Chennai Super Kings end Sunrisers' home run with emphatic victory

Chennai Super Kings players celebrate the dismissal of Sunrisers Hyderabad's Shikhar Dhawan during the IPL 6 match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Uppal in Hyderabad.

HYDERABAD: The Sunrisers Hyderabad's attack, which had bamboozled visiting sides on five previous occasions and had converted the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium into a fortress, came apart on Wednesday night as the batting might of the Chennai Super Kings was felt in full measure.


Mauled by the Mumbai Indians in their previous game, the Super Kings were in no mood to show any mercy to the Sunrisers bowlers, who for once, failed to rise to the challenge.

Led by the enterprising Suresh Raina and the evergreen Michael Hussey, the Super Kings posted the highest total - 223/3 - at the venue this season.

Once the bowling was dealt a death blow, it was easy for the Super Kings to snuff out the hosts' reply. The chase was never on despite wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel beginning the innings on a rousing note when he cut pacer Mohit Sharma past point for a four.

The run out of prolific Shikhar Dhawan (3) set the Sunrisers' back. As wickets fell at one end, it was left to Patel (44; 30b, 6x4, 1x6) and Karan Sharma (39 no; 33b, 3x4, 1x6) to give the over 29,000 fans something to cheer about. The hosts ended up with 146 for eight.

For once the Hyderabad bowlers were unable to execute their game plan on the field and paid a heavy price as the Super Kings took a toll of the poor stuff dished out by the hosts.

Barring Dale Steyn (4-1-17-0), none of the others were able to make much of an impression on the visiting batsmen. Ishant Sharma, in particular, was totally off-colour and conceded 65 runs in his four overs - 25 coming off his last over - and Darren Sammy gave away 33 in two overs.

Hussey and Raina strung a 133-run partnership for the second wicket off 73 balls which knocked the wind out of the Sunrisers' sails. Hussey, who has regained the Orange cap, struck five fours and four sixes off 42 balls on way to his 67 - his 5th half-century in the tournament.

Raina, who was dropped by Karan Sharma on 26, made batting look easy as he toyed with the listless attack. The southpaw missed out on a second century this season but his unbeaten 99 was worth its weight in gold.

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Windows 8 hits 100 million sales; Microsoft confirm Windows Blue update coming this year

Microsoft Corp has sold 100 million Windows 8 licenses in the six months since launch, roughly in line with the previous version, but wants to combat sputtering interest in its flagship software with a substantial update to make it easier to use, and compatible with smaller tablets.
Windows 8 is the first Microsoft operating system primarily designed for touch commands, but it has failed to capture consumers' imaginations or make a dent in a tablet market dominated by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.
"Is it perfect? No. Are there things we need to change? Absolutely. We are being very real about what needs to change and changing it as thoughtfully and quickly as we can", said Tami Reller, co-head of Microsoft's Windows unit at the company's Redmond, Washington headquarters last week, where she announced the latest Windows sales figure, a number made public on Monday.
Microsoft will be rolling out an update to Windows 8, provisionally code-named 'Windows Blue', by the end of this year, Reller said. Details of the update will be released in the next few weeks.
Although Microsoft has sold 100 million Windows 8 licenses since launch on October 26, matching Windows 7 sales three years previously, it looks unlikely that the new system will see progressively rising demand, as Windows 7 did, hitting 240 million sales in its first year.
Microsoft's last Windows 8 sales update was in early January, when it broke 60 million, suggesting only around 40 million license sales in the last four months, well below Windows 7's average sales rate.
Windows 7 was helped by the fact that it replaced the generally unpopular Windows Vista, whereas Windows 8 has confused many potential customers with its new-look 'tile'-based start screen and the omission of the traditional 'start' button.
"The learning curve is real, and we need to address it," said Reller. "We're not sitting back and saying, they will get used to it."
Reller did not say whether the 'Blue' update would restore the start button, but she said Microsoft would pay more attention to helping customers adapt.
"We've considered a lot of different scenarios to help traditional PC users move forward as well as making usability that much better on all devices," she said.
Touch laptops
Consumer alienation, and the lack of affordable touch-laptops that can make full use of Windows 8, has held back computer sales, according to industry tracker IDC. PC sales had their sharpest drop on record in the first three months of this year, plummeting 14 percent.
Reller hopes that new machines from firms including Lenovo, ASUS and Hewlett-Packard will change that this year.
"We know customers like touch laptops, but they are also price sensitive," she said. "Our partners (hardware makers) have to bet on volume, so that they get price breaks, and get that moving into the (retail) channel."
Microsoft is also tweaking Windows 8 to make it compatible with smaller seven and eight inch tablets, which would allow hardware makers to compete in the fastest-growing segment of the tablet market against Apple's iPad mini, Samsung's Galaxy Tab, Google Inc's Nexus 7 and Amazon.com Inc's Kindle Fire.
Reller declined to comment on whether Microsoft would make a smaller version of its own Surface tablet (Review I Pictures).
Microsoft has not made much of an impression in the tablet market so far, notching only 900,000 Surface sales in the first quarter, according to IDC, compared with 19.5 million iPad sales and 8.8 million Samsung tablet sales.
Overall, Reller hopes the 'Blue' update and a slew of attractive touch-laptops will fire up interest in Windows machines in all forms.
"I believe that touch will be mainstream in consumer laptops," said Reller. "I think we'll be pleased with the progress we've made by 'back to school' and by holiday (year end), we'll be at this tipping point where we will say, 'Now I see it'."
Microsoft shares closed at $33.75 on the Nasdaq, after hitting their highest level since January 2008 earlier in the session, as the S&P 500 reached an all-time high.

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Micromax Canvas HD Pro specifications leak online

Micromax is all set to add another device in its Canvas portfolio in the form of Canvas HD Pro.As per a news report by Gadgetronica.com, Canvas HD Pro will be unveiled on June 30, 2013. This smartphone is expected to sport a 5.5-inch full-HD display. Canvas HD pro will allegedly come with a Cortex A7 quad-core processor along with 2GB of RAM. It is expected to offer 8GB of internal storage and can be expanded by up to 64GB via a microSD card.
This smartphone will also pack in a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 3.2-megapixel front-facing camera. Micromax Canvas HD Pro will come with a 3,000mAh battery and run on Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean).
If the specifications of Micromax Canvas HD Pro are indeed true then it will become the new flagship smartphone from the company. There is no word on what Micromax Canvas HD Pro will cost.
Micromax had recently launched its first 3D phone, Micromax A115 Canvas 3D that offers a glasses-free option to view 3D content for Rs. 9,999.
Micromax A115 Canvas is the fourth member of the Canvas series and it comes with a 5.0-inch display with 480x800 resolution. The smartphone is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which is expandable by another 32GB via microSD card. The smartphone runs on Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean).
Packed with a 2,000 mAh battery, the phone is rated at a talk time of up to 4.5 hours. The phone sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with auto focus and a VGA front camera for video chatting.
Connectivity options on Micromax A115 Canvas 3D include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G and USB. The phone comes with 'Micromax 3D Space' pre-installed that offers access to 3D videos, and pre-loaded 3D games.

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Celkon A119Q Signature HD with 1.2GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.2 launched for Rs. 12,499

The Indian smartphone makers seem to be rushing out their quad-core offerings and Celkon is no different.The company has launched Celkon A119Q Signature HD in the Indian market for Rs. 12,499. Celkon A119Q Signature HD features a 5-inch display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 processor along with PowerVR SGX 544MP2 GPU.
Internally, Celkon A119Q Signature HD comes with 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage of which 2.56GB is user accessible. The storage can be further expanded by another 32GB through a microSD card. It is dual-SIM (GSM/WCDMA + GSM) smartphone.
For camera, there is a 12-megapixel rear camera and a 3-megapixel front-facing one. There is a 2,100mAh battery. Connectivity options for Celkon A119Q Signature HD includes, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and A-GPS.
To sweeten the deal, Celkon is also offering a free cover worth Rs. 1,500 for free along with the purchase of this smartphone.
Celkon A119Q Signature HD is likely to compete head on with recently launched Micromax Canvas HD smartphone. Priced at Rs. 14,499, Micromax A116 Canvas HD comes with a 5-inch HD IPS screen that sports 1280x720 resolution and a colour depth of 16.7 million. It is powered by MediaTek's MT6589 quad-core processor that clocks 1.2GHz. The smartphone runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) out of the box. It packs in a 2000mAh battery.
Micromax A116 Canvas has an 8-megapixel rear shooter with LED flash and 4X zoom and a VGA front camera. Other features of the smartphone include 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to up to 32GB via microSD card. It is a dual-SIM (GSM + GSM) smartphone.


Celkon A119Q Signature HD key specifications

• 5-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280X720 pixels
• 1.2 GHz quad-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 4GB internal storage, expandable by up to 32GB
• 12-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash
• 3-megapixel front-facing camera
• Dual-SIM (GSM/WCDMA + GSM)
• 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/A-GPS
• Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean)

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Intel chip gives new hope for Windows 8 tablets

Analysts are encouraged by Intel's new Atom design. So future Windows 8 and Windows Blue-based tablets powered by Intel's revamped mobile chips could provide a lift for Microsoft and its hardware partners.

Dell Latitude 10: Expect Windows Blue tablets -- packing quad-core Bay Trail processors -- that are as slim or slimmer than Windows 8 tablets.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Analysts are upbeat about Intel's new mobile chip design due later this year. That means a much-needed boost for Windows 8 tablets -- where many of those chips will land.
Imagine this: an ultraslim, light tablet with roughly twice the performance of any Atom-based Windows 8 tablet on the market now. (And that's the full version of Windows, not Windows RT.)
That could happen in the second half of this year.
So think of Windows Blue (or Windows 8.1) products similar to Samsung's 0.38-inch thick ATIV Smart PC 500T Tablet or Dell's 0.4-inch thick Latitude 10 with new Intel quad-core "Bay Trail" processors based on the overhauled Atom micro-architecture.
And smaller tablets, like Acer's rumored 8-inch tablet, should ultimately benefit too.
That can only be seen as good news for Windows 8 tablets, which haven't exactly been taking the market by storm.
Here's a sampling of analysts' comments on the new Atom Silvermont micro-architecture -- announced Monday -- that will power Bay Trail chips:

• Citi Research's Glen Yeung: Better than ARM? "We suspect that Intel's Silvermont [micro-architecture] will provide better performance metrics than even ARM's vaunted Cortex A15...Expected to appear in tablets in [the second half 2013] and smartphones in [the first half 2014], Silvermont also has the distinction of being the first mobile chips (from any vendor) to benefit from tri-gate [3D] transistors...And like ARM's Cortex A15 core, Silvermont is a fully out-of-order architecture, a feature heretofore not present in Atom solutions...We view Silvermont as the basic building block for Intel's future mobile architectures."
  
• RBC Capital Markets' Doug Freedman: More balanced and responsive systems. "Intel has stated improved performance per watt, with Silvermont operating at 3x peak performance or at same performance at 5x lower power vs. current Atom core...Intel highlighted a more efficient out-of-order execution pipeline that drives a more balanced and responsive system...Intel's architecture allows for fast switching between high [performance] and low [performance] states...however, we acknowledge that Intel is battling market skepticism in low-power vs. ARM."
  
• Anandtech's Anand Shimpi: 2x performance claims valid. "First of all, based on what I've seen and heard from third parties working on Baytrail designs -- the performance claims of being 2x the speed of Clovertrail (current Atom) are valid. Compared to the two [ARM] Cortex A15 designs I've tested (Exynos 5250, dual-core A15 @ 1.7GHz and Exynos 5410 quad-core A15 @ 1.6GHz), quad-core Silvermont also comes out way ahead. Intel's claims of a 60 percent performance advantage, at minimum, compared to the quad-core competition seems spot on based on the numbers I've seen. Power is the only area that I can't validate based on what I've seen already. (No one has given me a Baytrail tablet to measure power on.) Given what we know about Silvermont's architecture and the gains offered by Intel's 22nm process, I do expect this core to do better on power than what we've seen thus far from ARM's Cortex A15."

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Here's why the Facebook phone flopped

commentary The HTC First has a lot going against it, despite support from some heavy hitters.

The HTC First, also known as the Facebook phone.

The HTC First, also known as the Facebook phone, was unofficially declared a disaster after AT&T dropped its price from $99 to 99 cents on Wednesday.

Is anybody surprised?
Even in an industry known for liberal smartphone discounts, the price drop of the First -- which comes less than a month after its debut -- came relatively quickly. That suggests what many of us have suspected: that the First was dead on arrival.
Despite an army of naysayers, the First actually had a lot going for it. It had the backing of a well-known name in Facebook, which actually poured money into an advertising campaign for the device. AT&T, meanwhile, had an exclusive deal to sell the device and promised to push it as a flagship device this season.
Yet AT&T is holding a "temporary sale" for the First.
A spokesman for AT&T said these sales are common, while a Facebook representative said this was a good move by the carrier. AT&T declined to comment on sales figures.
Here's my break down of what went wrong with the HTC First.
Facebook Home isn't for everyone. Part of the HTC First's failure can be traced back to the reason why it was created: the Android skin that Facebook promised would put people first. Facebook Home dominates the phone's user experience, and while there are shortcuts to get you to your favorite apps, it's a jarring change and one that some people weren't ready for. It's at best an experiment, and given the poor reception and negative reviews that it has garnered on the Google Play store, one that's not yet ready for primetime.
Now try and sell a phone that is completely dedicated to Facebook Home. Sure, you could turn it off, turning it into a decent little stock Android phone, but that would be missing the point of buying the phone.
Unremarkable hardware. While Facebook Home may have been controversial, it at least was a bold step in different direction. The HTC First lacked any of that innovation.
It was clear HTC's B team worked on this device. On one hand, you have the beautifully designed all-metal HTC One, and on the other, you had the First. It's not that it was particularly bad; it was just unexciting.
Not that I'm a fan of Facebook Home, but it probably deserved better.
At $99, it was still too expensive. I get that the conventional look and design was a result of AT&T, Facebook, and HTC wanting the phone to be as affordable as possible. So why go halfway? The phone should have been given away in exchange for a two-year contract.
A Facebook phone for free? That might turn some heads -- at least among hardcore users of the social network.
We'll see if the 99-cent mark resonates with buyers, as it definitely marks some progress.
You can get Home anywhere. What was the point of a smartphone focused on Facebook Home when you can get Facebook Home on several different -- and superior -- phones?
I get that the First was a showcase phone for Facebook's new software. But consumers don't want to buy a showcase piece; they want a real product.
In addition, you couldn't get the First unless you were an AT&T customer or willing to sign up for its service. Facebook and HTC opted to go with AT&T because of the support that a carrier with an exclusivity agreement brings, but in this case, AT&T's help didn't do much to boost sales.
But as most vendors have demonstrated, exclusivity agreements are passé, with most opting to go big with distribution. Facebook could have rolled the dice and relied on the strength of its name and offered up the phone to all of the major carriers.
Too much competition. While AT&T said First was positioned as flagship phone, in reality, there were several more appealing flagship phones on their way. The HTC One came out last month, and the Samsung Galaxy S4 is making its way to stores now. Both phones, by the way, are able to use Facebook Home.
Does this spell the end for Facebook Home? No, but it's certainly a setback and has to leave the other handset vendors wondering if working with Facebook this extensively is even worth the effort.
As for Facebook and its light foray into the hardware business, hopefully the First is its last.

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IT and Telecom top employment generators in April 2013: TimesJobs RecruiteX Report

April 2013 has been the month of IT/Telecom, these industries were the top employment generators of the month. IT/Telecom professionals too, emerged as the most in-demand profile of the month. February 2013 was the only month when IT/Telecom industry and professionals witnessed a dull phase, otherwise it has been one of the top performing segments, since the beginning of 2013. Doctors/Nurses/Medical professionals witnessed significant rise in demand during April’13. Demand for Entertainment/ Media/ Journalism profiles observed encouraging trends. Engineering professionals again witnessed a slump in demand, last month it was one of the most sought after functional areas. Among top ten locations, Hyderabad witnessed highest growth in hiring activity during the month. All metros, except Chennai and Delhi/NCR reported rise in demand for talent. Gujarat (Except Ahmedabad and Vadodara) held its top position to emerge as the best performing state second time in a row. Demand for professionals across experience categories witnessed a slump. Entry level and mid-level candidates with 0-2 and 2-5 years of experience were the only categories to report growth in hiring activity.
Positive hiring sentiments prevailed across industry segments, functional areas, locations and experience categories. Overall, hiring saw a 1 point increase from previous month.

• IT/Telecom industry witnessed maximum hiring activity (12%), followed by Advertising/PR/Event Management (7%). The Healthcare/ Biotechnology/ Pharmaceutical industry also witnessed increase of (5%) during April’13

• Demand soared for Doctors/Nurses/Medical professionals (30%). IT/Telecom professionals also reported increase in hiring activity during April’13 (17%). Content/Editors/Journalists which saw stable hiring last month, reported a (4%) increase in demand during April’13

• Amongst top locations, Hyderabad reported maximum growth (10%) in demand during the month. Among states, Gujarat (Except Ahmedabad and Vadodara) continued on the growth trajectory, reporting maximum increase (31%) in the hiring activity

• The experience demand index for April’13 was upbeat for candidates with less than 2 years of experience (5%), followed by candidates with 2-5 years of experience (1%)

Supply index lost 15 points in month-over-month analysis. Industries such as Petrochemicals/ Oil and Gas/ Power and Automobiles/Auto Component/Auto Ancillary were the major contributors to the fall.

• Job-seeking activity dropped across major industries. Petrochemicals/ Oil and Gas/ Power witnessed maximum drop (40%) in supply of talent, followed by Automobiles/Auto Component/Auto Ancillary sector (12%)

• Entertainment/Media professionals witnessed maximum growth (20%) in job-seeking activity. Professionals in Advertising/PR/Event Management industry also registered noticeable growth (8%) in supply

• Supply of talent was downbeat across major locations. Among top job hubs, Ahmedabad witnessed maximum drop (8%) in job-seeking activity during the month. Among states, Gujarat (Except Ahmedabad and Vadodara) saw maximum decline (11%) in job-seeking activity

• Supply of talent was discouraging for professionals across experience categories. Candidates with 5-10 years of experience witnessed maximum drop (12%) in job-seeking activity

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‘Technology companies will start hiring domain experts for growth this year’

Interview of the Day: ‘Technology companies will start hiring domain experts for growth this year’

Sundararajan Narayanan, Vice President and Global HR Head, Virtusa

Which industry will be hiring the most in 2013? Why?
There are three levels of IT hiring that we expect in 2013:
a) Fresher level – Limited/ restricted hiring
b) Middle Level – Extensive hiring in the niche skills/ special category. High hiring on dual/multi-skilled technical professionals
c) Senior Level – Moderate level of hiring
Which will be the top ten in-demand professions in 2013? Why? 
- Niche skills areas like mobile application development, user experience architects, cloud architects will lead the pack as companies want to invest and are ready in these high growth areas
- Architects and Specialists with skills at mid to senior level will have good traction
-  Domain specialists will be in demand as companies who are technology oriented will start hiring domain experts for growth
- Sales professionals hiring – to bring in more revenue and build pipeline
- Quality and Process professionals – Industry will look at optimisation during this period and explore possibilities of cost optimisation with better processes/ frameworks
What will be the strongest recruitment trend in 2013?
2013 is going to be about cautious hiring with reduced cycle time to onboard resources which means companies need to have a pipeline of candidates who are assessed, with appropriate fitment, and competencies.
2013 will be the year of….
Consolidation and circumspective approach on IT hiring will be followed.

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Eating 6 meals a day helps lose weight?

Eating 6 meals a day helps lose weight? (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

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Are you still stuck in the three-heavy-meals-a-day rut? Do you think that the six-meals-a-day routine is not meant for you?

If your answer to both questions is yes, then don't worry you are not alone. Technically, how many meals you eat in a day doesn't matter, but how you spread your total calorie consumption in the day does affect your food habits. Research has time and again proved that those who eat six small meals a day are more successful at eating healthy and losing unwanted weight. Let's understand why.

Why is it important to eat six mini meals in a day. More than 95% of overweight individuals are in the habit of eating three square meals a day. Because these meals are infrequent and ill-timed they tend to be heavier and low on nutrition. This affects metabolism quite adversely. Across on the six mini meals side though, your meals will be timely and nutritious as they will be part of a carefully planned daily menu. For instance, a healthy and well-portioned breakfast followed by five moderately sized meals spread through the day will keep your metabolic rate healthy. It will also keep your hormone levels stable and regulate your blood sugar level, burning more calories. Irregular eating patterns and skipped meals are the main reasons why people cannot lose weight.

Stay away from the word 'snack'. Think of snacking, and the immediate images that the word conjures up in our minds are those of fried chips, chocolates, sodas, candy bars and every other unhealthy food under the sun. It is not snacking itself, which is bad for us but the junk and convenient yet unhealthy foods associated with it. The right way to snack is to invest in healthy foods that you can eat without guilt. These snacks are what make up the in-between meals in a six mini meals a day meal plan. Make each meal an opportunity to eat a well portioned and nutritionally balanced meal, which includes lean protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.

'More is less' is the new mantra for eating healthy. The health bonuses of eating more of mini meals in a day are many. This will help you in adding a greater variety of foods to your meal plan, thus helping you meet your daily nutritional needs.

If you hear nutritionists say that to lose more you have to eat more, don't be alarmed. What they mean is that healthy weight loss involves eating healthy meals more frequently in clever portions. No wonder then that most successful weight loss warriors eat a lot more than those who are stuck in a weight loss rut.

Never starve yourself for long durations. By eating three meals in a day, which are set apart too far you tend to, unknowingly, drop your blood sugar levels. When this happens, there is a sudden urge to reach for unhealthy snacks in order to satisfy the cravings. Instead, grab a quick healthy high-carb or lean high-protein snack, which will keep your stomach full until you find your next balanced meal. The trick here is to stay away from eating loads of unnecessary unsaturated fats and calories.

Still not convinced? Here are three more reasons why you should eat 6 meals in a day.

- It will keep you away from overeating and automatically help you maintain your portion sizes.
- Eating smaller and healthy meals will also help you fight the risk of lifestyle conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension, which are all linked to unhealthy meals.
- This dietary routine will also help in maintaining your body's muscle tone, because it will feed amino acids and nutrients to your muscles at frequent intervals, especially when combined with exercising.

Choose power-packed healthy meal combos. The buzz word here is diversity. The more diverse your meals, the more you are likely to balance your proteins, carbs, and fats. Here are some power packed combination ideas:

- Spinach is already quite healthy, but when you combine it with an avocado, it becomes even healthier. Research suggests that healthy fats in avocado enhance the fat-soluble carotenoids in spinach.

- Seasonal fruits. A handful of almonds and other dried fruit.

- Vitamin C when combined with eggs is the most powerful supporter of iron absorption. Vitamin C makes the iron up to 6 times more soluble, which means that you can use 100% of the iron you munch, keeping fatigue-causing anemia- at bay.

- A large bowl of skim milk and whole grain cereal. Add your favourite fruit to it.

- A tiny sized bran muffin along with raisins and a medium-sized glass of skim milk.

- One egg, whole wheat toast, and a glass of orange or apple juice.

- One whole wheat roti combined with steamed chicken and stir-fried vegetables.

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Intel promises faster processors for tablets, smartphones

Intel detailed its next-generation mobile processor architecture named Silvermont, claiming that it would offer best-in-class performance to smartphone and tablet users.

processor architecture named Silvermont, claiming that it would offer best-in-class performance to smartphone and tablet users.

In a webcast organized for investors and media, the company, which had lost ground to ARM Holdings as smartphones and tablets surpassed laptops and desktops in popularity, said that Silvermont would form the basis for its next-generation Atom microprocessors called Bay Trail and Merrifield.

While Bay Trail, which would power tablets, should start appearing in devices by the end of this year, Merrifield would be available inside smartphones in the first quarter of 2014.

ARM, a UK-based company, makes the core technology that is used by companies like Qualcomm, Nvidia, MediaTek, Apple and Samsung to create microprocessors for phones and tablets.

Currently, the Atom processors used inside smartphones are based on architecture that was introduced by Intel in 2008. While these processors have performance that is comparable to ARM-based chips, they seem to suffer from the lack of interest from companies that make phones and tablets.

"Silvermont is a leap forward and an entirely new technology foundation for the future that will address a broad range of products and market segments," said Dadi Perlmutter, Intel executive vice president and chief product officer. "Early sampling of our 22nm SoCs, including Bay Trail, is already garnering positive feedback from our customers. Going forward, we will accelerate future generations of this low-power microarchitecture on a yearly cadence."

Earlier, Leighton Phillips, Intel's product marketing director in Asia, had told TOI that consumers would be able to buy Bay Trail tablets by Christmas this year. "Several manufacturers, including a very big tablet maker, are already working on Bay Trail devices," he said.

In the webcast on Monday, Intel claimed that the new Atom processor would offer up to three times more performance and up to five times less power consumption compared to the existing Atom processors. The company also claimed that its chips would offer vastly superior performance and power consumption compared to ARM-based products found inside most of smartphone and tablets.

The next-generation Atom processor will have up to 8 cores. Smartphones are likely to have dual-core processors while tablets will have quad-core chips. The 8-core processors will be reserved for micro-servers.

Intel did not provide any absolute performance numbers but claimed that the dual-core Silvermont processor is on average 50% faster than the ARM quad-core processors found in current smartphones.

Intel, which rules the personal computer industry, has found the going difficult in the smartphone and tablet market. It has been slow to respond to the changing market at a time when its competitors like Qualcomm have moved fast to create new processors within months.

Intel claimed that going forward it would update the Atom architecture every year. The company also said that it would use its technology lead in manufacturing of micro-processors to make chips for smartphones and tablet. So far, the company has used its and latest and greatest manufacturing technologies to make personal computer processors.

Bay Trail and Merrifield will be manufactured using Intel's 22nm technology. The current Atom processor are manufactured using 32nm technology while most of the high-end ARM processors use 28nm technology.

For Intel, Silvermont is crucial to its future. While the company has financially performed better than expected in recent years, the effect of falling computer sales is evident on its income. In first quarter of 2013, the company's net income was down almost 25% compared to the income in Q1, 2012.

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Facebook India User Base Increases 50 Percent In Q1

New Delhi: An expanding user count in India and Brazil helped the  world's largest social networking site Facebook to increase its monthly active users (MAUs) to a whopping 1.11 billion in the first quarter of 2013.

The ubiquitous social networking platform's MAUs rose by 23percent in January-March quarter of 2013 compared to the year-ago period.

MAUs are a measure of the size of its global active user community.

MAU's in India doubled to 78 million in Q1 2013 compared to Q1 2012, while the users in Brazil rose by 62 percent to 73 million during the same period.

"As of March 31, 2013, we had 1.11 billion MAUs, an increase of 23 percent from March 31, 2012. Users in Brazil and India represented key sources of growth in the first quarter of 2013 relative to the prior year," Facebook said in a filing to the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

The US-based firm defines MAUs as a registered Facebook user who logged in and visited Facebook through the website or a mobile device or took an action to share content or activity with his/her Facebook friends or connections via a third-party website that is integrated with Facebook, in the last 30 days as of the date of measurement.

"We had 73 million MAUs in Brazil as of March 31, 2013, an increase of 62 percent compared to the same period in 2012 ; and we had 78 million MAUs in India as of March 31, 2013, an increase of 50 percent compared to the same period in 2012," the filing added.

The company said that users accessing the site on their mobiles or handheld devices are increasing internationally.

Globally, mobile MAUs rose by 54 percent to 751 million as of March 2013 from 488 million year-ago period, especially in India, Brazil and the US, it said.

"In all regions, an increasing number of our MAUs are accessing Facebook through mobile devices with users in India, Brazil, and the US representing key sources of mobile growth over the first quarter of 2013 as compared to fourth quarter of 2012," the social networking site noted in the filing.

Mobile MAUs is a user who accessed Facebook via a mobile app or via mobile-optimised versions of the website such as m.facebook.com, whether on a mobile phone or tablet such as the iPad, during the period of measurement.

About 189 million mobile MAUs accessed Facebook solely through mobile apps or the mobile website during the month ended March 31, 2013, a jump of 20 percent from 157 million during the month ended December 31, 2012.

The remaining 562 million mobile MAUs accessed Facebook from both personal computers and mobile devices during that month.

Worldwide daily active users (DAUs) rose by 26 percent to 665 million on average during March 2013 from 526 million during March, 2012.

"We experienced growth in DAUs across major markets, including Brazil, India and the US," it said.

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Vodafone, Aircel and Idea non-copliant with billing standards, says TRAI

The percentage of billing disputes against five telecom operators (Aircel, Vodafone, Idea, BSNL and MTS) ranges between 0.11 percent and 2.42 percent. Aircel's score in Maharashtra is the worst at 2.42 percent.
In Aircel's case, 0.11 percent to 0.25 percent of its post-paid bills in Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan were disputed.
Pre-paid customers of Aircel disputed the charges dedeucted in Jammu and Kashmir, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa. Around 0.11 to 2.42 percent of pre-paid bills of Aircel were dsiputed in these circles.
Idea Cellular was found non-compliant with billing quality of service benchmark in Gujarat, Haryana and Karnataka for post-paid services.
Aircel and Idea are the two companies which could not resolve there billing disputes within four weeks, the time set under regulation as quality benchmark, as per the report.
Complaints against Vodafone's post-paid services did not comply with benchmark set by TRAI in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh (East). Around 0.24 percent of pre-paid bills raised by the company were disputed in Bihar circle.
Pre-paid and post-paid customers of Sistema Shyam Teleservices, which runs services under brand name of MTS, disputed 0.15 percent of bills raised in Delhi circle.
TRAI report also noticed that faulty billings by telecom operators for post-paid services increased to 5.68 percent during the reported quarter from 4.37 percent in previous quarter.
The regulator has found that many customers of Aircel, BSNL, Idea Cellular, Reliance Communications, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Uninor and Vodafone in some of the telecom circles had to wait for more than a minute to get their calls answered.
No immediate comments were received by companies on the matter.

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iPad mini with Retina display coming in Q3 this year

iPad mini with Retina display coming in Q3 this year: Analyst

A Retina display iPad mini see a release in the third quarter of this year if a prediction by an analyst is to be believed.

According to a new report by CNET, NPD DisplaySearch, a global market research and consulting firm focusing on the display supply chain, has predicted that Apple is likely to refresh the iPad mini with a Retina display in the third quarter.

The same firm had earlier told the online publication that it was expecting two iPad mini refreshes, with the first one coming in the second half of 2013 and the other in first quarter of 2014. It had also added that the Q1 2014 refresh would see a Retina display. However it didn't specify as to which display technology would be used by Apple.

The current generation iPad mini features a display that has a resolution of 768x1024 pixels, and pixel density of 163ppi.

In March, DisplaySearch had made a similar prediction. It had said that a new iPad mini with an upgraded display was likely to appear later in the third quarter or fourth quarter of the year, but a Nexus 7 with a very-high-resolution display might make an appearance soon.

Paul Semenza, an analyst with the firm had said that it speculated that Retina version of the iPad mini with a resolution of 1536x2048 pixels, and pixel density of 324ppi, might go into production in the third quarter of 2013, with availability expected in the third or fourth quarter, as per a guess based on supply chain data. Semenza had also added that Apple could shortlist from companies such as LG Display, AUO, Japan Display, and Sharp to make the next iPad mini's display. He had stated that the challenge would be to fit a Retina display into the iPad mini's 7.2mm chassis.

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Tablet Tuesday: A refurbished Google Nexus 7 (32GB) for $129.99

That's the lowest price to date on Google's popular tablet, but it does involve a pretty hefty rebate.

The Google Nexus 7: Beloved by Android fans.

Among Android purists, the Google Nexus is widely regarded as the top tablet. I don't necessarily agree with that assessment, but I do know a good deal on one when I see it.
For a limited time, and while supplies last, TigerDirect has the refurbished Google Nexus 7 (32GB) for $129.99, plus around $4 for shipping. That's after applying coupon code QIS89281 at checkout and redeeming a $70 mail-in rebate (which comes in the form of a prepaid debit card).
Update: Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is already sold out. It's worth checking again later, though, as TigerDirect might make more inventory available. In the meantime, the Nook HD (see below) is still a smokin' deal at $149.
Before you vent your spleen on the subject of rebates, allow me to suggest a more hassle-free alternative: the Barnes & Noble Nook HD, which, as I bonus-dealed about yesterday, is on sale this week for $149. More on that in a bit.
CNET called the Nexus 7 "the best small tablet," though that was in reference to the HSPA+ version; this one is Wi-Fi-only. Its spotlight features include an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 32GB of storage, Bluetooth, GPS, and Android 4.1 (upgradeable to 4.2).
And, boy, do users love this thing. It averages a 4.6-star rating (out of 5) from TigerDirect customers and 4.2 stars from the Amazon crowd (whose numbers exceed 500).
That said, the Nexus 7 lacks one of Android's best features -- a microSD expansion slot -- and doesn't have a particularly high-resolution screen. Granted, 1,280x800 is more than sufficient in a 7-inch tablet, but the aforementioned Nook HD offers 1,440x900. And it has a microSD slot. (It also has Bluetooth, even though Barnes & Noble's specs don't mention it.)
My main complaint with the Nook: its proprietary sync/charge connector. Bad Barnes & Noble. Bad!
Anyway, if you don't mind waiting on a rebate (and don't mind a 90-day refurb warranty), this is your chance to score a killer deal on one of the most popular Android tablets to date. But I'd say for a mere $20 more, the Nook HD definitely merits consideration. Your thoughts?
Bonus deal: Game time! If you are indeed cool with rebates, Newegg has Mass Effect 3 (PC) for $10, shipped, with a $10 mail-in rebate (PDF) bringing your final cost to $0. The action-RPG game earned a 9.0 rating from GameSpot and made a lot of best-of-2012 lists.
Bonus deal No. 2: Need a sweet gift for Mom? For a limited time, All4Cellular has the Aliph Jawbone Jambox portable Bluetooth speaker for $89.95 shipped when you apply coupon code MOM10 at checkout. Note that although it's new, it comes in white-box packaging. (Perfect opportunity to get out the crayons and decorate it just for Mom!) List price: $179.99.
Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.

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How hackable is your password? McAfee offers password tips

The security vendor is out with a few rules and reminders for creating strong passwords designed to thwart the bad guys.

 

How do you create a password that's strong yet easy to remember? That's the challenge we all face, and one that's prompted a few words of wisdom from McAfee.
In honor of Intel's so-dubbed Password Day, McAfee unveiled a series of tips and tricks on Tuesday aimed at helping all of us juggle the passwords we're forced to maintain across the Web. Its parent Intel has also chimed in with a page that tells you how long it would take to break a certain password. Let's look at Intel's page first.
Browse to the chipmaker's "How Strong is Your Password?" page. Enter and then renter a password. The page says that the password is not sent over the Internet but still cautions you not to enter your real password. Instead, you can enter a password that you might like to use.
In return, the page tells you how many seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, or years it would take someone to hack your password. For example, a password like "12345" or "abcde" would take 0 seconds to hack. So, what are your options if your passwords take seconds instead of months or years to decipher?
McAfee has several suggestions up its sleeve. Some of these may be old hat but they're always worth repeating.

• Use different passwords for your bank account and your e-mail or social networking accounts. If your e-mail account gets hacked, at least your bank account's password is safe.
• A strong password often uses a combination of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. But you don't have to conjure up a random series of characters that's impossible to remember. Instead, create a phrase that incorporates all of those items. McAfee used "My 1st Password!" as an example, which by itself sounds pretty hackable. But Intel's page revealed that even this password would take four months to hack.
• Once you have a password with letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, you can alter that password for different sites. McAfee suggests adding the name of a site to that password, such as "My 1st Password!: Twtr" for Twitter and "My 1st Password!: Fb" for Facebook.
• A password need not be complex to be strong. Often, a lengthy password that's easy to remember can be more secure. A password like "XF1&tmb" would take 6 minutes to hack, according to Intel. But a password like "The-shining-sea" would keep a hacker busy for 48 years. A passphrase that's hard to hack yet has meaning to you offers the best of both worlds -- strong and easy to remember.

Finally, I have one suggestion of my own. Use a password manager. Such tools take over the hard work by creating, storing, and automatically filling in your passwords at any Web site. Two of the most well-known password managers are RoboForm and LastPass. I've used RoboForm for years and would have a tough timing juggling all of my passwords without its help.

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Microsoft extends revenue guarantee with Yahoo

Microsoft and Yahoo are extending the revenue-per-search guarantee piece of their search partnership by another year.

Microsoft is going to continue to pay Yahoo a guarantee for the revenue-per-search (RPS) shortfall that is continuing to persist.
Reuters noted that Yahoo disclosed the latest year-long extension of the guarantee, which had expired on March 31, on May 7. The guarantee took effect on April 1, according to Yahoo's latest 10-Q filing.
Search Engine Land recapped RPS this way:

"(W)hen Yahoo & Microsoft signed a search deal in 2009, Microsoft promised that Yahoo would earn a set amount of money for each search that happens, a 'revenue per search' or RPS. If this didn't happen, Microsoft agreed to make up the difference, what's called the RPS guarantee."

Microsoft hasn't hit the RPS targets since that time, resulting in Microsoft agreeing in late 2011 to extend the guarantee until this March.

Microsoft's AdCenter technology, the system for buying and delivering online ads, didn't end up providing the kind of revenues Yahoo anticipated when it forged its search deal with Microsoft. To make up for the shortfall, Microsoft has made quarterly payments to Yahoo.
Earlier this year, Yahoo's Marissa Mayer has said that the search partnership between the tech firm and Microsoft has not been as lucrative as expected, contributing to speculation that Yahoo might look to Google as a new search partner at some point.

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Windows Blue preview to hit in late June, Microsoft exec says

Corporate vice president for Windows says there won't be any major changes to Windows 8 with the forthcoming update.

Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Windows, speaks Tuesday at the Wired Business Conference in New York.

NEW YORK--Users will get a preview of Windows Blue in late June, a Microsoft executive said Tuesday. Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's corporate vice president for Windows, said a public preview of the update to the Windows 8 operating system will be available in time for Microsoft's developers' conference next month.
She declined to provide many details about Windows Blue, the codename for the update, but she said it will enable device makers to create products with smaller screen sizes. She added that despite some reports, Windows Blue won't have any major changes from Windows 8.

"We're working hard on enabling new kinds of hardware and new kinds of software and doing some innovations in the product," Larson-Green said at the Wired Business Conference in New York. Microsoft in October launched Windows 8 with a radically redesigned user interface. Since that time, many users have grumbled about certain features, including the lack of a start button. The operating system was expected to boost PC sales, but International Data Corp. last month said Windows 8 actually is hurting the market.
PC sales have been weak for quite some time, but the first quarter marked one of the worst periods of all time. Shipments fell in the double digits on a percentage basis, which marked the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines, according to tech research firms Gartner and IDC. The sector is not only being hurt by the weak economy, but also by consumers opting for mobile devices instead of traditional PCs.
Late Monday, Microsoft said it had sold more than 100 million Windows 8 licenses in six months. The figure is comparable to the number of licenses sold for Windows 7.
Larson-Green also said during the Wired Conference that Microsoft is having "meaningful discussions" about bringing the start button back to Windows.
Meanwhile, Larson-Green acknowledged that Windows RT, the version of the operating system that runs on chips using ARM Holdings technology, hasn't been well received by the market largely because consumers don't understand it.
"We have some work to do in explaining it to people because it's different," she said.
Larson-Green added that she uses Surface RT as her main computing device and that Windows RT provides a "simpler experience" than Windows 8, which runs on X86 chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

Surface Pro: Microsoft tries to bridge PC and tablet (pictures)

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Downloadify lets Chrome users copy MP3s of Spotify songs

A Chrome extension lets people copy any music file from Spotify's browser-based player. It doesn't play well with Google's developer agreement, though.

Downloadify icon

A developer published a Chrome extension called Downloadify designed to let people download MP3 copies of the songs they stream over Spotify's Web-based player, but it quickly disappeared from the Chrome Web Store.
"Simple Chrome Extension to Download all Spotify Songs," reads the Downloadify description on GitHub. "Spotify made a great html5 player for their service...But they forgot their encription [sic]...Hey, I don't like encription but love spotify, just pay them for their magnificent content and I am sure they fix it soon."
The extension presents a dialog box that lets a person save a song as soon as it starts playing.

Google apparently booted the extension from the Chrome store.
That's no surprise. According to the Google Chrome Web Store developer agreement, those writing Chrome extensions agree that they "will not engage in any activity with the Web Store, including the development or publication of Products or other materials, that...infringes on the intellectual property rights of others [or] enables the unauthorized download of streaming content or media."
However, squelching the extension might not be easy. Its methods are visible, since the developer published the code on GitHub.
Spotify said it was looking into the matter. Google declined to comment on the specific case but said, "We remove apps from the Chrome Web Store that do not comply with our terms of service."
For Spotify, the timing couldn't be worse. Its licensing agreements with all three major labels are up for renewal this year, and the company is deep in negotiations with Warner Music Group and Universal, according to sources familiar with the discussions.
The company, which recently crossed the 5 million subscriber mark, is pushing for better financial terms from the labels and a deal that would let it offer a beefier service for mobile users. Spotify has become the No. 2 digital revenue source for all the labels, behind Apple.

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Yahoo reportedly looking to dump Microsoft search pact

Marissa Mayer has been looking for an escape hatch since taking over Yahoo last summer, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Marissa Mayer has previously noted her disappointment in Yahoo's Web search partnership with Microsoft and now reportedly wants to get out of the deal altogether.
The Web giant's chief executive has been trying to find a way to escape the foundering arrangement but has so far been unsuccessful, a person familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal. Mayer has been looking to cancel the deal since leaving Google to take over Yahoo last summer, the Journal reported.
The two companies entered into a 10-year search partnership in 2010 in which Microsoft would power Yahoo search and Yahoo would become the sales force for Microsoft's premium properties. However, the relationship hasn't yielded the revenue-per-search guaranteed by the partnership, prompting Microsoft to extend the RPS guarantee for another year, Yahoo disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday.
It's the second such extension since the deal went into effect. When Microsoft failed to hit RPS targets in the pact's first year, the guarantee was extended until March 2013. The continuing shortfall led Microsoft to extend the deal for another year.

Mayer has publicly expressed her dissatisfaction with the partnership, saying that the arrangement hasn't delivered the increased revenue or market share that was expected.
"One of the points of the alliance is that we collectively want to grow share rather than just trading share with each other," Mayer told attendees at the 2013 Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in February. "I'm not confused. Our biggest business problem right now is impressions."
Yahoo declined to comment on the Journal report, saying only that "Microsoft continues to be an important partner of Yahoo."
CNET has also contacted Microsoft for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
Meanwhile, Google, which was forced by antitrust concerns to scuttle its own ad-search deal with Yahoo in 2008, might still be waiting in the wings. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt allegedly said last September that Google was interested in replacing Bing as Yahoo's search engine.

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Skype beware, Viber flies past 200M users, lands on desktop

The popular messaging app now lets people make free calls and send texts from a PC or Mac.

 

Add Viber to the list of insanely popular messaging services that have more than 200 million users.
The 2-year-old mobile messaging and VoIP service, developed by Viber Media, announced the new stat Tuesday, saying that it has 200 million members spread across 193 countries. The company also revealed Viber Desktop for free calling and messaging on PCs and Macs.

Viber, which specializes in mobile apps for iOS, Android, and most other operating systems, lets people use their mobile numbers in place of usernames and allows for free calls and multimedia messages over cellular or Wi-Fi connections. Viber Desktop carries the once mobile-only experience over to PCs and Macs, and introduces desktop-to-desktop video calls. The service's iOS and Android apps were also refreshed Tuesday to allow for a hiccup-free experience when switching between mobile and desktop. The redesigned apps also come with video messages, additional stickers, and support for more languages. Viber now supports 27 languages in total.
Viber joins Facebook, WhatsApp, Kik, and others in disrupting the messaging market with over-the-top offerings that eat into carrier profits. WhatsApp suggested last month that it was beyond the 200 million user threshold.
Viber, now with a striking presence on the desktop, also looks like a formidable challenger to more entrenched VoIP calling providers such as Microsoft-owned Skype, which has more than 280 million users.

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