HTC sticking with Android says CEO..

HTC's CEO, Peter Chou, has reaffirmed his relationship with Google following the company's proposed acquisition of mobile giant Motorola.

Chou told the Wall Street Journal he planned to, "leverage partnerships" with Google and Microsoft whilst the company created something unique in the smartphone ecosystem.

HTC is planning to release a slew of handsets before the end of the year, with no less than eight new phones due to be announced. The company has also pulled in over 1000 new R&D staff, which many believed hinted at the possible development of a home-made HTC OS.

"This acquisition is more to enhance Google's patent portfolio, to support us, to protect us..." said Chou.  Clearly HTC is not as concerned with the Googorola pact as you might have expected. The company continues to feud with Apple over patents and the more technology over on Android's side the better for everyone attempting to compete.

"It’s not the operating system, it’s the ecosystem…We think we can find a way to differentiate to add value, but at the same time leverage our partners, Google and Microsoft, since we have such a great relationship with them." Chou explained.

Keeping operating system providers happy is key to HTC's success, after all many now associate the company with Android and nothing else. Developing its own OS, whilst providing a nice fall back in case relations with Microsoft or Google broke down, would be hugely difficult to bring to market, particularly given the strength of Android and Apple.

Apple planning karaoke on the iPhone..

We never really expected to be using the words Apple and karaoke in the same sentence but the uber cool company appears it could be making a dive into the world of the sing along.

Diagrams contained within a recent patent application reveal how Apple could be planning to use the iPhone and iPod Touch to help teach people to sing. The technology will act a bit like auto tune, bringing any musical mistakes into the correct pitch.?

Singing will be analysed by the handset and advice offered as to how you could bring things back into pitch. Mistakes made will be?exaggerated by the handset whereas on pitch singing rewarded with a concert hall effect. Think of it like the way Rock Band boosts decent solos when you play them well.? Even better, bad singing can be fuzzed by the system to hide mistakes when put through speakers. ?

No news as of yet as to whether the new karaoke setup will be implemented in Garageband, but given the patent is intended for the iPod and iPhone, it could be we see the currently iPad 2 only editing software headed to other Apple portables.

iTunes currently has its own karaoke section with tracks by bands like MC Hammer included. Apple is unfortunately yet to comment on whether or not we will be able to nail 'hammertime' in tune thanks to its new karaoke tech. Either way, expect plenty more people to disturbing bus journeys home with auto tuned singing once it launches.

Apple under scanner for violating Indian competition laws with iPhone 4..

India may conduct an inquiry against Apple following a complaint that the iPhone maker is breaching the competition laws of the country. The complaint lodged at the Competition Commission of India (CCI) states that Apple is curbing the customers' choice by restricting sale of the iPhone 4 through only two mobile operators – Bharti Airtel and Aircel. It further states that the software for the device can be downloaded only from the official Apple app store. The complainant also alleges that the Apple hardware can be serviced only at Apple stores.

AFP quotes a CCI official as saying the competition watchdog will examine the complaint and see if Apple is violating the laws. The CCI official, however, declined to divulge the details of the complaint. Apple, meanwhile, has said that it has not received any notice from the CCI and refused to comment further. The commission is likely to take up the matter later this week.

Apple's iPhone 4 was launched last month in India, almost after a year it was launched in the US. The phone came with services of two mobile operators Bharti Airtel and Aircel. The two operators have offered the latest iPhone with discounted data plans. The launch of iPhone 4 came months after the third-generation wireless spectrum was launched in India. The operators brought the iPhone 4 hoping to take advantage of the 3G services.

Apple has been selling its iPhone with exclusive operators since its launch in India, and most territories around the world. But in India, consumers are not yet very used to such contract-based devices. However, until operators offer more than a few devices on such contracts, we will never know if the Indian consumer actually likes or dislikes such deals - unless they have sufficient variety to choose from.

Do you also think Apple has breached laws by restricting its devices to certain network operators? Let me know what you think in the comments section below :

Angry Birds Summer Pignic trailer arrives (It's now out)..

UPDATE : Go to the iOS App Store and the new update with the new levels are now waiting to be played. As with previous updates of the Angry Birds Seasons HD app you'll only be able to access one level a day over the next 30 days. 
We all know the irritation caused at a picnic when a wasp attack ruins your chances of jam sandwiches. Now try and imagine the picnic devastation caused by a full scale bird attack.
Struggling? Well why not check out this Angry Birds Seasons Summer Pignic trailer instead to get a better idea. The new seasons release from Rovio looks set to take the application addiction even further, this time with the possibility of just a single bird to fling, meaning super difficult levels.
Rovio has gone for the blanket approach with this release, pointing to no less than iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and PC, Palm, Symbian and even Nook for availability. No release date as of yet, but keep yourself wired in to Pocket-lint where we will post as soon as the 'Birds take flight.

Ten Highlights of Mac OS X Lion for Apple Macbook..

As we all know, Apple has developed iOS for the iPhone. Based on the system of Mac OS X, and now it brings the best to the iPad to your Mac with Mac OS X Lion, available in summer 2011.

Highlight 1: Newly Multi Touch Gestures
Multi-Touch gestures make everything you do on iPad easy and intuitive. The latest Mac OS X Lion brings more handy ways to interact with your Mac. Enjoy more fluid and realistic gesture responses, including rubber-band scrolling, page and image zoom, and full-screen swiping. In Mac OS X Lion, every swipe, pinch, and scroll looks and feels more responsive and lifelike.

Highlight 2: Launchpad — A Home for Your Apps
Launchpad gives users instant access to your apps in iPad style. Just click the Launchpad icon in your Dock and then get a full-screen view of all your apps in Launchpad. It takes just a swipe to see multiple pages of apps, and you can arrange them any way you like by dragging icons to different locations or by grouping apps in folders. In fact, it’s just about as fast as keeping an Application folder in your dock, and easier to glance at too. The Launchpad can also be enhanced by adding directories so you can find anything you need in just a few clicks. And when you download an app from the Mac App Store, it automatically appears in Launchpad.

Highlight 3: Full-screen Apps
Another wonderful feature for users is the full-screen app views for Mac OS X Lion. It’s an idea that fits some apps much better than others — iPhoto. In iPhoto, users can see all Events at one time in full-screen view. One click for an app in full screen, tree fingers swipe to switch to another. Again, just like you view your Apps on the iPad or iPhone, Full Screen view of an App really makes it stand out more for great functionality.

Highlight 4: Mission Control
Mission Control is actually a new Expose, integrating the Dock, Dashboard and views from all open apps, both windowed and full screen. With a simple swipe, your desktop zooms out to Mission Control, and you can get to anything you see in Mission Control with just one click.

Highlight 5: Versions
Simply put, this is Time Machine for files. Versions records the evolution of a document as you create it. Mac OS X Lion automatically creates a version of the document each time you open it and every hour while you’re working on it. This way, when you realize you’ve made a mistake along the way, you can most easily slide through the different versions of your work and revert anything you want by copying and pasting it in place.

Highlight 6: Resume
Nothing fancy, but very useful. Whenever you quit and relaunch an app, Resume opens it precisely the way you left it. Everything is persistent — your files, folders and applications are preserved exactly as you left them. So you never have to start from scratch again.

Highlight 7: Mail 5
Just like Mail on iPad, Mail 5 in Mac OS X Lion features a new layout that takes advantage of the widescreen display on your Mac. You’ve got a left column with all your messages and a preview pane on the right — threaded messages are numbered in the new conversation view, which is a dead-simple idea that works really well. Search has also been dramatically improved with easy query-stacking options, and folders can be added to a new bookmark bar-style Mailbox Bar at the top of the screen.

Highlight 8: Mac App Store
Just like shopping the App Store on iPad, the Mac App Store offers endless possibilities for browsing and purchasing apps. Newly purchased apps install in one step and appear right in the new Launchpad. It is the easiest way to install and keep applications up to date.

Highlight 9: Lion Server
Instead of having to buy it separately, Lion Server is now part of Mac OS X Lion, making it more mainstream and available for the masses. Manage users and groups easily. Even monitor performance with graphs.

Highlight 10: AirDrop
One of Lion’s niftiest new features is AirDrop, which allows quick and easy file transfers between WiFi-equipped Macs. Just click the AirDrop icon in the Finder sidebar, and your Mac automatically discovers other people nearby who are using AirDrop. Swapping files is as simple as dragging and confirming. Also, AirDrop doesn’t require setup or special settings.

Microsoft launch an update for Office for Mac 2011 next week..

Microsoft will launch an update for Office for Mac 2011 next week the company has confirmed.
The new SP1 update will provide increased stability, security, and some new features to the suite – including improved Outlook syncing support – as well as some performance enhancements.
The new update will also finally allow Mac users to sync their Outlook calendar as well as contacts, notes and tasks with any service or device that supports Sync Services, including your iPhone and iPad.

Microsoft say this has been one of our top feature requests. The update will also enable calendar syncing between Outlook for Mac and Apple’s Sync Services.
However MobileMe will no longer sync with MacOS Sync Services as of May 5th. As a result, Outlook 2011 SP1 calendars that sync with Sync Services on the Mac, will NOT be synced with MobileMe calendars.
So what does this mean? If you sync your iPhone or iPad calendars with Sync Services (ie via iTunes over a cable), your mobile device calendars WILL be synced with Outlook 2011 SP1. If you sync your iPhone or iPad calendars with MobileMe, they will NOT be synced to your Outlook 2011 SP1 calendar, because of the broken link between MobileMe and Sync Services. Hopefully Apple’s changes will not impact very many of you.

Apple creates a shortage of touch panels to intervene its competitors.?

When a company has enough cash, it can make life difficult for competitors, bribing and pressuring customers, as did Intel, pushing their processors, or by buying up key components, production of which cannot be quickly increased, as does Apple. Recall the recently emerged information that Apple «invests in the purchase of strategic components of 7,8 billion dollars, and previously leaked to the press about infusion of 3.9 billion dollars in the production of LCD panels.
At one time, Apple has managed to secure an advantage to their players MP3, buying bulks of flash memory. According to DigiTimes, the company decided to repeat the trick the ears on the tablet PC market. At this time they try to make touchpads a deficit, which is the key component to every tablet PC. According to reports, Apple has been able to reserve 60% of the total world production of these products, as a result other companies faced lack of supply.

 

What effect this will have on consumers?

According to the manufacturers of components are no longer able to ship as much product as they have been ordered. Because of the shortage of spare parts. Especially the difficulty experienced second-tier suppliers, who have to compete for parts with HP, RIM, Motorola, HTC, Samsung, LG and Dell, while they themselves are unable to obtain sufficient number of panels. Apple, is expected to be able to fully meet demand for its iPad tablet this year.

Apple hugely upgrades MacBook Pro..

Apple has finally updated the MacBook Pro lineup. Well, when I say finally I mean they have just fitted their usual one-year product lifecycle. But we could hardly wait anyway. So, for the latest MacBook Pro to date Apple has prepared three major updates that pertain to the whole or most of the MacBook Pro range. All new MB Pros now have second generation Intel Core i-series Sandy Bridge processors, Intel HD Graphics 3000 plus, except for the 13-inch model, AMD Radeon HD 6000M discrete chip and Thunderbolt I/O connector. These are the biggies, but there are also minor updates across the range like Full HD capable FaceTime HD camera, SSD options, etc. Specs and prices for each model are compiled after the jump.

 Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch specifications :

Processor: dual-core Intel Core i5 @ 2.3 GHz / dual-core Intel Core i7 @ 2.7 GHz

System memory: 4 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000

Display: 13.3" LED 1280 × 800

Storage: 320, 500, 750 GB SATA HDD @ 5400 rpm / 128, 256, 512 GB SSD

Connectivity: Thunderbolt, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Battery: 63.5 Wh

Dimensions: 0.95" × 12.78" × 8.94"

Weight: 4.5 lbs

Price: from $ 1 200

           Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch specifications :

Processor: quad-core Intel Core i7 @ 2.0 GHz / quad-core Intel Core i7 @ 2.2 GHz / quad-core Intel Core i7 @ 2.3 GHz

System memory: 4 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 & AMD Radeon HD 6490 w/ 256 MB GDDR5 / AMD Radeon HD 6490 w/ 1 GB GDDR5

Display: 15.4" LED 1440 × 900 / 1680 × 1050

Storage: 500, 750 GB SATA HDD @ 5400 rpm / 128, 256, 512 GB SSD

Connectivity: Thunderbolt, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Battery: 77.5 Wh

Dimensions: 0.95" × 14.35" × 9.82"

Weight: 5.6 lbs

Price: from $ 1 800

            Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch specifications :

Processor: quad-core Intel Core i7 @ 2.2 GHz / quad-core Intel Core i7 @ 2.3 GHz

System memory: 4 GB DDR3 @ 1333 MHz

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 & AMD Radeon HD 6750 w/ 1 GB GDDR5

Display: 17" LED 1920 × 1200

Storage: 750 GB SATA HDD @ 5400 rpm / 128, 256, 512 GB SSD

Connectivity: Thunderbolt, Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Battery: 95 Wh

Dimensions: 0.98" × 15.47" × 10.51"

Weight: 6.6 lbs

                                                                   Price: from $ 2 500

Apple iPhone 5..

Although many believe that the next generation if the Apple iPhone/iPhone 5 will have the same design as the iPhone 4 or even a few alterations, there is no harm in speculating. Rumors are in the air that the new apple smatphone is coming out; iphone 5? Well, yes it’s the iphone 5.0 – so be prepared to enter a whole new realm. Even Apple is taking measures to make the iPhone 5 compatible with the latest 4G technology. Item has designed this concept iPhone 5 in the way he would like it. It takes elements from the iPhone 4 and the previous iPhones and adds various improvements as well. The device now has the clear glass on both the front and back as seen in the iPhone 4. But it’s edges and back are rounded as in the previous generation iPhones.
According to reports, Apple is going to bring out iPhone5 with 4G technology soon enough to revolutionize the world again. The Apple iPhone 5 will be outfitted with multi-core A8 System chip, and come with 3.7” display screen. It is expected to be featured with the Graphical dual core CPU with long term evolution for 3GPP and upcoming 4G technology.The Apple iPhone 5 is expected to come with 1.2 GHz Dual Core processor with the graphics card SGX543 and multi core A8 system chip to render HD quality; the same chip used in iPad.
The Iphone 5 has compatibility for GSM, CDMA as well as the 4G connection. Apple iPhone 5 will also come with superior battery life, and advanced features such as mobile connect and media stream. The new i-phone 5 may come with storage space of 64 Gb, and it will surprise you even further with its thinner and sleeker look in comparison to the 3gs & iphone 4.0. Furthermore, this time around Apple is planning to deliver a stunning 10 mega pixel camera. Apple iPhone 5 is expected to get released in 2011 summer. Apple lovers have to wait for iPhone 5 in order to enjoy all its advanced features and technology embedded inside; so stay away from iphone 4.0 for now, if you haven’t bought it, and planning to spend on a new smartphone! However, I’m pretty sure the new beast from Apple is bound to pinch your pockets even more, and the Indian customers won’t get to see it for at least another 10-12months or so! The Menu/Home button is now touch-sensitive. Anyway we hope Apple incorporate some of the good things in this concept into their next iPhone.

Google Android..

The Open Handset Alliance shares a common goal of fostering innovation on mobile devices and giving consumers a far better user experience than much of what is available on today's mobile platforms. By providing developers a new level of openness that enables them to work more collaboratively, Android will accelerate the pace at which new and compelling mobile services are made available to consumers.

The global smartphone market is still RIM's to lose, with Apple in the pole position to profit from its mistakes. But new ComScore data on the U.S. smartphone market suggest that both should be worried by what they see in their rear-view mirrors. Google Android, the internet search giant's foray into the mobile device operating systems market, has been steadily gaining momentum, and will continue to rise in popularity. Google's smartphone is one of the most iconic consumer electronics launches of the year, as its integration with Google multiple services freed internet shoppers from wireless carriers' service contract stranglehold. Many other devices that use Google's Android OS are being released, helping Google approach the top of the mobile OS market. Importantly, Google is assembling a community of telecoms and handset manufacturers locked out of the iPhone game.

WSJ says iPad 2 officially launching March 2..

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple will announce its next-generation iPad tablet at a special media event on March 2nd.  The Journal cites multiple sources claiming that indeed the iPad 2 release date is on shedule. Apple will hold the press event in San Francisco to announce its new tablet.  Whether Steve Jobs will be the host of the event is questionable considering he’s on medcal leave.  Tim Cook will likely run the show as he did during Jobs’ last medical absense.

The importance of ‘Thunderbolt’ for MacBook Pro..

Thunderbolt is the latest I/O interface for MacBook Pro, and stands to shake up the historically bad rap MacBook Pro has received with its longterm roadmap.

There are many professional users of Apple products who rely on expensive external peripherals to do their jobs, and since 2008, they’ve all been watching Apple slowly remove the ports they need to connect those peripherals. The fastest I/O available on a 2010 MacBook Pro 15″ was an eight-year-old FireWire 800 port, while PC users enjoyed ExpressCard/34, eSATA and USB 3.0 – each several times faster than FireWire 800. People developed genuine concerns that Apple was drunk on the massive profits of its iOS business and would let its professional business (including its Final Cut and Logic software packages) die a slow death while it chased the mass market dollar.

Thunderbolt is the antidote. It’s a sign that that pros still matter, it’s superior in every conceivable way, and it’s compatible with all that existing gear. There’s no existing use case that can completely saturate that 10Gbps link and that is exactly the point. An I/O interface shouldn’t be the bottleneck in your system.

And it’s not just for professionals. In an era of 10+ megapixel point-and-shoot cameras, 1080p camcorders and multi-terabyte collections of pirated media, I think you’d be crazy to suggest that only A/V professionals will benefit from blazingly fast I/O.

Thunderbolt devices are already being announced, such as LaCie’s Little Big Disk with Thunderbolt, and several high-profile A/V and storage companies have voiced support for the new interface including Aja, Apogee, Avid, Blackmagic, LaCie, Promise, Universal Audio and Western Digital.