Samsung asks us to witness 'The Next Big Thing' at an October 24th event in New York City

We're starting to suspect that Samsung has a thing for special events. The company just asked us to clear our calendars for an evening presentation in New York City on October 24th, teasing that the "Next Big Thing" has arrived. It's easy to make the connection to the Galaxy Note line with a stylus front and center in the teaser, although just what's entailed is left to the imagination: is it a more formal launch for American Galaxy Note II variants? A new tablet beyond the Galaxy Note 10.1?

Chrome updated to make way for more Intel-powered Android devices

Google announced another update to Chrome for Android; it’s an update that current users won’t even notice, but may have larger implications for the mobile ecosystem moving forward. The update sees the release of a version of Chrome for Android that runs on Intel’s x86 chips. The timing is clear – Motorola’s RAZR I is shipping next month, and Intel Atom-powered handset couldn’t ship with Chrome preinstalled if the app can’t run on the hardware.

So why does this matter? Because it’s likely only the first of many “Intel Inside” mobile devices we will see this year, and in coming years. At a time when Texas Instruments is dumping its OMAP mobile CPU line because they can’t keep up with the pace of innovation in mobile computing, Intel is instead bringing the full force of their world-beating fabrication technologies to bear on the mobile market.

Intel seems poised to start making ever larger waves in the mobile realm, but if they don’t it will only be because ARM and Tegra-based CPUs can keep up with Intel’s aggressive CPU roadmap, which is seeing a die shrink every year right now. Regardless of who wrests the greatest amount of market share when it comes to mobile chips, customers will be the ultimate winners. For that reason alone we hope to see Jelly Bean optimized for x86 chips soon, and with any luck all future releases of Android will achieve more parity of release times - increased competition benefits us all.

Micromax announces Funbook Infinity P275, priced at INR 6,699

Micromax today added yet another tablet to its Funbook family, the Funbook Infinity, which has been priced at Rs 6,699/-.

The Android 4.0 sporting Funbook Infinity comes with a 7-inch display and is powered by a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 processor with 512MB RAM. It comes with 4GB internal storage, expandable by 32GB with a micro-SD card. Like other Micromax tablets, the Funbook Infinity comes with 3G dongle support and Wi-Fi connectivity. The tablet is equipped with 2.0-megapixel rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel front facing camera.

Micromax claims the 4000mAh battery ensures browsing time of more than 6 hours and a standby time of 260 hours. The new Funbook infinity also comes with a USB port that can be used to share files.

The tablet supports videos in wide range of formats such as AVI, MPEG, MKV, RMVB, MP4, MOV, VOB, DAT, FLV and 3GP and has Adobe Flash player pre-installed.

Samsung Galaxy Note II available in India for Rs. 39,990

Samsung launched Galaxy Note II phablet in India today, just a day after it was rolled out in South Korea and before its UK release. The device is priced at Rs. 39,990. The Galaxy Note 2 is bigger than the original Note's 5.3-inches and now measures 5.5-inches. It comes with a Super AMOLED HD display with a 1280x720 pixel resolution and a 1.6GHz quad core Exynos processor with 2GB of RAM.

It offers storage between 16GB, 32GB or 64GB and MicroSD and MicroSDHC capability for cards up to 32GB and 64GB respectively.

The Note 2 runs on the latest version of Android, the 4.1 Jelly Bean and comes with Samsung's S-Pen stylus optimised TouchWiz interface.

In terms of design it's similar to the existing Note but with features similar to the Samsung Galaxy S3's signature style and Note 10.1.

Texas Instruments wants to ditch smartphones, switch focus to embedded processors

Texas Instruments has made the startling announcement that it's going to wind down its wildly successful smartphone and tablet business in favor of embedded systems. VP Greg Delagi told investors that the switch would create a more "stable" and "long-term business" than the cutthroat battles it's faced in mobile. While, currently the world's third biggest semiconductor company, it's concerned about losing ground to players like Qualcomm, Samsung and Apple -- despite its latest OMAP CPUs powering tablets like the Nook HD and Kindle Fire. We're scratching our heads as to why a major player would drop such a strong position like this, but perhaps they know something that we don't.

MIT's real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers

We've seen the Kinect put to use to help you find your groceries, but the sensor's image processing capabilities have some more safety-minded applications as well. The fine minds at MIT combined the Kinect with a laser range finder and a laptop to create a real-time mapping rig for firefighters and other rescue workers. The prototype, called SLAM (for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) received funding from the US Air Force and the Office of Naval Research, and it stands out among other indoor mapping systems for its focus on human (rather than robot) use and its ability to produce maps without the aid of any outside information, thanks to an on-board processor.

In the SLAM prototype, the processor is a laptop in the user's backpack, though the final product will be more along the lines of a handheld unit. The on-board laser scans a building in a 270-degree arc with a laser range finder, and the information it collects is combined with depth and visual data gathered by the Kinect before it's sent to the laptop to create the map in real time. Because the setup is tailor-made for humans, an inertial sensor is necessary to account for the wearer's gait. And because the system can detect a user's motion, it can create multi-floor maps when it senses activity on a staircase or elevator. The Kinect's camera is also used to determine whether a user has already been in a certain location, and to match up the data if it differs from the first walkthrough. Check out the automatic building mapping in action in the video below.

6 Major Tech Innovations for 2012

These trends could make for huge opportunities--or huge disruptions to your business. Either way, they are ones to watch.

We’re only half way into 2012, but several technology innovations are starting to show promise. Whether these trends will force you to change how you do business, or present you with entirely new opportunities depends on how willing you are to be an early adopter and take risks. You'll have to find room in your IT budget for these things, too. Whatever you do, keep these innovations on your radar:

1. Predictive technology

Several companies have started talking about their research into predictive tech. The idea is that, as computers become smarter, they can analyze historical data to make predictions. For example, Ford is using technology from Google to develop a navigation system that predicts, based on your previous routes, where you want to go at a specific time of the day. For small business, predictive tech could help in small ways: Your printer might forecast how much paper you will need next month, or help you arrange a better utility contract for heating based on trends form the past few years.

2. HTML5

There has been buzz about HTML5 now for the past few years. The new version of HTML provides a richer framework for videos and interactive content. Steve Jobs claimed it was a better approach to dealing with this rich content than Adobe Flash. One sign that HTML5 may finally replace Flash comes from the automotive world. In the upcoming Cadillac XTS sedan, the dashboard interface uses HTML5 so developers can make new apps without being confined to a specific code base.

3. High resolution displays

The Apple iPad 3 is the first sign that mobile devices are going ultra-high-res. The iPad 3 has a 2048 x 1536 screen that looks super-sharp for videos, e-books, and apps. But the iPad 3 is not the only device to offer much higher resolution. The Samsung Series 9 desktop display uses 2560 x 1440 pixels for a screen that looks much more sharp than most monitors.

4. Social analytics

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I wrote recently about Sprout Social, a tool that helps you understand your social graph: how well you are connecting with others, your reputation, your follower stats. What I’m seeing lately is an uptick in “aggregators of aggregators”—tools like this moment that takes the data obtained from Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and others, and shows you how your company is doing on campaigns. As with any business endeavor, these super-aggregators are trying to get to the bottom line to understand whether social marketing efforts are paying off—or leading you nowhere.

5. Speech for business

One of the great features of Apple's Siri is its ability to understand context. You can add a reminder that tells your wife when you leave work. When you do, Siri sends the reminder based  on your location. Lately, speech tech has shown signs of improving even more. Natural language searches will become commonplace in a few years—you will be able to walk into a conference room and say “tell everyone the meeting is cancelled” and the speech system will know what you mean and send the message.

6. Business-ready storage

Cloud storage has changed how Big Business operates—in some cases, larger companies are ditching their data centers altogether. But small companies do not even have data centers. Some of the choices for storage are making a huge impact—Dropbox is more popular than ever. But a new service called Huddle provides better reporting, security, and team accounts that is a better choice for business.

iPhone 5 sales hit 5 million in first weekend

So, how's that new iPhone doing? Not too shabby, in fact -- looks like it's moved more than five million in three days, according to Apple's numbers. Cupertino is also reporting that iOS 6 has been installed on more than 100 million devices since the new mobile operating system was unleashed on the world. At present, the the iPhone is available in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Australia, with 22 more countries being added to the list before the end of the week. By the end of the year, the number will top 100.

Bihar to set up its first IT park

PATNA:  Bihar is in the process of setting up its first Information technology (IT) park near the state capital on the lines of Bangalore's International Tech Park and Hyderabad's Software Technology Park, officials said Monday.

The IT park will be set up at Bihta, 30 km from Patna. It will be later developed as Bihar's IT hub by taking advantage of other infrastructure and modern facilities here, an official of the information technology (IT) department said.

"Work is in progress by a team led by officials of the IT department. Construction work will begin next year," an official at the Chief Minister's Office said.

The IT park will be built on public-private partnership basis, the official added.

According to officials, a private consultancy company was hired to survey the land and to prepare a business plan for the proposed IT park. "Only after completion of the land survey, a decision will be taken about the design of the park," the official said.

The state government has acquired 25 acres for the IT park.

"The IT park would have high bandwidth facility for high-speed internet and uninterrupted power supply," another IT department official said.

Officials said that IT giants like Infosys have shown interest for a plot near Bihta after the state government acquired hundreds of acres for setting up an IIT campus there.

HTC unveils Windows Phone 8X, Windows Phone 8S

HTC has unveiled two smartphone models running Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 software and said the devices would be available in November through multiple wireless service providers around the world. 

The two brightly colored phones -- the Windows Phone 8X and the Windows Phone 8S -- will pit HTC directly against key Microsoft partner Nokia, which earlier this month also launched two colorful Windows phone models. 

 Like Nokia, HTC is under pressure to generate strong sales from its next round of smartphones as it has lost significant ground to Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc. 

With Apple boasting 2 million pre-orders of its latest iPhone before it hits store shelves on September 21, Reticle Research analyst Ross Rubin said it was going to be challenging for HTC to catch up. 

However, HTC, which has generated most of its sales from phones based on Google's Android software in recent years, will be able to count on marketing help from Microsoft. 

 

The new devices will be marketed as the "signature" Windows Phone 8 smartphones, Jason Mackenzie, HTC's global head of sales, told attendees at the company's New York launch event, where Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer also came on stage. 

"Consumers are going to love these phones, and we're committed to reaching them in a manner that's clear and direct," Ballmer said. 

BSNL Launches Video Calling Through Landline Phones

BSNL, in partnership with SIS Infosystems, on Thursday  launched telephones with video calling facility which will primarily be used to set up public Video Call Offices by replacing many of the PCOs.

BSNL is all set for turning Public Call Offices (PCO) into Video Call Offices (VCO). BSNL is encouraging candidates willing to be franchisers of this new service with a commission of 30 %. BSNL is going to charge Rs. 3 per 45 seconds of video call in general. The franchisers have the freedom to charge up to Rs. 10 per call based on the market standards in their locality. But a candidate must pay Rs. 25000 in order to have a franchise of the video call service.

Each and every call made from a VCO will be considered as a video call and thus will be charged accordingly. But there is no service for making ISD video calls from a VCO which may be considered as one of the major drawback of this service now.

BSNL’s Senior General Manager for Broadband, A K Jain said that around 770 PCOs have confirmed to shift their business to VCOs and the target is to have 10,000 VCOs set-up across the country. 

An official also said that VCOs having medical devices attached to it for remote diagnosis of a patient will also be made available. Many other services will be launched shortly for which prices will differ.

Looking for iPhone 5's first unboxing video? Here it is..

Are you looking for the  iPhone 5's first unboxing video? Then you don't have to wait any longer. The first unboxing and impression of iPhone 5 is released. Check it out.

How did you feel about the new look of the iPhone 5? Share your opinions and give your comments below.

Why Facebook is trying to delete over 5m profiles

Facebook has an ugly little secret, a number disclosed nowhere in its voluminous filings to become a public company and now only vaguely addressed by corporate officials.

An estimated 5.6 million Facebook clients - about 3.5 percent of its US users - are children who the company says are banned from the site.

Facebook and many other websites bar people under age 13 because the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa) requires websites to give special treatment to children 12 or younger. The law aims to stop marketers prying personal information from children or using their data to advertise to them. Sites must get parental permission before allowing children to enter, and must take steps to protect privacy.

Facebook declines to acknowledge that many of its efforts to block children are not working.

The issue has taken on new relevance as the Federal Trade Commission finalises rules to further restrict companies and websites that target youths or are geared to young audiences.

Facebook, the world's leading social media company with 955 million users, has said that the law does not apply to it because it explicitly restricts use of its site to people aged 13 and older.

Facebook has made some progress in identifying preteens and excluding them from the site. A June Consumer Reports study showed that Facebook eliminates as many as 800,000 users under age 13 in a year through its tiered screening process, which the company declines to describe.

Add iPhone 5 to U.S lawsuits : Samsung

Samsung Electronics Co said on Thursday it planned to add Apple’s iPhone 5 to its existing patent lawsuits against the U.S. rival.

The company added that it needs to examine the iPhone 5 first, however. It said the change in the lawsuit will likely come “as soon as it has had a reasonable opportunity to analyze the device.

Samsung’s action, when it happens, is not expected to affect sales of the iPhone 5, which begin on Friday in the U.S. and eight other countries.

“Samsung anticipates that it will file, in the near future, a motion to amend its infringement contentions to add the iPhone 5 as an accused product,” it said in a US court filing. “Based on information currently available, Samsung expects that the iPhone 5 will infringe the asserted Samsung patents-in-suit in the same way as the other accused iPhone models.” 

Samsung and Apple are locked in global patent battle in 10 countries and the stakes are high as the two technology giants vie for the top spot in the booming smartphone market. Both companies are also aggressively raising marketing spending to promote their latest products ahead of the crucial year-end holiday season.

Sony Xperia SL available online at INR 30,999

Sony  has launched the much awaited successor of the Xperia S, the Xperia SL. It is available online at a price of Rs 30,999.

The Xperia SL is a slight refresh of the S, it has an additional duo of color choices (silver and pink), a faster dual-core 1.7 GHz Snapdragon S3 CPU and Android Ice Cream Sandwich (up from a 1.5Ghz processor and Gingerbread).

Apart from the above changes you have the same HD 720p display, 12.1 MP camera and 1080p video with anti shake.

The smartphone also comes with PSP certification that lets you to play PlayStation games on the phone with virtual keys.

iOS 6 to hit iPhones in a couple of hours – Jailbreaker/s and Unlocker/s should stay Wary!

iOS 6 is going to hit your iPhones at about 10:30 PM IST (GMT +5:30) today. If you have a phone that relies on software unlocks to work, of if you are someone who simply enjoys the freedom Jailbreak offers, then you might wanna hold on to your horses. iOS 6 brings about lots of new changes to existing iPhone users, and extra ones to iPhone 4s users (like flyover and Panorama) while the new iPad owners get Siri!

If you are ready to make the shift, then keep your bandwidth ready, because considering the amount of iOS devices out there (despite Apple’s massive CDN) this might be a slow download.

Datawind launches 4 new tablets on ICS, UbiSlate 7Ri, UbiSlate 7R+, UbiSlate 7Ci and UbiSlate 7C+

Datawind has launched four new tablets in the market in the 7 inch size. The tabs run on Google’s Android 4.0.3 ICS operating system, and are all powered by 1GHz Cortex A8 processors, coupled with 512MB of RAM. The four tablets modelled The UbiSlate 7Ri, UbiSlate 7R+, UbiSlate 7Ci, UbiSlate 7C+ models will be all available at prices ranging from INR Rs. 2,999 to Rs. 4,499. 

Model No	UbiSlate 7Ri	UbiSlate 7R+	UbiSlate 7Ci	UbiSlate 7C+
Type	Tablet	Smartphone Tablet	Tablet	Smartphone Tablet
Touch Panel	Resistive	Resistive	Capacitive	Capacitive
Processor	Cortex A8; 1GHz	Cortex A8; 1GHz	Cortex A8; 1GHz	Cortex A8; 1GHz
RAM	512MB	512MB	512MB	512MB
Display and resolution:	7” display with 800×480 pixel resolution	7” display with 800×480 pixel resolution	7” display with 800×480 pixel resolution	7” display with 800×480 pixel resolution
Flash Storage	4GB	4GB	4GB	4GB
Android OS	4.0.3	4.0.3	4.0.3	4.0.3
Camera	Front – VGA	Front – VGA	Front – VGA	Front – VGA
Sensor	G-Sensor	G-Sensor	G-Sensor	G-Sensor
Ports	Micro SD & Mini-USB	Micro SD & Mini-USB	Micro SD & Mini-USB	Micro SD & Mini-USB
Network	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi & GPRS	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi & GPRS
Power and Battery Life	Up to 180 minutes on battery. AC adapter 200-240 volt range	3200 mAh battery (claims to offer up to 3-4 hours of backup)	Up to 180 minutes on battery. AC adapter 200-240 volt range	3200 mAh battery (claims to offer up to 3-4 hours of backup)
Audio	Audio out: 3.5mm jack / Audio in: 3.5mm jack	Audio out: 3.5mm jack / Audio in: 3.5mm jack	Audio out: 3.5mm jack / Audio in: 3.5mm jack	Audio out: 3.5mm jack / Audio in: 3.5mm jack
Storage	External 2GB to 32GB supported

 

The new range of Ubislate Tablets is packed with anytime anywhere Low-Cost Internet connectivity, UbiSurfer browser based on 18 international patents that can deliver internet access on traditional GPRS networks and a powerful combination of content and applications raising the bar in terms of meeting customers’ mobility needs. These tablets are of the gold standard when it comes to low – cost tablet cum Smart phone space being offered at an exciting price to our customers,” said Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind Pvt. Ltd.

Cupertino blown away by demand for Apple iPhone5

After the first day of pre-orders for the Apple iPhone 5, demand has been so strong that Apple says it was "blown away". Pre-orders, which started the day with shipments expected on September 21st, are now delayed to October 5th for some models. All three variants of the Apple iPhone 5 at all three U.S. carriers holding  pre-orders are sold out of inventory being held for pre-orders except for the 32GB and 64GB models at Sprint.

Apple spokeswoman Nat Kerris said, "Pre-orders for iPhone 5 have been incredible. We’ve been completely blown away by the customer response." For Apple, it is a major turnaround from the introduction last year of the Apple iPhone 4S. Only an incremental update, many had expected a larger display and was stunned that the device had the same old 3.5 inch screen.

It should be interesting to see what the first day sales totals are for the Apple iPhone 5. Last year, 1 million units of the Apple iPhone 4S were reserved on the first day of pre-orders, compared to 600,000 units of the Apple iPhone 4 that were pre-ordered on the first day.

Robo Champions League

South Indian Robo Championship league is conducted by FABMAX, along with several other aiding companies such as MRR embedded system, Grid pros and Darien Electric. This league is conducted to nurture the skills and knowledge of professional students and motivate them towards innovations.

South Indian Robo championship league is an annual robotics competition, emerging on 2012 for professional students. Robo championship league challenges student teams to design, build, and program fully autonomous robots as well as manually controlled robot. Along with robotic competition certain non-technical events are also organised.

To know more details, follow the link - Robo Champions 

iPhone 5 : And here it starts! The long awaited event

Here are some of the latest pictures of the event happening right now.

And here it is, the first look of Apple iPhone 5


 - The iPhone 5. A6 processor, 4 inch retina display, LTE and HSPA+.
 - Price: $200, $300, $400 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB respectively
 - Shipping September 21, preorder September 14th.

To get the live updates, follow the link - iphone live updates

All-Optical Nanowire Switch Promises “Consumer Photonics” in the Future

While nanophotonic devices have been used for optical processing for some time, the aim of late has been to use light to actually throw switches to control electronic circuits. Hong X. Tang of Yale University wrote on the pages of Spectrum three years ago about his success in using the pressure of light to operate nanomechanical devices. 

Now researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed what they claim is the first all-optical nanowire switch. The research, which was published in the journalNature Nanotechnology (“All-optical active switching in individual semiconductor nanowires”), not only succeeded in fashioning a switch from cadmium sulfide nanowires, but also managed to combine the photonic switches into a logic gate.

The idea that cadmium sulfide nanowires could be used to make optical switches derived from the researchers previous research thatdemonstrated that these nanowires possessed extraordinary strong light-matter coupling. 

With that previous work as inspiration, the researchers set off on their current research and started by cutting a gap into a nanowire. They then ran energy through one of the nanowire pieces until it started to emit laser light from one end of it and started to bridge the gap to the other piece of nanowire.

“Once we have the light in the second segment, we shine another light through the structure and turn off what is being transported through that wire,” says associate professor Ritesh Agarwal in the university press release covering the research. “That's what makes it a switch.”

Agarwal and his colleague in the research, graduate student Brian Piccione, opted to combine their new switches together to assemble a logic gate. “We used these optical switches to construct a NAND gate, which is a fundamental building block of modern computer processing,” says Piccione in the press release.

While Agarwal makes a fair assessment that this work at least indicates that the future could become “consumer photonics” as opposed to “consumer electronics”, I think it also fair to say that we may still be a long way off from that eventual future. Definitely a step in the right direction though.

Comparison between Karbonn A18 and Micromax A100

Karbonn A18 definitely have more advantage over Micromax A100. 
Reasons:
1. A18 has 720p video recording. Which is not in A100, it has outdated 480p video recording.
2. 4.3" Screen is ideal for phone. If you want A100 due to large screen of 5", I would suggest you to go for 7" or 10" tablets as they are more large( Jokes apart ).. And I don't think it is easy to use 5" phone by one hand and carry it in pockets, and since A100 has large screen without any protection, it is more prone to breakage on fall.
3. Of course 1.3Mp front camera is an advantage. You can take good sized self portraits and video clarity during calls is also good.
4. IPS display: This makes the screen of A18 alive. It looks a lot better than A100 with better viewing angles. And of course you can not look into the screen always straight, so A18 does a good job.
5. A18 does not have problem in auto-rotation like A100. You have to keep A100 at 90degree for rotation of screen, which really is a pain.
6. A18 has physical buttons. A100 usage bottom part of screen for these buttons, It wastes 72pixels of 5" screen.
7. The 3.5mm audio jack of a18 is universal whereas that of A100 is not universal. You can not use other headphones in the jack of A100. If you lose your in-box headphone of A100, you know what will happen.

Now get your hands on your own Karbonn A18.

iOS 6: the new features

In just two days Apple is bringing not just a brand new iPhone, but an updated platform it will work on, iOS 6, the newest version of its mobile operating system, and here is a breakdown of the main new features, and they are listed below - 

1. Siri knows sports - Siri can now give you the scores of the sport games!
2. Siri knows movies - You can now ask about all the movies playing at a movie theater.
3. Siri knows restaurants - Now you can ask Siri for a great place for dinner.
4. Siri can launch apps for you.
5. Facebook is now integrated with images and maps.
6. Facebook is now being put up in the notification center itself.
7. Extension of facebook in the app store too.
8. New maps from Apple.
9. Maps include 100 million business listings.
10. Maps are now integrated with Siri!
11. Maps comes Flyover now. A bird eyes's view of the major cities in the world.
12. Turn-by-turn navigation is introduced.
13. 3D maps are also mixed.

14. You can now reply to a call with a message! Isn't that awesome?
15. "Do not disturb" features mutes calls from all except your favorites.
16. Passcode organizes your boarding passes, store cards.
17. FaceTime is now on iPad, works over 3G/4G.


18. Safari comes with offline reading and iCloud tabs.
19. Email app allows you to embed images straight from within a message.
20. Photo Stream becomes social with shared image galleries.

Project Glass goes on the catwalk showing it can be both pretty and comfortable, not just futuristic

Google’s Project Glass arrived with a splash at Google’s I/O 2012 a couple of months ago, but since then we’ve heard little about the wearable glasses prototype. That is until now when chief dreamer executive at Google, Sergey Brin, appeared on the catwalk at the New York Fashion Week along with designer Diane von Furstenberg who showed the glasses on her models. 

Project Glass is basically a display you wear on a frame much like glasses and operated with a tiny touchpad on the side, and it comes with a camera so that you can capture all kinds of moments you wouldn’t otherwise be able to catch. 

Nay-sayers have criticized the glasses for their unconventional design and for the weirdness of wearing the frame at all times, and probably that’s one of the reasons that pushed Google to feature Project Glass at no other place but the catwalk with actual fashion models wearing them and proving the point that it’s not against aesthetics. 

"Beauty, style and comfort are as important to Glass as the latest technology," Brin said in a statement. "We are delighted to bring Glass to the runway together with DVF.” 

source: 9to5Google

Microsoft asks you to suggest Windows Phone 7.8 features

It wasn't completely a surprise, but it was a bit disappointing when Microsoft announced that Windows Phone 8 wouldn't be coming to existing hardware, and that it would have Windows Phone 7.8 as the compromise for current smartphones. Now, it seems that Microsoft wants to try to bridge the gap, and has reached out to users for ideas on what features should be brought back to WP7.8. 

 As is Windows Phone 7.8 is known to have the new start screen, and is expected to have some camera improvements, and maybe a couple other small improvements. But, in a new forum post, Microsoft has asked users to post "specifically what features you would like to see on 7.8 and vote individually for the one that you want most." 

The original post has suggestions to add "screenshots, Internet Explorer 10, new dictation, over-the-air updates, new languages, Office 2013, Skype VoIP and datasmart" to Windows Phone 7.8, and as of this writing, the thread had received almost 54,000 votes. There are also suggestions to add more languages, SMS backup, transferring files via Bluetooth, and of course, OTA updates. 

If you want to get in your suggestions and vote on features, just head to the source.

source: Windows Phone User Voice via The Next Web

Facebook Making Efforts To Close Fake Accounts

Facebook is making a “huge effort” to weed out fake profiles to prevent misuse of such identities, a senior company official has said.

“It could even be that Facebook comes back to you saying, could you help us identify yourself if you don’t have enough friends, because we don’t want fake identities,” he said.

“We are worried about the experience we deliver…It’s not about protecting our brand identity so much,” he said.

As reported earlier, Facebook is also making efforts to crackdown on “Fake Likes” companies try to get on their pages.

[ Economic Times ]

Apple preparing for September 12th event

It has become an annual event since 2007 with thousands of hours spent trying toguess what the next Apple iPhone will look like. With the size of the display expected to jump from 3.5 inches to 4 inches, and a thinner build with a two-tone backcover, this is the first time since the introduction of the Apple iPhone 3GS that a prototype model wasn't left in a bar. This year, our clues to the design of the new Apple iPhone 5 didn't come from the beer-soaked floor of a watering hole and instead came from mockup models used by case manufacturers to see how snug their rubber bumpers are fitting on the new model.

Preparing the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

If the mockups are correct, what we will see inside  on Wednesday is a taller, thinner Apple iPhone with a 4 inch screen and a metal, two-tone backcover. The pin dock-connector will be smaller and the earphone jack is now on the bottom. We should see LTE connectivity, which may be greeted with a lawsuit from Samsung, and possibly support for NFC.

Meanwhile, you can see Apple's colors going up on the front of the building, reminding everyone that it is almost that time of the year for the introduction of the new iPhone.

Apple looks to launch Apple iPhone 5 globally alongside U.S. release?

In the past, U.S. buyers would be the first to receive the Apple iPhone followed by, in some cases, a two to three month gap before the device would be released in developing countries in Asia. Based on carrier behavior, this year could be different. Sources in the Philippines for Android Authority are telling them that carrier Globe Telecom is sending out emails to subscribers, telling them the next Apple iPhone will soon be here. Additionally, the carrier has a heck of a weekend sale going on with discounts so low on the Apple iPhone 3GS, Apple iPhone 4 and Apple iPhone 4S, that one could take it for an inventory dump. In other words, the carrier is unloading inventory that no one would want if the new Apple iPhone 5 were here.

Comparing the size of the old Apple iPhone
 screen with the expected larger new one (R)

We know what you're thinking. Besides that. You're wondering how Apple will be able to have enough inventory to hold a simultaneous launch, and that is a valid point. Usually, inventory held for pre-orders is sold out rather quickly and not too long after launch, the unit must be backordered. Apple is expected to unwrap the 6th generation Apple iPhone during its September 12th event and there is speculation that pre-orders will start the very same day with a launch set for September 21st.

Two weeks from now, some of you could be checking out your new Apple iPhone 5. Then again, maybe not. A report in the International Business Times says that Sharp has been behind schedule producing Apple iPhone 5 screens, possibly due to the in-cell technology being used on the unit for the first time. The new technology  makes the screens thinner. Sharp is said to be struggling with the high costs to produce the screen eating into its profit margins.
Analyst Rob Cihra, of Evercore Partners is looking for Apple to sell 24 million units of the new iPhone in the September quarter. Chira's Q3 estimate would be a 39% year-over-year increase. For the holiday quarter, which will have three full months of sales as opposed to fewer than one month for the previous quarter, the analyst believes Apple will sell a record 49 million iPhones.

source: InternationalBusinessTimes, PhilMUG via AndroidAuthority