Wilson Electronics introduces the world's first LTE signal booster ahead of CES

Love Verizon's LTE but just can't seem to get bars of service in your office or home? Wilson Electronics has announced the Sleek4G-V, which the company claims is the world's first 4G mobile signal booster. We haven't found any contenders to the claim, but either way the signal enhancer is bound and determined to beef up your high-speed data. In addition to providing Verizon-specific LTE, Wilson promises 2G / 3G connectivity for all major US carriers (iDEN capabilities excluded) just in case you need to actually, y'know, make calls on your phone. While it's designed primarily for outdoor use, an optional accessory kit can be purchased to make it work indoors quite soundly. Listed for $150, the Sleek4G-V should make its way to retailers by the second quarter of this year. Check out the press release for all the details.

ICS ROMs for Galaxy S II leak online

A few days ago, an Android 4.0.1 ROM had leaked online for the Samsung Galaxy S II. However, though it was faster and did feature Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, it had a lot of bugs. The same website, SamMobile, which leaked the custom ROM earlier, released two ROMs for the Galaxy S II. The report claims, “After two custom ROMs from Samsung, Samsung has finally started making official ROMs for the Galaxy S II based on Android 4.0.1.”

 

The website details that the first version is I9100XXKP4/ OXAKP4 and the second one is I9100XXKP8/ OXAKP8. The I9100XXKP4 is based on Android 4.0.1 and was built on December 20th, 2011, and the I9100XXKP8 is based on Android 4.0.3 with the build date of December 30th, 2011. To download the ROM-based on Android 4.0.1, click here and for the ROM based on Android 4.0.3, click here.

In a related report by IntoMobile, these ROMs have been leaked as a final version of the upcoming update and it is available through Samsung KIES Android connectivity software. However, this is not an OTA update and they are not sure if every S II will get the Ice Cream Sandwich update, since KIES software updates are available only in select markets.

As with all leaked ROMs, if you do try to download it please proceed with caution.

Kyobo eReader receives initial review, comes up short despite Mirasol display

If one of your e-reader's components is great but the rest of the device is lacking, where does that leave you? The first review of the Kyobo eReader has arrived and while its Qualcomm-provided Mirasol screen is lauded, that's about it for the good news. Depite the snazzy 5.7-inch touchscreen combined with 1Ghz SnapDragon CPU, WiFi and Android 2.3.5, the package falls apart due to its inability to load apps, subpar battery life and long load times. The reading app crashed frequently during testing, the device was unable to load DRM-protected ebooks even after authorizing with Adobe DE, the reader displays Epub formats incorrectly, PDF view controls proved poor and YouTube video playback proved slow and stilted. Still, the page turn speed proved slightly faster than that of the Kindle Touch, so why harp on the negatives?

Samsung unveils DV300F 'DualView' compact camera

We guess Samsung couldn’t hold on to the suspense any longer, as they’ve just announced their latest ‘DualView’ offering, the DV300F, a whole week before CES. This new model carries forth the success of its predecessors and now features a 1.5-inch front facing LCD screen. We can expect to get a better look at the camera in a week’s time at CES.

A twin-screen camera

The DV300F also becomes the first DualView model to feature Wi-Fi connectivity. The camera’s built-in Wi-Fi enables users to e-mail their photos or upload them to social media sites, including Facebook, Picasa, Flickr and YouTube. In addition, images saved onto the camera’s microSD memory card can be saved to a home PC without wires, by using the Auto PC Backup function. Cloud services, including Samsung’s AllShare Play and Microsoft SkyDrive allows users to store and share their pictures from anywhere. It’s also quite feature packed with a 16MP sensor, 5x optical zoom and 25mm wide-angle lens.

Aakash bookings soar; 14 lakh units in 2 weeks

India's maiden attempt at low-cost computing, Aakash, has proved yet again that not only is it all set to create a niche market for itself, but also to make a winner out of it. Times of India reports that the humble tablet is becoming such a favorite among masses that in just about 14 days of it being put online for sale, over 14,00,000 units of the tablet have been booked, already.

Penning a success story

Manufacturer Datawind are now trying their best to accodomate for more bookings. In fact, Datawind is feeling the pressure of this climbing popularity, so much that it has decided to set up three new factories in the country at Cochin, Noida and Hyderabad, in addition to the one it already has in Hyderabad. In these factories, which will be functional by April, this year, Datawind will begin assembling the tablet.

Revealing more about their projected plan, Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind, was quoted as saying, "We never expected such a high response from both corporate and individual buyers. We plan to supply 70,000-75,000 units per day once the factories are in place by April." Aakash tablet is touching newer heights and seems promising with its endeavours to deliver quality education to that section of the masses, who otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford it.

K. R. Mangalam Group launches affordable CHAZE phones

Last month, the K.R. Mangalam Group had announced a new mobile phone division labeled under CHAZE. It has now launched a range of mobile handsets in cities like Indore, Meerut and Jaipur. Touted as ‘superior and durable,’ these phones target youth with  features like public announcement system, auto call recording, answering machine, big sound and spy camera at an affordable price.

CHAZE phones launched

Keshav Arora. CEO, Chaze Mobile, said, “CHAZE aspires to be one of the leading mobile handset company by offering its valuable customers the fully loaded mobile handsets at the most competitive prices and in return generate tremendous value for its investors and stake holders. The ultimate goal is to delight the customers with world class products, service satisfaction and value for money.”

CHAZE’s reads ‘Yeh Hui Na Baat’ tagline to depict an attitude of fulfillment. The company also offers a large distribution network and after sales services. It has earlier released phones in India and also other countries like Russia, UAE, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Samsung roped in Apple iPhone ad model for its own ad

Friends-turned-foes, Samsung and Apple have been battling it out for a while now over a set of patents, which they claim have been infringed by the other. While this battle still rages on, there seems to be some bickering between them, elsewhere, too. However, one Twitter user, Cheryl Lindo Jones, reportedly was the one to spot the resemblance, and revealed that Samsung roped in the same model used by Apple in its iPhone 4S commercial, for advertising its Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets. In the videos below, it is for all of us to see that the featured model, a little girl, in this case is the same. While you sit back to chew on that one, 9to5Mac reports that, Samsung's commercial by itself too is too similar for comfort to Apple's.Interestingly, reports also suggest that Samsung removed their commercial from their official YouTube page. They, however, are yet to confirm if uncanny resemblance to Apple's iPhone 4S commercial has anything to do with that move. The comparison, in question is between Apple's iPhone 4S commercial and Samsung's commercial for their Galaxy Tab. Both ads feature similar concepts - describing the features of the said product, and of course, the same model.