Technopundit : We Worship Technology

Kindle Store To Debut In India Along With Kindle E-Reader

avi — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 06:55:59 +0000

This has to be great news to all tech enthusiasts who have been purchasing Amazon tablet from USA and importing it here . The awesome news is that Amazon Kindle is now available online in India too through various Croma Stores.

We have our Government speaking about Aakash tablet and its updated version but they need to have look at Kindle Tablet and great benefits it can have for education purpose.The device – earlier generation non-touch e-reader – will be available at the Chroma retail outlets across the country at a price of Rs 6,999. Kindle Store for India will have over a million books and accept payment in Indian Rupee.

The Kindle e-reader is a Wi-Fi enabled digital reader with a 6-inch E Ink Pearl display. It has 2GB internal memory and can store up to 1,400 books and supports USB 2.0. The device can be purchased from the Chroma website as well, which claims a shipping time of two days.

Strangely, Amazon has not said when will it launch the newer versions of the e-reader namely Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch in the country.

Kindle Store for India has books from a host of Indian authors as well as some exclusive titles. Russ Grandinetti, vice-president of Kindle Content, Amazon, said, “We are proud to launch this new Kindle store for Indian customers – offering Kindle book purchases in rupees and the ability to buy and read the work of many great Indian authors.”

Along with the Nielsen Bestsellers, Amazon will also offer works of local authors like Chetan Bhagat, Ashwin Sanghi, Ravinder Singh and Amish Tripathi, among others.

India Bans Bulk SMS Messaging For Two Weeks.

avi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:40:14 +0000

The Indian government has asked ISPs to restrict access to a number of websites, and has prevented bulk SMS messaging for two weeks.

Over 150 websites were blocked over the weekend according to official sources, PC World reports, after a large number of people received messages over SMS or online that the threatened reprisals for recent violence in Assam between Muslims and indigenous communities.

In addition to the restrictions placed on text messaging services and websites, some people have also been charged for sending threatening messages.

According to the publication, India’s Ministry of IT and Communications has also notified a number of websites including YouTube and social networks like Facebook to take down any “inflammatory and hateful content” posted by their users, typically aimed at people from the North East of India.

Earlier this year, all of India’s major ISPs blocked block torrent sites including The Pirate Bay and Torrent Reactor, as well as a number of video and link-sharing sites such as Vimeo and Pastebin, following an injunction granted by the Madras High Court.

Google Introduces New Smart App Feature in Google Play store

avi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:24:10 +0000

Google has enabled a Google Play feature that promises to save Android app users time and bandwidth.The Web giant is now offering the ability for app users to download delta updates from its Google Play, the folks over at the Android Police blog have discovered.

Previously, an updated app meant downloading it again in full, which could put a strain on a device’s battery if the app was large and the connection slow. The new smart downloads allows users to avoid downloading the app in toto, send only the incremental difference between the old and new versions, thereby saving data for the app user and Google.

First announced at the Google I/O conference in June, engineers predicted that delta updates would be about a third of the size of a full download, easing the pressure on users’ batteries and bandwidths.

The feature quietly went live last night or early this morning, according to Android Police, and appears to work with previous Google Play releases, such as 3.7.15.

Flash Plugins At Its Dying Stages:No Longer Available On Android Mobiles

avi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:09:46 +0000

Adobe will disable new installs of Flash via the Google Play Store, marking the end of Adobe Flash on Android devices, and therefore shutting itself out from 85 per cent of the mobile market. Adobe said in a statement

Devices that don’t have the Flash Player provided by the manufacturer typically are uncertified, meaning the manufacturer has not completed the certification testing requirements. In many cases users of uncertified devices have been able to download the Flash Player from the Google Play Store, and in most cases it worked. However, with Android 4.1 this is no longer going to be the case, as we have not continued developing and testing Flash Player for this new version of Android and its available browser options. There will be no certified implementations of Flash Player for Android 4.1.

The abandonment of Flash for mobile follows conflict between Adobe and Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs, who was famously dismissive of the plug-in and refused to allow the technology on the iOS platform. Instead, Jobs fought for the alternative HTML5 standard, which is beginning to replace Flash around the web.

In 2007, Adobe said that, with Flash it had “passed a major milestone in bringing a desktop experience to mobile and transforming the wireless industry,” and once claimed that Flash would enable “the full web experience” on mobile devices. But, in 2010, Jobs wrote a public letter outlining his thoughts on Flash and its problems with “reliability, security, and performance”.

In 2011, Adobe announced that it would stop developing Flash Player for new mobile device configurations, and said that HTML5 is the “best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms,” signalling the demise of Flash for mobile. “We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers.”

Then, in June 2012, Adobe released a statement that read: “We have not continued developing and testing Flash Player for this new version of Android and its available browser options. There will be no certified implementations of Flash Player for Android 4.1.”

Microsoft is only planning to offer limited Flash support in Windows 8, which could be the final nail in Flash’s coffin.

MPEG To Launch H.265 Video Codecs.

avi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:36:08 +0000

The current state of the art video codec is H.264, used from Blu-ray, to video cameras, to web and mobile web streaming. Now the organization that makes these codecs, MPEG — The Motion Picture Experts Group — have drafted the H.265 codec which is tailored for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

The new codec can offer twice the compression compared to the current H.264, meaning that files will be half the size while still retaining the same quality. This could lead to much faster web streams for stuff like Netflix and even web TV over 4G LTE.

PRESS RELEASE

MPEG issues video compression draft

The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) has met to issue a draft international standard of a new video-compression format that is twice as efficient as current standards.

The meeting, held in Stockholm July 16-20, gathered almost 450 people from 26 countries representing the telecoms, computer, TV and consumer electronics industries to approve and issue a draft standard for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). This format will enable compression levels roughly twice as high as the current H.264/AVC standard.

“There’s a lot of industry interest in this because it means you can halve the bit rate and still achieve the same visual quality, or double the number of television channels with the same bandwidth, which will have an enormous impact on the industry,” says Per Fröjdh, Manager for Visual Technology at Ericsson Research, Group Function Technology, who organized the event as Chairman of the Swedish MPEG delegation.

The availability of a new compression format to reduce bandwidth, particularly in mobile networks where spectrum is expensive, paves the way for service providers to launch more video services with the currently available spectrum.

“Video accounts for the vast majority of all data sent over networks, and that proportion is increasing: by 2015, it is predicted to account for 90 percent of all network traffic,” Fröjdh says.

MPEG, which was formed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 1988, has had a long partnership with Ericsson Research. Its experts meet four times per year to discuss, propose and issue international standards for compression, decompression, processing, and coded representation of moving pictures and audio. MPEG standardized the digital audio encoding formats MP3 and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), which is the music format used by Apple in their consumer offerings.

“MPEG has a big impact on the industry and on consumer electronics. On the video side, almost all digital terrestrial, satellite and cable TV services rely on video codecs standardized by MPEG,” Fröjdh says. “When you buy a DVD or Blu-ray Disc, the compression format also uses MPEG standards.”

Opening the meeting and welcoming the MPEG community, Erik Ekudden, Ericsson’s Head of Technology Strategies & Industry, spoke about the move toward the Networked Society and how video is playing such a dominant part in this transformation.

“It’s therefore important for Ericsson to be involved with MPEG, as we’re very strong in mobile broadband. Anything to do with video compression over mobile broadband is a key concern to Ericsson, so we need to be on top of this technology evolution,” he says.

“We’re also one of the main contributors to these standards. That means we can drive our technology and leadership into these standards and have patents that protect our inventions that go into these standards, which are then implemented into millions of devices.”

Fröjdh believes that the HEVC format discussed by MPEG in Stockholm could be launched in commercial products as early as in 2013.

“It will take time before it’s launched for a TV service, but adoption is much quicker in the mobile area, and we’ll probably see the first services for mobile use cases next year,” he says.

Another area where Fröjdh’s Visual Technology team is working with MPEG is a new kind of 3D video compression format, which would enable a new standard for 3D video systems that would do away with 3D glasses. Fröjdh says the technology could be standardized by 2014.

“Future 3D technology will have more advanced displays, which will enable different views,” he says. “The simpler versions of this technology will still just offer the two views we have today – left and right – without the need for glasses. But in the future, there will be many views next to each other, so you will simply move your head to the left or the right to give you a stereo impression of an object.”

Twitter’s New API Rules Likely To Spell the End of Third-Party Clients

avi — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 10:21:02 +0000

Twitter has launched new API to developers with more straighten rules with the whole idea of limiting the usage by third party clients. The new rules will be huge set back to loads of third party clients using Twitter data and API.

The latest version requires anyone using the Twitter API to be authenticated, institutes a rate limiting feature, and makes big changes to the ways developers can use Twitter’s data. Tweets must now be displayed in a manner consistent with Twitter’s rules, otherwise Twitter can revoke a developer’s API keys.

Twitter clients that come pre-installed on phones and chip sets will now have to be explicitly approved by Twitter — or no API for you. Perhaps most significantly, the new API limits user tokens.

“We will require you to work with us directly if you believe your application will need more than one million individual user tokens,” writes Sippey. Companies building traditional third-party Twitter clients will face an even more austere limit:

If your application already has more than 100,000 individual user tokens, you’ll be able to maintain and add new users to your application until you reach 200% of your current user token count (as of today) — as long as you comply with our Rules of the Road. Once you reach 200% of your current user token count, you’ll be able to maintain your application to serve your users, but you will not be able to add additional users without our permission.

In short, when the new API rules go into effect, Twitter will throttle the way developers who build client applications like Tweetbot or Echofon, that essentially duplicate the tools Twitter provides in its own app, can use the platform’s service. The new rules appear to be an attempt by the company to make sure it can finance its enormous, always flowing stream of data. That means Twitter is going to require client apps to meet its terms, and will limit how much data each can get via authentication.

Twitter is not, however, saying it doesn’t want developers using its data at all. The post very explicitly encourages development — as long as developers are providing services Twitter itself does not. The news should provide some assurance for developers who may have been shaken by the company’s previous post in June. That is, unless you’re Echofon.

Twitter Map To Show The Current Twitter Trends On Map

avi — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 16:17:30 +0000

Twitter is all about trend but its interesting to know the most used keywords hails from which part of the world. Vertalab has come up twitter map to capture such keywords used using goggle maps. Currently the trend is only shown for USA .

Project “Twitter-map” was created to show a density map of tweets distributed in time. Tweets containing phrases Good morning and F*ck were scanned in 462 specific locations within United States.

It’s interesting seeing where the pockets of “good morning” tend to be. Georgia, for example, seems hit that one pretty hard almost every day.

You won’t be surprised to learn that “fuck you” on the whole, is way more popular. Remember kids, balance and communication is the key to healthy relationships on and off line, so start off the day right with a nice “good morning and fuck you.

Samsung Launches Galaxy Note 10.1

avi — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:15:45 +0000

Good news folks, if Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is a tablet that you have been looking forward to, Samsung has officially announced the availability of the device. According to the company’s press release, the Galaxy Note 10.1 is expected to be made available globally starting in August, although it is already available in the US, UK, Germany and Korea.

The Galaxy Note 10.1 will be available at Best Buy, Amazon, Tiger Direct, HH Gregg, CDW, BrandSmart, Conn’s and Fry’s for the same expected prices starting on the 16th and several accessories will be made available.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Specs

• Network: Wi-Fi
• OS: Android 4.0
• CPU: 1.4-GHz quad-core Exynos processor
• Screen: 10.1-inch 1280×800 pixel LCD
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 16GB or 32GB + up to 64GB microSD
• Camera: 5MP rear / 1.9MP front
• Battery: 700 mAh Li-Po
• Price: $500 for 16GB, $550 for 32GB

Pros:

The S-Pen is a joy to use on a big screen
Strong spec sheet means great performance
Split-screen multitasking!

Cons:

Build quality doesn’t inspire confidence
The cameras are underwhelming
Samsung’s UI can be a bit overbearing

OpenGL 4.3 And Open GL ES 3.0 Launched

avi — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:46:43 +0000

This month saw the launch of Open GL ES 3.0 by Khronos Group . Khronos is non profit organization which has been working on open source API Open GL & Open GL ES which has made gaming and 3D rendering possible in tablets,mobile phones and smartphones.

OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification defining a cross-language, multi-platform API for writing applications and simulating physics, that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics whereas OpenGL for Embedded Systems (OpenGL ES) is a subset of the OpenGL 3D graphics application programming interface (API) designed for embedded systems such as mobile phones, PDAs, and video game consoles

OpenGL ES 3.0 brings a new version of the GLSL ES shading language with full support for both integer and 32-bit floating point operations, boosted texturing facilities including guaranteed support for floating-point textures, 3D textures, depth textures, vertex textures, NPOT textures, R/RG textures, immutable textures, 2D array textures, swizzles – which is totally a real thing – LOD and mip level clamps, seamless cube maps and sampler objects.OpenGL ES 3.0 provides access to state-of-the-art graphics processing unit (GPU) functionality with portability across diverse mobile and embedded operating systems and platforms. Leading designers of mobile graphics processing units, including ARM Holdings, DMP, Imagination Technologies, HI, Nvidia Corp., Qualcomm and ZiiLabs plan to support then new API with their existing and future graphics technologies.

Many consider that OpenGL slipped behind competing graphics packages such as DirectX, but since the Khronos group took the helm things have been moving faster. OpenGL ES still lags behind DirectX, but until Windows Phone 8 is released it will be difficult to compare the two in any realistic way.

The improvements to OpenGL 4.3 are fairly minor with the exception of the compute shaders which make it much easier to use the GPU for non-graphical computations. This would allow the GPU to be used for tasks such as game physics or AI while the graphics pipeline is free to get on with rendering the next frame.

Nvidia has already released a set of beta OpenGL 4.3 drivers and others are likely follow.

The Mystery Of Iphone 5 Liquidmetal Case

avi — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:09:58 +0000

A refreshed iPhone is expected in October and Apple is considering using a material called liquidmetal in order to differentiate itself from the competition, according to reports. iPhone 5 rumors aside, what is liquidmetal and why build a phone out of something that sounds so strange?

What is Liquidmetal? “Liquidmetal is the trade name for a new class of metallic alloys. The alloys have a unique atomic structure, more like glass, and are commonly known as “bulk metallic glasses” or “bulk amorphous alloys.”
Liquidmetal is super strong, scratch and corrosion resistant, resilient and can be precision cast into complex shapes,

Apple and Liquidmetal

Although nobody outside of Apple HQ can really speculate exactly when iOS devices will be clad in Liquidmetal alloys, we can confidently speculate that it’s more a question of when, rather than if.

The main piece of evidence that points to Apple using Liquidmetal as a material for its casings is the fact that it was granted a perpetual, exclusive license for use by Liquidmetal technologies in 2010. Although Apple used it for internal parts in older tech such as the iPhone 3G, this license would suggest something a little larger in scale.

Rumours do also suggest that the new iPhone 5 will sport a metallic casing, much like that of the iPad. This would replace the glass casing that has been troublesome to a few and simply shattering for others.

It would make sense that if the tech is in place that the case could be fabricated using Liquidmetal alloys. They would make the phone stronger, lighter and much more resistance to impact and even overheating. God knows, we may not even need to use cases on the next generation of iOS toys.

Whether we’ll see Liquidmetal on the new iPhone, or better still on a slimmer MacBook Pro, is yet to be revealed but you can pretty much bet this futuristic stuff will make an appearance on some of your favourite