We understand that it is a busy week and it's really hard to keep track of everything that goes on in the tech world. So here’s a handy recap of the top news stories this week, which includes some new records, games, smartphones and a whole lot more. Have a look:
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire in next 12 monthsMicrosoft has announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Steve Ballmer, has decided to retire as from his position within the next 12 months. The event will take place upon the completion of a process to choose his successor, according to the official company statement. In the meanwhile, Ballmer will continue as the CEO of the company and lead Microsoft. Microsoft, along with this announcement, has also spoken about its desire to start a transition towards becoming a devices and services company that “empowers people for the activities they value most”.
Google buys patents on virtual image technology from Hon HaiTaiwanese company, Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn, has said that it sold search giant Google part of a patent portfolio that involves the superimposition of virtual images on real-world photos. The technology, also known as Head Mounted Display, is commonly used in aviation and ground displays, engineering and scientific design applications, gaming devices and training and simulation tools, according to the company. The price at which the portfolio was sold was not disclosed, though. It should be noted that Hon Hai is one of the world's largest maker of electronics under contract as well as a major manufacturer of Apple products.
At 5.75 mm thin, Vivo X3 is easily the world's slimmest smartphone
The title of the world’s slimmest smartphone has now changed hands, this time going to the Vivo X3. The smartphone measures a slender 5.75mm in thickness and comes with a host of features. The tiny chassis allows for a 5-inch display sporting a resolution ratio of 1280x720 pixels. Internally, the smartphone is pegged to come with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz and will run Android 4.2 out-of-the-box. Additional features include an 8-megapixel primary camera and a 5-megapixel front shooter. There's even space for a 2000mAh battery. Surprisingly, the super-slim Vivo X3 comes in blue only, while you can also pick the white model which is still impressively slim at 5.95mm.
The title of the world’s slimmest smartphone has now changed hands, this time going to the Vivo X3. The smartphone measures a slender 5.75mm in thickness and comes with a host of features. The tiny chassis allows for a 5-inch display sporting a resolution ratio of 1280x720 pixels. Internally, the smartphone is pegged to come with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz and will run Android 4.2 out-of-the-box. Additional features include an 8-megapixel primary camera and a 5-megapixel front shooter. There's even space for a 2000mAh battery. Surprisingly, the super-slim Vivo X3 comes in blue only, while you can also pick the white model which is still impressively slim at 5.95mm.
The Vivo X3 has now claimed the title of the world's slimmest smartphone
India overtakes Japan to become third largest Internet population in the worldIndia has now become the world’s third largest online population, overtaking Japan once again, according to a new report. The country recorded a huge 31 percent growth year-on-year in terms of unique visitors, with the current number standing at 73.9 million people who access the Internet from a home or work-PC. The data places India after China and the United States, with the former seeing 348.17 million users while the later comes in with 191.37 million unique visitors.
India’s first online digital channel Trendspotters.tv launched
Smartube Entertainment has launched India’s first online digital channel that spots trends across genres, called Trendspotters.tv. A preview of the online digital channel was showcased at the event as part of the launch. The channel is supposed to be India’s first “trendspotting” network to try and pull out trends with the potential of making it big in the future from across the country. The channel comes with a team of dedicated trendspotters aiming at pick these cool styles out through networking. And their focus will be on showcasing micro-trends – fads that could be the next big thing.
Splinter Cell: Blacklist out now on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3One of the biggest games in the stealth genre, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, is finally out for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The PC version comes with a price tag of Rs 1,499 if purchased from retail outlets. The console version costs Rs 2,999 on either system. In addition, there is also a launch-date DLC, which just adds a few new guns on to Sam Fisher’s already-impressive arsenal. The DLC is up for grabs on the digital distribution service of your choice for $2.99 (Rs 200 approx).
The iconic night vision goggles in Splinter Cell: Blacklist
TRAI goes tough on spam calls again; Rs 5,000 fine for violating telcos
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been trying to enforce its tough stand against unsolicited commercial calls and SMSes for a while now. Its latest attempt allows the body to disconnect the phone connections of banks, insurance firms, and realty players if they or someone on behalf of them are found flouting the rules set for unwanted calls and SMSes.
Nokia launches Lumia 925 and Lumia 625 for Rs 33,499 and Rs 19,999The Nokia Lumia 925 and Lumia 625 smartphones have finally launched in India at Rs 33,499 and Rs 19,999, respectively. While the Lumia 925 has been seen for a while now, both phones have now been launched in an official capacity. It should be noted that the Lumia 925 is an upgrade to the Lumia 920 owing to a slimmer and lighter chassis. Nokia has chopped the internal storage down to half though, while raising the price, a point to be kept in mind before buying. The second release, the Lumia 625, takes the place of the Lumia 720 in terms of pricing.
Canonical's ambitious Ubuntu Edge campaign fails despite raising $12.8 million
Canonical’s Ubuntu Edge has definitely one of the most ambitious projects seeking crowd-funding to date. Sadly the project has failed to meet its goal on Indiegogo. It recently broke the record of the most amount of money every pledged to a crowdfunded online site, a figure that Pebble Watch had previously set. More than 27,000 people have contributed to Ubuntu’s smartphone project, but the fact is that it is a failure. The target was $32 million and Canonical was able to collect $12,809,906 on Indiegogo. The company had planned to launch around 40,000 units of the Ubuntu Edge for which it needed $ 32 million. The biggest contributor towards the project was Bloomberg, which pledged $80,000 to the campaign. Unfortunately, no other backer with that kind of moolah pitched in.
Ubuntu Edge fails to reach crowdfunding goal
First batch of Jolla Sailfish smartphones sold out, follow-up campaign a possibility
Finnish startup Jolla has now closed the first batch of orders before the general release of the Sailfish OS-sporting smartphone. The team, which was assembled from Nokia's abandoned Meego experiment, is now looking at planning a follow-up campaign. Back in May, the company launched its “Other Half” pre-sale campaign to understand the demand for its Sailfish OS smartphone. There is no official statement about the exact number of devices that were pre-booked, though. However, a spokesperson for the startup has said that the normal size of a production batch for a mobile device vendor is 50,000 units.
DoT introduces new guidelines for 4G mobile telephony
The Department of Telecommunication has introduced a list of new guidelines that lets 4G players offer mobile telephony. This will allow Internet Service providers (ISP) that hold 4G licenses to offer voice telephony along with high speed Internet. It is also good news for consumers as there have been speculations that the cancellation of telecom licenses would lead to decrease in competition and eventually increase in voice tariffs among the remaining players. In fact, as DoT is now allowing 4G players to enter the voice segment, there is a possibility that the rates may be decreased.
Only 15.13 million Internet connections in India are faster than 256 Kbps
India now has the third most Internet subscribers in the world, thanks to the steady increase in the number of broadband subscribers. According to TRAI, the total broadband subscriber base in India has increased from 15.09 million at the end of April 2013 to 15.13 million at the end of May 2013. That’s a monthly growth of 0.23 percent, but in comparison to the same period in 2012, this represents an annual growth of 5.75 percent. It must be noted that according to the government, broadband speed is 256 Kbps and above. So in essence, only 15.13 million Indians have a 256 Kbps or higher connection.
China's Oppo set to introduce camera-centric N1 smartphone in September
There are quite a few Chinese smartphone manufacturers that remain relatively unknown in other parts of the world. One such player, Oppo, has finally unveiled its camera-centric smartphone, called Oppo N1. The USP of the smartphone is the new “Owl” chip that it sports. The imaging chip has reportedly been engineered for superior low-light performance. Apart from that, the smartphone will also come with the new N-Lens and Xenon flash.
The Oppo N1 may come with similiar specifications as the Find 5 (seen in image above)
Microsoft announces launch line-up for Xbox One
Microsoft has revealed the complete list of games that will be available on day one of the Xbox One launch. The list comes with a wide variety of games from almost every genre, from hardcore FPSes like Battlefield 4 to fighting games like Killer Instinct to casual Kinect-centric titles such as Just Dance 2014. There are even some family-friendly casual titles thrown in, such as Skylanders: Swap Force and Peggle 2. Currently, the closest thing to an Xbox One launch date some of the world has is November this year. India, however, will see the console even later—sometime in 2014.
EA now allows refunds on digitally-purchased games on Origin
EA has announced a new feature for its digital distribution service Origin. The service, called the Origin Great Game Guarantee, essentially lets people get refunds if they find any game they purchased on Origin to be unsatisfactory. Bear in mind, however, that this only applies to games published by EA. Of course, this comes with some restrictions. The refund has to be applied for either within 24 hours after the first launch of the game, within seven days from when it was purchased or within the first seven days after the game's release date if it was pre-ordered over Origin. When the refund request is approved, users will be refunded in seven to ten days.
Nike FuelBand developer Jay Blahnik joins Apple, might work on the iWatch
Apple is going guns blazing towards developing the iWatch and has apparently hired Nike FuelBand developer Jay Blahnik for the project. Blahnik, who is also a renowned fitness expert and instrument consultant, confirmed his new role at Apple in a tweet. While it hasn’t been officially confirmed – since that would also mean confirming the mythical smartwatch is in works – it seems like Blahnik will be developing the iWatch.
Apple is replacing faulty graphics card in a few mid-2011 iMacs
Apple to replace faulty graphics card on a few mid-2011 iMacs
Apple is now conducting a replacement programme for the graphics card in these systems, and has issued a notice to its Support employees too. The model in question was released in May 2011 and its specifications include Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt ports. The company believes that the AMD Radeon HD 6970M cards in 1GB and 2GB configurations in select versions of these 2011 iMacs could fail, causing the system’s display to look distorted, white or blue with vertical lines, or to turn black. The iMacs in question were sold between May 2011 and October 2012.
Micromax planning A240 smartphone with 5.7-inch HD display
Micromax may have plans for its next flagship smartphone. According to sources, the new smartphone, bearing the name A240, may sport a 5.7-inch 720p HD display. The exact launch date is still unclear, though. Other expected features include a 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor as well as Android 4.2 OS running the show. Thrown in is a 12 megapixel rear camera sporting LED flash as well as a 5 megapixel front shooter. Additional features revealed include dual-SIM support, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage as well as a 2600 mAh battery.
Partner of journalist who exposed PRISM detained in LondonDavid Miranda, the partner of The Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was detained at London’s Heathrow airport for nine hours on Sunday, according to the newspaper. Greenwald is best known these days as the journalist who broke the story of PRISM, the NSA's secret electronic surveillance programmes, with the help of information provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Miranda was detained under schedule 7 of the UK Terrorism Act 2000. Miranda was reportedly passing through Heathrow on his way from Berlin to Rio de Janiero, when he was detained by airport authorities.
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