BlackBerry Bold 9700 with Ferrari badges spotted in the open

BlackBerry had come up with a Porsche themed smartphone namely the Porsche Design P’9981 costing a little more than your usual smartphones. Now a new car company themed BlackBerry device has been spotted.

This time it is Ferrari who changes the colours on the BlackBerry Bold 9700.
The device does seem legit and the source says that it will be a limited edition, so you can expect a limited number of units available in the market. Also there isn’t anything special about the handset except the Ferrari colours, a few badges and a carbon fibre like finish around the handset. There isn’t any info available about the smartphone regarding price or availability.

So is this BlackBerry’s new strategy to survive in the market? Because launching limited edition handsets won’t be enough to survive in the smartphone world.

New iPad launching in India on April 27, starts from Rs 30,500

Apple has just announced the new iPad will be launching in India on April 27.
The official new iPad pricing:
Wi-Fi: 16GB Rs 30,500, 32GB Rs 36,500, 64GB Rs 42,500.
Wi-Fi+3G: 16GB Rs 38,900, 32GB Rs 44,900, 64GB Rs 50,900

Read on for official press release.
CUPERTINO, California?April 16, 2012?Apple® today announced the new iPad®, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, will arrive in South Korea and 11 additional countries on Friday, April 20. The new iPad features a stunning new Retina™ display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video. The new iPad still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life* while remaining amazingly thin and light.
In addition to South Korea, the new iPad also will be available beginning on Friday, April 20 in Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. Beginning on Friday, April 27, the new iPad will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.
The new iPad Wi-Fi and iPad Wi-Fi + 4G** will be available in black or white in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models.
Additionally, iPad 2 is available at a more affordable price.
Pricing & AvailabilityThe new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white on Friday, April 27 for a suggested retail price of INR 30,500 inc. VAT (INR 29,048 exVAT) for the 16GB model,INR 36,500 inc. VAT (INR 34,762 ex VAT ) for the 32GB model and INR 42,500 inc. VAT( INR 40,476 ex VAT) for the 64GB model. The iPad Wi-Fi + 4G models will be available for a suggested retail price of INR 38,900 inc. VAT (INR 37,048 exVAT) for the 16GB model, INR 44,900 inc. VAT (INR 42,762 ex VAT) for the 32GB model and INR 50,900 inc. VAT (INR 48,476 ex VAT) for the 64GB model.** The new iPad will be sold through select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, iPad 2 is available at a more affordable price starting at just INR 24,500 inc. VAT (INR 23,333 ex VAT) for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model and just INR 32,900 inc. VAT (INR 31,333 ex VAT) for the 16 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model

Rifts between DataWind and Aakash assembler Quad Electronics emerge

Recently reports emerged that DataWind and Quad Electronics were in the middle of a blame game in relation to payments. Quad Electronics claimed they did receive payment from Datawind for assembly of the Aakash tablet and Datawind claimed that Quad Electronics had infringed on their intellectual property rights and had allegedly also signed a separate memorandum of understanding with IIT-Rajasthan. In the continuation of this blame game saga Tech2 reports that, DataWind CEO Sunnet Singh Tuli has called the report an inaccurate and negative sensationalist attempt. He goes on to say the company is working on the Aakash-2 and will be supplying 100,000 Aakash-2 tablets through IIT-Bombay.
In a statement Tuli says that the Aakash was designed and developed by DataWind and Quad Electronics was only sub-contracted to manufacture the product, but Quad Electronics infringed upon DataWind’s intellectual property rights and signed a direct MoU with IIT Rajasthan and then sold the product off their inventory in the open market. Intensifying his ire against the accusation from Quad Electronics on non-payment of dues, he claims no further payment is due. Datawind has since partnered with another assembler, though the name of the new partner has not been revealed.

Apple’s new iPad not compatible with India’s 4G network

As reported earlier, the new iPad will be available in India from April 27, a month after it started selling the latest version of its popular tablet computer in 10 countries including the United States.
The third iteration of the best-selling device is priced between 30,500 rupees and 50,900 rupees in the Indian market depending on the variant.
The new iPad will be available in a choice of black or white, with the Wi-Fi models retailing for Rs. 30500 (16GB), Rs. 36500 (32GB), and Rs. 42500 (64GB), while the Wi-Fi+4G model will be sold for Rs. 38900 (16GB), Rs. 44900 (32GB), and Rs. 50900 (64GB).
The new iPad is, however, not compatible with the 4G LTE network currently available in India and customers will have to make do with the 3G networks.
Bharti Airtel launched India’s first 4G network in Kolkata this month and is expanding the high-speed network to Bangalore, Pune and Chandigarh in the coming months.
But the Indian networks are powered by a different radio spectrum band than the ones used by the 4G iPad, which is supported only on the networks of a handful of U.S. and Canadian carriers.
While the iPad is the clear market leader globally, and the new version with its faster chips, fourth-generation wireless and a sharper display is only expected to cement Apple’s lead, the company has hit some bumps in the road.
In March, the consumer watchdog in Australia took legal action to ensure the company makes consumers aware the new iPad cannot connect to 4G networks in Australia, prompting Apple to offer refunds to all affected buyers in Australia.
There were also complaints in Britain about misleading claims about access to 4G, which is not available in the country.
Customers have the option to buy the new iPad in black or white with 16, 32, or 64 GB of memory, and can choose a model that works only on Wi-Fi or on both Wi-Fi and 4G.
As reported earlier, Apple continues to sell the iPad 2 in India at reduced prices, with the 16 GB Wi-Fi model now available for 24,500 while the 3G version will cost 32,900 rupees.

BSNL launches internet data centers in six locations across India

State-run telecoms company BSNL launched internet data centers in six locations across India in a tie-up with Dimension Data, in an effort to drive up its revenues.
BSNL will offer managed co-location, managed hosting and cloud services through these centers and the revenues will be split between the telco and Dimension Data that has built these centers and will operate and manage them in the future.

The centers are located in Mumbai, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Ludhiana and Ghaziabad. Employees Provident Fund Organisation, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Punjab Treasuries had already begun using these centers on a pilot basis, Dimension Data India CEO Kiran Bhagwanani told ET Monday.
The data centre market is estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 22% and may touch Rs 6,500 crore by 2016.
The duo is targeting to get around 25 clients and Rs 100 crore in revenue in the first year. “We expect to sign more contracts from state and central government departments as well as several private enterprises shortly,” BSNL chairman and managing director RK Upadhyay said at the launch.
Bhagwanani said that he was banking on the government organisations, distance education providers, private entreprises being serviced by BSNL and defence services that may be tempted to purchase the telco’s cloud and hosting services since data would be housed in state-owned premises, ensuring security.
The public-private initiative will leverage the strength of BSNL in telecom infrastructure and vacant buildings and that of Dimension Data in providing data center and cloud computing, communications minister Kapil Sibal said.
Sibal went on to add that he had asked the loss-making PSU to submit plans related to tower sharing, usage of land and unused infrastructure which will aid the telco in moving towards profitability.
BSNL’s losses tripled to Rs 5,997 crore during 2010-11 and the telco suffered a massive loss of Rs 1 ,823 crore in the previous fiscal. ET had recently reported that the company might lose its ‘mini-navratna’ status due to its poor financial health.
BSNL had reported the highest net profit of over Rs 10,000 crore in 2005-06 but since then its profits have been falling and reported first net loss in 2009-10.
BSNL has over 50,000 towers and one of the largest land banks and network assets in the country. “In my term, I want to see BSNL becoming a Navratna,” Sibal added.

Samsung officially launches the Galaxy S Advance and Galaxy Pocket smartphones in India

Samsung has introduced two new Galaxy smartphones in India today namely the Galaxy S Advance (GT-I9070) which is an upgrade to the Galaxy S and the Galaxy Pocket (GT-S5300) which is the smallest smartphone in its portfolio.

The Galaxy S Advance has a WVGA Super AMOLED display and a large 4 inch curved glass screen, it is powered by a 1GHz dual core processor and runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It also has a 5MP camera, FM radio, 3G HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and more.

The Samsung GALAXY S Advance is priced at Rs. 26,900.
The Samsung Galaxy Pocket is pretty small at just 11.9mm slim and 97.0gms but it packs a 832MHz processor, HSDPA 3.6Mbps, Wi-Fi, Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, 3GB internal memory (expandable up to 32GB) and a lot more.

The Samsung GALAXY Pocket is priced at Rs. 8150/-.
Samsung today also announced a consumer promotion on the Galaxy Note. Any consumer buying a Galaxy Note between today and May 31, 2012 can avail free Sennheiser headphones, download free music and games, download full version of Angry Birds Space free and get a free flip cover.

Airtel Rebrands its B2B Business, Comes up with New Name and Strategy

Airtel today refreshed its B2B business as airtel business. With this new identity, airtel business the company claims that its commitment of delivering innovative business solutions and a superior brand experience to all its large & small enterprises, government and carrier customers across the globe.

Airtel buisness also offers digital media services, a centralized online media management and distribution platform akin to a media exchange linking all the content owners, production facilities and screens enabling them to store , forward, share & trade multi versions of produced content to multiple platforms across the globe.
With a global network of 225,000 Rkms covering 50 countries across 5 continents, airtel business has established itself as one of the leading players in the B2B segment.Over the last 4-5 years, the company has invested over $500mn in next generation cable systems. It‘s globe spanning submarine cable assets offer the necessary diversity, increased redundancy and network resilience to the customers.

Aakash 2 tablet to be launched in May: Kapil Sibal

Communications Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said many foreign companies have shown interest in manufacturing the second version of the low-cost tablet Aakash 2 in India.
“We have invited companies from across the world for manufacturing and many are ready to manufacture it here,” Sibal told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of World IT Forum 2012.

“Currently we are looking at the design and other parameters. After we freeze the design and technology, manufacturing will take place. The second version of Aakash will be launched in May,” he added.
The new tablet would have a better 3200m AH battery with a three-hour backup, a 700 MHz Cortex A8 processor and a capacitive touch screen which would get over the earlier issues observed in the tablets, Sibal had said earlier.
The announcement comes even as Canadian firm Datawind, which has been manufacturing Aakash, got into a spat with the Hyderabad-based assembler of the tablet, Quad Electronics, in the last few months.
Quad has reportedly alleged that it has not got its payments for the initial order of assembling 20,000 tablets.
Datawind on the other hand said that Quad breached Datawind’s intellectual property, circumvented their relationship with IIT-Rajasthan, signed an agreement with them and then sold off their inventory in the open market.
Aakash 2 is expected to have three times more powerful processor and the resistive touch screen of the older version will be changed to capacitive touch screen. The device which was earlier expected to be launched in April will also become expensive compared to the earlier version which was priced at $35.
Talking about empowering the masses with 3G and 4G services, Sibal said these services would have limited access to the masses unless the government ensures that the cost of these devices go down.
“We must develop manufacturing in India,” he said while inaugurating the two day forum which will focus on use of ICT in agriculture, education, health and e-Governance, within the overall theme of ‘ICT for Sustainable Human Development’.
The forum will discuss the role of IT interventions in bringing about greater transparency in governance, issues of privacy and security while dealing with public databases, financial inclusion and ways of leveraging wireless technologies.

BlackBerry Curve 9220 launched in India for Rs 10,990

BlackBerry smratphone maker Research In Motion (RIM) today officially unveil and launch its new sleek, stylish, low-cost smartphone – BlackBerry Curve 9220 in India.

The new BlackBerry Curve 9220 smartphone comes with 2.44-inch (320×240 pixels) TFT display with Full QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry OS 7 and a 2.0 Mega Pixel camera. Other features include,dedicated BBM key for faster, better communication, 512 MB of RAM, 2G (GPRS/EDGE), FM Radio, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v2.1, 3.5 mm audio jack.
The device will be available in 4 colors – Black, Fuchsia Pink, Pure White and Teal Blue. RIM claims that BlackBerry Curve 9220 is further enhanced with a long lasting battery, giving users up to 7 hours of talk time or up to 28 hours of music playback or FM radio listening on headphones.
BlackBerry Curve 9220 run of BlackBerry 7.1 OS offers the full complement of BlackBerry services and the smartphone’s built in Wi-Fi can provide smooth and fast Internet browsing without incurring mobile data usage costs. It also includes a built-in FM radio, allowing users to tune into their favorite local stations, and listening to the FM radio does not require a data plan or use data services.

As part of the launch in India, BlackBerry Curve 9220 customers can download a selection of apps from BlackBerry App World worth 2500 Rupees, for free (data charges applicable as per operators/service providers). The offer is valid until June 30, 2012 and includes a wide range of apps that will roll out in a phased manner, including utilities, games and other apps. Pencil Camera, Photo Studio Pro, Horoscope Oracle – Follow Your Lucky Stars, Drive Safely Pro and Ultimate Cricket are just a few of the popular apps that will be available through this promotional offer.

The BlackBerry Curve 9220 will be available from April 19th for purchase from authorized retailers and distributors across India. It is expected to be available in other markets across the Glob starting in the coming weeks.

Jabra launches affordable in-car speakerphone

It comes with a micro USB cable, in-car charger, clip for visor and a quick start manual. It is priced at Rs 3,999.
Jabra, makers of popular Bluetooth handsfree devices, have launched a new in-car hands free device called Jabra Drive.
The speakerphone (handsfree) is very easy to set-up. In fact, it doesn’t require set-up at all, or that’s what the company claims. The device is basically a Bluetooth handsfree with loudspeaker that can be clipped onto the visor of the car.

Jabra Drive automatically pairs up with two mobile devices simultaneously (Multiuse Technology), allowing drivers and passengers to stay connected.
The device offers clear sound with echo and noise cancellation (using DSP, or digital signal processing,) and automatic volume control instantly adjusts the speakerphone’s volume to best suit the user’s environment.
Ann Goh, head of sales, South Asia Region, GN Netcom (parent company of Jabra,) said, “The Jabra Drive also features A2DP technology, which allows users to stream music from their smartphone or Bluetooth-enabled MP3 player, podcasts, directions from GPS applications etc. Whether it’s a phone call with dad, the latest hit song or directions to a soccer game, Jabra Drive transmits clear audio with ease. Our broad line of in-car speakerphones offers something for everyone and at every price point.”
The Jabra Drive also features a voice guidance system that announces battery status and Bluetooth connectivity, and comes with large control buttons for volume and power on/off.
According to Jabra, the Drive offers 20 hours of talk time and 30 days of standby time. Jabra Drive is equipped with enough battery life to last even the longest commute or road trip.
Drive comes with a micro USB cable, in-car charger, clip for visor and a quick start manual. The speakerphone is priced at Rs 3,999.

Aakash tablet: After six months, only 366 reach students

For all the fanfare that accompanied the launch of the Aakash tablet, only 366 units of the tablet have reached students. The units were given to students at the time of the launch on October 5 so that they could test them and provide their feedback. The information may not be widely known but it has been in the public domain since March 14 when minister for human resource development Kapil Sibal replied to a question about the Aakash project in Lok Sabha.

These 366 tablets are part of 650 units that IIT Rajasthan had accepted from the lot of 6,440 tablets that were supplied to it by Datawind. According to Sibal’s statement in Parliament, IIT-Rajasthan “rejected rest of the lots as the number of defective LCADs (Aakash tablets) in those lots exceeded the stipulated 5% of devices”.
In reply to a question if there was any criteria based on which distribution was made, Sibal said the tablets were just for the testing. “The first phase of 1,00,000 tablets were targeted to the students in higher technical education institutions so as to further ascertain technical feedback on its operation and usability,” he said. “Since these LCADs were for the purpose of testing, no norms for distribution of LCADs to students were laid down.” The minister also informed Parliament that Datawind has now been asked to supply better tablets at the same price.
“Datawind is still to supply 1,00,000 LCADs of higher specifications at the same price. These higher specifications (which include 700 MHz Cortex A8 processor, 3200 mAH Battery and capacitive touch screen) have been necessitated to overcome the initial difficulties observed in the devices,” he said.
The minister was also asked what the government was doing to recover the money back. “No payment has yet been made by IIT-Rajasthan to the vendor (Datawind), and hence, the question of getting back the money does not arise,” he said.

Uninor offers new STVs and talk plans for Mumbai | local, STD and ISD calls at cheaper rates

Uninor has today introduced some new Special Tariff Vouchers and new talk plans for its subscriber base in Mumbai which offer users to make local, STD and ISD calls at cheaper rates.

The Uninor Special Tariff Voucher (STV) 21 offers Mumbai customers local calling rate at 30 paise per Minute with 30 day validity and the STV 22 allows user to make local Uninor to Uninor calls at just 2 paisa per minute. Both plans are valid for calls within Mumbai and Maharashtra and Goa.
The STV 36 STD plan offers call rates of 30 paisa/ per minute across the country and the STV 18 ISD pack gives Mumbai’s globally connected subscribers the opportunity to make ISD calls to friends and families across the globe for as low as 1 paisa per second. Under this plan, which comes with 30 day validity, Uninor customers will be able to make calls to USA, Canada, UK Fixed Telephones, Hong Kong, China and Singapore at 1 paisa per second.

First Intel processor equipped smartphone, Lava Xolo X900

Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini told investors that the company’s first smartphone running Medfield processor is ready for launch ‘later this week’ but it seems that we don’t have to wait that long.

Around speculations at to which device will launch first, Lenovo K800 or Lava Xolo X900 it will be Lava Xolo X900 which goes on sale first. Intel and Lava are readying an event to launch the Lava Xolo X900 on April 19 i.e. tomorrow.
That’s right; Lava’s Xolo X900 is going to the first smartphone to arrive with Intel Inside it.
The Lava Xolo X900 was announced back at MWC 2012 and packs in great features.
The Lava XOLO X900 features

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor (based on Medfield Z2460), 1GB RAM
• 4.03 inch LCD touchscreen with a display resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.
• 8 MP camera with flash at the rear and a 1.3 MP front camera for video calls
• Burst mode in camera that allows capturing 10 pictures in under a second
• Android 2.3, upgradable to Android Ice Cream Sandwich
• Full HD 1080p video playback @ 30Mbps
• HDMI TV out
• Dual speakers for outstanding audio quality
• 400 MHz Graphics Clock with dual channel memory
• HSPA+ connectivity, NFC ready
• 1460mAh battery

With the launch of the X900, Lava will become the first OEM to launch a smartphone with Ibtel’s processor, which is quite credible. We really hope that the devices goes on to be a true performer as there are loads of expectations tied up with Intel’s processor.

TRAI – No need to refund 2G licence fees | Uninor – focus is on staying and not quitting

The telecom regulator has told the government that there is no need to refund the fees paid by 122 2G licence holders whose services will be terminated following the Supreme Court order. While dismissing the demand for an exit policy for these licences issued in January 2008 by jailed telecom minister A Raja, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has said that the existing system of non-refundable licence fee should continue.

In a recommendation to the government on Wednesday, Trai said: “The present status is that as per the judgment of the Supreme Court, they (122 licences) stand cancelled after four months of the date of judgment (which was February 2). The authority does not agree with the argument of one of the stakeholders that the licensees have the option of filing a curative petition to the Supreme Court and also file clarification application/s and in the event they are successful in getting relief from the Supreme Court, the original considerations which led to the proposal of an exit policy would become relevant once again. The authority cannot formulate a policy based on the stipulations or likely outcome of a futuristic event. Accordingly, the authority is of the opinion that, at present, there is no need for an exit policy in respect of these UAS Licensees.” The proposal, which will have to be accepted by the government, will come as a new setback for the eight companies that stand to lose their licences following the Supreme Court verdict as several of them will lose the Rs 1,650 crore that they had paid in the rigged licensing exercise.
Etisalat, Loop and S-Tel, who are exiting the Indian market, stand to lose the most, market players said, while most telecom companies did not comment on the recommendations.
“While we study the Trai recommendations, for us, the focus is on staying and not quitting. We hope Trai will come out with auction recommendations that help keep new competition in the market,” Unitech Wireless said. For the government, however, it is a straight gain of at least Rs 8,000 crore at a time when the finance ministry is on the lookout for every single paisa to improve the fiscal health. It is banking on fresh auction of spectrum and licences to mop up around Rs 40,000 crore during the current financial year.

Berners-Lee: Don't let record labels upset web openness

We mustn't allow record companies' fear that their business model isn't working to upset the openness of the internet, Tim Berners-Lee told Wired.co.uk in a press conference at W3C.
The inventor of the web was referring to recent controversial pieces of legislation, including Sopa and Pipa in the US, and Acta globally, which have all sought to clamp down on piracy and have all been strongly supported by record labels.
"Record labels have a very strong voice when it comes to arguing for their particular business model, which is in fact out of date," he said. "The result is that laws have been created which make out as if the only problem on the internet is teenagers stealing music. The world is bigger than that. The internet is bigger than the music industry. The economic impact of the internet is bigger than the music industry."
He said that most of the things that are taking place on the internet are social, and downloading and listening to music is just a small part of that. He said that record companies and other organisations seeking these pieces of legislation shouldn't be allowed to "take away the rule that you should only punish someone after appropriate court proceedings."
Berners-Lee supports any platform that allows people to pay for music online and said that there should be more ways of "getting money back to the person who creates" content, including paying for music and donating to blogs. However, he said that "this doesn't necessarily need to be a system created by the big record labels".

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the web, is "not a fan" of the arbitrary new top level domains (TLDs) that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is currently offering, he told Wired.co.uk in a press conference at W3C.
He was referring to Icann's application window for brands to bid for the domain name suffix of their choosing from dot brand (for example .pepsi or .HTC) or dot product (.drinks or .horses), which closes on Friday 20 April.
"My personal perspective is that what we need in the domain system is stability," he said. "We don't need new arbitrary new TLDs."
He argued that some people assume that the new generic TLDs are creating great economic benefit but that there are already plenty of TLDs -- including dot org, dot com and dot net -- to choose from. "There's plenty of space," he said. "If you just add one character to the length of the domain name you have 26 times as many names you can choose from. There's no shortage."
For Berners-Lee, the "only role" for a new domain name is "if you are making something that is socially different, such as dot org." He said that dot org was interesting because it captures the fact that you know that any website with that suffix is a non-profit.
"But when it comes to arbitrary new TLDs I am not a big fan." He said that the "idea of having to go out and register my trademarks" in these new spaces does not appeal to him.

Don't miss: Companies prepare for a land-grab of new top level domains

Image: Shutterstock.com

Flash and Java to be click-to-play in future Firefox

 

After more than two years on the back burner, Firefox has finally introduced click-to-play (or “opt-in activation” in Mozilla terms) for all plug-ins, including Flash, Java, and Silverlight. Plug-ins are the single biggest cause of browser slow-downs and security vulnerabilities — and Chrome has had a similar feature for more than a year — so really, it’s about time Mozilla added this to Firefox.
If you’ve ever used Flashblock, Firefox’s opt-in activation is basically identical. When enabled, plug-in elements are replaced with a block that says “Click here to activate plugins.” You click it, and it loads.
This is a very early implementation, though — it’s just landed in Firefox 14 Nightly — so it’ll be at least 2 or 3 months until we see it in a stable or beta build. By then, judging by the wiki page, opt-in activation will do a lot more than just click-to-play. For a start, opt-in activation will prompt you with a warning if a plug-in that you haven’t used in X days suddenly kicks into action. Opt-in activation will also warn you if you try to use an out-of-date add-on (like Chrome). If you regularly click-to-play on sites like YouTube, opt-in activation might automatically allow YouTube access to Flash for the next 30 days. If a site that you regularly visits changes its plug-ins (if it gets hacked), opt-in activation could warn you.
There will also be an option, like Flashblock, to enable or disable plug-ins for an entire page/site. As it stands, this blanket use of click-to-play could break (or severely hinder) any website that uses “hidden” Flash elements (which is almost every site on the web). You can’t click a hidden element, after all.
Ultimately, though, it’s hard to dress this up as anything other than a killing blow for add-ons. With the recent shift towards HTML5, which has many multimedia features built in, Flash and Java are becoming more deprecated by the day. There is no doubt that when Firefox rolls out click-to-play to the masses, Flash usage will drop — and sites (and advertisers!) will be forced to switch to HTML5 equivalents, such as Canvas, localStorage, and WebSockets. If you needed confirmation of this shift away from plug-ins, a few weeks ago it emerged that the Metro version of Internet Explorer 10 wouldn’t be allowed to run any plug-ins at all, for reasons of stability, security, and battery use. As yet, we don’t know if click-to-play will be on by default in Firefox, but it will be very interesting if that’s the case.
Of course, this isn’t to say that browser implementations of HTML5 and sister technologies like WebGL are inherently more secure — but it’s a lot easier for Mozilla to push out an updated version of Firefox than to get everyone to update Flash.
If you want to try out click-to-play, download a Nightly build of Firefox, visit about:config, and set plugins.click_to_play to true.

Intel’s Windows 8 tablet requirements: Move along, nothing to see here

 

If you’re expecting Windows 8 tablets to wow and impress, it looks like you might end up disappointed. Intel is shopping around reference designs for upcoming Windows 8 tablets at Intel Developer Forum Beijing, and what is most notable is the distinct lack of anything interesting about their requirements.
Think of an iPad running Windows… that’s the tablet Intel envisions. That seems like a foolish strategy given the lack of success among Apple’s competitors in the tablet space: copying versus innovating has got those companies nowhere.
Intel’s Windows tablets are powered by an Atom Z2760 “Clover Trail” chip. The CPU is dual-core and features Hyper-threading technology, which will allow for quad-core-like operation. The chipmaker is also including a “burst” feature that increases performance for short periods of time when it’s needed.
Intel is proposing two reference designs, Cnet reports, including a standard 10-inch version and an 11-inch model which includes a physical keyboard. The rest of the specifications sound much like Apple’s iPad: battery life must be 9 hours (Apple claims 9-10 hours on the iPad 3), the inclusion of 3G/4G connectivity, a weight under 1.5 pounds, and a thickness under 9mm. The latest iPad weighs 1.44 pounds and is 9.4mm thick, so it’s obvious who Intel is aiming at.
The only thing separating Intel’s tablets from the iPad is the inclusion of NFC. For some time rumors have persisted about Apple considering the technology for future iOS devices, but so far no iPhone nor iPad has had it. It is curious as to why Intel would be pushing for NFC in a tablet — the “near field” technology requires two devices to be very close together. Carrying a bulky tablet around is not something many consumers will do, let alone putting it on the register to pay for lunch, but NFC might have use for commercial applications.
Besides the CPU and the fact that it runs Windows, Intel’s suggestions for Windows 8 tablets do not impress. This seems to be the biggest problem facing the multitude of tablet competitors that have come along as of late. To beat Apple, you need a device that is different, one that wows the consumer. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab is a rare exception as it is essentially an iPad running Android, and the Kindle Fire is successful chiefly because of its price and Amazon’s brand.
In smartphones, manufacturers discovered this early on, and, while the iPhone still remains the single best selling device, it by no means enjoys the huge advantage the iPad does. Consumers have a multitude of options to choose from, and ones that fit a number of possible usage scenarios and preferences. For whatever reason, tablet — and apparently chip — manufacturers don’t seemed to understand that yet.
More at Cnet, via Geek.com

Sony’s Optical Disc Archive: 30 Blu-ray discs in a 1.5TB MiniDisc-like cassette

 

Hot on the heels of the most successful storage mediums of all time — MiniDisc and Zip disks — Sony has announced the Optical Disc Archive, a system that seems to cram up to 30 Blu-ray discs into a single, one-inch-thick plastic cassette.
The cassettes will range in capacity from 300GB to 1.5TB, but beyond that very little is known. Conventional dual-layer Blu-ray discs store up to 50GB, but the newer BDXL spec allows for up to triple- (100GB) and quadruple-layer (128GB) discs. Basically, there’s somewhere between 3 and 30 discs in a single cassette.
The drive itself is a specialized unit (the cassettes won’t fit in your PC’s Blu-ray drive) that will connect to a computer via USB 3.0. Actual read/write performance of the drive is unknown, as is the price. 12x Blu-ray burners max out at around 50MB/sec, though, so we could be talking about performance comparable to hard drives — and it’s possible that Sony will debut a device that’s even faster than 12x, too. The first Optical Disc Archive cassettes and systems are scheduled for a fall 2012 release.
As far as we can tell, the main selling point of the Optical Disc Archive is, just like MiniDisc, the ruggedness of the cassettes. Optical discs themselves are fairly resistant to changes in temperature and humidity, and the cassettes are dust and water resistant. What is the use case for these 1.5TB MiniDiscs, though? In terms of pure storage capacity, tape drives are still far superior (you can store up to 5TB on a tape!) In terms of speed and flexibility, hard drives are better. If you’re looking for ruggedness, flash-based storage is smaller, lighter, and can easily survive a dip in the ocean. Due to the specialized hardware and bulky cassette, it’s unlikely the platform will ever compete on price, too.
I can see the Optical Disc Archive filling two niches: quickly transporting large amounts of video across rough terrain; and providing extensible backup for multimedia devices, such as video cameras and TV PVRs, like TiVo and Sky+. Hard drives fill up pretty quickly, and high-density cassettes make a lot more sense than burning single DVD/Blu-ray discs. Unless Sony can get other companies to make and sell ODA drives, though, it will probably just go the way of the MiniDisc.
Read more at Sony (press release), or read about Sony’s latest round of lay-offs and its attempt to revitalize itself
Read more about holographic storage

Microsoft splits Windows 8 into Windows 8 (x86) and Windows RT (ARM)

 

In a blessed moment of clarity, Microsoft has announced that there will be just three flavors of Windows 8 for consumers: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows RT. This is in stark contrast to Windows 7 and Vista, which were split into more SKUs than there are days in the week.
The default version — 32- and 64-bit Windows 8 for x86 PCs and tablets — replaces Windows 7 Home Basic and Home Premium. Windows 8 Pro, with features like BitLocker and Remote Desktop, replaces Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate (for a full breakdown of the features in each SKU, see the table at the end of this story). There will also be an Enterprise edition of Windows 8, for enterprise customers.
But let’s talk about the black sheep: Windows RT. It’s not Windows 8 RT, or Windows 8 for ARM, or Windows on ARM — it’s Windows RT. Microsoft doesn’t state what the “RT” moniker means, but it’s almost certainly short for WinRT, the new runtime library that underpins the new tile-based Metro interface. Windows RT has a feature set similar to normal Windows 8, but it lacks Storage Spaces, Windows Media Player, and it can’t install x86/64 software (obviously). Windows RT comes with a free copy of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, while Windows 8 and Pro do not.
There are a few possible reasons for the name change. First, because it isn’t a direct upgrade from Windows 7, it probably prevents Microsoft Volume Licensing partners from gaining free access to Windows RT. More importantly, though, Windows RT will only be available as a pre-installed OS. You will not see a Windows RT box on a shelf at Best Buy — there won’t be any confusion about whether the version of Windows 8 you are buying will work on your PC or not.
This also means that you won’t be installing Windows 8 on your ARM Android/iOS/Palm tablet — at least not legitimately. I would be surprised if there isn’t an enterprise version of Windows RT that IT admins can use to bulk provision ARM tablets.
It will be very interesting to see if tablets are advertised as running Windows 8 or Windows RT. Windows 8 has a huge amount of cachet attached to its name, while Windows RT means virtually nothing to consumers. Will Microsoft water down its impending advertising blitz by drawing a line between its x86 and ARM ecosystems, and with repeated mentions of Windows RT? In my opinion, Microsoft’s success on the tablet hinges almost entirely on leveraging the success of Windows 7 — though, who knows, maybe Windows RT will have enough third-party app support that it can stand on its own. Irrespective of nomenclature, Microsoft will have a unified UI across smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and game consoles — and that alone should be enough to drive a lot of consumer interest in all five platforms.

Read more at The Windows Blog