Galaxy Note II hits 1 Million sales in Korea

The year 2012 was some good, some bad for Samsung. The Korean giant has faced court issues, and its top end smartphones become the world's no.1 selling devices, leaving all other manufacturers. 

The Samsung GALAXY Note II has sold 1 million units in Samsung's backyard in South Korea in the first 90 days after launch. Globally, 5 million units were sold near the end of last month. Samsung has also reportedly shifted 1 million devices in Korea alone.

Samsung Galaxy Note II has achieved the sales milestone three times quicker than its predecessor, Galaxy Note Original. It is also rumored that Samsung is working on 6.3 inch Galaxy Note, which can be displayed in CES 2013.

Read more @

Engadget, Phone Arena, GSM Arena, Phandroid, Android Central

Watch Video review of Galaxy Note II by TechnoBuffalo

Microsoft's announcement: 6 new stores in 2013

Microsoft on Wednesday announced the first plans for its retail strategy in 2013. The company says it opened 51 stores this year, and it’s already revealed where it will open the first six next year.

According to Microsoft:

We have always said that we will adjust our strategy, and open additional stores to deliver the choice, value and service our Microsoft customers have come to expect. Therefore, we’re thrilled to ring in the New Year by announcing the locations of our first new store locations for 2013: 

• The Shops at La Cantera, San Antonio, Texas
• Dadeland Mall, Miami, Fla.
• Beachwood Place, Beachwood, Ohio
• Westfield San Francisco Centre, San Francisco
• City Creek Center, Salt Lake City
• St. Louis Galleria, St. Louis

All of the Microsoft retail stores are listed here.

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Microsoft Blog, The Next Web, Windows IT Pro, GeekWire, TechnoBuffalo

Google's 2013 gift: Free Gmail calls for 2013 in US and Canada

Gmail is the best Email service and I think most of you agree with me. One of the more interesting features of Gmail is that it lets you make voice calls in addition to just sending off emails. Google started offering this feature back in August of 2010, and extended it through 2011 and then again for 2012. 

The great news is that the company has confirmed in its blog post that it will continue to do so through all of next year. It means free calling from Gmail for US and Canada users. So if you are from these two countries, you can continue saving your money for one more year.

Though free calling is only offered within the US and Canada, Google Voice currently allows for calling in places like Mexico, India, Germany, and France, with rates ranging from 15 cents per minute all the way down to just 1 cent per minute if you’re calling someone in the US.

Read more @ 


Gmail Blog, Engadget, The Verge, Techno Buffalo, Android Central, Android Community

Flickr's big gift for holidays is 3 month free membership of Flickr Pro

Happy Holidays. Flickr is giving its customers a huge gift on occasion of this holiday season.

The Yahoo-owned company is giving new and existing users three months of free Flickr Pro, the unlimited subscription service that usually costs $25 (UK£15, AUD$24) a year. 

For anyone that’s already paying for the service, payments will get pushed back automatically for three months. As noted by CNET's Declan McCullagh, Flickr has been among the Instagram rivals trying to capitalize on the latter service's blunder earlier this week. 

The free months come with unlimited uploading and viewing, posting in up to 60 different groups, high-resolution downloads of your original photos and unlimited uploads and plays of HD videos.

[Image Courtesy: The Next Web]

Read more @

Flickr Help, CNET, The Verge, Techno Buffalo, The Next Web

Apple shows new holidays commercial, highlights Facetime on iPad mini

Apple has released a new television ad showcasing the iPad and the iPad mini with a young girl singing Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" to her grandfather over FaceTime. 

"I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on me. I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams." These are the lines sung by the little girl in the commercial.

The other key aspect of the ad shows the girl using a larger iPad, while her grandfather has an iPad mini. So, it shows that that the iPad mini does not compromise on the features of larger device, despite its lower price and smaller size.

Happy Holidays. Enjoy !!

Google and Motorola are working together on New project: X Phone

Google has decided to take its smartphone future into its own hands and building a new line up of smartphones, working with Motorola to build its own device known internally as the "X Phone."  But it is reported that this device will not replace Google's flagship phone: Nexus. The project is led by Lior Ron, a former Google Product Manager.

Amir Efrati at the Wall Street Journal indicates that the device will be revealed next year and it will stand apart from other smartphones. After that, an X tablet will be the next step, The Wall Street Journal said.

A flexible screen has apparently been considered and abandoned on the XPhone, as have ceramic molds that would allow for unusual shapes and a panoramic camera with better color saturation. The X Phone will feature technology from Viewdle, an image and gesture recognition company that Motorola bought in October.

Read more @

The Verge, Engadget, Android Authority, Techno Buffalo, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Apple Insider

Nokia is rolling out camera update for Lumia 820 and 920

Nokia announced on Wednesday that, in partnership with Microsoft, it is now pushing out an update for the AT&T Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820, as well as the Rogers Lumia 920. Highlights include: improved bluetooth connectivity, enhanced battery management and a highly anticipated camera fix.  The most important aspects of the update are enhancements to the camera and battery life.

You can receive update by doing so: Settings > Phone Update > Check For Updates. Nokia advises that the entire process can take around 30 minutes from start to finish.

Read more @

Engadget, Techno Buffalo, The Verge, ZDNet

Linux Gamers, its time to start using Steam

As an early Christmas present, Valve has opened Steam's Linux beta to all users. A catalogue of Linux-supported games is now available to browse, including titles like Team Fortress 2, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Serious Sam 3: BFE and Trine 2. 

Currently Steam for Linux is available for +Ubuntu only and requires Ubuntu 12.04 or higher. This is so because it is the mostly used Linux Distro, but soon it will be available for other distros, as reported. 

The company is turning to GitHub to track bugs and issues, explaining that the service “provides a better interface for tracking bugs than the forums used in the closed beta”. The public Github repository can be found here. 

Read post on Steam Community here.

[Image courtesy: Engadget]

Read more @ 

Steam Community (Linux), Engadget, The Next Web, Games.on.net, Slashgear

Nokia Lumia 505 is official, joins Mexico TelCel

Nokia has introduced its new entry level smartphone: Lumia 505. The device is powered with Windows Phone 7.5 and is released in Mexico. The device will be available on Mexico's local carrier, Telcel.

Specs of Lumia 505 are

• 3.7-inch WVGA (800 x 480) ClearBlack AMOLED display 
• 8-megapixel rear camera, VGA (640 x 480) resolution. 
•  256MB of RAM
• single-core 800MHz CPU
• 4GB of internal storage 
• 1,300mAh battery

The prices haven't been released yet, but it seems that it will be the cheapset handset of Lumia series.

Nokia Lumia 505 website link.

Read more @

Engadget, TechnoBuffalo, GSMArena

Nexus 4 is Out of Stock

Google's newest flagship smartphone went back on sale this afternoon, but heavy traffic to the Google Play store caused errors for many shoppers attempting to purchase the Nexus 4.

Before it sold out, it was at an 8-9 week shipping estimation. Nexus 4's Demand is obviously high, which has been reflected by the 8GB. While the phone is currently still listed as “out of stock” on the website, it is heard that T-Mobile will have more units coming in soon. Wait till more units of Nexus 4 come to the Play Store.

Nexus 4 Review: CNET, Mashable, The Verge, Engadget

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TechnoBuffalo, Android Authority, Phones Review, CNET, Android Headlines

Google doing Winter Cleaning, stops some less used services

We're nearing the end of 2012, and Google is doing some "winter cleaning" around the office and some less-popular services are going away. Google will be shutting down several services related to sync and calendar, all within the next month.

Google Sync is being being sent off to retirement—the service allows Microsoft Exchange’s ActiveSync protocol to access Gmail, Calendar and contacts. Existing connections will function as normal, but any new accounts created beyond Jan. 30 won’t work. 

[Text Courtesy: Techno Buffalo, Android Central]

Read more @

Tech Radar, Android Central, Techno Buffalo, The Verge, Google Blog

Samsung ATIV S goes on sales

Samsung’s debut Windows Phone 8 smartphone is now available to pre-order on Phones 4U’s website on 24-month contracts from Vodafone and O2.

Canadians will be happy to know they're some of the first to get early Christmas gift because three carriers: Bell, Rogers and Telus have all made the Windows Phone 8 devices available from today.

Read more @

Engadget, USwitch

Dropbox for iOS 2.0 shows new look and photos tab

Dropbox has unveiled a new design in version 2.0 of its iOS app. This new version has evergreen blue theme of Dropbox. 

With some small changes, a new Photos tab has been added to the app, allowing users to initiate a scrollable timeline of images uploaded to the service. However, its not new for to Android users. Also, when you select a photo, you’ll be able to view it in full-screen glory with nary a button in sight. This means you can get maximum effect of the photo. 

The official blog post says

We’ve packed a ton of love and tiny details into our new iOS design, and we think you’ll dig its simplicity. For example, we got rid of the text labels on our tabs in favor of clean and streamlined iconography. Splashed across the app is the glorious Dropbox blue you’ve come to know and love, and we’ve reduced complexity to make everything feel so fresh and so clean, clean.

[Text Courtesy: DropBox blog, 9 to 5 Mac] 

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DropBox blog, Techno Buffalo, The Verge, CNET, 9 to 5 Mac, Mashable, MacRumors, Cult of Mac

Google+ for Android and iOS updated

       

Google+ for Android and iOS will have several new updates including backup of full resolution pictures that you have uploaded on your account.

In the official blog post, Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra posted on Google+ to say there were actually 25 updates, including bigger post photos in the iOS app. The app also has a new icon, reducing the size of the "G" and "+" characters.

Google+ now offers full-size backups of photos (up to 5GB free)—standard-size uploads are unlimited up to 2048x, which is convenient for the Instant Upload feature.

Users with Android 4.2 can share those pics in the Google+ stream on mobile, and anyone using a device with Android 2.2 "Froyo" or later can view them.

[Text Courtesy: Mashable, Techno Buffalo]

Download Google+ app: Android, iOS

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The Verge, Mashable, Techno Buffalo

New iPad mini will have Retina Display

Apple iPad mini is going to follow its big brother. The new version of this small tablet will have Retina Display. 

This is not a new news. From last some simple analysis, anyone can predict that upcoming Apple devices will be powered with awesome resolution technique. The report comes from notorious Apple rumor supplier DigiTimes.

At the iPad mini's 7.9-inch screen size, that would mean a pixel density of 324 pixels per inch, about the same as the iPhone 5. While that's technically possible, it would be the first time Apple has built a screen with such a high pixel density at a size larger than a smartphone.

Read more @

Mashable, CNET, Techno Buffalo

Report: Samsung working on bigger Galaxy Note

Samsung is reported to be working on a Galaxy Note having screen of 6.3 inch.

Samsung has pioneered the segment which is between of a tablet and smartphone, can be calles as "phablet". Earlier devices of this segment failed to attract public, because they were heavy and not user friendly, but there's no such problem with Galaxy Note. 

The report has been shown in Korea Times, according to which Samsung has planned to show something special in the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2013, in February 2013. It can be the new Galaxy S IV.

[Text Courtesy: Tech Authority]

Read more @

CNET, Tech Authority, The Verge

Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3 will be updated with Jelly Bean on Friday

If you’re a Verizon Galaxy S III user then you will definitely cheer, because Verizon is going to give a holiday gift. The carrier will update its existing Galaxy S III smartphones will be upgraded to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Friday.

Jelly Bean brings a number of new features to the Galaxy S III including Google Now, Google’s built-in digital assistant resembling Apple’s Siri. Jelly Bean also updates notifications on the phone, allowing you to return missed calls and email from directly within the notifications window. 

[Text Courtesy: Mashable]

Read more @

Mashable, The Verge, CNET, Techno Buffalo, Engadget

Google maps for iOS is finally in the town

It's Google Maps, again for iPhone. Once removed from the iOS, it has made its entry back. This time with more power and let's say, more sexy. 

The app appeared in the App Store late Wednesday evening, providing joy and comfort to disgruntled Apple Maps users everywhere.Rumors of the app's impending release appeared earlier this evening by way of AllThingsD.

The new Google Maps uses vector imaging similar to Apple's Maps, rather than bit mapped tiles on iOS 5 and earlier, resulting in faster load times with information scaling that incrementally displays new data as you zoom in. 

This time it has new interface, voice guided navigation, Google places is more useful.

[Text Courtesy: Mashable, Tech Authority, TechSpot]

View screenshots: The Verge Gallery

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Mahsbale, The Verge, Engadget, CNET, Tech Authority, Techno Buffalo, TechSpot