Tons Blog: Tech Trends and Entertainment

BMW to launch its iconic MINI in India next year

2011-09-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

BMW is firming up plans to launch its iconic British marque MINI in India next year. While the German car giant had earlier decided against getting the car to India, the growing appetite of Indians for luxury has prompted the company to change its plans.

Andreas Schaaf, head of BMW India, said the company would maintain the brand's separate identity. "The MINI is a strong brand in the BMW Group portfolio and we are confident of its success in India. We will retail the car through standalone MINI dealerships and not use the existing network of BMW," Schaaf told TOI.

BMW has been on a roll in the Indian market, especially after it edged past rival Mercedes to grab the luxury car market leadership position in 2009. The company is looking to cross the 10,000 mark in sales this year and its strong showing has prompted its headquarter in Germany to finally give the nod for MINI. Schaaf said the MINI is not expected to be a volume cruncher. "The idea is to make the brand available here." The car is likely to be priced around Rs 25 lakh, though the final price will be decied at the time of the launch.

MINI will compete with models like Fiat 500 and Volkswagen's Beetle. Fiat was the first one to tap the segment and drove in the 500, popularly known as the 'Cinquecento', in 2008. The car is priced around Rs 17 lakh. So far, it has sold 70 cars. But while Fiat has seen a lukewarm response, VW has tasted success with Beetle, which comes for a little over Rs 20 lakh. The Beetle has sold 620 units in India since its launch in December 2009.

"Volumes from this segment may be limited now, but the expectation is that they will grow. You cannot plan a product after the market booms. You have to plan well ahead in time," said Abdul Majeed, who tracks the auto sector at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Like its competitors, the MINI will also be imported to India as a completely-built unit (CBU). BMW plans to have a limited retail presence and will likely to have two dealers in Delhi and Mumbai. The BMW group sold 1,461,166 units globally in 2010 among BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce. Of this, the MINI accounted for 234,175 units. Worldwide, MINI is available in the hatch, convertible, coupe, countryman and Clubman range. "BMW Group is presently evaluating which products from the MINI model range will be introduced in India," Schaaf said.

Source: TOI

IIT Kanpur may restrict Internet access to students at night

2011-09-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

At the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, the authorities deliberate on restricting Internet access to it's students during nightime, claiming that this has a negative impact on their performance in acaemic fields.

"The campus is wi-fi enabled and it has been found that students use Internet throughout the night on their laptops due to which they are sleepy during classes and it adversely affects their academic performance," Registrar Sanjeev Kashalkar asserted.

He also said that stress among the students is the result of their poor academic performance, due to which some of them even commit suicide, being unable to cope with the pressure.

The decision to restrict Internet access in the campus will be implemented, only if a consensus is reached on the matter. The restriction will apply between midnight and six am.

On Thursday, a BTech first year student had committed suicide at the institutes's hostel which was the ninth such case in the past six years and has become a cause of concern for the authorities.

Source: TOI

Latest Apple iPhone - iPhone 4

2011-09-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

Apple iPhone 4

With the launch of iPhone 4, Apple has created new amazing features, making the gadget more powerful, user friendly than ever!
Let's take a look at some of the pronounced features now.

Video Calling: Well you just tap a button and you actually can talk face-to-face, bet it iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 or to the new iPod touch over WiFi.

Retina Display: The iPhone 4 comes with the highest resolution and sharpest display, 4 times the pixel count of previous models!

HD Video Recording: Thanks to the advanced backside illumination sensor and built-in LED light, you can now shoot your movies in HD, no matter how you light condition is.

Camera: The 5-megapixel camera with built-in LED flash will capture your beautiful moments and memories.

Multitasking made possible: Run your favourite 3rd party apps in your iPhone 4. Don't worry, his will not affect it's performance, neither will it drain the battery life.

These are a few features apart from the common smartphone features we can share.

Tech Specs:

Dimension: 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm

Apple iPhone 4

Weight: 137g

Display: 960 x 640 pixel at 326 ppi

Display size: 3.5 inches

Connectivity:

GSM model: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

CDMA model: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless technology

Memory: 16GB or 32GB flash drive

Battery and Power:

    Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
    Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
    Talk time:

    Up to 7 hours on 3G
    Up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM model only)

    Standby time: Up to 300 hours
    Internet use:

    Up to 6 hours on 3G
     Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi
    Video playback: Up to 10 hours
    Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Camera:

        Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
        5-megapixel still camera
        VGA-quality photos and video at up to 30 frames per second with the front camera
        Tap to focus video or still images
        LED flash
        Photo and video geotagging

Audio Playback:

Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

TV and Video:

Supports H.264 video upto 720p, 30fps, stereo audio in .mp4, .m4v and .mov fileformats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30fps
Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Apple VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable (cables sold separately)

Connectors, input/output:

    30-pin dock connector
    3.5mm stereo headphone minijack
    Mic, Built-in speaker

Box Contents:

        iPhone 4
        Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic
        Dock Connector to USB Cable
        USB Power Adapter
        Documentation

Skype Video Chat Added To Facebook Features

2011-09-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

The largest Social Networking site facebook has added yet another feature to it's site, the Skype Video Chat.

This came as a shot across Google's bow, which recently launched its new Social networking site, Google+, featuring video calls.

Facebook and Skype has already shared a few instant messaging tools, while in the meantime, Skype is in the process of being taken over by Software giant Microsoft.
It's been reported that Microsoft is the major shareholder in Facebook.

The Skype Video Call feature was launched by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The founder asserted that the amount of sharing – of photographs, videos and web links – was a better indication of how people engaged with the site, than the number of users of over 750 million.

At launch, Facebook’s video chat service will only be able to connect two users face-to-face, whereas Google’s system allows group video calls, known as Hangouts.

“This type of thing is only possible because of the social infrastructure that already exists”, explained Zuckerberg