iPad 2 Launching In India Next Week ?

Tired of waiting for Apple products to arrive in India???
Not any more, OnlyGizmos reports that the Apple iPad 2 might be launching in India as soon as next week.
This is good news for all those people wanting to get their hand on this smoking hot device!!

Apple iPad2 will be priced Rs. 27,999 for the 16GB WiFi model.
The top end 64GB, 3G + WiFi model is expected to cost Rs 44,999.

Apple has decided to price the iPad2 same as the original iPad, and acquire the tablet space in India!!
This move from Apple will be welcomed by all the gadget lovers in India!!

The tablet will be available via Vijay Stores, Chroma and Reliance iStores.

Will you be getting one???

[ODIN] Installing 2.2 Froyo DDJP2 on Samsung Galaxy 3

Lots of people are facing issues updating their Galaxy 3 GT-I5801 (Apollo) via Kies.
I’m providing the instructions for flashing I5801DDJP2 on your Samsung Galaxy 3 via ODIN.

For installing any firmware on Samsung Galaxy 3 I5801(Apollo) you need the following prerequisites:

1. You need to have the Samsung drivers for your Samsung Galaxy 3 installed on the desktop. (To do so simply install Samsung Kies from here, after installing get the latest drivers for your Samsung device by going to Tools Menu -> Install Drivers)
2. Make sure you have charged your battery, 50% or higher is preferable. (To be on a safer side charge your mobile to 100%)
3. Make sure you have download mode working. (Turn off your mobile by pressing the power button, once switched off press and hold “power button + menu button + vol down button” simultaneously.)
4. The next important point is to download the I5801DDJP2 firmware from here.
5. Next you need to have ODIN-MultiUploader-v4.252.
6. You also need to have the Galaxy Apollo .OPS file
7. Make sure you back up all your data, contacts and other information before flashing 2.2 DDJP2 on your Galaxy 3 GT-I5801

Once you have all the things mentioned above you can now flash DDJP2 on your Samsung Galaxy 3 in a few minutes…

Extract I5801DDJP2.rar file with the password “samfirmware.com”.

Kindly follow the instructions mentioned below:

1. Enter Download Mode by pressing power button + menu button + vol down button simultaneously.
2. Open ODIN and then plug in the USB cable.
3. Ensure that you see something written in ID:COM after connecting your device.
4. Flashing Steps:
   1. In ODIN Multi Downloader, there is an option “One Package” you need to have that ticked.
   2. The next step is the select the OPS and One Package files
      1. Select the “apollo_0531.ops” file in OPS.
      2. Select the “I5801DDJP2.tar” file by clicking One Package button at the bottom.
   3. Click on Start wait till you see pass in ODIN before you unplug your phone.
   

Congratulations!! You have successfully flashed 2.2 Froyo-DDJP2 firmware on your Samsung Galaxy 3.

You can now upgrade your phone via Kies, the instructions for upgrading Galaxy 3 GT-I5801 via Kies to 2.2 Froyo-DDJP2.

You can now get Swype working on DDJP2!
Here is the link for detailed instructions Swype-DDJP2!.

Getting Swype working on I5801DDJP2

The latest update for Galaxy 3 GT-I5801 DDJP2 has some issues.

The most noticeable one is Swype keyboard not working!

Swype being the most fastest way for typing on the Galaxy 3, DDJP2 was a major disappointment for G3 users.

There is some good news though you can now get Swype working by following some simple instructions..

You can now get Swype working on DDJP2!

1. Root your phone with Super One Click from here.
2. Install Titanium BackUp.
3. Wipe data and uninstall Swype from Titanium.
4. Restart your G3.
5. Opened swypeinc.com and register.
6. You will get an activation mail in inbox.
7. Click on activation link, you will again get one mail with “swype installer” link in it.
8. Install it & Open.
9. Log in and it will give two options to download
   1. Swype Beta Full (10mb)
   2. Swype English/Spanish (2.5mb)
10. Choose option 2. English/Spanish.
11. Download and Install.
12. Now go to Settings->rom locale and swype enable swype.

All credit goes to ‘satyamsit‘ from XDA Developers, original link for instructions Swype-DDJP2.

If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Installing official Gingerbread 2.3.3(XWJVB) on Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung rolled out its Gingerbread 2.3.3(XWJVB) update for Samsung Galaxy S via Kies for some European countries.

If you don’t wish to upgrade your Galaxy S GT-I9000 over Kies then you can install Gingerbread 2.3.3(XWJVB) on your Galaxy S by following these instructions…

For updating Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000(SGS) to latest version of Gingerbread 2.3.3 you need the following prerequisites:

1. You need to have the Samsung drivers for your SGS installed on the desktop. To do so simply install Samsung Kies. Samsung Kies version 2.0.0.11032_12_9 can be downloaded from here.
2. Make sure you have charged your battery, 50% or higher is preferable. (To be on a safer side charge your mobile to 100%)
3. Make sure you have download mode working. (Turn off your mobile by pressing the power button, once switched off press and hold “power button + menu button + vol down button” simultaneously)
4. The next important point is to download the firmware for upgrading. The official 2.3.3 Gingerbread is I9000XXJVB, here is the link for the firmware.(Password for rar file is samfirmware.com) firmware source http://www.samfirmware.com
5. You need to have ODIN v1.3(the software used to update your SGS), you can download ODIN v1.3 from here.

Once you have all the things mentioned above you can now upgrade your SGS to XXJVB in a few minutes.

Kindly follow the instructions mentioned below:

1. Extract the firmware you will find a folder named “JVB-JV3-JVK” inside that folder there will be 3 files “CSC_I9000NEEJV3.tar.md5”, “PDA_I9000XWJVB.tar.md5”, “PHONE_I9000XXJVK.tar.md5”.
   
2. Enter Download Mode by pressing power button + menu button + vol down button simultaneously.
3. Open ODIN and then plug in the USB cable.
4. Ensure that you see something written in ID:COM after connecting your device.
   
5. NO NEED TO SELECT PIT.
6. Click on PDA and select the PDA file “PDA_I9000XWJVB.tar.md5” from extracted folder.
7. Click on PHONE and select the PHONE file “PHONE_I9000XXJVK.tar.md5” from extracted folder.
8. Click on CSC and select the CSC file “CSC_I9000NEEJV3.tar.md5” from extracted folder.(You should see something like this in odin)
   
9. DO NOT tick Re-Partition.
10. Check if both Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time are ticked.(both are ticked by default)
11. Press Start button to begin the flashing process.
12. You will see the progress in both ODIN and your phone.
13. Your phone will restart.(You should see green color in PASS and ID:COM fields)
    You can now disconnect the USB cable from your phone and follow on screen instructions.
    

Congratulations! you have now successfully updated your SGS to the official 2.3.3 Gingerbread firmware(I9000XXJVB).

Here are some screenshots of the official Gingerbread 2.3.3(XWJVB)…

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!!

Samsung releases Gingerbread firmware for Galaxy S users!!

People always keep complaining that Samsung is slow with the updates!!

Samsung has just released their official Gingerbread 2.3.3 as mentioned earlier.

This is the official upgrade is for Nordic regions.

You can upgrade to this firmware using Samsung Kies if you are from Nodic regions.

The official upgrade is I9000XWJVB.
XWJVB is a 2.3.3 Gingerbread firmware!!
Build Date of XWJVB is 8th April 2011.

With this Samsung has proved that its improved a lot in the past year, and has understood that providing support is importance for their devices to sell well in this competitive market!!

Samsung Galaxy S is the first non-Nexus phone to get Gingerbread 2.3.3 officially!!!

Only Nexus S and Nexus One are running 2.3.3 Gingerbread currently..

Update(17-04-2011):

If you have installed the XWJS8 firmware installed from here, then you can update directly from Samsung Kies.

As soon as you connect your Galaxy S to the PC, you will be prompted with this upgrade message!!!

Follow the on screen instructions to get your Samsung Galaxy S updated to the official 2.3.3 Gingerbread..

OR

Here are instructions for Installing 2.3.3 Gingerbread XWJVB on Galaxy S using ODIN.

[Official]Upgrading Samsung Galaxy 3 I5801 to 2.2 [DDJP2-India] via Kies

Samsung India just pushed their 2.2 Froyo upgrade for I5801 Galaxy 3 users via Kies.

All Galaxy 3 users in India get to taste the Froyo version of Android OS officially!
The official Froyo update is I5801DDJP2.
To update to this version of Froyo you need to install Samsung Kies version 2.0.0.11032_12_9, this software can be downloaded from here.
This software can be installed on Windows XP/Vista/7.

Prerequisites:

1. For being eligible for getting this upgrade you must be running Samsung’s 2.1 DDJG6 firmware.
   If you have installed any other version then you need to first flash 2.1 DDJG6 and then upgrade to 2.2 Froyo DDJP2.
   To install 2.1 DDJG6 follow instructions from here.
2. Your Galaxy 3 must be charged at least 50%. I recommend charging it to 100%.
3. Make sure you have a fast internet connection. Your entire firmware will be downloaded first and then flashed.
4. Make sure you sync all your contacts and backup all your data before upgrading.

Once you install Samsung Kies, connect your Galaxy 3 to your computer and follow the on screen instructions…

I’ll go through the entire process here.

1. As soon as you connect your Galaxy 3, Samsung Kies will prompt you for a firmware upgrade for your device.

2. Now click on update to begin the process.
3. Read the instructions carefully and tick the checkbox that says I have read all the above information.
4. Now click on Start upgrade button to actually begin the upgrade process, make sure you have read all the instructions before starting the upgrade process.


5. PLEASE DO NOT DISCONNECT THE CABLE CONNECTED TO THE PC.
6. It will now prepare to upgrade your GT-I5801.

7. After that it will download the actual firmware for flashing your GT-I5801. This step might take some time, depending on the speed of your internet connection.

8. Once the firmware is downloaded, it will start to actually install the downloaded firmware on your Galaxy 3 GT-I5801.

9. Once the installation is completed, you will get “Firmware upgrade complete” message and the description of the upgrade as seen below,

10. Your phone will restart, it will take some time to start for the first time, and you will be stuck on black screen with Samsung written at the center.
11. Once your phone starts you can now remove and plug in the USB cable and click on GT-I5801 you will see the message “This is the latest firmware” on your screen.

12. Congratulations you have successfully upgraded your Galaxy 3 GT-I5801(Apollo) to 2.2 DDJP2 Froyo!!!

Here are some screenshots of the new DDJP2 Froyo build from Samsung for Galaxy 3 GT-I5801(Apollo),

Have you upgraded your Galaxy 3 to the latest 2.2 Froyo Official from Samsung India????

Update(18-04-2011):

You can now get Swype working on DDJP2!

Here is the link for detailed instructions Swype-DDJP2!.

Note: All those who want to flash 2.2 Froyo-DDJP2 on their Galaxy 3 without using Kies can follow instructions from [ODIN] Installing 2.2 Froyo DDJP2 on Samsung Galaxy 3.

Vodafone 3G Prepaid & Postpaid Tariff announced

Vodafone offered a free trial of 3G services to all it’s customers at 2G rates for almost a month.

The free trial ended on 10th of April. Free 3G services of all customers having activated 2G plans ended yesterday, and they were moved to their respective 2G plans.

Today vodafone has declared their 3G tariff for both prepaid and postpaid customers.

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Prepaid 3G tariff plans
Product Category	Recharges	Allowance (MB)	Validity	Charges on usage beyond allowance within validity	How to activate	How to Deactivate
Mobile Internet	99	100	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI100	Can MI100
Mobile Internet	375	500	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI375	Can MI375
Mobile Internet	850	3GB	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI850	Can MI850
Mobile Internet	1250	5GB	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI1250	Can MI1250
Mobile Internet	499	500 MB + 500 (Local + STD) Mins + 500 SMS	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Internet	999	1000 MB + 1000 (Local + STD) Mins + 1000 SMS	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	650	1GB	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	850	3GB	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	1250	5GB	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	3250	6GB	180	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	4250	18GB	180	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	6250	30GB	180	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116

Postpaid 3G tariff plans
Product Category	Recharges	Allowance (MB)	Validity	Charges on usage beyond allowance within validity	How to activate	How to Deactivate
Mobile Internet	100	100	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI100	Can MI100
Mobile Internet	375	500	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI375	Can MI375
Mobile Internet	850	3GB	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI850	Can MI850
Mobile Internet	1250	5GB	30	10p/10Kb	Act MI1250	Can MI1250
Mobile Internet	500	500 MB + 500 (Local + STD) Mins + 500 SMS	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Internet	1000	1000 MB + 1000 (Local + STD) Mins + 1000 SMS	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	650	1GB	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	850	3GB	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	1250	5GB	30	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	Six Months advanced rental 3250	1GB/month for 6 months	180	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	Six Months advanced rental 4250	3 GB/month for 6 months	180	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116
Mobile Broadband	Six Months advanced rental 6250	5 GB/month for 6 months	180	10p/10Kb	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116	Visit a Vodafone Store or call 116

For more information on Vodafone 3G services check out this link.

Making Windows 7 faster: speed up your PC – [PART2]

Windows 7 is a great operating system and is a major upgrade over Windows Vista.

Do you still feel your PC running Windows 7 is running slower than expected???

By following a few simple guidelines, you can maintain your computer, help increase your PC speed, and help keep it running smoothly.

This is the second part of guidelines for making Windows 7 faster here is the first part Making Windows 7 faster: speed up your PC – [PART1]

1. Disabling Windows 7 aero user interface

   The aero user interface certainly adds some “Eyecandy” to Windows 7 but certainly consumes a lot of resources.

   Aero user interface squeezes your graphics or video card to its maximum.

   If we care more about speed and performance in Windows 7 then disabling the aero UI is the best thing to do to get that missing performance boost.

   Disabling aero UI:

   1. Right Click on your Desktop and select “Personalize”.
   2. Select the “Windows 7 Basic Theme” from Basic and High Contrast Themes
   

   Disabling the aero theme alone in Windows 7 will really speed things up.

2. Turn off Windows features

   In Windows 7 you can turn off Windows components — such as Internet Explorer, Windows Search, the Gadget platform, and media features — that you couldn’t disable in earlier versions of Windows.

   To Turn off Windows features:

   1. Click Start, go to Control Panel and select Programs And Features.
   2. In the left pane, click Turn Windows Features On Or Off.
   3. Simply select or deselect the check boxes to enable or disable the various Windows features.
   4. Once you have done that, click OK.
   
3. Defragment your disks

   The defragmentation process searches your disk partitions and makes sure that the stored files are in one contiguous piece which results in better system performance.

   Windows 7 has improved disk defragmentation utility which gives users more control over defragmentation tasks.

   The most important features of Windows 7 defragmenter is that it lets you safely terminate the defrag process any time without any adverse effect and can defrag multiple volumes at the same time.

   To start the defragmentation process

   1. Go to Start.
   2. Click on All Programs Accessories.
   3. Click on System Tools.
   4. Select Disk Defragmenter.
   5. Click on “Defragment disk” to start the defragmentation process.
      

   You can also schedule the defragmentation process, by clicking on “Configure schedule”, then you can choose the frequency, Day, Time and the disks you want to defragment as per your convenience.

No need to hesitate! Speed up your Windows 7 now!

Making Windows 7 faster: speed up your PC – [PART1]

Windows 7 is a great operating system and is a major upgrade over Windows Vista.

Do you still feel your PC running Windows 7 is running slower than expected???

By following a few simple guidelines, you can maintain your computer, help increase your PC speed, and help keep it running smoothly.

1. Free up disk space

   The Disk Cleanup tool helps you to free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

   Use Disk Cleanup to:

   • Remove temporary Internet files.
   • Delete downloaded program files, such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets.
   • Empty the Recycle Bin.
   • Remove Windows temporary files, such as error reports.
   • Delete optional Windows components that you don’t use.
   • Delete installed programs that you no longer use.
   • Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore.

   Procedure to perform disk clean up:

   1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.
   2. When Disk Cleanup has calculated how much space you can free up, in the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list.
   
   3. Clear the check boxes for files that you don’t want to delete, and then click OK.
      • For more options, such as cleaning up System Restore and Shadow copy files, under Description, click Clean up system files, and then click the More Options tab.
   4. When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

   After a few minutes, the process will complete and the Disk Cleanup dialog box will close, leaving your computer cleaner, performing better, and potentially increasing your PC speed.

2. Disable Search Indexing

   If you don’t yes Windows Search functionality very often then you can disable the search indexing. Windows 7, In order to speed up the search process scans all your files and folders and indexes them in a file. In this process it consumes some processing power and if you use search functionality very rarely then you are better off without this feature.

   To turn off search indexing:

   1. In start type “services.msc” and press enter.
   2. Services Dialog Box will be displayed, locate the Windows Search service in the list of services, right click it
   3. Now select Stop, the search service will be stopped.
   4. Next click on Properties.
   5. In the startup type drop down box, choose the Disabled option.
   
3. Remove Unwanted Startup Programs

   Startup programs run when your login to the system, so have a look at which programs you have allowed to run on start up, as you might find many of those in the list which you no longer need at all or you do not need them to start on the system boot up.

   For disabling unwanted programs from running on startup:

   1. Click Start, then type “msconfig” and hit Enter.
   2. Now in the System Configuration window
   3. Go to the startup tab and uncheck the programs that you don’t want to run upon startup.
   

Making Windows 7 faster: speed up your PC – [PART2]

BSNL makes 3G cheaper, revises Tariff for 3G Data Card Users

State owned telecom operator BSNL has decided to revise their 3G Tariff for 3G Data Card Users. According to the new tariff, plans will start from as low as Rs. 100 and go all the way up to Rs. 2000.
This new tariff will force the private telecos to reduce their 3G pricing in order to survive in this competition.
This move from the state owned BSNL definitely takes us one step closer towards affordable 3G!!

Here are all the details of new and revised plans for Postpaid and Prepaid users.
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For Prepaid
Particulars	New	Existing	Revised	Existing	Revised	New
Data RCV in Rs.(Inclusive Service Tax)	100	275	200	440	400	2000
Free Usage in GB	0.25	0.50	0.50	1.00	1.00	22.00

For Postpaid
Particulars	New	Existing	Revised	Existing	Revised	New
Data RCV in Rs.(Service Tax Extra)	89	249	189	399	369	1819
Free Usage in GB	0.25	0.50	0.50	1.00	1.00	22.00

The above tariff will be implemented with effect from 11th April 2011.