We present to you a list of five most
important new features, that make Android 4.2 aka Jelly Bean operating
system a delight for the users.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012:
It has not been long since
Google rolled out Android 4.2, the upgraded version of Jelly Bean
operating system and it has already become one of the hot favourites of
Android lovers. Google's latest Android offers a host of new features
like better photo editing process and Settings shortcut in the
notification bar. These features are sure to impact your overall
experience of having a smart device. We present to you a list of five
most important new features, which make Android 4.2 a delight for the
users.
Developer Options: It is an important setting,
particularly for the developers and those who like to modify their
Android device the way they want. Though Google has hidden the Developer
Options menu in the settings, but it is just a few taps away from you.
To restore the option, all you need is to open the Settings app, scroll
down to the bottom and tap About Phone. Scroll down again to the bottom
and you will find the Build Number entry. Tap this option seven times
and you will get developer messages starting with the fourth tap. After
the last (seventh) tap, you will see the Developer Options unlocked.
Lock screen widgets:
Widgets have been playing an important role in the Android experience
from the very beginning. Till Android 4.2, Google gave widgets only on
the home screen. But with Android 4.2, users could add widgets like
Gmail and Calendar preview to their lock screen. You can also launch the
camera app with a single swipe after waking up your Android 4.2 device.
But you must be cautious about your privacy before you add the widgets,
so don't miss out checking that aspect.
Disable lock screen widgets:
If you do not like people picking your device and viewing previews of
your messages or your e-mails, an Android developer has come to your
rescue. An app called Lockscreen Policy has been released to eliminate
the widgets and camera shortcut. The app enables users to disable the
lock screen widgets and camera access on Android 4.2 devices.
Improved photo editing:
You may forget the original elements of a picture while editing it but
Android 4.2 will not let you lose on the original beauty of a pic. Just
by a simple gesture, you can reveal the original photo without losing on
any edits that you have made.
Jelly Bean Daydreams: A
new screensaver mode comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean that gets
activated while your device is charging or docked. But Google likes to
call them as Daydreams and not screensavers. Google offers five
pre-installed Daydreams.
Long heralded as the darling of the open web, the standards for HTML5 haven't actually been finalized by the W3C -- it was just recently that the international consortium pledged to get it done by 2014.
So it's good to hear the group just hit a significant milestone on the
road to that goal by publishing the full definition for the spec this
Tuesday. With that accomplished, the next step is interoperability and
performance testing to make sure HTML5 plays nice with any and all
browsers, servers and other web tools.
The W3C hopes that this will
bring "broad HTML 5 interoperability" by 2014, which fits right in to
the organization's philosophy of bringing the entirety of the web -- however divisive -- together.
Facebook
has always enforced a strict policy of only allowing an account to be
setup using your real name. Fake name accounts are registered, but as
soon as Facebook discovers one, it gets deleted.
Whether you like the
real name policy or not, it’s here to stay, unless of course you live in
Germany.
According to the Thilo Weichert, privacy commissioner for the Office
of the Data Protection Commissioner (ULD) in the German state of
Schleswig-Holstein, Facebook is breaking the law by insisting on real
name use. Weichert states that the policy actually breaks data
protection law and has demanded the social network allow nicknames to be used immediately.
Facebook has made it clear they intend to fight the demand, stating
it is up to the service to decide its own rules while remaining within
the law. However, if Weichert is correct, then Facebook may indeed be
breaking German data protection law already. If Facebook intends to
fight the decision, it has two weeks to bring the case to court.
For the moment, the demand is restricted to the state of
Schleswig-Holstein. However, Weichert has already been in contact with
many of the other 15 German states and says most of them agree that
Facebook needs to change its real name policy. If that’s the case, then
Germany could soon become the first country to gain the right to use
nicknames on Facebook.
Would Facebook accept that, or instead stop providing a service to
German users until such a time the real name policy is enforceable
there?
Jeff Huber, senior vice president of commerce and local at Google, revealed on his Google+ page on Monday that the new mapping app experienced more than 10 million downloads in less than 48 hours.
"We're excited for the positive reception of Google Maps for iPhone
around the world," Huber continued. "Congratulations to the Maps Team on
the recognition for the passion and hard work they poured into it, for
this release and over the last 7+ years."
Google Maps for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad debuted late last Wednesday.
The launch of the app follows the firestorm this past fall surrounding Apple's beleaguered efforts to release its own mapping platform. Complaints ranged from inaccurate directions to completely erroneous locations altogether.
Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the problems, admitting that the Cupertino, Calif.-based company "fell short" with the new mapping platform included in iOS 6.
The iPhone maker followed up by highlighting alternative mapping apps
in the App Store, and it was only a matter of time before Google
trotted out its own.
For iOS users who still don't have the app but want to download it, Google Maps for iOS is available for free from iTunes now.
These days, it seems like everyone is innovating for the future. From eco-friendly prefab housing to high-tech city bridges,
companies and cities are putting unique and interesting spins on what
they believe will change our future. But, think about this for a second:
Have you ever thought long and hard about what your thermostat will
look like in 10 or 15 years?
Probably not. Turns out that the thermostat, for better or for worse,
hasn't really changed its form or function in the last few decades,
aside from a digital interface and more sophisticated
temperature-sensing technology. It seems as though there wasn't much to
say about the device until the introduction of the Nest: A high-tech smart thermostat that broke the mold for its minimalist design and mobile, sustainable programming options.
"Before Nest, people didn't care about their thermostat," says Matt
Rogers, co-founder and VP of engineering at Nest. "We've really awoken
that frustration by bringing great design, great technology and a great
experience to the space."
Mashable spoke with Rogers about how the Nest broke the mold
of digital climate control, and what he thinks is going to be the real
thermostat of the future.
What do you think of high-tech climate control? Would you use it in your home? Let us know in the comments.
The Thermostat Speaks
Rogers says that in the year that Nest has officially been on the
market, one of the places where the system has had the biggest impact
the introduction of a "learning" appliance. Instead of a thermostat that
simply controls the temperature in the house, or follows a
(complicated) program set based on a timer, Rogers says that the impact
of introducing learning into the thermostat has changed the way people
view their climate control tendencies.
"If you turn it down before you leave, Nest will learn and turn it down for you," Rogers adds. "It's simple."
He says he expects this sort of learning will lead to an even more
personal thermostat of the future: One that will not only be able to
recognize patterns in a house, but also be custom-tailored to work with
the home's features (a heated floor, for example, instead of a
traditional duct system) to produce an optimized program without any
input or jury-rigging from the user.
"People don't buy ecosystems. People want to buy great things," Rogers says.
Another mold-breaking feature that has proven a boon for the Nest
team is accurate climate reporting month over month. Nest will actually
collect heating and cooling analytics -- which includes the time it
takes to hear or cool a home, how much energy is being used, and the
peak times for energy consumption -- and send them to the user to track
trends. He hopes that this feature becomes an important part of how we
control the climate in our homes in the next few years.
"I think we're just starting to scratch the surface into the things
we can do with our data," Rogers says. "We can understand so much more
about the ecosystem as a whole."
The learning, talking thermostat is bound to be noticed, meaning that
consumers who adopt smart thermostats are also able to understand how
their energy is working for them.
The Thermostat Goes Green (So You Don't Have To)
Which brings the thermostat to another core tenet of Nest's philosophy: sustainability. In 2010, Energy Star
-- the government program that monitors and rewards appliances that are
known to save customers energy -- completely killed its program for
thermostats. With the thermostat controlling a lion's share of energy
costs and the inefficiency of the system preventing smart conservation,
there seemed no feasible way to actually save energy.
Rogers says that the Nest is able to save its consumers energy and money because it does all the heavy lifting.
"Everybody likes to save energy and save money," Rogers says. "But to
ask them to change their lifestyle is a challenge. Instead, we give
them all the tools to do it and lead them along the way."
Nest sets the example because it already knows what temperatures
promote energy conservation, and notes when users are saving money by
displaying a little green leaf. Rogers says this visual feedback is an
easy and simple way for people to know when a temperature is a "good"
one that helps curb energy, or a "bad" one that sends it skyrocketing.
"You have that insight as opposed to having no idea and flying
blind," Rogers adds. "You can also do it in a simple way, and the leaf
helps people feel that reward."
He hopes the thermostat of the future will also be accompanied by the
heater of the future and the air conditioner of the future --
appliances that could talk to each other and take cues from algorithms
to work optimally. When the system is cooperative, you're more likely to
see greater efficiency and adjustment throughout warmer and cooler
months.
"We can drive a lot of efficiency from the thermostat when we drive communication to it," Rogers explains.
The Thermostat Grows Up
It's hard to see the future of digital climate control because it's
only been tackled within the last year, but as Rogers and the rest of
the Nest team push forward, it's easy to see that one thing reigns
supreme.
"It has to be dead simple, as simple as possible."
Don't bet on any fancy tablet-controllers or a variety of knobs and
buttons to control your air conditioner anytime soon: It turns out,
sometimes the best solution for the future is also the least
complicated.
These collection points will be located at the existing Dell Carry-In Service (CIS) centers.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012:
Have you been worried about
disposing your old equipment? With the latest initiative from Dell, you
won’t have to worry too much. The company launched 16 electronics
recycling collection points for consumers across 13 cities in the
country. These collection points will be located at the existing Dell
Carry-In Service (CIS) centers to encourage the responsible disposal and
recycling of any brand, through a Dell-approved environmental partner.
Each center will house electronics collection bins that consumers can
use to drop-off their non-working electronics.
The company says that the
electronics recycling collection points are an extension of Dell’s
global free recycling program that aims to provide free and easy
recycling for consumers, keep environmentally sensitive materials out of
landfills, enable materials to be recycled or reused, and help conserve
natural resources — part of Dell’s commitment to put technology and
expertise to work where it can do the most good for people and the
planet.
A Prem Ananth, take back compliance manager, Dell India
said, “Dell has been working towards providing multiple hassle-free
options for disposing electronics responsibly and keeping them out of
our landfills. Our newest recycling locations will now provide even more
free and convenient options for consumers to recycle any brand of
computer or associated peripheral device.”
Dell’s electronics
recycling collection points will be spread across 13 Indian cities -
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Gurgaon, Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Lucknow and Noida, with two collection points each in Pune,
Mumbai and Kolkata.
Resident Evil 6 will finally be released for PC on March 22, Capcom
has announced. Europe will get a retail and digital release, while North
American gamers will have to make do with a digital only release.
The
PC version will contain all the content found in the original console
release plus receive any additions contained in any free title updates -
such as the Xbox title update released today and an upcoming update set
for January.
The digital version will take full advantage of Steam functionality by supporting the following features:
Cloud saving
Steam Achievements
Friends support
Game overlay
Leader boards
Minimum specs
OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: Intel® CoreTM2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or better, AMD AthlonTM X2 2.8 Ghz or better
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 16 GB free hard drive space
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or better
DirectX®: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device
Recommended specs
OS: Windows Vista®/XP, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: Intel® CoreTM 2 Quad 2.7 Ghz or better, AMD PhenomTM II X4 3 Ghz or better
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 16 GB free hard drive space
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560 or better
DirectX®: 9.0c or greater
Sound: Standard audio device
The second free title update will be released on January 22, offering the following enhancements:
Agent Hunt Mode
- Available without having to complete a campaign
- Selectable criteria for joining a session
Stage selection
Region selection
Players can
determine whether to join a session based on campaign player’s settings
such as infinite ammo or friendly fire setting
Stage selection
Individual stages within chapters can be accessed at any time once completed
General
QTE assist is currently part of the Amateur difficulty
level, and automatically completes QTEs for the player. With this
update, players can optionally activate QTE assist on any difficulty
level.
Some sections of the game have had their difficulty adjusted to provide an improved experience
And finally, Capcom has announced that Resident Evil 6 will be available via Xbox LIVE Games on Demand this holiday season.
LG Electronics has released aggressive newspaper advertisements and
posters in Korea publications and LG Uplus mobile phone stores that take
jabs at Apple's iPhone 5.
According to The Korea Times, the Korean electronics giant released a newspaper advertisements in all major local publications on Monday, which has its Optimus G smartphone
slice through a half eaten apple. An accompanying slogan read, "A
moment's choice will decide your next two years", encouraging consumers
to buy its products over the iPhone maker.
Recently released posters on majority of its stores owned by or affiliated with LG Uplus, also seemed to slam the iPhone 5.
A
poster displayed in one of LG Uplus stores mocking the iPhone 5 with
phrases such as "iPhone 5? Really disappointing!" or "iPhone 5? It will
stifle you the more you use it." (Source: The Korea Times)
They contained mocking phrases such as "iPhone 5? Really
disappointing!" or "iPhone 5? It will stifle you the more you use it!",
and other variants.
The posters further go into detail on what LG believes are
unattractive features of the iPhone 5, calling the 4-inch screen "too
small", its download speed "80 percent of its competitors," and "a phone
that isolates a consumer by having no up-to-date apps available". LG
also noted the absence of near field communications (NFC) and digital media broadcasting (DMB).
LG denies intentional blows at Apple
Currently,
LG Uplus is unable to release the iPhone due to a frequency difference
and LG Electronics competes with Apple in the smartphone market, noted
the report. However, another LG Group subsidiary LG Display, currently supplies in-plane switching panels to Apple, one of its biggest clients.
LG, however, denied any intended attacks on Apple which may raise
animosity affecting their partnership, when approached by the Korean
news site.
According to Kim Sang-pyo, an LG Uplus spokesperson, the posters contains facts on the iPhone 5, and is "not slander".
Another spokesperson from LG Electronics, Jinny Lee, also denied intended attacks at Apple.
"The ad was prepared to show the capabilities and true value of
the Optimus G, which was chosen as the best smartphone both locally and
globally. We wanted to highlight the fact that consumers must carefully
scrutinize products on whether they have must-have features," she said.
The conglomerate respects its individual suibsidiaries' goals
with different interests and business models that aim for efficiency, an
LG Group spokesperson added.
Tech industry leaders and firms have come out with some amusing
quotes this year. From Oracle and Sun software to Judge Lucy Koh within
the Apple v. Samsung court case, what are your favorites from this year?
1.) Are tech firms on crack?
In a Californian courtroom,
the Apple v. Samsung copyright infringement battle was overseen by
Judge Lucy Koh. However, after a number of changes, increasing paperwork
filings and Apple's attempt to book too many witnesses in the last few
hours of their allotted preparation time, Koh lost the plot at the iPad and iPhone maker.
"I am not going to be running around trying to get 75 pages of
briefings for people who are not going to be testifying. I mean come on.
75 pages! 75 pages! You want me to do an order on 75 pages, (and)
unless you're smoking crack, you know these witnesses aren't going to be
called when you have less than four hours."
2.) So much for politics.
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, ever the politician, identified successful
tech firm Apple as a "friend", whereas Facebook's position as a rival to
the microblogging site labeled it an "enemy". The CEO said that Twitter and Facebook were two "very different sites," but compete for the same revenue streams.
"Apple is our mentor, Facebook is our enemy."
3.) Eric Schmidt, the master of subtlety.
Google's Eric Schmidt, interviewing Stephen Colbert concerning a new publication when visiting Google,
eventually crossed the topic of Google Maps. Apple's rival offering --
as mentioned below -- has not received the best press, and has faced
criticism in the light of errors and flaws, even going far enough for police to warn against its use. However, when Colbert commented that Google's offering is better, you can enjoy Schmidt's response:
"Google Maps are phenomenal." "Yep, ask an Apple user."
4.) Apple screws up.
Following on from Google's commentary on Apple Maps, CEO Tim Cook
acknowledged that the tech giant's offering was not up to scratch. In an
interview with Bloomberg, Cook admitted that the service had many flaws, saying:
"We're putting all of our energy into making it right. And we have
already had several software updates. We've got a huge plan to make it
even better. It will get better and better over time. We screwed up.
That's the fact."
5.) The kings of customer service
Oracle president Mark Hurd has said that he wants to try and "make it
easier" for customers to do business with the firm, as the complexity
of contracts and licensing agreements were met with criticism by the
software company's clients. However, while defending Oracle, Hurd was less than complementary about rival Salesforce, which was founded by ex-Oracle employee Marc Benioff:
"Salesforce.com doesn't make any money. They just spend money like
crazy. At some point, some shareholder is going to ask them, 'Hey, this
thing ever, like, show up with any cash?' I don't know why anyone would
buy a stock that doesn't make money."
6.) Let's hope coffee was available in the courthouse.
Everyone outside the Apple v. Samsung case may have been interested
in the global copyright infringement battle, but for long-suffering
judge Lucy Koh, the proceeds held the risk of sending the jury into a coma.
"I need everyone to stay conscious during the reading of
instructions, including myself, so we're going to stand up occasionally
to make sure the blood is still flowing."
7.) "Hello World?" Nah. "The competition have nothing."
Oracle's Larry Ellison may have 34,343 followers on Twitter, but a single lone tweet has been his only offering in June this year:
"Oracle's got 100+ enterprise applications live in the #cloud today, SAP's got nothin' but SuccessFactors until 2020."
8.) Nice one, Samsung.
In a batch of internal Samsung emails released evidence within the Apple v. Samsung court case, one email in particular which documented a design meeting mentioned a design spec in relation to one of Samsung's tablets:
“Since it is too similar to Apple, make it noticeably different starting with the front side.”
9.) That's one way to describe Sun hardware.
The continual spat between HP and Oracle reached new heights this year when a released instant messenger conversation brought to light an Oracle sales executive describing Sun hardware thus to a human resources manager:
"Nobody wants to sell Sun. It baaaalllllooooows." "Pig with lipstick."
10.) The keynote verdict on Steve Ballmer
After learning that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would not be giving the keynote speech
at CES in 2013, and instead Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs would be filling
the slot, Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies was asked whether the
replacement lacked any of the charisma of Ballmer. His response?
"Ballmer had something, but I'm not sure it was exactly charisma. He was loud."
11.) Having a baby? What's the fuss about?
Yahoo's new CEO Marissa Mayer's comments about motherhood
ended up going viral and made the rounds across every social networking
site. Of course, we can't compare our situation with hers as the CEO of
a multibillion-dollar company -- and she may have felt pressure not to
say it was tough due to this -- but it didn't stop the Internet outrage.
"The baby's been easy. The baby's been way easier than everyone made it out to be."
12.) It may not be from 2012, but no tech quotes list would be complete without input from Steve Ballmer.
"I'm going to f---ing bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to f---ing kill Google."
We give you three main reasons why you should refrain from turning your Android Nexus tablet into an Ubuntu device.
Monday, December 17, 2012:
You are a Linux lover and you
have often been tempted to use Linux on your Android device. Special
mention goes to the recent news of running Ubuntu Linux on your Android
Jelly Bean Nexus tablet. While there is no harm in giving it a try but
we give you three main reasons why you should refrain from turning your
Android Nexus tablet into an Ubuntu device.
It comes sans software updates:
The wiki page states that currently, standard Ubuntu archives such as
-updates and -security are not enabled for this device. The site also
mentions that enabling any updates on the Ubuntu Linux OS on your Nexus 7
“may supersede a package that was customized for the Nexus 7.” But if
you really want to update your Ubuntu Linux on Nexus 7, you will have to
reflash your device with a new image update.
Unreliable Bluetooth:
Those who have converted to Ubuntu have been reporting issues with the
Bluetooth. The site states, “Even that there are still bugs in the
Bluetooth stack, Bluetooth mice simply work with the built-in Bluetooth
module. Simply use GNOME's Bluetooth tool by clicking on the Bluetooth
indicator applet and pair the mouse as you are used to on an Ubuntu
desktop/laptop PC.” So if Bluetooth is important to you, you should
seriously consider making the Ubuntu switch.
No YouTube access to videos:
If you are among those who are fond of watching videos on YouTube, here
is another alert. Unfortunately, the Adobe Flash Player is not ported
to Linux on ARM architectures, making YouTube videos not play in the
default configuration, but fortunately, YouTube is beta-testing
HTML-5-based video playback, which works on most modern free software
web browsers without any closed-source plug-in or helper application,
opening up access to the videos on any architecture if the hardware is
powerful enough to play videos, the site states. However, to watch
through HTML 5, you need to activate this mode in YouTube.
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