Apex court issues notice on Section 66A of IT Act

The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the central government and four states on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Section 66A of the IT Act that provides for proceeding against people posting annoying and inconvenient comments on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and other electronic mediums. An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir issued the notice - also to Maharashtra, West Bengal, Puducherry and Delhi - after Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati told the court that Section 66A has been grossly abused and welcomed the court's intervention. However, he said that per se there was nothing wrong with the section and defended it.

Petitioner Shreya Singhal has moved the Supreme Court seeking the striking down of Section 66A which was resorted to by the authorities to arrest two young girls: Shaheen Dhanda, 21, who had questioned the Mumbai shutdown after the death of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray Nov 17 and her friend Renu Srinivasan who had 'liked' the comment on Facebook. Singhal claimed that the section was vague and impossible to judge by objective standards, and thus liable to misuse.

Section 66A of the IT Act reads: "Any person who sends by any means of a computer resource…any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult… shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine." -IANS

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Apple iTunes 11 now available for download

Apple has finally released the updated iTunes 11 and it is now available for OS X and Windows users globally. The update is available on OS X via the Mac App Store, while Windows users can download it separately.

Primarily, Apple has completely redesigned the interface for iTunes making it much cleaner than ever before. This new user interface is being referred to as an edge-to-edge UI. Another new feature with iTunes 11 is expanded view, this allows the user to quickly access all the content of an album.

The Mini-Player has been revamped and it is not only smaller than the former but now also display much more information. It looks much better than its predecessor.

Another key new feature introduced with iTunes 11 is Up Next which enables users to select songs they want to play next and even create a queued list which spans several songs.

The biggest feature introduced with iTunes 11 is its integration with iCloud which the company’s cloud storage service. It allows users to access media stored on iCloud and one can continue songs or TV Shows right where they left it. This works across all Apple devices.

In addition to all this there is a new logo for the app and the upgrade weighs at 198MB. If you are a Windows user you can download it here.

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Microsoft to start shipping Surface Pro tablet in January, pricing revealed

Microsoft has finally announced the pricing and some availability details for the Surface Pro tablet which runs on Windows 8 and supports all legacy Windows applications. The 64GB variant is priced at $899 (Rs. 49,184 approx) and the 123GB variant is priced at $999 (Rs. 54,645 approx). Microsoft has also announced that these tablets will start shipping in January 2013.

Now the Surface Pro seems a lot more capable compared to the Surface RT, however it is a much expensive tablet which might be a huge challenge for Microsoft to sell. Unlike the Surface RT which is priced at $599 (Rs. 32,765 approx) for the 32GB and $699 (Rs. 38,242) for the 64GB when purchased with the Black Touch Cover, the Surface Pro does not even include this accessory, and it needs to be purchased separately.

However there is a huge hardware difference between the two devices. The Surface RT runs Windows RT and is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 ARM processor. The Surface Pro on the other hand is powered by an Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor and it runs Windows 8.

In addition to the aforementioned the Surface Pro has a 10.6-inch Clear Type display with Full HD resolution, a USB 3.0 port, a mini display port and a capacitive digitizer. All this sure makes it a premium device and we are yet to see how it fares against other premium tablets.

It sure isn’t the sleekest tablet in the market but when it is coupled with its keyboard-cover accessory it will turn in to a brilliant portable device which can perform as tablet and also a powerful notebook. In addition to the great portability it runs Windows 8 which means that all those applications available for Windows are easily accessible to the user. It does seem like a much different device than the generic tablets. It is targeted at different set of consumer and is more likely to fill that gap between an ultrabook and a tablet.

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Dual-SIM capable Lava XOLO A700 launched in India

Lava’s new Android smartphone is called XOLO A700 and it is a dual-SIM capable device which is now available with online retailer Flipkart for Rs. 9,999. This device will be shipping in the next six to eight days and by that time we might also hear an official announcement from the company.

This device runs Android 4.0 ICS which may not be skinned with a custom UI. Unlike the much popular XOLO X900 which is powered by an Intel mobile processor, this device uses an ARM based dual-core chipset which is clocked at 1GHz.

Other specifications includes a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 960x540 pixels resolution, it has 512MB of RAM, a 5 megapixel rear camera and a secondary VGA quality front facing camera. It has 4GB of built-in storage, a microSD card slot and a 1,700 mAh battery which is rated for 6 hours of talk time on 2G and just 3 hours on 3G.

Its dual-SIM capability only allows the user to use a 3G+2G connectivity and both SIMs cannot have 3G networks running simultaneously.

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Microsoft disclose Windows 8 sales numbers

It’s been a month since the launch of Windows 8, and Microsoft has disclosed its market performance, albeit in a cheeky way. Tami Reller of Microsoft announced that the company has sold 40million Windows 8 licenses, and Windows 8 is “outpacing” Windows 7 in terms of upgrades. This information was made public through a blog post, which did not see fit to clarify how many of 40 million licenses include OEM types.

Microsoft also through some vague stats about the Windows Store, without getting too much into specific figures. For instance, the company said that their app store has more items than any other at launch, and that number of apps have crossed the $25,000 revenue mark.

The company has also been collecting usage information from volunteers, out of which 90% used Charms on the first day. Also on the first day, 50% visited the Windows Store, and 80% launched the good-old desktop.

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ASUS debut ROG Orion headsets

ASUS has refreshed its line-up of ROG-branded headsets, with the introduction of two Orion models. Both the models have 50mm Neodymium drivers, and 100mm over-ear cushions. These provide passive noise cancellation of up to 30 decibels. The Orion Pro comes with ROG Spitfire audio processor that adds headphone amplification, 7.1 surround virtualization, and digital equalizer specifically designed for FPS games. These audio effects are built into the firmware and they can be turned-off using the attached controller. ASUS has priced ROG Orion Pro at Rs.5,200, and ROG Orion at Rs.4,250, both before taxes.

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Samsung launches ATIV Smart PC and ATIV Smart PC Pro in India

Samsung has launched its ATIV Smart PC and ATIV Smart PC Pro in India and these convertible tablets are priced at Rs. 53,990 and Rs. 75,490. These devices run Microsoft’s Windows 8, the former is powered by a dual-core Intel Atom processor clocked at 1.8GHz while the latter is powered by a Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor.The Samsung ATIV Smart PC has an 11.6-inch display which has a resolution of 1366x768 pixels, the Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro also has the same size display but with full HD resolution.

The ATIV Smart PC is equipped with 2GB of RAM, 64GB of eMMC memory, 8 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel front facing camera. The ATIV Smart PC Pro has a 128GB SSD, 5 megapixel rear camera and the rest remains the same.

In addition to this they come with a detachable keyboard and the S-Pen Stylus. Both are equipped with dual speakers. The ATIV Smart PC has a 2-cell battery which Samsung claims can deliver up to 13.5 hours of battery life while the ATIV Smart PC Pro has a 4-cel battery which delivers a battery life of up to 8.5 hours.

It features all the essential ports including one micro HDMI, one USB 2.0, a headphone jack, Samsung’s proprietary dock port and a microSD card slot.

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Lenovo's P770 Android smartphone comes with a 3,500 mAh battery

Until now Motorola was the only company to sell a smartphone packed with a massive battery - joining them is Lenovo with its new smartphone, the Lenovo P770. It is an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean based device which packs a 3,500 mAh battery.

While the Lenovo P770 is not as sleek as the Motorola RAZR MAXX HD, the device sports a 4.5-inch qHD IPS display and is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz Cortex A9 processor along with 1GB of RAM.

This sounds like a mid-ranged device which will provide impressive battery life. The Lenovo P770 is rated to provide up to 29 hours of continuous talk time and standby time of nearly a month. Additional to the huge battery are three different power saving; long standby, normal and custom. Apart from all this it is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and a secondary front facing VGA quality camera.

This smartphone is currently available in China for CNY 1,699 which converts to about $273 and Rs. 15,000. Lenovo is yet to announce its availability in other regions.

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