Sunday, May 27, 2012

RIM launches BlackBerry Curve 9320 at Rs 15,990 in India


A little more than a month after the launch of the BlackBerry Curve 9220, Research in Motion has announced the release of the 3Genabled BlackBerry Curve 9320. The phone was first announced two weeks ago.
Much of the features of the 9320 are similar to the 9220. The BlackBerry Curve 9320 is priced at Rs 15,990 in India whereas its 3G-less cousin is priced at Rs 10,990.
Quite like the 9220, the 9330 also includes built-in FM radio and a dedicated BBM key. According to RIM the phone can deliver upto 7 hours of talk time or 30 hours of FM radio listening or music playback with headphones.
It has the latest BlackBerry 7.1 OS and features mobile hotspot support.
At 103 g 9320 is a gram heavier than the 9220, but has a better 3.2 megapixel camera.
BlackBerry Curve 9320 full specifications
- Height 4.29 in / 109 mm
- Width 2.36 in / 60 mm
- Depth 0.5 in / 12.7 mm
- Weight 103 g
- 3.2 MP camera
- Flash
- Video recording
- 4X digital zoom
- Image stabilization
- Extended depth of field
- Geotagging
- Memory: 512 MB eMMC / 512 MB RAM
- Expandable memory: Hot Swappable MicroSD up to 32 GB uSD card
- 1450 mAh removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery (J-S1)
- Talk time: up to 7 hours
- Standby time: up to 18 days
- Music playback time: up to 30 hours (with headset usage)
- 5-key, backlit, narrow QWERTY keyboard
- Optical trackpad
- Send and Menu keys to the left of the trackpad
- ESC and End keys to the right of the trackpad
- Dedicated keys: Send, End (Power), Menu, Escape, Camera (user customizable, convenience key), Volume Up/Down (Fwd/Rwd for media, Zoom for camera), Mute (Play/Pause for media), BBM (user customisable, convenience key), Top Lock
- 802.11 b/g/n enabled
- WPA/WPA2 Personal and Enterprise
- Cisco CCX certification
- Wi-Fi® access to BlackBerry Enterprise Server
- Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry Internet Bundle
- Direct IP web browsing over Wi-Fi
- Audio formats: .mp4, .m4a, .3pg, .3gp2,.m4v, .avi, .asf, .mp3, .wmv, .wma, .flac,.ogg, .aac, .amr, .wav, .mid
- Video formats: .mp4, .m4a, .3gp, .3gp2,.m4v, .avi, .asf, .wmv, .wma
- Picture formats: .bmg, .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif,.wbmp
- Bluetooth headset capable
- Integrated hands-free speakerphone
- 3.5 mm stereo headset capable
- qVGA 320x240 resolution
- 164 ppi
- Transmissive TFT LCD
- 2.44" (measured diagonally)

Yahoo kills 'Livestand' just 6 months after debut


Yahoo has killed Livestand, a tablet magazine, just six months after its debut on the iPad. The decision announced Friday is part of the struggling Internet company's latest turnaround effort. Last month, Yahoo Inc. told analysts it would close or combine about 50 services that haven't been performing up to expectations.
That housecleaning plan was drawn up by Yahoo's former CEO, Scott Thompson, who lasted at the company for an even shorter period than Livestand. Thompson's four-month stint at Yahoo ended two weeks ago when he stepped down amid a flap over incorrect information on his bio.
Yahoo interim CEO Ross Levinsohn hasn't said whether the company still plans to dump as many services as Thompson intended. A Friday post on Yahoo's corporate blog made it clear that more services will be closed, without specifying a precise number.
"When we discontinue products, it will be so that we can focus on opportunities where we lead and where we can create the most meaningful experiences for people using our products, and forour partners, developers and advertisers," the postsaid.
Yahoo began working on Livestand in 2010 after it became clear Apple Inc.'s iPad was going to be popular. But the tablet magazine didn't hit the market until last November, well after a similar iPad application called "Flipboard" had already attracted a large audience.
Nevertheless, Yahoo still had high hopes for Livestand. It was hailed as "sort of a re-imagining of what Yahoo can be," by Blake Irving, the company's chief product officer at the time of the tablet magazine's release. Irving left Yahoo last month after Thompson laid off about 2,000 workers and reshuffled management.
Livestand featured software that could be customized to pull content from Yahoo's own website, and other digital publishers to cater to each user's tastes.
It was the same concept pioneered by Flipboard, which was available shortly after the iPad's April 2010 debut. Flipboard became so popular that Apple named it as its "app of the year" for 2010.

Facebook's market maker losses may top$115 million: Sources


Four of Wall Street's major market makers involved in Facebook's botched initial publicoffering last Friday expect their losses from technical glitches onNasdaq's exchange to be around$115 million.
A software error on Nasdaq OMX Group Inc'sUS exchange delayed the social networking company's market debut by 30 minutes lastFriday. Many client orders were delayed, leading to significant losses to some investors and traders as the stock price dropped.
The exchange operator is facing lawsuits from investors and threats of legal action from brokers.
Claims from market makers look to overwhelm the $13 million fund the exchange aims to set up to deal with potential claims. Nasdaq's liability is limitedto $3 million in certain cases, but electronic trader Knight Capital Group, for one, has said it will fight to be fully compensated.
According to sources with knowledge of the situation:
* UBS AG had trading losses of around $30 million stemming from Facebook's IPO;
* Knight Capital Group saw losses of between $30 and $35 million;
* Citadel Securities booked losses of $30 million; and
* Citigroup Inc's Automated Trading Desk notched losses of about $20 million, according to a source.
A market maker is a firm that stands ready to buy and sell a particular stock on a regular and continuous basis at a publicly quoted price.
Other firms are expected to report additional losses from Facebook's IPO, including a $1 million loss by E*Trade Financial, potentially adding millions of dollars in cumulative claims, sources said.
Regulators, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin are now looking into how the IPO was handled. The US Senate Banking Committee is also reviewing the matter.

Yahoo! Axis Search Browser – Instant Answers and Visual Previews


Yahoo! Axis is a ‘ search browser ‘ available on Desktop PC, iPhone and iPad. It integrates searching and browsing into a single, more efficient experience. Yahoo! Axis provides instant answers and visual previews of top search results.
Yahoo! Axis supports the Apple iPad, iPhone, Desktop broswers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Apple Safari. It is not yet available for Android platform.
Yahoo Axis can be used on a single device or across multiple devices to create a seamless and personalized user experience. Axis automatically recognizes you as you move from device to device, providing a personalized and consistent experience wherever you go.
Yahoo Axis has a Search box to enter your search term. You get search suggestions, visual snapshots of web results, and quick answers to common searches, like the weather forecast or local movie show times.You can save the web page you are currentlyviewing as bookmark for future reference.
You can search the web without ever leaving the web page you are viewing. Easilyreturn to your search results at anytime without needing to use the web browser’s “back” button. Axis provides search suggestions, visual snapshots of web results, and quick answers to common searches, like the weather forecast or local movie show times.
Yahoo! Axis on the iPad and iPhone are web browsers with a built-in search box. Enter search terms or URL in the same box. See search results instantly appear as you type without ever needing to go to a search results page.
You can sign in using your Yahoo, Facebook or Google account, and Axis will automatically recognize you from any of your linked devices.
Bookmark any page for quick access anytime. Your bookmarks will appear as visual snapshots of the web page so you caneasily find the page you are looking for.

Now Smartphone can sense dangerous chemicals | Detect chemicals using phone


Jing Li, a scientist in California's NASA Ames Research Center, has designed a smartphone plug-in device that could sense chemicals from the environment. Current prototype of thedevice works with the iPhone, and plugs into the handset's bottom connector.
The device can detect Chemicals in ambient air such as methane, ammonia and chlorine gas, It's designed to connect to a network through WiFi or a regular phone connection in order to send alerts to other phones also equipped with the device, According to LI, a precious prototype of the device was the size of a soda can - this iteration, however,is touted as one of the smallest complete sensing -device in the world.