Nexus 7 finds Apple napping

Nexus 7 finds Apple napping

Google has beat Apple at its own Retina-display-thumping game. Meet the Nexus 7, the eye-popping 323-pixels-per-inch wonder.

It is, in a way, the (rumored) iPad Mini Retina wrapped in Android 4.3.

Here's the deal: If you can find most of the apps you need on Google's Play Store and would like a small tablet with the highest resolution display on any tablet to date (i.e., higher than the 9.7-inch Retina iPad and way higher than the iPad Mini), then the second-generation Nexus 7 may be a good choice.

How did this happen? Well, Google, Asus (the device manufacturer), and Japan Display Inc. (the display maker) have managed, for the first time, to slap a smartphone-density display on a small tablet.

Without getting too technical, the second-gen Nexus 7 uses a display technology (called low-temperature polysilicon, for those keeping score) from Japan Display that has been used, to date, only on phones like, ironically, Apple's iPhone 5 (which has a pixel density of 326, just slightly more than the new Nexus 7).

Maybe more ironically, Apple is considering the same technology for a future Mini Retina, according to Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch. When that Mini would appear ranges from sometime in October (optimistic) to early next year (pessimistic).

Analysts have told me that the 7-inch 1,920x1,200 display on the Nexus 7 may be the upper size limit for Japan Display's ultra-high-resolution technology -- at the moment. In other words, JDI's tech is not quite ready to scale up to the larger 7.9-inch screen on the Mini.

Whatever the case, you can pick up the new Nexus 7 for $230 at some Best Buy stores as of Friday. That's about $100 less than Apple's cheapest Mini (which I also own) but with a much better screen and a faster (quad-core) processor.

That's a really tough hardware/price proposition for Apple to beat, in my opinion.

I like the Mini a lot. I'm not sure yet but I may like the second-gen Nexus 7 better.

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Canvas 4 review: The best Micromax smartphone yet

Canvas 4 review: The best Micromax smartphone yet

Glossy plastic with a hint of aluminium

The build quality of Canvas 4 is a notch above Canvas HD. Even though both devices use glossy plastic shells, the quality of material used in Canvas 4 is better. The back cover, which can be removed to access SIM, microSD card slots and battery, is glossy and smooth. But it has a fine pattern - similar to the one seen on some sea shells - which makes the device look premium and polished.

Another highlight of the design is the aluminium strip around the device, which not only adds to the looks of the device but also make more sturdy. The power button located on the right side and the volume rocker on the left have also been made of aluminium. It is a nice touch and a pleasant change from the plastic buttons found on most of the phones.

For a budget phone, Canvas 4 has a fantastic screen. The resolution is still 720P (1280 x 720 pixels) but the quality of picture is much better. It can show punchy and saturated colours and brightness is higher compared to the screen on Canvas HD. The good resolution means the screen is sharp and text looks clear on it. The touch sensitivity and refresh rate too seem to be slightly better.

The camera is the other highlight because it carries the 13MP tag. Yes, Canvas 4 can shoot images that are 13 mega pixels in size. Unfortunately, quality of the pixels that make up these images is not good. The camera captures nice colours but it seems the way the phone processes the images rob them of details. The result is that images suffer from noise as well as lack of detail. In daylight, it is possible to get usable images with Canvas HD. But in low light conditions or if you are shooting close ups, the camera performance is poor.

On videos, performance is better. The device can record decent FullHD videos and keeps subjects in focus. We would have liked to see videos recoded in MP4 format instead of 3GP that Canvas 4 uses, but for shooting clear...

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First community solar projects getting launched

First community solar projects getting launched 

Solar gardens are sprouting in Minnesota.

These innovative solar power projects allow electric customers to invest in a large array off their property and own a share of the output, which gets credited to their monthly bills.

The first solar garden, a large ground-mounted system, is nearly finished in Rockford, next to the headquarters of its sponsor, the Wright Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, which says it plans to immediately build a second one.

In Minneapolis, start-up company MN Community Solar said Thursday that it expects no shortage of investors for that city’s first planned solar garden atop a business on E. Lake Street.

“The majority of residential customers and many businesses don’t have a roof that works for solar energy,” said the company’s CEO Ken Bradley, a longtime solar energy advocate who helped push adoption of the state’s new solar law, passed in May by the Minnesota Legislature. “Community solar gardens allow anyone to participate.”

Dustin Denison, a company principal, said it hopes to begin construction next year on the planned 40-kilowatt solar array, which is expected to cost $180,000. It will be built atop Northern Sun Merchandising, a seller of T-shirts, buttons and other products with progressive political messages at 2916 E. Lake St.

Denison, who is also a solar installer, said MN Community Solar is looking to build even-larger solar arrays, and has begun talking to cities and businesses about potential sites. Some of those arrays could be 1-megawatt systems, or 25 times larger than the one planned on Lake Street, Denison said.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, a green energy supporter who came to Lake Street on Thursday for the company announcement, said the city likely has properties on which community solar projects could be built.

Meanwhile, the state’s first solar garden neared completion this week in Rockford, and should be wired into the electric grid and...

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Federal judge finds Apple guilty of conspiring to raise ebook prices

Federal judge finds Apple guilty of conspiring to raise ebook prices

Apple has been found guilty of conspiring with book publishers to raise ebook prices, in one of the biggest anti-trust lawsuits ever brought by US federal authorities.

US district judge Denise Cote ruled on Wednesday that the company played a "central role" in a conspiracy with the biggest book publishers in the US to fix prices in violation of antitrust law.

Executives from the companies would meet in the private dining rooms of upscale New York restaurants to bemoan the low prices charged by the ebooks market leader Amazon, and what they could do about it, Cote said in her ruling.

Cote ruled that that damages would be determined at a new hearing. Apple continued to deny on Wednesday that it had done anything wrong, and said it planned an appeal.

The ruling was not unexpected, as Cote had earlier suggested that Apple's defense would fail, and the publishers – Hachette Book Group Inc, Macmillan, HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster – settled with the Department of Justice ahead of the trial. With Random House, these six firms are the largest publishers of trade books in the United States.

In a statement after the ruling, Apple said:

Apple did not conspire to fix ebook pricing and we will continue to fight against these false accusations. When we introduced the iBookstore in 2010, we gave customers more choice, injecting much needed innovation and competition into the market, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. We've done nothing wrong and we will appeal the judge's decision.

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After Reader, Google to kill Latitude

After Reader, Google to kill Latitude

The Google Latitude service was originally created by Google to provide users access to selected friends location on Google Maps. Latitude is following Google Reader. The service will disappear on August 9th, Google announced today. The Google Latitude service was originally created to provide users access to selected friends' locations on Google Maps. The services that will retire include Google Latitude in Google Maps for Android, Latitude for iPhone, the Latitude API, the public badge, the iGoogle Gadget, and the Latitude website at maps.google.com/latitude. 

Google explains that they will delete your list of friends on Latitude and you will no longer be able to see or manage friends and existing friends will no longer see your location. 

Google announced a new version of Google Maps for iOS and Android (version 7.0) on Tuesday. Google hasn't technically declared it, but Latitude appears to be the latest service casualty to fall to the company's expanding focus on Google+. The latest version of Google+ for Android includes the ability to check in to locations using Yelp and Foursquare and share current locations in new posts.

Those who want more on-the-go minute location data from consenting friends and family appear to be left without an option starting August. 

The new Google Maps app has some changes that users may not appreciate so much. The 'My Maps' support for instance has gone though Google says it will return in a future version.

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Solar powered plane finishes journey, lands in NYC

Solar powered plane finishes journey, lands in NYC

The aircraft soars to 30,000 feet while poking along at a top speed of 45 mph (72 kph). Most of the 11,000 solar cells are on the super-long wings that seem to stretch as far as a jumbo jet's. It weighs about the size of a small car, and soars with what is essentially the power of a small motorized scooter.

The Solar Impulse left San Francisco in early May and has made stopovers in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Dulles.

The cross-country flight is a tuneup for a planned 2015 flight around the globe with an up-graded version of the plane.

Solar Impulse's creators view themselves as green pioneers—promoting lighter materials, solar-powered batteries, and conservation as sexy and adventurous. Theirs is the high-flying equivalent of the Tesla electric sports car.

Europe saw the solar plane first with a test flight from Switzerland and Spain to Morocco last year.

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-07-solar-powered-plane-finishes-journey.html#jCp

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Shopping through smartphones on the rise

Shopping through smartphones on the rise

Shopping through smartphones on the rise: Study 

As many as 78 per cent of smartphone users also frequently use their phones in a store to compare products, says a study conducted among 400 smartphone and social media users in the country. An online study among smartphone users has found that 65 per cent of them use their phones to make a retail purchase, and 81 per cent of them frequently use social media to seek advice before making a purchase.

As many as 78 per cent of smartphone users also frequently use their phones in a store to compare products, says a study conducted among 400 smartphone and social media users in the country.

The study, carried out by First Data Corp-ICICI Merchant Services, was carried out in 10 countries including India in April among 4,000 people.

It further finds that almost four-fifths of smartphone users have at least one retailer app on their phone.

Given the unique proliferation of mobile phones in the country, an increasingly large number of Indians are turning to mobile phones as their first daily touch point to the internet, Nitish Asthana, executive director at First Data Corp, told PTI.

First Data is a global technology and payments processing leader.

In a lot of cases, the number of users of mobile devices is growing faster than web traffic. For an e-commerce company to keep pace with market trends, the mobile phone has become an important conduit, he said.

Noting that consumers here are going through a fundamental shift in their primary channel of Internet access, he said this channel is increasingly becoming the smartphones.

The study also finds that despite security concerns, online banking is on the rise in the country with more and more consumers asking for online banking services.

This is clear from the fact that over half the respondents feel that online debit card and credit card purchases are secure (56 and 51 per cent, respectively), while 49 per cent feel that using their mobiles to make a payment at a...

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