Google reveals 'Nexus 7' tablet: Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and more

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Google has officially revealed  a new Asus-branded tablet called 'Nexus 7'. The biggest advantage as usual is that it will be the first device to ship with Android's latest launched OS aka 4.1 Jelly Bean. The tablet measures 10.45mm thin and weighs 0.7 pounds. Google missed an SD card slot on the slate.  

Specs:

• 7-inch IPS display with a 1280x800 resoltuion
• 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU
• 1.2-megapixel front camera
• NFC, micro USB port,  802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 1GB of RAM
• 1.2-megapixel front camera (no back camera included)
• $199 for 8GB, $249 for 16GB version

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Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Launched!

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Google has just revealed the next Android version aka 4.1 Jelly Bean at Google I/O in San Francisco. So what's new? I’ll be updating as new information and features are revealed.

• First feature out it Project Butter. This will make the OS performance extremely smooth. Jelly Bean will work throughout at 60fps now. 
• You will no longer need to have a good network connection to use voice typing. Jelly Bean will have better Text Input because the speech features are built directly on the device. Sadly, only US English version is supported for now.
• The Notifications section has also got a new upgrade. One can now call back from the notifications itself. Apps can also be enlarged from notifications by dragging down with two fingers.
• The old home screen also gets new features like the phone itself will resize widgets for you, thus removing the need to place widgets, resize,etc. Smart trick here.
• The Camera app on Jelly Bean will have a much faster preview of pictures.

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'The Dark Knight Rises' is coming to iOS and Android devices

Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises' is without any second thoughts, the most-awaited film of 2012. Now, to generate more curiosity, an iOS and Android game is hitting the market stores soon. This had to happen considering how huge the global fan-base is for this film. The game's been designed by Gameloft and there are no details available about the storyline or pricing, for now. It's expected to arrive soon. 


Thankfully, Gameloft has provided a trailer for the game and it looks pretty darn exciting. Hit the play button and bring out the Batman-fan in you. 

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Ford's 1-litre, 3 cylinder EcoBoost engine wins 2012 International Engine of the Year award

Ford's latest breakthrough in engineering, the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine has bagged the 2012 'International Engine of the Year' award at the Engine Expo in Stuttgart, Germany. And that's not all. Ford's tiny three-cylinder EcoBoost marvel also bagged the 'Best New Engine' and the 'Best Engine Under 1.0-litre' award at the same event. 

In the 13-year history of the award, this is the first time Ford has won an accolade. The global panel of judges comprising of 76 journalists from 35 countries across the world cast the final votes. 

The small 1.0-litre three-cylinder EcoBoost engine, which is just about big enough to cove the size of an A4 piece of paper is indeed a big step forward for smaller engines in the future, claiming superiority in every way to the 1.6-litre normally aspirated engine it replaces in terms of smoothness, quietness, power and efficiency.

“We set the bar incredibly high when we started to design this engine.  We wanted to deliver eye-popping fuel economy, surprising performance, quietness and refinement – and all from a very small, three-cylinder engine,” said Joe Bakaj, Ford global powertrain vice president.

The 1.0-litre Ford's EcoBoost engine made its debut on the Ford Focus in the European market and will also be offered in the Ford C-Max and B-Max. In India however, the new engine will debut with the upcoming Ford EcoSport compact SUV, which is expected to launch in the coming months.

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Mercedes-Benz confirms sizzling A45 AMG details, Over 350hp with 4WD!

Mercedes-Benz, up until now, had been rather discreet about the upcoming high-performance version of the A class tuned by the skunkworks over at AMG. However, the German carmaker today confirmed details of the most wallet-friendly AMG model to date. 


The car will be officially revealed later this year and will be up on sale in 2013 carrying a price tag of around 40,000 euros. 
 
To set apart it apart from a regular A Class, the A45 AMG is expected to come with an aggressively-designed front bumper, AMG grille, sporty AMG wheels with low profile rubber, wider front fenders, wing mirrors with carbon fiber effect, a roof spoiler, an integrated diffuser and chromed tail pipes over the rear bumper. 

As for the powertrain, the A45 AMG will get a 2-litre twin-scroll turbocharged engine putting out a monstrous 370PS of power and over 400Nm of torque. It will be mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox with a custom tuned Haldex-style multi-plate clutch. The hot-hatch – aside from AMG-tuned SUVs like the G55, the ML63 and among others – will be the first AMG model to send power to all four wheels. Although, in keeping with true AMG tradition, the system is rear biased with most of the power going to the back wheels. Mercedes might even offer the optional Driver Package, that ups the topspeed to 280km/h instead of 250km/h in stock trim. 
 

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Ferrari Ki Sawari Coming up!

Another VC Films treat is coming up in couple of hours in a theatre or multiplex near you. Like any Bollywood movie, even this one has had its share of gossips, rumors and item girl masalas. One of the interesting one's was when we heard that the film will be seen by 'Ferrari' the company to see if their brand has been used in a proper way in the film. It seems FKS got the green signal from 'Ferrari' and zoomed straight through.


Another interesting thing about the movie is that the child actor who was somehow rumoured to be a look-alike of Amol Gupte's child, turned out to be false. Instead there is an intriguing story behind his casting. Ritwik, name of the child artist in FKS, was discovered by the director Rajesh Mapuskar at a McDonald outlet. When taken on board, the actor did not have an acting experience in films or adverts nor he knew how to play cricket which is the most crucial part of the movie. Well it is matter, just a matter of time and we will find out if he has faked it well.

The movie was screened for the actors and the crew. Of all the crew, Boman Irani could not stop his smile. He was very happy to see the tremendous response to the film. Among the praises one was even by Mr. Bachchan. "Bachchan Saab, Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and others have watched the film and they liked it. They even got emotional while seeing the movie and this is a compliment to the director. He has made the film with so much truth and honesty that people are moved by the film," said Boman Irani, courtesy NDTV movies. 

Personally I am not a big fan of item numbers taking place in recent movies. I even doubt if these item numbers are scripted. Anyway, FSK being a family movie also has also packaged one item number. It will be featuring Vidya Balan. Her fans wont give this one a miss for sure. Here is a snapshot of her look in the film. 

Enough said, before I wrap up the article, how about having a look at the promo of the film to remind you all of what was it about the movie that created the initial point of interest in your head. Enjoy!

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Maruti Suzuki Ertiga - Detailed Picture Gallery

Although Maruti Suzuki calls it, err... LUV (Life Utility Vehicle) – how they came up with such an acronym is beyond me – but fact remains, the Ertiga is in essence a mini-MPV that is designed for the sort of families who are looking to buy a small and economical people-carrier that promises to be easy on the pocket.

It all sounds good on paper; however, is it any good on the road, in the company of bumps, potholes, other motorists and cows? We think yes. Here’s why!

Read the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga Review here

Meanwhile, here's the high-resolution picture gallery.

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Here's how the new Macbook Pro with Retina display looks from the inside [PICTURES]

Repair company iFixit, as always, has now also been successful in tearing down the newly launched Macbook Pro with the stunning Retina Display. iFixit states “The MacBook Pro with Retina Display is, to date, the least repairable laptop we've taken apart.” Let's leave that aspect to rest for now. We already showed you what features this Macbook Pro has and how gorgeous it looks from the outside, now let your geeky eyes appreciate the inner engineering feast. Go here to check out more detailed pictures.

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BREAKING: Samsung planning to build a social network like 'Facebook'

Samsung's got their line of smart products in almost all categories including cameras, smartphones, televisions, blu-rays,etc. What do you do next to expand these services and create a unified experience? You launch a social network to connect these services. Samsung is just doing that, according to The Korea Times. The officials from Samsung also said that the site will be available by the first quarter of next year. 

The project is literally codenamed as 'Samsung Facebook'. The company has yet to decide on a name for the service. Samsung had already tried their hands at creating a social networking service with the current Family Story app which is more about sharing photos, events and messaging. They aim to develop a social networking service which will eventually compete with Facebook. For allowing users to use this service from anywhere and on any device, Samsung plans to integrate it with Amazon’s cloud computing platform. 

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