Lava launches First Intel powered Android Smartphone in India

Lava today became the first manufacturer to announce the launch of an Intel powered Android smartphone in India. Earlier showcased at Mobile World Congress, Lava Xolo X900 will be available in India starting April 23 for INR 22,000.
The phone boasts Intel medfield chipset with Single Core 1.6 GHZ Intel Atom CPU (No Dual core ..huh).


Also it has 8mp back camera with HD photo capture / HD video recording and playback support.It  has micro HDMI slot so that you can hook this device to HDMI compatible screens .
The screen resolution is is good, but the them main problem is use of outdated LCD display technology, while rivals such as Samsung , HTC,Nokia are opting for SuperLCD, AMOLED and SuperAmoled.


The Phone OS is Android Gingerbread ver 2.3 ,which the company claims will be upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 .
This Phone has whooping 1GB RAM and 16GB Internal memory with added support for NFC(Near field Communication).Get ready to use NFC with your Google Wallet Account guys.


Below are the Specifications of the Phone.

Network	Frequency Bands	GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS/HSPA: 850/900/1900/2100 HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100
	Edge/GPRS	Class 10
	WCDMA	Yes
	HSPA+	up to 21 Mbps (DL)
		up to 5.7 Mbps (DL)
Processor	Chipset	Intel Medfield
	CPU	1.6 GHz Intel® Atom™ with Hyper Threading
Graphics core	Clock speed	400 MHz
	Triangles per second	40 million/second
Design	Dimensions	123 x 63 x 10.99 mm
	Weight	127 grams
	Hard Keys	Power key
		Volume key
		Camera key
	Slots	SIM card slot
		micro USB
		micro HDMI
		3.5 mm audio jack
Display	Display Size	4.03"
	Resolution	1024 x 600
	Colours	16M
	Display Technology	TFT LCD Capacitive touch
		Corning Gorilla Glass
Operating System	Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) (upgradable to Android 4.0)
GPS	Yes
Camera	Rear camera	8 MP
	Front camera	1.3 MP
	Flash support	Yes, single LED
	Auto focus	Yes
	Touch focus	Yes
	Digital zoom	16x
	HD recording rear	1080p
	Video chat front	480p
	Burst Mode	15 fps, 10 images in <1 sec
	Modes supported	Auto, Sports, Potrait, Landscape, Night, Night Potrait, Fireworks, Text
Sensors	Accelerometer
	Gyroscope
	Magnetometer
	Ambient light sensor
	Proximity sensor
Audio	Dual Speakers	Yes, 0.3 W each
	Digital Microphones	2
	Ambient Noise Cancellation	Yes
	Voice Recording	Yes, 3GPP
	Audio codecs supported	MP3, MIDI, WAV, WMA, 3GPP
Video	Video recording & playback	Full HD 1080p@30fps
	Video codecs supported	MPEG4, 3GPP, WMC, H.264, VP8
	Video Player	Android Video Player, doubleTwist
Sync	Drivers for Windows XP	Yes
	Drivers for Windows 7	Yes
	OTA support	Yes
	Firmware download via PC	Yes
Connectivity	USB	2.0 Hi Speed
	Bluetooth	v2.1
	Wi-Fi	802.11 b/g/n
	NFC	Yes
	NFC Antenna	13.56 MHz
	WLAN support	Yes
Memory	Internal Memory*	16 GB
	RAM	1 GB
Browser	HTML5
Messaging	MMS	Yes
	SMS	Yes
	Email	Yes
Document Viewer	Yes
Battery	1460 mAh, 3.7V
	Talk time (2G)	up to 15.5 hours
	Talk time (3G)	up to 7.8 hours
	Music playback (earphones)	up to 43.9 hours
	Video playback (earphones)	up to 6 hours
	Total standby time	up to 14 days

This phone marks the entry of Intel into the Smartphone processor market ,which is currently occupied by ARM processors.The main thing to notice is usage of low power Atom device by Intel which will compete with high performance ,low powered ARM processors.Battery Standby time will be the prime concern as the device is using power hungry famed Intel Processors.Lava officially announced this phone in India,Which will be out for retail on April 23rd,It will also be available for purchase through online retailers.


via XOLO

Google launches Google Currents

Google has finally decided to take its Google Currents Android app to the international users. The app went live for everyone last week  and can be downloaded from Google Play store.

This Flipboard competitor offers nearly 400 publisher editions and over 14,000 self-produced editions of news content.

“With this update, we’ve made Google Currents available globally, wherever apps are available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.International publishers, using Google Currents Producer, can now begin adding local content for an international audience, choosing where to make it available globally and whether to enable auto-translation,” Google’s Mussie Shore stated in a blog post.

Changelog of version 1.1:

• Sync speed – Dramatic (7X) performance boost.
• Instant online sync – No need to press “sync”. Just open an edition for latest content.
• Offline reading – Choose favorite editions for offline images.
• International – Currents now available worldwide (in 44 languages).
• Translate – Translate complete editions to your preferred language. (38 languages).
• Trending – Local trending stories provided for US, FR, UK, DE, IT, ES, JP, AU.
• Bug fixes

App Description:
Google Currents delivers beautiful magazine-likeeditions to your tablet and smartphone for high speed and offline reading. Editions are all free and include: Publisher editions, Google trending editions, your favorite blogs and feeds from Google Reader.

Via Play Store

Samsung Officially Launches "YOUM" Brand Flexible AMOLED Displays

Samsung has officially launched its "YOUM" brand for flexible AMOLED displays, ahead of the bendable panels sing up in commercial hardware later this year. Registered as a trademark complete with a bendy YOUM logo in mid-March, and detailed on the new Samsung Mobile Display site, YOUM promises to be thinner and lighter than traditional AMOLED and LCD-TFT screens, as well as being "unbreakable."

That is down to the differences in the "sandwich" of layers that make up a YOUM flexible display. An LCD screen would usually have six, two of which would be glass; an OLED panel would have four, again two of which would be glass.

It is that glass which makes the screens more vulnerable to damage, and indeed stops them from flexing or folding. In contrast, Samsung YOUM panels use film-based encapsulation ("encap") and TFT layers, rather than glass substrates, which make them more resilient to damage along with allowing more flexibility in device design.

Samsung has previously shown off foldable devices as well as various flexible prototypes, and has suggested that as well as gadgets which literally bend, it could also use the YOUM AMOLED technology to create wraparound displays that could cover two or more surfaces. That way, your phone could have a regular front screen that continues around to the side.

Check out the videos below

1)

2)

{via Samsung Mobile Displays}

Facebook Messenger Updated with Better UI and Speed Enhancements

Facebook for Android may be in the Google Play Store's top ten, but it's not the only app to get attention from the social media giant: Facebook has released an update to the Facebook Messenger app as well. The new version boasts a tweaked UI and has made it simpler and faster to start up both one-on-one and group conversations. Better support for Ice Cream Sandwich devices and a number of bugfixes are also included. The update largely matches one that came to iOS back on March 19th, which featured a similar set of visual and speed enhancements.  you need to have a device running Android 2.2 or higher — it's available now at the Google Play Store.

What's in this version:

• 1.6.003
• Faster way to start conversations.
• Easier way to start group conversations.
• Updated visual design.
• Better support for Ice Cream Sandwich.
• Bug fixes.
• Performance and battery life improvements.

Instagram for Android

In what may be the most anticipated iOS-only app to cross platforms and come over to Andriod, Instagram is finally here for Android devices. And it's (nearly) every bit as good as the original.

Android becomes the first platform other than iOS supported by Instagram, the highly popular social network and photo sharing service that has some 25 million users, until now all on iPhones, iPods and iPads. The company had intentionally been methodical and, well, slow to release an app on additional platforms. But Instagram announced the new version in a blog post earlier today. And it's available to download right now.

The app will work with Android devices running versions 2.2 and higher that support OpenGL ES 2. It seems to have rough feature parity with the iOS versions (including sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Foursquare, with Flickr on the way), the familiar truckloads of filters, and Lux—a feature that automatically fixes your photo processing.

You can download it right now. And you really should.

Hands On Impressions 

It's a very slick-looking app. Every bit as beautiful as the iOS. The layout really takes advantage of the extra screen real estate you get on Android phones. Everything just fits, perfectly, which isn't always the case for cross-platform apps. Clearly, they weren't just twiddling their thumbs while they were going slow with this one.


The camera reacts quickly and took advantage of the Galaxy Nexus' tap to focus and fast shutter speeds. You can also switch to the front-facing camera, if you so desire. It has all of the sharing features you'd expect, allowing you to instantly post your photos directly to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Tumblr. Once you've posted the pic you can then share it to other social media or applications (Google+, Email, Dropbox, whatever).

There are 18 filters there for you to choose from, and you can turn frames on/off, and do a simulated HDR, but there is one major missing feature: that little teardrop menu that lets you change the tilt-shift and vignetting. Android doesn't have that yet, but we expect it'll be added in a forthcoming update. Also, it appears that it doesn't currently work on some Android phones and possibly not on any Android tablets.

[Google Play]

Rocket Music Player for Android

If you are a music connoisseur, or even if you just like to jam out to some tunes occasionally using your Android device, you might be interested in an app I just came across while perusing the Google Play Store. Rocket Music Player, by JRTStudio, features an easy-to-use interface that allows you to easily browse your music collection without having to having to jump through a bunch of hoops.

If you’re not content with your current music player, have a look at all of the customization options this app offers below:

• Browse and play your music by albums, artists, genres, songs, podcasts and playlists.
• Create playlists within the player.
• 5 band graphic equalizer (Android 2.3+).
• iSyncr Live Lists dynamically update while playing.
• Fade in and out when playing and stopping songs
• Controllable from the lock-screen.
• Podcast bookmarking
• 4×1 and 4×2 widget.
• Support for most scribbling apps.

Furthermore, if you are using iSyncr, an app for syncing your iTunes music with your Android device, Rocket Music Player will provide the following functionality:

1. Sync new playlists and playlist changes back to iTunes
2. Sync podcast bookmarks to and from iTunes
3. Sync song ratings to and from iTunes
4. iSyncr Live Lists dynamically update while playing

The really cool part is, Rocket Music Player won’t even cost you a penny. There is, however, a premium feature unlocker available for $3.99 (US) which gives you access to these awesome features:

• Album art downloading
• 10 band graphic equalizer
• Assign an equalizer preset to a song
• Preamp
• Right/Left Balance Control
• Gapless playback
• Crossfading
• Play Apple Lossless (ALAC)
• Albums marked gapless in iTunes will play gapless when used with iSyncr
• Start/stop time from iTunes is used when used with iSyncr

Sound like a cool app? We thought so too. If you’d like to try it out for yourself, head over to the Google Play Store using the link below. If you like it, grab the unlocker using the code below that.

Download Rocket Music Player (Free)

Download Rocket Music Player ($3.99 US)

Google Voice Updated

An update for Google Voice has been released on the Google Play Store, bringing the application up to version 0.4.2.54. The aim of the update is to bring a better experience to Android 4.0 devices with the integration of Ice Cream Sandwich’s built-in visual voicemail feature. Additionally, you can now directly access folders from the ICS’s inbox, making communication even easier with Google’s already-superb free calling and SMS service.

Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral) is a telecommunications service by Google launched on March 11, 2009. Google Voice had some 1.4 million users in October 2009, 570,000 of whom used the service 7 days a week. This number has risen markedly since Google made the transition of its Google Voice service from ‘invitation only’ to be available to all Gmail subscribers. However, Google has not released a more recent number of users, claiming only that it is in the millions.

The service is configured and maintained by the user in a web-based application, styled after Google’s e-mail service, Gmail, or through the service’s Android and iOS apps. Google Voice currently provides free PC-to-Phone calling and PC-to-PC voice and video calling worldwide between users of the Google Voice and Video Chat browser plugin (available for Windows, Intel-based Mac OS X, and Linux).

If you’ve already got Google Voice installed, all you need to do is check the “My Apps” tab on Google Play and your update should already be waiting. If not, feel free to use the link below to pick up the latest version.

Download Google Voice

Stick it! Free Your Player: Multitasking while playing videos

Stick it! is an amazing application for Android phones and tablets that allows you to play videos and stick them to your screen, hovering them above whatever else you are doing on your device.

The app can play local files stored on your phone, as well as videos shared from other applications, like YouTube. This is a very cool feature, as the native YouTube application does not currently support multitasking, meaning you have to stop the video you’re watching if you decide you want/need to do something else. 

Above is a quick look at the application in action


Features :
MultiView™ : watch multiple movies simultaneously
Truly floating player : move, resize and minimize supported
Background playingYouTube support (beta)
Supports most video formats
Streaming support (MMS, RTSP, HTTP)
Built-in themes (Windows 7, Mac OSX, more to come)
Built-in file browser


Ready to try Stick it! Free Your Player for yourself? Head over to Google Play by clicking the link below. The app will run you $1.49 (USD). Good ROI (Return on Investment though).

Download Stick it! Free Your Player

Source

Samsung Galaxy S3 leaked

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has become so hyped that it is almost impossible to keep up with all the supposed leaks and rumors. We have already seen reports that the Galaxy S III would launch in April, then May, and now the latest speculation is June.Whenever it is time to finally announce the device, Samsung has said it will happen at a separate Samsung-hosted event and not at a trade show like CTIA Wireless. A Samsung representative previously said that the successor to the Galaxy S II would be unveiled “closer to commercial availability of the product” so we could still be waiting for several months.
Rumored specs of the Galaxy S III include:

• Android 4.x Ice Cream Sandwich 
• 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED Plus display 
• Quad-core 1.5-1.8 GHz Exynos 4412 processor 
• 12 MP rear camera, HD front camera 
• Only 7 millimeters thick 
• Ceramic casing

 At this point all we can do is sit here and speculate. If Samsung really is going to announce and launch this device in the summer, then we have to wait a couple more months before we receive any official information.
So far I would say their strategy is working. The bloggers and early adopters continue to talk about the successor to the Galaxy S II with an increasing excitement about the unknown. HTC is likely to win over some customers with their One series, but a lot of customers will also be waiting to see what Samsung has in store.

If you are in the market for a new Android smartphone, have any of the recent devices caught your eye or are you holding out for Samsung’s next flagship?

Android Best FPS game is for sale at 0.49$

We played Counter Strike,quake 3 Arena,Battlefield & Call of Duty on our Gaming Rigs .
But, imagine same kind on  gameplay on our Android Phone(High End).
Android’s best FPS game, Modern Combat 3, has joined Google’s $0.49 Play Store sale through Monday. The game uses up to 1.37 GB of free storage space and requires a high-end phone, but it’s worth every penny. The single player will keep you busy for awhile with 13 full missions and there is a 12-player multiplayer mode to extend the replay value. So members get this best game at unbelievable price.Check out the Youtube video below to get idea of the game.

source

Google Maps Updates its Maps App Navigation Menu

Google has pushed a minor update for its Maps for Android app today. Updated to version 6.4.0, app now includes simpler navigation menus for Google Maps Navigation. Company has replaced the vertical menu with a grid-based one.

There seems to be no change in other parts of the Maps app, so you are living one of the select countries where Maps Navigation is currently available, head over to Play Shop on your device or Google Play online to grab the update now.