Samsung Beat DJ

Lastly, we have the Beat DJ, which runs Samsung's DISC User Interface incorporates Bang & Olufsen audio technology. The Beat DJ has 50MB of on-board memory - expandable to 8GB with micro SD cards. On the imaging front, this one sports a decent 3.0 megapixel camera. The speakers too are B&O branded and and are powered by their ICEpower amplifier.

The Beat DJ will retail at around the Rs. 18,990 mark.

Read more »

Samsung Star S5603

As for the Samsung Star S5603, it has a similar 3.2 megapixel camera as seen on the S5233 and is capable of video recording in QVGA resolution at 15 fps. This one too has a 50MB internal memory chip

, which can of course be expanded to 8GB. Rest of the features are similar to the S5233. And yes, this one gets you 3G connectivity as its name suggests. It is priced at Rs. 14,499.

Read more »

Samsung TouchWiz S5233

Korean electronics giant Samsung has unleashed three new touch screen handsets in the Indian market with the announcement of the Samsung Star S5233, Star S5603 and the Samsung Beat DJ.

The new launches come weeks after Samsung introduced its premium touchscreen handset, the S8300 UltraTouch, in the country. Additionally, this also takes Samsung's touchscreen handset tally to a respectable figure of seven.

Lets talk bout each phones individually now. The S5233 is quite slim at just 11.9mm. This one features a 3.0-inch WQVGA full-touch screen and Samsung TouchWiz User Interface with Mobile Widgets and an accelerometer sensor. It sports a 3.2 megapixel camera with smile recognition, multi-format playback and Samsung's DNSe sound engine along with recognition using Shazam's "Find Music". There is 50MB of Internal memory, which is expandable up to 8GB via microSD cards

. The phone also comes bundled with Google applications like Google Search, Gmail, Google maps. The S5233 will retail for Rs. 11,100.

Read more »

Microsoft Zune HD Comining Soon

After a whirlwind of speculations, Microsoft has finally announced Zune HD portable media player's arrival. At last, Apple's iPod Touch rival gets launched officially with a multitouch screen, HDMI port and is expected to be available in U.S. by fall. Last month, Zune HD's images and specifications were leaked out on the web. Microsoft hasn't announced the pricing and world wide availability of Zune HD as yet.

Apple iPod Touch's rival Microsoft Zune HD will sport a 3.6-inch OLED touchscreen, giving 16:9 aspect ratio with 480x272 resolution. The company has clarified that 720p HD video files will be downscaled to fit the 480x272 resolution screen and won't exactly be HD videos. Multimedia content in HD format (songs or videos) can be streamed to HD display via HDMI interface provided on Zune HD.

Also, Zune HD boasts of a built-in HD Radio Receiver that brings radio content with better sound quality as compared with the traditional radio output. However, for listening to HD quality radio content, local radio stations (especially in India) need to offer their content via HD channels.

Based on Windows CE, Zune HD will use touchscreen customized Internet Explorer version for web browsing. The WiFi support will allow downloading music tracks from Zune PressPass subscription service.

For more details, check the official Zune HD page.

At the upcoming E3 conference at Los Angeles in June, Microsoft will announce the new Zune video service for Xbox to replace the existing Xbox Live Marketplace for TV and movies. Additional details like whether Zune will have gaming support or not, are expected to be announced at the same time.

Microsoft, in its press release, mentions that Zune HD will be made available in fall and Paul Thurrott of Winsupersite stated that it will arrive on Sept. 5 this year.

Read more »

EARTH HOUR

Earth Hour is an annual international event created by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature/World Wildlife Fund), held on the last Saturday of March, that asks households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. It was pioneered by WWF Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007,[1] and achieved worldwide participation in 2008.

Earth Hour will next take place on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm, local time.

The event was interpreted as tokenism,[33] and some focused on the reduction of carbon emissions, whether the significant reduction in electricity consumption reported occurred at all, and questionable coverage of the event by the media conglomerate that sponsored it. It should be noted that the Earth Hour is very similar to the grassroots Earth Day Energy Fast, which from 1991 to 2007 proposed going completely without man-made energy each Earth Day. Earth Day Energy Fast was folded in 2007 since the campaign's founder claimed it was "too late" for such a campaign to have meaningful impact.

The United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Bali [34] made clear that signatories to the Kyoto Protocol accept that greenhouse gas emissions reductions of from 25 to 40% are necessary by 2020 to reduce the impact of global warming which is causing sea level rise and numerous other problems. In that context Earth Hour is at worst tokenism or at best creating awareness to lead to further steps like switching to green power from sources such as wind power or solar power and away from electricity produced by burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and petroleum.

[edit]
Measurement of reduction in electricity use

According to figures from EnergyAustralia, a local utility, mains electricity consumption for the 2007 event in Sydney was 2% lower during the Hour than would be expected given the time, weather conditions and past four years' consumption patterns. The Herald Sun equated this with "taking 48,613 cars off the road for 1 hour."[35] Critics, most notably Columnist Andrew Bolt, labelled this as "A cut so tiny is trivial - equal to taking six cars off the road for a year".[36] In context, the six cars equates to there being six fewer cars on the road at any given point of time in the day or night. In response to this criticism, the organisers of Earth Hour counter that "If the greenhouse reduction achieved in the Sydney CBD during Earth Hour was sustained for a year, it would be equivalent to taking 48,616 cars off the road for a year."[37] and they also note that the main goal of Earth Hour is to create awareness around climate change issues and "to express that individual action on a mass scale can help change our planet for the better."[37] and not about the specific energy reductions made during the hour being all that's required.

The 10.2% figure was itself challenged in a detailed analysis by David Solomon, a finance student at the University of Chicago. Solomon used eight years of electricity usage data to conclude that the Earth Hour-inspired drop was 6.33%, and that after other potential factors were taken into account, 2.10%, "statistically indistinguishable from zero."[35] In some areas in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be twilight at 8 p.m., removing some of the advantages of the event.[38]

David Soloman claims that 2007 Earth Hour cut Sydney's mains electricity consumption by 2.1%. [35] Earth Hour 2008 was held internationally on 29 March 2008 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time, marking the first anniversary of the event with many partner cities and individuals around the world participating.

Read more »

Modu's Modular Cellphone Jacket System Coming In Q2

Last year, Modu teased us with their plans for a cellphone that could be inserted into other gadgets ("jackets") in order to change and personalize its function. Today those plans have been fully unveiled.


At the heart of the modu ecosystem is a tiny, modular and sleek mobile phone. In addition to complete mobile functionality, the modu phone is a music player and a mass storage device containing 2 GB of internal memory. The innovative modu phone presents a bold graphical user interface and a unique seven-key keypad to perform basic functions even without a modu jacket. For added functionality and style, users can easily slip the modu phone into a range of modu jackets. This modu ecosystem offers boundless – and affordable – possibilities.

The new modu jacket lineup includes:

• modu™ night jacket: inspired by the nightlife scene, this jacket includes futuristic styling with an edgy keypad, flashing lights, night mode imaging and a unique graphical user interface
• modu™ street-art jacket: capturing the expressive and vibrant street art scene, this jacket fea-tures stereo speakers and dedicated music keys for a powerful music experience
• modu™ classic jacket: designed to fit the everyday needs of a modern lifestyle, this jacket carries all essential mobile communication features with an air of elegance and fine taste
• modu™ express jacket: this jacket transforms the modu phone and user interface with a rain-bow of fun, playful flavors

"modu is turning the notion of a ‘one-size-fits-all' mobile phone experience on its ear," said Dov Moran, founder and chief executive officer of modu. "Consumers want a mobile phone that can keep up with their dynamic lifestyles. The combination of the eye-catching modu phone with the new modu jackets offers not only personalized style but affordable updates without the costly expense of buying a new phone."

At its heart, the Modu phone is a simple cellphone (the lightest on the planet according to Guinness), but adding these jackets can completely change the functionality and aesthetic of the device—allowing the user to customize the device to his/her tastes. Modu expects to have these jackets on the market by Q2 of 2009, with several other jackets to roll out by the end of the year. If the previous info holds up, the phone plus two jackets will be available for only $200, with additional jackets running from $20 to $60—an agressive low price that could be key to its success. What do you think? Does Modu have a chance? [Modu via TechCrunch]

Read more »

Formula 1 Cars Getting Electric Hyperspeed Jumps

Apart from being one of the most amazing 3D animations I've seen in a while, this Formula 1 2009 video shows how the new KERS works, a kinetic-to-electric-energy system that allows for speed jumps.
KERS is short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, an ingenious mechanical device that recovers wasted kinetic energy generated while braking. It converts that energy into electric power, which gets stored in a battery in the car's front. And then the really cool part comes: Once every lap, the battery reaches its full capacity and the F1 car driver can click a button to obtain a 6.5 seconds turbo boost, adding an extra 82 horsepower to the nominal capacity of the engine. Turbo boost, KITT, turbo boost!
Next, Mario Kart-style power boosters floating on the road.

Read more »