Lenovo Announces The Vibe Shot And A7000 at MWC 2015

Lenovo has lately been in news for a mixed bag of reasons. That includes a much reprimanded Superfish debacle and a shock coming as reverberations to it with Lenovo website getting hacked. But ahead of all the turbulence, Lenovo has launched Lenovo A7000 and Lenovo Vibe Shot smartphones at the ongoing Mobile World Congress. With beautiful design and impressive features, these devices are set to grab attention in worldwide market.

Lenovo Vibe Shot is priced at $349 (about INR 21,500) and will be available by June. Lenovo A7000 variant would start at $169 (about INR 10,500) and will hit the markets by March. Lenovo Vibe Shot beats camera at heart. And the design too looks like one from the rear end. The buttons for camera control are placed at the right side of the device, giving a feel of point-and-click conventional camera. Rear camera is of 16MP type which is equipped with six piece modular lens. Rear camera is also coupled with a tri-colour LED flash. For getting a faster focus, the camera boasts a infrared focus feature. Camera unit has sensors to provide low-backlight illumination image rendering and optical image stabilization. There are options provided for pro and preset settings for the camera. The front camera unit is of 8MP. The secondary camera unit is of fixed focus type.

On the smartphone front, Vibe Shot holds a 5-inch full-HD (1080*1920 pixels) display. It holds a octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC which is coupled with 3GB of RAM space. Adreno 405 GPU will handle all the graphics related processes. Four of these cores run at 1.7GHz and the rest four at 1.0GHz. Inbuilt memory capacity is of 32GB and storage capacity can be expanded up to 128GB with the conventional microSD cards. Vibe Shot runs on Android Lollipop 5.0. Connectivity features comprise of the latest standards of WiFi and Bluetooth, LTE support will other basic necessities. This device is a dual-SIM type. It boasts battery unit of 2900mAh. With all these features, Vibe Shot is designed to target the high-end market and specially for the shutterbugs.

On the other hand, Lenovo A7000 is designed to impress the mid-range customers. It comes as a successor of A6000 and like the same this too is a dual-SIM device. This device holds a 5.5-inch 720p HD display unit. Under the hood, it holds a 64-bit MediaTek MT6752M processor which clocks as 1.5GHz. The SoC is coupled with 2GB RAM. Internal storage unit is of 8GB and the memory can be further extended to 32GB.

Primary camera unit for Lenovo A7000 is of 8MP and the secondary snapper is of 5MP. This would certainly cheer up the selfie lovers. Lenovo claims it to be the first smartphone having a Dolby Atmos surround sound feature, although it is said to have only one speaker outlet. Like Vibe Shot, A7000 too supports LTE and other connectivity features are listed as WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and micro-USB slot. Also A7000 is powered by a 2900mAh battery unit. It runs on Android Lollipop 5.0 with Vibe UI over the top.

Overall with A7000, Lenovo has made its move to increase its presence in the mid-range devices. And weighing all the features with the price tag, it can be predicted to be a hit. Along with all these Lenovo smartphones, they also launched another gadget at its MWC presentation. It is the Lenovo Pocket Projector. For this device, Lenovo claims it to be the first standalone projector which is compatible with and Miracast or DLNA-enabled smartphone be it Android, Windows or iOS operating system based. It can project up to 110-inches of screen and has dual speakers inbuilt. It claims to have 2.5 hours of battery life and supports 32GB of memory unit via microSD card.

Guest Post by Ronak Totla

Ronak is an Electronics and Telecommunication Engineer and has worked on Embedded Systems and Robotics. He likes to keep himself updated with the latest technology loves to travel in his free time.

Battery Saver Mode on Android Explained

The latest version of Android i.e v5.0 Lollipop is full of new features and bugs. While Google is fixing the buggy part we thought of explaining the features to the masses. Lollipop is full of tiny little updates all over with a few new features that really stand out. After covering the priority notifications feature a few days back we thought of explaining the power saver mode on Android Lollipop.

One of the major issue with Android phones is the mediocre battery life. While a lot of people complain about it, the only fix that really worked was buying a phone with a bigger battery. This solution didn’t work for everyone though, phones with bigger batteries were heavy, bulky and had uninspiring design. Some of them had average specifications, keeping people away from buying such phones. The ones that did really everything well — like the Samsung Note series — had a hefty price tag. One of the methods to save the battery on the Android Phone is to tweak the software on it. On Android Lollipop they have done it with the implementation of Project Volta, which will only show improvement once app developers start implementing it.. But something that works very well even now is the inbuilt Power Saver mode in Lollipop.

The main purpose of the Power Saver mode is to save the battery when it is really required. The mode is automated and can activate from 2 points — When the battery reaches 15% and when it reaches 5%. Users can choose the from these two based on their preference. Along with  the automated setting, the mode can also be activated manually at any given point of time by going to Settings>Battery> Clicking Icon on the Top Right corner and switching it on. This should be done when you are away from a charger for a really long time to save the battery from draining out.

How Does Power Saver Work?

You might be curious as to how a minor software tweak can help the battery last longer. The answer lies in the way the mode works, when it is activated it switches off one or more cores of the processor, switches off animations and reduces background data. While this does affect the overall performance of the device, it manages to save the battery in the process. The data connection is still active for you to use but apps cannot access the internet unless you are using it. This reduces the data transfer between the apps and the internet, reducing the load on the already starving processor.

Does it really work?

My first doubt was if it would work as promised, so I switched it on with around noon with 94% battery still left on my Nexus 5. The system notifies that the power saver mode is on and changes the colour of the Status Bar and the Lower System buttons to Orange. There was a noticeable lag in the performance of the device, it took longer to open apps and games. Networking apps like WhatsApp and Facebook stopped showing notifications; in fact they only refreshed when the app was launched.

The main reason for the power saver mode is to get you through your day when you cannot charge your phone, which it manages to do well. We have seen Sony use something similar to extend the battery life on their smart phones where it completely disconnects the data 15 minutes after the screen switches off. I switched it on my Nexus 5 with the battery at 94% and the phone was at 77% after 7 hours of use. Generally my phone would have dropped down to 30-40% but it seems Power Saver was doing the job rather well. With the mode being a part of Android Lollipop we can expect it on upcoming smartphones soon. But if you ask if it works when its required the most the answer is a big YES!

Transfer Documents to Kindle via Email

Image from Kindle Website

Second generation Amazon Kindle have built-in PDF reader that allows you to read in the PDF formatting without converting.

Now, if you want to  transfer PDF or other Office documents from your desktops or laptops to your Kindle device just connect your device to your system using the USB cord provided.

Kindle device will now appear as a separate drive in “My Computer”. Send your file directly from the right click menu or use drag and drop.

Email your documents to Kindle

All Kindle users get a unique email address in the format name@free.kindle.com. Any files that you send to this email as an attachment will auto-download to your Kindle while you are in a Wi-Fi zone. When you mail you documents put the subject convert and your document will automatically get converted to Kindle format (.azw)

Where is my unique email address? Read on Amazon

Limitations

Maximum file size- 50Mb

Number of file attached in a single mail- 25

If Wi-Fi is not available, you may also download files to your Kindle over 3G or 2G connection but Amazon will charge you a fee per download. The fee is 15¢ per MB while you download documents to the Kindle over 3G in the U.S. or 99¢ per MB when you download documents to your Kindle anywhere else in the world via 3G.

10 Most Exciting TV Technologies to rule 2012

TV has been around for decades, but what really have made TV thrilling are the new technologies that are being released in 2012. Remember the days when TV first came out? Only a couple of channels were on TV and everything was in black and white, then came the days of colored TV, more channels, and then smaller and flatter TV's. Were now in a world where there are greater technologies that surpass just making a TV more brilliant in color, adding more channels, or making the TV thinner. 2012 is the year of the TV and it's only going to get better from here. The rising star of TV's in today's market is the LED TV.

1. Streaming from PC's

A technology that is fairly new to the TV market: PC Streaming. Although the technology existed quite some time ago for gaming consoles, the technology is new to TV's. Having the feature of streaming options built into the TV allows TV customers to stream live data including pictures, music, videos, and more straight from their personal computers directly onto their TV screens.

2. Blu-Ray

Blu-Ray has been out for some time but for TV's to come standard with the technology built in is quite new. Blu-Ray has picture quality that is outstanding in comparison to DVD's and the discs hold much more data for more video and bonus features many DVD movies could not offer.

3. SRS TheaterSound

This new technology optimizes all audio output directly from the TV and out into the environment. The hardware is built to reduce inconsistent volume, audio issues that may come along, and dimensionless sounds. This establishes a more realistic and entertaining environment for the TV customers.

4. LED Technology

LED TV's have been around for a while but the technology has been greatly re-mastered. With new black levels more vibrant, color production at its prime, and shadow details that are eye popping, LED TV's have the leading edge on the TV competition around the world.

5. 3DTV

The new crave in today's TV world is 3DTV. By wearing specially designed 3D TV glasses, customers can watch their TV in full 3D. With objects more realistic, colors deepened, and a more dimensional visual experience, 3DTV is taking over the TV world, especially for LED TV's.

6. Local Dimming

A new feature for 2012, local dimming has been created by top TV production companies to specifically lighten individual objects within the picture to create a more realistic environment. As normally with TV's, the entire screen is lit at the same temperature. This new feature creates almost a life like experience that is new for customers.

7. Intelligent Sensor

This feature automatically adjusts colorization and optimizes tones of the picture in a TV. All depending on the current light environment in the room the TV is located in, the Intelligent Sensor determines the best picture lighting for its viewers by being "smart" about its surroundings.

8. WiFi Connection Capabilities

WiFi has been around for many years, but its recently been implemented into the latest and greatest TV's of 2012. Having a built in WiFi TV enables its users to access multiple portals such as the internet, accessing information from other devices, and even downloading content directly to the TV.

9. Battery Operated 3D Glasses

Regular 3D glasses are no comparison to the new battery operated 3D glasses. These new glasses are specially designed to connect with the TV brand they are associated with and provide the most outstanding 3D experience for its users.

10. Updated Screen Sizes

55" step back! New LED TV's and other types of TV's are coming out with even more diameter measurements for their TV's for home use. Some TV's being released in 2012 are 73" or bigger!

Kathleen Hubert is a blogger who writes on a variety of different sites. Check out more of her work at ledtv.org.

Win a MACBOOK AIR

ENDED ON 28th May 2012


Avast is offering free Macbook Air to first five winners.

Just go to Avast Facebook page sign-in and click like to reach the contest page. There you have to post your picture with an apple.

The competition is conducted in three phase three phase as in the image below.

The competition will end in one month starting from 27th of April to 28th of May.

Grand Prize

• 1st to 5th most-voted-for picture wins: MacBook Air

2nd Prize

• 6th to 30th most-voted-for picture wins: gift package, including avast!-branded souvenirs.

Official Rules 

Definitions: 

AVAST: AVAST Software a.s., a company duly organized and existing under the laws of the Czech Republic, Identification No. 27636917, with its registered office at Budějovická 1518/13A, 140 00 Prague 4 – Michle, Czech Republic, registered in the Commercial Register kept by the Municipal Court in Prague in Section B, Insert 11402.

Participant:Any registered user of any avast! product, who is a registered user of Facebook and is a fan of the Facebook page of avast! antivirus (www.facebook.com/avast), who enters the contest during the Offer Period and provides his or her name and surname, date of birth, country of residence, email address (it must be the same e-mail address as the one used to register his or her avast! Product) and submits a photo of himself/herself with an apple. Obscene, provocative or otherwise inappropriate content will not be considered. We retain sole discretion as to what constitutes inappropriate content. 

WinnerAny Participant that met all conditions described in these Terms and Conditions to be awarded a Prize. 

Offer PeriodThis contest commences April 27, 2012, at 12:00 a.m. CET and closes May 28, 2012, at 12:00 a.m. CET. There are two contest periods: Submission period (April 27, 2012, 12:00 a.m. CET.– May 18, 2012, 12:00 a.m. CET.) and Voting period (May 18, 2012 12:01 a.m. CET. – May 28, 2012 12:00 a.m. CET.). You cannot vote until after the submission period ends.

How to win a prize?Each Participant can upload only one photo. Each Participant can give one vote to each photo uploaded by other Participants (each Participant can vote for an unlimited number of photos uploaded by other Participants, but may not vote for any photo more than once). Each Participant may also vote for his/her own photo only once.By submitting the photo, the Participant grants AVAST Software a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, unrestricted, royalty-free, transferrable, and sub-licensable license to reproduce the photo, distribute it, and communicate it to the public by all means known now or in the future, including the explicit consent to use his/her picture and the pictures of any other people (if any) depicted on the photo (the “License”).Each Participant represents and warrants to AVAST that the Participant has the right to use the photo and to grant the License, i.e., amongst others, that the Participant obtained valid consents and licenses from the author of the photo and all people depicted on the photo in the scope permitting the Participant to grant the License. The Participant shall indemnify AVAST for any and all costs, damages, and losses arising out of or related to the fact that the representation above is not true or is misleading and/or the fact that it turns out that use of the photo in accordance with the License infringes any rights of any third party.Prizes will be awarded to Participants whose photo with an apple obtains the highest number of votes from other Participants, but in any case at least 50 votes. The 5 Participants whose photos have received the most votes from other Participants by May 28, 2012, at 12:00 a.m. CET, will be awarded the Grand Prize. The 30 Participants with the next- highest numbers of votes will receive the Second Prize.Any votes from fake or duplicate Facebook accounts, votes generated by robots or vote sharing services, and any other fraudulent votes shall be discarded and disregarded. AVAST reserves the right to disqualify any Participant who attempts to unfairly influence the results or behaves inappropriately in any other way without notice.Should more Participants share the same number of votes and the number of such Participants is higher than the number of available Prizes, the Prizes shall always be awarded to Participants whose photos were submitted earliest.

Prizes 

Grand PrizeFive 13-inch MacBook Air computers, with the following parameters:• 256GB• 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor • 4GB memory • 256GB flash storage • Intel HD Graphics 3000 

Second prize30 packages comprised of avast!-branded souvenirs: Parker pen, hat, t-shirt, notebook, mug. 

Prize EligibilityAny Participant except Excluded Participants (see below). 

Excluded Participants- Employees of AVAST and their close relatives (parents, siblings, children, or spouse)- AVAST business partners, agencies, distributors, and their employees 

Prize DeliveryAVAST shall deliver the Prize using a reasonably reputable parcel service. AVASTshall bear the shipping costs.AVAST is not responsible for any damage caused to the Prize during delivery, nor for non-delivery of the Prize caused by the parcel service, nor by theft, fraud, or other criminal act or by force majeure.Prizes are non-refundable. AVAST shall not provide any alternative award in any case.Winners are exclusively responsible for declaring the Prize to their local financial authorities, if they are required to do so according to their applicable laws and regulations. 

How to Collect the Prize?AVAST will send a notification email to every Winner to the email address provided during contest registration. The Winner must either reply to the notification email or send an email to winners@avast.com, in either case using the email address used for the initial contest registration. To be eligible to redeem a Prize, the Winner’s email must contain all the information described below and must be delivered to AVAST within one month from the day on which the notification email was sent to the email address provided by the Winner during contest registration.Winner’s reply must contain all of the following:(a) explicit unconditional and unlimited consent of the Winner given to AVAST to use the photo and the Winner’s name, surname, pictures and/or photographs and his story related to this promotion for marketing purposes, namely for publication thereof on AVAST websites. AVAST guarantees that full name of any Winner shall not be published, the form of the publication shall be the following: John S., from Modesto, CA; and(b) shipping address to which the Prize is to be delivered.AVAST may not and shall not be held responsible for any non-delivery of the notification email to the Winner or failure to receive the reply thereof due to any technical reasons, including but not limited to spam filters, full mailbox or incorrect email address. If you receive the notification email, send your reply to it and do not receive the Prize in reasonable time thereafter, please contact AVAST to make sure that AVAST received your reply. 

General and legal 

AVAST reserves the right, at any time, to verify the validity of claims of any Participant (including that such as Participant’s identity, age, and place of residence) and to disqualify any Participant who submits a claim for a Prize that is not in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, or who tampers with the claim process. Failure by AVAST to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights. AVAST reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions or cancel this promotion at any time, in its sole discretion, for any reason and without any resulting responsibilities or liabilities towards the Participants.Contact InformationFor any information related to this promotion please contact AVAST: Email: winners@avast.com Address:AVAST Software a.s.Trianon Office BuildingBudejovicka 1518/13a140 00, Prague 4Czech Republic

How to Find the Best Mobile Phones

You have to admit that we are living in a world where technology plays a huge role. I’m not saying that we are dependent on gadgets. But most of the time, different gadgets help us to become more efficient. If you are going to ask me which device is dominating our planet, I can only think of one thing. Perhaps, you are thinking of this too. It’s the mobile phone.

Nearly everywhere, you can see people using their own mobile phones for different purposes. Some use it for calling, for sending SMS, MMS and now, people are using their mobile phones for browsing the internet and taking photos.

And since there is a huge demand for it, a lot of companies are creating their own version of mobile phone units. As for the consumers, it gets harder to choose the best one.

Here is where you can use this article. You can use the checklist below in order to have the most appropriate mobile phone for your needs.

What is the main purpose of your mobile phone? 

 Different brands have different strong points. For example, Blackberry phones are marketed for business people or those in the corporate world. However, iPhones are made for those who can’t help but download thousands of applications.

You have to know why you are getting a new mobile phone. Are you going to use it for calling your staff? Or is it for your personal use? Perhaps, you would like to get one that is at par with your business associates.

It is only you that can answer the above question. Make sure that you are honest in doing so.

Will it fit your job or your personality?  

Your phone can tell thousands of things about your personality. Hence, you have to get one which can show your character. You see, there are units that are very colourful. If you are in the art industry, this might be a good buy. For those who are always speaking strict business, phones that are metal caste or scream sophistication should be your best bets.

What’s your budget for your mobile phone?  

This is really important. If you can’t afford it, forget it. If you must know, there are great and efficient mobile phones that wouldn’t require you to pay huge amount of money. Why don’t you stick with those?

Also, I would advise you to check out the specs of different phones. That way, you will be able to assess which fits you the best.

Kim Bookman loves to write for a cable modem website. The site compares top brands of wireless cable modems like the famous Motorola Cable Modems. 

5 Top Great Value Laptops On The Market

Yes, everyone knows that searching for reliable, cheap laptops is a tricky task. No matter how long you ponder over its specifications data-sheet, or how well the assistant assures you, there always is a lurking suspicion in the back of your head regarding the product's reliability. The best solution to this is to buy assembled laptops, there are rarely any compatibility issues as well as you can avail big discounts as the parts are more or less from a single company. Cheap laptops generally suffer from maintenance issues, but as long as it is branded, a warranty can be availed. Recently we conducted a survey on cheap laptops in the market. Listed below are some of the best cheap laptops according to our survey :

1. Acer Aspire 5742-384G32MNK - 

2nd generation Intel i3, 4Gb ram, 13 inch screen, 500 gb hdd.

Just below 400$, this laptop is definitely the first in the series. It boasts an intel i3 processor, which can boost its computing speed when you perform demanding tasks like copying, writing, converting or gaming. And that's coupled with a 4Gb ram. Yep, you read it right. And yes, all our software ran flawlessly on the device without guzzling too much power. However, the Acer is less graphically able than the other laptops. Users experienced issues with videos, and the speaker on board is too mild to enjoy bass songs. However, video streaming was great on the laptop.

2. The MSI U270 - 

Amd Athlon processor, 3Gb ram, 11.6 inch screen, 350 GB hdd.

In the same price range as the Acer, the msi looks and feels like a small netbook, but its powerful processor and video card give it laptop characteristics. The AMD Athlon processor on board does most of the tasks flawlessly. From net surfing to video editing, the msi does it all without much flickers or pauses. However, in our survey, we found that it dragged a bit with multiple applications running. Gaming was great with the powerful processor and video chip on board. Video and audio quality is great, but rarely some issues with streaming is reported. In all, the msi is a powerful machine and will perform most daily tasks flawlessly and efficiently, but the small 11.6 inch screen might require you to keep your specks nearby.

3. The Samsung RV510-A08UK - 

Pentium 4 processor, 3 gb ram, 500 gb hdd.

The cheapest in the cheap laptops series, at only 350$, the Samsung laptop shows certain capabilities better than the other laptops. At only 2.4 kgs, it can be very portable. The Samsung is powered by a Pentium 4 processor coupled with a 3 gb ram. Packs fair amount of power, suitable for most general tasks. In all, the system is very stable, it handles multiple tasks without hanging or crashing. Where this laptop falls down is its video handling capacity. Hd videos badly stutter at some places, and video streaming is average. However, the Samsung handled word and power-point files flawlessly, and e book reading in pdf was also good. In short, the cheapest laptop isn’t the worst after all.

4. Toshiba's NB205-310 - 

Intel Celeron 900 processor, 2.2 GHz, 3gb ram, 12 inch screen, 300 GB hdd.

Powered by an Intel celeron 900 processor at 2.2 GHz, it is not bad after all. Also, a 3 Gb ram coupled with this thing makes it capable of handling multi tasking flawlessly. Compatible with most software in today's market, it is most suited for office use as it handles documents and word applications great. Video experience was not bad, and the speakers buzz at an audible volume. The only place where it falls down is its portability. At 5.9 kgs and a thick frame, it can be hardly called portable. Thus making it the fourth in the list of cheap laptops.

5. ASUS X54L-SX033V Celeron B800 - 

Intel celeron 800 processor, 1.8GHz, 2Gb ram, 300 GB hdd.

A celeron processor is not at all bad for a $375 laptop, as it is very quick and efficient in battery life. Then again, a 2 GB ram isn’t bad too. The laptop's performance was average, but while performing demanding tasks like video editing it got heated up. And once heated, it tends to function irrationally with error messages popping up now and then. But for easy tasks, the Asus's performance was

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