Live Indian Independence Day for the first time on YouTube

Yes, you heard it right. YouTube, in association with Doordarshan will live stream the 67th Independence Day celebrations to be held on Thursday in the capital along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s address to the nation.

This association will enable millions of Indians worldwide to enjoy high definition live feed on Doordarshan's YouTube channel and get front row access to all celebrations lined up for the grand event.

The live streaming of the celebrations, a first for YouTube, will be available on August 15 from 6:25 a.m. (IST) onwards, including the flag-hoisting ceremony by the Prime Minister. Highlight clips will also be available for viewers. 

Doordarshan Director General Tripurari Sharan said this move will help the channel to reach a global audience in a format that best suits today's generation. Earlier this year, streaming of the 64th Republic Day Parade also received a tremendous response with over a lakh views. The objective is to cater to Indian and global audiences and take events of national importance beyond their TV screens.

Royal Enfield Bullet 500 launched in India for INR 1.53Lacs

Royal Enfield has now officially launched the new Bullet 500 in India. In India, the Bullet brand of motorcycles enjoys quite a cult status and has been synonymous with toughness and dependability. Such has been the ruggedness quotient of the bike that it has been associated with the Indian Army since 1955. The new Bullet 500 is an attempt to provide the aficionados with a perfect amalgam of iconic design and modern technology.

The latest avatar of the iconic Bullet is powered by a carbureted 500 cc Unit Construction Engine (UCE) that has a very healthy torque figure of 40.9 Nm. Talking about the modernity, the new Bullet 500 comes equipped with modern day features such as front disc brakes, electric starter and rear gas shock absorbers. At front, the bike is equipped with 130mm telescopic front suspensions. The piece de resistance on the new Bullet 500 is the hand-painted tank that invokes a sense of nostalgia. The headlamp cluster too has the traditional Bullet styling. Combined to this authentic Bullet design detail is the 55w headlamp that should enhance the visibility during night riding.

The Bullet 500 goes on sale with a sticker price of INR 1,53,855/- (on road price for Delhi).

The Royal Enfield Bullet 500 will be launched in a phased manner across the country. Initially the product will be launched in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi-NCR and Kerala which have traditionally been the best markets for the Bullet.

Nexus 7 in Google Play India for 15999

Finally, Google has started selling Nexus 7 tablet in India via Google Play Store. Just to remind all of you, it is the first Android and Nexus device to ever become available directly from the search giant in the country. The 16GB version is being sold for INR 15,999 in India whereas the same can be bought for INR 10777 (199 $) in USA.

Made in partnership with Asus, Google Nexus 7 is termed a commercial success and the companies had sold around 4.5 million units of the tablet in 2012. The numbers would have gone up since then.

The Nexus 7 tablet features 1.2GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM and 7-inch 1280x800p resolution backlit IPS display with Corning Glass. Full specifications of the tablets are as below:

• Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Lithium-ion polymer 4,325 mAh battery
• 1.2 GHz (1.3 GHz in single-core mode) quad-core Cortex-A9 NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L
• 16, or 32 GB flash memory
• 1 GB RAM DDR3L
• 7-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 1280×800 WXGA pixels resolution (216 ppi)
• Scratch-resistant Corning Fit Glass
• 416 MHz twelve-core Nvidia GeForce ULP GPU
• Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, GPS, magnetometer, microphone
• 1.2 MP front-facing camera
• 3.5 mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz), NFC, Micro USB 2.0, docking pins
• Dimensions: 198.5×120×10.56 mm (7.81×4.7×0.416 in)
• Weight: 340 g

For those already interested, here is a 5 step process to order your own tablet on Google Play :

5 viable alternates to Canvas HD : The smartphone on-demand

Leading smartphone manufacturer Micromax has been making rounds in the tech headlines since quite a long time for its Canvas HD. With the hype created on the phablet, consumers have now started asking "Where is Canvas HD?" As of now, there is no clear information on the specific date of the arrival of Canvas HD even for those who booked it.

Just to revive, Micromax Canvas HD packs a 5 inch HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 1.2GHz quad core MediaTek MT6589 processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, 8MP rear camera, VGA front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS and a 2,100 mAh battery.

Canvas HD was announced on the eve of Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos release in India. With superior specifications and lesser price tag, the Micromax offering created a great impact on the Samsung phablet, however, it could not stay for a long time as Canvas HD went out of stock since the day of its release, while Galaxy Grand Duos is making scorching sales in the nation. For those who are eagerly waiting for their Canvas HD, it will take around another two weeks to get their hands on it.

For those who can not wait this long, Micromax is not the only budget phablet with high-end specs. Following the launch of Canvas HD, several India based vendors have also started coming up with their multi-core Jelly Bean offerings in order to counteract it. Few of these smartphones  with their specifications in brief are :

1. Karbonn Titanium S5 : Titanium S5, from another Indian smartphone manufacturer Karbonn, boasts a 5 inch qHD multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, 1.2GHz quad core processor, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage, micro SD card slot, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and a 2,000 mAh battery. Karbonn has priced Titanium S5 at Rs 11,990 making it even cheaper than Canvas HD.

2. Wickedleak Wammy Titan 2 : Wickedleak, the growing gadget manufacturer, launched Wammy Titan 2 boasting a 5.3 inch HD IPS multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels, 1.2GHz quad core MT6589 processor with Power VR SGX544MP GPU, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 12MP rear camera with LED flash and support to Panoramic Shot, 5MP front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS, 3G and a 2,300 mAh Li-Ion battery offering a decent backup.

3. Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos : Galaxy Grand Duos packs a 5 inch multi-touch LCD capacitive touchscreen display with a very low resolution of 480 x 800 pixels, dual core 1.2GHz processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera for video calling, 8GB internal storage capacity, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 64GB additional storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, HDMI, A-GPS, DLNA and a 2,100 mAh Li-ion battery. The phablet is priced at Rs 21,500 and has received a plethora of minor software updates. Price being comparatively higher and specification being a bit low compared to others, but the title Samsung itself adds enough recipe to bring the race on.

4. Lava Xolo A1000 : Lava Xolo A1000 packs a 5 inch HD IPS OGC capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, 1GHz dual core processor, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, 8MP rear camera, 1.2MP front camera, 4GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB expandable storage support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, micro USB 2.0 and a 2,100 mAh battery of undisclosed backup. Xolo A1000 is priced at Rs 13,999 being a reasonable offering.

5. Swipe MTV Volt : Pune based startup, Swipe also launched a Jelly Bean phablet with in partnership with MTV. The phablet dubbed MTV Volt that carries a 6 inch 5 point multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, 1GHz dual core MediaTek MTK 6577 processor for blazing performance, 8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, 512MB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, micro USB 2.0, 3G and a 3,200 mAh Li-Po battery. Further, MTC Volt is priced at Rs 12,999.

News app from All India Radio(AIR) launched for Android

India's 83-year-old radio station just got a little tech-savvy with the launch of an Android app.

The official AIR News app will bring users stories from AIR News network in India. Users get the latest news, national as well as regional from Prasar Bharati, India's Public Service Broadcaster. The official AIR News Android app also brings users India’s regional news bulletins along with special news-based programs. Your Android device needs to be Android version 2.2 or higher to be able to run the app and is a mere 1.9 MB to download.

With the launch of the AIR Android app, the content will be available to people globally. All that is required are an Android device and the ability to connect to the Internet.

Manish Tewari, Minister for Information and Broadcasting said, “This is a landmark step in the history of AIR broadcasting as live webcasting would give the public broadcaster a new profile as far as news dissemination in real time is concerned. This initiative would also enable the listeners of AIR to access the archives at one click of a button. With the use of social media, people can now access the content of AIR in any part of the globe. It would also enable AIR to keep pace with contemporary trends in the social media space.”

So far, on the Google Play store, the app has received an average of 4.7 out of 5 rating and has seen 64 user reviews.

The Android market is flooded with a bunch of radio apps that offer both local as well as international stations, and it is nice to see AIR take the initiative to make a place for itself in the radio app world. In the dawn of the smartphone era, access to radio was considered as a given feature, but today it is a rarity, especially in high-end smartphones.

Those interested can download the AIR app from the Google Play store.