The Gionee Elife E7 is the First smartphone with 2.5 GHz runs with Snapdragon 800

The Gionee Elife E7 is the First smartphone with 2.5 GHz runs with Snapdragon 800

The Gionee Elife E7 is a very interesting device for many reasons. First of all, it is the first phone to feature the 2.5GHz Snapdragon 800 MSM8974AC chip, which already makes it desirable. On top of that, it has many other hardware features that make it really catch the eye.

Gionee claims that the camera in the Elife E7 is better than the 16MP sensor on the Galaxy S 5, which hasn’t even been announced yet. It features a 16MP camera with a Largan M8 lens and an OmniVision 1/2.3-inch sensor with 1.34µm pixels. Those specs could make the camera the best balance between pixel size and resolution, though amazing camera claims are made by all, and only a few smartphones have truly good cameras.

Other specs include an 8MP front facing camera (with the same sensor as an iPhone 5 main camera), a 2,500 mAh battery, and a co-processor to keep the main processor from wasting battery. Co-processors are starting to take off with the Moto X and iPhone 5S, so we should see them in more phones soon. It is 9.5mm thick at its thickest point, but its curve goes down to 6.2mm on the sides.

In terms of software, it isn’t completed but it’s running Android 4.2 right now. It’s a highly customized build with features like auto marking of spam texts, live task cards for some apps, and even a full manual camera.

The device, in a 2.2GHz original Snapdragon 800 variant, goes on sale in China on December 12th, while the 2.5GHz new Snapdragon 800 model will go on sale sometime in Q1 of 2014. The original model will be available in a 16GB variant with 2GB of RAM for CN¥2,699/US$440, while a 32GB model with 3GB of RAM will go for CN¥3,199/US$530. The new, 2.5GHz model will go for CN¥3,499/US$570 and will feature 32GB of memory and 3GB of RAM. Gionee claims it will launch in 40 countries, so we might just see it close to home. Would you buy this device ? Don't forget to Leave a comment!

SOURCE : engadget

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LED bulb turns into flashlight

Clever LED bulb turns into flashlight when needed

LED bulbs are rapidly becoming mainstream, with prices going down and quality/performance going up. In fact, some cities are replacing over a hundreds of thousands of street lamps with LED models to save energy, increase safety, and reduce maintenance costs.

But that's not all the technology is good for. LEDs use so little power that it's possible to put a battery in the bulb and turn it into a flashlight when power is out. That's what designer Lin Guohui did, and his bulb (which you can see above) is sold by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

Works and recharges in any standard E27 or E25 screw-in light fitting. When fully charged, extend the telescopic handle and use it as a flashlight up to 4 hours. It uses just 6 watts of power to produce light equivalent to a 40W incandescent bulb. The LEDs will last up to 60,000 hours. Charge minimum 5 hours.

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Tablets are becoming the part of human life

Tablets are becoming the part of human life

Research by U.K. telecoms regulator Ofcom has found that tablet usage among children is on the rise, with growing numbers of younger kids, especially, turning to tablets to watch videos, play games and access the Internet.

The annual report into children’s media consumption habits also records a drop in the overall number of children between the ages of 5 and 15 who own a mobile phone, with the percentage falling from 49% last year to 43% in 2013. It’s the first such drop since the survey began, back in 2005.

Ofcom says this decline is mainly down to a steep fall in the proportion of younger kids (8-11) owning a basic mobile phone (as opposed to a smartphone). Basic phone ownership among the latter age-group stood at 28% last year and has fallen steeply to 15% this year. Bottom line: you can’t even flog feature phones to tweens.

But, while basic phones are being ditched by kids, tablets usage is rising across the board. Among the younger kids’ age group, 18% own a smartphone, and the same proportion own a tablet. However the report notes that while the smartphone figure is “largely stable” year-on-year, tablet ownership has grown four-fold since last year, when it stood at just 4%.

As you might expect, smartphone ownership is much higher among older children (12-15) than 8-11s, with the older group being likely to be more interested in using connected devices to communicate, rather than primarily looking for a gadget to watch audio-visual content and play games (likely why tablets, well suited to the entertainment use-case, are doing so well with younger kids category). But even among the older group, the report found that tablet usage is on the rise.

The majority (62%) of 12-15-year-olds own a smartphone, according to the research – a proportion that Ofcom said is unchanged since last year — vs just over a quarter (26%) who own a tablet computer. The latter figure is up considerably on last year when just 7% said they had a slate.

Ofcom said the use of tablets has tripled among 5-15s since 2012, rising from 14% to 42% over that period. While just over a quarter (28%) of infants aged 3-4 now use a tablet computer at home (albeit, this age group is likely using a tablet owned by their parents).

Similarly, tablet usage is rising rapidly among 5-7 year olds (now at 39%, up from 11% last year) and 8-11 year olds (at 44%, up from 13%). The report notes that these very young Internet users are five times more likely than last year to mostly use a tablet when accessing the Internet at home (at 19%, up from 4%).

“Tablet computers are growing fast in popularity, becoming a must-have device for children of all ages,” it adds.

As tablet usage grows, more traditional devices are inevitably being used less to go online. The report found that the proportion of children mainly using a laptop, netbook or desktop computer to access the Internet has fallen to 68% — down from 85% in 2012. While twice as many children as last year are mainly using other devices to go online, with tablets (13%) and mobiles (11%) the most popular device choices.

As the number of Internet-connected devices continues to proliferate, it’s also no surprise that the traditional TV set is becoming less of a focal point for kids’ entertainment too. Compared to last year, the report found that children are more likely to watch programmes on devices other than a TV, such as a laptop, tablet or mobile phone. Nearly half (45%) of children aged 5-15 are doing so, up from 34% last year.

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Machine Madness

Machine Madness

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iOS 7 review

IOS7 review    

Apple  deserves more credit than anyone for the way our smartphones look and work, but six years after our first glimpse of the iPhone a lot has changed.

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20 Best Iphone And Ipad Apps Of The Week

Henri Le Worm (£2.99)

Some big names are on board for this app, which aims to get children interested in cooking. Raymond Blanc provides the recipes while Simon Pegg provides voice narration for the characters. Based around Henri and his minibeast friends, the app includes storytelling, interactive activities and 10 recipes for kids and parents to cook together.
iPad

Asphalt 8: Airborne (£0.69)

Gameloft's street racing games were popular on mobile phones long before Android even existed. The eighth incarnation offers more cars – 47 in total – nine locations to race them in, and a new emphasis on ramps, rolls and stunts (hence the "Airborne" aspect). Online multiplayer races for up to eight players at once add to the fun.

Fluid Football Versus (Free)

Alongside New Star Soccer, the original Fluid Football is one of my favourite new football games from the touchscreen era. This is its sequel, with more of a focus on multiplayer matches as well as the single-player mode. As before, it sees you trying to score goals by drawing lines for your players' runs, then (hopefully) flicking the ball into the net. A real tactical challenge.
iPhone / iPad

Sky Sports Pub Challenge (Free)

Sky's latest football app is designed to be used while watching Premier League matches in the pub. Indeed, it can only be used there: you have to check in to a licensed Sky Sports venue to play. The game takes the form of a trivia quiz played before, during and after matches, with predictions for upcoming fixtures thrown in for good measure.
iPhone

Heat Magazine (Free)

Heat continues to be a go-to magazine for celebrity culture for many people in the UK, and has already spawned a Heat Extra news app. This is different: a digital version of the full Heat magazine, sold at £1.99 per issue or £1.49 for a rolling weekly subscription.
iPhone / iPad

Xing (£1.99)

This travel app has been winning awards in cloud company Evernote's developer contests, but now regular travellers can give it a spin too. It's for taking notes and planning trips, synchronising everything with Evernote's servers, and then seeing your notes pop up when you reach specific destinations thanks to its use of location.
iPhone

Ben 10 Slammers (£0.69)

Card-battling has been a popular (and lucrative) game genre on iOS and Android in recent times. This is Cartoon Network's attempt to make it work for a children's brand: Ben 10. The game gets kids constructing their own deck of digital cards to battle against AI opponents and other players. It does use in-app purchases, with packs of credits (used to buy more characters) sold in tiers of up to £6.99.
iPhone / iPad

Nook Video (Free)

Only available in the US, this is the film and TV service from Barnes & Noble's Nook brand, now available for devices beyond its own Nook tablets. It's a store rather than a subscription service, with shows and movies available to stream or download.
iPhone / iPad

Songdrop (Free)

Songdrop is a digital music startup that's trying to get people to collect the songs they hear around the web in one place, "dropping" them using a web-browser bookmarklet from sites including YouTube, SoundCloud and music blogs. This is its first mobile app, focusing on listening to your playlists, while also seeing what other people have been dropping.
iPhone

Dream House Days (Free)

If you've not played any games by Japanese developer Kairosoft, check out its back catalogue: Game Dev Story, Mega Mall Story and Dungeon Village for starters. Dream House Days is the latest game from the firm, and it's another addictive (if familiar, to fans) simulation game. Here, your job is to build and rent out real estate, overseeing your tenants' lives and loves as you go.
iPhone / iPad

Quilting Patterns by Craftsy (Free)

Yeah, you read that right: quilting. Because sometimes your fingers don't have to be using a touchscreen. This is a collection of nearly 5,000 quilting patterns from the Craftsy website, letting you browse them all, and download the free ones. Some are paid, but the purchase has to happen online.
iPhone

tadaa 3D (£2.49)

If you're into your mobile photography, tadaa 3D is worth a look. It's a site to create 3D-like photos that "react as you move your phone", along with more standard photo-app features like filters and social sharing.
iPhone

Contacts+ for iPhone (Free)

Looking for something different to Apple

's iOS contacts app? Contacts+ might be it. It pulls in data from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, lets you sort friends into groups, and has a clean, attractive design that makes getting around your contacts quick and painless.
iPhone

Jelly Splash (Free)

A match-three puzzle game with jelly in it? Developer Wooga has clearly been watching the success of Candy Crush Saga with interest. In this case, though, you're actually matching little jellies, with more than 100 levels, five modes and Facebook leaderboards. And yes, of course, in-app purchases to buy coins to exchange for boosters to help you through the hard bits.
iPhone / iPad

Radical.FM - Radio Re-Defined (Free)

For now, this app is only in the US, providing competition to Pandora, iHeartRadio and Apple's upcoming iTunes Radio in the personal radio area. The idea: you create your own streaming radio stations by picking genres and artists, with a simple slider-bar system to tweak the music mix until you're happy. You don't subscribe: instead, Radical.fm takes donations from happy users to fund itself.
iPhone / iPad

Curious (Free)

Curious is one of the growing number of websites offering online education through videos. This is its first iPad app, promising thousands of lessons in categories including cooking, DIY, arts and crafts and music. "Do you want to learn how to grow organic asparagus, or brew beer, or flirt in Italian, or use pivot tables correctly?" asks its App Store listing. Well, do you? 
iPad

Hot5 Fitness (Free)

Can you get fit in five minutes? Hot5 Fitness hopes you can: it's a series of video workouts that last for five minutes, although you can string them together for more. They blend yoga, pilates and regular cardio routines, with various difficulty levels, and eight trainers giving the instructions. Five workouts are free, then you get more through a combination of earned points and in-app purchases.
iPhone

Harris + Hoole (Free)

The Harris + Hoole app is of limited geographic use: it works for the chain of British coffee shops. But there's one feature I really like about it: the ability to tell the app what "My Usual" is in terms of size, espresso shots, milk type and temperature, then check in to any H+H shop to get it. Loyalty card features are also included.
iPhone

That's this week's selection, but what do you think? Make your own recommendations, or give your views on the apps above, by posting a comment.

iPhone / iPad

Smosh (Free)

YouTube comedians Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla have one of the most popular channels in the world, with just under 12.1m subscribers and 2.6bn views of their videos. Now Smosh is going mobile, with an iPhone app providing access to the videos and "a rich selection of artisanally hand-curated links" for fans.
iPhone

Smash Bandits (Free)

Lots of positive buzz this week around Smash Bandits, a ridiculous (in all the best ways) racing game that follows last year's successful Smash Cops. The game sees you in a succession of car chases trying to escape the police, upgrading your car as you go with new parts and power-ups. And as the name implies, smashing through scenery is a big part of the gameplay too. Fresh and fab.
iPhone / iPad

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Coolest Gadget Of The Month : WITHINGS

 Withings Pulse

Digital trainer, but this addition to the sports-pimp plastic mountain has new tricks up its sleeve. It’s the smallest device – just 8g – that can tell you your heart rate as well your steps, calories burned, how well you’re sleeping, and all that; just do your workout, press your finger to the back and find out whether all that cardio’s paying off. Clipping discreetly to your clothing and Bluetoothing to your phone and the free Withings Health Mate app, it allows you to chart progress and personal bests, with 14 days worth of data accessible via an OLED screen.

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$40 Digital Camera From AC Gears

A $40 digital camera from AC Gears

Now AC Gears is offering the Bonzart Lit Mini LCD Digital Camera for the price of some toy cameras today.  The Lit is a 3MP camera that can take stills or videos and can add effects real-time.  You can view your shot as you take it on the built-in LCD screen.  It has features you’d expect on a more expensive camera: center, multi, and spot metering; timer with 2-second, 10-second, or burst mode; and auto, daylight, cloudy, fluorescent, and tungsten white balance adjustment.  It’s available in red from AC Gears for $39.99.  They plan to offer a waterproof case for this camera in time for the holidays.

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