ZTE’s Intel Based Windows 8 Tablet V98 Shown Off

Intel today showcased their new Clover Trail Processors for Windows 8 based devices at an event in San Francisco.They showcased many of their upcoming devices from various manufacturers like Dell,HP,Acer,Lenovo for Windows 8 launch.

Image Credits[Engadget]

One of the devices featured in the event was the ZTE V98 tablet based on Intel’s neW chipset Z2760.The device sports a 10.1″ display with a resolution of 1366×768,2GB of RAM,32GB of storage space,a pair of cameras,2 megapixel of front and 8 megapixel of rear camera with 1080P video recording,with UMTS,LTE and WiFi connectivity options.

The device weighs in at 700 gms with a thickness of 8.9mm making it a slick device.no pricing details of the device have been specified,that might be due to the fact that it will be available by the first quarter of 2013.

Source[Engadget]

Intel Releases Statement in Response to Unsubstantiated News Regarding Windows 8

All the enthusiasts over the world might be waiting for the public release of Windows 8 which is due in a monts time from now.But as far as Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini is concerned,it is still not completely ready for the final release.

As reported earlier by Bloomberg,a person who attended the Intel event told them that,Intel CEO thinks that there is still room for improvement,while it also  move which was needed to give a competition to Apple iPad for the coming Holiday Season since the Improvements can be made after the release of the products via an update.

But as per the recent official statement from Intel Corp. Calling all these Reports unsubstantiated,

Intel has a long and successful heritage working with Microsoft on the release of Windows platforms, delivering devices that provide exciting experiences, stunning performance, and superior compatibility. Intel fully expects this to continue with Windows 8.

Intel, Microsoft and our partners have been working closely together on testing and validation to ensure delivery of a high-quality experience across the nearly 200 Intel-based designs that will start launching in October. Intel CEO Paul Otellini is on record as saying “Windows 8 is one of the best things that ever happened to Intel,” citing the importance of the touch interface coming to mainstream computing and the huge wave of exciting new Ultrabook™, tablet and convertible device innovations coming to the market.

Intel is one of the prime hardware partner for Microsoft for x86 based Windows 8 based devices and we will see a bunch of manufacturers bringing their version of Intel based Windows 8 tablets,hybrids and ultrabooks including Microsoft who will release Surface Pro in coming months.

Survey:Windows 8 Developer Interest Growing

Windows 8 is exactly a month away from the official public release which is scheduled for October 26th,but the windows store is already enjoying the developer love with a good amount of growth in the apps in the store.

Image Credits[IDC and Appcelerator]

The survey which was recently conducted by IDC and the mobile platform company Appcelerator seconds says the same about growing developer interest in Windows 8 with 33% of the developers prefer developing apps for Windows 8 as surveyed in the 3rd quarter.While the market leader iOS still wins the race with the most preferred platform by developers with 85 and 83 percent for iPhone and iPad respectively while 76 and 66 percent developers prefer android platform for phones and tablets respectively.RIM’s Blackberry platform however had the least developer interest,sinking to 9 and 8 percent for their phone and tablet platform respectively.

The Windows Phone 7 platform which will now be succeeded by Windows Phone 8 platform has developer interest of 21 percent,so come Windows Phone 8 we will see a growing interest in the platform due to common kernel for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.

Source[seattletimes]

Windows Server 2012 Now Available for Free to DreamSpark Users!

Windows 8 is due in a months time,But its Server counterpart i.e the Windows Server 2012  has already reached the General Availability on 4th September.

Now the Windows Server 2012 edition has been released for the DreamSpark Users,some of the Premium DreamSpark users already got the early release of Windows 8 in late October,but the basic DreamSpark Users were unable to have access to the latest offring from Microsoft.

But with the server edition made available to all the DreamSpark accounts over the world,students can now enjoy the Windows 8 experience on their PC’s for free,since the server edition is essentially the same operating system with some additional features for the servers and with some workarounds it can be used efficiently for the desktop environments.

So if you happen to have a DreamSpark account,head over to the official site and enjoy the Windows 8 experience before the general availabilty.

Download the Windows  Server 2012 from the Official DreamSpark Site.

Microsoft’s Bangalore Windows AppFest Sets a Guinness World Record

It finally happened.The moment all the developer enthusiasts in Microsoft’s Banglore Appafest have been waiting for,for a straight 18 hours of Coding Marathon.Has put their name in the Guinness Books of World Records.

On Friday,Microsoft India held an AppFest maraton in Bangalore,which ended after 18 hours of coding from 2567 developers who developed their Windows 8 applications,entering the Guinness Books of records for ‘Most Participants in Software Development Marathon’ at the Windows AppFest.

Image Credits[Microsoft]

Windows 8 is almost a month away from the release and Microsoft is making sure that it generates the all important developer interest in the Windows 8 app development which is essential for the growth of the Windows Store which features Modern UI apps for Windows 8.So by the time Windows 8 reaches General Availability we will probably see a good quantity of apps and games in the store.

Source:[WindowsTeamBlog]

Lenovo’s Windows 8 Based ThinkPad Tablet 2 To Cost $799 With Keyboard Dock

Over the past couple of weeks we have been hearing about various rumors about the pricing details of upcoming Windows 8 and Windows RT based tablets from various manufacturers like Acer and Asus.

Image Credits[WPCentral]

This time around WPCentral,has got hold of the pricing details of Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet 2 directly from the company.The tablet powered by Windows 8 Pro edition will cost $799 which includes a keyboard dock and a full license copy of Office 2013.Thinkpad Tablet 2 will feature an 10.1″ display with 1366×768 resolution!to go with a pair of 2 and 8 megapixel cameras,LTE,NFC and USB ports.The device is said to have a 10 hour battery life.

After this price reveal it would be interesting to see the Windows RT offerings from the manufacturers which are expected to be lower than the pricing of its Windows 8 counterparts.

Intel App Up Windows 8 app Now Available Over Windows Store

Intel App Up has been around for a couple of years now,the application store Which featured a varied variety of app categories for Windows operating system.

Recently Intel launched the AppUp app for Windows 8 operating system.The app is now available over the Windows Store for freeso essentially its an app store app within a store which already has separate sections for Windows 8 desktop based apps and the Modern UI based apps,along with Intel Softonic has released its own app store app in the Windows Store.

Though it remains to be seen that if at all the apps like these will ever succeed since the Windows Store already has the Modern UI based apps,as well as Desktop based apps in the store!

Via[McAkins]

Acer Windows 8 Tablets Pricing Revealed

Over the past few weeks we have been hearing various rumors about the Windows 8 tablets pricing.Up until now none of the manufacturers (not even Microsoft) had announced their Windows 8 devices pricing,but recently Acer confirmed their Windows 8 pricing details.

As reported earlier by TechJungle,Acer confirmed the prices for their upcoming Windows 8 offerings.The cheapest one i.e the Acer W510 will cost around NZ$ 999 which converts to around USD 712(straight conversion), while the Keyboard dock which would be separately available will burn a couple of  hundred dollars more.The higher end tablet W700 will cost NZ$ 1799 which translates to around USD 1260.

The W510 features a 10.1″ display with 1366×768 resolution ,Intel Atom processor clocked at 1.5Ghz, to go with 64GB eMMC,2 mega pixel rear and 8 megapixel rear facing camera,with 9 hours of battery life,while the big brother w700 boasts Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.7Ghz,a pair of 2 and 8 megapixel camera like the w510,a Full  HD 11.6″ display,128GB SSD and upto 8 hours of battery life.Both the tablets include Features like WiFi,Bluetooth4.0,Micro HDMI and a Micro USB port for W 510 while the W 700 sports USB port.

It would be interesting to see after this,how the others will react with their pricing,especially those with Windows RT based devices from Dell,Samsung,Asus and Microsoft.

Asus’s Leaked Roadmap Hints at Highly Priced Windows RT Tablets

After the Windows 8 public release,we will be seeing an array of Windows 8 and Windows RT based tablets from various hardware partners like Dell,Asus,HP,Acer,Samsung and Microsoft’s own Surface Tablet.Though none of the manufacturers have announced the pricing for the upcoming Windows RT based tablet as of yet.

But recently a leaked roadmap of Asus which is one of the hardware partners for Windows 8/RT products,has hinted at what could be the price range of Windows RT based tablets coming from Asus later this year,with the lowest model costing around $600 to the costliest one at  a price of  $1299.

Though there is no official word on this and it might very well turn out to be a preliminary Roadmap,but if Asus really sticks to this price range for their products,then it would be curtains for the range of Windows RT offerings from Asus and the others who will follow this price range and then only thing which cold save it is the cheap Surface  Tablet from the Software Giant.

source[ZDNet]

Samsung Galaxy S III Beats iPhone 5 In Terms Of Specs!

Samsung Galaxy S III Beats iPhone 5 In Terms Of Specs!

Apple has recently announced its latest smartphone – iPhone 5, claiming it to be the world’s best one. However, it appears not to be quite that way, as we’ve compared the specs of iPhone 5 with Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III and found out many reasons why the smartphone by the Korean Giant wins over Cupertino’s flagship device.

You’ll find the detailed specs comparison in the table after the jump, but there are several more reasons to buy the Samsung Galaxy S III over an iPhone, which are not mentioned below, including:

• Adobe Flash support - Many games and videos on the Internet require Adobe Flash;

• Multitasking - Switch between running apps;

• Large battery capacity - 2.100 mAh;

• Fast max data speeds - HSPA+ (168 mbps);

• High resolution screen - 720x1280 and many more…

Check the table below to analyze the differences between the world’s two most popular smartphones and judge yourself which one is better! If you disagree with any of the statements expressed above, feel free to share your opinion in the comments.

Comparison Parameter	Samsung Galaxy S3	Apple iPhone 5
Operating System	Android Ice Cream Sandwich (Upgradeable to Jellybean)	IOS 6
Screen Size & Pixels	4.8 inches with 720 x 1280 pixels	4.0 inches with 640 x 1136 pixels
Network Band	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900LTE	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900LTE 700 MHz Class 13 / 17 (Verizon & AT&T)
Dimensions	136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm	123.8 x 58.5 x 7.6 mm
Weight	133 gms	112 gms
Screen Type	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors	LED backlit IPS TFT with 16M colors
CPU & Chipset	Exynos 4412 Quad Core	Apple A6 Quad Core
RAM	1GB	1GB
FM Radio	Stereo FM with RDS	Not Available
Rear Camera	8 MP with 3264×2448 pixels & LED Flash with Simultaneous HD video and image recording	8 MP with 3264×2448 pixels & LED Flash
Secondary Camera	1.9 MP with Recording at 720p@30fps	1.3 MP with Recording at 720p@30fps
Sim Card	Micro SIM	Nano SIM
Loudspeaker	Yes	Yes
USB Connectivity	Supports USB on the Go	Doesn’t Support USB On the Go, Normal USB Connectivity
Connectivity Standards / Speed	HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps	DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, LTE, 100 Mbps; Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps
WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Plus Cellular
Internal Memory Options	16/32/64 GB storage	16/32/64 GB storage
External SD Card Support	Yes, maximum up to 64GB	Not Available
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP Support and EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)	Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP Support
NFC	Yes	Not Available
FM Recording	Yes	Not Available
Colors	Pebble Blue, Marble White, Garnet Red	Black & White
Battery	Li-Ion 2100 mAh	Li-Po 1440 mAH
Stand By Time	590hrs	225hrs

Google Chrome For Android Gets Updated, Check What’s New

Google  Chrome For Android Gets Updated, Check What’s New

World’s fastest and most convenient browser- Google Chrome – has just been hit by a significant update, making it even more convenient and smooth on your smartphones. Though the changes may seem minimal to most, it should be sad that a number of security and stability improvements added in the Chrome for Android M18.1 are widely appreciated. 

The list of newly added features includes:

• Location preference now integrated to system level Google apps location setting

• YouTube videos controls now work in full screen mode; videos continue playing after a screen lock/unlock

• Fixes to make third-party IMEs work better with Chrome

Chrome for Android is available for free in Google Play and requires Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or later to be fully functional. So go and grab it now, and feel the renewed browsing experience!

Android Reaches Notable Milestone - 500 Million Activated Devices Globally

Android Reaches Notable Milestone - 500 Million Activated Devices Globally

“Today is a big day for Android... 500 million devices activated globally, and over 1.3 million added every single day. Oh, and btw, the Jelly Bean statue is back in our front yard :)” - says a Google +post by Hugo Barra, Director of Product Management of Android in Google.

This impressive milestone was first communicated by that the half-billion count was coming up last week at Motorola’s Event. Schmidt also confirmed that growth numbers were striking! However, it’s not clear how many devices are replacing older ones, though. Indeed, the conversion to Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich is still crunching along gradually, with the previous Android 2.3 also called Gingerbread still demanding 57 % share of usage. According to stats by Google, Ice Cream Sandwich has 20.9% of usage, now growing steadily after months of slight drive succeeding its 2011 debut. As for the latest version of mobile OS by Google, Jelly Bean is at just 1.2% of the devices.

As for the Jelly Bean statue, commemorating Android 4.1, it’s now back again in Google’s lawn. For those unaware, the statue had to go back into the shop for repairs shortly after its debut.

However, this day is not big just for Android, as Apple is going to unveil its latest 6th generation smartphone just today at Yerba Buena Garden.

Keep And Share Anything With Updated Google Drive App

Debuting in the Google Play Store with an impressive set of capabilities, Google Drive has been still hit by a significant update, bringing number of additional desirable features! Despite the numerous benefits this free app, Google decided not to stagnate on its progress and augmented Google Drive even more. The list of additional features that just have been added includes:

• Create folder, upload to folder and move to folder;

• Filter folder contents by file type;

• Option to auto-sync pinned content while on 3G;

• Richer Google Presentations viewing experience;

• Basic table support in Documents Editor;

• Create, reply and resolve comments in Documents Editor;

• View and change fonts in Documents Editor;

• Pinch to zoom in Documents Editor;

• Print files using Google Cloud Print;

• Option to resume interrupted uploads.

The current Google Drive 1.1.4.12 is now available for free in Google Play and requires Android version 2.1 or higher- for phones and Android version 3.0 or higher- for tablets to be fully functional.

While Google can’t surely make everyone happy in one fell swoop we’d say this is enough of a jump to make you forget about most other cloud storage services available to you. Find the free download in the Google Play Store .

Nokia Lumia 920 Detailed Review

Nokia Lumia 920 Detailed Review

Two Windows Phone 8 smartphones were announced after weeks and weeks of almost blind speculation, at the Nokia World 2012 event yesterday - Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. The flagship device, Lumia 920 by Nokia features a beautiful 4.5-inch display, and despite the fact that the device looks quite similar to its forerunner Lumia 900,  that’s most certainly to the benefit of the customers, as the preceding offering was fairly among the most aesthetically-pleasing on the smartphone market.

Apart from the appearance, the phone has undoubtedly got a remarkable hardware bump, now packing in a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor, a 2,000mAh battery, and a 4G LTE connectivity for intense fast download and upload speeds. The phone features wireless charging and a "PureView" 8.7 megapixel snapper at the rear of the device, with optics courtesy of Carl Zeiss.

As for the rest of features, check the detailed review of specs list of company’s flagship smartphone Lumia 920 below.

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	4G Network	LTE 800 / 1800 / 2600 / 900 / 2100
	Announced	2012, September
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2012, Q4
BODY	Dimensions	130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7 mm, 99 cc
	Weight	185 g
DISPLAY	Type	IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	768 x 1280 pixels, 4.5 inches (~332 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass
		- PureMotion HD+ display
SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes
MEMORY	Card slot	No
	Internal	32 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
DATA	GPRS	Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
	EDGE	Class 12
	Speed	HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE, Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct
	Bluetooth	Yes, v3.1 with A2DP, EDR
	NFC	Yes
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0, USB On-the-go support
CAMERA	Primary	8.7 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, autofocus, LED flash
	Features	PureView technology, geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps
	Secondary	Yes, 1.3MP
FEATURES	OS	Microsoft Windows Phone 8
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon
	CPU	Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait
	GPU	Adreno 225
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	No
	Colors	Black, Gray, Red, Yellow, White
		- Wireless charging
		- MicroSIM card support only
		- SNS integration
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
		- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player
		- MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player
		- Document viewer/editor
		- Video/photo editor
		- Voice memo/command/dial
		- Predictive text input
BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 2000 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 400 h (2G) / Up to 400 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 17 h (2G) / Up to 10 h (3G)
	Music play	Up to 67 h

Meet EarPods, Apple’s new in-ear headphones

It is no secret that Apple’s in-ear headphones that ship with iPhones and iPods leave a lot to be desired. Sound quality is average, at best, bass is non-existent and highs sound a little too robotic. Of course, we knew Apple would be introducing a brand new headset today. What we haven’t known is that the company spent three years designing the new headphones, dubbed EarPods. Yes, three years…

iTunes head Greg Joswiak noted:

Doing a great headphone is hard. Ears are challenging. Everyone’s are different, but you have to make one size.

He’s right about the one-size-fits-all requirement: the current headset is driving me crazy as it falls out of my ear constantly.

So, what does designing earphones that fit for everyone compares to, Greg?

It would be like making shoes that are the same size that fit everyone’s feet. But that’s what we’ve tried to do.

This is what the EarPods look like.

The company played a promotional video at the presser, signifying that it deems the new headset a substantial improvement.

Hopefully, they fit and sound better than the crappy headset it replaces.

The new headset is available today.

Apple is providing these as a standalone accessory, including them with every iPod touch, iPod nano and iPhone 5.

“I think music lovers will love these”, we shall see about that once we have a chance to test what the headset feels and sounds like.

What do you think, are those headphones worth the price?