Project ARA

Motorola’s ‘Ara’ platform will let you build your own smartphone block by block







Remember Dave Hakkens and his Phonebloks project that plans to let you put together your own handset by choosing from various components and modules? Turns out Motorola has been working on a similar idea for the past year.


The Google-owned company has just announced Project Ara, an initiative with many of the same goals as Hakkens’ Phonebloks idea, including “to develop a phone platform that is modular, open, customizable, and made for the entire world,” as Motorola puts it.


In fact, so similar are the two schemes that the pair will help each other in an effort to realize their respective visions.

Phoneblocks



Motorola’s Ara platform will comprise two main parts: an endo (endoskeleton) – the structural frame of the device – and a set of blocks, or modules, for building a complete handset.


Having your handset made up of a variety of modules means you’ll be able to purchase specific parts for your device as and when needed, one piece at a time. Scratched screen? Just buy another one. Dead battery? Click in a replacement. Faulty flash? Swap it out.





Of course, it doesn’t always have to be a faulty part you replace. You might simply want to upgrade to faster and more powerful components, in which case, just choose the module you want and switch it.

Such a platform would allow you to build exactly the kind of device to suit your needs, so if, for example, you operate mostly in the cloud, you could swap your memory module for a larger battery module.

The system is also designed to reduce waste, with so many people today ditching their entire handset as soon as one part of it fails.

Announcing Project Ara in a blog post Tuesday, Paul Eremenko of Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group said his team “want to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines.”

Eremenko said that as his team moves forward with the technical side of the project, it’ll work closely with Hakkens and his Phonebloks community to help shape the initiative. Invitations will soon be sent to developers to start designing the multitude of modules required for the Ara platform.

The blog post offers a sneak peek at early designs for Project Ara, revealing what appears to be some fairly well-developed components that bring a dash of color to Hakkens’ concept device.

Of course, the project is still very much in its infancy, though Motorola, having clearly invested a fair bit of time and money in the platform, appears to want to make a real go of it. 

If you could build a decent phone out of modules at a reasonable price, would you be interested, or are the Moto X’s customization options about as far as you want to go when it comes to ‘building’ a device?

Watch concept of Phoneblock,,,,,!!!

LG curved display

LG announces the curved-screen G Flex

After multiple leaks, LG reportedly announced its curved-screen smartphone, the G Flex, before taking the announcement offline for unknown reasons. The company spoke about the phone’s curved features as well as its self-repairing ones at length.

According to the press release, the phone will feature a 6-inch 720p curved OLED display. The phone weighs is at 177g and is between 7.9mm and 8.7mm thick at various points. Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Round phone that is vertical oriented, this phone is curved along a horizontal axis. The LG G Flex will be powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor. The phone will pack 2GB of RAM and a 3,500 mAh battery.
The G Flex will also be home to a 13-megapixel primary camera and will come with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out of the box. The feature-rich phone will consist of a “dual window” mode which will allow the screen to help you multitask better, a “swing-lock screen” that will keep changing the device’s wallpaper according to how the phone is held in the users’ hands. It will also let users unlock using multiple effects, in relation to the position of the users’ fingers.
The most intriguing feature spoken about the G Flex by LG is its “self healing” one. Quite like Wolverine in X-Men, says LG, the phone can heal itself against minor scratches and bumps. The phone uses a special protective film on the back cover that will see hairline scratches disappearing “within minutes”.

While the press release said that South Korean markets will have this phone next month, international markets will have to wait a while longer to get their hands on it. It must be noted that LG has taken the press release about the LG G Flex down for unknown reasons, but not before people managed to report about the specifications. However, it only looks like a matter of time before LG announces the phone – this time a bit more confidently – again.

Waterless

How Waterless Printing Services Make the World A Better Place

Environment-friendly products have become increasingly popular these days with the better awareness of global warming and its ill-effects to people. Almost every developing city all over the world has implemented local rules and guidelines to help protect environment. Among these efforts include the restriction of the use of plastic bags in shopping marts as well as the use of straws. Waterless printing has also become quite popular in the printing industries. In fact, online printing services that promise environment-friendly processes have mushroomed over the years - rising witnesses to the call to save Mother Earth.

Waterless printing is basically a lithographic printing process that uses a silicon rubber layer instead of a water and alcohol mixture. It has a specifically designed ink; thereby making it less complicated with fewer chemicals.

There are many advantages to this "bettered form of online printing services" and some of them are the following:

* Low dot gain and better details because ink is easier to control. It's a proven fact that ink and water do not go very well together and by removing the water, you can expect no dilution.
* Better color gamut with no water to serve as a solvent. This means that the colors are superb and your clients will get to actually see an output that is exactly what they had in mind.
* Faster make readies with less expected down time.
* Quick drying types so there's lower heat buildup.
* Cleaner printing with no water spots. There are no smudges and that converts to higher customer satisfaction.
* Because it's cleaner, fewer drafts are needed, which further result to a reduction of paper waste. As a matter of fact, paper savings are up as much as 40% so they actually save a lot of trees.
* More paper options. Because it's fast and dry, you can print on any paper you like regardless of texture and thickness.
* Environment friendly from the ink to the paper. UV-curable inks (used in waterless printing) do not contain hazardous air pollutants. They are also 100% solvent-free and do not emit volatile organic compounds when used.

Lastly, waterless printing is worker-friendly too. Prior to its invention, workers working in the printing industry are exposed to organic solvents all day long. The long-term effect of such exposure have been recorded to include liver, kidney and lung damage as well as other skin conditions like dermatitis. Severe effects also include damage to the nervous system. Exposure is said to be the highest when water-based printers are cleaned because that's the time most VOCs are released into the air and possibly, inhaled.

With waterless printing, however, workers can breathe better because they are in less danger. There are no VOCs emitted into the air and there are no hazardous air pollutants too. This means there would be fewer people getting sick in the work place and better production rate for you and your business.

Truly, the many advantages of waterless printing make it the ideal printing solution of tomorrow. Even if you don't have a local printing shop that offers this technology today, you can still feel the difference it makes by tapping online printing services that offer waterless printing.

Future Tech

Exciting New Gadgets for 2014

One of the expected new gadgets of 2013 was Google Glasses. But general consumer releases were delayed until 2014. However, if you think the Google Glasses is the only exciting thing that may be coming to the public in 2014, you would be wrong. Already, a number of exciting new gadgets have been slated for production, and are expected to be released at some point in the upcoming year. Here are some of the things you want to keep an eye out for.

Meta Space Glasses

Already Google Glasses has a competitor. The Meta Space Glasses is a Meta production. It implements a number of technologies already in existence including Kinect-like sensors and processors that are placed on the top of the glasses. These processors are expected to track objects, as well as your hands, as you use them. At the same time, users would wear armbands with tiny projectors. These projectors handle the images, connecting in with the glasses to create a virtual reality experience that goes where you go. Science Focus describes this as allowing you to interact with virtual objects the same way that you would interact with a real one. An official date has not yet been given for when the public can get these glasses, but they are a very exciting new addition to the tech world.

Scanadu Scout

Not all the exciting new gadgets for 2014 are for gaming and virtual interaction. The Scanadu Scout is actually intended to help you monitor and improve your fitness in a way that no other fitness device currently can. Its focus is on providing general health and fitness information on an as-needed basis. The current specs indicate that simply pressing this device to your temple allows it to give you detailed information about your pulse, heart rate, temperature, electrical heart activity, oxygenation levels, and more. While this might sound intriguing but useless, the Scanadu Scout takes it a step further and provides an explanation of what the data means. It also provides information on what you should do based on your readout. Already, Scanadu is planning for an upgrade. The upgraded addition will include add-ons that allow you to check for particular viruses and even pregnancy complications through a saliva analysis. So far, official responses from the medical community outside of the team that has developed the plan have not released much of an opinion, except for concerns that hypochondriacs may use the device too much. However, it looks to be a great option for analyzing your overall health.

Foc.us Headset

Another exciting new device that is coming out in 2014 is actually intended to boost brainpower and cognitive abilities. Over the past few years, a number of experiments have been developed based around transcranial direct current stimulations. Basically, low current electrical waves are passed through your brain, massaging the neurons and supposedly improving your mental function. This particular gadget is the first of its kind in that it would make brain augmentation available to the general public. However, the experts aren't entirely convinced that this is a legitimate brain augmentation device. While studies have shown improved performance on simple activities, it's uncertain whether the same improvement would apply to more complex ones.
2014 looks to be an exciting year with lots of new devices coming out. From the Meta Space Glasses which will allow you to interact with virtual items to the Foc.us Headset which will help to improve your brain function supposedly, 2014 holds a lot of promise. These devices will probably cost a fair amount, but the improvements in the device development indicate incredible increases in technological development.

Mavericks review

OS X Mavericks Review:





OS X Mavericks, the first of Apple’s post-big cat OS updates, is named for one of the nicest spots on Earth. Mavericks is a surf beach in California, and the operating system that takes its name definitely represents a new wave in Mac software, even though it isn’t a drastic change from OS X 10.8. The changes Apple has made are for the better, though, and since it’s free, there’s no reason not to take advantage of all that great new stuff.

Finder

The updated Finder in Mavericks offers a lot of advantages over the old version, including tabbed browsing and new tags for better organization of files and media. neither feature is an absolute necessity for a desktop operating system, and in fact they’ll likely appeal more to power users than to anyone else. But they represent exactly the kinds of refinements that Apple is embracing with its update strategy in Mavericks: namely, fixing small things that have been missed considerably by the small group of people who want them.

Tags offer a way to group files beyond where they reside on your computer, and really offer a big improvement over and above what’s possible with folder structures, the traditional organization method for desktop operating systems. By default, OS X Mavericks provides a number of different coloured tags for you to use, but if you want to customize you can also create your own. That means you can make ones for any group of content you want to be able to quickly call up regardless of where they’re resident on your drive.

I still think Apple would eventually like to move beyond a traditional file structure entirely on OS X, the way it has done on iOS, and Tags could be a beginning step towards helping make that transition. For tagged documents and media, it’s irrelevant where they reside, which does away with the notion of “location” in virtual space altogether. Perhaps the nicest tag feature is that you can simply drag files to your tags in the sidebar of your Finder window to assign them that tag, which is very convenient. The next step could be auto-tagging, but for now, I think this is a seed that’s being planted for a small group of really dedicated organizers who’ll get the most use out of it.

As for tabbed browsing, it’s again a feature that will probably be ignored by a large number of users. Still, those used to the mechanic on web browsers will find it handy for navigating files, too. You can open any folder in a new tab just by right clicking, and open new tabs that start at your “All My Files” view just by hitting Command+T. Drag-and-drop files and folders between tabs, and cut down on the clutter you normally accumulate by having multiple Finder windows open to move files between and to make it easier to find things in different folders.

Combined, Tabs and Tags make a powerful team. You can open a tab for any of your Tags, for instance, and then drag content from one your other tabs to that one to assign them different Tags. Then, you can also quickly switch over to that Tab to see the collection you’ve just created all in one place.

Also new to Finder is a sharing menu that allows you to send files directly to iMessage, AirDrop, email, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. It’s another thing that’s been inherited from mobile computing paradigms, but also another very useful small addition.
Multi-monitor support

Back in OS X Mountain Lion, Apple introduced a full-screen feature for apps that allows them to take over the desktop entirely, which is again something that resembles a mobile OS feature. The big problem was that while it was nice to be able to set an app to take over entirely, you lost out on the other benefits of desktop computing, like having access to multiple monitors at once.

Mavericks makes it so that you can have an app take over one screen, but leave your others untouched, which is a huge improvement. But Apple didn’t stop there; they also made it so that you can finally have menu bars and docks on each of your other screens, instead of just on one as was the case with previous iterations of OS X. If you regularly run a multi monitor setup, as I do, this changes everything – it has all the benefits of using multiple computers independently, combined with all the benefits of sharing common media files and system resources.

Another multi-monitor addition is the ability to use AirPlay-connected screens to extend your desktop wirelessly, via screens attached to an Apple TV, for instance. This is again a huge benefit, since it could allow people who otherwise don’t have access to multiple screens a temporary second display via their television. Wireless displays never really took off as dedicated accessories, but this could be a huge help in terms of making it a more accessible technology for use in education and business in particular.

If I had to pick a favourite new feature for OS X Mavericks, the improved multi-monitor support would definitely be it. This is how I’ve always wanted my multi-screen Mac setups to work, and it doesn’t require any hacks or third-party software tools to happen.

New Notifications

Notifications on the desktop were yet another improvement borrowed from mobile. But in their first go-around with OS X Mountain Lion, they weren’t necessarily as useful as they could’ve been. In Mavericks, notifications get better thanks to the ability to take action from them directly. You can reply to iMessages, for instance, or emails. And you can get notifications from sources other than just apps – Apple has added notifications from web sites, too.

A small improvement that will probably have somewhat limited appeal, but that I noticed and fell in love with right away, is the notification for when you remove a flash drive, USB or SD card without ejecting it first. Ordinarily, with previous versions, OS X would pop up a persistent notification dialog box in the middle of your screen nagging you about good external drive behaviour. Now, a similar message appears, but it appears where all other notifications do, in the upper right-hand corner of your desktop, and you can more easily ignore it. Not that you should – ejecting first is good practice, but if you’re a blogger working at a feverish pace and swapping out flash cards quickly, it’s nice to be able to more easily ignore those notices in the short term.

Maps

MS SURFACE 2 Remix Project

Lumia 2520

Nokia Lumia 2520

Review of Nokia Lumia 2520:)

iPad Air vs Lumia 2520 vs Surface 2 vs Galaxy Note 10.1

iPad Air vs Lumia 2520 vs Surface 2 vs Galaxy Note 10.1 2014

Apple unveiled the fifth-generation iPad, the iPad Air at a special event on Tuesday. The new iPad Air is much thinner, lighter and sleeker than the previous generation iPad, and packs in the latest hardware - including the 64-bit Apple A7 processor.

Interestingly, ailing smartphone maker, Nokia also unveiled its first Windows RT tablet, the Lumia 2520. Microsoft had already refreshed its Surface tablet earlier this year, improving the device's hardware. The 10-inch tablet segment is seeing some action, with Samsung also unveiling the 2014 edition of its Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. We take a look at what each one of these large tablets brings to the table.

The new iPad Air sports a 9.7-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2048x1536 pixels and a pixel density of 263ppi. The Nokia Lumia 2520 on the other hand, comes with a 10.1-inch full-HD IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, and a pixel density of 218ppi. The Microsoft Surface 2 tablet comes with a 10.6-inch display with 1920x1080 pixels resolution and 206ppi pixel density. The Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) tablet features a 10.1-inch WQXGA (2560X1600 pixels) Super clear LCD display and 298ppi pixel density.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014) display has a higher resolution and packs in more pixels per inch, followed by the iPad Air, Lumia 2520 and the Surface 2.

The iPad Air is powered by a 64-bit A7 chip which also powers the new iPhone 5s, offering up to two times faster CPU and graphics performance than the previous generation iPad. It also features the M7 motion coprocessor that takes care of measuring motion data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass sensors, sending them to apps without waking up the A7 processor, leading to improved battery life. The Nokia Lumia 2520 is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, while the Surface 2 sports an NVIDIA Tegra 4 (T40) 1.7 GHz Quad Core chip. The Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition in India is powered by a 1.9GHz Exynos 5 Octa processor, while its other variant is powered by a 2.3 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, along with 3GB of RAM.

It's hard to compare performance since the four tablets run on different platforms but each one comes with the latest hardware specifications.

The new iPad Air features a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front facing one. It supports 1080p HD video recording. The Nokia Lumia 2520, on the other hand, features a 6.7-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Surface 2 sports a 5.0-megapixel rear-facing camera and 3.5-megapixel front-facing camera. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition boasts of a high-end 8-megapixel rear camera with BSI sensor and autofocus accompanied by an LED flash, and a 2-megapixel BSI sensor.

We're not sure if everyone uses the camera on a tablet, so a high-end rear camera might not make sense for everyone. The Surface 2's front-camera sensor has the highest resolution. All of the tablets would be good for making video calls.

The iPad Air comes in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB storage variants, while the Nokia Lumia 2520 comes offers 32GB built-in storage memory expandable via microSD card. The Surface 2 comes in 32GB and 64GB variants and also features a microSD card slot for expansion. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB built-in storage variants, with a microSD card slot for expansion.

Coming to software, the iPad Air runs iOS 7, the latest version of Apple's mobile OS. The Nokia Lumia 2520 and Surface 2 run Windows RT, the tablet optimised stripped down version of Windows. The Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

In terms of apps, the iPad Air has an edge over Windows RT and Android based tablets as a large number of iOS apps have been optimised for the iPad. Apple now also offers its iLife and iWork suit of apps free of charge, to new customers, The tablet-specific app scene is pretty dismal on Windows and Android, though the Surface 2 and Nokia Lumia 2520 tablets come with Microsoft Office 2013 RT office apps.

It's worth pointing out that barring the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, none of these tablets are available in India, at this point in time. Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, at a price point of Rs. 49,999. The iPad Air starts at $499 and the Lumia 2520 is also priced similarly. The Surface 2 starts at $449.

Apple

Apple launches iPad Air, iPad mini with Retina display

Apple took design cues from its smaller iPad mini and made the larger format tablet thinner and lighter, renaming it iPad Air. It also revamped the iPad mini with Retina display.

The new iPads have a number of small internal improvements which were seen in the recently launched iPhone 5S.

At an event in California US, on Tuesday, the company launched its new crop of products, including the two new iPads and Macbook Pro laptops, while also announcing the availability of its latest operating system OSX Mavericks as a free download.

The latest -- iPad Air and the new iPad mini with much-awaited Retina display -- come at a time when the Cupertino-based iPhone and iPad maker is facing a growing challenge from the Google Android-based tablets from manufacturers like Samsung, LG and Asus.

However, given the pricing of the iPads, it is obvious Apple does not want to compete in non-premium tablet category as it does in the smartphone business with iPhones.

iPad Air is 20% thinner, 28% lighter and has 43% smaller bezels than last year’s iPad 4, which has curiously been stopped by Apple even as it will continue to sell the earlier generation iPads. The 9.7 inch iPad Air with Retina display resembles iPad mini a lot. It is 7.5mm thick and weighs 1 pound. Apple claimed it is the thinnest full-sized tablet in the world.

iPad Air uses the same 64-bit A7 chip and the M7 motion co-processor that was introduced recently with the iPhone 5S. It can open files and render graphics twice as fast as the iPad 4, while still promising the same 10-hour battery life.

The new model will hit the shelves on November 1 and come in Space Grey and Silver colours. It will be available at $499, $599, $699 and $799 for the 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB Wi-Fi models respectively. The Wi-Fi and 4G models will cost another $130 over and above that in case of each model.

iPad Air comes with a disappointing 5MP rear iSight camera, but a 1.2MP front-facing HD camera for FaceTime with improved backside illumination sensors features larger pixels for better low-light performance. It is powered by iOS 7, which is the latest version of the software and brings features like revamped search, notifications, control centre and the iCloud Keychain password manager.

Curiously, while Apple phased out last year’s iPad 4 from its portfolio, it has retained in its lineup the iPad 2, which was launched two years ago. The fourth-generation iPad was launched last October.

Apple also unveiled the new iPad mini with Retina display which was much-awaited. The Retina iPad mini has twice the screen resolution than the first model at 2048x1536p in the same 7.9-inch display. It also runs on the 64-bit A7 chipset, a huge upgrade over the A5 chip used in the previous version. The new iPad mini too will be launched in November and come in Silver and Space Grey colours.

The mini-tablet also runs iOS 7 and comes with the same 5MP iSight and 1.2MP front camera for FaceTime. The Retina iPad mini will cost $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $529 for 16GB Wi-Fi and 4G variant. The 32GB, 64GB and 128GB Wi-Fi models have been priced at $499, $599 and $699, while their respective Wi-Fi and cellular variants cost another $130 over and above for each model.

The company has also retained the iPad mini launched last year, but cut its price by $30, from $329 to $299. Apple also showcased two covers for the iPad Air and Retina iPad mini priced at $69 and $79, respectively.

Both new iPads feature two antennas to support Multiple-In-Multiple-Out (MIMO) technology, bringing nearly twice the Wi-Fi performance with data rate possible of going up to 300Mbps. Cellular models too will have better LTE coverage as these will support more LTE networks worldwide.

Apple has sold over 170 million iPads and now has 4,75,000 iPad-exclusive applications in the App Store.

Review

LG Fireweb launched, running Firefox OS 1.1

LG has finally unveiled its first Firefox OS-based smartphone, the LG Fireweb. The smartphone has

 been launched in partnership with Brazilian telecom carrier, Telefonica and is currently only available in Brazil. However, the telecom carrier noted that the device will be launched in Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay soon. The LG Fireweb comes at 449 BRL (Brazilian Real) which roughly translates to Rs. 12,700 (off-contract). As of now, there is no official word on the availability of the LG Fireweb in other markets.

The Firefox OS 1.1-based LG Fireweb comes with 4-inch HVGA (320x480) TFT display, 1GHz Qualcomm processor and includes 4GB of inbuilt storage with microSD card slot. It also packs a 1540mAh battery and includes connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, 3.5mm audio jack and 3G. The LG Fireweb sports a 5-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash.

In addition the LG's new Firefox smartphone supports HTML5 and comes preloaded with Web browser, calendar, clock and maps apps.

Commenting on the launch, Jay Sullivan, COO of Mozilla, said, "We built Firefox OS as part of Mozilla's mission to put the power of the Web in people's hands and offer the best Web experience possible. We're happy to see Firefox OS gain momentum with partners launching new devices in new markets and developers around the world being inspired to innovate. Our partnership with Telefonica Vivo demonstrates the rich, new experiences offered on Firefox OS by combining the best global and local content with LG's elegant new device experience."

Earlier this month, Mozilla announced the first update for smartphones running Firefox OS. The update (version 1.1) added new features, support for new languages and major performance upgrades. 

Mobiles launched in October 2013

LG Fireweb key specifications

• 4-inch HVGA (320x480) TFT display
• 1GHz Qualcomm processor
• 4GB of inbuilt storage with microSD card slot
• 1540mAh battery
• Firefox OS
• 5-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, 3.5mm audio jack and 3G

BBM

Blackberry Messanger (BBM) for android and ios has arived.




 #BBMforAll - the hashtag BlackBerry had been actively using before the initial BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) launch got botched. Now that BlackBerry has after a month-long wait announced that BBM for Android and BBM for iPhone are ready to download and install, not all users will be able to start messaging right away.

To install BBM for Android or iPhone visit BBM.com from your mobile phone browser or click here for the Android version, iPhone users click here.


The long-awaited cross-platform offering, which was delayed after issues arose following the initial launch last month, is now being rolled out in a phased manner. "To help manage this unprecedented pent-up demand for BBM, we are implementing a simple line-up system to ensure a smooth rollout," BBM head Andrew Bocking, said in a post on BlackBerry's official blog.

The long-awaited cross-platform BlackBerry Messenger (BBM for Android, iPhone) is now being rolled out in a phased manner.

BlackBerry said last week that 6 million Android and iPhone customers had pre-registered for the launch and it are those users who will get to use the app first.


BBM is available as a free download for Android smartphones running Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean (Android 4.x) and for iPhones running iOS 6 and iOS 7. At launch, the BBM Video calling and BBM Voice calling features are not available on BBM's Android and iPhone apps but BlackBerry says these are are planned for availability in a future version.

While all users with compatible devices will be able to download and install the BBM app, they will first need to enter their emails in the app and wait in the virtual queue. BlackBerry will inform when they get to use the app. This restriction, though, does not apply to six million who had already signed up at BBM.com.

As previously reported, more than a million users had in a matter of seven hours installed an unreleased version of BBM for Android, that went on to scuttle the initial BBM launch. Bocking also added that "one million people have found creative ways to 'side load' BBM on their iPhone."

BlackBerry is yet to announce plans to bring BBM to Windows Phone devices.

Wondering how to use BBM? Watch this video playlist.

  

Angry Birds

Angry Birds Go! gameplay trailer released, arriving December 11 for free

Rovio, the Finnish developer that rose to fame with the iconic mobile game franchise, Angry Birds, will soon launch its new game, Angry Birds Go!, for free.

The Angry Birds Go! is a kart-racing game that brings the Angry Birds characters to a brand new downhill kart racing set-up. The developer has posted a gameplay trailer of the Angry Birds Go! on its blog and informs, "It's a complete first for the Angry Birds series, featuring high-octane downhill racing, upgradable karts, tons of characters with unique special powers and a fully rendered 3D world."

The game would be available worldwide on December 11 on all major mobile platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Phone 8 and even BlackBerry 10, via respective app stores. Angry Birds Go! would be a free-to-play title, and will offer a number of modes and features.
"In Angry Birds Go! you can feel the rush as you fling down the track and go head-to-head in a fast and furious race to the finish line! Look out for treacherous roads, mischievous opponents and unique special powers to put the race leader behind the pack. Plus you can go from homemade soapbox car to a super-fly car by upgrading your ride. It's all there, along with crazy stunt and air tracks, and many fun and surprising game modes," says the blog post, describing the gameplay.

Gamers will also be able to transport Hasbro's TELEPODS live figure karts to the game just like Angry Birds Star Wars II. This is essentially an augmented reality based feature where users can scan live figures via the device's camera and transport it to the game.

The gameplay appears to be similar to other kart-racing games like the Super Mario Kart, Sonic & Sega: All Stars Racing and Crash Nitro Kart.
 Rovio had first posted a teaser image of the game in June with a teaser video, later. Angry Birds Go! will be the eighth game in the popular series, following the original Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Star Wars, Angry Birds Star Wars II and Angry Birds Friends, and excluding the Bad Piggies spinoff.

Laptop

4 Intel Haswell-powered laptops that deliver on long battery

Just in time for the back-to-school season, new laptops with extended battery life are hitting store shelves.

What these laptops have in common are microprocessors that belong to a new family of Intel chips called Haswell. The chips consume less power than previous generations and promise a 50 percent boost in battery life for watching video. The improvements extend to word processing, Web surfing and other computing tasks as well.

Put another way, you can unplug your laptop in the morning and go a full day without a charge, with some breaks for meals, exercise and errands. The 13-inch (33-centimeter) MacBook Air, for instance, promises up to 12 hours of battery life. Three Windows machines I tried promise seven to nine hours. For students, that's a full day of cutting classes - and more. For business travelers, that's a cross-country flight including delays.

The catch
Slim, lightweight laptops with Haswell chips cost more than $1,000. Cheaper laptops will be heavier or come with older chips.

I reviewed Apple's MacBook Air and Dell, Sony and Acer computers running Microsoft's Windows 8. Samsung and other PC makers are just coming out with Haswell laptops, so you should expect even more choices by the holidays. The four I tested use solid-state flash drives, which keep laptops light but don't have as much capacity as traditional storage. They also lack Ethernet ports for wired Internet connections and slots for DVDs. Expect to use Wi-Fi a lot, though USB ports are available to connect devices. Base models come with 128 gigabytes of storage. You can spend a few hundred dollars more for additional storage and faster processors.

Here are the four Haswell laptops I tried, starting with the cheapest:

1. MacBook Air from Apple starts at $1,099 for 13-inch model
With a screen measuring 13.3 inches (33 centimeters) diagonally, the larger model weighs 2.96 pounds (1.34 kilograms) and costs $1,099. An even lighter, 11.6-inch (29.5-centimeter) version is available for $999, but promised battery life is just nine hours. Spend the extra $100 for three additional hours and a larger screen if you can afford it.

It's odd that the Air is the cheapest of the four I reviewed, as Apple's computers are traditionally pricier than their Windows counterparts. But in this case, the Windows laptops I tested all come with touch screens, something Apple has avoided in laptops on the premise that people don't want to lift their hands off the keyboard to use touch controls. The base model of the Air also has a slightly slower processor - at 1.3 gigahertz, compared with 1.6 gigahertz for the three Windows laptops.

Although promised battery life on the 13-inch review unit was 12 hours, I was able to get more than 14 hours once by turning off the Wi-Fi connection. I typically got nine to 11 hours for general Web surfing. Apple promises up to 10 hours for playing video downloaded from its iTunes store. I ran that test four times and got nine to 10 hours of playing the same episode of "Revenge" over and over. As with other laptops, performance drops significantly when streaming video over Wi-Fi, down to six to seven hours of Hulu.

Beyond having a long battery life, the Air is a solid machine that is easy to hold and carry. Although its aluminum exterior is easy to scratch and dent, I feel comfortable banging it around in my backpack because it has few moving parts that might be susceptible to damage. I even ran four miles home with it once.

Only the 13-inch model has a slot for SD memory cards.

Apart from its limited storage compared with laptops with regular hard drives, the MacBook Air will work fine as a primary computer. However, if you need an even more powerful laptop, see if Apple will update its MacBook Pros with Haswell this fall.

2. XPS 12 from Dell starts at $1,200
The XPS 12 is part of a category called ultrabooks - slim and light laptops, much like MacBook Airs, except they run Windows. The XPS 12 is also a convertible. The screen spins like a pig roasting on a spit. In one position, you get a laptop. Spin it 180 degrees, close the lid, and you have yourself a tablet. Magic.

Unfortunately, the XPS 12 is on the heavy side. The base model is 3.35 pounds. On paper, it's less than a half-pound heavier than the Air. But in practice, it feels heavy - especially as a tablet, at more than double the 1.44 pounds for the full-size iPad. The XPS 12 is alone in lacking an SD card slot, and its 12.5-inch screen is the smallest. But it is also the only one to have physical volume buttons on the side, and it's more affordable than the other two Windows laptops I reviewed.

Promised battery life is about 8.75 hours. I got nearly 8.5 hours for word processing, spreadsheets and other tasks that didn't need Wi-Fi. With wireless turned on, I got 7.5 to eight hours of use. Like the other two Windows machines, I got five to six hours of iTunes video. That's about half of what I got on the Air, but Apple has the advantage in being able to optimize its hardware for the software it also designs. I got about 5.5 to six hours of streaming video on Hulu, which is just about an hour less than what I got on the Air.

I did have some trouble with the battery losing its charge quickly when not in use, but a software update seems to have fixed that. That said, the XPS 12 took up to four hours to get a full charge, compared with two hours or less for the others.

What I like most about the XPS 12 is the fact that it automatically disables the on-screen keyboard when in laptop mode. On the Acer and the Sony laptops, the touch keyboard gets in the way when you already have a fully functioning keyboard attached. Tablet computers need that keyboard, so it comes back automatically when you flip the screen into a tablet. It's a smart strategy that I wish all other Windows 8 computers would adopt.

3. Vaio Pro 13 from Sony starts at $1,250
The Pro is an ultrabook that's light. Very, very light.

The 13.3-inch (33.8-centimeter) laptop weighs just 2.34 pounds (1.06 kilograms), only 60 percent more than an iPad. Sony uses carbon fiber to keep it light. It feels to me like cheap plastic that's about to break because it bends. But Sony assures me that it's more durable than aluminum. And Sony says the fact that it bends isn't a sign of weakness but a characteristic that lets it absorb shock. The base model starts at $1,250, though you can save $100 with an 11.6-inch (29.5-centimeter) Vaio Pro 11 instead.

I was ready to hate the Pro 13 because the cursor keeps jumping around when I type, making it difficult to complete sentences. But I tried three machines without problems at a Sony store in New York. Turns out I had to download a piece of software to give me settings for touchpad sensitivity. I had two weeks of frustrations until then, though Sony tells me most consumers won't need the separate download.

Once that got fixed, the laptop worked fine. The laptop hinge serves as a kickstand when open to prop up the keyboard, making it slightly easier to type.

I consistently got more than the seven hours of battery life promised for general Web surfing and word processing. I reached 8.5 hours once with Wi-Fi turned off. Battery life drops below six hours, though, for iTunes video download and Hulu streaming. If you do a lot of that, you can add a spare battery for $150, doubling the battery life. The system is still less than 3 pounds with the spare battery attached. The other units I tried won't let you replace batteries or insert a spare at all.

4. Aspire S7 from Acer starts at $1,450
The Aspire has what I want in a laptop, except for the price.

The laptop's aluminum body is covered on one side with glossy white glass. It reminds me of a refrigerator, but I came to appreciate the durability it brings once I started lugging it around. It's also fairly light, at 2.87 pounds (1.3 kilograms).

You can flip its screen all the way back so that both the keyboard and the screen are level with the surface, just like a tablet on a tabletop. I can't think of any scenarios in which I would need that, though Acer says it's good for presentations. Just press Function-O on the keyboard and the image on the screen rotates 90 degrees at a time, allowing you to show something to others sitting at your table.

Acer's website promises eight hours of battery life. I exceeded nine hours with Wi-Fi off and got seven to 8.5 hours of general Web surfing. But I got less than six hours of iTunes video and Hulu streaming.

Two complaints about the design: The power button is near the hole for the charger, so I accidentally turned the machine off by mistake several times. Acer also places the "page up" and "page down" keys next to the arrows to move the cursor. So instead of moving the cursor one line up, I've often moved it a whole page up or down and lost my train of thought.

I also had the cursor jump around when I first used it. A replacement unit Acer sent me to review worked without a hitch. I eventually noticed the first machine had the touchpad-sensitivity settings missing, even after resetting the unit to factory conditions and downloading new software for the touchpad.

My advice is to check return policies in case you run into trouble. The MacBook Air worked well out of the box, but the three Windows machine all required software adjustments. If you want a touch screen, you'll need to go with Windows 8.

Whatever you choose, these are all great machines that will give you several hours of use on a single charge - as long as you can afford them.