Samsung Launching Its Premium Headphones

With sales of its premium smartphones failing to live up to expectations, Samsung is moving into another potentially high-margin business: premium headphones.

The South Korean electronics giant will launch its Samsung Level line of headphones (and a wireless speaker) on premium goods retailer Gilt, whose members will have exclusive early access to buy a pair before they become more widely available. Dedicated Samsung fans who haven’t signed up for the site don’t need to wait long, however, as the headphones will hit Amazon on July 20th.

With prices ranging from $149 for its “Level In” in-ear buds to $349 for its wireless, noise-cancelling “Level Over” headphones, Samsung is clearly going after the same premium, design-centric market as Beats, the headphone maker Apple purchased back in May for $3 billion.

Beats has shown that the combination of good-looking hardware and well-targeted marketing can make headphones a big business. While Samsung is known for throwing huge amounts of money at marketing campaigns, its lack of distinguished design is frequently cited as the reason its Galaxy S5 is losing ground to cheaper alternatives in the smartphone space.

To make the Gilt offering more enticing, Samsung is bundling its Level On headphones and Level Box speaker for $299, a $50 discount from buying them separately. While we can’t speak for the headphones, TechCrunch reviewed the Level Box back in May and found that Samsung delivered exceptional build quality and performance compared to similar-sized offerings in its price range.




@source from techcrunch.com

LG G3 Beat With Android 4.4 KitKat, Laser Autofocus Camera Launched

After being launched in China, LG G3's mid-tier variant, the G3 Beat has now been given global availability. The G3 Beat will be available initially in South Korea starting Friday, while the global roll-out will begin from Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries in the following weeks.

The South Korean giant has not revealed the price details of the LG G3 Beat but has noted it will be announced locally at the time of launch.

The company has further revealed that the LG G3 Beat will be available as the 'LG G3 s' in Europe and the CIS region. LG is touting the G3 Beat as a device that has been developed to address the low- to mid-tier segment of smartphone customers, while the handset comes with various goodies from the company's flagship, the G3.

The LG G3 Beat features a 5-inch IPS display offering 294ppi pixel density. The company has dropped the screen resolution from QHD (1440x2560 pixel) on LG G3 to the considerably lower HD resolution of 720x1280 pixels on the LG G3 Beat.

The smartphone runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat much like the G3, and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor clubbed with 2GB of RAM. It comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage with microSD card expansion and is backed by a 2540mAh battery.

The highlight of the G3 Beat is its 8-megapixel rear camera which comes with the Laser Autofocus feature seen on the G3, while there is a 1.3-megapixel front camera as well. Some of the preloaded software features on the G3 Beat from the flagship include Touch and Shoot, which allows a touch anywhere on the display to focus and shoot; Gesture Shot, which begins automatic three-second countdown before the picture is snapped by just a hand gesture; Smart Keyboard, and QuickMemo+, an overhauled note taking app.

Connectivity options on the LG G3 Beat include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPRS/ EDGE, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Micro-USB, 3G and 4G LTE support. The phone measures 137.7x69.6x10.3mm and weighs 134 grams. It is available in Metallic Black, Silk White, and Shine Gold colour variants.

Notably, the G3 Beat features the same 'Floating Arc Design' as seen on the LG G3, featuring smooth curved sides and gradually tapered edges.

Commenting on the launch, Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said, "Smartphone manufacturers cannot ignore this growing segment of consumers who want the best balance of looks, features, performance and, of course, price. The LG G3 Beat represents our commitment to the mid-tier smartphone market that demands mature technology, proven branding, great innovation and attractive price, all in a single device."

LG G3 Beat

KEY SPECS:

Display: 5.00-inch

Processor: 1.2GHz

Front Camera: 2-megapixel

Resolution: 720x1280 pixels

RAM: 2GB

OS: Android 4.4.2

Storage: 16GB

Rear Camera: 8-megapixel

Battery capacity: 2540mAh

Xiaomi Mi 3 Comparison with ZenFone 5, Moto G and Others

The Indian smartphone market has just got a new kid on the block: Xiaomi Mi 3. From the house of China's third-biggest smartphone maker, this new model features top-end specifications at an attractive price of Rs 14,999.

Want to know how Xiaomi Mi 3 fares vis-à-vis other top smartphones in its price range? Here's comparing Mi 3 against phones from the likes of Motorola, Sony, BlackBerry, Gionee and Asus...

1. Display:

Xiaomi Mi 3:  5-inch display with 1080x1920p        resolution, 441ppi pixel density

Moto G: 4.5-inch display with 720x1280p resolution, 329ppi pixel density

Asus ZenFone 5: 5-inch screen with 720x1280p resolution, 294ppi pixel density

BlackBerry Z3: 5-inch panel with resolution of 540x960p, 220ppi pixel density

Sony Xperia M2: 4.8-inch screen, 540x960p resolution and 229ppi pixel density

Gionee Elife E5: 4.5-inch screen with 720x1280p resolution, 306ppi pixel density

2. Operating System:

Xiaomi Mi 3: Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)

Moto G: Android 4.4 (KitKat)

Asus ZenFone 5: Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)

BlackBerry Z3: BB 10.2.1

Sony Xperia M2: Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)

Gionee Elife E5: Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)

3. Processor & Ram:

 Xiaomi Mi 3: 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB RAM

Moto G: 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB RAM

Asus ZenFone 5: 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 chip, 2GB RAM

BlackBerry Z3: 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1.5GB RAM

Sony Xperia M2: 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB RAM

Gionee Elife E5: 1.5GHz quad-core Mediatek processor, 1.5GB RAM

4. Camera:

Xiaomi Mi 3: 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash on the back, 2MP camera in front

Moto G: 5MP camera with LED flash on the back, 1.3MP front-facing camera

Asus ZenFone 5: 8MP rear camera with LED flash, 2MP front camera

BlackBerry Z3: 5MP camera with LED flash, 1.1MP front camera

Sony Xperia M2: 8MP rear camera with LED flash, VGA camera in front

Gionee Elife E5: 8MP camera with LED flash on the back, 5MP camera in front

5. Storage:

Xiaomi Mi 3: 16GB internal storage, no support for storage expansion

Moto G: 16GB built-in storage, no microSD card support

Asus ZenFone 5: 8GB in-built storage, up to 64GB microSD support

BlackBerry Z3: 8GB internal storage, up to 32GB microSD card expansion

Sony Xperia M2: 8GB in-built storage, up to 32GB microSD card support

Gionee Elife E5: 32GB built-in storage, no storage expansion

6. Connectivity:

 Xiaomi Mi 3: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0, NFC

Moto G: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0

Asus ZenFone 5: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0

BlackBerry Z3: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0

Sony Xperia M2: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0

Gionee Elife E5: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0

7. Battery:

Xiaomi Mi 3: 3,050mAh

Moto G: 2,070mAh

Asus ZenFone 5: 2,110mAh

BlackBerry Z3: 2,500mAh

Sony Xperia M2: 2,300mAh

Gionee Elife E5: 2,000mAh

8. Price:

Xiaomi Mi 3: Rs 14,999

Moto G: Starting at Rs 12,499

Asus ZenFone 5: Starting at Rs 9,999

BlackBerry Z3: Rs 15,990

Sony Xperia M2: Available for approximately Rs 19,000

Gionee Elife E5: Rs 18,000

5 reasons Xiaomi Mi 3 is the best budget smartphone

China's Xiaomi has finally announced its India operations and launched its current flagship smartphone Xiaomi Mi 3 in the country.

Known for its aggressive pricing, the company has positioned Mi 3 as a budget smartphone that offers high-end hardware specifications, selling it at Rs 13,999.

We played with Mi 3 during the Xiaomi launch event and here's what we think of the phone.

1. Solid Build & Understand Design:

Xiaomi Mi 3 looks and feels like a premium smartphone. It features an aluminum-magnesium alloy frame coated with 3 layers of thermal graphite enclosed with a back panel made of good quality plastic and a full-HD display.

The phone is 8.1mm thick but not too heavy at 145gram. Despite its large size, the phone is easy to carry around. It reminded us of the Nokia N9 and the Nokia Lumia 800 with its rounded edges.

The power and volume keys are placed at the right edge while the left edge is barren. The speaker grill and micro-USB port are at the bottom edge while the 3.5mm headset jack sits at the top, along with a sim card tray.

The front features three capacitive keys for navigation, just below the display, and a 2MP front-facing camera above it. The 13MP rear camera and dual-LED flash are placed at the back, towards the top left. The phone will be available in metallic grey colour.

2. Bright & Vivid Display:

Xiaomi Mi 3 sports a 5-inch full-HD (1080p, 441ppi, 16:9) IPS LCD display manufactured by either Sharp or LG. In our brief time with the phone, we were impressed with the display's brightness and colour rendering.

Text and pictures appeared crisp and sharp and the viewing angles were pretty good.

Touch sensitivity was also great and the company claims that you can even operate the phone when you hands are wet. We weren't able to use the phone under sunlight.

3. Powerful Hardware:

Xiaomi Mi 3 is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB RAM. It runs by Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Xiaomi's proprietary MiUi skin on top. It packs 16GB internal storage, but does not support storage expansion via microSD card.

Connectivity suite of the smartphone consists of 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0 and NFC. It has a 3,050mAh battery, and Xiaomi claims that the smartphone can deliver talk time of up to 21 hours on 3G networks.

In our brief hands-on, we did not experience any lag or stutter while launching and switching between apps, and navigating through the UI. We'll have a detailed performance analysis after putting the Mi 3 through its paces.

4. Android 4.4 with MIUI Twist:

 Xiaomi Mi 3 runs MiUi 5, an operating system based on Android 4.4 KitKat. MiUi offers themes, built-in apps and widgets, and advanced settings options enhancing the plain vanilla Android experience. The demo unit had an MiUi India theme that featured custom icons, wallpapers and settings. The basic MiUi theme looks good with its colourful icon set, beautiful wallpapers and tweaked settings menus.

Unlike stock Android, the phone doesn't include a separate app launcher. App icons and widgets are spread across the home screens. The unified home screen-app launcher style may come across as user-friendly to people who've not used an Android phone before. But it may take some time to get used to if your last phone was an Android smartphone.

Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra also reassured that the Mi 3 will get timely software updates. Barra was previously Vice President and product spokesperson at Google's Android division.

5. 13 Mega Pixel with Dual-LED Flash:

Xiaomi Mi 3 sports a 13MP rear camera accompanied by a Philips dual-LED flash. According to Xiaomi, the Mi 3's 5-piece lens includes an infrared filter, that delivers more accurate colours in photos. It has an ƒ/2.2 aperture to capture more light, and 28mm wide-angle lens to cover more.

We tried clicking some pictures at the launch event and found them to be pretty decent. The front camera also did a good job and its 30mm wide angle lens lets you capture more people.

We'll need to spend more time with the phone to asses the capability of its camera.

@source from timesofindia.indiatimes.com

7 Tech Mistakes You Should Never Do

Regrets, we've had a few — and they're not too few to mention. The more tech you have in your life, the more tech regrets you're likely to have.

Whether it is the platform you jumped on just as everyone else jumped off, the phone battery that died at the worst possible moment, the moment of madness when you bought a Zune or a BlackBerry Playbook.

So which tech decisions are you likely to regret today? These are our suggestions.........

1. Buying The New Window 

 

See if you can spot the pattern. Windows XP was good. Windows Vista wasn't. Windows 7 was good. Windows 8 appears to have destroyed the consumer PC industry.

We're stocking up on tinned food and guns in anticipation of Windows 10.

 

2. Scrimping On Storage

Manufacturers' prices for flash storage are often insane, but opting for the smallest capacity is almost always a mistake. The OS immediately grabs a bunch of gigabytes, and a half-dozen cat GIFs will quickly fill the rest.

3. Forgetting the backup bit

 

Everybody knows that you should always back up your stuff before installing a major software update — but they know it in the same way that they know you should eat healthily, drink moderately and drive within the speed limit.

For most of us, the "remember to back up!" bit of our brain only kicks in halfway through reformatting a hard disk.

4. Leaving the house with less than 63% battery life

 

63% might seem like a lot when you're at home, but that's because you have Wi-Fi and distractions. Step outside the front door and you're good for roughly six minutes.

5. Buying a Device Running Old -Android

 

There are two kinds of old-Android buyers: There are the people who don't care which version they have, and there are the people who bought a device expecting the manufacturer to provide a firmware update to KitKat. The second lot are easy to spot, because they're crying.

6. Keeping The File In Wrong  Format 

 

If you're transcoding video, ripping music or storing anything for future safekeeping, make sure it's in a format you'll still be able to access years from now, not a format whose continued existence or copy protection system depends on the continued goodwill of a handful of companies (or worse, a single company).

7. Investing in 3D TV

3D televisions' time in the sun is already over: This year's CES was all about 4K and Ultra HD. It'll be back in glasses-free guise eventually, but for now it's the elephant in the room that you need stupid specs to see.

@ source-TOI

CSS Design With ASP .Net Part 2 CSS RULES

CSS RULES:-

Once CSS styles are sent from server to the client, the browser is responsible for parsing the styles and applying them to the appropriate HTML elements in the Web page. If a styles is stored either in external and internal style sheet, the styles will be defined as a CSS rule.
In shorts word CSS Rules means that what the browser uses to determine what styling to apply, and to what HTML elements it should.

                Inline styles do not need to be defined as a rule because the are automatically applied to the element they are included with. The browser does not need to select the elements to apply it to.

Below figure shows an example of CSS rule:-

Selectors :-

The Selectors is the portion of the rule that decides exactly how the Web browser should select the elements to apply the style to. CSS includes a variety of types of Selectors, each of which defines a different element selection technique.

Some of the techniques that are used as follows:-
 

Universal Selectors:

The Universal Selector indicates that the style should apply to any element in the Web Page. The sample that follows shows a Universal Selector, which would change the font of any element that supports the font-family to Arial.

                                               *

                                               {

                                                  font-family: Arial;

                                                }

Type Selectors: 

The Type Selector allows you to create a style that applies to a specific type of HTML element. The style will then be applied to all elements of that type in the Web page. The following sample shows a Type Selector configured for the HTML paragraph tag, which will change the font family of all <p> tags in the Web page to Arial.

                                                 p

                                                 {

                                                    font-family: Arial;

                                                  }

Class Selectors:

Class Selectors are a special type of CSS Selector that allow you to apply a style to any element with a specific Class name. The Class name is defined in HTML using the class attribute, which is present on almost every element. Class Selectors are distinguished from other Selector types by prefixing with a single period (.).
                                                
                                                    .tittle
                                                     {
                                                         font-size: larger;
                                                         font-weight: bold;
                                                       }

This CSS Rule would than be applied to any element whose class attribute value matched the rule name, an example of which is shown below:

                                                    <div class="tittle">How are you</div>

When creating Class Selectors, note that the class name may not begin with a numeric character.

ID Selectors:

ID Selectors are another type of CSS Selector that allows you to create styles that target elements with specific ID values. ID Selectors are distinguished from other Selector types by prefixing them with a hash mark (#).

                                                         #tittle

                                                         {

                                                             font-size: larger;

                                                             font-weight: bold;

                                                          }

This CSS Rule would be applied to any element whose id attribute value matched the Rule name, an example of which is shown below:

                                                           <div id="tittle">How are you</div>

7 Android KitKat smartphones under Rs 7,000

Believe only top-end smartphones boast of Google's latest operating system KitKat? Not really. Here are seven phones you can get in sub-Rs 7,000 range that run on Android KitKat.

1. Moto E:-

 

 With a display of 4.3-inch (960x540p) display, Motorola’s cheapest smartphone Moto E is exclusively available for Rs. 6,999 on Flipkart. The smartphone is powered by dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 1GB RAM and comes with internal storage of 4GB; it also supports microSD cards up to 32GB.
On the back of Moto E is the 5MP camera, sans LED flash; the secondary camera is missing as well. Connectivity features of the smartphone are 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and microUSB 2.0. The phone runs on a 1,980mAh battery and is available in two colours – black and white.

2. Micromax Unite 2:-

 

Available online for Rs 7,000, Micromax Unite 2 has a 4.7-inch screen (800x480p resolution) and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Mediatek processor with 1GB RAM. It features 4GB on-board memory, expandable up to 32 GB via microSD cards.

Micromax Unite 2 has a 5MP main camera with LED flash and 2MP front camera. On the connectivity front, the smartphone has 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and microUSB 2.0. It has a 2,000mAh battery and is available in gray, green, red, and white colours. The distinguishing feature of the smartphone is support for 21 Indian languages, such as Maithili, Bodo, Dogri, Sanskrit and Sindhi.

3. Intex Aqua N15:-

 

Available exclusively via Amazon.in for Rs 6,999, Intex Aqua N15 has a 4-inch screen with 800x480p resolution. This smartphone packs a 1.3GHz quad-core Mediatek processor with 1GB RAM and features 4GB internal storage; it supports microSD crds with capacities up to 32GB.

On the back, Intex Aqua N15 sports an 8MP camera with LED flash, while a 2MP camera is positioned in front. It has all the standard connectivity features, including 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, microUSB 2.0 and Bluetooth. It is powered by a 1,600mAh battery and comes in white colour only.

4. Karbon Titanium S99:-

 

Karbonn Titanium S99, available online for approximately Rs 5,700, has a 4-inch screen with 800x480p resolution. Running on quad-core 1.3GHz processor with 512MB RAM, this smartphone has 4GB built-in storage and supports microSD cards with capacity up to 32GB.

Titanium S99 has a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front camera. It can access the internet over 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi and transfer data over Bluetooth and microUSB. It packs a 1,400mAh battery and comes in white and black colours.

5. Micromax Canvas Engage:-

 

The cheapest Android KitKat phone by Micromax, Canvas Engage has a 4-inch screen with 800x480p resolution. It runs on a quad-core 1.2GHz processor with 512MB RAM and features 4GB internal storage and supports microSD cards up to 32GB.

The phone has a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and VGA front camera. The phone also gives the user the basic internet and connectivity features 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and microUSB. It has a 1,500mAh battery and can be purchased for approximately Rs 5,700.

6. Karbonn Smart A11 Star:-

 

Karbonn’s cheapest Android KitKat smartphone, Smart A11 Star has a 4.3-inch screen with 800x480p resolution. It runs on a dual-core 1.2GHz Mediatek processor with 512MB RAM and comes with 4GB internal storage and 32GB microSD support.

The smartphone has 5MP rear camera with LED flash and a VGA camera in front. This dual-sim phone has standard connectivity features: 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and microUSB. Available only at Flipkart, this smartphone is priced at Rs 4,499.

7. Celkon A35K Campus:-

 

Available at Rs 2,999, Celkon A35K Campus is the cheapest Android 4.4 smartphone in the Indian market. The smartphone has a 3.5-inch screen with resolution of 320x480 pixels, runs on 1GHz processor and has 256 MB RAM. It has 512MB internal storage and supports microSDs card of capacities up to 32GB.

Celkon A35K Campus has a 3.2MP main camera with LED flash and 0.3MP front camera. Internet can be accessed on the phone through 2G, 3G, and Wi-Fi, while Bluetooth and microUSB can be used to transfer data. The smartphone is powered by a 1,400mAH Li-ion battery and is available in blue and white colours.

@source from timesofindia.indiatimes.com

CSS(Cascading Style Sheet) Design With ASP .Net (Part 1)

Introducing CSS:-

The introduction of CSS to the web development and design world brought it back to a clean and elegant solution for styling
Web pages. CSS ment a style couldbe defined in a single location for the entire Web site, and simply refernced on the elements
requiring the style.

Creating Style Sheet:-

The Style sheet can be included in the server's response in three different ways:

• External Style Sheet
• Internal Style Sheet
• Inline Style Sheet

External Style Sheets:-

External Style Sheet are collections of CSS styles stored outside of the Web Pages that will use them- generally files using the .css extension. Visual studio makes it simple to add external style sheet files to your application by including a style sheet file templates in the Add New Item dialog box as show in image below:

 Visual Studio even gives you CSS Intellisense when working with styles in the document as shown in image below:

 External Style Sheets are linked into Web pages using HTML <link> tag. A single Web page can contain multiple style sheet references.

 

Using External Style Sheet in Web page.

Internal Style Sheets:-

Internal Style sheets are collection of CSS styles that are stored internally in a single web page. The styles are located inside of the HTML <style> tag, which is generally located in the <head> section of the Web page. Visual Studio also give Intellisense support to make it easy to add properties. An example of internal style is shown below:

Using Internal Style Sheets in a Web Page.

Inline Styles:-

Inline styles are CSS styles that are applied directly to an individual HTML element using the element's Stule attribute which is available on most HTML elements. An example of inline styles is shown below:

Using Inline styles in a Web page.