Apple iPhone 4 most traded in smartphone of 2013

The iPhone 4 was the most traded-in smartphone of 2013, with owner Apple the brand most consumers chose to exchange for cash, reports the Telegraph in the UK.

Data collected throughout last year found the 16GB version of the model made up an average 8.94 per cent of all smartphone trade-ins throughout the year, peaking at 9.82 per cent of all trade-ins during the years final quarter.

Samsungs Galaxy S3 and S2 i900 followed in second and third place, whilst the iPhone 4S (16GB), 5 (16GB), 3GS (16GB) and 4 (8GB) also made appearances in the top 10. This dominance led to Apple becoming the most traded-in brand of mobile phone, with an average of 28.9 per cent of all trade-ins being an Apple device. Samsung was the second most traded-in brand, averaging 19.95 per cent of all trade-ins, followed by BlackBerry with 15.3 per cent.

Apples iPad 2 (WiFi, 16GB model) was the top traded-in tablet of last year, making up 9.3 per cent of exchanged tablets. In fact, eight of the top 10 traded-in tablets were iPads, averaging 74.16 per cent of the sector, with cameo appearances from the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 in second position and the Nexus 7 (16GB) in sixth.

High trade-in monetary value and increasing memory capacity in newer models is likely to be the reason behind such a high trade-in rate for Apple devices. However BlackBerry Z10, which was worth £315 in the January of 2013, averaged only £100 by December - a depreciation of £215. Samsungs Galaxy S4s value fell by £161 throughout the course of the year, from £406 to £245.

The data compiled by comparemymobile.com also found six of the top ten mobile phones with the highest trade-in values were devices released that year, with BlackBerrys Porsche Design P9981 model offering the highest trade-in value at £500.

Read More..

DELL Laptops Review Vostro 3000 and Inspiron R

Dells PR agency, XPR, passed me the Inspiron 14R and Vostro 3450 for review. Both models have identical sizes and specs with some tweaks to fit the target market. How do the features differ? Heres a brief write-up.

The Dell Inspiron R is a laptop series that is fun, fast and stylish. Being consumer-focused, these laptops come with interchangeable lids to let you personalise the look. It comes pre-installed with applications like Dell Stage to give quick access to your multimedia content. Instead of remembering passwords, you can use face-recognition as a means to login.

The Dell Vostro 3000 series is targeted at business users, providing security features like fingerprint reader, and comes with technical support to ensure your business keeps going. Its aluminum finishing offers higher durability and can sustain more aggressive handling.

Between the 2, Inspiron R is better for these:

• Better speakers with SRS Premium Sound
• Swappable lids and colour choices
• Supports Intel Wireless Display (not much use unless you have compatible devices)
• Glossy LED display (1366x768) for the extra clarity when viewing photos and watching movies
• Trackpad supports more multi-touch gestures than Vostro
• Default 90W charger vs. Vostros 65W charger means Inspiron can charge faster.

But I prefer Vostro for these:

• It runs visibly faster and more stable than Inspiron. I attribute that to the faster 7200rpm hard drive, or perhaps Dell souped up the Vostro. Or perhaps Inspiron has more background services that slow it down.
• Matt LED display (1366x768) is more comfortable for lengthy use
• Aluminum finishing at the back of the laptop and the sides. The Inspiron could suffer scratches more easily with its plastic gloss material.
• Back-lit keyboard, excellent for low-light use
• Slightly lighter

Brushed finishing of Inspiron R

Professional matt look of Vostro

Apart from above, both laptops have identical hardware ports placements, fan vents, keyboard layout, etc.

• eSATA-USB-PowerShare combo port. PowerShare allows you to charge your devices even when the laptop is powered down.
• 2x USB 3.0 Super Speed ports
• HDMI ports, supports 1.4 for 3D output
• Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 3.0
• HD camera
• DVD+-RW Combo Drive
• Switchable graphics with integrated and discrete options
• 3 Quick Launch keys to the right of the keyboard.

Id prefer the Vostro design for its practicality.

 
Prices for both these laptops start from about $900, depending on your configuration. If you are comparing laptops with other brands and models, make sure you are comparing with the same specs. Some things to look out for:

• Processor speed (e.g. 2.3GHz) and recency ("latest 2011 2nd-gen")
• RAM size (e.g. 4GB) and speed (e.g. 1333MHz)
• Number of connectivity ports (USB, eSATA, HDMI, VGA, LAN, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.)
• Screen resolution and size
• Battery size - the more the cells, the longer it lasts.
• Graphics card - integrated is less powerful than discrete
• Hard disk size (e.g. 500GB) and speed (e.g. 7200rpm)
• Pre-installed software
• Warranty coverage

Lastly, of course, is on the intangible factors:

• Brand preference
• Design preference

Read More..

The New Office 2013 and Office 365 New Features Worth Looking

The New Microsoft Office is now available. The traditional one-time license-based version is branded "Office 2013" while the new subscription-based version is called "Office 365".

Like most people, I am rather skeptical about upgrading my current Office Suite. I mean, whats there to improve on for a document processor? After going hands-on with the new Office, here are some features that might interest you to upgrade.

Integrated with SkyDrive
You can easily open your documents stored in SkyDrive. There are benefits for storing online, but one critical benefit that I want to highlight is that Skydrive stores your save history. So, you could have saved your document numerous times, but it is possible for you to retrieve an old version of a saved file, which you may choose to either restore or to download as a separate copy.

It is also possible to open your Office documents using web versions of Office, very useful when you need to work on your Office documents on a device without licensed copies of Office.

Optimised for Touch
The menu and icons are bigger and the navigation works better on touch devices. So if you find yourself frustrated with using touch on your old Office apps, this ones for you.

Apps for Office
You can install apps - similar to add-ons - to use on your Word, Excel, Outlook. On Word, there are abbreviation list app, label templates. On Excel, you can install calendar date picker, Mindmapper, graph maker. On Outlook, you can integrate your contacts with LinkedIn.

Word
You can now convert PDF documents to an editable format on Word. Previously, one would have to copy text from PDF and paste on Word and risk losing the formatting. Not anymore.

Word also has a read-friendly view, whereby documents are presented page by page. Increase the display font size and the pages will auto-reflow, much like an e-book.

Excel
Flash Fill is a new intelligence in Excel that understands your data entry pattern and auto-fills the new cell and the rest of the column. This is really a time-saver: previously you would have to conjure up formula to merge or concatenate values from other columns.

Quick Analysis is another note-worthy feature that helps you generate chart or table faster than earlier versions.

The new Excel also runs files on separate windows. Regular users would truly appreciate this convenience of working multiple Excel workbooks at once, on separate monitors.

PowerPoint
Now it is easier to use online images. Powerpoint even warns you that the online image you use might be subject to copyright.

The Presenter mode is also enhanced. You can use the on-screen pointer which will be reflected on the presentation screen, so you no longer require a laser pointer. You can also zoom-in on the slides to draw attention to your audience without leaving the presenter mode.

Outlook
One important feature that Microsoft provided is the ability to reply email within the window, whereas previous versions will open up a new window. This technically reduces RAM usage and improves performance.

Drafts are also auto-saved at an instant, so you no longer have to fret about lost drafts because you closed the draft message without saving.

There are also mouseover pop-ups that shows you real content that you can interact. For instance, when you mouseover the calendar, you will see the schedules which you can pick for editing.

Improved Online Sharing 
One final feature that is worth highlighting is the improved document sharing features. You can allow documents to be shareable, and when multiple users open the same document, the document will intelligently lock the paragraph that you are editing while allowing other sections to be editable.

You can also do online presentation on your documents by sharing a URL that Office generates so that users can view your presentation complete with screen movements.


Need It? Get It
No doubt, there are new features and improvements introduced on the Office 2013 and Office 365, most of them focused on online collaborations and cloud integration. Visit the link here to read all about the new features and if any of them interests you, then you should upgrade and improve your productivity.

Read More..

Nissan Scolded For Ad Showing Truck Doing The Impossible

The FTC says Nissan crossed a line in this ad showing one of its truck coming to the rescue of a stranded dune buggy.

You may remember the car ad from a couple years back in which a Nissan Frontier comes to the rescue of a stranded dune buggy, muscling up the mountain of sand and pushing the buggy over the top. The Federal Trade Commission believes that this sort of thing — showing off a feature of a vehicle that does not exist — is deceptive, and has slapped both the car company and the ad agency on the wrists over it.

The FTC announced today that it Nissan North America and ad agency TBWA Worldwide have both agreed to settle charges that the ad (which you can watch below, at least until Nissan probably has it pulled from YouTube) violated the FTC Act “by representing that the ad accurately showed the performance of an unaltered Nissan Frontier under the conditions that were depicted.”

The commercial, one of those ads that is obnoxiously shot as if to replicate a viral video posted to YouTube, starts by showing a dune buggy trying but failing to go over the crest of a steep sand dune. Then the Frontier comes speeding up from below and nudges both the buggy and itself over the top while people look on in disbelief.

The ad does begin with a microprint disclaimer reading “Fictionalization. Do Not Attempt,” but the FTC took issue with the fact that the ad makes a material misrepresentation of the truck’s capabilities.

“Special effects in ads can be entertaining, but advertisers can’t use them to misrepresent what a product can do,” explains Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This ad made the Nissan Frontier appear capable of doing something it can’t do.”

The terms of the settlement prohibit Nissan and TBWA from using deceptive demonstrations in advertisements for pickup trucks, though really this is already against the law, so they aren’t really allowed to do it with or without the settlement.

Both companies are allowed to continue using special effects and other production techniques “as long as they do not misrepresent a material quality or feature of the pickup truck.”

For what it’s worth, here is the original ad:

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Read More..

Microsoft announces quarterly dividend increase and share repurchase program

REDMOND, Wash. — Sept. 17, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. announced on Tuesday that its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share, reflecting a 5 cent or 22 percent increase over the previous quarter’s dividend. The dividend is payable Dec. 12, 2013, to shareholders of record on Nov. 21, 2013. The ex-dividend date will be Nov. 19, 2013.

The board of directors also approved a new share repurchase program authorizing up to $40 billion in share repurchases. The new share repurchase program, which has no expiration date, replaces the previous $40 billion share repurchase program that was set to expire Sept. 30, 2013.

“These actions reflect a continued commitment to returning cash to our shareholders,” said Amy Hood, chief financial officer of Microsoft.

 Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

For more information, financial analysts and investors only:
 

Investor Relations, Microsoft, (425) 706-4400

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. Shareholder and financial information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/investor.

Read More..

Sony Xperia T2 Ultra Phablet and E1 Smartphone Announced

Sony showed the Xperia Z1 compact and Z1S and other devices at the CES 2014. This gives us a taste that Sony is not just looking at those that want a very powerful phone but also those with a low budget. 

To further strengthen that stance, Sony have announced two new devices called the Sony Xperia T2 Ultra phablet and the Sony Xperia E1 smartphone. The two newly announced devices are built with quite modest specifications and aimed at those with low budget.

Sony Xperia T2 phablet is the larger of the two devices, will be featuring a 6 inch 720p display and expected to ship with 1.4GHz Qualcomm processor. The camera will be 13MP rear camera with 16x zoom and a 1080p recording support all powered by Android Jelly Bean 4.3.

Sony Xperia T2 Ultra

The Sony Xperia T2 Ultra Phablet will have a 1GB RAM and an internal memory of 8GB with an extra SD card slot that supports up to 32GB.

According to info, the device will have LTE and Bluetooth LE support including the usual WiFi, NFC and WiFi Hotspot support.

The Sony Xperia E1 on the other hand is a smartphone with 4 inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480 which is not too impressive but again, its intended for emerging market and those with really low budget. 

The E1 will have a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor, 3.0 mega pixel camera with 4x zoom capabilities. The RAM of the device will be 512MB and internal memory of 4GB for storage of files. Also, an extra memory card slot would be provided to increase the memory to 32GB.

Other accompany features will include 3G network support, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi and  running Android Jelly Bean 4.3 to make it a complete smartphone.

Sony Xperia E1

As regarding release date, there is no word on that yet, however, we shall keep you posted on the release timing once weve got the information on it.

Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for more relevant smartphone.

Read More..

Windows Phone 8 might make an appearance at Nokia World

According to Bloomberg, well be seeing some devices introduced at Nokia World that will run on Microsofts recently-announced Windows Phone 8 platform.

If this is true, then we might see the announcement of new WP8 devices before the rumored press conference for the next iPhone on September 12. This may not be a good thing, however, as Nokia run the risk being overshadowed by Apples highly anticipated announcement.

As for when well actually see the first WP8-powered devices on the market, Microsoft have remained tight-lipped (although there are rumors of a an October release date, to coincide with their scheduled release of the Windows 8 OS). Hopefully, if announcements for Windows Phone 8 devices are made during the Nokia World conference, well also learn when we can get our hands on one.

Source | Via

Read More..