphone for Rs. 11,150. Though other online sites like Flipkart and Letsbuy haven’t deviated from the Rs. 14k price tag, a lot of buzz has already been generated about this latest price cut on eBay. 

In case you have forgotten, here’s a look at the specs of the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman:

• 3.2-inch TFT Capacitive Touchscreen with a 320 x 480 pixel resolution
• 1GHz Scorpion processor, 512 MB of RAM
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread
• 320MB internal storage
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi ‘n’
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash, 720p video recording
• Stereo FM radio with RDS
• Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD
• 3.5 mm handsfree socket
• 1200 mAh Li-ion battery

Alleged official Samsung Galaxy S III picture leaks…again!

Another day, another Galaxy S III rumour - this time from a Dutch site. GSM Helpdesk Netherlands have managed to get their hands on what appears to be, a pretty legit photo of the Samsung’s upcoming pride and joy. The picture is supposed to be an official press image handed to them by a very kind mystery tipster who probably is working in Samsung’s PR or marketing team. The image is pretty much identical to the one that was leaked a few days back.

Nokia N9 runs ICS - Going to be First Nokia's Android Phone

When Nokia first announced their collaboration with Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, it’s safe to say that the Android community, in all probability seemed a little disappointed. Most mobile users appreciated the overall build quality and design sense of Nokia, but the Symbian and MeeGo OS just didn't seem to make a too big an impact. Symbian refused to change too much with the times and MeeGo didn’t really appeal to the masses. Hence, handsets like the Nokia N9 never really made it to our side of the pond. But for those who managed to get a device and aren’t too happy with MeeGo, here’s some good news - the guys down at the NitDroid Forums have a little trick that they’ve been working on, code named "Project Mayhem". 

Project Mayhem entails porting Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich onto a MeeGo running Nokia N9. SO far the port has been reported as successful, however it's still in Alpha phase, so cannot be used as a daily driver. This was not an easy task as finding the Android drivers for Nokia N9 was tough. There aren’t any  Android-powered phones with similar hardware specs from whom the developers could have taken the code for the drivers from.

Samsung Galaxy S III rumoured to support wireless charging

The rumour mills continue to churn speculations about, what’s possibly the mobile industry's most anxiously awaited Android. There’s a good reason for all this excitement as Samsung’s previous two Galaxy S smartphones have been huge successes, so there’s a lot of pressure on Samsung to raise the bar one more time. The Galaxy S III was a no-show at MWC, but that’s only becoz Samsung will be hosting their own event on March 22nd, where in all prob.,the S III will be revealed. Coming back to our latest rumour, the new droid is said to support wireless charging, and none of that last-gen inductive charging nonsense.

Apple vs. Android: A courtroom war of attrition

B

efore his death, Apple Inc's Steve Jobs famously promised to go "thermonuclear" against smartphones running Google's Android software, saying they use technology ripped off from the iPhone. The massive legal attack he launched, now in its third year, didn't destroy Android. Instead, it's turned into a costly global war of attrition. In case after case involving dozens of patents, Apple has won small victories that force rivals into temporary retreat by requiring them to remove minor features from their devices. Apple has, in turn, lost some rounds and been forced to rework some of its products.

Two upcoming cases in the United States - one against Motorola and the other against Samsung - have the potential to strike deeper blows on either side. The trials involve the legal rights to the core technology behind smartphones and tablet computers and whoever loses could face large damages and increased costs. That could raise prices for consumers. If Apple wins, Android manufacturers will have to come up with critical fixes or pay Apple a hefty fee to keep using its technology, according to several technology and legal analysts. Apple's foes, however, say the iPhone and iPad maker is just as vulnerable to claims it took ideas from other companies. Both Motorola and Samsung have countersued Apple.

At a January court hearing in the Motorola case, the judge suggested that, regardless of the outcome of the trial, neither side is going to achieve total victory.

Apple Vs Android

Nokia's latest patent says get tattooed for mobile notification

Get Connected with Tatoo

The vibration aspect of mobile phone notifications is definitely a very relevant setting for cell phone technology. It allows for discretion to a large extent and bears a certain professionalism and courtesy depending on the environment i.e. at work, during lectures, meetings etc. However, there are a few handsets whose vibration settings tend to be just a little stronger than most and that, in contrast, can get a bit embarrassing at times. A recent report showcased a new patent by Nokia that might just change the game of how one gets discreet alerts via their cell phones. The patent filed states that Nokia would enable their users to be notified of phone alerts by vibrations on their skin via a ferromagnetic tattoo. The way this innovation works is quite simple - whenever you receive a message, IM, e-mail, call, essentially any notification your phone will send out a signal in the form of a magnetic field set to a particular frequency, which will be detected by the tattoo on your body.

India's first ICS tablet, the Zync Z-990 launched at Rs. 8,990

At an event held in Mumbai, Zync launched what is India’s first Android ICS-powered tablet. The Zync Z-990 as its being called is a 7-inch tablet with a capacitive touchscreen and is being offered for a price tag of just Rs. 8,990. In a market that’s flooded with 7-inch Android tablets, this is yet another model, but one that offers bang for your buck. Firstly, it’s the first ICS-powered tablet being launched in India. Most of the popular tablets and phones in India don’t have support for ICS, so a new device that runs a powerful 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM is pretty unique and at 380g it is not too heavy, either. The device boasts of full 1080p video playback and the ability to connect it to a TV using the HDMI port on it. Keyboard, mouse and even storage flash drives can be connected using the USB port. The product comes bundled with a screen guard, a pouch and a lycra sleeve. 

One more low cost Tablet - Zync Z-990

Apple confirms sale of 3 million iPads, since March 16 launch

The latest iPad may not have changed at all in the looks department; in fact it is only slightly thicker and heavier, as compared to its predecessor - the iPad 2. However, in terms of its internal specifications, Apple has bumped up the new iPad to a whole new level with it having some neat features, such as a Retina Display, a dual-core A5X processor, quad-core GPU, iSight camera and a larger battery, just to name a few. If one thought that the new iPad would not sell, given that it features a similar design, one can guess again as Apple have announced that three million units of the latest generation iPad have already been sold since March 16th 2012, its launch date.

UTV IndiaGames launches WorldCup Cricket Fever

I’m not even sure if the Cricket World Cup is close by (because that’s how much I care about this sport) but UTV have decided to take every Indian’s favorite sport and convert it into an iOS game for both the iPhone and the iPad. The game goes by the name of WorldCup Cricket Fever and will offer players three game modes to choose from - Quick Match, Power Play and World Cup Championship. The game also packs in 14 teams, 6 stadiums (complete with day and night cycles) and three difficulty modes that can apparently be “customized”. Exciting Game

Nokia launches the Asha 303 Touch & Type handset in India

As ttpaper team said before nokia launched its asha 303 in this week.While making big waves in the high-end smartphone bracket with their Windows Phone 7 Lumia Series, Nokia has not forgotten their fans in the budget segment. Still catering to the low-budget mobile using community, Nokia’s ever-loving Symbian S40 platform is very much alive and kicking and the latest in that line is the Nokia Asha 303. The 303 is the latest in Nokia’s Touch & Type smartphone segment and also incorporates a full QWERTY keypad. The Asha 303 has been designed for optimal web browsing, social networking, entertainment and gaming.

The Asha 303 is equipped with a 1GHz processor and will come pre-loaded with apps and games, like Angry Birds Lite, Mobile TV with Zenga TV, WhatsApp, along with DRM-free Nokia Music Unlimited service. Nokia centric options, like Nokia Messaging and the Nokia Store, the one stop shop for application related handset enhancements are also on board, of course. The smartphone will also feature Nokia’s upgraded browser for a slightly better web experience than previous editions.

Sources say Kodak is gearing up for 'robust' patent sale

After being placed on hold so that the 130-year-old photography pioneer could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year, the auction for more than 1,000 of Kodak's digital imaging patents is ramping up again, according to three sources close to the matter. Investment banks Lazard Ltd and Jefferies & Company Inc, an adviser to the unsecured creditors committee, are working together on the patent sale, which they hope will bring in as much as $2 billion, the sources said. The banking tandem had previously worked in similar roles advising bankrupt telecom-equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp on the sale of about 6,000 patents to an Apple Inc-led consortium for $4.5 billion.

$253 million worth music files compromised in Sony hack

Hacked Again 

The hack on Sony's widely used PlayStation Network was widely reported, last year and it managed to join the ranks of some of the other big headlines, last year. Sure enough, the PSN hack compromised the personal details of some 77 million registered online gamers and the hackers also gained access to credit card data. But, what followed close on the heels of the PSN hack went seemingly unreported, until now. The Daily Mail reports that almost around the same time as the PSN hack, Sony suffered yet another breach to its long, distinguished music catalogue, which contains titles from some noted artists, like Jimi Hendrix, Paul Simon, Olly Murs, the Foo Fighters and Avril Lavigne, all of which were compromised. However, the shocker that the report gave was that the hackers also managed to break into the entire roster of Michael Jackson’s back catalog of published music, as well as previously unreleased tracks. Sony, reportedly had purchased the Jackson catalog in 2010, a year after the singing legend's demise, after paying £250million for the seven-year rights to the songs.

 

The report further reveals that a total of 50,000 songs are known to have been compromised, making this the biggest hack in the music industry, so far.

Google search to change

Google will be changing how it searches the web for you in the near future. Google's SVP, Amit Singhal wrote in a blog post on Google+ that the search company is working on improving search results for users as fast as possible. He said, "we convert raw data into knowledge for millions of users around the world. But our ability to deliver this experience is a function of our understanding your question and also truly understanding all the data that's out there. And right now, our understanding is pretty darn limited. Ask us for “the 10 deepest lakes in the U.S,” and we'll give you decent results based on those keywords, but not necessarily because we understand what depth is or what a lake is." Upgrading Google Singhal also wrote in a post on Mashable that it takes more than just keywords to actually answer a question and factors like entities, attributes and relationships between two entities need to be taken into consideration. When Google first started out, they essentially provided search results based on keyword content. Then, when the World Wide Web hit, they changed over to link surrogates, i.e. on content links and the authority of those links.

Genius launches Ring Style Media Pointer with in-air mouse function

Inspan and Genius seem to be on a roll. The latest to emerge into the Indian market from Inspan, under the Genius label is the new media pointer designed in a ring style. Claiming to the first in the world, the Ring Style Thumb controller/ media pointer has been aptly crafted for business, travel, education and i-users, says the company. Point in style Light in weight, the ring presenter is a human-oriented ring style air-presenter with mouse functions. It incorporates the U.S patent design (No 7298362 B2) touch control air-presenter technology, and brings complete access to control powerpoint slides, play (F5)/exit, last/next page, left button and laser pointer anywhere in the room when doing a presentation. Besides, Ring presenter features in-air mouse function, enabling actual mouse functions, such as cursor movement, left/middle/right buttons, dragging and 4-way scrolling.

Wacom launches Intuos5 Pen Tablet in India

Wacom launches its next generation of graphics tablet for professional artists and designers in India. This newest addition dubbed Intuos5 brings in enhanced features compared to its predecessor, the Intuos4. Taking digital content creation to the next level, it has a pretty decent multi-touch gesture, a soft-touch finish, an Express View display and wireless capabilities, while maintaining the same pen technology found in previous model. Ensuring comfort and convenience, it blends in the renowned pen pressure and tilt sensitive pen, Express keys and the touch ring, preferred by artists. The company will put forth five models Intuos5 Touch small priced at Rs.17,200, medium priced at Rs.25,100, large at Rs.32,350, and also pen-only Small for Rs.15,200 and medium for Rs.21,500.

Express Button

Mr. Shigeki Komiyama, Director and Executive Director, Japan-Asia Pacific Region at Wacom Co. Ltd strongly believes that touch and pen could replace mouse and keyboard in future.

Samsung Galaxy S II Got Android 4.0 (ICS) Update

Updated..

The wait seems to be finally getting over for all Samsung Galaxy S II owners, as very soon, well, next week in fact, you’ll be receiving the coveted Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich update. Don’t worry as you can always update it manually via Odin, once the official ROMs are out. If you don’t want to go through that hassle, then I guess you just have to wait it out.

Nokia preparing a PureView camera for Lumia handsets

The most talked about handset at this year’s Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona was undoubtedly the Nokia 808 PureView. This handset even managed to overshadow the quad-core beasts that rolled out from stables such as HTC and LG making one believe that camera optics can possibly dethrone speedy processors. At the time of the unveiling at MWC, Jo Harlow, Executive Vice President of Nokia Smart Devices, said, “Nokia PureView imaging technology sets a new industry standard by whatever measure you us. People will inevitably focus on the 41 megapixel sensor, but the real quantum leap is how the pixels are used to deliver breath-taking image quality at any resolution and the freedom it provides to choose the story you want to tell.” However, that is not the only aspect of this handset people are focusing on. Another point of concern for some is that it runs on a Symbian operating system as opposed to the Windows Phone platform that is being used by Nokia in recent times. But Harlow has now revealed that the brand indeed has plans for launching a Lumia handset with the PureView technology.

Google Assistant - Siri-competitor, coming later this year

Google has been taking the popularity of Apple’s voice assistant quite ‘Siri’ously. Late last year, Google’s Project Majel was revealed in which it is said to be much more than just a voice assistant, and obviously a competitor to Apple’s Siri. Reportedly, the Siri competitor could possibly launch in the fourth quarter of 2012. However, it is yet uncertain and the release date could be changed. The company is working on Artificial Intelligent technology christened the ‘Google Assistant.’

Tajikistan blocks Facebook and two online news sites

Since the rise of the Arab Spring, ex-Soviet countries in the Central Asian region, like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been imposing Internet restrictions. The leaders of those republics recognize the role that social media had in overthrowing existing regimes in countries, like Egypt and Libya. Following the trend, the government of Takijistan has ordered a shutdown of Facebook and two Russian news sites, which carried an article criticizing of the current regime. Local Internet providers who requested anonymity said that the shutdown was ordered by state run communications service. Users who tried to access the three sites were redirected to the homepages of their Internet service providers. The Russian news sites that were shut down were tjknews.com and zvezda.ru. The latter site is based in Russia and ran an article entitled, "Tajikistan on the eve of a revolution". The former site tjknews.com, which is also a local site, republished the article.

Bharti Enterprises chairman wishes for Rs.2,500 smartphones

No typo there. At the recently Mobile World Congress event, Chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, Sunil Mittal revealed what his wish list looked like, reports The Economic Times. Mittal wishes to see the prices of smartphones slashed down to $50, i.e under Rs.2,500 in the times to come. Android enthusiasts would know that Rs.2,500 is close to nearly half the price of the cheapest Android phone in the market. The report further states that the fact remains that the processor and LCD display panels make the bulk of a smartphone cost, but, quoting Chief Marketing Officer at Lava, Sunil Raina, the report states that getting the prices of the chipset down would lead to other factors following suit. 

The report further states that, "It won't happen overnight, but sooner than most think. According to In-Stat, a global research firm, the integration of GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and sometimes FM radio onto a single chip dramatically cut costs in 2010. More innovation from chip set manufacturers is in the offing. This is why the research firm predicts Android will ship 339 million low-end smartphones(under $150 each) by 2015."

Nokia unveils the Asha 303 the First Touch & Type , Qwerty Phone - Specs and Price

Nokia has announced the launch of its first Touch and Type QWERTY device with Nokia Music Unlimited on the Series 40 platform, the Nokia Asha 303. The device runs on a powerful 1GHz processor and has 3G capabilities to deliver faster Internet and social networking experience. The phone also comes pre-installed with their Nokia browser that allows for quick and localized Internet access by compressing web pages by upto 90 percent. Along with an extension of its other 3G HSPA phones, the Nokia 303 also provides ‘live updates’ on the homescreen for all social networking addicts.

Wipro Launches Slimmest Ultrabook - e.go Aero Ultrabook in india

Wipro Infotech has announced the launch of its e.go Aero range of ultra portable notebooks, which includes India’s slimmest and first 14-inch Ultra book, called the e.go Aero Ultra. From the 11.6-inch ultra-light notebook to the slimmest 14-inch Ultra book, the e.go Aero comprises of a wide range of mobile computing devices to suit the needs of the users. The range comprises of e.go Aero Alpha, e.go Aero Book and e.go Aero Ultra. The e.go Aero Alpha is an efficient, optimal and light notebook; just right for everyday workloads. Powered by Intel Core i processors, the e.go Aero Alpha comes in pristine white, with contoured edges and a clam shell design. The e.go Aero Book is a powerful, but light notebook. Powered by the latest 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 processors and a 11.6-inch LED HD display, this notebook has a very slim profile.  With a planner-book styling in a small size, the e.go Aero

HP unveils Z1 all-in-one workstation: 27-inch IPS display, starts at $1,899

If you fancy yourself a power user, HP's got a "world's first" trick up its sleeve that might lure you in. Earlier today, the Palo Alto outfit took the wraps off its newest all-in-one, the HP Z1. This workstation is a mere distant cousin to HP's consumer focused Omni and Touch Smart lines not that that's a bad thing. The machine comes sporting a 27-inch, 2560 x 1440, IPS display, the back of which snaps open for easy access when making hardware tweaks and, if you wisely choose to take the premium road, you could be walking out with a quad-core Intel Xeon CPU and NVIDIA Quadro graphics, as well as your choice of a 160GB or 300GB SSD for storage. Needless to say, it all depends on how much dough you're willing to part with. HP says the Z1 is expected to ship around April, with the lowest-end model starting at $1,899. It'll be a while before you can get your hands on one, but in the meantime you can keep yourself entertained by checking out those glossy press shots below.

Toshiba Launching Satellite series Notebooks L740 & L750 - Price and Specifiacations

Toshiba added L740 and L750 models to its satellite series specially Designed for Indian market.Toshiba launches Sparkling series laptop L740 and L750 specially designed for Indian market.Toshiba Corporation, Japan, a global leader in innovation and known for its excellence launches the Sparkling series of toshiba L740 and L750 with configuration and price crafted for the people who are cognizant about luxury and comfort at nominal price range which is okay if you consider the specifications of the devices. Coming in various colors and sleek builds with sparkling finishes as the name suggests , the Sparkling series laptops are in a whole new level of style.