HTC recently announced a new mid-range quad-core smartphone, the Desire 600. This handset packs a 4.5 inch qHD display, 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 8 megapixel camera and more. The HTC Desire 600 is a dual-SIM smartphone and it runs on the old Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) OS. It is also the company’s first mid-range handset to offer the latest Sense 5 UI along with HTC BlinkFeed and HTC BoomSound.

Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation, said,
“People rely on their smartphones every day to be their news channel, email inbox, social network and music player. The HTC Desire 600 dual sim combines speed and easy multitasking with the truly innovative HTC BlinkFeed home screen. The result is an affordable mid-range phone that sets the standard for its class, keeping the busiest user up-to-date at a glance and offering them the power and range of features to switch between work and play.”

HTC Desire 600 features a 4.5 inch qHD display, sporting a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels, 1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8625Q Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor, Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, HTC Sense 5 UI, 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, full HD (1080p) video recording and playback, 1.6 megapixel front-facing camera and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, Beats Audio, Bluetooth 4.0, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB internal memory, 25 GB DropBox cloud storage, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, NFC (Near Field Communication), A-GPS, up to 11 hrs of talk-time, up to 539 hrs of stand-by time and a 1860 mAh battery.

This handset measures 134.8 x 67 x 9.3 mm and weighs 130 grams. HTC Desire 600 will be available with major mobile operators and retailers in Russia, Ukraine and MEA (Middle East and Africa) from next month. The price of this handset will be announced soon.

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Samsung has already created history with its Galaxy S range of smartphones. Back in 2011, Galaxy S II became the largest selling device in the history of Android smartphones. The South Korean mobile phone manufacturer sold 10 million units of Galaxy S II in 7 months. Later in 2012, Samsung Galaxy S III broke the record of its predecessor and held the title of fastest-selling Android phone by shipping 10 million in less than 2 months.

Earlier this year, Samsung launched the company’s latest flagship device, the Galaxy S4. Almost everyone were expecting that the Galaxy S4 will sell like hot cakes and earn the title of the fastest selling Android smartphone. Today, Samsung finally announced that the Galaxy S4 is indeed selling like hot cakes and the company has managed to ship more than 10 million units of this device in just 26 days. You heard it right! The phone is estimated to be selling at a rate of four units per second.

JK Shin, President of the IT & Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics, said,
“On behalf of Samsung, I would like to thank the millions of customers around the world who have chosen the Samsung Galaxy S4. At Samsung we’ll continue to pursue innovation inspired by and for people.”

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is currently available in more than 110 countries and will gradually be rolled out to a total of 155 countries with the support of 327 partners in the coming days. Apart from that, Samsung has also announced that the Galaxy S4 will be soon available in 4 new colors – Blue Arctic, Red Aurora, Purple Mirage and Brown Autumn.

AT&T has also announced that the wireless carrier will exclusively sell the Red Aurora Galaxy S4 in the US. AT&T subscribers can pre-order the new color variant from tomorrow, however the device will go on sale from June 14 for $199 with a 2 year service agreement.

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After spending a little over two months in the beta-zone, Opera for Android is now ready for prime time. The Norwegian browser maker has published the first stable version of Opera with Chromium rendering engine to the Play store.

Opera for Android is a major revamp for the popular mobile browser. Under the hood, it ditches Opera’s Presto engine in favor of Google’s Chromium rendering engine, which itself is based on WebKit. The biggest advantage of Opera for Android is that it supports Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and up. Chrome for Android on the other hand requires at least Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). This is crucial as almost 40% of Android users are still on Gingerbread. Opera also mentioned that it intends to “stay closely in sync with the Chromium development cycle, doing frequent updates”. This might indicate that Opera intends to move away from feature driven release cycles to schedule driven rapid release cycles like that of Chrome and Firefox. Google has already announced that it will be forking WebKit to create its own rendering engine called Blink, which Opera will also be adopting.

In addition to everything that Chromium 26 supports, Opera for Android also features some additional ‘standardsy goodness’ like WebGL 3D context and CSS3 @supports. Another new feature is background playback support for native HTML5 audio. You can start playing a song on Soundcloud, switch to a different tab or even a different app, and the audio will continue playing. You will be able to control the playback from the notification area.

Opera for Android also features a complete revamp of the user interface, which is now more in line with Android design guidelines. It adds a new speed dial with folder support, a discover feature with latest news and updates, a combined search and address bar, and an off road mode. Off road mode is the new name for Opera Turbo, which compresses web pages to save bandwidth and improve browsing speed on slower networks. Some of the major features that didn’t make it to this release include Opera Link (sync) integration, custom search provider support, and access to about://flags. Support for tablets like the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10 is also missing.

[ Download Opera for Android ]

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Earlier this month, Samsung announced the “Own Now” plan which offers some mid to high end Galaxy smartphones and camera at 15% discount along with 0% processing fee and 0% interest on 12 months EMI. Today, BlackBerry joined the bandwagon and announced a similar EMI scheme for the high-end BlackBerry Z10 smartphone and the entry-level BlackBerry Curve 9220 in India.

If you were planning to buy the BlackBerry Z10, but refrained due to its high price tag, then this is the right time to buy one. Under the new EMI scheme, customers can get the BlackBerry Z10 using their credit card by paying an EMI of Rs 4799 per month for 9 months. On the other hand, BlackBerry has announced a similar scheme for BlackBerry Curve 9220 where customers can easily get the device just by paying an EMI of Rs 799 per month for 12 months.

Currently, this scheme is available only for Axis Bank, Citibank, HDFC bank, HSBC, ICICI Bank, Kotak, SBI Card and Standard Chartered credit card users. These plans offer Rs.0 down payment, 0% processing fee and 0% interest on EMI. Idea subscribers will also get 1GB/ month of 3G data usage just by paying Rs.999/year in 8 circles including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

The new BlackBerry EMI scheme will be rolled out in 3000 BlackBerry outlets across the country by this weekend. Are you planning to buy one? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Earlier this month, Samsung announced the “Own Now” plan which offers some mid to high end Galaxy smartphones and camera at 15% discount along with 0% processing fee and 0% interest on 12 months EMI. Today, BlackBerry joined the bandwagon and announced a similar EMI scheme for the high-end BlackBerry Z10 smartphone and the entry-level BlackBerry Curve 9220 in India.

If you were planning to buy the BlackBerry Z10, but refrained due to its high price tag, then this is the right time to buy one. Under the new EMI scheme, customers can get the BlackBerry Z10 using their credit card by paying an EMI of Rs 4799 per month for 9 months. On the other hand, BlackBerry has announced a similar scheme for BlackBerry Curve 9220 where customers can easily get the device just by paying an EMI of Rs 799 per month for 12 months.

Currently, this scheme is available only for Axis Bank, Citibank, HDFC bank, HSBC, ICICI Bank, Kotak, SBI Card and Standard Chartered credit card users. These plans offer Rs.0 down payment, 0% processing fee and 0% interest on EMI. Idea subscribers will also get 1GB/ month of 3G data usage just by paying Rs.999/year in 8 circles including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

The new BlackBerry EMI scheme will be rolled out in 3000 BlackBerry outlets across the country by this weekend. Are you planning to buy one? Let us know in the comments section below.

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LG has announced the Optimus GJ: a waterproof variant of the ever so popular Optimus G. This smartphone can withstand 30 minutes in 1 meter of water, giving the Optimus GJ a IPX7 rating. Aside from being waterproof, the Optimus GJ is also dustproof, making it suitable for those who work on construction sites. To make this all possible, LG has opted for a plastic battery cover on the Optimus GJ with a removable battery. This is opposed to the glass back found on the Optimus G.

The Optimus GJ’s spec sheet is impressive as the device features a spacious 4.7-inch IPS HD display, a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon CPU, 2GB of RAM and a 13mp rear-facing camera. The device is also equipped with Bluetooth 4.0, a MicroSD slot for expansion as well as a 2,280 mAh battery pack. The device will be available in two color combinations: red/black and black/black.

If you’d like to purchase an Optimus GJ for yourself, you’ll have to either live in Taiwan or import one from the country sometime in June. The smartphone will retail for a hefty $17,990 TWD ($600 USD). As of now, we’re not sure if the device will be available for purchase in markets outside of Taiwan

Source: ePrice via UnwiredView
Image Source: ePrice

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There are number of companies which offer online data backup. However, most of them do not offer their services as advertised. Today, we are going to review the popular Carbonite online backup service. Before talking about Carbonite, let’s check out the advantages of online backups. Most of us still prefer to back up our data using conventional backup methods such as DVD or external hard disk. However, online backups have a number of advantages compared to conventional backup methods.

Online backups are automatically performed on a daily basis or on a frequency set by you. It runs quietly in the background so there is absolutely no need to worry about it. Moreover, it is less expensive and saves your valuable time. Conventional backup methods have a risk of losing all your data due to natural disaster or if your device is lost or stolen. On the other hand, online backup services allow you to easily get your data back with the click of a button in the event of data loss. Restoring your files is incredibly simple and it does not require any technical knowledge.

Recently, I was looking for a reliable online backup service which can back up most of my important files, images and videos at reasonable rates and finally zeroed down on Carbonite. First of all, Carbonite is one of the most trusted brands in cloud backup. Carbonite has already helped its customers to back up more than 300 billion files and recover nearly 20 billion files. The backup and restore process is extremely simple.

It allows you to back up pictures, documents and all your important files automatically to the cloud. Once you are connected to the internet, Carbonite will automatically start the backup process. Your files are encrypted before they leave your computer and are stored safely offsite at one of their data centers. Carbonite’s Home plans start at $59 per year, while the business plans start at $229 per year. Before purchasing the yearly plans, you can even try out Carbonite for freewithout spending a dime.

Setup:

To get started, all you have to do is just visit the Carbonite’s website and sign up for a 15 days free trial. You won’t be charged anything for the first 15 days, however the service will cost you $59 per year for a single PC after the trial period. Once you have created an account, you will be asked to download and install the application on your Windows PC or Mac. After installing the application, you’ll need to name your computer or laptop. After that, you will be asked to select the automatic backup process or the manual backup process.

The automatic process will back up all your pictures and important files from desktop, document and media directories. On the other hand, you can select the manual option and add files and folders to store on the cloud. If you own a small business and need to comply with certain industry regulations – like HIPAA – Carbonite can assist with your compliance requirements. You can choose to manage your own encryption key for any Windows computer, NAS device or server. It is not recommended to set your own key unless you are experienced at managing encryption keys or have a special need to do so.

User Interface:

After completing the setup process, you will be greeted with the Carbonite Info Center. The application will prompt you to start the backup process immediately. Carbonite will back up all your photos, documents, e-mail, settings and everything on your desktop. However, it will not back up any videos, executable files and other files larger than 4 GB automatically. You will need to manually upload them by right-clicking the file in Windows Explorer or in the Mac OS X Finder.

You can activate the Carbonite Info Center from the desktop or click on the tray icon. Right-clicking the tray icon allows you to open the Info Center, freeze your backup or pause the backup process for a predefined set of time. Carbonite has a great marking system for the files and folders. You can easily know the status of backed up data on your hard disk. It will mark the backed up files and folders with green dot, awaiting backup with yellow dot and partly backed up folders with green donut.

Scheduling and Restoring Backups:

Carbonite will back up all your content by default. However, you can set the application to back up once a day or even exclude certain hours. Carbonite does not allow you to specify a file type for backup, which can be a major drawback for its customers. You can manage and access your backed up files from the Carbonite Backup Drive on your computer or directly from Carbonite’s website.

You can restore your files from the desktop application as well as from their website. To restore your files from your computer, open the Carbonite application and select the Restore tab. The restore tab has 3 options – search & restore, browse & restore and restore all files. To restore your files and folders from their website, just log in to your Carbonite account and select the restore files. From there you can select individual files and folders or you can select the complete restore option to get back all of your files and folders.

Final Verdict:

Carbonite is without a doubt an excellent service to back up your data online. Their plans are quite affordable,. Unlimited backup space is just $59 a year. However it comes with some limitations. You can switch to a premium plan which allows you to back up an external hard drive and uploads videos automatically. Carbonite also provides free mobile and tablet apps for devices running on Android, BlackBerry and iOS Operating Systems. These apps can be extremely useful to access all your files on the go. With unlimited backup space, affordable plans and extremely simple backup and restoration process, Carbonite is definitely one of the best online backup services that you can’t afford to miss!

Start your free trial (no credit card required) at Carbonite.com. Use offer code SUNNY13 and you’ll get two months free if you decide to buy.

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Looks like Yahoo isn’t done yet after the $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumblr. The tech giant has finally made an attempt to make its once popular photo-sharing service Flickr alive again, with the hopes to reboot the service not only in a beautiful manner, but bigger and better than anything else.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer on Monday took stage to debut the all new redesigned Flickr photo site, including an announcement of 1TB free storage to all its users, which is enough to host nearly 537,731 photos in “full original quality” (6.5 megapixels). The downside, however, is that everyone who opts for the free storage will be seeing ads.

Flickr is now a whole new experience. The redesigned Photostreams and Sets layout is cleaned up to display the pictures in a proper grid fashion. Along with that, it is now easier to share photos on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, email, and of course, Tumblr.

The new layout also has a cover photo just like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, where users can edit it and replace the default picture with any of their existing uploaded photos. The photos are displayed in a grid format, where users can open them in a new page or simply mouse hover the cursor and click on the double-arrowed button to open in lightbox.

Flickr Photostream before

Flickr Photostream after

The Explore option, which is quite a known feature on Flickr, has been added to the navigation bar, which shows off the most popular uploaded images on a day-to-day basis. There is also a little slideshow button on the second navigation bar, which on clicked will switch to full-screen mode and you can navigate through the photos.

The redesign also comes to mobile devices on iOS and Android. On the other hand, Flickr Pro is no longer supported on the site as many of the features have been integrated with the free account. To quote Marissa Mayer’s words, she says “there’s no such thing as Flickr Pro, there is no such thing as professional photographers.” However, Flickr provides two options to upgrade their account: Go ad-free and Double your space.

The ‘Go ad-free’ option, of course, will remove ads displayed on your stream, which is priced at $49.99 a year. The ‘Double your space’ option will give you an addition 1TB of space for $499.99 a year, which I think is very unlikely that anyone would want to buy it. 1TB itself is a huge amount of space.

Yahoo is the new buzz now. What more can we expect from the new CEO? Only time will reveal.

And just in case you didn’t notice, visit dearmarissamayer.com

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Sony has announced yet another Android smartphone, the Xperia UL. The design of this handset is somewhat similar to the company’s flagship Xperia Z smartphone. This device will be exclusively available for the KDDI and NTT Docomo subscribers in Japan. As expected, Sony will ship the Xperia UL smartphone with the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. Sony Xperia UL is also a water and dust resistant smartphone.

Sony Xperia UL features a 5 inch full HD TFT Reality display, sporting a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels, 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System, 13 megapixel Fast Capture camera with Exmor RS for mobile, HDR video, Superior Auto and Noise Reduction, Full HD (1080p) video recording and playback, 3.1 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm audio jack, FM radio with RDS, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, 16 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, 2 GB RAM, Google Play Store, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA Certified, HDMI support, Micro USB, NFC (Near Field Communication), Wi-Fi Hotspot functionality and a 2300 mAh battery.

Sony Xperia UL will be available in black, white and pink colors. The price and release date of this handset will be announced in the coming days. Stay tuned!

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Today, Samsung launched the Android powered Galaxy Grand Quattro in India. This handset is nothing but the Indian variant of the Samsung Galaxy Win smartphone. It packs a 4.7 inch display and a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. The Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro runs on the older Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. This handset comes with the Motion UI feature which allows you to perform common actions simply by shaking the mobile to update contents, turning it over to instantly mute the device, etc.

Mr Vineet Taneja, Country Head, Samsung Mobile, said,
“Galaxy Grand Quattro is a revolutionary device that combines powerful performance with smart multi-tasking and advanced usability. Following the success of the Galaxy Grand introduced in January this year, we are confident that the Galaxy Grand Quattro will meet the needs of consumers looking for the ‘Grand’ experience in a slightly smaller display.”

Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro features a 4.7 inch touchscreen display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS, TouchWiz UI, 5 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash, HD (720p) video recording and playback, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, FM Radio with RDS, Dual-SIM capabilities, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 64 GB expandable memory, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, Samsung Hub, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, DLNA, Google Play Store, Wi-Fi Direct and a 2000 mAh battery.

This device comes pre-loaded with Samsung ChatOn, Games Hub and Samsung Apps store with easy billing options, try before you buy service, vouchers for discounted prices and more. This handset is available in black mist and frost white colors. Samsung Galaxy Grand Quattro comes with a price-tag of just Rs.17,290 (approx. $315) in India.

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Samsung might be notorious for overloading its Android smartphones with oodles of gimmicky features; however, in spite of the plethora of software modifications, the Korean giant is generally among the quickest to push out Android updates. LG and Sony delivered Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) to its 2012 devices only recently. HTC is still working on rolling out Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) to the One with the One X to follow later on. However, Samsung shipped the Galaxy SIV with the latest Android straight out of the gate, delivered Android 4.1 to the S II last year itself, and has been working for several months on bringing the latest version of Android to its older Galaxy SIII handset.

SamMobile has managed to get its hands on an Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean test firmware for the Galaxy S III – I9300XXUFME3. The new version doesn’t have all of the fancy new features of the SIV, many of which are expected to eventually end up on the SIII. However, it does have enough to make users happy. The new firmware has all of the official Jelly Bean goodness including lockscreen widgets, quick settings, and Daydream mode. Additionally, Samsung has added a driving mode, revamped the settings interface, improved S Voice, introduced full screen Samsung apps, and ported the SIV lockscreen with new unlock effects and the option to add custom text.

You can download the flash the firmware from here. Please keep in mind that this is a pre-release firmware.

The post New Samsung Galaxy SIII 4.2.2 Firmware Leaked appeared first on Techie Buzz.

If you are a frequent international traveller, then I’m sure your mobile phone bill burns a hole in your pocket. Last year, Vodafone India launched an International Roaming Pack for just Rs.1499 that offered 60% discount on international roaming on voice, data and SMS. This packs was quite popular among Vodafone users who travelled abroad.

Today, Vodafone launched a new International Roaming Pack which offers over 90% discount on data and approximately 64% on outgoing local and international calls. This pack will be extremely beneficial for people travelling overseas during this vacation season. Vodafone India is offering the new international roaming pack for a rental of just Rs.2499. This pack comes with a validity of just 30 days.

The benefits mentioned above are offered across 45 countries including UK, USA, UAE, Singapore and Thailand in partnership with select network operator in each country. You will be charged at standard international roaming charges, if you are connected to any other international operator’s network in these countries. You should also note that it is a non-recurring packs, which basically means that the operator will not auto-renew this pack after 30 days of usage.

To activate the International Roaming Pack, Vodafone subscribers will need to dial 111 their mobile phone. To know the operator on which the pack benefit will be applicable, send Pack ‘space’ Country to 111 or head over to this page.

Vivek Mathur, Chief Commercial Officer, Vodafone India, said,
“At Vodafone, we like to stay closely aligned with customer requirements and constantly work to add value for our customers. There is an increasing need of customers to remain connected while travelling abroad and our latest international roaming pack enables our customer to do that. It guarantees affordable connectivity for our customers travelling to countries like UK, USA, UAE, Singapore etc.”

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Micromax recently launched the company’s first 3D smartphone, the Micromax Canvas 3D. This handset does not come with the dual camera for 3D video recording, however it features a 5 inch screen which can display 3D content without glasses. Micromax Canvas 3D runs on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. It comes with Micromax 3D Space which allows the users to access 3D videos and pre-loaded 3D games. Check out the complete specs below.

Micromax Canvas 3D features a 5 inch touchscreen display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6577 processor, dual-SIM capabilities (GSM + GSM), 5 megapixel rear camera with flash, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls, 512 MB RAM, Wi-Fi Hotspot functionality and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm audio jack, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, Google Play Store, GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth technology, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G connectivity, Micro USB, USB 2.0, up to 5 hrs of talk-time, up to 200 hrs of stand-by time and a 2000 mAh battery.

Micromax Canvas 3D comes with a price-tag of just Rs.9,999 (approx. $190). This handset will be available in both black and white colors. Micromax Canvas 3D will go on sale from the first week of May.

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 510 is finally up for pre-order in India. This device is nothing but the same Galaxy Note 8.0 which was announced at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013 in Barcelona. Samsung is already known for changing the name of its tablets before selling it in India. Previously, the South Korean tech giant released the Galaxy Note 10.1 in India as the Galaxy Note 800.

The Samsung Galaxy Note comes with an 8 inch display, 1.6 GHz quad-core processor and the innovative S-Pen. This device runs on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. Samsung has also pre-loaded the upgraded ChatOn, Awesome Note, Flipboard and Smart Remote on this device. Galaxy Note 510 is currently available for pre-booking at Samsung India’s eStore.

Samsung Galaxy Note 510 (Note 8.0) features a 7 inch WXGA display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, 1.6 GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System, Samsung TouchWiz UI, 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera for video calls and more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, Music player with SoundAlive, 16 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 64 GB expandable memory, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi 801.11 a/b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Samsung Apps, Games Hub, Readers Hub, Samsung Kies, A-GPS + GLONASS, 2 GB RAM and a 4600 mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy Note 510 comes with a price tag of Rs.30,900 (approx.$570) in India. On the other hand, this device is available in the US for just $399. Samsung also offers a free book cover of worth Rs.2,699 for the customer who pre-order this device from their eStore. To get this tablet, head over to this page.

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Asus recently launched the Fonepad tablet in India. It comes with 3G Connectivity and voice calling features of a smartphone on a 7 inch tablet. Asus Fonepad packs a 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z2420 processor and it runs on the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS. According to the manufacturer, this device offers up to nine hours of battery life. The Asus Fonepad comes with SuperNote lite app for drawing as well as for creating handwritten notes and Office Online app for Microsoft Office-compatible document editing.

Mr. Peter Chang, Regional Director – South Asia & Country Manager, Asus India, said,
“Users now want a better screen with entertainment, social media and other online activities and this is playing an increasingly important part in our mobile lifestyles. By incorporating 3G mobile data connectivity with full telephony support, we have made the Asus Fonepad the perfect combination of a tablet and phone in one single device at an affordable price.”

Asus Fonepad features a 7 inch WXGA LED Backlight IPS display with 10 finger multi-touch, 1280 x 800 pixels resolution, 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z2420 processor, Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System, 3 megapixel rear-facing camera with HD (720p) video recording and playback, 1.2 megapixel front facing camera for video chats and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, Micro SIM, voice and video calling capabilities, Wi-Fi 801.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, Micro USB 2.0, Google Play Store, A-GPS, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, up to 9 hours of usage time and a 4270 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery.

Asus Fonepad comes with a price-tag of Rs.15,999 in India. This device will be available at Croma stores and select Asus authorized retail outlets from April 30, 2013. Asus Fonepad will compete with Nexus 7, Galaxy Tab 2 and other mid-range Android tablets in India.

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Last month, Samsung unveiled the much-awaited Galaxy S4 smartphone at the New York’s iconic Radio City Music Hall. Samsung has not revealed the price of this device, however the company has announced that the Galaxy S4 will go on sale from April-end in Europe and Asia. Today, Samsung India has finally started sending out the invites for the Galaxy S4 launch. As expected, this device will be officially launched on Friday, April 26 in India.

Samsung Galaxy S4 features a 5 inch Super-AMOLED display, sporting a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1.9 GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, TouchWiz Nature UX, 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus and flash, full HD (1080p) video recording and playback, 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video chats and much more.

It also comes with a 3.5 mm headset jack, Stereo FM Radio with RDS, Smart stay, Smart pause, Smart scroll, 16 GB internal memory, microSD card slot, 64 GB expandable memory, full HTML web browser, DLNA, HDMI out, Bluetooth 4.0 with EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 3G/4G Connectivity, 2 GB RAM, Wi-Fi Direct and a 2600 mAh Lithium-ion battery.

Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected to come with a price tag of Rs.42,000, however the street price is expected to be around Rs.40,000. Samsung Galaxy S4 will be available in both White Frost and Black Mist colors. This handset will compete with high-end smartphones such as HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and BlackBerry Z10 in India.

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Earlier this year, LG announced three new Android powered smartphones, the Optimus L7 II, Optimus L5 II and Optimus L3 II. The South Korean mobile phone manufacturer has already launched the dual-SIM variant of Optimus L7 II and Optimus L3 II in India. Infibeam, a popular online retailer has already started selling the Optimus L5 II Dual smartphone. This indicates that the company will soon launch the Optimus L5 II Dual in India.

The mid-range Optimus L5 II Dual is the successor of the not-so-popular Optimus L5 Dual. This handset runs on the Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. If you are planning to buy one, then check out the complete specs below.

LG Optimus L5 II Dual features a 4 inch IPS display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz single-core processor, Dual SIM capabilities, 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity and much more.

Other features include a FM Radio with RDS, A-GPS, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, 512 MB RAM, Accelerometer, microUSB 2.0 and a 1700 mAh battery. This handset measures 118.4 x 62.2 x 9.2 mm and weighs just 100 grams.

Sadly, the much needed front-facing camera is missing from the device. Currently, you can get this handset in two colors – Black and White. LG Optimus L5 II Dual is expected to come with a price tag of Rs.14,999, however Infibeam is currently selling this device for Rs.11,499 (approx. $210). To get this handset. head over to this page.

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Earlier this year, Alcatel unveiled the One Touch Idol and One Touch Idol Ultra at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in Las Vegas. These mid-range smartphones are powered by the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. The Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra is touted to be the world’s thinnest smartphone with just 6.45 millimeters thickness. Today, Alcatel finally launched the One Touch Idol and One Touch Idol Ultra smartphones in India.

Mr. Albert Wong, Head – APAC, Alcatel One Touch, said,
“India is a key strategic market for Alcatel One Touch, poised towards high growth trajectory. In line with Alcatel philosophy of enhancing the mobile entertainment experience and offering pioneering technology firsts to the consumer, today we are launching the slimmest and lightest smartphones in India. Being the exclusive mobile phone partner for Marvel’s Iron Man 3 is a good example of the increased popularity of the brand’s premiere Android devices, including the One Touch Idol and Idol Ultra”.

Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra features a 4.7-inch HD AMOLED display, sporting a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, Dragon Trail Glass, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with full HD (1080p) video recording, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory, up to 400 hours of stand-by time, up to 7 hours of talk-time and a 1800 mAh battery. This handset is available in vibrant color options of Black and Red.

Alcatel One Touch Idol packs a 4.7 inch IPS display with 540 x 960 pixels resolution, 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, 2 megapixel front facing camera, 3G Connectivity, 4 GB internal memory, 32 GB expandable memory, Stereo FM radio with RDS, A-GPS, up to 415 hours of stand-by time, up to 7 hours of talk-time and a 1800 mAh battery. This handset is available in Silver, Slate, Cranberry Pink and Red colors with brushed aluminum finish.

Alcatel One Touch Idol Ultra comes with a price tag of Rs.21,000 (approx. $390), while the Alcatel One Touch Idol is available for Rs.15,800 (approx. $290).

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Lava recently launched the entry-level Iris 455 smartphone in India. This handset is the successor of the Lava Iris 454 smartphone. Similar to its predecessor, Lava Iris 455 comes with a large 4.5 inch display and a 1 GHz dual-core processor. However, it will be shipped with the newer Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS, instead of the old Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS.

Lava Iris 455 features a 4.5 inch touchscreen display, sporting a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, 1 GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) OS, Dual-SIM (GSM + GSM) capabilities, 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, VGA front-facing camera for video calls and much more.

Other features include a 3.5 mm headset jack, FM Radio with RDS, 4 GB internal memory, 2 GB user memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G Connectivity, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS, 512 MB RAM, Google Play Store and a 1500 mAh battery. This handset measures 9.92 mm and weighs just 120 grams.

The manufacturer has not yet revealed the price of this device. However, Lava Iris 455 is expected to be available for less than Rs.10,000. This handset will compete with Xolo A800, Micromax A101, Intex Aqua Wonder and other entry-level Android smartphones.

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Earlier this year, LG unveiled three new mid-range smartphones, the Optimus L7 II, Optimus L5 II and Optimus L3 II. As the name suggests, these handsets are the successor of the LG Optimus L7, Optimus L5 and Optimus L3 respectively. These devices run on the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. Today, LG officially launched the dual-SIM variant of Optimus L7 II and Optimus L3 II in India.

According to Mr. Amit Gujral, Head Marketing, LG Mobiles,
“The smartphone market is growing at an incredible pace, and the global mobile subscribers is predicted to touch 3.9 billion in 2017. India is catching up fast to this smartphone race. With the launch of LG Optimus L7 II Dual and L3 II Dual, LG plans to reap the benefits of the intense smartphone demand in India, as well as to build on its heritage of technological innovation.”

LG Optimus L3 II Dual:

LG Optimus L3 II Dual comes with a 3.2 inch touchscreen display, sporting a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, 1 GHz Qualcomm MSM7225A Snapdragon processor, 3.2 megapixel front-facing camera, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, A-GPS, 512 MB RAM, up to 730 hours of stand-by time, up to 16 hours 30 mins of talk-time and a 1540 mAh battery.

LG Optimus L7 II Dual:

LG Optimus L7 II Dual features a 4.3 inch IPS display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, 1 GHz Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon dual-core processor, 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash, HD (720p) video recording, VGA front-facing camera, 4 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 32 GB expandable memory, A-GPS, 768 MB RAM, up to 800 hours of stand-by time, up to 12 hours of talk-time and a 2460 mAh battery.

LG Optimus L7 II Dual comes with a price tag of Rs.18,650 (approx. $340), while the LG Optimus L3 II Dual is priced at just Rs.8,800 (approx. $160).

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Google and Amazon rained on the parade of budget Android tablet manufacturers with the Nexus and Kindle Fire series respectively. However, both of those devices aren’t officially available in India, which has left the field open for Indian brands as well as Chinese manufacturers. Videocon is hoping to grab a slice of this market with its new VT10 tablet.

As you might have guessed from the naming scheme, the Videocon VT10 is a 10” tablet. It sports a capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1280×800, which is pretty good for a budget tablet. It’s powered by a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon processor, which is again better than what is found in most budget tablets in India, but not as powerful as the Nvidia Tegra 3. The VT10 is equipped with 1 gigabyte of RAM, and 8 gigabytes of storage. You will almost certainly fill up the limited internal storage quickly. Thankfully, the VT10 includes support for external memory up to 32 GB. Both front and rear-cams are 2 megapixels, and the battery is rated at a hefty 6800mAh. The VT10 is Wi-Fi only, but supports 3G dongles. The default packaging includes an adapter, headset, battery, HDMI cable, OTG cable, and manual.

On paper, the VT10 appears to be a competitive tablet, which makes just the right compromises. However, its biggest draw isn’t really the hardware specifications. It’s the software and the price. The Videocon VT10 ships with Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), and is available for purchase from Snapdeal and HomeShop18 for Rs. 11200 (about $204) with free shipping.

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E-commerce in India has been experiencing rapid growth over the past few years. It’s estimated to be worth $1.6 billion in 2012 (Forrester Trends Report), which is not a huge number by global standards, but is impressive considering the demographics. However, still many Indians shy away from buying stuff online. Trusting retailers who are probably located several thousand kilometres away to deliver goods that one hasn’t checked first-hand is a scary proposition for many Indians.

Google is trying to break the shackles and initiate more Indians to online shopping by leveraging its brand name and deep pockets. The online giant is organizing a “Great Online Shopping Festival” on Dec 12. It has roped in most of the biggies in the Indian e-commerce space, including Flipkart, Myntra, Snapdeal, Pepperfry, and Jabong. Google has also partnered with classifieds, matrimonial services, job portals, and real estate agencies. You can avail attractive discount on premium memberships for services like Bharat Matrimony and Monster.com.

In addition to leveraging its online assets and getting the buzz going on social media, Google is also campaigning on radio channels. The target is obviously the middle class that has so far stayed away from e-commerce. It has even prepared a handy collection of tips for new shoppers. Unlike in most western countries, winter shopping is not a big deal in India. It will be interesting to see if Google can help change that with its Cyber Monday-esque shopping festival.

[ Visit Grand Online Shopping Festival ]

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After months of speculation and rumors, it looks like ASUS and Google are finally bringing the Nexus 7 to India. Croma, a popular electronics megastore in India from Tata, listed the Nexus 7 on its website for sale just a few moments ago with a shipping time of 7 working days.

Sadly, the tablet won’t be coming with its tempting price of $199 or roughly Rs 11,000 in the Indian market. Instead, the 16GB variant of the tablet will cost around Rs. 19,999, which is a bummer. At the moment, it is unclear whether ASUS and Google plan on launching the 8GB/32GB variant or even the 3G version of the tablet in India or not.

The Nexus 7 packs in a 7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280×700, along with 1GB of RAM. The tablet runs on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, and is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor. Other specs of the tablet include NFC, Wi-Fi, a 1.2MP front-facing camera and Bluetooth.

Via – Kunal Gangar

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The state of political affairs in India has become chaotic recently, mostly due to findings on black money and offshore-accumulated wealth, various scams of colossal scales and blatant statements made by people high up in the food chain. Needless to say, the level of discontent among the people is at an all-time high, and in these situations, the Right to Information (RTI) Act provides for more transparency and accountability, and lets us be absolutely sure instead of being driven by whims and opinions.

The Department of Personnel and Training in India understands this fact, and has launched a program to train people to make better use of the RTI. The program has two courses, and is described as:

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India (GoI) has launched an ‘Online Certificate Course on RTI’ for various stakeholders. With a view to make the earlier 15-day course more practical, now the course has been bifurcated into two versions, namely – 7-Day Online Course (English) and 15-Day Online Certificate Course (English).

While the 7-day course is elementary in nature, the 15-day course is more practical and includes a session on applying for an RTI. However, the 15-day course can be taken only on completion of the 7-day course.

The 15-day course is actually an interesting one, since to register for this part of the course, you have to come with proof of an RTI claim made on a public-service authority. The term of 15 days is allotted for a study of the RTI report, as received from the claim. The report will be evaluated based on some predefined criteria, and finally, an online certificate will be generated on course completion. The total estimated time from enrollment to getting a certificate is around 9 weeks, which is just above two month. However, it is worth the experience.

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There are just 2 days to go for the fifth edition of IPL tournament to begin and the excitement is already building up. One of crickets’ most talked about tournament, IPL 5 2012 will start from April 4, 2012. This year’s IPL 5 Opening ceremony will have performances from Katy Perry and Prabhudeva.

IPL 5 is one of the biggest cricketing tournaments in India at have matches at convenient hours. However, the online broadcasting of IPL 5 gives users an opportunity to catch up on the live action of the cricket matches while on the go.

This years’ official partner for broadcasting the match online is Times Group’s Indiatimes. Viewers will be able to catch up on all the live action for IPL 5 2012 on the Indiatimes IPL website at http://ipl.indiatimes.com. Users can also catch up on the latest IPL 5 news and scores on the official website at http://www.iplt20.com.

Indiatimes got the telecast rights for IPL after the initial online broadcasting for IPL 3 had gone to YouTube. However, the broadcasting of IPL 4 in 2011 was later jointly streamed by both Indiatimes and YouTube on Indiatimes official YouTube channel. Users can also watch the IPL broadcast on Indiatimes official channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/indiatimes. Additionally, you can also find more links to watch IPL 5 2012 Online.

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It seems that the Indian Government (probably specifically the vile, ignorant, devious, scheming leech of a person called Kapil Sibal) does not want the population of the country to enjoy the democratic right of free speech in any and all media. It is common knowledge that the censor board exists for cinema and the media companies themselves block non-sensationalist-yet-truthful stories, notwithstanding the ignorant religious zealots that declare war on every slight to their religion. However, the Government of India is taking things a little too far this time.

Pluggd.in reports that a national spying agency called the National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) will be set up to implement ‘internet security’ by scanning tweets, Facebook updates and other units of social media. This entire arduous exercise comes at the cost of a whopping Rs. 800 crore (~$163 million). This news comes on the heels of the fact that under the pretense of e-Governance, the Indian Government wants to track mobile phone users in real time.

Funnily enough, the Government wishes to track the millions and millions of citizens of the country and what they do and will go to any lengths to make sure this happens. However, when asked to track its own polity and politicians and their malicious work the Government refuses stating that it does not have the necessary resources.

Then again, we all know how efficient the Indian Government is and just how fast this will be implemented. Stay tuned for more updates in 6 years’ time.

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Indian ecommerce giant Flipkart has formally unveiled its new digital music store Flyte, which was outed last week by a hawkeyed user. Music piracy is rampant in India with an overwhelming majority of downloaded music being illegal. However, much of the blame can also put on the unavailability of affordable and reliable digital music stores. Apple disrupted digital music and entertainment arena around the world with the iTunes store. Unfortunately, Apple’s disdain for the Indian market means that the world’s second most populous country is still an untapped demographic with plenty of raw potential.

Flipkart has already established itself as a clear leader in ecommerce. With the impending arrival of Amazon, it has been getting more and more aggressive. Recently it acquired one of its biggest competitors – LetsBuy. Even before that, it had acquired Mime360 and Chapak’s digital catalogue. Mime360 specialized in hosting streaming music, while Chapak had a catalogue with 40,000 filmographies, 10,000 movies and close to 50,000 ratings.

Digital music business is always a tough nut to crack. Flipkart is entering uncharted waters as most Indians simply aren’t habituated with purchasing music online, or purchasing music at all. The greediness of record labels often complicates things further. However, Flipkart’s dominance and reach offers it a killer advantage that might prove vital in this challenging segment.

To its credit, Flipkart is kicking things off on the right note. All the music in Flipkart’s catalogue is DRM-free (high quality MP3 files) and will work on any device and any operating system. Consumers can download each track a total of four times, and a download manager is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux to facilitate simultaneous downloads. Browsing through the music catalogue is simple and intuitive, and purchasing is easy as credit cards, debit cards, and internet banking is allowed. However, none of this would have mattered if Flipkart hadn’t gotten the pricing right. Thankfully, I think they have succeeded in making music affordable enough for the extremely price-sensitive Indian market. Like iTunes, Flipkart allows purchase of individual tracks, so you only pay for what you want to listen to. New and popular tracks are priced at Rs. 15, while Rs. 6 seems to be the baseline. Flipkart has managed to get a large chunk of Indian music publishers onboard, including biggies like T-Series, Saregama, Tips, Universal India and Sony Music. International record labels that have signed up include Universal, and Sony Music International. EMI is sadly missing. Currently Flipkart’s catalogue features music in English and Hindi, as well as regional languages like Tamil, Telegu, Punjabi, and Bengali.

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The quick eyes of Setu at Woikr.com (no doubt helped by being there just in time) has revealed a new face of Flipkart. It seems that the Indian e-retail store is opening a digital distribution service for music, called “Flyte”. While the exact facts of the music store are yet to be revealed, the household online retail name wants to take up as much of the untapped market share of ecommerce as is possible in India. Considering that the brand is trusted, it would be nice to see digital music sales pick up in India which has long been known to be a pirate island.

Flipkart had acquired Mime360, a Mumbai based company that specialized in hosting streaming music for Indian labels such as Saregama, Universal Music and others. This, coupled with the fact that Flipkart had acquired rights to Chakpak.com’s huge digital catalog, obviously points out to the launch of this music (and hopefully movies) digital distribution platform.

The biggest clincher of the entire episode would be the pricing scheme decided upon by Flipkart. To satisfy the Indian wallet, they must price it evenly at about Rs. 15 to Rs. 20 per song, offering discounts and the like to newly released albums and movies. From what had transpired on the Twitter account, it seems that the songs will definitely be 320kbps DRM free (!), and that an eBook store with ePub files will be implemented in the “near future”. (You must know that by now I have a “:D” face)

@slackerninja All mp3s DRM free, 90% of the catalog at 320kbps (as opposed to 256kbps). The industry has matured… @failgunner @udayvirgarg

— Flipkart (@Flipkart) February 22, 2012

@Failgunner mp3, imminent future. ePub, near future. @slackerninja @udayvirgarg

— Flipkart (@Flipkart) February 22, 2012

Of course, the success of this entire venture depends on the end user. I am sure Flipkart has thought this decision through, but everything depends upon the non-pirating customer who believes that music actually carries a price and that the royalty money helps the musicians make more music. I really hope this works out for Flipkart and that a video game digital distribution with Indian prices starts up there!

[Image from Woikr.com]

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News of Duqu- a large-scale trojan attack surfaced over the Internet, last week. The impact of Duqu measures up to the likes of Stuxnet, as it attacks mission critical systems. Duqu was discovered by Symantec, which claimed that it had code similar to the Stuxnet trojan. This malware has raised concern in the world of security as it has been devised to raise mayhem in industrial fields, just like Stuxnet. The primary targets of Duqu are oil refineries, power plants and pipeline systems.

Duqu seems to have a very similar scare-factor as Stuxnet because it attacks critical industries. Although, it is not related to Stuxnet in any way, the complicated nature of Duqu makes it look like a well-funded attack, probably by a government. The first piece of evidence in Duqu was found at Web Werks, which is a web-hosting company based in Mumbai. The Department of Information Technology in India received a tip from Symantec, and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team  visited Web Werks offices. They seized two hard-drives with information of the trojan. Apparently, the hosting at Web Werks was used to run their command-and-control center. However, the complicated nature of the trojan makes it hard for a quick analysis.

The Duqu trojan as  explained by Symantec  is,

W32.Duqu is a worm that opens a back door and downloads more files on to the compromised computer. It also has rootkit functionality and may steal information from the compromised computer.  Initial analysis of this threat has shown that it is related closely to the W32.Stuxnet worm from 2010.

Although the affected system list does not include Windows 7, it includes all possible Windows versions before Windows 7 all the way to Windows 95.  However, you may be surprised to see that the Symnatec page on Duqu lists it as a low severity.

Web Werks has failed to track down the dubious customer who owned the h0sting account and the Indian Department of Information Technology is yet to unearth the mysteries contained in the seized drives. A second command-and-control center has been located in Belgium, recently.

In the meanwhile, CrySys laboratories in Hungary got hold of an installer for Duqu and claims that it exploits an unknown vulnerability in the Windows kernel. The attack spreads through a .doc (word document) file and is being distributed though social engineering. The safest way to protect against the worm is to follow email best practices and to steer clear of anything that looks fishy, especially dubious word documents.

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How nice would it be if the blind could walk around the streets without the white stick in their hand? That’s what Anirudh Sharma has been working since January 2011. Anirudh, who holds a Bachelor of Information Technology Engineering degree from Rajasthan Technical University, has developed a system called “Le Chal”, which is a Hindi translation for “Take Me There.” It helps the visually impaired to walk without having to carry their white stick in hand. Not just that, the system also alerts them about any potholes they come across while walking.

Sharma made his debut of the haptic (of or relating to the sense of touch) shoe design during an MIT Media Lab Workshop hosted at COEP, and was featured in MIT Review in August 2011. During the workshop, he created the first prototype of the haptic shoe and showcased it to the delegates. The shoe was instantly named “Le Chal”.

So what does Le Chal basically do?

Le Chal is a non-obtrusive navigation aid for the visually impaired, which is designed to send vibration signals about the direction one need to walk in so to reach the desired destination. The entire system is fitted to a regular shoe which is coded to parse Google Maps/GPS data. It is basically intended to assist the blind in finding their way to a specified geographical location, and also helps them avoid walking into ditches and potholes on their way.

The system contains an Arduino LilyPad which is the main circuit board and is placed at the back mid-sole region of the shoe. Along the sides of the shoe, there are four mini vibration motors placed (front, back, left and right), which are intended to inform the user about the directions. For instance, a vibration on the left side indicates that the user should turn left. The vibrations start out low, but build in intensity as the user nears points where he or she has to take a turn.

It also contains a Bluetooth Arduino LilyPad to sync devices and a smartphone with GPS enabled to pull the location data from the satellite.

How it works?

IT all starts with the user entering their destination on Google Maps, using their Le Chal Android app. The phone then converts the speech into text and communicates by Bluetooth with the LilyPad Arduino circuit board. Now following the directions given by Google Mas along with the location data from GPS, the phone gets the circuit to activate the vibrator depending on the direction.

A proximity sensor in the front of the shoe also alerts the user to obstacles, which it can detect from up to ten feet (three meters) away.

The shoes have had their trials in a Bangalore blind school. We intend doing about 20 shoes (priced at Rs 1,000 or $20 USD a piece) and distribute them to the visually challenged. After the feedback, we will make all the improvements suggested by the user group before going for future plans,” said Anirudh.

Vaishnavi Kasturi, a visually challenged girl who cleared CAT, said: “It’s a great option. Sometimes a white cane cannot sense big objects. They just don’t matter on a pothole-marked terrain like in Bangalore. The shoes could be very convenient. The proximity sensor is brilliant. It can help you spot small objects. For instance, in case of a pothole, there is one at virtually every step in Bangalore, the shoes could give out some warning by way of vibrations.”

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