Google Celebrates Copernicus' 540th Birthday With An Animated Heliocentric Model Doodle

Google has paid an interesting homage on its homepage to Polish physician, mathematician, astronomer, and a Renaissance scholar, Nicolaus Copernicus who turns 540 today. He is popular for his heliocentric theory which proves that the Sun, and not the Earth is at the centre of the universe, and the planets revolve around the Sun — not the other way around. The theory appears in his published work titled De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.

The animated doodle features the Sun (the second O in Google's logo) with planets such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn turning around the Sun. Only these planets had been discovered when the theory came into being, as described in his book. Also in the doodle, you can see the Moon revolving around the Earth.

For more information about Nicolaus Copernicus, click here.

Read More

The Blackberry BB10 Launch Summary

BlackBerry 10 was the focal point of attention, through all of the company's attempts to revive the brand's positioning and relevance to users. Make what you will out of it, but this OS begot them two new highend smart phone releases (Z10 and Q10), a renaming of the company itself, 70,000 apps into the newly renamed BlackBerry World, music and video partners for the BB10 store, revived business user interest, and of course, a huge audience hanging onto every bit of news about it.

Whether the long wait since the announcement of the BB10 was worth it, will be known only when the new devices start shipping. Considering that the (previously discontinued) BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will get the update, we suspect that would be the first place to experience BB10 in action. When the PlayBook was available at fire-sale prices, large quantities were lapped up, so BlackBerry already has a paying audience waiting for the new OS.

Bye bye RIM, hello Blackberry: On January 30th, Chief Executive Thorsten Heins of Research In Motion Ltd announced that the company's name was being changed to BlackBerry, in a move to refresh its image. "BlackBerry is how we're known pretty much everywhere across the world other than North America, so we have an iconic global brand and when you have such a powerful brand, you want to make it central", said Frank Boulben, BlackBerry's chief marketing officer, in an interview. Note that he said 'other than North America'.  The company's market share in the US is less than its global average. And, the US is not in the list of countries first getting the new devices. Is this a sign of Blackberry looking outside of the US market for its new story? That means India should have been in the list of countries getting the initial shipment, but it isn't either.

Blackberry goes multimedia: A day before the BB10 launch, a number of big-name music and video partners were put together for its BlackBerry 10 storefront, ranging from Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures to Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. With this, Blackberry is saying its devices too can be used for fun, rather than just business (but then, Apple got there first). The BlackBerry World content store would include an extensive catalog of songs, movies and television shows. Most movies would be available the same day they are released on DVD, with next-day availability for many TV series. 

 

Two new smartphones: On the same day the new BB10 platform was launched, the Canadian company also unveiled two smartphones at its event. The full-touch BlackBerry Z10 features a 4.2" capacitive touchscreen (1280x768 pixels), a dual-core 1.5 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, dual-cameras (8 MP and 2 MP), 16 GB internal storage, micro-SD card slot, HDMI port, NFC/GPS/WiFi support and 1800 mAh battery. The Q10 features the iconic BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard along with a squarish 3.1" touchscreen (720x720 pixels), but the rest of the specs are similar to the Z10. 

Customers: The enterprise segment is a clear low-hanging fruit for BlackBerry. Businesses may continue to bite the Blackberry, simply because it is a familiar fruit. If business executives find BlackBerry devices are competitively priced and IT departments find BB10 easy to administer, the trio of Apple/Android/Windows Phone may have to smarten up. They should know how to. After all, they reversed market share in the business smartphone segment in just a couple of years.

 

Interesting Aside: The operating system version 10 has been lucky in the past, for Apple. Mac OS X released in 2001 when Apple was desperately trying to stay alive in the desktop/laptop business.

Recent Events:
RIM To Rename Itself BlackBerry, Hoping For Fresh Start
BlackBerry Announces Z10 And Q10 With BB10 OS
RIM Faces Its Day Of Reckoning With BlackBerry 10 Launch
RIM Names Multiple Music And Video Partners For BlackBerry 10 Storefront
Timeline - From RIM To BlackBerry, A Company In Transition
RIM Sets Stage For Clients To Run BlackBerry 10 Devices
BlackBerry Renames The App World Web Store To BlackBerry World, Packs In More Features

Read More

Recommended Apps For Android Phones And Tablets

There's no better example of the idiom, 'problem of plenty', in the tech world than the app stores of the major platforms. Which platform has greater number of apps is only a theoretical debate, since apps for most of the common tasks are covered under all platforms. Given the presence of multiple apps that do the same task, picking the right one becomes a matter of trial and error (other users' feedback notwithstanding). So here's a small list of TechTree recommended apps for your Android smartphone. We have tested these applications ourselves, so you won't have to go through the trial and error drill. 

[Note: This list is not exhaustive, and will be updated frequently] 

MXPlayer
Price: free (Ad supported)
The default video player isn't same on every Android phone. There are few handsets that offer support wide range of formats, while most aren't very friendly with AVI and MKV files. This is where MXPlayer kicks in. This app can not only play variety of formats, but also offer hardware acceleration and full-fledged subtitle support. Moreover, there's also gesture controls to adjust the brightness, volume, and to rewind or fast-forward the video.
Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad&feature=search_result

 

Snapseed
Price: Free
Photo enhancement apps for mobiles generally offer limited functionality. However, Nik Software's SnapSeed is an exception. The app allows you to crop, transform, enhance or adjust colours, tinker with white balance, saturation, and contrast. You can also apply various preset filters including Vintage (Instagram style), Drama, and Grunge. There's a lot more you can do by combining these enhancements. 
Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.niksoftware.snapseed&feature=search_result#

 

WeChat
Price: Free
This WhatsApp clone is better than the original in many ways. Apart from individual and group messaging with text, you can send voice notes, images, videos, and location data. To top it off, the app allows you to make video calls. Another thing going into WeChat's favour is the fact that it's available free of cost (and claims to remain free for life, unlike WhatsApp).
Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tencent.mm&feature=search_result#

 

Kingsoft Office
Price: Free
Kingsoft Office is probably the best Office suite you could find for Android device. Be it a phone or a 10" tablet, the app works like a charm. It allows you to view and edit DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX files. It's easy to use, and even offers file manager of its own. In addition to that, it's integrated with cloud storage services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box.net. Most of us won't mind paying for this useful app, but then, it's available for free.
Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cn.wps.moffice_eng&feature=search_result#

 

Opera Mini
Price: Free
The default Android web browser offers rich browsing experience as long as it's backed by a speedy internet connection. But, if you're stuck with limited 3G or slow EDGE plans, you have to think twice before visiting image heavy websites. Or, simply use Opera Mini as your browser. With its server-side data compression technique, it not only minimises your GPRS data usage and phone bills, but also speeds up web browsing.
Download: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.opera.mini.android&feature=search_result#

Read More

Samsung Launches REX Series Of Feature Phones

With today's global launch of its newest family of feature phones called 'REX', Samsung is making no bones about the fact that is it also a feature phone maker. The first set of devices available under the REX umbrella will be the REX 60, REX 70, REX 80 and REX 90.

Features common across the REX brand:

• Capacitive touchscreen except for the REX 60 which Samsung says has a "responsive" screen.
• Dual-SIM capable, with a couple of models having hot-swappable SIM card slot.
• TouchWiz interface;
• These devices are not based on Android.
• Preloaded applications include Opera mini web browser, ChatON messenger, Push Email with Activesync, Facebook, Twitter.
• More applications can be downloaded using Samsung's in house App Store.

Here are some model-wise specs:

REX 60: 2.8-inch "responsive" display, 320 x 240 pixels, dual-SIM, 1.3 mp camera

REX 70: 3-inch capacitive display, 320 x 240 pixels, dual-SIM (hot swappable), 2 mp camera

REX 80: 3-inch capacitive display, 320 x 240 pixels, dual-SIM, Wi-Fi, 3 mp camera

REX 90: 3.5-inch capacitive display, 480 x 320 pixels, dual- SIM (hot swappable), Wi-Fi, 3.2 mp camera

The devices will be priced from Rs 4300 to Rs 6500. However, individual pricing is not available at the moment. The devices will be mostly competing with Nokia's popular Asha series of mobile phones. Whether the REX series will be able to gain ground on the Asha series is yet to be seen.

Read More

Technologies That Make Sports Fair And Fun

Use of technology in sports is not new in itself  — the term photo-finish originates from horse racing and sprinting, where photos were taken at the finish line to determine which horse / runner won the race. Modern sports too, have warmed up to the idea of using technology to help make fair decisions in a game. A simple example is that of video of a run-out being played in slow motion to help make a decision that could have match changing consequences. Then, of course, there are more complex technologies, some of which were initially introduced for the benefit of television audiences (!), and later they made it into the sport itself. Here are some interesting technologies that are playing a part in sports:

Hawk-Eye (for tennis, cricket, baseballl, snooker and football)
Developed by a company called Roke Manor Research Ltd, in 1999; Hawk-Eye is a popular system consisting of high-speed cameras to record the motion of a ball and a complex computer program that tracks and predicts its trajectory (path taken). First used in the Ashes series (cricket) in 2001 by Channel 4, the technology was later picked up by BBC for its Davis Cup (tennis) coverage in 2002. While initially built to aid televised proceedings of the sport, the technology is now actively used in the adjudication (dispute settlement) process, mainly in tennis and cricket. Other sports like baseball, snooker, and football (goal-line technology, as they are called) are set to benefit from this in future. The technology is now completely owned by Sony since March 2011.

The technology first shot into limelight when Jennifer Capriati beat Serena Williams in thequarters of the 2004 US Open and Williams contested many wrong calls. While TV replays showed the decisions to be wrong, the calls weren't reversed. However, after this incident, the line calling assistance (Auto-Ref system) started penetrating into the system. It was officially accepted in the same tournament in 2006.

As for cricket, the system is officially used to decide LBW decisions: It tracks where the ball pitched, where it hit the batsman's leg, and whether or not it would have gone on to hit the stumps. Apart from that, the technology is used in a variety of telecast animations, such as the wagon wheel (that shows which part of the field got the batsmen how many runs), despin (showing how the ball behaved after being pitched), ball speeds, and reaction time (the response time to take catches).

GoalRef (for football)
GoalRef is a technology that is competing with Hawk-Eye for implementation in football. Both aim at determining if the ball has fully crossed the line. GoalRef, developed by Germany-based Fraunhofer IIS, is a radio-based sensing system which makes use of low-frequency magnetic fields placed around the goal post. The ball comes embedded with copper coils which trigger the magnetic strips placed along the goal post when the ball cross the goal post (in contrast to Hawk-Eye, mentioned above, which works using cameras that track the ball).

Snickometer (for cricket)
Another technology used in television replays for cricket matches is the Snickometer. The system, created way back in the mid-1990s, uses a microphone placed on the stumps, with the sound intensity measured at every instant. By analysing the intensity of sound just before the wicket keeper catches the ball, commentators suggest if the ball has hit the batsman's pads, bat, the pitch, or has made no contact at all.

Hot Spot (for cricket)
Hot Spot is considered more accurate than the Snickometer. The set up consists of infra-red cameras that measure heat that results from friction when the ball hits the pad, or bat, or the ground, or the batsman's glove, as the case may be. The amount of heat generated in each of these cases is different, and by knowing the 'heat signatures' of each of these contacts, the system can know exactly where the ball hit. 

Read More

Rumour: Microsoft Office For Linux In 2014?

Software giant Microsoft is considering a Linux variant of its popular "MS Office" next year, according to Extreme Tech. Speculation is that Microsoft is considering Linux as an option because of the open-source platform's increasing commercial potential. The report also states that Microsoft has already begun work on releasing an Android-specific Office version.

If these reports turn out to be true, it will be a first for Microsoft as the company does not have much Linux-specific software except Skype. The company is expected to stick to its paid-for, commercial model for Office deployments on Linux as well.

Considering that Microsoft Office is already developed for Apple's Mac OS, and that Microsoft has a division working closely with open source, this is a prospect that has been discussed by Linux users for a long while now. The main deterrent is the extent to which Linux licensing terms (under GPL) may require Microsoft to open up its hitherto proprietary source code and render it open source.

At present, Linux distributions come with free productivity application suites, such as Libre Office. Linux PCs are used extensively in many large set-ups like educational institutions and governmental organizations, and these organizations may possibly want to adopt Microsoft Office.

TAGS: Microsoft, Office, Software, Linux

Read More

CES 2013: A Tablet That Bends And Folds Like Paper

  

After Samsung's Youm flexible display, CES 2013 witnessed a proof of concept of similar technology. A new concept tablet was shown off at the event, which can be folded, bent, and used just like paper. Called PaperTab, it is has a 10.7" form factor with a high resolution plastic display.

PaperTab is flexible and provides several mechanisms for users to interact with it (like bending it), and its display is claimed to be unbreakable. The gadget has been developed by a British Company in association with Intel and Queen's University of Canada. PaperTab can be used virtually like a paper sheet and claims to provide an experience that is comparable to reading a magazine. Its display looks far thinner and lighter in comparison to conventional tablet displays.

A demo of the Paper Tab can be watched here. In the video a user is shown using multiple PaperTabs to navigate through content. This shows the ease of usage that the PaperTab provides to users apart from other functionality.
 

With its paper-like interface, PaperTab virtually appears to blur the bridge between paper and tablets. In this case, its usefulness in reducing conventional paper printouts can be taken into consideration. If the gadget is successful in this aspect, this will surely lead to conserving hundreds of trees that are used to produce computer papers.
 PaperTab is still in the conception stage.

Read More