ECOXGEAR is launching a new waterproof Bluetooth speaker, the ECOXBT designed to work on water. The rugged speaker is waterproof and floats on water. It uses Bluetooth with A2DP technology to connect any Bluetooth-enabled devices such as smartphone, tablet, notebook for wireless music streaming. It has a stainless steel speaker grill cover.

The ECOXBT sports full range stereo speakers and doubles as a speakerphone with integrated microphone. You can pair it with your smartphone to receive incoming phone calls.  Its built-in 1800mAh lithium battery delivers up to 10 hours of playback or talk time. Top panel control buttons include power, Bluetooth, volume and speakerphone answer.

ECOXGEAR, a brand by Grace Digital, will release the ECOXBT soon, which is available in black, orange and red colors.

[ECOXGEAR]

ecoxgear ecoxbt waterproof bluetooth speaker

Nokia has announced rolling out the Nokia Belle Refresh update for the Nokia N8, E7, C7, C6-01, X7 and Oro devices.

The update v111.040.1511 brings a number of new features for Symbian smartphones such as a revamped browser with HTML5 web apps support, a new set of homescreen widgets, and the previously released Microsoft Office Mobile App and Nokia Maps Suite 2.0 in one package. The Nokia 8 gets additional apps for imaging. Nokia plans to release the update in phases, starting with the vanilla version. The Nokia E6 (version number 111.140.0058) users will get the update later in the week,

“Just like after updating from Nokia Anna to Nokia Belle, some apps may not work due to compatibility issues. If you need more information on available apps, please contact your local Nokia Care support. Furthermore, you can also contact the respective App developer to enquire about the compatibility,” says Nokia on its discussion forum.

The Belle Refresh update comes months after Nokia announced Belle update to its older Symbian^3 devices namely Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia E6, Nokia X7, Nokia C6-01, Nokia C7, Nokia 500 and Nokia Oro.

Sourec:Nokia

Nokia announces Belle Refresh update for N8, E7, C7, C6-01, X7 and Oro

HTC India has started releasing the Android 4.0.4 ICS update, over the air (OTA) for One X devices in the country. The update brings a host of improvements and new features, including Sense v4.1.

The improved Sense v4.1 experience enables the ability to map the menu function to the ‘recent app’ key. The update also improves tab management in the browser with a dedicated tab switching button and boosts camera capabilities such as white balance and uninterrupted autofocus.

The ICS update also brings enhancements to memory, platform stability and browsing experience. Other enhancements include a Single Sign-On for Facebook, providing users access across applications and browsers. The update also improves Beats Audio.

Apart from these updates, the OTA update brings support for a few Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil and Marathi. Users will be able to read and write these languages while using the phone’s messaging application, browsing the Internet or even exploring the applications on Google Play store. HTC had announced adding support for Hindi and other Indian languages last month for the One and Desire smartphones. For more read our previous coverage.

We had given the HTC One a rating of 4/5 in our review. With the new and improved features, the smartphone now looks much better.

Source:Engadget

HTC releases Android 4.0.4 update for One X smartphones

LG has announced a new smartphone in its L-series called Optimus L9. The new LG Optimus device features a 4.7-inch IPS display (no resolution details availalable) and is powered by 1GHz dual-core processor.

The LG device runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. It sports a 5MP camera with LED flash and VGA front-facing camera, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a 2,150 mAh battery. For connectivity, the device supports 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Bluetooth and GPS / aGPS. The device measures 131.9 x 68.2 x 9.1mm and weighs around 125gm.

The Optimus L9 also features Qtranslator app, which can translate text from 44 different languages using optical character recognition technology. Other features include Q Memo, My Style keypad and SiO+ technology.


The L9 would be released in 40 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America starting from September. There’s no word on the pricing yet. The company is likely to reveal more about the device at the IFA 2012 event in Berlin.

LG recently announced the Optimus G smartphone for Korea. The Optimus G features quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, Android 4.0.4 ICS, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP autofocus camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video recording, a massive 4.7-inch True HD IPS+ 1,280×768 pixel display. Find out more about the device here.

The company had introduced the L-series smartphones at the MWC event held earlier this year. So far, LG has launched L3, L5 and L7 smartphones in India.

Source:LG Korea

LG announces Optimus L9 with 4.7-inch IPS display, 1GHz dual-core processor

LG has announced a new smartphone in its L-series called Optimus L9. The new LG Optimus device features a 4.7-inch IPS display (no resolution details availalable) and is powered by 1GHz dual-core processor.

The LG device runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. It sports a 5MP camera with LED flash and VGA front-facing camera, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a 2,150 mAh battery. For connectivity, the device supports 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, Bluetooth and GPS / aGPS. The device measures 131.9 x 68.2 x 9.1mm and weighs around 125gm.

The Optimus L9 also features Qtranslator app, which can translate text from 44 different languages using optical character recognition technology. Other features include Q Memo, My Style keypad and SiO+ technology.


The L9 would be released in 40 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America starting from September. There’s no word on the pricing yet. The company is likely to reveal more about the device at the IFA 2012 event in Berlin.

LG recently announced the Optimus G smartphone for Korea. The Optimus G features quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, Android 4.0.4 ICS, 2GB of RAM, a 13MP autofocus camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video recording, a massive 4.7-inch True HD IPS+ 1,280×768 pixel display. Find out more about the device here.

The company had introduced the L-series smartphones at the MWC event held earlier this year. So far, LG has launched L3, L5 and L7 smartphones in India.

Source:LG Korea

Google India has come up with a new service called ‘Let’s Talk Mo’, which aims to enable small and medium businesses to reach out to the 70 million mobile users in the country. With the Let’s Talk Mo service, Google will help businesses create mobile sites for free.

“With Indian smartphone users spending over 157 mins daily on the mobile web (89 percent of them are searching for information), the user-experience is not optimized for the mobile screen as most Indian websites are still designed for the PC experience,” points out Google India in a blog post.

Google India is offering the businesses two options – create a mobile site for free, and test how user friendly your mobile website. For this purpose, Google has launched a dedicated website that gives users all the necessary tools and resources to create a mobile website.


Explaining the benefits of Let’s Talk Mo service, Google says the GoMoMeter tool allows businesses to check how their site looks on a smartphone. The tool also helps them get personalised recommendations to make their website more user-friendly.

Businesses also get a Do It Yourself tool to create a mobile site. Moreover, businesses will also get information on current mobile trends, best practices, case studies and various other resources. Check out Google’s customised Guides for the Let’s Talk Mo service here.

Source:Google’s new initiative

Google announces Let's Talk Mo service; helps create mobile site for free

Introduction

The Samsung Series 5 had become a cracker of an ultrabook, particularly when you consider the price tag. For quite a while now, we have been recommending the Ivy Bridge version of the Samsung ultrabook to anyone who has been asking for what to buy! But, there us a new challenger on the block, and is taking the battle / providing an alternative, whichever way you look at it, to the Samsung. Yes, we are talking about the HP Envy 4-1002TX ultrabook.

Build & Design

Ultrabooks, quite simply had just one task to accomplish on the looks front – look sexy. Laptop designs and form factors had gone out of hand quite a long time back, and Intel wanted to retain some good elements, as far as possible, in this new category. The HP Envy 4 does tick most of the check boxes on the design checklist.

There is a generous amount of aluminum used on the HP Envy 4, which gives it a “looks more expensive than it actually is” look. The illuminated logo idea that HP had dabbled with till recently, has now given way to the neat looking logo on one edge of the lid. The lid has a very subtle brushed metal finish, and that carries forward to the areas around the keyboard. While this is completely matte and not glossy at all (there really is a God!), this finish has a very annoying habit of accumulating smudges! The very tip of the lid – near side, if you may, when the lid is closed and ready for opening, correct side on – is plastic. We cannot really understand for this little dash of plastic on what feels very premium otherwise.


The ports are on the sides of the HP Envy 4, as they conventionally are for most laptops, with no testing the idea of placing them behind the display. Also, the muscular display hinge wouldn’t allow for that. What you cannot miss is that the side spines as well as the base are in the soft finish crimson red colour, with a matte finish. Yes, for those who have a more conventional thought process, there is the complete black finish option as well, but we believe this one looks absolutely fantastic. Flip the laptop over, and you will see a very well thought out channel of vents – sucking air, blowing it out as well as for passive cooling.

The only real negative that we can see in the otherwise excellent build of the HP Envy 4 is the glossy bezel around the display, and quite frankly we don’t understand the logic for that at all. When you have the most excellent brushed metal finish for the laptop, why ruin it with this dollop of scratch, dust and fingerprint magnet.

Features & Specifications

The Envy 4-1002TX is powered by the Ivy Bridge series of processors – the Core i5 – 3317U clocked at 1.7GHz, with Turbo Boost taking it to 2.6GHz. There is 4GB of RAM to help it along. On the spec sheet, the Samsung Series 5 (read our review) has 6GB of RAM – however, this maybe an example of how the spec sheet doesn’t really show the whole picture, as we will explain in the Performance section.

The Envy has a 14-inch display, with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. It starts on the correct foot – natively quite bright, but not as much as the Series 5. However, the Envy’s display is very comfortable to use for long periods of time, because it has a slightly softer colour handling. Also, adequate crispness allows you to read text clearly with no visible edge noise. However, the display is rather reflective, and that is something we have deducted points for, in the corresponding ratings. Also, the colours may feel softer and very comfortable if you aren’t using this for multimedia viewing, but the display does feel a tad washed out when you are watching a movie on it.

For your storage needs, there is a 500GB hard drive on the HP Envy 4. However, to speed things along, there is a 32GB flash storage for the caching tasks. Incidentally, the Samsung Series 5 has a 24GB flash storage, but unlike them, HP doesn’t have nifty software that allows you to enable or disable this feature, or to clean up the flash drive periodically.

The island keyboard is extremely confortable to get used to, and switching from a MacBook to test the Envy, it didn’t take too long to get used to it, and rediscover my typing mojo! Adequate key travel and the response is consistent across the keys. The keyboard deck is pretty clean, except for the red Beats Audio key giving it a bit of colour. The HP Envy 4’s touchpad has a brushed metal circular imprint, and is like it is sitting on a raised platform with a trench dug all around it! The left and right click keys are integrated, and some who used this did complain that the keys actually kick in a little too close to the bottom left and bottom right edge. But then again, it is all about getting used to it. Multi-touch gestures work well on this touchpad, and upgrading to Windows 8 should be on your radar.

What we fail to understand is why does this ultrabook come with Windows 7 Basic preloaded on the machine. Considering the price of this machine, and the fact that an ultrabook is considered a “premium” device, at least a Home Premium edition was expected. Just like how almost all other ultrabook manufacturers are doing it! Thankfully, this time around, there is slightly less amount of preinstalled software on the ultrabook. HP has also streamlined its own utilities, features of which can now be accessed via the Support Assistant software. This ultrabook is compatible with the CoolSense feature, but since this is version 2.0 of the software, you can only switch it on or off. It is surprising, considering the older 1.0 version allowed you to choose between multiple settings for fan assisted cooling, and how the processor was clocked down.

Performance

Both ultrabooks – the Samsung Series 5 and the HP Envy 4 are powered by the Intel Core i5 – 3317U processor. The clock speeds on both is the same – 1.7GHz standard and 2.6GHz in Turbo Mode.

While the Samsung ultrabook comes with 6GB of RAM, the HP Envy 4 gets 4GB. In terms of benchmark tests then, you would expect them to be neck and neck. And for the most part, they are!

Here is how the two ultrabooks stack up against each other





As you can see from the comparison scores, the HP Envy is consistently ahead of the Samsung ultrabook. There is nothing to take away from the excellent performance of the Series 5, which was one of our most vehement recommendations for anyone looking to buy an ultrabook on a budget. However, the HP Envy 4, costing just a few pennies more, just takes the performance to the next level.

When Samsung had updated the Series 5 with the Ivy Bridge processor series recently, even the graphics card got changed to the Nvidia GeForce GT620M (1GB). Now, this one is up against the AMD Radeon HD 7670M (2GB) on the HP Envy. Again, its time to cue in the comparison graphs!






Clearly, the Radeon HD 7670 is doing consistently better than the GeForce GT620M, including in the 3D Mark 11 (all three levels) and 3D Mark 06 benchmarks. However, the FPS advantage shown by the Radeon 7670M in Unigene Heaven and CineBench Open GL tests will make the real difference with gaming. Quite clearly, the ultrabooks did not want to be left behind in the gaming stakes, and anyone who wants to do casual gaming, and even a bit more, will not be disappointed with what both these ultrabooks offer.

Most surprisingly, the battery life offered by the Envy 4-1002TX is absolutely delightful. In our heavy load battery benchmark tests, this one lasted 223 minutes from full charge to full discharge. Incidentally, this is lower than what the Samsung Series 5 scored in the same test – 229 minutes. However, its real colours are shown when you use this laptop under the real world usage scenario. With no music playing in the background, we put this through our daily grind – web browsing, mails, typing out lots of articles, working on excel and a dollop of You Tube sessions. And the Envy lasted 7.5 hours from full charge to full discharge. We must complement the way the processor clocking is handled by the software and utilities preloaded by HP, chief amongst them being the proprietary CoolSense technology, and that has made all the difference.

Bottom Line

Quite frankly, the HP Envy 4-1002TX is the ultrabook to consider this side of Rs 60,000. The Samsung Series 5 is a very competent ultrabook itself, and adorns the package with an optical drive as well. However, the Envy does put a very stylish foot forward, and that is complemented with excellent performance. The real kicker is the long battery life, which really makes this pip the very competent Samsung Series 5 in our ratings.

Conclusion

The HP Envy 4 is possibly the best ultrabook money can buy this side of Rs. 60,000. The Samsung Series 5 will rightly have something to say about it – neck and neck in terms of system performance, but the HP steals the march with much better looks and a slightly more compact form factor. Where the HP has a clear advantage is gaming, with the Radeon HD 7670M consistently scoring more than the Series 5′s Nvidia GeForce GT 620M.

Contact: HP India

Phone: (City Code) 30304499

Email: http://www8.hp.com/in/en/contact-hp/contact.html

HP Envy 4-1002TX Review

Sony has launched a new home theatre projector, the VPL-BW120S, in the MEA


The VPL-BW120S features space-saving and glare-less short throw technology by Sony. This makes it ideal for home use and the short throw technology means that images of up to 100-inches can be viewed with a distance of just 1.3 metres between the projector and the screen. This is much better than the otherwise required 4.4 – 4.8 metres between the projector and the screen.

The projector has a brightness of 2,600 lumens allowing for a clear projection in a range of different lighting conditions. It also features rich colour reproduction a high contrast ration and 12-bit gamma correction for smooth colour gradients.

“We have seen great interest from consumers to replicate theatre-like experiences in their homes; however what hindered this move was the expense involved in such a replication as well as the aesthetic barriers of placing projectors in a living room. We expect the VPL-BW120S to be well received by this audience as it is designed to ensure that families and friends enjoy clear projection without compromising on clarity, space and energy efficiency” said Hidenori Taguchi, head of marketing, B2B Products and Solutions at Sony Professional Solutions MEA.

“With Sony’s VPL-BW120S, families will not have to arrange their living arrangement around the projector – but instead can easily fit the projector into their existing living arrangement,” added Taguchi.

The VPL-BW120S and Sony’s new line of projectors will hit stores at the end of August.

Sony releases new home projector

Olympus expands its STYLUS Tough line with the new TG-625 digital camera. The four-proof shooter is waterproof to 5 meter, shockproof to withstand 1.5 meter drop, freezeproof to operate in -10°C condition and dustproof. To deliver better images when shooting in dark environment or underwater, the 12 Megapixel camera features an Autofocus Illuminator light for improved focus.

Equipped with back-illuminated CMOS sensor and TruePic VI image processor, the TG-625′s iHS Technology, which stands for intelligence, high-speed and high sensitivity, helps deliver beautiful images. The Tough camera comes with a 5x optical zoom lens and features 10x Super Resolution zoom. It includes CMOS sensor-shift image stabilization, high-sensitivity and Multi-motion Movie IS to capture blur-free images and videos.  Other than standard scene modes, the camera also include an unique Underwater Snap scene mode. Other features include iAuto mode, Face Detection, in-camera panorama, and 5fps high-speed shooting.

The STYLUS TG-625 can do Full HD 1920×1080 video recording, and offers HDMI output. It has a 3-inch large LCD display.

[Olympus JP]

olympus stylus tg 625 tough rugged camera

Amid uncertainty about the future of its operations, Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL) today expanded its handset portfolio with the launch of three new Android-based smartphones.

SSTL, whose 21 licences are among those cancelled by the Supreme Court in the 2G spectrum case, offers CDMA telephony services under the MTS brand name. The company’s licences are valid till September 7 and to continue its operations, it will have to participate in auctions to secure fresh licences.

The handsets, in the price range of Rs. 5,499 to Rs. 7,499, run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and would come bundled with unlimited data plans options. “With the launch of these three smartphones, we have now brought four new Android Smartphones in less than two months.

MTS now offers a comprehensive range of Android smartphones for discerning, on the move, tech savvy youth,” SSTL Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Leonid Musatov said in a statement.

SSTL will also offer free access to MTS TV for 1 month from date of activation to its smartphone users.

The launch of these smartphones will be supported by an integrated communication programme that includes leveraging Out-of-Home (OOH) media, TV commercials, digital media and road shows in key cities across India.

SSTL is a venture, involving equity participation by Russia’s Sistem, the Government of Russian Federation and the Shyam Group of India. It has over 16 million subscribers in the country.

Three Android smartphones Launched By MTS In INDIA Starting Rs.5,499

Olympus is back with a new ultra-zoom digital camera, the STYLUS SP-820UZ iHS equipped with a 22.4– 896mm (35mm equivalent) 40x optical zoom super wide angle lens. With Super-Resolution Zoom, the camera can even double the focus range, offering 80x zoom. The SP-820UZ houses the super zoom lens with a lightweight and compact body that makes it an ideal travel companion. It uses 4 AA batteries for power for added convenience.

Olympus‘ SP-820UZ iHS sports a 14 Megapixel CMOS image sensor and the TruePic V image processor for faster reaction time and beautiful images. It is capable of 3fps high-speed burst shooting at full resolution, and features Dual Image Stabilization, which combines Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization with high ISO sensitivity to deliver blur-free, clear images. With iAuto mode, the camera will automatically detects the scene and use the suitable settings to capture best photos. In low-light conditions, users can use the Handheld Starlight mode, which captures multiples images and stitches them together into a single clear photo without the use of a tripod. There are also HDR Backlight Adjustment that will capture images at various exposure levels and blends them into one, perfectly exposed image; and the Smart Panorama mode for taking 360-degree panoramic photos easily.

The 40x zoom STYLUS camera can do Full HD 1080p video recording and it uses Linear PCM audio recording to add better-than-CD quality audio to your video. It also provides High-Speed Video HSQVGA recording at up to 240fps. Multi-Motion Movie Image Stabilization is included to minimize camera shake during video recording. The camera also offers Photo with Video Clip mode that automatically captures a short video before and after the shutter button is released. Users can want to express their creativity with 12 special effects, such as Pop Art, Pin Hole, Drawing, Fish Eye, Soft Focus, Punk, for photos and videos.

The Olympus STYLUS SP-820UZ comes with a 3-inch LCD screen and provides HDMI output for you to share your photos and HD videos on a HDTV. Coming in September, the long-zoom shooter will be priced at $329.99. It comes in black and silver.

[Olympus 1|2]

olympus stylus sp 820uz ihs gets 40x ultra zoom

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Toshiba Tecra R940

Toshiba brings to small and medium businesses two new affordable notebooks, the 14-inch Tecra R940 and 15.6-inch Tecra R950. Both of them can be configured with Intel 3rd gen Core Ivy Bridge processor, up to 16GB of RAM and dedicated 1GB AMD graphics card. They are equipped with up to 512GB SSD.

Toshiba Tecra R950

Toshiba’s new Tecra laptops are built using fiberglass reinforced casing with a Honeycomb Rib structure and a shock absorbing design, and features a spill-resistant keyboard. The R940 and R950 both have LED-backlit display and provide VGA and HDMI port. Other features include multi-in-one card reader, integrated DVD burner, Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi connectivity, two USB 3.0 ports, one eSATA/USB combo port and optional webcam.

Both Tecra R950 and R940 start from $599.99.

Toshiba Tecra R950

Toshiba Tecra R950

Toshiba Tecra R950

Toshiba Tecra R940

Toshiba Tecra R940

Toshiba Tecra R940

[Toshiba 1|2][Businesswire]

toshiba tecra r940 and tecra r950 notebooks for small businesses

Other than the CR61, MSI adds the smaller, more portable CR41 multimedia laptop to its CR series. Thr 14-inch notebook features a royal bronze tone funish with a metallic luster. It is powered by Intel’s 3rd gen Ivy Bridge Core i processor, up to 8GB of RAM and integrated graphics. For storage, you can find up to 720GB hard drive,  a DVD SuperMulti drive and a SD/SDHC/SDXC card reader..

The CR41 has a 14-inch 1366×768 LCD display. It supports Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi 802.11b/g/n connectivity. Other features include 1.3 Megapixel webcam, 2Wx2 speakers with SRS Surround Sound, USB 3.0 ports and a 6-cell battery. The notebook measures  349.7×234.8x32mm and weighs 2kg.

[MSI]

msi cr41 multimedia notebook

Lenovo announced the ThinkPad Tablet 2, its first tablet specially designed for Windows 8. Replacing the original ThinkPad Tablet with Android, the new 10-inch device is powered by Intel’s latest Atom mobile platform and runs Windows 8 Pro. The tablet is able to run desktop and Windows apps and fully support Microsoft Office for viewing, editing and creating Word, Excel and Powerpoint files.

The ThinkPad Tablet 2 comes with a 10.1-inch 1366×768 IPS multiotuch touchscreen display with optional digitizer ad pen, which is good for note taking, signature and completing forms. It features a 8 Megapixel main camera and a 2 Megapixel front camera for video conferencing, noise-cancelling microphone and three full-size USB ports for connecting existing USB devices such as printers, USB drives. The tablet also has HDMI output that allows users to do their work on a bigger screen. Other than WiFi and Ethernet connectivity, the ThinkPad tablet will also be available with 3G and 4G options.

Lenovo is planning to release the ThinkPad Tablet 2 when Windows 8 is launched in October.

[Lenovo 1|2]

lenovo thinkpad tablet 2 with windows 8