Asus Transformer Book Trio

Credits : Phonearena.com

With PC sales slipping at what seems an ever-increasing rate while tablet sales blossom like springtime, it's clear that a good number of users are discovering they can do all their computing on their iPads, Google Nexus 7 tablets, or even their big-screen smartphones.

But for many of us, the need for a good physical keyboard and Windows programs like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop keep us tethered to a traditional laptop. Even if we wanted to opt for a Windows tablet with a keyboard, the rather lackluster (though improving) selection of tablet apps available for Windows 8 would have us envious of our friends with Android or iOS devices.

That's where Asus' latest convertible comes in. The Transformer Book Trio essentially takes an 11.6-inch Windows detachable, like the larger Transformer Book TX300CA priced at Rs.98,099, and puts the guts of an Android tablet behind the screen and the innards of a Windows laptop in the base. When the two pieces are docked together, you have a laptop that can run either Windows or Android, switching between the two with the press of a button on the function-key row. Remove the display, and it's an Android tablet. You can even use the two pieces simultaneously, plugging a monitor into the keyboard base and using it as a Windows desktop. Thus, the "Trio" concept: Windows laptop, Windows desktop, and Android tablet in one.

Design and specs

The Trio sports a sharp 11.6-inch IPS display (1920 x 1080) that impresses with vibrant colours and deep blacks, which look particularly alluring when the tablet's running in Android mode.

We were a little less enamoured with the black bezel surrounding the screen, which is a little too chunky for our tastes. It also picks up a fair few fingerprints, as would be expected on a reflective display of this type, but they were easy enough to wipe off.

As a tablet, the Transformer Book Trio is an 11.6-inch tablet that's powered by a dual-core Atom Z2560 CPU clocked at 1.6GHz. At 1.5lbs, it's light to hold, coming in fractionally heavier than Apple's iPad 2 (1.33lbs).

Unfortunately, that ultra level of portability stops in its tracks once the keyboard dock is attached, which isn't surprising as it houses the Trio's internal grunt. If you were to prise it open, you would discover a fourth-generation Intel Core i5 Haswell processor, a 64GB SSD, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD.

Connecting the dock makes the device thicker and heavier, bulking up from 9.7mm at its thickest point to 13mm and going from 1.54lbs to 2.2lbs, putting it on a par with Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air (2.38lbs). It also converts it into a proper laptop.

credits : phonearena.com

Ports and features

The Transformer Book Trio offers a multitude of ports. The tablet part of the device contains a micro-USB port, a microSD card slot and an audio jack.

The docking station offers one mini DisplayPort, two USB 3.0 ports (one of which is a USB charger), one micro-HDMI 1.4 port with 1080p support and an audio jack.

The Transformer Book Trio features a rear 5-megapixel snapper with auto-focus (which is still sadly lacking from Microsoft's Surface Pro 2) and 1080p full HD video recording. At the front is a 720p HD camera. It can go for up to 13 hours on a single charge in Android mode, according to Asus, which lowers to five hours when used as a laptop in Windows mode. Other features include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope and e-compass.

Keyboard and dock

The Asus Transformer Book Trio's chiclet keyboard isn't the best or worst we've ever used, meaning it isn't likely to win any awards in this category. There's decent spacing between the keys themselves, but they lack travel and feel a little rigid to type on.

credits : tech2.com

Performance

The PC base station packs in enough grunt to easily manage most menial tasks and then some. Here’s a breakdown of all the tests that we ran.

The Android tablet is equally powerful as well and easily manages to run most apps and games with ease. The UI is smooth and devoid of any lag, despite the skin. The Full HD display is great when using it in tablet mode as it makes video consumption a real treat. In terms of numbers, the tablet portion of the Trio is about as powerful as a Samsung Galaxy S3 and according to Quadrant, is quite a bit faster than Asus’s earlier Transformer Prime tablet.

Battery Life

The base station is fitted with a 33Wh battery, which lasted for 2-hours and 10-min on Battery Eater Pro. In real world usage, you should be able to squeeze out around 4-5 hours of usage time. The tablet is fitted with a 19Wh battery, which lasted for about 7-hours on video playback. Overall, the battery life for the PC station is average at best whereas the tablet does fare a bit better.

The Transformer Book Trio is a very compelling proposition if you’re hunting for a workhorse hybrid PC. With ability to use the notebook as a Windows 8 PC and the screen as an Android tablet – at the same time; is something that hasn’t been done before. This alone makes the Trio one of the best hybrids in the market right now. If we have to nit-pick then the battery life of the base station could have been better, the trackpad buttons are unusable and a backlit keyboard would have been a neat addition at this price. If you don’t fancy the detachable design then the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13 is another well spec’ed hybrid at this price.

Pebble Steel Smartwatch!

Credits : www.gizmag.com

 Pebble kicked off CES 2014 by announcing a high-end version of its popular smartwatch called Pebble Steel. The new timepiece includes a band with metal links and a leather strap, as well as a few subtle improvements from the original polycarbonate design.

Credits : www.gizmag.com

Although the original Pebble brought about as much style as could be brought to a plastic watch, well, it's still a plastic watch. The stainless steel Pebble Steel feels less like a tech gadget and more like a piece of jewelry that happens to have some cool tech inside. The Steel fits in among any number of mid-range watches that you could wear to a business meeting or an evening out. Pebble created Steel as a response to frequent requests from users for a classier design that’s appropriate for all sorts of occasions. The only big difference in appearance between the Steel and a watch used for keeping time is that its watchface is thicker.

Credits : www.gizmag.com

Steel costs $249 and begins shipping on January 28. It also includes a new tricolor LED that will be used for notifications when Pebble opens it up to developers. The new design shortens the length of the watch by 4mm from lug to lug, and it also runs the antenna along the outside of the watchface for better signal propagation. The SDK 2.0 apps that you'll find in Pebble's upcoming app store will all be built in Javascript. That means a more focused (no long list of apps to install) and consistent (the same on iOS and Android phones) user experience.

Yelp’s Pebble app also adds a ton of utility. You’ll be able to shake your wrist to get a recommendation on a nearby place. You can scroll through nearby venues and even click through to see reviews. The upcoming Pebble apps from Pandora, ESPN and Mercedes and were pleasantly surprised by how well-thought out they were. Rather than trying to mimic a full native mobile app, the developers thought through simple micro-interactions so you don’t have to pull out your phone that often.

Credits : www.gizmag.com

There's no doubt that the Pebble is one of the favourite gadgets from CES and rightly deserves the hype being generated despite only adding metal and toughened glass to an already potent mix. Given that stocks are going to be limited, this is sure to be a sellout device.

Jolla smartphone with Sailfish OS!

The "Jolla smartphone", if you've never heard of it, a company formed by a group of former Nokia employees that refused to let go of MeeGo after the Finnish mobile manufacturer abandoned it, has announced the launch of the first smartphone based on the new Sailfish operating system, called Jolla. It will be launched on November 27 by Jolla in partnership with Finnish telecom operator DNA.

Jolla's website notes that the Jolla smartphone is priced at Euros 399. The company plans to handover 450 pre-booked Jolla phones on November 27 and the rest would be available at DNA Kauppa outlets in early December, the statement said.

Inside is a 1.4GHz dual-core processor made by Qualcomm and 1GB of RAM. There's 16GB of storage and a microSD card slot underneath the rear cover for adding more. A 2100mAh battery is removable, includes a 4.5-inch (540x960 pixels) display, the Jolla smartphone will sport an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera alongside an LED flash, while there is a 2-megapixel front-facing camera as well. It also features changeable smart covers.

The Sailfish OS

Sailfish is closest in likeness to BlackBerry 10 OS. It's got no navigation buttons to speak of and is therefore gesture based.

Everything is about swiping, so apart from swiping up and down between the three aforementioned sections, there are three main things you can do. Swiping from the left or right edge of the screen will take you from an open app back to the homescreen, swiping from the top of the screen closes the app and swiping from the bottom displays your notifications.

The homescreen displays apps in a very similar way to BlackBerry 10, as you open more apps they get smaller to fit on the screen. However, if you have more than nine open, you can only see your most recent. The app tray at the bottom of the homescreen can be customised to your favourite apps.

From this initial hands-on we came away with the impression that Sailfish OS has a great deal of potential. It has a huge leg up from the core work already done by Intel and Nokia and its UI is genuinely innovative while taking a mixture of the best aspects from other platforms. On the hardware side whether the ‘Other half’ functionality of covers can be a genuine differentiator is less clear cut, but we can see it being popular in younger age groups. 

That said where the real battle lies for Sailfish is not in convincing people it is a viable platform, but that it is preferable to the existing heavyweights. Our feeling is Jolla will have to reduce its handset price to achieve that, provide tight Android app integration from the outset and pick its markets carefully.

Aside from this the other battle is with three more newcomers: the Samsung/Intel funded Tizen, Firefox OS and Ubuntu. The first two will also have phones out in 2013 with the latter expecting to debut in early 2014. 

Kindle Fire HDX tablet

The all-new Kindle Fire HDX tablets are sleeker, lighter and come with upgraded hardware specifications. The Kindle Fire HDX 7 tablet comes with 7-inch display with 1920x1200 pixels resolution and 323ppi pixel density, while the 8.9-inch model features an 8.9-inch display with 2560x1600 pixels resolution and pixel density of 339ppi. The Kindle Fire HDX 7 only sports a front-facing HD camera (unspecified megapixel count), whereas the bigger sibling comes with front-facing HD camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera. Both new tablets are powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor alongside 2GB of RAM, and run the new Fire OS 3.0 based on Android Jelly Bean.

A 1.3MP camera will full HD video recording capabilities ensures that video chatting on this device is a breeze. Internal storage is decent at 16GB. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and microUSB connectivity.

Credit : Slashgear

Amazon.com modifies Android so much that it no longer resembles Android. The company calls it Fire OS 3.0, or Mojito. Amazon's services are front and center on the Fire, and Google's are nowhere to be found. It's the other way around on the Nexus 7 and other Android devices. For a day or two, I even forgot the Kindle Fire can do much more.

Regular customers of Amazon will appreciate that integration. A row of tabs at the top of the screen offers quick access to various Amazon services, including e-books, music, videos and audiobooks, the latter from the Audible business that Amazon bought in 2008. Another tab gets you Amazon's shopping site, where you can buy television sets, vacuum cleaners and tennis rackets. The Kindle is already tied to your Amazon account, so it's easy - perhaps too easy - to just click and buy.

Kindle Fire HDX 7 tablet key specifications

• 7-inch display with 1920x1200 pixels resolution
• 323ppi pixel density
• HD front-facing camera
• 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor
• 2GB of RAM
• Fire OS 3.0 based on Android Jelly Bean
• 16GB/32GB/64GB storage variants

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 tablet key specifications

• 8.9-inch display with 2560x1600 pixels resolution
• Pixel density of 339ppi
• HD front-facing camera
• 8-megapixel rear camera
• 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor
• 2GB of RAM
• Fire OS 3.0 based on Android Jelly Bean

As successor to the Kindle Fire, the Fire HDX lives up to expectations thanks to exceptional specs like the stunning display, awesome processor, good front camera and sufficient connectivity options. The colour options are limited, but that aside, this device is good enough for anyone seeking a powerful tablet that is capable of providing an excellent visual experience.

The best part of the new Kindle is its price. Amazon.com Inc. begins shipping it on Thursday,Nov 14 starting at $379. That's cheaper than the new $399 iPad Mini, which has a display that measures 7.9 inches diagonally. The full-size Kindle Fire HDX has an 8.9-inch screen, just short of the iPad Air's 9.7 inches. Even cheaper is the 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX, which costs $229.

The "World's Slimmest Smartphone" launched In India

The Chinese manufacturer Huawei has now rolled out its premium handset Ascend P6 in our country.

The P6 features a sleek metallic body, 6.18 mm to be precise. the phone is powered by a 1.5 GHz Huawei K3V2 quad-core processor. It sports a 4.7 inch HD screen. Apart from that, you get an 8 megapixel camera, 5 MP front-facing snapper, and 2000 mAh battery.

The phone is also light in weight at 120 grams. The Ascend P6 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and features Huawei's Emotion UI 1.6 OS layer on top. It offers 8GB of inbuilt storage expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. The smartphone comes in Black, Pink and White colours.

Huawei has officially launched its Ascend P6 smartphone in India at an MRP of Rs 29,999.

The lack of NFC and 4G also sets the Ascned P6 back from the forefront of the mobile market, as missing two of the latest mobile technological breakthroughs won't endear it to the tech-enthused masses.

The Huawei Ascend P6 shows that the Chinese manufacturer can really make an impression on the Android market with its stunningly slim - if slightly derivative - design, as well as some quirky features that mark it out as a little bit different.

The Ascend P6 may be Huawei's flagship device, but it's not a smartphone which will find itself at the top of smartphone tree - more playing catch-up to an ever strengthening pack.

A camera for your smartphone : Sony Cyber-shot QX10 and QX100

  

Capable of being used with most smartphones today, Sony's QX10 and QX100 attachments both look like removable camera lenses, but they are in fact complete cameras. Well, they're complete except for the viewfinder or the display, but that's where smartphones come in.

It can be attached to smart devices and paired with them through Wi-Fi or NFC, following which photos and videos can be shot with the help of Sony's PlayMemories app, which is available for both iOS and Android converting the device's screen into a real-time viewfinder. The same app lets users tinker with camera settings, coming with the ability to release the shutter, start or stop movie recordings, and adjust common photographic settings like shooting mode, zoom, Auto Focus area and others. Once pictures or videos are taken, they can be saved directly on both the phone and the camera or either, and can be shared instantly via social media or other common mobile applications. If the lens is not paired with the device, pictures and videos can be saved on a microSD card or a memory stick on the camera lens.

Sony DSC QX10 Camera Lens specifications

• 18.2 megapixels 1/2.3 type (7.76mm) Exmor R CMOS sensor
• BIONZ image processor
• Sony G Lens, with 7 groups (including 4 aspheric elements)
• F3.3(Wide angle)- F5.9 (Tele) aperture
• 10x optical zoom
• 12MP images and 1080p ((1440×1080) video recording at 30fps
• Optical SteadyShot (with Active Mode for movies)
• Memory Stick Micro / Memory Stick Micro Mark 2 and Micro SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card (Class 4 or Higher)
• Dimensions - 62.4 x 61.8 x 33.3 mm, weight 90 g (main unit only),  105 g (battery and Memory Stick Micro)
• 630 mAh Sony NP-BN rechargeable battery

Sony DSC QX100 Camera Lens specifications

• 20.2 megapixels 1.0 type (13.2 x 8.8mm) Exmor R CMOS sensor
• BIONZ image processor
• Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T*, with 7 elements in 6 groups (4 aspheric elements including AA lens)
• F1.8(Wide angle)- F4.9 (Tele)
• 3.6x optical zoom
• 12MP images and 1080p ((1440×1080) video recording at 30fps
• Optical SteadyShot (with Active Mode for movies)
• Memory Stick Micro / Memory Stick Micro Mark 2 and Micro SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card (Class 4 or Higher)
• Dimensions – 62.5 x 62.5 x 55.5 mm mm, weight 165 g (main unit only),  179 g (battery and Memory Stick Micro)
• 630 mAh Sony NP-BN rechargeable battery

Sony is trying something new, but most consumers might see the wisdom of putting that money into a proper standalone camera. Aside from structural and operational awkwardness, the prices of the QX10 and specially the QX100, makes them expensive add-ons for already expensive smartphones.The Sony DSC QX10 and the DSCQX100 comes in Black color and are priced at Rs. 12,990 and Rs. 24,990.

BlackBerry Introduces the New BlackBerry Z30 Smartphone with 5” Display and BlackBerry 10.2 OS

Candian smartphone maker BlackBerry unveiled its premium flagship Z30 phone in India, pricing it at Rs 39,990, as it took on competition from iPhone and Samsung to save its dwindling market share. The company is also offering 12-month EMI options for purchasing its latest device.

The BlackBerry Z30 which features a 5-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution runs on Blackberry 10 OS version 10.2. It is powered by 1.7 gigahertz Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and has a 2880 mAh capacity removable battery.

It sports 8 megapixel rear camera and 2 MP front camera and comes with a 2880 mAh capacity removable battery. It has 2 GB of RAM and an internal memory of 16 GB that can be expanded to 64 GB with microSD card.

"BlackBerry Z30 is the ultimate smartphone for the urban youth and consumers who are looking for a bigger screen size, long-lasting battery and a best in class productivity experience, offers a unique and engaging user experience with features like the powerful BlackBerry Hub, its exceptional touchscreen keyboard and industry leading browser," BlackBerry India Managing Director Sunil Lalwani said.

Analysts feel that this festival season the Z30 will face strong competition from other flagship smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 & Galaxy S4, Apple iPhone 5s, 5c, LG G2 and Sony Xperia Z1.

BlackBerry's BBM takes top spot on Apple's App Store

Credit : Cnet 

BlackBerry BBM racks up 10M downloads in first 24 hours. BlackBerry Messenger fans new and old propelled the BBM app to the top of Apple's App Store just a day after its launch. But the app doesn't appear to be making much of a ripple in the Google Play store, and isn't listed in the top free apps list.

Bocking noted there have been 60,000 five-star reviews out of 87,000 total reviews. It is the No. 1 app on the App Store's free apps list. Curiously, as of Tuesday morning, the BBM app hasn't made the same impact on Android's Google Play store, where it isn't listed in the top free app category. But, we don't know how quickly Google Play updates its top free apps list.

There was significant demand for the iOS and Android version of BBM, with 6 million registering ahead of time to get information on the app. There was so much interest that BlackBerry had to institute a wait list for people who hadn't registered ahead of time.

BBM has been a rare bright spot for a company that recently retreated from the consumer market, focusing largely on big business and government customers with its devices and network services.

Finally: BBM rolling out in Google Play & iOS App Store!

Credit : Blackberry

BlackBerry has finally released its BlackBerry Messenger for iOS and Android. The company says that users should see it appear in Google Play, the Apple App Store, and in select Samsung App Stores. It will be free to download.

BlackBerry had previously said that the Android and iOS versions would be released on September 21 and 22, respectively. It took them a month longer to actually do it.

The company says that so far, 6 million people have signed up for information about the Messenger app and it touts that 1 million Android users were “using the unreleased version of BBM for Android.”

Here’s the roll out details from BlackBerry:

• Download BlackBerry Messenger for Android or iPhone.
• Install the app, open it, and enter your email address.
• BlackBerry will email you when you’re next in line for access

If you managed to sign up on BlackBerry’s Messenger site, the company says that you’ll be able to use BBM immediately without waiting in line.

This is certainly good news for BlackBerry — and it definitely needs all that it can get. The launch of BBM for iOS and Android comes as BlackBerry struggles to save itself from a prolonged decline so debilitating that the company was recently forced to publish an open letter assuring customers of its longevity.

Is this the fall of Blackberry?

The end of a Smartphone giant! A shock to some, and a predictable outcome for others, it was obvious that the path blackberry has chosen will either take their ship of glory struggling in the sea of smartphones and the storm of iOS and Android to the shore or it will finally sink. And right during this storm, the co-CEOs of RIM decided to step down and leave the company in a limbo.

Blackberry needed that magic again that could take them away from their economic breakdown; we waited and waited for that time, but it never came. And now it seems that Blackberry has finally given up on the smartphone race and admitted its defeat.

But what truly brought about this eventual decay that forced BlackBerry to forfeit and sell off to Fairfax Financial Holding for $4.7 billion?

My personal opinion says that Blackberry is itself responsible for it; various small aspects and fatal miscalculations like poor pricing proved to be one of the many factors that eventually lead to their downfall. Let's have a look!

Operating System: Strike one!

Blackberry had to take care of three things and most important of them was their OS, the central nervous system of a smartphone. Blackberry always underestimated the power of Android and iOS, they were satisfied with their OS and never showed any interest in upgrading it, until the market exploded with iOS and Android which finally made them realized the biggest mistake they’ve ever made. Even Nokia’s with its ever-faithful Symbian OS started running out of options and finally adopted windows as their life-saver. Blackberry also panicked and introduced the BB 10 to the masses in the year 2011. Unfortunately, they were a little too late for the party as Android and iOS had the cake, and ate it too.

Hardware: Strike two!

Blackberry never had much power under the hood to keep up with the competition like Apple and Samsung, while they were fighting with each other to stay first in the race by adding more power in their devices Blackberry was thinking slow and steady wins the race; but this was not the case with Apple and Samsung and they were launching device after another to show how much of 'technology' they could give on your palm. BlackBerry finally launched a noteworthy smartphone in the form of BlackBerry Z10. It placed BlackBerry right in the competition; it was smart in all the right sense and complimented the all new operating system; it also gave BlackBerry a new direction, when they finally gave up their typical QWERTY keypad design for a full-touch interface. We thought BlackBerry had finally arrived. We were horribly wrong, again.

Pricing: Strike three...and you are out!

Desperate times require desperate measures, but Blackberry never took it seriously. BlackBerry was always known to flaunt a hefty price tag for their handsets. For the outdated hardware and software that came bundled, the prices were outrageous; BlackBerry stuck to their pricing, and did the same for their “would’ve been lifesaver”, the BlackBerry Z10. A phone that had all the potential to take things forward for BlackBerry, the Z10 was priced absurdly high at of Rs.42,000/-!! Taking the hardware and price into consideration, a customer could easily get the all-powerful Samsung Galaxy S4 or the iPhone in the same price that was equipped with more firepower and housed Android or iOS as an OS.

The share of BlackBerry Limited in the Indian smartphone market dropped to 2% during the April-June period of 2013 down from 7% a year ago, according to IDC. Even the launch of new models by BlackBerry Limited with a new OS could not prevent the decline in its market share and rather than rectifying their mistakes, BlackBerry launched two more smartphones, the Q5 and the Q10. Both handsets based on its signature QWERTY layout, the phones were meant to be BlackBerry's second grace, and yet again, the poor pricing led it another wave of failure sweeping them off.

The final nail in the coffin: BBM!

Once people used to buy Blackberry just to use BBM, it was once ACE Card for the Blackberry. It was a rage internationally with teenagers purchasing BlackBerry for the sole reason of using the instant messaging service. BBM finally found its worthy opponents in the form of instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, WeChat etc. that are hosted for free on numerous operating systems but BBM is still not free in Blackberry devices.  As far as Android and iOS are concerned they should have launched BBM few years ago and cemented their feet in the market, and yet they failed at doing so.

There were many other reasons for their failure as well like the mediocre Apps market as compare to Android and iOS, arguably the worst camera among smartphones and not so good customer services made sure that their glory was short-lived.

There could have been various saving graces for BlackBerry; the right upgrade at the right time, lower pricing, introduction of BBM for Android and iPhone among various other things. BlackBerry failed, and so did its legacy for being one of the top contenders in the smartphone market.

How to close running apps in iOS 7

In iOS 6 and previous versions you have to double tap the home button twice to show the tray containing all the currently running apps in the background, then you have to tap and hold any one of the app until they start to toggle with a little red cross on them. Then you have to press that red cross to close that app which are using your iPhone’s resources (RAM, CPU etc.).

In iOS 7 you still have to double tap the home button to bring the list of currently running apps, but now you can see the screenshot of the last used the apps that are running in the background as well the icon of that app under the screenshot. You can Swipe left and right to scroll through the list of apps.

To close an app you have to swipe the screenshot upwards to close it. It is much easier and more feasible than the previous versions of iOS as you can swipe with two fingers and close two apps simultaneously.

It feels quite similar to Android where you have to swipe towards left to close any running app, but it feels good to have best of both worlds ;-)