Apple iPad Mini vs Google Nexus 7

Power :

The iPad Mini is powered by Apple’s A5 dual-core chipset which promises to be plenty fast enough to run all your favourite games and apps. The device also features 16, 32 or 64GB of storage, though, being an Apple product, you won’t find support for micro SD cards here, so use that internal space wisely.

The Nexus 7 is driven by an NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset which consists of a quad-core 1.3GHz Cortex-A9 CPU and a ULP GeForce GPU that’s able handle any game you throw at it. The device also sports 1GB RAM and comes in 8 and 16GB flavours, and we’re expecting a 32GB version to drop soon too, giving you a nice extra option.

The device doesn’t offer support for micro SD cards though so, like the iPad Mini, you’ll have to be picky with your content.

Display :

The Google Nexus 7 is fronted by a 7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD which operates at 800 x 1280 and offers a pixel density of 216PPI.

The screen is bright and vibrant, and offers some of the best viewing angles around, but if you plan on using the device outdoors on a sunny day you’ll likely be disappointed.

The iPad Mini sports a 7.9-inch LED-backilit IPS display which operates at a resolution of 768 x 1024 and offers a pixel density of 163PPI. The screen looked superb in Apple’s demonstrations, as you would expect, and we’re looking forward to doing some testing of our own, but expectations are high with this one.

Software :

Google’s Nexus 7 runs on Android 4.1 AKA Jelly Bean, and the most recent iteration of the company’s mobile platform is by far the most comprehensive.

It’s fast, offers unbeatably smooth graphical performance thanks to Google’s ‘Project Butter’ initiative and expands on the new UI first seen in Ice Cream Sandwich to offer users automatically resizing widgets, great new notifications system and the spookily accurate Google Now enhanced search solution and a ton more to boot.

In addition to the core functionality of the OS being taken up a notch, users can also still make use of the Google Play Store for all their app, game and media downloads, and the selection is great.

The iPad Mini runs on version 6.0 of Apple’s ageing iOS platform. The software is (still) remarkably easy to pick up, with intuitive gestures and menus throughout, and also looks polished and pleasing, but the lack of widgets, real-time information and customisation options set it back against Google’s platform.

Fortunately it isn’t all bad though, because iOS gives users access to Apple’s App Store, which is chock full of great apps and games, and you’ll also find iTunes too, for your media needs.

Form :

Apple iPad Mini - 200 x 134.7 x 7.2mm, 308g

Google Nexus 7 - 198.5 x 120 x 10.5mm, 340g

The iPad Mini is a thin, light, well designed device which looks every inch the Apple product. Its lines are clean and the device looks to be ergonomically sound, which is more than can be said for many tablets.

The device is priced competitively and only time will tell if Apple has had to cut any hardware corners for the privilege of rivaling the Nexus 7 on that front.

The Nexus 7 is small, light and easy on the eye, and remarkably well built considering its bargain basement RRP, in fact you’ll find very little to complain about in Google’s joint venture with ASUS – the device simply checks all the boxes.

Camera :

We’re dealing with tablets here, so photographic prowess isn’t exactly top priority. That said, it’s nice to have the ability to snap the odd image and Google’s Nexus 7 obliges by offering a very simple 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera which is more than adequate for video calling and casual use.

If you want to make use of the camera you’ll have to take to the Google Play Store and download some third-party software to enable it though – and we have no idea why. Answers on a postcard please.

The iPad Mini features a 5-megapixel primary camera and a VGA front-facing camera which, like the Nexus 7, is fine for FaceTime and Skype use but doesn’t offer much more beyond that.

Apple Introduces iPad mini Smart Covers For $39

Apple updated its website to let us know that the Smart Cover would also be available for the newly announced 7.9 inch iPad mini.

The iPad mini Smart Cover is largely similar to the larger iPad Smart Cover with the same magnetic attaching and hinging mechanism, except that it seems to be available only in polyurethane, as opposed to the larger Smart Cover which comes in both, polyurethane and leather.

Another difference between the two covers is the absence of metal in the hinge of the iPad mini Smart Cover. This lets the entire color wrap around the edge of the device, maintaining uniformity all across the front, while the back remains exposed.

The iPad mini Smart Cover is available in six colors – pink, green, blue, light gray, dark gray and (PRODUCT) RED.

The covers aren’t on sale yet, and will presumably be available for pre-order on October 26 along with the iPad mini.

iPad Mini Features, Release Date & Price Announced

After several years of rumors and speculations, Apple has finally unveiled the smaller and cheaper version of the full-sized iPad called iPad Mini to compete with cheaper Android based tablets like Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire.

iPad mini features a 7.9-inch screen with 1024x768 resolution, front and back facing camera, powered by Apple's dual-core processor and support for 4G LTE networks.

Design/Form Factor:

iPad mini looks exactly like the smaller sibling of the third generation iPad with the aluminum casing, but it's more beautiful with the diamond cut edges and sleek metallic finishes.

As rumored, the smaller iPad comes with thinner bezels along the sides in portrait mode like the iPod touch. It is 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the full-sized iPad. It is only 7.2 mm thick, whereas as iPad 3 is 9.4mm thick.

It also weighs only 308 grams, making it significantly lighter than iPad 3, which weighs 652 g.

Display:

iPad mini comes with a 7.9-inch display with 1024x768 resolution, not that much smaller than the full-sized iPad's 9.7-inch display. As expected, the smaller iPad doesn't come with Retina Display. It comes with a pixel density of 163 ppi, the same pixel density as the original iPhone.

It has the same resolution as the iPad 2, so you will be able to use all the apps that are available for the original and 2nd generation iPad.

Processor:

iPad mini is powered by the dual-core A5 chip, which powers iPad 2 and the fifth generation iPod touch and not iPad 3's A5X chip or iPad 4's A6X chip.

Camera:

iPad mini comes with front and back facing camera. The back-facing iSight camera is a 5-megapixel camera and the front-facing FaceTime camera is an HD camera, which will allow users to take 1.2-megapixel photos and record 720p HD videos.

Battery Life:

iPad mini comes with the same battery life as the full-sized iPad, which is amazing. It offers up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music.

Ultrafast Wireless:

iPad mini will also support 4G LTE networks around the world. It also supports HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA. It can also connect to Wi-Fi networks on 2.4ghz and 5ghz on 802.11n.

Lightning Connector:

As expected, iPad mini comes with Apple's new Lightning connector like the iPhone 5, 5th generation iPod touch and 7th generation iPod nano.

Siri:

iPad mini comes with Siri - Apple's personal assistant feature.

Storage Capacities:

iPad mini will be available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage capacities.

Colors:

It will be available in two colors: Black & Slate and White & Silver.

Pricing:

iPad mini will be available for $329 for the 16GB model, $429 for the 32GB model and $529 for the 64GB model.

Apple is also offering 4G LTE versions of the iPad for a premium of $130.

Availability:

It will be available for pre-order on Friday, October 26th in the US, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK.

Microsoft Surface Pre-Orders For All Models Are Sold Out

Microsoft is still taking pre-orders for the Surface tablet, but shoppers can no longer order one to be delivered on launch day -- the company has sold out of its pre-release stock.

Microsoft SurfaceThe Windows RT edition of this computer went on Microsoft's website on Tuesday, and the least expensive version sold out within 24 hours. Several days later, all three versions of this device are sold out.

Microsoft is still taking pre-orders, but shoppers will have to wait at least week to get their purchase, even though the Surface with Windows RT is going to debut on Oct. 26. Exactly how long the wait will be depends on the version. The $500, 32GB version will be available in about 3 weeks, the $600, 32 GB one with Touch Cover ships in 1 - 2 weeks, and so does the $700, 64 GB model with Touch Cover.

More about the Surface Series :

There will be two distinctly different versions of Microsoft's upcoming tablet. One of these will run Windows 8 RT, which was designed for ARM processors. The other, expected out next year, will run the full version of Windows 8 Pro on an x86 processor.

Despite their differences, the two editions of the Surface will have a certain amount in common, including a 10.6-inch display and support for the Smart Cover, which is both a keyboard and a cover.

The tablet will be sold only in Microsoft's own stores, and there won't be a version with cellular-wireless connectivity.  Instead, this will be a Wi-Fi only tablet.

Ubuntu running on Nexus 7

Up until now, we haven’t see much of Linux in the tablet world– well, except for the Linux-based Android OS. This is about to change as Ubuntu 13.04 will see a greater focus on aspects like battery life and memory consumption.

Ubuntu has become quite touchscreen friendly in the last few years, thanks to its new Unity interface. With that in mind, it seems that the Nexus 7 is now up and running with Ubuntu 13.04. According to Canonical (the folks behind Ubuntu) this particular tablet makes a great reference device for running Ubuntu.

The only downside to using Ubuntu on a 7-inch screen is that the icons are kind of small. Still, this is probably easily adjusted and we might see a slightly more “tablet optimized” version of Unity in the near future. For future testing, Canonical will focus on Google’s flagship tablet hardware. Who the actual vendor for a real Ubuntu tablet might be remains unseen though. It is also possible that Ubuntu on tablets will largely remain DIY project.

T-Mobile LG Optimus L9 release date October 31 for $80

The new T-Mobile LG Optimus L9 is a nice phone for people who don’t care about technology but still want a “smartphone”, especially those who dont even know what phone updates are. they will be content with this phone which will probably never be upgraded.

For only $80, this is a very, very well specced device. Looks nice except for ICS, which is a dealbreaker, even on a mid-range phone.

The T-Mobile LG Optimus L9 features include a 4.5-inch qHD Corning Gorilla Glass 2 Display, a 5MP rear camera, VGA front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 4GB internal memory, 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, dual core 1ghz is enough for most apps and basic games. And a 2,150 mAh battery and Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 will receive Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. It will be available in stores and online beginning October 31st for $79.99 with a two-year contract after a $50 mail-in rebate.

Nokia Lumia 510 launched

Nokia knows that not everyone is able to afford a high end smartphone, which is why when they walked with Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, there is a market segment that is crying out for an affordable model. I guess that clarion call has been met with the launch of the Nokia Lumia 510, an entry-level smartphone which does not burn a hole in your pocket, and yet looking stylish like all get out, coming in five different colors – red, yellow, cyan, white and black.

The hardware specifications one can look forward to would be a 4″ TFT display at 800 x 480 resolution, 256MB RAM with 4GB of internal memory, a 5-megapixel shooter camera at the back that does VGA videos at 30fps, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi and WCDMA connectivity. A Snapdragon S1 runs proceedings from underneath the hood, and you will still be able to enjoy Windows Phone’s signature Live Tiles, letting you check out at-a-glance updates as well as enjoy speedy access to all that you want to work with. Having said that, bear in mind that this is a Windows Phone 7.5 device, so you know for sure it will not be a handset to use if you want to remain at the cutting edge.

Microsoft Office Mobile apps have also been thrown into the mix, while the Internet Explorer 9 web browser helps you use the Nokia Lumia 510 right out of the box as it arrives in India, China, South America and Asia for $199 thereabouts from next month onward.

New Version Of Google Wallet Coming Soon

Google has quietly updated the website for Google Wallet, its mobile-payments service, to advertise "the next version of Google Wallet, coming soon."

Visitors can request an invite. We did, and Google asked us what kind of device we used—offering a choice of iPhone, Android, or "other."

That suggests that Google is getting away from its earlier dependence on special hardware on Android phones and is looking to broaden Wallet's acceptance among consumers and merchants.

While Google ran a lot of ads on buses and billboards for Wallet, the mobile-payments service never appeared to take off with consumers—in part because it was limited to specific phones carried by Sprint and Virgin Mobile and relied on NFC, or near-field communications, a short-range wireless technology.

Google also offers a Web-based version of Wallet for online payments, including purchases of digital content and apps in the Google Play store. It has offered a similar service for years, previously under the name Google Checkout.

Black Samsung Galaxy S3 will hit Stores in October 2012

Samsung will release the black Galaxy S3 version on October 24, thus answering calls for the traditional black color that seems to make any smartphone look strikingly pleasing. Samsung originally planned to replace black with Pebble Blue, which was as close as Samsung got to black, without it actually being black. But this was not enough to meet the expectations of a vast worldwide audience. The buyers wanted more, and more is what they got, with Samsung unveiling several Galaxy S3 color versions in recent months.

Expansys tells us that come October 24, or just in two days from now, shipments of the black Samsung Galaxy S3 will start arriving. The retailer will sell the 16GB black version of the flagship device for £409.99, which is obviously the unlocked price of the smartphone.

For those who don’t live in Europe, Verizon’s black and brown versions of the device have already been released. Moreover, the device is available in Garnet Red from AT&T. While the black variant has been sighted on Samsung’s Facebook page at the London Olympics, snapping photos and sharing files via S-Beam, we got to take it for a hands-on spin only at IFA 2012 in Germany.

On a different note, Phandroid reports that a 64GB Galaxy S3 model could soon be available from Verizon, although nothing is certain yet. The model is also said to feature an Exynos chip instead of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 SoC found on all U.S. Galaxy S3 versions. Android enthusiasts may remember Samsung promising a 64GB Galaxy S3 at the London launch event, but the device failed to show up on the shelves. It was assumed that Samsung slated the idea, an ideology the company eventually denied – but we’re yet to see a 64GB Galaxy S3 in stores.

Airtel becomes fourth largest telecom operator in the world

Airtel becomes fourth largest telecom opIndian telco Bharti Airtel has become world’s fourth largest telecom operator, reports Press Trust of India, citing research firm Wireless Intelligence.

According to PTI, Airtel follows China Mobile (No 1, 683.08 million connections), Vodafone Group (No 2 386.88 million) and America Movil Group (No 3 251.83 million) in the top five.

Bharti Airtel currently has 250.04 million subscribers followed by Telefonica Group with 243.51 million.

Wireless Intelligence states in its “Mobile operator worldwide group global ranking by connections (Q2, 2012)’” report that Airtel is the only other telco in top ten apart from China telecom to move up in its ranking. It was earlier at the fifth spot.

While Airtel might have improved its ranking, Bharti’s mobile revenue at $3.04 billion in Q2 is much lower than the other operators in top fiveerator in the world

Acer to launch an Intel powered smartphone by the end of 2012

After Motorola, another big manufacturer is planning to launch Intel-powered smartphones. According to a report in China Post, Acer is gearing up to release its first Android smartphone with Intel chip inside by year-end.

The smartphone is currently a mystery, but we think, it will come with 2GHz Intel Atom processor, which was last seen in Motorola RAZR i.

The news of Acer Intel phone is coming from Peter Shieh, who is the vice president of Acer’s corporate account business division in Taiwan. He stated that Acer plans to pre-install its own cloud service on the new model.

Acer currently uses chips from Qualcomm, MediaTek and NVIDIA (for tablets) and Intel chips will help it diversify its portfolio even more as the company struggles to gain ground in the smartphone and tablet market.

“Intel is a more familiar partner to us because we have been working together in the PC sector for a long time,” Peter Shieh said.

Company has also launched its first Jelly Bean tablet in the North America on Thursday. The tablet has been priced at USD 229.99 and will go on sale starting October 30.

Vodafone’s Galaxy S3 getting Jelly Bean update today

It’s safe to assume that owners of Samsung Galaxy S3 on Vodafone won’t be hit with a bout of the blue Mondays. As expected, the wireless carrier has started pushing out the Android 4.1 update for the Galaxy S3 today.

Following Samsung’s confirmation that all UK-based Galaxy S3 smarphones will be getting Jelly Bean in the coming weeks, Vodafone was the second mobile operator in the country to serve Google’s latest and greatest mobile operating system. Remarkably, there’s no hint of a delay and the software upgrade seems to be rolling out smoothly.

Seeing that it’s being released in batches, you may not receive an update notification on your device right away, and it may take several days or more for the new firmware to reach everyone. If you don’t see any over-the-air prompt yet to download and install the file, it’s worth connecting your beloved Galaxy S3 to your PC and use Kies software to manually check for the update.

Google will unveil the LG Nexus 4 on October 29, confirmed by LG

This one comes as no surprise after so many leaks - LG has now confirmed that Google will unveil the Nexus 4 next Monday, on October 29th

"Google will unveil the LG Nexus on October 29 and the phone will be available in the Indian markets by the end of November," LG Mobile Product Planning head Amit Gujral said. The LG executive mentioned that the device will have a 4.7-inch display and a 1.5GHz quad-core processor.s

With the new Nexus flagship (it seems there will be one new Nexus phone only after all), Google will bring a brand new version of the Android operating system. Android 4.2 was widely rumored and now LG is confirming this as well.

Google is said to be doubling its security efforts with 4.2 (which could be called Key Lime Pie). It’s also allegedly bringing a new Gmail, a quick settings panel, a revised gallery application and multiple accounts for tablets.

Nokia launches Asha 308 in India at Rs. 5,685

The Asha 308 is a full-touch feature phone running on Series 40, which has been a huge success with Asha 305 and the Asha 306. Asha series has been a huge hit for Nokia, regardless the fact that there are affordable Android smartphones available in the market from local vendors. Nokia has reported that in the last quarter the company has shipped over 6.5 million units of the Asha series of feature phones.

This new addition to the series sports a 3-inch capacitive display and is dual-SIM capable. The device also features a 2 megapixel rear camera, microSD card slot, 20MB built-in storage, 64MB RAM and 128MB ROM. Additionally, the device has FM radio capability, however it lacks Wi-Fi connectivity.

Apart from this Nokia has pre-loaded social networking apps including – Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. It comes with 40 EA games titles for no extra money.

Aircel offers iPhone 3GS at Rs. 9,999

 Postpaid customers of Aircel will now be able to purchase the iPhone 3GS at a special price of Rs. 9,999. The deal is attached to an Aircel postpaid plan that costs Rs. 3,000 for a full year, and gives you 2GB of data every month, with speeds dialed down to 128 kbps once the FUP limit has been reached. Aircel is also throwing in 6 months of unlimited 2G data in areas where 2G plans are available, along with 1000 local and STD minutes along with 2500 local and national SMSes.

The deal is particularly attractive as the cost of owning the handset even with the postpaid plan is cheaper than the 4G iPod Touch. Apple's latest portable media player starts at Rs. 13,000 for the 8GB version, and sports improved specs over the 3GS, with a 720p camera and high pixel density screen.


While the 3GS has seen support for over four firmware updates, its specs aren't competitive to be priced as a mid-range smartphone in 2012. With a 600 MHz processor and a HVGA resolution screen, and a single 3 megapixel camera on the back, it should certainly dent Android's stronghold in the sub 10k category. The price cut should certainly be a welcome sight for Aircel customers, and should trigger other competitors like Airtel to revise their prices as well.

LG launches Optimus Vu in India for Rs. 34,500

LG has now launched its very first phablet device in the Indian market, called the LG Optimus Vu. The phablet is priced at Rs. 34,500 and will go up directly against Samsung’s Galaxy Note II, which is priced at Rs. 39,000.
The Optimus Vu was first unveiled by the company at MWC earlier this February and it is a 5-inch device which has a 4:3 aspect ratio and a 1024×768 pixels resolution. The Optimus Vu is powered by a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, it has 1GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage capacity.

The LG Optimus Vu also sports an 8 megapixel rear camera, a secondary front facing 1.3 megapixel camera and a 2080mAh battery. The device comes with its own stylus and just like the Galaxy Note, the device comes with some pre-loaded apps which make use of the stylus input. It runs Android 4.0 ICS. In terms of hardware, the Optimus Vu is not as good as the Galaxy Note II which is powered by a slightly better processor, has huge battery, bigger screen and the stylus input has been heavily optimized. However, this phablet from LG does cost a little less.

Lenovo Brings Bendy Display Design to NEC Via La Vie Y Hybrid Tablet

Lenovo’s Japanese partner NEC is set to offer a variant of the bendy IdeaPad Yoga 11 to its kawaii shores.

Just like the IdeaPad Yoga 11, the NEC LaVie Y is a combination of a laptop and a tablet as its display can be folded over to tuck the keyboard away. This 11.6-inch gadget features a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage. But the similarities will end there, as the LaVie Y comes with a custom NEC app within what could be a watered-down version of Windows RT.

The NEC LaVie Y convertible PC will arrive in stores around November 22nd, days before the Lenovo IdeaTab Yoga 11 becomes available. The price, meanwhile, can be a bit too much: estimated at $1,136, almost twice of the Yoga 11’s.

New Intel's 34nm X25-M runs like a thoroughbred SSD, costs less

It was only two days ago that they finally became official, but already we've got a couple of reviews springing up to tell us all about the second generation X25-M SSDs from Intel. PC Perspective kick things off with a full examination of the new drive, finding plenty of good (improved random reads and writes), some bad (minor fragmentation issues under extreme use scenarios) and pretty much no ugly. Not to be outdone, Anandtech have dissected the drive and compared its innards with the older generation hardware, while also running a few benchmarks for good measure. The conclusion in both camps is that while Intel has improved the hardware side of things, it is the drastically reduced price that makes the X25-M G2 the best choice in the consumer SSD space. Navigate past the break for a pricing chart, but remember that retail cost will be a bit steeper, should you be able to snag one in the wild.

HTC J Butterfly Is The World’s First 5-Inch, Full HD Smartphone

HTC has unveiled its 5” competitor the HTC J Butterfly, which is a 5” Android smartphone which runs of Android 4.1. It has a Super LCD 3 as told by HTC which is a 440 ppi Full HD interface. The smartphone or Phablet comes with an impressive Quad Core 1.5 GHz processor which will ensure you that your device will not lag or stop inspite of your multitasking or HD gaming. It is equipped with LTE and NFC which makes it a global device and increases your productability. HTC J Butterfly is new to the market and it is aimed at targeting the Galaxy Note 2 with its high end specifications and sleek design.

Specifications of HTC J Butterfly:

Device Type:Bar Type
Display: 5 inch, Super LCD 3 with 440 ppi full HD
Display: Screen Resolution: 800 x 1280 pixels
Operating System: Android 4.1, Jelly Bean 
CPU: Quad-core 1.5GHz APQ8064 processor
RAM: 2GB
Internal Memory: 16 GB
External Memory: Expandable with Micro SD card
Back Camera: 8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
Front Camera: 2.1MP
Video Recording:1080p
Battery: 2020 mAh Li-Ion
Talk Time: Up to 26 h 10 min (2G) / Up to 13 h 30 min (3G)

Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse

With the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft has released some new peripherals that have been designed to complement the new operating system, and its new way of doing things. First up is the Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse, a rather odd looking Bluetooth-only mouse.

In the past, Microsoft has launched a number of ergonomic peripherals that are comfortable to use for long periods of time. As you can guess from one look at this mouse, this isn't one of them.

But that's not the aim of this mouse. It's not designed for sitting in front of a desktop PC for hours at a time, but for quickly using with a Windows 8-equipped tablet. There's no dongle, but as long as your tablet is Bluetooth capable you can get Windows 8 to search, detect and connect to the mouse rather painlessly.

Software for adjusting what the mouse can do can be downloaded from Microsoft's website, but there's not many settings to change, so it's pretty pointless.

The mouse is small, so easy to carry around with you, and you can fit a few fingers on there to move the mouse around. As with previous Microsoft mice, the Bluetrack technology keeps the mouse responsive over a variety of surfaces.

The mouse also works with some touch gestures, such as swiping horizontally or vertically. While it doesn't seem to support multi-touch gestures, such as pinching to zoom in, it does make the Windows 8 interface more intuitive, as opposed to using a traditional mouse.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 vs Asus Padfone 2

It has been a good year for two major tech firms and that is Samsung and Asus. This can be said, as Samsung outsmarted Apple in the market share dominance, on the other hand Asus gained much complements and rave review for the Google-branded Nexus 7 tablet. While both the manufacturers were achieving sales in different aspects of the tech world, but with the launch of Asus Padfone 2 and Galaxy Note 2, both the tech vendors have got into same line of competition and will have keep a watch at each other in terms of market sales.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which was subjected to a plethora of rumors, speculations and image leaks in the past few months finally got released in India last month. The device boasts some of its amazing features such as a huge screen display, 4G/LTE connectivity, new operating system, NFC support, S-pen and more.

At the same time, hybrid devices that combine smartphone, tablet and netbook in a single pack the successor of the original Asus Padfone – the second generation PadFone 2 has also impressed the tech experts in the market.

Hence, if you are looking forward to know how Galaxy Note 2 and PadFone 2 are different from each another, here is a comparison based on their specifications.

Dimensions & Weight :

While the dimension and weight of Asus PadFone 2 are not revealed, Galaxy Note 2 carries a dimension of 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm and weighs around 180 grams.

Display :

Coming to the display, Galaxy Note 2 houses a massive 5.5 inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution.
capacitive touchscreen display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution.

On the other hand, PadFone 2 sports a larger 4.7 inch Super IPS+ capacitive touchscreen display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution.

Additionally, Galaxy Note 2 has an improved S-Pen support, which is revamped with rubber tip and enhanced touch response.

Processor :

In this segment, Galaxy Note 2 is equipped with a Samsung Exynos 4412 Quad chipset and PadFone 2 packs a quad core Qualcomm APQ8064 SoC processor.

Operating System :

While the Galaxy Note 2 will be running with Google’s latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, PadFone 2 is flavored with Android 4.0 ICS operating system.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean has new features including Project Butter, enhanced accessibility with new APIs, support for International users with bi-directional text support, other language support, expandable and contractible notifications, resizble app widgets, live wallpaper preview, high resolution contact photos, improved Android Beam and Wi-Fi network.

Camera :

On the camera optics front, Galaxy Note 2 has an 8MP rear camera equipped with features like autofocus and LED flash and a 1.9MP front camera for video calling.
 In comparison, PadFone 2 is equipped with a whopping 13MP rear camera with BSI sensor and a 1.2MP front camera for video calling.

Storage:

Both Galaxy Note 2 and PadFone 2 come in three versions – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB internal storage, 2GB RAM and a micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB expandable memory.

Connectivity :

On the connectivity front, both are packed with similar features including 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC.

Battery :

Galaxy Note 2 is loaded with a larger 3,100 mAh Li-ion battery and PadFone 2 is powered by a 2,140 mAh Li-ion battery.

Price :

Though the official pricing of PadFone 2 is not known, it is predicted by analysts to cost around more than original PadFone, which is priced at Rs 64,999. On the other hand, Galaxy Note 2 is priced in India at Rs 39,990.

Apple iPad mini Claims Its First Victim

After the 7.85-inch tablet ships, everyone expects a bloodbath. However the Apple iPad mini’s first victim won’t be the Kindle Fire HD, Nexus 7, Microsoft Surface or even RIM Playbook, though everyone of those products are certainly threatened. In fact, Apple very well might kill off one of its own in order to reduce product confusion.

Do you remember the iPod mini? When Apple killed it in September 2005, after less than nine months of life, the iPod mini was the company’s best-selling MP3 player — people were shocked.

However, it was replaced by the iPod nano, which went on to become an worldwide best seller, and Apple has dominated the MP3/media player market ever since.

That said, AppleInsider quotes Evercore Partners’ Rob Cihra as saying the iPad mini’s first victim will be the iPad 2. Fundamentally, the analyst believes Apple will terminate their $399 tablet, which by all accounts continues to sell very well, to maintain “clearer product tiers.”

However, even if the iPad 2 is discontinued, Apple will still offer plenty of low-cost tablet choices — 16 configurations (white or black, wifi only or wifi + 3G in 8, 16, 32 or 64 GB capacities) are expected when the iPad mini ships on Friday, November 2 — with pricing starting at $249.

Of course, sometime between the Apple iPad mini’s ship date and Christmas, look for dozens of crappy little name brand and so-called “whitebox” Android tablets to be (mercifully) killed off. RIM Playbook? Yeah, it’s almost certainly dead, too…

Google launches Play Store seller support in India

Over the past year, Android device activations in India have jumped more than 400%, bringing millions of new users to Google Play and driving huge increases in app downloads. In the last six months, Android users in India downloaded more apps than in the previous three years combined, and India has rocketed to become the fourth-largest market worldwide for app downloads. To help developers capitalize on this tremendous growth, we are launching Google Play seller support in India.

Starting today, developers in India can sell paid applications, in-app products, and subscriptions in Google Play, with monthly payouts to their local bank accounts. They can take advantage of all of the tools offered by Google Play to monetize their products in the best way for their businesses, and they can target their products to the paid ecosystem of hundreds of millions of users in India and across the world.

If you are an Android developer based in India, you can get started right away by signing in to your Developer Console and setting up a Google Checkout merchant account. If your apps are already published as free, you can monetize them by adding in-app products or subscriptions. For new apps, you can publish the apps as paid, in addition to selling in-app products or subscriptions.

When you’ve prepared your apps and in-app products, you can price them in any available currencies, publish, and then receive payouts and financial data in your local currency. Visit the developer help center for complete details.

Along with seller support, we're also adding buyer’s currency support for India. We encourage developers everywhere to visit your Developer Console as soon as possible to set prices for your products in Indian Rupees and other new currencies (such as Russian Rubles).

Stay tuned for more announcements as we continue to roll out Google Play seller support to many more countries around the world.

Google Announces New Samsung Chromebook

In case you missed it, Google and Samsung have teamed up to release the latest version of the Chrome OS-based Chromebook; powered by a fanless dual-core A15 ARM processor and featuring an 11.6-inch display, this "browser in a box" might be all the laptop some people need.
As we mentioned in our review of the first generation Samsung Google Chromebook, a Chromebooks is essentially a "browser in a box" that makes full use of the Google search, Gmail, YouTube, and Hangouts. Google calls the Chromebook "a hassle-free computer" since updates are handled automatically and there is very little to learn. If you know how  to use the Google Chrome browser then it won't take you long to understand how to use a Chromebook.
All of the basic apps are pre-installed and you can download more apps; many of them available at no cost. The Chromebook starts in seconds thanks to the very light Chrome OS installation and the fast 16GB SSD. Yes, you heard that right. There is only 16GB of built-in storage on this laptop. Most of your files are stored in the cloud on a Google Drive so you only need to store your most important files locally. Of course, this means that you need to have a connection to a wireless network at all times in order to access the files that aren't stored on your laptop. That said, keeping your files in the cloud instead of on your laptop means that it's easy to replace a Chromebook if it's stolen and you can just login to your Google account and change your password if you're concerned about security after losing a Chromebook.
You can pre-order the new Chromebook at Amazon now and it comes with 100GB of free storage for two years via Google Drive. It will also soon be available via major retailers like Best Buy in time for the holidays.

Samsung Chromebook 2012 (XE303C12)  :

1.Display : 11.6-inch glossy LED-backlit display, 1366x768 resolution, 200nit brightness
2.Processor : Samsung Exynos 5250 (dual-core A15 ARM)
3.Memory : 2GB
4.Storage : 16GB SSD
5.Ports : 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, combo headphone/mic jack, SD memory slot, HDMI out
6.Speakers : two 1.5W speakers
7.Keyboard : Full-size Chrome keyboard
8.Wireless : 802.11 abg/n 2x2, Bluetooth 3.0 Compatible
9.Weight : 2.43 lbs (1.1.kg)
10.Battery Life : over 6.5 hours
11.MSRP : $249 USD (Wi-Fi only), $329 USD (Wi-Fi + 3G)

Toshiba Satellite P855-10G

Top of Toshiba's P855 range, the 10G features Intel's much-touted new Ivy Bridge chip, and comes packed with software and hardware to back it up. It's on sale now.

Design :

his is no ultrabook. It's a heavy (2.94kg), powerful multimedia laptop that works equally well on the move or as a desktop replacement. It's finished in a classy champagne metallic effect and the ports include four high-speed USB 3.0 inputs, an HDMI output and a multi-card reader. Two of those USBs also include the sleep and charge feature, which allows you to charge your mobile phone or MP3 player while the P855's switched off.

The keyboard is a little bit of a letdown. Though the plastic keys are nicely spaced, they offer little travel, and don't give much feedback, which means they can be all too easy to miss when you're typing fast. Still, a little practise helps you get into the Tosh way of typing (heavy, basically).

The touchpad is large and reasonably sensitive, though the touch-sensitive buttons won't be for everyone.

Screen and features : 

The 15.6-inch screen offers an impressively sharp resolution of 1920x1080 pixels -- not the very highest perhaps but certainly compelling. Resolution drops somewhat for the glasses-free 3D feature to 1366x768, for which you'll need to use Toshiba's embedded Blu-ray disc player. The 3D effect works, helped by the front-facing camera which tracks your eyes to adjust the 3D image. But it's not as smooth as you tend to get with the glasses variety, and it can get a bit wearing on the eyes after a while.

The quad-core i7-3610QM processor runs at 2.3GHz but also has Turbo Boost technology which can take it up to 3.3GHz. Combined with an impressive 8GB RAM, plus hyper-threading that effectively allows it to double the number of cores to eight, and you have an extremely powerful laptop.

Performance :

It delivered a PCMark performance benchmark rating of 2,589, which puts it above Samsung's Series 9, though it came behind the HP Folio 13 ultrabook. That said, it took just one minute and 36 seconds to encode our test 11min movie for iTunes, which puts it well ahead of any other laptop we've tried so far, and in the same zone as Alienware's X51 gaming monster. And speaking of games, it offered frame rates around 290-300fps while playing Portal on its default settings, so it should be able to take most of the HD gaming you can throw at it.

Ivy Bridge processors come with Intel's HD 4000 graphics built-in, but Toshiba has added the Nvidia GeForce GT 640M, which is more than capable of playing HD video.

There's a Blu-ray drive on board that will play just about every disc format you can think of. The frankly huge 1TB of storage is welcome too, with loads of room for a substantial amount of the highest of def content.

With all that power, the battery life is less than stellar, and it managed just three hours before needing a recharge.

BlackBerry Music Gateway

The BlackBerry Music Gateway is a dinky little black box adorned with a microUSB power port, 3.5mm headphone jack and a single LED. Oh, and a RIM BlackBerry logo that hides a Bluetooth pairing button. Tiny and lightweight, it's designed to step back and let the music do the talking while drawing as little attention to itself as possible.

It looks not unlike HTC's Media Link, although that device is designed for connection to modern TVs via HDMI. Basically, it's a one-trick pony that streams audio from your phone to your music player -- you can't use it for phone calls since it doesn't have a microphone, and it won't stream to other wireless devices such as Bluetooth headphones.

It connects to your system with a choice of two cables -- one that connects 3.5mm jack headphone-style sockets, and another that connects jack to RCA stereo inputs.

Once you're plugged in, and it's connected to the mains via the supplied USB lead, you pair it with your phone using Bluetooth. Since it uses old-school version one it will pair with just about any Bluetooth device available, whether it be BB, Android, Windows or Apple.

You hold down the pairing button until the LED flashes red and blue, then it's just a question of finding it with your Bluetooth phone, which worked seamlessly with the BlackBerry Curve 9320 we tried it with, as well as an iPhone, a Samsung Android handset and a Nokia Windows device. Once you're connected you can transmit your music from up to about 10 metres away, though this drops rapidly if there are walls in the way.

So far, so-so, but where the Music Gateway is a little bit different is that it incorporates NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, allowing you to tap your device on its surface to connect.

It's an intriguing idea, but to use it, you'll need to have both your NFC and Bluetooth activated on your handset, and hold down the logo button on the Music Gateway to activate the device's Bluetooth link. It only takes a few seconds, but in that time you could have flipped through to your phone's Bluetooth menu anyway.

Once you're connected though, using the Music Gateway was painless and easy, and it saves you plugging in your phone when you fancy some playback.

Acer launches 7-inch Iconia Tab

It's probably better that Acer announced its new 7-inch Android tablet, the Iconia Tab A110, before Apple's event next week -- where it's likely to introduce its iPad Mini -- though one might question why the company wants to jump into the mini-tablet market right now.

With the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus already firmly entrenched, and Apple potentially lining up to lay waste to all competitors, it's certainly a curious time to be launching the Iconia Tab A110. Acer can point out that unlike the Kindle Fire HD and also Barnes & Noble's Nook HD, the A110 will run Jelly Bean, the latest version of Android. It also comes with an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and a microSD card slot, which you might need because the A110 only includes 8GB of on-board storage.

Even worse, the resolution of the A110 display is only 1,024x600, which is now a drawback in a post-Retina Display world of pixel-packing. Couple that with a price tag -- $230 -- that is more than the $199 you can spend for the Nexus 7, Nook HD, or Kindle Fire HD, and it's really unclear what the value proposition is for the A110. (Even if you get the Kindle Fire HD without the special offers, it's still cheaper at $214.)

Acer may have had this mini-tablet in the pipeline for some time, and figured it'd be worth releasing it rather than throwing it on the scrap heap. But all signs point to this getting lost in the shuffle against cheaper, more highly visible competitors.

Facebook: Get Rs 50 Talktime Free On Signing New Account from Mobile

   
In an attempt to increase the number of Indian user-base, Facebook, the world’s largest social network with over one billion active users a month has quietly launched Talktime program in the country.

Under this program, the social networking firm provides Rs 50 talktime for free to every new user who signs up the network using their mobile phones.

According to a Plugged.in report, users will have log on to m.facebook.com/tt and register to get the free talktime. However, users can also log on to m.facebook.com and sign-up for a new account, but this process will not fetch any free talktime.

While this Talktime program is only for new sign-ups and not for existing users, those users who refer others to join the Mark Zuckerbery network will receive free Rs 50 talktime.

Apparently, Facebook is not content with 1 billion users and it’s turning to mobile subscribers in India to fuel its growth. Also, it is to be noted that the talktime scheme will add to the rising number of fake profiles, which Facebook lately been struggling with for quite sometime.

Worldwide Smartphone Users Cross 1 Billion Mark

Reportedly, there are a total of 1 billion smartphone users in the world right now. The latest report was revealed by Strategy Analytics which is a Research and Consulting firm. The analyst firm stated that the 1 billion mark of smartphone users in the world was reached on the third quarter of 2012. The study credited Apple for catalysing the industry growth. The report was announced just weeks after Facebook announced its user base to have crossed 1 billion.

The report stated the smartphone industry to have taken a total of 16 years for crossing the 1 billion mark. The report however stated that the next similar milestone will be achieved in less than three years. Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics stated that a vast majority of people in the global population still does not have any access to smartphone.

This throws light on the huge demand and scope for the smartphone industry to exponentially grow in emerging markets such as China, India and Africa. He also stated the iPhone which was introduced in the year 2007 to have revolutionized the smartphone design. Nokia Communicator was the first smartphone to be released in to the international market, during 1996. The report stated that the demand for smartphones have been exponentially growing since then.

The record sales were achieved by Apple’s latest smartphone iPhone 5, which sold over 5 million units within the first three days of its official launch on September 21. The firm stated that even though the figures looks quite impressive, the fact remains that about only one in seven people own a smartphone as of now and the penetration rate to be relatively lower than the standards.

Smartphone industry is definitely on its way to further growth with more manufacturers coming up with devices running on operating systems such as Android, iOS, Windows 8 and Symbian Belle operating system.

Google expands Street View coverage with largest update ever

 Google has added 250,000 miles worth of Street View coverage to Google Maps as part of what is being called the largest update since it was introduced seven years ago. The search giant has also doubled the number of special photo collections that give users a 360-degree view of various attractions like international landmarks and parks. Street View now has more than 20 petabytes of data collected from nearly 50 countries across the globe.

Specifically, Google points out that Street View has been expanded in a number of countries including Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Italy, Macau, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand and the US. The feature also includes new special collections in Brazil, France, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and Spain, just to name a few.

    On the walls of Elsinore Castle, nestled on the northeastern coast Helsingør in Denmark, Bernardo and Francisco uttered the opening words to William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. The castle known locally as Kronborg and immortalized by Hamlet, provided the setting for the Prince of Denmark to play out his personal battle with madness, grief and searing rage. Today we’re also launching images from inside Kronborg and its surroundings, so you can discover for yourself the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s masterpiece.

The updates come just weeks after Apple decided to drop Google Maps from devices running iOS 6 in favor of their own maps application. Cupertino moved to an in-house solution because Google doesn’t support voice-guided, turn-by-turn directions.

Apple Maps garnered numerous complaints from consumers and a wealth of attention from media. Apple CEO Tim Cook personally addressed the issue by apologizing for shortcomings and promising to work overtime on Apple Maps until it lives up to the standards that people expect from Apple products.

For what it's worth, Street View was recently made available via web browser which means iOS 6 users can once again enjoy the service through Safari or another browser of their choice.

Apple Update Removes Java From All OS X Web Browsers

Apple has this week rolled out a new update Java for OS X 2012-006, for its OS X operating system which has removed Java from all its OS X web browsers.
Once the new Apple update is installed users will be confronted with an alert when trying to load Java based web content, that now suggest they down load a new update from Oracle,

 The move is the latest example of Apple distancing its self from Java, and follows on from the recent update released by Apple that turns off Java in the browser when a user hasn’t used it for sometime. Apple explains on their website:

“This update uninstalls the Apple-provided Java applet plug-in from all web browsers. To use applets on a web page, click on the region labeled “Missing plug-in” to go download the latest version of the Java applet plug-in from Oracle.”

The removal of the Java support, will increase the security within Mac systems in an attempt to prevent hackers using malicious software and other tricks to exploit vulnerabilities within the software. For more information jump over to the Apple update notes.

Samsung Galaxy Camera Full Specification & Features

With various rumour mills roaming around before any tech device’s release, many expectations are embarked on consumer’s mind. While most of the rumours for let say, Apple are mostly bogus, same can’t be said for Samsung however.With various rumour mills roaming around before any tech device’s release, many expectations are embarked on consumer’s mind. While most of the rumours for let say, Apple are mostly bogus, same can’t be said for Samsung however.

had been rumours regarding Sammy introducing a new dimension in Camera category by making it a “Smart” device and that fantasy became a reality with Samsung officially showcasing the Galaxy Camera series equipped with lots of features.

The Samsung Galaxy Camera is a point-and-shoot digital camera that’s as feature-packed as any mid-range to high-end Android smartphone. The Galaxy Camera actually introduces the term “smart camera,” which is how Google senior VP for Mobile and Digital Content Andy Rubin envisions the next level of digital photography to be (smart move!).

Without any further ado, following are its complete specs :-
1.1.4 GHz quad-core processor
2.8GB built in storage, support for microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
3.4.8-inch capacitive touchscreen HD Super Clear Touch Display (308 ppi)
4.16.3 megapixel BSI sensor
5.23mm equivalent F/2.8 lens with 21x optical zoom
6.ISO settings: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200
7.Mobile data: 3G (HSPA+ 21 Mbps) and 4G capable: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
8.A-GPS, GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.0
9.Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
10.1,650 mAh battery

Photo features:

1.Smart content manager
2.Photo wizard
3.Best group pose
4.Voice control option
5.Auto cloud backup
6.Slow motion video
7.S Planner, S Suggest
8.Support for AllShare Play, Family Story, Dropbox

Automatic Sharing  :

No more need to traditionally connect the camera to your Pc for sending pics, the Samsung Galaxy Camera enables users to be able to automatically share pictures as they are captured to Social networks, emails etc (just like you would do on your smartphone).  Instant share feature is also available with devices like Galaxy S3 and Note 2.

Availability :

The Samsung Galaxy Camera will come in two variants: 3G and WiFi version and a 4G and WiFi version. No pricing has been announced yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

This device will no doubt threaten the existing Camera market as this is what every camera need to be : Great Lens quality for capturing pics/videos and powerful software to provide a beautiful and easy photo-shoot experience. Let’s see how consumers react to this device when it gets released.