HTC One X unveiled as HTC's first quad-core smartphone

By Prince Osuagwu

Also at the Mobile World Congress currently on-going in Barcelona, HTC announced a new flagship handset, the HTC One X. The phone could best be described as HTC's first quad-core handset.
It is a 4.3-inch device featuring a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 4.3-inch 1,280 x 720 HD display.
The device has an amazing camera quality with an 8-megapixel rear-facing and 1.3-megapixel forward-facing camera. The features make the phone capable of of capturing high-resolution still photos simultaneously while shooting 1080p video that can also be edited directly on the smartphone.
In comparison with other HTC devices like the HTC Sensation XE and HTC Rezound, the One X comes with built-in Beats Audio, offering the phone a bit of a sound advantage over some of its competition. The phone will also ship running Android 4.0, and will offer 25GB of free DropBox storage in place of expandable memory.

Samsung updates latest Galaxy Beam projector phone

The phone in action

By Prince Osuagwu

Samsung has officially unveiled an updated version of the Galaxy Beam, a smartphone with its own built-in pico projector. The device shows off unique features, particularly with its ability to project pictures, video, and other media onto walls, ceilings or any other flat surface through a 15 lumens projector that Samsung says can display images up to 50-inches wide.
First appearance of this innovation was actually at Mobile World Congress in 2010. But the, device was only slated to make an appearance in Singapore. Latest development on the device now, however brings an updated version with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and likely an availability that would extend from Singapore into a few additional countries.
The 2010 version of the Beam came running Android v2.1, had a 3.7-inch screen, and a 9 lumens projector. The updated 2012 version shown off at Mobile World Congress 2011 comes running Android v2.3, has a 4-inch screen, and comes rocking a much more powerful 15 lumens projector.
The projector is the stand-out feature of the phone. The phone has a 5-megapixel built-in camera, and has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of internal memory, and a 2000mAh battery.

Norton thinks security with version 6.0

By Prince Osuagwu

While we celebrate innovations in the mobile world, little care seems to be taken about security of our appliances like the Personal Computers and other mobile devices. This gives hackers the opportunity of hitting at most critical times. The result is mostly data loss and disappearance of very important and useful information.

The Norton 360 6.0 solution

But experts are also innovating on ways to outsmart the mobile pirates. For instance, Norton by Symantec has announced the debut of its premium security suite: Norton 360 version 6.0. It offers industry leading PC protection and top ranked performance.
Third party solution tests, AV-TEST Institute ranks the innovation first in overall real-world protection and remediation.
 Highlights of the solution includes: Identity Safe; it secures, remembers, and automatically enters user names and passwords while protecting users from online threats
Management; it delivers advanced cloud-based functionality to manage select Norton products remotely for greater ease and control and it also limits non-critical Norton updates when connected to metered networks to avoid using up monthly data allotments or causing overage fees. This is through its   Bandwidth Management feature
the product also allows Improved Backup, giving faster and easier back up capabilities and tracking
Pricing and Availability. It can be installed on up to three PCs and costs $65, approximately, N10, 500 for the standard edition which includes 2GB of online storage space, a three PC license and a one-year subscription.

Save80: Economic stove technology that thinks of Nigerian rural women

By Prince Osuagwu

Save80 Stove

Majority of Nigerian rural dwellers make use of kerosene or charcoal stove for cooking. Many others, also make outright use of firewood for the purpose, but this has a negative impact on the environment as forests have to be constantly cut down to meet the demand.
The cooking stove, is not even better. What with the problem of either high cost or scarcity of kerosene in many rural areas. However, in the rapidly changing world of technology, anything is just possible.
Now, technology has enabled the invention of a cooking stove, Save80, that uses just five pieces of wood but cooks the quantity of food that would have ordinarily required more than 80 times of that quantity of wood.
Over 3,000 of the stoves are said to have been sold in Nigeria so far, meaning that over 3, 000 Nigerian women have been saved of the high cost of kerosene or time and energy associated with cooking on kerosene or charcoal stoves.
The stove has inbuilt metallic element which burns with the 5 pieces of woods and a set of wigs. The  magic of the new invention is that after the woods have burnt out, the metallic element doubles and retains the generated heat which could be used to cook large quantity of food.

A Northern Nigerian rural woman testing the stove

The stove was originated by a locally based German company called Climate Management Limited and  commissioned by the United Nations for use in refugee camps. But today, it is used by over 40,000 people in Africa, including Nigerians.
The new invention boils about 8 litres of water in 15 minutes. Free Talk Africa can  reveal that the stove uses 80 per cent less of the wood or charcoal used to run an ordinary stove and produces 80 percent higher the quantity of energy by a kerosene stove.
The Stove produces no fumes and can allow in-room cooking without the air pollution and emissions of gaseous substances. It does not induce the headache that usually associate with cooking on charcoal or kerosene stove.

Your iPad can be more audible with smart Sound Cover

By Prince Osuagwu

There's no shortage of options for those looking to add some extra audio sound to their iPad. From the multitude of docks on offer to Bluetooth or Airplay-enabled wireless speaker systems. There are also the more portable options such as the Logitech Tablet Speaker or iLuv iSP150.

What a sound cover and how glamorous it can make the iPad become

However, the new Peter Hannes Olafsson product, Sound Cover, seems to be more compact and portable. It combines stereo speakers with iPad cover.
Inventor of the product,  Petur Hannes Olafsson, is a Hong Kong-based engineer who is seeking to raise funds via Kickstarter. He has managed to cram a pair of rechargeable stereo speakers into a thin iPad case by relying on NXT speaker technology. Unlike traditional speakers that rely on a combination of coils, magnets and cones to generate sound waves, NXT speakers use exciters to vibrate a flat panel instead. Integrating these speakers into a thin, durable ABS case that allows the sound cover to boost the volume of an iPad by up to 300 percent and improve the frequency response, while providing protection for the device when not in use.
The Sound Cover is powered by its own built-in 1600 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery that boasts of a life of up to 12 hours and is charged via USB. The Sound Cover connects to an iPad through a jack and its volume is controlled from the iPad's controls.
Meanwhile, the manufacturers say there will also be a Bluetooth edition to provide a wireless audio connection. Like Apple's Smart Cover for the iPad 2, the cover also features in-built magnets to automatically put the tablet to sleep or wake it up when the cover is closed or opened.

The Spray that improves signal strength

By Prince Osuagwu

The major challenge with mobile communication particularly in the emerging markets of Africa and the middle East is quality of service. In most of the emerging markets, like Nigeria, blessed with huge population and massive  landmass, the cost of taking services to every nook and cranny is enormous. Meanwhile the connected areas are over crowded by technology savvy users and the networks fail to serve optimally. Poor signals and service disruptions become users headache, reducing the essence mobile innovation.
But if the new device called Aerosol spray would perform exactly the functions that informed its invention, the problem of weak signal strength in mobile devices would be history.

The Aerosol Spray is a new innovation from a technology firm, Chamtech. It allows mobile user  to improve signal strength of their devices.
The ChamTech  device is essentially designed as a spray. When it is sprayed on a mobile device, it covers the surface with thousands of nano-capacitors which align themselves on the surface, and create a wireless antenna for the devices located in the area. The  nano-capacitors will locate wireless signals, making it easier for any phone or tablet within the range, to get connected and stay connected to a network.
The solution could also be sprayed on buildings and trees to boost the signal for a specific area, or could be sprayed directly on the antenna of a cell phone to boost the phone's signal by at least 10 percent.
The technology may replace some traditional telecom antennas thus eliminating the towers that dotted streets and corners, particularly in the emerging markets.
Tests of  the technology shows it providing even better signal results than those traditional antennas.

Nigerian users still trust Blackberry after outage

Two weeks after the three days black out of Blackberry services across the world, Nigerian users still recount sad experiences. However, majority of them still repose unflinching trust in the services of the technology giant Research In Motion, RIM, saying their love for BB was unshakeable.
Just hear it straight from them:

Blackberry Bold 9700

The experiences of that three days were terrible. It was like suddenly being thrown into the thick darkness after many years in a room filled with bright light.  I was not able to check my email asap, I could not access my medical dictionary and could not keep contacts with my BBM folks.
But besides that,  I can still trust them . Perfection is ascribed to the supreme being alone. After all, my battery lasted longer compared to when my BIS was on'
        Femi Ajose, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Shagamu.
A friend of mine described it like being crippled. I was not just happy that I could not access the internet.
         Tosin  Stephens, — Lead way pensure PFA.

'Its just as if there was no blood running through my veins any more and I believed the device cannot be trusted again after the whole saga.'
        Adedoyin Oluwatosin — Chevron Nig Ltd
'It really did not bother me much except for the cut off from friends who will naturally like to message me instead of calling. The Blackberry services can still be trusted. You see, the outage was a mechanical thing.'
                    Oluwakayode Ajala,  — Journalist
'It was a terrible experience for me, none of my applications worked, I could not chat, I lost virtually all my contacts but thank God, I backed my contacts up. It was not all boring though because I was using 2go on my Blackberry and I could connect with my peeps but the 3-day was a total disaster. However, the services can still be trusted.'
             Ayomide Adeyemi — Student                     

I was denied access to the internet and that was painful and frustrating but my joy is that I didn’t lose my contacts like I have heard others complain. It shows that no technology is full-proof. However that is not enough to write the technology off. I can’t do away with my BB.
       Sotubo Sunkanmi, — Student

Blackberry

The outage was disastrous. It frustrated every user even though MTN had notified me that the users of BLACKBERRY will experience technical problem, but when it did happen, I was like, disarmed. But these things happen once in a while and should not be seen as strange.
                Priscillia Ikhine, — Journalist


'It was very devastating...I felt very sad. I think they can still be trusted.'
                       Oladipo Oshodi Glover — Student

'It was terrible but thanks to the fact that I was busy throughout the three days,never felt it much but my phones were rendered useless.'
      Daramola Ademola Luqman —  Student

'In fact it was as if I as locked up in a cell,being denied access to the world. It was terrible. But I still love my BB.
      Adegbola Mujaheed,— Youth Corper.