Acer will launch a $99 Android tablet and lower-priced Windows 8 slates in 2013

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Acer will launch a $99 Android tablet in 2013. The sub-$100 slate will go head to head with the numerous low-cost Chinese tablets which are offered in developing countries under a plethora of different brands.

The budget-friendly Acer Iconia Tab B1 will sport a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU (likely a Mediatek unit), a 7″ display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, and 512MB of RAM. Built-in memory is reported at 8GB with a microSD card slot available as well. The OS on tap will be Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. The above press image of the upcoming tablet has been confirmed as the real deal by the WSJ sources.

Curiously, ASUS has told the WSJ that it will not be threading into the sub-$100 tablet category, which is in line with recent rumors. The manufacturer is apparently satisfied with the Nexus 7 success and doesn’t feel the need to enter significantly lower price points.

Acer will also introduce lower-priced Windows 8 tablets next year. The tech giant has conceded that its current Windows 8 tablet lineup is a tad pricey.

Samsung Galaxy Tabs 2 7.0, 2 10.1 and Note 10.1 in Garnet Red

Samsung seems to be preparing new colors for its latest slates – the Tabs 2 7.0 and 10.1 as well as for the Note 10.1.

The new colors is called Garnet Red – if it sounds familiar it’s because the Galaxy S III is already available in it.


The Garnet Red editions of the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1 will arrive in time for Valentine’s Day next year. Unfortunately only the 3G+Wi-Fi slates will get the new paintjob.

Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but likely the red units will cost the same as their black and white siblings.

Dell abandons its smartphone business

In a rather unexpected move, Dell announced it is quitting the smartphone market altogether as of next year.

The news was delivered by Jeff Clarke, Dell’s head of consumer business at the Dell World Conference. The reason behind the decision is that “It needs a lot of investments to really be successful”.

So, what’s Dell’s mobile strategy from now on, then? The simple answer is – Windows tablets. The company’s XPS10, XPS 12 and Latitude 10 are now the headline runners for the consumer’s heart, all running Windows 8 or Windows 8 RT.

In an interview with Forbes, Clarke added.

"It’s a content play with Android. Amazon is selling books and Google is making it up with search. So far we couldn’t find a way to build a business on Android."

Acer C7 Chromebook is now available, for $300

In a rather unexpected move, Acer has outed a second version of its C7 Chromebook bringing a decent bump in specs.

Carrying the C710-2605 model name, the new Acer C7 Chromebook sports the same 1.1GHz dual-core Intel Celeron B835 processor as its predecessor, but now the RAM is doubled to 4GB and the storage is 500GB instead of 320GB.

The first iteration of the C7 Chromebook didn’t have the best battery life, and Acer has addressed the issue by doubling the battery’s capacity from 2,500mAh to 5,000mAh resulting in a total run time of 6 hours.

The new C7 Chromebook hasn’t yet hit the shelves, but we expect it to make its debut on time for late Christmas shoppers.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch with Windows 8

Lenovo has announced a touchscreen version of their ThinkPad X1 Carbon, called the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch. We reported in the past about it when it had briefly been spotted on Lenovo’s website but it wasn’t officially announced back then.

The 14-inch Ultrabook has been optimized for use with Windows 8 and supports all the basic gestures. The X1 Carbon Touch has a 14.4-inch, ‘HD+’ display, weighs 3.4 pounds and is 20.8mm thick. In fact, Lenovo calls it the world’s thinnest 14-inch touchscreen Ultrabook.

On the hardware side, the machine comes with the option of Intel’s Core i5 or i7 processors, although no other specifics have been mentioned. It also has Dolby Home Theater v4, MS Lync, HD face tracking camera and dual-array microphones. As with the X1 Carbon, the Carbon Touch is also made from carbon fiber.

The Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch prices start at $1,399 upwards and is on sale right now.

Android YouTube app updated

Google has released an update to the YouTube app for Android, bringing a refreshed user interface for the 10″ tablets.

The update comes soon after YouTube launched its newly redesigned website, and makes better use of the ample screen estate 10″ tablets provide. Apart from the redesign, the app also comes with several minor bugfixes on all devices.

So, if you have a 10-inch Android tablet, make sure to head over to the Play Store and update the YouTube app.
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Samsung releases a teaser video for CES 2013, leaves us wondering what to expect

Samsung loves to release teaser videos before major announcement events, and CES 2013 is no different. The company has launched an 18-second trailer entitled “Get Ready”, which aims to get you excited about what’ll be in store for you.

The event will take place from January 8 through 13 in Las Vegas and will be a playground for all major companies to show their latest tech to the world.

Here’s the teaser in question, which sadly, isn’t as exciting as you’d hope for.



We can speculate all day what Sammy may be up to, from flexible OLED displays to a whole new line-up of Smart TVs. I guess we’ll have to just patiently wait and see. Naturally, we’ll be on site bringing you timely updates on whatever Samsung decides to throw our way.

Official hands-on videos for the Ativ S

The Windows Phone 8-running Ativ S is yet to be released, but Samsung is already starting to warm up for the launch.

The Ativ S should go on sale some time this month, but Samsung is yet to confirm the first countries to get its WP8 smartphone. That probably won’t take long as the company has already started its marketing campaign on the device. Two newly uploaded videos demonstrate pretty much everything the Ativ S can tempt you with.

Enjoy!

YouTube gets a new coat of paint, makes it easier to discover new videos to watch

If you’ve visited YouTube today you might have noticed that it has a brand new design. But there’s another change that you might not notice right away – Google is trying to make it easier to follow the channels you’ve subscribed to and to find new content.



Let’s start with the new look. YouTube now looks a lot closer to Google Plus and has pushed the video player almost all the way to the top – only the search bar along with a few vital options sit above it, everything else (including video title, channel subscribe buttons and so on) have been pushed below the video.
The Guide is available to the left of the video and helps you manage your subscriptions as well as notify you when there’s a new video out by a channel you’ve subscribed to. It will also recommend channels based on what’s popular and what your friends are sharing.

The Guide is available on YouTube’s website, but also on all the apps available for the different platforms. This means you can watch videos on your computer, then on your phone, then on Google TV – YouTube will give you recommendations based on what you like, regardless of which platform you use at the moment.

Samsung Mobile Beam Projector is a pocketable pico projector for phones and laptops

Samsung has made a couple of attempts to integrate a pico projector into a phone, but if you those are not to your liking, the company has started making a separate projector accessory too. The Mobile Beam Projector is about the same size as a Galaxy S III and can be hooked up to a smartphone, laptop, media player – anything with MHL or HDMI out really.

The projector measures 116 x 60.4 x 12.2mm and weighs 108g, making it reasonably pocketable. It projects an image with nHD (640 x 360) resolution at up to 20 lumen brightness (15 lumen in normal operation). That’s comparable to what the Galaxy Beam has.
The Mobile beam Projector has a 0.5W speaker and a 1,650mAh battery built in, enough for two hours of operation.

It accepts both MHL and HDMI input and can act as an MHL dongle too, if you want to hook up an external monitor.
The projector is on sale now for 239,000 won ($237). Unfortunately, it’s available only in Korea.

Source (in Korean) | Via

V-Moda Crossfade M-80 headphones review

The first time I experienced a pair of V-Moda headphones was back in 2008 when I enjoyed my time with a pair of the company’s earbuds. At the time, V-Moda headphones were already well known for their blend of premium quality and sound despite the company’s young age.

This time around, I got a chance to spend some quality time with a pair of the V-Moda Crossfade M-80 on-ear headphones. Priced in the $200 range, V-Moda’s premium offering aims to sway potential users away from the well-established Beats Audio Solo, and therefore enough to get me curious.

V-Moda headphones have always aimed at the fashion conscious and the Crossfade M-80 is no exception. Sporting similar looks as the larger, over-ear Crossfade LP model, the M-80 headphones look great. They also come in plenty of colors to choose from, including the capability to add your personal touch. You can change the shield color on the headphones’ side by choosing from a number of colors, textures and designs, including the ability to create your own.

V-Moda Crossfade M-80 live photos


V-Moda Crossfade M-80 live photos


The retail package of the V-Moda Crossfade M-80 leaves nothing to be desired. Inside the box, which is a looker in its own right, you will find the headphones, a great-looking case, as well as two 3.5mm cables – one with three buttons for iOS devices and a single-button one for all others.

Ergonomics are superb. The Crossfade M-80 are relatively light at 200 grams, so even prolonged use will not cause any unwanted discomfort.

Build quality of the Crossfade M-80 is nothing short of impressive. V-Moda call the STEELFLEX headband of the headphones “virtually indestructible.” The headphones are tested beyond military-level MIL-STD-810G test standards. The cable/plug bend has been Kevlar reinforced, while the headphones can survive over 70 drops on concrete from 6 feet. To cap it all up, V-Moda sells the headphones with two-year warranty, which is rare to come across for such a product.

The headphones came well equipped in the sound department as well. The M-80 packs 40mm patented dual-diaphragm high-fidelity drivers with the hefty impedance of 28.5 Ohms. The frequency response range is between 5 and 30,000 Hz and the sound pressure level peaks at 105dB.

In real terms, the above numbers translate into a superbly balanced sound, regardless of the equalizer setting and the music style. I spent several weeks with the headphones as my daily driver and found nothing to frown at.

Overall, the V-Moda Crossfade M-80 are easy to recommend, despite their relatively high asking price of $230. Should you decide to shop around, you can snag a pair at Amazon for as low as $170 depending on the color of your choosing. This is a fair amount of cash to ask for superbly built, good looking premium headphones, which carry great sound.

SMS celebrates its 20 year anniversary today

SMS messages turn 20 years old today and while the cell network technologies have changed, the usefulness of those 160 character texts hasn’t diminished. If anything it has increased – there are 8 trillion (yes, with a t) texts being sent each year.

Twenty years ago on this date, the first SMS message was sent – the message read ‘Merry Christmas’, typed on a computer by Neil Papworth and sent over the Vodafone network to one of its employees, Richard Jarvis, who received it on an Orbitel 901 phone.

If you try to look for that model on our site, you won’t find it – it’s too old even for our database. It looks more like a regular office phone (it’s pictured above) except it’s not wired to the wall.

Anyway, Papworth was 22 years old when he sent the message and I commend him for not texting the way most current 22 year olds do (though then SMS talk wasn’t invented yet).

“We thought SMS was a clever way for a company’s staff to send simple messages to one another,” says Papworth, “even if at the time the achievement was nothing remarkable.” You can read more of what he said to The Guardian.

Today there are WhatsApp, Viber, iMessage, BBM and more competing with SMS but the simple service remains one of the most used on a mobile phone.

Samsung demonstrates the Galaxy Camera

Samsung released a 13 minute-long walkthrough for its Galaxy Camera Android-powered digicam. It’s really worth it if you don’t have a store with a demo unit, but you are considering getting the device.

In case you need a refresh, the Galaxy Camera features a similar hardware to the Galaxy S III flagship smartphone (4.8” LCD HD screen, a quad-core 1.4GHz processor, Mali-400MP GPU, 1GB RAM) and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
On the camera side, the Galaxy Camera offers a 16.3MP sensor and a wide-angle lens with 21x optical zoom. Xenon flash, image stabilization and 1080p video recording complete the list. You can find the full specs here.
The device offers everything but telephony. It has a SIM slot though and you can use a data-SIM for sharing your photos on the go.

Here is the promised video:

Learning to Build A Gaming PC

Your Gaming PC Options

There are two ways to get into hardcore gaming fun. The first way obviously is to by a Gaming PC. There are several companies that make these, the big names being Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Velocity Micro and iBUYPOWER. These companies all put together great computers for gaming, but you pay a premium for them. You can pay anywhere from two thousand dollars to ten thousand and more. Why so much? First, because they use premium parts and second, you’re buying a brand name.

That leads us to the second way to get into hardcore gaming, building the PC yourself. The truth is that you can build the exact same computers that those gaming computer companies build, for less money. The problem with building your own, however, is that you have to have some basic knowledge, and you have to do the research.

Motherboard and Processor

To learn how to build a gaming PC, you need to know what to look for while you shop for parts. You will need to familiarize yourself with various terms like “front side bus” “socket” “chipset” and “HSF”(heat sink/fan). Let’s start from the core and work our way out under the assumption that budget isn’t a factor. We’ll start with the processor. You have to decide whether to go Intel or AMD, the two main processor (CPU) manufacturers. Reading up on each one, especially user reviews, will give you good information upon which to base your choice. Your choice of chipset will also determine your processor pick.


you go with AMD, you’ll be looking at a range of chipsets, from AMD 770 to AMD 890FX. On the Intel side, you’ll have to go with either P55 or X58. Chipset and processor need to be compatible, and you’ll have to do some research here. As an example, we’ll build a top of the line Intel set, since that’s what most gaming PC companies are going with these days.

Using an X58 for our i7 980X processor, we want to choose a motherboard that will complement the Processor – you can’t chose just any X58 motherboard. With gaming computers, the key is to get high-end components that can handle the demand that modern games require, otherwise you’ll be replacing parts in no time. Now, there is some opinion bias when it comes to who makes the best motherboards, but you’d be pretty safe with an ASUS, EVGA, MSI or Gigabyte board. Those are some of the most common boards found in gaming systems, but there are other nice ones too.

Got to Have RAM

Next you’ll want to get RAM. The things you are looking for here are the number of gigabytes you want and the RAM's speed. For 64-bit OS systems (which you’ll want, by the way), 4GB of RAM is probably enough, but we recommend that you go with at least 6GB or 8GB. You’ll definitely want to go with DDR3, and it ranges in speed from 800 to 2133MHz. 1333 to 1600MHz are very common speeds, but if it’s within your budget to go to the higher speeds, you’ll be happier with the result. Just remember that with these speeds you want to make sure that the motherboard’s memory bus speeds can handle the same or you’ll be bottlenecked at the lower speed of the two. Also, like everything else, you want to get high-end memory from manufacturers like Corsair, Kingston, OCZ, etc.

The other RAM specification you will want to look at is the CAS Latency. CAS latency is the time it takes to access and process information on your RAM. 5 is common for decently priced memory, however, the extremely fast 2.5 CAS Latency is a better choice, if almost twice as expensive. You also want to consider RAM channels. For a gaming rig, running 6GB (3X2GB modules) of DDR3 1600 (PC3-10700) in triple channel with a CAS Latency of 2.5 is an excellent choice.

GPUs, The Visual Experience

Graphics cards are the main muscle in a gaming PC. The main contenders are Nvidia and ATI (which is actually AMD as of 2007). Which one you go with is mostly a preference thing. There are fans from both parties that’ll tell you why one is the better than the other, but the end result is that you just want something that’ll play all your games on the highest graphics settings with high frame rates. The main thing you want to watch out for is what version of DirectX it supports. The reason is that if you have a game that uses only DX 11 features and your card only supports up to 9 or 10, you’ll have to upgrade to be able to run those features. In some cases you may not be able to play it at all without upgrading. For our example, we’ll go with the current top of the line card, the ATI Radeon HD 5970.

Dual graphics cards are quite common in gaming computers but not necessary if you have a nice single card. SLI and CrossFireX setups will obviously improve game play since they are running 2 to 4 cards simultaneously but buying that many cards is expensive. If that’s the route you want to go, you’ll also need to get a motherboard that can handle this setup, which is pricey too. One with 3 or more graphics card slots is best so that you can space 2 cards out. If they’re right next to each other you may have heating issues. There can be space issues with SLI/Crossfire systems so your best bet is to get a full size tower.

Everything Else

Once you've addressed graphics, you’ll want a good hard drive. Ensure that you are using a Sata 3 or 6 if your board supports it. There's no point in running a Sata 1.5, half the rate of a 3. Western Digital, Samsung and Seagate make some of the best ones but there are a few others. Western Digital’s VelociRaptor will give you 10,000 RPMs, which is quite a bit faster than the standard and typical 7200 RPMs. Any faster and you’ll probably want to go with an SSD (solid state drive). SSDs are fast but quite expensive and there have been a number of issues with them. As for the example, we’ll go with a pair of 600 GB Western Digital VelociRaptors.

Next on the list is an optical drive or two -- and you can go as fancy as you want with that. Since technology is moving to Blu-rays, we’ll put a pair of 10X Blu-ray RW, DVD+/-RW combo drives in the example. tying is all together are the power supply and tower. Towers are mostly a preference thing. Cheap ones will probably get the job done, but the more expensive ones will have convenience features like the ability to hide your cables. They will also usually look better. Just pick one out that you like and fits all your hardware. Mid-size towers are more compact but can have issues when it comes to SLI/Crossfire, so you may want to go with the full-size tower. We’ll put a full-size in the example to allow plenty of room for upgrades later on.

For a power supply you just want to make sure that it's robust enough to easily cover your PC, monitor and anything you plug into it that doesn’t have its own power source. The example we're building will probably require at least a 750 Watt PSU. If we decided to put a Crossfire board in it down the road, and add other things like liquid cooling, cold cathode lights, a front bay LCD display, a fan controller, multi-displays and overclocking, we’d have to up the power supply accordingly. Don’t skimp on the PSU because it’s not worth risking all your hardware.

And That is That

There you have it -- building a gaming PC in a nutshell. Obviously, you’ll have to get all your peripherals, like a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Since those are purely preference, we won’t get into them; just get what fits your style. As a brief recap, get what you want but watch for the key compatibility issues we mentioned. All that's left after that is to plug in and enjoy.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City coming to Android and iOS

n celebration of the 10 year anniversary of 80′s style car thievery and gunplay, Rockstar is re-releasing Grand Theft Audo: Vice City for Android and iOS on December 6th.

It seems like just yesterday we were busy rolling through Miami on a killing spree to the tune of Roxette.

The 10th Anniversary Edition features native high-res graphics for mobile devices, updated character models and lighting effects, fully customizable controls, and precision targeting and firing options.

Rockstar has also released a list of compatible devices:

Apple iOS Devices: iPad, iPhone 4, 4S & 5, iPod touch 4th & 5th Generation

Android Phones: Motorola Razr, Razr Maxx, Razr Maxx HD, Motorola Atrix, Motorola Photon, Motorola Droid Bionic, HTC Rezound, HTC One X, HTC One S, HTC Evo 3D, HTC Sensation, HTC Droid Incredible 2, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Samsung Nexus S, Samsung Galaxy Note 1 & 2, Samsung S2, Samsung Galaxy R, Sony Xperia Play, Sony Xperia S, P, T & TL, Sony Walkman Z Series Media Player, Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy S3, Google Nexus 4

Android Tablets: Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, LG Optimus Pad, Medion Lifetab, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 / 10.1, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Sony Tablet P, Toshiba Thrive, HTC Flyer, Google Nexus 7, Google Nexus 10

This is most likely not a complete list of compatible devices, as Rockstar was probably unable to test all Android devices out there.

Look for GTA: Vice City on the Play Store and on iTunes for $4.99 starting December 6th.

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MasterCard with LCD Screen and Touch Keypad

Mastercard has launched the  next generation credit card with LCD screen and touch keypad in collaboration with Standard Chartered Bank Singapore and claims to be Singapore’s first interactive payment card, or security token card, that features the next generation  MasterCard’s Display Card technology.

How many times have you been asked for the One Time Password (OTP) when using online banking and online payment portals? Usually an OTP is the six digit security code sent to your mobile phone by your bank or credit card company,which you can type online to confirm and process your online payment.

The new interactive Mastercard DisplayCards allows users to generate and display the One Time Password in the LCD display instantly. Thus, the token generated by these “Authentication Cards” can be used to authenticate online transactions securely. They claim that in future the card could display more information like credit balance, reward points etc.

The MasterCard Display Card is manufactured by NagraID Security and functions like a normal credit, debit or ATM card in every other way.

Google said to be working on an AirPlay alternative for Android and Google TV

Apple’s AirPlay is a fantastic feature. You connect your Apple TV and then you just beam content from your iOS and OS X device wirelessly with no setup required. It just works. Unfortunately, it just works on Apple’s devices

Google is now said to be working on a similar feature for it’s own set of products, namely, Android and Google TV. Unlike Apple’s version, however, Google’s service will be open and will allow other software and hardware vendors to implement it in their products.

There is not much known about it at this point but once launched you should be able to beam content from your Android device to, say, your Google TV or a standard TV connected to something like Nexus Q. I’m not sure why Google is bothering with this, though, as they recently included Miracast support in Android 4.2, which pretty much does the same.

Rockstar releases new trailer for Grand Theft Auto V

Rockstar has released a new trailer for the upcoming GTA V. The video does not feature any gameplay sequences but gives a look at the general setting of the game.

GTA V will take place in the fictional location called Los Santos in San Andreas. It will be Rockstar’s biggest open world game yet and feature three new protagonists, all of whom will be playable. The three characters have different stories that intertwine as the game progress and eventually you will be switching between the characters as they work together to accomplish a single goal.

GTA V will be released in spring 2013. Till then, you can watch the trailer below.

How Parents & Children Actually Use Smartphones

According to a new survey conducted recently, an interesting thing comes into picture that youth of today do have one main thing in common with their parents, and that is technology, specifically smartphones in one to many ways.

As per the survey, Canadian parents and children revealed that about 24% of parents owned Android while 31% of children owned Android as their smartphone. 32% of parents and 38% of children owned Apple iPhone while 30% and 25% of parents and children owned BlackBerry.

This clearly shows how close the percentage of using same type smartphones, well to give more better facts and figures about the findings, our friends at OnlinePsychologyDegree.net come up with an interesting infographic.

Google announces new Acer Chromebook

After announcing the aggressively priced $249 Samsung Chromebook last month, Google has now announced an even more aggressively priced Chromebook

This new model is manufactured by Acer and is sold for just $199 in the US. For that price you get a machine that has a 11.6-inch display, an Intel Core processor, 320GB hard drive with additional 100GB free storage on Google Drive, 3.5 hour battery life and of course, Google’s Chrome OS.

According to Google, the machine boots up in 18 seconds and is capable of streaming 1080p YouTube videos. If you’re someone who only uses their computer for browsing the web then this can be a pretty solid purchase.

The Acer Chromebook will go on sale in the US on the Google Play, BestBuy.com and select Best Buy stores starting today. In the UK, it will be sold on Google Play, Amazon UK, PC World and Currys. It is supposed to be released in other countries soon.

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Sony launches Full HD 3D Home Cinema Projector

Sony has launched its latest full HD 3D home cinema projector, the VPL-HW50ES. With the already competitive VPL-HW30ES making strides in 3D home projection, Sony has ensured that this new model encapsulates the latest technologies and delivers a premium 3D home cinema experience that is ahead of the market.

With a plethora of innovative new features that draw on Sony’s latest technologies, the VPL-HW50ES sits at the forefront of advanced Home Cinema Projection. This includes utilising an adapted version of Sony’s clever ‘Reality Creation’ technology which was developed for Sony’s EISA Award winning VPL-VW1000ES 4K home cinema projector. The technology ‘Reality Creation’ employs an originally developed digital signal processing algorithm to restore any information lost when packaging from original content to disc, recreating high quality, colour-rich, full HD images.

High brightness of 1,700 lumens has been achieved by improving the light efficiency of the lamp and optimising the optical block. Together with a new Bright Cinema and Bright TV Mode, the VPL-HW50ES achieves 30 per cent greater brightness than the previous model without any loss in colour reproduction.

Sony’s new contrast enhancer technology and optimised Advanced Iris 3 algorithm combine to give the projector a dynamic contrast ratio of more than 100,000:1. The contrast enhancer works by analysing each scene and then automatically optimising contrast in real-time by compensating for dark and bright parts of the image. Additional features such as Sony’s 3D crosstalk reduction system and SXRD panel technology result in 3D images which are stunningly detailed and high in definition.

“The earlier launch of the VPL-HW30ES set a high standard for the home projection market last year. With the announcement of the VPL-HW50ES, we’re confident that Sony has raised that bar again, setting a new benchmark for home cinema projection,” said Mr. Satoru Munetaka, Deputy General Manager, Professional Solution Division, Sony India “ HW50ES has an “Reality Creation “function using Sony unique algorism technology to reproduce “real HD picture”. We are sure end user can enjoy true vivid and crisp picture than ever

As well as encompassing Sony’s latest technologies, the VPL-HW50ES also features a number of functionality upgrades that make it more user-friendly. These include a built-in 3D sync transmitter, a wider lens shift that makes its vertical shift range become +/- 71 per cent and whisper-quiet fan noise suppressed to a mere 21dB.

The VPL-HW50ES is priced at Rs. 259,900 and is available in black and white colour, across India through all authorized distributors

HTC J Butterfly : World’s First Smartphone with 5-Inch Full HD Screen

HTC has launched J Butterfly, the first smartphone from the company with a full HD display. The new smartphone features a 5 inch Super LCD 3D display which supports a resolution of 1920×1080.

The device will be released on Japanese Telco au by KDDI.HTC representatives have informed that J Butterfly will go on sale in Japan during December this year. The company however has not mentioned any details regarding the international release of the smartphone.

The phone display sports 440 PPI and this fact has gathered the attention of many smartphone users in Japan. The device also features a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm S4 Pro quad core processor which will facilitate smooth execution of games and applications. It has a RAM capacity of 2GB as well as an internal storage capacity 16GB.

J Butterfly comes with an 8 mega pixel rear camera and 2 mega pixel front facing camera. The device will be powered by Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS and will incorporate HTC Sense 4+.A 2020 mAh battery will power the device and provide ample amount of talk time and standby time. J Butterfly is reported to be a Japan specific model. However a smartphone of similar caliber could be expected from HTC for the global market too.

HTC has been recently witnessing a dramatic decline in the sales of its smartphones. With the launch of this new device, HTC plans to regain its lost glory.

Get Windows 8 Media Center Pack for Free [Until January 31]

The digital video recorder software from Microsoft, Windows Media Center will not be part of  Windows 8 operating system by default. It will be available as a paid media add-on, for which you’ll have to fork out an additional $10.

While ten bucks sounds cheap, when you consider that you are required to run Windows 8 Pro to be able to install the media center pack, the proposition suddenly turns very expensive.

To make Windows 8 as affordable as possible Microsoft is selling the standard Windows 8 license for $39.99 and Windows 8 Pro is on offer at $69.99. But these are discounted prices and available only until January 31, 2013 starting from October 26, 2012. After the end of this period, the price could jump to $199 for Windows 8 Pro.

Microsoft is also knocking off the $10 media pack charge until January 31. If you act now, you can get a license key for Windows 8 Media Center Pack at no cost. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t bought Windows 8 yet. It also doesn’t matter if you haven’t even decided you want to buy Windows 8 or not. Signup for the free media center license now – you can use it latter once you’ve made up your mind.

Get Windows 8 Media Center Pack for Free

1. Visit this page and enter you email address.
2. You will get your license key by email.
3. On Windows 8, move the mouse cursor on the lower-right corner of the screen until you see the charms menu. Click on Search.
4. Choose Settings on the left and type “add features”. Click or touch on Add features.
      
5.  In the next window you will be prompted through the steps to buy a product key or enter a procust key you’ve already bought.
6. Choose the second option, enter the key you received in your email and click Next.

Windows 8 will now commence downloading the media center pack. Once that is installed, you will be able to play DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

    

GTA V set to launch in the Spring of 2013 according to leaked pre-order ads

The next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series will see the light of day some time in Spring next year. GTA V will be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles around that time according to a leaked photo of a retail display.

Polish fansite GTA Five.pl has obtained photos of an upcoming retail display, inviting customers to pre-order the game.

Judging by the logos shown on the advertisement, Rockstar isn’t going to offer the game for PC, or at least not initially.

Otherwise, details around the game have been scarce with Rockstar releasing just a couple of screenshots and one teaser trailer.

Microsoft officially launches Windows 8 Worldwide

Finally, the wait is over. Microsoft has officially launched Windows 8, the latest version of its desktop operating system. With a new focus on touch-enabled machines and mobile devices, it’s the biggest shake-up of traditional operating systems since Windows 95

In a New York event streamed across the internet, Steve Ballmer took to the stage to highlight Windows 8′s new features. Chief among them were the Windows store, a one-stop shop for full screen apps that looks set to rival Apple’s OS X app store, the availability of Windows RT, the cut-down mobile version of Windows 8 that was designed specifically for tablets, and a brief preview of the various different machines launching over the coming weeks.

Starting today, users can access the latest Microsoft OS on a wide range of Windows 8 PCs, ultrabooks, tablets and hybrid devices. Windows 8 will be available in two versions at retail – Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.

Apart from buying from the new range of Windows 8 devices, users can also upgrade their current PCs to Windows 8. From 2nd June 2012 until 31st January 2013, users currently running PCs with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 are qualified to download Windows 8 Pro for an estimated price of Rs. 1,999. Those who wish to buy a DVD to upgrade will have to pay Rs. 3,499. This offer is valid until January 31, 2013. After that the OS is expected to be priced above Rs. 11,000.

Microsoft has also announced the launch of Windows RT for ARM based tablets, which will only be available pre-installed on new devices. With the Windows 8 launch, the Windows Store is now open for consumers to download apps. Indian users have access to a range of free and paid apps that can be downloaded including Bharat Matrimony, BigFlix, BookMyShow, Bookyourtable, Burrp, Dhingana, Fastrack Tees, Flyte MP3, Gaana, Goibibo, ICICI Bank iMobile, ICICIDirect, JustEat, MakeMyTrip Explore, MapmyIndia, my airtel, PVR Cinemas, Tarla Dalal, Yahoo Cricket and Zovi.

As many as 14 OEM partners including Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HCL, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lenovo, RP Infosystems, Sai Info System, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Wipro and Zenith Computers will be providing Windows 8-based PCs and tablets in India. According to Microsoft, more than 250 Windows 8-based devices, including 23 brand new SKUs of Windows 8 PCs, will be available in 100 cities and more than 2,500 retail stores in India.