Redesigned Google Maps For Android, Now Available For Download

New "Explore" feature let's you hunt for places in a jiffy!

 

• 
  
  
  

The revamped Google Maps Android application is available for download on the Google Play Store. The redesigned Google Maps follows the new design, similar to its desktop version, which Google announced at the I/O Developers Conference 2013. The app features an all new user interface and provides enhanced navigation to users. Seeding for both Android phones and tablets, it comes with a new feature called "Explore" to help you look for places, local favourites, and common interests.

The new Google Maps is available for devices running Android 4.0 and above. The changelog list of the new Google Maps for Android includes:

• Voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation.
• 360-degree street view of cities, restaurants, and museums.
• Sign in to save favorite locations, get tailored recommendations, and access past searches across devices.
• New Explore feature.
• Revamped user-interface (UI).
• Comprehensive, accurate maps in 200 countries, and useful information on over 100 million places worldwide.

  

Nokia Pro Camera App Will Soon Land On Lumia 920, 925, And 928

You can tinker with the shutter speed, exposure, white balance, and much more.

 

• 
  
  
  

In yesterday's announcement, Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, demonstrated how the Pro Camera app unlocks the potential of the Lumia 1020's 41 megapixel camera. As you already know, the app will come preloaded with the Lumia 1020. Thankfully, those who have purchased a current Lumia flagship need not worry, as Nokia Pro Camera will soon be made available for the Lumia 920, 925, and 928. The Finnish giant hasn't specified a timeframe, but we expect the software to start rolling out next month.

The app provides total control over parameters such as shutter speed, exposure, white balance, and ISO. What's more, even after the picture has been snapped, you can reframe it. All this comes with a touch-friendly UI that comprises of scroll wheel and swipe gestures.

Another thing that will please the shutterbugs is the manual focus. Tinkering with these settings, you can achieve the Bokeh effect. Long exposure can be used to capture surreal light trails. Here are a few sample images, published by Nokia.

Spice's New Pinnacle FHD Mi-525 Smartphone Takes Micromax Canvas 4 Head-on

The smartphone offers a Quad-core processor, full-HD display, and matches or betters the Canvas 4 in most departments.

 

• 
  
  
  

Spice Mobility has launched yet another device, called the Pinnacle FHD Mi-525, with a 5" full-HD display and a quad-core processor. The Pinnacle FHD runs Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), and is priced at Rs 17,000. It competes with Micromax's new Canvas 4, which is priced at Rs 18,000.

Spice's new Pinnacle FHD has features such as Pop-up Play, Spice Cloud support (2 GB free storage), direct call, intelligent answer, and flip-to-mute. Let's find out what tech-specs the Spice's new Stellar packs in:

• 5" full-HD capacitive touch screen with pixel density of 1080x1920.
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean platform.
• 1.5 GHz quad-core processor.
• Dual-SIM support (3G+3G).
• 8 MP autofocus rear camera, 2 MP front camera for video calls.
• 1 GB RAM.
• 8 GB internal storage.
• MicroSD card slot for expansion up to 32 GB.
• Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, Wi-Fi, EDGE.
• 2100 mAh battery.

One of the two areas where the Canvas 4 seems to score over the Spice FHD is in the camera department, where the former flaunts a 13 MP camera as against the latter's 8 MP snapper. Having said that, we have seen in the past that only megapixels do not translate into better picture quality. Secondly, Canvas 4 has twice the amount of internal storage as compared to this device. Other than that, Spice's offering seems at par or better than Micromax's flagship device in every other department; mainly display and processing hardware.

With the launch of the Spice Pinnacle FHD Mi-525, the competition for the best domestic smartphone in the Indian market has suddenly turned red hot with the Micromax Canvas 4, Karbonn Titanium S9, and XOLO Play, all vying for the top spot in the sub-20k price bracket. Samsung is bound to feel the heat.

                                                     

Apple Mac OS 10.8.4 Release Updates Safari Web Browser Too

The update fixes the iMessage out of order display issue, among others.

 

With the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) slated to begin from June 10, where Apple is expected to unveil iOS7 (expected to come out with iRadio) and the Mountain Lion 10.9 Mac operating system, Apple has released a refresh of its OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) operating system. The new update version, Mountain Lion 10.8.4, also brings along a new Safari 6.0.5 web browser. It also fixes the issue that would be a likely cause for iMessages to display out of order in Messages.

In addition to this fix, other enhancements such as improvements to Microsoft Exchange compatibility in Calendar, and fixes to issues that obstructed FaceTime calls to non-US phone numbers, are present in Mountain Lion v10.8.4.

However, these are not the only changes that the update features, there are other minor improvements as well. Users can check the full changelog to get the complete list of modifications. Mountain Lion v10.8.4 can be obtained from the Apple Support Downloads site.

Google releases stock Android keyboard as standalone app in Play Store

 

It seems that Google has started to take the Nexus experience and provide bits and pieces of it to users on non-Nexus Android devices. To begin with, Google has released its Google Keyboard app for phones and tablets running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above. The app on the Google Play Store is now available for English speaking countries while Google says that more locales will be added soon.

The application gives you the stock Android keyboard that comes with Nexus devices. Much like how keyboard applications like Swiftkey and Swype work, you can download the Google keyboard application from the Play Store in order to replace the existing keyboard on your Android device. It is however important to note that while these popular keyboards are paid, Google has launched the Google keyboard free of cost.

The stock keyboard was updated during the launch of Jelly Bean and comes with features such as Gesture typing and next-word prediction. With gesture typing you basically glide through letters without lifting your finger and when done you can lift your finger to finish a word. You can also tap the microphone on the keyboard to compose messages with voice typing.

The keyboard comes with support for 26 languages. One major missing point that most users claim is the absence of emoticons, something that OEMs like Samsung, LG and HTC add to their keyboards.

For Nexus enthusiasts the stock keyboard coming to the Play Store is certainly positive news. Third-party applications that claim to give a Nexus keyboard experience are available on the Play Store, but there's nothing like the real thing. With the official Google keyboard now available for download, all these have surely become obsolete.

The keyboard is presently not available in India for download. But staying in line with Google's promises, we expect a roll out soon.

Lenovo K900 smartphone with 2GHz processor launched for Rs. 32,999

Lenovo has launched its flagship Android smartphone, the K900 in the Indian market at a price point of Rs. 32,999.

The phone will be available at 3,000 Lenovo outlets starting July. Lenovo has also launched five other Android smartphones, namely A706, A390, P780, S820 and S920.

The Lenovo K900 was first showcased at CES earlier this year. The K900 packs in Intel's dual-core Clover Trail+ platform, specifically the Intel Atom Z2580 dual-core processor clocking in at 2GHz. The device features a full-HD(1080x1920 pixels) display, 2GB RAM and is expected to come with 16GB of internal storage. It has a non-removable 2500 mAh non-removable battery.
Amar Babu, Managing Director, Lenovo India, said," The journey for Lenovo smartphones in India that began last November, takes a whole new dimension witth the launch of 6 new power-packed mobile devices, which offer an excellent choice for smartphone buyers in India. Our retail footprint has grown considerably to 3000 retail stores, since we launched our first range of smartphones last year. We will continue to expand our reach in India."
The phablet comes with 13-megapixel rear camera with a new Sony Exmor BSI sensor and a 2-megapixel front camera. Lenovo equipped the K900's rear camera with an f1.8 focal length lens, making it the first smartphone to offer such a wide aperture on its camera. In addition to these improvements to the rear camera, the 2-megapixel front camera has also been widened to an 880 viewing angle, the widest available on a smartphone front camera for convenient self-portraits and video calls. It ships with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
At 6.9mm and a 162gms (that's still heavy), Lenovo claims the K900 is the thinnest phone in its class. Despite its slim profile, the smartphone is strong and sturdy unibody construction sporting a stainless steel and polycarbonate exterior.




Lenovo K900 key specifications

• 5.5-inch 1080p IPS capacitive touch display
• Intel Atom Z2580 2GHz dual-core processor (Clover Trail+)
• 2GB RAM
• 16GB internal storage
• 13-megapixel camera with Sony's Exmor BSI sensor
• 2-megapixel front camera
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

Nokia EOS with 41-megapixel camera, Windows Phone 8 spotted in leaked pictures

The much rumoured Nokia EOS camera focused Windows Phone 8 smartphone has finally made an appearance, if recent leaks are to be trusted.First posted by Chinese website WPdang, the renders of the phone show a large phone which sports a build similar to that of the Lumia 920, employing the use of polycarbonate materials. However, it has a huge hole, which is perhaps a placeholder for a large camera lens similar to that of the Pureview 808. It also appears to support wireless charging as it has inserts for an optional cover just like the Lumia 720 and Lumia 925. As per the site, the phone is expected to launch on July 9th.
Following the original leaks, @Vizileaks posted two new images of the purported phone on Twitter. One offered a close-up shot of the phone's camera lens that featured the PureView branding, the Carl Zeiss lens name, and what looks like a xenon flash.

The newly created Twitter account also posted a full image of the back of the phone depicting a large protruding lens and the charging cover connectors similar to the image that appeared on WPDang. While the phone in the image had 'XX' Megapixel label on the lens, the tweet mentioned that the resolution would be 41-megapixel, the same as Nokia's 808 Pureview phone.
A recent report claims that Nokia Lumia EOS is already being tested by AT&T, claiming that the phone is codenamed Elvis and will be released sometime in July. Apart from the 41-megapixel camera sensor, this smartphone is rumoured to have OLED display, which has a screen resolution of 768X1280 pixels and 32GB of internal storage. Much like the other smartphones in the Lumia series, Nokia Lumia EOS too is expected to come with a polycarbonate body and will not support microSD card. This smartphone is also alleged to come with Flip to silence feature.
Prior to that it was also reported that the phone features a new "Nokia Pro Camera" app that has a refreshed interface, while the regular camera app is also available. The camera interface also offers manual focus.