Phorce: The World's First Smart Bag

Phorce: The World's 1st Smart Bag

     The Phorce Bag is the 1st bag of its kind. It is a bag with an integrated charging system that can charge and iPhone 5 over 8 times, a Galaxy S3 6 times and an iPad 4 once. All that in an extremely light package that weighs only 1.7 kg.

     Phorce can charge upto 3 USB devices simultaneously, Cameras, Smartphones, Tablets, Headphones, etc. Phorce can also power a MacBook Air for more than 7 hours and a MacBook Pro for more than 5.5 hours. 

     Phorce is also accompanied by a Smartphone App which connects with Phorce via Bluetooth. It shows you how much battery power your bag has left and what you can do with it. You will automatically receive a notification on your Smartphone as soon as your Phorce is out of range, so that you can go back and grab it.

     Phorce can function as a Briefcase, Messenger Bag and also as a Backpack in 3 Transformations. Its is also Water resistant. With its cable management system and dedicated pockets for all your devices, Phorce keeps your gear organized. Its A4-sized front pocket and spacious main compartment are perfect for bringing along paper, pens, magazines, books, water bottles, and lots of other stuff. 

     The Phorce's Laptop, Tablet, iPhone compartments are lined with very soft fabric that cleans your devices effectively.

Here is list of charge times and tech specs for the Phorce.

 

     The Phorce is available in 4 colors : Black, Red, Dark Green and one 'Voters Choice' color. 

     SimonBlog quotes that "This awesome smart bag is your all-around gadget charger on the go....technology is much convenient and engaging"

    TechCrunch quotes that "Anything that gives gadgets some extra life is a worthwhile project in my book."

     Overall the Phorce seems like an awesome Project. It is worth looking forward to.
The first Phorce bags ship on May 2013.

Pictures Courtesy    

kickstarter.com

Microsoft Surface with Windows RT - Review

 By Microsoft.

The Microsoft Surface. It was one of the most anticipated Tablet of the Holiday Season 2012. The Surface was unveiled in June this year. It was launched to customers Last week at $499 for the 32GB Tablet Only and an additional $100 for the touch cover.

First Impressions are that it looks 'Stunning' with its kick stand and its 3mm thin keyboard cover. It is as slim as Apple's iPad 4 at 9.4mm or 0.37". It weighs in at 680g, a touch heavy. The Outer Shell of the Surface is encased in Magnesium, which makes it 3x lighter than Aluminium.

 

The Surface runs on Microsoft's new Windows 8 RT. The look is adopted from the Windows Phone 7.5 with its Iconic Live Tiles. The Surface comes preloaded Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 Preview. The Pack has been optimized for Touch. There is a Windows Store for the Surface from where you can download Apps and Games. There is also a new feature called Snap Apps where you can have 2 apps open at any time. Xbox gives you access to Music, Movies and Games.

The Surface has a Full Sized USB 2.0 port, with which you can Transfer Files using Pen Drives, etc.. The Surface comes with a Touch cover which is 3mm thin and also serves as a Keyboard. If you are uncomfortable with the Touch Cover, you can buy a Type Cover with a Mechanical Keyboard which is only 6mm thin.

The Type Cover

The Touch Cover

The Surface has an Integrated Kick Stand which is extremely useful. The Surface  then stands like a Photoframe.

The Kick Stand

The Surface comes Equipped with 2 Cameras. Both 720p Front and Rear. It can be used to take photos and videos as well as Video Calls.

Now for the Insides.

Surface has a 'Quad-Core' NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset with 12 Graphic Cores. Surface has 2GB of RAM and Storage of 32 or 64GB.

It has a 10.6" HD Ready Display with a Resolution of 1366 x 768, an Aspect Ratio of 16:9 and 5-point Multitouch. The 16:9 aspect ratio is convenient for watching movies. It has 2 Microphones and Stereo Speakers.

Surface has a microSDXC card slot, a headset jack, a HD video out port and a Cover Port. It also has a Gyroscope, an Ambient Light Sensor, a Compass and an Accelerometer. Surface has a 31.5 Watt-hour Battery which is charged by a 24W power supply.

Surface has Wi-Fi 802.11 (a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth 4.0. It comes with 1 year Warranty.

Overall the Surface Tablet is expected to be very productive. It can be used to create content, not only to consume it. Acer, Samsung and Apple in the form of the Transformer Infinity, The Galaxy Tab and the iPad 4, respectively pose stiff competition to the Surface.

Pictures Courtesy Microsoft and Phone Arena 

Review of the iPad Mini Launch event

Apple conducted an Event in San Jose, California on the 23rd of October. Here is a review of all that happened in the California Theater. 

• Apple 1st announced that they had sold over 100 million iPads. 
• Tim also spoke about the success of the iPhone 5 and how people welcomed it. 
• iOS 6 now runs on over 200 million devices.
• 300 Billion iMessages have been sent so far. At the rate of 28000 per second.
• 160 Million Game Center accounts.
• 35 Billion apps Downloaded. $6,500,000,000 paid to Devs.
• iBooks updated. No more page turning.
• MacBook Pro 13" launched with Retina Display starting at $1699.
• New Mac Mini launched at $599.
• New iMac launched with 5mm sides starting at $1299 for the 21.5".
• iPad 4 launched with A6X Processor at the same price.

 

iPad mini is finally out there. It sports a 7.9" Display with a resolution of 1028x768.

iPad mini comes with a dual-core A5 chip.

                             

iPad mini comes with a Facetime HD Camera and a 5MP iSight Camera which shoots 1080p videos. It is LTE enabled and comes with Siri. It sports the Lightning Connector same as the one on the iPhone 5. All the iPad specific apps run on the iPad mini.

It is astonishingly thin, at just 7.2mm thin. As thin as a Pencil and it weighs only 308g.

iPad mini starts at $329 for the 16GB version. It is available in Black and White.

The iPad 2 stays around at $399 and the Ex- new iPad is Discontinued.

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Amazing iPad Tips and Tricks

Check out these things you never knew your iPad could do.

How to use iOS6 Passbook in India

Passbook 

Passbook is a new Feature in iOS 6 for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. It keeps things like airline boarding passes, movie tickets, and gift cards all in one place. Passbook works fine in the USA, UK, Germany and other developed Countries. It does not work that well in India. But it can be used. There are currently 5 apps for Passbook in India. They are :

1. Airbnb
2. Lufthansa
3. iHotel - Hotel Search
4. United Airlines
5. American Airlines

All these apps work quite well. You have to either enter you Ticket or Booking Number in the App and it Creates a Pass or else you can directly book on your iPhone and iPod Touch.

Here are a few screenshot of the apps available.

Lufthansa

Airbnb

United Airlines

American Airlines

iHotel

Over all, all these apps work quite well. But the Functionality of Passbook in India is quite limited.  Over time all Airlines operating in India will also add their apps for Passbook. Also Indian Diners and Cinemas such as PVR, BIG Cinemas should add their app. Passbooks is a really good app. It is worth using.

iOS 6 Review on iPad 2 Wi-fi

At Last iOS 6.0 is out. Apple claims that it adds about 200 new features. The most anticipated feature was the Facebook Integration. Let us run down the main features for the iPad 2 : 

In iOS 6 Apple ditched Google Maps and created their own Map Service. The Maps provide turn by turn Navigation. Another new feature is Flyover, this mode shows the buildings and terrain in 3D in select Cities and Countries (not available in India).

Flyover is a really great feature, like you get to experience the building in real. Traffic is also available (not in India). If you live in the USA or UK or Canada, Maps i a great App. If you live in India, it is absolutely useless. This is a big d(ow)n of iOS 6.

Big Ben - Flyover

Facebook Integration was the most anticipated feature of iOS 6. It works beautifully . You can like apps and songs on the App Store and Post it on your wall.

It is also possible to share photos though the Photos app and comment on them. It is very useful. 

You can also update your status through the notification center.

Facebook Integration is one of the best features of iOS 6.

 Shared Photo Streams i great feature in iOS 6 with which you can share selected photos with selected people. You can comment on the photos, like them.

The iTunes Store, App Store and the iBook Stores have been remodeled. There is a Carousel on the top and the rest are the same.

Clock App for iPad

A new Clock app has been added for iPad. Here are a few Screenshots:

World Clock

Stopwatch

Timer

Your boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, and more are now all in one place. With Passbook, you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, and redeem a coupon. You can also see when your coupons expire, where your concert seats are, and the balance left on that all-important coffee bar card. Wake your iPhone or iPod touch, and passes appear on your Lock screen at the appropriate time and place.

No more hunting through your wallet for gift cards, coupons, passes, or tickets. Passbook keeps everything organized

Passbook is time and location enabled, so passes and tickets show on your Lock screen when and where you need them — just swipe to get your pass.

 

These are the main new features for iPad 2 Wifi. Other new features are:

• Improved Siri for iPhone 4S and new iPad
• Facetime over 3G
• Improvements to mail and Safari
• iCloud Tabs
• Do not Disturb
• New Phone Features
• Better Accessibility 

Aircel Offer iPhone 3GS at 9,999/-

iPhone 3GS

      The New Offer by Aircel, iPhone 3GS at Rs.9,999 is a Tempting Offer, but as you would expect there are some catches. The first of them is that you have to pay Rs.3,000 as an advance to get Unlimited 3G and 2G for 1 year (High Speed 2GB per Month). But that is all right you are paying for your services. Also the Earphones separately cost Rs.1,700 and the USB cable and the Charger Adapter together cost around Rs.2,000. So if you factor in other things, the iPhone itself costs only Rs.6,300. So it is a Great Deal and also you are not locked in with Aircel. Now coming to the iPhone itself.

Display

The iPhone 3GS comes with a 3.5 inch, 480 by 320 screen with a pixel density of 163ppi. It has an aspect ratio of 3:2. The Display also has an Oleophobic coating which prevents fingerprints. 

Hardware

The iPhone 3GS runs on an underclocked MHz Cortex A8 Processor. It has 256MB of RAM and comes only with 8GB of storage, which after formatting gets reduced to 6.2GB. The iPhone has a 1219 mAh battery.

The Other Key Features are :

• Assisted GPS
• Digital compass
• Wi-Fi
• 3G

• Talk time: Up to 5 hours on 3G, up to 12 hours on 2G
• Standby time: Up to 300 hours
• Internet use: Up to 5 hours on 3G, up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi

Camera

The iPhone 3GS has a 3.15 Megapixel Camera with autofocus. The camera also can capture video at 480p @ 30fps. It can also focus during the video. It has Photo and Video geotagging built in. 

Connectivity

• UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
  GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
• 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
•    2.1 + EDR wireless technology 

Ergonomics

The iPhone feels sturdy in the hand. It fits perfectly into the palm and I feel that it is just the right thickness, not too thin nor too fat. Here are the dimensions:

Height: 115.5 mm (4.5 inches)

Width: 62.1 mm (2.4 inches)

Depth: 12.3mm (0.48 inches)

Weight: 135 grams (4.8 ounces)

There is only one button on the main face which is the Home Button. At the left side there is the volume rocker and a ring/silent switch and at the top is the on/off  button. 

                                           

Conclusion

I Feel that the iPhone 3GS is a Good Buy at the price. Buy it while the stocks last. The Apple Premium for ten thousand rupees is a must buy. So, buy it while Stocks last.