Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Ford EcoSport SUV Launched, priced at Rs 5.6 lakh


Ford's Fiesta-based compact SUV 'EcoSport', the second most important car launch this year in India after the Honda Amaze, has come with a cracker of a starting price of around Rs 5.6 lakh. The car launched today with a 1.5-litre petrol variant as the base model, followed by a 1.5-litre diesel variant and another premium petrol variant sporting the 1-litre turbocharged Ecoboost engine.
With this aggressive pricing, the EcoSport's target would be customers of entry sedans such as the Maruti Suzuki Dzire and the Honda Amaze, and not the Renault Duster as was earlier believed. Ford would also aim to not repeat earlier pricing mistakes — while the Figo did well after its launch in 2010, the new Fiesta's high starting pricing of R8.23 lakh in 2011 meant volumes never really took off. Instead, the EcoSport will aim for a sweet spot between premium hatchbacks/entry sedans and compact SUVs.
"It's quite a bit smaller than the Duster and really feels like a bigger hatchback with better road presence and all-round view. So pricing has to reflect that. The only worry is that the market is not responding very well, so whether this will help Ford pick up overall volumes is the question," an industry executive said.
With around $2 billion worth of investments committed to India and a second plant in Gujarat expected to start next year (the first plant is near Chennai), the EcoSport is critical to success of Ford's India gameplan. This importance is underlined by the multiple visits paid by Ford's global president and CEO, Alan Mulally, for a single model — he came in January last year to unveil the EcoSport just before the Delhi Auto Expo, coming again this month to inaugurate nationwide deliveries of the EcoSport from Chennai. Globally, the EcoSport will be made at five plants, but Chennai will be responsible for exports to Europe as well.
The EcoSport is also expected to boost Ford's overall volumes, which have lagged for much of the last year — monthly total domestic volumes are now down to around 4,000 units from a high of around 9,000 units about a year back when the Figo hatch was doing well. With accumulated losses of around R1,400 crore in India and FY13 volumes declining 17% to 77.225 units, the EcoSport will have a tough task of bringing Ford India back to the black.
"The question is if in a depressed car market, the EcoSport will be able to create enough excitement so as to push up Ford's overall volumes. Any new launch creates a push," an industry analyst said. After car sales touched a 12-year low in FY13, volumes in April-May FY14 again fell 11% to 2.94 lakh units due to subdued consumer sentiment, rising fuel prices and high interest rates.
One of EcoSport's main competitors, the Maruti Dzire sells about 18,000 units a month and was the top-selling car in the country in May. The Honda Amaze, launched recently in April, sells about 6,000 units monthly while Renault's strong success, the Duster, sells around 5,200 units.
"I think the Mahindra Quanto would face the toughest competition from this in urban areas apart from entry sedans. The EcoSport will be a strong option for a rational buyer in an entry sedan segment," another industry executive said.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Acer launches world's smallest Windows 8 tab @ Rs 27,999

Acer India launched its Iconia W3 in India, the world's smallest tablet running on Microsoft's latest OS. Apart from that, the Taiwanese manufacturer launched the Aspire P3 ultrabook and Aspire R7 touch-and-type laptop.

The all-new Acer Iconia W3 tablet has an 8.1-inch screen, Intel Atom CloverTrail dual-core processor and 2GB RAM. This device has been priced at Rs 27,999 for the Indian market, in direct competition to Apple iPad mini and Samsung Galaxy Note 510. Acer Iconia W3 runs on the full version of Windows 8, supports all desktop apps and comes with free Microsoft Office suite.

The Aspire R7 laptop has a touch-enabled device that comes with a 15.6-inch full HD screen. The laptop comes with a keyboard dock called Ezel, which positions the users' hands such that the touch-and-type experience is optized, claimed Acer. The Acer Aspire R7 laptop will cost Rs 69,999 in India.

Acer Aspire P3 is the company' latest ultrabook for the Indian market. It comes with an 11.6-inch screen that supports 720p video support. This ultrabook also supports touch-based input and can be converted into a laptop. It runs on a third-gen Intel processor and has two cameras, 5MP on the back and 1.3MP in the front. The ultrabook will cost Rs 49,999.

Ford EcoSport SUV Launched, priced at Rs 5.6 lakh


Ford's Fiesta-based compact SUV 'EcoSport', the second most important car launch this year in India after the Honda Amaze, has come with a cracker of a starting price of around Rs 5.6 lakh. The car launched today with a 1.5-litre petrol variant as the base model, followed by a 1.5-litre diesel variant and another premium petrol variant sporting the 1-litre turbocharged Ecoboost engine.
With this aggressive pricing, the EcoSport's target would be customers of entry sedans such as the Maruti Suzuki Dzire and the Honda Amaze, and not the Renault Duster as was earlier believed. Ford would also aim to not repeat earlier pricing mistakes — while the Figo did well after its launch in 2010, the new Fiesta's high starting pricing of R8.23 lakh in 2011 meant volumes never really took off. Instead, the EcoSport will aim for a sweet spot between premium hatchbacks/entry sedans and compact SUVs.
"It's quite a bit smaller than the Duster and really feels like a bigger hatchback with better road presence and all-round view. So pricing has to reflect that. The only worry is that the market is not responding very well, so whether this will help Ford pick up overall volumes is the question," an industry executive said.
With around $2 billion worth of investments committed to India and a second plant in Gujarat expected to start next year (the first plant is near Chennai), the EcoSport is critical to success of Ford's India gameplan. This importance is underlined by the multiple visits paid by Ford's global president and CEO, Alan Mulally, for a single model — he came in January last year to unveil the EcoSport just before the Delhi Auto Expo, coming again this month to inaugurate nationwide deliveries of the EcoSport from Chennai. Globally, the EcoSport will be made at five plants, but Chennai will be responsible for exports to Europe as well.
The EcoSport is also expected to boost Ford's overall volumes, which have lagged for much of the last year — monthly total domestic volumes are now down to around 4,000 units from a high of around 9,000 units about a year back when the Figo hatch was doing well. With accumulated losses of around R1,400 crore in India and FY13 volumes declining 17% to 77.225 units, the EcoSport will have a tough task of bringing Ford India back to the black.
"The question is if in a depressed car market, the EcoSport will be able to create enough excitement so as to push up Ford's overall volumes. Any new launch creates a push," an industry analyst said. After car sales touched a 12-year low in FY13, volumes in April-May FY14 again fell 11% to 2.94 lakh units due to subdued consumer sentiment, rising fuel prices and high interest rates.
One of EcoSport's main competitors, the Maruti Dzire sells about 18,000 units a month and was the top-selling car in the country in May. The Honda Amaze, launched recently in April, sells about 6,000 units monthly while Renault's strong success, the Duster, sells around 5,200 units.
"I think the Mahindra Quanto would face the toughest competition from this in urban areas apart from entry sedans. The EcoSport will be a strong option for a rational buyer in an entry sedan segment," another industry executive said.

Sony launches water-resistant smart watch and smartphone with 6.4-inch screen


Sony SmartWatch 2
Sony has launched the SmartWatch 2, an update of its Android-based watch, while the competition still seems largely to be in development mode. The company is also hoping to attract users that want a smartphone with a really big screen with the 6.4-inch Xperia Z Ultra.
Smart watches have been in the spotlight recently, with reports that Apple, Google and Samsung are all working on products. But Sony is already offering a third-generation device in this category with the SmartWatch 2, the company said on Tuesday at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai.
The SmartWatch 2's water- and dust-resistant body is made of aluminium and has integrated support for NFC. The watch has a 1.6-inch screen with 220 x 176 pixel resolution, a slight improvement over the previous SmartWatch, which had a 1.3-inch screen with a 128 x 128 pixel resolution, and Sony also promises improved battery life. The SmartWatch was preceded by the Sony Ericsson LiveView, which the company described as a wearable wireless micro-display.
Sony pitches the SmartWatch 2 as a second screen for Android-based smartphones. Compatibility has been improved over the previous generation, and the device should be compatible with most smartphones based on Google's OS, according to Sony. It serves as a multi-functional watch, Android app interface and phone remote control. On the screen users can read email, text messages and calendar reminders. It is also integrated with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. A new SDK will soon be available for app developers, with added support and new features for the SmartWatch 2.
The SmartWatch 2 will start shipping in September, Sony said, without elaborating on price.
Recently, Sony launched the Open SmartWatch Project, which will make it possible for developers to create and install alternative software on the already-released SmartWatch. Sony didn't say whether the SmartWatch 2 will become part of the program.
While the SmartWatch 2 has one of the smallest screens available on a mobile device, the Xperia Z Ultra has the largest Full HD smartphone display at 6.4 inches, according to Sony.
The waterproof LTE smartphone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor at 2.2 GHz. There is also an 8-megapixel camera with HDR for videos and photos. The device is 6.5 millimeters thick and weighs 212 grams.
It will compete with products from the likes of Huawei, Asus and last but not least Samsung Electronics. Just like with Samsung's Note products, users can write and sketch on the Xperia Z Ultra's screen.
The Xperia Z Ultra will be available globally during the third quarter, although the exact timing of availability will vary by market, Sony said without elaborating. Again, the company didn't say what the device is expected to cost.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Mercedes Benz E 250: so clever it can drive itself


Mercedes Benz E 250: the car that can drive itself 

MOTORING
MERCEDES-BENZ E 250
What exactly is it? A substantially updated version of what many think of as the quintessential Mercedes-Benz. Aside from styling changes, the latest E Class carries a new package of safety features intended to re-establish it as the technological flagship of the marque – at least until the new S Class arrives at the end of the year. The E 250 models have been launched first. The new E 400 (with a twin-turbo V6) and E 63 AMG S will come in September, while the E 350 CDI arrives in November.
Powertrain: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four producing 155kW/350Nm (E 250) or 2.1-litre turbo-diesel four producing 150kW/500Nm (E 250 CDI). Seven-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive. Combined fuel consumption 6.4/4.9 litres per 100km.
Anything interesting in the equipment list? Under the banner of Intelligent Drive, all E Class models now have Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control with Steering Assist, Active Lane Keeping Assist, BAS braking with pedestrian recognition, Pre-Safe Plus that now covers impending rear-end collisions, Cross Traffic Assistant, blind-spot warning, adaptive high-beam lights and automatic parking.
Base price: $114,000
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Classy design detail
The new Mercedes-Benz E Class can drive itself.
It can but it won’t, because Mercedes has built safeguards into the car so that ultimate responsibility remains with the driver. Nonetheless, the E Class is now the closest thing to a production version of the autonomous car.

Safety devices everywhere
Under the re-skin
This is not a brand-new version of the E Class: the platform, interior architecture, some engines and many body panels are carried over from the previous model.
But under what may look like a mild re-skin is a package of cutting-edge safety and driver-assistance technologies, which are grouped together under what Mercedes-Benz calls Intelligent Drive. The most impressive and advanced is a new function for the cruise control called Steering Assist.
Mercedes-Benz already has an excellent adaptive cruise control system called Distronic Plus, which will automatically keep the car not only at the selected speed but also the correct distance from the vehicle in front, right down to a standstill if necessary. Distronic Plus is now standard on all E Class models, which is significant in itself.
But Distronic Plus also now has a Steering Assist function. Using a stereo camera unit in the windscreen, a radar in the grille and the new electric power steering system, the E Class can read the road ahead, track the direction of the car in front and actually steer itself.
The technology as it stands is sufficient to guide the car completely without human input. But the E Class won’t actually do that, for obvious reasons. So for the system to be active, you have to have your hands on the wheel.
Steering Assist stays active by sensing tension on the tiller. It will give you up to five seconds of hands-free driving before it shuts down and it will only steer the car at a wheel angle of up to 45 degrees. But that’s quite a lot.
I’ve experienced lots of advanced driver-assistance systems but this one is surreal. It’s really configured for motorway driving, where it gently (but obviously) keeps the car in the centre of the lane. It works in conjunction with the existing Lane Keeping Assist system, which prevents the car from straying over a white line if the driver is not indicating.
The new E Class has a lot of technology with Assist in the name.
Safety authority
Steering Assist is the glamour technology of Intelligent Drive but there is a lot more to talk about. The twin-camera system can “see” up to 500m down the road but, within 50m, it can recognise the human form in three dimensions (something a radar cannot do) and brake the car automatically to prevent or minimise pedestrian accidents.
The same automatic braking function is also combined with a function called Cross Traffic Assist that scans intersections as you enter and can stop or slow the car if another vehicle is approaching from the left or right.
The drive survives
The great danger with such advanced active safety systems is that they become intrusive and take away the pleasure of driving the vehicle. I don’t think that’s the case with the E Class: most of the new safety systems only intrude when it’s too late for the driver to act, with the exception of Steering Assist and Lane Keeping Assist.
Of the former, remember that the steering is only subject to assistance when the cruise control is operational, so it’s your choice. The latter? That can be annoying, as it interrupts your progress with a jolt at times. But it can be disabled. Or I could learn to drive between the lines a bit more convincingly.
The E Class platform is largely unchanged from the previous model, which is no bad thing: despite its sometimes-sober image, it has a fantastic balance of ride and handling. The chassis simply becomes more composed the harder you push it.
New for the E 250 petrol is a 2.0-litre turbo engine that makes 5kW/40Nm more than the previous 1.8-litre but is faster to 100km/h and consumes 6.4 litres per 100km (previously 6.6 litres). It’s an impressive new engine and endows the E 250 with performance that belies its four-cylinder status, although the new petrol still plays second fiddle to the carryover 2.1-litre turbo diesel.
Now, I will admit that the E 250 CDI (turbo diesel) sounds like a Munich taxi at low speed. Check out the taxis next time you’re there and you will see why that makes sense. But the four-cylinder diesel is an incredibly good powerplant, producing as much torque as a six and endowing the E Class with an effortless gait.
I reckon you’d have to be a real diesel-hater to go past it. Although you’ll also have to be happy with a prestige car that really sounds like a diesel.
The modern tradition
I’ve always thought of the E Class as a very traditional Mercedes-Benz for a very traditional buyer. I have always rather admired it for that.
That applies a bit less now and it’s the one aspect of the new car that leaves me a bit cold. All New Zealand models now come as standard with a sports exterior package and Avantgarde-specification frontal styling, which takes the Mercedes-Benz emblem off the bonnet and repositions it in the grille.
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of piloting a Mercedes-Benz and looking at the road ahead through the Three Pointed Star on the end of the bonnet, you’ll realise why I’m a bit sad about that.
The old-school “roundy” rear wheel arch has been reshaped into a more contemporary feature line. With the sports package, interior trim changes and bright LED lights, there is just a bit more bling and a bit less elegance.
But hey, that’s my reactionary opinion. According to Mercedes-Benz, the reason the new model has been tricked-up so much is that customers ordered the old one that way.

BUT WAIT – THERE'S MORE
Groundbreaking features have been introduced to the E Class as part of a mid-life facelift: that’s classic Mercedes-Benz methodology, introducing customers to new technology without overwhelming them.
The overwhelming part usually comes later – in this case the all-new S Class, which will arrive in New Zealand just before the end of the year. Mercedes-Benz is clear about its ambition to build “the best automobile in the world” with S Class. One role of the new E Class is to preview the level of technology that will be available in the S Class.
Naturally, the S Class will have everything the new E Class does … and so much more. For example, the stereo camera system introduced as part of Intelligent Drive on E Class has extended functionality called Road Surface Scan in the S Class.
The cameras analyse the road ahead and communicate with the electronically controlled suspension to adjust accordingly.
The Pre-safe system from the E Class is extended to an Impulse function, which pulls the driver and front passenger away from the direction of the impact at a very early phase of an impending crash.
Like the E Class’s intricate exterior lighting? The S Class is the world’s first production car that does not employ a single light bulb. LED lighting is used throughout the vehicle – up to 500 in total.

Nokia Lumia 925: The best Windows Phone yet


According to Nokia, the new Lumia 925 is its "third flagship" phone at the moment. It hasn’t retired the other two Lumias (the 920 and the 928) which continue to sail proudly alongside the 925, with all their flags fluttering.
However there are times when one must wave a pedantic arm from the back of the class where the naughty boys sit, and utter the two words all teachers dread: “But s-s-s-sir…”
My knowledge of all things nautical is based upon the profound observation, taught to me while being dandled on my father’s knee, that “at sea, things happen slowly”. Watching ships crawl along the North Sea coast confirmed the fundamental truth of this – and there wasn't much more you really needed to know. It has also proved true in the reporting of Microsoft’s progress with Windows Phone, where things happen slowly, too.
Now to the multiple flagships. In my dictionary a fleet has just one "flagship" at any one time, the ship that carries the fleet’s admiral or commander. Since the Editor of this esteemed organ is a former naval officer who commanded his own Royal Navy vessel, some things cannot pass unnoticed.
Nokia’s explanation is that all three, um, "flagships" sit at the top of the range, and each has its own USP. And in any case, one of them is only available via one carrier in just one country, limiting its availability. What’s not in doubt is that the new Lumia 925 is the lightest and most svelte of the three by some distance. It’s the swankiest ship with the swankiest flags – and possibly the most attractive Windows phone anyone has made to date.
Nokia has won plenty of plaudits for its newer low-cost Lumias this year, and deservedly so. The 520 and 620 are available on either side of £100 contract-free, and that kind of money barely buys you a three-year-old iPhone. Yet they offer a slick and reliable experience superior to anything in the price bracket. The 620 even pulled off something pretty unusual in a cheap phone – a handset with character and charm.

Crouching wowser, hidden chargin'

But the fortunes of Nokia’s high-end devices have been rather different. Nokia must show something more than "good value" for its years of multibillion-euro expenditure on R&D boffinry; it needs to include a bit of "Wow". This it delivered with last year’s Lumia 920, a phone boasting eye-catching low light photography, rock-steady video recording and stunning live audio capture.
The 920 also boasted Qi wireless charging and Nokia rolled out a range of nice wireless charging accessories. But all this Wow came at a cost: the sturdily built behemoth tipped the scales at 185g encasing a 4.5-inch display… and 90° corners.
And while some cherished the dense, rugged mass for its resilience but for many consumers and carriers it was too much. In addition, Nokia opted to give carrier exclusivity to EE in the UK for its first few months, limiting the appeal to enthusiasts. EE could only offer 4G LTE in a few locations and its tariffs until recently, were punitive.
The Lumia 925 attempts to cram the "Wow" into a much slimmer, lighter and more modern-looking package – the 920 has gone on a crash weight-loss programme.
Lumia Amber update: about and Colour Profiles

Design and construction

Flagship number 3 borrows the guts of the 920, offers a tweaked camera and stunning OLED display of the same size. The new phone is around the same weight of the Galaxy S3 and S4, something the market is evidently comfortable with. At 139g, it’s 46g lighter – and believe me, you appreciate every gramme.
The 925 also breaks with recent Nokia industrial design practice of using dyed polycarbonate shells in a range of strong, eye-catching, sorbet colours. This has undoubtedly been good for differentiating Nokia from its rivals – you can spot a Lumia at the other end of the bus.
But not everybody wants to make a statement and many professional and business users are looking for something, well … business-like and professional, possibly. Just as you don’t see too many fluorescent Minis in the executive car park, it isn’t surprising DayGlo Lumias haven’t caught on with professionals, either.
The 925 certainly makes amends. It uses an aluminium frame and harks back to the Nokia designs of 2010 – the late OPK*-era, or the “Years of Madness” as it’s called round here. Premium phones such as the N8, E7, C7 and the C6-01 made classy use of sleek anodised aluminium bodies and while they may have been panned for their Symbian software, they looked handsome, felt like Volvos, and picked up design awards.
The Lumia 925 uses a polycarbonate shell back cover to keep the weight down, and it’s a much more business-like and subdued design that still manages to feel expensive. It certainly sends the message "professional", rather than "urban attention seeker". For my money, this year’s most stylish phone is the HTC One, but Nokia deserves praise for dispensing with design dogma, and turning out something so elegant.
I should advise, and it’s a matter of some urgency if you’re in the market for one of these devices, then get your protection in first. The screen picks up scratches alarmingly easily, even though it's nominally using the scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass. Nokia is using a thinner (2.5D vs 2.25D) glass than on the 925 but that shouldn’t affect its resistance to surface scratches. Other reviewers have also picked up on this. Perhaps the Gorillas were out for the afternoon when this batch rolled out?
Good casing is also essential.

What do you get?

The 925 packs in the much-praised camera unit of the Lumia 920, with an additional lens for daylight photos. Like the 920 it also has a sealed battery and no SD card slot. The latter is one of the few negative points to consider, as the European exclusive for the 32GB model has been given to Vodafone and so all other carriers must settle for the 16GB model. 32GB is available SIM-free, but at a price. “I’d like to have it but the compromise wasn’t worth it,” Nokia’s Kevin Shields told us in aninterview explaining the design decisions.
Space matters here rather more than on a premium phone from last year: it’s a phone many will want to buy for its superb video recording, which at 1080p HD quality, but this will fill the phone quickly. With Windows Phone 8GB gobbling up 2.5GB out of the box, you may have to be more careful than you would otherwise be with a 32GB model. The processor, memory and battery capacity are all the same as the 920, which means there should be some juice left at the end of the day.
The 925 loses wireless charging, which is a shame. It feels like a Roman indulgence to splurge on a couple of Qi charging pads, but once you have a few around the place, trust me, you’ll never look back. It changes the experience of owning a phone in quite a subtle way. With one in the car and one on your office desk, for example, the phone is almost always topped up. Wireless charging can be added via a £20-£24 clip-on plate, but this rather spoils the clean lines, adding 22g to the weight and 4mm to the depth of the phone. Take advantage of price cuts and retail bundle offers – Three and Carphone Warehouse are throwing in a free charging stand and a clip-on cover with Lumia 925 pre-orders – and you only really need two. With the Nexus 7 and Galaxy S4 also adopting wireless, it’s a reasonable investment. Alas Nokia appears to have hit pause on wireless charging as it tries to slim down the phones. Only the Verizon-exclusive 928 this year has Qi built in.
Nokia chose to use an AMOLED display here, rather than the in-plane switching LCD of the 920. Personally, I’m a huge fan of these displays, which have an eerie sci-fi quality for me: the blacks are so black they seem to absorb the surrounding light - it’s like carrying a tiny black hole with you.
OLED screens also complement Windows Phone quite naturally, throwing the text into clear relief, and allowing more colours of the limited palette to be used as the accent highlight colour – I find the Cobalt, for example, is too dim to be the accent colour on an IPS LCD but pops out of an AMOLED screen. The drawback of OLEDs was poor outdoor visibility, but this is bright and perfectly legible outdoors, the screen is specified to 600 nits and I had no problems, the brightness control is now very smooth.
I wouldn’t be too distressed if I never used an other IPS display again, but your mileage may vary.
Performance was superb, and there’s no indication that the chipset inside was mature even last year. The only lags evident were with Nokia’s Smart Camera app, which is doing a lot of work (more below), and which is not mandatory. Windows Phone 8 is far more efficient than Java-based power-guzzlers of Android, the experience is smoother and much less cluttered. Call quality was excellent, and the use of the aluminium frame as an antenna didn’t result in any iPhone 4 style death grips.

What's new in the Windows GDR2 'Amber' bundle?

The 925 also sees the debut of the latest minor revision to Windows 8 Phone: GDR, which with some new Nokia enhancements gets the marketing-friendly moniker of the ‘Amber Update’. All WP8-based Lumias will receive this in the next few weeks.
Microsoft additions include a data counter (allowing you to monitor and cap mobile network data usage) called Data Sense and a Wi-Fi hotspot finder. CalDAV and CardDAV have been added, which is fairly vital to accessing your Google contacts and calendar. And FM radio support has been restored – it went AWOL in Windows Phone 8. All Nokia’s WP8 devices bar the 520 have an FM radio, and now you can use it. GDR2 also includes a Wi-Fi hotspot finder, although as you can see from the screen grab, a little more on screen information would be handy.
Nokia's Amber update rolls up the Windows Phone 8 GDR2 update with Nokia's own additions, such as Colour Profiles (right).
GDR2 includes a data counter and data-capper.
Left: the Wi-Fi hotspot finder, right: Nokia's continues to improve its Accessories support
Nokia’s big addition is a new camera app and a standby clock, Glance. All this does is tell you the time when the phone is in standby, and allow you to unlock with a double tap. It’s very much a beta effort: the only option available is to mute the colour at set hours, or turn it off altogether.
This is all a bit of a comedown after using the Symbian 808 PureView, which has a wonderful standby screen, offering a shimmering display of very slowly, subtly changing backgrounds which are actually quite informative – you’d know if you’d missed a call or received a text. Nokia also adds colour profiles into its Amber update.
Nokia continues to throw in its own suite of ever-improving apps, including the exclusive streaming music service Nokia Music, and less-exclusive HERE+ Maps and HERE+ Drive, which offers turn-by-turn navigation. The latter two are available to all Windows Phone licensees. Maps is excellent, lacking only the StreetView integration of Google Maps and until now, a compass in the main map app. The iPhone has had compass-orientation in its Maps since 2009. Nokia’s rather gimmicky City Lens augmented reality overlay is now folded into the main Maps app. More usefully the excellent "Transit" or "Transport" app – a best-in-class public transport app – is not bundled, but is available as a free download.
Apple paid Windows Phone a backhanded compliment last week by remodelling iOS7 on the Modern UI: text labels replace buttons across the user interface. However, while iOS looks like Windows Phone, it doesn’t really work much like it. The WP UI may look like it was designed by a self-indulgent graphic designer, its real strengths are very practical: in the interaction design, making the phone simple and consistent to use, which is all built on a rock solid foundation ensuring good battery life and reliability.
There are disadvantages to entering the game late, though. The Windows Phone application store reflects a market almost entirely split between iPhone and Android.
Things are improving, steadily but slowly.
Not everyone is looking for that Long Tail, merely a modern reliable phone that’s easy to use, doesn’t require constant monitoring or maintenance, excels at one or two features such as photography and maps, has a smattering of the essentials. The 925 fits that bill.

The phone that goes Roamin' in the Gloamin'

The 925’s imaging system hardware uses extra hardware, commonly found in dedicated shooters and cams, to steady the shot. The camera module floats on springs, while sensors and gyroscopes compensate for wobble before the picture has been captured, or while video is being recorded. Most rivals can only apply smoothing after the picture has been taken, which the 925 does too. In practice this means better results in low-light conditions, and videos are much smoother.
The system has been tweaked a little in the 925, with the addition of an extra lens to the 920, that Nokia says improves daytime photos. As with its fellow flagships, low light photography is quite miraculous – provided you have a steady hand. It’s quite eerie to peer into the "viewfinder" (the display) when you’re taking a photo and see only darkness, then take a picture that’s filled with light and detail. Daylight photos are very good, but less spectacular.
Photos show good depth and detail, on typically overcast London summer’s day it was excellent. But they’re still noticeably softer pictures and prone to white-out than rivals. For dark conditions, high-end ISO is 3200. Of those rivals the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a smaller sensor but its aggressive sharpening algorithms give a casual impression of better quality.


Bootleggers' paradise

The phone also contains another gem from Nokia’s boffins: professional quality audio recording at extremely high volumes. I’ve captured footage with the 920 from right in front of the PA at a decent-sized indoor venue (standing capacity over 3,000) and it plays back in rich stereo with no distortion. How do they do that? Nokia developed the HAAC (High Amplitude Audio Capture) system over several years in partnership with microphone manufacturers, and it made its debut in the 808 PureView last year. Naturally it’s a boon for bootleggers, but for the rest of us it just means more professional everyday video without the confusion caused by Wow and Flutter - the top end of the range is 140dB).
Sunset + 11 mins
[ Click to enlarge ]
Sunset +12 mins - with focus on the sky, the 925 struggles to capture the detail
[ Click to enlarge ]
Sunset +14 mins ... even darker now, but the 925 captures a mass of detail
Taken at the same times as the photo above it, the Lumia 925 captures detail very well in poor light
Nokia decided it needed to showcase its imaging wizardry in Smart Camera, a dedicated image capture application which makes its debut here but will be available to all WP8 Lumias in the Amber release. You can choose to make Smart Camera the default snapper activated by the hardware camera button. Smart Camera takes ten images rather than one, all ten are preserved, and allow a choice of effects to be applied. These are a mixture of the practical and the gimmicky.
On a practical level, Smart Camera can choose the best composite from a group shot, offer to remove unwanted objects that have wandered into frame, and suggest the best of the 10. It also offers a couple of more frivolous tricks: an action shot and a motion blur effect. All will find their audience, no doubt, but face recognition was rather poor unless there’s just a few faces prominent in the photo - some group shots of ten children only picked out a couple of faces. The potential is rather hindered by the time it takes to snap ten shots, and the size of the results: each smart camera shot is around 20MB. Most annoyingly there’s no way to switch to video recording from within the Smart Camera – you need to fire up the default Camera app for that. That aspect alone meant I started up the regular Camera most of the time.
Full marks to Nokia for showcasing its technology so imaginatively, but Smart Camera feels like a kind of stop-gap until these features are built into the default applications. Which is a bit of a shame, as I know how useful the group shot feature can be; kids are almost impossible to snap well, and Grandma likes a nice picture.
Last year Nokia released a unique phone with a 41 Megapixel sensor, the PureView 808, capable of stunning results. The launch of the first Windows-based Lumia incorporating the technology is apparently imminent. So you may be wondering how the Lumia 925 stands up to the 808 PureView. Well, I'm glad you asked.
Photo taken from the same spot; Left: Lumia 925, Right: PureView 808
Detail: Left: Lumia 925, Right: PureView 808
[Click to enlarge ]
Both photos were taken from the same spot, using default settings in each case. The PureView packs in a lot more pixels, which accounts for the size difference. The difference really becomes striking when you examine the full sized image. Look at the black pebbles as the the foot of the statue - on the 925 photo they're indistinct, whereas on the 808 photo each one is well defined. The grouting of the base also makes a good comparison, as does the way they grapple with the paler patch of grass to the right.
The Lumia is an excellent camera phone. But if Nokia has succeeded in incorporating something like the 808 sensor into its Lumia line, then buyers are in for a treat.


The Reg Verdict

The Lumia packs great photography and video capture into a top notch all-rounder. The usual caveats apply: if you want complete breadth of app coverage, and this is paramount, buy an iPhone 5. If you want the best imaging, Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom offers a pocket camera with an Android phone bolted on the top, but it’s a cumbersome affair. Or you may wish to wait for Nokia’s own gazillion-pixel Lumia, which we expect to be announced in three weeks. This brings the incredible 41Mp PureView 808 camera to Windows, and in a much slimmer package, if "leaks" are to be believed. If you’ve simply wanted an excellent Nokia but been deterred by the bulk and weight of the predecessors and the child-friendly plastics, it’s delivered.

Not your average iPhone

Of course, it is valid to ask about future-proofing. Apple does a superb job here, with year-old iPhones getting the latest software in the annual release cycle. You may not get all the new platform features, but you’ll get most of them. Updates have improved for Android owners too – and it’s more open and hackable.
Last spring, Nokia launched the Lumia 900 “flagship” into the US that was superseded within a few months by Windows Phone 8 devices, and the concessionary 7.8 upgrade for Lumia 900 owners was months late and offered only resizable tiles. Some kind of assurance for 925 purchasers should be made.
Nokia now looks like a hare in a hurry that has decided to take a ride on a very slow-moving traction engine. It opted for Windows Phone 30 months ago because of the ecosystem support ('markets' in plain English) but the app market for Microsoft lags behind and is only getting there very slowly.
Microsoft effectively spent 2012 porting the feature set of the 2011 Mango update (7.5) to an entirely new OS, and it did it so smoothly that nobody noticed much disruption. Now Microsoft needs to do the “easy part”: address user-land issues like notifications and make dozens of minor tweaks that make a big difference in everyday life. It’s a hell of a lot easier to add a Week View to the Calendar app, or add email message Flags, than it is port an OS to a new kernel.
Nokia’s answer to the Three Flagship Puzzle is that “it’s a different expression of what we delivered in the 920” – a reasonable description of bringing last year’s advanced technology to something most people can live with comfortably. It’s a whole lot more sleek and stylish than anything Nokia has produced since switching to Windows Phone, and classier than its plasticky-feeling rivals too.
Kudos to Sony and HTC too for trying to raise the standards of industrial design this year. It demonstrates Nokia is on top of its game, and able to deliver quality as well as good value at the bottom of the market. ®



Nokia confirms Lumia phone with 41MP camera



Nokia changed the benchmark for smartphone cameras last year when it launched the 808 PureView with 41MP snapper. It was rumouredto have included this camera in its flagship Lumia920 last year, but that was not to be. However, speculation is now rife that the Finnish manufacturer will launch a Lumia phone 41MPcamera at its July 11 event in New York. And the company has nearly confirmed it too.


On the Nokia Conversations website, the company has put up a teaser that says there will be "41 million reasons" to attend the July 11 event. "41 million" is a clear hint towards the 41MPcamera, as it is the same number of pixels in the sensor of the upcoming Lumia phone. In the invite Nokia sent for the July 11 event, it said it will reinvent zoom, suggesting the launch of the phone currently being called Lumia EOS in tech circles.
In a blog post on Nokia Conversations, it picked five of its favourite internet memes. One of the memes carried the tagline: "Oh, so you've got a smartphone with a zoom lens... I bet that fits in your pocket perfectly." This is a jibe at Samsung's recently unveiled Galaxy S4 Zoom phone, which comes with a 16MP camera and 10X optical zoom.
The Nokia Lumia smartphone with 41MP camera has surfaced on the internet via leaked photos many times in the past few months. The images suggest a body similar to Lumia 920's made of polycarbonate and a huge camera sensor hump on the back. This camera is said to run on Windows Phone 8 operating system, have speaker grilles at the bottom, support wireless charging via a strap-on supported covers and come in red, white, yellow and blackcolours.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Is iOS 7 "Under the Influence"? Why Borrowing Matters

Is iOS 7 Under the Influence Is iOS 7 “Under the Influence”? Why Borrowing Matters


I woke up today to a number of sources claiming that Apple implemented features of both Android OS and Windows OS in iOS 7, what Apple now calls “the world’s most advanced operating system.” There are those on the side of Android who have said, “Apple stole from Android’s ideas,” and there are Windows OS fans who have said that Apple also stole from Windows to create what many consider to be a major overhaul to iOS since the iPhone first emerged on the scene in 2007.
There are two sides to consider here, and I want to voice my own view on the subject of whether or not Apple “copied” from other mobile OSes in its WWDC 2013 Keynote.

iOS 7 Borrows But Also Creates

Aaron Souppouris of The Verge writes the following about iOS 7:
Apple’s new incoming call screen, which calls on users to ‘swipe to answer,’ is similar in function to Samsung’s TouchWiz, and looks just like Windows Phone 8…aren’t those ‘motion backgrounds,’ which feature circles and lots of soft bokeh, just like the wallpapers introduced by Google in Android Ice Cream Sandwich? The list goes on.
Souppouris is aware of iOS 7′s influences and acknowledges them head on; at the same time, he says that Apple is doing nothing different from other manufacturers and producers:
Taking concepts and interpreting them as your own is something all creatives do. It’s this interpretation and improvement of ideas that’s key. With iOS 7, the question isn’t whether Apple’s artists are copying or stealing good ideas — it’s whether they’re doing a good job evolving them.
While Apple’s new iOS 7 is “under the influence” of other manufacturers and other OSes, Apple brings its own style to iOS 7 with some of its icons revamped (such as Game Center) as well as its new weather app (that comes with live animations).
As both an iPhone 5 and GS3 user, I can tell you that Apple’s new weather application is one I embrace. I really like the clear design and the fact that Apple has placed the live animation into iOS 7 itself — not made it a distinct wallpaper that drains battery life, as is the case with Android. If Apple’s weather animation drains battery life, it will do so at the same pace as any other typical app — which is negligible at best.
Cory Gunther of Android Community agrees with Souppouris about Apple’s being “under the influence”:
We’ve seen all sorts of rips at Apple today. Some blogs calling iOS 7 the update that turned Apple devices into Android, and all types of crazy stuff. Yes they share features and designs, blatantly rip some off, but who cares? I don’t. It isn’t just Android. We see hints from all aspects of mobile here, and I feel like the competition is a good thing. At the same time the ‘copying’ is a validation of just how awesome and successful Android really is. So yes, I’m ok with it.
Gunther is a bit more vocal about his view that Apple “blatantly rip [ped] off” Android, but still agrees that Apple provides formidable competition against Android. I couldn’t agree more.

Why Borrowing Matters in iOS 7

iOS 7 is under the influence in Multitasking Is iOS 7 “Under the Influence”? Why Borrowing Matters
But…you guessed it! There is another angle from which many have failed to view this whole situation.
Yes, it’s true that all great companies, including Apple and Samsung, have borrowed from other companies to create great software and hardware. With Android manufacturers this year, LG and now Samsung (with its GS4 Active) have borrowed IP waterproof certification from Sony’s Xperia Z and used it in their own devices.
At the same time, Apple is no ordinary company. Last year marked one of the most unforgettable smartphone company lawsuits in all of history, with Apple taking Samsung to court and suing the Korean manufacturer for $1.05 billion (over $2 billion initially). The one claim Apple’s attorneys made in court, time and time again, was that Samsung “blatantly ripped off” Apple’s designs and Apple wanted compensation for it. While Samsung and Microsoft may never take Apple to court for iOS 7, they have as much right to do so as Apple did last year.
Why does borrowing matter? It matters because Apple sued Samsung and sent the message then that borrowing matters. Now that iOS 7 has been previewed at WWDC 2013, Apple cannot send the message that “it is okay for us to copy others’ ideas without penalty” while making Samsung pay billions for its own “copying.” If one is “under the influence” and faces no penalty, then all can be under the influence without penalty. If one is wrong, then all are wrong.
In short, borrowing is okay; but it is not okay to send mixed messages about it.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Google set to buy Israeli startup Waze for more than $1 billion


Navigation app's development center will remain in Israel for at least three years.


Waze

Google is set to acquire much sought-after Israeli navigation app startup Waze, after the two companies agreed in principle to most term, including a price tag exceeding $1 billion in cash, sources said Sunday. 
In addition, Waze's research and development center will remain in Israel for at least three years as will the company's CEO, Noam Bardin. Waze will retain its independent identity both as a company and as a brand, they said.
The agreement comes about a week-and-half after talks between the Israeli company and Facebook collapsed, apparently over Waze's insistence that its R&D operations remain in Israel. Facebook had sought to fold the company's operations into its California headquarters and re-brand them as a Facebook product.
Facebook had offered about $1 billion for the Israeli company, but when its exclusive right to hold acquisition talks expired, Waze apparently turned to Google as its preferred suitor. In addition, to letting Waze keep its operations in Israel for now, Google offered all cash, as against Facebook's offer to pay half the purchase price in cash and half in shares.
Moreover, the U.S. company agreed not to reduce the size of the R&D staff during the next three years.
None of the companies involved had officially commented on the reports as of late yesterday.
Waze is a crowd-sourced, mobile-oriented navigation device for drivers that relies on information provided by its 47 million members to populate its maps.
Mapping services are among the five most-used applications on smartphones and are crucial to engaging and retaining mobile users. The key advantage of owning, rather than licensing, a mapping service is that it allows the product to be personalized for users.
Google's interest in Waze stems principally from its aim of blocking Facebook's growth. The search company operates its own navigation service that competes head on with Waze. It has invested heavily in its system, including the ambitious Google Street View database of images and satellite images.
Teaming up with Waze would have enabled Facebook, which right now doesn't have a similar product, to put the social media company into competition with Google in a key area. With this threat in mind, Google was ready to offer more generous terms than Facebook reportedly did to eliminate the competition.
Apple was also a rumored bidder, but its CEO, Tim Cook, told a conference at the end of May that the company made no such bid.
Waze uses satellite signals from members' smartphones to generate maps and traffic data, which it then shares with other users, offering real-time traffic info. Because its technology is designed for social media, Waze was considered a good fit for Facebook, analysts said.
Mapping services are among the five most-used applications on smartphones and are crucial to engaging and retaining mobile users. The key advantage of owning, rather than licensing, a mapping service is that it allows for the product to be tailored and personalized for users.
"Whoever holds the mapping data is going to be a hot commodity," Brian Proffitt, author of several books on mobile technology and an adjunct instructor of management in the University of Notre Dame, told Reuters last month. "As larger vendors acquire mapping data, businesses and consumers will discover that it's more difficult to gain free access and correct errors."
Waze is owned by a group of local and foreign investors, including the Israeli venture capital funds Magma and Vertex. Chinese investor Li Ka Shing invested $30 million in the company via Horizon Ventures in October 2011. Other invesotrs include the U.S. VC funds Kleiner Perkins and Blue Run Ventures as well as the U.S. tech companies Microsoft and Qualcomm.
Altogether some $67 million has been invested in the company since it formed in 2008 by Ehud Shabtai, Amir Shinar and Uri Levine.
Waze has enjoyed years of spectacular growth. About 12% of its users hail from the United States, and it also has high penetration in Italy and Brazil. Its user base has skyrocketed to 47.5 million today from about seven million in 2011. By the end of 2013, the company expects it to reach 70 million.
By its estimates, this year alone it will have saved users some 82 million hours of time not stuck in traffic and the global environment some 844,000 tons of carbon monoxide. The average Waze users shaves 15% off his or her driving time.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Check out the new wireless computer mouse from Audi

 Check out the new wireless computer mouse from Audi


Audi, the German luxury car manufacturer, today introduced its wireless computer mouse. The computer mouse is in the shape of a stylized Audi vehicle and is available at all Audi authorized dealerships across India.
“Now, Audi enthusiasts will not only drive their favourite luxury brand to work, they can have it on their work stations too and manoeuver their PC in style with a wireless computer mouse based on Audi cars. It has a sleek design and is luxurious from the first touch. Suitable for home or office, this delightful computer mouse lets you drive your computer or laptop by truly displaying the brand’s philosophy of “Vorsprung durch Technik”. Audi enthusiasts can bond with the brand on a more personal level and work on their computers with utmost precision and comfort with this computer mouse. Audi’s range of sporty merchandize is apt for Audi fans who want to go a step ahead in their association with the brand,” said Mr. Michael Perschke, Head, Audi India.
Sculpted Audi car body from the Audi design studio, the Audi Computer Mouse features 2.4 Ghz technology with scroll wheel and high-resolution 2000 dpi sensor with a minimum range of 6 meter.
The Audi computer mouse is compatible with PC or Mac and will be available in the Indian market for INR 5,599 in grey colour with USB interface (1.1 or 2.0).
Other exclusive merchandize available in India across all dealer networks include high-end Classic Chronograph watches, sophisticated messenger bags, sports bags, travel bags, backpack, stylish garment bag and Audi R8 USB memory stick.

Samsung Galaxy Note III, Galaxy S4 Zoom 'leaked'

 Samsung's flagship phone Galaxy S4 already has two variants -- the waterproofGalaxy S4 Active and the smaller sibling Galaxy S4 mini -- and now rumours are rife that the company is readying its another variant called S4 Zoom. Tech news website SamMobile has released an alleged leaked image of Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, which reportedly has a 16MP rear camera with 10X zoom. The image suggests a huge lens on the back and a dedicated camera key on the right, below the lock and volume keys.

Rumoured hardware specifications of Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom include a 4.3-inch screen with 960x540p resolution and 256ppi pixel density and 1.6GHz dual-core processor with 1GB RAM. It is said to pack 8GB onboard storage, support microSD card up 64GB and run on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with TouchWiz Nature UX. Other details about the device include Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi for connectivity and white and black colour options. It is said that this phone will be unveiled at the Samsung event scheduled for June 20 in London.

An alleged leaked image of Samsung Galaxy Note III, the third iteration of the company's successful phablet, too has surfaced online. Tech news websites TechTastic and SamMobile have leaked the image which shows a large-screen phone with curved corners and thin bezel.


According to tech grapevine, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III will feature a 5.99-inch SuperAMOLED touchscreen with 1920x1080p resolution and is likely to be unveiled in September. It is said to have a 13MP camera on the back, support S Pen stylus and run on the latest iteration of Google's Android operating system.