The 5 biggest tech failures of 2012

Technology marches onward with unrelenting determination year after year. The gadgets that run our lives get cheaper, faster, and more beautiful without fail. However, that doesn’t mean that individual companies can’t pull a boner from time to time, and 2012 was no exception. Let’s take a look at the five biggest technology fails of the past year.

The HP-Autonomy deal:

Before HP ousted its consumer-hating CEO Leo Apotheker in 2011, he inked a deal to buy UK-based business services and consulting firm Autonomy for $11.1 billion. This action was undertaken with the understanding that HP was leaving the consumer market. When new CEO Meg Whitman joined the company, fresh off her loss in the California gubernatorial race, she stuck with Autonomy in 2012.

HP had employed accountants to go over Autonomy’s books, but it now seems they missed some big red flags. The deal has turned out to be a massive mistake for HP, which has recently announced it is taking an $8.8 billion writedown on the acquisition in its quarterly earnings. That means that HP believes it paid several times more for Autonomy than it was actually worth. For a company still reeling from the failure of WebOS and declines in its PC sales, this is no small bump in the road.

 

HP has claimed there is evidence of extensive fraud at Autonomy, which inflated its revenues prior to the sale. Still, if the evidence was so extensive, why did the board not realize what was happening sooner? The handling of the situation has been a disaster in its own right. Autonomy’s founder has pushed back against the allegations, but HP isn’t backing down. Whatever went wrong, HP messed this one up big time. It might take months to see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

 

The Nexus Q

 

Oh, Google. The speakers were so enthusiastic about the Nexus Q back at Google I/O 2012. The Nexus Q was a spherical set-top media streamer that connected to Android devices and played content exclusively from Google Play. It was announced alongside the Nexus 7, a small tablet that does appear to be a certifiable hit. However, the Nexus Q launch could not have gone worse for Google.

The search giant gave out free units to attendees of Google I/O, but that didn’t earn the device any good will — it was widely panned for lacking in functionality. No Netflix, no Hulu, and no NAS access? The Nexus Q was proudly made in the USA, and the pricing showed it. Google took pre-orders at $299, which was far higher than competing set-top boxes.

 

As the terrible reviews rolled in, Google reconsidered its strategy. Google said it was re-tooling the Nexus Q after getting feedback from reviewers and developers. Those brave few who pre-ordered the Nexus Q got theirs for free. However, the device never showed up for sale again, and now even the placeholder has been pulled as the new round of Nexus devices have rolled out.

 

The Nexus Q was a bold move, but it you have to wonder why Google announced it. Why didn’t anyone stop and ask who the Nexus Q was supposed to be for?

 

Apple Maps

The folks at Apple have a reputation for user-friendly design and careful incremental changes. That’s why the buggy mess that is Apple Maps has been such a surprise. Google had been providing the mapping data for iOS since the first iPhone launched back in 2007, but the increasingly adversarial relationship between the two companies eventually sent Cupertino off on a quest to do its own maps. This turns out to have been a mistake.

 

Apple bought several companies to bolster its mapping efforts, but the end result was just not very good. Users found a myriad of issues with the software including missing addresses, no public transit info, corrupted satellite data, entire cities missing or in the wrong place, and buggy navigation. There have even been reports recently that several dozen Australian iPhone users have been led dangerously astray by their phones, which incorrectly placed a city in the middle of a remote wilderness park.

 

Things got so bad in September that Apple CEO Tim Cook had to issue an apology for the fiasco and advised users to take a look at some alternative mapping apps while Apple sorted out the issues. This by itself is unprecedented. Apple’s mobile software chief Scott Forstall, and iOS Maps manager Richard Williamson have both been fired in the wake of the debacle.

 

Google released a new Google Maps app on iOS late in 2012. It quickly became the most downloaded free app in the App Store. How’s that humble pie tasting, Apple?

Microsoft’s “Metro” problems

 

Microsoft always seems to be walking back its naming schemes. Remember Windows Phone 7 Series? The Surface switcheroo? Windows/MSN Live/Mesh Skydrive? Redmond’s 2012 failure was with its prevalent Metro branding. Windows 8 brings the Metro UI and apps to the desktop, but now we don’t even know what to call it. Despite having a cadre of lawyers on retainer all over the world, no one seemed to notice that “Metro” was trademarked by someone else. Numerous reports point to a trademark challenge by Germany-based Metro AG. Now Metro has been replaced by — well, nothing really.

 

 

The company has been adamant that Metro was never supposed to be a consumer-facing term, but it was fairly prominent going all the way back to the launch of Windows Phone 7. So now developers can’t use the term, and Microsoft has been slow to come up with a reasonable alternative. This situation confuses the conversation because Windows 8 runs both “Metro” apps and regular Windows apps. The best option seems to be “Windows 8 style,” but that’s pretty awkward.

 

The embarrassment might have been lessened if Microsoft hadn’t pushed Metro to the forefront in Windows 8 with such insistence. The Desktop has been demoted to be “just another app.” Metro (or whatever they’re calling it) might make sense on a tablet, but users with a mouse are feeling perplexed. It may even be because of this mess that Windows boss Steven Sinofsky was fired.

 

Windows 8 didn’t get the big activation bump seen in the last release, and this despite having rock-bottom pricing. It’s been a lukewarm reception for Microsoft’s new OS, and that’s largely due to the Metro UI. It might be the right move down the road, but it’s a tough sell now.

 

RIM’s lost year

 2012 started on an upbeat note for Canadian smartphone pioneer Research in Motion (RIM). The old co-CEOs were gone and Thorsten Heins was newly at the helm. What followed was a year in which the only way RIM seemed to be able to make news was to announce that it had lost more money. And it did — a lot of it.

 The light at the end of the tunnel was expected to be BlackBerry 10. Finally RIM would catch up with the competition and gets its mobile platform modernized. However, each quarterly report brought news of more delays. Rather than launching in 2012 as originally intended, BlackBerry 10 has been pushed to early 2013. Even the company’s preferred narrative that BlackBerry is still wildly popular overseas is looking less plausible. RIM had to cut several thousand jobs last summer, and recent news hasn’t been encouraging either. Its revenue as reported in December is down 47% from last year, and it saw the first overall subscriber decrease in its history. RIM can’t afford another year like 2012.

 

I’m sure these technology behemoths didn’t go into 2012 expecting to stumble like they did. For some these snafus are just a momentary spot of embarrassment in an otherwise great year. For others, it’s a sign of major problems going forward. Here’s to a more productive 2013.

Gameloft's 2013 game lineup leaked!

Gameloft, a company that has made a name for itself in the mobile gaming world seems to have quite a stellar lineup of games for 2013, at least as per the leaked list of games that has made its way online.
The original leak had screenshots and other details of the games such as videos as well but is now nowhere to be seen. Some of the games are sequels where as others like Iron Man 3 are movie tie in games. All in all, the list looks quite stellar and it looks like it will be quite an interesting year for mobile gaming.

Gameloft has had quite a good year with mobile games. Some of their noteworthy games this year include Wild Blood, N.O.V.A 3, and the movie tie in game – The Dark Knight Rises. Gameloft has quite a large library of games that it releases for the Android and iOS platform as well as games that work on the Java for budget phones.

To know the leaked list of Gameloft's rumoured 2013 lineup: click here Gameloft's 2013 game lineup, Gameloft's 2013 game lineup

Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8, completes the Windows 8 OS ecosystem

Windows Phone 8 is finally here, well, at least the announcement has been made. Joe Belfiore, Vice President Windows Phone took the stage in California to introduce to the world what Windows Phone 8 was all about. This has definitely been a very eventful week for Microsoft, with Windows 8 OS being finally made available to 

the general public, Microsoft Surface RT also shipping out the pre-orders and Xbox 360 receiving an update to integrate it with the Windows 8 environment. Windows Phone 8 was the last piece needed to complete this loop and now that it’s out, there’s a lot to be excited about.

Joe Belfiore took his time walking the audience (and the webcast viewers) though all the new and amazing features Windows Phone 8 has to offer. Amongst the many notable features, Skype integration into the OS itself stands out. When Microsoft acquired Skype, we knew that the popular Voice Calling software was going to find its way into Microsoft’s products, starting with the Fall 2012 Update for the Xbox 360 Dashboard. Not only did that not happen, but even the first wave of Windows Phones were devoid of Skype. Windows Phone 8 finally brings deep Skype integration, along with the desktop counterpart of the software also getting an update.

Moving on, Belfiore emphasized a lot on how the Windows Phone 8 is designed to be a personal phone, almost like an extension of who you are. Keeping that in mind, the main user interface is populated with Live Tiles, something that we have really come to love about the OS. However, with Windows Phone 8, Microsoft takes the concept a little further and has allowed the lock screen to be fully customizable using Live Tiles as well. With these live tiles being right on the lock screen, you won’t actually need to unlock your phone to see what’s going on. All the updates come right onto the lock screen.

The third major new feature to the WP8 OS is something called Kids Corner. For a demo of Kids Corner, Belfiore called on stage his own kids, but not before showing a video montage of how much his kids harass him to let them use his phone. He outlined that the purpose of Kids Corner was to create a space on the phone for the kids, without having to worry about them getting into his e-mails and messing things up. Kids’ Corner is essentially like a “Guest Account” on a PC, but customized to fit a kid’s needs. It can be populated with specific apps and games for the children to enjoy. Belfiore put it as a little space on your phone dedicated just for kids.

To prove the point, he invited on stage Jessica Alba, who has been using Windows Phone 8 for some time now. She narrated an incident where one of her kids got onto her Twitter account and tweeted “child talk” to some 4 million of her followers. Kids’ Corner is designed to prevent just the sort of thing. The kids came on stage, and started up the Kids’ Corner feature just by swiping to the left on the lock screen and all of a sudden, they were engrossed in games and absolute silence followed.

Since Microsoft has focused so heavily on the social aspect of our lives, the People’s Hub in Windows Phone 8 has also received an impressive update. Now instead of just having all your contacts from various sources in one place, making it a big sea of humans, you can create what are called “Rooms”, groups to which specific people can be added and thus, updates from these people take priority. The point of groups isn’t just to segregate people, but also be able to share exclusively with them. The on-stage demo showed how Rooms can be used to share images, calendars, to-do lists and messages with the people in that Room. Best of all is the fact that people who are not using a Windows Phone 8 can also be added to Rooms, although the features available to them might be limited.

While there are many software tweaks and upgrades, Windows Phone 8 also comes with a bump in specs. Moving on from the ancient-seeming single cores, the WP8 devices will all run on dual-core processors and feature 720p or WXGA resolutions. Steve Ballmer took a few minutes on stage to talk about the new OS as a whole, along with introducing us to the upcoming Windows Phone 8 devices from various manufacturers. Nothing we didn’t already know, with Nokia, HTC and Samsung being the three makers of the first few WP8 devices.

We had been hoping that Ballmer would take the time to unveil the rumored Surface Phone, but we weren’t that lucky. The key-note for the Windows Phone 8 ended with a tentative Fall availability for all phones across Europe and USA (specific carrier availability and price to follow soon), but no word on Asia or India availability.
Windows Phone 8 definitely looks like a great piece of work, setting itself significantly apart from the competition. In a video, Belfiore take a jab at the competitors by saying "It's the only phone that has live tiles, for the people you care about and the apps that you use all the time. It's a different story than iOS and Android. The iOS 6 homescreen is really just a sea of static icons. It's not people; it's not live data.

Of course, after five years, they have added one more row of icons! Android homescreens typically present a complex maze of icons, widgets, and settings. But, they look a lot like iPhones, too. If you put a bunch of them together on a table, it'd be hard to tell your own from the crowd. We felt there was a better way. Windows Phone 8 -- it looks different, and that's because we didn't make WP8 for all of us, we made it for each of us."

We’re definitely looking forward to WP8 phones hitting the shelves soon so that we can see just how good or bad they are, and how well they play with other Windows 8 based devices like the PC, Surface Tablets and the Xbox 360.

Further details: techgenie

Five Reasons Why You Should Look Out For Nokia Lumia 920

The wait for Nokia Lumia 920 is withering away as the month of November draws closer. Tagged as the potential savior of Nokia, the Nokia Lumia 920 has a lot to prove. Nokia may have been the market leader once but those seem to be the times of antiquity. Losing its way, Nokia seemed to have been stuck in a black hole of mediocrity. However, there could be a savior rising from the ashes in the shape of Nokia Lumia 920. Clearly there are reasons to put faith in it. Let us take you through the five reasons why you should look out for Nokia Lumia 920.

 

Microsoft Windows 8 For A Refreshing Change

We are not fond of monopolies and oligopolies popping in the mobile industry. Android and iOS seem to have extended a pretty forceful reign over other OS’s but we feel it is about time that a competitor rose from the ranks and offered something new. Nokia Lumia 920 seems to be just the right candidate so let’s dive into the details of how this phone challenges the competition.

As one of the very first smartphones with Microsoft Windows Phone 8 OS, Nokia Lumia 920 is certainly gambling its life on a new OS. This may set a new trend or put you off once and for all.

Luck favors the brave, though. And Nokia Lumia 920 certainly earns credit for its courage and guile. We are huge fans of Live Tiles, so it would be really interesting to see how well the highly customizable W8 proposition pans out on a 4.5-inch LCD screen.

Wireless Charging On A Platter

We recently covered how Nokia refused to be innovative in its methods of operations of late. We also wrote how wireless charging was one such amenity that Nokia could have incorporated to stand out among the rest. It seems like Nokia paid heed to what we had to say.

Wireless charging with Nokia Lumia 920 takes an interesting course. This is achieved as you place the phone on a Fatboy Recharge Pillow – a wireless charging plate. This frees you from the hassle of plugging your phone in charger providing you convenience at its very best.

A Display That Locks Horns With iPhone Retina Display

We are almost always on the lookout for iPhone ‘killers’, are we not? It looks like we have a challenger with real potential to go up against the mighty Retina Display. Android fanboys often try to cook up tales about how SuperAMOLED is better than Retina. However, in actuality, the display features on Nokia Lumia 920 help it qualify as the only real competitor to date.

Firstly, 4.5 inches is a healthy size for a display on Windows 8 phone. You can well imagine how brilliant a view the Live Tiles would be on a spacious screen. We are also pleased by the fact that Nokia has incorporated an IPS LCD that is powered by PureMotion HD+. This particular feature promises to enhance picture clarity and produce crystal clear photos and well-refined videos.

You would be pleasantly surprised to know that the display boasts a pixel density of 323 ppi. This might hurt Apple fanboys a little as they fancy boasting about the generous pixel density on the iPhone. Moreover, features like light sensing technology and polarization filter speak for how brilliantly the phone will manage the viewing angles and sunlight legibility. Did we mention it is super sensitive as well?

An 8.7 Megapixels Snapper That Shines Even In The Dark

The 8.7 Megapixels camera on the Nokia Lumia 920 is a super star, to say the least. We feel that it is a rare commodity on smartphones these days. Sure, it isn’t as scarce as the 41 megapixels giant on Nokia PureView 808 but we do have our reasons for it.

A number of smart features have been incorporated in the camera department. PureView technology along with Floating Lens functionality feature on the Nokia Lumia 920. While the PureView will sharpen the snaps you take, Floating Lens will play the steady cam and offer noise and stutter free results.

Most importantly, we are very pleased with how amazingly well the snapper performs in low lighting. Smartphones usually get away with decent photography in daylight but the real test begins in low lighting. The camera prototype tested by The Verge clearly proved that Nokia Lumia 920 is the best in regards to low light photography due to its Optical Image Stabilization.

Sufficiently Satisfying Performance On Offer

A Dual core Krait processor, clocked at 1.5GHz will keep operations running at a satisfyingly brisk pace. Moreover, the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset also promises to maintain the flow of tasks. 1 GB of RAM and sufficient storage in 32 GB will also complement it well.

Interestingly enough, the Snapdragon S4 chipset is said to help with battery efficiency. Nokia Lumia 920 is lucky to have a Dual core processor on board as this feature is absent on the Quad core variants. Besides, we are certain that the phone possess enough power under the hood anyway.

Finally, 2000 mAh battery comes across as the largest on a Nokia smartphone. This goes to show how desperately Nokia is trying to make the Nokia Lumia 920 reap the rewards. With wireless charging as an added advantage, the battery promises to fair well with a bit of assistance from the S4 chipset.

Apple posts 'apology' to Samsung on U.K. website!!

As required by a U.K. court, Apple has posted a notice on its website that says Samsung did not copy Cupertino with its Galaxy lineup of tablets and smartphones. Well, sort of.
In the notice, accessible via the "Samsung/Apple UK judgement" link on apple.co.uk, Apple acknowledges that the High Court of Justice of England and Wales found that that Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe on Apple's design patent for the iPad.

But those hoping for a mea culpa from Cupertino shouldn't hold their breath. Apple goes on to toot its own horn and highlight the parts of the judge's ruling that criticize Samsung's tablets - particularly that bit about how the Galaxy Tab lineup is "not as cool" as the iPad.

"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking," the judge wrote. The Galaxy Tabs, though, "do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design."

Apple concludes by pointing out that judges in Germany and the U.S. have ruled in Apple's favor on patent infringement cases involving Samsung.

Apple did not pen this note out the goodness of its heart, of course. In July, Judge Colin Birss of the High Court ordered Apple to post a note on its website and publish an ad in magazines and newspapers to say that Samsung did not rip off Apple when it designed its tablets. Not surprisingly, Apple was not pleased and appealed the decision, so its public apology was delayed. But the U.K.'s Court of Appeals last week upheld the lower court's decision. Apple has apparently decided not to take the issue to the U.K. Supreme Court, and posted the notice.

The full notice is below. Also check out PCMag's roundup of Apple's Most Notable Apologies.

Samsung / Apple UK judgment

On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.

In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:

"The extreme simplicity of the Apple design is striking. Overall it has undecorated flat surfaces with a plate of glass on the front all the way out to a very thin rim and a blank back. There is a crisp edge around the rim and a combination of curves, both at the corners and the sides. The design looks like an object the informed user would want to pick up and hold. It is an understated, smooth and simple product. It is a cool design."

"The informed user's overall impression of each of the Samsung Galaxy Tablets is the following. From the front they belong to the family which includes the Apple design; but the Samsung products are very thin, almost insubstantial members of that family with unusual details on the back. They do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."

That Judgment has effect throughout the European Union and was upheld by the Court of Appeal on 18 October 2012. A copy of the Court of Appeal's judgment is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html. There is no injunction in respect of the registered design in force anywhere in Europe.

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.

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Windows 8 available in India, pricing starts at Rs. 699

Finally, the wait is over. Microsoft has announced the availability of its latest Windows 8 OS for users in India and around the world. Starting today, users can access the latest Microsoft OS on a wide range of Windows 8 PCs, ultrabooks, tablets and hybrid devices. Windows 8 will be available in two versions at retail - Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.

Apart from buying from the new range of Windows 8 devices, users can also upgrade their current PCs to Windows 8. From 2nd June 2012 until 31st January 2013, users currently running PCs with Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 are qualified to download Windows 8 Pro for an estimated price of Rs. 1,999. Those who wish to buy a DVD to upgrade will have to pay Rs. 3,499. This offer is valid until January 31, 2013. After that the OS is expected to be priced above Rs. 11,000.

Any Windows 7 PCs purchased between June 2, 2012, and January 31, 2013, are also eligible to get a Windows 8 Pro update for an estimated price of Rs. 699 with the Windows Upgrade Offer, available at www.windowsupgradeoffer.com.

For business users, Microsoft is offering 'Windows 8 Enterprise', which features Windows To Go, DirectAccess, and BranchCache, as well as new security with features including BitLocker and AppLocker.

Microsoft has also announced the launch of Windows RT for ARM based tablets, which will only be available pre-installed on new devices. With the Windows 8 launch, the Windows Store is now open for consumers to download apps. Indian users have access to a range of free and paid apps that can be downloaded including Bharat Matrimony, BigFlix, BookMyShow, Bookyourtable, Burrp, Dhingana, Fastrack Tees, Flyte MP3, Gaana, Goibibo, ICICI Bank iMobile, ICICIDirect, JustEat, MakeMyTrip Explore, MapmyIndia, my airtel, PVR Cinemas, Tarla Dalal, Yahoo Cricket and Zovi.

As many as 14 OEM partners including Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HCL, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Lenovo, RP Infosystems, Sai Info System, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Wipro and Zenith Computers will be providing Windows 8-based PCs and tablets in India. According to Microsoft, more than 250 Windows 8-based devices, including 23 brand new SKUs of Windows 8 PCs, will be available in 100 cities and more than 2,500 retail stores in India.

“With the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft is unveiling a reimagined Windows to the world,” says Mr. Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. “Whether you want a tablet or a PC, whether you want to consume or create, whether you want to work or play – Windows 8 delivers a personalized experience that fits your unique style and needs.”

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Popular Android apps leaking sensitive data:Report

Most mobile users trust that apps from legitimate, high-profile companies - like banking or shopping apps - will handle their sensitive data with care, but a new study says that even encryption technology might not be enough to secure your favorite apps.
Researchers from Philipps University and Leibniz University in Germany examined 13,500 free apps from Google Play and found that about 8 percent contained encryption technology that was vulnerable to "Man in the Middle" (MITM) attacks - where the scammer intercepts data as it travels between the user and its intended target.

The researchers picked out 100 apps for manual audit and were able to successfully carry out MITM attacks against 41 of them, despite them being protected by encryption technologies like SSL/TLS.

"From these 41 apps, we were able to capture credentials for American Express, Diners Club, Paypal, bank accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Live ID, Box, WordPress, remote control servers, arbitrary email accounts, and IBM Sametime, among others," the researchers said in a paper that described their experiment.

They were also able to "inject virus signatures into an anti-virus app to detect arbitrary apps as a virus or disable virus detection completely."

Their report did not specify which apps were examined, except to say that they focused on popular apps and those that were perceived as secure.

"Instead of malicious apps, we investigate potential security threats posed by benign Android apps that legitimately process privacy-related user data, such as log-in credentials, personal documents, contacts, financial data, messages, pictures, or videos," the paper said.

Researchers concluded that the cumulative install base of apps with confirmed vulnerabilities against MITM attacks was between 39.5 and 185 million users. "This number includes 3 apps with install bases between 10 and 50 million users each," the report said.

Furthermore, researchers conducted an online poll of 754 app users and found that half were not able to correctly judge whether their browsing sessions were encrypted.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But researchers acknowledged that "Android software development and the Google Play Market are relatively open and unrestricted." Unlike Apple's App Store, Google does not have an approval process in place, allowing any developer to publish their app on the store. This creates more openness and app options, but can make users vulnerable to spammy or malicious apps.

In February, Google unveiled Bouncer, which automatically scans new and existing Android apps as well as developer accounts without requiring an application approval process. It then alerts the developer to possible problems with their apps.

Last week, meanwhile, there were reports that Google is developing a built-in malware scanner for Android devices. It appears that Android devices might one day be able to check out the apps you have installed or are going to install on your phone and warn you if it finds something suspicious.!!

Micromax beats Apple, Samsung in the Indian tablet market: Report!! :D

Tech genie

3 hours ago

According to a CyberMedia Research (CMR) report, Micromax has emerged as the leading brand in the India's tablet market, ahead of the international brands such as Apple and Samsung. The report, India Quarterly Media Tablet Market Review - between April and June this year, says Micromax had 18.3 percent share in tablet volume s

ales, while Samsung stood second with 13.3 per cent. Apple was on the third spot with a market share of 12.3 per cent during the review period.

Micromax's CEO Deepak Mehrotra says the next quarter would be better, as the company had only one tablet in that review period. “We, at present, have a portfolio of five tablet PCs and the numbers next quarter should be better,” Mehrotra said.

Micromax has so far launched its Funbook-series tablets, which are priced between Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 10,000. The company forayed into the tablet segment with the Funbook tablet. Later, it launched Funbook Pro, Funbook Alpha, Funbook Infinity and the latest Funbook Talk. Apart from Micromax, there are quite a few Indian manufacturers such as Zync, Zen Mobile, Kobian and Karbonn, selling low-cost tablets in the market.

Apple and Samsung, on the other hand, sell their tablets at relatively higher price. Apple's latest iPad costs around Rs. 38,000 whereas the Samsung tablets' price range from Rs. 19,300 to Rs. 37,500.

“During the second quarter of 2012, about 47.4 per cent of tablet sales were from new entrants focussed on addressing application areas in education and entertainment segments. This trend demonstrates clearly that vendors are positioning their devices at India's youth,” said Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice, in a release.

The report further points out growing demand for the tablets in the country. According to the report, tablet PC sales across brands surged by over 60 percent, as compared to the first three months of 2012 (Jan-Mar). The sales stood at about 5.5 lakh units during the April to June period.

A statement on behalf of CyberMedia says India's tablet market has become quite competitive even though it was still at a nascent stage. The data shows the second quarter of 2012, about 90 vendors released new devices into the market, and the average price of a tablet fell to a little above Rs. 13,000 from Rs. 26,000 in 1Q 2012. Majority of vendors in early 2012 launched their products in the Rs. 5,000-10,000 price range.

TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript!!

Microsoft introduces TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript!!

Microsoft has released a new development environment as TypeScript, which is said to help developers write more complex apps with the scripting language. The new programming langu

age is translated into JavaScript so that it can support any browser. TypeScript is open source and its code source is licenced under Apache 2.0, which can be found on Codeplex.

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ANGRY BIRDS STARWAR!!

Angry Birds Star Wars to release on November 8!

It’s confirmed, Star Wars-themed Angry Birds is going to launch next month. Rovio has posted a video trailer of the forthcoming 'Angry Birds Star Wars' game, which confirms November 8 as the

release date.

In Angry Birds Star Wars, the birds and pigs alike will take on the personalities of characters from the Star Wars saga. The game will follow the mold of the recently launched Angry Birds Space, with planets from the “Star Wars” universe having their own gravitational fields, and different environmental conditions such as the desert of Tatooine and the freezing cold of Hoth.

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Facebook adds Dropbox integration to Groups!!

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10 Tips and Tricks for iOS 6

Maybe you've installed Apple's iOS 6, the newest operating system for iPhones, iPad, and iPod touch, but do you know about all the tricks that are inside and how to use them?

Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 6, may have sparked a fury of Internet hate for the new Maps app, and I certainly won't wag my finger at anyone who misses Google's engine behind the Maps app, but plenty more goodies are tucked away in iOS 6 that you shouldn't miss.

Here are ten of the best features and how to use them.

1. Swipe up to reply to incoming calls with a text message. Maybe you heard that when a call comes in, you can now reply with a text message instead of just declining the call. But these options don't appear automatically. You have to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal them.

2. Customize your text replies to declined calls. The feature that lets you turn down phone calls but reply with text message allows you to use a canned message for added convenience. A few options appear when you swipe up, as mentioned in the first tip. To change what they pre-written texts say, go to

Settings > Phone > Reply with Message.

You can now customize your one-touch replies.

3. Learn how to work the Do Not Disturb option. A new feature called Do Not Disturb appears in the settings, but it's nothing more than an on/off switch. Where can you set the hours for quiet time, or make it so that calls from emergency contacts come through? Oddly, these choices fall under the Notifications area. Go to

Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb.

The Scheduled button lets you define the hours when you don't want to be disturbed. The Allow Calls From button just below it launches a new screen where you can exclude people from your do-not-disturb list.

4. Attach photos and videos to email in the Mail app. Formerly, using the mail app was occasionally a pain. You'd compose a message, remember that you wanted to send the recipient a photo, too, and realized you couldn't actually attach anything to the draft. Now you can. In an email draft, press a hold anywhere in the body. In landscape mode (holding the phone horizontally), list of options will appear, including one to insert a photo or video. If you're in portrait or vertical mode, just press the arrow button that appears until you see the right choice.

5. Read in full-screen mode. News articles, blogs, and other text-heavy pages, when viewed on an iPhone especially, cause squinting and more pinching, zooming, panning than most people feel comfortable doing. When Safari detects a text-heavy page in iOS 6, it supplies a button called Reader at the top right of the URL bar, which reformats the page in a full-screen and easier-to-read layout. You'll also notice a "share out" or "send to" button (curved arrow) in Safari with a lot of great option beneath it also worth exploring. They're mostly not new to iOS 6, but they do appear in a newly designed interface.

6. Pass your iPad or iPhone to friends without worrying they'll get nosy. I admit that I've hesitated in the past before passing my mobile devices around to friends to let them look at photos or something that made me giggle on Facebook. The larger the group of friends, the more suspicious I am that someone might take liberties with my device when I'm not looking. The same is true, I'm sure, for parents who let their kids play with their iPhone or iPad. Guided Access, new to iOS 6, lets you lock down your device so that only the app you open can be used, and no other functionality works until you enter a unique four-digit passcode. It's a little tricky to find and set up.

First, go to

Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access.

Toggle the switch to on and set a passcode. When you want to use Guided Access, just open the app of choice, and triple tap the home button. Be sure to hit the start button at the top right. But wait, there's more (see the next tip).

7. Disable buttons in apps (in Guided Access). When you enable Guided Access in an app—which locks users from going into any other app or areas of the phone—you can also disable parts of the screen. For example, if you turn on Guided Access in the Photos app, you can also use your finger to circle parts of the screen you want to disable, such as the top row of buttons so that one can look through your other albums. Just be sure to hit the Start button in the top right corner before handing over your device!

8. Share Photo Stream. Apple's syncing service, iCloud, handles images with speed and good responsiveness. But it was never easy to share your pictures until iOS 6 came along. To share your Photo Stream images, go to the Camera app and press Photo Stream. Then hit the plus button in the upper left, which will open a screen where you can fill information about how to share your Photo Stream, whether with a select few individuals, or by making it public on your iCloud account.

9. Learn what the new Privacy button means (and use it). A new Privacy button under Settings comes with little explanation. Tap it, and you might not know what information it's even telling you because there are no instructions or explainers. Here's what it does: Privacy shows you apps that can talk to other apps, and whether they are. For example, my Twitter app talks to my Flipboard app. I enabled that integration, and I'm okay with it. But if I didn't remember allowing it, or wanted to shut it off, I can do so in the Privacy area with one quick motion. This feature gives you very good ability to quick ability to turn off any app-to-app sharing that you don't want and you might have forgotten existed. So if you don't want Facebook to know where you are, check the Location Services section of your Privacy buttons, and you can flip the switch off lickety-split.

10. Customize native Facebook alerts. A big new feature in iOS 6 was the direct folding in of Facebook functionality, meaning you can share to Facebook a picture from your Camera app or a link from Safari without ever opening the Facebook app itself. It works similar to the baked-in Twitter functionality that was new to iOS 5. What many users may overlook, however, is the ability to customize your Facebook chat and message alerts, separate from the Facebook app as well. They're found under

Settings > Facebook > Settings.

Of course, you can also add Facebook alerts to your Notification Center, but that feature isn't new (it's under Settings > Notifications, and then scroll down until you find Facebook in your list of apps).

iPhone 5 benchmarked: The fastest smartphone in the land!

The iPhone 5 looks to be the fastest smartphone we’ve ever tested With its mysterious, Apple-designed A6 processor, the iPhone 5 is unique in the world of smartphones. Most high-end phones nowadays run on one of two architectures: ARM’s Cortex-A9, which is used by Nvidia, Texas Instruments and others, and Qualcomm’s Krait. But the A6, as AnandTech discovered, is something completely different—an ARM-compatible system-on-a-chip designed, top to bottom, by Apple.

We’ll focus on five tests here. First the browser benchmarks: Sunspider, Browsermark, and Guimark 3 Bitmap all test Web browser performance. Sunspider is about JavaScript, Guimark is about interactive HTML5, and Browsermark is an overall browser benchmark. Different browsers will score differently on the same phone. We test with the default browser, because that’s what most people use.

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