Nightly builds of Firefox Mobile OS now available

Mozilla has started rolling out nightly builds of its upcoming Firefox Mobile OS for users to download. The OS seems to take a lot of inspiration from iOS and Android in terms of UI. In addition, the icons seem to take some hint from Symbian.

LG Optimus 4X HD launched in India for Rs. 34990

LG has launched the Optimus 4X HD, their first quad-core Tegra 3 handset in India. It was announced at MWC 2012 earlier this February. It has 4.7-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) True HD IPS display with 331 PPI and is powered by 1.5GHz Quad-core Tegra 3 processor. It runs on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and has an 8MP auto focus camera with LED Flash support, 1.3MP secondary camera. It is just 8.9mm thick.

Reliance launches 3G tablet

Telecommunications service provider Reliance Communications has announced the launch of the Reliance 3G Tab, a 3G-enabled tablet on the Android platform. Reliance is the first telecom operator in the country to offer tablets on both 3G and CDMA networks.

The Reliance 3G Tab comes with a 7 inch capacitive touch screen, Android 2.3 OS and a 1.4 GHz processor. The latest 3G tablet from Reliance sports a screen resolution of 1024 x 600, loaded with 512 MB RAM, and 5 point touch. The tablet weighs 402 grams. It comes with a 3.0 MP rear camera and a front camera, enabling video calling, among other key features.

Samsung Galaxy Beam launched in India for Rs. 33,900

Samsung has launched the Galaxy Beam, successor of their previous Beam, in India. It was announced at MWC earlier this year and went on pre-order last month and went on sale last week. It comes with 4.0-inch 480×800 (WVGA) TFT display and is powered by 1 GHz Dual-Core Processor. It has 15 lumens pico projector that allows users to share photos, videos or other digital media instantly and in crisp clarity up to 50-inch wide, at a distance of 2 meters. It is 12.5mm thick.

G'Five launches five Android smartphones starting at Rs. 6,999

G’Five, known for its budget friendly handsets, brings in a slew of Android smartphones in India.  The company has launched five Android phones, G’Five A79, A86, I88, G95 and G3D, that are priced between INR6,000 and INR12,000. Looking at the importance given to cloud in the tech terrain, the company has also taken its first step with the launch of its cloud mobile phone, featuring cloud mobile internet technology called ‘G-Cloud.’ Running on Android’s operating system, all these phones use the cloud technology to enhance the experience for Indian consumers. Besides, these phones also come equipped with 5.55 GB large cloud storage space, and promise quick and easy management and control. They offer better synchronization of schedules and information at any time. G’Five Cloud services and mobile phones are said to be a perfect combination of hardware, application and value-added services.

Android now powers 51.8% of US smartphones, growth continues

Popular analyst company Nielsen has published its report on the US smartphone market in the second quarter of 2012. The quarter saw smartphone growth continue as two thirds of all new customers picked a smartphone.

Android continues to be in lead, powering 51.8% of all US smartphones and 54.6% of the ones purchased over the past three months. And that was the quarter before the Samsung Galaxy S III was launched.



iOS is the other platform on the rise, with Apple's OS accounting for 34.3% of US smartphones and 36.3% of the newly acquired ones. Expectedly iOS is starting to lose pace in the third quarter of iPhone 4S availability, but things are bound to change once the iPhone 5 comes out.

BlackBerry is the only other platform on record by Nielsen and it continues its free fall. While the RIM OS still powers a respectable 8.1% of US smartphones, it only managed a market share of 4% with new subscribers. This means that it might soon join the dreaded "others" category, officially turning the US smartphone market into a two-horse race.

As for the platform that is hoping to escape that category - Windows Phone - only managed a market share of 1.3%. The Nokia Lumia lineup is still struggling to make an impact, covering just 0.3% of the market, despite the heavy promotion of the Lumia 900 by both the Finns and AT&T.

HTC PM63100 to succeed the One X with 1.7GHz CPU and HD screen

The HTC One X has undoubtedly been a huge success for HTC and battery issues aside, we certainly feel it’s one of the most powerful and best performing Androids in the market today. A leak from a GLBenchmark listing tells us that HTC is working on a possible successor to the One X. So far, we only have the model name and a few specifications, but from the sound of it, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a major departure from the current One X. Codenamed HTC PM63100, it will still sport an HD (1280 x 720) screen, although the screen size is yet unknown. The codename for this phone is ‘Evitareul’ which is similar to the codename for the One X, which was Evita. The phone seems to be currently running ICS, but we feel HTC will give it the Jelly Bean treatment by the time it’s out.

Successor on the way

The One X is HTC’s current flagship offering. It uses a polycarbonate shell, making it ultra slim and durable. The screen is a Super LCD 2 which produces very good colour and comes very close to the quality of a Super AMOLED. The camera is definitely a highlight on the One X and the burst mode is second to none - even the S III doesn’t stand a chance when it comes to capturing images in quick succession. The One X, just like the rest of the One series, comes with Android 4.0 along with Sense 4.0 running on top.

Here is a look at some of the features of the HTC One X:


4.7-inch capacity touchscreen display with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution
3G, EDGE/GPRS and Wi-Fi capabilities for net access
GPS with A-GPS support for Google Maps
Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (Micro)
8MP camera with LED flash and secondary camera up front
FM radio
32GB internal

The newly founded Jolla Ltd. will develop MeeGo smartphones

Here is a great piece of news for everyone who loves MeeGo. The Finnish startup Jolla Ltd. will develop smartphones running the Linux-based platform. More importantly however, Jolla will practically pick up the effort right from the point where Nokia left off - the newly formed company's core staff were the people who gave us the already iconic N9.

Samsung starts rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich for its tablets

S
amsung has finally started rolling out Ice Cream Sandwich for their bunch of tablets that were eligible to get Android 4.0- a.ka. Ice Cream Sandwich. The company had earlier mentioned that their tablets were going to receive ICS in July or August so it is definitely good news that they are fulfilling their promise. The mobile industry is eagerly waiting for Google’s next update to hit the market and “reform” their experience. But we’re not talking about ‘Jelly Bean’ unfortunately; we’re still discussing Ice Cream Sandwich i.e. Android 4.0 out here. As reported, the entire list of tablets that will receive Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich are:

Full Specs of Samsung’s Galaxy Chat Now Available

On Wednesday, South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung made official a new member of the Galaxy family, the QWERTY slider Galaxy Chat.

 The new device, previously leaked as GT-B5330, will arrive on shelves with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system on board, and should prove a great option for those looking for a messaging device.

 Following the official unveiling, the full specifications list for the mobile phone is available for your viewing pleasure, enabling us to make a better idea of what the handset has to offer.

PR1.3 update for Nokia N9 goes live in some regions

It looks like Nokia has released PR1.3 for the N9 without much fanfare. After the Finnish company laid off some 10,000 employees last month, it was rumored that any future MeeGo updates would also be scrapped, especially considering that the N9 is the only Nokia smartphone to run the OS.

It seems that despite all of the internal issues Nokia has, there are at least a few people left in the MeeGo department, at least for now. Rumor was that this update was in preparation for PR1.4, but all of that was before the layoffs.

The update version number is v40.2012.21-3.001.19 and comes in at 204.8 MB. Quite a lot of users have already reported having received the update, so it's global rollout should be complete soon.

Samsung GALAXY Note 2 Confirmed to Arrive in September with 5.5-Inch Display

According to the first rumors on the unannounced Galaxy Note 2, Samsung plans to put one of its newest Exynos system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution inside this smartphone.

In addition, the device should boast a large 5.5-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display, which might be of the same quality as Galaxy S III's PenTile screen.


It's been also rumored that Galaxy Note 2 will be equipped with 1.5GB of RAM, but given the fact that some Galaxy S III models are already shipping with 2GB of RAM onboard, this won't make it stand out.

Today, GSMArena claims that the 5.5-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display has been confirmed by a trusted source close to the matter.

Moreover, the cited source also claims that the Galaxy Note 2 will come with 2GB of RAM instead of the previously rumored 1.5GB of RAM.

Apparently, the next Galaxy Note device will be a bit narrower than the original model and will feature a Galaxy S III-like form factor and design.

The smartphone will be powered by Samsung's Exynos 5250 chipset with dual-core ARM 15 processor, but this information has yet to be confirmed.

No word on the amount of megapixels of the main camera, but rumor has it that Galaxy Note 2 will boast an 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back with improved sensor.

More importantly, Samsung decided to move the release date of the Galaxy Note 2 to September, though previous rumors claimed the smartphone will arrive in October.

The reason behind the South Korean handset maker's decision seems to be the fact that Apple plans to launch the iPhone 5 in October, so Samsung want to grab as many customers as possible before the Cupertino-based company comes forward with its latest product.

Rumor Says Apple Is Launching Thinner iPad 4 This Summer

Chinese sources in touch with Apple’s supply chain have reportedly learned of a thinner iPad with Retina display launching this summer.

While it is highly improbable that Apple will introduce the same iPad with a thinner design only a few months after refresh, effectively spitting every early iPad 3 adopter in the face, the report does bear some credibility.

According to the Chinese-language Apple Daily, cited by DigitTimes, “The upgraded iPad is said to feature indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) panel technology to allow the device to feature an even thinner design and longer battery life. Panel supply will be shifted from Samsung to Sharp," the paper reportedly said.


The current IPS (in-plane-switching) displays used in the third-generation iPad require more space and more battery power to light up their three-million-pixel canvas to provide a good viewing experience.

IGZO technology, on the other hand, allows for the same results (if not better), with less power consumption, and less space being used. Considering that this would also allow Apple to include a smaller battery pack, the company would be killing two birds with one stone.

According to the Taiwanese trade publication, Samsung supplies 60-70 percent of current iPad panels, leaving the rest for LG Display and Sharp to deal with.

“But as Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) has recently made investments in Sharp, Sharp is expected to see its proportion rise to 50% for the upgraded iPad,” the paper reportedly added, citing its sources.

In other words, Apple has every reason to start mass producing a thinner version of the iPad, as all the hardware requirements are now available in bulk quantities.

As noted above, though, it very unlikely that Apple will cut the life of its third-gen iPad short, leaving millions of customers disappointed that summer brought a thinner and lighter version, with the same price tag, only a few months after the debut of the original Retina-capable tablet.

No more Flash support for Android after 15th August

Last November Adobe shocked the Android Tech community with an announcement that is discontinuing development of the Flash Player for mobile browsers. Today another announcement came from Adobe, no more Flash support after 15th of August!

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean preview

Today at I/O 2012, Google officially announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest version of its mobile OS. Check the video preview after the break.

Project Butter is the major new innovation in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, making the entire UI fast, fluid and smooth. The entire interface runs at 60 frames per second and animations are smoother and quicker.

The other big thing is power efficiency. Jelly Bean now dials the CPU back to lower frequency when it’s not in use.

Jelly Bean comes with an improved Google Voice Search, now spoken by a much more human-sounding voice compared to Siri and S Voice.

The home screen has also been tweaked, adding some nice features like dynamically resizing widgets, widgets that will now automatically resize as you move them across screens.

Notifications get a major revamp with expanded Gmail notifications, multiple notification sizes, and actions to allow you to interact with apps straight from the notification display without needing to open the relevant app.

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean changelog:

  Project Butter has brought smoother and faster feeling user interface
  Improved notification center with expandable and actionable notifications
  Updated widget behavior
  Improved camera and gallery apps for easy photo snapping and sharing
  Improved keyboard behavior with with word prediction
  Added Accessibility options with support for external Braille input
  Enhanced Android Beam allowing transfer of photos and video
  Offline Voice recognition and typing
  Google Voice search is more intelligent than ever
  Updated Google Search user interface
  Google Now adds automatic information feeds to your device (weather, traffic, sports, etc)
  Bi-Directional text and additional language support
  Truly high-resolution contact photos
  USB audio output and HDMI multichannel audio output
  App encryption and Smart App updates

Samsung Galaxy Y CDMA now available in India for Rs. 7490

Samsung Galaxy Y CDMA is now available in India from online retailer Flipkart. Samsung launched the Galaxy Y in India last October and the Dual-SIM Galaxy Y Duos earlier this February. It has 3-inch (320 x 240 Pixels) display similar to the GSM version but has 600 MHz processor instead of 832 MHz processor and comes with a 2 MP camera at the back. It runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

It has 140MB Internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB, 3.5mm Ear Jack, Stereo FM Radio with RDS and has Swype keyboard. The connectivity features include 3G 3.1 Mbps EVDO Rev A, Bluetooth v 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS with A-GPS . It has 1200 mAh battery.

The Samsung Galaxy Y CDMA is now available in India from Flipkart for Rs. 7,490.

Intex iTab now available for Rs. 8900

Intex has reduced the price of their iTab that was launched in March for Rs. 11,900.  The Intex iTab has 8-inch capacitive display and is powered by 1 GHz cortex A8 core processor. It runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It has front video calling camera and a 3.5mm audio jack. It has 8GB internal memory which is expandable upto 32GB.

They launched the tab in Jaipur with Rajasthan Royals IPL team earlier this month. The tablet has 1GB DDR3 RAM, Wi-Fi, 3G via Intex dongle, USB port that support external hard drive up to 1TB, GPS and comes with comes with Word, Excel and Power Point viewer.

It also comes with pre-loaded applications such as the Adobe Reader, Android Market and popular games like Angry Birds, Solitaire and Talking Tom.  It has 360 degree G-Sensor and comes with 5000 mAh battery that offers backup time of  5-6 hours (with Wi-Fi).

The Intex i-Tab is available for Rs. 8,900 from the Intex IT and Telecom Channel Partners and at 70 INTEX SQUARES (exclusive retail stores) and several hypermarkets across the country. Intex plans to launch new 7-inch and 10-inch models in the future.

Windows Marketplace now requires 7.5 update for downloads

Microsoft has announced that starting today, the Windows Marketplace will require all phones to be running on the Windows Phone 7.5 software. This update was issued last fall and was made available to all the Windows Phone devices.

Unless you have the latest update installed, you will not be able to download or update your apps. You will still be able to access the Marketplace but will get an error every time you try to do the aforementioned tasks.

This seems like the logical thing to do as there is practically no reason why you wouldn't want to upgrade to the latest update. You will be able to take advantages of several new features that were introduced in Mango and there's really nothing to lose. If you're reading this you have probably updated your Windows Phone long ago but in case you haven't or know someone who hasn't then this is the time to do it.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 310 gets a Price tag of Rs.19,500

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 310 (GT-P3100) has been priced at Rs. 19,500 and now available in India according to our friends Mahesh Telecom. It was announced in February and was unveiled in Asia in March. It is powered by 1GHz dual-core processor and runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). It has 7-inch (1024×600) PLS TFT LCD display and has 3MP fixed focus rear-facing camera and VGA camera on the front.

It is 10.5mm thick and weighs 344g. The connectivity features include, 3G HSPA+ support, Voice calling support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS. It has 16 GB internal memory and is expandable up to 32GB with micro SD. It has 4,000mAh battery.

Check out our hand-on images of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 310. The tablet is also now on pre-order from Samsung eStore.

HTC already planning Tizen devices according to Digitimes

You might have seen the Tizen Developer device  which is a Samsung phone running on the Tizen platform. Tizen is the joint venture between Intel and Samsung and the Operating System is expected to be ready this June with devices running on the Tizen OS expected to hit the market in the 2nd half of 2012. Now according to a report from Digitimes , HTC is already working on a Tizen device and might be released later this year.

We might also see Tizen devices from Asus and Acer (mainly netbooks) but we might see smartphones from Samsung and HTC. Looks like Tizen is shaping up in a much bigger way than expected !