Monday, April 30, 2012

How does a submarine works

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In this post we are going to tell you that how a submarine actually works. The basic working principle of a submarine was given by Jules Verne in his science fiction, "20,000 Leagues under the sea".Even before submarines were thought about verne had created a blue print of this technological marvel. He briefly explained the machine and its working.

The basic principle according to which a submarine goes up and down inside the seawater is the fact that air is lighter than water.

A submarine has huge tanks called the ballast tanks. These ballast tanks play a key role in diving and resurfacing of the submarine.When the submarine has to dive the ballast tanks are filled with seawater. This makes the submarine heavier and helps in sinking.

And when the submarine has to resurface the water is pumped out of the ballast tanks and compressed air is forced in. Once the tanks are filled with compressed air the submarine becomes light again and begins to float.

Piaggio to launch bikes and more scooter models in India

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Piaggio, the largest European scooter-maker, on Saturday said it will invest 20 million euros in its India unit and is looking at launching three and four-wheelers in light commercial vehicles (LCVs) space, along with more models of scooters and motorcycles here.
 "The investment at Baramati is part of our strategic plan, which sees this market as a significant destination in our growth trajectory. We have planned investment of 50 million euros of which we have already invested 30 million euros in the Baramati plant. 

Earlier, while inaugurating the facility, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar urged Piaggio management to hire people from Baramati at its plant. The company directly employs over 3,000 and a larger number indirectly, to support its operations.


Indian railways to track train movement through a software

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On Friday Indian railway declared that they are going to deploy a software to track the movement of their trains over its network.This will be done in next 18 months with the help of SIMRAN (Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation).
This system will eliminate the need for telephonic enquiry about the location of trains.This system provides precise location of the trains through interactive mode on mobile phones and laptops.

Mozilla dispatches Firefox 3.6, fills its chair with version 13 beta

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Mozilla dispatches Firefox 3.6, fills its chair with version 13 beta
If you've been defiantly clinging onto Firefox 3.6 by your fingertips, bad news. Mozilla is officially putting it to sleep -- whether you like it or not -- by auto-updating users to version 12. You've still got a few days to bid your emotional farewells, with the switchover being pegged as early May. But, the browser's creators stop short of setting a date for you to get the flowers delivered by. Official support for the 2010 release finished this week, and the final bout of security fixes was back in January. At the other end of the spectrum, Firefox 13 wobbled up onto its beta legs yesterday, bringing a new homepage, Google's new SPDY protocol and tab extra features with it. If you're making the leap, don't panic if you find some old friends missing.

Man breaks world record for longest phone call

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Much to the chagrin of teenage girls everywhere, a menacing looking, middle-aged man named Tony Wright has broken the world record for the longest phone call. According to reports, the man talked on an IP phone for 40 hours, and was apparently still deeply involved in the conversation (witha woman named Jenny Barnard) when reporters started showing up. The previous record was held by two anti-social folks from neutrality-loving Switzerland named Sandra Kobel and Stephen Hafner, having chatted away for 39 hours, 18 minutes, and 24 seconds. When asked what he had talked about for over 40 hours, Tony said (while twirling his hair), "Well, I heard that Bobby had dumped Lisa, and I was like, No way! And then Jenny said that everyone knew that Bobby was a dirtbag from the start, and I just thought..."

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Lenovo's Eedoo CT510 motion gaming console to finally hit China, wants your $600

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$600 Lenovo-funded CT510 console to finally hit China, even company director unimpressed
Product delays that push back release dates a full year are never good. What's worse? When that product finally does launch and even someone inside the company votes against it. That's exactly what's going down with the CT510 GameBox, the Eedoo Kinect competitor for the Chinese market. Though it's gone through a fair share of reincarnations before arriving at its current config (it was formerly known as the eBox), the final package has a dual-core CPU, a minimum of 250GB in HDD storage and a 3D GPU, and comes pre-installed with eight games and ten apps. All told, it will cost a cool 3,799 yuan ($600) when it ships on April 29th -- some very ambitious pricing, considering that the imported Xbox with Kinect (the console isn't officially available in China) already sells for about $459 in China, according to M.I.C. Gadget. A director from the Lenovo-backed company seems to agree: in a Sina Weibo poll asking users whether they'd buy the product (pictured after the break), he selected the answer, "No way! Price-to-performance ratio too low." Though to be fair, the gentleman later clarified that it was an honest mistake, and that his company is targeting the high-end family users instead of the core gamers. Well, we shall let the sales figures do the talking.

USC develops printable liquid solar cells for flexible, low-cost panels

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USC develops printable liquid solar cells for flexible, low-cost panels
Solar cells are becoming more viable sources of energy -- and as they become more efficient, they're only getting smaller and cheaper to produce. Liquid nanocrystal cells are traditionally inefficient at converting sunlight into electricity, but by adding a synthetic ligand to help transmit currents, researchers at USC have improved their effectiveness. The advantage of these liquid solar cells? They're cheaper than single-crystal silicon wafer solutions, and they're also a shockingly minuscule four nanometers in size, meaning more than 250 billion could fit on the head of a pin. Moreover, they can be printed onto surfaces -- even plastic -- without melting. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to pave the way for ultra-flexible solar panels. However, the scientists are still experimenting with materials for constructing the nanocrystals, since the semiconductor cadmium selenide they've used thus far is too toxic for commercial use.

Panasonic details radar-based technology that can detect collisions in low light

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Collision detection for cars? Yeah, scientists are on that. But whenever we read about concepts like this, the accompanying literature is often curiously light on details pertaining to real-life driving conditions; it's often unclear how well the tech will fare if you dredge it up on a foggy day, or in the middle of torrential storm. But in that press release you see down there, low visibility and poorly lit roads are allPanasonic wants to talk about. The company just unveiled its new crash-avoidance system, which, like other concepts we've seen, uses millimeter-wave radar technology to detect pedestrians and bicyclists. Since humans tend to reflect weaker radar signals than cars, Panasonic has designed a new pulse radar code sequence that allows pedestrians to leave a bigger footprint. It's so effective, the company claims, that it can detect bystanders up to 40 meters (131 feet) away, and will work at night and through rain, fog, snow and blinding sunlight. That all sounds promising, of course, but as with other concepts, it's not clear, when, exactly we'll see this system put to good use in the real world.

Nokia experiments with location-based white space services in Cambridge

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Nokia experiments with location-based white space services in Cambridge, UK (video)
Following news of the first successful white space trials in Cambridge, UK, Nokia is now touting its research in the area with a demonstration of location-based services for the unlicensed spectrum. Traditionally, proponents of white space usage have positioned this unused portion of the airwaves as a viable, low-cost method of data transmission, but the Nokia folks have now demonstrated its ability to pinpoint one's location with much greater accuracy than either WiFi or cellular networks. Think of it as a counterpoint to NFC, if you will, but in the following clip, we're shown how an individual might move throughout a museum, and as they approach various exhibits, one's smartphone could provide supplemental information for the nearby artifacts. Beyond its use in museums, Nokia also foresees the technology as useful in the retail space, where businesses may provide consumers with promotions as they walk by. Currently, the necessary equipment to make this all possible is much too large to fit within a typical smartphone, but Nokia hypothesizes that the necessary chipsets and industry standards may be in place by 2015.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

NBA Baller Beats for Xbox 360 encourages you to play ball in the house

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Forget everything your mother told you about playing ball in the house, Majesco thinks it's a terrific idea. NBA Baller Beats takes a rhythmic music game-like approach to the game of roundball, incorporating a real live basketball as a controller for the Xbox 360 title, as part of its full-body trackingKinect action. And in case you're having trouble motivating off the couch, the gamemakers have brought the likes of Kanye, Run DMC, The Gorillaz and Common to help get you to your feet. Just make sure you remove that priceless antique vase from the living room before you do. At present, all we've got is a teaser trailer, which you can check out after the break. More info is coming at E3.

Chrome OS and Google Drive to get intimate in version 20

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Chrome OS and Google Drive to get intimate in version 20
When Google finally announced its shiny new cloud-based Drive service, many people will have been glad to see an extra bit of storage tacked onto their daily gadget lives. Some, however, spin out a generally more nebular existence, and that'd be the Chrome OS faithful. If you find yourself amongst their number, you'll be pleased to know that Sundar Pichai, SVP for Chrome, revealed in an interview with Wired that the next iteration of its slight operating system will come with Drive tightly sewn into the fabric. The idea is that the service will operate as the local file system, and all the core OS functionality will use Drive for storing data. Third party apps like VMware are already baking in Drive functionality, and expect more to follow when it lands in version 20.

NZXT's Cryo E40 laptop cooler sends a pleasant breeze wherever you like

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NZXT's Cryo E40 laptop cooler sends a pleasant breeze wherever you like
NZXT is pretty good when it comes to avoiding unnecessary flourishes and providing straight-up PC hardware. Its Cryo E40 laptop cooler is no different, forgoing HDD slots and magic elixirs in favor of two 80mm fans that clasp magnetically to the underside of its steel mesh. These can be plucked off and moved around to suit your lappie's particular hotspots -- so long as you're using a 15-incher or smaller. The E40 rises to 60mm above the surface of your desk, covers an area 420mm wide by 300mm deep, and is powered via a USB cable that can also be shifted to the left or right to suit your ports. The price of all this flexibility? That'd be $28, please, with availability from next month.

Google sells SketchUp to Trimble Navigation for undisclosed sum

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Google sells SketchUp to Trimble Navigation for undisclosed sum
While we're probably more accustomed to Google buying assets than selling them 'round here, every now and again the search giant does shed some skin. El Goog's 3D modeling platform, SketchUp, is to be sold to Trimble Navigation for an undisclosed sum reports Reuters. Trimble says it's hoping to use the acquisition to enhance its office-to-field platform. The two firms will also work together to develop SketchUp's online repository of 3D models for designers to use, share and contribute to. SketchUp's blog reassures users that the free version won't change under the move. The deal should get the final nod in Q2 this year.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Koss intros Striva headphone systems, lets you stream music over WiFi straight to your ears

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Koss may be known for its budget-minded offerings in the headphone space, but today it's announced something to shake things up a bit. Falling under the Striva moniker, Koss has created what it claims to be the first lineup of headphones to use "WiFi technology that receives music directly from the Internet without wires." To start, there's the over-ear Pro model, loaded with gesture controls for volume and channel adjustments, while an in-ear set, dubbed Tap, is also available for extra portability. Interestingly, the Taps don't use a connecting wire -- instead, "microprocessors" inside of of each earpiece consistently ensure that the stereo signal is staying in sync. To elaborate, both models feature Koss' Core, which the company describes as battery-powered microprocessors coupled with WiFi components. Utilizing the company's new MyKoss server, you'll be able to pull content from a variety of free audio streams, and customize your own listening experience with the included music management software. Lastly, if you don't have a WiFi connection -- in cases such as using your cellphone -- each unit comes with a "matchbook-sized" Content Access Point, which lets you easily create a WiFi hub of sorts to enable wireless listening wherever you are.
If these headphones sound have piqued your interest, get ready for the kicker: the Taps are priced at $500, while the Pros are set at a slightly cheaper $450. Both models are available from Koss today, and you'll find more info in the press release and video just after the break.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Turn Your Keychain into a Pocketable Toolbox

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You have your keys with you everywhere you go, but they're probably completely useless for anything other than opening doors. You can always fill up your keychain with goofy trinkets you find on vacation or you can turn it into a pocket sized toolkit so you always have the tools you need everywhere you go. Here are a few ideas for doing just that.
For the most part, keychain items are novelties. Even when keychain tools are useful, they're often too oversized to fit comfortably in a pocket. Thankfully, a few very small tools exist and many of them are shaped like the keys you already use.

USB Drives

Turn Your Keychain into a Pocketable ToolboxNo modern toolbox is complete without a USB drive. While your phone likely serves as a mobile hard drive for most occasions, many of us can still find a use for a keychain that can hold the entire run of Freaks of Geeks in your pocket. It's pretty clear that we're big fans of the LaCie iamakey because it's durable, blends in perfectly with your keychain, and ensures you'll always have a few spare gigabytes to store whatever you need to store. With it you'll always be able tobrowse securely with DemocraKey, have aportable app suite with you, and store a copy of XBMC for media streaming anywhere.

Tools for Repairs

Turn Your Keychain into a Pocketable ToolboxPocket tools aren't anything new, but finding one that works really well and fits on your keychain is a bit more difficult. TheLeatherman Micra might be your best bet for an all-in-one pocket-sized tool, but if you only need specific tools for your daily life, it's better to find a single, key-sized tool that does what you need. For instance, theSwiss+Tech Utili-Key is great if you find yourself in need of a screwdrivers or a knife throughout the day. The Utili-Key is especially handy if you wear glasses because on top of a standard sized screwdriver the key also includes a micro-sized one perfect for tightening up your loose frames.
For techies, the KeyTool is a better fit because it includes a wire stripper, nail file, and tweezers on top of the screwdrivers. It's also tiny and nearly unnoticeable on a keychain, which means you'll be able to easily wow your friends when you're suddenly able to tighten up and fix something without them even noticing.
If you'd prefer something with a bit more heft, the Gerber Artifact Keychain is eight different tools, but still flat enough not to take up too much space on your keychain. If all else fails don't forget you can always make your own.

Survival Tools

Perhaps screwing in a loose screw anywhere isn't that appealing to you, but preparing for a disaster situation is. In that case, having a tiny set of survival tools with you at all times is a good idea. Swiss+Tech's Flashlight and knife combo should do the trick for anyone looking for minimalist knife shaped key.
If you're more concerned with lighting a fire, the FireStash is the essential tool for you (and if you prefer the Bear Grylls approach you'll probably prefer the Swedish Firesteel).
For those who can build anything as long as they have string, a small para cord keychainshould do the trick. With this on your keychain you'll always have a cut of the some of the strongest rope known to man with you at all times.

Everything Else

Turn Your Keychain into a Pocketable ToolboxEveryone's toolkit is a little different and if you don't find yourself making a lot of repairs or needing a screwdriver at random points in the day you can still trick out your keychain with useful tools for whatever you do. Writers, for instance, might find the True Utility Telescopic Pen handy to have around.
If a keychain clip that can do nearly everything is more your style, the currently backordered Clip from Little Bonsai should do the trick. On the surface it's just a standard clip, but it can also be used as a pry bar, a cord wrapper, an iPhone stand, a box cutter, and more. The Clip was initially funded by Kickstarter and is out of stock at the moment, but you can sign up for updates and get notified when it's available again.
Everyone needs a different set of tools for their life, but the above are a few that we've found the most practical and helpful additions to a keyring. You can always expand out to something more bulky, but that ends up defeating the purpose of a pocket tool.

Restore Ugly, Faded Plastic to Its Former Shine Using Vaseline

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If you have some old, faded electronics or other plastic gadgets in your house, you can make them look great again with just a dab of Vaseline.
While really old and yellowed plastic might need something like Retr0bright to bring back their color, you might be able to get by with the petroleum jelly sitting in your cupboard. Flickr user linux-works discovered, after buying some old audio equipment on eBay, that a simple wash with soap and water didn't do much to help the old, faded, plastic knobs. However, a bit of antibiotic ointment (which uses a petroleum base) shined them right up—see the picture above. The top knobs have been restored, while the bottom knobs were merely washed with soap and water. Just rub it on, leave it for a minute, and wipe it off. Comment below if this worked for you.

Keep Your Hand from Getting Crushed During a Handshake by Touching the Other Person’s Wrist

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We all know that one guy that shakes your hand with the jaws of death and tries to crunch your bones just for fun. You can keep your hand intact by touching their wrist with your index finger.
Touching the inside of their wrist with your finger helps align your knuckles in a way that won't crush them when they start to squeeze really hard. Of course, if someone's squeezing your hand too hard, they're probably doing it on purpose, so you should call them out on their tomfoolery—but if they're particularly annoying, this trick should help save your bones from grinding into dust. Hit the link to read more.

Use Honey to Soothe Dry Skin and Chapped Lips

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Honey and beeswax are a major component in a number of lip balms and body lotions, but if you have some honey at home you don't have to spend a ton of money on a commercial product to get the benefits. Here's how to make your own lip balm at home on the cheap, and how to use a little dab of honey to relieve irritated, dry, or cracked skin in just minutes.
The folks at Greatist tipped us off to this one. The lip balm concoction requires a few more ingredients—they suggest sweet almond oil and some beeswax for consistency. Mix together into a paste and apply to your chapped, peeling lips for instant relief. If you have the ingredients already, this won't cost a dime—you can even buy honey with the comb still in it if you prefer. The dry skin tip, on the other hand, is even easier to apply: just apply a little dab of honey to your super-dry, irritated, or inflamed skin and leave on for about a half-hour. Wash it off before it gets too sticky, and you should see immediate improvements.
Honey is well known for its health benefits, and these are just a few interesting applications if you're more likely to have a jar of honey than a big bottle of lotion or tube of lip balm nearby—or if you just want a natural alternative to other products. Still, I prefer honey in my tea.

Eat These Foods Before and After Your Workout to Stay in Top Training Shape

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The foods you eat before and after a good workout, and the fluids you drink during your workout go a long way towards making sure your exercise has the best impact on your health as possible. Whether you're staying hydrated with a bottle of water while you're out on a run, or debating what to munch on for a little post-workout energy, Eating Well magazine has some tips to help maximize your workout and keep you satisfied in the process.
First of all, they mention—as we do in our exercise myths post—that water is probably your best bet during exercise to stay hydrated, even over something like a sports energy drink that could be loaded with sugar and calories. They suggest adding a little flavor to your water to keep things interesting—maybe with a little lemon, lime, or cucumber—and note that people who drink flavored water tend to drink more during their workouts than people with straight water do.
They suggest a nice, low-glycemic-index meal (food that causes your blood sugar to spike less after eating) before you start your exercise, like those higher in protein and fiber rather than complex carbohydrates. After your workout, a tall glass of milk (or even chocolate milk) is a great way to recover, or even a banana or peanut butter—essentially, after your workout is where the carbs should come into play.
We've tackled the topic of what to eat before and after your workout before, but this piece addresses the importance of protein in your diet, and asserts that instead of carbs before your workout, they're better afterward instead. What do you think? What do you eat before and after your workouts, and what do you prefer to drink while you work out? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Apple II turns 35

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Apple II turns 35, doesn't bother with midlife crisis
It was 35 years ago today that two Steves and a handful of employees introduced the world to a game-changer: the Apple II. Easily recognizable today as one of history's first truly accessible personal computers, it's a bit odd to think that the iconic rig was almost overlooked at its debut at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire. Even so, the beige box weaseled its way into our homes and schools. $1300 bought the most basic model of the machine that taught a generation of children the dangers of fording a river, rocking a paltry 4KB of RAM and a 1MHz processor. Despite its age, the old Apple II is doing its best to keep up with the times -- making music, going to concerts and even trying out those hip Bluetooth protocols its grand kids are always talking about.

HP ships 27-inch Z1 all-in-one workstation, touts 'power without the tower'

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We'll hand it to HP -- "power without the tower" is pretty fab. And so is that drop-dead gorgeous 27-inch IPS panel dominating the front of its Z1 workstation. Designed to handle stresses normally thrown exclusively at floor-sitting wind tunnels, the Z1 offers up Intel Xeon server-class CPUs, NVIDIA Quadro graphics, USB 3.0 sockets, a slot-loading Blu-ray writer, SSD / RAID options, support for over a billion colors and a seductive starting tag of just $1,899. 

Sony Japan blends the Torne PS3 TV tuner with 500GB of NAS, calls it Nasne

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While the PS3's media abilities in the US are limited to what it can access via discs or over the network, in Europe / Australia (PlayTV) and Japan (Torne) TV tuners stretch things further. Now, Sony Japan has followed those up with the Nasne headless media box shown above. A combination networked recorder and media storage device with a 500GB SATA HDD and tuners for both antenna and satellite TV built-in, it pulls in broadcasts and either records it or streams to up to two other Sony products (Vita, PS3 with Torne app, Vaio PC, Sony Tablet or Xperia phone) on the same home network at once. It will also support streaming of stored media via DLNA, once its software is updated to version 1.5. The capabilities of the Nasne vary depending on the hardware it's used with: PS3 users can connect up to four of the devices to one console, however it can also export video files formatted for offline viewing on the Vita or transfer recorded files to PCs for Blu-ray archival.
Is this a promising example of the "One Sony" synergy Kaz so recently promised? We'll have to wait until the Nasne ships July 19th for 16,980 yen ($211) to find out for sure. Sadly, like the Torne (which will receive its own 4.0 software update this summer) and Blu-ray recorders that came before it's unlikely we'll ever this one in the US, but that won't stop us from dreaming. A press release with full specs follows after the break, check out Engadget Japan for a few more pictures.

Space Shuttle Discovery gets prepped for its final flight

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Visualized: Space Shuttle Discovery gets prepped for its final flight, gets Boeing piggyback
Strapped to the back of a repurposed Boeing 747, this is how NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery will make its final flight. Over the last few days, the shuttle has been readied and mounted onto the jet, technically called the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). The duo will land at Dulles Airport before taking the land-based route to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center. Ahead of its departure from the Kennedy Space Center in the next few hours, you can check out NASA's gallery below for plenty of high resolution images. Tearing up is optional.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Review of Nokia 808 Pureview

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GENERAL2G NetworkGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G NetworkHSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
Announced2012, February
StatusComing soon. Exp. release 2012, May
BODYDimensions123.9 x 60.2 x 13.9 mm, 95.5 cc
Weight169 g
DISPLAYTypeAMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size360 x 640 pixels, 4.0 inches (~184 ppi pixel density)
MultitouchYes
ProtectionCorning Gorilla Glass
- Nokia ClearBlack display
SOUNDAlert typesVibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
LoudspeakerYes
3.5mm jackYes
MEMORYCard slotmicroSD, up to 32 GB
Internal16 GB storage, 1 GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
DATAGPRSClass 33
EDGEClass 33
SpeedHSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
WLANWi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, UPnP technology
BluetoothYes, v3.0 with A2DP
NFCYes
USBYes, microUSB v2.0, USB On-the-go support
CAMERAPrimary41 MP (38 MP effective, 7152 x 5368 pixels), Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Xenon flash
Features1/1.2'' sensor size, ND filter, up to 3x lossless digital zoom, geo-tagging, face detection
VideoYes, 1080p@30fps, lossless digital zoom, LED light
SecondaryYes, VGA; VGA@30fps video recording
FEATURESOSNokia Belle OS
CPU1.3 GHz ARM 11
SensorsAccelerometer, proximity, compass
MessagingSMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
BrowserHTML5, Adobe Flash Lite
RadioStereo FM radio with RDS; FM transmitter
GPSYes, with A-GPS support
JavaYes, MIDP 2.1
ColorsBlack, White, Red
- SNS integration
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
- HDMI port
- MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ player
- MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player
- Voice command/dial
- Document viewer
- Video/photo editor
- Predictive text input
BATTERYStandard battery, Li-Ion 1400 mAh (BV-4D)
Stand-byUp to 465 h (2G) / Up to 540 h (3G)
Talk timeUp to 11 h (2G) / Up to 6 h 50 min (3G)