Canon welcomes ELPH 530 HS / 320 HS, SX260 HS and D20 to PowerShot lineup

Alongside the new additions to Canon's A-Series of digital cameras, the company is also giving more demanding consumers a similar outpouring of love with four additional shooters in the PowerShot family, which sport a diverse array of features such as WiFi connectivity, 20x optical zoom and rugged designs. Leading the charge for the ELPH lineup is the 530 HS. Along with the 320 HS, it features the ability to wirelessly upload images to Canon's online portal, where users may then post their latest captures to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The ELPH 530 HS features a 12x optical zoom lens paired with a 10 megapixel sensor and is expected to retail for $349 in April. Meanwhile, the 320 HS delivers a 5x optical zoom lens and a 16.1 megapixel sensor. It'll carry a $280 price tag and is set to hit stores in March. Both ELPH models feature Canon's DIGIC 5 image processor, capture 1080p video and include a 3.2-inch LCD touchscreen.

Those who roll Rear Window style may want to check out Canon's new SX260 HS, which packs a 25mm wide-angle lens that boasts up to 20x optical zoom. Like the latest ELPH's, it also offers the DIGIC 5 processor and captures 1080p video. Unique to the SX260 HS, it features GPS for location tagging and a burst shooting mode that captures a continuous 10.3 frames per second. It'll be available in March for $349 and is set to come in black, green and red finishes. Lastly, the D20 offers up a few ruggedized features for outdoor enthusiasts. It features underwater shooting abilities (including a specific macro mode), and is also said to be shock-proof and freeze-proof -- no mention of it tolerating heat, though. The D20 incorporates a 12.1 megapixel sensor, captures 1080p video and features a 5x optical zoom lens. It also offers GPS, but unlike the other cameras here, it uses the DIGIC 4 image processor. If you're considering the D20 for your next adventure, it'll be available in May for $349. You'll discover more about these four additions in the PR, after the break.

Nokia Lumia 800 to be available in white

The Nokia Lumia 800, dubbed the first real Windows Phone has been turning heads, ever since it was launched, back in October. It's currently available in cyan, magenta and black colours. We weren’t overly impressed with the phone per se, but neither did it do too badly.

Like this?

Now, the time is white for the Nokia Lumia 800’s fourth colour. And here it is, finally dressed in snow-white. In this colour, the polycarbonate unibody case offsets the curved ClearBlack touch screen. It has a minimalist colour scheme to emphasise the simplicity of the phone’s design, allowing the live Windows tiles and images on the display to appear brighter and without distractions. And, it adds a fourth choice to the Nokia Lumia 800 package in stores.

We’d seen the N9 have a similar design and now the Nokia Lumia 800 follows suit. This is no spray-on finish. Like the other Nokia Lumia 800’s colours, the unibody polycarbonate is dyed all the way through and milled like metal to give it the high-tech feel. And, like all Nokia Lumia 800s, this white edition has all the features of that the other 800s have, including Web browsing, apps, music, Nokia Drive (the free turn-by-turn navigation system), and Nokia Maps. The white Nokia Lumia 800 is due to be rolled out first in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Finland, Poland and Switzerland, with other countries to follow.

Snow white

What distinguishes the white Nokia Lumia is that it’s white right through – a process that involves working with the best dye houses in the world to source a proper pigment, and then stir it into the polycarbonate liquid to make a mould. According to their designers, the concept of a white phone evolved from the identity of the N9 and Lumia series. Colour and material designer Tiina Aarras was inspired by the CMYK colour group used in printing. What makes the crispness of printing colours stand out is the whiteness of the paper. The exact ingredients, and making, of the white Lumia 800 is, of course, a closely guarded secret – but their designers worked through hundreds of variations. A phone is not just a design icon, but something that is used and handled dozens of times a day. In layman’s terms – it gets dirty. Of all colours white is perhaps the most pure, profound and definite.

Galaxy S III rumoured to measure 7mm in depth

There are several rumours floating around regarding the upcoming flagship handset from Samsung. The most prominent of these rumours have been speculations on the launch of the Galaxy S III at the Mobile World Conference event at Barcelona. However, Samsung has confirmed that they will not announce the handset at this year’s MWC event and instead unveil the smartphone at a later date. Samsung stated, “The successor to the Galaxy S2 smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.” This, however, doesn’t stop the rumours from flowing in with the latest one being that it will be 7mm at its thinnest.

Just 7mm at it's slimmest (Image Mock Up)

As per a report by OLED-Display, the website states, “Samsung announced that the new Galaxy S3 has only 7 mm thickness. They can reach the goal because the printed circuit board (PCB), connector parts, chips can be produced 10 to 20 percent thinner than conventional parts. The S3 has also a HDMI port a quad core processor LTE and Android 4.0 says our source.” This gives us a bit of more information on what the handset will feature. We already knew in the past that this will be a quad-core handset and it was rumoured to have a HD resolution display, along with a 12MP camera.

Apart from this, a related report by GSMArena who have got information through Korean news site, ETNews states that there may be more than one version of the Samsung Galaxy S III with the others said to feature a 3D Display and with one supporting a stylus. The report goes on to add there may be as many as seven variants of the Galaxy S III that may be announced this year.

Though the handset may measure a mere 7mm in depth, it is expected to retain the bump for the camera, which was found on the Galaxy S II making its thinness inconsistent throughout the length of the device. As the rumours keep on flooding in, lets hope that the launch date is sooner than later, as the handset is expected to hit shelves by May.

Asus U32U Review

We’ve got neatly classified genres in laptops, notebooks – the normal ones, ultrabooks – ultra thin, but ultra expensive, and netbooks – cheap and portable, but relatively small and with lesser power. But, what do you get when there’s a cross between the good points of an ultrabook and a netbook. Yes, something that’s not too small, not too expensive and is quite thin. You get something that looks like the new Asus U32U notebook. But, does this one withstand our litmus test? Let’s find out. 

Notebook?Netbook?

Design and Build Quality
The U32U comes dressed up in a dual tone colour of silver and black. The exterior has a matte finish to it, so fingerprints aren’t too much of a problem. The interiors have also been well designed. The U32U has a demure, modest look with the shades they’ve chosen, but that doesn’t make it any less appealing. 

Connectivity ports on the right

The left side consists of a USB 2.0 slot, an HDMI slot, and a VGA port along with a heatsink vent. The right consists of a Kensington lock, the power slot, an Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 slots, a headphone jack, the SD card slot and a microphone jack. The inclusion of an Ethernet port is good news, as the laptop tapers out towards the end. But this form factor also means that the DVD writer slot needs to be eliminated. 

The LCD panel has some good support with two sturdy hinges. They’re quite strong and tough and offer some good resistance to the screen wobbling problem that we so often see in laptops. The 13.3-inch screen itself has been reinforced pretty well from all sides. It’s thin, but durable. There’s some good amount of metal on the bottom panel as well. 

No heating problems

The design may appear to be plain to some, but it didn’t disappoint us one bit. Also, the thin profile gives the U32U that oomph, which we mostly reserve only for Ultrabooks, like the Zenbook UX31, we reviewed earlier. Obviously, it’s not as thin as that one, but we’ll suggest you have a look at the price tags before you complain. In terms of build as well, the UX32U impressed us quite a lot. 

Features
The notebook is powered by an AMD E-450 APU at a clock speed of 1.65 GHz. It’s got a whopping 8GB (!) of RAM and a 320GB hard disk. The U32U comes with an integrated graphics card – the AMD Radeon HD 6320 and has a display resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Connectivity options, include a camera, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth. All this is held together by the 64-bit Windows 7 operating system.

Slim profile

The U32U comes with a few pre-installed software. There’s the AMD VISION engine control centre that’s basically your one stop shop for all your tweakings and settings. It’s got a range of presets also including – gaming, battery saver and web browsing. Asus also have included a few utility softwares, including USB charger plus, a recovery app, boot optimizer software and a secure delete application. It’s well loaded with the basic stuff you’ll require to configure and manage your laptop.


Performance
The boot up times didn’t impress us, it took us roughly 47 seconds to log onto Windows. Memory heavy applications might slow down the laptop a little, but for light usage like surfing and viewing content, the laptop works just fine. The viewing angles are pretty decent as well. The speakers are loud enough for personal usage. 

Brilliant keyboard

The U32U has a standard-sized keyboard, without a numpad. The keys have the right amount of feedback and the chiclet-styled keyboard ensures some pretty long hours of typing without any discomfort. There’s ample space below the keyboard as well. The trackpad is quick and responsive, but the keys are rather hard, so you’ll have to get used to that. In our tests, the laptop didn’t face any heating problems, so that’s a plus. It’s got a slim profile and is definitely more portable than your average notebook. 

We put the laptop under a couple of synthetic tests as well and here’s what the scores look like. 

Benchmark chart

We also compared it to the MSI U270-powered by the E-350 and they both pretty much compete with each other. The Asus won in the CPU arithmetic scores, while the MSI won in PC Mark Vantage. In real world tests, the MSI did noticeably better in our video encoding tests. The MSI recorded 8 mins 40 seconds, while the U323U did it in a time period of 5 mins 39 seconds, and it’s lower the better in that test. In POVRay, the ASUS laptop came out on top clocking in 1 min 29 seconds, as compared to 1 min 34 seconds that the MSI recorded. 

A comparison chart

Battery Life
The Asus U32U is strapped with a rather powerful battery (and a slower processor, which means better battery life, anyway). In our high performance, more enabled, Battery Eater Pro test, the laptop gave us a full 3 hours and 21 minutes of battery life before giving way. That’s quite impressive, but you do have to remember the processor it’s powering. Under normal usage, you’ll easily be able to get more than six hours on your laptop, which means your traveling and on-the-go options are pretty much taken care of. 

Worth a buy?

Verdict
The Asus U32U notebook with 8GB of RAM is priced at Rs.34,990. Alternatively, you do get a 2GB model for Rs.30,990 with DOS pre-installed. Anyway, back to this model that we reviewed - it’s quite pricey, because you’re paying quite a bit for the processing power equivalent to a netbook. True, you’re getting more estate space, but that’s about it. The Lenovo Z570 and G570 might be a little more bulkier and may vary slightly with the price, but they’ve got a much faster processor. If the U32U would have been priced around 30k, it would have made for a much better buy. Right now, it’s just a netbook that's a tad expensive with a bigger display. At this price tag, we’d recommend you consider the other options.

Kindle-wielding Amazon dips toes into physical world

Amazon.com Inc is dipping its toes into the physical world as the largest online retailer offers more products in stores that may benefit from hands-on interaction with shoppers.

Analysts said the move may be inspired by the success of Apple Inc, which has hundreds of its own glitzy stores to show of iPhones, iPads and other gadgets and accessories. Quidsi, an online retailer Amazon acquired in 2010, opened its first retail store in Manhasset, New York, last year to sell expensive cosmetics and perfumes under the BeautyBar name.

Amazon also plans to open a physical store in its home town of Seattle in coming months to showcase and sell its growing line of gadgets, including the Kindle Fire tablet, industry blog Good E-Reader reported this weekend.

At a conference in late 2011 run by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, some industry players hinted that Amazon might launch a retail store presence like Apple to let consumers test its gadgets, according to Cowen & Co. analyst Jim Friedland.

"The primary goal of the test is to determine if a physical retail presence can accelerate sales of Kindle devices and follow-on consumption of digital content at an attractive return on invested capital," Friedland wrote in a note to investors on Monday. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment. Such moves are a major departure for Amazon, which has thrived by competing aggressively on price with traditional retailers that are saddled with the cost of leasing physical stores. But Amazon's line of Kindle devices may sell better if consumers have a chance to try them out before buying. These gadgets are already sold at other retailers, including Target , Best Buy and Staples . However, Amazon is likely looking at the potential benefits of having its own stores, analysts said.

If Amazon brings out other gadgets, like a smart phone, or a larger tablet, having an Amazon store will help the company explain how to use these gadgets and the other services tied to them, Friedland said. Apple Inc , which Amazon now competes against in the tablet market, has had huge success with its chain of retail stores which numbered 361 at the end of 2011.

Getting ready for the retail store?

"I don't expect to see a bunch of Amazon Supercenters anytime soon, but seeing Apple's success with retail and realizing that Amazon is more than just an e-tailer now, I think it's smart for them to explore the opportunity," Colin Sebastian, an analyst at RW Baird, said.
Amazon often tests new concepts in the Seattle area, the analyst noted.

Amazon has to collect sales tax on online sales in states where it has a physical location. A retail location in Seattle would not trigger new obligations like this because the company already collects sales tax in Washington state, Sebastian noted. Amazon also collects sales tax in New York state, where Quidsi's BeautyBar store is located in an up-scale shopping mall called Americana Manhasset.

"It's very much about the brick and mortar retail store experience," said Andrea Sanders, creative director at Americana Manhasset. Consumers can have their hair blow-dried at the BeautyBar store's "Blow Dry Bar" or get facials, peels and waxing services from a licensed aesthetician in the "Treatment Room," she explained. "That's an experience that you can't get online," she added in an interview with Reuters. Such efforts could dent Amazon's return on invested capital and hurt the company's positive working capital dynamic, Cowen's Friedland warned.

Amazon shares closed down 2.4 percent at $183.14 on Monday. Wal-Mart Stores , the world's largest traditional retailer, generates a return on invested capital, or ROIC, of 19 percent, the analyst noted. Amazon's ROIC is typically about 35 percent, although returns are currently lower because of big investment projects the company is pursuing, according to Friedland.

Having retail stores may also dilute the competitive advantages of Amazon's online retail business, including vast selection and convenience, the analyst added. "The initiative is just a test and a national rollout is not a forgone conclusion," Friedland said. Amazon launched an online grocery store called Amazon Fresh in Seattle almost five years ago and the company has not expanded that because the business has yet to generate an attractive return, the analyst noted.

Nokia dazzles Warsaw with another fancy Lumia 800 launch

Nokia is burning some serious dough, in trying to promote their Lumia series and their next stop after London, was Poland. Their display at London was nothing short of spectacular, especially with Deadmau5 providing the sound track. Despite the biting cold weather, quite a big crowd had gathered outside the Staszic Plaza in Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

Now invading Poland!

Nokia put on a good show for the attendees with the similar 3D projection light show it did in London. However, it wasn’t as epic as the London event; at least I don’t think so. This marked the official availability of the Lumia 800 in Poland and we can’t help, but feel cheated. Where is our light show, Nokia? India is clearly one of the largest consumers of Nokia devices and it has been so, for years now. Even with Samsung’s and HTC strong presence of Android phones in the market, the masses still love Nokia. They have been doing some promotions for the Lumia series like only recently, they draped a Boeing 737 in Lumia colours and flew a bunch of journalists Mumbai. The inside of the plane also had similar Lumia branding and stickers all over. You’ll notice however, that they aren’t really pimping the Lumia 710 for some reason, which is quite odd given that’s the more affordable handset.

Stellar launches InstaBackup Gold version 3

Stellar Data Recovery has released its all new version of backup software, called the Stellar InstaBackup Gold 3.0. It’s a professional data backup software that enables easy backup of important files, folders, mails, volumes and e-mail databases. Insta Backup Gold is a complete solution to data backup. It is developed in such a way that it takes care of every possible aspect of data backup. It creates backup, restores backup, schedules backup, creates and manages a secure zone for safekeeping of backup image file, mounts / unmounts backup image and clones hard drives and volumes. Stellar InstaBackup comes with a free download version for 15 days and supports all Windows OS', including Windows 7.

Mr. Sunil Chandna, CEO, Stellar Information Systems Ltd. mentioned during the launch that, “Data Loss is a very common scenario in today’s world, considering the immediacy & importance of data InstaBackup Gold provides a handful of advanced and user-friendly options to enable all backup tasks with ease. With this eminent tool, one can conveniently perform backup of all precious files, folders, volumes and even restore these backups at any desired location in the system.” 

Stellar InstaBackup Gold 3.0 is available for immediate download and is available at a price point of Rs. 550. For those of you not in the know, Stellar Information Systems Limited, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, is the only ISO 9001:2008 certified company specializing in data recovery software and in-lab services. It was established in 1993 by a group of technocrat professionals and currently has over 1 million+ users. With its global presence and localized services it has reach across 137 countries and is governed by transparent money back policy and 24X5 support for its product range.

Data backup is quite paramount for almost any user in today’s world and though it’s often ignored, there’s an increasing risk of losing your data. Data backup solutions do help in such cases. Which software do you guys use to keep your data back up safe and secure? Let us know in the comments section below.