tech and gadgets

apple announces ipad 4 with an a6x chipset

2012-10-23T21:34:00.001-07:00

Everyone expected today’s Apple event to be all about the iPad mini, but it turned out that the Cupertino-based company had a surprise for us. Apple unveiled the fourth generation of its iPad iOS-running tablet.

Apple iPad 4 comes with a new A6X chipset, which promises twice the CPU and GPU power of the A5X that the iPad 3 used. It also packs the new Lightning connector and its LTE version has now been updated to support the Sprint network in the US, among others.

Apple iPad 4th Gen

Other than those that the Apple iPad 4 is identical to its predecessor, which was announced at the start of the year. Sporting the same 10 hour battery life and 1536 x 2048 pixel display as the iPad 3, the iPad 4 base version will cost the same $499. The LTE-enabled units start at $629.

The iPad 2 will also stick around - it will retail, starting at $399 now. Shipping of the Apple iPad 4 Wi-Fi units starts on November 2, with the LTE-packing ones coming two weeks later.

docomo launches "everything is unlimited" plan

2012-10-22T20:31:00.002-07:00

Cost - Rs 1299

Local Calls - UNLIMITED without

any Fair Usage Policy

STD Calls - UNLIMITED without

any Fair Usage Policy

SMS - 6000 FREE(unlimted....cause you can't send more than 200sms per day,damm trai)

2G GPRS Data - UNLIMITED on

Tata DoCoMo Network

3G Data - 2GB of FREE Data. After

that Speed Drops to 128Kbps

Roaming - UNLIMITED FREE

Incoming and Outgoing

there's another plan with local and std unlimited@899

karbonn launched a21 in india

2012-10-22T02:53:00.002-07:00

The Karbonn A21 is possibly the first phone to arrive with dual core branding, while other companies struggle to toss their products into the market. Karbonn has recently hit the limelight with their android phones and the Karbonn A21 will sure be one of their better to do units. Packed with a 4.5 inch touchscreen display and a 560×960 px The phone is nice to handle and easy to grip and looks good and sturdy at a first glance.

the phone features quite a lot of power underneath boasting a dual core 1 GHz processor. The phone also comes with ICS 4.0.4 out of the box and a sure shot possibility of Jelly bean in the future.

The Karbonn A21 is possibly the first phone to arrive with dual core branding, while other companies struggle to toss their products into the market. Karbonn has recently hit the limelight with their android phones and the Karbonn A21 will sure be one of their better to do units. Packed with a 4.5 inch touchscreen display and a 560×960 px resolution the phone features quite a lot of power underneath boasting a dual core 1 GHz processor. The phone also comes with ICS 4.0.4 out of the box and a sure shot possibility of Jelly bean in the future.

specs: display-4.5 inch(ips lcd)

ram-512mb(not 1gb thats confirmed, see photos below)

chipset-qualcomm s4 play/surf msm8625

cpu- dual cortex a5@1.2ghz(confirmed cause s4 uses cortex a5/modified snapdragon in surf/play, not krait cores)

gpu-adreno 203(powerful than adreno 200,equals almost to adreno 205/power vx535)

resolution-540*960(ideal for 4.5,karbonn made a good choice here,though karbonn list 480 on website and 540 on box)

battery-1800mah(a bit less for 4.5 inch though)

conclusion- overall its a good deal @10500............you won't get any other better phone at this price range......increasing your budget,you can get micromax a110@12900......it uses cortex a9@1ghZ and power vx531+ (+ stands for overclocked version.....keep visiting techeegeeks.blogspot.com for more info, micromax a110 coming next........

1080p smartphone displays offer no visual difference over 720p

2012-10-20T11:36:00.003-07:00

As smartphone screens get bigger, so do the resolutions. We’re already seeing “phablets” like Samsung’s new Galaxy Note II with a huge 5.5-inch display, and HTC’s recently-announced J Butterfly has a 5-inch display with a 1080p resolution. However, higher resolutions don’t always mean a clearer image. Clarity on a smartphone display can only get so good before the human eye doesn’t notice anything better.

Dr. Raymond Soneira, president and CEO of DisplayMate, a company that produces calibration software for various displays, says that most people won’t be able to notice the difference between a smartphone with a 720p display and one with 1080p. This is simply because photos and videos are spread over multiple pixels anyway, so they would still look a little blurred, in a way, no matter how high the resolution is.

Dr. Soneira says that the only way you would be able to tell a slight difference is if you had perfect 20/20 vision or have the screen up close to your eyes, and even then it’s still slightly hard to tell the difference. But obviously, most users hold their phones at least a foot or so away from their faces, which at that point, there’s no way users could tell the difference between clarity, and the human eye usually can’t process anything more than 229ppi in normal circumstances, which means even the iPhone 5‘s 326ppi resolution is a bit overkill.

However, Dr. Soneira does mention one advantage of a 1080p smartphone display that would have greater impact over a 720p screen, and that is more room for various user interface elements, especially for viewing websites on a mobile browser. More text would show up on the screen at once, and higher-resolution images show in full on a 1080p screen.

a tock from intel-haswell architecture

2012-10-19T11:54:00.002-07:00

Today Intel's magic formula is being threatened. Within 8 years many expect all mainstream computing to move to smartphones, or whatever other ultra portable form factor computing device we're carrying around at that point. To put it in perspective, you'll be able to get something faster than an Ivy Bridge Ultrabook or MacBook Air, in something the size of your smartphone, in fewer than 8 years. The problem from Intel's perspective is that it has no foothold in the smartphone market. Although Medfield is finally shipping, the vast majority of smartphones sold feature ARM based SoCs. If all mainstream client computing moves to smartphones, and Intel doesn't take a dominant portion of the smartphone market, it will be left in the difficult position of having to support fabs that no longer run at the same capacity levels they once did. Without the volume it would become difficult to continue to support the fab business. And without the mainstream volume driving the fabs it would be difficult to continue to support the enterprise business. Intel wouldn't go away, but Wall Street wouldn't be happy. There's a good reason investors have been reaching out to any and everyone to try and get a handle on what is going to happen in the Intel v ARM race.

To make matters worse, there's trouble in paradise. When Apple dropped PowerPC for Intel's architectures back in 2005 I thought the move made tremendous sense. Intel needed a partner that was willing to push the envelope rather than remain content with the status quo. The results of that partnership have been tremendous for both parties. Apple moved aggressively into ultraportables with the MacBook Air, aided by Intel accelerating its small form factor chip packaging roadmap and delivering specially binned low leakage parts. On the flip side, Intel had a very important customer that pushed it to do much better in the graphics department. If you think the current crop of Intel processor graphics aren't enough, you should've seen what Intel originally planned to bring to market prior to receiving feedback from Apple and others. What once was the perfect relationship, is now on rocky ground.

The A6 SoC in Apple's iPhone 5 features the company's first internally designed CPU core. When one of your best customers is dabbling in building CPUs of its own, there's reason to worry. In fact, Apple already makes the bulk of its revenues from ARM based devices. In many ways Apple has been a leading indicator for where the rest of the PC industry is going (shipping SSDs by default, moving to ultra portables as mainstream computers, etc...). There's even more reason to worry if the post-Steve Apple/Intel relationship has fallen on tough times. While I don't share Charlie's view of Apple dropping Intel as being a done deal, I know there's truth behind his words. Intel's Ultrabook push, the close partnership with Acer and working closely with other, non-Apple OEMs is all very deliberate. Intel is always afraid of customers getting too powerful and with Apple, the words too powerful don't even begin to describe it.

What does all of this have to do with Haswell? As I mentioned earlier, Intel has an ARM problem and Apple plays a major role in that ARM problem. Atom was originally developed not to deal with ARM but to usher in a new type of ultra mobile device. That obviously didn't happen. UMPCs failed, netbooks were a temporary distraction (albeit profitable for Intel) and a new generation of smartphones and tablets became the new face of mobile computing. While Atom will continue to play in the ultra mobile space, Haswell marks the beginning of something new. Rather than send its second string player into battle, Intel is starting to prep its star for ultra mobile work.

Haswell is so much more than just another new microprocessor architecture from Intel. For years Intel has enjoyed a wonderful position in the market. With its long term viability threatened, Haswell is the first step of a long term solution to the ARM problem. While Atom was the first "fast-enough" x86 micro-architecture from Intel, Haswell takes a different approach to the problem. Rather than working from the bottom up, Haswell is Intel's attempt to take its best micro-architecture and drive power as low as possible.

flash from ios and now java from mac os......apple gonna get it...........

2012-10-19T11:39:00.002-07:00

On Wednesday, Apple released a Mac update for Lion and Mountain Lion that strips all Mac browsers of theJava plugin, another move in the company’s effort to distance itself from Oracle’s Java software. Once the update is installed, users presented with Java content will see a placeholder that reads “Missing Plug-in.” After which point, users can then download the plug-in directly if desired.

Earlier this year, Apple had a bit of battle going on with the Flashback malware that threatened OS X users by exploiting a vulnerability in Java. In April, the company was forced to release a second software update for Lion 10.7 to solve the problem. Previously, Apple ceased including pre-installed version of Java in its OS, and then later released an update that disabled Java if it hadn’t been used in a certain period of time.

This isn’t the first time Java has come under fire for its vulnerabilities. Oracle’s software framework is one of the most exploited pieces of software you can run, and Oracle has been forced to address vulnerabilities in the recent past. One of the latest examples happened back in August, when exploits were produced and released for Java 1.7, forcing Oracle to cobble together a patch.

According to the Apple Support page, this update is for OS X 10.7 and later. In addition to stripping browsers of the Java plug-in, it also removes the Java Preferences application, which it says is not required for applet setting configuration. Some tech experts recommended that you disable Java if you don’t use it, thusly reducing the odds of your machine being infiltrated.

nexus s and galaxy nexus got android 4.1.2

2012-10-19T10:54:00.001-07:00

Google has announced that Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update will be available over the air for Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and the Motorola Xoom. As opposed to the last update, Android 4.0 ICS, which took pretty long to get to Xoom and Nexus S, this one made in good time. Unfortunately, it isn’t clear if this update schedule will apply to all versions of these devices.

The Jelly Bean update is about 15.1 MB and will be rolled out in phases, which implies we may have to wait another day or two till the OTA update finally shows up on your respective device. Earlier today, Samsung Telecommunications America LLC, reportedly announced the Jelly Bean update for Galaxy S3 for US citizens. Here’s hoping we aren’t far along from the update to roll-out in India. Android 4.1.2 is said to be a precursor before Google prepares to unleash Android 4.2 Key Lime Pie (or at least that is what many suggest it will be called), which will feature on the upcoming LG Nexus smartphone.

Google announces seller support in India, now allows developers to monetize their apps

2012-10-19T10:19:00.002-07:00

All Wall Street expectations aside, Google appears to be doing relatively well for itself. And while Android may not be the company's largest source of income, it isundoubtedly a primed possession to have around -- with that, it's only natural for the Mountain View-based outfit to extend a hand to the abundant amount of folks developing for its open-sourced platform. On this particular occasion, it's devs in India who are on the receiving end of a grand gesture, with Google announcing it's now allowing them to cash in on their applications by adding in-app purchases/ subscriptions to ones that are currently free, or simply by selling new, paid app creations on the Play store. Google says the valuable move was driven by India now being the fourth-largest market for app downloads, and that this is a great way to "help developers capitalize on this tremendous growth." source engadget

Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal released

2012-10-19T09:03:00.006-07:00

Following their biyearly tradition of releasing major updates to their OS, Canonical has released the newest version of Ubuntu, 12.10 Quantal Quetzal.

Among the chief new features is the ability to set websites as web apps and pin them to the launcher. You can have websites such as Gmail or Facebook pinned to your launcher and then open them just as you would open an application.

The other new feature is the inclusion of online search for your accounts within the Dash. Earlier you could only search for local files within the OS but now you can type any query and Ubuntu will search your online accounts such as Flickr, Google Drive, etc. as long as you log in to them from within the OS.

Lastly, there is a new Preview option for files within the Dash that lets you preview them without having to open the file.

As usual, Ubuntu 12.10 is completely free to download and install and you can get it from the link below.

Here’s a bit of trivia. When the Ubuntu 12.10 was released yesterday, the homepage said ‘Avoid the pain of Windows 8′. Now if you go to the homepage, it says ‘Your wish is our command’. Wonder what made Ubuntu suddenly change their wording.

Google launches ARM-based $250 Chromebook

2012-10-19T08:55:00.003-07:00

Google may not have had tremendous success with their ambitious Chromebook project but they don’t plan on hanging up their gloves any time soon. The newest product in the Chromebook like is a 11.6-inch model manufactured by Samsung and will be selling for just $249.99.

What really makes this Chromebook different from others is that this is the first to run on an ARM-based processor. Inside, the new Chromebook has a dual-core Exynos 5 Dual 5250 processor, which if youremember, is the world’s first Cortex A15 based SoC.

Other than that it has a 1,366 x 768 resolution display, 2GB of RAM, 16GB built-in flash memory + 100GB on Google Drive, 1 x USB 3.0 port, 1 x USB 2.0 port, HDMI-out, SD card slot, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Chromebook has a battery life of over 6 hours, which is surprisingly less for something running on such frugal hardware.

The new Chromebook is available for pre-order online from Amazon, Best Buy, PC World and other retailers and will be available on the Play Store next week onwards. You can also buy them at over 500 Best Buy stores across the U.S and over 30 PC World and Currys stores in the U.K.

Update: According to The Verge, there will also be a 3G variant of the Samsung Chromebook, which will sell for $329.99 and come with 100MB of free monthly 3G data for two years from Verizon.