Karbonn unleashes its first Android smartphone, 3 more in the pipeline

Karbonn Mobile has launched its first Android phone in Indian market, dubbed as Karbonn A1. The handset is powered by Android 2.2 OS and is sports a 2.8-inches capacitive touchscreen. When it comes to connectivity features, then it offers Bluetooth, 3G, and Wi-Fi.

This company has excellent plans to grab more market share by introducing three more Android smartphones focusing students, housewives and business executives. The Android device from Karbonn quite resembling to the Micromax A60. The only major difference is the capacitive touchscreen, which is not as good as of the Micromax A60. The Karbonn A1 is available at a price of Rs. 6,999.

Another difference is Karbonn Mobile A1 runs on Android 2.2 version, while Micromax A60 runs Android 2.1 version. The device allows users to store applications in the phone memory. As far as design is concerned, both the devices look quite alike.

The new entrant Karbonn A1 has few exciting features such as 7.2 Mbps support for 3G, 600 Mhz processor, 3.2-megapixels camera, Adobe Flash 10.1 version and 1,100 mAh powerful battery. The handset allows external memory up to 32 GB and supports GPS feature.

The A1 includes all standard Android apps and attributes such as G-Sensor and Google Maps. The device also allows user to download required apps from Android Market conveniently like any other high-end Android mobile.

Karbonn Mobile stated recently, while launching this new phone that they are planning to invest around 5 million US dollars in marketing as well as some other promotional activities of their smartphones. These mobile phones will be designed to match with the diverse lifestyles of the mobile users.

Happy Birthday DOS, You’re 30!

DOS or Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) as it was called back then celebrates it's 30th birthday. The MS in MS-DOS stands for Microsoft. The OS was the backbone of most PCs for the following decade or longer. In schools across India, DOS was one of the first things taught in computer classes. While there was no graphical user interface that we’re so used to on Windows, the operating system had everything from text editors to games and mouse support. For example, titles such as Wolfenstein and Doom on PCs originated on DOS. Ever since Windows 95 or so, DOS has been present as a standalone product only to kickstart downed systems. The last operating system to use DOS-based startup disks was Windows XP. The last commercial product used was DOS 6.22.

Three decades later, DOS is still present on Windows systems, often hidden away. You can use it by type CMD in the Run diag box. There are also DOS emulator and free versions of DOS on the web. If you want to go back in history and try out a few DOS apps and games, do check out DOSBox.

China launches new satellite to reduce dependence on GPS

China on Wednesday successfully launched an orbiter into space which is a part of its indigenous satellite navigation and positioning network known as Beidou, aimed at reducing the dependence on U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS).

The orbiter, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province, was boosted by a Long March-3A carrier rocket into a geostationary orbit.

China started to build up its own satellite navigation system to break its dependence on the GPS since 2000.

Between October 2000 and May 2003, China had set up a regional satellite navigation system after launching three Beidou, or Compass system, geostationary satellites.

The system was known as Beidou-1 and is said to have played an important role in the rescue efforts following the devastating earthquake in May 2008 in Wenchuan as it provided the only channel connecting the quake-hit area and the outside, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Beidou-1 system can not meet growing demand, so a better functional Beidou-2 regional and global navigation system will be set up, Qi Faren, former chief designer for Shenzhou spaceships, said in an interview with Xinhua early this year.

From April 2007 to April this year, China launched another eight orbiters to form its Beidou-2 system, which will eventually consist of 35 satellites.

The network will provide satellite navigation, time and short message services for Asia-Pacific regions by 2012 and global services by 2020.

Lenovo is preparing a seven inches tablet

Although last week Lenovo announced that they are preparing three new tablets with ten inches displays, it appears that by accident, FCC (the commission that approves the electronic devices from the United States) revealed that the company is preparing a seven inches tablet.

Unlike the IdeeaPad and ThinkPad, the new tablet from Lenovo will compete to the rest of the similar devices on the market that have seven inches displays, offering the same functionality like their older brothers in a compact design.

Until this moment, the new device of the company is known by Lenovo A1-07 and the rumors have it that it will come to a processor TI OMAP3621, the same that is used in Nook Color from Barnes & Noble.

It will allow the display of the 1024x600 images and it will also have a capacitive touch screen that includes a GPS chip provided by Broadcom, two cameras and 3G SIM slots and also microSD cards.

The battery has 3700 mAh and it should offer enough life at only one charging stage for the little device. The back of Lenovo A1-07 is protected by a plastic that is shiny, enough thick to offer full protection. It is still unknown what version of Android will run on it, but the experts’ further details on the public announcement of the new tablet.

This comes right after Lenovo already made public the next appearance of three new tablets, and two of them are based on the Android 3.1 operational system. The third one will have the Windows 7 operational system. IdeaPad K1 is one of the announced tablets, that is designed for the regular consumers.It has a dual core processor NvidiaTegra 2, at 1GHz, a 10.1 inches display, the memory of 1GB and two cameras of two and five megapixels.

The Android operational system provides a browsing experience without any interruptions and the same thing is promised on the social network and gaming preferences also. The second device that Lenovo launched is
ThinkPad Tablet that is a special design device for the business segment.

It is very easy to use and access the documents, because the tablet comes with Document to Go option included and also it has an accessory that allows the keyboard to be included and this way the tablet is transforming into a real Android laptop.

The third one is IdeaPad P1 that is stronger than the other ones, but is difficult to be placed in a category because the Windows 7 tablet’s demand is not a big one and the utility is not a wide spread either.

R.I.P. DVD: Six Reasons It's Time for Discs to Die

When Apple launched refreshed hardware last week, it was no surprise that the ultrathin MacBook Air still does not have an internal DVD drive. Many were shocked to find out, though, that Apple has now also removed the DVD drive from the Mac Mini. But, Apple shouldn't stop there, and the revolution shouldn't be limited to Apple, or even just to PCs for that matter. It's time for discs to die.


Don't get me wrong, discs were great and contributed to the evolution of technology--I greatly appreciated when CDs came along to replace stacks upon stacks of floppy disks. We are now at a point, though, where discs are unnecessary and cause more problems than they solve.


CDs and DVDs are better than 3.5" floppy disks, but they've outlived their usefulness.
Here are six reasons I won't be sad to see discs go:

1. Noise. The CD or DVD drive has mechanical parts that spin the disc at high speed while the data is read using a laser. Even if you can't obviously hear it, the whirring of the drive adds ambient noise. In some cases--like my Xbox 360 drive--the spinning of the drive is audible and annoying from the next room.

2. Maintenance. Things with mechanical parts that spin at high speed eventually break. Disc drives can collect dust which can affect the ability of the laser to read the data. Looking back over the last decade, disc drives have been the number one cause of repair and replacement costs for me whether it's in a desktop or notebook PC, a game console like the Nintendo Wii or Xbox 360, or the variety of DVD and Blu-Ray players we have gone through.

3. Energy. It takes more juice to keep the disc spinning, and using a CD or DVD drive greatly reduces battery life on portable devices. Whether we are talking about an Xbox 360, a desktop PC, or a portable notebook, a disc drive consumes more energy than the alternatives.

4. Speed. Reading data from a solid state drive (SSD), or even from a traditional hard drive is exponentially faster than reading that same data from a CD or DVD. Your mileage will vary depending on the drives you're comparing, but you will get significantly better performance from data stored locally on a drive than you will reading it from a CD or DVD.

5. Media. This is the main reason I won't be sad to see discs go--the discs. The discs take up space. If you need to reinstall a program a year later, you have to try and remember where you stored the disc, and hope it is not unusably scratched or cracked. Hard drive capacity is cheap and virtually limitless, and it can be easily searched to find what you're looking for.

6. Convenience. I bought a Blu-Ray player over a year ago. I own one Blu-Ray movie and I can count on one hand the number I have rented. Why? The player also connects to my Internet connection and provides streaming media content--enabling me to choose and watch movies instantly rather than going to a video store or waiting for a disc to arrive in the mail.The same convenience applies with computer software, and with console games. Why deal with having to get or wait for a physical disc when the software can be delivered over the Internet in a few minutes?

I don't care that Apple ditched the drive in the Mac Mini, or that it only offers Mac OS X Lion as a digital download. I don't mind that Netflix seems to be intentionally driving customers away from using physical DVDs. I welcome rumors that Microsoft might develop a disc-less Xbox console.

Thank you for your service CDs and DVDs, but your time has passed. Buh-bye.

First Windows "Mango" Phone Unveiled

The first smartphone based on the new "Mango" edition of Microsoft's Windows Phone platform was unveiled on Wednesday in Tokyo.

The phone is the first of several handsets due over the next few months, that Microsoft hopes will signal its return to the smartphone market as a serious player. (Video of the new phone and its launch is available on YouTube.)

If that wish sounds familiar, it is. This time last year the company was hoping the first version of the Windows Phone 7 would accomplish the same thing. But that didn't happen.

Despite getting several thousand applications and generally positive reviews, the new platform, which replaced Windows Mobile, was relegated to the sidelines by a rush of new Android devices and updates to Apple's iPhone.

Far from boosting its market share, the introduction of the new operating system saw Microsoft lose share.

Microsoft captured 2.7 percent of the smartphone market during the first quarter of 2011, according to IDC. But a year earlier during the first quarter of 2010, its market share was 7.1 percent, the market research company said. In terms of handsets shipped, those with Windows Phone 7 or Windows Mobile fell from 3.9 million to 2.8 million phones in the two periods.

"We've gone from very small to....very small," quipped Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this month on his company's lackluster performance.

Mango, officially Windows Phone 7.5, adds some 500 improvements to the Windows Phone 7 platform, according to the company. They include an e-mail "conversation view" that is said to make long e-mail discussions more efficient, a "threads" feature that brings together text, instant messages and Facebook chat, and Internet Explorer 9 for faster Web browsing.

Some of those improvements can be seen in the new handset, the IS12T, which will be available in Japan only. Built by Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications, the phone will be available in September or after. No price was disclosed.

The company is one of several partners Microsoft is working with on Mango handsets. Others include Taiwan's Acer and China's ZTE, but perhaps the most awaited phones will be from Nokia.

The Finnish cell phone maker threw its weight behind Windows Phone 7 earlier this year when it announced a wide ranging agreement with Microsoft to collaborate on future handsets and technologies.

Nokia is losing market share to aggressive competitors, but it remains one of the world's largest manufacturers of smart phones, so it has the potential to help Microsoft shift the market.

The launch of the phone came just hours after Microsoft signed off on the operating system and declared it ready to be installed in consumer handsets. That should mean additional phones will get launched in the coming weeks.

For Japanese consumers, the IS12T phone has a 3.7-inch screen and a 13.2 megapixel camera. Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are included in the CDMA-based phone. It weighs 113 grams and Fujitsu Toshiba says the battery should provide more than 11 days on standby and more than 6 hours of talk time.

The phone has 32GB of memory and is waterproof with an IPX5 rating.

Facebook debuts “Facebook for Business”

Facebook on Tuesday debuted a step-by-step online guide aimed at helping small businesses use the social networking site. The company is billing the new webpage, found at Facebook.com/business, as an “online education center” that gives directions on such things as how to set up a profile page, create targeted ads and deals, and interact with customer feedback online.

The timing is interesting, as it comes just a week after Google began shutting off all company profiles on its Google+ social network. The search engine giant says it’s just company policy to restrict Google+ access to individual users, a stance that has inspired a good deal of controversy in recent days.

Facebook’s new business webpage does not come along with any new features — it simply puts a lot of information that may be handy for small businesses in one place. Perhaps most importantly, it serves as a nicely timed reminder that unlike Google+, Facebook encourages companies to use its service for company branding. “Facebook allows small businesses to create rich social experiences, build lasting relationships and amplify the most powerful type of marketing –- word of mouth,” a Facebook spokesperson wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon. “We created Facebook.com/business to make it even easier for people to reach these objectives and grow.”

This represents the second time in a month Facebook has followed up Google+ news with its own feature launch. Earlier in July, Facebook announced a partnership with Skype to bring video chat features within the social networking site — just one week after Google+ made waves with its own in-app video chat feature called Hangouts.

The timing of these events could certainly be coincidental, but it does look like Facebook is taking Google’s recent entry into the social networking landscape seriously — and is increasing its feature updates and user satisfaction initiatives in turn. The new competition may be stressful for Zuckerberg and company, but ultimately it’s great for consumers if both Google and Facebook continue to bring their A-games.