Acer and Google unveil new touchscreen Chromebase for meetings

A Gartner report claimed that Acer is the world’s leading Chromebook brand with over 33 percent market share in 2015. Now, it further expands the lineup with a new touchscreen Chromebase (CA24V), an all-in-one system dedicated for video-conferencing.
The new Chromebase includes all the hardware, software and services that one may require in a small video conference room, says Acer. It also includes 24 x 7 technical support. It features a large 24-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display with IPS technology with up to 178-degree wide viewing angles. To ensure that participants can hear and respond properly, it has four microphones and two speakers. There’s the adjustable HD webcam and a chassis that tilts from 5 to 30 degrees.
The Chromebase for meeting solution utilises Google Hangouts to host videoconferences with up to 25 participants, supporting multiple device platforms such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. A meeting link will allow colleagues to join the call, irrespective of where they are.
Moreover, enterprise IT administrators can deploy and manage multiple Chrome devices via Chrome Device Management. It reduces the workload of technical support and eventually the cost, claims the company. The Chromebase for meetings also integrates with other videoconferencing systems and existing phone systems.
Automatic updates will be released every six weeks to ensure security, says Acer. All the data stored will be encrypted and protected by its TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 1.2 chip. On each boot up, Verified Boot will check the integrity and validity of system files.
The Chromebase for meetings will be available at $799 that translates to approximately Rs 52,900 in the US. The amount is inclusive of the first year’s $250 management and support fee. It is available for users in Canada, UK, Ireland, and Australia.

BSNL to launch 4G services in 14 telecom circles

State-owned BSNL is gearing up to launch 4G services in 14 telecom circles where it has 20MHz liberalised broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum.
The company, which has already soft launched 4G services in Chandigarh, is exploring two methods – revenue sharing model and capex model – for the 4G rollout.
The company has 20MHz liberalised spectrum in 2,500MHz band which allows it to rollout 4G services without any licensing hurdles.
A senior official said BSNL will be installing 4G base tower stations (BTS) in the existing GSM sites, which means there will be no additional expenditure on towers.
Regarding the device ecosystem for 2,500MHz band, the official said sufficient number of 4G handsets makers like Apple, Motorola, Lenovo, Google, Nokia are already available in the market.
“By considering all the facts, it appears that launch of 4G services in 2,500Mhz band is feasible and commercially remunerative,” he added.
However, the company is yet to finalise a timeline for the launch.
In January, the company demonstrated speed of 35 Mbps during the soft launch in Chandigarh.
BSNL will be the latest entrant in the 4G space, which has seen in action recently with the top mobile operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular commencing services in various circles.
Also, Reliance Jio Infocomm is set to commercially launch 4G services soon, which will further intensify competition in the market.
Elaborating on the models for 4G rollout, the official said in revenue share model, BSNL will be extending passive infrastructure and its BWA spectrum and other elements like BTS will be arranged by the vendor or franchisee.
“This model is best suited as BSNL will not incur expenditure and much of the investment required will be borne by the vendor. This can be initiated in all 14 service areas.
4G customers will be owned by BSNL and billing will be done by BSNL,” the official said.
On the capex model, the official said procurement of essential LTE (long-term evolution) elements can be initiated in some select cities of one circle on experimental basis.
However, this model involves procurement cost and also integration cost.
The company will explore both the methods before taking a final call on the rollout.
BSNL had paid Rs. 8,313.80 crores for 2,500MHz spectrum in all its service areas but later returned airwaves in 6 of them which include Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kolkata.

Asus launches ZenFone Go LTE at Rs 7,999; to be sold on Amazon and Snapdeal

Asus has launched its latest smartphone called the ZenFone Go 5.0 (LTE) at Rs 7,999 which will be selling on Amazon India and Snapdeal.
Coming in a 5-inch HD IPS display, the ZenFone Go 5.0 (LTE) as the name implies comes with 4G LTE support. It houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor which is paired with 2GB of RAM. The phone comes with 16GB of storage and it can be expanded to 32GB using a microSD card slot. It runs on Android 4.4 KitKat along with the ZenUI skin atop the OS.
On the camera front, you get an 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front-camera. The phone comes in the dual SIM configuration, supports Wi-fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and so on.
The phone houses a 2500mAh battery and comes in charcoal black and pearl white colours.
For all practical purposes, this looks like an upgrade of the ZenFone Go that was launched at this same price in September last year. In terms of specifications, the smartphone sports a 5-inch display with a 1280 x 720 HD resolution, sporting a pixel density of 294ppi. It is powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor clocked at 1.3GHz paired with 2GB RAM.