Sunday, 9 February 2014

Sony announces sale of Vaio PC business to Japanese investment fund

2/09/2014 10:23:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Sony announces sale of Vaio PC business to Japanese investment fund

Sony on Thursday drastically slashed its full-year earnings forecast, saying it would lose about $1.08 billion as the Japanese consumer electronics giant announced it was exiting the personal computer business.

The firm, which said it earned 11.17 billion yen ($110 million) in the nine-months to December but would lose 110 billion yen over the full fiscal year, announced it would sell the unit under the Vaio brand to a Japanese investment fund.

The shock announcement reverses Sony's previous outlook which was for a 30 billion yen net profit in the year to March.

The company blamed the poor outlook on a declining business and planned assets sales "which were reconsidered", as well as some losses in its games business which were not included in the earlier forecast.

Sony also said it would sell its struggling PC business to Japan Industrial Partners (JIP).

(Also see: Sony in talks to sell Vaio PC business to investment fund: Report)

It did not disclose financial details, but Japanese media have reported that the deal was worth between 40 billion yen and 50 billion yen.

Citing "drastic changes" in the global PC market, Sony said it had decided to "concentrate its mobile product lineup on smartphones and tablets and to transfer its PC business to a new company established by JIP that will enable (its) continuation".

The firm would "cease planning, design and development of PC products", it added.

"Sony's manufacturing and sales will be discontinued after the Spring 2014 lineup."

(Also see: As Sony prepares PCs exit, pressure mounts for reboot on TVs)

Sony on Thursday said it would cut 5,000 jobs from its workforce, saving more than $1.0 billion annually as the Japanese electronics giant undergoes a painful restructuring.

The job losses about 1,500 in Japan and 3,500 overseas were tied to an overhaul of its television unit and the sale of its personal computer business, it said.

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Sochi Google doodle quotes the Olympic Charter in support of gay rights

2/09/2014 10:21:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Sochi Google doodle quotes the Olympic Charter in support of gay rights

Google has placed a rainbow version of its logo on its search page, increasing pressure on President Vladimir Putin over Russia's "gay propaganda" law at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

The page now shows a winter sports competitor above each of the six letters in the U.S. Internet giant's name, set against backgrounds in the six colours on the gay pride flag - red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.

The page also includes a quote from the Olympic charter underlining the right to practise sport without discrimination.

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play," it says.

Google Inc. did not immediately comment.

The international outcry over the law, signed by Putin last year, threatens to undermine his hopes of using the Games to portray Russia as a modern state that has come a long way since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Putin says the legislation, banning gay propaganda among minors, is needed to protect young people. Critics says it fosters a climate of discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups.

Telecoms company AT&T, a sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team, criticised Russia this week over the law, increasing pressure on other companies to speak out.

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT rights organisation, praised Google for what it called a move to show solidarity with LGBT Russians and visiting athletes.

"Google has once again proven itself to be a true corporate leader for equality," HRC President Chad Griffin said.

"Alongside Olympic sponsors like AT&T, Google has made a clear and unequivocal statement that Russia's anti-LGBT discrimination is indefensible. Now it's time for each and every remaining Olympic sponsor to follow their lead. The clock is ticking, and the world is watching."

Pressure on sponsors
Companies including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble pay around $100 million each for rights to sponsor the Olympics over a four-year period and want to tap into a feel-good atmosphere during the Games.

These companies are also facing pressure to speak out over the "gay propaganda" law.

"These brands have spent millions to align themselves with the Olympics, but have repeatedly refused to support the founding principles of the Games," Andre Banks, one of the founders of gay rights group All Out, said earlier this week.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned sexual discrimination and attacks on homosexuals in a speech to the International Olympic Committee in Sochi on Thursday which also drew attention to Russia's record on gay rights.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said shortly afterwards in Sochi that there would be no discrimination at the Games, due to open later on Friday.

"We're all grown-ups and every adult has the right to understand their sexuality," Kozak said. But, echoing a remark by Putin, he added: "Please do not touch kids."

LG G Flex with 6-inch curved display launched in India at Rs. 69,999

2/09/2014 10:20:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

LG G Flex with 6-inch curved display launched in India at Rs. 69,999

LG has finally announced the launch of its much-awaited G Flex curved display smartphone in India, at Rs. 69,999. The South Korean major has confirmed that the LG G Flex will be hitting the Indian stores starting Thursday.

In early February, LG had listed the G Flex smartphone on the company's official India site with the same price, and no availability.

Notably, the LG G Flex with a whopping price of Rs. 69,999 has become one of most costly smartphones available in the Indian market leaving behind the Apple iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and HTC One Max.

Back in December 2013, along with the launch of the LG 55EA9800 55-inch curved OLED television in India, the Korean consumer electronics giant had announced the G Flex for the country, and given a tentative February 2014 launch date.

LG launched its first curved display smartphone in October last year with much fanfare, and it was rolled out only in South Korea initially.

The Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean-based G Flex is powered by a quad-core 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor with an Adreno 330 GPU, and 2GB of RAM. It features a 13-megapixel rear camera, and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. The G Flex is powered by a 3,500mAh battery, weighs 177 grams, and is 7.9mm at its thinnest, while being 8.7mm at its thickest.

As for the 6-inch curved display, LG has used a curved OLED panel, which is also built on plastic substrates instead of glass, supposedly giving the phone better durability. The display features Real RGB technology to provide all three sub-pixels in one pixel, thereby making it "brighter and more precise."

LG has also included a new 'self-healing' coating on the back cover, an elastic coating that supposedly has the ability to "recover from the daily wear-and-tear scratches and nicks that un-cased smartphones are likely to receive." The LG G Flex's self-healing capabilities have also been creating a buzz worldwide.

Commenting on the announcement, Soon Kwon, MD, LG India said, "Curved flexible displays are a groundbreaking technology that enhances consumers' viewing experience by many degrees. LG's latest offering G Flex combines innovation and technology along with sleek, curved design that not only delivers a more comfortable grip and fit, but offers better voice and sound quality. G Flex represents a new era in the smartphone space where curved and flexible displays are no longer a sci-fi fantasy."

Mobiles launched in February 2014

LG G Flex

Display

6.00-inch

Processor

2.2GHz

Front Camera

2.1-megapixel

Resolution

720x1280 pixels

RAM

2GB

OS

Android 4.2

Storage

32GB

Rear Camera

13-megapixel

Battery capacity

3500mAh

See full LG G Flex specifications

BBM for Android and iOS updated to bring Find Friends feature

2/09/2014 10:07:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

BBM for Android and iOS updated to bring Find Friends feature

BlackBerry has released an update for BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM for Android and iOS that brings the Find Friends feature.

The BBM update for Android and iOS (iPhone) gets the Find Friends feature that can search a smartphone's contact list and find people who are already using the BBM app. The Find Friends feature also allows users to send people an invite to join the BBM contact list. Notably, the new feature on BBM for Android and iOS also allows users to send an invite to people who are not on BBM app via an email or SMS.

Jeff Gadway, head of product and brand marketing for BBM notes on official blog post, "We know how important it is for you to connect with your closest friends, family and colleagues. With this update, we've made it easier to find and invite them quickly and easily. You're always in control of your contact lists."

The blog post further writes that the new BBM app update might take over 24 hours to show up. For those unaware, the BBM app allows users to exchange texts, voice notes and pictures with friends and others. It also offers group chat. Users need to sign-in with a BlackBerry ID following which a PIN is allocated to them, in a manner similar to BlackBerry Messenger on BlackBerry. Users can then add friends by sharing their PIN with friends via SMS, email and social networks in addition to QR codes.

Recently, the popular Canadian smartphone brand confirmed that BBM for Android-powered handsets running the OS version 2.3 Gingerbread will be rolled out in February. The messaging service was earlier only available for devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or higher.

It has been previously reported that as early as February, BlackBerry may introduce the missing BBM Voice and BBM Channels features on both the Android and iOS platforms.

Additionally, the Canadian mobile maker revealed recently that it does not have plans to launch the popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app on Windows Phone-based smartphones.

Oppo Neo with Android 4.2, dual-core processor launched at Rs. 11,990

2/09/2014 10:05:00 pm TECHNOLOGY No comments

Oppo Neo with Android 4.2, dual-core processor launched at Rs. 11,990

Oppo has launched its budget smartphone, the Neo, in India at Rs. 11,990. The company has not revealed the availability details of the Oppo Neo for the Indian market, but notes that the smartphone will be soon available.

Oppo had announced the Neo smartphone in January via the Chinese firm's Indonesian branch.

The Oppo Neo was launched in two variants: single SIM and dual-SIM, however, the Chinese smartphone maker has only released the dual-SIM variant in India. The Oppo Neo runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with company's ColorOS UI running on top.

The smartphone features a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display, which is able to detect touch input even when the user operates while wearing gloves. The screen features a low (FWVGA) 854 x 480 pixel resolution paired with a pixel density of 217ppi.

The Oppo Neo is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset) along with 512MB of RAM. The smartphone sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and also houses a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Oppo Neo comes with 4GB inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 32GB via microSD card. It packs a 1900mAh battery, with no word on talktime and standby time. The smartphone measures 132 x 65.8 x 9.2mm, and weighs 130 grams.

Recently, Oppo entered the Indian market with the launch of its flagship smartphone, the N1 (16GB) at Rs. 39,999.

The Oppo N1 runs ColorOS which is Oppo's proprietary UI-based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. Specifications on the Oppo N1 include a 5.9-inch full-HD (1080p) IPS display with 1080x1920 pixels resolution and 377ppi pixel density, 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB and 32GB of inbuilt storage.

The N1 sports a 13-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, which is the device's major highlight, as the camera can rotate up to 206 degrees, and can lock at any angle. Connectivity options on the device include USB OTG, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, GPS, NFC and 3G. It packs a 3610mAh battery.

Mobiles launched in February 2014