Apple iPhone 5 to feature 'next-gen' 4G

LONDON: Tech giant Apple's new iPhone 5 will work on the fastest wireless networks around the world, including in the US, Europe and Asia, though it may vary among different mobile carriers.

The phone will have an advanced technical capability of LTE (Long Term Evolution) wireless network that would give all phone carriers a chance to sell their fastest data services to Apple's base of iPhone customers.

Smartphone makers, including market leader Samsung Electronics, have already begun offering LTE phones globally, achieving a selling point that Apple has lacked so far, the Wall Street Journal reports.

LTE technology is much more fragmented than the previous third-generation wireless technology, making it more difficult to make LTE phones that work seamlessly around the world.

Apple is expected to unveil its latest iPhone, which will also have a slightly larger screen, at a press event in San Francisco on September 12. Analysts have widely expected the new phone to support LTE, the report said.

Apple officials said that it isn't likely to work with all carriers' LTE networks in all countries, though it wasn't clear which ones would be left out, it added.

Google Introduces Voice Navigation To India

Commuters in India are all set to get turn-by-turn, voice-guided directions, using the Google Maps Navigation. In addition, if you’re living in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad, you’ll find that  live traffic updates feature just got activated on your maps menu.

You can even speak your destination into your phone and have your route set for you. A country-specific option lets you set the voice to an Indian accent for easier comprehension.

While Navigation app was always a feature of Android phones in India, the service was not supported officially. It used to show just the route and lacked support for voice instructions. Currently, the Navigation feature is in beta and Google tells users to exercise caution while using it.

Sony looking into Windows Phone 8?

On the heels of presenting some nice Android based hardware at IFA 2012, Sony will be beginning discussions with Microsoft to discuss the possibility of adding Windows Phone 8 to their portfolio.

Pierre Perron of Sony Mobile UK & Ireland told Mobile Magazine that as far as the Xperia line goes, Android is still Sony’s preferred partner.  However, they were investigating with Microsoft about “diversifying our product strategy” on the basis that Sony’s grand strategy is one of “openness.”  From a computing standpoint, it is not such a stretch, Sony’s popular VAIO laptops run on Windows, so there is already a working relationship in place. It would seem that being able to offer products that share a common platform to their customers is a good idea.

One potential fly in the ointment of such a venture is the competition that Sony would be introducing against itself. Sony has a robust plan for delivering a world of “PlayStation” to its Android based devices. Would Sony relish the idea of also delivering hardware running an OS which anchors its gaming and entertainment in Xbox?

Infosys, TCS among Forbes' World's Most Innovative Companies

WASHINGTON: Five Indian companies including Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unileverand Infosys are ranked on Forbes magazine's list of "The World's Most Innovative Companies" topped by four US companies. 

Larsen & Toubro with an annual sales growth of 19 per cent is ranked ninth in the world followed by Hindustan Unilever (12) with 11.4 per cent. Infosys (19) comes third with 12.7 per cent growth thanks to what the US business magazine called a lower "innovation premium."

This measures the difference between the value of the company's existing businesses and its expected future innovations. Companies must also have $10 billion in market capitalization and spend at least one percent of their asset base on research and development. 

Tata Consultancy Services (29) with 19.5 per cent was fourth among Indian companies with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (38) with a 14.6 growth bringing up the rear. 

Four US companies- Cloud computing king Salesforce.com, drug major Alexion Pharmaceuticals, internet retail giant Amazon.com and open source software leader Red Hattook the top four places. 

Forbes said its analyses show at least three key things that the innovative companies do to create and sustain an innovation premium. These were: How well companies leverage people, process, and philosophies, differentiates the best in class from the next in class when it comes to keeping innovation alive and delivering an innovation premium year after year. 

Now, glasses that allow deaf people 'see' sounds

LONDON: A pair of glasses can now alert deaf people about loud noises - like the honk of a car horn. 

Developed by a group of researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, the glasses allows the wearer to "see" when a loud sound is made, and gives an indication of where it came from, New Scientist reported. 

An array of seven microphones, mounted on the frame of the glasses, pinpoints the location of such sounds and relays that directional information to the wearer through a set of LEDs embedded inside the frame. 

The glasses will only flash alerts on sounds louder than a threshold level, which is defined by the wearer. 
But there is one problem; it requires the user to carry a laptop around in a backpack to process the signal. 
However, lead researcher Yang-Hann Kim stresses that the device is a first iteration that will be miniaturised over the next few years. 
The KAIST team presented its work last week at the InterNoise conference in New York City.

Apple iPhone 5 sales may touch 10m mark in a week: Analyst

NEW YORK: Apple's much-awaited iPhone 5could hit the 10 million sales mark in its first week, an analyst has predicted.

Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 5 at an event on September 12.

Some reports suggest that the new phone will reportedly go on sale on Friday, September 21.

With that date in mind, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster projects iPhone 5 sales of anywhere from 6 million to 10 million, CNET reports.

According to the report, last year, Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4S units during that phone's first three-day weekend in October.

The analyst predicts that a full 10 million in sales over a little more than one week seems attainable this year, as long as there's enough supply to meet demand.

Overall, the analyst is eyeing total iPhone sales of at least 26 million units for the full September quarter, higher than the average Wall Street estimate of 22 million to 23 million, the report said.