Five technology trends to watch in 2013: Report

Each year in an effort to keep its finger on the pulse of emerging technologies, the  Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), comprising over 2,000 tech companies, releases a list of trends for the upcoming calendar year. The list for 2013 is as follows. 

1. Three-dimensional printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is heading straight for the mainstream, CEA analysts say. Commonproducts created via 3D printing include jewelry, figurines and cell phone cases. 

Rather than creating a detailed object by sculpting it from materials, computer savvy consumers can create designs online and download them turning them into physical objects, creating them layer by layer. 

2. When it comes to the future of televisions, picture quality is everything. The CEA says TVs offering double the picture quality we see today are just months away from hitting stores, and are just a hint of what is possible in the future. 

"Most people are going to look at their TVs and say, 'It looks really good and crisp to me. Why do I need four times as many pixels?'" said Chris Chinnock, president of Insight Media, a market research company focused on emerging display technologies. 

3. Marrying convenient digital music with professional sound quality in a home audio system is just one audio trend CEA sees going mainstream in 2013. But this is not just about the sound; it is also about functionality. 

"Modern consumers put a priority on products that are both connected and portable," wrote CEA's Sean Murphy. 

4. "Mobile phones are used for absolutely everything and used to the extreme by everyone," says Bruce Krogh, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. 

In the areas of banking, business, and social networking mobile phones have been a game changer for the continent. 

5. Schoolchildren today have traded their paper notebooks and tablets for electronic versions, and that is only the beginning. 

When it comes to technology in the classroom, analysts say it facilitates individualized teaching, where students can learn in the way that best suits them. 

"In addition to classroom webpages and online lectures, social media is now heavily utilized by students as well. 

Apple: Launching new 13-inch MacBook Pro on October 23

Tech giant Apple is expected to unveil a 13-inch MacBook Pro during an event on October 23, where it is likely to launch the new iPad mini. 

According to a report by 9to5Mac, the new MacBook will have a high-resolution Retina display. 

The device will reportedly inherit the thin and light enclosure from the 15-inch Retina model, and it will be sold in two configurations, alongside the standard 13-inch MacBook Pro, which was updated with faster processors in June, Mashable reports. 

According to the report, if true, the report confirms an earlier rumor, which claimed Apple plans to release a smaller Retina MacBook Pro before the end of the year.

Microsoft completes Office 2013 development and will be available in mid-november for business

Microsoft announced the release to manufacturing of Office 2013 today. The company's final build of Office 2013 will be available to MSDN and TechNet customers in mid-November, with a release to Volume Licensing customers at the same time. General availability for consumers is "planned for the first quarter of 2013" according to a company spokesperson.

Office 2013 includes a number of improvements to make it cloud friendly and support for touch-based Windows 8 tablets.The subtle UI changes and streaming Office support were great additions — alongside a much improved Outlook app.

Apple likely to launch iPhone 5 in India on October 26

• This is the news we all had been waiting for!!!! Multiple sources have confirmed that Apple is preparing to launch the iPhone 5 in India on the last Friday of this month, which happe
  ns to be October 26. Apple will be distributing the iPhone 5 in India on its own rather than relying on its carrier partners.
• 
  
• it is expected the iPhone 5 to have a wider availability unlike the past where it was not available readily everywhere.

• The iPhone 5 would be priced closer to the launch price of the iPhone 4S, which recently got a price drop. However, at this point of time it is not sure about the number of units available initially considering Apple is facing supply constraints globally.
• 
  
• The iPhone 5 features a new re-designed anodized aluminum casing, a taller 4-inch IPS in-cell display with a resolution of 1136×640 pixels, an 8-megapixel-iSight camera with a sapphire lens cover and a dynamic low-light mode and a panorama mode. Additionally, the device has a custom Apple designed dual-core A6 chip clocked at 1GHz along with 1GB of RAM and 16GB, 32GB and 64GB memory options. The iPhone 5 also supports LTE networks in select markets; unfortunately India is not among them. The iPhone 5 runs on iOS 6.

EKEN TABLET Launches leopard tablets @ Rs 6,990

 EKEN Electronics, Hong Kong based Tablet PC maker, has launched budget Android tablets to target the huge Indian market.
The Company launches its Android tablets under the brand name of ‘EKEN Leopard’ with a price range of Rs 6,900-11,999.
EKEN has joined hands with Kerala based Aldous Glare Trade & Exports (AGTE) for distribution of entire range of EKEN tablets in India, AGTE CEO George Thomas, told reporters.
“India is an exploding market with huge potential for cost effective tablets. This factor influenced us to launch quality budget tablets in India and this will enable computing advantage to everyone”, a press release quoting Edison Chang, CEO EKEN Electronics said.
The Tablets will come in  7-inch, 8-inch, 9.7-inch size and 3G and GPS models are available. It has 1080P HD video play back capabilities, connectivity features include Wi-Fi and 3 G dongle. EKEN tablets support 32 GB of additional memory with the onboard SD card slot for expansion. It comes in sleek and slim design and weighs only 230 grams. EKEN has a 1.3 megapixed front camera for video calling.  All models come with eight GB internal storage.

Instagram attracts more users than Twitter on mobile

Photo-sharing social network Instagram has attracted more mobile visitors than the popular micro blogging site Twitter  for the first time since it was founded, says a report.

Internet analytics company ComScore revealed that across mobile phones in the US during August, Instagram received an average of 7.3 million daily visitors. 

During the same period Twitter attracted 6.9 million users, the report said. 

According to The Telegraph, the report said users also spent more time on the photo-sharing site than those who visited Twitter. 

Instagram visitors spent an average of 257 minutes on the site via mobile phones in August, while those logging on to Twitter spent an average of 170 minutes viewing the site, it said. 

According to the paper, this is the first time that Instagram, which was only developed two years ago, has pulled ahead of rival Twitter, which has over 500 million users worldwide.

Samsung launching Galaxy S III Mini ?????

Samsung Germany has sent invites for an upcoming device being launched on October 11, 2012. The invite says "So big can be small and so small can be big" and "Get ready for a little sensation" in German, with the characteristic 'S' of its flagship Galaxy S series in the background.

This hints that the South Korean manufacturer will probably launch a small device at the event. Speculation is rife that the company will roll out a smaller version of its current flagship, the Galaxy S III, currently being called the Galaxy S III Mini. Rumours say that the smartphone will be powered by Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) with Samsung's TouchWiz UI and will feature a 4-inch touchscreen and a dual-core processor.

If such a phone is, in fact, launched, it will be a decent alternative for those who want a smartphone with a 4-inch screen (same as the new iPhone 5). Considering that Samsung's current 4-inch Android smartphone, the Galaxy S Advance, has not been updated to Ice Cream Sandwich, it is possible that the Galaxy S III Mini will take its place, though there is no confirmation yet.

The Samsung event follows the launch of iPhone 5 and the device to be launched there is expected to go on sale before the beginning of the holiday season. This strategy will help the company lap up sales during the crucial holiday season.