Android 4.0 ICS update available for Intel XOLO X900

The first Intel Medfield smartphone, the Intel XOLO X900 has been out and about for some time now, and playing along with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, but the device was promised to be updated with the Android 4.0 operating system, and keeping to their promise, Intel has now made available the ICS update for the device.

News of the Intel XOLO X900 gaining theAndroid Ice Cream Sandwich update has been brought to our attention by GSM Arena, and the Android operating system update is now available to grab by either hitting up the Lava website or you can gain the update over the air.

Micromax launches range of LED TVs, Home Theatres and 3D Blu Ray Player

Mobile phone and Tablet maker, Micromax has entered to home entertainment business with the launch of 6 new LED TVs, 2 Home Theaters and a 3D Blu Ray Player.

The LED TVs range from 24-inch to 55-inch and comes with HDMI support and is powered by AVEA (Audio Visual Entertainment Architecture). The AVEA feature offers full HD resolution for the videos with dynamic contracts with better color clarity, image detail and clear HD surround sound. It also has plug and play USB support that lets you connect an mp3 player, digital camera, hard drives etc. to play videos and videos of 14 different formats.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 OTA update brings Multiscreen feature

Samsung has started rolling out a new software update for the Galaxy Note 2 that brings Multiscreen feature. This feature was supposed to come pre-loaded, but it started rolling out only through a Over the Air (OTA) update. The Multiscreen feature was first introduced in the Galaxy Note 10.1 (Note 800) that makes multitasking easy by running the apps side-by-side.

Angry Birds Star Wars edition launching on November 8th

Rovio today announced the next installment of its Angry Birds franchise, Angry Birds Star Wars. Following a teaser image last week, the famous birds will be dressed up to assume the likeness of characters from the classic saga. The red bird takes on the role of Luke Skywalker and we can even spot a Chewbacca in there !

The dark side will be represented by the pigs while the in game music will be a homage to that from original epic. The game will tie in with a wide range of merchandise including table games, toys and costumes. Available on 8th November for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and computers. After the surprisingly great Bad Piggies, we’re hoping Rovio can bring back the magic of the original game to this franchise which is starting to feel stale.

Galaxy Note II N7100 first official firmware goes online

Galaxy Note II is surely the most powerful smartphone/phablet in the market right now. Many of the features shown by Samsung was not available in the device out of the box, but all the Note II owners will be happy to know that all those functions are included by flashing this latest firmware.

many of the Galaxy note II owners did not get the feature of using multiple windows as advertised by Samsung out of the box, now this update brings this feature to all the devices coupled with many bug fixes. The size of this firmware is a bit scary, it’s a whopping 1043 MB. This means that there are loads of other features which we don’t know about that are packed inside. So all the Note II owners, go ahead flash it and check it out.

You can download the Note II N7100XXALJ1 firmware from here .

Microsoft Surface RT and Windows Phone 8 to be officially launched this month

Microsoft has announced the Surface RT and Windows Phone 8 launch events in San Francisco scheduled for the end of this month. The Microsoft Surface RT event is set for October 25th, and the Windows Phone 8 event is set for October 29th. Microsoft announced the Surface Tablet back in June and the Surface RT would come with a 10-inch (1366×768 pixels) touch screen display and would be powered by an ARM processor. It would have a micro SD card slot, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, 2×2 MIMO antennae for better WiFi connectivity.

Hope Microsoft would reveal the complete specs and features of the Microsoft Surface RT tablet at the launch event. It is expected to go one sale on October 26th, but no word on pricing yet.

Microsoft would also demo the complete set of features of the Windows Phone 8 at the launch event. AT&T announced that they would start selling the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820 in November. HTC 8X and 8S would also go on sale from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile in early November in the U.S. Still no details about the carrier pricing for these devices yet. Both these events would be streamed live as usual.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 update now rolling out

RIM has finally started rolling out the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 update for the PlayBook users worldwide. This update would bring better Multitasking, Social integration, improved Android Runtime and more.

Nokia Xpress(beta), a cloud optimized browser that saves data & a lot more, now available for Lumia

Nokia has been toying around with a browser that compresses pages on the server side to save data consumption  for its S40 range of devices for quite a while now. The Nokia browser, as it was called when it launched, had similar functionality to the Opera Mini web browser, it saved data and made browsing much faster by compressing images and using some server side algorithms for data compression. Now, the same technology is coming to all of Nokia’s Windows Phone devices, the Lumia device range, and it is called Nokia Xpress, but alas, it carries the beta tag, for now.

The Nokia Xpress is actually the name of the cloud technology that powers a lot of Asha devices currently, and of course, all of the previous S40 devices. And Xpress for Lumia works with the Nokia Xpress on the cloud and delivers a fast and an efficient experience by minimizing the data consumed, and in turn saving some of the battery power that is needed to get you through the day. Not only that, the browser, which is more like an app, has more tricks up its sleeve.

The Xpress for Lumia has a magazine mode that enables you to read any website with a RSS feed, like a neat magazine view, with a metro(oops!) design of course. And along with that, you will be able to tap on any word and get a contextual search instantly on bing, YouTube or WikiPedia. Apart from this, there is also an in built translate feature, that can instantly translate your web page to the language you wish to translate it to. That, I consider a huge plus if you are traveling and are stuck on getting local information on the web.

And the most interesting feature according to me, is direct Skydrive downloads. One can apparently download videos and other web content directly to their SkyDrive, without using up any of the data. I think this feature is a huge win for us, having not to spend data, but getting it on our personal cloud anyway.

Overall, even though this is just a beta program to collect a lot of feedback, there is a lot of interesting features in this to not give it a miss, so do not wait, download it here from Nokia’s own Beta Labs website. Oh, and here is a video promo of it, just to give you a fair idea of what the app is about -

HTC One X+ with 1.7 GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, Android Jelly Bean announced

HTC has announced the One X+, and upgraded version of the One X that was unveiled at MWC 2012earlier this year. The 4.7 inch (1280 x 720 pixels) Super LCD HD display and the 8MP auto focus camera with BIS sensor are similar to the One X but the Processor, Memory, Battery and front-facing camera has been upgraded. The One X+ has a 1.7 GHz quad-core Ap37 Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and a better GeForce graphics, instead of 1.5 GHz AP33 Nvidia Tegra 3  quad-core processor. It has a 1.6MP front-facing camera, 64GB of internal memory and 2100 mAh battery. It runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+ UI on top.

 HTC One X+ specifications

• 4.7 inch (1280 x 720 pixels) Super LCD HD display with gorilla glass protection
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS with HTC Sense 4+ UI
• 1.7 GHz quad-core Ap37 Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor
• 8.9mm thick and weighs 135g
• 8MP camera with LED Flash, BIS Sensor, Full HD (1080p) video recording
• 1.6 MP 720p front-facing camera
• 3.5 mm headset jack, Beats audio support
• 1 GB RAM, 64GB internal memory
• 3G HSPA+ / LTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX codec, DNLA, HDMI, GPS with GLONASS
• 2100 mAh battery

The HTC One X+ would be available in Europe and North Asia from October and in South Asia from November 2012. HTC would also launch the One X+ LTE with a separate Qualcomm chip for LTE.

Android Jelly Bean with Sense 4+ coming to the HTC One X and One S starting this month

Android Jelly Bean, the latest and greatest Android that has been running on all the Nexuses of this world, has been slowly trickling down to other OEM Android devices for the past few months. We saw it getting listed by Samsung for the Galaxy S3, and it was widely rumored to arrive for HTC’s flagships – the HTC One X and the HTC One S. But now, it has been confirmed along with the launch of HTC’s new phone – the HTC One X+.

The Jelly Bean update for the One X and the One S is supposed to roll out OTA starting this month, the month of October and would complete by the end of the year. With the impending rumored release of the next version of Android, Key Lime Pie, this is probably the right time for HTC to release the new update for all its latest devices.

Android Jelly Bean’s headline feature is Project Butter, which puts the emphasis on the touch screen process and makes it much smoother than Android has ever been. The other highlight for Jelly Bean is the new Notification center which has shortcut actions when in an expanded view. Jelly Bean also comes with new voice search (and a personal assistant) from Google’s own lair, dubbed Google now.

This news comes from the press release from HTC, which states -

AvailabilityThe HTC One™ X+ will be available in Europe and North Asia from October and in South Asia from November 2012. North America will make a separate announcement regarding availability of the HTC One X+. The Android Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 4+ update is scheduled to begin rolling out for the HTC One S and HTC One X from October.

Now the waiting game will start for all the users as the OTA update will not roll out instantly for everyone. We are still waiting for it to arrive on our One X, so guys, let us know if you get it in India.

How To Set iPhone Alarm Music Of Your Choice?

This has been the desire of many iphone, ipod and ipad users to set the iphone alarm music in the clock app. When you set the alarm in iphone or ipad or ipod you are given choice for Sound where there are many pre-loaded sounds from which you can select one. Thanks to Apple for releasing iOS 6 with 200 new features which we are still exploring and one of them is the availability of a new feature in iphone alarm settings. Now you can select any music from your iphone as an alarm.

There are many jailbreak apps and other apps available to set different ways for alarm tone and music but this is the built in app in the iOS 6.

So if you want to set music song as an alarm on your iphone, ipod or ipad you need to upgrade to iOS 6 first so that you can get benefit of this new updated clock app.

Here are the simple steps to set a music track song as alarm in iOS6:

1. Open Clock application = > Alarms => Tap the + sign to add a new Alarm.

2. Tap Sounds => Pick a song 

Now you will be given the complete list of your music tracks on your device, select any of your choice and enjoy the perfect music when you wake up in the morning.

Sony Xperia U, Go, & Sola say hello to official ICS update

While there are many Android owning consumers looking forward to their device being updated to the Jelly Bean operating system, there are still a lot of devices still waiting for Ice Cream Sandwich to arrive. Now though the official Android ICS update has started to hit more of the Sony Xperia range with new features added.

Sony seem to be pretty busy recently as earlier this week we told you that the Xperia ion on US carrier AT&T was getting updated to ICS, and now according to the Android Authority the Sony Xperia U, Xperia Go, and Xperia Sola are now getting the official Android Ice Cream Sandwich update.

Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 officially priced in Italy and Russia, available mid-November

Nokia had unveiled the Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820 at their NYC event on September 5th, but did not announce the pricing as well as the availability, it was a mystery till now. But Nokia Italy has done the impossible and actually announced the launch pricing of both the phones and the availability.

According to Plaffo, they got a press release from Nokia Italy, with the Nokia Italy CEO announcing both the devices. Here’s a translated quote, a part of the press release (we presume) :

We are pleased to announce that on our new models, the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Nokia Lumia 820, continuing the close cooperation between Nokia and Italian mobile operators who have decided to integrate them into their offer. A decision also based on the excellent feedback received from consumers in the current Lumia devices. In Italy, in particular, the increase in the market share of the Lumia range, gave us great satisfaction, and we believe that the innovative features that make these products unique and cutting edge today will be received with even greater clarity in the new devices that integrate extraordinary innovations in imaging technology, wireless charging and changing the display for an even fuller experience Windows ecosystem

The pricing of the Lumia 920 is 599 Euros and of the Lumia 820 is 499 Euros with the availability aimed at mid-November. Traditionally, most European nations have really high taxes and hence the price a bit higher than usual. We shall wait for the prices elsewhere to make a much better opinion of how the price is going to be.

Update: Nokia have officially revealed the price in Russia too, with the Lumia 920 costing 24,990 Rubles and the 820 costing 19,990 Rubles. Availability is aimed broadly for Q4 2012. The pre-order has already started.

Update 2: Nokia have officially revealed the price in Germany too. Lumia 920 is priced at 649 Euros and the Lumia 820 priced at 499 Euros. Both the devices would be available in November.

Samsung Galaxy Note II launched in India for Rs. 39,900

Samsung has launched the most expected Galaxy Note II in India. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note II at IFA Berlin last month and the pre-booking started in India on Samsung eStore couple of weeks back. The Samsung Galaxy Note II comes with a 5.5-inch (1,280 x 720 pixels) HD Super AMOLED display, 1.6 GHz quad-core Exynos processor and runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). It has a 8MP auto focus camera with LED flash at the back and a 1.9MP front-facing camera. It has S Pen that comes with S Pen specific apps such as S Note, S Planner, Email with hand-writing integration and S Pen Keeper that alerts users if their pen is too far away from the Note II.

The Air View feature lets users to hover with the S Pen over an email, S Planner, image gallery, or video to preview the content without having to open it. It also has unique features such as Air View, Popup Note & Popup Play, Smart Stay, Direct Call and Screen Recorder.

The connectivity features include, 3G HSPA＋ (HSDPA: 21Mbps HSUPA: 5.76Mbps ), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth v 4.0, aGPS, mHL and NFC. It has 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 64GB with microSD and 3,100mAh battery.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II comes in Titanium Gray and Marble White colors and is priced at Rs. 39,900. It would be available from Samsung Smartphone Cafes, Samsung Plazas and select large format stores from tomorrow. It would be available from mobile outlets and retailers from next week.

Samsung Galaxy Camera launching in India by mid-November

Samsung launched the Galaxy Note II in India few hours back. They have also announced that the Galaxy Camera would launch in India in India by Diwali, which is mid-November. Samsung announced the Galaxy Camera at IFA Berlin last month. The 16 Megapixel camera has a F2.8 aperture, 23 mm focal length and 21x Optical Zoom Lens with BSI CMOS sensor. It packs in a 4.77-inch 308 ppi HD Super Clear Touch Display and is powered by an 1.4GHz Quad-Core processor and runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).

It has Smart Pro feature with 10 modes (Macro, Rich Tone, Action Freeze, Waterfall Trace, Light Trace, Beautiful Sunset, Blue Sky, Natural Green, Silhouette, Vivid Fireworks). It has 8GB of internal memory, 32GB of expandable memory with microSD. The Google Play Store lets you install apps and games.

This doesn’t have calling features but has several connectivity features including 3G (HSPA＋ 21Mbps), HDMI 1.4, WiFi a/b/g/n, WiFi HT40, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS/GLONASS. It has a 1,650 mAh battery.

Would you get the Galaxy Camera this Diwali?

Buy Nokia Lumia 800 and get a Play 360 Speaker free in India

Nokia has announced a new offer in India. Now you get a free Nokia Play 360 speaker worth Rs. 9,350 absolutely free with every purchase of Nokia Lumia 800. Nokia ran a similar offer in UK last month. The Nokia Lumia 800 went on sale in India last December for Rs.29,999 and got a price cut of around Rs. 2,000 in January. It got a major price cut in March. Earlier this month it got a price cut again in UK. Instead of reducing the price of the handset, Nokia is now offering a free accessory with the device.

YouTube for Android updated with New UI for Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices and more new features

YouTube for Android has been updated to version 4.1.23 that brings new UI for Android Froyo and Gingerbread devices. The home page now shows recommended video on top. You can now add video to YouTube TV queue from the app and pick more channels from the YouTube picks. The new UI and Preloading features were released for Android 4.0 devices in June.

New features in YouTube for Android v4.1

• New UI and Preloading now available on Froyo and Gingerbread devices
• New Watch experience
• Add videos to your YouTube TV queue
• More channels to pick from on the Channel Store

Download YouTube for Android from Google Play Store for free.

MapmyIndia launches Don’t Panic GPS navigation app for iPhone and iPad in India

MapmyIndia has released Don’t Panic app with voice guided, turn-by-turn GPS navigation for the iPhone, iPod and iPad users in India. It stores the complete map data in the phone so that you don’t need to worry about the poor data connection or the data charges.

It also offers rich, detailed, comprehensive and accurate map coverage of MapmyIndia, including thousands of cities at street level and millions of points of interest across India. This app is optimized for Apple’s retina display on the iPhone and iPad and offers Speed limit alerts with audio warning, Automatic and manual day and night display modes, Touch gestures and more.

As a limited period offer, the Don’t Panic All India maps is available for US$19.99 (~INR. 1070), while the maps for Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi NCR for just US$7.99 (~INR 428). The app is available for devices running on iOS 3.0 or later including the latest iOS6.

Rovio launches Bad Piggies for Android, iPhone and iPad

Angry Birds creator Rovio has launched the Bad Piggies game for Android, iPhone and iPad. The Bad Piggies are after the eggs again. You need to create the ultimate flying machine and steer them safely to their destination. It has more than 60 levels, if you get three stars on every level you can unlock 30 more puzzles!

Features of Bad Piggies

• 60 levels crammed with flying/driving/crashing fun!
• 30 additional puzzles unlocked by three-starring levels!
• Free updates!
• 4 sandbox levels to stretch your creativity!
• Ultra-special, ultra-secret, ultra-difficult sandbox level to unlock by collecting all the skulls!
• 33 objects to create the ultimate machine: motors, wings, fans, bottle rockets, umbrellas, balloons, and much more!

Download Bad Piggies for iPhone for $0.99, while the iPad version costs $2.99. Bad Piggies and Bad Piggies HD for Android is free.

Siri for Android, try Voice Xtreme

The iPhone user has Siri, and there are a few virtual assistants available for the Android user as well, so they too can get a taste of what Siri is like. So we thought we’d bring another Siri like Android app to your attention today, just in case you may have overlooked it when searching Google Play for a virtual assistant app, and that app is called Android Voice Xtreme.
Android Voice Xtreme for Androiddevices is said to be a ‘voice driven supercharger for your phone,’ and delivers hands-free operation for opening applications, rear and reply to Facebook, email, texts, schedule calendar events, or if you are simply looking for a friendly voice to chat with.