Motorola is offering an Android 2.2 pre-release update to select Motorola Bravo owners

Surely it has been a while since we’ve reported anything about the Motorola Bravo, especially when it’s one of those mid-range devices lost in the greater scheme of things, but there might be some hope for certain people still handling one.

Motorola seems intent on getting Froyo onto the device, which still happens to sit on Android 2.1 Éclair, but at least they’re trying to recruit some guinea pigs for a pre-release software update. Although it’s not guaranteed you’ll be selected as a beta tester for the Android 2.2 pre-release software update, you can still give it a shot by registering through their Forums web site. Approximately 1,000 Motorola Bravo owners will be selected to test drive the hopeful update – so you’d better jump on board before they’re all taken.

In the meantime though, other owners can sit idly and wait until Motorola fine tunes the software update so that the final transition to Froyo will be a smooth one.

source:  Motorola Support Forums via Android Central

Samsung Galaxy S II i9100 is given a concrete launch date of April 25th in Korea

Yesterday, we reported about some great news surrounding the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S II, but there was still no specific mention about a concrete launch date except that some countries would see it this month.

Considering that the Android powered smartphone is a product out of South Korea, it’s only fitting for the country to receive a firm launch date. From the sound of it all, the Samsung Galaxy S II will be launching in South Korea starting on April 25th – which still happens to be the only region given an actual date. As for other markets though, we’re still literally in the dark about its arrival, but it wouldn’t surprise us to see some other markets get in on the same date.

Regardless, there are surely going to be many people excited about this eventual successor – even more when it competes highly with all the other new crop of devices out there.

source: Reuters via Unwired View

iKeyGuard for iOS logs your every single keystroke

Keyloggers are those fiendish tools that some people use to spy on others for one reason or another. As the name implies, they silently record every keystroke that one makes on the targeted device and  store that information in a log file without the user being necessarily aware of that.

Such an application already exists for iOS as well. It is called iKeyGuard and works on every iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, as long as it has been jailbroken. Once the keylogging app has been installed, it remains hidden in the background and starts doing what it is made for without making the slightest hint about its existence. It is capable of recording key presses from any app, not only your text messages and emails, and it can even secretly send the log files over the web to a specified email address at a given time of the day.

The app does not come cheap though. iKeyGuard will set you back $9.99, but depending on what it is being used for, it can be worth every single penny of its price. Those of you who think they may be spied on with the app, try typing http://localhost:4444 in your iDevice's browser and hope that a log with your key presses does not come up.

source: iKeyGuard via Redmond Pie

Samsung Replenish rumored to be an eco-friendly Android phone, expected to be released on May 5 by Sprint

A rumor is going wild that we are to see an announcement of an environmentally-friendly phone named the Samsung Replenish on April 15.

According to the guys at Android Central, who sound quite certain their info is correct, and have two leaked documents to boost their claims, Sprint is to announce the "green" Samsung Replenish on April 15 and launch it on May 5.

No additional information for this phone is available, except for the fact it's powered by Android, and yet this rumor sounds plausible, especially if we take into account that Sprint has a history of releasing eco-friendly phones - we all remember the Samsung Reclaim, LG Remarq and Samsung Restore, right?

source: Android Central

Acer ICONIA TAB A500 available for pre-order at Best Buy, costs $500 for the Wi-Fi-only version

Acer may not be the most renowned of all mobile manufacturers, but its ICONIA TAB A500 tablet certainly looks promising. For that reason we are pleased to inform you Best Buy has a good news in store - the 16GB Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet is now available for pre-order in the US for $449.99.

The tab will be a Best Buy online exclusive until April 14 - from that date onwards it will be offered for pre-order in stores. It's scheduled to be launched in both stores and online ten days later.

The Acer ICONIA TAB A500 packs the very same specifications that the more famous Motorola XOOM has - it's powered by a 1GHz Tegra 2 processor and the tablet-optimized Android 3.0, has two cameras - 5MP rear one capable of recording full HD and a 2MP front-facer, 1024MB of RAM, as well as a large 10.1-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution.

As you can see, the only notable difference between this tab and the Wi-Fi Motorola XOOM is that the latter is offered with a 32GB built-in storage, but Acer promises that a version of the ICONIA TAB A500 with the same amount of memory is on the way. Moreover, it's officially announced it will be launched by Verizon at some point in the future.

Also a few accessories for the tab are offered - among them are a full-sized Bluetooth keyboard that costs $69.99 and a protective case that can also be used as a nightstand for $39.99.

The tab left us with some good impressions after our brief encounter (our Acer ICONIA TAB A500 Hands-on), and for that price it definitely looks like a bargain.

source: Acer and Best Buy via SlashGear

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo delayed in the UK, shortages expected for the Xperia PLAY and Xperia arc

Bad news for all these guys who are eager to play with the newest offerings from Sony Ericsson, as both Clove UK and Sony Ericsson Italy have officially announced that the Xperia neo is to be delayed until July in Britain and Italy, while two other handsets manufactured by the joint-venture - the Xperia PLAY and the Xperia arc - will be offered in limited quantities in the UK.

The cause of the delay is the ongoing disaster in Japan, and according to Clove:

"The situation could change, but they have taken this action to in the long term improve the supply rather than having an unstable launch of the Neo with poor stock."

Please note this information doesn't necessarily mean we would witness similar problems with the eventual launch of these three handsets in the US, and yet it seems highly unlikely that such shortages, caused by a disaster affecting the whole world, can be expected in Britain, but not the US.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia neo was originally scheduled by Clove for an April 19 launch in the UK. As of now, it's unknown whether both this handset and the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc are going to be offered in the US, while the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY is confirmed for Verizon. Rumors claim the Big Red version of the game-centric phone is to be released in either April or May.

source: Clove UK and Sony Ericsson Italy (translated)

Gartner predicts Android domination, Windows Phone to top iOS in sales by 2015

Dear, Gartner, you just don't learn do you? Seven months ago, the company was drawing a rosy future for Symbian, forenaming it the top mobile OS for 2014 with some 30% share. Well, now it has decided to peek into the future of the mobile industry all the way into 2015 and here's what the analysts found: actually, Android is to dominate the market grabbing a nearly 50% portion, while at the same time Symbian's share will shrink to 0.1%. Uh oh! On the other hand, Windows Phone, adopted by Nokia for its main platform, will outscore iOS by 2.3% with a share of 19.5% in 2015, according to the latest prognosis.

The forecast – of course – is no palm-reading, but taking into account that less than two months ago, such a prediction would have seemed wildly extravagant, we would take this one with extra caution. Even more so, given Gartner's expectations for iOS, which the analysts expect to reach a peak next year and fall down to 17.2% by 2015. Gartner's numbers come close to those in a recent report by tech oracle IDC, which foretold a market share of 45% for Android and of 0.2% for Symbian in 2015. So with that in mind, why don't you bring out your own magic ball and give us your predictions in the comments below?

source: Gartner (forecast #1 vs forecast #2) via Mashable

Gartner's forecast on the left, IDC's - on the right

FUJIFILM launches 12 digital cameras in India

FUJIFILM has announced the launch and availability of 12 new digital camera models in India. The company has introduced the following cameras:  AV200 and AX300 (A series), JV200, JX300 (J series), FinePix X100, T200, F500 EXR, HS20, S2950, S3300, S4000 and Z900. Earlier this year FUJIFILM launched the Real 3DW3 - a camera that can shoot photographs and video in 3D.

All the models launched have the ability to shoot video in 720p and boast of features such as Digital Image Stabilization, Motion Panorama mode, Face Detection technology, Picture Search, Scene Recognition Auto, Blink Detection, Smile & Shoot mode and Facebook/You Tube web upload.

Details of the cameras launched are below.

FinePix X100 (Rs.64,999)

Sony Ericsson launches the Xperia Play and the Xperia Arc in India

Sony Ericsson has added to its Xperia smartphone lineup in India with the launch of the Xperia Arc and the Xperia Play in India for Rs. 32,000 and Rs. 35,000 respectively.

Lets start with the self-proclaimed gaming smartphone: The Xperia Play.

The Xperia Play is a PlayStation certified smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and boasts of dedicated Dual Shock style gaming controls along with six axis motion controls.

Under the hood, the Xperia Play runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 CPU with Adreno 205 GPU and 1GB ROM. The device has a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 854x480 pixel and internal storage of 400MB expandable to 32GB via a micro SD card. The rear of the device houses a 5MP camera with LED flash. The Xperia Play will come preloaded with 6 games and 70 games will be available for download via the PlayStation Pocket Store.

US to use Facebook, Twitter to issue terror alerts

Terror alerts from the government will soon have just two levels of warnings -- elevated and imminent -- and those will be relayed to the public only under certain circumstances. Color codes are out; Facebook and Twitter will sometimes be in, according to a Homeland Security draft obtained by The Associated Press.

Some terror warnings could be withheld from the public if announcing a threat would risk exposing an intelligence operation or an ongoing investigation, according to the government's confidential plan.

Like a gallon of milk, the new terror warnings will each come with a stamped expiration date.

The new system, replacing the five color-coded levels, is expected to be in place by April 27.

New search technology is enhanced with videos

The line between cyberspace and the physical world is blurring with a new search technology being demonstrated by Autonomy, a British software publisher.

The firm is demonstrating a software-based machine-vision recognition system intended for smartphones and tablet computers that embeds images and videos directly on top of the image of a real object on the user's display.

Today so-called augmented reality is already widely available on both iPhones and Android phones through software applications like Google Goggles. Hundreds of other apps overlay geographical information on smartphone displays.

But Autonomy embeds moving imagery within the display of images of the real world in a way that's visually convincing. For instance, a game maker might use it so that a person holding a camera phone up to a building would see the building's image on the screen with a dragon entwined around it.

Facebook opens up its server and data center designs

In the movie "The Fight Club," Tyler Durden, the character played by Brad Pitt, says, "The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club."

The same rule, by and large, has applied to the architecture of cloud computing -- the massive, energy-hungry data centers and servers that power services like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, which companies treat as proprietary secrets. But Facebook is opening the design of its custom-built servers and soon-to-be new data center in Oregon to others in the industry.

"It is time to stop treating data centers like fight club," Jonathan Heiliger, Facebook's vice president of technical operations, said at a news conference on Thursday at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

Mr. Heiliger said that with a team of three engineers, Facebook had designed stripped-down servers that were 38 percent more efficient and 24 percent cheaper than those sold by major server makers. He also said that Facebook's new data center, which is in Prineville, Ore., is being cooled entirely with air, helping to reduce both its energy bills and carbon footprint. The data center is expected to open this month.

G.E. plans to build largest solar panel plant in U.S.

In a move that could shake up the American solar industry, General Electric plans to announce on Thursday that it will build the nation's largest photovoltaic panel factory, with the goal of becoming a major player in the market.

"For the past five years, we've been investing extremely heavily in solar," said Victor Abate, vice president for G.E.'s renewable energy business. "Going to scale is the next move."

The plant, whose location has not been determined, will employ 400 workers and create 600 related jobs, according to G.E. The factory would annually produce solar panels that would generate 400 megawatts of energy, the company said, and would begin manufacturing thin-film photovoltaic panels made of a material called cadmium telluride in 2013. While less efficient than conventional solar panels, thin-film photovoltaic can be produced at a lower cost and have proven attractive to developers and utilities building large-scale power plants.

G.E. has signed agreements to supply solar panels to generate 100 megawatts of electric power to customers, including a deal for panels generating 60 megawatts with NextEra Energy Resources.

Samsung Electronics suffers fall in 1Q earnings

Samsung Electronics has suffered sharp fall in first quarter earnings, hit by weakness in its liquid crystal display business and price competition in tablet computers.

The manufacturer of the Galaxy S smartphone and Galaxy Tab tablet said on Thursday that operating profit for the first three months of 2011 will fall to between 2.7 trillion won and 3.1 trillion won ($2.85 billion) from 4.41 trillion won a year earlier. It will release a full earnings report at the end of the month.

Consolidated revenue for the three months ended March 31 is expected at between 36 trillion won and 38 trillion won. The Suwon, South Korea-based company recorded sales of 34.64 trillion won in the same period last year.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest manufacturer of flat screen televisions, computer memory chips and liquid crystal displays is coming off a stellar 2010 when it recorded record annual sales, operating profit and net profit. The company ranks No. 2 globally in mobile phones behind Finland's Nokia Corp.

Planned wireless Internet network threatens GPS

A new, ultra-fast wireless Internet network is threatening to overpower GPS signals across the U.S. and interfere with everything from airplanes to police cars to consumer navigation devices.

The problem stems from a recent government decision to let a Virginia company called LightSquared build a nationwide broadband network using airwaves next to those used for GPS.

Manufacturers of GPS equipment warn that strong signals from the planned network could jam existing navigation systems.

A technical fix could be expensive -- billions of dollars by one estimate -- and there's no agreement on who should pay. Government officials pledge to block LightSquared from turning on its network as scheduled this year unless they receive assurances that GPS systems will still work.

British royals go digital for wedding

The man not yet king of England is facing his sternest test yet. Public expectations are high. The event is to be played out across a challenging new medium of communication, and the family turns to professionals for help.

Is it the story of William Windsor and a certain royal wedding circa 2011? Or is it 'Bertie' Windsor and the King's Speech, made to the nation in 1939 on the then new-fangled medium of radio?

When Prince William and Kate Middleton marry on April 29, they will be the 16th royal couple to wed in WestminsterAbbey -- but they will be the first to have their nuptials played out, in real time, as a global web event.

In a sign of the digital times, William's official residence, Clarence House, in November chose Twitter, along with an old-fashioned press release, to announce his engagement to his university sweetheart.

Google 'to reorganize YouTube channels'

US Internet giant Google is preparing a major overhaul of video sharing website YouTube by creating "channels" to compete with broadcast and cable TV, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Under a plan costing as much as $100 million, the YouTube homepage will highlight different channels focused on topics like arts and sports, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

About 20 of the channels will present several hours of original programming produced professionally each week, while other channels would use content already available on the site.

The launch will be phased over time, starting before the end of the year, and YouTube is hiring help to implement the initiatives.

In recent weeks, YouTube was also said to have held meetings with Hollywood talent agencies, which the newspaper said were more likely to produce deals with directors of production companies than with movie stars and other celebrities.

YouTube, already the third most viewed website in the world, hopes the plan will further boost traffic to the site and take a bite out of the $70 billion US television advertising market.

Executives of the site told the Journal they want people to "watch YouTube" the same way they "watch TV."

Android smartphone share to rise, prices to fall

Google's Android mobile operating system will power nearly half of the smartphones worldwide by the end of next year, technology research company Gartner said on Thursday.

Worldwide smartphone sales will reach 468 million units this year, up 57.7 percent from 2010, increase to 630 million units next year and to 1.1 billion units in 2015, Gartner said.

Gartner said Android software, which Internet giant Google makes available to handset makers such as Samsung, HTC and Motorola for free, will be the most popular smartphone operating system(OS) worldwide by the end of 2011 with a 38.5 percent market share, rising to 49.2 percent next year and 48.8 percent in 2015.

Apple's iOS for the iPhone will hold a 19.4 percent share of the smartphone operating system market by the end of 2011 followed by Nokia's Symbian with 19.2 percent and Blackberry maker Research In Motion with 13.4 percent, Gartner said.

Facebook makes data centers greener and cheaper

Facebook on Thursday presented an Internet-obsessed world with a gift -- greener, cheaper data centers to more efficiently power online services.

The social networking star custom-designed hardware, power supply, and architecture of a new US data center that is 38 percent more power efficient and costs 24 percent less than the industry average.

Schematics and designs for Facebook's revolutionary data center in the Oregon city of Prineville were made available to the world as part of an Open Compute Project announced by founder Mark Zuckerberg.

"We found a lot of stuff mass manufacturers were putting out wasn't what we needed, so we customized it to better fit social applications," Zuckerberg said during a press conference at Facebook's campus in Palo Alto, California.

Egyptian protesters demand Mubarak prosecution

Cairo:  Tens of thousands of Egyptians waved flags and shouted slogans Friday in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, demanding that Hosni Mubarak and his family be put on trial over allegations of corruption in one of the biggest protests since the longtime president was ousted two months ago.

The massive turnout reflected growing frustration with what activists see as the slowness of Egypt's new military rulers to punish top former figures in Mubarak's regime seen as using their power to amass personal fortunes.

The military appears to be trying to accelerating the prosecuctions, with authorities announcing a day earlier that Mubarak's former chief of staff, Zakariya Azmi, had been detained for questioning on corruption allegations, the highest-ranking member of his regime to be arrested so far. They also said investigators would begin questioning another senior regime insider, former ruling party chief, Safwat el-Sharif.

Since his ouster on Feb. 11, Mubarak and his family have been under house arrest at a presidential palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, their assets frozen.

US: No accord in budget talks as policy fights hamper deal

Washington:  Another day of intense negotiations between the two parties failed to yield a budget deal on Thursday, leaving the federal government hours from a shutdown.

After the third round of White House talks in 24 hours with Speaker John A. Boehner and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, President Obama said that they had made progress and that he hoped a compromise could be reached early Friday.

"I'm not yet prepared to express wild optimism, but I think we are further along today than yesterday," Mr. Obama said during a late-night appearance in the White House briefing room.

The two sides appeared to be only a few billion dollars apart on the level of spending to be approved for the balance of this year, a relatively small gap in a $3.5 trillion budget. Negotiations appeared to be hung up mostly over Republican demands to tighten restrictions on financing for abortions and to limit environmental regulations, and by Mr. Boehner's desire to squeeze every dollar in cuts out of the Democrats that he could.

Indian running online dating scam gets 42 months' jail in US

Washington:  An Indian accused of meeting women on dating websites, pretending to be a high-powered financier and then seducing them, has been sentenced to a maximum of 42 months in federal prison by a US court.

Once he gained their trust, Jaitass Dhanoa, 23, also known as Jay D. Singh would steal their credit cards and their identities, prosecutors told a Philadelphia judge who sentenced him Thursday.

Dhanoa has admitted he trolled internet dating sites looking for victims, especially women of Indian descent. US authorities say they know of four local victims, although there's evidence he was dating more than 11 American women at the same time.

Dhanoa has never apologised directly to his victims. Back in January, he pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated identity theft, three counts of unauthorised use of an access device, eight counts of bank fraud, and one count of false representation of US citizenship.

Chinese aircraft carrier may be near completion

Beijing:  The Chinese state news agency has posted photographs of an aircraft carrier under reconstruction that appears to show the warship near completion. Captions with the photos said that the work would end soon and that the carrier was expected to sail later this year.

The photos of the carrier, the Varyag, which China bought from Ukraine in 1998, appeared Wednesday on the Web site of Xinhua, the state news agency.

It was the first time that Xinhua had given visual evidence of the carrier project, which is widely seen as a linchpin of China's military modernization and naval ambitions. The country's efforts have raised fears among foreign governments that China will use a more robust military for expansionist purposes or to press for regional dominance.

Xinhua cited a military analysis magazine based in Canada, Kanwa Asian Defense Review, as saying that the ship would be ready to sail this year. The fact that Xinhua used that information in a photo caption appeared to be an official endorsement of that view.

Libya: NATO strike on rebel convoy kills five, say reports

Ajdabiya:  An apparent NATO airstrike slammed into a rebel combat convoy in Libya on Thursday, killing at least five fighters and sharply boosting anger among anti-government forces after the second bungled mission in a week blamed on the military alliance.

One witness told the AP he saw airstrikes hit tanks and a rebel convoy, which included a passenger bus carrying fighters toward Brega.

Dramatic video made available by the rebels' National Transitional Council purported to show the moment of impact and the immediate aftermath of the airstrike.

An official at Ajdabiya hospital said at least five people were killed and 22 injured in the strike, including some with serious burns.

Watch: Japan jolted by a new powerful quake

Sendai:  A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake late on Thursday hit the same area of Japan that was ravaged by disaster a month ago, seismologists said, prompting a local tsunami alert.

The new quake caused a handful of injuries, national broadcaster NHK said, but there were no reported deaths.

The tsunami alert was later cancelled after no deadly wave materialised.

Yeddyurappa supports Anna Hazare

Bangalore:  Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, who is facing corruption and illegal land deal charges, said on Friday that he fully supported social activist Anna Hazare's fast-unto-death to press for strong anti-graft measures.

"It is time such a legislation (Jan Lokpal) to eradicate corruption in the country is enacted," Yeddyurappa told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

His support came as leading Kannada writers, film actors, politicians, students joined the four people on hunger strike at Freedom Park here in solidarity with Hazare's fast in New Delhi.

One of the four is on fast since April 5, the day Hazare began his fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi pressing for early enactment of Jan Lokpal Bill. Three others joined the fast April 6.

Among the writers was Jnanpith Award winner UR Ananthmurthy, who said he was there not as an award winning writer but as an ordinary citizen of India to join other Indians in the fight to end corruption.

Like Thursday evening, a candlelight vigil will be held Friday also at Freedom Park in the heart of the city.

Who's fasting in Bollywood for Anna Hazare?

Mumbai:  Veteran social activist Anna Hazare is on a fast-unto-death against corruption at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

The 72-year-old activist is on a hunger strike demanding the government to draft a new Lokpal Bill, which will give more powers to the ombudsman to check corruption.

We might be notorious for being on the list of "most corrupt" countries in the world, but a resurgent India is changing its ways.

Realising this, B-Town actors and directors have pledged support to a cause being fought for by social activist Anna Hazare. Some even go as far as saying they would support him by fasting for a day. We check in and record their words for posterity.

'Impossible condition' says Congress

New Delhi:  Observing that the supporters of Anna Hazare were "obstinate", Congress has asked the social activist to work with the government, contending that "all the substantial and real issues" had been resolved.

Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi made it clear that Hazare's "impossible" condition of notifying the formation of a joint committee to draft Lokpal Bill could not be accepted by the government as it "cannot abdicate" its Constitutional responsibility.

"Let us work together. All substantial and real issues have been resolved," Singhvi told reporters here, sending out a message to Hazare who has been sitting on a hunger strike for the last four days to press for Jan Lokpal Bill that will have stringent provisions to fight corruption.

He observed that the supporters of Hazare were "obstinate" and added that no one should try to jeopardise the health of the 71-year-old social activist.

On Hazare's condition for notifying the formation of joint committee, the Congress spokesman said, "No government can abdicate its Constitutional responsibility by accepting the impossible condition."

Find 5 honest ministers, Baba Ramdev dares govt

New Delhi:  Yoga guru Baba Ramdev today backed Anna Hazare's fight against corruption by visiting the site of the anti-corruption crusader's hunger strike here.
    
"I am in support of Hazare. I am also fasting today," Ramdev said at Jantar Mantar, the nerve centre of Hazare's protest.
    
Taking potshots at the Centre, which faces a series of scams, Ramdev said, "Our bill proposes a 10- member drafting committee in which five will be from civil society and five from the government. But I am afraid if will they manage to get even five politicians who are not corrupt and join this committee. I don't think so."
    
The yoga guru also took a jibe at the Prime Minister being "unaware" of corruption and said the "PM should shed the attitude of 'Bhisma' and now he should work like 'Bhima'".

Four convicted for Kandhamal riots

Phulbani:  A fast track court today sentenced four persons to two years rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs. 2,500 on each of them for involvement in the Kandhamal riots of 2008.

Additional sessions judge Chitta Ranjan Dash announced the sentence after convicting them.

According to the prosecution, the four along with others had torched the house of a member of the minority Christian community, Ugrasen Digal, of Madinata village under Balliguda police station on August 31, 2008 during the riots.

Digal had lodged an FIR with Balliguda police.

Anna's latest letter to Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi:  This is the letter sent by social activist Anna Hazare to Sonia Gandhi about his movement for a new tough law against corruption.

Mr Hazare is on the fourth day of his hunger strike. The government has been negotiating with a team of activists that support the 72-year-old Gandhian's campaign, India Against Corruption.

Lakhs of Indians are supporting Mr Hazare in his call for a Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill).

  Anna's Letter to Sonia

2G scam: Supreme Court orders day-to-day hearing

New Delhi:  The Supreme Court today said it will direct the special court, set up exclusively for trying various 2G spectrum scam accused, including former Telecom Minister A Raja, to hold day-to-day trial without any adjournment.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said it will pass a formal order on this issue on April 11, when, it indicated, it will also appoint senior advocate U U Lalit as a special public prosecutor to assist the court in holding the trial in the spectrum allocation case.

The bench indicated its preference for appointing Lalit as SPP, brushing aside the Centre's objections to his appointment.
       
The bench also said it will restrain all other courts from entertaining any application or petition linked to the case and all such pleas will have to be filed in the apex court only.

       
The court adjourned the matter to April 11 to pass the order after the Centre failed to propose any name for the appointment of the SPP.
       
The bench also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to brief it about their second stage of probe into the scam after the filing of the CBI chargesheet in the case on April 2 in the special court.
       
Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for CBI and ED, submitted that the second charge sheet regarding bribery angle in the scam will be filed before April 24.
       
The bench also said that it will pass order giving liberty to the SPP in the case to suggest names of other prosecutors to assist him in the trial.

In Andhra, film stars join Anna's revolution

Picture courtesy: India against corruption Facebook page

Hyderabad:  Rallies and fasts were organized across Andhra Pradesh in support of veteran social activist Anna Hazare's fast-unto-death in New Delhi for a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal Bill.
    
Noted film personalities came to the forefront along with citizens from all walks of life and participated in various programmes in Hyderabad and others districts of the state supporting Hazare's demand.
    
Renowned lyricist Jonnavittula Ramalingeswara Rao, Telugu filmstars Rana Daggubati and Sivaji, director Sekhar Kammula were among those who participated in relay hunger strikes organised by 'Youth For Better India' and 'India Against Corruption' at the Indira Park here.
    
Students from schools and different colleges also took part in the relay hunger strikes while members of Students Islamic Oganisation of India (Hyderabad unit) held a dharna in support of the anti-corrpution movement.

Samsung Galaxy Indulge Review

Introduction:

Even though Verizon released its first 4G LTE smartphone last month, the HTC ThunderBolt, MetroPCS has now released its second 4G LTE phone, the Samsung Galaxy Indulge, which comes to couple Metro's LTE network with a real smartphone experience for the first time, as the Samsung Craft, the carrier's first LTE phone, lacked a smart OS. But in a world where speed matters, does the Galaxy Indulge really deliver 4G speeds and show that it is worth the $299 price, or does it fall-short of other 4G phones? Let’s take a look.

Included in the retail box is the Samsung Galaxy Indulge SCH-R910 smartphone, 1500mAh battery, 4GB microSD memory card with the Iron Man 2 movie installed, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.


Design:

The Samsung Galaxy Indulge is all-black in color, made out of shiny plastic, which feels very slick to the touch, but remains a magnet for fingerprints and dust. The Galaxy Indulge is about the same thickness as the Craft, at 0.60”, but is almost a half-inch taller.

The Samsung Galaxy Indulge is all-black in color, made out of shiny plastic, which feels very slick to the touch

You can compare the Samsung Galaxy Indulge with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

This extra height translates into a larger 3.5” display, up from 3.3”, but the quality has gone down from 480x800 resolution AMOLED on the Craft to only 320x480 resolution TFT on the Galaxy Indulge. So what does that mean? Simply that the display on the Galaxy Indulge is 0.20” larger, but the pixel resolution is less, which means text and images look more jagged, and that colors appear more washed-out looking since it is TFT and not AMOLED. Of course, we would have preferred that the Galaxy Indulge use the same higher-quality display that is on the Craft.

The physical buttons under the display have also changed, as there are now the standard four, used for accessing menu, home, back, and search. They are a nice size, but for some reason are not back-lit, which makes them impossible to view in the dark. Around the sides of the phone are the volume rocker, power/lock key, 3.5 mm headset jack, microUSB port, and camera shutter button. You have to remove the battery cover to access the microSD card slot.

Buttons under the display
The sides of the Samsung Galaxy Indulge

You have to remove the battery cover to access the microSD card slot

The sliding QWERTY keyboard on the Galaxy Indulge is laid-out pretty much the same way as on the Craft. The keys are of a nice size, but there is very little space between them, and they are completely flat, which makes typing a bit challenging by touch alone. But they do provide some good feedback and noticeable “click” sound when pressed. The keyboard on the Galaxy Indulge is by no means the best that we’ve seen out there, nor is it the worst, but is easier to use than the smaller on-screen keyboard.

The sliding QWERTY keyboard of the Samsung Galaxy Indulge