India's first ICS tablet, the Zync Z-990 launched at Rs. 8,990

At an event held in Mumbai, Zync launched what is India’s first Android ICS-powered tablet. The Zync Z-990 as its being called is a 7-inch tablet with a capacitive touchscreen and is being offered for a price tag of just Rs. 8,990. In a market that’s flooded with 7-inch Android tablets, this is yet another model, but one that offers bang for your buck. Firstly, it’s the first ICS-powered tablet being launched in India. Most of the popular tablets and phones in India don’t have support for ICS, so a new device that runs a powerful 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM is pretty unique and at 380g it is not too heavy, either. The device boasts of full 1080p video playback and the ability to connect it to a TV using the HDMI port on it. Keyboard, mouse and even storage flash drives can be connected using the USB port. The product comes bundled with a screen guard, a pouch and a lycra sleeve. 

India's first Android 4.0 tablet - the Zync Z-990

A look at the detailed specifications of the Zync Z-990:

• 7-inch capacitive touchscreen (resolution of 800x480 pixels)
• 1.2 GHz processor
• 1 GB RAM, 4GB internal storage
• Upto 32GB of expandable memory
• 0.3 MP front facing camera
• WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n capability
• 3G USB dongle supported
• USB 2.0 port
• HDMI video output
• 3600 mAh Li-ion battery

Ashish Garg, Chairman of the Apple Group of Companies which Zync belongs to, said, “The Zync Z-990 tablet is India's first Android 4.0 tablet with features such as control over data usage, new gallery app with photo editor, new lock action, new user interface, new camera capabilities and five point touch. We have also designed a keyboard especially for this tablet and priced it just as nominally. We developed Zync Z-990 based on the great consumer response to our earlier tablets Z-900, Z-909 and Z-999. In the growing era of mobile computing, this portable and innovative product will provide an unmatched mobile experience.” 

The product is being sold across a number of online shopping services, such as Letsbuy.com, Yebhi.com and Homeshop18.com. There’s also a warranty of a year with the product, which includes pick-up and drop, in case something goes wrong with it.

Sprint Galaxy Nexus Coming April 15th

We know that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is headed to US mobile carrier Sprint, and now it looks like we may have a possible launch date of the 15th of April.
The news comes from the guys over at S4GRU, who have received some information from a source inside Sprint that has confirmed to them that the handset will be available from April the 15th.

As a reminder the Samsung Galaxy Nexus comes with the latest version of Google’s mobile OS, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the handset features a 4.65 inch Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels.
Other specifications on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus include a dual core 1.2GHz processor and there is also 1GB of RAM, and two cameras on the Galaxy Nexus with a 1.3 megapixel camera up front and a rear facing advanced 5 megapixel camera on the back.

Toshiba Portege Z830 Ultrabook launched in India

The newly emerging Ultrabooks market has yet another entrant – the Toshiba Portege Z830. This 1.12kg device is mere 15.9mm thin at its thickest point and shows off a slim, sleek profile. The device will let you choose from Intel’s Core i3, i5 and i7 processors and also has a plethora of essential ports. Adhering to the Ultrabook criteria, the Z830 can start from the power-up state in about 13 seconds and the Li-ion battery that it equips allows the laptop to run for approx. 8 hours. The lightweight device has a light, yet durable magnesium alloy casing with enhanced Honeycomb Rib design and Toshiba EasyGuard Technology, which addresses security, reliability and durability issues. It enables the laptop resistant to accidental drops, shocks, and water spills on the keyboard.

Yet another hefty priced Ultrabook

The POC Heath Monitor is capable of alerting users of issues beforehand and the Eco Utility mode monitors power savings. The Ultrabook features a 128GB solid state drive for delivering an extremely responsive experience, increased durability and increased energy efficiency. The Portege Z830 comes with a full-size LED Backlit keyboard for easier typing, even in low light conditions, stereo speakers with enhanced audio technology from Waves Audio and also the USB Sleep & Charge technology. It has a built-in HD Slim webcam and a host of ports, including RGB, USB 3.0, twin USB 2.0, Ethernet, HDMI. The tech specs also include up to 6GB DDR3, 13.3-inch HD display with back lighting, 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, Fingerprint reader, SD card reader, HDMI and support for WLAN, Bluetooth 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet LAN. 

Commenting on the launch, Sivakumar N., Vice President - Strategic Marketing, Product Management & Services - DS Division, Toshiba India, said “Striking designs, impressive product features, outstanding value and a focus on computing performance add up to a mobile computing experience second to none. We are continuing to push the envelope on innovation to give our customers faster, more powerful and smarter laptops. The Portege Z830 is a testimony to Toshiba's engineering achievement and expert craftsmanship, which have resulted in a brilliant and highly thought-through innovation that exceeds expectations, a great value for both mobile business professionals and consumers." 

Just like most the Ultrabooks, the Toshiba Portege Z830 carries a hefty price of Rs.96,290 (M.R.P.) and will be retailing through select outlets in India. It will come with a three year on-site warranty with a network of service centres and dedicated call centre.

Xage M486 Giant Review

One of the only phones with a 4 inch screen, Xage wanted its new phone to be very much like the Android smartphones. Well, they did manage to pretty much nail it in the hardware part, but was forgetting about the software part a smart idea? In an age where ‘smartphones’ are reigning, can this JAVA phone still hold fort? This and more is pondered upon, in our Xage M486 Giant review. Read on. 

From all sides..

Design and Build Quality
The M486 looks like a carbon copy of the HTC line up of smartphones. It's got a front speaker grill, the same curvy edges and metal finish that we've seen on the Sensation series. Aside from the similar looks, if you'll look at the device on its own, you'll be impressed at how wonderful they have managed to make an 8K phone look. It's sturdy, sleek and though a little on the heavier side, has a good grip on the hand.  

No 3.5mm headphone jack

Let's have a quick tour of this Giant. Towards the front, there is a massive 4-inch touch screen with four touch buttons on the bottom and a 1.3 megapixel front camera on the top. Here's the deal though, the touch screen is a resistive one and not a capacitive  one, and that includes the buttons as well - the first of our problems with this phone. Towards the back, there is a 3.2 megapixel camera with an LED flash and another speaker grill. On the top, there is a power button, whereas the volume rocker is located towards the left. The dual SIMs as well as the microSD card slot are located underneath the battery, so hot swappability is not present. Also, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack slot!

In terms of build, the outer shell of the device looks sturdy and well inforced. This one doesn't look like those cheap local phones that we have so often seen in the local market. The screen, however, doesn't look any thing close to the quality of the materials used on the rest of the phone. It looks pretty cheap, flimsy, and a slight press starts creating dents, which gives you an idea of what they have compromised on.

In terms of overall looks, the phone will look pretty awesome when you show it off to a friend, but only you actually know about its frailties, because you've seen it enough to know where the trade offs have been made.

Dell launches the XPS 13 Ultrabook in India

Ultrabooks just started trickling in towards the tail end of last year and it’s only now that they are gaining momentum. Today, Dell joined the bandwagon, when then launched the XPS 13 Ultrabook in India. Made from a blend of aluminium and carbon fibre, their new XPS 13 is incredibly slim at just 6mm at its thinnest point and manages to pack in a 13.3-inch display into the size of a 11-inch netbook. This is their premium offering and it doesn’t come cheap, as prices start from Rs.79,900 and go all the way up to Rs.99,900.

Slim and sexy

The Ultrabook is powered by a range of Intel ULV processors, starting with a Core i5 and going all the way up to a Core i7. 4GB of DDR3 RAM comes as standard and so does a 128GB SSD. The storage space can be expanded all the way to 256GB, but you’ll have to shell out a lot more as well for that. Besides the typical Ultrabook specifications, Dell have given their own special touch to the Ultrabook to make it stand out from the crowd. Most of the chassis is made of aluminium, while the bottom portion is made from carbon fibre. The screen also has an edge-to-edge glass for a more seamless look, which thanks to Gorilla Glass is scratch resistant. 

Currently, Dell is offering three pre-set configuration for Indian consumers - one at Rs.79,900, Rs.89,900, and their flagship model, which retails for Rs.99,900. The only real difference between these models is the CPU and storage space. Despite and slim and slender profile, it’s still a bit heavy and even though Dell doesn't mention this on their site, it certainly feels heavier than a MacBook Air or the Asus UX31. A nice addition is the backlit keys, which means you can work late nights without keeping anyone up. Out of the two USB ports, one of them is USB 3.0, which is good, but sadly; they’ve had to sacrifice the card reader in order to keep the notebook slim and light. 

Whether or not, it offers better value than the current Ultrabooks in the market will be known once we’ve reviewed it, so stay tuned.

Three UK Samsung Galaxy S II Android 4.0 Update Release

UK mobile operator Three has announced that the android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update is now available for the Samsung Galaxy S II on their network here in the UK.
The Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Samsung Galaxy S II on Three is available through Samsung’s Kies software.

ICS update for Galaxy SII is available via Kies. You’ll need to connect your SII to a PC via USB cable with the Kies software installed.
If you have managed to get the update for your Samsung Galaxy S II on Three here in the UK leave a comment and lets us know.

Western Digital 2TB My Passport Portable HDD Announced

Western Digital has updated its range of My passport portable hard drives, and the range now comes with a new 2TB My Passport HDD, which comes with a USB 3.0 connection.
As well as featuring USB 3.0 the Western Digital My Passport range of hard drives is also compatible with USB 2.0 and it also comes in other sizes which include a 500GB version and a 1TB version.

The new 2TB Western Digital My Passport HDD is available for $249.99 and it comes in a range of different colors, the entry level model with 500GB of storage starts at $129.99, you can find out more details over at Western Digital.

Windows Phone Overtakes Symbian In The UK

According to a recent report from Kantar Worldpanel, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform has overtaken Symbian here in the UK, although the report shows that Microsoft’s mobile platform still only makes up a small percentage of overall smartphones.
The period covered in the report are the twelve weeks up to the 19th of February 2012, and Symbian has now dropped down to 2.4 percent of the smartphone market, where as Windows Phone has now risen to 2.5 percent of the market.

Of course Microsoft still has a lot to do if it wants to get anywhere near the two most popular mobile platforms, Google’s Android OS and Apple’s iOS.
According to the report 87 percent of the Windows Phone sales for the period are down to one smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 800.
“The fact that WP7 sales have overtaken Symbian based on one handset is encouraging,” said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director for Kantar Worldpanel.
“However, Nokia will need to expand the range quickly in order to keep up with the slew of next generation competitor products being launched in quarter two.”
The report also released the share held by Android and iOS, showing that Google’s Android OS is the most popular platform in the UK with a 48.5 percent share and Apple’s iOS is in second place with a 28.7 percent share, in third place is RIM with a 17.1 percent share.

Skitch For Mac Includes Evernote Sharing And More

Evernote the great note taking service and application for tablets, smartphones, PC and Macs, bought Skitch back in August last year. Since then Evernote have dropped its price to free and brought Skitch integration to Android and iOS devices.

Skitch allows you to Screen grab your desktop, web browser or apps, annotate with pen, text, shapes and arrows, instantly upload to Evernote, resize, crop, rotate & flip images, take photos with your built in webcam and open and save in many different image formats. The new update announced today by Evernote now allows you to share Skitch docs through Evernote. Evernote explains:
“With a single click, send your annotated images, screenshots and ideas directly into Evernote and share them through our beautiful Skitch sharing interface.
In the near future, we will transition away from Skitch.com sharing in favor of Evernote sharing. This transition will allow all Skitch users to experience the many benefits of Evernote.”
Skitch for Mac is now available to download from the Mac App Store for free.

Apple Responds New iPad Reported Heat Issues

There have been a number of reports over th last few days that Apple’s new iPad runs hotter than the previous version, with some reports saying that the device runs 10 degrees hotter than the iPad 2.
Apple has now released an official statement regarding the apparent higher running temperatures on the device, which you can see below.

“The new iPad delivers a stunning Retina display, A5X chip, support for 4G LTE plus 10 hours of battery life, all while operating well within our thermal specifications,” Apple representative Trudy Muller, told The Loop. “If customers have any concerns they should contact AppleCare.”
There seem to be a number of conflicting reports with some users noticing no difference in the running temperatures of the device whilst others are noting that it feels considerably hotter than the iPad 2.