More Sony Xperia ZR Specs Leaked Online

The Sony Xperia ZR, which is the successor of the popular Sony Xperia Z, will feature a more waterproof and more dustproof body according to numerous sources on the Internet. Well, that means better resistance from clumsy users like me. But if that does not impress you much, wait until you see the Sony Xperia ZR specs that were leaked over the online community.
The Updated Sony Xperia ZR Specs
The following features that are about to be presented to you are based on the informant of Xperia Blog from Sony:
1. General
In general, the smartphone will support 2G (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900) and 3G networks (HSDPA). There is no announcement from the manufacturer of the smartphone yet about its launching but it is rumored to go out in public sometime around the third quarter of this year said GSM Arena.
2. Size
Aside from its strong casing, expect the Sony Xperia ZR to be very light with its 4.94-ounce weight. The device is very compact also due to its 10mm thickness.
3. Screen

The smartphone comes with a TFT capacitive touchscreen with multi-touch functions. It comes in 16M colors and 4.6 inches size. For the resolution, users can look forward to 720 by 1280 pixels. Then, it will run with a Sony Mobile BRAVIA 2 Engine for better visuals.
4. Sound
There nothing much to say about the sound because the informant only revealed the usual features found in the previous model.
5. Storage
For the memory, users can get up to 32GB from its MicroSD and 8GB from its local drive with 2GB RAM.
6. Battery
The non-removable battery of the upcoming Sony Xperia ZR will be a Lithium-ion 2330.
7. Processor
The processing power of the device will benefit from a quad-core 1.5GHz from Qualcomm.
8. Operating System
The Sony Xperia Z successor will come with the Android 4.2 Jellybean.
8. Others
The rest of the features will be the usual threaded view SMS with the regular MMS, email, IM and push email. The browser will be HTML5. In addition, it will come with a FM radio with RDS, 13MP Exmor RS camera sensor and A-GPS support.

Lava Android 4.2 Jelly Bean tablet coming in May first week

Lava is all prepped up to introduce the first Android 4.2 tablet from its foundries and possibly to build up curiosity, it has neither given out the slate’s name nor an exact price. Now this sure makes it a little difficult to track down details pertaining to the device apart from the pieces of information that the manufacturer has chosen to spill.
Revealing what can be counted as tidbits, the company has said that we can expect the tablet to begin shipping with an onboard dual core processor ticking at a clock speed of 1.5GHz. 1GB of RAM is yet another member to accompany the CPU within the chassis.

Once out in the open, the tablet will allow storage of up to 8GB internally. And even though it has been said that users should be able to expand the overall hoarding capacity, the maximum limit hasn’t been announced.
On the brighter side, we do know that the device will be joining the category of slates which flaunt dual cameras. A 2MP snapper should grace the slab’s flip side with its presence and facilitate capturing pictures and recording videos. At the same time, the front panel has reserved space for a VGA lens.
Connectivity offerings so far cover only Wi-Fi and an HDMI port, but we’ll go out on a limb and say that Bluetooth may be included as well. The job of furnishing the slate with juice between charges is given to a 3,700mAh battery. The approximate talk time and standby on the other hand still remain to be seen.
The slab’s specification sheet holds many blotches when it comes to some of the major components. For instance, the OEM has let out no details dealing with the tablet’s screen size or technology as well as the make and company of the CPU.
Nevertheless, the manufacturer does indicate that the Lava Android 4.2 Jelly Bean tablet will be pegged below Rs. 10,000. As for the missing components, we’ll have to wait for the first week of May until any further details float ashore. There is quite the chance that the company may release the slab through its Blockbuster Phoneday campaign which has been employed as a medium to launch fresh devices every Friday like the Iris 455 and Etab Connect.
Meanwhile, let’s view the outlined specifications:
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS
- 1.5GHz dual core processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 8GB of internal storage capacity
- 2MP main camera and VGA secondary webcam
- Wi-Fi and HDMI
- 3,700nAh battery

Kid behind Ferrari wheel: police register case

A video grab shows a luxury car being driven by a young boy in Thrissur.

TOPICS

Inquiry into an incident of underage driving, the YouTube video of which went viral, is progressing. The video shows a young boy riding a high-end luxury car in a posh residential area in Thrissur.

The Peramangalam Police summoned Muhammed Nisham, the owner of the Ferrari F430 Scuderia, on Thursday to record his statement after Thrissur City Police Commissioner ordered an inquiry into the incident. A case has been registered under the Motor Vehicles Act and Section 23 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

“We are going ahead with the inquiry. We are yet to take the car into custody and prepare a statement,” said P.C. Bijukumar, Circle Inspector, Peramangalam Police. He said Mr. Nisham was out of town and likely to return within a couple of days after which he would be summoned for further proceedings.

On the Commissioner’s direction, the Thrissur traffic police had visited the spot and asked Mr. Nisham to appear before the police, which he reportedly failed to comply with. Following this, the case was transferred to the Peramangalam Police, within whose jurisdiction the incident had occurred.

Mr. Nisham is learnt to have confessed that he had recorded his nine-year-old son’s adventure and posted it on YouTube. It was the YouTube video that helped the law enforcing agencies identify the car as the Motor Vehicles Department had no data about the vehicle which was registered in Chandigarh.

The Motor Vehicles Department is now looking at the possibility of tax evasion in connection with the registration of the car. “If the owner of the car is not a permanent resident, but visits the State on and off, then the registration outside the State is not an issue. If the owner is a permanent resident then we will take necessary action and collect the dues towards registration. Our squad will keep an eye on the car,” said C.K. Asokan, Thrissur Regional Transport Officer.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nisham is learnt to have told the police that a Chandigarh-based firm, which he was running on a partnership basis, owned the car.

Now, transform your Android phone into a personalised shooter location system

The technology takes advantage of the fact that all but the lowest powered firearms produce unique sonic signatures when they are fired.

Researchers have developed a new device which helps users track gunfire with their smartphones, popping a map of the neighbourhood on its screen pointing in the direction the shot came from.
Computer engineers from Vanderbilt University's Institute of Software Integrated Systems has made such a scenario possible by developing an inexpensive hardware module and related software that can transform an Android smartphone into a simple shooter location system.
The technology takes advantage of the fact that all but the lowest powered firearms produce unique sonic signatures when they are fired.
First, there is the muzzle blast an expanding balloon of sound that spreads out from the muzzle each time the rifle is fired. Second, bullets travel at supersonic velocities so they produce distinctive shock waves as they travel.As a result, a system that combines an array of sensitive microphones, a precise clock and an off-the-shelf microprocessor can detect these signatures and use them to pinpoint the location from which a shot is fired with remarkable accuracy.
Like the military version, the smartphone system needs several nodes in order to pinpoint a shooter's location. As a result, it is best suited for security teams or similar groups.
In addition to the smartphone, the system consists of an external sensor module about the size of a deck of cards that contains the microphones and the processing capability required to detect the acoustic signature of gunshots, log their time and send that information to the smartphone by am Bluetooth connection.The smartphones then transmit that information to the other modules, allowing them to obtain the origin of them gunshot by triangulation.
The researchers have developed two versions. One uses a single microphone per module. It uses both the muzzle blast and shockwave to determine the shooter location. It requires six modules to obtain accurate locations. The second version uses a slightly larger module with four microphones and relies solely on the shockwave. It requires only two modules to accurately detect the direction a shot comes from, however, it only provides a rough estimate of the range.

Micromax A116 Canvas HD sees first price drop of its life!

Whoa! This is what we did not expect. But yes, this has happened now. Soon after the release of the Galaxy S4 we have seen a price drop in the price of India's second domestic quad-core smartphone - the Micromax A116 Canvas HD.

Though this is not a drop in the official price of the phone, the phone could b spotted at the Spice Mobile store at a price of Rs 14399. Rs 200 less than the official price. The White colour variant is already sold out and only the Black colour variant is available in the store.

Since the launch of the phone in mid February this year, the 5 incher was able to generate demand like never before. It went out of the stocks most of the time and its supply suffered a delay. The company had to offer freebies to angry customers.

Even today few stores are selling the device at a higher price. (read here)This is the first time that the phone has seen a price drop.

Karbonn claims to the fame of launhing the first quad-core of the country, with the launch of Titanium S1.

Illegal for minors to open Facebook, Google accounts

A petition filed in a n Indian court says that it is Illegal for minors to open Facebook and Google accounts
Taking a stringent action based on the petition filed in the High Court, regarding the minors being active members of social networking giant Facebook, the Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the Central government inquiring about how the minors, those under the age of 18 under Indian law, could open accounts on social networking sites like Facebook besides having active email accounts on the Gmail, Yahoo and Rediff.
The action came after BJP leader, KN Govindacharya filed a petition seeking an order for recovery of taxes from the websites on their income from operations in India.
Based on the petition in which the Delhi High Court has made both Google Inc and Facebook Inc as respondents along with issuance of the notice, a two member Division Bench comprising of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Vibhu Bakhru has asked the central government to respond within 10 days. Meanwhile the Court, who had the custody of the petition since June 2012, has fixed May 13 as the next date for hearing.
Govindacharya’s counsel Veerag Gupta argued that children below 18 are getting into an agreement with the social networking sites. Stating that this was not only against the Indian Majority Act, the Indian Contract Act and the Information and Technology Act, but also making the minors vulnerable to the transfer of information. He also raised the issue of invasion of privacy of users of the sites as their data was being transferred to the U.S. for commercial use.
However, the petition about underage children joining Facebook and Gmail is bound to gain merit on the account of the fact that Facebook’s own terms of service clearly states that anyone under the age of 13 cannot use the service and also that users will not provide any false personal information on Facebook.  Further, the search engine giant Google too has acknowledged that that access to some of its services comes with age requirements although it does not specify any age restriction.
It may be recalled that in June 2012, in its statement filed before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook had revealed that more than eight crore of its registered users had given false identities.
Commenting on the issue, some of the cyber experts believe that lying about the age by the minors on FB and other networking sites could be considered as a criminal offense and their parents too could face consequences if their children are logging onto such sites while they are underage. Creation of a false electronic record is considered to be an offence under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. Under Section 465, and attracts a punishment of up to two years’ imprisonment

Smartphones Overtake Feature Phones for First Time

Mobile phone history has been made: For the first time, smartphones have outsold feature phones, in what IDC called a "seasonally slow" first quarter.
According to IDC, 418.6 million mobile phones were shipped in Q1 2013, including 216.2 million smartphones — more than half of the total market.
Smartphone growth rose more than 41 percent in the first quarter, but fell about 5 percent from the last three months of 2012.
"Phone users want computers in their pockets. The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away," IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement. "As a result, the balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are most dependent on smartphones."
Android heavyweight Samsung was the undisputed handset leader, shipping more units than Apple, LG, Huawei, and ZTE combined with 70.7 million; and that's before the arrival of its new flagship Galaxy S4. What remains to be seen, IDC pointed out, is how the South Korean company's new Tizen-powered devices will fare later this year.
For the fifth consecutive quarter, the second-place crown went to Apple, which hit a new first-quarter high, growing 6.6 percent year over year, thanks in part to the iPhone 5. Cupertino shipped 37.4 million iPhones, up slightly from 35.1 million last year.
LG made a triumphant return to the market's top five after a two-quarter absence, also reaching a record-high shipment of 10.3 million in the process. With a little help from the 3G-based L series and Nexus 4, as well as LTE-enabled devices like the Optimus G series, LG regained its footing, and IDC expects the upcoming launch of the F and L series will keep it there.
Another major trend in the mobile industry is the emergence of Chinese companies at the top of the vendors market, according to Ramon Llamas, research manager with IDC's mobile phone team.
"A year ago, it was common to see previous market leaders Nokia, BlackBerry, and HTC among the top five," he said. "While those companies have been in various stages of transformation since, Chinese vendors, including Huawei and ZTE as well as Coolpad and Lenovo, have made significant strides to capture new users with their respective Android smartphones."
Landing in fourth place, Huawei remained stagnant, making no significant improvements in the market, IDC said. At No. 5, competitor ZTE made a strong showing in the Asia/Pacific region and North America, but reported a small presence elsewhere.

Premium car segment too hit by slowdown: Phillip von Sahr

The luxury car segment witnessed quite a price war in 2011 and 2012, with companies offering huge discounts to gain customers. BMW, the leader in the segment, is challenged by Audi. BMW Group India president Phillip von Sahr says the company does not intend to be number one on the basis of discounts. The company in fact raised its prices from January 1 this year. Sahr spoke to Swaraj Baggonkar on the sidelines of the launch of the new 7 Series. Edited excerpts:

How many models has BMW launched this year so far?
This is the second from BMW and third from the BMW group. The company launched the (new) X1 in February. Today, we have launched the 7 series. This car will now be produced in Chennai and it's not the last launch with another one due in September.

After the 7 Series, what's up next?
We will launch something which is on the other side of the spectrum. It's the first premium BMW compact car. In addition to the 7 Series, by end of 2013, we will be producing the 1 Series, 3 Series, 5 Series, the X1 and X3 in Chennai.

Where does BMW stand today in terms of sales? Is it still number 1?
We are leaders as the most trusted brand. We have a very good dealer network. We have now 35 dealers and want to expand it to 50 by the end of 2014. All this to us in number one. Last year (calendar year 2012) we sold 9,375 cars.

What about the January-March period?
I do not know what others have sold. We release our numbers once a year and we are not volume manufacturers talking about volumes, we are clearly premium luxury car manufacturers.

What volumes does the 1 Series promise?
One the most sold cars. But despite its compact dimensions, it will be a premium car. We are looking at different target groups. We will see how much it sells, but we can't say whether it will become the largest selling BMW in India.

BMW raised prices in January. Has there been any impact on demand?
Yes of course, there has been an impact. We increased prices by up to 10 per cent and an average of five per cent and we reinvested the amount in dealership training and brand. We will open a training centre in 2014.

There is a significant slowdown in the mass car market. What about the luxury car segment?
The actual economic situation has an impact on the luxury car market. The view over the world due to the economic situation is that the luxury car market is not so much suffering, but (the realty is that) it is suffering. The cake is a little bit smaller.

What is the size of the luxury car market in India?
It was 30,000-40,000 units last year. There are lots of customers who want to upgrade to a luxury car. I do not expect a lot (of growth) from 2013.

You have a capacity of 11,000 units per year at Chennai. Will we see an expansion?
Right now, we are happy with 11,000 units. If necessary, we can increase the capacity, but more challenging is how many different models the plant can produce and there we are happy that six BMW models are being made. We are operating at two shift capacity now and we can go to three shift capacity if necessary.

Chevrolet Enjoy will come to India on May 9

Chevrolet's latest MPV for the Indian market, the Enjoy will be launched on May 9. We expect that there will be six variants of the Enjoy for the Indian market with the option of petrol and diesel engines. Prices are expected to range between Rs 6-8 lakh ex-showroom. The Enjoy will be positioned against the Maruti Ertiga and the Nissan Evalia. It will be built with a high level of localisation in India.
The Enjoy is actually a rebadged China-made Wuling Hongguang multi purpose vehicle. The Enjoy will be available with a choice of seven or eight seat variants. The seven-seater will have captain seats in the first two rows while the last row will be a bench. The eight-seater however will have benches in the middle and last rows. The top-end Enjoy LTZ will come with antilock braking system (ABS), electronic brake distribution (EBD) and two airbags.
A 1.4-litre S-TEC II engine will power the petrol Enjoy. It produces 104PS of power and 131Nm of torque. The 77.5PS/188Nm 1.3-litre diesel motor is the same one which does duty under the hoods of the new Sail and Sail U-VA. Both the engines are mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

 

 

The Enjoy will be positioned against the Maruti Ertiga and the Nissan Evalia.

HP could bury TouchPad fiasco with $169 Slate 7 tablet

Hewlett-Packard will start shipping the $169 Slate 7 in the next few days. The Slate 7 is the company’s first product for the consumer tablet market since the spectacular failure of the WebOS-based TouchPad in 2011.
Buyers will be able to order Slate 7 by the end of April, an HP spokeswoman confirmed in an email. The tablet has a 7-inch screen and Google’s Android 4.1 OS, which is code-named Jelly Bean. HP had said on its website last month that the tablet would not ship until June.
HP’s website lists two models: the Slate 7 2800 and the Slate 7 2801. This is HP’s first Android tablet. The company also offers Windows 8 business tablets such as the ElitePad 900.
HP’s first consumer tablet, the TouchPad, ran on WebOS, a mobile OS platform that was sold to LG Electronics in February.

Specs for the Slate 7

The Slate 7 weighs just under 13 ounces, has a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor running at 1.4GHz, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, a 3-megapixel back camera, a VGA front camera, and Wi-Fi connectivity. Other features include Beats audio and a micro-SD slot. HP said it would not offer mobile broadband connectivity.
HP hopes the $169 price will attract buyers—competitive 7-inch Android tablets from big-name device makers are priced higher, with Google’s Nexus 7, Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 starting at $199.

HP Slate 7

The low-priced Slate 7 represents a turn of events for HP, which in August 2011 said it would explore the sale or spin off of the Personal Systems Group, which deals in client devices like PCs and tablets. HP ultimately retained the PSG, but earlier considered the unit a drain because of its low margins.
HP also killed off webOS smartphones and tablets in August 2011, prompting a buying frenzy in which the company sold the remaining TouchPad tablets at rock-bottom prices starting at $99.
HP learned how quickly low-priced products can disappear from store shelves with the $99 TouchPad fire sale and hopes the $169 price of Slate 7 will strike a similar chord with buyers, analysts said.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

“Consumers generally respond to lower price points. HP’s challenge will be to market this product,” said David Daoud, research director at IDC.
HP for a long time has dominated the PC market, but consumers now are diverting their spending to products like tablets. HP has come out with non-Windows products such as Chromebooks in an effort to reboot the PSG and to diversify its offerings.
“They are trying everything that’s out there to regain momentum,” Daoud said.
HP has a strong channel and knowledge of the retail market, but it is not known as an Android device maker, Daoud said.
“When you think of a tablet in the Android world, you think of a [Samsung] Galaxy and start from there. How do you compete when you are not at the top of mind?” Daoud said.

Hot commodities: 7-inch tablets

The Slate 7 has a “pretty sweet price point,” said Lorrie Jollimore, a creative designer in Canada who has an Android tablet and an iPad.
“Using Android still bothers me. I just don’t think the user interface design is intuitive. Not one for me, but it should give Samsung a run for its money in the same category,” Jollimore said.
The 7-inch tablet is a very hot commodity right now, so the company chose an easy entry point, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
HP put a lot of research and development into the TouchPad, but took a lightning approach and spent less time and money on Slate 7.
“A guerilla development and marketing model—throwing products out there and seeing whether they stick—is a valuable approach for them to take,” King said.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0

An aggressively priced product is an indication that HP is hungry to get back into the space, but it will make less money per each Slate 7, King said. HP is not shipping tablets in volume like Apple, so it also may be spending more on components and distribution.
The Slate 7 is also important for HP to retain existing customers and attract new buyers, analysts said. Much like Apple, HP can build a set of services and content around its tablets. However, HP has said it will not offer cloud services with the tablet, though it has the infrastructure in place to offer such a service.
“If you are trying to establish yourself, you should expect to take some lumps for a few months or years and see how things go,” King said.

Maruti Suzuki gears up to challenge Honda's Amaze with major marketing initiatives for its compact sedan DZire

 

MUMBAI: Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker by number of vehicles sold, is organising promos, holding Mileage rallies and other events to take competition head on, especially after the launch of Honda's latest offering, Amaze.

A day after Honda launched Amaze, Maruti SuzukiBSE 5.26 % hit back with its limited edition DZire, called Regal, and the company is planning its first major customer-marketing initiative for its compact sedan Dzire — Dezirable mileage rally — this Sunday simultaneously across 30 cities, including metros, state capitals and tier-II cities like Karnal and Raipur.

Over 1,500 customers will drive their DZires, and the top three with best mileage will be declared winners. This event is to counter Amaze's key selling proposition: the most fuel-efficient car in the country.

"The idea is to look back, give DZire owners a chance to test their cars and rediscover that the model remains as fresh and is still a best-buy, especially when it comes to getting the best mileage from every litre of fuel," said Mayank Pareek, chief operating officer (marketing & sales), Maruti SuzukiBSE 5.26 %.

According to ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India), the petrol version of DZire delivers 19.1 kmpl, which is 1.1 km more than Amaze, but the diesel version of Amaze delivers 2.4 km more than DZire. For the discerning Indian customer, fuel efficiency has always been top-of-the-mind, and Maruti has striven to deliver on this count. This is perhaps the first time that competition - Honda - has stolen its thunder.

Ford to drive in 'glocal' cars

KOLKATA: Ford India plans to introduce a slew of cars developed on global platforms with high level of localization to double its marketshare by the end of the decade. At present, cars sold with the oval badge amounted to 3.5% of total auto sales in the country last year.

Speaking to TOI, Ford India president and managing director Joginder Singh said the American parent company's $2 billion commitment in India was aimed at tapping the huge potential and the Indian subsidiary was revving up to drive towards the goal.

"Ford India will address all gaps in the portfolio by bringing products from Ford Motor Co's global platforms to cover 70% of the Indian market. As our global suppliers set up base next to our plant at Sanand, they will bring in their own design, innovation and localization. High local content will enable us to price the product right," Singh said. 

While refusing to divulge the future range of products, Singh acknowledged small cars—both entry level and premium (B, B+)—as well as entry-level sedan (C) were in the offing. Ford may also look at a people-mover with a multi-purpose vehicle.

The first product to benefit from the price competitiveness through greater localization is EcoSport, the soon-to-be launched small sports utility vehicle built on the platform of the premium sedan Fiesta. It will then be extended to Fiesta and become integral to new products that roll out of the Sanand plant from next year-end.

Work on Ford India's second plant is going ahead full steam. When it becomes operational next year, the company's annual capacity will increase from 2.5 lakh cars to 4.4 lakh cars. In addition, it will manufacture 6.10 lakh engines. A quarter of the car capacity and 40% of engine capacity will be exported. Ford India that currently exports to 38 countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific and West Asia, is eyeing Europe with the EcoSport.

Exports and domestic sales by Ford India is expected to contribute substantially to Ford Motor Co's overall numbers. "The 3 million Indian auto market is projected to grow to 9 million by 2020. That will make it the third-largest market after China and the US. The Asia-Pacific region's contribution to Ford Motor Co's sales is small at present. But in the next decade, we see it accounting for 70%, majority coming from China and India," Singh added. 

Now, track gunfire with your smartphone

Researchers have developed a new device which helps users track gunfire with their smartphones, popping a map of the neighbourhood on its screen pointing in the direction the shot came from.
Computer engineers from Vanderbilt University's Institute of Software Integrated Systems has made such a scenario possible by developing an inexpensive hardware module and related software that can transform an Android smartphone into a simple shooter location system.
The technology takes advantage of the fact that all but the lowest powered firearms produce unique sonic signatures when they are fired.
First, there is the muzzle blast an expanding balloon of sound that spreads out from the muzzle each time the rifle is fired. Second, bullets travel at supersonic velocities so they produce distinctive shock waves as they travel.As a result, a system that combines an array of sensitive microphones, a precise clock and an off-the-shelf microprocessor can detect these signatures and use them to pinpoint the location from which a shot is fired with remarkable accuracy.
Like the military version, the smartphone system needs several nodes in order to pinpoint a shooter's location. As a result, it is best suited for security teams or similar groups.
In addition to the smartphone, the system consists of an external sensor module about the size of a deck of cards that contains the microphones and the processing capability required to detect the acoustic signature of gunshots, log their time and send that information to the smartphone by am Bluetooth connection.The smartphones then transmit that information to the other modules, allowing them to obtain the origin of them gunshot by triangulation.
The researchers have developed two versions. One uses a single microphone per module. It uses both the muzzle blast and shockwave to determine the shooter location. It requires six modules to obtain accurate locations. The second version uses a slightly larger module with four microphones and relies solely on the shockwave. It requires only two modules to accurately detect the direction a shot comes from, however, it only provides a rough estimate of the range.