New firmware (4.0.2.A.0.62) for Sony Ericsson Xperia arc, Xperia arc s, Xperia neo, Xperia neo v and Xperia Play handsets

Sony Ericsson has launched a new firmware updates for Xperia handsets. According to the their website the update is available for Sony Ericsson Xperia arc, Xperia arc s, Xperia neo, Xperia neo v and Xperia Play handsets.

It is a minor update, that will fix minor bug and you don’t need to expect new features. The upgrade is region specific. It may or may not be available in your part of the world.

To update your phone, One can receive an OTA message on their cell phones to accept the new firmware update, or they can manually download it by following these steps:

1. Open Menu
2. Than Settings
3. Than About Phone
4. Than system Updates
5. If Update found
6. Select Download button
7. Tap Install Now button
8. Installation process should start down
9. Let the upgrade process finish.

Or they can just plug-in their data cable and PC- Companion can assist their upgrade.

New features in latest upgrade:

• Faster mobile processing, by freeing the unnecessary memory taken by redundant processes.
• Better battery life
• Makes the phone operation lite.
• Bug fixes in the Kernel.

Also one can expect ICS upgrade in March/April.

Facebook, Pinterest, StumbleUpon are the most preferred Social Networking Sites, Google+ fails to Attract

Facebook the most visited social networking site of the world, may cross the historic 1 Billion mark by August this year. Currently its subscriber count is 900+ million users.

Facebook growth has accelerated with the surge in new members from countries like India and Brazil. Earlier orkut dominated these markets. It was earlier believed that facebook was growing at exponential rate (Looking at the data from 2006 to 2008), but the more recent data (from 2009) suggests that the growth is ‘Linear’. Facebook growth has stopped or slowed in many of its adopting markets like US and UK. But there is a strong push from developing markets. It claims that in a given day at least half of its registered members log-in to their accounts.

The launch of Google+ brought a new competition to facebook. But it failed to attract users. Even with Google integrating its services, its user base is just over 170 million.

Pinterest is something that is coming up good. It has a very simple concept, just post what you have interest in and follow people who interest you. User can share pictures of their work and discuss what other users are doing. It has total user base of 13 million.

Stumble Upon is new discovery engine that helps users find content online, eg Blogs. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social Networking. It has currently 25 million+ user base.

Since last September, facebook has stopped publishing blogs etc. but instead they have introduced tools and apps; to share music, blogs and videos. But in terms of micro blogging, nothing can compete with twitter.


facebook's public offer which might come in first week of June 2012 is the most looked upon event on wall street this year. It was earlier expected that with the latest IPO company will be valued at $80 Billion.

Top Free Popular Android Games 2012 for Tablets / Phones

Google Play hosts to some of the greatest games available for free to download on mobile devices / Tablets . Listed below are top games that a user can download on Android Tablets / Phones

(Just click on the heading and download from Google Play Store)

Blood & Glory: Legend

The top-rated arena-combat game continues with Blood and Glory: Legend!

Welcome to Blood & Glory Legend – the highly anticipated sequel to the AAA blockbuster smash-hit Blood & Glory! Return to the arena and bask in the blood-hungry cheers of the crowd as you fight to become a LEGEND!

  

Dead Trigger

Visually Stunning First Person Zombie Shooter Arcade !!!

*Supports extended effects on Tegra 3 devices

In 2012 modern civilization is coming to an end. Global economics have been disrupted; money has lost its value. People have risen against the ignorant politicians who were just lining their pockets – and they didn't spare any of them.

However, those who really ruled the world were prepared - and escaped. Suddenly billions of people died from a strange virus, while others turned into butcherly beasts with just one thought: TO KILL!

Agent Dash 

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to destroy as many villainous bases as you can! Sprint through gorgeous environments, using secret agent skills to evade every hazard the evil megalomaniacs can throw at you, from laser beams and falling trees to skidding trucks and fiery lava.

Use spy gadgets to help you on your way; equip jetpacks, parachutes and even slow down time! When the going gets too tough, call in support from a back-up agent! And when the time comes, draw your weapons and pull the trigger to destroy the base and make your escape as the building crumbles around you.

Compete with your Facebook friends. Hone your skills and sharpen your reactions to make the perfect run and become Top Agent!

Logo Quiz

Guess at logos of popular companies from all over the world! More than 900 puzzles to solve, divided into 15 levels!

We can see various company logos every day and everywhere. On TV, walking along the street, in magazines... simply everywhere!


Subway Surfer

One of the most loved game of Apple is now available on android also. Its an amazing game. Just download and enjoy !!

Angry BirdsRio

In Angry Birds Rio, the original Angry Birds are kidnapped and taken to the magical city of Rio de Janeiro, where they eventually escape their captors and set out to to save their friends, Blu and Jewel – two rare macaws and the stars of the upcoming Fox motion picture, Rio. Angry Birds Rio will pair the physics-based gameplay of the original game with unique twists based on the film.

Angry Birds Space

New game in the Angry Birds family. Personally I like this game a lot. New fun features are added. The game is little more tricky than its previous versions.

Temple Run



One of the best games of iPhone are now available on Android. The game got released on 28th March; Is now one of the best games to download on Android. Based on a simple concept this motion sensor game is fantastic to play.



Racing Moto

Fast paced racing game! You never dare drive so fast in the real world!Racing Moto is a fast paced racing game. You never dare drive so fast in the real world! Control your moto with incredible fast speed during traffic rush time! Also enjoy beautiful view during the journey - desert, city, bridge, sea and forest!

Intuitive game rules:
                      # Tilt phone to control moto direction
                      # Tap screen to accelerate

Drunk Man

David is a drunkie. On his wife's birthday,he got drunk again.His wife got mad at him! She told him to buy a very nice gift for her or sleep outside of the house! Now you got to help the poor guy to walk as long as possible to get to the gift shop.

If he leans to the left side,tap right half screen and hold, and if he leans to the right side,tap left     half screen and hold.
Don't let him lean too much or he'll fall down!

Pool Master Pro

Welcome to the Pool Master Pro game! How about a nice little game of pool? This is the No.1 Pool game in Android market and it's totally FREE.

Ninja Jump

In this fast paced ninja climbing game, your goal is to rise as high as you can while avoiding killer squirrels, angry birds, enemy ninjas, throwing stars and exploding bombs. With a simple tap you can jump from one wall to the other, knocking obstacles from the air as you do. Take down three enemies of the same kind to trigger mega-jump bonuses. Collect shields to plow through your opponents with. Just watch out for ledges and other ninjas because they will knock you off and send you to your doom!

You will be amazed by the gorgeous graphics, rich gameplay, immersive music and the insanely addictive quality of this game.

Air Control Light

Control the air traffic, and help the air crafts safe to the ground. In this simple yet surprisingly addictive drawing game you take on the role of Air Traffic Controller. It is your job to direct airplanes to runways while avoiding collisions.

Paper Toss

The hit game has finally arrived for Android!

Have you ever been bored at work, crumpled up a piece of paper and counted how many times you can make it in a small trash can? Has your boss ever gone out for a quick bite while you and your co-workers see how far you can move the trash can away and still make the paper shot?  Have you ever brought in electric fans to make the shot even harder? Backflip Studios is happy to announce that we have brought this amazing and hilarious experience to Android.

Drag Racing

The most addictive racing game with realistic controls and 50+ cars! The most addictive racing game with realistic controls, lots of cars and 30+ million players, updated regularly with new features.Drive 50+ cars including the officially licensed 1200 bhp Hennessey Venom GT™ 

Fruit Slice

The best free fruit game comes to Android! The BEST FRUIT juicy game on Market Place, and it's FREE! Slice fruit by your finger, and enjoy fruit juice!

Sudoku Free

This is the number one Sudoku app in Brain & Puzzle for a reason!

You won’t be looking for a paper puzzle ever again!

With 4 difficulty levels, intuitive interface, and all the functions right at your fingertips, this Sudoku app is sure to be your favorite. Interrupted? Exit Sudoku, and the puzzle is saved exactly as you see it!

Devil Ninja 2

New battle on the devil's land, It's time for the ninja to action, In this fast paced fighting game, Your task is to fight against the monsters, kill king of the monsters, And there are various items to increase your combat effectiveness. Have fun!

Chess Free

Chess Free is the best free Chess game on Android! and is currently the highest rated free chess on Android (at time of writing), from the 30+ free chess programs listed.

BlackBerry faces stiff market competition

BlackBerry is in attack from all the sides.The initial popularity of the Apple iPhone was eventually matched by the Google Android OS, while older platforms such as the Research In Motion BlackBerry maintained a significant, albeit shrinking, market share. Once known for its BlackBerry Messenger now faces stiff competition from free IMs like whatsApp (free subscription for one year), e-buddy and Viber. 

Till 2010 many corporations were giving its employees BB phones for official purposes. Since 2010, the percentage of corporations giving smart phones to its employees has risen from 40.1% to 57%. This is because, numerous apps that can be downloaded on smart phones.

Until BlackBerry 10 arrives sometime in the second half of 2012, RIM is relying on BlackBerry devices loaded with BlackBerry 7 OS to hold the market-share line. Also in conjunction with CES here, RIM debuted BlackBerry 7.1 OS, which includes the ability to share information between two near-field communications (NFC)-enabled BlackBerry devices by touching them together.

It has 5 devices that are running on OS 7 in India; they are available in market starting from Rs 19200 to Rs 32000. 

The browser of BlackberryOS 7 has been made more effective by the introduction of a just in time feature of java scrip compiler and HTML5 video support. This will not only make the browser faster to use but also more reliable and cost effective. Blackberry balance is also one of the contents of the Blackberry OS 7. This feature gives you an opportunity to place some sections in the phone so as to save your personal and career live into different organized folders.

RIM confirmed that there will be no legacy support with Blackberry OS 7; this indicates that there will be a restriction that will not allow the older versions of the phone, even the most recent version from obtaining updates that will upgrade it to the new version, Blackberry OS 7. Initially these devices created some buzz in the market, but slowing their charm is fading away.

BlackBerry has first time organised BBM Apps Hackathon in India, to invite developers to use BlackBerry platform and develop apps and integrate it to their platform. Free OS 7 devices are given to the participants so that, they can use the device and help the company to improvise its products, by developing user friendly apps.

Can Tablets replace Laptops ?

In the last two years there has been seen a great demand of tablets that they can now be considered to be viable computing options.

They are much lighter than most notebooks, are easier to use thanks to an icon-based touch interface, often come with 3G connectivity and have much better battery life. 

Now the question that remains is ‘Can Tablets replace Laptops’?

Initially tablets lagged on the productivity front, but with plethora of apps available they are giving plenty of computing opportunities to its users. With its portability, long battery life and always-connected features, the tablet can be a handy secondary device for web browsing, e-mail, presentations or light notes.  A tablet provides a rich experience in browsing and e-mail experience. Tablets also provide a wider soft keyboard to make typing easy, and a larger screen to read books, play games, write e-mail or view websites.

 The emergence of tablets in 2010 had a ripple effect on laptops, shipments of which have slowed down due to the growing interest in tablets. (The share of laptops as part of PC sales during the second quarter was 12%, down from 22% from the year-ago quarter, according to IDC.)

But it’s too early to comment, whether they are the replacement to laptops.

A privately conducted survey of 80 users revealed that; Respondents had mixed response for the future of laptops. The group was divided into equal halves about the response.

  

 In order to combat the increasing sale of tablets, Intel has set out to redefine PCs with a new category of thin-and-light laptops called Ultrabooks. The laptops are slightly thinner than Mac Airs. Ultrabooks in the future will have touchscreens and always-on and always-connected features.

Light users who do not have requirement for high computing power can migrate to tablets. Companies are giving tablets to their sales and marketing team. Even companies like United Airlines said it would hand out 11,000 iPads to pilots as a replacement to paper-based flight manuals and aeronautical navigational charts.

But still people who are used to raw computing power like keyboard and high storage still resort to laptops.

Laptops will be facing a challenging year ahead, with companies like Google, Blackberry, Sony, Motorola, Apple, Samsung coming with high power tablets. No matter who wins this race, one thing is sure: All the tech lovers will have new, better and powerful devices to play with.

Reliance 4G services as low as Rs 10 for 1GB, for Broadband and Tablets

Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) plans to offer high speed data services  by 2012-end on on attractively priced tablets. RIL plans to launch tablets at around Rs 3,500 and bundle it with data offering as low as 1 GB at Rs 10, a tenth of the current 3G prices.

The company had earlier planned to launch services by mid of this year on data cards that could be plugged into computers and laptops. The RIL services is based on fourth generation, or 4G, technology which offers faster internet access compared to third generation (3G) services.  RIL's entry and price disruption could therefore nullify the business case for 3G for existing mobile operators, all of whom on an average offer 1 GB of downloads for Rs 100 at present. 

It will be launching services based on Qualcomm's long term evolution, or LTE, technology, which is currently in test phase. Global majors like Vodafone, Verizon and Telenor have deployed LTE networks in some developed markets. While subsidizing devices will be main pillar of RIL's upcoming 4G mobile services offerings, the company is also analyzing lessons from its previous foray into mobile services that they launched in the year 2003, where they charged Rs 501 as the entry fees. 


Reliance Industries is launching the services via its subsidiary Infotel Broadband Services and a partnership with HFCL (Hindustan Futuristic Communications Ltd.). HFCL will handle the ground work where as Infotel Broadband will focus on key aspects of the network and monitor the rollout  


Earlier this year, It had acquired 30% stake in TV18 group by investing Rs 1500 cr in the company. Reliance has exclusive rights to content from 30 channels and web properties from the company. It can now include the content from these channels with its 4G services. 

Ice Cream Sandwich Update for Xperia Arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia Neo, Xperia Mini, Xperia Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, Xperia Active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Expected End of May / Early June

One of the most successful phones launched by Sony Ericsson ever is Xperia Arc.

Xperia Arc is currently running on Google Android Version 2.3.4, build number 4.0.2.A.0.62

Ice Ceam Sandwich is the latest in the Android Series.

The Android 4.0.3 update was first released on 16 December 2011. It included a number of bug fixes and optimizations, and offered improvements to graphics, databases, spell-checking and Bluetooth functionality, along with new APIs for developers, including a social stream API in the Contacts provider. Other features included Calendar provider enhancements, new camera apps enhancing video stabilization and QVGA resolution, and accessibility refinements such as improved content access for screen readers.

Sony Ericsson already confirmed that all Xperia smartphone launched in 2011 would receive the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade the next year. However, the handset maker wasn’t too specific with the exact release date of the update in its official statement.

Since Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray have already received the update, the next series of update is due to release by end of May/ First week of June i. e for Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo, Xperia mini and mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active as well as Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman.

The updates will be a phased roll out over several weeks and all kits for a specific phone model will not get the upgrade at the same time. Source: sonyericssonblog