Nissan GT-R ‘Track Pack’ revealed

Nissan GT-R ‘Track Pack’ revealed

Allow us to regale you with scientifically proven facts concerning the Nissan GT-R, as proven by Jeremy. It can demolish a Jaguar XKR-S in a straight line drag race. It doesn't use internal combustion in the traditional sense of having an engine, because it has a BOMB underneath the bonnet. And its phenomenal grip is entirely capable of tearing off a man's face.

And now, Nissan has made it even harder. Welcome, Internet, to the GT-R ‘Track Pack'.

Simply put, it gets additional brake cooling ducts, said to reduce brake temperature by up to 100 degrees during track abuse, revised suspension spring rates, lightweight forged RAYS alloys, Recaro front seats trimmed in blue with a ‘high-grip' material and a track pack badge. Oh, and the rear seat has been deleted.

Fanatec Forza Motorsport CSR wheel and Elite pedals review

It's amazing to realize that about two years ago Fanatec's first Xbox 360 racing wheel, the Forza 3 Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel, hit the scene. Although it turned out to be a mixed bag, Fanatec pleasantly surprised us with its Porsche GT2 and Clubsport Pedals in January of this year -- despite a roaring fan and shaky shifter mounts. Now, we're saying hello to a new trio of racing sim-related goods intended for Forza Motorsport 4 on Xbox 360: the $249.95 Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel, $59.95 shifter set, and $149.95 CSR Elite Pedals

If you'll recall, it was back in March that we checked some of this kit out, and now with Forza 4 here, we hooked this mashup of gear up with our Playseat Evolution for a massive amount of virtual spins. So, did this combination help speed past the checkerboard with a respectable feel? Shift past the break find out in our full review.

 

Hardware

Admittedly, you may find yourself procuring only a portion of the items featured here -- after all, Fanatec is stranger to catering to folks who love piecemeal. But for what's at hand, all together it weighs it weighs in at over 30 pounds -- we'd like to apologize to the UPS worker tasked with carrying it all to our door. Inside of each box we found a variety of cables, screws and each unit itself, but needed to supply our own hex wrenches (and a drill) for installation. Essentially, you should anticipate having at least a semi-permanent setup for this rig.
From the rear, the CSR wheel appears strikingly similar to Fanatec's GT2, and that's because they're more or less built from the same foundation. The CSR wheel is said to have "updated internals," but like its older brother, it's packing a belt-driven Mabuchi 550 force feedback motor along with two other motors that handle vibration. What has definitely changed, however, is the overall theme -- namely, all of the Forza inspired tweaks like its red and black color scheme. Along the right side, you'll find a duo of PS/2 ports for connecting the shifter pedals, as well as a power jack and an on / off button. Meanwhile, on the left, there's an Xbox Live headset jack, a USB standard-B port (for PC / PS3 hookup) and another shifter connector if you'd prefer it there or want to hookup a handbrake. Notably, you'll be able to connect many of Fanatec's other shifters / pedals, and with an optional adapter, even Logitech's G25 / 27 gear. Lastly, positioned on the wheel's dash is the familiar Xbox guide button.

The wheel's inner rim is fashioned from a slab of brushed-aluminum and features the Forza logo dead center with Xbox buttons are laid out in a cluster on the right, a three-number presets LCD planted top-center (more on this later), four red buttons around it and a new 5-way d-pad on the left. All of the buttons are easily within thumbs' reach, and best of all, on back you'll find sizeable metal paddle shifters that move with the wheel. The most obvious change, though, is the racing-styled wheel grip.

At the CSR's nine and three o'clock positions are comfortable contours fashioned with smooth rubber and Alcantara for extra tack, ensuring our sweaty hands never slipped or cramped. The rest of the wheel however (excluding the bit of rubber on its underside), is made of slick and glossy black plastic. Although we normally positioned our hands on two of the three aforementioned sections, full rotations had us yearning for an all around soft-touch feel. (Not to mention that the GT2 spoiled us with its full Alcantara covering.)

If you're not fond of paddles, that's where the optional shifter set comes in -- and just like the GT2, you'll get a rail-mountable sequential, and 6-1 H-pattern shifter. Both have a similar base with the same glossy plastic as the wheel, while the hand-grips are fashioned completely from metal. They're noticeably larger than than those made for the GT2, and feel superb in palm. Oddly, though, the PS/2 port for hookup is loaded on the bottom of each unit, which caused them to sometimes become loose from hitting our knees.

Completing this trio are the CSR Elite pedals, which are a step up from the plasticky entry-level CSR pedals, but still a slightly cheaper answer to last to Fanatec's Clubsports Like their CSR counterpart, the pedals come pre-assembled on a huge plastic and metal base with adjustable and removable aluminum pedals. This Elite version, however, opts for less plastic, using width- adjustable metal rails for each pedal assembly, pedals (with adjustable plates) and tension-adjustable pedal posts.

The whole system is certainly an option for custom setups, and once more, a pedal inversion kit is available for extra realism. Notably, the Elite Pedals feature an adjustable load cell (pressure sensitive) brake like the Clubsports, but forgo any built-in ABS vibration (good riddance), instead leaving it to the CSR wheel. The clutch and gas are also like the Clubsports, packing distance-sensing potentiometers.

Installation and setup

As you'd expect with a serious gear like this there are mounting options aplenty, and it's laid out exactly like the GT2. For those not familiar, the underside of the CSR wheel is loaded with a removeable desk clamp, and smathering of rubber pads and screw-holes on its base for permanent placement.

To be blunt, the desk clamp is rather mediocre. We annoyingly needed a surface that was about an inch thick to start, and after twisting its hand screw to a secure fit we were still getting slight wheel wobble. While it's not uncommon for many wheels -- and mostly adequate for quick setup and teardown -- we can't help to note that our $150 Logitech Driving Force GT mounts better to a variety of surfaces. It's not something of concern during races, but we're surprised Fanatec hasn't reworked this fitting. With that said, it'll ideally be screwed into a racing rig like Fanatec's $150 Rennsport wheel stand -- as we've noted in the past, these racing setups can thin-wallets with a single card swipe depending on your wants. Although the stand was sent to aid our testing, we opted to hook up to our Playseat Evolution sim-racing cockpit. 

As we mentioned in a recent IRL piece, this is an extremely solid offering that allows for a permanent yet movable setup, and a proper racing seat feel. To start, we used a downloadable drill template to create two new holes on our Playseat's wheel bracket, and then bolted the CSR wheel in with its included hex screws. Interestingly, the wheel has a few more sections for screws, but just the two gave us a tight fit that was free of any give.

Next up, was mounting the shifter rails. They slide in through the side of the wheel's base, and then get locked by twisting using two coin screws. Past that, any of the two shifters can be hooked into place -- it does take a bit of force, however, and it's hard to gauge when the screws are twisted tight. The trickiest part of setup was figuring out how to secure the CSR Elite pedals' wide base onto the Playseat's smaller pedal plate. The base (like the wheel) can also be bolted down, but for our needs a combination of Velcro loops and locking zip-ties kept it free from budging loose (sometimes, you gotta do, what you gotta do). It's worth noting that its nearly 10-pound weight and size keeps it from shifting on hard floors.

The last step was wiring it all it all together... the shifter plugs into the wheel, which connects with the pedals and its power adapter. That's it. Overall, the initial setup does take quite of bit time, but it's no worse than what we've experienced with similar kits. The CSR is technically "wireless" like an Xbox controller, and getting it to sync with our Xbox was just as simple. Oddly though, it doesn't function correctly unless the console is turned on first -- at best it's a minor announce. Upon powering up, the CSR wheel's fans kick in, followed by the wheel itself doing some quick calibration spins. Notably, the wheel works for PS3 and PC as well, requiring all but a USB connection.

We can't believe we're saying this again, but its fan is annoyingly whizzy, similar to our experience with the GT2. Amazingly, it managed to worsen once synced with the Xbox, as a shrill eeeEeeeEeee sound got added in fray. Now, before you say, "but surely some moderate volume eases that pain away" -- not a chance, even with a gaming headset on. Fanatec thankfully offers some consolation for the problem this time around with a button combo that'll have the fans remain off until the wheel determines it needs cooling. Still, the high pitched whine always remains as an ever-present reminder that you're behind the wheel of a virtual sports car.

In use

 

So, was the somewhat arduous setup process worth it? In couple of words: oh yes. The CSR wheel provides an impressive amount of force feedback, which let us clearly feel whether we were slipping or gripping the asphalt. Steering movements are fluid and responsive, being swift to react in turns with nary a bit of lag when spinning through its 900 degrees of rotation. The internal motor is also extremely smooth and not too noisy, even when fighting for control after taking a corner to tight. With certain games like Forza, you'll also get the added benefit of shock vibration, letting you feel bumps, scrapes and even engine revs, but just like the Forza 3 911 wheel, it's much too tame for our taste -- even when cranked up. While it certainly makes the game feel more immersive, you'll still need to rely on your on-screen RPMs for those perfect shifts.

One of the major highlights of this wheel is how customizable it is. Remember that LCD display we mentioned? It's your own personal tuneup shop within the wheel itself and can be accessed by simply hitting small button to the right of the display. The LCD lights up, letting you save up to five custom presets including adjustments for: Sensitivity (from 90 to 900 degrees of total spin), Force Feedback, Shock Vibration, five Drift Modes (which actually uses the motor to help you turn the wheel faster), ABS Vibration (how soon the wheel vibrates to simulate brake lockup), Linearity (how much actual wheel spin is required for it to translate to 900 degrees of rotation) and its center Dead Zone. (Console users also benefit from Spring and Damper settings.)

All of these options allowed us to quickly create a variety of helpful tunings, but it should be noted that it can also make the wheel act in a less than realistic manner -- like how we set the drift mode to allow for super-human speed while turning through chicanes. Even so, with the right tweaks the CSR wheel has the potential to feel extremely personalized, offering a better feel for how your virtual car is reacting to your inputs. Of course, any decent steering rig will offer an advantage over your average controller, but having an array of constantly tweakable parameters on a smoothly performing wheel is really something of a joy.

Speaking of shifting, all three options (paddles, sequential and H-pattern sticks), for the most part, worked admirably. The paddles were easy to press with a finger and met with a reassuring click, while the sequential shifter offered the same in an arcade-style stick layout. Our weapon of choice, however, was the six-speed H-pattern unit. Each gear slot is tightly lined and the stick itself has an awesome amount of tension to it. Every shift feels very mechanical, save for the slight click you get in each position. Despite their plastic foundations, both sticks and the paddles held their own even if we chose to be heavy-handed when quickly downshifting. Our only real gripe is that, again like the GT2, we couldn't manage to get the rails totally secure and it allowed the shifters to sway a bit more than we'd have preferred while in use.

We were also pleased by the performance of the pedals. For our use, we adjusted the spring tension for a slightly looser brake (setting the dial to 7 for compensation) and a tighter throttle so we could attain a more selective grip through its range. Notably, we needed our own hex screw to do so, but the process took no more than a few minutes. The clutch also acted as we expected with a long and smooth throw that functioned precisely in tune with our shifts. There is one bothersome issue we came across, though. Despite the various tweaks that can be made to the peds, disappointingly, the rake attack of each one is fixed -- essentially, cockpit users will need their own tiltable pedal plate if they'd prefer a custom angle. Pulling off the plastic screw spacers between the posts and the pedals gave us a bit of extra rearward tilt, but it was still far from ideal given the permanent angle of our Playseat. Overall, it's exciting to have this level of foot control in something slightly less wallet-thinning than the Clubsports.

Wrap-up

So, let's break it all down. For better or worse, the CSR wheel and shifter set function very much like a racing-styled rebadge of the Porsche GT2, offering a familiar interface and basically the same performance we enjoyed last time around, albeit with a new set of grips and re-aligned buttons. That being the case, it's hard to be okay with finding similar issues we brought up with past wheels cropping up again -- like the noisy fan and finicky shifter rails, for instance. The CSR wheel itself isn't a terribly exciting addition to Fanatec's lineup aside from looks, but that doesn't make it any less excellent of a Forza 4 companion. If you weren't sold on the GT2's looks or shape, but wanted the functionality it offered, then the CSR wheel may be for you. Of course, Fanatec will release its extra-serious $500 dollar CSR Elite in December, so those who'd consider themselves among the most serious Forza drivers may want to hold off until then. We also can neglect to mention that this is an Xbox 360 wheel at its core, and while it will work with PS3s and PCs, the experience is a bit less streamlined.

When it comes to the CSR Elite pedals, we'd easily recommend them at their $150 price point. You're getting highly adjustable, fluid feeling pedals and an extra realistic movement on the brake itself -- not to mention the build quality is top notch. Overall, we'd have no qualms using them in place of the slightly spendier Clubsports, whose built-in vibration was passble at best. It is worth noting that Fanatec does offer a non-Elite version of the pedals with less features priced at $80, if Elites are a bit to rich.

As a package, the CSR wheel, Elite pedals and shifter set are an amazing complement to Forza 4 and any titles that can benefit from what it has to offer. Furthermore, while the pieces are modular within Fanatec's (and some of Logitech's) other racing gear, it always leaves the option for changing out parts down the line or upgrading a section of your current setup. At $460 dollars combined, this setup is certainly reserved for only those ready to throw countless hours playing time in, but it certainly isn't a compelling upgrade if you're already rocking a GT2 with Clubsports. Overall, if you're ready to pay the premium, Fanatec's latest creations will do an admirable job of helping you out on the virtual track.

Sony Reader WiFi officially drops to $129.99

Love 'em or hate 'em, one thing's for sure -- e-readers just keep getting cheaper. The latest to see a dip in price is the Sony Reader WiFi, which debuted at $149.99 just a couple of months back, but has now received a permanent drop to $129.99. What's more, Sony is also running a trade-in program through the end of December that will give you an additional $50 off if you turn in any old e-reader. Not quite the instant discount that an ad-supported Kindle gives you, but certainly not a bad deal if you're looking to upgrade from an older model.

Apple's request to block Samsung Galaxy tablet, phone sales in the US is denied

Apple's request to block Samsung Galaxy tablet, phone sales in the US is denied

As the legal drama between Apple and Samsung drags on around the world, US District Court Judge has rejected Apple's request to block the sales of Galaxy devices. Reuters reports the ruling came out late Friday, with the judge deciding "It is not clear that an injunction on Samsung's accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed,". This isn't the first rejection for the folks from Cupertino either, after a request to speed up the trial was also denied back in July. The case itself will of course go on, but this means you'll still be able to get your hands on those Galaxy Tabs, Galaxy S IIs, and the like in the meantime.

Update: While Apple has yet to comment on the ruling, Samsung has issued an official statement which you can check out after the break.

Update 2: Feel like thumbing through the entire 65 page ruling? FOSS Patents has posted the entire document on Scribd, you'll find it embedded after the break.

11-12-02 Order Denying Apple Preliminary Injunction Against Samsung

Samsung:

Samsung welcomes today's ruling denying Apple's request for a preliminary injunction. This ruling confirms our long-held view that Apple's arguments lack merit. In particular, the court has recognized that Samsung has raised substantial questions about the validity of certain Apple design patents. We are confident that we can demonstrate the distinctiveness of Samsung's mobile devices when the case goes to trial next year. We will continue to assert our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple's claims to ensure our continued ability to provide innovative mobile products to consumers.

Samsung's two-faced SCH-W999 Android plays the dual core, dual SIM game

Remember Samsung's second-gen dual-screen Android clamshell we spotted about a month ago? Well, here it is at last: announced in partnership with China Telecom, this SCH-W999 flip phone packs two 3.5-inch 480 x 800 Super AMOLED panels back to back, along with a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660, Android 2.3 with TouchWiz, HyperSkin back cover (as featured on the Galaxy Nexus for grip plus anti-smear), five megapixel camera, Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi and WAPI (China's not-so-successful take on WiFi, basically).

Like many phones on China Telecom, the W999 comes with dual SIM slots and dual-mode connectivity (GSM and CDMA2000, with the latter offering EV-DO 3G), but with the additional support for penta-band radio for globetrotters. Want to nab one? We're looking at a 2012 launch, though there's no word on prices just yet -- well, just so you know, the predecessor W899 starts from ¥8990 ($1,410), so good luck with your garage sale. We got you some pictures from the China launch event after the break, courtesy of Samsung Mobile.

DIRTY PICTURE 2011 REVIEW

Dirty picture

Director: Milan Luthria
Cast: Vidya Balan, Emraan Hashmi, Naseeruddin Shah


Rating:  3/5
Story:
              The film was based on the life of the past famous actress "SILK SMITHA". the story was well known to every one , silk(vidya balan) was a girl who was fascinated about acting in movies to get a good actress.with that desire she run away from her house and she reaches the madras. there she starts trying for the role of actress. every one discourages her ,that she was unfit for the acting and get back home. in-spite of listing to all those words she faces some problems and finally she gets a role to play in a dance and surprisingly  that will be  a huge hit.

The director of the film imran hashmi does'n like the character of silk.but she was brought up by the actor surya kanth(naseeruddin shah).the afire of the silk and surya kanth was very hot. and the silk get famous all around the film industry.but when the surya kanth get bored of the silk he neglects her,she noticed that he was cheating her and she wants to overcome that situation and in the mean while she was getting closed to rama kanth(tusshar kapoor) the brother of surya kanth. rama kanth was attracted to silk and in one situation he was in love with silk.
this lead to some unwanted consequences with surya kanth.and in the mean while a new actor shelkila was also a huge competitions for silk. this leads to the de-great of her name and fame.silk till then doesn't see what the society was talking about her with his over confidence,but when her name was getting down she realise and verify the previous magazines and get realise about the talk of the people. from that day she was worried about the carrier and to get a success she produces a film acting in a triple role film and that film was a huge disaster.

with that film she was in huge loss and no chance as actress and nothing. she thought about her mother and she was also no interested  in silk due to the bold roles of silk.that lead to depression of silk and no one supported her when she was in problems but imran hashmi then get attracted in silk.but the silk has no chance.and she was completely depressed and the time to late to get realise and she make a suicide.
THIS WAS THE END.

ACTING:

              A film producer, desperately seeking a hit, sees a starlet in the smalltime but sexy and extremely ambitious girl Reshma. He immediately rechristens her as Silk. She instantaneously renames him as keeda (worm) justifying thatkeede hi toh banate hain silk (worms produce silk). That smart and symbolic line pretty much sums up the bigger picture behind the dirty picture. The supposedly decent and respectable society is the one that makes a Silk out of Reshma and sex-symbol out of Silk.

This is the rise and fall story of a nonentity who turns the biggest sex-symbol in cinema, loosely modeled on the lines of real-life temptresses of the 80s like Silk Smitha and Disco Shanti. Reshma (Vidya Balan) might not have admirable acting abilities but sure knows how to use her sexual charm to her benefit - both onscreen and offscreen. That gives her an easy entry into the cine-world and soon she starts dominating film posters and ruling hearts of her fans.

But the same people, who make a star out of her, pull her down subsequently. Superstar Suryakant (Naseeruddin Shah) sees this woman as a potential threat to his stardom and decides to clip her wings. Even Ramakant (Tusshar Kapoor), who loves her, ditches her for her indulgence in substance abuse. On the contrary, filmmaker Abraham (Emraan Hashmi), the man who hated her the most, gets attracted towards her.

Director Milan Luthria has complete control over the subject matter in almost every aspect - whether it's the story, grammar of milieu or exploring the psyche of the female protagonist. In his biographical account of a sex-symbol, while he explores the sensual side of Vidya Balan to the hilt, at the same time he also shows utmost sensitivity in not exploiting the premise in a way that the film turns vulgar in itself. From heaving bosom, plunging necklines, dumpy hemlines, sexy waistlines, smooching scenes to physical intimacy - the film has it all. But the intentional indecency is supported by a decent story so the skin-show never comes across as shameless sleaze. The barefaced demeanour of the film candidly highlights the exploits of the industry and the unapologetic attitude of its female protagonist. And since the film is more a behind-the-scene account of Silk than her onscreen antics, it touches more than titillating.

Rajat Arora's writing starts off promisingly and runs on a rapid pace, spanning the entire film career of Silk. The film keeps you riveted with its breakneck scene-flow and some innovative writing. Dialogues, undoubtedly, are Arora's mainstay and he ensures a dramatic punch in almost every line of the film, which elevates the overall impact to an altogether different level. While his lines are mostly metaphoric, there are also some suggestive gems in the continual verbal combats of the film. But after a point, one feels that the lines are slightly overwritten when they start defining the scenes over the screenplay, per se.



The upsurge of Silk's stardom has a steady graph though the ensuing downfall seems somewhat hurried and abrupt. With the customary elements of success-getting-into-head and alcoholismand anger ruining her career, somewhere the film turns into a regular rise-n-fall story and loses its USP. However that's a part-n-parcel of a story like this. Also the Vidya-Emraan romance track seems slightly forced to culminate the plot. The climactic scene where a self-disgusted Silk isn't able to face her reflection seems straight out of Priyanka Chopra's Fashion. But above all that, what acts as a bigger letdown is that there isn't a defined or convincing enough conflict in the climax that makes way for the tragic end that the film opts for.

The art direction of the film is immaculate as it correctly brings out the flamboyant and larger-than-life film industry of the 80s. Niharika Khan's costume designs that put the cleavages, midriffs and bra-straps to constant display perfectly complement with the sex-symbol image of Silk. Akiv Ali edits the film through crisp scenes and frequent montages, never letting the biographical account seem unending. Bappi Lahiri's Oh La La and the South chartbuster Nakka Mukka are skillfully incorporated in backdrop to add effect. 

It goes without saying that the film belongs to Vidya Balan and she does absolute justice in playing her part to perfection. Not only is she bold in terms of her body language, she comes up with an audacious act and brings out the inner turmoil and pathos of her character effortlessly.Emraan Hashmi is most effective amongst the male leads and makes his presence felt in this female-dominated drama with his natural act. Naseeruddin Shah as an ageing superstar is hilarious in his heroic antics and vicious in his manipulative ways. Tusshar Kapoor is average. Rajesh Sharma as the South producer and Anju Mahendroo as the venomous journalist are effective.

                                        
                                           ACTING WAS SUPERB

China overtakes US as top smartphone market

China has overtaken the United States to become the world's largest smartphone market by volume although the US still leads in terms of revenue, a market research firm said Wednesday. 

Strategy Analytic said that smartphone shipments hit 24 million units in China during the third quarter of the year compared to 23 million units in the United States. 

"The United States remains the world's largest smartphone market by revenue, but China has overtaken the United States in terms of volume," said Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston. 

"China is now at the forefront of the worldwide mobile computing boom," Mawston said. "China has become a large and growing smartphone market that no hardware vendor, component .maker or content developer can afford to ignore." 

Strategy Analytics said smartphone shipments in China grew 58 percent in the third quarter over the previous quarter to 23.9 million units and fell seven percent to 23.3 million units in the United States in the same period.

"China's rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands," Strategy Analytics director Tom Kang said. 

Finland's Nokia leads China's smartphone market with 28 percent share while Taiwan's HTC heads the US smartphone market with 24 percent share, according to Strategy Analytics.

IBM expands India operations; opens 3 regional offices

Technology giant IBM today said it plans to set up offices in 40 cities across India by 2013. 

It announced the opening of three regional offices in Dehradun, Guwahati and Raipur, taking the total number of branch offices to 18 across India. 

"IBM is currently focused on increasing its presence in smaller, rapidly developing Indian cities as part of its plan to establish a presence in 40 Indian cities by 2013," IBM said in a statement. 

By extending its network of regional branches, IBM is strengthening its ability to deliver more advanced technologies and services to its clients, it added. 

The company, however, did not comment on the head-count at these centres. It has also opened offices in Ahmedabad, Indore and Coimbatore over the past one year. 

IBM is experiencing particular demand for information management, security, cloud computing and business analytics solutions as businesses and government organisations turn to IT to reduce costs and gain competitive advantage, it said. 

IBM has a number of clients in Dehradun, Guwahati and Raipur where it is focused on banking, education, government, energy, manufacturing, industry and IT sectors. 

Some of IBM's clients in these regions include Vandana Global and Jindal Steel in Raipur and Kurmanchal Bank and Uttarakhand Power Corporation in Dehradun. 

The company is also focusing on increasing partnership with the educational institutes to support the growth of Open Source technologies. 

IBM is partnering with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Guwahati to foster innovation and promote local technology talent. 

Facebook, HTC building Android smartphone: Report

Facebook has allied with Taiwan's HTC to build a customized smartphone powered by Google's Android mobile operating system, according to technology blog All Things Digital. 

The project, code named "Buffy," is aimed at making a handset tailored for the California-based social networking platform, according to the blog, which is owned by Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal. 

The device would "deeply integrate" Facebook, which has more than 800 million members, "at the core of its being," All Things Digital said. 

A Facebook team has been working with HTC as well as trying to make deals with telecom providers for the smartphone, which it hopes to release within the next 18 months, the blog said. 

A Facebook spokesman declined to comment directly on the "Buffy" project to Things Digital but said: "Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social. 

"We're working across the entire mobile industry; with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world," the spokesman said. 

HTC already builds phones with dedicated Facebook programs.

Idea Cellular to sell $110 smartphone in 3G push

MUMBAI: Idea Cellular, India's fourth-biggest mobile phone carrier by subscribers, on Wednesday launched two low-cost smartphone models as it strives to boost usage of third-generation (3G) wireless data services in a price-sensitive market.

Idea, part of India's Aditya Birla conglomerate, will sell the smartphones at 5,850 rupees ($110) and 7,992 rupees, respectively. Idea will also bundle free data services as an introductory offer, it said in a statement.

From midnight, iPhone 4S up for grabs

NEW DELHI: Leading telecom operators Airtel and Aircel will launch the much-awaited iPhone 4S smartphone in the country at midnight today at prices starting from Rs 44,500. 

Both the telecom operators have priced the 16-GB model at Rs 44,500, while the 32-GB and 64-GB versions will be available for Rs 50,900 and Rs 57,500, respectively. 

Though pre-booking for the latest iPhone model was on from November 18, starting midnight today, the device will be up for grabs at select Airtel and Aircel stores. 

The iPhone 4S's predecessors -- the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 -- are still available in the Indian market, priced at Rs 20,900 (8GB) and Rs 37,900 (8GB) respectively. 

The iPhone 4S comes with a 3.5-inch, 960 x 640-pixel widescreen multi-touch retina display. It is powered by a dual-core A5 chip processor and sports the new iOS 5 operating system, which the company claims offers faster web browsing and enhanced gaming experiences. 

Its 8-MP camera has a larger aperture, a custom lens, advanced hybrid infrared filter and face detection feature. Users can record videos in 1080p HD and also use the front facing VGA camera for video chatting. 

Another interesting feature is the new voice-activated personal assistant, Siri. The user can ask Siri for a plethora of information by voice, such as the location of the nearest restaurant, and it will provide an answer. 

Siri can also be used to make phone calls, send messages, schedule meetings and set reminders, among other things.

International journalists to watch Sri Ramarajyam

Sri Ramarajyam is to be screened specially for international journalists at the on-going 42nd International Film Festival of India, Goa. 

Film Festival of India asked the producer Yalamanchali Saibabu to send across the print of the movie to screen for 500 national and international journalists and other delegates at this venue. 

The screening is to be held on November 28, 2011. 

Sri Ramarajyam won great reviews from media and has been getting good response from audiences. 

'Nokia Lumia 800 destined to be a huge hit'

London: A recent post on Nokia's official blog claims the UK pre-orders for Lumia 800 has been higher than any previous Nokia handset.

"Nokia sources tonight confirmed the Nokia Lumia 800 is destined to be a huge hit," said the post.

“The level of pre-orders, as well as reaction in shops today, lead us to be very positive about the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800," said Nokia spokesman, Ray Haddow.

Information from operators and retail partners confirmed a high level of pre-orders, the post added.

People have reportedly been lining up at Nokia stores to not just check out the handset, but also place orders for it, claims the company.

The post said, “In addition, we’ve had lots of people saying that they intend to switch to the Nokia Lumia 800 at their next upgrade.”

The Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 are the first from Nokia to run on the Mango WP platform, and saw their global launch last month at Nokia World 2011.

At a weight of 142 g, the phone measures116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1mm and has a single-piece, polycarbonate body that sports bright AMOLED ClearBlack display with toughened glass stretching from side-to-side, says a post on Nokia’s official blog.

Powered by a 1.4GHz processor, the phone has a graphics co-processor too that drives the operating system to deliver a smooth user experience, the post informs.

It says the phone’s 16GB of internal user memory has cloud computing integrated to offer 25GB of free SkyDrive storage for music and picture files. It comes in three black, cyan and magenta colours.

The Nokia Lumia 800 sports an 8 MP auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, which is capable of shooting HD video at 30 frames per second. The phone promises talktime of up to 13 hours, or standby for up to 335 hours.

Other features include Nokia Drive for free turn-by-turn navigation and a dedicated in-car interface. Nokia Drive “turns the Nokia Lumia 800 into a fully-fledged personal navigation device”, says the company.

“Nokia Music introduces MixRadio, bringing a free, global, mobile music-streaming service with hundreds of locally-relevant channels available”.

The phone has Internet Explorer 9 browser that offers broad support for HTML5 applications, etc.

The estimated retail price for the Nokia Lumia 800 will be approximately 420 EUR (around Rs 28,390).

Blackberry: RIM launches 3 new phones in India

Adding to its family of smartphones in India, Canadian handset maker Research In Motion(RIM) unveiled three new models- BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9380 and BlackBerry Curve 9350- here today.

Expected to hit the stores in the first week of December, all three phones run the new BlackBerry 7 OS.

Powered by a 1 GHz processor, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 smartphone sports a touchcreen display as well as a keyboard and a precise optical trackpad. Priced at Rs 27,490, the phone has internal memory of 8GB RAM, which can be expandable up to 32 GB through a microSD card.

The first CDMA-based BlackBerry 7 smartphone launched in India, the Curve 9350 features a 5 MP camera with flash, has a microSD/SDHC slot that supports up to 32 GB memory cards for additional storage, and is priced at Rs 20,990.

The BlackBerry Curve 9380 sports a 3.2" all-touch display and a 5 MP snapper. Priced at Rs 20,990, the phone comes with preinstalled social networking apps such as BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), Facebook, Twitter, and Social Feeds.

Airtel begins to take pre-orders for iPhone 4S

Apple iPhone 4S is now available for pre-order on telecom service provider Airtel's official website.

Both the white and the black versions of the 16 GB handset will come with a price tag of Rs 44,500. Paying the full amount at the time of pre-booking will ensure priority delivery on the day of launch, November 25.

The announcement comes close on the heels of the beginning of pre-order of the popular handset by rival service provider, Aircel.

The Aircel official website, however, had gone inaccessible on November 18- the day the pre-order of the phone had been scheduled to begin.

Both telecom service providers had announced that the launch of the phone in India will happen on November 25.

In an earlier update on its official Facebook page, the company had said, "Aircel brings iPhone 4S to India...launch details coming soon".

The announcement was followed by a similar update by Airtel on its Facebook page which said, "Airtel will be launching iPhone 4S soon. Watch this space for more."

Apple had launched its newest member of iPhone smartphone family in October.

The 4S, which hit the US market on October 14, comes with the same design, shape and size as the iPhone 4, but boasts of certain additional features that made it an instant hit among users who have been able to lay their hands on it.

The iPhone 4S comes with the A5 chipset, which also powers the iconic iPad 2. Besides, the dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU and PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU is a potent combination.

The phone has both GSM and CDMA connectivity. Also, one of the major points of attraction of this latest upgrade from Apple is the camera quality. The iphone 4S comes with an impressive 8 megapixel camera. The video recording facility in the phone has also been upgraded from 720p to 1080p.

However, the single biggest 'iPopping' feature of the 4S is Siri, the feature that responds to voice commands and allows you to 'send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls and much more'. Apple's 'humble personal assistant', Siri receives and understands commands made in simple, everyday language, which means users do not have to learn commands designed specifically for the phone to understand you.

Galaxy Nexus LTE casts slightly larger silhouette

Getting giddy of the thought of an LTE-powered Galaxy Nexus? Well, Google, has just unveiled a full 360-degree view of the Verizon-bound smartphone, and it's packing a bigger caboose. Around 0.6mm thicker than the HSPA+ version available now in the UK, the 4G-stuffed version loses, at least visually, some of its curved charm and the chin's become more prominent too. Fortunately, as the tech specsconfirm, the slightly bigger body does cram in an extra 100mAh of battery juice, presumably to feed that LTE radio. Will it feel any different in the hand? It looks like we'll have to wait until Verizon decides to furnish us with one -- whenever that is.

Microsoft streamlining Windows 8 install process, promises setup in just 11 clicks

Trudging through Windows 7's upgrade process drags users through as many as four wizards, 60 windows, and more mouse clicks than anybody at Microsoft cared to count. In a recent study covering PC upgrades, Redmond found this was simply too much of a hassle for many customers. The fix? Consolidate and streamline -- according to the outfit's Building Windows 8 blog, upgrading customers will be able to power through installing Windows 8 using a single wizard in as few as 11 clicks. The new process scans the machine for compatibility, checks for the best version of Windows to install, and prompts the user through the process. Moreover, using Windows 8's upcoming web delivery method pre-keys the setup image, freeing users from remembering a 25-digit product key. Advanced users will be able to use a new Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit to create customized unattended setup configurations for multi-boot and specialized network installations. Want to read into all the juicy details? Hit the source link below.

ASUS Transformer Prime gets a stomach full of Ice Cream Sandwich (video)

Sure, the Transformer Prime has been official for a couple of weeks now, but we haven't seen the 10-inch tablet get much action, aside from a few quick hands-ons. ASUS is finally ready to show us the quad-core Tegra 3 tablet -- running Ice Cream Sandwich, no less. The tablet won't actually ship with the brain-freezing mobile OS, but the company has promised a sweet, sweet upgrade. Check out the video, including 1080p video playback and some time with the quad-core-friendly Riptide GP after the break.

Update: We've also gotten a peek at what looks to be the user manual for the new Transformer. Check it out in the second gallery above.

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Photojojo intros iPhone Lens Dial for fisheye, telephoto and wide-angle shooting

Annie Leibovitz seems to love the camera in the iPhone 4S as is, but if you'd ever hoped the snapshot darling were a bit more flexible, then Photojojo's new Lens Dial may be the solution. Available as a case that's compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4S, users are able to rotate between three different lenses -- including fisheye, telephoto and wide-angle -- to achieve their desired effect. Naturally, the enclosure will add quite a bit of thickness and heft to your handset (it weighs ten ounces, or twice that of the iPhone), but it also piles on flexibility, too, such as tripod mounts for landscape or portrait scenes. Shipping now for $250, the iPhone Lens Dial seems like the logical step after you've taken Holga's optionfor a spin.