Spotify Android App Receives Major Redesign

Spotify has unveiled a major redesign to its Android application today, providing users with a much cleaner and more visually pleasing application to use, more inline with Spotify’s excellent Windows Phone app.

The new Spotify design incorporates a new slide-out navigation system, which is accessible from the top left corner of the app, and provides easy navigation to all areas of the overhauled Spotify application.

However Spotify has stated that the update, will not be automatically pushed to devices for the time being, but is fully compatible with Google’s latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) operating system. If you are interested in giving the newly revamped Spotify Android App a blast, a beta version is already to download and can be installed.

To install the Spotify beta version, you’ll first need to permit your phone to allow installation from “Unknown Sources” under Settings > Applications > Unknown Sources. Then download the .apk file from Spotify’s website on to your smartphone, and install it over the existing Spotify app with the required permissions.

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Samsung Unveils New WiFi Equipped Mirrorless Camera Range NX20, NX210 and NX1000

Today Samsung has revealed it new line mirror less cameras which are equipped with WiFi, in the form of the new Samsung NX20, NX210 and NX1000. The new range of 2012 cameras replace the existing NX11, NX100, and NX200, and are now equipped with WiFi technology to take advantage of Samsung’s “Smart” features. Which allow you to connect to social networks such as Facebook directly from the camera via a WiFi network to publish photographs.

All three cameras are equipped with a 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor, 8fps continuous shooting at full resolution and full-HD video recording. There are a few other new features and cosmetic changes but the rangefinder-style NX210 and DSLR-shaped NX20 are remarkably different from their predecessors in design.

“The NX20 is built for the enthusiastic amateur or for the professional photographer looking for a camera that offers them the quality and control of their DSLR, but in a lightweight and easily portable body. It has been designed with the serious photographer in mind, incorporating an ergonomic hand grip and DSLR-style aesthetic to convey a professional look and feel.

The NX210 builds on the NX’s design heritage, with a premium metallic finish. Like its predecessor the NX200, the NX210 also offers a 3.0” VGA AMOLED display for viewing images and Full HD movies in brilliant resolution. With easy access to Wi-Fi functions, the NX210 allows quick sharing with friends and family, whilst with Samsung Mobile Link users can show off their best images on phones and tablets.

Rounding off the range, the NX1000 is highly portable and its eye-catching compact design makes it as useable as it is attractive. Available in stunning White, classic Black and eye-catching Pink the NX1000 houses a feature-rich range of specs, with technology such as Smart Auto 2.0 and the Smart Link Hot Key, making it simpler than ever to shoot and share great images instantly. “

The Samsung NX20 will be available in the beginning of May for $1,099.99, whilst the Samsung NX210 for $899.99 will arrive mid-May, and the Samsung NX1000 has yet to receive a price or arrival date as yet.

More details on exact specifications can be found over on the Samsung website.

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Worlds First Intel Powered Smartphone The Lava Xolo X900 Arriving April 23rd

Intel and Lava, one of India’s fastest-growing mobile handset companies, have this week announced that their new Lava Xolo X900, the worlds first smartphone powered by an Intel processor will be arriving in India on April 23rd.

The Lava Xolo X900 smartphone is powered by a 1.6 GHz Atom processor with Hyper Threading Technology, together with a 400 MHz graphics clock and the full HD 1080p video recording and playback capabilities.

The Lava Xolo X900 is also fitted with a 4.03-inch high-resolution LCD touch screen and 8-megapixel camera, with a burst mode feature allowing 10 pictures to be captured in under a second.

Its internal battery has been designed to provide up to 5 hours of 3G browsing, 45 hours of audio and 8 hours of talk time. Mike Bell, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of the Mobile and Communications Group explains:

“The first smartphone with Intel inside is now available to Indian consumers,”-“The boundaries of personal computing are expanding. As we enter the India market with our first smartphone from Lava, the device not only showcases the rich capabilities and user benefits of Intel computing, but also highlights the exciting possibilities of what’s still to come.”

No information on pricing or worldwide availability has been released as yet.

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Microsoft SkyDrive Update Adds ODF Support, 300MB File Uploads And More

Microsoft has this week released a new update for its SkyDrive product, that allows you to host and share files within a cloud based infrastructure, and access them from your web browser.

The new update has now enable the ability for the service to support Open Document Format (ODF), which is an XML-based file format for spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents.

As well as ODF support Microsoft has also increased the browser upload cap for the SkyDrive service to 300mb. Together with extra support for Twitter, and Windows Phone users who can now use shortened Twitter URL to link images.

Microsoft also promised that its had big plans for its SkyDrive service and is currently developing new tools and features which it hope to share very soon. Ready to compete with Google Drive when it becomes available shortly.

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Facebook Plans To Go Public On May 17th 2012

t now looks like Facebook has finally penciled in a date for the company to go public. According to sources close to Facebook has now planned the date for its IPO as  May 17th 2012. As long as Facebook can ready all the necessary paperwork for both its IPO and its recent purchase of Instagram for a cool $1 billion, earlier this month.

Facebook is currently valued at around $100 billion suggest sources, and its thought that Facebook is looking to raise $10 billion or less on the $100 billion valuation.

The valuation and with 2.51 billion fully-diluted shares outstanding, would put the share price at around $40. One source close to the proceedings explained: “Investors want as high a price as possible so that the secondary market won’t look like a problem,”. As more information becomes available or is confirmed by Facebook we will keep you updated.

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Google Gmail Meter Unveiled To Analyse Your Gmail Inbox (video)

As if you didn’t already know you were receiving way too much email, Google has this week launched a new Gmail Stats app for Gmail which allows you to view your email messages and replies in more details.

The Gmail Meter is an Apps Script which runs on the first day of every month and sends you an email containing different statistics about your Inbox, such as volume, daily traffic and traffic patterns to name a few.

Gmail Meter is an Apps Script script that lets you analyse your Gmail Inbox, and is easy to setup, check out the video after the jump.

“Volume Statistics show you the number of important and starred messages, the number of people who sent you emails, and more. Volume statistics can be very useful in determining how you are using email efficiency tools like Priority Inbox.

Daily Traffic gives you an estimate of when you receive messages and when you send them during a given month. For example, in the graph below you can see how the peaks in my “Sent” curve indicates that I write emails in spurts.”

For full details on the Gmail Stats script jump over to the Google website for more information.

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Fantastic DIY Flight Simulator Made From Old Boeing 737 Cockpit (video)

We have featured a number of flight simulator devices and software over the years here on Geeky Gadgets, but this homemade one by Oakland Air Traffic Control Center in Fremont and a private pilot, is definitely the best DIY version we have seen.

Using the cockpit and nose section of a 1969 Boeing 737 aircraft, James Price of Pleasanton U.S. has constructed his very own fully functional flight simulator in his garage. Watch the video after the jump to see it in action.

The project took over three years to complete and Price has programmed the software and rewired all the instruments to make his flight simulator feel and react just like the real thing. Price told the San Jose Mercury newspaper:

“I don’t think it will ever really be finished…I will tinker with it for years to come. There is always some new technology coming along that is too irresistible not to add to my project. … This is pretty fulfilling. I can both practice and realize my dream to fly jets. Everybody has to have their crazy hobby.”

Its been reported that the DIY flight simulator may have cost as much as $150,000 to construct, but as you can see from the video below, its worth every penny. Great job!

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Nokia Lumia 610 Lands In Asia

Nokia has announced that they have started rolling out their budget Windows Phone smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 610 in Asia, with the device launching in the Philippines in the last week of April and then China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam over the next few weeks.

As a reminder, the Nokia Lumia 610 features  a 3.7 inch WVGA capacitive LCD touchscreen display which has a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, and it also comes with a a single core Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 800MHz processor, 256MB of RAM and 16GB of built in storage.

“The Nokia Lumia 610 will introduce Windows Phone to a new generation of smartphone users, offering something very different to the monochromatic smartphones filling shelves today,” said Jo Harlow, Head of Smart Devices at Nokia. “PeopleHub, Nokia services and quality apps – coupled with a fast and friendly interface – will make for a great smartphone experience at a great price.”

The Nokia Lumia 610 has a a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and an LED flash, plus a 1300 mAh battery, the device will be available for 189 Euros before taxes.

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