On Apple's new iPad - techgen's review 03/20/2012
 Positives: Apple's new iPad includes a stunning new screen, matched by a quad-core graphic processor and the world's largest app and media store to feed it content. There's a proper 5-megapixel rear camera now, with 1080p recording quality. Optional 4G data from AT&T and Verizon afford an uncompromising mobile experience. Negatives: The new iPad is slightly heavier than last year's model; apps and movies optimized for the screen might take up more space; and ports for HDMI, USB, and SD require adapters. Improvements: With a host of improvements--faster graphics, 4G wireless options, a better camera, and a gorgeous high-res screen--the latest iPad cements its position at the head of the tablet pack. Our experts are still working on it to explore more so stay tuned with us. GEARED BY- SkY Add Comment  Paid applications may probably help your mobile phone battery last longer as almost 75 percent of the energy consumed by free versions of apps is exhausted serving up ads or tracking and uploading user information, a new study including Indian origin researcher has revealed. According to Abhinav Pathak, a computer scientist at Purdue University, Indiana, and colleagues, running only one Android app could eat up your battery in nearly 90 minutes. The researchers came up with the finding after developing software to analyse apps’ energy usage. When they assessed popular apps like Angry Birds, Free Chess and NYTimes they discovered that just 10 to 30 per cent of the energy was used powering the app’s core function. For instance, in Angry Birds only 20 per cent is used to display and run the game, while 45 per cent is spent finding and uploading the user’s location with GPS then downloading location-appropriate ads over a 3G connection, the New Scientist reported. The 3G connection stays active for about 10 seconds, even if data transmission is complete, and this ‘tail energy’ drains additional 28 per cent of the app’s energy. Pathak insists the energy leakage on inefficiencies in the third-party code that developers use to generate profit on free apps is responsible for the superfluous battery consumption GEARED BY - SkY  Nokia will likely debut a dual-core Windows 8 tablet in this year's fourth quarter at the earliest. Microsoft hasn't yet revealed a launch date for Windows 8. But the new OS is expected to appear before year's end, either just before or early in the fourth quarter.Given Nokia's partnership with Microsoft and its slowly growing fleet of Windows Phone Lumia handsets, a Nokia Windows 8 tablet would be a natural evolution. Other tablet vendors have revealed plans to jump on the Windows 8 bandwagon. Dell CEO Michael Dell told last week that the company aims to unveil a business-based tablet on the same day that Windows 8 debuts. HP is reportedly working on its own Windows 8 tablets for both Intel and ARM-based devices.It has been even advised to tablet vendors such as Lenovo, Toshiba, Samsung, and HTC to switch their focus from Android toward Windows 8.  Microsoft has demonstrated new software that can pull together real-time multilingual vocal translations using your own voice. Monolingual TTS currently handles 26 different languages, although it's not instant just yet -- it takes about an hour of training to get the experimental software acquainted with your own utterances. Demonstrated at Microsoft's TechFest 2012 showcase, the software can even mix up foreign language pronunciation of place names with directions in your native tongue. It also complements those efforts with a 3D image of your head, animating your lips along to the foreign words you'd otherwise butcher. Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus 03/09/2012
 The Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus is an heir to the Galaxy Ace, which was outed a year ago. It's new and has a full brand support. The new ace has all the goods of the old ace Design: The overall looks are decent, and still anything but a black plastic design would be a welcome difference. The Galaxy Ace Plus has tapered back made of shiny black plastic, where the 5MP camera with LED flash and the speaker grill are situated. This glossy plastic is a bit slippery, but the phone sits well in the palm, and the screen is small enough to reach everywhere with your thumb only, making the handset suitable for one-handed operation. Display: The brightness of the display is good enough outside on the cloudy day we had, but it's not going to be very legible when stronger sunlight hits. Still, this can be said for many but the brightest smart phone screens, so it is fine. The colors are vivid, though, and the viewing angles decent. The screen's main disadvantage is the below average pixel density, which makes the interface look grainy, and letter edges jagged when reading. It is a 3.65” display with 320x480 resolutions, resulting in 158ppi. Detailed Features:
Sony Launches It's Tablet 03/08/2012
 Sony, one of the biggest names in the world of electronics, was branded as a laggard in the portable media player market that is now dominated by Apple's iPods. So when all companies, big and small, rushed in with their tablets and Sony was nowhere to be seen in the crowd. Sony may have missed the early bus but it has caught another and arrived, albeit a little late. As if to make up for its late arrival, the company has tried to do something different in its tablet offering and the result is the Tablet S. The Sony tablet is a healthy baby with potential to emulate its rivals including the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Apple iPad 2. Features at Glance Wedge Shaped Design: Refreshingly UniqueWhat makes the Tablet S unique, for starters, is the tablet's tapered design, which grows from 0.3 inch at its thinnest edge to 0.79 inch at its deepest. The Tablet S eschews the usual flat-slab look. Sony says the design was influenced by the curve of a folded-around magazine. Though the tablet is thicker at the one end, but still it weighs 3g lesser than the Apple iPad 2. Though it weighs almost equal to the Apple iPad 2, but it feels lighter in hands because of the way it has been designed, and its weight distributed. This innovative design helps Sony stand out in the crowd. Display: The tablet features a 9.4-inch display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. The tablet's display is sharp and produces excellent colours, but it does not match the Apple iPad 2's Retina display. Sony claims that it has made use of its trademark TruBlack display technology, which is used in its various products like digital photo frames, Cyber-shot cameras and Handycam camcorders. The use of its TruBlack display technology increases colour intensity and minimises reflection, thereby producing vibrant colours, noticeably higher contrast and deeper, richer blacks. It's similar to Nokia's ClearBlack technology, which also reduces reflections on the screen and improves visual image quality. Dream Tablet for Gamers: Another feature that has tons of potential: The Tablet S and the smaller Tablet P (which releases later this year) are the first tablets to be PlayStation Certified. On-board you get the PlayStation hits Crash Bandicoot and Pinball Heroes. Never mind that Crash is a throwback to 1996-era gaming; I still found this port to the Android platform entertaining and compelling. The potential is huge given Sony's library of titles--and that potential only gets multiplied if the company were to ever tie in PlayStation Portable or PlayStation 3 games. Sony is slowly ramping up the titles available; by year-end it hopes to have a couple dozen games, with more on the way. Regardless, with this feature (and with support for PlayStation game controllers), Sony clearly differentiates its tablet for the gaming crowd. Operating System and UI: The tablet runs on Android 3.2.1 operating system and Sony has not made many customisations, but its Apps layout looks quite simple and attractive. Apps are placed cleanly on a white background, which makes it easy to find out any app. Also, apps can be arranged either alphabetically or in the order of date. The touch is also quite responsive. Bottom Line: Sony may be late to the party, but I appreciate the fact that the Tablet S reflects the company's attempts to differentiate it from the cookie-cutter tablet field. The wedge design and the unique touches that Sony offers do a fine job of setting this model apart. Now excuse me while I return to steering Crash Bandicoot around the island, and while I change the channel on my DVR to catch NCIS. Verdict At a price of Rs 26,990, it's a good deal to buy this ergonomically designed, feature-rich tablet. But if budget is not a constraint and you can shell out more money then you can also take into account the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Apple iPad 2. But there are three features which can only be found in this tablet – Wedge shape ergonomic design, PlayStation games and a universal remote control. Pros: Wedge shape design looks different Comfortable to hold Compatible with PlayStation games Universal remote control app Cons: Plastic body Bulky, proprietary charger Unimpressive speakers Expensive accessories  The latest report suggests that the new 10-inch device will not be called the iPad 3 but the iPad HD instead and may sport that Retina Display everyone’s anxious to see.The speculated display resolution is expected to be a whopping 2048 x 1536. The reports also suggest that Apple may be drifting away from the traditional serial numbering of future iteration of products and hence the name of the device may be the iPad HD instead of the iPad 3. Other reports on the Internet claim that Apple may also unveil a 7-inch version of the iPad called the “iPad Mini”. This device may launch in Q3 of 2012 and is expected to take on the Kindle Fire and Samsung’s 7-inch tablet. The rumours of the iPad Mini may be a bit far-fetched considering that the late Steve Jobs wasn’t a big fan of the form factor. But the success of the Kindle Fire may have led to Apple rethinking its strategy. After all, Tim Cook is the man in charge now and he may want to tap this hot mini tablet market.  The search giant is said to be working on a voice-enabled task software, designed to out-Siri, known simply as "Assistant" that might launch by year's end. The company is said to have a new system in the works dubbed "Assistant" designed to help people complete tasks by voice. And if Google's plans come together, Assistant could debut in the fourth quarter. The search giant would control all of the layers involved in Assistant but would let third-party developers tap into the system to create their own unique apps, a marked contrast from Apple's Siri, which is a closed environment and off limits to outside developers. Google has been working with language technology for a number of years. The new project would reportedly be led by an Android team working with Google engineer, Amit Singhal, who has a background in speech technology. Assistant would follow Siri's lead by offering a "mobile, voice-centered 'Do engine'" to help users accomplish specific goals rather than just deliver search results. But it would also employ the full power of Google by putting the "world's knowledge into a format a computer can understand" and "create a personalization layer" to learn how people work with content. Introducing the new Nokia Lumia 610 03/05/2012
 This is the new Nokia Lumia 610 with Windows Phone . With delicious colors and a sleek metallic looking design , it is made to keep you connected , online and entertained . This touch screen phone does everything you need. With a price tag of Rs 12000 and a 800 MHz processor , it is surely going to give the others phone of this range a healthy competition. It is the most affordable Windows Lumia smartphone. Nokia Lumia 610 Specifications:
iPad 3 Official Launch date: March 7 03/02/2012
 Mark your dates, Apple fans. This week Tim Cook will take the stage and announce the launch of next iPad. The event that will take place at 10am PST on next Wednesday, March 7 in San Francisco. In the event, Apple is expected to detail the iPad 3 and (possibly) an updated Apple TV set-top box. And touch.” It shows what an iPad 3 with a Retina display is clearly. The highlighting feature of the iPad 3 will be its upgraded Retina display. Its 2048×1536 resolution would double that of the iPad 2, packing 4x the pixels into the same-sized display. Its 264 pixels per inch would be the highest of any tablet on the market. Though it misses the 300ppi threshold that Steve Jobs used when he coined the term “Retina display,” a tablet is typically held farther away than a phone, and would therefore be branded as Retina nonetheless. Other rumoured features are an upgraded processor either quad-core or upgraded dual-core, an improved GPU, a larger battery, and LTE. The tablet’s form factor is expected to look almost identical to that of the iPad 2, only slightly thicker and with a more tapered design. Though the first two iPads used the same pricing structure, a recent rumour has the iPad 3 costing $70-80 more than the iPad 2. This would be unusual for Apple, but with those expensive Retina displays in there, it isn’t out of the question. We’d certainly file the price hike under “possible, but probably not” for now. |
