As Indian GP takes sabbatical, 2013 race sees Sebastian Vettel crowned quadruple F1 world champion

The German has won all three races at the Buddh International Circuit since the race was first held in 2011.

Sebastian Vettel - Reuters

In 2014, there will be no
Indian GP as the F1
 calendar does not have
 a slot for the race in
addition to other reasons.
The race on Sunday saw
 Indian flavour with bhangda,
 a local dance being performed
 prior to the start of the third
 Indian GP at the
Buddh International Circuit.
Sebastian Vettel who
started on pole and was
 seeking his fourth straight
 drivers title needed to 
finish only fifth and higher
 to clinch the F1 drivers title.
The German did exactly
 that as he won his sixth 
race on the trot this year
 by taking the chequered flag
 first.
Vettel joins F1 legends Juan
 Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher to become only the third driver in the history of the
 sport to win four titles in a row. He is also the youngest man to win four titles which adds to
 his youngest list as he is the youngest driver to score points, lead a race, win a race, be
 on pole, win a championship among other laurels.
Red Bull, Vettel's team also won the constructors championship for the fourth time. Vettel
 haswon all three Indian GPs so far.
After winning the race, Vettel was congratulated by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner
 as he told him, "you join the greats." The 26-year-old four time champion thanked his team
 as he did doughnuts to celebrate his win.
As he celebrated his win on the winner's podium, Sebastian Vettel was joined by car designer
 Adrian Newey, the man many credit as the reason why the German has enjoyed so much
 success.
Vettel did a namaste the Indian form of greeting as he saluted the crowd which was devoid
of the boo boys this time who had a few races ago made it a ritual to boo the F1 champion
 after his race wins.
With his fourth title and a dominance that reminds many F1 fans and lovers of the sport of
 his countryman Michael Schumacher it seems that Sebastian Vettel has ensured his name
 is in the history books as a  quadruple F1 world champion at just 26 years.
The Indian GP has given the F1 season the perfect place to crown the 2013 drivers and
constructors champions as Sebastian Vettel as Red Bull reigned supreme yet again on Indian soil.

Samsung Galaxy Golden premium Android flip-smartphone launched in India for Rs 51,900

Samsung has launched a new premium smartphone called the Samsung Galaxy Golden. A flip Android smartphone with two 3.7-inch displays, this golden colored premium device is priced at a staggering Rs 51,900.

In terms of specifications, the Galaxy Golden flaunts two 3.7-inch Super AMOLED displays and a 3×4 keypad. It is powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz processor paired with 1.5GB of RAM and it runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Other features included are an 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.9-megapixel front camera, 16GB of internal memory and connectivity options like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS/AGPS.

Speaking at the launch event, Samsung India’s Vineet Taneja said, “At Samsung, we are committed to making lives easier and smarter for our customers and Galaxy Golden does exactly that. This specially crafted device is aimed at consumers seeking seamless integration of stunning classic design and functionality to make their lives more efficient.”

Microsoft Windows 8.1 will be available to download today, check out what’s new

Microsoft’s Windows 8.1 will be available to download for existing Windows 8 users for free starting 4:30 PM in India. This is the first major update for Windows 8 that was launched last year. Windows 8 was a dramatic shift from earlier versions of Windows as Microsoft catered to the changing PC landscape with the influx of touchscreens and tablets. Windows 8.1 refines the new Windows experience with Microsoft implementing some feedback it received from users and added some features of its own on top. Here’s what’s new in Windows 8.1.

Return of the Start button: Microsoft had let go of its iconic Start button, which led to significant backlash from users. Many found themselves lost when they could not spot the Start button. Windows 8.1 brings it back. However, the implementation is not the same as pre-Windows 8 environment where the Start button would pop open a menu of apps and other settings. Instead, clicking on the button would lead users to a different Start screen where they can see all the apps that have been installed on the machine without Live Tiles.

Boot to desktop: Another “by popular demand” feature, users will now be able to directly boot to desktop mode. Earlier Windows would only boot to the new user interface and users had to manually shift to the desktop mode every time.

Search: Windows 8.1 brings universal search that would search for keywords on files stored locally, those stored on SkyDrive, keyword reference in apps, online search (powered by Bing, of course), photos and even Wikipedia. This is a huge feature, one that users would end up using a lot.

Multitasking: With Windows 8, users could only open two apps in the new UI and one of them would occupy about two-thirds of the screen while the other was left as a sidebar. Windows 8.1 changes that letting users resize the apps according to their preference and even have more that two apps snapped at any given point of time provided their display is high resolution enough. Rule of thumb suggests every app would take at least 500 pixels of width.

SkyDrive: Microsoft’s cloud service, SkyDrive, was already integrated with Windows 8 and it gets even more tightly knit in Windows 8.1. Now all files will be automatically backed up on SkyDrive, which will also sync the user’s system settings, so whenever the user logs in from a different PC, those settings are already implemented.

Windows Store: Microsoft is also talking about easier discoverability of apps from the Windows Store. Installed apps will also download automatically and the limits on re-installs have been removed.

Settings: One of my biggest pet peeves with Windows 8 was the fragmented settings menu. One could get only some settings in the Modern UI and for others one had to go to the desktop mode. Windows 8.1 brings all possible settings to a single place in the Modern UI mode.

Other improvements: There are a lot of other improvements like Internet Explorer 11, which now allows unlimited tabs and syncs bookmarks across devices. There are improvements made to the keyboard and some new pre-installed Microsoft apps. The lock screen can work as a personal photo frame of sorts. One can even have animated background on the Start screen and there are more size options for Tiles that can be resized more easily when not using a mouse.

Overall, Windows 8.1 looks like what Windows 8 should have been. It is great to see that Microsoft is hearing what its users are saying and more importantly, implementing those suggestions. It is also assuring that the regular three year wait between updates has gone and we can look forward to regular annual updates.

Stephen Elop was never the first choice for Nokia’s CEO post: WSJ

As Stephen Elop readies to shift base from Nokia to Microsoft, a memoir by former chairman of Nokia, Jorma Ollila, has dropped a bombshell regarding his appointment three years back. According to him, Elop was never the first choice for the CEO post, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In his book titled Mahdoton Menestys or An Impossible Success, the former chairman reveals how back in 2010, he flew to the US to interview five potential candidates for the CEO post. After interviewing them over the course of three days, Ollila’s choice was a 50-year old man who was the number two man at a well known American technology company. He doesn’t name the person in his book, but says he had to withdraw himself from the selection process due to personal reasons.

This prompted Ollila to turn to his second choice— Stephen Elop. Ollila though admits that he wasn’t sure about Elop, wondering whether he was too much of an American-style corporate executive for the Finnish company. But in the end, what impressed him was that Elop was “a good salesman and a decisive corporate executive.”

Elop came to Nokia in September 2010 from Microsoft. He in a way turned around Nokia, but more importantly ensured that Microsoft still had a role to play in the smartphone industry thanks to one dedicated hardware partner. While other brands went for Android or a combination of operating systems, Nokia was the only one to dedicate all its efforts to Windows Phone.

Purported Nokia Lumia 1520 press photo leaked

Later this month on October 22, Nokia is expected to launch its first ever phablet called the Lumia 1520. Lately we have seen a bunch of photos leak that give us a glimpse at how the device is likely to look. Popular leakster @evleaks has added to that list by revealing the first ever press photo of the phablet.

The press photo is consistent with what we have heard before, showing the similar polycarbonate unibody design language seen on other Lumias. To recap on what we know so far, the Lumia 1520 is likely to feature a 1080p full HD display, Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM, a 20-megapixel camera which will shoot photos in 16-megapixel and 5-megapixel resolutions simultaneously, 32GB of internal memory and microSD support, a nano-SIM card slot and Microsoft’s GDR3 update.

sweet mamories of our bapu....

" People say that the days of big public meetings, processions and
speeches are past, that the time has come to work while keeping the
mouth shut. But the organizers of conferences and public meetings
are always anxious to make great shows of them. In their zeal, many
times they forget the truth and practise deception on the innocent
public while making preparations for conferences. A notice about
some conference says:

It is a matter of great pleasure that the conference is going to take place
in a big way. Important leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, the Ali Brothers,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Kitchlew, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Devdas
Gandhi, Shankerlal Banker, Rajagopalachari, Seth Jamnalal Bajaj, Maulana
A. Jafar Khan, Shrimati Gandhi, Bi Amma Sahiba, Tapasvi Sunderlal,
Makhanlal Chaturvedi , Shrimati Subhadra Kumari, etc., are expected to come.

It is possible that the reception committee has sent invitations to
these leaders. But till replies have been received from them saying that
they will try to come, it is not true to say that they are expected to
come. However commendable the intention may be, it is improper to
mislead people. Once or twice people may be deceived, but very soon
the workers lose their prestige as well as the I trust of the people.
Abraham Lincoln has rightly said: ‘You can fool all the people some
of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool
all the people all the time.”

- M.K.Gandhi , Hindi Navajivan, 1-6-1924

Jolla reveals specifications for forthcoming smartphone

A month of two back we told you about Finnish-startup Jolla’s first smartphone, which would run on MeeGo based Sailfish OS. Only a few details of the phone were known at the time, but now the company has revealed some new information on this upcoming smartphone.

The yet unnamed smartphone sports a 4.5-inch qHD (960×540 pixels) display with Gorilla Glass 2 protection and will be powered by dual-core processor— the exact model is yet to be revealed— clocked at 1.4GHz and paired with 1GB of RAM.

Other features said to be included are an 8-megapixel rear snapper, 2-megapixel front camera and a 2,100mAh battery, which is good enough for 7 hours of talk time and 500 hours on standby mode. On the connectivity front, the device features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and I2C for connectivity with extensions like an external keyboard.

As we’ve mentioned before, the device is also compatible with Android apps, but we will pass our judgment on it when we see the phone in action. The device is up for pre-order for 399 Euros, and Jolla says that it plans to ship the device by the end of the year.

Sony Xperia Z1 available for Rs 37,397 via eBay India promotion offer

Sony’s latest flagship smartphone, the Xperia Z1 is now available on eBay India for just Rs 37,397 as a part of its festive season promotional offer. eBay India keeps coming up with such deals frequently where it makes limited number of units available at a heavily discounted price. The Sony Xperia Z1 was launched a fortnight ago for Rs 44,990.

The Xperia Z1 retains the best from the Xperia Z and improves on some of its shortcomings. It now features a 20.7-megapixel camera, a refined design with a sturdy aluminum frame and a massive 3,000mAh battery. It also runs on the latest and greatest Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor.

You can read our first impressions of the smartphone here.

Samsung Galaxy Star Pro Android smartphone with 4-inch display spotted selling for Rs 6,989

Here comes another Samsung Galaxy smartphone which falls in the 4-inch entry level smartphone segment to compete against the likes of Mircomax and other domestic handset vendors ruling this segment. Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy Star Pro S7262 has spotted selling on a popular online retail portal for as little as Rs 6,989. It becomes Samsung’s second 4-inch smartphone priced under Rs 10,000 after the Galaxy Trend Duos.

The Galaxy Smart Pro supports dual-SIM and comes with a 4-inch WVGA display (480×800 pixels) just like the Galaxy Trend Duos. It runs on the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is powered by a 1GHz single-core cortex A5 processor coupled with 512MB of RAM. In addition to that, there is 4GB of internal storage which can be supplemented with a 32GB of microSD card. Basically, aside the display, it is an extension of the Galaxy Star smartphone launched earlier for Rs 5,240.

It also features a 2-megapixel rear camera which is capable of shooting videos but lacks a front-facing camera like the Galaxy Trend Duos. The Galaxy Star Pro supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but doesn’t have 3G connectivity. Other features in the phone include an accelerometer and a 1500mAH battery, which is claimed to offer up to 15 hours of talktime and up to 370 hours of standby time. In addition to that the smartphone will come pre-loaded with several Samsung apps including ChatON, as well as other apps like mFluent IM, and ActiveSync.

With this phone, it is clear that Samsung has its eyes set on its domestic rivals, especially Micromax which with 22 percent smartphone market share has become a threat to Samsung’s 26 percent market share in India.

HTC rolls out Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 update for One X, One X+ and Butterfly in India

HTC is now rolling out the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update to the One X, One X+ and Butterfly smartphones in India. All these devices were launched in 2012. Along with the newer version of Android, the devices will also get the HTC Sense 5 user interface.

One of the key highlights of the Sense 5 UI is the addition of a magazine aggregation home-screen view known as BlinkFeed. This feature was first seen earlier this year when the company launched the HTC One smartphone. The update also adds a function known as HTC Video Highlights and a new quick setting menu, which is a part of Android 4.2.2. The update also adds the Android daydream feature and home-screen widgets.

While all these features have been seen before on HTC’s 2013 devices, older phones did not receive the update. Of all the devices, perhaps the HTC Butterfly was in dire need for the new update considering it was launched in India only in 2013.

Alleged LG Nexus 5 photo and specifications leaked

We have been hearing a few murmurs about the forthcoming Nexus 5 and they seem to be growing louder every day. Now, adding to these is a member on MacRumors forums who has posted an alleged photo of the LG Nexus 5. The forum member mentions that the phone is smaller than the recently-launched G2 and like it has very slim bezels. Its display, he noted, is not great. But this could very well be a prototype and the final device could be very different. The device in the photo though is consistent with previously leaked photos.

Italian website AndroidWorld.it (via GSMArena) recently got its hands on a Nexus 5 log, which reveals a lot of internal specifications. According to the log, the Nexus 5 is said to flaunt a 5-inch 1080p display with 442ppi pixel density and powered by a Snapdragon 800 SoC paired with 2GB of RAM. It is also said to include features like an 8-megapixel rear camera, 1.2-megapixel front camera, 16GB of internal storage, and a 2,300mAh battery with support for wireless charging. On the software front, the log notes that the device runs on Android 4.4 KitKat.

It’s not clear at the moment when the device will be launched, but some reports circulating on the Internet peg the end of October as a potential launch timeline.