New iPad 3rd Generation – First Impressions

On February 28, Apple sent out invites to major publishers and tech sites. It was quite evident from the invite that the event scheduled on March 7 was going to have something to do with a new iPad. Consequentially, tech sites all over went berserk in trying to determine what the new iPad would look like, what its specs would be and most importantly, what it would be called. “iPad 3″ and “iPad HD” were two of the most likely and common names floating around. One feature everyone was sure would make it to the new iPad was Apple’s “retina display”. Even the invite made it rather apparent that retina display was coming to the iPad.

So on March 7, did the predictions come true? Well yes, and no. The names speculated for the successor to the iPad 2 were way off. Instead of having the iPad name and a number suffix, Apple named it simply “the new iPad”. Confusing? Slightly. Apple probably isn’t going to keep calling it the “new” iPad for very long, and there might be a time when customers would have to choose between the iPad (3rd generation) and iPad 2. At least until iPad 2′s are pulled off the shelves everywhere. Also, the next iPhone might also be named just “the new iPhone”. Apple can’t keep releasing new versions and keeping a number suffix, some day it might be “iPhone 14″, so that’s probably why the name change. Other products in the Apple lineup have been getting major updates for years but have been called the same anyway.

Now, most importantly, what’s new in the “new” iPad? Quite a lot has changed. The new iPad gets a new Apple A5X dual core processor and a quad core graphics chipset for rendering all that retina display goodness. Speaking of which, the new iPad’s retina display means that it gets a screen resolution of 2048×1536 with a pixel density of 264PPI (pixels per inch). It’s 4 times the resolution of the iPad 2 and means that even though the screen size is same on the new iPad and iPad 2, the new iPad has four times as many pixels! So the display looks stunning with vibrant colors of outstanding clarity and sharpness. Text would look much, much better on the new iPad. Furthermore, the new iPad gets a 5-megapixel camera at the back capable of 1080p video recording and a front facing VGA camera for video calling. Another big new feature is 4G LTE capability. The new iPad will be available in Wi-Fi only or Wi-Fi+4G models. Apple has also put in a new lithium-ion battery to juice up all this hardware and claims a 10 hour battery life. The new iPad is about the same thickness but about 50g heavier.

On the software front, the new iPad will feature iOS 5.1. The new OS will also be available for older devices. iOS 5.1 has a new camera app, improved battery life and of course, bug fixes. The camera on the new iPad has a neat new feature called called “Temporal noise reduction”. In simple terms, it reduces “noise” from videos taken in low light. Basically, in low light, not enough light hits the camera sensor and the images turn out to be grainy and have unwanted noise. The new iPad’s feature will reduce this noise and render the pixels according to detected “non-noisy” pixels around it and reproduce the optimal video. This means quality of videos taken in low light will increase dramatically, or at least, that’s what Apple claims.

Interestingly, Apple closed their March 7 keynote with a new colorful logo instead of their usual metallic one, could this be the new logo?

The prices are as follows:

16GB Wi-Fi – 499$
16GB Wi-Fi+4G – 629$
32GB Wi-Fi – 599$
32GB Wi-Fi+4G – 729$
64GB Wi-Fi – 699$
64GB Wi-Fi+4G – 829$

That’s everything there is about the new iPad. Do you think it’s worth the price? Let us know!

What you expect from Ipad 3?

Introducing Google Play (video)

Google is renaming its online storefront for music, books and digital goods, its latest move to raise its profile in the market for electronic content sales and to better compete with Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

The company has retired the Android Market name for its store that sells apps, videos, music and electronic books on the Web and on mobile devices. From Tuesday, the store will be rebranded as the Google Play Store.

The change is designed to make it clearer to consumers that Google offers a broad catalogue of content in addition to the apps programmed for smartphones and tablets based on its Android operating system.

The name is being introduced three and a half years after Google launched its Android Market as a central outlet for consumers to download the mobile apps created for the growing number of Android-based smartphones.

In the past year and a half, Google has expanded the menu of offerings in the Android Market to include digital books, music and videos - markets where Apple and Amazon have robust businesses. Apple said in October that more than 16 billion songs have been downloaded from its iTunes store. Amazon said last year that it sells more digital books than print books.

Check out this cool video that Google released showcasing the new Google Play Store.

Google Creates Hub for Purchasing Android Apps, Entertainment in One Place

Google Inc. (GOOG), stepping up competition with Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) in digital media, unveiled a site called Google Play that lets users get Android applications, music, books and movies in one place. The new service brings together Google’s various online stores that feature downloadable products, said Jamie Rosenberg, the company’s director of digital content. Mountain View, California-based Google begins to roll out the service today on mobile devices that run its Android operating system and will release a Web browser-based version for personal computers. “Now all of your media experiences with Google live in one place,” Rosenberg said in an interview. “It can really tie it all together for consumers.” Google is trying to capitalize on its leadership in Internet search and smartphone software to grab a bigger piece of the digital-entertainment market, which is dominated by Apple. Apple has built its iTunes music store into a source of movies, TV shows and other content. Amazon, meanwhile, is the biggest seller of electronic books. Google Play will give recommendations based on what users previously purchased, Rosenberg said. It also will make it easier for the developers and media companies to sell their apps and content. Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU), a provider of digital games, aims to take advantage of the unified approach, said Adam Flanders, senior vice president of sales and marketing at the San Francisco-based company. Users who are browsing songs or movies will be able to find Glu’s games more easily, he said. “They’re improving just the whole user experience,” Flanders said.

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Review

The Asus Eee Pad Transformer tablet is a complete Android-based tablet PC with a companion docking station that affords it the ability to act as an Android 3.0 Honeycomb-based netbook as well. It's based on NVIDIA's powerful dual core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor with 1GB of RAM and 16 - 32GB of internal storage. Here's a detailed look at the Asus Eee Pad Transformer tablet PC and Netbook convertible.

Hardware
The Transformer has dual front and rear facing cameras (1.2MP and 5MP, respectively), 1GB of on board memory, mini-HDMI output, a microSD card slot and a head phone/mic combo jack. Drop it into its $150 keyboard dock and you pick up a full-sized flash card reader slot, a pair of USB ports and, of course, keyboard and trackpad functionality. It's a total ultra-portable computing solution as a result, which makes the Transformer unique versus other Honeycomb-based tablets currently.

The 16GB version of the Asus Transformer is priced at Rs 29,999, while the 32GB version at Rs 32,990. Beyond its price advantage, there is obvious design differentiation as well.

On its own, the Eee Pad Transformer is a well-appointed slate PC, but with its companion keyboard dock, the device takes on a whole new level of functionality. As you're also probably aware, Asus has spent many years perfecting ultralight netbook designs, so the Transformer's dock has a build quality and feature set that feels and functions like a ground-up design, rather than an afterthought bolt-on for the tablet.

The side benefits of the keyboard dock design that Asus has put together are the additional ports it brings out for the tablet, including a pair of USB ports and a full SD/MMC flash card slot. The dock also offers an additional 6.5 hrs of battery time as well, with its own internal battery. However, one small let down is the the Eee Pad Transformer tablet itself doesn't have a micro USB port available. Instead Asus forces you to go through their synch cable to get access to the tablet's storage. There is a micro SD card slot on the tablet, thankfully, as well as HDMI output, a pair of speakers as well as front and rear facing cameras (1.2MP and 5MP respectively).

Build Quality
The Eee Pad Transformer has a really nice copper brown finish on what appears to be an all aluminum construction, with the exception of the keyboard key caps. There's a knurled sort of textured pattern on the back lid of the tablet that resists fingerprints very well. Even the wrist-wrest of the keyboard dock resists fingerprints. However, there is no getting around the fingerprint issue when it comes to the display's glass.

We wouldn't say the Transformer's screen is anymore fingerprint prone than any other tablet on the market though. The Transfomer's LED backlit screen supports a native resolution of 1280X800 and has really nice viewing angles as well as excellent contrast, black reproduction and color saturation. We did however, notice a bit of backlight bleed under certain conditions, when the screen was turned up. Bleed was visible mostly in the lower bottom corners of the display and it was a minor annoyance that didn't get in the way of functionality in the least. Finally, the touch screen is very responsive and supports traditional pinch/zoom gestures as well as ten finger multi-touch. Backlight bleed aside, the Tansformer has one of the nicest, most responsive touch screens we've seen on a 10-inch slate.

Aesthetically, mechanically, and functionally the Eee Pad Transformer is top notch in our book. Perhaps its color scheme needs get used to but we think the machine looks great. One final note with respect to the keyboard is that if you're used to ultralight notebook or netbook keyboards the Transformer's dock should provide a reasonably satisfying and comfortable typing experience. You're not going to fly on this machine like you would at on full-sized workstation or notebook keyboard but even those with larger hand prints should find the Transformer's dock easy enough to work or play with.

Software
Asus also had their thinking caps on when it came to software for the Eee Pad Transformer; in other words, they were smart enough not to overload their new tablet with too much bloatware. Most of the Eee Pad Transformer experience is pretty much stock Android 3.0, with various apps pre-installed like Books, Music, Gallery and Youtube. Asus does load something called MyNet but don't let the name fool you. MyNet is a media sharing and streaming app that allows you to access files from other systems on your network for display and playback on the tablet. Asus does install Polaris Office on the Transformer, however, and the app is actually a really nice office suite of programs for word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, etc. It's compatible with the standard PC file formats for various office document types and comes with a really slick UI that is designed for smaller screens with bright colors that call attention to commonly used functions.

Performance
The Asus Eee Pad Transformer offered up the best 10 or 7-inch tablet benchmark numbers we've seen. Even in our graphics testing, the Transformer outpaced all competitive offerings by at least a 10% margin. In terms of performance, with a generous 1GB of DDR2 RAM on board, accompanying NVIDIA's potent 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor, you won't find a faster Android tablet on the market right now. Of course, this position for the Transformer may be short-lived with new processors from Qualcomm and Samsung [Exynos] on the horizon.

We think a micro-USB port on the tablet itself, rather than just its keyboard dock, would offer a bit more flexibility for users. Otherwise, the tablet's performance and its lightly skinned Honeycomb Android UI, make using the tablet a real pleasure. Also, the wide viewing angles, excellent contrast and color reproduction of its multi-touch IPS LCD are just gorgeous. Asus also bundles minimal (which is a good thing, trust me) assortment of apps with the device as well, and the addition of Polaris Office 3 was a nice touch that doesn't end up feeling like bloatware in the least.

Infosys likely to start operations in 3 years

After being pursued by the state government for the last six months, IT giantInfosys signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) for setting up a unit in the Mihan-SEZ.

However, the move is still short of clinching the final deal with this state government company which will ultimately lead to allotment of land to Infosys in the SEZ.

The documents were signed in Nagpur by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan who is chairman of MADC. Some senior bureaucrats and politicians were present.

Technically, an MoU differs from an agreement as the former is generally an expression of willingness by the two parties to enter into a pact if certain conditions are met by both.

State governments often sign MoUs with prospective investors from the industry some of which materialize. In this case, other formalities are being done. MADC has called it the biggest investment proposal so far.

Infosys proposes to take up 142 acres of land in the SEZ, where it plans to come up with its 12th campus in the country. CEO and managing director SD Shibulal told the media that the company plans to invest Rs 150 crore and that 2,000-3,000 jobs would be created in the initial phase. The operations are likely to start within three years, added Shibulal.

The overall investment of company is likely to touch the Rs 450 crore mark. By the time the company gets operational, 14,000 jobs for software professionals would be created. The unit is expected to create a substantial number of indirect jobs as well.

"This will be Infosys' second campus in the state after Pune which employs 28,000 persons. The Nagpur unit will offer a chance to many employees posted abroad to come back," said Shibulal.

On a query over the final allotment of land, MADC's vice-chairman-cum-managing director UPS Madan said that normally it is a letter of allotment which is signed with the investor but given Infosys' stature, it was decided to hold an MoU signing function first.

"MADC had been vigorously pursuing Infosys to start the unit. The lease deed too is likely to be signed soon," said Anshuman Gosh, MADC's marketing manager.

Infosys will now submit its proposal for the SEZ unit to the development commissioner who in turn will forward it to the board of approvals (BoA) in the ministry of commerce. The BoA, the governing body for SEZs, is scheduled to meet on March 13. Infosys' case is likely to be taken up during the meeting.

After the LOP, other formalities like signing the deal for allotment of land and registering the lease deed between MADC and Infosys will follow, said Madan. LoP is a green signal granted by BoA for tax benefits available in a SEZ.

Madan added that even as there have been concerns of this SEZ being crowded with only IT companies, Infosys, given its size, could not be ignored. He said that the formalities, including inviting tenders for redeveloping the airport with a third partner, is expected to be done in three years, while that for a 2.3 km taxiway leading to Boeing's MRO may be completed in a year.

Google planning competitor to Apple’s Siri voice assistant

Siri, Apple’s much touted and talked about voice assistant may soon have a competitor! The ‘voice’ of the iPhone 4s could be upstaged by Google, who are reportedly in the final stages of developing their own voice assistant for Android.

Siri is one of the most talked about features of the iPhone 4s: Reuters

Techcrunch, which first reported the news, said that the new assistant would be simply called “Google Assistant”. The report adds, “Assistant’ is set to go beyond Siri in many ways, most importantly in that the search company will retain complete control of all the layers involved.

What this could mean,according to a report in Venture Beat, is that it “will be able to tap Google’s powerful search engine for knowledge and integrate Google services like Gmail, Google+, and YouTube, making it easier than ever to do anything on your phone.”

The Techcrunch report adds that unlike Siri, Google will open Assistant’s API to developers so they can incorporate it into apps and websites that they develop for the Android marketplace. And Venture Beat gives the entire story more credence by saying, “Further adding fuel to this rumor fire, Google applied for a patent that sounded quite a bit like Siri a few weeks ago.”