Rubik's cube turns 40

Internet giant Google is celebrating one of the greatest toy inventions ever — Rubik's Cube — with a doodle. 

Today's Google homepage showcases Rubik's Cube whichis an exact replica of the invention and you can play it virtually on your computer. By clicking on cube in homepage, it will get enlarged, there you can see option "?" telling how to play the game and also providing an option of the search page of Rubik Cube invention.

It is one of the world's best sold puzzle games and about 350 million cubes have been sold till now. The fastest time it has taken for a human to solve the puzzle is 5.55 seconds.

Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Erno Rubik. Erno Rubik was a Hungarian inventor, architect and professor of

architecture. It was originally called Magic Cube, and Rubik licensed it to Ideal Toy Corp in 1980.

Rubik was also known for inventing mechanical puzzles — Rubik's Cube Invention, the Rubik's Magic 3D combination puzzle, Rubik's Magic: Master Edition and the Rubik's Snake. However, only Rubik's Cube became popular

across the globe.

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Motorola launches Moto E budget smartphone at Rs 6,999

Motorola has barged into the sub-Rs 10,000 segment with the new Moto E smartphone. Just like its two recently launched smartphones Moto G and X, the economical model Moto E will be exclusively available via online retailer Flipkart in the Indian market. The new smartphone is priced at Rs 6,999 and it will be up for sale starting May 14.

Moto E has a 4.3-inch display with 960x540p resolution, making it the only smartphone offering a high quality display at this price point. The dual sim phone runs on the latest Android 4.4 (KitKat) OS and packs a 1.2GHz dual- core Snapdragon 200 processor, with 1GB RAM and 4G internal memory. Unlike Moto X and G, this phone supports microSD cards for storage expansion.

The budget offering of Motorola sports a 5MP camera on the back, but does not have rear LED flash and front camera. It can access the internet over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi networks, while data can be transferred via microUSB 2.0 and Bluetooth 4.0. The smartphone has a decent 1,980mAh battery and Motorola claims it can last a whole day once fully charged.

Moto E will come with 20 user-removable back covers. Motorola is eyeing the large number of mobile phone users who are switching from feature phones to budget smartphones with Moto E. At this rate and with these specifications, Moto E is likely to be a hot seller and take the market by a storm. This game changer handset can be expected to give several domestic players a run for their money in this bracket.

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Airtel Offers new WhatsApp data packs

Mobile instant messaging service, WhatsApp, has partnered with Indian telecom operator Airtel to offer users a customized data plan for WhatsApp use. 

The pack is available to both 2G and 3G subscribers and is priced in the range of Rs 36 and Rs 49, depending on the service area. It will offer 200MB monthly data allowance exclusively for Whatsapp use. To activate the plan, users need to SMS the keyword 'Whatsapp' to the number 121. 

It's not the first time that WhatsApp has tied-up with Indian telecom operators to offer special plans. The service had previously partnered Reliance Communications and Tata Docomo for offering WhatsApp specific data plans. 

WhatsApp claims to have 50million monthly active users in India, which is the largest market for the messaging service provider. About a fortnight ago, WhatsApp had announced that it had half a billion active users, worldwide and has grown fastest in countries like Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia, with users sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos every single day. 

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Now Karbonn Titanium Hexa smartphone to be exclusively available on Amazon

Indian handset firm, Karbonn has announced that it will sell its Titanium Hexa smartphone exclusively on e-commerce website Amazon India (Amazon.in) with pre-orders for the phone starting May 13 and sales commencing May 20. 

Consumers who buy the phone through the website will also get a free Plantronics Bluetooth Headset with the purchase of the phone as part of a promotional offer. 

The phone was launched last month at Rs 16,990. Karbonn Titanium Hexa sports a 5.5-inch full-HD LTPS display (1280x1920p) with scratch-resistant oleophobic coating. The phone is powered by MediaTek's new MT6591 hexa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz and 2GB RAM. 

The dual-sim phone sports a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. It comes with 16GB internal storage and supports USB on-the-go. 

In terms of connectivity, the phone supports Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and Wi-Fi. It comes with a 2050mAh battery. 

Karbonn also announced that it will pre-load the Amazon shopping app on its new smartphones, starting with its upcoming range of Titanium Hexa, Octane and Octane Plus devices. The phone will feature the Karbonn e-bazaar application which it says is reverse mapped to and showcases customer offers from the Amazon.in marketplace. 

It's not the first time that a device maker has announced an exclusive tie-up with an e-commerce retailer. Motorola sells its Moto G and Moto X smartphones exclusively via Flipkart.

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Nokia Lumia 630 launched in India for Rs 10,500

As expected, Nokia has finally launched the Lumia 630 in India with two models, starting at Rs 10,500. The dual-SIM variant of the phone will be priced at Rs 11,500. Both models will be available from May 14 onwards.

It has been a little over two weeks since Microsoft completed Nokia device and services acquisition , and the company has now forayed into the lucrative dual-SIM market in India, while also keeping a single SIM variant in hand.

Built on the latest Windows platform, the Lumia 630 comes with support for 3G. It sports a 4.5-inch display with 480 x 854 pixels of resolution. Under the hood, it is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm

Snapdragon 400 clocked at 1.2GHz and coupled with 512MB RAM. The Lumia 630 is the first Windows Phone 8.1 device, and is expected to usher in a new era of Lumia phones, under the Microsoftbanner.

On the camera front, it gets a 5 megapixel auto focus camera. The 8GB onboard storage is expandable up to 128 GB via microSD card slot. The connectivity options include Wi-Fi,3G, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS and GLONASS.

Windows Phone has suddenly got very interesting and with features like Cortana and Universal Windows apps, we finally have a three horse race in the smartphone market.

Nokia is throwing in a bunch of free goodies with the Lumia 630. Vodafone users will get free 1GB 3G data for two months, a two month subscription to Box TV and Flipkart e-books worth Rs 2,000.

Nokia has also launched the Treasure Tag Bluetooth accessory and a Bluetooth mini-speaker for the Indian market. The Treasure Tag, which can be programmed to perform various actions, and can also be used as a security device for your phone, is priced at Rs 2,099 and will be available from May 31.

The Bluetooth speakers will be available for Rs 5,499 from late June onwards.

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Spice launches Coolpad MI 515 smartphone at Rs 9,900

Mobile Internet Company Spice Group on Friday launched Spice Coolpad MI 515, priced at Rs 9,900.

Spice has tied up with Coolpad, a Chinese handset player, to launch MI 515, which is the first device in a new Spice Coolpad series.

The smartphone has a 1.2GHz quad core processor with Android Jelly Bean operating system. The 5-inch dual sim smartphone with qHD resolution and IPS display has a 5MP autofocus rear camera.

Packed with a 2000 mAh Li-ion polymer battery, the device has 4GB ROM and a 1GB RAM and external storage is expandable up to 32 GB through a microSD card. Spice Coolpad MI515 also comes with other features like Bluetooth 3.0, proximity sensor, 3G video calling among others.

The DTS-enabled smartphone have already been sold in excess of 1 million units globally, said the company.

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Idea slashes 2G data tariff by 90 percent

Idea Cellular, the third largest mobile operator in India, has revised data tariff in eight circles across the country.

Following in the footsteps of market leaders Vodafone and Airtel, the third largest mobile operator Idea Cellular, has also revised data tariff in eight circles across the country. Idea users can now access data for 2 paisa per 10 KB which the company claims is a 90 % reduction in thr existing tariff of 2 paisa per KB.

Idea's new data tariff will be applicable starting July 1st, 2013 and the offer will be valid for 90 days. Idea users in the eight circles of Tamil Nadu & Chennai, Karnataka, Kolkata, West Bengal, Assam, North East, Bihar and Orissa will benifit from the revised data tariff on both, prepaid and postpaid 2G plans.

"Idea has continously focused at growing data penetration in tier 2 & 3 markets. These 8 circles comprise of 1/3rd of the total mobile users in India, with a large number of users waiting to board the mobile broadband wagon. Availability of data at such affordable rates will usher in a new wave of mobile data growth in the country", said Ambrish Jain, deputy managing director, Idea Cellular. The revised tariff is applicable on pay-as-you-go basis for all users using 2G data.

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Google tests balloons to beam internet from near internet

Google is launching balloons into near space to provide internet access to buildings below on the ground.

About 30 of the super pressure balloons are being launched from New Zealand from where they will drift around the world on a controlled path.

Attached equipment will offer 3G like speeds to 50 testers in the country.

Access will be intermittent, but in time the firm hopes to build a big enough fleet to offer reliable links to people living in remote areas.

It says that balloons could one day be diverted to disaster hit areas to aid rescue efforts in situations where ground communication equipment has been damaged.

But one expert warns that trying to simultaneously navigate thousands of the high-altitude balloons around the globe's wind patterns will prove a difficult task to get right.

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Lenovo to launch Rs. 5000 Android smartphone in India

The Chinese teh major Lenovo is all set to launch Rs. 5000 Android smartphones in India as it plans to sell 1 milion handsets here in the local market.

Indian smartphone market is galloping at furious speed and it is needless to say that every smartphone manufacturing company worth its salt is betting big on the Indian smartphone market. The country has become essential  for many smartphone makers becaise of several reasons.

And the most important reason of them all is the fact that many developed countries handset market has become saturated and to continue their growth they need to look for elsewhere. And here India comes handy for all these companies.

Now the biggest PC and laptop manufacturer in the world, Lenovo is working hard to become an important player in India's smartphone market. The Chinese company has more than 14 percent smartphone market share in China and it has launched as many as six handsets in the Indian market in one go.

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Windows 8.1 to bring back the 'start' button

Microsoft is bringing back the Windows "start" button, offering a stripped-down version among a slew of improvements aimed at winning over tablet users and PC customers.

The world's largest software company is looking to re-enegize sales of its latest Window's version, which has ot made the splash with computer users it was looking for. Executives say the plan is now to update Windows periodically, rather than waiting three years or so between big releases.

Although MIcrosoft has sold more than 100 Million Windows 8 licenses since October, broadly in line with Windows 7 three years ago, the company must tacckle a dwindling PC user base and its inability to make a mark in the exploding tablet market.

Windows 8 was designed to be used both on touch-screen tablets and traditional PC's. But while touchscreen users tend to like the new "tile"-based interface, many nouse and keyboard users complained that the new design was confusing.

Windows 8.1 previously known by the code name "Blue", will be available for free to all Windows 8 users some time later this year. Microsoft will make a test version available at its annual dveloper conference on June 26.

Windows 8.1 also includes a vastly improved "Search" function, which allows a user to search for documents, apps, or items on the internet from a single search bar, like a souped-up version of Apple's spotlight feature.

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Google doodle celebrates 161st birth anniversary Julius Richard Petri

Today Google via their home page doodle celebrates the birth of Julius Richard Petri who invented the petri dish. Julius Richard Petri was born on May 31, 1852 and died on December 20,1921.

Petri studied medicine at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Academy for Military Physians in Berlin. He then went on to work at the Imperial Health Office with Robert Koch who is considered the father of modern bacteriology.

Google's doodle features six petri dishes which when one clicks on the play button are swabbed by a hand. Images of the bacteria grow and spread in the dishes. These bacteria go on to form the alphabets that spell Google.

It is interestin to note that Petri was not the first to use agar, a substance made from algae to grow bacteria but he invented the standard dish in which it was done.

The Petri dish helps scientists and researchers to better identify bacteria and diseases they caused. Petri dishes later moved from the laboratory to the classrooms where they are used by every student of biology for various experiments.

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Sony launches waterproof tablet for Rs. 46,990

Sony on Wednesday launched Xperia Tablet Z with a price of Rs. 46,990. Though the price is rather steep, the company believes that the tablet's slim and waterproof design will it compete with other Android tablets and Apple's iPad.

Xperia Tablet uses a Qualcomm quad-core processor running at 1.5 GHz. It has 2 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory (extra 16 GB microSD card will be bundled with the device) and a 10-inch screen with Full HD resolution. The Tablet is powered by Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Sony is saying that the tablet will be updated to Android 4.2 soon. The device has a 6,000 mAh battery.

Just like the Xperia Z smartphone, Sony's new tablet is water-resistant and dustproof. It packs in an 8 MP primary camera and a 2.2 MP front camera. Another unique feature of the tablet is IR sensor, which would allow users to control their television with it. Incidentally, Samsung Galaxy S 4 and HTC One that were recently launched in India also have this feature.

Despite its large screen, the tablet weights just 495 grams. It is 6.9 m thick.

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Turn your laptop into touchscreen device

Portronics Handmate Windows 8 Pen is one of those nifty little devices that seem too good to be true when you first read about them. It promises to turn any Windows 8 laptop into a touchscreen device, letting you experience the joys of owning one of those 'hybrid devices' at fraction of cost.

Setting up the Handmate Windows 8 Pen is simple - just connect it to anu available USB port on your Windows 8 laptop and fix the receiving unit on one of the edges of the screen, about half way from the top. Go to the Control Panel to calibrate the screen and a barely a minute later, you are good to go.

The Handmate Windows 8 Pen comes bundled with spare stylus and batteries that power the stylus. Portronics claims 500 hours of battery life given working/standby ratio of 1:9. The sensors on the Handmate Windows 8 Pen use a combination of infrared and ultrasound technologies and work on screens sized 16-inches and below, which means it is good to use with laptops and even desktop monitors of that sizes. A newer generation product that will work with screen sizes of upto 25-inches is expected soon.

All in all, Handmate Windows 8 Pen offers a decent options for those looking to add a dash to touch to their Windows 8 experience. At, Rs. 4,999  it's a not so expensive option to see if touch fits in your workflow before you take the plunge and buy an expensive native touchscreen device.

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New International roaming plan for Vodafone customers

Cellular operator giant Vodafone has introduced a new international roaming plan for its customers. The plan is valid for Indian customers who are visiting countries like UK, USA, UAE, Singapore and Thailand.

This pack offers 90% discount on data and 64% on local and international outgoing calls. This is yet another customer-friendly pack from Vodafone to make international roaming hassle free and affordable for customers travelling overseas.

The international roaming pack is available for a rental of Rs. 2,499 and comes with a validity of 30 days. These benefits are offered across 45 countries in partnership with select network operator in each country. Usage on any other international operator's network in these countries will be charged at standard international roaming charges.

This new pack is in addition to the INR 1,499 pack launched last year that offered 60% discount on international roaming on voice, data and SMS in a single pack. The pack was appreciated and accepted immensely by customers as it met their requirements of a hassle-free roaming experience.

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Aircel offers free Nimbuzz plan for Jammu and Kashmir prepaid users

Even as Facebook partnered with the local telecom operators Airtel and Reliance Communications to promote Facebook Messenger, rival free instant messaging firm Nimbuzz has tied up with Aircel to launch special Nimbuzz plans.

To begin with, Aircel users in Jammu and Kashmir are offered free Nimbuzz messaging (up to 40MB of data ) for a period of 30 days. To use this service a user has to download the Nimbuzz app from a URL sent by Aircel. The offer is only available for Aircel prepaid users.

"Jammu and Kashmir is highly regulated market, where SMS services are unavailable; so our focus is on data. In the last 15 days, after the launch of Nimbuzz, data usage from our users in J&K went up by 25%." He said over 5,000 users have downloaded Nimbuzz in just 15 days, says Sandeep Talwar, Aircel's operator head for J&K.

Speaking on the partnership with Aircel, CEO of Nimbuzz Vikas Saxena says: "We are thankful to Aircel for making an effort towards taking mobile communication to masses with its newly launched Airtel-Nimbuzz data plan. We look forward to their continued support and we are confident that such initiatives will boost internet penetration in the country and bring an aggressive revenue stream for the mobile operators".

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British teen sells mobile news app to Yahoo for GBP 18 million

A 17-year-old London school boy has made big news, after he sold his news app company to Yahoo, for an estimated 18 million. Nick D'Aloisio hails from Wimbledon in South London, had created the app called Summly - which provides crisp summaries of news content from various sites. The total transaction value is understood to be 18 million pounds, assumed to be 90 percent in cash and 10 percent in shares at Yahoo. However, some reports suggested that the total could go up to as much as 40 million pounds.

D'Aloisio, who learnt how to write code for apps when he was 12 years old, developed the app at the age of 15. The app was made for the iPhone, and till the time it was pulled from the Apple app store after the announcement of the Yahoo deal, has cloaked 1 million downloads. The application had content deals with 250 news sources globally, including the Rupert Murdoch owned News Corp.  and was managed by a team of 10 employees based in London. Over a period of time, D'Aloisio got monetary backing from Horizons Ventures, the venture capital arm of Hongkong billionaire Li Ka-Shing as well as Zynga Inc.'s Mark Pincus and actor Ashton Kutcher.

"We will be removing Summly from the App Store today but expect our summarisation technology will soon return to multiple Yahoo products - see this as a 'power nap' so to speak". Nick says in a post on his website.

This could be a big acquisition for Yahoo, as it aims to refresh and rebuild its offerings, after having lost relevance significantly, at least in the smartphone ecosystem.

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Micromax Canvas A116 HD price increased to Rs. 14,900

Micromax Canvas 2 A110 took the world by storm due to its chunk of its hardware and an impressive price tag. The company behind the widely popular handset recently unveiled the successor to the Canvas 2 - the A116 Canvas HD smartphone.

The Canvas HD was unveiled with much fanfare in February and was expected to be available in the market soon. But before it could hit the shelves it went out of stock.

According to sources, the smartphone has been delayed due certain procedural issues.

To add insult to injury, the price of the upcoming phone has been increased from Rs. 13,999 to Rs. 14,999. Retail partner Snapdeal.com has stated in its statement that the increase in cost is the result of the changes in custom duty.

The company, however, indicated that before the end of March 2013 customers who have pre-booked the handset will get it for the original price which was Rs. 13,999.

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Sony unveils Xperia SP, L smartphones

Sony today unveiled its two new smartphones running on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system. Both the smartphones are from Xperia platform - Xperia SP and Xperia L.

These phones are available in Red, White and Black colors and will hit the retail market by the second quarter of this year.

The all new Xperia SP has a 4.6-inch TFT screen with Bravia Engine 2 Technology and supports 7.2p videos. This smartphone packs a 1.7 GHz dual-core processor and has 8GB internal storage with microSD card support up to 32GB. This smartphone has an 8 megapixel camera and LED flash on the back with a VGA snapper in the front. Connectivity features of this smartphone include 2G, 3G, 4G, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and micro USB. This device has a 2,370 mAh battery and has a casing made of plastic and co-moulded aluminium.

Whereas Sony Xperia L features 4.3-inch TFT display with a scratch resistant cover and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor. This device also comes with 8GB onboard and 32GB via microSD. On the back is an 8MP camera with flash, along with a front facing VGA shooter that can be used for video calls. This phone's connectivity suite consists of 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, micro USB 2.0.

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Cheaper iPhone 5 coming soon

A plastic iPhone that would cost roughly half the price of the standard Apple smartphone will be launched soon to target young, middle class consumers in countries like China and India.

According to Japanese website, Macotakara, the budget version of Apple's latest iPhone will cost roughly $330.

In January it was reported that the planned new phone will resemble the iPhone 5 from the front, but Apple will replace that handset's aluminium body with a cheaper plastic casing, the Telegraph reports.

Jeremy Horwitz, of iLounge, claimed that "reliable sources" told him the new device will have a "retina" display and feature Apple's new lighting connector for charging and syncing.

Horwitz wrote that according to a source, Apple's iPhone remain too high for most mainland Chinese customers, the iPhone 5 hardware alone starts at $849 there, versus the iPhone 4 at $500, in a country where the average annual salary is around $3,000 per person.

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ZTE unveils Grand Memo Phablet

The Phablet seems to be getting hotter. ZTE's latest launch Grand Memo seems fit for the category with its 5.7-inch size. The Phablet category blurs the line between smartphone and tablet and places Grand Memo in competition with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note II, Samsung Galaxy Grand, LG Optimus Pro, Micromax Canvas HD etc.

ZTE Memo features a 5.7-inch high definition, 720 x 1280 display and packs a Qualcomm 800 processor with Quad-Core Krait CPUs and 2GB of RAM. It comes with a 13 MP rear-facing camera, 1 MP front facing camera and 1080 HD video playback. This device also boosts a 3,200 mAh battery.

The Grand Memo features voice-response technology which allows users to answer calls while driving, and a GPS and car mode navigation system for mapping and directions. It comes with a HD version of ZTE's Z cloud service for the security and access anywhere.

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