Technology

Nikon India on Tuesday announced the launch of 16 new cameras in its Coolpix Spring Series 2014. The cameras Coolpix S9600, Coolpix S6800, Coolpix S5300, Coolpix S6700, Coolpix S3600, Coolpix S32 and Coolpix S2800 . The Coolpix S9700 has a 16-megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor, 30x optical zoom which can be extended to 60x using the Dynamic Fine Zoom 1, built in GPS, and a travel log that maps routes on a world map. The Coolpix S9600 has a 16-megapixel backside illuminated CMOS sensor, with a 22x optical zoom, that can be extended to 44x using the Dynamic Fine Zoom1. The models in the S-series have features like Wi-Fi, anti-shake, built-in maps, high zoom water and shock proof amongst others. The Life series or 'L'-series is the next in the Coolpix line up. The cameras released in this series include, Coolpix L830, Coolpix L830, Coolpix L330, Coolpix L30 and Coolpix L29. The Coolpix L830 is a bridge camera that has a 16-megapixel BSI-CMOS sensor. On the other hand the Coolpix L330 ha...

The Nikon 1 J family is an acclaimed range of cameras by Japanese camera maker. Nikon has now launched the latest offering for the line-up - the Nikon 1 J4. Like its successor, the Nikon 1 J3, the Nikon 1 J4 is a mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera that boasts of a slew of features up its sleeve. While there are no details on the launch and the pricing, the camera will be available in four colours with an optional underwater housing case. It is important to note that the J3 was available at $600 (roughly Rs 36,000).Coming back to the Nikon 1 J4, the camera is backed by a 18.4-megapixel, super high-speed AF CMOS sensor, with no low-pass filter, and the latest Expeed 4A image-processing engine. Nikon claims it has the "world's fastest, continuous shooting sensor". Nikon also claims that the camera supports the high-speed shooting with a rate of 20fps in the burst mode and up to 60 fps when the focus is locked. In addition, it has 105 focus points with phase-detection...

In 2011, Lytro Inc dazzled the consumer gadget world when it introduced a pocket flashlight-sized gizmo that could take "living" pictures - images that could be refocused after the shutter clicked.On Tuesday, the Silicon Valley company unveiled a bigger, more expensive camera designed to make a "do-over" a reality instead of a photographer's dream.The Lytro Illum, priced at $1,599, is marketed as a legitimate tool for commercial photographers and advanced amateurs who want to differentiate their work in an age of Instagram and "commodotized imaging," Lytro founder Ren Ng said.The original camera, which was priced at $399, was mostly a niche product that sought to prove the viability of light-field Lytro has declined to provide sales figures for that model.Ng said it made the most sense for his company to target the $20 billion high-end camera market due to the growing ubiquity of smartphones. His cameras share many components, such as sensors, w...

Move over smartphones if you are interested in fitness trackers on the go. Here come headphones that can monitor your heart rate and blood pressure.What else, it can automatically alert doctors if a dangerously high reading is taken.If we believe Secret, an anonymous gossip app popular in Silicon Valley, Apple is set to launch EarPods that are also expected to contain a tiny tracking device so they can tell the user where they are if lost. Here are the Secret posts that first mentioned this device (via MacRumors):Apple's new EarPods will have sensors in them, for heart rate & blood pressure. Also iBeacons so they don't get lost. They will require the lightning port, it's why the audio jack was moved to the bottom. [...]It stores the data in a similar way to thumbprint point data, fully encrypted and nothing identifiable. But nice to send to your doctor to keep track of at which point your blood pressure started rising for example. [...] Redesigned remote to...

A lot can change in a little while. We've just seen the launch of two new flagship phones, but there have also been plenty of new launches across the board. Many of the phones that made headlines at the annual Mobile World Congress this February have now launched here, or have been announced (with official pricing) ahead of actual availability. Since you can now get a whole lot more for your money, it's time to update our Spring 2014 smartphone buyer's guide with new products, updates and pricing information.We've narrowed down the enormous number of phones available today to just a few in each price band. We've considered a huge number of parameters, including price, performance, features and versatility, build quality, camera quality, battery life, and upgradability.MethodologyWe've divided the market into a number of price bands, based on current trends and the amount a buyer can usually stretch his or her budget by after having identified a reasonable mo...

Microsoft's digital note-taking application, OneNote, has been updated for both iPhone and OS X platforms, bringing some new features as an answer to the requests made by the users. Starting with the OneNote app for iPhone, the update brings some much-awaited features - iPhone users will now be able to untie the OneNote mobile app from the desktop version, and can independently create new notebooks and share it from the handset itself.Additionally, OneNote for iPhone now also includes Office Lens, a feature already available with iPad. Office Lens lets user take images of pictures like receipts and whiteboard notes, trim them and make them more readable, and even digitize the text included in the picture via the optical character recognition (OCR) technology. The app has also been redesigned along with more efficient and fluid navigation to get along with iOS 7, and given a similar flat UI. The OneNote app for iPhone is available to download from the App Store.The Mac version...

The 7-inch tablet category has lately been seeing an influx of options with voice-calling capabilities. Buyers seem to be toying with the idea of screens bigger than phablets, even if such devices make them look ridiculous while making calls. We've seen quite a few people in the wild using Samsung Galaxy Tab 2s and 3s stuck to their faces. We are trying to recollect if we actually got to see their faces, though. Thankfully, others use wired/Bluetooth headsets for making calls.Asus is making the most of this trend by launching Fonepad variants left, right and centre. In a little more than a year, the Taiwanese technology major has launched three Fonepad tablets - all of them featuring SIM card support and voice calling. The latest one is the Fonepad 7 Dual SIM. Now, buyers can make phone calls on two networks instead of one.The updated Fonepad 7 Dual SIM has the same specs as its single-SIM sibling. Read our review to find out what's changed, and if the changes are g...

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 10 ReviewLenovo is trying out yet another design for a touch-enabled Windows 8 notebook. This time, the screen isn't detachable and doesn't twist around to allow a tablet-like experience. Instead of pretending to be a laptop and ending up too thick, the Lenovo Flex 10 just tries to overcome the discomfort of reaching across the keyboard and trackpad to interact with the touchscreen.The Flex 10 gets its name because its lid can fold back flat and then around up to 300 degrees. It can then be placed with the keyboard deck upside down, which then acts as a stand. This way, the screen tilts at a comfortable angle, but is closer to the user.We'll find out how practical this design really is, and whether the Lenovo Flex 10 is a good machine considering its budget aspirations.Look and feelAt first glance, you wouldn't guess that the Flex 10 is not a premium device. It looks sturdy and solid, with a very high-quality finish. The lid is a deep but neut...

Microsoft is helping the estimated hundreds of millions of customers still running Windows XP, which it stopped supporting earlier this month, by providing an emergency update to fix a critical bug in its Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft Corp rushed to create the fix after learning of the bug in the operating system over the weekend when cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc warned that a sophisticated group of hackers had exploited the bug to launch attacks in a campaign dubbed "Operation Clandestine Fox."It was the first high-profile threat to emerge after Microsoft stopped providing support to its 13-year-old XP operating software on April 8.(Also see: Microsoft Windows XP support ends, hackers may be lurking)Microsoft on Wednesday initially said it would not provide the remedy to Windows XP users because it had stopped supporting the product. But on Thursday, as Microsoft started releasing the fix for the bug through its automated Windows Update system, a company spo...

Google's controversial Internet-linked Glass eyewear was made available in the US at $1,500 to the general public for a limited period as a part of the company's Google Explorer programme in April. The Mountain View giant had later noted that its eyewear was sold out within a day. However, a new teardown of this Internet-connected wearable device by Teardown.com, a website that stripped the Glass down to the core and published estimates of the final bill of materials used in the device, has started a new debate.Notably, if the whopping $1,500 price tag of Google Glass is compared to the bill estimate of the materials used (which Teardown.com claims is $79.78 ) it works out to just a bit more than 5 percent of the retail price of the Glass. Some of the price estimates detailed by Teardown.com for the Google Glass include, display/ touchscreen and glass costs of $3; battery costs of $1.14; camera costs of $5.66; NAND (storage) costs of $8.18; processor costs of $13.96, and...

We've been hearing a lot about the expected Samsung Galaxy S5 variants, and since the original's launch, Samsung has announced the Galaxy S5 Crystal Edition, and the Galaxy K zoom. The industry is still holding its breath for the expected premium variant, the mini-variant, and the lite-variant. But now we have something that comes straight from Samsung's stable, and seems to be an unofficial confirmation of the existence of the alleged Galaxy S5 Mini.A Dutch publication named Galaxy Club first spotted the alleged Galaxy S5 Mini listing on Samsung Finland's support page. Earlier, leaks have suggested that the yet-to-be-announced Galaxy S5 Mini comes with model number SM-G800 (with a few variations) and notably, the company's Finland support page has listed one of them, the SM-G800F. Along with Tuesday's leak of the SM-G800 Galaxy S5 Mini, the Galaxy S5 Neo was allegedly also spotted - the SM-G750 - listed on an Indian import/ export website.The alleged Ga...

Facebook has started rolling out an update for its Facebook Messenger app, which brings the app version 4.0 to version 5.0 for Android users.In the latest v5.0 update for the Facebook Messenger app, the app retains the look and overall design seen in the previous version. However, the update lets users send images, videos and voice messages in an easier manner.Additionally, users can send videos from their smartphone's gallery, and play them right in the Facebook Messenger app (requires Android 4.3 and above for now, though Facebook says it will bring this feature to more phones). Users can also send photos to the Facebook Messenger app, straight after clicking them.Also added to Facebook Messenger v5.0 for Android are stickers shortcuts, which guides users to the relevant sticker packs when they receive a new sticker from a friend. A new row of icons is also available, for quick access to functions such as inserting stickers and other media. Last in the list of updates is imp...

The modern age is epitomised by our daily consumption and creation of digital content. If that includes photos, videos and software, then the question of storage arises - to keep the stuff you want to save. While the ever-burgeoning and wallet-breaking demands for more and more storage - to keep all the content we want for posterity or easy-access - are not to be ignored, here we concentrate on how to deal with the possibility of data loss, a fate that some would liken to a mugging or even a lobotomy. An example of such a painful situation, is the loss of photos from the now-ubiquitous form of flash storage - the SD card, which we all use on our cameras or mobile phones (in the smaller microSD card form) This article may be a lifesaver for those readers who have managed to accidentally delete their SD card data, or been the victim of the not-as-uncommon-as-we-would-like SD card corruptions.This is actually not a very big deal, and there are a lot of useful tools online. The Web how...

When the USB standard was first devised, the world was largely PC-centric, and the people responsible for standards and compatibility only imagined PCs as "hosts", and everything else as "targets", which would be controlled by a host. Plugs were shaped differently to make sure people didn't plug hosts into hosts and targets into targets, and for a while, people used their printers, hard drives, and various peripherals without any trouble. In the years since then, things have become more complicated. Millions of USB devices have been sold, many of which work both ways. Phones and tablets can be plugged into PCs for transferring data, but they can also control peripherals of their own. Android-based smartphones and tablets have been able to address USB storage devices for a while now, thanks to an often-overlooked feature called USB On The Go. Since there's no space for a USB Type A host port (the common rectangular socket), the existing USB Type B targe...

Motorola seems to be targeting the price-conscious smartphone market with a vengeance. We already know that the budget Moto G has set cash registers ringing around the world, but Motorola hasn't taken its eyes off the mid-range smartphone market either.Less than two months after the release of the Moto G, comes the company's flagship, the Moto X . The newest member of the Motorola family is squarely aimed at delivering more in terms software, camera, and design without compromising on performance.When Motorola first announced the Moto X in August last year following its acquisition by Google, it seemed as though the company wanted to position this mid-range device as a premium offering, relying more on design than hardware specifications. The Moto X has only now made its way to the Indian market, while people overseas are talking of its successor. Thankfully, Motorola has priced it quite reasonably. If it wants to win back any of the market share it has lost in recent years...

Technology journalists and industry analysts have spent a lot of time lately discussing how vital the newly launched One (M8) is for the struggling HTC's survival. However, the company is where it is largely because it hasn't had a strong strategy in the low-end and mid-market segments. HTC has neglected a huge audience, and it also needs to get pricing right.At least it seems as though HTC has now understood this, and has announced a few devices in the low-end segment. We have the HTC Desire 310 for review, which is HTC's first budget Android device in a long time. Along with the HTC Desire 210, which will be priced even lower when it hits stores, we hope this device can kick off a revival of sorts for HTC. Read further to find what the Desire 310 means for HTC's entry-level aspirations.Look and feelIn a world in which manufacturers are clamouring to showcase how thin their devices are, HTC has created a smartphone that is rather overweight. The Desire 310 has a thi...