Sony Rolls Out Android 4.0 Upgrade For Xperia go, U, sola, And Tablet S

Sony has just given its users something to smile about. Ever sincethe Xperia U, sola, and go were released, owners had been stuck with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). However, they're now all set to finally get a taste of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). According to a post on the official Sony Xperia Product Blog, the phones will receive the upgrade globally over the next few weeks. This includes additional functionality and features, such as a new media player application, extended standby mode, a new lock screen with improved functionality, resizable widgets, improved monitoring of mobile data consumption, and a Recent Apps button for quick access to applications. Xperia sola users will get an additional Glove Mode in this upgrade, which is an extension of Sony's Floating Touch technology that allows people in colder climates to use the phone with their gloves on — a feature first introduced by Nokia.

Coming to the Tablet S, you may recall that the slate initially came with Android 3.1 (Honeycomb), whereas the Japanese electronics giant recently launched the Xperia Tablet S at IFA 2012 with ICS. In order to ensure that buyers of the previous model don't feel left out, its software has also been upgraded to Android 4.0.3. The list of new features include Guest Mode (a guest login for others so that they don't mess with your tablet's settings), a redesigned media player, macro functionality on theRemote Control app, large widgets, Socialife (a revamped version of Social Feed Reader Cloud), andWatch Now, which provides a visual programme guide based on personal preferences and real-time social trends. For a detailed look at the upgrade, refer to the announcement blog post.
 

Read More

Facebook Re-Introduces Gifts Feature, But With Real-World Goodies

A couple of years ago, Facebook had come up with virtual gifts that you could send to your friends. However, this feature did not catch on with its users and the social media giant eventually had to get rid of it. Currently besieged by the competition and desperately trying to get noticed again, the developers have now decided to take gift-giving up a notch with the introduction of real-worldFacebook Gifts.

According to a press release, FB users can now start giving tangible presents to their friends. To start the process, you can either look up your buddies on the Birthdays and Life Events section, or visit their profile page and use the Gift tab that lies just above the text box on your friend's Wall. Previously, along with the listing of upcoming birthdays, you could see a Write on her timeline option, which is now accompanied with an option to send across a token of your affection as well.

Once you've chosen a present and written a personalized message on a virtual card, you're given the option of either keeping the gifting activity private or posting it on your Wall for all the world to see. The payment option has a nice feature, wherein you can either pay instantly or wait for your friend to accept the gift and then pay the asking price. Once you hit the Give Gift button, a notification is sent to the recipient, who can read the virtual card and choose to accept the goodie. In the process of accepting the bounty, your friend can even swap the gift for another of similar value if she doesn't like it. She then provides the address where the offering is to be delivered. The item will be delivered within a few days, along with a printed version of the virtual card that was previously sent. Overall, the process seems to be pretty neat, and the ability to exchange a gift for something else is definitely a nice touch.

Facebook Gifts will first be introduced in the US (of course) and soon rolled out across the world. For India, it just shows Coming Soon, with no indication of the expected date. Will you use this feature once it becomes available? Sound off your opinions in the comment section below.
 

Read More

Download: Bad Piggies (Android, iOS, Mac, Windows)

Rovio has finally launched its much-hyped game based on the popular Angry Birds franchise. Called Bad Piggies, the game has made its debut on Android, iOS, Windows PC, and the Mac Appstore, with Windows Phone and Windows 8 versions still in the works. Spanning 60 levels, the objective of the game is to create a machine using 33 objects including umbrellas, wings, bottle rockets, balloons, and engines to help the pigs reach their destination. Users can look forward to free updates in the future, and will have to clear all levels with three starts to unlock more content. The gameplay seems interesting, and requires you flex more brain muscles as compared to the original Angry Birds. This practically guarantees it'll be a lot less successful.

Jokes apart, for those who enjoy making stuff, the game comes with four additional sandbox levels that let you unleash your creative side. The title also features a Mechanic Pig that will help you take pre-assembled machines and develop them further. Check out the image gallery below for more screenshots.
 

Developer: Rovio Mobile
Size: 34 MB – 44 MB
Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows.
Price: Free (Android); $1 (approx Rs 55) for iOS; $5 (approx Rs 270) for Mac and Windows
Download: Android - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rovio.BadPiggies
iOS - itunes.apple.com/in/app/bad-piggies/id533451786
Mac App Store - itunes.apple.com/in/app/bad-piggies/id561410603
Windows - shop.angrybirds.com/asia/games/pc-games/bad-piggies-pc-version.html
 

Read More

iPhone 5 Now Available In India Through Tradus.com, Price Starts From Rs 60,000

Can't wait for Apple to officially launch the iPhone 5 in India? Well, if you have 60 grand in your pocket, you can now order the latest iPhone from Tradus.com. Keep in mind though that delivery will take close to 15 days. Since the device seems to be sourced from an international distributor, you won't get the company warranty either. However, the seller has offered a three-month warranty on his own accord. If the 16 GB version is not enough, you can opt for the 32 GB version for Rs 74,000, or a 64 GB iPhone 5 for a whopping 87 grand.

This might sound expensive, but is still a better deal than what sellers on OLX.in and eBay.in have quoted. Not to mention the ridiculous prices being thrown around in the grey market. Besides, it's unlikely that Apple will sell it for much less once it's officially launched in India.

For those who came in late, here are the iPhone 5's key specs:

• 4" Retina display with 640x1136 pixels at 326 ppi, 16:9 aspect ratio.
• 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, 1.2 mp front camera.
• A6 chipset, twice as fast as the iPhone 4S's A5 (according to Apple).
• Dual-band Wi-Fi with AirPlay support, Bluetooth 4.0, Assisted GPS with GLONASS.
• 4.8" (l) x 2.3" (w) x 0.3" (7.6 mm) (d), 112 grammes.
• iOS 6; Supports 4G LTE, 3G; Uses nano-SIM card.

What price do you expect the iPhone 5 will officially retail at when launched? Post your guess in the comments section.

Read More

Rumour: HTC Will Soon Launch Android 4.1 Based One X Plus

Releasing beefed-up versions of existing flagships is common practice at Apple and Samsung. Now if a leaked photo originatining from British network operator O2's brochure is to be believed, HTCis doing something similar. The image in question features the Taiwanese manufacturer's One X Plus handset, which packs in slightly better specs than the original One X. On the software front, the smartphone will ship with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).

GSMArena.com claims that a reader sent in this photo of the promotional material. Although it seems like a low-light snap, you can make out the key specs — which include a 1.7 GHz quad-core CPU, 64 GB of internal storage, an 8 mp camera, and Beats Audio integration. There seems to be no information on when HTC will make this gadget official, but O2 has apparently priced it at £480 (approx Rs 41,000) in the UK.
 

Read More

Micromax Unveils Funbook Infinity With 7" Screen And Android 4.0 For Rs 6700

Micromax is one brand that seems to be ruling the roost as far as the budget market is concerned. After launching several Android-based smartphones, the company has brought the spotlight back on its budget tablets. The latest addition to its slate lineup is theFunbook Infinity (P275), which features a 1.2 GHz processor and runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).

Here's the detailed list of specifications:

 

• 7" TFT WVGA LCD capacitive multi-touch screen with pixel dimensions of 800x480, 16.7 million colours.
• Android 4.0.4 (ICS), Adobe Flash support.
• 1.2 GHz Cortex-A8 CPU, Dual-core Mali-400 GPU, 512 MB RAM.
• 2 mp main and 0.3 mp front camera.
• Wi-Fi, supports 3G via external dongle, USB 2.0, Bluetooth not supported.
• 4 GB internal storage; 32 GB microSD card slot.
• Video Formats: H.264, DivX, XviD, RM, AVI, MKV, RMVB, MP4, MOV, VOB, DAT, FLV, 3GP; 1080p playback.
• Audio Formats: MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, M4A, FLAC, APE, 3GP, WAV.
• Orientation sensor, Front-facing dual speakers.
• 4000 mAh battery with 6 hours of internet browsing.
• Available Colour: Slate Grey.

The tablet comes preloaded with educational content sourced from McGraw Hill, Everonn, Pearson, andVriti, which can be purchased separately. Bundled entertainment apps from BigFlix, Zenga, Hungama,and IndiaGames have been included, along with two full-length Bollywood movies — Rowdy Rathoreand Tees Maar Khan. While the ample battery will doubtless last through any one of these flicks, it's highly unlikely that your patience will.

Similar to earlier products in the series, the Funbook Infinity also comes with an offer to obtain a Tata Photon+ 3G dongle for Rs 500, including data usage of 1 GB per month for two months. The slate is priced at Rs 6700, and the press release mentions that it's available on Micromax's e-store — though it was nowhere to be seen as of this writing.
 

Read More

Enjoy Popular Android Apps On Your PC Through AMD's AppZone Website

AMD has collaborated with BlueStacks to come up with its own app store, called AMD AppZone. According to an official press release, the portal lists — in one place — applications and games accelerated by AMD Radeon GPUs and AMD APUs. The highlight of the portal is that it lets you access thousands of Android apps that can be run on AMD-powered tablets, notebooks, all-in-ones and desktop PCs running Windows 7 and Windows 8.  

To enjoy your favourite Android apps, you just need to install the AMD AppZone player — and you're good to go. You can download apps and games directly via the player instead of your browser. Another feature of the portal is that it allows users to automatically sync their AppZone apps with Android devices via BlueStacks Cloud Connect.

According to Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, Heterogeneous Applications and Developer Solutions at AMD, "By collaborating with BlueStacks, we are enabling software developers to more easily tap into the full capabilities of AMD’s products, and providing millions of consumers with great experiences as they can now run Android apps on AMD-powered devices". Android apps will also run directly on the Windows platform without any code change.

Both companies are currently working with OEMs so that AppZone comes preloaded on upcoming AMD-powered devices.

For your viewing pleasure have a look at the following video that shows how the feature exactly works. 

Read More

Retrieve Your YouTube Videos In Their Original Format Using Google Takeout

Last year in June, Google came up with the Data Liberation Front, which had the mission statement "Users should be able to control the data they store in any of Google's products. Our team's goal is to make it easier to move data in and out". Towards this, they released Google Takeout — which allows you to download a copy of your data stored across Google services. Google has been adding various services to that list; this time it's YouTube.According to a post on Google's Data Liberation Blog, you can download all the videos you uploaded on your YouTube profile, in their original format, in a ZIP file.

Earlier, users had to use YouTube's Video Manager to download individual videos that had already been transcoded to various formats. Google now shows you the number of videos and file size once they have been compiled, and gives you a download link valid for seven days.

The service also lets you take back your data from +1s, Buzz, Contacts and Circles, Docs, Google+ Profile,Google+ Stream, Picasa Web Albums, and Voice.
 

Read More

Samsung GALAXY Note II With 5.5" Screen And Android 4.1 Lands on Indian Shores For Rs 40,000

Samsung took the wraps off its flagship hybrid "phablet" last month at IFA 2012, and is now all set to warm the hearts of Indian fandroids with a penchant for large screens. The GALAXY Note IIfeatures a 5.5" Super AMOLED screen and support for voice calls. Running Android 4.1 (jelly Bean) out of the box, the phone comes preloaded with apps for the bundled S Pen (stylus). The gadget is powered by a 1.6 GHz quad-core CPU with 2 GB of RAM. It has a rear 8 mp and 1.9 mp front camera.

Here's a list of detailed specs:
 

• 5.5" Super AMOLED screen with pixel dimensions of 720x1280 (267 ppi).
• 1.6 GHz quad-core CPU with 2 GB RAM.
• Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean); 2G, 3G and 4G LTE compatible.
• 8 mp auto-focus camera with LED flash, BSI sensor, Full HD (1080p) video recording, 1.9 mp front camera.
• Dual channel Wi-Fi (2.4 & 5 GHz) with MHL support, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, NFC, AssistedGLONASS GPS, USB 2.0 Host (supports external devices).
• 16 \ 32 \ 64 GB internal storage, 64 GB microSD card slot.
• S Pen (stylus) with handwriting recognition support and Popup Note (scribble a note at any time, even when making calls).
• Video Formats: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV9, VP8, 3GP, MP4, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WebM.
• Audio Formats: MP3, OGG, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC, AMR, MIDI, WAV, AC-3, FLAC.
• 3100 mAh battery.
• Accelerometer, RGB light, Digital compass, Proximity sensor, Gyroscope, Barometer, 3.5 mm jack.
• 3.2" (l) x 6" (w) x 0.4" (9.4 mm) (d), 180 grammes.
• Available Colours: Marble White, Titanium Grey.

The Samsung India eStore has currently listed the 16 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model for purchase at a price of Rs 40,000. The "launch offer" includes a free Bluetooth headset, valid until stocks last. Check out the gallery below for more product shots. How many of you plan on buying this device instead of waiting for the Apple iPhone 5 to arrive in India? Let us know in the comments.

Read More

Google Turns 14, Celebrates With A Cake-Themed Doodle

It's been 14 years since Google began helping the world find its way through the internet. To celebrate the milestone, the search giant has put up an animated doodle on their minimalist homepage — a chocolate cake with 14 candles. The candles are lit when you load the page, and slowly get blown off. They then arrange themselves in a "tally" formation, making way for the Google logo. (Last year, the search giant celebrated its entry into "teenage" with a fun party scene.)

The 27th of September isn’t the date when Google was born, however; it filed for incorporation on 4th September 1998. But the first time they put up a birthday doodle was on 27th September, 2002. For the next two years, the birthday doodle appeared on 7th September, and in 2005, on the 26th of September. It's been more or less the 27th of September after that. In fact, no one is able to say when exactly Google came into existence.

For some mid-day chocolate cake, check out Google's homepage!

Read More

Watch An Augmented Reality Demo Of Angry Birds

As the makers of Angry Birds prepare to launch the new spin-off game Bad Piggies later today, an Iranian company named PendAR has raised the bar with its Augmented Reality (AR) version of Angry Birds. A technology known as Markerless AR converts the game into a 3D scene that can be projected onto any surface, such as a coffee table. Using PendAR's app, programmers can create the image to be used as the playfield. Data from the device's camera then helps in "transferring" the image to the physical surface. PendAR's game is still in beta; it will probably never make its way into a commercial product. For now though, here's a quick demo of how it works:
 

Read More

Indian Developers Can No Longer Publish Paid Apps On Google Play

The joy of Android developers in India has been very short-lived:Google has removed India from the list of countries where app-makers are allowed to publish paid apps to the Google Play store. A couple of days ago, as we had reported, the company had included India in the list. Programmers here are now again limited to publishing free apps. If they do want to publish apps and get paid, they will have to resort to well-known but tedious methods.

One way is to circumvent the restriction by creating a US bank account in the name of a relative. Another is to go to the extent of floating a company in the US. This is not possible for most developers, though, and Google's backtracking will be met with much disappointment.

I believe that by turning its back on the vast community of Indian developers, Google has let go of a potent way to increase the number of apps in Google Play. Apple continues to dominate with the largest number of apps, in its iTunes Store, while Microsoft has started taking initiatives to catch up with itsWindows Phone Marketplace — currently at a distant third spot.

Read More

Rumour: Google Wants To Power Yahoo! Search

At the Japan launch of Google's Nexus 7 tablet, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt allegedly said the company was again interested in business with Yahoo!. For about two years, Microsoft's Bing has been powering Yahoo! search. CNET reports that Google is looking at taking over that role from Microsoft; it seems certain that Schmidt "definitely said they'd be interested in working with Yahoo! US".

A series of ups and downs has marked the relationship between the three companies ever since Google surfaced in 1999. Yahoo! had been using Google's search engine from 2000 until 2004, when it moved to its own technology. Then in 2008, Yahoo! and Google entered into an ad partnership, by which Yahoo! would place Google ads on search results. The deal, however, invited antitrust concerns from the US government — and was abandoned. Microsoft soon became the search provider for Yahoo!.

Google's interest in Yahoo! is not remarkable, given that it means a goodish portion of Microsoft's fortunes. Given Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer's Google ex-affiliations though, it could get interesting.

Read More

UK Firm Launches Camera That Automatically Captures Images

If you ever get the sudden urge to document all the events in your life, this might be just what you need: Developed by British company OMG, the Autographer is a camera that decides for itself what shots to take and when. It will go on sale in Britain starting November. The Autographer uses five in-built sensors — an accelerometer, light sensor, magnetometer, infrared motion detector, and thermometer — combined with Microsoft's SenseCam technology to determine the best moment to capture images, without you having to click a button.

Meant to be worn around the neck and clipped to your clothing, this 58-gramme camera is the first consumer device from OMG. The company is known for stop-motion technology used in computer game development, among other things. The 5 mp Autographer features a glass wide-angle (136-degree field of view) fixed-focus lens, 8 GB of internal storage, and Bluetooth. It captures as many as 2,000 snaps in a day, and a built-in app lets you browse through the results. The in-built GPS system even records the location of each image.

The gadget was originally created for people with dementia to help them keep track of their daily life, but OMG has decided to go ahead and offer it to the general public. It is priced at £400 (approx Rs 35,000), and will be launched in the UK by November — with a possible entry into the US and Japan as well. Chances of this camera making it to Indian shores seem remote, though.

Read More

Convert Your Regular SIM Into A Nano-SIM For Use With The Apple iPhone 5

As reported earlier, the iPhone 5 is already selling well in Indiathrough the grey market, even though it has not been officially launched. For those of you wondering how the new handset can be used in India, since it comes with a nano-SIM slot that is smaller and thinner than regular SIMs, Vinay Prashar has posted a neat DIY on iHackintosh.com. The guide describes a step-by-step procedure to craft the smaller SIM variant out of the full-size version using easily available tools such as a felt pen, scale, and sharp scissors. However, be warned that this is a risky method that can potentially render your SIM unusable. Click on the image below to view the full tutorial.

In case you need more help, here is a video demonstration:

Read More

Apple iPhone 5 Reportedly Selling Well In India Despite Being Priced At Over A Lakh

The iPhone 5 is reportedly selling like hot cakes in India, even though there isn't yet an official launch date. Affluent buyers are apparently flocking to get one of Apple's spanking new handsetsfrom Heera Panna Market in Mumbai and Khan Market in Delhi for a staggering Rs 1 lakh plus. Being grey market devices, they do not come with a warranty. Moreover, the flagship smartphone comes with a nano-SIM slot, which is not available in India at all — it has to be manually crafted from a regular SIM. The fact that the handset is selling well despite all the problems is testament to the hype the iPhone 5 has generated. It sold 5 million units in the US over the first weekend, breaking its predecessor's record.

An trader in Khan Market, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that he sold the first lot at Rs 1.35 lakh apiece. The handset has also been spotted online — at Rs 75,000 on OLX.in, the last we checked. As you might expect, there's no information about the internal storage of the models being sold, nor do sellers mention whether the devices are unlocked. eBay.in is more forthcoming about specifics, with the white 16 GB unlocked model selling at a starting price of approx. Rs 60,000.

Would you be interested in buying an iPhone 5 at current prices? Do let us know in the comments.

Read More

Eric Schmidt Gets Vocal About Maps

Some of us have figured out by now that we're all part of a giant experiment for Google. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt has often been the mouthpiece of Google's "resistance-is-futile" attitude, with his words optimised for impact. What do we make of his hostile comments on the topic of the recent failure of Apple Maps?

Speaking from Tokyo at the Japan launch of the Nexus 7 tablet, Schmidt said Google had no plans to create a new maps app foriOS 6. He said, to approve Google Maps or not is Apple's decision:"We think it would have been better if they had kept ours. But what do I know? … What were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It's their call".

Reporters got to hear some classic Schmidt on the topic of iOS versus Android, such as this:"Apple is the exception, and the Android system is the common model, which is why our market share is so much higher". Demonstrating a new Google Maps feature on the Nexus 7, Schmidt got down all the way to becoming an Android Fanboy's hero: "Take that, Apple".

Speaking about Google, search, and privacy, Schmidt asserted in 2010, "We know where you are. We know where you've been. We can more or less know what you're thinking about". From that perspective, it's quite a comedown for Schmidt to take on Apple at a gut level, like now.

But Maps has become a more sensitive issue than we'd expect. Steve Wozniak, while admitting that he was "a little disappointed" with it because he "loves navigation by voice with his Google phones", also did an unexpected diplomatic act by saying people were complaining more than they should be.

Those who need temporary workarounds to Apple's Maps will find plenty. But as far as the official app is concerned, who will pull the rabbit out of the hat? Please comment below.

Read More

Android 4.0 Penta T-Pad IS709C With 7" Screen Available On Snapdeal.com For Rs 4000

The market is full of budget tablets costing as little as Rs 4000. However, most of these slates come with a resistive screen, and we already know what a terrible user experience they offer. However, an exception seems to be the Penta T-Pad IS709C, among the cheapest tablets to come with a multi-touch capacitive screen.

Like most budget tablets, the T-Pad IS709C doesn't seem to have an official product page. However, according to Snapdeal.com'slisting, the tablet features Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) out of the box. Despite being dirt-cheap, it's powered by a 1 GHz CPU with 512 MB of RAM. Here is the detailed list of features:

• 7" capacitive multi-touch screen.
• 1 GHz Cortex-A8 CPU, Mali-400 GPU, 512 MB DDR3 RAM.
• 4 GB of internal storage, 32 GB microSD card slot.
• 0.3 mp front camera.
• Mini-USB port with support for external 3G dongles, 3.5 mm jack. Wi-Fi.
• Supported Video: AVI, H.264, DivX, XviD, RM, RMVB, MKV, WMV, MOV, MP4.
• Supported Audio: MP3, WMA, MP2, OGG, AAC, M4A, MA4, FLAC, APE, 3GP, WAV.
• 3000 mAh battery, Orientation sensor.
• Package Contents: USB Cable, Charger, User manual.

Currently, the T-Pad IS709C is only available on Snapdeal.com for Rs 4000, and comes with a one- year warranty.

Read More