Apple officially rolled out the redesigned iTunes 11 with cleaner interface for better enjoyment

Though it comes a little bit late, Apple has finally officially announced the release of the redesigned iTunes 11 on Thursday. As claimed by Apple, the iTunes 11 is “Completely redesigned. For your viewing, listening, browsing, and shopping pleasure. The new iTunes makes it easier than ever to browse and organize your music, movies, and TV shows.” People now could download iTunes 11 on Apple’s official site, while Mac users could directly update it via Mac App Store. This new version of iTunes has got quite bright improvements in the iTunes history. Apple also released an iTunes 11 hands-on video on YouTube, which you can watch below:

iTunes 11 Features

In short, iTunes 11 features a new interface, an improved MiniPlayer, deeper iCloud media content synchronization, and more. In long, read more below.

1. Increased social media integration will allow users to share their favorite songs on Twitter and Facebook, replacing the now defunct Ping.

2. iTunes 11 will bring more iCloud integration. Users will now be able to start a song on a MacBook and, thanks to improved synchronization, resume the song on an iPhone. Similarly, begin watching a movie on an Apple TV, pause it, and pick it back up on an iPad.

3. While playing a song with the window minimized, iTunes 11 will show a small box displaying the album cover art and the current song. In addition, a drop-down menu will display the playlist context with upcoming songs listed below.

4. Clicking on an item in your library (album, video, or app), will pop open an information window much like they do in iOS folders. 5. iTunes 11 will receive an interface update with a refreshed, edge to edge design. The archaic File, Edit etc menus at the top have been removed, and the clunky control buttons look much sleeker.

Of course, there’re still many other improvements. You can get them on the website of iTunes 11 for more detailed information. 

Samsung Galaxy S 2+ to be released in 2013 spring

With the popularity of Samsung smartphones, rumors about Samsung devices become flooded. This time, the news is about the one of the hot smartphones, Galaxy series. The report went that the Galaxy S 2+ will be released in the first quarter of 2013. Actually, the rumors about Galaxy S 2+ began this summer. But unfortunately, the golden holiday sales season was occupied by Samsung’s rival – Apple iPhone 5. And now, it has been more than three months since the official release of Apple iPhone 5. High-tech fans are looking forward to a strong counterattack from Samsung.

As reported from Sam Mobile, the Galaxy S 2+ will have a 4.5" AMOLED screen display with high definition. That means people could have the same visual enjoyment just as watching HD movies on iPhone 5. Meanwhile, the 1.5 dual-core processor with 1GB RAM also offers smooth processing and excellent performance to users. The 16GB internal memory storage is accessible to be improved via the microSD card slot. As for the phone color, people could choose blue or white at will.

Aside from these, this smartphone would run on the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS with the latest TouchWiz Nature UX interface. Sam Mobile also claimed that the phone would be released on January and shipment available at the end of the Q1. 

New Samsung Galaxy Camera video demo and features announced

Today, Samsung released a 13 minutes long Galaxy Camera hands on video through the official account Youtube. Samsung says the Galaxy Camera is the new beginning of new visual communication era in this video. People who don’t buy or plan to buy this new smart camera could have a look on this video to know more about it.

People need to figure out the specs of Samsung Galaxy Camera before thinking about to buy one. The device hardware is similar to the flagship Galaxy S III, with a 4.8-inch HD Clear LCD touch screen at 1280 x 720 pixel resolution, 1.4 GHz quad-core processor with Mali – 400MP GPU, and 1GB RAM.

Galaxy Camera comes with 16MP BSI CMOS sensor, with 21x optical zoom, ultra wide Angle lens, 23-483mm equivalent focal length, optical anti-shake, Xenon flash light, up to 1080P video recording supported.

Worth to mention that the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS in Galaxy Camera supports all Android apps, and provides a unique Smart Mode to offer 15 different shooting modes (macro, full color, night, light rail effect, beautiful muscle, continuous fast pat, etc.), to help novice easily shoot photos in professional level.

In addition, Galaxy Camera comes with 8G internal storage space, 1650mAh battery capacity, SIM card (only data transmission) in its 305g body.

Android 4.2.1 OTA arrived to fix calendar bug in Android 4.2

Most people may have brought the Android 4.2 update on their devices. However, the Android 4.2 came with an ultra-embarrassing bug. That is there are only 11 months per year in the calendar component. After November, the calendar welcomes the next January. There exists no December, which is said to be swallowed by the Android robot. Recently, Google rolled out the Android 4.2.1 update to fix this bug exclusively. Users who have rooted their Nexus 4 could upgrade Android 4.2 via OTA. It is noted that this OTA update is available in batch process. So, if you don’t root your devices, you have to wait for the notice. You can attach to this blog. I would provide more latest information.

Apple officially announced to start selling the new iMac from Nov. 30

Apple today finally announced to start the sale of the long anticipated new iMac desktop computer since November 30. The brightest spot of the new iMac is its brand new 5mm edge design. People will have two options on this new device: 21.5" and 27". In addition, the Fusion Drive Fusion technology of Apple to fuse hard disks perfectly fuses 128GB SSD solid hard disk and 1TB/3TB hard disk together, which not only improved hard disk reading speed and performance, but also guaranteed the capacity to be big enough.

The 27" version of the iMac comes with screen resolution at 2560 x1440 pixels while the screen resolution of the 21.5" edition is 1920 x1080 pixels. There’s no doubt that people would enjoy gorgeous visual enjoyment by watch HD movies on the new iMac. Both versions have up to 178 degree wide visual angle. The new iMac prices from $1299, with 8GB RAM and 1TB capacity hard disk. Of course in the choice of processor, it is optional for either i5 or i7.

If you have requirements for CD-rom, it would be a pity that the new iMac no longer equipped with CD-rom. The 21.5” version of the iMac will be on shelf since November 30, while the 27” version will be delayed until next month. You can preorder the 27" version on November 30.

The LG Optimus G is rumoured to have its successor Optimus G2 in the next May

According to the report from Korean Maeli, LG would release the successor of Optimus G in the coming year, namely Optimus G2. The detailed release date of this smartphone is mostly to be the next May. As reported, LG Optimus G2 will have a 5" 1080P LCD screen display, which makes it no doubt the No.1 choice to watch HD movies on LG Optimus G2. Aside from this exciting news, another one is that there rumored to be a Samsung Galaxy S 4 soon with the same screen size as Optimus G2.

As for the specs of the LG Optimus G2, the rumor goes that it would configure a Qual-comm quad-core S4 processor with 2GB RAM, which ensures the smoothness for processing and performance. It would also support 4G LTE network connectivity. That means the new phone would have a faster network surfing experience. As for the OS, we could make a bold expectation that the new smartphone would run on the Android 5 OS.

Of course, these are just some speculations and anticipations towards the LG Optimus G2. It’s still not certain when we could get this smartphone as now it is only in the rumor stage. 

New features anticipated to be included in Android 5 OS

Along with the Android 4.2 update, there have been anticipations on the next Android OS. The next generation of Android OS is mostly rumored as Android 5, with a codename of Key Lime Pie. Actually, the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean already brought us some powerful and useful features. Thus, in the next generation, what would people long for? After a survey, the below are about some anticipations collected from some people. Here I would like to feature some of those that made more sense to us. Well, it couldn’t be promised that they'll be noticed by Google or anything, but it's a start! At least more things will surely be learned about the ways people would like to see the platform evolve. Let's take a closer look at these anticipations.

1. From IHateApple, “WebOS like multitasking, a "Lite" version for older/cheaper phones (like Galaxy Mini, Xperia Tipo etc.), Siri like assistant, and MOST IMPORTANTLY an option to remove manufacturer customizations.”

2. From MANSBH, “Lots of thing need to be done, for the time being I want to request to improve in Calls Option "Black List". At the time of creation of Black List from Contacts we have to include one by one, it will be perfect to add required numbers in one time process by clicking them.  Thanks”

3. From ilia1986, “I'd love to see a dedicated memory manager which would allow the user to set which apps can be killed whenever the phone is running our of Ram and which apps cannot. Also, battery improvements would be nice via native smart management. For example - when phone connected to Wifi - shut down data. When phone is asleep - shut down screen orientation sensor, etc.”

4. From tumchaaditya, “Offline maps for entire country.. With 16+GBs of memory, the size is certainly not an issue anymore.. I doubt maps for even USA will exceed 5GB(ofcourse excluding satellite and street-view data). and ofcourse, the rumored project roadrunner.”

These above four features are listed here for they’re mostly anticipated to be included in the next generation. And what’s your anticipation? Maybe you can also share your own one in the comment part to make your idea known to Google or anything else. 

Sony Xperia J features review: A gorgeous remake of Xperia Arc

The long anticipated Sony Xperia J finally arrived. Being mentioned mostly as a trimmed-down version of the Bond phone or a remake of the Xperia Arc, this new smartphone has its own power to attract people’s eyes. As the most concerned point, the smartphone offers a large 4.0" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen with up to FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) at 245ppi, which makes it the No. 1 choice for people to watch HD movies on Xperia J. As for other specs, the Sony Xperia J also doesn't let people down. You can check the below detailed features to know more about Sony Xperia J:

Key features

* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and dual-band UMTS support

* 7.2 Mbps HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA

* 4.0" 16M-color TFT capacitive touchscreen of FWVGA resolution (480 x 854 pixels) at around 245 ppi

* Android OS v4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich

* 1 GHz Cortex-A5 CPU, Adreno 200 GPU, Qualcomm MSM7227A chipset

* 512 MB of RAM

* 4GB of inbuilt storage (2GB user available)

* microSD slot (32GB supported)

* 5 MP autofocus camera, single LED flashlight, geotagging, touch focus

* VGA video @ 30fps

* Secondary VGA front-facing camera

* Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot

* GPS with A-GPS

* Accelerometer and proximity sensor

* Standard 3.5 mm audio jack

* Stereo FM radio with RDS

* microUSB port (charging) and stereo Bluetooth v2.1

* 1750 mAh Li-Ion battery

Main disadvantages

* Noticeable lag

* Non-hot-swappable microSD slot

* Image quality a bit of a letdown

* No hardware shutter key

* No DivX/XviD support

* Feeble loudspeaker

Top 5 Best Free Camera Apps for Windows Phones

Nokia Lumia 920, one of the latest Windows phones, is host of the only smartphone camera with optical image stabilization. Other leading handset makers of Windows Phone like Samsung and HTC have also put their best camera modules in the WP8 flagships, so it is shaping up to be a good choice for shutterbugs.

What about apps that make the most out of your camera, though? Both iOS and Android devices are now inundated with software bits for adding color effects, post-processing of photos, making albums and frames, editing and anything else the photography mind would wish for. Thus today, I would like to recommend some best free camera apps for Windows Phones.

1. Fhotoroom

We'd be remiss not to start with what is probably the best free camera app for Windows Phone. Fhotoroom has it all - from minute exposure adjustments, through rich editing tools, to uploading your photos to the most popular cloud and sharing services, including Facebook and Flickr.

2. Phototastic

Another great free app, Phototastic lets you do action shots, taking multiple at once for fast-moving object, adjust numerous camera settings, and edit your photos or apply a number of color effects to them. After that, you can upload the pictures to your social network, cloud or photos service of choice with one tap.

3. Lomogram

With 42 filters, 72 lightening effects, and 50 borders, Lomogram lets you stress on unique aspects of your photos much like Instagram, but with more effects to apply. It is also available in 10 languages, and allows for basic editing.

4. Super Camera

Another strong contender in the Windows Phone photography app universe, Super Camera shines with fresh interface, numerous editing options, color effects, frames and themes, including a stamp collection. An added bonus is the ability to turn pictures and even video into the all-popular GIF animation.

5. Fantasia Painter

One of the best WP photo editing apps out there, Fantasia Painter allows you to get creative with no less than 28 individual brushes, unique effects for changing portraits and body images, plus selecting nearby colors and moving around whole face elements or applying skins on top of them.

Samsung Galaxy S 3 Gets MultiView and Smart Rotation in Android 4.1.2 Update

Some excellent functions in Samsung Galaxy Note II will arrive on the hot Samsung Galaxy S III with the Android 4.1.2 update. Soon the Galaxy S3 users could enjoy the update. The update would include MultiView and Smart Rotation functions.

Besides the MultiView function that could enable users to run and check two apps simultaneously and the Smart Rotation function, the updates also include customizable notification panel, a new gallery app and the continuous input keyboard. With the Smart Rotation update, the display adjusts to angle of view.

It's unclear how far along Samsung will release the update, though the company may be testing a JZO54K firmware build. Currently, it is rumored that the 4.1.2 update will take place in late December.

T-Mobile Launched Google Nexus 4, HTC 8X, Nokia Lumia 810 and Samsung GALAXY Tab 2 10.1 tablet

For people who want to update their in-hand smartphones or plan to get a brand-new smartphone, T-Mobile seems to be a good choice. The Google Nexus 4, which sold out on the Google Play Store on Tuesday, is now available at 'select' T-Mobile stores. Besides the Nexus 4, this time T-Mobile also pushes out two Windows Phone 8 smartphones and a new tablet, respectively HTC 8X, Nokia Lumia 810 and the latest Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 tablet.

The 16GB model of Google Nexus 4 is available for the Classic plan for $199.99 with a signed two-year contract and a $50 mail-in rebate brings the price down even more. Unsubsidized, the phone is $499.99 or $150 more than the price on the Google Play Store.

If you prefer Windows Phone to Android smartphones, T-Mobile also provides you two new choices. The first is the HTC 8X for $149.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate and 20 equal monthly payments of $20 and a two-year contract on the Value plan. With the Classic plan, the phone is $199.99 after a $50 mail-in-rebate and a signed two-year contract. With a 4.3 inch Super LCD 2 display protected by Gorilla Glass 2 and sporting resolution of 720 x 1280, and 342ppi pixel density, it would produce quite amazing experience for you to enjoy HD movies on HTC 8X.

As an exclusive to the carrier, Nokia Lumia 810 is the other Windows Phone 8 model launching from T-Mobile on Wednesday. On the Value plan, the phone is $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and 20 monthly payments of $20 with a signed two-year contract. While on the Classic plan, people can pick up the device for $149.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and a signed two-year pact.

If you want to get a new tablet, T-Mobile will meet your needs with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, which is powered by Android 4.0, a 1280 x 800 resolution and a dual-core 1.5GHz processor. However, for the same price, you can pick up the Google Nexus 10 off-contract at the Google Play Store with a mind-blowing 2560 x 1600 resolution and a 300ppi pixel density.

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update available for Nexus 7 tablet

After quite a long time since its official release, Android 4.2 is finally here for Google's Nexus 7 tablet. If you are one of the anxious people, you can install it manually right away or simply wait a bit for the over-the-air update. A post on Google+ today confirmed that Android 4.2 has begun rolling out for the Nexus 7 and the Galaxy Nexus as an OTA update.

As reported by blog site Android Police, everyone can download the 4.2 manual installation package as a zip file from Google. Once you've downloaded the file, you can follow the steps offered by Android Police to update your tablet. But most users may want to avoid the hassle of a manual installation and hang on for the just-released OTA update from Google.

The 4.2 brings the support of multi-users on a single Android 4.2 device. People who share a single device can log in with their own separate accounts. Each person can have a unique home screen, background image, and apps.

Meanwhile, Android 4.2 offers a keyboard that lets you input characters using gliding gestures. It can also display entire strings of different words as you type to better predict what you want to type. A 360-degree panoramic photo feature named Photo Sphere helps you combine different photos in any direction to create a full panorama. And another 4.2 feature called Miracast takes a page from Apple's AirPlay by streaming video and audio from your Android phone or tablet to your TV.

A simple interpretation of Andorid 4.2 Jelly Bean new features

Google has announced the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and latest Nexus devices for days. While Android 4.2 isn't a major upgrade, it does bring significant improvements to the popular, open-source mobile operating system. Some of the Android 4.2 upgrades are minor. Sure, it might be nice to use the Photo Sphere feature to stitch together photos to from Google Street View style panoramic images, but you're not going to do that more than once every blue moon. It's also nice that the 4.2 Play Store app includes a personalized music-shopping function, Music Explorer. Other new features, however, will want you to make the jump. Today, I would like to make a simple interpretation of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS new features.

Multi-user support: On Android 4.2-powered tablets, but not on smartphones, you'll be able to have multiple users. Each user will get his or her own setup. That means, for example, you can have your own home-screen, background, widgets, apps and games, while your spouse or office partner can have their own unique tablet experience. You can set this up so a new user must login to the tablet or they'll be able to simply hit a button and away they'll go with their own tablet take.

Miracast: From Tablet and Smartphone to TV: Miracast is the trade name for Wi-Fi Direct or WiDi. This is an 802.11n compatible network protocol for display-sharing. With a compatible device or a Miracast adapter, you'll be able to stream Internet TV shows and movies from your smartphone or tablet to your TV. Miracast adapters will be available this quarter.

Gesture Typing: If you use Swype, you'll find the same basic functionality to make on-screen keyboards more useful in Gesture Typing. This probably won't be enough to sway hard-core Swype users away from their favorite virrtual keyboard, but it will show screen-typers that there is a better way than using a display keyboard than just as a QWERTY glass keyboard.

Smart Screen-Savers: Android 4.2's Daydream is actually a smart screen-saver. It lets you display photo slideshows, news headlines, and the like.

Google Now update: In the updated Google Now, the app could help you check your ticket, order, hotel, etc. and remind you upon pre-set time. But these functions require authority. Meanwhile, Google Now also added to display movie, concert, stock and news.

Quick Settings: Another advantage of Android 4.2. When you drag down the notice board with a single finger, it would display Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness, battery, Flight mood and a button to enable you enter the full settings. But when you drag down the notice board with two fingers, it would be a short-cut towards quick settings, which will be quite convenient for those who change settings a lot for various purposes.

HDR Mode: This is the first time for Android cameras to have HDR mode. HDR shooting requires at least two shots for the same scene. The images captured will melt into one single picture in different exposure. This would make exposure more reasonable for the bright and dim parts of the images.

HTC officially launched Droid DNA with 440ppi 5-inch 1080P HD screen display

The HTC Droid DNA has been rumored for a long time. Now, cooperated with Verizon, HTC finally announced this 5-inch Droid DNA (initially leaked as HTC J Butterfly in Japan) smartphone with 1080P touchscreen. Along with the development of smartphones, large screen is becoming the main trend, which makes the boundary quite dim between smartphones and tablets.

If you want to make full use of the large and HD screen to watch HD movies on smartphone, the HTC Droid DNA is no doubt your first choice. The HTC Droid DNA comes with a 5 inches 1080P Super LCD 3 touchscreen, which provides more vivid color and wider visual angle. The screen pixel density is up to 440ppi, much higher than that of iPhone 5. Meanwhile, the 1.5GHz Qual-comm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, Adreno 320 CPU processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM also ensures quite smooth performance for both HD movie enjoying and phone processing.

Being the 4G smartphone of Verizon, HTC Droid DNA has 4G LET networking function. It features dual-camera, 2.1MP front camera and 8MP main camera with F/2.0 aperture and LED flashlight. Both cameras support 1080P video recording. Other features include: Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, Beasts Audio, 2020mAh battery, 3.5mm audio jack, micro SIM card slot, etc.

The HTC Droid DNA is currently available in black and red and will be sold since November 21^st on Verizon stores with a two-year contract price of $199.99. For the phone without contract, the price is $599.99. 

The 400PPI HTC Droid DNA front view gets leaked right before the Nov. 13th release event

October has been a glorious month for people to witness so many new products release. A lot of brand new smartphones have been introduced to people. HTC just played the endgame of this smartphone release peak by announcing a media event with Verizon on November 13^th to release some new device, mostly probably the long rumored HTC Droid DNA. Just hours ago, the front view of this smartphone has been leaked online with a large Verizon word on the top of the phone.

This smartphone is said to come with a 5” FHD full HD Super LCD 3 touchscreen, of which the screen resolution reaches up to 1920x1080 pixels. The ultra high definition screen not only brings excellent display effect, but also provides 400ppi pixel density, much higher than that of Retina display. Together with the 2020mAh battery, people who prefer to watch HD movies on HTC smartphone would be greatly satisfied. Besides, HTC Droid DNA also configures a 1.5GHz Qual-comm quad-core processor with 2GB RAM. Along with Android 4.1.1 OS, users could get quite smooth experience.

Other specs of HTC Droid DNA include: LTE 4G network connectivity, dual-camera (2MP front camera and 8MP main camera, supporting auto-focus and up to 1080P video recording), 16GB memory storage, etc. This smartphone is expected to be saled on November 20.

5-inch 1080P screen Sony Xperia Odin official render image leaked

Codenamed with Odin, Sony’s new smartphone gets attention due to the 1080P HD touchscreen as rumored. Now, on the internet, some picture rumored to be the official render of Sony Xperia Odin gets leaked again. The leaked pictures displayed a smartphone which is very similar to Xperia X2 and suits a lot to the leaked smartphone picture.

If the leaked picture is true, Sony Xperia Odin might greatly feature a 5.0-inch LPS LTPS touchscreen with up to 1080P (1920x1080 pixels) screen resolution. The pixel density will be 400ppi, which brings more vivid visual effect than that of Retina display. This means Sony Xperia Odin would be better than the Retina display smartphones to watch HD videos for its large screen and higher screen pixel density. Aside from this, there’re rumors that Sony would add OptiContrast panel technology and Mobile Bravia Engine 2 graphic engine to the touchscreen, thus to improve screen contrast and color display.

For smooth and fluent running, Sony Xperia Odin is said to adopt a 1.5GHz Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM and 32GB ROM. As for the camera, Odin is report to have a built-in 13MP Exmor RS camera with auto-focus, panoramic shooting and high speed continuous shooting.

As Sony Xperia Odin is scheduled for release during the next spring, it is no doubt that Android 4.2 will be included, together with the new Sony Xperia UI interface. The phone is surely to include other technologies, like Walkman Audio technology and Cyber Shot mode. 

Apple iOS 6.1 Beta Available for Developers for iPhone, iPod and iPad

Earlier today, Apple brought the iOS 6.0.1 update for users worldwide. In addition of the version for end users, Apple also pushed out the first beta of iOS 6.1 to its developers for iPhone, iPod and iPad. On the announcement, Apple claimed that devices updated to the iOS 6.1 beta would not be restored to earlier version of iOS. Devices that could run this version include: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, third- and fourth-gen iPads, and fourth- and fifth-gen iPod touch to registered developers. Curiously, however, it does not yet seem to be available for the iPad mini.