HTC Butterfly Price, Release for Russia & India

The HTC Butterfly has already hit Australia and now we have learned it is hitting the likes of Russia and India, the 5-inch beauty will keep many customers in these countries very happy indeed. The pricing might just be a little too high for some in Russia at €692 (RUR27, 990) and in India it is expected to be around INR 44,000.
Some say that smartphones in Russia always seem to have a high price tag, but even though we have given the pricing details above we suspect that it will be a little cheaper when it makes it way to Western Europe.

This Android smartphone was first released in Japan and was called the HTC Butterfly J; it was then released in Taiwan, China as well as Australia and then launched in the US under the name of Droid DNA. This is a great 5-inch Android phone with features such as 8MP rear camera and a 2.1MP on the front, as well as Beats Audio.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Jelly Bean KLVMA3 OTA Firmware

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is an awesome smartphone with so many capabilities, that acts as both phone and tablet. There are many users of this handset that are unable to install Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, but thanks to the new KLVMA3 Firmware you might just be in luck.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 can now have Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean thanks to a new KLVMA3 firmware install, but is only available for the Korea branded SHV-E250L, we must stress that we are will not be held responsible if you decide to try this method even though it has been said to work well. This latest firmware will bring many new features to your Galaxy Note 2 and can be installed via Kies or OTA, features such as the Swype like keyboard and customizable notification shade are within.

Pre-order Wireless Charger for Nexus 4 & Lumia 920

A growing feature of some modern smartphones recently has been the option to recharge the device wirelessly, and simply placing the device onto a charging unit for the handset to get charged up again. This does away with all those messy wires and countless chargers we may have cluttering our draws. Those of you that are lucky enough to own either the Nexus 4 or Nokia Lumia 920 you can now pre-order a wireless charger for the handsets.

There is a good chance that we will see more smartphones released this year that will offer the option of wireless charging, and this will inevitability lead to more third party manufacturers providing us with their own take on the wireless charging solution.

Rumor: Galaxy Note III gets a bigger display, Exynos 5 Octa

With CES just over and MWC just a few weeks away, the no. of rumors coming out has no limits, another rumor from Samsung’s camp states that the Galaxy Note III gets a 6.3″ display which is practically a tablet and sports the recently announced Exynos 5 Octa SoC.

Now, we know that the  the Galaxy Note III is nowhere near launch as Samsung wouldn’t like to mess up their sales with the Galaxy S4 launching in the spring, but Korea Times has leaked out certain details about the Galaxy Note II’s successor. Now 5.5″ inch “Phone” is mildly acceptable but if you go 6″ then you are clearly outdoing it, personally I wouldn’t bring that thing anywhere near my ears. But again Samsung is known for doing crazy things, they are the pioneers of the “Phablet” concept and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this device.

Temple Run 2 released but not for Android yet

When the first Temple Run was released it was huge by popular demand, and now there is a new one called Temple Run 2 and yet again it has been released for iOS users but not for Android. This is the sequel game to the smash hit that had over 170 million downloads, and thanks to this new refined one we can see even more installs onto iOS devices.

Temple Run 2 comes with many more goodies, which will be getting gamers on the path of jumping, turning, sliding and plenty of running. This new game allows users to navigate zip lines, forests, hazardous cliffs and mines so that the runner can escape the cursed idol.

Exynos 5 Octa by Samsung reportedly features PowerVR SGX 544MP3

Samsung announced this CES the Exynos 5 Octa which has 4 ARM Cortex A15 cores and 4 ARM Cortex A7 cores for power management with whats called as Big little configuration. Now Samsung is known to boast their GPUs, but during their Octa announcement, they did not talk about the GPU they were using and Anandtech is now reporting that Samsung is using the PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU at 533 MHz.

Now we should note that Samsung has not used PowerVR GPUs in their top end SoCs after the first Samsung Galaxy S. All the other top chipsets had ARM’s Mali. In fact the dual core version of Exynos 5 also ran on ARM Mali-T604 GPU. AnandTech reports that the graphic performance of the Exynos 5 Octa will be somewhere in between the Apple’s A5X and A6X with DirectX like texturing hardware.

This means that the devices which will run on Octa will not have better graphic output than the latest iPad 4. The iPad 4 uses the A6X chipset which has the PowerVR SGX 554MP4 GPU which is better than the PowerVR 544MP3 used in the Exynos 5 Octa. The usage of this GPU tather than the same one used in dual core version beats me, but we will wait for Samsung to confirm and give us more light on the GPU they are using for this chipset.

Source: AnandTech

Google releases Chrome Beta channel for Android

Google has released Chrome Beta channel for Android phones and Tablets. This would let Android users try out upcoming features and also provide feedback. The beta channel also adds new features including faster Octane performance, CSS Filters for developers and more. Google launched Chrome for Android last February.

New features in Chrome Beta for Android

• Improved the Octane performance benchmark by 25-30% with the new V8 version 3.15
• CSS Filters for developers to add visual effects like grayscale, blur, and contrast adjustment to the mobile web
• New Flexible Box Layout Module simplifies the styling of complex layouts
• Improved Text Autosizing that is consistent with other browsers.
• Updated stack of Developer Tools

Download Chrome Beta for Android (4.0 and later) from the Google Play Store. Since this is a separate app, you can install the Beta alongside the current version of Chrome for Android.

LG Windows Phone 8 line-up includes 5.5-inch HD

Smartphone manufacturer LG has been busy in the last few months getting ready a number of flagship devices that run on the Android operating system. It seems though the company is looking to strengthen its smartphone range with reports suggesting LG is going to offer some Windows Phone 8 handsets, and the line-up is thought to include a 5.5-inch HD handset.

At the moment the biggest players on the Windows Phone 8 platform are the likes of Nokia, HTC, and Huawei, but LG Electronics are now reportedly going to offer handsets on the platform at some point this year. The company is looking to sell around 75 million devices during 2013, which is up from the 55 million it achieved last year.

Nokia Lumia 920 launched in India for Rs. 38199

Nokia has finally launched the Lumia 920 in India after a long delay. It was announcedback in September, and comes with a  4.5-inch (1280 × 768 pixels) Pure Motion HD+ IPS display, 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and runs on the latest Windows Phone 8 OS.

It comes with an 8.7 MP auto focus camera with PureView camera technology, LED Flash, Optical imaging stabilization (OIS) and Full HD 1080p video recording. It also has a 1.2MP 720p HD front-facing camera for video calling. The back plate has Wireless charging capabilities based on the popular Qi wireless standard. The connectivity features include, 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.1, GPS / aGPS, NFC. It has 1GB RAM, 32GB internal memory and comes with a 2,000mAh battery.

Nokia Lumia 820 launched in India for Rs. 27559

Nokia has also launched the Lumia 820 along with the Lumia 920 in India. It was announced back in September and comes with a 4.3-inch (800 x 480 pixels) OLED  ClearBlack display, 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and runs on the latest Windows Phone 8 OS.

It has a 8MP Auto Focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Dual LED flash at the back that can record videos at Full HD 1080p resolution at 30fps and a VGA front-facing camera.

The connectivity features include 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.1, GPS / aGPS and NFC. It has 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD card and a 1650 mAh battery. The phone has support for Qi wireless charging through separate exchangeable shells.

The Nokia Lumia 820 is priced at Rs. 27,559 in India and comes in red, yellow, cyan, white and black colors. It would be available from select retail stores in key cities across India starting from tomorrow, January 11th 2013. It would come with 2GB of free 3G data from Vodafone for 3 months.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Plus with 4.3-inch display, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.1 announced

Samsung has announced the Galaxy S2 Plus. It has a 4.3-inch (800 x 480 Pixels) Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touch screen display and is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. It runs on Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean). It  has a 8MP auto focus camera with LED flash, zero-lag shutter and a 2MP HD front-facing camera. It also comes with Samsung’s unique features such as S Voice,  Popup Video, Smart Stay, Direct Call, Smart Alert and AllShare Play. It would also come with optional NFC support.

Panasonic’s wearable camcorder announced at CES

Ever wanted to take point of view shots, but like all the time, with a very small camera on you? Yes, Google glass can do that, but if you don’t want to wait till then, you can get what Panasonic just announced at CES. Yes, Panasonic just announced a wearable camcorder, the HX-A100 that can record full HD 1080/60p video from your helmet our even point of view shots with a ear hook.

The HX-A100 is dustproof, waterproof and various mounting options. Panasonic claims it is very light weight too. Here are some highlights of this wearable camcorder -

• Stream from the camcorder using WiFi, directly to Ustream in full HD
• Smartphone can act as live view and remote control
• f2.5 lens with Image stabiliser and a 1/4.1″ BSI sensor for better low light performance
• LSI for automatic tilt correction
• 240 fps slow motion recording at 640×360
• Wind noise reduction
• 140 minutes battery life in a single charge

Pretty impressive for a wearable camera. With the likes of GoPro and other extremely portable cameras, the Panasonic HX-A100 proves it can do more, and yes, more portable. Portable enough to wear it on your ear.

Panasonic have not shared the availability and pricing details yet. We’ll keep you updated if we find anything about it.

Panasonic reveals the world’s first 4K Windows 8 tablet

Right after announcing a slew of TVs, cameras, camcorders and what not, Panasonic just went ahead and released the world’s first 20 inch Windows 8 tablet with a 4K display. The tablet, which looks like a huge photo frame has support for stylus based computing. We have no details regarding the tablet but looking at the screen from the live blog shots, it seems to be awesome. They also dropped a line that this is more of a business centric tablet and we are not even sure if it will touch base with the consumer market.

With that said, the first 4k tablet is here, and it runs Windows 8. It is also supposed to have super sensitive touch, on the lines of the crazy 1ms response time for styluses. Add to that realtime cloud collaboration, which makes it clearly a product for business. We are still shocked at the prospect of a 20 inch 4K display. The pixel density on that one is going to be crazy, and move over Retina displays and so called high PPI screens, the boss is here.

We have got more details, this 4K tablet is powered by a Core i5 processor, has inputs for USB, micro SD and HDMI. There is also a front camera it seems. And that’s about it for the details, with an extra information that it will probably last for around 2 hours without a power chord stuck on it.

We have no more details, but this huge thing is on the Panasonic booth, so wait till we sleuth for more specific details and some hands on images. Stay tuned!

Image via Engadget Live Blog

Salora launches POWERMaxx with Android 4.0, dual-core CPU and 3200 mAh battery

Here's an ICS-based dual-SIM smartphone that comes with a powerful 3200 mAh battery. Other specs of the device called POWERMaxx include 1 GHz Cortex-A9 dual-core processor, 512 MB RAM, 8 MP rear camera and 1.3 MP front-facing camera.

Salora International Ltd. has introduced a new Android-based smartphone called POWERMaxx. Priced at Rs. 15,999, the POWERMaxx comes with a massive 3,200 mAh battery, which is rated to deliver 22 hrs of 3G talktime, 42 hrs of playing music, 10 hrs of playing video and 11 hrs of 3G networking.

Kingston will launch world’s first 1 terabyte flash drive

In this technology world everyone is In- touch with computers and its related devices. Off course you hear about flash drive and if you are using computer you must have a Flash drive for storing your data. you hear about storage of flash drive and also you have some storage of flash drive. There are different storage of flash drive which is usually from 1GB to 64GB. There are also different companies for manufacturing these devices. Kingston is one of that company which manufacture lots of Flash drive with different storage up-to 512GB. Now Kingston will launch world’s first one terabyte Flash drive ( 1TB).

This drive comes with super speed USB 3.0 support and its transfer speed is up to 240MB per second when reading data and up to 160MB per second when writing data. It also comes with a five year warranty. This drive is compatible withMicrosoft Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OSX and Linux. With the Kingston 1 terabyte flash drive you can store and backup of all of your computer data with super fast speed of 3.0. So if you are searching for more than 512GB storage flash drive then Kingston 1 terabyte flash drive is best for you. It will available in this quarter but Kingston didn’t mention its price yet.

Microsoft Pleased With Windows RT Jailbreak, Applauses Efforts

Microsoft has been one of the few oldest companies that have made their names in every aspect of technology market. An interesting news has been heard that earlier this week Microsoft experienced something that shocked them. This happened to them for the first time that Microsoft’s new Windows RT got jailbroken. It happened to it as someone wanted to execute unsigned, arm-based desktop apps via memory exploitation. Instead of hearing cruel and angry comments afterward, we heard something else like Redmond-based Software Company stated they applauded the effort that hackers put into it to execute their task as jailbreaking the operating system is not an easy thing to do.

News came from the campaign named as ‘WeWantAnOpeniOS’ of pod2g where hackers demanded Apple to make its iOS 6 open to all so that users can install whatever they want without the need of jailbreak.

It seems like Apple is in danger to as hacker has untethered iOS6 in their grip with which they might make things tight for iOS 6.1.

Microsoft further added that thing might get difficult in future because of this but it is trying to patch the flaws. However it is worth mentioning here that Microsoft is taking this much lighter than Apple which can easily be judged by the comment from both parties. Hope we do not get to see such situations again in future which can make things riskier.

CES 2013: Razer Steps up its Game With the World's First Gaming Tablet

Hey, gamers! Remember at last year's CES, when Razer tantalized us all with a concept device codenamed Project Fiona? At that time, Razer promised it would deliver "PC gaming in an all-new form factor." Turns out, they came through. Today at CES 2013, Razer unveiled the Razer Edge, the world's first tablet designed exclusively for high-end gaming. After a massive, yearlong crowdsourcing endeavor of tapping into Razer's fanbase for input on everything from chipset to physical dimensions, "Project Fiona" has morphed from concept to full-blown reality.
The Razer Edge is a 10.1-inch device being touted as the world's most powerful tablet, and a quick look inside both the base model and the souped-up Pro version show why. Both pack a third-generation Intel Core processor and a discrete Nvidia GT640M LE GPU. 

Intel introduces Atom Z2420 for emerging markets, Lava announced as the partner

Intel just unveiled its new SoC platform for value smartphones in emerging markets. It is codenamed the Atom Z2420, and it directly aimed at the ever burgeoning mid range smartphone market that craves for powerful hardware. And it looks like Intel might have just the solution for value smartphones, yes, that’s what they call mid range devices now. The platform was unveiled today along with a reference device with a 3.5 inch screen, 5 megapixel camera that can shoot 7 frames per second and 1080p full HD video.

The Atom Z2420 has a 1.2 GHz single core processor with hyper threading technology and incorporates the Power VR SGX540 GPU from Imagination technologies. The SGX540 was introduced with the Galaxy S, if we remember right. According to Inte, this chip enables low – mid range smartphone to be blazing fast in web browsing and major multimedia tasks. And talking about multimedia, Intel has made sure that this reference platform is choc a bloc filled with every feature that you can imagine, including full support for most of the video codecs and full HD 1080p encoding/decoding with Intel Wireless display support. We find it a pretty impressive feat for this reference platform. And yes it runs Android and can run all the apps and games, much like the Intel XOLO.

Intel also claims that they have massively improved upon in the battery life department claiming that they can last even longer than rival ARM platforms like the Qualcomm S4. And that’s not it, it includes full support for micro SD, dual SIMs and FM radio. Now we are talking! This pretty much sums up the mid range device range. This platform is all set to be utilised by partners like Lava, Acer and Safaricom. With the popularity of the Xolo range of devices here, the Z2420 based devices can’t come sooner.

Image via Engadget

Alcatel One Touch X’Pop, S’Pop and T’Pop Android Phones

We’re hearing plenty of news from the Alcatel camp today and now we have details of the new 2013 lineup of budget Android smartphones from the company. These One Touch handsets will be released in Q1 and available in Asia, Africa and Europe. The three phones on the way are the One Touch X’Pop, S’Pop and T’Pop with the X’Pop top dog followed by the S’Pop and the T’Pop in that order, although all have something to offer those who want an affordable smartphone.

Earlier today we told readers about the quietly impressive Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD 5-inch smartphone and also new Alcatel One Touch tablets so Alcatel is certainly setting out purposefully into the New Year. Each of the three One Touch Pop phones detailed here come in two varieties, one offering HSPA connectivity over 900/2100MHz bands and the other touting HSPA over 850/1900/2100MHz bands. Quad-band GSM connectivity is available on every model.

We’ll start with the best of these three One Touch handsets, the X’Pop with specs including a 1GHz dual-core processor, 4.5-inch qHD display with resolution of 960 x 540, 512MB of RAM and microSD card slot. It also features a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front-facing camera and runs on Android 4.1 jelly Bean and will be released later this month, according toEngadget.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and 600 quad-core processors announced, offers speeds up to 2.3 GHz

Qualcomm has announced Snapdragon 800 and Snapdragon 600 series at CES 2013. The Snapdragon 800 is the high-end processor that has quad core Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU. It would offer speeds of up to 2.3 GHz per core and up to 75 percent better performance than the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processors. It can also play UltraHD or 4K videos and has built-in 4G LTE Cat 4 and 802.11ac support. The Snapdragon 600 series has quad-core Krait 300 CPU running at up to 1.9 GHz and Adreno 320 GPU that offers 40% better performance than the Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. The company has also announced Snapdragon 400 series of processors for mid-range phones and Snapdragon 200 series aimed at entry level smartphones.

Features of new Qualcomm Snapdragon Processors

• Snapdragon 800 Processors – up to 2.3 GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, 4G LTE Cat 4 and 802.11ac, UltraHD 4K video support DTS-HD, Dolby Digital Plus and 7.1 surround sound, Dual Image Signal Processors (ISPs) up to 55MP. aimed at premium smartphones, Smart TVs, digital media adapters and tablets.
• Snapdragon 600 Processors – up to 1.9 GHz quad-core Krait 300 CPU, Adreno 320 GPU, LPDDR3 RAM, aimed at  mid-high tier smartphones and tablets.
• Snapdragon 400 Processors  - aimed at high volume smartphones and tablets.
• Snapdragon 200 Processors – aimed at entry level smartphones.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 and the Snapdragon 600 processors are expected to be available in commercial devices by mid-2013.