HTC Butterfly announced, sports a 5-inch 1080p display with 441 ppi

HTC recently announced its international variant of the Droid DNA (for US) and HTC Butterfly J (for Japan). This device will be called the HTC Butterfly while in the past it was rumored to go by the name HTC Deluxe DLX.

The HTC Butterfly is the Taiwanese manufacturer’s first phablet device which sports a 5-inch 1080p display with 441 ppi pixel density which is the highest pixel density on any smartphone in the world. It seems that the device will be available in quite a few interesting colors.

The HTC Butterfly is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor which is clocked at 1.5GHz, it also includes 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage. Additional to this one can expand the size via a microSD card.

Apart from this the smartphone features an 8 megapixel rear camera with a 28mm lens, f2.0 aperture and a backside illuminated sensor for better image quality in low-light conditions. There is a secondary front facing 2.1 megapixel camera which can record in 1080p resolution.

The company has not yet revealed which version of Android will the device be running, but it is safe to assume that it will come with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean as its Japanese and American cousins run the same version. No word about the pricing and availability of this device.

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Apple iPad Mini and iPad 4 launched in India

Apple finally launched its iPad Mini and its new fourth generation iPad in the Indian market. Both these devices will be available across all Apple Authorized Retailers throughout the country.

The iPad Mini is Apple’s smaller tablet which sports a 7.9-inch display and it is powered by an 1GHz Apple A5 dual-core processor. It also includes a 5 megapixel rear camera, a secondary front facing 1.2 megapixel camera and it runs Apple iOS 6. In terms of the pricing the Wi-Fi only variants are priced at Rs. 21,900 for 16GB, Rs. 27,900 for 32GB and Rs. 64GB for Rs. 33,900. The Wi-Fi+Cellular is priced at Rs. 29,900 for 16GB, Rs. 35,900 is for 32GB and Rs. 41,900 for the 64GB.

The new fourth generation iPad features a Retina Display and it is powered by a 1.4GHz Apple A6X dual-core processor which is twice as faster as the one on iPad 3. It also features a 5 megapixel rear camera, a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera and it has a 9.7-inch display. The Wi-Fi only variants for the iPad will start from Rs. 31,900 for 16GB, Rs. 37,900 for 32GB and Rs. 43,900 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi+Cellular variants of the iPad 4 will start from Rs. 39,900 for 16GB, Rs. 45,000 for 32GB and Rs. 51,900 for 64GB.

Both these tablets will feature the new Lightning connector and in addition to this the iPad Mini will use a nano-SIM while the iPad 4 will use a micro-SIM.

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Valve developing gaming console

Valve’s Gabe Newell spoke to Kotaku during this year’s Video Game Awards about his plans for the coming years. The recently released Steam's Big Picture mode has received better than expected results, according to Newell, which is being developed as a precursor to Valve’s ambitions to get into the living room.

The company is developing technologies around a gaming console that would be much like Xbox and PlayStation, in purpose and system. The next big milestone on the development path will be a stable release of Steam Linux that is capable of running Steam's Big Picture. Valve is simultaneously working on a new game engine that is destined for the console, and subsequently lead to a new game from the studio.

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AMD cuts chip production

AMD has entered a new agreement with chip supplier GlobalFoundries that cuts the quarterly order from $500m to $115m. AMD will owe GlobalFoundries $320m in termination fees, which is scheduled to be paid in parts until the end of 2013. The company is also in the process of standardizing 28-nanometer technology from GlobalFoundries, which will let it cut research and development costs.

For the year 2013, AMD estimates that it will be making purchases worth $1.15b from GlobalFoundries. Meanwhile, AMD is also preparing for 2014 launch of ARM based Opteron chips for server-grade machines.

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RIM may launch QWERTY BlackBerry 10 before June: Report

The full-keyboard version of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone is expected to come shortly after the touch-screen version, a report has said. A report from Forbes, citing research firm Detwiler Fenton, said the Blackberry 10 devices wouldn't hit until March, and that the QWERTY version wouldn't come until June.

According to a person familiar with the company's launch plans, the bit about a June launch is inaccurate, CNET reports. The report said that Research In Motion (RIM) is likely to unveil its devices on January 30, with a launch coming roughly four to six weeks after, so the first BlackBerry 10 phone may actually hit in March. The full touch-screen device is expected to launch first, while the qwerty version will come "shortly after," the company has said.

The report pointed out that the timing suggests RIM will report weaker results in the fourth and first quarters, with the BlackBerry 10 devices not having an impact until the end of the first quarter. -ANI

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Fujitsu Stylistic Q702: Wintel hybrid for businesses

Fujitsu has taken the plunge into Windows 8 business with an Intel based tablet that snaps into a docking station to form-up like a laptop. Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 has an 11.6-inch IPS-grade display, choice between an Intel Core i3 or Core i7 processor, 4GB RAM, and up to 256GB of storage on SSD. The tablet has dual-camera configuration; USB 2.0 and 3.0, HDMI, and SD/SDHC ports; and optional 3G or 4G support. 

 

The docking station, in addition to keypad and track pad, adds 4-cell battery-pack, Ethernet port, and VGA-out. Fujitsu's selection of security suite for this hybrid includes fingerprint sensor, Computrace, hardware password protection, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), Intel anti-theft technology, and optional Intel vPro. Before taxes, the Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 will set you back by Rs.69,000.

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Samsung Galaxy Music Duos up for 9K

A model from Samsung's Galaxy line of music players had made its way into India for a price that is just under Rs.9,000. Samsung's online store has the phone listed for Rs.9,199, but shows as being out of stock; whereas online retailer Snapdeal has the phone ready to ship for Rs.8,999.

The GT-S6012 Galaxy Music Duo is a dual-SIM phone with a 3-inch screen, 3MP camera, 512MB RAM, and 1300mAh battery. It runs Android ICS, and communicates over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM.

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Popular Apple photo editing app Snapseed now on Android

Popular Apple photo editing app Snapseed has finally arrived in Android-operated smartphones. Snapseed, the creation of 17-year-old Nik software, launched on iOS a little over a year ago, and within a year, the app has seen a whopping 9.5 million downloads as the company was acquired by Google.

 “Before we released Snapseed we were primarily focused on [software for] professionals or advanced amateur photographers – the folks that are buying digital SLRs. The application has been really successful for us,” Josh Haftel, product manager at Google, and previously Nik Software, told Mashable. According to the report, along with the launch of the Android application, Google is knocking the price of the iOS version down from 4.99 dollars to free.

Not your average mobile photo editor, Snapseed has a number of different built-in enhancement options that let you do everything from crop and straighten an image to adjust the focus, many offering choices you might expect to find in a professional photo editor, the report said. “It’s very simple and straightforward, and also very powerful,” says Haftel. Each enhancement you select can be fine-tuned to the photo you’re working with. So, for instance, if you’re editing a photo of a friend who has a shadow on his face from wearing a baseball cap, you can brighten just his face in the photo rather than the entire image, the report added.

When you’re done editing a photo you can save it to the camera roll on your phone, or share it via Google+, Email, Facebook, or Twitter. -ANI

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