Auxus AX03G

iBerry launches ICS powered Auxus AX03G tablet for Rs. 9,990

NDTV Correspondent, June 25, 2012

iBerry has announced a new addition to its tablet portfolio in the form of AX03G. Similar to the predecessor AX02, it also runs on Android 4.0 and has priced it at INR 9,990. The old model will now be sold for Rs. 7,990.iBerry Auxus AX03G comes with 1GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory (16GB memory card bundled), and 7-inch capacitive WVGA display. The tablet also features 3G connectivity as well as voice calling function.
The only difference between AX02 and AX03G is the 3G connectivity and the the upgraded internal storage.
More and more manufacturers are increasingly offering budget tablets in the country and until now we have seen HCL, Micromax and Zync launch ICS tablets.
Key Specs

• 1.0 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor with dual Mali-400 GPU
• Android 4.0
• 1GB RAM
• Expandable MicroSD slot upto 32GB
• 7-inch display
• In-built SIM slot, GSM (2G/3G) 900/1800/2100MHz with voice-calling
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth
• 2 MP rear camera, 0.3 MP front camera
• 4000mAh battery

Siri in Google

Google is expected to announce its own voice-controlled assistant for Android on June 27th. With Google's vast language resources this new rival has huge potential.

Google, the company behind Android, is expected to release its own voice assistance capability for Android at this week's I/O conference.
While Android already has, though slightly limited, a voice assistant in the form of Android Voice Actions system, this new product which has been code-named Majel is expected to be a significant one.

HTC on Saturday hinted at a possible Siri rival through its Twitter and Facebook page, Samsung already has something called S-Voice recently released on the Samsung Galaxy SIII, even LG week revealed Quick Voice, a personal voice-control assistant which features natural-language processing technology, to let its smartphone users search, write emails and so on-with built-in support for interactivity with 11 apps at its start, though right now it's confined to Korea. Even our home grown Micromax has rolled out something called AISHA.
While Siri on iPhone is by far most praised voice assistance service, if Google manages to use its resources well, this new product will have fabulous capabilities. Google has capabilities in almost all the spoken language in the world and a deep understanding of them thanks to its Translation engines and ample research that has already gone behind this capability.
But then knowing a language and using that knowledge to devise a new application are two entirely different things. But given Google's track record in creating technologies, we are very hopeful of a well made and useful application that can potentially be a game changer especially given the fact that it will bring voice activation tech to the masses as Android phones are much cheaper than that of iPhone.

Micromax Funbook

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MRP: 6499

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Digit Rating: Average

3/5

Features:

Performance:

Value:

Design:

PROS

• 1.2GHz processor
• 1080p MP4 playback
• Android 4.0 ICS
• Very slim design

CONS

• Touchscreen performance is underwhelming
• Screen is easily susceptible to glare

Summary

The Micromax Funbook is the cheapest ICS budget tablet to hit the streets at Rs. 6,499. Its biggest compromise when compared to the competition is the build and the battery. The screen too is a bit disappointing. Having said that, this is the slimmest budget ICS tablet available today. The 1080p MP4 playback was smooth and games like Angry Birds Space and Pool Master ran well. If you are in the market to pick up a budget tablet and are on a really tight budget, you can consider the Micromax Funbook.

Bye-bye Windows: Dell launches laptops with Ubuntu OS in India

On the same day as Microsoft announced its own foray into the hardware turf via its tablet computer called Surface, Dell has decided to launch personal computers in India loaded with Ubuntu.
Ubuntu, is a widely used Linux-based open source software and Dell India, along with Canonical Ltd., the UK-based owner, has decided to sell personal computers based on it.
In a statement, Canonical Ltd., which is the sponsor of Ubuntu software project, said that it has “entered into agreement with Dell to sell PCs loaded with Ubuntu”. The Ubuntu OS will be loaded on Dell laptops and netbooks only.
“The machines — including the new Inspiron 14R and 15R — will be available with Ubuntu pre-installed from June 21 and more models are slated for release later in the year,” Canonical CEO Jane Silber told reporters.

Screengrab

Dell, at present, sells PCs loaded with proprietary Microsoft Windows operating system, which is a paid software.
“The Ubuntu loaded PCs will be sold in 850 retail outlets in India,” Silber said. She added that the deal is part of company’s strategy to increase penetration in India market.
“Our focus is to build private cloud computing system for business houses in India. There is huge opportunity for companies to reduce their cost by deploying Ubuntu by replacing their proprietary OS,” Silber said.
So what exactly are the advantages with Ubuntu? Well more than being a free operating system, it is also relatively stable, much faster, virus-free and very similiar to Apple’s Unix based OS. Ubuntu is based on the Debian Linux distribution.
The cool thing about Ubuntu is that most updates and bugs are fixed by a community of coders and developers, who’ve been contributing to the project. Users have the option of installing Ubuntu simultaneously along with their Windows OS and choosing which one to run while booting up.
It’s interesting that Dell has gone for Ubuntu on the same day as Microsoft launched a tablet PC, Surface. The free-operating software revolution which is has been restricted to geeks and tech junkies will finally be going mainstream with Dell releasing Ubuntu loaded computers.
But will average users like the new OS? Will unfamiliarity doom the ‘commercial success’ of Ubuntu? Hopefully not because Ubuntu does have some serious edge over a regular Windows OS in terms of how convenient it can be. It’s very hard to lose data with Ubuntu, a problem that plagues many Windows users.  With Ubuntu-developers creating various apps to run Windows applications on Ubuntu, the switch shouldn’t be so difficult.