Mobilink Introduces New Pro Plans for Business Customers

Mobilink has introduced five new Pro Post-paid plans for small, medium and large sized business customers or those who want freedom for making limitless calls against a monthly line rent.
All new Pro Business Plans come with following features:

• Free minutes for All network
• Free SMS for network
• Free data volume for monthly usage
• Free circle minutes

Pro Series plans for Business Customers

• Best value Pro plans for users with low calling and mobile internet use.
  • Pro 300
    • Line Rent: Rs. 300 plus tax
    • 300 Minutes – all Networks
    • 300 SMS – all networks
    • 30 MB Data
    • 300 Minutes – Business Circle
  • Pro 600
    • Line Rent: Rs. 600 plus tax
    • 600 Minutes – all Networks
    • 600 SMS – all networks
    • 60 MB Data
    • 600 Minutes – Business Circl
• Worry-free talking and texting. The Pro plans that offer great value.
  • Pro 1200
    • Line Rent: Rs. 1200 plus tax
    • 1200 Minutes – all Networks
    • 1200 SMS – all networks
    • 120 MB Data
    • 1200 Minutes – Business Circle
  • Pro 1800
    • Line Rent: Rs. 1800 plus tax
    • 1800 Minutes – all Networks
    • 1800 SMS – all networks
    • 180 MB Data
    • 1800 Minutes – Business Circle
• The Pro plans for unlimited communication with your team — call, SMS and email with out running out
  • Pro Unlimited
    • Line Rent: Rs. 3,000 plus tax
    • 3000 Minutes – all Networks
    • 3000 SMS – all networks
    • 300 MB Data
    • 3000 Minutes – Business Circle

Business Circles:

In addition to free minutes for all networks, there are free minutes for calling colleagues or Business Circles. Customers can set up their business circles when a signs up for a business account with Mobilink. Each connection in a company account comes with free Circle minutes included in their monthly pro plan. Circle minutes can be consumed for calls made within your business circle
Mobilink’s new postpaid Pro Plans for business customers come in three categories and five plans in total. Keep reading to know the details:

Bolt-Ons

All Mobilink Business Pro postpaid plans come with Bold-Ons that can be added to your Pro plan for additional voice, SMS and data usage.
Details of Bolt-Ons are as following:

• Voice Bolt-Ons
  • Biz Time Basic: 100 Minutes (9am – 5pm weekdays) for Rs. 100
  • Biz Time Max: 300 Minutes (9am – 5pm weekdays) for Rs. 300
  • Weekend Plus: 1000 Minutes (All days on Sat & Sun) for Rs. 200
  • Favorite 1: 1000 Minutes (at one favorite Mobilink number) for Rs. 200
• SMS Bolt-Ons
  • SMS Standard: 1000 SMS (All Networks) for Rs. 100
  • SMS Ace: 2500 SMS (All Networks) for Rs. 150
  • SMS Max: 6000 SMS (All Networks) for Rs. 200
• Data Bolt-Ons
  • Data Plus: 50 MB for Rs. 100
  • Data Double: 200 MB for Rs. 300
  • Data Max: Unlimited (5GB) for Rs. 500
  • BIS: Rs. 1,000
  • BES: Rs. 1,500
• Business Circle Bolt-Ons
  • Circle Basic: 250 Minutes for Rs. 100
  • Circle Standard: 1,000 Minutes for Rs. 250
  • Circle Max: 5,000 Minutes for Rs. 500

Businesses can setup Pro business plans for their entire staff while signing up. They can setup customized bill payment method for their staff, select and customize calling plans for each resource according to his/her needs.
Moreover, Mobilink has this a new simplified activation process in place to make it easy for you to join. That’s not all, Mobilink says that there will be a dedicated account manager for all your queries to meet your communication needs.
You can get to Mobilink Account Managers or request a call back from Mobilink to get things going.

Pakistan imported 29.2 million mobile phones and 0.28 million laptops in FY12

Despite economic crunch and shaky state of affairs, mobile phonehandset usage in Pakistan increased witnessed a huge a surge. In the Financial Year (FY) 2012 Pakistanis imported 29.2 million mobile phones amounting to $ 688.4 million registering 137% growth over FY 11.

According to statistics released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),  in FY11 number of mobile phone imported were 12.3 million whereas the import figure stood at 11.0 million and 3.8 million  units in FY10 and FY 09 respectively.

The report does not disclose information about Chinese as well as smuggled mobile phones which is also a huge chunk of the pie.

Similarly laptops import in the country grew by 242% reaching 282,559 laptops imported in FY 12 by spending $ 72.1 million.

Analysts are of the view that this sudden increase in laptop growth was mainly caused by Shahbaz Sharif Laptop Scheme in which 100,000 laptops were distributed in the first phase and further distribution of 100,000 laptops among the top ranking students of Punjab is underway.

Import of selected technology item

Source: Pakistan Bureau of Statistics

SBP has shown disappointment over the lack of manufacturing in Pakistan such as opportunities in mobile phone sector which couldn’t convince a local investor to start manufacturing mobile phones in Pakistan despite huge demand as shown by import figures.

Report further says, in F13 government hopes to achieve a fiscal deficit target within 4.7 to 7 percent to be more realistic. In this regard, government of Pakistan is again optimistic on receiving outstanding $ 800 million from Etisalat and conducting 3G auction as soon as possible which can possibly raise a billion dollar revenue. Government is also eyeing considerable revenue from opening of NATO supply routes and Coalition Support Fund.

Apple gets a trademark for their retail store design

Apple has been granted a trademark for the distinctive design of their chain of retail stores. Although the claim was rejected twice in the past, Apple managed to successfully convince the US Patent and Trademark office the third time with a lengthy, 122-page document detailing the reasons.

The trademark includes use of items such as a paneled facade of glass, recessed lighting units and lined rectangular tables, but as usual, the trademark is for the sum of parts rather than any individual item.

While it’s easy to look at this and scoff, it’s fairly common practice for companies to get a trademark on a distinctive design that they have come up with, with examples such as the shape of the Coca-Cola bottle or the Swiss Federal Railways watch face that Apple was recently found using in iOS. A trademark by definition is a ‘recognizable sign, design or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others’ and differs from a patent. But while other store designers can still use individual elements of Apple’s store (as many do), if the final result ends up looking exactly like an Apple Store, they better lawyer up.

YouTube looking to offer paid channel subscriptions as early as Q2

According to several sources, YouTube hopes to begin offering paid subscription channels which will offer premium, produced content.

In an attempt to lure producers away from the traditional television avenues of content delivery, Google is looking to become the first production company for online content capable of reaching such broad audience.

YouTube has allegedly reached out a select group of channel producers inquiring whether they would like to create channels with paid content, the price of which would be between $1 and $5 a month.

There’s also talk of providing paid access to coverage of live events via pay-per-view, or for specific self-help or financial advice programs.

Likely, the initial group of paid channels will be small, with around 25 being submitted for the trial run, the first of which could appear as early as this Spring.

NVIDIA allegedly to manufacture low-cost Android devices for other companies

Following the rather modest success of the Tegra platform in the smartphone and tablet segment, it seems NVIDIA is now gunning for a bigger share of the pie, so far dominated by the likes of Qualcomm and Mediatek.

According to Eldar Murtazin of Mobile-review.com, NVIDIA is planning on manufacturing smartphones and tablets of its own and will be selling them to companies to be rebranded and sold under their brand.

The plan is to manufacture reference designs for smartphones and tablets, the way they do it for their computer graphic cards (or Intel does for their phones). Then, instead of selling these designs under their own brand name, NVIDIA will license it to companies, who will then rebrand them and sell it in markets around the world. We already see this happening a lot in markets such as Russia and India, where several companies are selling what are essentially cheap, China-made devices under their own brand name.

What this will do is help increase the penetration of the Tegra platform, especially into the budget handset market, which undeniably forms the major portion of all the Android device sales.

This plan is expected to go into action by May-June this year, with both budget as well as premium

WiMAX Forum Issues Requirements for Smart Grids for Utility Networks

WiMAX Forum has announced the publication of “WiMAX Forum® System Profile Requirements for Smart Grid Applications”.

This document codifies work done on WiGRID^TM, an optimized IEEE 802.16 system profile being developed by the WiMAX Forum against the requirements of the Utility companies. This set of requirements was assembled by the WiMAX Forum’s Smart Grid Working Group, which is composed of technical representatives from major electric power utilities, WiMAX vendors and industry experts.

“Approval of the WIMAX System Profile Requirements for Smart Grid Applications document establishes WiMAX as a technology capable of meeting the demands of Smart Grid wireless application,” stated Eugene Crozier, 1800 WG, UTC Canada and Chair of the WiMAX Forum’s Smart Grid Working Group.

“The publication specifically provides the implementation details to meet typical utility use cases and describes the WiMAX specifications required of equipment used for electricity management. It was developed by manufacturers and utilities working together, and is an important step in the road to standardization and certification of IEEE 802.16 products for use in utility networks.”

The proposed WiGRID System profile is an Ethernet version of IEEE 802.16 that includes numerous new features that allow uplink centric data communications, lower latency, extended range, and enables the use of new frequency bands that various Utilities hold, namely 1.4 GHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.3 GHz, 3.65 GHz and 5.8 GHz.

“Electric utilities require nearly ubiquitous telecommunications coverage over their service areas to enable ‘Smart Grid’ applications,” said Paul Senior, Vice Chair of the WiMAX Forum Smart Grid Working Group andCTO of Airspan Networks.“WiGRID technology provides a reliable wireless communications medium to ensure Smart Grid functionality, and is an excellent complement to wireline technologies already in use. Our new requirements document provides utilities and vendors with the information they need to advance this revolution in field area networking technology.”

The WiMAX Forum’s mission is to facilitate the adoption of WiMAX and WiGRID technology across the world and ensure that industry products are interoperable. The publication of the WiMAX Forum® System Profile Requirements for Smart Grid Applications document is the latest step in the organization’s continuing effort to support utilities across the globe.

Wateen has been at the forefront of advocating the adoption of smart grids for electricity and gas to resolve the issues facing the consumption of energy in Pakistan.

ITU approves H.265 codec, paves the way for smaller video file downloads

H.265, the successor to the highly popular H.264 video codec, used for over 80 percent of all the online video, has been approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), allowing it to be used for the creation of video content that is significantly smaller in size than what we have today.

Known also as High Efficiency Video Coded, H.265 allows file sizes that can be around half as much as the current H.264 encoded videos while maintaining the video quality. This allows content providers to supply much smaller files with the same quality, thus reducing the time required to download or stream the video.

But there is another advantage to this. Because the file sizes are now lower, you can have higher resolution videos, such as in 4K, without having obscenely large file sizes.

Of course, for all this to happen, content creators will need to adopt the format quickly for encoding their content. Moreover, hardware and software will also need to be updated to support playback. Hopefully, both these things will happen sooner rather than later.

Kanguru Defender DualTrust Encrypted USB Drive Secures Web Browsing

Secure, encrypted USB flash drive is nothing new. What about an encrypted USB drive with a secure virtual web browsing enviroment. This is exactly what Kanguru’s new Defender DualTrust USB device does. In addition to providing encrypted file storage, the drive also offers a built-in virtual safe, secure web browsing environment for online banking, bill payment, browsing and investment activity, protecting your sensitive personal data.

The Defender DualTrust utilizes 256-bit AES hardware encryption (FIPS 197) to keep data safe and protected. When you plug the drive into a computer, the drive launches a Linux-based secure browsing environment isolated from host OS and vulnerabilities such as viruses, malware or spyware. Each session will start a new Chrome browser and no trace of your activity will be left behind. Files you downloaded to the flash drive will be automatically encrypted.

The Defender DualTrust has 7GB of free space for secure storage. It comes pre-loaded with Bitdefender Antivirus with 30 days free trail. The drive is priced at $99.95.

 

AMD reports net loss of $473 million in Q4 2012

AMD clearly hasn’t had the best of times recently and the company has ended Q4 rather poorly, with the company reporting a net loss of $473 million. AMD has managed to generate revenue of $1.16 billion for the fourth quarter, which is still a 9% decline sequentially and 32% year-over-year.

AMD’s operating loss has been reported at $422 million and the company has lost about $0.63 per share.

The company had to settle down for a GAAP gross margin of 15% for the quarter. AMD’s computing solutions, which is one of the largest divisions of the company played the biggest part in the poor performance, registering a loss of $323 million, a 37% fall year-over-year.

AMD’s Graphics segment didn’t fare all that great either, as the company’s product shipments decreased 15% year-over-year. AMD’s overall revenue of $5.42 billion sounds impressive but nevertheless a 17% fall over the same period of 2011. AMD’s prospects for the current quarter don’t look any brighter, as the company expects its revenues to fall by another 9% in the Q1 2013.

AMD’s marketing strategies have been pretty poor and the company surely needs to get back to its drawing board and work it out, if it is to survive.

Google announces improved Image Search

Google has announced a new version of their Image Search service. The changes are specifically targeted at improving the time required to find and download images.

Previously, clicking on a thumbnail in the Image Search results would load a silly iframe where the selected image was floating on top of the source page. This considerably increased the time required to access the image as the browser would be loading the image as well as the source page simultaneously. What Google has done now with the new Image Search is eliminate the iframe page altogether and display the image directly within the search results.

Now, when you click on a thumbnail, you will get a drop down showing the image along with the metadata for it. On the side you will find links for the original website as well as a direct link to download the image. Because the image loads within the search results, you can continue scrolling for other images without having to go back a page. You can also use keyboard controls to move between the images in the search results.

This new Image Search will begin rolling out to users in the next few days.

Microsoft Dell investment plans look up to $1 to $3 billion

Microsoft plans to invest about $1 to $3 billion in the expansion funding of Dell as the officials are in discussion. Dell intends to go private as reported by Bloomberg and was initially led by Silver Lake Partners and include Dell CEO Michael Dell and a special committee representing Dell shareholders. The company running publicly since 1988 is planning to sell out to private investors and is looking at a stock price of $13 to $14 or a total of $22 billion to $25 billion leveraged layout.

Both Microsoft and Dell have refused to give comments on the matter but the deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the week. Microsoft advancing with an increasing dependency on hardware in 2012 would be quite benefited by the Microsoft Dell investment especially after the launch of its Surface Tablet.

Deployment of Biometric Verification System and The Conspiracy Theories!

Telecom industry is abuzz with the word that deployment of Biometric solution at Customer Service Centers, Franchises and retail outlets for the sale of new SIMs is primarily a move to benefit National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), a government entity.

They say that the whole episode of banning sale of new SIMs, MNP ban and other similar moves by government were the efforts to reap the telecom sector to benefit a single entity and it had nothing much to do with the security.

Those who support this theory say that each cellular company will have to invest at least Rs. 500 million (or Rs. 2.5 billion in total) to deploy biometric solution, that too for just their service centers, franchises and 10,000 retail outlets, as compared to 200,000 retail outlets that were previously operational.

All this investment is likely to go into NADRA’s pockets as evidently they are going to deploy the solution for telcos, despite, there are other solutions available in the market which claim to be cheaper (in terms of price) than the one quoted by NADRA.

Conspiracy theorists further advocate that current verification process of one subscribers (without biometrics) from NADRA costs cellular companies Rs. 17 — and rate is likely to increase to somewhere around Rs. 30-35 per verification; meaning that more recurring revenues for the NADRA.

This will be in addition to service and maintenance cost that the equipment (both on client and server side) may require — and again the only beneficiary will be the vendor, the NADRA.

Those who support this theory further suggest that this whole practice will enable NADRA to become a strong contestant for selling SIMs through its Sahulat Ghars, meaning that more margins and subsequently more revenues.

While we know that biometric solution doesn’t offer cent percent guarantee for elimination of unverified SIMs, such hefty investments by cellular companies is brutal at a time when cellular outages have already impacted the revenues of cellular companie by large.

This is especially alarming when cellular companies are up with alternative but inexpensive solutions with similar results, but reportedly the Ministry of IT and PTA are determined to get biometric verification system be rendered operational by February 28, 2013.

While we aren’t sure about the theories or their outcomes, it is clear that telecom industry will soon exhaust if such deliberate attempts by government aren’t put on halt.

AbacusConsulting Wins SAP Regional Partner Excellence Award 2013

 AbacusConsulting yesterday announced it is the recipient of a SAP Regional Partner Excellence Award 2013 in the category “Top Mobile Partner of the Year across the APJ region.”
Award was presented by SAP during the SAP® Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) Kick-Off Meeting 2013, held Jan. 14-16 in Singapore, to the top-performing SAP channel partners and SAP services partners in the APJ region for outstanding contributions that impact overall SAP sales and pipeline-generation goals.
Abbas Ali Khan, Partner at AbacusConsulting, said

“AbacusConsulting has a core focus on Mobility as we believe that the mobile platform offers great new opportunities for the enterprise of today. We are helping our clients leverage the mobile platform and positioning their businesses for the future.
Working with SAP on Mobility is extremely rewarding – they have the best capabilities on the mobile platform and they are equally excited about the role of mobile in the future. In 2012, we achieved a great deal within the Mobile Banking space and are thrilled that SAP has recognized us at the Asia Pacific level”.

AbacusConsulting received the award during the SAP APJ FKOM 2013, an annual gathering of SAP executives, SAP field employees and partners.
“A thriving partner ecosystem is central to SAP’s success, and partners like AbacusConsulting are key drivers for our customers’ success and for SAP’s market reach,” said Bronwyn Hastings, senior vice president, Ecosystem & Channels, SAP APJ.
“As a recipient of a SAP Regional Partner Excellence Award 2013, we recognize AbacusConsulting’s commitment and efforts in developing and growing its partnership with SAP, which has led to game-changing co-innovation and market expansion.”

Sony’s personal content station to be launched on April 30 in Japan

Sony’ personal content station, which was briefly showcased at the recently concluded CES 2013 is set to be launched on April 30th in Japan.

The station uses NFC for pairing with Android phones and tablets and has an app for managing the backups over WiFi. Sony’s content station also supports non-NFC devices like iPhone and Sony WiFi camera, which can be paired using WiFi only. Alternatively, you can send the data using an SD card or USB cable.

Sony’s Personal station has the ability to create mobile friendly MP4 versions from the stored AVCHD files, with its built-in video transcoder. The device also has an HDMI port TV-out fucntionality. Sony’s bowl shaped sleek device is priced at $299 and comes with a 1TB HDD.

Kim Dotcom launches Mega: the new file sharing service

The notorious Kim Dotcom, after facing numerous copyright infringement charges and extradition from the US, launched his new file sharing service, Mega, offering 50 GBs of data storage capacity. In a glamorous opening party at his mansion in New Zealand this Sunday, Kim Dotcom announced the initiation of the online service. Following the launch, Mega reached over 1 million subscribers within 24 hours.

Dotcom has made necessary steps to make sure that the FBI may not be able to put the copyright acts against his site again. Mega will not have access to your passwords and all the files shared on the site will be heavily encrypted (2048-bit RSA key) and no one will be able to see your data unless you share the link and file password with them. In this way Mega can claim that they do not know if their users are sharing illegal files or not as they do not know the content of the data.

Logitech Rechargeable Trackpad for Mac

In addition to the Bluetooth Easy-Switch Keyboard, Logitech has another new product for Mac users, the Rechargeable Trackpad for Mac. Like Apple’s own Magic Trackpad, Logitech’s offering supports multitouch control for a touchscreen-like experience, allowing users to clock, scroll, swipe, zoom and rotate.


Logitech’s Mac trackpad features a low-profile design, a large touch area with a smooth glass surface. It is built with embedded precision sensors and resistance to fingerprints and scratches, and sports integrated mechanical click that allows users to physically press down on the surface to click — exactly like the trackpad on a Macbook. The trackpad supports all Mac OS gestures and its sleek design complements your Mac.
The Logitech Rechargeable Trackpad uses Bluetooth technology for connection and can be recharged via USB. It provides one month of power when fully charged. It is available for $69.99.

Swann Platinum-HD Network Video Recording Security System

Swann, maker of security monitoring solutions, introduces its new HD network video recording (NVR) security systems, the Platinum-HD. Swann’s new solutions includes four NHD-820 surveillance cameras that are capable of 1080p HD video, and a DVR with 2TB hard drive space, and are capable of real-time live viewing and playback of 1080/30p videos.

The Platinum-HD system supports power over Ethernet (PoE), which means power and video transmission can be done using a just a CAT5E cable. The NHD-820 camera can be used indoors or outdoors and features a night vision capability of up to 115 feet. With 2TB hard drive, the DVR allows users to record about 45 days of continuous surveillance or longer when using the motion detection settings. Smartphone and tablet users can use the free SwannView app for convenient live remote viewing.
The Platinum-HD is available in 4-channel SWNVK-472004 and 8-channel SWNVK-872004 versions, which are priced at $1599.99 and $1699.99, respectively. Both packages include four cameras.

Satechi USB 3.0 Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure

Satechi launches a new aluminum hard drive enclosure for 2.5-inch hard drives. What’s so special about this portable, lightweight case is its USB 3.0 and eSATA dual interface for fast data transfer. The enclosure can turn a 2.5-inch internal drive into an external drive, ideal for people who want to make use of their spare 2.5-inch hard drive or SSD.

Satechi’s aluminum HDD enclosure can house 2.5-inch SATA I/II/III  hard drive or solid state drive of 9.5mm and 12.5mm thickness. With USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, you can install a SSD to create a super fast external storage devices. The enclosure measures 5.3 x 0.6 x 3.5-inch and weighs 6.8oz, and its aluminum look matches Mac computers. Powered through USB, no additional power cord is needed.
You can get the Satechi USB 3.0 aluminum enclosure now for $39.99.

Lenovo announces its first Chromebook – the ThinkPad X131e

Lenovo has announced its first ever Chrome OS running notebook. Meet the 11.6-inch ThinkPad X131e.

Lenovo’s first Chromebook is targeted at students and shares its body with the company’s 131e, which means it’s tough and solidly built.

The laptop features an undisclosed Intel processor (we reckon it’s a Celeron) and has HDMI, VGA and 3 USB ports. The company says that the battery will be good enough to last for an entire school day, meaning around 6-7 hours, while the screen packs a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.
The ThinkPad X131e Chromebook is specifically built for schools and will be available on February 26 via a special bid that US schools and institutions will have the chance to make. However, it’ll also be freely sold in the States for $429.

Foremay SC199 and TC166 2.5-inch 2TB SSD

Yes, solid state drives (SSD) are fast but most SSDs on the market provides smaller storage capacity compare to traditional hard drives. Silicon Valley-based company Foremay answers this with the introduction of the world’s first 2TB SSD with a standaard 2.5-inch form factor and a thickness of 9.5mm, following its 2.5-inch 1TB SSD introduced in May 2011.

Built for enterprise users, Foremay’s 2TB SSD is available in commerical-grade TC166 and industrial-grade SC199 product families so users can choose the one that suits their specific application. With a standard 2.5-inch 9.5mm form factor and SATA interface, the 2TB solid state drive fits well into notebooks and all-in-one computers.
Other than integrated Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T. ), Advanced Power Management (APM) and advanced error correction algorithm flash management technologies, the SC199 and TC166 also includes optional features such as fast erase, military secure erase methods, hardware based encryption and conformal coating.

Vimpelcom aims to increase cashflow by $2.9 billion for 2013-2015

 Vimpelcom, the parent company of Telenor and Orascom in Pakistan and a service provider for over 209 million subscribers via its subsidiaries worldwide (as of March 31, 2012), aims to increase cashflow by $2.9 billion over the next three years in various emerging markets. Reuters claims Vimpelcom’s operational cashflow to be around $5 billion in 2012. As Vimpelcom states, it intends to generate an increase in the annual cashflow by outsourcing its services, optimizing the workflow and possibly downsizing the human resource. With the data generation inbound, the company claims to increase $2 billion from operations and about $900 million from financial improvements by the year 2015. Vimpelcom also hopes to secure the deal with the Algerian government for “Djezzy” which it acquired as a part of the partnership deal with Orascom which is expected to further increase revenue. Vimpelcom’s stocks increased by 4.4% as a result of announcement of the 2013-2015 strategy at the Analyst & Investor Day 2013.

Pulse app adds support for Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube

Popular news aggregator application Pulse got updated yesterday, which brings with it the addition of some new services.

Now, users will be able to view their Flickr, Instagram, Tumblr as well as YouTube feeds within the app, along with all the other feeds they have subscribed to.

To add new feeds, just swipe from the left and select the ‘Add Content’ button. There you will see the newly added options for the aforementioned services. Add the ones you want in the category you want and then go there to sign into them. Once signed in, the app will start pulling recent posts from those services.
The updated Pulse app is available on the App Store and the Play Store for free.

Alleged first Tegra 4 benchmarks show promising graphics power, but not as good as A6X

It seems that someone with access to a Dalmore Tegra 4 evaluation board decided to see how it does on the GLBenchmark GPU benchmark for Android.
The results, if they turn out to be legitimate, show Nvidia’s latest mobile SoC offering as capable of some promising graphics performance, but ultimately falls short of taking the top spot away from Apple’s A6X chip.
According to the benchmark results, the display the board was attached to had a resolution of 1920 x 1128 pixels, with the Tegra 4 chip running at a clock speed of 1.8GHz on Android 4.2.1. For comparisons sake, the iPad 4 numbers can be found here.

Keep in mind that these numbers, even if they are actually a Tegra 4-running board, are not reflective of the overall performance you might get from an actual device running the Tegra 4 architecture, just its graphics prowess. With four Cortex-A15 CPU cores at hand, the Tegra 4 should be able to easily outdo its Apple-made competitor in terms processing power.

Gartner estimates drop in PC sales for Q4 2012, points finger at tablets

Gartner has posted its estimated PC shipment results for 2012 and things aren’t bright for the good ol’ personal computer.

The company estimates that PC vendors have shipped more than 90 million PCs in Q4, 2012 which is 4.9% lower than what they managed in the same period in 2011. According to Gartner, the tablets are to blame.

The reason is simple – a large portion of the tech-oriented gift-givers have turned their attention to slates, rather than full-fledges PCs this Christmas season. And whp could blame them considering the likes of the piggy-bank hugging Nexus 7.

On top of that, Gartner reckons a single PC is enough for the needs of a family and its members, who gladly share it for quick work-related tasks and then focus on their tablets or laptops for media consuming.

Out of all major PC vendors only Lenovo and Asus managed to better their last year’s PC sales by 8.2% and 6.4%, respectively.

Huawei UltraStick E3331 is the Smallest USB 3G Data Card

Huawei unveiled at the CES 2013 its UltraStick E3331, the world’s smallest USB data card. With a tiny body measuring 7mm thin, 67.5 mm long and 25.5 mm wide and white design, Huawei’s next generation E3331 is an ideal USB 3G dongle to go with stylish, lightweight ultraportable notebook computers.

The UltraStick supports HSPA+ network up to 21Mbps and runs on the IPv6 network. Thanks to Huawei’s Hi-Link technologym the USB 3G modem can connect to the network in just 15 seconds. The Chinese company will release the E3331 in the Philippines in Februry and in other markets later.

 

BenQ RL2455HM Gaming Monitor with 1ms GTG Response Time

At the CES 2013, BenQ launches a new professional gaming monitor, the RL2455HM featuring a super-fast 1ms GTG response time. Designed specifically for console gaming, BenQ’s new display feature an ultra-low input lag that renders action of FPS games such as Halo 4,  Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 without ghosting or latency from mouse motion.

The 24-inch RL2455HM features a 1920×1080 Full HD resolution, LED-backlit and a 12 Million to 1 contrast ratio. It includes Black eQualizer to enable total visibility by allowing gamers to adjust the screen brightness without over-exposing white levels, and the Smart Scaling feature that allows users to scale the screen on-the-fly to any custom size. It sports 2-watt stereo speakers and provides dual HDMI inputs.

BenQ will release the RL2455HM in March for $229.

 

Canon PowerShot A2600 and A1400 Entry-level Digital Cameras

Canon expands its entry-level PowerShot A-series with two new models, the A2600 and A1400. Instead of a big upgrade, the new models are just minor updates to last year’s A2400 and A1300 featuring similar look and features. You can even consider the A2600 as a downgrade as Canon takes away the Intelligent IS function found on A2400.

The A2600 and A1400 share many of their specs and features. They both sport 16 Megapixel image sensor, DIGIC 4 image processor and a 5x optical zoom with 28mm wide angle lens. To deliver sharp, clear, blue-free images, both models include Optical Image Stabilizer and Digital IS that will recognize the main subject and automatically appy camera shake correction that best suits the situation. There are Smart AUTO mode that help capture great photos by automatically selecting proper camera settings based on 32 predefined shooting situation; and Scene Modes such as Fisheye Effect, Poster Effect, Toy Camera Effect and Monochrome.

Canon PowerShot A1400

There are some differences between the two models. The more compact PowerShot A2600 comes with a 3-inch LCD display and uses rechargeable li-ion battery while the A1400 gets a 2.7-inch display and is powered by AA battery. Both cameras include the new ECO Mode that dims the screen after two seconds and turn it off after 8 seconds to save power consumption and provide up to 30% longer battery life.

The A2600 will be available in red, grey and silver for $199.99, and the A1400 in black, silver, red, blue and pink for $149.99. Both will be released in February.

Canon PowerShot A1400

Canon PowerShot A1400