Logitech Environmental Responsibility – Recycling Old Computer Peripherals

I really appreciates Logitech’s approach towards environmental responsibility. It is a favour to the world as computer users can now get their old computer peripherals recycled. So, if you were wondering what to do with your old keyboard and mouse? Here you have a solution.

Logitech has partnered with TerraCycle for recycling old keyboards and mice into innovative and fun products. Participating in the program Trade-in Recycling Program is simple and free. Just sign up and send the box of your old computer peripherals to TerraCycle. Join over 21 million people in the United States, who are actively involved in TerraCycle’s collection programs. In addition, the company aims to encourage users for switching to wireless products and getting rid of clutter in their lives.

If you are interested in exchanging your belongings, you can do so till 31 March, 2013 at any of the 30 participating partner stores across Malaysia including Kuching. Members who will trade in their old devices can enjoy up to 35% discount on the purchase of Logitech products (wireless) such as M325 Mouse and Windows Touch Mouse, of course till the stock lasts. You can get complete information about the program on Logitech’s Facebook page. Join the efforts of reducing unused tech devices from your office or home.

Nokia 105 and 301: Affordable Smartphones for Emerging Markets

Nokia handsets are considered to be one of the benchmarks of the mobile phone industry because of the robust yet stylish design and affordability. The company has again brought two additions to its affordable handset range. Both the Nokia 301 and 105 target at emerging markets and are priced at impressive prices. Here’s a look at specifications of both models.

The Nokia 105
The 1.4-inch colour screen features clear menus and essential utilities such as FM radio, speaking clock, flashlight and a splash and dust-proof keypad. The durable battery life of up to 35 days makes it ideal for areas where electricity is not sufficient. However, the phone does not come with a camera. It is available in cyan and black shades and is planned to roll out in Q1 2013 and further expand to China, India, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, Vietnam and Russia along with markets in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The Nokia 301
It comes preloaded with Nokia Xpress Browser and 3.5G Internet connectivity for 90% more data efficiency. It is most affordable Nokia phone, offering video streaming. The features of new smart camera are inspired by Lumia smartphones’ digital camera lenses. There are many colour choices such as black, cyan, yellow, magenta and white. This is planned to roll out in Q2 2013 and is expected to reach more than 120 countries in Asia-Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Europe and Latin America.

More Local Applications For BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry’s latest OS, BB10, is a game changer for both the company and the smartphone industry because it is user-friendly. Another major selling point of devices powered with this operating system is the number of apps. It had over 70,000 applications upon launch, which were still less than the present competition. Therefore, to buck up the number of apps for BB10, BlackBerry and MDeC (Multimedia Development Corporation) have collaborated to foster the development of local mobile app under the MSC Malaysia ‘ICON’ (Integrated Content Development) program.

The collaboration will provide a ‘Train the Trainers’ program to 15 ICON developers and lecturers from local universities for providing content development skills on the BlackBerry 10 platform. This program is of one week duration and will begin in March 2013 at the MDeC Knowledge Development Centre in Cyberjaya. It will be conducted by authorized trainers from Canada.

Five places have been allotted in the Asian region to become an authorised BB developer training partners. Ten places are allocated for Malaysian academic developers’ training to teach local university students.

With this program, BlackBerry hopes to develop content that will benefit Malaysian enterprises and consumers along with providing skills to expand the pool of BB10 apps developers, especially university students. At present, there are more than 100 mobile apps developed by ICON developers for BB10 platform and more are on the way.

Intel Introduced Hadoop Distribution for Big Data Analysis

Now individuals and organisations will be able to use vast amounts of data, which is being generated, collected and stored on a daily basis. This data is called ‘big data’. Businesses can also  keep track of the big data and changes made therein for ensuring good performance and security.

The credit for this goes to Intel Corporation as it has provided an innovative open platform using Apache Hadoop. Known as Intel Distribution, it is the first platform to offer full encryption via support of Intel AES New Distribution (Intel AES-NI) equipped in the Intel Xeon processor. Organisations can have a genuine performance with trustworthy security by incorporating silicon-based encryption support provided by the Hadoop Distribution File System.

Individuals and machines are producing valuable information, which could improve lives in many ways such as identifying accuracy in predicting weather for developing customised treatments of terminal diseases. The company is dedicated for providing the industry with a better foundation by contributing and supporting the open source community. Parallel to this aim is the Apache Hadoop.

Hadoop is an open source system, which allow storing and processing of large volumes of data. As the current data is vast and more is coming, the design of the framework is open and scalable. This new offering expands the company’s portfolio of networking, storage, datacenter computing and intelligent systems.

HP WebOS Acquired by LG for powering Smart TVs

The South Korean company, LG Electronics Inc. has purchased a mobile operating system from Hewlett-Packard that used to be a Palm product before HP purchased it. The Hewlett-Packard WebOS was originally meant for the company’s smart devices, but it failed and thus turned into an open source project. Now, HP has recently moved into Android for its tablets with Slate 7 and has sold its open source project to LG. LG will be using the HP WebOS for supporting its next-generation Smart TV technology.

The acquisition of source code, engineering talent, associated documents and related websites took place under an authentic agreement between the two companies. As part of the dealing, LG will get licenses under HP’s Intellectual Property (IP) for supporting its WebOs products. It will include patents from Palm including user interface technologies and fundamental operating system for broad use in the industry.

LG will assume protection of the open source projects of Enyo and WebOS. However, HP will retain ownership of all Palm cloud computing assets (infrastructure, source code, talent and contracts). In other words, HP will be supporting Palm users. Both the companies do not expect a material impact of this transaction on their financial statements, but there is no disclosure of terms for the deal.

ASUS ROG ARES II Graphics Card in Malaysia

I remember that back in the year 2012 when ASUS launched its first ARES graphics card, it was considered the most powerful and fastest card at that time. Now, with its newest addition (in partnership with AMD), the company has reclaimed the same title. The new graphics card runs on two AMD Redeon HD 7970 GHz Edition Graphic Processing Units.

What can be great than a two GPUs graphics card for gamers? Not only this, the 6GB GDDR5 video memory offers smooth frame rates while playing any of the current or upcoming PC games. Apart from this, overclockers will appreciate the hybrid cooling system that uses classic cooling fan and closed system liquid cooling solution, providing stability and enhanced heat dissipation.

The card named ASUS ROG ARES II supports dual-slot height that helps in stringing up two of these giants in a Crossfire configuration. Thus, making four GPUs running in a cycle for producing maximum level graphics without any delay.

But, one thing which you will not like is this is a limited edition product with only 1,000 pieces produced that are available at RM5,599. The card comes in a special ROG themed case and a laser-etched aluminium backplate denoting authenticity.

In association with this launch, AMD also revealed the return of ‘Never Settle: Reloaded’ program that packages four most anticipated titles of the year (Tomb Raider, Crysis 3, BioShock Infinite and  DmC) with selected AMD Radeon HD 7800 and HD 7900 cards.

Stretchable Batteries – The Next Big Reality

Have you heard about flexible batteries? Yes, this is true. Scientists have acknowledged that they have developed a flexible lithium-ion battery, which can be expanded to 300 hundred times of its original size and that too without affecting its performance. The battery will return to its original state after being stretched, supporting wireless charging. It is the result of collective efforts of the University of Illinois’ John A. Rogers and Northwestern University’s Yonggang Huang.

The design supports energy storage and ‘a spring within a spring’ wire connections placed in a silicone sheet, which provides a stretchable housing for wires and energy while the serpentine shape wiring goes along with the stretch of the polymer without getting impaired.

The stretchable batteries were made flexible with the use of a process called as ‘ordered unraveling’. The battery contains essential electrical circuitry, supporting wireless charging. The process of stretching is reversible and the battery can run for eight to nine hours on a single charge.

The battery can be used for powering brain-wave monitoring, heart activities, bionic eyeballs and robotic skins, according to the research. It has limitless industry applications specifically with the rising demand of flexible technology across consumer electronics. Hope to see more technological advancements in the future.

Samsung GALAXY S III Mini Nationwide Tour

A good news for those who have been waiting for the new GALAXY S III mini. Samsung is showcasing the S III mini through a nationwide tour at selected locations during February and March 2013. The customers who will purchase the GALAXY S III Mini at the roadshow will stand a chance to win a number of daily prizes such as vouchers, phone flip covers and TecTiles stickers.

Samsung has always been relevant to its customers and the S3 mini offers enhanced usability through a miniature size. In the similar style, the GALAXY S3 mini tour is designed to provide Malaysians more value for every purchase. Other benefits on the purchase of the device include a rebate on the newly-purchased device for trading in any phone as well as free Flip Cover and two free Samsung TecTiles stickers.

In addition, consumers who buy the phone will also be eligible for participating in a lucky draw to win RM50 or RM30 accessories or even another S3 mini. Here is a schedule for all roadshows:

22 February – 24 February 2013 at 1 Utama, GF High Street (Rainforest)

27 February – 3 March 2013 at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Centre Court

8 – 10 March 2013 at Plaza Merdeka, Kuching, UG2

15 – 17 March 2013 at 1st Avenue, Penang, Lower Ground Main Atrium

19 – 24 March 2013 at AEON Tebrau City, Johor Bahru, Sub Court

Visit the roadshow and stand a chance to win exciting gifts.

Snapdragon Discloses Specs of Snapdragon 200 and 400

Qualcomm has recently updated in a company blog post the specifications of the new Snapdragon 200 and 400 processors. These new chips are designed to target the middle-tier and entry-level smartphones. Lets have a look on functionality of both the processors separately.

Snapdragon 200
This processor will feature quad ARM Cortex-A5 CPUs (rated maximum 1.4GHz per core) with an Adreno 203 GPU supporting LPDDR2 RAM. The processor is capable of supporting up to 8-megapixel camera sensors with HD video playback. Designed to deliver a balance of performance, connectivity and battery life for entry-level smartphones, it supports multi-SIM capabilities of Dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS).

Snapdragon 400
This one is designed to deliver features, performance, battery life and connectivity in high volume tablets and smartphones. It features two CPU choices – quad ARM Cortex-A7 running up to 1.4GHz per core and dual Krait CPUs clocked at a maximum of 1.7GHz per core along with an Adreno 305 GPU. The RAM options consist of LPDDR2 or LPDDR3; LPDDR is Low Power Double Data Rate. Modern technologies such as DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps), TDSCDMA, W+G CDMA, 1x Advanced, DSDS and Dual SIM Dual Active (DSDA). This chip can be paired with camera sensors up to 13.5-megapixel, which support full HD video. It also supports Miracast Wi-Fi Display Technology.

Google Drive now with the Preview Feature

One feature I used to miss while using the Google Drive is Preview option. I was not able to preview files and have to use the search option for finding my stuff. However, Google has addressed this problem by introducing the Preview function, which works for more than 30 different file types.

Google Drive preview and share functionality is amongst the latest updates by Google. You just simply have to right click on the file and select preview to view a document. Once the preview window gets open, just browse through the files with the help of the arrow buttons on both sides of the screen. You can also watch videos or documents with multiple pages.

There are more amazing features such as you can select and copy the text from the preview or Microsoft Word document or PDF file. Users can use the zoom buttons to see a file in a detailed manner. Now, I can open, download, share or print a file with just a click.

All these features have made the Chrome OS much more capable as it relies on the Google Drive. I really appreciate the American multinational for looking into minor issues to make the user experience perfect.