Leaked: First Look of BlackBerry 10 - The next superphone from RIM#Published: 1/2/2012
Of late we have heard a lot about QNX version of BlackBerry phones to be launched this year. Initially known as the BBX now BlackBerry 10. PlayBook is the only product from RIM which has QNX OS, we are assuming BlackBerry 10 superphones will be a downside version of the Playbook tablets. Picture it ->
As per CrackBerry - BlackBerry 10 device will be powerful enough from an hardware perspective. 1.5GHz TI OMAP5 dual-core processors are to be seen as the brain behind these superphones.
Looks promising - we will have to wait till least Sep'12 to see these devices in India. Until then we will keep you updated.
*Leaked picture source:CrackBerry
Amazon comes to India as 'Junglee.com'#Published: 1/2/2012
Amazon today went live with it's new portal in India - Junglee.com. Although, Amazon confirmed that it is still in the Beta stage - which means you cannot directly buy from the site, buying option redirects you to the merchants website. There are more than 1.2 crore products currently available on the site. This e-commerce site will also have international vendor products with shipping facility in India.
Junglee uses the same search technology used by Amazon, to make it easier for customers to navigate to their required products. Renowned vendors like Microsoft, Fabindia, Reebok, Bata, Dabur are a part of Junglee merchants.
The reason why users cannot directly buy from Junglee.com is because the Indian government is yet to allow FDI in multi-brand retail.
Amazon had acquired Junglee Corp in 1998, a Sunnyvale-based company that provided database technology to help shoppers find products on the Internet.
For Customers: Existing Amazon users can login using their Amazon credentials. Users can then review products and even ‘Like’ products
For Retailers: They can upload their product catalogs for free on Junglee, using Amazon’s Product Ads program - this service is free and advertisers can direct traffic to their sites if they have online presence or to their customer care number/store location without making any payment to Amazon
Airtel's new personalized Hellotunes service launched <Now your Name is your Hellotune>#Published: 1/2/2012
Airtel today launched its new personalized hellotune service where customers can now customize their hellotunes with their names included in songs. You can put your girl-friend's name, your dad's name, your mom’s name or yours. Talking about indian names which are very unique - don't worry if your name doesn't exist in the catalog of Airtel hellotunes - Airtel confirmed they will be adding more names to their catalog soon. Currently they are about 4500+ names existing. Yes, these are Indian names i am talking about. Ex: Pankaj, Shahid..
To Activate: Send an SMS to 543215 with text as: NT <space> <Your First Name>
Update: Samsung Galaxy SIII anticipated to be launched in May 2012 #Published: 28/12/2011
Update: Samsung has recently confirmed that their Galaxy SIII will not be launched at the MWC in Feb '12, instead they are planning to launch the device in the first half of 2012 - which would be somewhere in between March - May. Our instinct says, by the time it hits India it would be May.
Exactly a year after the launch of Samsung's most successful smartphone the Galaxy SII (launch date Feb 2011) - Samsung is now anticipated to launch the next version - Galaxy SIII by Feb 2012 at the MWC.
Very recently we were told that - Galaxy SIII was being developed with a 1.8GHz Dual-Core Exynos 4212 processor. And now as per the recent details which have just been surfaced, we are told that the Galaxy SIII will now be powered by a Quad-Core processor. Considering the fact that Samsung's competitor HTC is already developing smartphones with quad-core processors for their 2012 debut, we now completely understand what makes Samsung change its strategy.
Let’s have a quick comparison with what more can you expect from a Galaxy SIII when compared to the Galaxy SII, provided if you wait till Feb 2012.
Samsung is also planning to launch a 3D Smartphone under the Galaxy series - Galaxy S 3D. Expected to be released in the second half of 2012 - Galaxy S 3D will have options to take photos and videos in 3D and will be incorporated with features which will enable 3D TV integration.
All said - let's wait until the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2012 at Barcelona starting from 27th Feb till 1st Mar 2012. Until then we will keep you updated..
Update: Blackberry Playbook tablet now available from Rs 13,490 onwards #Published: 27/12/2011
Update: As what we anticipated - this offer now is extended for a week more. RIM confirmed stock for Playbook across have been completely sold-out in a short span of time due to the recent price-drop. Fresh stock is being now delivered to the retail outlets and the offer is now open through-out.
RIM just announced an exclusive offer on Playbook tablet for its Indian customers. As per the new offer: you can buy the 16GB Playbook for INR 13,490. Well there is a disclaimer here - it is a limited period offer which will end on 31 Dec 2011. Limited offer?? We are watching you RIM, maybe somewhere we are assuming this offer is here to stay. Still don't quote us if the offer really ends on 31 Dec.
We've checked with a few authorized retailers in Hyderabad, and they have confirmed on the new offer - which means yes you can get the Playbook at the below prices from this very moment.
16GB - INR 13,490
32GB - INR 15,990
64GB - INR 24,490
BlackBerry PlayBook specs at a glance:
BlackBerry Tablet OS
7-inch diagonal capacitive touchscreen (1024 x 600)
1GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4430
1GB RAM
Front-facing 3-megapixel, rear-facing 5-megapixel cameras, no flash
Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), BlackBerry tethering option via Bluetooth for data connection
Ships with micro-USB cable, micro-USB charger, microfiber cloth, neoprene slipcover
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash launched in India - INR 2,500 - Available Now #Published: 17/12/2011
World's cheapest tablet from India - 'Aakash' is now available for purchase in the Indian market. Datawind Co. in association with Ministry of Information Technology of India have developed the Tablet with their primary aim of providing affordable personal computing access to students.
Booking and Delivery of the tablet is via their online official website. Book the tablet online and it will be delivered at your doorstep in 7 days.
The motto which drives the creation of the world's most affordable Tablet is to ensure Students in India (especially in the rural areas) can easily afford to own a personal computer alternative for their educational requirements. Rich educational content like (e-Books, Video lectures, etc.) will be available for students via Aakash.
Pricing, technical specifications, comparisons and other details - Click Here
Shocker: Can you trust your mobile? or is it a 'Carrier IQ' spy? #Published: 04/12/2011
Carrier IQ - California based company, provides mobile analytic services for smartphones to the wireless industry.
Why is Carrier IQ a threat: Recently Trevor Eckhart (Android security researcher) discovered "Carrier IQ" software embedded in an HTC device he was using. He found the software was collecting user data from the device location, to the applications on it and even logging the keystrokes. Post this discovery, Eckhart immidiately updated his blog about Carrier IQ and its hidden tracking methods to ensure more and more people know about this. While doing this, Carrier IQ threatened Eckhart about filing a legal complaint against him for infringing on their copyright. Electronics Frontier Foundation came as a rescue aid to Eckhart and helped him fight the battle against Carrier IQ.
While doing all this - Carrier IQ ended up making lot more noise and their efforts to keep the whole matter silent itself proved there was something that Carrier IQ was secretly doing with all the data that they were collecting from mobile users.
Check if your mobile is effected with the 'Carrier IQ' bug ? If yes how to protect it ?
For Android: Mostly all of the Android phones are running Carrier IQ tracking software, especially mobiles from Samsung, HTC and Motorola. Google, however has denied using Carrier IQ in any of their Nexus devices.
How to Protect:
If you have an Android device, one of the options is to flash a custom ROM on to your device, which will completely get rid of the official ROM and all that came with it, including Carrier IQ’s software.
The second option is, assuming you have a rooted device, to install a $1 tool by Eckhart called Logging Test App from the Android Market and you will be able to remove Carrier IQ from your device, if at all it is present.
For Apple: Don't be surprised, Apple’s iPhone also has been using the Carrier IQ software, it is disabled by default and has to be enabled by the user in diagnostic mode. What will appeal you is unlike the Android devices, iPhones do not log your keystrokes and other private information but only technical data like call status and location. Apple has confirmed on using Carrier IQ software in their devices but they have stopped supporting it in most of their iOS 5 devices and will remove it completely in future.
How to Protect:
iPhone iOS 5 users should select the Settings app, touch "General," next "About" and then "Diagnostics & Usage" near the bottom of the pane. Touch "Don't Send" to place a checkmark in that field.
For Nokia, RIM and Microsoft: Claim none of their devices ever shipped with Carrier IQ’s software.
United States Senate gives Carrier IQ until December 14th to address privacy concerns.
[Updated] Carrier IQ denies responsibility for insecure log files, suggests manufacturers are to blamed.
Apple iPhone 4S launched in India [ain't nobody interested?] #Published: 27/11/2011
Frankly, we weren't expecting the iPhone 4S launch till Mar '12 - considering Apple's history of India product launch. But, somewhere deep down there was a hope maybe well maybe..4S could follow the iPad2 strategy and finally it did.
So finally we have it here - iPhone 4S, well i still believe the 'S' stands for 'SIRI' - anyways..what baffles me is even after the official launch, iPhone 4S got a very lukewarm response in India. Before you come to any conclusion, let me get this straight the reason for the not so good response is due to iPhone's pricing for which i would blame the carriers [Airtel / Aircell] and not Apple. The pricing has been controlled by these carriers in India.
And to add to the pricing woes, we have ongoing software issues encountered in the new device. Customers across the world using iPhone 4S have raised complaints about quick battery drain issues - Apple has confirmed the root-cause as a software glitch in their iOS 5.0 and has just released a firmware update to the iOS 5.0 with iOS 5.0.1
iOS 5.0.1 - Surprisingly the new firmware has created new issues for Apple. Customers across have raised issues about WiFi, Cellular, Microphone and the major one being the address book contacts app glitch, which doesn't recognize a caller with their address book details. Moreover, the battery drain issues still exist for a few. Looks like time for iOS 5.0.2.
SIRI - Apple's new voice recognition system for iPhone 4S [only]? #Published: 20/11/2011
Ever since the debut of iPhone 4S and iOS 5 - we are bogged down with one common question - What is SIRI? How does it work? Is it effective? How precise is it? We thought, rather we doing the talk, let the video do the work! Oh, let me get this clear - SIRI has been educated in an English college, so don't expect it to talk or react when you talk in Hindi, Hebrew or any other native language other than English [US].
Apple has confirmed other language support for SIRI is in progress.
Facts that you didn't knew about SIRI:
Siri was originally introduced as an iOS application available in the AppStore.
Siri was acquired by Apple Inc. on April 28, 2010
Siri had announced that their software would be available for BlackBerry and for Android-powered phones, but all development efforts for non-Apple platforms were cancelled after Apple's purchase.
