TECHNOLOGY

The Xperia Z is not just another 5-inch smartphone as Sony would like us to believe.Sony CEO Kuni Suzuki defines its new baby as the new super phone packed for TV, imaging, film, music, and gaming.

Finally, the process has begun for the update of the last generation HTC One X smartphone. The device can now update its firmware version to Android 4.1 Jellybean owned by customers without SIM-free and unlocked handsets.

There are more than 600,000 applications that can be downloaded from Google Play which support most versions of Android, even the old ones. Most applications downloaded fall under the categories Social, Games, Music, Personalisation, and Entertainment.

Acer’s 7-inch Iconia B1 Android is officially out and retailed for a low-price tag of $US150, the device manufacturers said in a released statement on Monday.

Google’s Android platform and all the handsets operating on the mobile OS are dismissed as clones by hardcore Apple fanboys. It might be true years ago but a self-confessed Android convert now attests that Android’s current form “even feels a bit ahead of iOS 6.”

It’s not even an Apple or a Samsung device but Nexus 7, manufactured by Asus for Google, has generated considerable consumer attention and kudos from tech experts. They agree that the Android tablet is a solid lure, thanks to its impressive specs and more impressive price tags.

It is the year of feature-filled and powerful smartphones and the upcoming Galaxy S4 is no exception. Apart from the super specs that blog reports have attributed to the next Samsung flagship phone, this exciting handset will reportedly deploy with more wireless capabilities.

Call it iPhone 5S or iPhone 6 but analysts are firmly convinced that Apple will introduced two smartphone versions this year – a low-end edition and likely to be named iPhone Mini for a still undetermined debut date and the regular configuration that the tech giant aims to rollout as early as June 2013.

While many smart, high-tech TVs and cars will dominate most of the appearances in the CES 2013 in Las Vegas, Sony, Huawei, and Lenovo will bring some of their new devices to the show.

The engineered glass with combined thinness, lightness, and damage-resistance Gorilla Glass is coming back, more resilient and much better. The developers of this scratch-resistant glass promised that the new version will have 40 per cent reduction of visible scratches, three times resistance against scratches, and has 50 per cent more strength boost.

Cars, more than electronic gadgets, are said to take the centre stage in the ongoing Consumer Electronic Show 2013 in Las Vegas. However, in the case of Hyundai, it will showcase high technology as well with a demonstration of Apple's Siri Eyes Free mode.

The Nexus 7 tablet dock is set to become officially available on Jan 10, 2013, at least for consumers' orders coming from the United States, as recently indicated by B&H on its official site.

Giant Japanese telco NTT Docomo reportedly partnered with Samsung to deliver an Amber Brown Note to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Three new Microsoft Surface tablets are reportedly set to be unveiled later this year, joining the first batch that the software giant had simultaneously launched with the Windows 8 in October 2012.

Majority of teenagers now have access to smartphones which they primarily use for basic phone functions, education, social media, and entertainment. But when entertainment needs goes beyond the usual movie and TV fare, pornography is the first thing in mind. Network carriers have filtered these Web sites but teens have found a way around it through sexting - messages and pics that are sexually explicit.

The New Year of 2013 has entered its second week and for many, this week would be back to business as usual. It is another year to make small, medium or large businesses more productive and efficient for loyal customers. Handling a business can be very stressful and demands a lot of time and effort, but through Android and iOS devices and apps, entrepreneurs and corporate executives can enjoy the advantage of having a secret adviser that can do things even when the assistant or accountant is not...

Google has launched an application that lets people follow and track their New Year's Resolution through an online map and also lets them see what others around the world have promised in 2013. The California Internet giant's 2012 Zeitgeist Web site obtained half a million log entries and more than a third involved "to love" or "be loved" entries. The entries are divided into several categories including love, health, finance, career, education and family.

Mark Zuckerberg should better watch out. His potential successors are getting younger. One such chap even shares with him the same initials - ZM - which stands for Zachary Marks.

HTC M7 will be unleashed first quarter of 2013 but it remains unclear if the smartphone will be previewed on this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas following conflicting reports that the gadget is slated for a Mobile World Congress debut in February.

Samsung is allocating significant amounts of energy to Tizen in 2013, confirming reports that the Asian tech giant is planning device releases this year running on the Linux-based mobile operating system.

The global hunt for that elusive Nexus 4 remains an equally exciting and frustrating prospect for fans wanting to enjoy the stock Android rendition on a powerful but affordable smartphone.

It has been six months since the debut of Nexus 7 at the Google's annual developer conference and it is an attractive device especially for readers. Some users are confused if they still want to squint their eyes just to read through the smartphone and suffer a double $200 price tag or get a mini tablet or a bigger one from Samsung.

While the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) next week in Las Vegas is expected to show more cars and fewer electronic gadgets, techies nevertheless are anticipating the annual event.

Its confidence partly boosted by the good showing so far of the Lumia 920, Nokia is aiming to break new grounds by jumping into the global tablet competition, currently the turf that follows the dictates of iOS and Android devices.

The second batch of Nexus 4 deliveries has reached their end destinations and many were elated that the choke on Google’s supply chain seems to be freeing up. But one gripe appears to be emerging – the ‘glitter effect’ on the phone’s back cover was nowhere to be found.

Apple will reportedly issue new smartphones in colourful casings – three in one-tone: pink, yellow, blue; and the rest in two-tone: white & silver and black & slate. These new handsets will be called iPhone 5S and are set for a June 2013 release.

Application developers found something odd in their app usage logs which referenced to a new iPhone identifier - iPhone 6.1 with iOS 7 operating system.

The Digital Age continues in 2013 and will possibly span more decades until everything is about robotics, droids, and artificial intelligence. In 2012, computers have evolved into touchscreen notebooks with flexible form modes such as separating from its keys or forming a tent for better movie experience. Mobile phones have reached the smartphone era with screens responding to touch, social network access, Wi-Fi connection, and several more applications using the smallest sensors.

The use of Wi-Fi cuts down incidents of stumbling around cords and wires at home, in the office or school. It also covers a larger area with more users than using standard wired router. The technology of wireless connection beats almost any odds using the Internet but there are certain things that can slow down the connection or weaken its signal which is a bummer.