Rekindle the Nokia Aeon phone for 2013 release

Rekindle the Nokia Aeon phone for 2013 release

Here at Phones Review we have been delving into the annals and reminded ourselves about the Nokia Aeon, a concept phone that was then made into a prototype. This was one classy phone, which we raved about at the time (and we’re talking right back in 2006) and to be frank it looks just as appealing today. It has set us to wondering if maybe Nokia should rekindle the Aeon for 2013.

Bearing in mind Nokia’s current woes, despite the initial popularity for the new Lumia range of smartphones, Nokia needs to come up with something to astound the market and we think if it was to make the Aeon a reality and give it absolutely top-notch specs then it could be the way forward.
Cast your minds back to 2006 when we first brought you news of the Nokia Aeon.
We spotted this concept on the Nokia website on its research and development page and it was instant desire. The whole design and flavor of the phone was appealing to our eyes and we could not hide our enthusiasm or our wish to see Nokia develop the Aeon further.
We then move on to 2008, when at last we saw a further development regarding the Nokia Aeon. By then it had been made into a prototype fuel cell phone, still looking awesome and somehow still looking up-to-the-minute, as it still does right now. At the time it was reported that the concept had been made into a working model and so it seemed a step closer to becoming a reality. However time passed and nothing further was forthcoming.
Now in 2012 we want to start an appeal to Nokia to resurrect the Aeon phone and at last bring it to fruition. Obviously this could not be hastily done as we want the best of the latest cutting-edge technology to be used and so we could envisage Nokia bringing this out in 2013, (see, we’re not too demanding). We think this is one of the best looking phone designs to ever hit the Web and if it came to reality it would be a fantastic offering.
Design wars could be tested to the limit if the Nokia Aeon released in 2013 and we reckon this could give Androids and the iPhone a run for their money. Take a look at these images showing the original prototype Aeon and its beautiful design and tell us what you think. Are you as bowled over by the look of this phone as we were/are? If the design was matched with high-end specs might you be a potential customer? Send us all your comments to let us know your views on whether Nokia should rekindle the Aeon. Nokia… are you listening?

Penta T-pad WS802C 2G

The 8-inch multi-touch capacitive
screen Penta T-Pad WS802C 2G has
been designed to best suit the
needs of avid tech–savvy
youngsters, business environments,
multi-tasking homemakers and the
student fraternity alike. It is
endowed with 1.2GHz Cortex A8
processor, 400 Mali GPU, powerful
1GB DDRIII RAM and 8GB internal
memory, which is expandable upto
32GB. The Tablet PC apart from 2G
SIM connectivity also supports 3G
through a dongle and Wi-Fi for
connectivity needs. Extra care has
been taken to design this influential
machine including features like
Bluetooth, 3D enabled and pre-
installed education content to keep
up with the desirability for one and
all.
The device comes with a full
complement of ports, including
Mini and Host USB, SD Card, and
HDMI to simplify the exploitation
of additional peripherals. Penta T-
Pad WS802C further comes
engineered with a 5000 mAh
battery, which can give users
browsing time of approximately
5-6 hours.
Features:
Browse the web, watch videos on
Youtube®, check e-mail, and more
on a generous 8.0"  800*600
pixels, capacitive screen
Intuitive touch screen controls
powered by Android™ OS 4.0.3
High-speed 1.2GHz processor, Mali
400 3D Hardware Acceleration GPU
and 1GB RAM for effortless
performance. Connect to the Internet wirelessly
with inbuilt 2G SIM Slot or through
a high-speed networking support
(Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n) Built in G-Sensor, Bluetooth
Connect and enjoy HD video on
your HDTV via HDMI
Download and enjoy popular apps
and games from Android market
Plays popular video, music, 3D
games, and photo formats
Download and read books View pages in portrait or landscape
with automatic orientation
detection
Built-in front camera and
microphone for video calling
Expandable memory with optional
microSDHC card
Rechargeable 5000mAh lithium-
polymer battery
All Penta T-Pad(s) come with a
limited warranty of 12 months
from the date of purchase.
Working Dongle list for WS802C-
2G:
Tata Photon+ Huawei(EVDO) EC156 Airtel Huawei E173 Bu-1
Idea Huawei E1732
Reliance ZTE MF190 Huawei E173
Huawei E1550
Huawei E303
BSNL 3G LW273 Tera 3G T3G72A

Darksiders II game review

 

We all know the apocalypse is nigh. Surely you've heard about the Mayan calendar coming to an end in December. Perhaps you've seen the political ads promising Armageddon if you vote for the wrong guy. Maybe you're stuck without air conditioning in 100-degree heat and just wish we'd get it all over with.In "Darksiders II" (THQ, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99; PC, $49.99), humanity has already been extinguished. The question is: What next?
The protagonist is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - specifically, Death, who you'd think would be a little happier about all the chaos that's been unleashed. But he's more concerned with restoring the reputation of his brother, War, who was unjustly blamed for the global massacre in 2010's "Darksiders."
Part of Death's penance involves freeing millions of human souls from limbo. But there are hundreds of demons standing in his way, as well as one primal force, Corruption, who's wreaking havoc across Heaven, Hell and a now zombie-infested Earth.
Despite the Biblical underpinnings, you don't need a religious studies degree to enjoy "Darksiders II," which unashamedly draws inspiration from the Book of Revelation and gallops away with it. (On a horse named Despair, no less.) And despite the grim subject matter, it's almost gleeful, with vivid character design, lively animation and a wicked sense of humor.
The first "Darksiders" was unfairly dismissed by some critics as a "Legend of Zelda" clone, thanks to its emphasis on puzzle-filled dungeons. They're still a huge part of the sequel - if anything, developer Vigil Games has doubled down on them - and they're still delightful. Filled with devious traps and devices, these three-dimensional mazes demand brains as well as reflexes to survive, and there are a few puzzles that will make you feel really smart when you solve them.
So the "Zelda" influence remains, but "Darksiders II" incorporates elements of at least a dozen other games, including "Prince of Persia," ''God of War," ''Shadow of the Colossus," ''Portal," ''Ratchet & Clank" and even "Call of Duty." It's like a greatest-hits anthology of the last decade in video-game design. And as a whole, it's more rewarding than the latest installments in most of the above-mentioned franchises.
Vigil has also beefed up the role-playing elements, so every monster Death kills contributes to the evolution of his powers. You can upgrade skills in two categories: Harbinger, which boosts Death's offensive might, and Necromancer, which lets him summon ghouls and crows to peck away at his enemies. Every kill also contributes to a meter; when that fills up, Death can briefly transform into an all-powerful Reaper.
Death's primary weapon is a scythe that splits in two during combat. He's always equipped with a backup as well - perhaps something slow and brutal, like an ax or hammer, or something faster but less effective, like claws or knives. New, more powerful weapons and armor are stashed away in every dungeon, so fans of loot-collecting epics like "Diablo" will be satisfied. You can easily switch between weapons and call up spells during combat, which is smooth and fast-moving.
There were some glitches in the Xbox 360 version I played. In a few cases, Death got stuck behind a rock or just froze altogether, and I had to reboot. But those are minor flaws in a game as sprawling and ambitious as "Darksiders II," the most morbidly amusing game I've played this year.

 

 

 

Review: Google Plus thoughtful answer to Facebook

 

My first thought about Google Plus: "Here we go again." After Google's earlier attempts at social networking failed spectacularly, it was easy to scoff at this seeming Facebook wannabe.

Its "Picasa ultimatum" didn't help much either. If you have an account with Picasa, Google's photo-sharing service, the first thing Google asks is whether you'd want to share your Picasa photos. Say no, and you're not allowed to sign up at all. That seemed unnecessarily harsh.

But I quickly became addicted to Google Plus, a free service that the company is testing with a small group of users for now. It has smart and thoughtful solutions to some irksome limits entrenched in other social-media sites, mainly related to privacy settings and how to share links and posts with groups.

Google Plus seems aimed at people who are more interested in sharing things with people or groups with similar interests rather than simply amassing the biggest number of online "friends." Its seamless integration with other Google services you may use, from search to online documents, makes it easier to share things online.

I found privacy settings much easier to manage on Google Plus than on Facebook. The Picasa ultimatum forced me to learn about the settings. After all, the first thing you're likely to do after joining is limit who can see your photos.

Privacy - deciding whom you share different posts with - seems to be top of mind on Google Plus. That's a relief after Google's earlier debacle with Google Buzz, which had arrived unsolicited and initially created circles of friends automatically based on whom
they've corresponded with on Gmail. That meant your boss could see lists of people you've been corresponding with for a new job.
With Google Plus, no one gets added automatically. Once you sign up, you add people - similar to how you follow people on Twitter.
Then, rather than throwing everyone into the same bucket, you choose a circle to put them in.

Four circles are standard: "friends," "family," "acquaintances" and "following." You can follow anyone without being accepted, whereas Facebook requires the consent of both sides.

You can create new circles, too, such as "co-workers" and "cousins." Facebook has customizable groups, as well, but I found the groups on Google Plus much easier to use and quicker to navigate.

Separating people into categories can seem awkward at first. I felt impolite putting people in "acquaintances" rather than "friends" even though no one can see which circle you put them in. But once you get used to it, you can easily share photos of your beach vacation with just your friends - your actual friends, not the broad Facebook definition. Those photos could be off-limits to your boss or your great aunt Zelda, say.

Any post or link goes only to the circle or circles you designate, and you can drill down to sharing with just one or two people, or no one. You can also make a link public to share it with everyone - including people who have added you to their circles but whom you haven't added to yours.

However, the privacy settings aren't perfect. Although you can choose to share a post with a limited number of people, the recipients can re-share the post further. It takes some digging to figure out that you can disable re-sharing by clicking on an icon to the right of a post. Google Plus is in very early testing, so these types of settings could still change.

Unlike Facebook, Google Plus also lets you edit posts after you post them and decide for each post whether to allow comments, a feature I liked.

Two other features, the ability to group video chat via webcam, called a "Hangout," and the ability to chat with a group, called a "Huddle," have proven to have so much appeal that Facebook quickly followed suit. The company said Wednesday that it will also roll out group chatting and video chatting by teaming with Internet phone company Skype. It will be interesting to see if Facebook ends up adding other Google Plus features.

Other facts: Google Plus has a "+1" button rather than a "Like" button, but the feature is similar. The only difference is, once you sign up for Google Plus, you see this "+1" button next to every single Google search item, which feels a bit Big Brother-ish.

On that note, whenever you are on the main Google site or any of its progeny, you also have a black Google bar across the top of your browser, with a Google Plus link. That makes it easy to log on at odd moments. A red notification box alerts you to Google Plus activities, such as when people add you to one of their circles.

Google Plus has a few gaping holes.

For example, you can't search ... yet. And there are no addictive third-party apps such as "FarmVille," which people have sunk countless hours playing on Facebook.

Another thing you can't do easily, strangely, is send a message. To do that you have to create a post and only select one person to see it. It's not rocket science, but with Facebook you can simply click on a person's profile and send a message instantly. I realize
Gmail is a button click away, and Google Plus is intended to be a sharing site rather than a full-service social media site, but I still wanted this feature.

Overall, in my early testing, I find Google Plus a compelling answer to some existing problems in social media. Because of its integration with other Google services and its general ease of use, I would probably prefer using Google Plus to Facebook or Twitter.

But it all depends on how many people sign up. A sharing site isn't much fun if no one is around to share with. For now, I can't invite friends to join. Google Plus is free, but the company is restricting new sign-ups. Even those who already got a coveted invite are told to try joining later because Google Plus had exceeded its capacity.

That points to widespread interest the service and its potential to challenge Facebook. Unlike Google Wave and Google Buzz, which never resonated with users, Google Plus does seem more attuned to what people actually want.

Sony RX100 review

 

This is a review of the best pocket camera ever made.

The Sony RX100 has a huge one-inch sensor - the biggest ever stuffed into a pocketable zoom camera
But first, a history lesson.
For years camera makers worried about competition from only one source: other camera makers. But in the end, the most dangerous predator came from an unexpected direction: cellphones.
Today, more photos are taken with phones than with point-and-shoot cameras. On photo sites like Flickr, the iPhone is the source of more photos than any real camera. No wonder sales of inexpensive pocket cameras are going down each year.
Cameras in phones are a delightful development for the masses. If you have your camera with you, you're more likely to take photos and more likely to capture amazing images.
But in a sense they are also great for camera makers, which are being forced to double down in areas where smartphones are useless: Zoom lenses. High resolution. Better photo quality. Flexibility and advanced features. That's why, even if sales of pocket cameras are down, sales of high-end cameras are up.
Now you know why the time is ripe for the new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100. It's a tiny, pants-pocketable camera that will be available in late July for the nosebleed price of $650.
Or, rather, won't be available. It will be sold out everywhere. I'll skip to the punch line: No photos this good have ever come from a camera this small.
The first reason is easy to grasp. The Sony RX100 has a huge one-inch sensor - the biggest ever stuffed into a pocketable zoom camera. That's not as big as the sensors in S.L.R.'s and other lens-swappable cameras. But it's about four times the area of the previous pocket-camera photo-quality champs, like the Olympus XZ-1 and the S100. (The RX100's shiny black metal body looks exactly like them.)
A big sensor means big pixels, which gives you less grain in low light, better color depth and great dynamic range - the spectrum from darkest to lightest pixels.
A big sensor is also a prerequisite for that professional blurry background look. The RX100 easily achieves those soft backgrounds, a rarity in compact cameras.
The other star factor in the Sony is its Carl Zeiss lens, whose maximum aperture (lens opening) is f/1.8. That's the widest aperture you can buy on a pocket camera. That, too, helps explain its ability to blur the background, and its spectacular results in low light.
(As on any camera, that aperture shrinks as you zoom in. When you're fully zoomed on this camera, you're down to f/4.9. That's still better than the Canon's fully zoomed aperture - f/5.9.)
But you know what? All of that is just shutterbug-speak for, "This camera takes amazing photos." If you want to know what "huge sensor" and "big aperture" mean in the real world, stop reading and savor my annotated slide show of sample photos. There's a small sampling at nytimes.com/personaltech, and a larger one at http://j.mp/LdUu4h.
There you'll see what makes the RX100 such a revelation: insane amounts of detail and vivid, true colors. Hand-held twilight photos. A burst mode that can fire 10 frames a second. And macro shots - supercloseup - that will curl whatever's left of your hair. A typical S.L.R. can't get any closer than 10 inches from the subject with its included lens; the RX100 can nail focus only 2 inches away.
The RX100 is as customizable and manually controllable as an S.L.R., but it also has some impressive automated modes. They include Illustration (turns the photo into a colorful line drawing), High Dynamic Range Painting and the bizarre but sometimes enlightening Auto Crop. It creates a duplicate of your portrait, cropped in what it considers a better way. Sometimes, it's right.
And Sweep Panorama. You swing the camera around you in an arc, pressing the shutter button the whole time. When you stop, there, on your screen, is a finished, seamless, 220-degree panorama. It's the ultimate wide-angle lens. Canyons, crowd shots, Walmart interiors - you won't believe how often it's useful.
For self-portraits, you can set a timer as usual. Or use its even smarter mode, in which the camera waits until it sees your face in the frame. Then it fires a shot every three seconds until you leave the scene.
As usual on today's compacts, there's no eyepiece viewfinder, a loss you may mourn. But the three-inch screen remains clear and bright even in bright sunshine, thanks to an extra white pixel Sony has nestled in among every set of red, green and blue.
The 1080p video capture isn't quite the same festival of crispness as the photos. But you can use all the photo effects while filming. And while recording, you can zoom, change focus and even take still photos.
Sony has taken the debatable step of bringing back in-camera charging. That is, there's no external charger for the 330-shot battery. Instead, the camera is the charger, whenever it's connected to a USB jack, like the one on your laptop, or a wall outlet. Pros: No charger to pack and lose. Cons: You can't charge a spare battery while you're out shooting.
As with its role model, the Canon S100, you can program the function of the Sony lens ring. It can control zoom, focus, exposure, aperture, whatever. But unlike the Canon's ring, the Sony's ring doesn't click as you turn it - sounds that get picked up when you're capturing video.
On the hand, you don't feel clicks either. The ring spins freely, which gives it a glassy, skidding feeling when you're adjusting a setting with natural stopping points, like ISO (light sensitivity) or shutter speed.
That's not the only niggling downside. The biggest one, of course, is that there's very little room for physical buttons. All of the RX100's hundreds of functions are packed into five buttons on the back, a mode dial on top, the ring around the lens and a four-way clickable ring on the back.
Novices will find it overwhelming. Then again, it's fairly clear that this isn't a camera for novices. Besides, eventually it all makes sense. You learn to press the Fn button whenever you want to adjust a photographic setting, or the Menu button to adjust a camera-setup setting.
The camera has a 3.6X zoom lens. The Canon S100 zooms more (5X zoom). On the other hand, the Sony takes 20-megapixel photos, versus 12 on the Canon.
Ordinarily I'm not a fan of cramming more pixels into a camera as a marketing ploy. High-megapixel photos take longer to transfer, fill up your hard drive faster and are overkill for most printing purposes.
But on Sony's sensor, these are really useful pixels. You can crop away a huge part of the photo and still have lots of megapixels left for big prints; in effect, you're amplifying the zoom.
One last downside: In certain photos, when I adjusted the overall contrast in Photoshop later, I noticed some vignetting - darkened areas at the corners.
This is an ideal second camera for professionals. And it's a great primary camera for any amateur who wants to take professional-looking photos without having to carry a camera bag.
Of course, $650 is crazy expensive. You can buy a full-blown S.L.R. for that much.
But every time you transfer a batch of its pictures to your computer, you'll understand why you spent that money. You'll click through them, astonished at how often it's successful in stopping time, capturing the emotion of a scene, enshrining a memory or an expression you never want to forget. You'll appreciate that the RX100 has single-handedly smashed the rule that said, "You need a big camera for pro-quality photos."
And if you care at all about your photography, you'll thank Sony for giving the camera industry a good hard shove into the future.