We’ve got few laptops that come with discrete GPUs and a dedicated switch that can be turned on or off as per user’s needs. It’s good to have such a switch since it can help optimizing notebook’s battery life but most notebooks with discrete GPUs are devoid of such a switch, which is why Nvidia has developed Optimus technology that basically does the same thing but is fully automated.

Nvidia’s Optimus Technology will automatically detect user’s current activity and route the load on integrated graphics or a discrete GPU. For instance, surfing the web will make use of the integrated graphics whereas watching HD movies or 3D gaming will result in utilizing GPU’s horsepower.

Nvidia reckons this tech helps to extend battery life by up to 2 times when compared to a similarly configured notebook.

The first notebooks to come with Optimus will be Asus’ UL50Vf, N61Jv, N71Jv, N82Jv, and U30Jc.

Optimus Technology

[Via Marketwire]

Samsung has officially launched I5700 Spica taking the crown from HTC’s Tattoo to become the cheapest Android in the Indian market. I5700 is priced just under Rs. 15,000 and brings a lot of superior features when compared to Tattoo.

Although I5700 runs Android 1.5 OS, it comes with a fast 800MHz processor and 3.2-inch touchscreen display. The phone also features a 3.2MP camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G, DivX support, DNSe 2.0, microSD card slot, 3.5mm headphone jack and 1500mAh battery.

[Via SamsungHub]

Requests from customers led LG to create what they’re calling the Mini Phone or GD880 (for those comfortable with numbers). As the name goes, this offering from LG is the slimmest and the smallest and comes with 3.2-inch screen (and 16:9 aspect ratio) as well as other features to suffice your technological needs.

The GD880 features a 5MP camera, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, FM Radio, microSD card slot, A-GPS and Social Network Connect service that gives quick access to various social networks.

Europeans will be the first ones to get it at an undisclosed price in March.

Press Release

LG has unveiled GT350 text-messaging phone that will take over from the successful KS360. The new phone goes for a similar design but improves on some fronts where KS360 lacked. The GT350 adopts a full 3-inch touchscreen display (WQVGA) and has a four-row QWERTY keyboard compared to KS360’s three-row.

Social networks these days are an integral part of our lives, which is why LG has integrated a dedicated button that gives quick access to sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. The phone also features buttons for e-mails and SMSes.

LG hasn’t disclosed the price but expects to start selling in Europe in April followed by the rest of the world.

In addition to making few point-and-shoot cameras official, Canon also unwrapped their new entry-level DSLR. The EOS Rebel T2i or EOS 550D is targeted at entry-level photographers that is able to shoot images at up to 18 megapixel resolution and features an impressive ISO range of 100-6400 (expandable to 12,800), 3.7fps continuous still shooting, 63-zone Dual Layer Metering System and Canon’s DIGIC 4 imaging processor.

Canon has also thrown in full HD video recording, which means users can record videos at 1920×1080 resolution at selectable frame rates or gain additional zoom and other features while shooting a SD quality video. The camera also comes with an HDMI-out port that is CEC compliant and can be controlled by CEC-compliant TV remote.

Canon will sell the Rebel T2i in US in early March for $799.99 for the body or $899.99 along with Canon’s EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens.

Press Release

UPDATE: So Airtel’s App Store variant will be known as App Central and it will be WAP-based only. Airtel users can point the phone’s browser to http://airtel.cellmania.com using Airtel Live’s WAP profile. The only good thing I found for now is the buying part. The site automatically detects your Airtel number and bills it for any paid app.

Developers can submit new applications here. The revenue sharing for developers will be 70% of what Cellmania receives. Currently, Cellmania will receives 40% and therefore a developer will receive 28%.

India’s largest cellular operator, Airtel will open their App Store tomorrow with an initial count of over 1,200 applications. This move will make Airtel the first operator and in fact the first Indian company to launch their version of App Store.

Although Airtel is confident that their App Store can taste success, it can be a hectic job managing a store with apps meant for different OSes.

Airtel is planning to provide credit/debit card as well as cellular billing for both prepaid and postpaid customers. Prepaid customers will be able to buy applications from their account balance while purchases from postpaid customers will be added to the bill.

Airtel is still mum on the developer sharing ratio but says the apps will be a mix of free, paid and subscription apps. The price will vary from Rs. 5 to Rs. 25 for paid apps whereas Re. 1/day for certain subscription-based apps.

Few apps that will make its way on the launch day will be RockeTalk IM client, CATGURU (CAT preparatory app), Britannica Trivia Challenge, Green Charging and more.

[Via ET]

MWC is closing in and Samsung is gradually revealing its wares for the biggest telecommunication show. Confirmed today is Monte (S5620) that is a translation of word ‘mountains’ in Italy, Spain and Portugal.

We saw live pictures of the phone couple of weeks back and unlike our speculation of it being a bada device, Monte runs the same proprietary OS but with TouchWiz 2.0 Plus UI. The exact changes to the UI are not known but it seems the sidebar widgets are gone. Though the TouchWiz phones had multiple home screens, the screens are now numbered along with an Edit button on the side that presumably allows to customize the home screens.

The feature set includes a 3-inch WQVGA touchscreen LCD with 16:9 aspect ratio, 3.2MP camera with face recognition, smile shot, GPS with geotag, Wi-Fi, 3G, 3.5mm audio jack, Smart Unlock, Exchange ActiveSync, Google Sync and of course Social Networking Service supporting various social networks and instant messengers.

Samsung will showcase the device at MWC 2010 next week.

Note: This post has been republished from Samsung Hub. For more Samsung news, head over to Samsung Hub.

Canon today unwrapped four new cameras under its PowerShot range. The new point-and-shoot cameras tend to offer easy to use interface with advanced features at a decent price.

Starting with the SX210 IS, this PowerShot offering shoots images at a resolution of 14.1MP and features a wide-angle 28mm lens with 14x optical zoom and a 3-inch LCD. It also boasts optical image stabilization, HD (720p) video recording, mini HDMI connector and various other features to enhance image quality. The SX201 IS is expected in late March for $349.99

The SD3500 IS is considered as the most superior camera from the ELPH series. It has a 24mm ultra-wide angle lens, shoots pictures at 14.1 megapixel resolution, has 5x optical zoom and comes with a 3.5-inch wide touchscreen LCD. This variant also supports HD recording and comes with HDMI mini connector. It will start retailing in late February for $329.99.

SD1400 IS goes for those seeking spontaneous photography. It comes with a 28mm wide-angle lens, 4x optical zoom, 14.1MP resolution support, optical image stabilization and HD video recording. It is also expected in late February for $249.99.

Lastly it’s the low-end SD1300 IS. It does not feature HD recording capabilities like the rest of the group but gets the work done. It shoots pictures at 12.1MP resolution, 28mm wide-angle lens, 4x optical zoom, image stabilizer and 2.7-inch LCD. It will sell for $199.99 in late February.

Additionally, all cameras come with various scene modes, Smart Auto that automatically adjusts various photographic parameters for a better picture, ISO range up to 6400 and more.

[Via Canon]

To address today’s electronic products’ increasing quantities of internal data transfer, Sony has devised a very short-range wireless transfer communication that will allow manufacturers to replicate the same functions of wired components but save on the cost such electronic components.

This tech is based on millimeter-wave wireless data technology that transmits electromagnetic waves at a frequency ranging from 30GHz to 300GHz with distance from 1mm to 10mm. Sony reckons high frequency and high speed transfers helps to minimize the IC use, simplify the printed circuit board and also make detachable parts more reliable.

Sony says this technology is apt for televisions and is currently exhibiting it at the ISSCC 2010 in California.

Press Release

It seems Verizon users are in for a treat soon as HTC’s latest incredibly Incredible has been snapped in the wild. Running Android’s latest 2.1 build, the Incredible will be complemented with a fast 1GHz Snapdragon CPU and Sense UI.

To sweeten things further, you’ll also find a 3.5-3.7-inch screen (supposedly AMOLED), 256MB RAM, dual LED camera flash with mostly 5MP cam, Wi-Fi, GPS and optical mouse.

Check the video here.

[Via Pocketnow]