Nokia will stop shipping Symbian phones this summer

Nokia will stop shipping Symbian smartphones this summer, thus leaving the revered 808 PureView as its last developed product on the "burning platform." Going forward, the only smartphones manufactured by the Finnish giant will boot Microsoft's Windows Phone OS.

Nokia pointed long development of Symbian devices as one of the reasons to halt their production. According to the manufacturer it takes 22 months to bring a Symbian product to the market, compared to less than a year for a Windows Phone handset.
Of course, there is also the matter of the number of units sold. Nokia moved only 500,000 Symbian smartphones in Q1 this year - significantly less than the 5.6 million Lumia devices sold during the same period.

Microsoft gives us the first official video of the new Windows 8.1

Microsoft has uploaded a 4-minute video giving you a first look of the upcoming update for Windows 8 dubbed Windows 8.1

The video demonstrates just a handful of the new features and customization options and the issues Microsoft has fixed. New tile sizes, lockscreen photo frames, homescreen wallpapers, Apps sorting, and of course, the return of the Start button in Desktop mode.
Check out Jensen Harris from the Windows team giving a neat presentation of the changes that the update brings.

ASUS CEO Jerry Shen teases the MeMo Pad FHD 10 LTE

ASUS CEO Jerry Shen has teased the company’s yet-to-be announced Android tablet at a Qualcomm Keynote at Computex 2013. The ASUS executive also revealed the presence of Snapdragon chip along with an LTE radio inside the tablet.

The mysterious tablet is said to have a full HD display and given the looks of the slate, it might well be a LTE variant of the recently announced MeMo Pad FHD 10. Furthermore, the upcoming tablet features the ASUS SonicMaster to give superior and seamless mobile experience to its users
Jerry Shen has also noted that the tablet will be available in the Q3 of this year. He has promised to reveal the details of the slate at a launch event scheduled for this Fall.

Sony unveils 11.6″ and 13.3″ Vaio Pro laptops and the new Vaio Duo 13

A deluge of new laptops hit after Intel announced its next generation Core processors and Sony unveiled the spiritual successor of the Vaio Z (and P to some extent), the Vaio Pro, plus a new Vaio Duo.

The Sony Vaio Pro comes in 13.3″ and 11.6″ versions, both targeting “lightest laptop with touch, ever” for their respective sizes, thanks to a carbon fiber build. The big one weighs 1,060g, while the small one tips the scale at just 871g.
Both sizes of the Vaio Pro boast 1080p touchscreen displays with Sony’s Triluminous and X-Reality tech. For processor you can choose between fourth generation Intel Core i5 and i7 with 4GB or 8GB of RAM.

The 13.3″ Sony Vaio Pro is the first to come with PCIe SSD, which Sony claims is faster than regular SSDs. This model comes with a full-size keyboard, the keyboard on both models is backlit. The palm rest is made of aluminum and is made to gradually “merge” with the desk for more comfortable typing.
Also, both models can use a sheet battery to extend battery life to 14 hours for the 11.6″ Vaio Pro and 13 hours for the 13.3″ model.
The Sony Vaio Duo 13 uses the same tablet slider hybrid design as the Duo 11 and is about the same size, while having a bigger screen and full-size keyboard with touchpad. Speaking of the screen, it’s a Triluminous, X-reality display again with 1080p resolution, scratch-resistant glass and support for a digitizer pen.

The processor and RAM options are the same as on the Pros – Core i5 or i7, 4/8 GB of RAM. Thanks to the Active Sleep tech, the Vaio Duo 13 can download new email and other updates even when the device is asleep. There’s optional LTE connectivity.
The Duo 13 is heavier than the Pros, weighing in at 1,329g.
All three new devices run Windows 8 and use Sony’s ClearSound+ tech, include NFC connectivity and an Exmor R camera above the screen. The Duo 13 has an 8MP Exmor RS camera on the back too.

Google Glass update brings HDR photography and captions for sharing

Google Glass update brings HDR photography and captions for sharing

5 hours ago by Prasad 28 comments

Google has released a new update for Google Glass, which should make one of the most popular uses of the device an even better experience. First up is HDR photography. Now when you take a picture with your Google Glass, the device will take multiple photos at different exposures and then combine them to create an image with greater dynamic range. This will allow you to see more details in the bright as well as dark areas of the shot that are otherwise not possible with a single exposure shot.

The other feature being added is the ability to add captions to your pictures before sharing them. Now, once you are done taking your picture, you will see an option to add a caption. Select it and then simply speak your caption and it will be added to your photo.
You can check out more samples of HDR images taken with Google Glass in the link below.

BlackBerry Messenger to hit Android and iOS on June 27

When BlackBeery announced that its Messenger service (BBM) was coming to iOS and Android many people, including me, got very excited, but unfortunately, the company wasn’t ready to announce a release date back then.

Now, almost a month after the Blackberry Live 2013 conference, the company has announced that its BBM service will hit Android and iOS as a standalone app on June 27. Here’s the tweet from BlackBerry Worldwide that shows the app running on an iPhone.

Initially, the BlackBerry Messenger or BBM, as it’s more commonly known, will only support BBM chats, multi-person chats, voice note sharing, and BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups to share calendar, photos, files, etc.
The company however, intends to make the BBM for Android and iOS as fully featured as it is on BlackBerry 10, only this will happen gradually. BlackBerry has plans to expand the functionality of the app with some of the new BBM features such as Voice and video calls, Screenshare, and the just announced Channels. These will come as subsequent updates.

Samsung officially announces the IP67 Galaxy S4 Active

After numerous leaks, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active has finally been officially announced by Samsung.

The most notable feature of the new smartphone is the addition of IP67 certification for dust and water protection, thanks to the newly-designed body. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is able to capture underwater pictures with its 8MP camera, and there's even a special "Aqua Mode" that will "increase visual quality and clarity for enhanced underwater images and video."

Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active official images

Apart from the camera downgrade, you also get an LCD display rather than the Super AMOLED found on the vanilla Galaxy S4. Everything else is in large part the same as the I9505 Galaxy S4: the 1080p display measures 5 inches and there's a 1.9 GHz quad-core Krait processor under the hood. The 16 GB of memory are expandable via the microSD card slot, while the 2 GB of RAM will enable trouble-free multitasking. LTE, IR-port alongside the latest wireless ac band and NFC, complete a perfect connectivity combo. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is powered by a 2600 mAh battery.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active next to the Galaxy S4

The smartphone runs on the latest Android 4.2.2 release, which comes with Samsung's Air View and Air Gestures, and the S Health fitness and WatchON IR apps.
As far as measurements go, the Galaxy S4 Active is slightly larger and thicker than the original, coming in at 139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1mm (compared to the 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm on the vanilla Galaxy S4). The weight has also gone up by 21 grams to 151 g.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active will go on sale in the summer in Urban Grey, Dive Blue and Orange Flare color versions. Samsung is remaining vague on exact pricing, but it did say initial markets would be the US and Sweden.