L series smartphones launched by LG Optimus cross 10 million

LG has announced that cumulative sales of its Optimus L-series smartphones - Optimus L3, Optimus L5, Optimus L7 and Optimus L9 - have crossed 10 million.

LG introduced three Optimus L-series of smartphones at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2012 in Barcelona. The 3 models introduced at the time were the LG Optimus L3, Optimus L5 and Optimus L7. The LG Optimus L3 is a budget Android 2.3 smartphone with a 3.2-inch display, 3-megapixel camera, 800MHz processor and 384MB RAM.  LG also introduced a dual-SIM variant of the Optimus L3 in some markets, including India.

The LG Optimus L5 runs on Android 4.0 and features a 4.0-inch display, 5-megapixel camera, 800MHz processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage which is expandable by up to 32GB. The LG Optimus L7 is an Android 4.0-running smartphone with a 4.0-inch display, 5-megapixel camera, 4GB internal storage which is expandable by up to 32GB, 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM.

LG later expanded the L-series in the year with Optimus L9. The LG Optimus L9 comes with a 4.7-inch display, 5-megapixel camera, 4GB internal storage and expandable by up to 32GB, dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM and Android 4.0. It was recently launched in India carrying a price tag of Rs. 23,000, though it was available in the market for Rs. 19,990.

"This milestone demonstrates the importance of delivering smartphones with stylish design, comparative size of display and enhanced UX features," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. "Whereas other manufacturers are putting all their eggs into a one-size-fits-all phone, our strategy is to develop mobile products for all types of customers according to their individual needs and lifestyles."

Sony Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2012 deals launched on Windows 8 Vaio laptops

Sony has waited until the last minute to announce its Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals, but it's finally coughed them up on Thanksgiving morning. While there are no eye-popping sales on its Vaio laptops, if you've been waiting to save a little on one, you may want to take a look. (You do also get free shipping on these specials.)

Most of the deals are $50 price cuts, like on the diminuitive Vaio E Series 11 with AMD E2-1800 dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 750GB hard drive, and 11.6-inch LED-backlit display, which is now $399.99. On some other cheaper models, the discount is even less, like a mere $30 shaved off the total of E Series 14 and 15 in pink (now $598.49) and white ($550.99), respectively. 

If you're in the market for an Ultrabook on the lower end of the price spectrum, Sony is slashing $100 off the Vaio T Series 13 with Core i3-3217U processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of hard drive, 32GB solid state drive, and 13.3-inch LED-back screen for just $599.99. It's stingier on a T Series 14 Ultrabook configuration, which includes a Core i7-3517U CPU, 8GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive/32GB SSD, and DVD burner with the slightly larger screen, but only is reduced $50 from its original $999.99 price. 

Not surprisingly, the larger price cuts become available when you spend more. For instance, you can get $120 savings on a Vaio S Series 13 laptop with Core i7-3520M processor, 8GB of RAM, 750GB hard drive, Nvidia GeForce GT 640M LE discreet graphics, and Windows 8 Pro, sale priced at $1,079.99. Sony is chopping $140 off a S Series 15 with Core i7-3632QM, 12GB of RAM, 750GB hard drive, Blu-ray burner, and GeForce GT 640M LE for $1,259.99.

If you're not committed to Windows 8 -- and you have a lot of money to spend already -- the Windows 7 Z Series is getting the biggest price reductions, from $200 off a $1,999.99 model to $420 off a $2,999.99 configuration. Both are 13-inch ultraportables with SSD storage and Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors.

Meet Phorce, a smart bag to charge all your devices on the go

For those who are addicted to their gadgets, such as smartphones and tablets, low battery life can be a major problem. Finding a charging point can often be a daunting task. But worry not, a project on Kickstarter called Phorce, hopes to bring an end this charging madness. Check out more about this project here.

So what is the project hoping to provide? Well a smart bag that will let you charge your electronic devices on the go, from your laptops to your smartphones and your tablets.
The Kickstarter project states, that Thanks to its integrated lightweight battery pack, Phorce is powerful enough to charge an iPhone 5 over 8 times, a Galaxy S3 about 6 times, or an iPad Mini 2.5 times. 

According to TechCrunch the bag also features a convertible design, and can become a messenger bag, briefcase, or two shoulder backpack as well.

The bag will also sync with your iPhone or your Android device via Bluetooth. Oh and if you leave your Phorce bag somewhere, it will point on your phone that you’ve forgotten it. As long as its charged that is.
In terms of design and colour, it does look very cool. As a concept a must need for everyone.

Scientists devise new technique to get rid of spam mail

Researchers have proposed a new statistical framework for spam filtering that can quickly and efficiently block unwanted messages in your email inbox.

Scientists from the Concordia University have conducted a comprehensive study of several spam filters in the process of developing a new and efficient one. "Our new method for spam filtering is able to adapt to the dynamic nature of spam emails and accurately handle spammers' tricks by carefully identifying informative patterns, which are automatically extracted from both text and images content of spam emails," said researcher Ola Amayri in a statement. Until now, the majority of research in the domain of email spam filtering has focused on the automatic extraction and analysis of the textual content of spam emails and has ignored the rich nature of image-based content.

When these tricks are used in combination, traditional spam filters are powerless to stop the messages, because they normally focus on either text or images but rarely both, the study found.
"The majority of previous research has focused on the textual content of spam emails, ignoring visual content found in multimedia content, such as images. By considering patterns from text and images simultaneously, we've been able to propose a new method for filtering out spam," said researcher Ola Amayri.
Amayri explained that new spam messages often employ sophisticated tricks, such as deliberately obscuring text, obfuscating words with symbols, and using batches of the same images with different backgrounds and colours that might contain random text from the web.

By conducting extensive experiments on traditional spam filtering methods that were general and limited to patterns found in texts or images, the new method is much stronger, based on techniques used in pattern recognition and data mining, to filter out unwanted emails. Although the new method has been tested on English spam emails, Amayri said it can be easily extended to other languages. "Spammers keep adapting their methods so that they can trick the spam filters. Researchers in this field need to work together to keep adapting our methods too, so that we can keep spam out and focus on those messages that are really important," Amayri added.

Zen launches its first Android phone

The phone comes with a 3.5 inch screen, 1 GHz processor and 3.2 megapixel camera, and is priced at Rs 4,999.

Zen Mobile, an Indian mobile brand, has launched its first Android smartphone - the Zen Ultraphone U1. The dual SIM phone is based on Android 2.3 and runs on a 1 GHz processor. It comes with features like a 3.5 inch HVGA (480 × 320 pixel) capacitive touchscreen, a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, GPRS/EDGE, WiFi and Bluetooth. Crucially, the phone misses out on 3G connectivity. It comes with a 1200 mAh battery and is priced at Rs 4,999. It is initially available at Homeshop18.com only.

Deepesh Gupta, managing director, Zen Mobile, said, "Zen Ultraphone U1 is one of the top of the ladder innovations from Zen Mobiles and reaffirms our business tenet of getting the best technology to end consumers at affordable rates. We take pride in bringing pioneering technologies to the mobile users of today, which is in line with transforming their constantly evolving Android mobile experience." The phone, coming from a relatively unknown brand, doesn't have any standout feature and therefore might not be able to generate much interest. It even misses out on 3G and GPS, which brands like Micromax are offering, with their product and at only a slightly higher price.

Smartphones that can identify knuckle touch and fingernails

A computer scientist in the US has built a prototype smartphone that can distinguish between touches from the knuckle, fingertip and even fingernail.
To open up the smartphone screens to commands from other parts of the hand, Chris Harrison, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, has built the
prototype.
A modified smartphone, fitted with a small vibration sensor and running Harrison's FingerSense software, listens for the acoustic and vibrational differences between the three different types of touch, the New Scientist reported.
A fingertip could select an object while a knuckle tap could work like the right-click on a computer mouse and open up a submenu, for example.
"A big problem with touchscreens right now is that they are very simplistic, relative to the capability of our hands. We could do so much more," Harrison said.
"The more ways you have of expressing input into smartphones the better," said Joseph Paradiso at the MIT Media Lab in Boston, who has worked on similar technology. Harrison said the sensor is a standard piece of electronics that can be added to the main circuit board of any smartphone, and he is already in talks with major phone manufacturers to do just that.
"The real magic is in the software, this artificial intelligence that lives in the heart of the phone," he said.
Harrison has just launched a company called Qeexo to sell his device.

HTC Desire SV now available for purchase in India

HTC recently unveiled its new dual-SIM capable Desire SV smartphone which it said will soon launch in the Indian market. This device is now up for grabs via online retailer Saholic at Rs. 21,799, it will ship in four business days.
The Desire SV is a dual-SIM capable Android 4.0 ICS based smartphone which is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and 768MB of RAM. The device also features a 4.3-inch WVGA SLCD display, has an 8 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, no front facing camera, Beats Audio integration, 4GB built-in storage and a 1,620 mAh battery.

This of course is a much capable and high quality dual-SIM capable Android smartphone in the Indian market. If dual-SIM capability is the prime feature you are looking for then there are a bunch of low-cost dual-SIM capable smartphones from local manufacturers.