Canon PowerShot D20 ruggedized point-and-shoot camera

Remember the Canon PowerShot D10? The company's first ruggedized underwater cam was a solid snapper, but its bulky submarine-like design made it impractical for most surface-based shoots. The PowerShot D20 offers a drastic improvement over its predecessor in the appearance department, more closely resembling a compact point-and-shoot than a subaqueous vessel. We can't speak to the cam's image quality just yet, but assuming its on-par with the D10, we'd say the latest D model is worth some serious consideration as an upgrade, even for a reduction in footprint alone. The D20 includes a 12.1-megapixel HS (high-sensitivity) CMOS sensor, a bright 3-inch LCD and a 5x 28mm optically stabilized zoom lens. It's waterproof to depths of 10 meters (33 feet), can survive drops from a height of 1.5 meters (5 feet) and can operate in temperatures ranging from 14 degrees to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. There's also a top sensitivity of ISO 3200, and a built-in GPS.

We spent a few minutes with the D20 at Canon's booth at CP+ 2012 in Yokohama, Japan, and were quite impressed with the improved design. Naturally, it's a solid-feeling point-and-shoot, with protected components and airtight port covers. Company reps didn't bat an eye when we unintentionally tested the camera's durability with a mild drop. There's a standard-issue PowerShot interface, with a fairly straightforward menu structure, and the camera felt plenty snappy, focusing and firing off an image almost instantaneously. It's noticeably larger than the company's more compact land-limited models, but there's no reason you wouldn't feel just as comfortable using this to shoot your child's first birthday party as you would their first scuba lesson. The $349 PowerShot D20 won't be hitting stores until May, but you can jump past the break for a quick look in the meantime.

Smarter ways to charge your phone

For those constantly on the move and perennially worried about their phone running out of charge, here is some good news. Francois Rybarczyk of Yanko Design has come-up with a concept of an in-built power adapter, which can be flipped-out and directly plugged into the power outlet to charge the phone.

The Autonome way

Named ‘Autonome’, the module also acts as an additional battery, which can be detached from the phone to be charged and then plugged back when needed. If turned into reality it will be a boon for those who habitually forget to carry their charger when travelling. In fact concepts like these are the need of the hour looking at increased use of smartphones that guzzle power owing to the numerous applications run on it right from e-mail to GPS.

While a phone with an in-built power adapter is still a concept, it’s a step in the right direction. After Nokia’s more or less failed attempt at a solar-powered phone, this concept of in-built power adapter holds some promise. Nokia conceded that while charging the phone using a solar panel on the back cover was possible more ground needs to be covered. They discovered that it can at best generate enough energy to keep the phone on standby mode with a restricted amount of talktime. What hampers the process amongst others is the restricted area of the solar panel, owing to the size of the phone and also the angle it needs to be placed.      

On the other hand, Nagpur-based, final year engineering student, Mandar Tulankar has devised means to charge phone via shoes. As outrageous as it may sound, it’s based on the principle of simple conversion of mechanical energy in to electric energy. So, as you walk you can simultaneously charge your phone as well. Mandar says that half an hour walk is enough to fully charge your phone. Having won several accolades, he is all set to launch the shoes with the embedded circuit in the market and hopes to receive a positive response. Watch this space to know more about Mandar’s innovation.

SICT Mobiles launch the iV 168 feature phone for Rs.1,999

SICT Mobiles has introduced a new dual SIM handset, iV 168. This dual band offering supports both 900 and 1800 GSM bands and comes with a dual language big keypad (English & Hindi). The new offering also comes with a 2.4-inch (6.1 cm) QVGA (320×240 pixels) screen for videos, dual speakers for better sound and 1.3MP camera. The feature is available for a street price of Rs.1999.

A new phone every week!

The phone is designed in the typical candybar form factor and looks pretty presentable as well. It’s simple, basic and even has a dedicated FM key. “Our endeavor has been to offer best of the technologies and products to our customers across the country. The all new iV168 with 1500mAh battery is a state of the art offering that helps the user to talk for more than 10hours. In addition, its look and feel, style, color combination and shape suits the needs of our urban customers as well,” commented Anil Kaushik, Co-founder and CEO of IVK Mobile.

The phone plays all major audio formats like MP3, WAV, MIDI, AMR and comes with dual 22 x 35mm and 15 x 24 mm speaker for loud sound.  It also has an in-built audio and video recorder. Video functionality can play all the popular formats like AVI, MP4 and 3GP with 20 fps (Frames per seconds). It can support up to 16GB of external memory via microSD card. The camera can also be used as a webcam for chatting online on a PC. You also get dual-charging support.

Another interesting feature is that unlike other handsets, with this the user can play FM both with and without the headset. In addition, the user also can protect his call history, messages, phonebook and memory card by putting passwords to each of the applications. This Bluetooth-enabled device supports A2DP, so that the users can listen to music on a  Bluetooth headset as well. The phone should be available across the country in your local mobile stores.

Improved specs on Aakash 2 to make it costlier

Now, this one's a spoiler of a news for sure. If you've been among those who relied on the Aakash 2 tablet to get better, while still retaining its low-cost tag, then you are going to be in for some disappointment. Hindustan Times now reports that while the Aakash 2 is all set to get a better, refreshed spec sheet, its price, too will undergo a revision. In line with the reports so far, the Aakash 2 will boast of features like a processor speed roughly four times better than its predecessor, a better battery life, and some military-style specifications, too, like water-proofing, being able to withstand a sudden, steep fall, among other things. However, getting military styled specifications for the Aakash tablet, the government is told; won't come cheap. Reportedly, both the public and private sector companies knee deep in shaping the Aakash 2 project have told the government that the price of the Aakash 2 tablet will be $100, if it wants to make it shock and water-proof. 

Better, but not as cheap! 

IIT-Rajasthan had proposed some military-styled specifications for the Datawind-manufactured, Aakash tablet; a proposal which the company rejected on grounds that it was too much for a humble tablet like this, to take. Among the IIT's other proposed specifications, are -  a 1.2GHz microprocessor as against 366MHz in Aakash and 700MB RAM, with a battery life long enough to power the device for 8 hours. A government official, according to this report had stated that given the list of specifications, manufacturing the tablet with even a price point of $100 would be impossible. 

Reportedly, Indian Telephone Industries (ITI) and Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) have shown their readiness to participate in the manufacturing of the tablet, but again, they too aren't willing to go for anything less that $100 per unit. According to the report, an official explained their predicament stating, "Because of higher price for a U.S dollar component will cost much more. Insulation costs are also very high."

This clearly contradicts the claims of the HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal, who had stated that even the improved Aakash tablet will continue to sell at the same price as its predecessor. Now, obviously, that is not happening and the ministry will have some explaining to do.

Intex launches new 3D dual SIM touch phone, the Avatar

Intex Technologies has announced the launch of their new mobile phone, the Avatar, which is a 3D touch phone. This mobile phone offers users the choice of converting 2D images and video content into 3D with the touch of a button and also the other way round.

A pair of 3D glasses have been provided, free of cost with this phone for consumers to unravel a new world of stronger visual experience and better imagery. The phone allows consumers to store and watch videos at the rate of 30 frames per second. One can also view 10 pre-loaded films available in the 4 gigs multimedia card, which comes for free with the phone. Avatar is priced at Rs. 3,690 and the phone is targeted at entertainment enthusiasts who are price conscious as well. It is a dual SIM phone with a 2.8-inch screen, all packaged in a handy candybar form factor.

The phone has an array of interesting features. In-built games like Crazy Birds, Fruit Ninja, Pentachess, Call of Atlantis, Yumsters and an enhanced experience of accessing social networking sites, such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook are already pre- installed.

The Intex Avatar

Commenting on the launch, Sanjay Kumar, GM, Mobile Business, Intex Technologies (India) Ltd. said, “At Intex, we believe in addressing consumer needs by constantly innovating and developing feature-rich mobile handsets. India has evolved in adoption of 3D technology. Keeping consumer needs in mind we have introduced this novel feature. Intex is poised to provide unique offerings to all the technology enthusiasts with products such as ‘INTEX AVATAR’ that provide an enriched experience to long standing customers in India and abroad.”

The handset supports both English and Hindi languages. Consumers will also get INTEX Zone – which provides additional features and various functions like Answering Machine, Mobile Tracker, Auto Call Record, Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Facebook and Games.

The Intex Avatar is priced at Rs.3,690 and is available across more than 15,000 distributors and reseller outlets, at 70 Intex squares (exclusive retail stores) and several hypermarkets across the country.

HTC to upgrade Sensation line-up to ICS by end of March

Why should only Samsung have all the fun, when it comes to bringing Google’s latest operating software, Ice Cream Sandwich to smartphones? At least, this is what HTC seems to think so. As per an announcement on their official Facebook page, HTC will be rolling out Android 4.0 to their smartphone line-up. The post from HTC reads, “HTC has been working hard to get its Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades ready, and we’re excited to announce that our first round of ICS upgrades will roll out by the end of March for the HTC Sensation and HTC Sensation XE, followed soon thereafter by the HTC Sensation XL. In addition, we can confirm Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades will be coming later this year to the HTC EVO 3D, HTC Incredible S, HTC Desire S and HTC Desire HD. Stay tuned for more updates on Ice Cream Sandwich releases in the coming weeks.”

HTC to serve Sensation handsets by end of March with Ice Cream Sandwich

Back in October, it was reported that HTC were evaluating the Android update with their existing handsets and they stated that their goal for Android updates is to give every customer an improved user experience, which means balancing each phone's unique hardware, HTC Sense experience and the Android kernel. It appears that HTC are nearing completion with their latest announcement and for HTC users, this should certainly come as some good news.

Back in November, the brand revealed that their higher range of handsets would receive the Ice Cream Sandwich update in early 2012. At the time they stated that the HTC Vivid, HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE, HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze 4G were all to receive the update in the early part of the year.

But as per the Facebook post, it appears that only the Sensation, Sensation XE and Sensation XL will be getting Android 4.0 in early 2012. The rest of the handsets will receive the update later on this year. Let us know your reactions on HTC dishing out Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to their Sensation line-up of handsets by early this year.

Motorola introduces new flip phone, the GLEAM+

Motorola Mobility has introduced the Motorola GLEAM+, which is an update to the earlier version, launched in 2011. This new model is a slimmer, sleeker version of 2011’s flip phone for the style conscious. Priced at a suggested price of 99 Euro (w/o contract incl. VAT) (approx Rs.6,500), the new phone will be available in March. It will be sold in two colours - silver and white. 

The new GLEAM+

The Motorola GLEAM+ consists of an LED matrix display that provides expressive notifications and alerts. Motorola GLEAM+ features both camera and video capabilities, so you can snap, shoot and share your pictures with friends and family, either in-person, via picture messaging or social networks. It’s got added storage for phonebook contacts and text messages, as well as a faster and more powerful browser than the earlier version. There’s music, too – with FM radio, an easy-to-navigate mp3 player and SD card support.

“The Motorola GLEAM+ is as a stylish and easy to use as ever for the consumer who enjoys the simple things in life, without compromising on design and functionality,” said Claudia Laepke, marketing director, Motorola Mobility Germany GmbH. “We designed this handset with a clear focus on delivering a great experience in a simple, sleek and stylish design.”

Here are the specifications of the Motorola GLEAM+:

• 2.8-inch WQVGA screen with a 400 x 240 pixel resolution
• 144 LED matrix structure
• 50MB internal memory
• USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• 2MP fixed focus camera 
• Memory expandable up to 16GB via microSD card slot
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• 750 mAh battery
• 105g weight

We’re not too sure, if this phone will ever make its way to India, but we’re also not too sure, if that happening will disappoint us. Seeing the specifications, this one looks like a pretty simple phone with minimalistic features. It may have that style factor, for some people, but we’re not too sure if it matches up, in terms of functionality. For the same price, we’ve got a few budget phones in the market already.