GADGETS - TABLETS - Intex launches budget 7 inch tablet with voice calling feature

Intex Mobile has launched a new 7 inch tablet in the budget range, the iBuddy Connect.

The tablet runs Android Ice cream sandwich operating system on a five-point multi-touch capacitative touchscreen 7 inch display. The tablet will have a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. The internal memory of the tablet is 4 GB and the RAM is 512 MB. You can expand the memory up to 32 GB with a microSD card. The tablet runs on a 1 GHz Boxchip A13 processor and a Mali 400 graphics processor clocked at 350 MHz. 

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Posted in: GADGETS - TABLETS

MOBILES - Karbonn launches dual-SIM A30 with Android 4.0, massive 5.9-inch display

Karbonn Mobiles has launched its 5.9-inch Karbonn A30 - Ta Fone in India for Rs. 12,990.

The device sports a huge 5.9-inch capacitive touch display with 480x800 pixels and runs on Android 4.0. It features an 8-megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash. There's a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera on-board as well.

On the inside, the device is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor. It comes with 4GB of internal storage with external expansion options of up to 32GB.

Connectivity options on the Karbonn A30 - Ta Fone include, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and USB. The device also has Wi-Fi hotspot and USB tethering support.

The device supports dual-SIM functionality (3G+2G) and comes with a 2,500 mAh battery claiming up to 10 hours of talk time. Apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp, PayTM, Saavn and Karbonn Smart come pre-loaded on the Karbonn A30 Ta-Fone.

Expressing his views on the new offering, Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles says, "By devising the Karbonn A30 - Ta Fone, our endeavour is to form the world's first 5.9-inch screen smartphone which blurs the differentiation between a Tablet and a Smartphone and creates a hybrid category of devices which is sure to see a lot of buzz in times to come".

The Indian manufacturer has been launching dual-SIM Android smartphones quite aggressively this year. Last month it launched the A9+ and A21 dual-SIM smartphones with Android 4.0 as part of the company's Duple series priced at Rs. 9,990 and Rs. 11,990 respectively. Prior to this the company launched the A18 dual-SIM Android 4.0 smartphone for Rs. 12,990 in September.

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Posted in: MOBILE - KARBONN

MOBILES - Samsung's Galaxy Note to get Android 4.1 Premium Suite

The first Galaxy Note is due for a taste of Jelly Bean along with other premium features, from Multi Windows to Popup Notes.

Owners of the original Galaxy Note can soon look forward to a host of new features courtesy of Samsung's Android 4.1 Premium Suite.

Touted on the Galaxy Note Web page, the upgrade will deliver Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, to the original Note. But the Premium Suite kicks in several of its own options.

A Multi Window feature lets you view and perform multiple tasks on the same screen. A Popup Note helps you write down information while on a call, while a Popup Video and a Popup Browser allow you to catch a video or surf the Web while doing something else.

With the Photo Note and Photo Frame features, you can write notes on the front or back of your photos. Easy Clip lets you crop text or an image from any screen to save it or share it.

The suite's S Planner allows you to send handwritten notes to yourself, while the Enhanced S Note feature lets you create notebooks with images, videos, templates, and other effects.The Galaxy Note Web page didn't indicate when or how the Jelly Bean update might spill out to Note owners. CNET contacted Samsung for comment and will update the story if we receive any information.

Samsung recently started rolling out the Premium Suite to its Galaxy S3 smartphone.

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Posted in: MOBILE - SAMSUNG

SCIENCE - Last full moon of 2012 rises Friday

The last full moon of 2012 will rise into the night sky this week in a year-ending lunar treat. The full moon is actually an instantaneous event when the moon is exactly opposite the sun in the Earth's sky, and this month that occurs on Friday morning, Dec. 28, at 5:21 a.m. EST (1021 GMT). But, to the naked eye, the moon "looks" full for a couple of days on either side of that time, so the exact date doesn't matter. Many owners of new telescopes are disappointed when they look at the planets. At its largest, the planet Venus is just barely one arc minute in diameter, about 1/30th of the diameter of the sun or the moon, and all the other planets appear smaller than that.

Telescope owners complain that the planets don't look any larger with a telescope than they do with the naked eye. That isn't true of course, because any telescope will magnify everything dozens or hundreds of times. But when something is as small as a planet, even a lot of magnification won't make it look very big.

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Posted in: SCIENCE