Leaked iPhone 5 front panel points at 4.065-inch display

It seems that the next generation handset from Apple is the brand’s worst kept secret. In recent times, there has been a barrage of leaked parts from the back panel to the home button. As per a report by BGR, it appears that another component of the handset has leaked and this time it is the front panel of the iPhone 5.

As per a post on BGR, UBREAKIFIX.com has reportedly sent the tech website images of parts of the next iPhone and the picture that is grabbing the most attention is the one which shows off the front panel. The report states, “Apple’s (AAPL) sixth-generation iPhone is just weeks away from become a reality and while the world waits to see how the handset will shape up in its final assembled form, bits and pieces continue to leak. We’ve seen the housing, we’ve seen the guts, we’ve seen the glass, and now UBREAKIFIX.com sent BGR images of what it claims to be the next iPhone’s final front assembly.”

Front panel surfaces once more

 

The website has also listed out a range of features that are expected to feature in the upcoming iPhone and states that the handset measures a mere 7.6mm at its thinnest and will boast features such as 4G LTE and NFC.

The amount of leaks regarding the upcoming iPhone is very unconventional, especially since the brand is widely known for its secrecy prior to announcements. The leak of this handset is so vast that an online electronics store has even assembled an iPhone 5 based on the leaked components, giving the world a preview of what the handset will look like once it is launched.

Apple does need to refresh the design of the handset, especially since it maintained a similar design with the current generation iPhone 4S. The major changes found in the iPhone 4S were the bumped up internal specifications, leaving the outer casing virtually untouched.

There have been many rumours surrounding Apple’s upcoming iPhone. One of the most highly speculated changes on the upcoming device is the dock connector. The major reason why it is getting a significant amount of attention is that this will be the first time Apple will use a new type of connector on an iOS device since unveiling the 30-pin connector when it launched the iPod. Though there has been a lot of talk about the connector, there have been no images to support the claim that it will indeed be an 8-pin connector. This appears to have changed according to an earlier report. A French website had posted images of what appears to be the new connector of the cable that will charge the upcoming iOS devices.

There has been a lot of speculation regarding the number of pins that will feature on the new dock connector and though the images show the connector to feature 8-pins, the website has been informed that it is indeed a 9-pin configuration as the metal frame counts as a grounding pin.

The new connector will feature other design innovations and will potentially include the ability to connect with docks or cables in either orientation, much like the case with the MagSafe power connector found on Apple’s Mac range of laptops.

Zen UltraTab A100 Review

Zen Mobiles has been around for a few years consistently churning out mobile phones and has recently entered the highly competitive, crowded yet lucrative tablet segment. What we have in our labs this time is the UltraTab A100 that's recently been launched. We put it to the test and here's what we found.

 

Design and Build quality

Slim at 10.5 mm and weighing in at a mere 295 gms, the UltraTab A100 is pretty lightweight compared to other tablets in this category. The shell looks pretty tough from afar, but on closer inspection, the low quality was apparent. It's a bit flimsy and the piece we received had a weak display panel which would easily flex at one corner even with the slightest pressure. The chassis in contrast is very sturdy and the exterior matt-finished body is aesthetically appealing.

Supports MicroSD cards as well

 

 

The front panel features a 1.3 MP camera and there are no other physical or touch buttons available for Home, Back, Menu or Search, whatsoever. The top features a power button, power jack and the micro USB port, while the right side features the volume up/down rocker and the headphone jack. Towards the rear (on the right side) is the micro SD slot with a push-in/push-out mechanism. Neither the USB port nor the micro SD card slot has any protective flaps to prevent dust from entering. Finally, the extreme rear has a single mono speaker as the audio output. The display quality is good for videos and photos, but regular text seems a bit hazy when you actually concentrate on the pixels. But overall, the quality of the display is good and minor issues can be ignored.

 

The display panel has a good viewing angle, except for a certain minute position (from an angle below) which tends flush the colours to a large extent. But this problem is very minute and can be ignored completely. This Android-powered UltraTab has a 7-inch (17.78 cm) capacitive and multi-touch display having a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It is powered by a 1.2GHz processor, complimented by a Mali 400 graphics processor and the operating system featured is Ice Cream Sandwich (Android v4.0). It features 512MB of DDR3 RAM and an internal storage capacity of 4GB, which as usual, can be expanded to 32GB via the micro SD slot. The UltraTab has a built-in non-user replaceable 2800 mAh battery. Overall, the tablet is very comfortable to use and has ergonomically placed volume and power buttons.

 

Interface

Once unpacked, you would expect the UltraTab A100 to run flawlessly and smoothly, but that did not happen. A little configuration tweak, especially in the Developer Options section and you are good to go with a smoother interface. We did find an issue with the tablet, especially while it was charging. The user interface goes haywire with the touchscreen randomly and continuously clicking on anything when you attempt to use it. We have noticed a similar problem with a few tablets and phones. But it could be an interference coming through the main power source and not an issue with the charger or device. If you do face similar issues with your tablet or phone, we suggest you try using another power outlet or try the device in another location. If the problem continues, it is recommended that you don’t use the interface while the device is charging—watching a movie, listening to music or reading an eBook should be okay as there is little user intervention required during this phase. 

 

Small and lightweight

 

 

 

We ran the regular benchmark tests on the UltraTab A100 to gauge the performance of the tablet and give us an idea of where it stands with other tablets in the similar price and features category. We also ran the usual battery test by running a few video and audio tests. Linpack tests reveal single-thread score of 14 MFLOPS and 12 MFLOPS in multi-thread, while AnTuTu Benchmark revealed a score of 2714.

 

Media

Out of the box, the UltraTab natively supports media formats such as audio: MP2, MP3, WAV, AAC and WMA, video: MPEG1/2/4, MJPEG, H263 and H264: Image: JPG, BMP and PNG and Documents: ePUB, PDF, TXT and HTML. The tablet performs at par with any tablet in its category and we did not find any issue with speed or usage whatsoever. We tested a few video files on the tablet and they ran flawlessly with almost no jitter or image loss. High-definition (1080p) videos (though they are scaled down to match the resolution of the display panel) also played very well and also the quality of the display in the videos was excellent. Videos encoded in the native resolution for the tablet (800 x 480) played flawlessly with excellent video quality. 

 

The device can play most standard media formats, but if you need to playback other media types such as MKV, you can download some free media players from the Play Store such as Rock Player or MoboPlayer. Music playback is pretty good and the built-in speaker is pretty loud but shrill—it has a higher volume in trebles and lacks bass totally. Hence, listening to casual instrumentals is good enough through the tablet's speaker, but vocals in both music and especially videos are very unclear. The speaker is back facing and hence adds to the problem of audio quality. We recommend using headphones for good music and video pleasure. The bundled headphones are in-ear type and look good, but the audio quality is not great and not too bad either. We recommend you use a different pair of headphones with the device to get a better experience from the media player.

 

Great for videos etc. but the text could have been sharper

 

 

 

Connectivity

A micro USB port is the only access to the device from a PC or as a USB host port. An 802.11 b/g/n completes the networking, but a Bluetooth interface is missing. There is no HDMI port available and connecting an external display or TV is not possible. A 3.5 mm audio jack and a power connector are the only other ports available. Bundled along with the product is a 5 V (2 A) power adapter or charger, a pair of earphones, a micro USB cable and a micro USB male to USB type A female adapter as a host port converter for plugging in USB storage drives, input devices such as a keyboard or mouse or a USB dongle for 3G internet connectivity.

 

Camera

The rear sports no camera for regular photos or videos, although a 1.3 MP front-facing camera is available for video calls. We did try recording a video using the front camera, but the playback juddered quite a bit. Casual fun videos and video calling can suffice with the video quality of the camera.

 

Miscellaneous

The UltraTab A100 features the Android ICS v4.0.3 out of the box. Applications such as AstroSage Kundali-Online, BSE/NSE Stocks, Documents to Go, CricBuzz, Free Dictionary, Aldiko, Astro, inBollywood, Paytm, ngpay, NexGTv, Mig33, MSN Droid x, Indian Newspapers, Horoscope and a few more are thrown in as free to use apps. The Android OS is pre-rooted and hence, apps which need root privileges for functioning can be installed freely. 

 

The latest 7-inch ICS Tablet to hit the shelf

 

 

Battery life

The battery test revealed that the tablet can give you a maximum play time of 3 hours and 47 minutes, which is very low for any tablet in the category. The Micromax Funbook which has the exact similar specifications as the Zen UltraTab A100 gave us almost seven hours of movie run time.  

 

Verdict and price in India

Priced at an MRP of Rs. 6,000, we feel the Zen UltraTab A100 can be an option for those looking for a budget 7-inch tablet. We would recommend it as the cheapest option, but its drawbacks are it suffers when it comes to battery life and lacks an HDMI interface. If HDMI is a priority, and you want to connect your tablet to a larger display or monitor, then you should look at other models such as Micromax Funbook which has a good battery life, an HDMI port and a good build quality. Similar models are Karbonn Smart Tab 1 and Ainol Novo 7 Paladin which are almost similar in hardware features, price and performance.

Corsair Vengeance M90 Review

Corsair is a brand that’s been known for making power supplies, memory products, flash drives and of late, it's even making gaming hardware. We reviewed its speakers, then the keyboard and now, Corsair has sent us the M90, a high-end gaming mouse from its Vengeance line of products. With prominent brands such as Razer and  Logitech having been around in the gaming hardware space, Corsair has to do something special with its products to break into it.

 

Design and build quality

The design of the Vengeance M90 is pretty attractive. It has a whole line of buttons along the left side, where your thumb would normally go. A comforting feeling is that the entire mouse has a base made of metal, so it’s extremely robust. The top of the mouse has an anti-bacterial, matte finish coating while plain plastic is used for the sides where the buttons are located.

Only for right-handed users

 

 

It’s not just the frame of the mouse that’s sturdy. The scroll wheel, for example, is really well built and is enforced by a metal ring. Even the pads at that bottom that help the mouse glide on the surface are large and scattered across the surface of the mouse.

 

Features

The Corsair Vengeance M90 uses a 5700 DPI laser sensor and the mouse has a refresh rate ranging from 125Hz to 1000Hz, which is at par with any other high-end gaming mouse in the market today.  There are a total of 15 buttons on the mouse, which means this is a mouse you’re better off using while playing MMORPGs. For most other FPS gamers, the additional keys might not necessarily be as useful.

Performance tweaking and setting up profiles is easy

 

 

All of these keys are customizable and configured as macros for use in the games. The drivers resemble the ones seen in other Corsair Vengeance gaming peripherals such as the K90 keyboard. The drivers are extremely light and minimal as compared to the ones of the other manufacturers.

 

The mouse has an indicator which  is useful when you’re quickly switching between sensor sensitivity levels using two hard buttons positioned along the left click button.

Highly customizable using the drivers

 

 

The drivers let you do a number of things, including creating multiple profiles that you can quickly switch between. This is handy if you want to change the handling characteristic of your mouse when you switch games. DPI levels can be set and the values are flexible. As with other mice, there’s the option to refresh rates. One feature that isn’t available on most other mice is the adjustable lift height detection, so the cursor doesn’t move when you lift the mouse while playing high-speed games. Of course, there are some cosmetic tweaks that are allowed, such as turning on or off the lights on the mouse.

 

Another unique feature is the Surface Quality test, where the user is asked to move the mouse on the surface and the software gauges the performance of the surface. 

Top 5 gaming keyboards that deserve your attention

We’ve already looked at all the essential gaming peripherals, and now it’s time to see what’s available in the world of keyboards. Just like the others, the keyboard is an essential part of your gaming arsenal as it allows you to make precise movements, which could either help you win a race or get your head blown up in a death match. Most of the keyboards we’ve rounded up today have been designed specifically for gaming and by that, I don’t mean just fancy lighting and graphics, it’s the type of keys used that really sets them apart. Before we go ahead, let’s just cover some of the basics of a gaming keyboard and what you should look for when choosing one. 

 

In essence, we have two types of keyboards –the membrane or rubber dome type and the mechanical type. Membrane keyboards are the most common ones found in the cheapest Rs.200 keyboard to some high-end ‘gaming’ keyboards as well. If you’ve even taken apart a keyboard then you would've noticed translucent rubber padding between the keys and the circuit board. This is the cheapest and most cost-effective way of making a keyboard and you’ll usually find they have a soft or ‘mushy’ feedback. The key press is only registered here after pushing it all the way to the bottom, which requires more effort and energy from your end. Also, as time goes dust and grime makes the keys ‘sticky’, forcing you to use more energy to press them. This can cause major fatigue in your fingers, if you’re typing for long sessions.

The Cherry MX Black, Red, Brown and Blue keys in action 

 

 

Mechanical keys, on the other hand are designed to register the key stroke way before bottoming out or having you to press it fully, so this way you’re using less energy per key stroke and you can perform rapid key presses a lot easily and effortlessly. This comes in handy in games that require some button mashing. There are four types of keys most commonly found in mechanical keyboards. The Cherry MX Black is the best type for gaming. It’s a linear switch, which means there’s no tactile feedback giving you a very smooth feel. Cherry MX Red is a lighter version of the MX Black. It requires less force to actuate and keyboards that feature these keys tend to be expensive, since they aren’t easily available. Cherry MX Brown offer the best balance between gaming and typing. They feature a light tactile feedback making it easier to type on. Finally, we have Cherry MX Blue switches, which are the best for typing. The resistance is similar to membrane keyboards and they are quite decent for gaming as well. 

 

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a look at our top 5 contenders. Remember, if you’re going to be spending anything more than Rs.3,000, then make sure it’s a mechanical keyboard, else it’s simply overpriced and not worth it.

Corsair Vengeance K60
The K60 from Corsair is part of the Vengeance keyboard line-up and marks Corsair’s entry into the gaming keyboard space. The K60 features Cherry MX Red keys for the best response in games as well as specially contoured and textured WSAD and numeric keys from 1-6.

 

Amazing build and finish

 

 

The keyboard also boasts of an impressive 20-key rollover (20KRO) over USB, which is otherwise limited to six keys. This allows you to use up to 20-keys at a time and all will be registered, thanks to a 1ms polling rate. The keyboard also oozes style and quality with the brushed aluminium chassis and laser etched keys. The K60 is priced at Rs.5,900. 

 

Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 

The ‘Ultimate’ edition of Razer’s famous BlackWidow gaming keyboard, now features LED backlit keys, while maintaining the same feature set. The keys are individually backlit and we have five levels of backlighting to choose from. You can also record macros on the fly and save them among 10 profiles. The keyboard also features multimedia controls for quickly adjusting the volume. Razer uses the Cherry MX Blue keys, which make it easier to type on due to better tactile feedback, but not all gamers may prefer this type of key.

Added backlight makes it even better

 

There are different versions of the BlackWidow in the market, like the Dragon Age II edition and the Ninja edition, which feature Cherry MX Black for the best feedback for games. The BlackWidow Ultimate edition is available for Rs.5,900.

Hacker claims security flaw with Apple's iPhone

A hacker Friday revealed a security flaw that he claimed could make Apple's iPhone particularly vulnerable to text message cheating. The flaw has existed since iPhone was first launched in 2007, and is still not solved in the beta version of iOS 6, the next operating system for iPhone, the hacker under the name "Pod2g" said in a blog post, reported Xinhua.

 

Still has a notable security flaw

 

 

Under the protocols handling the exchange of SMS (Short Message Service) text between mobile phones, the sender of a message can technically change the reply-to phone number to something different from the original number, Pod2g explained. In a good implementation, the receiver of the message would see both the original phone number and the reply-to one. But using iPhone's SMS feature, when receivers see the message, it seems to come from the reply-to number, while the original phone number of the sender is hidden. The loophole means that someone could send iPhone users messages pretending to be from the receivers' banks or other trusted sources, asking for some private information, or cheating them to go to a dedicated website to obtain users' information.

 

Pod2g called the security flaw "severe" and urged Apple to fix it before the final release of the iOS 6 software."Now you are alerted. Never trust any SMS you received on your iPhone at first sight," Pod2g wrote in the blog post .Apple Inc. could not be reached for comments.

BSNL Penta T-Pad IS701C Tablet launched at Rs. 4,999

Pantel Technologies Private Limited (PTPL) has launched an Android tablet PC named IS701C in the Indian market. PTPL has a reverse bundling alliance with the government telecom organization BSNL to reach to the remote areas of India and cater to the masses.

The IS701C is an Internet slate with a cortex A8 1 GHz processor and a 7-inch, 800x480 pixel, full angle, TFT, LCD, capacitive multi-touch screen. The device comes with the latest Ice cream Sandwich (ICS) Android operating system. Pantel says that the tablet comes with a host of features, which are a perfect combination of hardware, content and network with seamless usability. Pantel Technologies is aiming this tablet at a cross-section of users ranging from avid gamers to busy professionals, homemakers and students.

Mr. Vijender Singh, Managing Director, Pantel Technologies Private Limited said at the launch, “We are committed to deliver an excellent user experience and aspire to bridge the digital divide which is so evident in our country. Our tablet is loaded with a variety of interesting features which are fine tuned to our consumers’ demands. Our latest product is a testimony to the months of hard work by our research and development team dedicated to bringing the latest tablet at an affordable price of INR 4,999.”
 

 

The latest tablet from BSNL

 

The Penta T-Pad IS701C Tablet PC is a Wi-Fi device with 3G USB dongle support. It has a host USB 2.0 port, a micro USB port, and a 0.3 MP front camera. It is pre-loaded with many applications that include Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds, and Skype for video. Pantel claims that the tablet has more than 6 hours of battery back-up, which is the best in its class. The tablet has a 512 MB DDR III RAM with an internal storage of 4 GB (expandable to 32 GB). The device comes with a 720p HDMI port and features a 16M colors TFT-LCD display with 16:9 aspect ratio.

Pantel Technologies has already tasted success in Indian markets. Earlier this year, Pantel had launched three tablets in partnership with BSNL with much success. The BSNL T-Pad IS701R and BSNL T-Pad WS704C are 7-inch tablets with a price tag of Rs. 3,250 and Rs.10,999 respectively, whereas the 8-inch BSNL T-Pad WS802C sells at Rs.13,500. The tablets had received a lot of appreciation from the masses and managed to get over 1 lakh pre-order bookings.

 

The BSNL Penta T-pads offer a host of features at low and medium budget, which is the right combination for the Indian market. And the BSNL Penta T-Pad IS701C Tablet is just the next step taken in this direction.

 

The BSNL Penta T-Pad IS701C is priced at Rs. 4,999. Head over to the Pantel website for more information.

Intel launches new Ultrabooks with Ivy Bridge in India

Ivy Bridge is clearly the buzzword at Computex, this year and apart from Intel, every manufacturer worth its salt has an Ivy Bridge offering, be it a notebook or even a tablet. Along with that, Intel has announced their new CPU line-up in India as well for notebooks, desktops and All-in-one (AIO) PCs. The notebooks powered by these CPUs will be available from all major OEMs operating in India, like Dell, Asus, Acer, HP, etc. Also, the Croma chain of retail stores will be amongst the first to receive these new notebooks, so you can have a hands on with them before buying. They will also be the first partner to offer Intel’s Anti-Theft service in India. “Croma is proud of being Intel’s first partner in offering Intel Anti-Theft service in India since last year. Mobile PC usage in India is on the rise and we expect to further accelerate it with the new Ultrabooks and increased mobility brings with it the need for increased security. With Intel Anti-Theft technology we are able to secure the laptops and Ultrabooks purchased at our store so that our customers can safeguard their devices giving them peace of mind and helping us reaffirm our resolution of brining a world-class shopping experience to our customers,” said Mr. Ajit Joshi, CEO & Managing Director, Infiniti Retail Ltd.

Slimmer, lighter and hopefully cheaper

 

Powered by 3rd Generation Intel Core processors, made with the advanced 22nm 3-D tri-gate transistors, these new Ultrabook devices are responsive and more secure to better protect personal information. The new chips also offer increased media and graphics performance, long battery life and more choice in stylish designs. Because of the 22nm tri-gate transistor manufacturing technology the 3rd Generation Intel Core processors now deliver 22 percent faster performance on multi-threaded applications, compared to 2nd Generation Intel Core processors. For example, experiences when using photo editing software or many games will significantly improve based on the new processors. The new Ultrabooks have up to twice the video processing and 3-D graphics performance of the prior generation, cutting a user’s video processing time in half and making for a smoother, richer visual experience. All Ultrabooks with 3rd Generation Core processors will have built-in visuals with features like Intel Quick Sync Video, Intel Clear Video HD, Intel HD Graphics, Intel InTru 3D, Intel Wireless Display and Intel Insider.

Intel is working across a broad cross-section of the industry to accelerate and enable thin and light designs. A recent and significant breakthrough in chassis design using existing materials and standard injection molding equipment will enable an Ultrabook chassis that is equivalent in quality to machined aluminum and die-cast metal solutions in the market today. Borrowing engineering approaches from the automotive and aerospace industries, the new chassis design has the potential to reduce chassis costs by up to 65 percent and is expected to be in market next year.