2012 Revisited: Top five phones launched in India this year

ime for the inevitable best and worst listings. Here is a list of the best phones launched in India (only) in 2012. Hence, please do not request that I be taken to the gallows for not mentioning the beloved Lumia 920 or the new Nexus 4.

Needless to reiterate, 2012 has been a rather active year for reviewers like us. There were smartphones launched as if someone was rolling them off a non-stop assembly line. This made the job of sifting the best from the 'okay' rather tough, considering how most of the competing phones are so close to each other in terms of the overall package. However, after a lot of hair pulling, double-checking the test sheets, bringing on the rival’s viewpoints – the good and the sublimely insane – we have the five best phones of the year. For anyone of you who’s favourite phone may not have made it to the list, all we can say is, sorry!

But do remember, we are only listing phones that have been launched in the Indian market officially, and can be purchased if you walk into a store with the warmth of cash or credit card.

The iPhone(s): Before your curiosity turns into some sort of temper, let us just say this – all iPhones currently in the market are fairly brilliant devices, and clearly one of the best options within their price bands. Look at the iPhone 4. For around Rs. 26,000, it is selling like hot cakes. For most users who want to switch to an iPhone, it is a fairly good bet without crossing the mental barrier of Rs. 30,000. One step up, and the iPhone 4S is still going strong, capable of still weaning away customers from the quad-core power that certain Android phones in that price band show off. And for all the rich people out there, the iPhone 5 has the best possible package – performance, premium build and a nuisance value that will be unmatched – keep it on the table at a party, and no one will bother arguing about which phone is the best!

Read iPhone 4S Review, iPhone 5 Review.

Samsung Galaxy S III: This is by far the best Android phone, at least as far as the performance is concerned. Initially, there was a lot of indignation at the so-called inferiority of the PenTile display. But considering the brilliance of the final package and the way it has been gobbled up by the consumers, the incongruous arguments bandied around at the time of launch have vanished in thin air. I personally know people who used to almost be the torchbearers of that feeble argument, but now they completely deny the existence of that time! The Galaxy S III has survived the test of time, and not without reason. It is totally worth the money, if an Android phone is what you want. Read Samsung Galaxy S III Review.

Nokia 808 PureView: Before you say Lumia 920, we will just say this – we will believe it when we see it. Nokia has been fairly sluggish in launching the new Lumia range in India. However, the 808 PureView did show a way to the future. The 41MP camera and the return of the Xenon flash showed us what the future Lumia smartphones would sport, and it did indicate a bright future! It was a pity that the OS on the 808 ensured that the phone remained nothing more than a cameraphone. Also check out the Nokia 808PureView Review.

HTC One X+: What surprised us is that HTC is not very aggressive about the One X+ in India, and that this phone is priced higher than the Samsung Galaxy SIII, which it is directly competing with! In our benchmark tests, this phone is slightly ahead of the Galaxy S III, and that even surprised us to an extent. The sublime build quality, the brilliant display and the blazing fast performance make this the phone to have, in case you find the Galaxy S III to be too common! C’mon HTC, make this worth your effort. Read the HTC One X+ Review.

Samsung Galaxy Note II: The standout alternate device this year. Builds on the popularity of the first generation Note, and then brings in a lot more. The S-Pen feature and the gamut of apps it can work with makes it a rather worthwhile proposition. The display is even bigger than the previous gen, but that has actually made the device more attractive to potential buyers. Very powerful device, totally worthwhile for in-between experience between a phone and a 7-inch tablet! Read Galaxy Note II Review.

Source: ThinkDigit

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2012 Revisited: Top tech fails of the year

EpicFail. Not that we were hoping that would happen, but certain incidents and products made us wish that the apocalypse predictions actually turned out to be true. Here is a look at the #epicfails from the last few months.

As we look back at the year that lived under the shadow of the Mayan predictions, certain tech companies did their best in an attempt to ensure that people really looked forward to the end of the world. We look back at some stories, incidents, products and issues that left us aghast in amazement and sometimes scratching our heads as well, trying to find the logic in all that.

Apple, where are the Maps?
This is a fairly well documented episode, a mess of sorts that Apple had no response to. Except allowing for the return of the Google Mapsapplication on the App Store, where it inevitably became the most downloaded app within a few hours. With the new iOS operating system release looming, it was announced beforehand that Apple would be doing away with Google Maps and instead push Apple Maps. From the initial leaked images, we were led to believe that the Maps would actually make for a capable product. However, in reality, the exact opposite happened. Apple Maps had no clue where more than half of the world was, and did not recognize the existence of most of the remaining bit. The current joke doing rounds is that the apocalypse was actually using Apple Maps, which is why it got lost. Read Google Maps for iOS 6 Review
 

Instagram and the ToS outrage
Instagram was bought over by Facebook earlier in the year, and recently decided to update its Terms of Service (ToS). The new language seemed to suggest that the photo-sharing network now had the right to use any photographs uploaded by the users for any commercial or advertising purposes, if it so wished, without any prior permission from the person who uploaded it. The resultant uproar was almost deafening. Instagram has since reverted back to the earlier language” describing the ToS. However, the seeds of doubt have been sown, and a lot of users have stopped sharing pictures on the network. However, while we are at it, let us just say that most sharing networks can actually still sell your photographs. So, just be careful about what you upload online. Read 10 awesome new alternatives to Instagram.

Internet censorship
This is a serious matter. Globally, closing down access to websites seems to be the default go-to reaction of a lot of governments/countries, when things are not going in the merry way the people in power had imagined. Even in India, there were calls for controlling the content that goes up on social networks, and Hon. Minister Shri Kapil Sibal became the public enemy number one. We have seen similar Internet blackouts in certain Middle Eastern countries, particularly during even a whiff of a public uprising. China also keeps blocking access to websites at regular intervals, so much so, that no one even bothers about it anymore. The high points did include the activism we saw online during the India Gate demonstrations earlier this month, and also the war of words between Israel and Palestinian outfits a few months back.

Patent madness
This crossed the stage of being funny long back. Once Apple and Samsung got down to a battle royale in various courts globally, it just opened the floodgates. Now, everyone seems to be suing everyone else. Motorola, Nokia, HTC, RIM, Facebook, Yahoo, Google, and Oracle – the list doesn’t end here. The idea now seems simple – want something the other person has, just sue, and hope you win. Else, worst case scenario, back to the same old! Unless you are Apple and Samsung, in which case you can ask for a ban on the sales of the other’s products in that country. Quite frankly, this had become absurd.

Good morning, Siri. I didn’t get that!
The voice assistant, SiriI, did make everyone all excited about using it and experience a phone talk back to you. However, while it was fun for certain users, most of us were essentially talking to a wall. It did not understand half of the world’s accents, and gave some rather weird answers. All in all, it remained a “unique” feature to have on the iPhone, but of not much use.

Google spying
Despite initially feigning ignorance, Google admitted it knew all along that the Street View vans were able to access private data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks, as it drove past, clicking street photographs. All in all, Google had approximately 600GB of data across 30 countries. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave Google a rap on the knuckles, but that seems like small change.

C’mon HP. Make a decision!
Let us look at the facts. HP buys Palm – the complete thing – hardware and the operating system included. Then, it was only last year that HP killed off the WebOS and had a fire-sale to get rid of the stocks of the one and only tablet they made at that time. Now (well, actually back in September 2012), CEO Meg Whitman says that the company needs to “ultimately offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world that would be your first computing device”. Ummmm, okay, that sounds logical. But what changed your mind in less than 12 months? Maybe developing WebOS would have made sense rather than now actually selling an Android and a Windows Phone device.

Metro, oops, Modern UI
Despite initial reactions making it clear that the Metro UI was just adding another unnecessary layer to the experience of using a PC, Microsoft still went ahead and launched it with Windows 8 anyway. It is also important to note that Microsoft cannot use the name Metro UI anymore – legal squabbles! Now, it is called Windows 8 Modern UI. The basic tasks like reaching the good old desktop, or finding the power key to shut down the machine initially is a task, even for those who have been using Windows all along. We do like the Live Tiles and are a rather interesting idea, but it doesn’t work for most users who don’t need that info instantly or isn’t using a laptop with a touchscreen.

BlackBerry’s silence all year
This has been a very silent year for RIM. First up, we were expecting to see the BB10 operating systemsometime during the summer of this year. Then, it was said that the OS is delayed for a while. Now, it is coming at the end of 2013. That is all fair and good, but because of this lack of clarity from RIMs side, a lot of consumers probably shifted for good. Just makes the job harder for RIM in 2013. Also read BlackBerry 10 leaks show BBM video calling, and a brand new task manager.

Sony messes it up, even before it began
Ever since summer 2012, the consumers were given the general impression that most of the 2012 range of Xperia smartphones will be in line for the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update. When Sony released the list of phones and the upgrade schedule, a lot of customers were in for a rude shock. The phones – Xperia U, Miro, Tipo and Sola are not going to get the Jelly Bean update, contrary to expectations. As expected, Sony Mobile is getting an earful on the forums. We do know that all phones can’t be treated with the same software, but the hardware on these phones meets the basic requirements for Jelly Bean.

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2012 Revisited: Phones killed by impractical pricing

There were a lot of good phones launched in 2012, but some of them were rather unfortunate to not have a lot of good luck going their way. Always, because someone in a suit completely wrong decision regarding how much the phone should be priced at.

Apart from the smartphones that became popular this year, there were a lot more competent smartphones that you could have purchased. But did not, because of the unrealistic price of the device in the face of what the competition is offering. Here are some such phones that you would have bought, but couldn’t.

Hopefully, smartphone manufacturers will be slightly more careful and sensitive with the pricing of the devices in 2013, especially in a market like India, where value for money is the essence of shopping.

HTC One X: This phone was launched at around the Rs. 37,500 price bracket. And this was a tad too much always. Yes, this was one of the first phones in the Indian market with the quad-core processor, but that really wasn’t justifying the price tag. The LG Optimus 4X HD arrived in the market priced around Rs. 33,000. Later, the Galaxy S III ensured that it was an undisputed all-round better deal, but even before that, people were wondering why price was still not tweaked. Market forces still ensured that the One X prices were tweaked later, but a little too late. Currently retailing for just around the Rs. 30,000 price bracket. Read HTC One X Review.

Sony Xperia Ion: One of the rather solid phones to be launched this year. But no one even bothered with it, because it was launched with a price tag of Rs. 36,999. This for a phone with a dual-core processor, an inferior display type and with an older gen OS, still, the consumers were having none of it. What was Sony thinking of pitting the Xperia Ion against the Samsung Galaxy S III and the eventually launched HTC One X+? The Ion would have been a very good deal priced around the Rs. 28,000 mark, but Sony didn’t want to hurt the Xperia S. Messed up decisions all around! Read Sony Xperia Ion Review.

HTC One S: The One S was launched on the heels of the One X, and was priced at Rs. 33,590. The One S was ridiculously close to the One X in terms of the price difference, and do remember, the One S is a dual-core processor phone. Despite the excellent performance, people pretty much said, “why should we spend so much for a dual core phone”, and went on to consider a phone from the Rs. 27,000 – Rs. 30,000 price band, which included the likes of the Sony Xperia S and the Motorola Razr. Currently, the One S is retailing around Rs. 25,000, and is a very good deal at that price. Read HTC One S Review.

Sony Xperia SL: Yet another Sony Xperia phone on this list – do you notice a trend? Sony Mobile clearly did not learn from the mistake they made with the Xperia Ion, and priced the dual core Xperia SL at Rs 32549. This suffered from the same syndrome as the HTC One S, and even more so because by the time the SL was launched around the end of October, the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note were the undisputed Android devices to buy upwards of Rs. 30,000. The SL was essentially a minor upgrade over the Xperia S, with the slightly upgraded processor. Everything else, including the looks remain the same, and for currently around Rs. 25,000, the Xperia S makes for a better value phone than the SL that is retailing for around Rs. 29,000. Also check out Sony Xperia SL Review.

Nokia Lumia 900: First, Nokia kept delaying the launch of the Lumia 900 in India. Then, when they finally did in autumn 2012, it was priced upwards of Rs. 30,000. That is not done for a phone that was about to become outdated in a few months in terms of the operating system. As we had said, the Lumia 900 was the best phone in the Windows Phone 7.5 generation, but unfortunately, that generation ends with that phone. Currently retails for around Rs. 25,000, but people believe that the Lumia 800 is still a better bet, selling at around Rs. 18,000. Read more about the device here.

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Dead Space 3 demo coming to PSN and Xbox Live in January 2013

The Dead Space 3 demo will go live on PSN and Xbox Live on January 22, 2013 and the game launches in February, 2013.

The demo for one of the most anticipated survival horror games, Dead Space 3, will be available to gamers on January 22, 2013. The demo will be available via PSN and Xbox Live.

Xbox owners, who can't wait till January 22, can get early access to the Dead Space 3 demo. All gamers need to do is register for a code at http://demo.deadspace.com. EA, the publisher of the game says that the early access codes are first come, first served. The offer expires on January 14, at midnight.

The Dead Space 3 demo will feature the lead protagonist from the past games, Issac Clarke. He crash lands on the planet Tau Volantis alongside co-op partner, John Carver. Dead Space 3 will be available on February 5 in North America, and February 8 in Europe for the PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC.

Dead Space 3 is a survival horror game that was launched on the current console generation and became an instant hit with gamers. The biggest addition to the third game in the franchise apart from the fact that you will now take on human enemies along with the necromorphs is co-op gameplay. Yes, you will be able to play the story along with a friend and we can’t wait to see how the journey pans out.

For those of you that are new to the franchise can take a look at the Dead Space 3 story so far below:

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Huawei Ascend D2 leaks ahead of the CES 2013 unveiling

Leaked images of the Ascend D2 confirm the device has an HD 5-inch display, a quad-core 1.5 GHz processor, 13MP camera, run Android 4.1, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

Huawei is set to launch its much-hyped Ascend D2 phablet at the forthcoming CES 2013 event. Weeks before it is shown to the world, the Ascend D2 has already popped up in the leaked images on the web.

Huawei had announced the Ascend D2 back in October this year. The device is believed to be the successor of the D1 and features a number of improved specs. The leaked images confirm the Ascend D2 has an HD 5-inch display, a quad-core 1.5GHz processor, 13MP camera, run Android 4.1, and a 3,000 mAh battery.

The design of the Ascend D2 is said to be inspired from the iPhone 5, while camera on the back appears to be resembling the one on the HTC One X. Here are the leaked images of the Ascend D2:

Alleged images of the Ascend D2 have surfaced on the web shortly after the company showed off its new 6.1-inch full HD phablet, the Huawei Ascend Mate. Slated to be unveiled at the CES 2013, the device comes with a 6.1-inch full HD display made of low-temperature polysilicon which will allow it to achieve a pixel density of 361ppi, 1.8 GHz quad-core processor and a 4000mAh battery. The Ascend Mate 2 is considered to be the Galaxy Note II rival. 

Source: Phandroid

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BlackBerry 10 leaks show BBM video calling, and a brand new task manager

Video calling might just be a confirmed feature thanks to official-looking leaks that were apparently requested to be to be taken off.

Ever since BlackBerry had announced its launch date, we have seen a steady stream of leaks. We have covered the speculations aboutvideo coming to BBM, the QWERTY keypad photo on the N-series BB10 phone, the leaked photographs of BlackBerry London as well as Z10 alleged to be the next BlackBerry phone.

The latest leaks, apparently from an internal BB 10 presentation, first splashed on CrackBerry forums include official-looking slides talking about BBM with video chat with face-to-face calls and screen-sharing. In yet another BlackBerry slide-leak, a new tasks app, allegedly called BlackBerry Remember will be coming to BB10. According the the leaked slides, Remember will be taking over from the native Tasks app in the next edition of BlackBerry phones. The slide images have been taken off CrackBerry, fuelling rumours that these features are pretty much expected in the newest BlackBerry phones.

The official launch of the new BlackBerry 10 handsets is slated for January 30, 2012 and a lot of buzz around the devices has already been generated thanks to the leaks. While leaks are not really desirable by any company, in Research In Motion’s case, it really has got the tech community excited to an extent about the upcoming phones. For those of you who are already thinking that BB10 is a goner, this opinion piece by Vishal might just make you re-think your view.

Source: CrackBerry 1, 2

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2012 Revisited: Top five tablets launched in India this year

2012 was the year that saw the end of the iPad's dominance in the tablet sphere, with many Android devices of all shapes and sizes taking the quintessential tablet on. Sheer processing power and a tablet-optimized OS finally gave Android a chance.

We have come a long way since the launch of the first generation iPad. Today we have tablets with fantastic displays; some great power under the hood and the gap between the iPad and the competing tablets has vanished, dramatically.

2012 saw the launch of a slew of tablets that have made us question, which is the best tablet out there, and that is a good thing. The iPad may still have the largest number of tablet specific apps, but Android is closing in.

So, here’s a list of the top five tablets in the Indian market that made us turn our heads and drool in 2012:

iPad

Simply put, the iPad is the best performing tablet available in the market today. Apple’s dual-core A6X processor and quad-core graphics powers the current generation iPad (4th gen). Add to that the fact that the device has a Retina Display – 9.7-inches with a 2048x1536 pixel resolution, and the largest tablet app ecosystem, then you literally have the best tablet that money can buy. It comes in three storage options – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. It also comes in two variants Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G.

A fantastic display coupled with fantastic hardware under the hood makes this the best tablet available in the market today.  The third generation iPad brought with it the Retina Display. And today in India we have three 9.7-inch Apple tablets available, the third and the fourth gen iPad, as well as the iPad 2. But we recommend you take a look at the 4th gen iPad as your first purchase option.

Asus Transformer Prime

If iOS isn’t your preferred platform and you are one who prefers the Android OS, then the Asus Transformer Prime is the device for you. The Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, ULP GeForce GPU, and 1GB of RAM power the device. The 10.1 display on the tablet has a 1280x800 pixel resolution, which isn’t as crisp as the iPad but is still very impressive. The Transformer Prime is premium priced at Rs. 50,000 but it does come with a keyboard docking station included.

There is absolutely no doubt that the Transformer Prime is possibly the best Android tablet you can buy at the moment. It has the functionality, the blazing performance, an excellent overall package and to top it off, a brilliant battery life. We will only be nitpicking if we find anything to criticize about the tablet. Except the price, which is quite impractical we feel. At Rs. 49,999, this one is also by far the most expensive Android tablet. The performance and the overall package does justify all that to a certain extent, but the moment you come into this price territory, the consumer inevitably thinks – “why not pick up the iPad, and be done with it?” An answer to that question is rather difficult to give, trust us..

Samsung Galaxy Note 800

The Note 800 too boasts of some great specifications under the hood. Like the Prime, it too has a 10.1-inch display with 1280x800 pixel resolution. Under the hood, a 1.4GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM power the device. One unique thing about the Note 800 is that it shows off the ability to run two apps simultaneously, side-by-side. It also comes with Samsung’s S-Pen, which is capable of some interesting features especially with note taking, drawing and Photoshop apps. The Note 800 is capable of running all the apps from the Google Play store and we are still waiting to see some interesting games launch that take advantage of the S-Pen.

The tablet has everything going for it - fantastic power under the hood, a great display and good battery life. The only thing it has against it is an underwhelming build that can be overlooked considering the overall package. If you are in the market to pick up a premium Android device, go ahead and pick this one up. It is cheaper than the Transformer Prime and is a value for money Android tablet.

Google Nexus 7

If a 10-inch tablet is too big for you, then we suggest you take a look at the Nexus 7. Under the hood, the Nexus 7 is a beast with the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 1.2GHz CPU and ULP GeForce graphics. It also has 1GB of RAM. The 7-inch display has a resolution of 800x1280 pixels making it really crisp and sharp for gaming and browsing. The device runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and can be upgraded to 4.2 as well. It is the best 7-inch Android tablet money can buy.

Jelly Bean has really made the Android experience much smoother. With the Tegra 3 processor keeping things fast on the Nexus 7, the IPS panel ensures a great display with the highly reflective screen being the only drawback. Taking into consideration its US pricing, the Indian pricing has almost a Rs. 5,000 premium, which is a lot of money. Also the 8GB version will offer you only 5.92 GB of usable space, so if you are the kind who like to store their content on their devices, opt instead for the 16GB version.

iPad mini

If a small screen Apple tablet is what you are gunning for, then the iPad mini is the weapon of choice for you. Its display is 7.9-inches with a resolution of 768 x 1024 pixels. It has the Apple A5 dual-core 1GHz processor, PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU and 512MB of RAM. The specifications are the same as the second-generation iPad and that isn’t a bad thing considering that the device can still play all the games and run all the apps from the app store, well. Its compact form factor makes it a great device for an iOS experience.

The iPad mini takes the performance of an iPad 2 and a body that looks like the iPod touch and you have a device that is an eye candy as well as a performer.

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iBerry launches Auxus CoreX2 3G with Jelly Bean, and Auxus CoreX4 3G with ICS

iBerry has announced the launch of the Auxus CoreX2 3G and Auxus CoreX4 3G tablets in India for Rs. 10,990 and Rs. 15,990 respectively.

The Auxus CoreX2 3G has a 7-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. It is powered by a dual-core 1.6GHz Cortex A9 processor, 1GB of RAM and the Mali 400 GPU. The device supports a 3G SIM card not only for data but for voice calls as well. The rear of the device houses a 2MP camera and the front has a 0.3MP camera for video calls. Straight out of the box, the Auxus CoreX2 3G runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Auxus CoreX2 3G has 8GB built-in storage expandable up to 64GB via a microSD card. This is the first time we have seen 64GB expandable memory on a budget device. It also supports Bluetooth v4.0 and a 4,100mAh battery. It is priced at Rs. 10,990.

The next model is the Auxus CoreX4 3G and this is the one we can’t wait to get our hands on. Why? Well for the price of Rs. 15,990 you get a 9.7-inch IPS display with a 1024x768 resolution, apart from a Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core 1.6GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and the Mali 400MP GPU. This device too supports a 3G SIM card for data as well as voice.

The rear of the Auxus CoreX4 3G houses a 2MP camera and the front has a 0.3MP camera for video calls. The device runs on Android 4.0 ICS out of the box, which is a bummer, but it does have 16GB built in storage expandable up to 64GB via a MicroSD card. It also supports Bluetooth v4.0 The Auxus CoreX4 3G has a 7,200mAh battery.

In the past, iBerry has some of the better budget tablet that we have seen hit store shelves such as the iBerry Auxus AX02 and the Auxus AX03G. We have seen a slew of budget tablets hit store shelves in the past 12 months and it’s very easy to lose the best devices in the crowd.

Source: ThinkDigit

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6 of the Best Memes of 2012

Virality. A decade ago, that might have been the name of some sort of Mortal Kombat finishing move. But today, in 2012, virality means success, fame, stardom of a sort in the social media space. And nothing sparks virality more than a good meme.

The tools to create a meme are simple enough. First, find an interesting picture online; Facebook and Instagram are good places to start. Add a funny caption via automated tools likeMeme Generator. Then seed to Twitter, Facebook, 4chan, or wherever else that you think that your meme may get picked up. Wait. Pray. And if you're lucky, who knows?

Headlines don't necessarily create virality; you need a "face" to put on it. Take the Mayan end-of-the-world predictions. Does John Cusack's character from 2012 sum up the conversation? Not really. In fact, nothing did. But take Jeremy Lin: Asian-American, Harvard-educated, fits nicely into the stereotype of nerdy guy emerging from nothing and taking over the NBA. Does Lin deserve his success? Of course he does. But when a charismatic, athletic (should we say heroic?) guy is thrust into the spotlight, it creates its own sensation. And for a few short weeks, "Linsanity" (catchphrases always help!) dominated not only the sports pages, but popular culture around the world. Well, at least he blew out his knee and the world moved on to the next thing.

Source: PCmag

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And Now: Frickin' Laser TVs

xpect an onslaught of coverage of laser projection HDTVs in a week (or not, if the media covering the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show can buy a clue).

So in today's news rundown I see this headline: LG Hecto 100-Inch Laser TV is Perfect for Doctor Evil's Media Room

This is not the first of the laser TV devices, nor will it be the last. The sets use a scanning laser projection technique developed in 1977 but which apparently had to wait for the German patent to run out before anyone could take it seriously. Heaven forbid that the guy make any money from his idea. The first laser TV may have been the Novalux that appeared in 2006. Then in 2008 Mitsubishi showed a device, which it now sells as the LaserVue rear projector TV. It has a street price of around $3200 in a 75-inch set.

The idea is that the laser apparatus can deliver more colors than any LCD display. The LG version is a front projector that can blow out a 100-inch image from 22-inches away. This is done close range, from what I can tell, to prevent anyone from getting in-between the projector and the screen lest they be chopped in half by the laser beams.

I could be wrong about being chopped in half, but I have to assume the light is not good for the eyes.

Of course, like any new HDTV development, it will be front and center at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a convention that seems to specialize in showing the newest TV sets. Personally, I'd rather wait for these sets to show up at some store.

CES has always been a banal show in this regard. Yes, you get to see a 100-inch LCD set. Then a 120-inch TV the next year, then 150-inch. So what? If you want to see a big TV, get a ticket to a Dallas Cowboys game and ooh and aww over the monster LED screens (also made by Mitsubishi) suspended 90 feet above the field at Cowboys Stadium. There is also a big set at Candlestick Park, home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants.

While I'm not a big fan of CES, which attracts a huge international audience, I do admire the operation behind it—the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)—since it always takes the side of the end users in various disputes over copyright and patents. If it were not for the CEA we might not have the ability to record video off the TV and there would be no DVRs for sure. They do great work, but it does not make the CES mega-show any better.

I was under the impression in the late 1990's that all these shows were going the way of the buggy whip as virtual shows were the future. Instead the CES show has gotten bigger!

What is most weird about it from my perspective is that there are probably 3,000 exhibitors and perhaps 9,000 media (or more). This means three media folks for each exhibitor. Yet the media commonly misses the cool stuff and overlooks a lot. Instead there is repetitious coverage of the same old same old—especially the large TV sets that will always attract a crowd of bewildered gawkers.

In the meantime we will have to suffer through one article after another previewing the show, then a week of excessive show coverage. We'll see where the laser TV fits into the picture when that happens.

Source: PCmag

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Amazon Still Tops in Holiday Customer Satisfaction

Amazon once again earned top-of-the-class marks for customer satisfaction during the 2012 holiday season, according to ForeSee's annual Holiday E-Retailer Satisfaction Index.

The online retailing giant has been ranked No. 1 in the index for eight consecutive years. Amazon said Thursday that this year's holiday selling season was its biggest ever, "with over 26.5 million items ordered worldwide on its peak day, which is a record-breaking 306 items per second."

"To achieve such high customer satisfaction scores and sustain them over time is a remarkable feat that remains unmatched by any other e-retailer," ForeSee president and CEO Larry Freed said in a statement.

Amazon.com scored an 88 in a customer satisfaction scoring system maxing out at 100, as compiled by the online customer analytics firm. That was a full three points better than LLBean.com, the second-place finisher in ForeSee's rankings (for the list of the Top 13 E-Retail Satisfaction Leaders, see image below).

"We are grateful to customers for once again ranking us at the top of the ForeSee customer satisfaction survey and for choosing to shop at Amazon this holiday. On behalf of Amazon employees around the world, we wish everyone happy holidays and the very best for the coming year," Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

ForeSee's rankings were based on a survey of more than 24,000 online shoppers conducted between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Amazon's final score marked the second year running that the company has broken its own record for the highest score ever earned by one of the 100 top retailers included in the study.

Amazon offered up some more details about the 2012 holiday season, including the news that the company's own Kindle Fire HD tablet was its top-selling, most gifted, and most wished-for product during the holidays. Amazon also said this year's Cyber Monday sale marked its "biggest day ever" for sales of Kindle devices and that its holiday sales of apps and games for mobile devices grew 250 percent year-over-year in 2012.

Other tech-centric retail sites that scored well in the ForeSee index were Newegg.com, tied for 10th place with a score of 81, Hewlett-Packard's HPShopping.com (80), Netflix.com (80), Shutterfly.com (80), and Apple's Store.Apple.com (80).

The decent showing by Netflix came despite a Christmas Eve service outage affecting users in the U.S., Canada, and parts of Latin America—ironically enough caused by problems at Amazon-run data centers in Virginia where Netflix streaming video service is hosted.

Big gainers in the rankings included Sony's online store, which jumped five points from its 2011 score to achieve a 79 in the 2012 index, and has increased its score by a full 10 points since ForeSee began publishing its Holiday E-Retailer Satisfaction Index in 2005. Amazon's score has risen six points during that period.

There were also some notable declines in customer satisfaction scores for several companies, including three big tech retailers. As noted, Apple's site managed an 80, but that was actually a three-point drop off from its 2011 score, while Dell.com (77) and TigerDirect.com (76) also lost three points on their scores of a year ago.

Source: PCmag

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Report: Apple, Intel Working on Smartwatch for 2013

The year 2012 was another one in which Apple defied market skeptics and delivered an unlikely hit, the iPad mini , in the face of stiff competition.

But it wouldn't be a normal Apple year without at least one last rumor to send us scratching our heads into the new year, anxiously wondering what the company has up its sleeve next. The latest rumor isn't necessarily earthshaking, but it is nevertheless surprising: Sources based in China claim that Apple is working on releasing a smartwatch.

According to a report on China's TGbus.com, the Bluetooth-enabled smartwatch will feature a 1.5-inch touchscreen display and work directly with the iPhone, allowing users to make phone calls and perform other operations from their wrists. First spotted by tech site TheNextWeb, the watch is supposedly a joint project between Apple and Intel.

This new talk of a smart watch might seem outlandish on its face, that is, until you begin to examine some of Apple's recent moves.

Earlier this year, Apple decided to update the iPod nano with a totally new design, one that instantly rendered obsolete iPod nano accessories that essentially turn the device into a kind of smartwatch. Kickstarter projects like the TikTok and LunaTik iPod nano watch straps had raised just shy of $1 million, proving that a healthy market exists for iPod nano owners who want to turn the music device into a kind of smartwatch.

The Digital Watch: A Brief History

So months later, when Apple inexplicably changed the design of the iPod nano to a form factor that many agree is something of a step backward, market speculation immediately focused on the notion that Apple might be attempting to displace would-be smartwatch competitors, and thus clear the table for its own, forthcoming smartwatch.

And then there's the much-anticipated Pebble smartwatch. The upstart smartwatch company is famously listed as the most successful Kickstarter project ever, raising over $10 million during its brief fund-raising period.

One other piece of related Apple news to consider is the company's recent deal with the Swiss Federal Railway. After the launch of iOS 6, the Swiss organization claimed that Apple had included its watch face design in the updated iPad operating system, thus violating the organization's trademark. The two parties soon came to an agreement that allowed Apple to license the iconic watch face design. Although terms of the agreement were not confirmed by either company, one Swiss news source claimed that Apple paid about $21 million for the license.

The notion that Apple would pay such a high price for the use of a simple watch face design inside iOS 6 that could have easily been changed raised quite a few eyebrows. But that move also serves as yet another hint that Apple may have bigger plans for that watch face design beyond using it as a mere component of iOS 6.

Apple itself has offered no direct indication that it's developing a smartwatch, but it would be a good idea to watch this space for more as it develops.

Source: PCmag

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Samsung Aims to Sell Half a Billion Handsets in 2013

Samsung thinks it can sell more than half a billion mobile phones in 2013, according to a report from a South Korean newspaper that's been picked up by several media outlets.

The South Korean tech giant anticipates moving a whopping 510 million handsets next year, including 390 million smartphones, an unnamed source at a "key" Samsung supplier told the Korea Timesrecently. If the company pulls off that feat, it would be a 20 percent increase in Samsung's estimated 2012 sales of 420 million handsets, according to the newspaper.

The full figures for 2012 aren't in yet, but theKorea Times aggregated several research firms' numbers for the first three quarters and placed Samsung's handset shipments for those nine months at roughly 288 million, with the holiday quarter to go.

The newspaper cited sources in Samsung's Asian supply chain as saying that in 2013, the company "expects to manufacture 240 million [handsets] at its Vietnamese factory, 170 million in China, and 20 million in India to complement the 40 million to be produced in its Korean factory in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province."

Samsung Galaxy S III (MetroPCS)

Samsung's aggressive forecast on smartphones reflects the company's meteoric rise in the category with Android-based devices like its series of Galaxy-branded phones. Samsung sold fewer than a million smartphones in 2009, the newspaper noted, but had surged passed Apple to become the top smartphone maker in the world by the third quarter of 2011.

Since entering the smartphone market four years ago, Samsung's annual sales figures went from roughly 600,000 units in 2009 to 23.9 million in 2010 to 97.4 million in 2011, and could top 400 million this year.

By the third quarter of 2012, Samsung held a 32.5 percent share of the global smartphone market, selling 55 million smartphones in that three-month period, according to Gartner. Overall, Gartner pegged the company as selling nearly 98 million handsets of all kinds in the third quarter, and Samsung itself anticipates selling 120 million feature and budget phones in 2013 in addition to its aggressive smartphone sales forecast, the Korea Times reported.

Other research firms, including IHS iSuppli, are anticipating that Samsung will pass Nokia as the top seller of mobile phones of all stripes in 2012, ending the Finnish company's nearly 15-year reign as the top handset maker in the world.

Gartner has projected sales of more than 1 billion smartphones and tablets from all vendors in 2013, up from the 821 million smart gadgets the firm is estimating will have been sold in 2012.

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