Tech Update [Ep 1]

Starting from this week will will be changing the phone tech update to tech update. The tech update is a weekly update about everything tech. We will also do some recaps of the week's hottest topics. 

This week we started off with Apple and Samsung in court and the state that the court is now, this case does not look like it is going to end anytime soon. This week we saw manufacturers talking about Q2 earnings and comScore results are out as well as a global smartphone market share analysis was done by canalys. Then in the middle of the week a report showed that the adoption rate for ICS has doubled in Q2. Then late this week the GTX 660 Ti leaked with a launch date of August 14. 

This week Apple patents a smart cover which has a secondary camera. This patent is essentially described as a smaller display on the smart cover itself. This is something like the accessory the surface tablet has but the only difference is this has a secondary display and the surface tablet cover has a keyboard and a trackpad. there are many potential uses for this extra display, one of them are the function to control music. There could also be a possibility for it to be a virtual keyboard. 

Yesterday we reported that Samsung will be announcing the next gen Galaxy Note in their IFA event. Which leaves the Galaxy Note 10.1 out of it. Then shortly after the Galaxy Note 10.1 was up for pre-order at Negri Electronics and will ship the same day. This tablet is not on the cheap side, it is priced a $750 which is more expensive than average android tablets. But with that price you will be getting a 1.4GHz Quad Core processor, 2GB of RAM, HSPA, and a 10.1" display with a WXGA resolution. And the star of the show is the S Pen that comes with the tablet and has a dedicated slot for it. This tablet can do extraordinary things which other tablets can do with its S Pen. For the hefty price this tablet might not catch the eyes of consumers. The front bezel design of this tablet is pretty similar to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. 

Nvidia is expected to announce the remaining cards in the 600 series in the August-September time frame. They already unveiled the their high end card the GTX 680, GTX 670 and GTX 690 and their basic card the GT640. So whats left is their midrange and entry level cards which are the GTX 660 and GTX 650, these two cards are aimed at people looking for price per dollar. The GTX 550 and GTX 560 series has already been discontinued and will be replaced with 600 series cards in the coming weeks.  When a product discontinuation notice for a particular product is issued, distributors are set a last day for placing orders for it, after fulfilling the last orders, the product's status is changed to End of Life (EOL) The GTX 560 Ti replacement which is the GTX 660 Ti will be launching on August 14. This is also a good thing because when the new cards launch Nvidia will have a healthy amount of it. 

Intel launched their ivy Bridge core i processors on April and ever since then gamers and enthusiasts have been waiting for an ivy Bridge-E processor and now it seems like we have a time frame for when it will be released. Apparently it will only come in Q3 2013 which is about one year from now. These ivy Bridge-E processors will be compatible with the X79 chipset and the LGA 2011. Furthermore, ivy Bridge-E processors will bring PCI-E 3.0 support to X79 motherboard. It is still not clear whether intel plans to launch a new chipset for the ivy Bridge-E processors or stick to the X79 like what they did on the X58 platform which supports Bloomfield and Westmere Core i7's. That's not all that was leaked in the roadmap, in there it is also pointed that hashwell processors will launch on Q2 2013, alongside with it intel will also introduce the new socket which is the LGA1150. 

Metro is pretty much a very normal word we hear. Microsoft has been using the name for their UI metro ever since it was debuted on the Zune HD in 2009. Metro has been a key point for Microsoft in these past years as it is on most of their softwares including Windows Phone, Office and Windows 8. Microsoft has stopped using the metro name for their UI which is effective immediately and they also ask developers to stop using the metro name in their apps. There is no official reason why Microsoft made the decision but it is rumored that the sudden changes is due to legal issues with a german company over the name metro. One thing we are sure is the UI is not going anywhere. According to The Verge, Microsoft has sent an internal memo to its employees informing them about the change and mentioned that it was brought up due to "discussions with an important European partner". So it seems like Microsoft has to find a new name to replace its popular name for their UI. So now they will be referring metro a 'Windows 8 Style UI'

• CM9 Beta 10 For Galaxy Ace
• GTX 660 Ti
• GTX 660 Ti Benchmarks
• Outlook.com Replaces Hotmail
• comScore Q2 Results
• Galaxy Note II
• Global Smartphone Market Share 

[Source 1], [Source 2], [Source 3], [Source 4], and [Source 5]

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[REVIEW] Smart Stay EX

Smart Stay EX is an application which allows users to have the Smart Stay feature on the Samsung Galaxy S III. For this app to work you phone must have a front facing camera. This app basically uses the front facing camera to detect whether the user is looking at the phone and if the user is, then Smart Stay makes sure the phone screen stays on so the user can continue to read or do whatever they were doing. If not, it’ll shut the screen off. It thus more accurately controls the screen based on how the user is using it and you can get rid of the annoying action of having to turn on the screen or touch the screen so that your screen stays on.

Conclusion

This is a very excellent app in the google play store. I highly recommend this app to users who like to read or browse the web. For the price of a little over $1 for the full version the app is totally worth the money. I highly recommend you to try the lite version before purchasing the full version. There are not many differences between the lite and full version. So the lite version is pretty capable of what it is set to do, the pro version just has some other options. So for this app i give it an Editors Choice. Click the links below to download this app. 
Smart Stay EX Lite
Smart Stay EX ($1.05)

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Logitech TV Cam HD

 The logitech TV Cam HD is a HD webcam which is used in TV's and can support up to 720p video and all without a computer or mobile device. The webcam has skype built into it and the setup is pretty simple. It connects through a HDMI and ethernet port or WiFi g/n. This webcam has noise cancellation microphones and a Carl Zeiss optics. It is priced at $199.99 and  is now available for pre-order here. For the price of $200 this is not expensive and not cheap so if you want a solution which doesn't require a PC this is the solution for you. 

Source: Vr-Zone 

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Acer Incorporated, Intel, Qualcomm Incorporated and SingTel-Optus Joins Futuremark To Develop A 3D Mark Benchmark For Android

PRESS RELEASE 

Futuremark is proud to announce that Acer Incorporated, Intel, Qualcomm Incorporated and SingTel-Optus have joined its Benchmark Development Program to create a new 3DMark gaming benchmark for Android-based tablets and smartphones. The Futuremark Benchmark Development Program gathers input and expertise from the world's best and most technologically advanced companies to create industry standard benchmarks for performance measurement. 3DMark for Android is expected to be released later this year.

Jukka Makinen, Futuremark CEO said, "For more than 10 years, we have worked with the world's leading PC hardware manufacturers to create 3DMark and PCMark. As a result, Futuremark benchmarks are the industry standard for PC performance measurement used by hundreds of press publications and millions of end-users. As we bring 3DMark to a new OS for the first time, we are excited to expand our cooperation to include Acer, Intel, Qualcomm and SingTel-Optus, technology leaders who will bring unparalleled insight, experience and vision to the development of 3DMark for Android."
Launching later this year, 3DMark for Android will measure gaming performance using graphics rendering, CPU and physics tests with stunning real-time graphics that will push OpenGL ES2.0 to the limit. The results from 3DMark for Android will be comparable to the results from the new 3DMark for Windows, also to be released later this year.

Wason Shyu, AVP, ADC BU, RD Center, Acer said, "As one of the top volume consumer electronics and notebook PC companies in the world, we use 3DMark to analyze performance in an objective and scientific manner. This assists in providing our customers with products of the very highest quality that are ready for the most demanding tasks, whether it is exacting physics computations or the purest video game experiences."

Shervin Kheradpir, General Manager of Intel’s Platform Evaluation & Analysis said, “Intel is committed to providing feedback and assistance in the development of tools that intend to evaluate user experience and performance of computing products. Whether we participate in a formal consortium or in the Futuremark Benchmark Development Program we are glad to be part of groups seeking to modernize measurement methods that can keep pace with the rapidly evolving computing industry. We are pleased to see Futuremark bring 3DMark to the Android operating system.”

Tim Leland, Director of Product Management at Qualcomm said, "As the leader in mobile GPU shipments last year with its Snapdragon processors, Qualcomm values impartial measurement of graphics performance. By joining the 3DMark for Android Benchmark Development Program, we’re glad to be working with Futuremark and the other members of the Program to help ensure that the resulting benchmarks are representative of future, real-world 3D graphics content for Android smartphones and tablets."

Futuremark's Benchmark Development Program is an initiative for building partnerships with leading hardware and technology manufacturers. Members include AMD, Imagination Technologies, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Samsung and many other world class companies. An open process of close co-operation helps Futuremark create high-quality, impartial benchmarks that set the industry standard for performance measurement. Find out more at http://www.futuremark.com/bdp/.

3DMark for Android is currently in development and is expected to be released later this year. Follow Futuremark on Facebook for the latest 3DMark news http://www.facebook.com/Futuremark or visit http://www.futuremark.com


Source: Techpowerup 

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Temple Run Achieves 100 Million Downloads

Temple Run is no doubt one of the best games in iOS and Android alongside angry birds. Like angry birds t his game is very addicting. They have just broke 100 Million downloads and just in 1 year. This game debuted in iOS for 99C and then became free after a month. Overall this game is loved by the two platforms and 13% of the total downloads were from USA. Here is a infographic about temple run.

Source: Phonearena 

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Bladepad Hits Kickstarter, Turns An iPhone Into a Gaming Pad

Ever played games on your iPhone or any iOS device and couldn't play the game properly because of the controls, bladepad is the accessory for you. Bladepad is a detachable gamepad with controls and connects via bluetooth. The bladepad has went to kickstarter and they need $55,000  pledges. The way this works is it connects through a detachable slider on the case they provide to you and you can easily detach it. You can use this on any iOS device. The gamepad has LED illuminated keys to aid in gaming in the night. Overall this is a very good concept and it is not the accessory for everybody. So if you like this head on over to kicstarter to pledge.

Source: Kickstarter

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Galaxy Note II Coming In August 29

Yesterday we reported that Samsung has sent out invitations about their IFA Samsung Moblie Unpacked event. There were speculations that Samsung will eitherunveil the Galaxy Note II or the Galaxy Note 10.1 in the event. Today a Samsung representative said "We plan to unveil the next Galaxy Note at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in Berlin on August 29." This has been rumored and is said to be before the launch of the iPhone 5 to put users attention away from the iPhone. This confirms the Galaxy Note II launch but what about the Galaxy Note 10.1 ? Apparently Negri Electronics started taking pre-orders for it and will ship today. We will be talking more about it in our Weekly Tech Update (Formerly Know As Phone Tech Update). So mark your calenders for August 29 as it is the debut of the Galaxy Note II


Source: Phonearena

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GTX 660 Ti Will Launch On August 14

A few days back we reported the the GTX 660 Ti is said to be launched on the 16th of August. But today an online retail store in Sweden is starting to take pre-orders fro the Asus GTX 660 Ti Direct CU II. The card is priced about 300-350 USD. The GTX 660 Ti reference model will include 2GB of GDDR5 memory which is similar to the GTX 670. The card will be the fourth and last card to have the GK104 chip by Nvidia. The GTX 660 Ti like the GTX 670 will have a locked down GK104 chip which has 1344 CUDA cores and the reference PCB will be similar to the one found in the reference GTX 670. So prepare yourself for August 14 which is aapproximately 10 days left. 


Source: Wccftech 

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EK Launches Waterblock For EVGA SR-X And MSI HD 7970 Lightning

PRESS RELEASE

EK Water Blocks, premium water cooling gear provider, has released two new water blocks - the EK-FB KIT SR-X for EVGA Classified SR-X motherboard and the EK-FC7970 Lightning for MSI's premium R7970 Lightning graphics card.

EK-FB KIT SR-X full-board water block kit is a complete liquid cooling solution for EVGA Classified SR-X (270-SE-W888) motherboard. The water blocks directly cools Intel C606 southbridge (PCH), PLX PEX8784 PCIe lane splitter controller and power regulation (VRM / MOSFETs) module of both CPUs. Please note this water block cools exactly as much heat generating components as EVGA factory cooling solution. It is medium-high to high flow water block that can be easily used with systems using weaker water pumps. It is available in two variants - Nickel and Acetal+Nickel.

EK-FC7970 Lightning (abbrevated as 'LTG') is a high performance full-cover water block for engineered specifically for MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning series graphics cards. Please check our Cooling Configurator online compatibility system for detailed compatibility list!

This water block directly cools the GPU, RAM as well as VRM (voltage regulation module) as water flows directly over these critical areas thus allowing the graphics card and it's VRM to remain stable under high overclocks. EK-FC7970 Lightning water block also features a very high flow design therefore it can be easily used in liquid cooling systems using weaker water pumps. The angled connection terminal EK-FC Link is already bundled with each water block and allows for up to four cards to be connected via EK-FC Bridge & Link CSQ system. The bridges are available for separate purchase through EK Webshop. The water block is available only in Acetal+Nickel variant. Both products are readily available for purchase through EK Webshop.


Source: TechPowerUp 

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Canalys Shows State Of Global Smartphone Market

Every Quarter there are reports talking about OS market share and OEM market share in the US. But today canalys released a report which talks about the state of the mobile world in Q2. The report is mainly about China because they have broke the smartphone shipments for the second quarter in the row. As usual android is in the top with 107.8 million of shipments in Q2 2012 compared to 51.2 million in the past year. That brings a 110.4% yoy growth. Their market share rose fro 47.6% to 68.1% which means half of the smartphones on the face of the earth is running android. An interesting point is that if you add up the total shipments of all OS in 2011 the value is pretty close to the total shipments of android smartphones in 2012. Apple in the other hand is in second and they growed 28% bringing their shipments up from 20.3 million to 26 million, but their market share dropped from 18.9% to 16.4%. Blackberry dropped 32.1% and bringing their shipments down to only 8.5 million from 12.5 million and their market share drastically dropped from  11.6% to only 5.4%. Symbian is also not far from blackberry they dropped 64.6% bringing their total shipments this year to 6.4 million from 18.1 million the previous year. Their market share was even worser than blackberry's one from 16.8% last year to only 4.1% this year. Windows phone's market share doubled with a 277% increase of total shipments, their market share is now 3.2%. Bada only increased 5.1% which is the least amongst the others. As to manufacturers, Samsung still kept their first place as top smartphone vendor with a total shipment of 31% of all shipments. They are also responsible for android's growth with 45 million handsets of the 107.8 million being samsung smartphones. Apple took second and nokia was third, HTC was fourth snatching the title from RIM. Although Huawei and ZTE see some increasing growth in china it still wasn't enough to put them in the top 5. 27% of the smartphones in the whole world were shipped to china compared to 16% to the US. ZTE, Lenovo and Huawei got second third and fourth in the china market. Together they all account for 1 third of the total shipments in china. Like in the US Samsung is still in the number 1 position. Apple was placed in fifth in the china market and their shipments went up 102% yoy. Nokia in the other hand lost 47% of shipments in china and Motorola's shipments aren't doing well. HTC's shipments increased 389% which totals up to 1.8 million of the 25.6 million shipments in china. And finally android accounts 81% of market share in china which makes it the OS of choice. 

Source: GSMArena 

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Galaxy Note 2 Coming On August 29th In IFA Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2012

Samsung has just sent out invitations for their IFA Samsung Mobile Unpacked event which is on the 29 of August. The invitation itself indicates that it will be part of the Galaxy Note line of products. The big S Pen in the invitation says it all. But we don't know which one will be revealed either the Galaxy Note 10.1 or the Galaxy Note 2. The original Galaxy Note is now 10 months and is awaiting a refresh. Rumors say that it will be unveiled at IFA and the probability of Samsung unveiling it at IFA is quite high. Some of the rumors say that it will have a 5.5" display, quad core processor like the on on the Galaxy S III, and Jellybean preinstalled. There is also a slight chance that Samsung might also officially launch the Galaxy Note 10.1 alongside the launch of the Galaxy Note 2. Nevertheless IFA is in the end of the mont and that is about 3 weeks more. So to those who love the original Galaxy Note mark your calendars for August 29. 

Source: Phonearena 

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Leaked Images Show How Microsoft Plans To Teach Users How To Use Windows 8

Microsoft is set to launch windows 8 on October 26 and the RTM is slated to be released to manufacturers by mid august. One blogger managed to install and document the whole process of installing windows 8. Apparently in the final version Microsoft is adding a guide during the setup process of windows 8 and it tells the user all about then new features in windows 8. The key point of the features shown is how the new start button is launched since the start button in windows 8 is no longer there anymore. This guide which Microsoft has bundled with windows 8 might help users to learn how windows 8 and metro works. 


Source: TheVerge 

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iPhone 5 Panels Will Start Shipping This Month

There have been many rumors about the next gen iPhone and most of the rumors look to be true. Starting this year Sharp, LG and Sony were manufacturing Apple's display and replacing former maker Samsung. Today the president of sharp Takashi Okuda made brief announcement after releasing their quarterly earnings. He said that "Shipments will start in August" and this was the exact thing he said, he did not mention anything else. This means that production of the iPhone 5 will commence this month, the rumor that foxconn has started test production last month seems to be true. If the rumored September 12 launch for the iPhone 5 then Apple only has about 1 1/2 months left. 


Source: Phonearena

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Ice Cream Sandwich Adoption Rate Doubled In Q2

While the market share of android in the US increased, android adoption rate also continues to grow. This time there is some good news a ICS adoption is now doubled and has now surpassed froyo. But still gingerbread is still one of the most used version of android. The doubling of ICS adoption was mainly because manufacturers were pushing updates to existing devices, ICS devices rolling out and the fact that the Galaxy S III is now out. Gingerbread still holds a massive 60.6% whereas froyo has 15.5% and ICS is not far with 15.9%. Jellybean had a 8% adoption which is pretty amazing because it is only out for a month or so. 

Source: Phonearena

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comScore Q2 2012 Report

This is the time of the month where the quarterly report comes out. This time android an iOS grew and left symbian, windows phone and RIM losing market share to the two giants. Android increased 0.6% and it was at its all time high. Apple in the other hand is rapidly gaining market share by increasing 1.7% for a total of 32.4%. Which leaves RIM, microsoft, and symbian in the dust, they lost 1.6%, 0.1% and 0.5% respectively. RIM still hold the top 3 space as the prominent OS but that might change in Q3 with the ever changing market.

In the manufacturer side Samsung is still leading with 25.6% of market share and still keeps their number 1 position. Apple and HTC was the only 2 companies which manage to increase their market share. It feels like every quarter apple is the only one increasing their market share significantly. Nevertheless Q3 does not look so good for apple and microsoft as the next gen iPhone and Windows Phone 8 devices will only come in Q4. The presence of the Galaxy S III in Q3 might change everything. 

Source: Phonearena

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Outlook.com Feature Walkthrough

If you have been following us today, by now you should know that outlook.com officially launched today. The amount of users are growing rapidly. So if you haven't switched you hotmail yet, you better act fast before your name of your choice might be taken away. Here is a quick video by Microsoft explaining the new features of outlook.com and what makes it stand out. 

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iOS Interface Concept

iOS 6 is the next iteration of iOS, since it was introduced 5 years ago on the original iPhone the interface didn't change much at all. iOS 5 is one of the versions which things do change, but to me iOS 6 is just a small leap for apple. Here is a concept video which show what apple could have done by implementing some of the features found in OSX in iOS. 

Source: Phonearena

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Outlook.com Score 1 Million Users In Just 6 Hours

The new hotmail dubbed outlook was officially launched today. Since then it has gained 1 million users, and that is just under 6 hours. The new hotmail changes the all familiar hotmail.com to outlook.com. Metro UI design has been added also. Personally i think this is one of the best mail services to date. 

Source: CNET 

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Outlook.com Officially Debuts. Replaces Existing Hotmail.com

Microsoft launched Hotmail in 1996 and it has been nearly 16 years. Compared to its rival Gmail, Hotmail only has 300 million + users opposed to 400 million + users on Gmail. Hotmail has evolved a lot since it was announced 16 years ago. Today Outlook.com officially debuts and it will replace the existing hotmail.com and live.com users. The new outlook.com redesigns the whole interface of hotmail and gives it some metro styled interface. To upgrade to outlook.com users must create a new ID. The new outlook.com can connect to some services like facebook, youtube, twitter and many more. To switch to skydrive or your calenders simply click the outlook icon on the top left corner and a pop up will appear. The messaging i con is on the top right corner and you could do skype calls with it also. Personally i think that the new hotmail has a more cleaner look to it. For me Hotmail has always been my primary email, gmail was very clean but just does not offer what hotmail can offers. With this new look hotmail has just gone better. 

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