Android 2.3.4 Update for Nexus S brings Video Chat

Google has released a new Gingerbread update that brings Google Talk with video and voice chat support for Android smartphones. Finally, Android devices get Gtalk with video or voice chat over 3G/4G or Wi-Fi. Only Nexus S devices are blessed with the new Android 2.3.4 update while others will receive it later. That means if you have an Android device with a front facing camera, then you'll have to wait for this update for a couple of months more or until enthusiasts manage to pull out the new Gtalk app for rest of the devices. Three months ago, Google demonstrated Android 3.0 Honeycomb...

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Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link MX HD Media Player

The Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link MX HD media player is a compact device, which when connected to the television, can play all your media files from your portable drive.It supports all major formats in Full HD and works with all types of external storage devices. The player has an HDMI out, composite AV out and coaxial audio out. It also sports a single USB port on the front for connecting external storage devices. The ScreenPlay TV Link MX comes with a wireless remote control as well. The device is pretty small, about the size of a CD, and has a nice brushed metal finish with good build...

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Hackers put up PSN Credit Card Info for Sale

Last week hackers, purportedly from the Internet collective Anonymous, managed to hack into the PlayStation Network - Sony's online portal for PS3 and PSP consoles. The serious security breach saw the hackers harvest personal information and password details of the 77 million odd PSN accounts, in addition to unsettling rumours of the users' credit card info being compromised. The credit card info leak was until now, a matter of conjecture, with Sony neither admitting nor denying the possibility. If TrendMicro's online security expert Kevin Stevens is to be believed, "low-level cybercriminals"...

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RIM launches BlackBerry Style 9670 in India

Research in Motion has launched the new BlackBerry Style 9670 in India. This CDMA based smartphone runs the new BlackBerry OS 6.0. It has 360 x 400 resolution internal display and 240 x 320 resolution external display. The 9670 has a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash and can record videos in VGA resolution. It has the standard BlackBerry full QWERTY keypad and the optical trackpad, along with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. The phone has 512MB internal memory and comes with an 8GB microSD card. The 9670 is priced at Rs. 24,999 in India and is available on Reliance and Tata...

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Corsair SP2500 Review

2.1 speaker systems have been in existence for a long time, but even today it is hard to come across a set that sounds really good. The cheaper ones are often built to a budget and produce passable sound, while the more expensive ones sound decent but are no match for a pair of bookshelf speakers from a respected brand at the same price. Bookshelf speakers also take up a lot more desk space and often require amplification, which a lot of people will see as an additional headache. Hence the popularity of the 2.1 speaker systems. Their space saving design and plug and play nature is what...

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Apple iPhone 6 to get Sharp LCDs

Rumors of the iPhone 5 continue to rife and images of purported prototypes are already soaring on the web. Amidst that craziness, Japanese news daily Nikkei, reported that Apple will partner with Sharp to create next-generation low-temperature poly-silicon LCD displays for the iPhone 6. That means the iPhone 6 would have thinner and lighter display compared to the iPhone 4 and also offer more durability, higher aperture ratios and few connection pins.Even in the past, Apple employed the Retina Display technology in the iPhone 4 providing crisper images, bright and improved contrast...

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PSN Hacked; Credit Card Data may be Compromised

The PlayStation Network has been down since last Wednesday, eerily close to Anonymous' recent open threat to Sony. After waiting almost a week for the online service to resume, Sony finally issued a statement on through a blog post officially announcing that the PSN and Qriocity, its on-demand digital music service have been affected by a security breach. Nearly 77 million PSN users have been affected by the breach. Although the number of individual subscribers may be smaller due to the existence of alternate IDs, the total figure is still estimated in the millions. The PSN intrusion...

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How Tech Company Logos Evolved: Part II

A company's corporate logo is something that becomes a symbol of the company and the company starts getting identified by that logo. It is this power of identity that makes us instantly recognize a brand by just glimpsing at its logo. Corporate logos of almost every technology company have changed over the course of years and that is what we are going to have a look at today in part 2 of this series.LG The Korean company we know today as LG had its humble beginnings as a merger of two different companies owned by Koo In-Hwoi - Lucky (Lak-Hui), which was a chemical cosmetic company,...

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Philips 192EL LED Monitor Review

Philips used to be quite popular back in the day with CRT monitors right alongside Viewsonic and Samsung. However, once the LCDs invaded the market, they kind of fell off the grid. I bet you didn't know that despite its low profile in India, Philips actually has a wide range of PC monitors right from a 15-incher all the way to 27-inches. Today, we have its budget series LED based monitor called the 192EL. This is an 18.5-inch screen with a 1366x768 resolution and a brightness level of 250 candelas. Response time is good low 5ms so ghosting should be a non-issue in gaming or movies. The...

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Viewsonic VP2655wb LCD Monitor

After a long time we have one of Viewsonic's professional series monitors with us for review, the VP2655wb. Based on IPS technology, the monitor measures 25.5" diagonally and sports a full HD resolution of 1920x1200 resolution. Thanks to the IPS panel it boasts of a 118% NTSC color gamut and a very good viewing angle of 178-degree horizontal and vertical. The typical contrast ratio is 1000:1 and comes with a 400cd/m2 brightness, which is just what you need from a professional series monitor for graphics and multimedia. There are a couple other features as well which we'll see in a bit....

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Viewsonic VA2431wm

Viewsonic has been off the LCD monitor radar for some time now and seemed to have given up hope of breaking the market which is now hogged by Dell, Samsung and BenQ. The last impressive monitor that we reviewed was the VP2655wb, which was a bit expensive since it had an IPS panel and all but it was good nonetheless.  Viewsonic has sent across their budget 24-incher for review and we take a look at what's hot and what's not. The bundle includes the power cable, VGA cable and audio cable along with some manuals and drivers. Design and Build The VA2431wm is built well...

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Viewsonic VA1931wma LED Monitor

While we were quite impressed with the Philips 192EL LED monitor, it's now Viewsonics turn to take the hot seat. The VA1913wma is Viewsonics budget LED monitor, which happens to fall in the same price bracket as the Philips. This 18.5" screen comes with a resolution of 1366x768, 250 candelas brightness and a 5ms response time. The build quality is good and so are the aesthetics, you can think of it as a miniature version of the VA2431wm, which was also LED based. Design and Build The full glossy bezel and stand help it stand out, but also attracts a lot of dust and fingerprints. The...

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HP's New Workstations, Plus More DreamColor Offerings

When HP invited me to attend a press reception for their new mobile workstations, I was understandably confused. I'd just been out to San Francisco to see the new mobile workstations a little over a month before, what could possibly be so new that it needed to go under NDA? As it turns out, HP was saving the best for last. We had the opportunity to review the HP EliteBook 8740w last year, complete with DreamColor IPS display, and it was...well, a monster. It's expensive, but it's the most powerful workstation-class notebook with the best quality screen you're ever going to find in...

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MSI Sandy Bridge Notebook Winner

First I want to thank everyone who entered and MSI for suppling a GT680R Sandy Bridge notebook for the contest. And second, I'd like to congratulate AT reader gamefreakgcb - you're our grand prize winner! MSI will be sending me 25 coupons for Mafia 2 which I'll distribute to the first 25 commenters who entered the contest. And if you didn't win this time, don't worry - we've got another big contest coming up soon....

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Apple iPad 2 to Hit India later this Week

This comes as a surprise to all of us. Apple will launch the second generation iPad 2 in India at a price starting at Rs. 27,900 later this week. OnlyGizmos blog claims to have been tipped by a trusted source about this launch. It's surprising because hardly three months ago, Apple introduced the first generation iPad in India. The second generation iPad 2 has a dual-core processor, dual-cameras, speaker mesh at the back, Gyroscopic sensor, accelerometer, and faster graphics. In a way, iPad 2 is a step up and refreshed version of iPad but nothing so phenomenally different....

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Micromax M2 Review

The micromax M2 is a handset that is centered mainly on music. It has a very useful and helpful collection of the technical attributes that offer the users extraordinary options.  It is integrated with a fine quality camera, a WAP browser, a multiple format supporting music player, SMS options, ample storage space, good battery back up and GPRS connectivity. However, these applications are still not announced. It is expected to have a support to dual SIM cards. The package of the Micromax M2 has the handset, battery, headphones, charger, user manual and the warranty card. Specifications ...

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Your iPhone Records Your Whereabouts Secretly

Location based services are making the best of the GPS and A-GPS capabilities of modern day smartphones. The secret of those who've faking locations to win FourSquare Checkins to earn the Mayor batch using iPhones could be unleashed any time. Two Security Researchers - Pete Warden, Founder of Data Science Toolkit and Alasdair Allan, Senior Research Fellow, University of Exeter, have discovered that the Apple iOS 4.x mobile operating system keeps a log of user's location for iPhone and iPad. Even if you haven't been any using any of those location based services, the device still keeps...

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