Hardware of the week: Kindle Fire

Technical Details Display 7" multi-touch display with IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors. Size (in inches) 7.5" x 4.7" x 0.45" (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm). Weight 14.6 ounces (413 grams). System Requirements None, because it's wireless and doesn't require a computer. On-device Storage 8GB internal (approximately 6GB available for user content). That's enough for 80 apps, plus 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books. Cloud Storage Free cloud storage for all Amazon content Battery Life Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as web browsing and downloading content. Charge Time Fully charges in approximately 4 hours via included U.S. power adapter. Also supports charging from your computer via USB. Wi-Fi Connectivity Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or enterprise networks with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks. USB Port USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) Audio 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers. Content Formats Supported Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8. Documentation Quick Start Guide (included in box); Kindle Fire User's Guide (pre-installed on device). Additional information available online. Warranty and Service 1-year limited warranty and service included. Optional 2-year Extended Warranty available for U.S. customers sold separately. Use of Kindle is subject to the terms found here. Included in the Box Kindle Fire device, U.S. power adapter (supports 100-240V), and Quick Start Guide.

• 20 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books
• Thousands of popular apps and games, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and more
• Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk
• Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content
• Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle
• Fast, powerful dual-core processor
• Favorite children's books, graphic novels, and magazines in rich color
• Amazon Prime Members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming on thousands of popular movies and TV shows. 
• Amazon Prime Members choose from over a hundred thousand books to borrow for free.

Android Market is now Google Play

Google Play is a digital content service from Google which includes an online store for music, movies, books, and Android apps and games, as well as a cloud media player. The service is accessible from the web, the Android app, or Google TV, and all of the content is instantly available across all of these devices after purchase. Google Play was introduced in March 2012 when Google rebranded its existing Android Market and Google Music services.

Movies

Movies are available in US, UK, Canada, and Japan.According to Google there are "thousands" of movies available on Google Play Movies, some in HD, including comedy, drama, animation, action and documentary.Users have the ability to rent movies and watch them instantly on the Google Play website or via the Google Play Movies app on an Android device.Alternatively, users can download movies for offline viewing and view them later using the Google Play Movie app.

Music

On 16 November 2011 Google introduced Google Music with a music store, Google+ integration, artist hubs, and purchasing reflected on T-Mobile phone bills. The three major label partnerships announced were with Universal Music Group, EMI, and Sony Music Entertainment, along with other smaller labels. To celebrate the launch, several artists released free songs and exclusive albums through the store.According to Google there are "hundreds" of free songs in Google Play and "millions" available for purchase. Users can also upload up to 20,000 of their songs to the service, for free.Songs in Google Music are priced at US$1.29, $0.99, $0.69, and free.Users also get personalized recommendation based on what they listen the most. Music can be played on the Google Play website, or any Android device. Music can also be stored for offline playback.

Books

Google Play's books are available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.According to Google there are over 3 million ebooks on Google Play, "nearly 3 million" are free and there are "hundreds of thousands" available for purchase.Books can be read online at the Google Play website, or offline, via the Android app.

Several new features like sharing are also available.

Link : https://play.google.com/store

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Must Haves Of a Computer Part 2!!!!!

1)Google Chrome















Features:-i)Fastest Browser
            ii)Easy user interface
            iii)It has built in malware and phishing protection
            iv)Lots of customizations available(apps, extensions, skins...etc)
           v)Sign in feature helps in saving our settiings so that if we log into chrome from another computer you                                                                      
               can browse with your settings saved before.

Download:  https://www.google.com/chrome

2)Game Booster

Features:-  i)It shuts down unnecessary processes during gameplay and makes gameplay faster.
                 ii)Easy to use
                 iii)It has a game defragmentor that defrags game files.
                 iv)Optimizes the PC well
                 v)Computer comes to normal after gameplay is over.

Download: http://download.cnet.com/Game-Booster/3000-18512_4-10913645.html

3)Youtube Downloader Basic

       Features:-i)The name "YouTube Downloader" is terribly misleading because the program, in fact,        downloads a whole lot more than just YouTube videos. On the developer's site, you can find an extensive list of additional supported sites including Facebook and Vimeo. This wide net of support easily pushes YouTube Downloader to the top of its category.
                      ii)Enables you to download and convert online videos 

                      iii)Convert tab helps in conversion of files

                      iv)It also comes with a mini editor

                      v)Available in many languages.

Download: http://download.cnet.com/YouTube-Downloader/3000-2071_4-10647340.html

4)TeamViewer

Features:-i)Can access froom a computer to another

               ii)Easy to use 

               iii)Chat, Voice and video available

               iv)Record your sessions

               v)File Transfer

Download: http://teamviewer.en.softonic.com/

5)Skype

Features:-i)Free Video Calling

              ii)Free Skype - Skype calling

              iii)Free PC Messaging  

              iv)International Calls at low rates

              v)Group screen sharing

Download: http://download.cnet.com/Skype/3000-2349_4-10225260.html?tag=mncol;6  

Apple IPad 3 Features: Review

Apple unveiled the new Apple IPad 3 on Wednesday. It is expected to have a 9.7 inch retina display and a higher resolution of 2048 X 1536 and around 44% more colour saturation. It delivers four times the pixels, compared to the iPad 2, and the 3.1 million pixels in the Retina display are more than one million more pixels than an HDTV. It is fuelled by the powerful A5X dual core processor with quad-core graphics designed for swifter performance and responsive user experience to support the Retina display. It offers twice the performance, compared to A5 chip, while maintaining the power efficiency.

After camera-less original iPad, the company has shown room for improvements and gladly the iPad 3 features the 5 megapixel iSight camera with support for 1080p video recording. It comes with 5-element lens and IR filter. The new iPad will bring in voice dictation, giving everyone the taste of Siri. As expected, it also supports 4G LTE, it now supports 21Mbps HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA at 42Mbps, with LTE at 73Mbps (Verizon, Rogers, Bell, Telus and AT&T will be the LTE partners). The battery life is maintained 10 hours, while 9 hours on 4G. 

The iPad Wi-Fi + 4G comes with built-in next generation 4G LTE that supports faster networks for HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA, and both CDMA and GSM iPad users can reap the benefits. Personal Hotspot can be used to share the fast network connection on your iPad with up to 5 other devices using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB. On typing the microphone icon on the keyboard, iPad listens to you and converts it into text.  This can be used to write messages, take notes, search the web and more. It works with third-party apps and capable of updating Facebook status, tweeting, or writing Instagram captions.

The new iPad also brings in the latest update to the OS as the iOS 5.1. Chris Cheung from Autodesk showcased the new SketchBook Pro, a drawling app that focuses on art line for artists, exclusively available for iOS from April. Mike Capps, President of Epic Games launched Infinity Blade: Dungeons. Randy Ubillos, Chief Architect for Photo and Video apps talks about reinvention of iPhoto with new gestures, new effects, multi-touch editing, and you can beam photos directly between devices. There’s a new bezel gesture, too. Other elements to be updated are iWork and GarageBand. 

A quick look at the highlights of the new iPad:

• A5X chip with quad-core graphics
• 9.7" Retina display with 3.1 million pixels
• 5 megapixel iSight camera
• 1080p video support
• 4G+LTE
• iOS 5.1 operating system

The new iPad has been dipped in shades of Black and White and will be made available starting March 16. It is now available for pre-order for select countries - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the U.S Virgin Islands. The end of March will see the device reach another batch of countries, like New Zealand, Greece, Hungary, to name a few. Obviously, you won't see India making it to any of these lists, but going by the latest trend, we shouldn't have to wait too long, till the dainty devices reach our shores. The 16GB iPad is priced at $499 (approx Rs.25,092), 32GB at $599(approx Rs.30,120) and $699 (approx Rs. 35,150) for 64GB. For 4G services, the prices are $629 (approx Rs. 31,630), $729 (approx rs. 36,652) and $829 (approx Rs. 41,679), respectively. Obviously, one needs to keep in mind, when the new tablets hit the Indian markets, prices are bound to be on the higher side of the approximate rates mentioned above.

With the launch of the new iPad, the iPad 2 is made available at an affordable price of Rs. 24,500 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and Rs. 32,900 for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.

Hardware of the Week: Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer developed in the UK by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. The foundation plans to release two versions, priced at US$25 and $35 (£16 and £22) plus delivery cost and sales tax. The Foundation started accepting orders for the $35 model on 29 February 2012. The Raspberry Pi is intended to stimulate the teaching of basic computer science in schools.

The design is based around a Broadcom BCM2835 system on a chip (SoC),which includes an ARM1176JZF-S 700 MHz processor, VideoCore IV GPU, and 256 Megabytes of RAM. The design does not include a built-in hard disk or solid-state drive, instead relying on an SD card for booting and long-term storage.

Raspberry Pi Logo

This board is intended to run operating systems based on the Linux kernel, including, but not exclusive to Linux and to support the Python programming language, BBC BASIC, C and Perl.

Back in 2006, Eben Upton was lecturing in Cambridge University when he spotted the drop off in the skill levels of A-level students applying to the Computer Science course. Compared to the 1990s, when those applying had been hobbyist programmers who honed their skills on the likes of Amigas, BBC Micros, Spectrum ZX and Commodore 64 machines, the current crop of applicants had little or no programming skills.

Along with a number of colleagues, Upton came up with the idea of a cheap computer that could easily be installed in schools and universities across the country, giving students access to a computer on which they could learn how to program.

Over the next three years a wide range of colleagues and friends from within the computer industry came on board to help Upton develop the Raspberry Pi and get it to the point it is at today.

The Raspberry Pi is powered by a Broadcom BCM2835 system on a chip (SoC) featuring an ARM1176JZFS CPU running at 700Mhz. The SoC will also support Blu-ray quality playback, using H.264 at 40Mbits/s. In other words, not exactly a powerhouse, but with that video support it can have genuine practical applications for things such as being a multimedia PC to plug into your telly. The graphical capabilities of the pocket-sized computers will be roughly equivalent to an original Microsoft Xbox levels of performance, which isn’t too bad considering it will only cost you $25.

The OS can be downloaded from  http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads .

The cases for Raspberry Pi is yet to be officially released eventhough many people have made some like these.