The Mayans were right after all

Gangnam Style becomes first YouTube video to hit one billion views

Congratulations -- you've survived the end of the world! As you must have heard by now, the apocalypse warnings were absurd and your life is set to continue unchanged... or is it? PSY's Gangnam Style, which exhausted all entertainment value long before its popularity began spiraling out of control, has just become the first YouTube video in history to clock up a billion views (yes, you read that right... 1,000,000,000). We can only assume from this that the Mayans were right, and that the world is soon to descend into anarchy and chaos at the realization that PSY is basically the most important person in internet media, ever. We recommend locking your doors and prioritizing your perishables -- when you start hearing a faint hum in your head, and feel your wrists being drawn together against your will, you'll know its starting.

Karbonn launches the A30, a budget Android ‘smartphone’ with a monstrous 5.9″ display

Indian mobile manufacturer Karbonn has quietly launched A30, an Android4.1 (Ice Cream Sandwich)-powered smartphone with a huge 5.9-inch display. The device is currently available with online retailer Saholic at Rs 10,990. Though the seller is offering delivery period of three days and option of cash on delivery, it currently does not have the smartphone in stock. 


Karbonn A30's highlighting feature is its 5.9-inch TFT display, which is bigger than that of Samsung Galaxy Note II. However, unlike the top-of-the-line phablet by Samsung, Karbonn A30 has a 1GHz dual-core processor. The device has an 8MP camera with LED flash on the rear and a 1.3MP snapper in the front. 

Coming to connectivity, Karbonn A30 can access the internet over Wi-Fi, 3G and 2G, while files can be transferred via Bluetooth and microUSB. The dual-sim phone supports microSD card having capacity up to 32GB, is powered by a 2,500mAh battery and comes with built-in KingSoft Office productivity suite. 

Key specs of Karbonn A30: 

Display: 5.9-inch touchscreen;
Operating system: Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich);
Processor: Dual-core 1GHz;
Storage: Support for 32GB microSD card;
Connectivity: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, microUSB, Bluetooth;
Camera: 8MP with flash rear camera, 1.3MP front camera; and
Battery: 2,500mAh

Lava Xolo A800 available online in India, for Rs. 11,999

The recently revealed Lava Xolo A800, is now available online in India, listed at such online retailers as Infibeam.com, for Rs. 11,999.

A dual-SIM Android device, the Xolo A800 supports both GSM and CDMA networks. It features a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display, with a resolution of 960x540 pixels. The Xolo A800 is powered by a 1GHz dual-core MediaTek processor, and runs on Android 4.0 ICS.

Other features of the Lava Xolo A800 include an 8MP autofocus camera with LED flash, along with a front-facing VGA camera. The device runs on a 1,600mAh battery that will deliver roughly 5.8 hours talktime on 2G networks, and 7 hours of video playback time.

The Xolo A800 features 4GB of built-in storage with microSD card slot expandability, 512MB of RAM, as well as 3G/Bluetooth/GPS with A-GPS/USB 2.0/Wi-Fi connectivity.

It competes with the Micromax A110 which sports a bigger screen of 5 inch.

The Lava Xolo A800 was first rumoured at the end of November, and was expected to feature a 5-inch display, and be priced at roughly Rs. 13,000.

Google launches Instagram rival Snapseed

 Google said its online social network had grown to 135 million active users, as it added a photo-sharing app to compete against services like Facebook's Instagram.

"Today Google+ is the fastest-growing network thingy ever," said Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra in a blog post yesterday.



He added that "135 million (users) are active in just the stream," and that more than 500 million have upgraded their Google accounts to potentially participate in the social network, which aims to rival Facebook.

"This enthusiasm, we think, stems from our building tools that build real relationships -- in a live hangout, around a breathtaking photo, or with an inner circle of friends," Gundotra said.

"So today we're launching two new improvements that help bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software."

Google said it has now introduced the mobile photo-sharing service Snapseed, made by Nik Software, to the social network. Google acquired German-based Nik in September.

The Snapseed app was last year's iPad app of the year, and Gundotra said Google was excited to make the app available on its Android system as well.

The service, which is similar to Instagram -- bought by Facebook for a hefty price this year -- allows users to crop and enhance pictures before posting to social networks.

Snapseed had been available for $4.99 for Apple devices, but is now free on that platform as well as on Android devices, in a challenge to Instagram.

Gundotra said Google+ also will be adding a new feature called "Communities," which makes the Google+ "hangouts" into permanent locations.

Samsung launches Android 4.1 camera at Rs 29,900

 Samsung has launched its Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)-powered Galaxy Camera in India at Rs 29,900. The company has teamed up with Airtel to offer 1GB of free monthly data for two months, along with a extra battery that comes free with this 16MP camera.
The new Galaxy Camera has a 4.8-inch touchscreen and is compatible with all the apps available on Google Play marketplace. It is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor coupled with 1GB RAM and boasts of a 1,650mAh battery. The gadget supports sim-card for 3G connectivity and can also access the internet over Wi-Fi. 
Samsung Galaxy Camera has a BSI CMOS sensor and has digital and optical zoom of 21x each. The company has included features like optical image stabilisation and auto-focus (centre, multi and Face Detection) in this gadget. Some of the unique features of this camera are Instagram, Paper Artist, Dropbox, Photo Wizard, Video Editor, AllShare Play, S-Suggest and S-Voice.
The only other camera with Android in the market is Nikon S800c, which costs Rs 20,950 in the country, approximately Rs 9,000 less than Samsung's gadget. 
The South Korean manufacturer had begun taking pre-orders for the Galaxy Camera earlier this month at Rs 3,000, while the rest of the sum was to be paid within three days of its launch. The South Korean manufacturer is giving a 16GB microSD card for free with the device to those who pre-ordered the device on its website and pay the full amount within the next three days. The company is not offering Cash on Delivery option for the Galaxy Camera.
Samsung India will send emails to those who booked it in advance, notifying them of its availability. Those who do not make the full payment for the device within three days of its launch will not be entitled to the free 16GB microSD card. Also, the users who do not pay the full amount within 15 days of official launch will have to forfeit their Rs 3,000 pre-booking amount.


Tech specs:
Display: 4.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD touchscreen with 308 ppi pixel density;
Operating System: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean);
Sensor: 16.3MP (effective) 1/2.3" BSI CMOS;
Lens: F2.8, 23 mm, 21x super long zoom;
ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200;
Processor: 1.4GHz quad-core processor;
Memory: 8GB on-board, microSDSC, microSDHC, microSDXC memory slots;
Capture modes: Macro, Rich Tone, Action Freeze, Waterfall Trace, Light Trace, Beautiful Sunset, Blue Sky, Natural Green, Silhouette, Vivid Fireworks;
Connectivity: WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40, Bluetooth 4.0;
Battery: 1,650 mAh;
Misc: Share shot, Auto Cloud Back-up, Smart Content Manager, Photo Wizard, Movie Wizard, Voice Control, Slow Motion Video, S Planner, S Suggest

Aakash 2 Tablet Launched In India At Rs 1,130

India’s low cost tablet Aakash 2 was officially launched here on Sunday at a subsidised rate of Rs 1130 for Indian students.

The new and improved Aakash 2 tablet was unveiled by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee in Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Thousands of teachers are attending the event to virtually participate in the launch event through online video conferencing.

The new version ‘Aakash 2?, which will be made available to students of engineering colleges and universities to begin with, is now powered by a processor running at 1 GHz, has 512 MB RAM, a 7 inch capacitive touch screen and battery life of three hours on Wi-Fi.

The screen resolution is 800×480 pixels. The previous version of Aakash had a 7-inch resistive touch screen. Akash 2 runs Android 4.0 aka Ice-Cream Sandwich and has front facing VGA camera along with Wi-fi support. It has 4GB (internal) flash memory, which is expandable up to 32GB using a micro SD card.

The commercial version of the Aakash 2 unit is branded as UbiSlate 7Ci, and is available for purchase on DataWind’s website at Rs 3,500.

The tablet ‘Aakash’ was launched in October last year by the government to make available computing devices to students at subsidised rates. However, the project ran into controversy following IIT Rajasthan rejecting the devices manufactured by Datawind. Datawind had won the tender for making and supplying one lakh Aakash tablets for price of around $49 per unit.

For more details of the tablet, check out our post at - 
http://being-humanz.blogspot.in/2012/09/datawind-launches-4-new-tablets-on-ics.html

Nikon S800c - A camera with android OS?

It all began the day mobile companies thought it would be great to add a camera to phones. And now, Nikon seems to be fighting back with a camera that runs a smartphone operating system (OS).



The S800c looks like any point-and-shoot, but with enough metal in its fabrication to seem premium. But its true differentiator is that it runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

Switch it on and you are prompted to connect to Wi-Fi with its built-in receiver and set up the device with a Google account. The camera latches on to wireless connections easily, and just like that, you're ready to go. Email, browsing, social networking work smoothly, and the Play Store lets you download Android apps onto its 1.7GB internal storage.

Games like Angry Birds and Subway Surfer pose no issues. And its larger-than-average 3.5-inch touchscreen responds promptly to taps and swipes. But try 3D games like Dead Trigger and the S800c protests by crashing the app, reminding you that it's still a digital camera.

So what about the camera? 

Given that it has a 16MP sensor and 10x optical zoom, the camera's output is on par with similar shooters. Videos are shot in FullHD with stereo sound, colours look realistic, and pictures are satisfactorily sharp, though you would be kidding yourself if you expect snaps like those of similarly priced entry-level DSLRs and mirror-less cameras. And when compared with superzooms in this bracket, the photo output is almost identical, so the choice is between greater optical zoom and Android.

Still, you have to remind yourself that the S800c is not about the camera alone. It's a device that needs to be judged along with the apps that it lets you run. Indeed, with Android at the helm, it becomes easy for users to 'build' their own camera by choosing from a wide array of photo apps. With Instagram and Pixlr-o-matic on the shooter, we could click a photo, apply effects, and even upload it to the internet if there was a Wi-Fi connection at hand. And seriously, images after that kind of digital processing look fantastic despite the apps processing lower-res downscaled images.

Microsoft Testing A Surface Phone?

After the launch of the Surface tablet, Microsoft (MSFT) is reportedly is busy testing a smartphone with Asian suppliers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

However, it is not clear if the device will enter into mass production. The phone comes with a screen size between four and five inches, The Verge has reported.

Though previous reports suggested that Microsoft was mulling its own flagship Windows Phone, the device is unlikely to be unveiled before 2013.

The company is waiting to gauge the reception of its partners’ products — Nokia’s Lumia 820 and 920, HTC’s 8X and 8S, and Samsung’s ATIV S — before committing to bringing the phone to market. Unlike Android vendors, Microsoft keeps its phone hardware partners on a short leash, so few of the software elements can be changed. And even Nokia thinks it would be a good idea for Microsoft to release its own phone.

It’s possible that the company is waiting for sales numbers of its Surface tablet in order to see whether consumers are willing to buy into Microsoft as a device company.

Aakash tablet to be showcased at UN

India will showcase its low-cost Aakash tablet at the UN, highlighting the country's innovation involved in creating the "most competitively priced" tablet computer.



India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said a presentation on the tablet will be held on November 28 at the world body's headquarters here to which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be invited. 

Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Canada-based Datawind, which had won the Indian government's tender for making and supplying the tablets, will also be present on the occasion. 

Aakash has been "described as the most competitively priced tablet computer by an Indian-origin entrepreneur," Puri said at a news conference today to outline the Council's monthly agenda under India's presidency. 

He said while the tablet would be called "frugal innovation" in UN terminology, it is a "competitively priced innovation." 

Later talking to PTI, Puri said the Indian mission to the UN took the initiative to showcase the tablet at the world body and other UN member states as well as mediapersons will be invited to the event. 

Tuli would make a presentation to the UN audience on Aakash, which was launched in October last year by the Indian government to make available computing devices to students at subsidised rates. 

Microsoft offering Windows 8 for Rs 1,999

Offer a sophisticated operating system for the price of a pair of branded jeans. This seems to be Microsoft's strategy to cajole millions of users running pirated copies of its flagship Windows operating system (OS) to turn a leaf and become legitimate, paying customers.

The Redmond, Washington-based software giant is offering a deep discount on Windows 8 for a few months, selling a copy priced at Rs 11,999 for Rs 1,999. From a computer that runs Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 - pirated or otherwise - users can download a licensed copy of Windows 8 Pro, the version with all the bells and whistles, for an 83% discount. No questions asked.

The offer is valid till January 31, 2013. An upgrade DVD costs Rs 3,499 and if you bought a Windows 7 computer after June 2012, an upgrade is yours for Rs 699.

Microsoft is silent on whether this is a security loophole or a deliberate strategy. Company officials declined comment. Raju PP, editor of tech blog Techpp.com, who installed Windows 8 on a non-activated Windows 7 installation by paying Rs 1,999, said: "I have strong reasons to believe that this was a deliberate move to push up initial sales. Microsoft is big and wise enough to do a basic check for legitimacy of Windows 7 installation. They could have done a background check of the installation or could have asked for the Windows 7 licence key. But they didn't".

For years, the hordes of users who used pirated copies of the flagship Windows OS represented a tricky knot for software giant Microsoft. They were potentially robbing the company of billions of dollars in revenue. And yet, cracking down would have made them turn to free, open-source platforms.

iPhone 5 will say 'namaste India' tomorrow

Apple's partners in India have confirmed that the iPhone 5 will be reaching the subcontintent's shores tomorrow, November 2nd. We'll likely hear an announcement from Apple shortly, possibly mentioning other countries to which the handset is also headed. Lack of compatible LTE networks notwithstanding, the starting prices for an upgrade will be 45,500 rupees ($850) for the 16GB variant, moving on to 52,500 rupees ($980) for 32GB, and 59,500 rupees ($1,110) for the 64GB model -- enough to buy a brand new 150cc motorbike in Mumbai.

Samsung Galaxy S IV might feature quad-core Exynos 5450 processor

The Samsung Galaxy S IV, the fourth generation Galaxy S, is expected to come out in the first half of 2013 and might feature a quad-core Exynos 5450 Cortex A15-based chip, according to Korean DDaily.

Sources have found that the 28nm processor is entering test production by the end of the year and the chip will enter mass production in the first quarter of next year. Codenamed ‘Adonis’ after the Greek god of beauty and desire, Samsung is with it said to emphasize the high performance and low-power consumption of the device.



Based on all this rumor, SamMobile speculates that we could see a 2GHz quad-core processor in the S IV.
Now, if the Samsung Galaxy S IV indeed features the Exynos 5450, it will definitely have plenty of processing power. 

And if we were to combine this information with earlier whispers about the next Galaxy flagship being a device with a 5-inch 1080p display, we arrive at a pretty radical and aggressive bump up in specs.

Microsoft Officially Unveils Windows 8 and the Surface RT tablet

Microsoft has brought thousands of people to New York to celebrate the launch of its Windows 8 operating system and its Surface RT tablet, available October 26th. Touting 670 million users of Windows 7 and over 15 petabytes of data stored in its Skydrive cloud, Microsoft is confident that Windows 8 will become even more successful than its predecessor.



One major aspect of the announcement is bringing more attention to Windows RT, a version of Windows 8 optimized to run on ARM-based processors such as Nvidia’s Tegra 3 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 family. This is the version of Windows that will first become available on Microsoft’s Surface tablet — the Intel-powered Pro version will be available in the coming months — and will be limited to running apps downloaded from the Windows Store. While this severely limits the potential audience of Windows RT, Microsoft has promised that the Windows Store will contain more apps upon its launch than any other ecosystem did when it launched.



Microsoft claims that there have been over 1,000 PCs, in varying styles and sizes, certified to use Windows 8. The ARM-based PCs and tablets will have extensive peripheral support, supporting the majority of mice, keyboards and printers. As for apps, Microsoft promises that top brands will feature in the Store, as well as first-party apps such as Xbox Music, Games and Movies.

iPhone 5 Price for India confirmed Rs. 45,500 for 16GB, Rs 52,500 for 32 GB

The iPhone 5 is arriving at stores on the 28th of Oct and may go on sale as early as the same day. Some stores, including iStore (Reliance-Apple tie up) is saying that they will be allowed to sell the phones only on the 2nd of November.

The iPhone 5 price has been finalized at the earlier speculated Rs.45,500 for 16 GB with only one year warranty as always  and not the Rs. 47,999 price mark (supposedly including the 2 year warranty). Apple is expecting big sales with the iPhone 5 in India, and claims that they will sell atleast double of what they sold last year with the iPhone 4S.

Apple is also pegging big on iPhone and iPod sales this year, and has also enabled localization of apps in the App Store to show prices in Rupees instead of US dollars.  The nano sims that will work with the new iPhone 5 are already at network providers and Vodafone has confirmed that they are ready with sim cards in major metropolitan cities for the iPhone 5 influx.

IPHONE PRICE IN INDIA

• 16 GB : Rs 45,500
• 32 GB : Rs 52,500
• 64 GB : Rs 59,500

You can book your iphone from the below number : 

Gizmolution: +91 9560061018

Apple unveils 7.9-inch iPad Mini at $329

Apple on Tuesday unveiled iPad Mini, a smaller version of the original iPad, with a 7.9-inch touchscreen, starting at $329.

iPad Mini runs on dual-core A5 processor, FaceTime HD camera and 5 MP iSight camera (with1080p recording). This tablet will compete with the likes of Google Nexus 7, Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD.

The company also refreshed the regular iPad, launched in March this year and made it faster and added the new 8-pin Lightening dock, which was introduced in September with iPhone 5.

The tablet now also runs on a brand new A6X processor, which provides it with twice the CPU and graphics processing capabilities. It can now work on 4G LTE networks and Wi-Fi, and still offers the same 10 hours of promised battery life.

The new iPad Mini runs on iOS 6 and features the 8-pin Lightning dock. Battery back-up of the all-new Apple iPad Mini will be 10 hours, same as that of the full-sized iPad.

According to Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, iPad Mini has 35% extra screen space than routine 7-inch tablets, its current rivals. Since iPad Mini has the same screen resolution, all existing apps for iPad will run smoothly.

Apple is offering the Wi-Fi only iPad Mini in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities at $329, $429 and $519 respectively. For the 4G-compatible versions of the device, users will have to shell out an additional $130 for each variant. iPad mini and ipad 4G will be up for pre-orders on Oct 26. The Wi-Fi versions will start shipping on November 2, while the cellular-enabled models will hit the shelves two weeks later.

Apple also refreshed its computer line-up today by unveiling new versions of iMac, 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac mini.

Before his death, Apple founder Steve Jobs had in 2010 vehemently opposed the idea of a smaller iteration of the Apple's tablet, though company documents have revealed that he warmed up to the idea later on.

LG confirms Google will unveil Nexus 4, Android 4.2 on October 29th

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.

Android 4.2 pushing security hard: possible new features explored

Android 4.2 Alpha already gave us clues that Google is stepping up security, but digging deeper into the Alpha reveals just how serious the company gets about safety. Not all of the features found in the code are guaranteed to arrive in the final version, just like multi-user access is in the code of Jelly Bean, but is not yet made available to users.

With that in mind, first comes Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux). The kernel add-ons makes it so that apps don’t have access to all files. You can pick from three options from SELinux: Disabled, Permissive and Enforcing. Permissive will log apps activity but won’t actually block apps root access and Enforcing does just that - blocking apps for maximum safety. This will bring almost desktop-like security options to Android, and with so many reports (true or not) about malware on the platform, it’s most definitely good news.

Secondly, the code mentions VPN lockdown. This is a change from the current model that allows data to be sent over regular connection when users sign out of a VPN network, and that won’t be possible with this new feature.

Finally, and probably most importantly, Android gets itself effectively rid of SMS scam schemes. How? Some apps work undercover sending paid text messages to select numbers without letting you know about it. You’d still have to pay hefty sums for those texts. Now, Google will simply detect whenever an app sends such a message and put out a message right away to warn you.

All of those seem like that extra coating of security Android needs, and shows how quickly the mobile OS is advancing and approaching desktop-like level.

HTC J Butterfly is a 5-inch 1080p monsterphone

The HTC J Butterfly has surfaced on HTC’s Japanese website and it is that elusive 1080p 5-inch monsterphone we’ve been hearing about all along.



The 5-inch Super LCD 3 display on the HTC J Butterfly works out at 440ppi, a truly amazingly detailed resolution. But it’s not just the resolution - color reproduction is reportedly outstanding, and the convex glass shape makes it stand out. It’s also very thin at just 9.1mm which makes it easier to deal with such a big display.

The Butterfly has all you’d expect from such a device: a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor, 2GB of RAM, and an 8-megapixel rear camera. It also runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

One thing we’re curious about is how its 2,020mAh battery will do, and will it last us through the day.

Right now, the HTC J Butterfly is coming to AU / KDDI in Japan only by end-December, but we’d expect its display to arrive in differently packaged bodies soon after.

Buy HTC Desire X (White) from Flipkart.com

Here is a demonstration of the Archos GamePad tablet (video)

The Archos GamePad might seem like a gamer’s dream device - it has the gamepad controls you’re probably used and they don’t take any space on the screen. 

Otherwise, the GamePad is a pretty regular device. It’s a 7-inch tablet with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, and powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor with Mali 400 GPU. It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and that means you have the whole repository of Android games available to you.

The most obvious use - apart from the games in the Google Play store - are emulator games. How does that look like? Pretty playable actually, check out a demonstration of the tablet right below.

Microsoft is making 3 to 5 million Surface tablets in Q4 2012

The Microsoft Surface tablet was made to show the best out of the new Windows 8 operating system. It’s designed and made by Microsoft in what is a huge transformation undergoing at the Redmond company making it not just a software maker, and more of an Apple-like company.

Microsoft is taking the Surface seriously - it has ordered 3 to 5 million to its vendors, and all of them are coming in the fourth quarter of 2012.

That puts it on the same scale as the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire tablets. Apple in contrast is expecting nearly double that demand, and is ramping up to make 10 million iPad minis for the fourth quarter

Here is how it breaks down, according to the preliminary data that’s leaked out:

• Microsoft Surface - 3 to 5 million
• iPad mini - around 10 million
• Google Nexus 7 - 3 to 5 million
• Amazon Kindle Fire - 3 to 5 million

The Microsoft Surface has just gotten its first ad, and it’s a fun one.

source: The Wall Street Journal

Microsoft Windows 8 pre-orders start, DVD pack to cost $70

Microsoft opened its Windows 8 operating system for pre-orders on Friday, setting the price for the full version of the software at $70 for a DVD pack. 



Users can also wait for launch on October 26 to download the system onto their computers for $40, an offer price that will expire at the end of January. 

Shoppers can reserve the software pack at Microsoft's own stores, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Staples and elsewhere. The price tag is significantly lower than the current price for a comparable version of Windows 7, which costs $200. 

Any customer who buys, or already bought, a Windows 7 PC between June 2 and the end of January 2013 will be able to get an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $15, a move designed to prevent a drop-off in PC sales before the launch of Windows 8. 

Microsoft also said PC makers such as Acer, Asustek, Dell, HP, Samsung and Sony were also now taking pre-orders for machines with Windows 8 pre-installed. 

The world's largest software company did not mention its own Surface tablet PC, which is expected on the market at the same time as Windows 8. Microsoft has not revealed specifications or price of the product it hopes will challenge Apple's iPad.

Google Brings Free SMS on Gmail in India

Google has extended its free SMS chat service to India, whereby users can send text messages to mobile phones via Gmail Chat.

The SMS service is available in India and 51 other countries in Asia, Africa and North America.

According to the feature, people using either chat programmes ( GTalk, or Gmail chat ) can send texts to mobile users for free and cell phone subscribers can reply at regular SMS rates.

To ensure maximum coverage, the company has tied up with mobile service providers Aircel, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTS, Reliance, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Indicom and Vodafone in a few cities, including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

The service starts with 50 SMS credits for each user, every sent SMS costing one credit. Every reply received adds on 5 credits subject to the maximum level being 50 SMS at any given time. There is no official statement from Google on the launch of this service, however the service has gone live this evening in the chat windows of many users. 

But don’t stress if you run out. “In case the SMS credit goes down to zero, it will increase automatically to one text after 24 hours. Keep in mind that if you’d like a higher message credit, you can always send an SMS to your own phone, and then reply to that message multiple times. Every time you reply, your SMS credit is increased by five. Effectively, you’re buying more messages by paying your phone company for these outgoing messages,” says Google in an explanatory post on its website.

Tablets : Micromax Sold More Than Apple And Samsung In Q2

In a CyberMedia Research it has been revealed that Micromax leads the Indian tablets market with 18.4 percent share in the second quarter of 2012. Samsung is in second position with 13.3 percent market share. Apple has a market share of 12.3 percent in terms of unit shipments during the 2Q 2012.

India tablet market sales touched 0.55 million units in 2Q 2012, up 673 percent y-o-y.

Entry of new tablet vendors and introduction of offerings from existing vendors at low to medium price points have contributed to the significant growth.

 Though the tablet PC market in India is still at a nascent stage, but at the same time, has become competitive due to entry of new vendors with entry-level offerings, the report said.

Close to 90 vendors launched their tablets till Q2 2012. The average selling value (ASV) in the said period dropped to little above Rs 13,000 from Rs 26,000 in the January-March 2012 period as a majority of vendors launched their products in the Rs 5,000-10,000 price range.

iPhone 4, iPhone 4S to get price cut in India

Reports from various news sources claim that the iPhone 4 and 4S will soon get a price cut in India. The 16GB iPhone 4S is expected to see a price cut of Rs 3,100 to Rs 41,400. The iPhone 3GS, which last saw a price cut to Rs 9,999 via Aircel, has been discontinued.

The 8 GB iPhone 4, now the new entry-level iPhone, gets a price cut of Rs 9,100 to Rs 28,300. According to BGR.in, Apple will not be selling the iPhone 5 through Airtel or Aircel, and has appointed Ingram Micro and Redington for the launch of the iPhone 5 in India.

The phone is expected to launch in India by November. Meanwhile the iPhone 5 is already available online and in the grey market, at starting prices of Rs 60,000 for the 16 GB version and a drop dead rate of Rs 1,05,000 for the 64 GB variant.

The phone uses a nano-SIM, an even more slimmer version of the SIM card than its predecessor, which will have to be sourced from the carrier.

Three Apple resellers in Bangalore gave no confirmation on the availability of stocks and the new prices of the iPhone 4 or 4S.

Mobile Choice Consumers Award 2012: Samsung Galaxy S III best smartphone, Apple iPad best tablet

At the Mobile Choice Consumers Award show in London, the Samsung Galaxy S III took home the trophy as the Best Smartphone of 2012. We don't take sides here, so before some of you riot in protest, we need to point out that the Apple iPhone 5 was launched too late to be included in the competition. On the other hand, the Android flagship did go up against the Apple iPhone 4S, a formidable competitor in its own right. The Apple iPhone 4S finished second ahead of the HTC One X which wound up third. The Nokia Lumia 800 was fourth followed by the Sony Xperia S.

When it comes to tablets, the third iteration of the Apple iPad took home the first place trophy. Finishing in second was the Asus built Google Nexus 7. Asus also had the third place tablet with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) and the Sony Tablet S (not to be confused with the Sony Xperia Tablet S) round out the top 5.

Samsung also took home the hardware for "Most Innovative Device" which was the title awarded to the Samsung GALAXY Note phablet, which sold in excess of 10 million units. The Nokia Lumia 800 was cited for having "The Best Design". You Scrooges out there will be happy to know that "The Best Value" trophy was awarded to the the Sony Xperia U. And the award for "The Best Camera" went to the Nokia 808 PureView, narrowly edging out the Samsung Galaxy S III. The HTC One X was named "The Best Video Phone". The Samsung Galaxy S III was back at the podium for its first place finish as "The Best Media Phone" while the HTC One X was selected the best for social networking.

Samsung was the Manufacturer of the Year, followed by Sony, Asus HTC and Nokia.

Nokia explains how wireless charging works on its new Lumia Windows Phones

The upcoming Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are two of many upcoming Windows Phone 8 handsets, but they are the only ones to come with wireless charging and that makes them really stand out.

As you’ve probably heard, the new Lumias will use inductive wireless charging and now Nokia has taken to its official blog to explain the technology behind it. Basically, what makes it possible are two transmitter coils - one on the charging pad and another one on the back of the device itself. 

From there on the transmitter coil on the charger generates a magnetic field used by the device for charging. Nokia is using the Qi (chi) global standard that is good news for compatibility across the globe. Nokia has perfected the charging pad so now around 80% of it is active and you don’t need to worry too much about precisely placing a phone on its place to charge it.

Sadly, it seems that you can charge only one phone on a single wireless charging pad, so if you plan on just throwing your home’s worth of phones on it, you won’t be able to. Check out the slideshow below to see how the whole thing will work out. The actual charging pads will be available for purchase separately from the phone.

Google outgrows Microsoft to become the second-largest tech company in the world

For the first time today Google surpassed Microsoft’s market evaluation and became the world’s second largest tech company after Apple.

Analysts are taking this as a clear indication of how the web is solving tasks previously reserved for the offline PC, and how the growth of mobile has been a key driver to Google’s success.

Google now has over $249 billion in market cap, while Microsoft fell to around $248.8 billion. The two companies will probably trade positions for a certain period of time, but given Google and Microsoft’s dynamics, it’s expected that in a couple of days Google will firmly establish itself on the second place.

Still, that’s the market capitalization, and this means it’s a hugely volatile measure and one that changes swiftly. Still, it’s definitely telling of investors’ sentiment towards the two company, and right now Google is winning it.

Still, when it comes to market valuation nobody comes even close to Apple's nearly $632 billion. That's much more than Google and Microsoft combined.