Intel, Google team up to boost Chromebook lineup

Microsoft has been dominating the PC segment for years now. Even though Google entered the fray with its Chromebook, it barely impacted (arguably) Microsoft's dominance. Scenario, however, is set to change in the near future as Intel Corp. ties up with Google to further push Chromebook offerings.

Announcing the development at a Chrome OS event in San Francisco, Intel VP of mobile client platforms Navin Shenoy said Intel's Bay Trail chip will see “significant change” in Chromebook, along with improved performance in silent and fanless models. The official added that Chromebooks running Intel Bay Trail processor will be about 15 percent lighter and slimmer than previous Intel Haswell-based Chromebooks, and offer 11 hours of battery life.

A slew of OEMs such as Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and Toshiba will be launching Intel Bay Trail-based Chromebooks later this year. Intel confirms releasing at least 20 Chromebooks by end of this year, which is significantly up from just 4 in September 2014. The company also revealed it will be involved in releasing the first device to feature 64-bit Chrome OS.

In addition to new Chromebooks, there will be some major updates to the existing lot. Intel reveals vendors will be launching some low-end Chromebook variants based on Intel's Core i3 processor, replacing Celeron. Acer has confirmed releasing a Chromebook later this year, while Dell will be launching a Core i3 version of its Chromebook 11. HP will be releasing its Chromebox in June.

Google VP of product management Caesar Sengupannounced that Google Now will be added to Chrome OS within the next few weeks, offering the ability to watch TV shows and movies offline.

Source: TheInquirer Zdnet

6 Interesting apps launched in April 2014

We have compiled a list of the most interesting and unique Windows, iOS and Android apps launched in April 2014. The apps include new video and photo sharing apps, movie making and email apps that will make your life easier. Here’s our pick of the bunch for the month. Make sure you download all of them.

Frontback (Android)

Download the Front Back app from here .

 

Frontback is a cool new app that lets you click a picture from a front camera and another from a rear camera and share them in a single image. What's more you can write short captions on the images, tag your friends, add locations and share them instantly with your friends and family via Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Description as per developer:

"With Frontback you take a photo with the front camera, another with the back camera, and share them both in a single image. Frontback is the most delightful way to tell a story with photos. Frontback is a fantastic community (1M+) of people who love being creative or just sharing their daily life, be part of it, take amazing photos to share with your friends and with people around the world! "

Movie Moments (Windows Phone)

Download the Movie Moments app from here .

The app lets you crop videos to your favorite parts, highlight key moments with captions and also add music to your videos. You can add fun and colorful captions to your videos and share with friends.

Description as per developer

"Turn any video into a memorable moment you’ll love to share. With this app, you can trim your video to your favorite parts, highlight key moments with captions and effects, and set the mood with music. "

TimesCity (Windows Phone)

Download the TimesCity app from here .

The TimesCity Windows app lets you search restaurants, bars & clubs. It also brings to you the latest movie show times and information about new movie releases. The TimesCity app can help you plan your weekend and tells you what’s trending in your city. Users can read critic reviews and ratings for different restaurants, movies, etc.

Description as per developer

"From the yummiest of food to the most happening restaurants, to the best of events, nightclubs and even blockbuster movies - discover what's trending in your city with TimesCity. What's more, you can easily change your location for when you are out of town."

Carousel by Dropbox (iOS)

Download the Carousel app from here .

This free app from Dropbox helps you share images and videos with your friends from your Dropbox account. You can edit and group pictures into events and people can leave private comments as well. Users can also combine content from their mobile devices with their Dropbox account.

Description as per developer

"Carousel is the new gallery from Dropbox for your life’s memories. It’s a single home for all your photos and videos, automatically organized and always with you. Swap and share photos and videos instantly in private conversations. Save the memories your friends share with one tap. Carousel automatically backs up photos and videos to Dropbox as you take them, so all your memories are kept safe in one place."

Mailbox by Dropbox (Android)

Download the Mailbox app from here .

Dropbox finally brought their popular iOS email app to Android this month. This third party app can be linked with your Gmail and iCloud accounts. The app features swipeable gestures, the ability to snooze emails, and the app supposedly learns about your email behavior the more you use the app.

Description as per developer

"The fast, fun mobile inbox that puts email in its place. Mailbox is a completely redesigned inbox that makes email light, fast, and mobile-friendly. Quickly swipe messages to your archive or trash. Scan an entire conversation at once with chat-like organization. Snooze emails until later with the tap of a button — they’ll return to your inbox automatically so you can focus on what's important now."

CyberDust (iOS)

Download the CyberDust app from here .

 

CyberDust is a cool new app that lets you send multiple text messages and photos that disappear after 30 seconds. The app lets you have private conversations and send self destructing photos, what's more if some one takes a screen shot you will be notified, like Snapchat.

Description as per developer

"Cyber Dust is simply a more natural way to message. Don't leave a trail of everything you say. Messages disappear forever after 30 seconds and cannot be traced. Stay in control of your messages! The app allows you to have fun and private conversations without worry. It has fully Encrypted Messages that are deleted forever."

CricHQ, cricket-based social network now available in India

CricHQ, a cricket-based social network, has officially announced its entry into India. Backed by cricketers such as Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum, the network is available via mobile app (available on Android and iOS) and web version. The network will also be available on Microsoft Windows Phone and Nokia X.

Unlike other cricket-based websites, CricHQ focusses more on social elements. It allows users to keep a tab on latest cricket scores from all levels of cricket, all over the world, follow their favorite players and receive notifications and updates on what their favorite teams or players are doing.

You can also keep track games played at international, domestic, club and school levels. There’s a Facebook-like newsfeed which shows activities of players whom one follows. Users can create their profile, post videos and pictures as well. It also has advanced match analysis tools such as wagon wheels and more.

 

In an exclusive interaction with Digit, Mr. Simon Baker, CEO of CricHQ said: “CricHQ is very different from other cricket-based websites. It allows one to keep track of even smallest-level of games and players. The network provides comprehensive data, which includes information about non-international cricketing career as well. CricHQ will help identify talents at a very early stage, which wasn’t possible before this. With more cricketing boards joining the platform, CricHQ could be of great help to the game and talents across the country.”

“We plan to reach out to smaller cities in India. We see a lot of potential in these cities. We will be doing that gradually though, as we are currently focussing on bigger cities. Moreover, we plan to expand further in India as well as in other countries. We hope to get more cricketing administrations on board.”

Asked about monetizing the service, Mr. Baker said: “CricHQ will be showing advertisements on the website. However, these ads will not spoil the user experience. We have kept the interface very simple and easy to use for everyone.”

On possibilities of further tie ups, he responded, “Recently we tied up with UC Browser. We have now tied up with Nokia and Microsoft. We plan to increase the number of partners in the near future.”

CricHQ is available via Google Play store, Apple app store and online.

Google Now cards now available with offline support

Google has pushed out a new update for its search App, that adds support for viewing Google Now cards even when you don't have an internet connection.

Google Now cards displays relevant information to you, like nearby attractions if you are travelling, or upcoming appointments as well as news items on topics that you have recently searched for and more. But it all required an internet connection to work. With the new Google search update, the latest Now cards will show up even if you lose or turn off your internet connection and you will also be able to see a small note at the top that lets you know how long it’s been since they were last updated. Users can download the latest version of Google Search from the Google Play store.

Another update that Google has rolled out is that the Google Drive app for Android  won't let you edit documents or spreadsheets, unless you install the standalone Docs or Sheets apps from the Google Play Store. Google had rolled out the new Standalone Docs and Sheets apps last week for both iOS and Android.

The new Google Docs and Google Sheets apps will allow users to access and create, documents and spreadsheets via their mobile phones. The apps comes with offline support and all the data is automatically saved on the Cloud server so users don't have to fear about losing important data. Google recently stated in a blog post that it will also be launching Google Slides, its presentation app 'soon'.

Source: Google

Firstouch smartphone can convert English into Indian languages

An Indian start-up has developed a smartphone called 'Firstouch' that can translate English text into Indian languages and vice versa by swiping across the screen. The smartphone is priced at Rs 6,000.

The smartphone has been developed by three IIT-ians, Rakesh Deshmukh, Sudhir Bangarambandi and Akash Dongre. They have developed and patented the virtual keyboard and the predictive text engine and say that they want to break the language barrier with their device. The smartphone also comes with a 48-key virtual keyboard that is designed to accommodate Indian alphabets. The Mumbai-based start-up aims to target rural customers who may not be comfortable with English language.

The Firstouch smartphone is expected to be launched this month in Rajkot, Gujarat and will be for Gujarati users. When asked in a recent interview that why they launched their first device in Gujarat? 31-year-old Deshmukh, CEO and co-founder of MoFirst Solutions Ltd, the company behind Firstouch replied, "Gujjus are far more experimenting."

The company plans to launch devices with Hindi and Marathi in June and also targets to launch the device in all Indian languages within an year. "Firstouch is the first regional smartphone which brings millions of rural and semi-urban customer a perfect smartphone, made in their language," Deshmukh said.

The company is also planning to launch an indigenous App Bazaar with operator billing for local customers. The money will be debited from a customer's prepaid or postpaid account when an application is bought. Customers can access App Bazaar without having to register on the company's website. The company has even created a tool for app translation, allowing those in English to Gujarati. The company is also exploring tie-ups with other online retailers and developers for creating more apps in the App Bazaar. It has already built more than 200 apps so far.

Source: ET

SanDisk unveils world's first 4TB solid state drive (SSD)

American multinational corporation SanDisk, which designs and develops flash memory storage solutions and software, has developed world's first 4TB SSD named Optimus MAX SSD. Solid state drives are usually manufactured in smaller storage capacities for consumer use. 

By launching Optimus MAX SSD, SanDisk wants to target the enterprise market by offering enterprises to maintain their current SAS storage infrastructures while providing fast and cost-effective performance. SSD usually produce less heat and consume lower power than HDDs. 

SanDisk claims that Optimus MAX SSD provides read/write speeds of up to 400MB/s of up to 75,000/15,000 I/O operations per second (IOPS) via its 6Gb/s interface. The company is targetting the drive at read-intensive applications required in data warehouses, media streaming, web servers, video-on-demand (VOD) and web-based applications.

John Scaramuzzo, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Enterprise Storage Solutions at SanDisk says, "We believe that the Optimus MAX will be a disruptive force within the storage industry, catalyzing many organizations to make the switch from their HDD-prominent data center infrastructures to SSDs."

SanDisk is yet to reveal the pricing of the SSD. The Optimus MAX SSD and renewed Optimus family of drives will be available with TCG Enterprise Security Subsystem Class compliance to select OEMs and through the channel in Q3-2014. It will also come with a 5-year limited warranty.

Source: SanDisk, Via: Gizmag

Loose change: Samsung ordered to pay Apple $120 million for infringing patents

An eight-person jury in the high-profile patent trial between Samsung and Apple has found that the former's smartphones and tablets infringed patents held by Apple Inc. But the twist in the tale is that the jury ordered Samsung to pay only a fraction of the damages that Apple had requested. The iPhone-maker was seeking an amount of $2.2 billion.

In a similar case of patent-infringement involving the same companies, a jury had ordered Samsung Electronics Co. to pay Apple Inc. an amount of $1 billion over similar issues two years ago. The latest month-long trial was taking place in U.S Districe Court in San Jose where Samsung attorneys insisted that the company did not copy any Apple products. The Korean electronics giant insisted that the features that they were found to have copied from Apple were so unimportant that they played a little role in decisions by consumers about which smartphone or tablet to buy. The company also insisted that the demand of such large damages were driven by Apple's greed and desire to use the courts to take back the market share that Apple was losing to Samsung products running on Google's Android mobile operating system.

"What this case is really about is Apple trying to limit consumer choice and to limit the advantage of its main competitor, Google's Android," Samsung attorney Peter Quinn said in his opening statement. "It's trying to gain from you in this courtroom what it's lost in the marketplace."

The jury found out that Samsung violated a patent for Apple's slide-to-unlock feature and a patent for a process of placing links in apps. The same jury also found out that Samsung did not violate patents for technology that enables users to search their phones for information or sync information between apps. The Judge had previously ruled that Samsung had infringed upon the automatic spelling correction which was also included in the appeal by Samsung.

"Today's ruling reinforces what courts around the world have already found: that Samsung willfully stole our ideas and copied our products. We are fighting to defend the hard work that goes into beloved products like the iPhone, which our employees devote their lives to designing and delivering for our customers," said Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet.

Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the patent-trial declined Apple's request of implementing a permanent ban on Samsung products that infringed upon its patents. The latest trial included Samsung's Galaxy S3 smartphone Galaxy Tab 2. The Korean company has already sold millions of these products. Samsung was ordered to pay $99 million for violating Apple's quick-link patent and about 52$ million in total damages of patents copied in its Galaxy S3 smartphones.

During the trial, Apple was also found guilty of infringing Samsung's patent for organizing digital photos. The court ordered that Apple will pay damages of $158,400 to Samsung.

Source: Los Angeles Times

5 latest free Android games that you must try

If you are on a look out for some new, interesting games for your Android device, we suggest you go through this list. You surely will fine a game (or two) that is new, different and worth a try for free.

1) The Walking Dead: Season One

Game description as per developer:The Walking Dead is a five-part game series (Episode 2-5 can be purchased via in-app) set in the same universe as Robert Kirkman’s award-winning series. Play as Lee Everett, a convicted criminal, who has been given a second chance at life in a world devastated by the undead. With corpses returning to life and survivors stopping at nothing to maintain their own safety, protecting an orphaned girl named Clementine may offer him redemption in a world gone to hell. Experience events, meet people and visit locations that foreshadow the story of Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes. A tailored game experience – actions, choices and decisions you make will affect how your story plays out across the entire series.

Download The Walking Dead: Season from here.

2) Clumsy Ninja

Game description as per developer:
Meet Clumsy Ninja, the most hapless ninja ever to grace a touchscreen! Train him, throw him, tickle him, and even tie balloons to him. Everything you do will make Clumsy Ninja more skillful, and help him find his missing friend Kira. Clumsy Ninja is the next generation of interactive characters! He can sense, feel, move, and react uniquely every time. Prepare to be amazed…oh, and please take good care of him! Train your ninja to learn new tricks and super-special Ninja Moves! Impress his Sensei and earn new Ninja Belts on your way to find Kira, or just have fun with over 70 unique interactive items, including trampolines, punch bags, ball guns, a chicken and… a squirrel!

Download Clumsy Ninja from here.

3) FarmVille 2: Country Escape

Game description as per developer:Out of Facebook, straight onto your Android device. A new mobile-optimized FarmVille experience is now available! It’s FarmVille tailored for you and the way you want to play. Best of all, it’s free! Farm at your own pace, whether you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes. Play with friends or on your own in our new Anonymous Mode: Facebook not required. You can also play when not connected to the internet. Join a Farm Co-Op to trade and share, and go on Farm Adventures to collect rare goods. Now, you can finally play FarmVille anytime… anywhere.

Download FarmVille 2: Country Escape from here.

4) Smash Bandits Racing

Description as per developer:
Power up to faster cars, get the edge with getaway gadgets and outrun the cops as you speed to the state line. SMASH EVERYTHING: Well, almost. Whichever route you take through an ever-changing world of dirt tracks and dusty logging towns you can crash and bash your way through smashable scenery in the most intense display of destruction you have ever seen. UPGRADE & OUTRUN: Make sure you’re always ahead of the game (and the cops) with cool car upgrades. Start with a puny compact and make it awesome with extra speed, handling and strength. And when you start earning big, you might just get your hands on the fastest road car on the planet, the stunning Hennessey Venom GT. SMASH THE LEADERBOARD: What crazy road race would be complete without a TV chopper hovering overhead? The further you get and the more you smash, the bigger the TV ratings and the more cash you earn. Play against your Facebook and Google+ friends to see who can become the most famous Bandit on network TV. BOOST YOUR CHANCES: Before you head off you get to choose something to help you along the way. Stinger-proof tires, the 'Stunner' car taser and even a tank are available to give you the edge over the relentless Sheriff McBride and his deputies. CRUISE CONTROLS: Innovative one-finger control makes it super easy to drive, drift & spin your car, and unleash those helpful gadgets - no matter where you’re playing. TAKE A BANDIT CHALLENGE: The Smash Bandits race organisers don’t think that simply out-running the cops is a big enough problem, so they’ve put together over 100 challenges where you can test your driving skills to the limit.

Download Smash Bandits from here.

5) Pocket Gunfighters

Description as per developer:
Play the ultimate action shooting game on mobile! Get into intense shoot-outs armed with pistols, shotguns, and machine guns. Evil villains are traveling through time trying to change history, and only you can stop them. Go on a shooting spree to save the world! Cast of Characters  Collect over 50 popular gunfighters for your master collection! Experience different gunfighters from all around the world! Test your ability and see how far you can go with the endless stream of enemies! Be on the top ranking listing to unlock exclusive and powerful gunfighters for your collection! Story Mode: Travel through time to gather the greatest gunfighters into your time machine! Complete stages to take on the mysterious Overlord! Achievements: Trust yourself and take on the challenge to achieve the impossible! Accomplish achievements and be rewarded with exclusive items! Squad Skill: Unlock powerful skill by collecting gunfighters from the same squad! Cast amazing skills to overpower your enemies! Upgrades: Max out your gunfighters by improving their stats to live long and shoot harder!

Download Pocket Gunfighters from here.

OnePlus' One actually "kills" Nexus 5 with its blazing-fast boot time

OnePlus' One Android smartphone has created quite a stir since it was unveiled recently. Featuring top-of-the-line specs at an extremely affordable price, the smartphone is being labeled as "Nexus-Killer" as Google's flagship smartphone was known for featuring high-end specs at cheaper prices. Its manufacturer, OnePlus has labeled the One as the "Flagship Killer". The One's specs at the price of $299 sound to good to be true. 

The One has been reported to be FAST! Thanks to its Snapdragon 801 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM and CyanogenMod which makes the phone even more blazing fast. The phone has enough battery and storage size to satisfy any hardcore Android user. Having no removable battery or an expandable SD card don't sound like a problem when the phone features a 3100mAh battery and also comes in a 64GB storage variant that costs the same as the 16GB variant of Nexus 5.

Geek.com were lucky enough to get a hands-on with the upcoming smartphone. The site reports that the One features a dual navigation button scheme which means that the usual Android navigation keys can be set to on-screen as well as on the capacitive keys featured on the smartphone even though the layout has been reported to be different.

Comparing the One's performance with the Nexus 5, the publication did a quick boot test of the two phones. OnePlus' One easily beats the Google's flagship smartphone with extremely fast boot time. While the Nexus 5 completely boots up, the reviewer boots up the One twice! Even powering off the smartphone is snappy and the phone switches off in just two seconds. What is interesting to note here though, is that after the complete booting process, the CyanogenMod 11S OS on the One seems to load widgets after it loads the OS which might be the reason of such a fast bootup process. Also, the smartphone takes comparably longer when it is restarted but still faster than other Android smartphones. We would have liked it if Geek.com had done a reboot comparison. It seems likely that OnePlus has modded the CyanogenMod 11S to feature some kind of fastboot mode which makes the phone boot and shutdown so fast.

Check out the boot comparison in the video below:

OnePlus' One looks like one impressive smartphone that is bound to make a lot of news in the coming days. Do you think that the One would actually "kill" other flagship smartphones from the likes of Samsung, LG, Sony or HTC and blow the competition out of the water? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Geek.com

OnePlus' One could be "the Ultimate Android phone" for just $299

Founded by Pete Lau, a former Oppo Electronics VP, OnePlus has finally unveiled its Nexus-killer called One. Even though the specs of the upcoming smartphone have been known for a while, the company was yet to reveal its price. The startup has now revealed the price as well and looking at the announced prices of $299 for the 16GB and $349 for the 64GB models, One is clearly going to give major manufacturers a run for their money as it costs almost half the price of others' flagship smartphones.

OnePlus is also offering discounts to earliest buyers among whom some might even get the new One for as low as $1. But for that, you have to "smash" your old phone!

Despite featuring in a mid-range price category, the specs on the One are very high-end. The One comes with a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core Krait 400 processor. It features Adreno 330 for high-end graphics and a 5.5-inch full HD IPS LCD display with 401ppi. The display panel is protected with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It has plenty of RAM at 3GB and comes with 16GB and 64GB variants. Another killer-feature of One is its 4G LTE, HSDPA, GSM and CDMA support which makes it a world-phone. Also, it doesn't come with a stock or company UI. The One features CyanogenMod 11S which has been slightly customized for the smartphone. The ROM is based on Android KitKat 4.4 and comes with endless customization options that CyanogenMod has always been very popular for.

The OS features some cool features like SMS encryption, themes, app privacy guard, audio equalizer, file manager, enhanced camera app and plenty of gestures for launching various apps and functions. It also features Google Now which is activated by the voice command "OK,Google". Lau has said that OnePlus is open to working with other ROM makers in China, including MIUI (by Xiaomi) and Smartisan OS so that it can offer more options to its users. 

One is even expected to satisfy camera enthusiasts with its 13MP camera which cames with a Sony Exmor IMX214 sensor with a 6-lens module and dual LED. It is capable of shooting 4K video and 720p slow-motion videos at 120fps. On the front, it features a 5MP wide-angle camera with loud stereo speakers from JBL. It also comes wih three microphones featuring noise cancellation for excellent call quality.

The phone even comes in multiple back cover options.

Check out OnePlus' promo video of the One smartphone:

The few things that the One is missing are a microSD expansion slot, USB 3.0 and Quick Charge 2.0. The design of the phone looks similar to Oppo phones like the Find 5. Lau says that his team has extensively focused on each and every aspect of the smartphone. He says that his team spent almost four months just to fine tune the USB cable for the One in order to get the perfect texture, plug design and other small details. "You can use all sorts of marketing tactics, but when you're back to making a product, you must take users' actual needs into consideration," Lau said. "They are the ones who will actually use it, so they know best. You can exaggerate when you're selling a product, but when the buyers use it and are left disappointed, they'll still complain, right? he says.

Let's compare the specs of the One with other high-end flagship smartphones to see how good it really is when it comes to specs on paper:

Model/Specs	OnePlus One	Nexus 5	Samsung Galaxy S5	HTC One (M8)
CPU	2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801	2.26GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800	2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801	2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801
GPU	Adreno 330	Adreno 330	Adreno 330	Adreno 330
RAM	3GB	2GB	2GB	2GB
OS	CyanogenMod11S	Android 4.4.2	Android 4.4.2	Android 4.4.2
Display	5.5" IPS LCD (FHD), 401ppi	5" IPS LCD (FHD), 445ppi	5.1" AMOLED (FHD), 432ppi	5" Super LCD 3 (FHD), 441ppi
Camera F/R	13MP/5MP	8MP/1.3MP	16MP/2MP	5MP/4MP (Dual
Storage	16GB/64GB	16GB/32GB	16GB/32GB (Expandable)	16GB/32GB (Expandable)
Battery	3100mAh	2300mAh	2800mAh	2600mAh
Price	$299(16GB), $349(64GB)	$349(16GB), $399(32GB)	$699(16GB), $800(32GB)	$699(16GB),$799(32GB)

The One will be launched in late May and will initially be available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the UK, and the US. The company is yet to announce when and whether the smartphone will be available in India.

Learn about the $1 offer (by smashing your phone) by registering here.

The best-selling mobile phone ever isn't a Galaxy or an iPhone

When it comes mobile phones, we are getting used to hearing the word "smartphones" as the electronic gadgets that we earlier used for just making calls and sending texts, have now become "smarter". We keep hearing the names "iPhone", "S3", "S5", "HTC One", etc...etc. But do you know, that the world's best-selling phone ever is not an iPhone? Neither is it some Samsung's Galaxy phone.

With over 250 million units sold till now, the world's best selling phone till date is the Nokia 1100. The rugged 1100 was the most popular mobile phone in the industry of its time when it was released in 2003. And, without surprise, it still holds the record for the top-selling electronic gadget ever.

Extra-cheap price, solid build quality, great performance and durability made the Nokia 1100 an instant hit among customers, especially the youth. Apart from making calls, the only things that you could do with this phone were texting, play Snake (game) and use it as a calculator. The 1100 did not come with any Snapdragons not did it have a huge display. A 96x65 pixels monochrome display and a great performance (with no hiccups), the Nokia 1100 was an "almost-perfect" gadget of its time. Nokia's team that designed the 1100 named it "Penny" for its low-cost price. 

The Nokia 1100 became so popular that even its successor, Nokia 1110 basked in its predecessor's glory at the time of release in 2005 which helped Nokia sell over 250 million 1110 handsets.

Nokia might be a struggling mobile phone manufacturer right now but back in the late 90s and early 2000s, it was the largest manufacturer of mobile phones. The aging Symbian OS later became the cause of its decline and recently after accepting Microsoft's Windows Phone OS as the platform for its high-end phone, Nokia sold its entire mobile phone division to Microsoft for $7.2 billion.

The Wikipedia page for "best-selling mobile phones" shows the dominance of Nokia around 10 years ago reflected by the number of sales of its mobile phones. In fact, seven of the highest selling mobile phones ever are all from Nokia. 

The other six highest selling mobile phones ever, after Nokia 1100, are also from Nokia: 1110,1200, 5230, 3210, 6600 and 2600. Nokia has sold well over a billion phones of just these.

After overtaking Motorola in 1998 as the top manufacturer (in terms of sales), Nokia dominated the market every year with highest sales all the way till 2010.

For the first time in around 10 years, Nokia was overtaken by Apple. The US manufacturer came out with iPhone 3G which basically killed Nokia. 2008 was the year that marked the beginning of the reign of iPhones. And, to this date, Apple's iPhones have been among the highest-selling mobile phones each year with only Samsung giving it some tough competition with its Galaxy S series.

Since 1997, Nokia has been the company with most sales every year till 2012. After that year, Samsung started dominating the total market share by achieving and increasing its 30 percent of the total market share. 

Despite other manufacturers taking over, it seems unlikely that we will see a phone that will surpass Nokia 1100's 250 million sales figure. Many believe that Apple's iPhone 5S is the phone that could actually make such a feat possible. But looking at numbers, Apple's revolutionary smartphone brand crossed 500 million-mark of total sales (of all iPhones combined) in March this year. Based on that figure, iPhone is likely going to take many (and I mean many) years to overtake Nokia in terms of number of sales. Here are the top-selling phones of other manufacturers as compared to 250 million units of 1100.

• iPhone 4S: Over 60 million units sold
• Samsung S3: Over 50 million units sold
• Motorola Razr: Over 130 million units sold

Now, with Microsoft buying out Nokia, it seems likely that one of the greatest mobile phone manufacturers in history of mobile phones might not be able to come out with a phone that could be their next 1100.

Eureka Forbes launches mobile water purifier for Rs.595 in India

Eureka Forbes has launched a mobile water purifier called 'Aquaguard-on-the-Go' in India and has priced it at Rs.595. The water purifier will come in the shape of a 'sipper' featuring water purification technology. The sipper will be available at all the retail outlets and general stores in black, pink, pearl white and racy blue colors. "Aquaguard-on-the-Go is perhaps the only water purifier in India which can enable affordability, adaptability and availability of safe drinking water for Indians. It is an important milestone in the history of brand Aquaguard which will take our market leadership in India to the next level,” CEO - Direct Sales and Senior VP of Eureka Forbes, Marzin R Shroff said. He added that "the miniaturized water purification technology was rolled out after seven years of research."

The purifier can distill water using space nano technology which essentially means that the purifier has more than 100 crore optimally charged active sites that attract and remove 99.9 percent harmful bacteria and virus. Water filled in the purifier passes through a maze of nano-sized positive charged media that traps negatively charged pathogens and other impurities to decontaminate drinking water.

The company says that the water purifier would attract travelers, school/college students, sports and fitness enthusiasts. Eureka Forbes is a joint venture between Shapoorji Pallonji Group's Forbes & Company Ltd, based in Mumbai and Electrolux, which is a Sweden-based company. Forbes & Company Ltd. is the oldest registered company in India and founded by Scottish John Forbes in 1767. Later Forbes family sold the company to Tata Group which later sold it to Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Eureka Forbes started as a small firm to introduce domestic water purifier - the Aquaguard. The company had a turnover of Rs. 1776 crore last year and has a customer base of 15 million in India with presence in over 450 cities and towns across 35 countries globally.

Autodesk unveils its 2015-edition Design Suites in India

Autodesk has announced the release of its latest 2015 design suites in India. The latest edition features tighter integration with Autodesk's own cloud services. The new suite also includes the latest edition of AutoCAD which is the company's most advanced version of the software till date. AutoCAD 2015 comes with a new interface and enhanced productivity tools. The company says that these tools will enable customers to experience a new standard in design and documentation.

The latest edition of Autodesk softwares includes the following design suites:

• Autodesk AutoCAD Design Suite offers a refined visual interface, better point cloud support to bring the real world into the AutoCAD canvas, and easier ways to work with online maps and other geographic location information.
• Autodesk Building Design Suite delivers better integration with BIM 360 cloud services, enhanced point cloud capabilities, and numerous customer requested improvements for Autodesk Revit, including a new sketchy lines feature, ability to include imagery in schedules, enhanced hidden lines capability and more.
• Autodesk Factory Design Suite introduces easier moves from 2D AutoCAD drawings to 3D factory layouts with streamlined transitions from legacy workflows; point cloud support for “as is” facility capture; extended use of Factory Design data; and enhancements to Factory Design Mobile app.
• Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite includes major enhancements to AutoCAD Civil 3D software, including improved user interface, greater flexibility for corridor modeling, more efficient creation of profiles layouts, better production drafting, and simpler ways to create custom subassemblies.
• Autodesk Plant Design Suite rolls out significant enhancements to AutoCAD Plant 3D software, including center of gravity, bill of materials (BOM), fixed length pipe modeling, piping and instrumentation drawing (P&ID), and isometric improvements.
• Autodesk Product Design Suite launches with exceptional modeling capabilities, a new user experience, and workflow enhancements.
• Autodesk Maya 2015 software adds new capabilities to the toolset such as the new Bifrost procedural effects platform; XGen Arbitrary Primitive Generator; Geodesic Voxel Binding method; ShaderFX, a new node-based visual interface; support for Pixar’s OpenSubdiv libraries; enhanced polygon modeling tools; and expanded UV options.

“The Autodesk portfolio now has something for everyone who is involved in the design and making of products and projects.  Users will notice a significant difference in how much easier it is to get their work done with the Autodesk 2015 Design Suites. And with Autodesk Subscription, users get flexible options to utilize cloud services for design." Managing Director, Autodesk India and SAARC, Pradeep Nair said.

Autodesk has also incorporated cloud-based services in its latest design suite which will help engineers and designers work in collaboration and thereby improving production.

Sunil MK, Head - Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC), Autodesk India says, “Autodesk 2015 Infrastructure Design Suite and Building Design Suite shall empower designers, architects and engineers with technology for greater productivity, improved collaboration, and more complete, better integrated BIM workflows to help them unleash their vision of a better, more sustainable world.”

For animation enthusiasts, the new Autodesk 2015 3D Animation Software package features new tools like 'Bifrost' and Shaderfx. Bifrost is a procedural effects platform that provides an extensible, artist-friendly workflow for complex simulation and redering tasks. The tool will help users create richly detailed geometry such as hair, fur and foliage easily. Shaderfx, a new node-based visual interface for shader programming supports Pixar's OpenSubdiv libraries, enhanced polygon modelling tools and expanded UV options. It will also help game designers and programmers create advanced HLSL viewport shaders and point cloud dataset. 

Autodesk's 3D animation suite includes Maya, 3ds Max, MotionBuilder, Mudbox and SoftImage. "We have redesigned core parts of our applications focusing on performance, ease-of-use and innovative new tools like Bifrost that make it simpler to do complex tasks. Whether our users are creating visual effects for a blockbuster movie, a high-end game for one of the new consoles or developing a mobile app, the 2015 versions allow artists to focus on what they do best – storytelling.” Alok Sharma, Head - Media & Entertainment at Autodesk India, said.

The 2015 Design Suites will be available starting Mar 28. For details and purchase options, visit Autodesk's official site.