AR Drone 2.0 will be landing in the UK in June

Parrot has revealed that the successor to its AR Drone quadricopter, the AR Drone 2.0, will be invading UK shores in June with a revamped spec list and a brand new look.

First up on the list of new tricks is the AR Drone 2.0's ability to live stream and record 1280x720 HD video straight to your mobile device's screen before saving recordings to USB or sharing to YouTube or Picasa.

When it comes to gaming, the same camera can also distinguish between certain shapes and colours, allowing you to blast away at augmented reality baddies on your phone's screen.

Parrot's new Absolute Control mode, coupled with its 3D magnetometer should also result in more stability and a smoother, more intuitive flying experience. Tilting your device to the left for example will send the AR Drone 2.0 left too, regardless of the direction it's facing.

A whole host of other sensors including 3-axis accelerometers, gyroscopes and a pressure sensor are said to give improved stability, and coupled with a two ultrasound sensors and a second camera to measure speed, you've got yourself a device that's more kitted out than Inspector Gadget, and infinitely cooler.

If all those specs have got your gadget juices flowing then you'll be pleased to her that the AR Parrot Drone 2.0 can be yours for £280 from June, so not too long to go then before you can earn your quadricopter wings and get revenge on all those pesky neighbourhood cats.

Read more »

BlackBerry phones might get tap-to-unlock feature

Future BlackBerry devices could be unlocked by tapping out a secret rhythm on them with your fingers, and the patent for this new technology also outlines how a phone's accelerometer could measure where each tap is and how hard it is to avoid duplication by radar-eared phone hackers.

This new system is certainly different from the slide-to-unlock, face recognition and PIN options currently available, but sadly there's no guarantee that you'l be drumming out phone-based beats any time soon.

Here's to hoping that BlackBerry take this patent all the way through to its upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices, set to be released later this year...

Read more »

PS Vita Facebook App launched

You can now Like things on your PS Vita, as Facebook continues its mission to conquer every mobile platform in existence. The PlayStation Vita Facebook app is available now for free on the Playstation Vita store; Facebook for the Vita was also launched today in the US.

Facebook is one of several social media apps available to PS Vita users. Twitter geeks can keep up their daily dose of 140 characters with the Live Tweet App, while photo fans will love the Flickr app. Global chatting app Skype and venue reviewing app Foursquare are also available.

Read more »

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, with S Pen functionality

Samsung has unveiled the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-based Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, featuring the S Pen capacitive stylus.

Samsung has not revealed too many specifications at MWC 2012 however, neither has it provided a release date. Interestingly, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 will come with Adobe Photoshop Touch and Ideas for Android pre-installed.

For now, it is known the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet features a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, and 3G HSPA+ connectivity.

Samsung has announced some other details however, such as the multi-screen interface, allowing users to sketch notes even while watching videos, or browsing. The S Pen's S Note app allow users to make collages of notes, sketches, and digital media.

Read more »

Samsung Galaxy S III is coming in April

The Samsung Galaxy S III will hit UK shores as soon as April. The titillating (yes it is) news comes from Samsung’s marketing agency – the most concrete evidence of a release date so far and come courtesy of ZDNet Korea (via BGR).

It means that the time between announcement and release will be excitingly short – similar to Apple's rumoured plans for the iPad 3.

For now we can look forward to some serious specs from the Galaxy S III including a quad-core Exynos processor, a 4.8in full HD edge-to-edge display on a 7mm thin ceramic body, a powerful camera possibly packing 16MP, and of course 4G LTE.

Read more »

Canon unleashes the EOS 5D Mark III

Canon has announced its latest DSLR, the long-awaited Canon EOS 5D Mark III. It might look like the Mark II, but there are some serious improvements.

With a 22.3MP full-frame CMOS sensor, 61-Point auto-focus and and an IOS range of 100 to 25,600, the 5D Mark III is one beefy snapper.

Many of the 5D Mark III's features are borrowed from the mighty EOS-1D X – including its 1,040,000-dot 3.2in rear LCD and Digic 5+ processor – making for a serious step up from the Mark II.

THE EOS 5D Mark III also records full HD 1080p video at up to 30 frames a second, with an ISO range of 100-128,000. You can even plug in a stereo microphone for quality audio.

With the Mark II, Canon unexpectedly hit on a serious film-making tool – and the 5D Mark III is gunning for would-be Spielbergs' wallets with features including a headphone jack for sound monitoring.

Other yummy features include dual memory card slots for SD or CompactFlash, up to 6.0 fps continuous shooting and weather sealing for those rainy days.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is out in March, with a body price of £3000.

Read more »

Moser Baer launches credit-card shaped Zap pen drive, 4GB at Rs. 1,100

Moser Baer has launched a new USB flash drive in the shape of a credit-card, designed to fit easily in wallets and card holders, for convenient portability. Called the Moser Baer Zap pen drive, it for now will be available in only one capacity – 4GB, at Rs. 1,100.

The Moser Baer Zap credit-card pen drive has dimensions of 84.15 x 52.83 mm, and has a USB2.0 interface. It’s quite lightweight as well, at 10.25 grams. The Zap USB flash drive is compatible Windows 2007, Mac OS 9, Linux Kernel 2.4.0, and their higher versions.

The Zap drive has been given an introductory price of Rs. 399 by Moser Baer, at the company’s online store. It will hit retail shelves soon. Moser Baer is likely to introduce other capacities as well, depending on the Zap adoption in the market.

Read more »

Nokia unveils the N8's successor, the 41MP PureView 808

Nokia has unveiled a bevy of devices at MWC 2012 - the Nokia PureView 808, the Lumia 610, the global version of the Lumia 900 (formerly only announced for AT&T), and three Asha devices. All three devices should arrive sometime in Q2 2012.

The Nokia PureView 808 is certainly one of the biggest highlights of MWC 2012 so far, with an incredible 41MP camera sensor. RunningSymbian Belle, the PureView 808 certainly lived up to the promise of being the N8’s successor, with an ‘extra large camera sensor’ and then some.

With all those 41 megapixels (38MP effective), the PureView 808’s camera sensor condenses 7 adjacent pixels into one, downsizing it to an extra-sharp and light-sensitive 5MP image – 8MP images are also possible. Max image quality is up to 38 MP at 4:3 aspect and 34 MP at 16:9. The 808’s camera features a Carl Zeiss lens, a built-in Xenon flash, alongside a LED light for video. As you’d expect, it can handle 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps, with stereo sound, and 4x zoom.

The rest of the Nokia PureView 808’s hardware doesn’t do the stratospheric camera justice, with the low-res 640x360 AMOLED Gorilla Glass display, albeit 16:9, the most startling choice on a cameraphone. Other specs include a single-core 1.3GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 16GB built-in storage, USB-on-the-Go, Bluetooth 3.0, HSDPA 14.4Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps, Wi-Fi N with DLNA, GPS and A-GPS, stereo FM radio, and even NFC. The PureView 808 should arrive by May this year.

Do also check out our coverage of the Lumia 610 and global Lumia 900, as well as the three Nokia Asha phones.

Read more »

Samsung launches its Series 5 ultrabooks in India, starting Rs. 48,990

Samsung has launched its Series 5 Ultrabooks in India, in 13-inch and 14-inch models, starting at Rs. 48,990 and Rs. 54,390 respectively. Alongside its Ultrabooks, Samsung also launched mynotepc.com, a service that gives Samsung laptop users a variety of multimedia content, from movies to songs, free for the first three months.

Both Samsung Series 5 ultrabooks run on an Intel Core i5 processor with 4GB of RAM, bear matte displays with a 1,366x768 pixel resolution and 300 nits of brightness, and have promised battery lives of 8 hours. Both ultrabooks come with a 500GB HDD, with 16GB of ExpressCache memory – designed to deliver enhanced overall performance, faster boot times of up to 20 seconds, and wake up times of around two seconds.

Back at CES, Samsung had introduced three models of the Series 5 ultrabooks, the third being a 13-inch model with 128GB SSD option. Samsung will apparently evaluate the Indian market first, and if they get a positive feedback, will launch SSD storage models as well (presumably in the 14-inch form factor also). The 14-inch Series 5 will be available with up to 8GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 1GB AMD Radeon HD7550M graphics card.

For connectivity, the 13-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook features USB 3.0 and 2.0 pots, multi card reader, HDMI port, Ethernet port, and a dual headphone/microphone jack. The 14-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook has a VGA port in addition, apart from an optical drive.

Read more »

BSNL launches three Android tablets, starting Rs. 3,250

BSNL has announced it will be launching three Android tablets on March 1, with special data plans. Manufactured by Pantel, BSNL’s three tablets run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and aim to cater to both the low-end and mid-range segments of the markets, with prices ranging from Rs. 3,250 to Rs. 13,500. Pantel will also be looking to launch the tablets via MTNL in its markets.

The budget tablet - BSNL Penta T PAD IS 701R - bears a 7-inch resistive touchscreen with a 800x480 pixel resolution, a 1GHz processor, 256MB of RAM, 2GB of built-in storage with microSD expandability up to 32GB, Wi-Fi connectivity with 3G Dongle support, a 0.3MP camera, an HDMI port, and a 3000 mAh battery. It will be interesting to see the competition between the Aakash and this device.Next up, is the BSNL Penta TPAD WS704C, priced at RS. 10,999. It runs on 1GHz processor with 512MB of RAM. Other specs include a 7-inch capacitive 800x480 pixel touchscreen, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity with SIM card slot, has 4GB of built-in storage expandable via microSD up to 32GB, a 2MP rear camera, a 0.3MP front camera, Bluetooth connectivity, A-GPS support, an HDMI port and 1080p HD playback support.The leader of the pack, the BSNL Penta TPAD WS802C, will be priced at Rs. 13,500. It will bear an 8-inch capacitive touchscreen, and run on a 1.2 GHz processor with 512MB of RAM. Other specs include 4GB of built-in storage with microSD expandability up to 32GB, a 2MP rear camera, a 0.3MP front camera, Bluetooth and A-GPS connectivity, as well as an HDMI port and support for 1080p HD playback.

All three tablets will come with one year warranty. BSNL’s data plans for these tablets are 5GB of 3G data usage for Rs. 750, and 7.5GB of 2GB data usage for Rs. 250.

Read more »

ATab low-cost Android education tablet launched in India, at Rs. 5,000

AcrossWorld Education, in collaboration with Go-Tech, has launched a 7-inch Android tablet in India, called ATab, priced at Rs. 5,000. The tablet will come with free access to online educational resources from AcrossWorld Education as well.

Specs of the ATab include a 7-inch touschreen, a 1.1 GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, 2GB of built-in storage expandable via microSD up to 16GB, as well as Wi-Fi and 3G (via USB dongle). Colour options for the ATab will also be available, which will help its “appeal to the younger generation.” We expect it will be running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and the touchschreen to be resistive. When it arrives in the second week of March, the ATab will join other budget-tablets in India, like the BSNL Penta T PAD IS 701R  and the education-orientedAakash.

The ATab comes with three-years of free access to EducationBridge, which will allow give institutions, teachers and students a platform with which share content and educational resources, and “connect, collaborate, and innovate."

AcrossWorld Education will provide professional services to institutions for the deployment of the EducationBridge platform. According to the company, many schools and colleges from various Indian cities have already shown interest in the tablet and platform. Some schools have already partnered with AcrossWorld Education.

Read more »

TomTom to power HTC Locations app for HTC smartphones in India

TomTom, a Dutch navigation equipment manufacturer and service provider, announced today it will be providing maps, with points of interest and turn-by-turn directions, for HTC smartphones in India.

This will be TomTom's first entry into the Indian market, and will enable HTC to provide its users with navigation services, via its HTC Locations app.

The Dutch navigation company will be looking to partake of the rapidly growing Indian smartphone market, which is expected to triple in size in the next two years. Speaking on the partnership, Faisal Siddiqui, HTC Country Manager, said:

“India is not only a key market for HTC, but also one of the largest countries with the second largest population in the world. We believe TomTom is the ideal partner to provide the most current map data that will enable Indian consumers to use their HTC smartphones to navigate accurately and effortlessly.”

“We are excited to expand our global offerings by powering the map services for all HTC smartphones in India. This is our first major partnership in India, and we look forward to providing HTC and its customers with the most comprehensive and easy to use maps and navigation services.”

Read more »

Asus launches Eee Pad Transformer Prime in India, at Rs. 49,999

Asus Technology has announced the launch of the Eee Pad Transformer Prime tablet in India, priced at Rs. 49,999.

This is the first tablet to arrive in India with NVIDIATegra 3 quad core processor. The processor clocks at 1.3 GHz and is paired with 1GB of RAM.

Just like its predecessor, the Eee Pad TransformerTF101 (read our review), the Transformer Primehas a 10.1-inch display, but this one is the WXGA type (1280x800 pixels) and 64GB internal storage. Asus is also offering 8GB cloud storage with this tablet, with lifetime validity. The Eee Pad Transformer also has a microSD card slot on the tablet. Attach the dock and there is the USB port and the SD card reader added to the package. This is the Wi-Fi only version that is being launched in India.

What immediately catches your attention is the 8.3mm thickness, which is lesser than the Apple iPad 2 (8.8mm) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (8.6mm).

Asus claims that the tablet offers 12 hours of battery life, and the additional battery pack in the dock adds another 6 hours of usage time. The tablet comes with Android 3.2 out of the box, but will be upgraded to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) over the next couple of months.

Read more »

Windows 8 public beta available to download

After weeks of rumours and announcements, the Windows 8 consumer preview is now available to download.

The public beta can be downloaded from Microsoft's website, although you'll need a spare USB flash drive or writable DVD to install it. The Windows 8 consumer preview features Metro-style applications and over 100,000 changes to the developer preview released last year.

UPDATE: Microsoft has just announced a nice bonus – all apps in the Windows 8 app store will be free to download when using the consumer preview. New apps will be added from now on but it's all subject change – so you might as well go on a download spree as soon as you've got the new OS up and running.

Read more »

is what apple i pad 3 will look like

With the official iPad 3 announcement expected to drop on March 7, it won't be long before the streets outside Apple Stores will once again be packed  with eager fanboys.

Our guess is as good as the next guy's as to what Apple's next-gen iPad will actually look like, but in order to keep the competition at bay and maintain its title as the most covetable rectangle on the planet, we think the iPad 3 needs the following…

iPad 3 – Higher-res screen
It's looking more than likely that Apple is going to boost the screen resolution of the iPad 3 to a pupil-pleasing 9.7in version of the iPhone 4S Retina Display.

The rumoured 2048 x 1536 resolution suggests the iPad 3 will not match the 326ppi density of the iPhone 4 and 4S. Rather, the resolution would be a pixel density of around 260 pixels-per-inch. But hey, we'd gladly take four times the screen res of the iPad 2 any day. With rival tablets gaining more screen-smarts, now is the time for Apple to up its game in the screen department.

iPad 3 – Quad-core engine
With the quad-core tablet battle heating up thanks to the Asus Transformer series and Huawei's recently announced MediaPad 10 (which boast twice the power of the iPad 2's A5 processor) it's high time Apple entered quad-core territory.

Rumours of an A6 quad-core-toting iPad 3 and beefier graphics have been doing the rounds for some time now, and it seems silly of Apple not to boost the iPad 3's engine for a more powerful iPad experience. There has also been talk of the iPad 3 packing in an overhauled A5X processor, though – hopefully we'll see a quad-core slate unveiled on March 7th.

Read more »

Caterpillar to launch Android tough phone

Caterpillar is working on a tough Android smartphone to rival the likes of JCB'sToughphone and the Motorola/JCB limited edition Defy+, Stuff can exclusively reveal. The Caterpillar-branded handset is set to drop next week, most likely at the CeBit 2012 trade show in Hanover, Germany according to our manufacturer's consultant source.

Specs and photos of the Caterpillar Android phone are still under wraps, but expect rugged features like dustproof and shatterproof capabilities together with a mid-range processor and maybe a camera.

A garish colour scheme is probably also on the cards for Caterpillar – although JCB's already snapped up the yellow and black look. Chances are it won't look anything like our mock-up above but either way, keep your eyes peeled for more details of your next manly-man phone from the construction and mining giants.

Read more »

xbox 720

Microsoft has put the ‘soft’ in its name, organising a sneaky series of meetings with game developers in London while everyone's distracted by Mobile World Congress. The aim? To give them some hands on time with the Xbox 720, codenamed Durango

Unfortunately games developer Crytek let the cat out of the bag, tweeting: “Enjoying the Durango developers summit in London. So far, great swag and interesting talks.” The tweet was hastily deleted, but the damage was done – using the Xbox 720’s Durango codename is a dead giveaway.

The developer summit is further evidence to support a previous claim by Crytek that the Xbox 720 Durango will be landing in 2012. Although last we heard 2013was more likely for the Wii U style controller toting console with its amazingenhanced 3D graphics.

Read more »

Samsung Galaxy Beam

Samsung took the wraps off its pico-projector-packing Galaxy Beam smartphone at Mobile World Congress – and it looks like it'll be hitting the UK in July.

Online retailer Unlocked Mobiles has added the Galaxy Beam to its store for pre-orders, priced at £385.

The Samsung Galaxy Beam packs in a 15 lumens pico projector alongside its 1GB dual-core processor and 5MP camera. Running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, the Galaxy Beam's specs aren't going to light up anyone's world – but the projector will, as you'll see from our hands-on review.

Read more »