How Much does Facebook rule your life: A Quiz

The infamous hacking group Anonymous is allegedly planning to delete Facebook on Nov. 5, 2011. In a YouTube video, allegedly posted by Anonymous, the group announced that it will erase the social media giant to save the public from Facebook’s evil, privacy-stealing ways—though there have been conflicting reports of the group’s involvement, via an Anonymous spokesperson. Apparently, the hackers’ collective is just as uncertain as the rest of us if the attack will actually happen, because the hackers are (obviously) anonymous and don’t have an organized structure.

You may be experiencing mixed feelings upon hearing the news; here’s a little quiz that I got from Euro RSCG Social to help you understand what type of Facebook user you are, and what the possible SoMe-apocalypse might mean to you.


1.  Which of the following best describes your relationship status with Facebook?


A. I have trouble remembering my Facebook password.
B. Facebook is a research tool; I like to know what my ex my friends are up to!
C. I update my status more than I eat.  I also update my status when I eat.
D. I go on Facebook immediately when photos are uploaded—so I can untag them.


2. Setting your browser homepage to Facebook would be:


A. Silly
B. Convenient, but embarrassing
C. It is my homepage
D. Stressful


3. Your mother-in-law just joined Facebook. You respond:


A. “Whatever”
B. “Keep your enemies closer”
C. Status update
D. Two words: “Limited. Profile.”


4. Your profile picture is:


A. Ten years old
B. Taken at just the right angle
C. Changing every day
D. Taken with your cell phone while posing in front of a bathroom mirror


5.  The majority of your photo albums are titled:


A. I don’t upload photos
B. “[Season] [Year]”
C. “Mobile Uploads”
D. “Parrtayy”


Points: 1-A, 2-B, 3-C and 4-D. Add your points and see below where you fall.


5-8: The Abominable Snowman. There have been a few rare sightings of you on Facebook. You’re most likely not a millennial. You may have created a Facebook account to spy on a son or daughter. If they scored 18+ on this quiz, then that was a good parenting move.  The Facebook-alypse won’t have much of an effect on you, so sit back and enjoy the show!


9-13: The Hugh Hefner. Facebook is your little black book. You use it to keep tabs on persons of interest and to reach out to old buddies. The death of Facebook would mean picking up the phone and making a call every once in a while. Cringe.


14-18: The Ashton Kutcher. In your mind, everything and anything is worth sharing on Facebook.  At least you’ll never have to pay for therapy! Facebook’s demise may seem like the end of the world to you, but relax. Chances are you’re an active member on other SoMe channels, so the rest of us will still be kept up to date on your life.


18-20: The Anthony Weiner. Facebook is a necessary tool for you, so you can keep an eye out for anything that would be best left off the internet. The Ashton Kutchers of Facebook are your worst nightmare. You may not realize it yet, but Anonymous is giving you a gift. Embrace it. 

Galaxy S III to have a 4.8 inches screen

The world already caught a glimpse of an image, which sources claimed was of the Galaxy S III. What was intriguing was that the display size wasn’t exactly revealed yet – with rumours indicating that the screen size could be between 4.6 to 4.8 inches. Well, now according to the latest leak by Know Your Mobile, the Galaxy S III has been spotted next to a ruler and the important point to note out here is that the display size has been measured at 4.8 inches!  

The image is definitely a tad confusing because of the placement of the ruler, the poor clarity and questions about where does the display actually start at, at the bottom. We’ll remind you that the display size is calculated diagonally (on the hypotenuse).  The source claims to have calculated the exact dimensions of the device to exclusively reveal that the Galaxy S III will have a 4.8 inches screen. The other debate whether the phone will have a home button or not has been put to rest in this image as well, as the source mentions that there aren’t any hardware buttons on the device. The only ones that will exist will be visible when the display is switched on.

From the image itself, the S III looks a lot like the Galaxy Nexus, which didn’t have any physical buttons, either. We had earlier carried an article which showed another ‘leaked’ image, but with these latest rumours, there are chances that the previous image was just a brilliantly Photoshopped picture. Button or no button? The handset is going to be announced on the 3rd of May, 2012, so all those rumours will be put to bed soon .






Source:- Tech2

Sony rolls out Android 4.0 ICS update for Tablet S

Sony has finally started rolling out Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for its Sony Tablet S. Sony says the firmware upgrade will bring a lot of new features in the device. The upgrade is currently available in the U.S. but will soon arrive in other countries as well.

“The next time you connect to Wi-Fi, your Sony Tablet S should prompt you to do a system update, just click OK to download, and in a few minutes you should be ready to go on Android 4.0,” Sony said in a blog post.


The ICS upgrade adds a range of new features such as new home screen actions, access to Google's Chrome Web browser and a range of new camera and video options. The upgrade also includes a face unlock, small apps such as calculator, browser and remote control for multi-tasking and direct access to files from SD Card.


The announcement, however, gives no indication whether Sony's Tablet P will get the ICS update. It is being rumoured that the Tablet P will not be receiving the ICS update.


Sony recently started rolling out the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade for its 2011 Xperia smartphones. The upgrade will be initially available for the Sony Xperia Arc S, Xperia Neo V and Xperia Ray devices. Update for rest of the 2011 Xperia devices will be rolled out in May/June. According to recent reports, a number of Xperia users in India have confirmed receiving the update.

Source:- ThinkDigit

Social gifting: the new buzzword in e-commerce

Last year, the buzzword in e-commerce was Groupon Inc and its myriad of competitors that offered daily online coupons to entice shoppers in a down economy. Now, the latest fashion in retail is social gifting, where people get together on Facebook to buy each other gifts.Start-ups such as Sweden-based Wrapp, which is launching its US business on Monday, are getting millions of dollars in venture-capital funding, and retailers like Best Buy Co Inc, Gap Inc and Starbucks Corp are scurrying to be a part of it.

“Brick-and-mortar retailers are all looking for new, more efficient ways to drive sales into stores without diluting their brands … we wanted to really see how retailers can leverage the megatrends of smartphones and social networks,” said Hjalmar Winbladh, chief executive of Wrapp.


Wrapp is essentially an app that can run on smartphones, tablets and computers. It allows Facebook friends to buy each other gift cards from participating retailers either individually or by teaming up, which they can store on their mobile devices and redeem either online or inside physical stores. Retailers like it because there is little marketing cost and because customers often end up buying more once they are inside the store.


Since mid-November more than 165,000 active users have given over 1.4 million gift cards that can be redeemed in some 50 major retail stores across Europe, according to Wrapp.
“The thing that struck me as unique and interesting about Wrapp is that it is kind of the intersection of three trends: gift cards, social networks and mobile (shopping),” said Reid Hoffman, a cofounder of LinkedIn and a partner at Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Greylock Partners.


Wrapp has received $10.5 million in funding from Greylock and technology VC firm Atomico. Hoffman serves on Wrapp’s board, as does Skype co-founder and Atomico founder Niklas Zennström.In the United States, the Swedish company has tied up with retailers including H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, Gap Inc, Sephora and Fab.E-gifting – or people buying gift cards from a retailer’s website – is still in its infancy, accounting for only $1 billion of the $100 billion gift card industry last year, according to Brian Riley, senior research director at CEB TowerGroup. Of that $1 billion, social gifting made up only about 5 per cent or $50 million.

Hjalmar Winbladh, CEO of Wrapp

Technology is naturally progressing toward platforms like social gifting, said one industry player. “E-commerce platforms are becoming inherently more social with the inclusion of comments, recommendations and purchase history from each person’s social graph,” said Randy Glein, managing director at venture capital firm DFJ Growth.


The Retail Lineup


Starbucks expects social gifting to make up about 20 per cent of its gifting business in the near future.“Customers can connect from our site to their registered Facebook account to view upcoming birthdays of Facebook friends, send them e-gifts directly, and share the news on their Facebook wall,” said Alexandra Wheeler, vice president of global digital marketing at Starbucks.


Bridget Dolan, vice president of interactive media at Sephora, said conversion rates – measuring the amount of customers who actually come to stores to redeem the vouchers – are likely to spike on holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and just before Christmas.
This optimism has a host of startups like CashStar, SocialGift, Groupcard Apps and DropGifts rushing in to be the early birds in the sector.


CashStar, for example, works with more than 200 retailers for their e-gifting businesses, and has seen sales grow 463 per cent in the latest quarter. Nearly 10 per cent of CashStar’s retailer network uses social gifting, CashStar Chief Executive David Stone said.“Facebook commerce is still very nascent; it is a small, small world. Within that, social gifting is one area where we can potentially build sales” 


While there are high hopes for the future of social gifting, it may be appropriate to remember last year’s darling, Groupon.As a private company, Groupon was one of the fastest-growing businesses in history and in November pulled off one of the largest Internet IPOs of the past decade, valuing the company at well over $10 billion. But since the stock market debut, the shares have fallen around 40 per cent on concern about the sustainability of that growth and the company’s accounting.


What’s In It For Them?


Retailers view social gifting as an opportunity to reach out to their target buyers and promote their brands at almost no extra cost.Wrapp, for instance, charges retailers nothing until a transaction is made. It bets on the premise that most shoppers will end up spending more than the gift card’s value once they are in the store.


“As marketers, we want to be where the consumers are, and they are all on Facebook,” said Bradford Robinson, gift card manager for Chili’s Grill & Bar.Wrapp, which works with companies like home improvement chain Clas Ohlson and Dixons Retail-owned consumer electronics chain Elgiganten in Europe, said users reportedly spent 5.2 times the value of the gift card when they came to claim their gifts.


“I have no doubts that because of the FB platform, these things can grow very quickly and get a lot of users in a short period of time,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst with Forrester Research.But she also has a word of caution.“It is new, and there is a lot that remains to be seen. It could be a very powerful form of marketing (and) drive incremental value. But the challenge is that there is a promise and there is a reality … you can’t just introduce a platform like this and expect it to deliver gold to everybody,” she said.






Source:- Tech Circle

Indian Railway plans satellite-based software to track train movement

The Indian Railway is planning to deploy a satellite-based tracking software to record precise details about the movement of trains on its network. The proposed software will be backed up by SIMRAN ( Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation), for which a pilot project is underway in 18 pairs of important trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto. The Railways plans to roll out the new service for all trains in next 18 months.

"With the approval of this system on a stretch of 3,300 kilometres to cover the entire high density stations, a major step has been taken towards train's safety, said Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board.


Mr. Mittal also noted that the Railways will be providing Internet services in running trains and extend Optical Fiber Cable across the Indian Railways route. The apex body will also be bringing in IP based train control communication and replacement of overhead alignment with underground cables, the official revealed. Railways would install the Train Protection Warning System ( TPWS) covering a stretch of 3,300 kms, which will cover high density stations.


Of late, the Indian Railways hast taken a number of steps to modernise its services. The IRCTC recently launched mobile services for booking tickets. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has now launched its mobile website, which is said to be more convenient and easier to use. The mobile site can be accessed via any mobile phone having GPRS functionality.

Source:- Times of India

Best Budget Android phones in India

Spice Mi-350n 

Price :: Rs. 7,595
Key Specs. ::

Screen size-  3.5 inches
Processor - 650 MHz
Internal Memory- 170MB  
Expandable Memory- 32Gb
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Supports Facebook,Youtube,Twitter,Gmail and G-talk
3.2 Mp Camera
VGA front facing camera
Supports 3G 

Motorola Fire XT 

Price:: Rs. 8,671

Key Specs.::

Screen size 3.5 inches

Processor- 800 MHz

Internal Memory-512 MB

Expandable Memory- 32 GB

5 MP Camera

Vga front facing camera

Supports 3G

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

                                          




HTC Explorer 

Price:: Rs. 8,499

Key Specs.::

Screen size  3.2 inches

Processor- 600 MHz

Internal Memory-90 MB

Expandable Memory- 32 GB

3 Mp camera

Supports 3g

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

HTC ChaCha

Price:: Rs.11,799

Key Specs.::

Screen size 2.6

Processor -800 MHz

Internal Memory- 512 MB

Expandable memory- 32 GB

5 MP camera

720p HD video recording

Vga front camera

Supports 3g

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

 

Sony Ericcson Xperia Mini Pro

Price:: Rs 14,990

Key Specs.::

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Processor-1Ghz

5 MP camera

720p HD video recording

Front facing camera

Sliding keypad

512 MB RAM

Internal Memory-400 MB

Expandable Memory-32 GB

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman 

Price::Rs.14,150

Key Specs.::

3.2 inch screen

Processor - 1GHz Scorpion processor

5mp camera

720p HD video recording

Vga front camera

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Supports 3G

HTC One V

Price:: Rs. 17,424

Key Specs.::

3.7 inch screen

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Processor-1GHz

Internal Memory-4GB

Expandable Memory-32 GB

5 MP camera

720p HD video recording

HTC Sensation

Price::22,999

Key Specs.::

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Internal Memory- 1GB

Expandable Memory- 32 GB

Ram-768mb

8 MP camera

1080p full HD video recording

Supports 3g

4.3 inch screen

Motorola RAZR XT910 

Prcie::Rs. 28,990

Key Specs.::

4.3 inch screen

Processor-1.2Ghz

Internal Memory-16 GB

Expandable Memory- 32 GB

8 MP camera

1080p full HD video recording

1.3 Mp front camera

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Supports 3G

Sony Xperia S

Price::Rs.31,500

Key Specs.::

4.3 inch screen

Processor-1.5 GHz

12.1 MP camera

1080p full HD video recording

Front facing 1.3 MP camera

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Supports 3G

Samsung Galaxy S II 

Price: Rs 32,890

 Key Specs.::

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) with TouchWiz 4.0

4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus display

Super-slim body, weighs just 116g

1.2GHz Dual Core Processor

1GB of RAM

8MP Camera 

1080p video recording@30fps

HDMI port

USB 2.0 (MHL), USB on-the-go

NFC (Near Field Communication) ready


                                       

HTC One X

Price:: Rs.36,080

Key Specs.::

4.7 inch screen

Processor-1.5 GHz

8 MP camera

1080p full HD video recording

1.3 MP front facing camera

1GB Ram

Expandable Memory- 32 GB

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)

Nokia demonstrates ‘white spaces’ technology for indoor positioning

Nokia Senior Manager, Scott Probasco, is roaming the floor of the hangar at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, with a Nokia N9 attached to a small box. He passes a Concorde, turns right at a World War One bi-plane and pauses underneath a sea rescue helicopter suspended from the ceiling. Strategically placed signs give detailed information about and the stories behind the historic planes on display at the former airbase outside Cambridge, but Probasco doesn’t need to look at them. Using the N9 he is demonstrating a three year Nokia research project to develop indoor information delivery using TV white spaces. TV white spaces are unused parts of the TV spectrum at a particular location. So, for example, part of the signal reserved for a London TV channel may not work in Cambridge – resulting in a ‘white space’ which can potentially be used for providing better and cheaper internet access.

Nokia is demonstrating how indoor information delivery might use this as part of the Cambridge TV White Spaces Trial, which has brought together a consortium of 17 leading technology and media companies. “We are interested in TV white spaces from the perspective of getting more radio spectrum to give greater internet access capacity,” Probasco explains. “It’s a new and novel way to access the spectrum. The existing ways are inefficient. Because white spaces are unlicensed we can deploy systems and provide internet access more cheaply.” 


White spaces can be used to launch new services, like the Nokia demo at the Imperial War Museum:  “You know when you go to a museum and you put the headset on, and listen to the information about what you’re seeing,” Probasco says, “Well, this basically does away with that.” As he roams the floor of the hangar, the N9 detects his location and pushes him “offers” of information about the different planes. The Imperial War Museum, like any other major museum, has vast archives, and multi-media content, which  could never be displayed on old-fashioned signs and maps. An indoor information delivery system, which museums could potentially develop as apps, “would be great for displaying that content,” says Ian Crawford, the museum’s head of ICT.

Nokia Senior Manager, Scott Probasco

The demo also raises the possibility of developing the system for commercial use in locations like grocery stores, or shopping malls. “Shop owners might install their own access point to give people free Wi-Fi,” says Probasco. “If they do that using white spaces, the users can be located and, as people walk by, the store can target them with offers and coupons. If this is a coupled with a loyalty program, then it can become even more tailored and targeted to what people want.” 

According to their official blog, the system has some unique advantages: “GPS works really well outdoors, but less well indoors. What we are doing here is about indoor positioning,” Probasco explains. Unlike information that comes from crowd sourcing, or ‘war driving’, the system uses information automatically generated from a government mandated database that is activated when the equipment in turned on.


Probasco used a box that was attached by a cable to the N9. The box is a simple radio system operating in UHF TV bands that connects to a TV white space database to determine which TV channels are available for use. The Nokia N9 connects to the Internet over the TV white space and the app contacts the Nokia service on the Internet. Using the location provided by the TV white space database, the Nokia servers then deliver information about nearby aircraft carriers to the app in the phone. The phone uses signal strength measurements to refine the location provided by the TV white space database, which is accurate to about 10 metres.






Source:- Tech2

LG announces new IPS4 series monitors

LG Electronics (LG) has announced the availability of a new line of monitors, the IPS4 series. These monitors feature In-Plane Switching (IPS) rather than conventional Twisted Nematic (TN) panels, allowing for better colour reproduction, picture quality and colour shift-free wide viewing. Thanks to a wide viewing-angle (178 degrees), the new IPS monitors enable viewers to enjoy clear picture quality without any colour shift whether they are sitting, standing or lying down. Their ‘Smooth Colour Change’ also eliminates blur generated from rapid motion in action scenes, sports or video games so that viewers feel less eye fatigue even during longer viewing sessions. When all of these technologies are combined, the result is a richer, more comfortable viewing experience.

By boosting colour consistency and minimizing colour changes, the IPS4 series is able to reproduce original colours, virtually eliminating the gap between what is shot and what is shown. As such, the IPS4 monitors are ideal for anyone engaged in photography or video editing. "Despite strong sales and dominating the professional market, IPS monitors were less popular with the majority of consumers due to the cost of high-quality IPS panels," said J.J. Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of IT Business Unit of LG Home Entertainment Company. "With the launch of the affordable IPS4 series, LG is taking a huge step in making IPS monitors ubiquitous in every room."


A number of easy-to-use functions add to the appeal of the IPS4 series. For instance, the Dual Smart Solution feature uses a simple one-click set-up to run dual monitors, and even creates a dual taskbar and auto-optimized dual web split screen. The Dual Screen feature optimizes the window size to automatically divide the screen to view multiple web pages, making it easier to multitask online. Efficiency has also been improved. The monitors are equipped with a cable management design that does away with the messy snarl of wires. The IPS4 series is much more energy-efficient compared to conventional LED monitors without sacrificing picture quality.


LG's IPS4 series will first become available in Asia in May followed by Europe and North America in the coming weeks.






Source:- Tech2

Angry Birds Space HD comes to BlackBerry PlayBook

Almost a month after its release, Rovio's Angry Birds Space HD has arrived on BlackBerry PlayBook platform. The Angry Birds Space HD comes with 60 interstellar levels on planets and in zero gravity. The game has the traditional free updates, new birds and superpowers. PlayBook users can download the game via BlackBerry App World for $ 2.99 (Rs. 157 approximately).

“I got a great surprise e-mail from our game guru (and Director, Strategic Business Development for Gaming) Anders Jeppsson. Overnight, our friends at Rovio Entertainment Ltd. submitted Angry Birds Space HD for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to BlackBerry App World, and it’s now available for purchase,” says Donny H, Blog Manager for Inside BlackBerry.


Rovio recently announced 10 new free levels of Angry Birds Space, the latest iteration of its one of the best selling gaming franchises on the mobile platform. The free levels are currently available for Android and iOS users. The new levels are called “Fry Me to the Moon”. Angry Birds Space is available as a free download for Android Users but iOS users will have to shell out $0.99 (Rs. 52 approx.) for the iPhone/iPod touch version and $2.99 (Rs. 157 approx.) for the iPad version.


The new Angry Birds Space game, which notched up 10 million downloads in three days of launch, has various new features such as gravitational fields and new angry birds – such as the Space Eagle. The game has 60 initial levels and six new characters and has what Rovio describes a "unique twist in a variable gravity environment".


Rovio will be rolling out its Angry Birds Space for Windows Phone platform as well.




Source:- ThinkDigit

Google adds another easter egg, the "Zerg rush"

Google likes its Doodles and so do we, but another treat that Google and us as customers love are their easter eggs. Back on Valentine's Day, Google released an easter egg, celebrating the love by using an equation that when plotted on a graph, would present you with an image of a heart. Now, Google, in a flash of randomness has decided to celebrate the gaming spirit and let out the "zerg rush" easter egg. The nice thing about the easter egg is that you don't have to turn off the search while typing setting in order to enjoy it. Type the words "zerg rush" into the search window on Google.com. What you will see is a bunch of red and yellow "o"s taking over your screen, erasing what's on it and eventually forming "GG". You will see options to clear your screen or "Share your score". Hit the "share your score" button and Google will give you a post for your Google+ account reading "I defended against a #zergrush on Google Search".

You can also fight back against the zergs by clicking on them three times. Just remember that you can fracture your thumb clicking on the zergs as much as you want, they're going to outnumber you and take you down. That of course, is what makes your score. Google will measure your APM as well as your score to share to your Google+ account. It will say that you took down x number of zerglings with 80 APM. The idea of a "rush" comes from real-time strategy video games where the term indicates that you flood your enemy with your own battle units, overpowering them and taking over because they cannot match you with your sheer number of fighters. In the game, StarCraft, the alien race called the Zergs used this tactic quite frequently.

This isn't the first time Google's released an easter egg paying homage to a popular game. The famous "do a barrel roll" trick was inspired by a 1997 Nintendo game, Star Fox 64, where Peppy, the game's space rabbit tells Fox McCloud, the game's protagonist to "do a barrel roll", which you make him do by pressing 'z' or 'r' twice. The trick itself on Google by either typing, "Do a barrel roll" or "Z or R twice" in the Google search window. The result would be your entire screen does a backflip, just as the name of the trick suggests. 




Source:- Tech2

Panasonic’s radar tech aims to avoid collisions in low visibility conditions

Panasonic Corporation today announced it has developed an advanced radar technology for next-generation traffic safety systems that enables to detect humans and vehicles in a range of several tens of meters. This millimeter-wave radar technology allows for detecting objects outdoors in poor visibility conditions, such as night, rain and snow, as well as against the sunlight. When applied in traffic surveillance sensors located at intersections, this innovative technology will help increase automotive safety by detecting pedestrians and bicycles hidden in the driver's blind spots.


As accidents at intersections account for about a half of all traffic fatalities, preventive measures are required to avoid collisions there involving cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Panasonic's new radar technology enables traffic monitoring sensors at intersections to detect pedestrians and bicycles up to 40 meters ahead even at nighttime and under bad weather conditions that hinder the driver's visibility. By alerting the driver of the presence of pedestrians in the crosswalk or bicycles in blind spots, this technology helps to reduce the driver's burden and traffic accidents.

Image for Representative purpose only 

Panasonic's new automotive radar technology has overcome the difficulties with conventional millimeter-wave radar technologies; the advanced radar technology is capable of detecting humans and cars simultaneously in spite of the fact that human body reflects extremely weak radar signals compared with car body. This innovative radar technology has also achieved high detection performance with a range resolution of less than 50cm and an angular resolution of 5 degrees, which enables to detect pedestrians and vehicles. Furthermore, unlike optical and infrared cameras and laser sensors, whose detection performance can be significantly affected by visibility conditions, this new radar technology will not be subject to such conditions as nighttime, rain, snow or dense fog.


Panasonic has developed and incorporated the following new element technologies to realize the new millimeter-wave radar technology for automotive applications:

• Coded pulse modulation technique that employs a newly designed code sequence for pulse radar method to improve sensitivity characteristics, thereby achieving extension of the detection range and finding out small objects that have weak radar reflection.

• Adaptive antenna technique that combines radar beamforming transmission and adaptive array antenna reception with signal processing algorism for estimation of target direction, thereby achieving high angle resolution even with a smaller antenna compared with conventional one.

With regard to millimeter-wave radars, there presently exist radars for vehicle to measure distance to the vehicle in front. However, these radars cannot detect human body with high resolution due to very weak radar reflection of human body. In addition, an optical camera is commonly used as a traffic surveillance sensor. However, it cannot work well under certain conditions such as nighttime because it can provide almost the same information as the human eye can capture.


Panasonic has achieved the new radar technology as part of the "Research and Development Project for Expansion of Radio Spectrum Resources" supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan. The company will demonstrate the technology at VTC (Vehicular Technology Conference) 2012-Spring (May 7 to 9 in Yokohama, Japan), using a test equipment with an experimental radio license.
On the new radar technology, Panasonic holds eighteen patents in Japan and six patents overseas including pending applications






Source:- BusinessWire

Chrome OS gets Google Drive integration

It was only a matter of time before this move was made. Google has now started integrating the Google Drive service into their Chrome OS operating system. A post made on the Google Chrome Releases blog details the changes being made in the last update - version  20.0.1116.0. The update is available for Chromebooks and specifically these models - Acer AC700, Samsung Series 5 and Cr-48s. Google recently launched their Google Drive service, which allows users to store data online. The service has been rolling out in stages - free account users get 5GB of space while paid upgrades are available with capacities scaling right up to 16TB. The move means that Chrome OS users can simply start saving data onto the Google Drive.

The integration comes by the way of an option in File Manager on the OS and users can choose to save data to it, like they would in any other OS. Google’s Chrome OS was designed to be a light- weight operating system and users could use web based applications instead. Initially, the OS booted into a screen with just a browser. Recent improvements have included a taskbar, like other operating systems and the ability to minimize, maximize and move windows around freely. The latest dev build includes a bug fix which had to do with a problem with audio not playing in videos when multiple tabs were opened.

Google Drive fits in well with Google’s plans for Chrome OS. The ability to store data on the web means that users no longer have to carry around external hard drives or email themselves data. Once the 5GB free quota gets consumed, there’s a good chance people will start paying for the paid service. However, in countries with connection speed limits or download limits, there’s bound to be some hesitation in uploading and downloading large amounts of data from Google Drive. There’s also the concern about Google’s claiming rights to all the content uploaded by the user to the Google Drive.




Source:- Tech2

Samsung Galaxy SIII to come with Exynos 4 quad-core processor

Samsung has said that its next generation Galaxy Smartphone will house a quad-Corec processor. The new processor is called Exynos 4 Quad is a 32nm processor. The next generation Samsung Galaxy smartphone, so far known as the Samsung Galaxy SIII is expected to be unveiled next month. The Exynos 4 Quad will not only be used in smartphones but in Samsung’s tablets as well. The chip will be clocked at a speed of 1.4GHz.

The fact that the processor in the Samsung Galaxy S III is a 32nm chip is a big deal breaker considering that the third generation iPad and the iPhone 4 and 4S use 45nm chipsets.
In a statement released, Samsung said, "Already in production, the Exynos 4 Quad is scheduled to be adopted first into Samsung's next Galaxy smartphone that will officially be announced in May. The Exynos 4 Quad processor is a crucial element in providing our customers with a PC-like experience on mobile devices. Samsung's next Galaxy device, which will be officially announced soon, offers uncompromised performance and ground breaking multi-tasking features."


Samsung’s press release also says, “In addition, the new processor was architected to drive up to 1366 x 768 (WXGA) display and incorporates a full HD 30 frame per second video hardware codec engine for high resolution 1080p video recording and play-back, an embedded image signal processor interface for high-quality camera functionality and an HDMI 1.4 interface for sharp and crisp multimedia content transmission.”




Source:- ThinkDigit

Unlock your iPhone with your face using FaceVault

FaceVault is already available for Android, in fact facial recognition security is quite the norm for Android based devices. iPhone users however, previously had to jailbreak their phones and go through Cydia to download the RecognizeMe tweak that would let them use their faces to unlock their phones. Now, after much battle to get the app into the iOS App Store, FaceVault is available for iPhone users for $0.99 (approx Rs. 51). It had to be modified because Apple's developer rules do not allow app developers to take control of the device's lock screen. What the app does, is it makes users import photos into an album within the application to use for facial recognition to unlock the phone. 

When you first download the app, you'll have to set it up so that it learns the details of your face and can recognize it for an efficient unlock. However, if the recognition system doesn't work, you will be taken to another screen where you have to swipe out an unlock sequence for your device. The facial unlock system is powered by face.com which means that you'll have to grant them permission to upload the trained facial recognition image to their servers, that you will need to do over an active internet connection.

Even once you set up the facial recognition as your default unlocking method, you can switch over to the unlock code when you're in low light. The application uses your front facing camera to detect your face. There is also a log in archive that tells you when the app had a break in attempt. The app does warn you that Face Recognition is less secure a locking method than Pattern. They also say that someone who looks similar to you can use the feature to unlock your phone. For the application to have access to the camera roll (for images to train itself to your face), you will need to turn on your location services setting. And finally, the application cannot delete photos imported from the camera roll, that will have to be done manually. 




Source:- Tech2

Game4u rolls out new customer loyalty program

Retailer Game4u has rolled out its very first customer loyalty program called Team Elite, their way of rewarding customers with certain pre-order bonuses, discounts and lots more. This initiative was announced on Wednesday at the launch of their new store in Gurgaon, Delhi and will go live by the 10th of May 2012.

Upon purchase of any product from Game4u valued at Rs. 450 or higher, you’ll receive a welcome kit along with Team Elite vouchers. As you keep buying stuff from them, you’ll rack up points that can later on be redeemed for exclusive previews of upcoming games, merchandise and lots more. 




Source:- Tech2

Now download free anti-virus from Facebook’s new AV market

Facebook have setup a market that offers free anti-virus solutions. The market, that’s now accessible from here offers five free security solutions from five very popular vendors. The solutions being offered are - Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition, Microsoft Security Essentials, Norton AntiVirus, Trend Micro internet security for PCs and Macs, and McAfee Internet Security. The versions available to Facebook users offers security coverage for six months. Of course, you can’t go about downloading all of the five solutions that are up for offer - each account is limited to just one security solution. The solutions are completely free for use. There’s a major announcement detailing the reason for this collaboration. 

The announcement talks about the efforts made by Facebook to try and reduce malware on Facebook by implementing all kinds of defense mechanisms as well as manually shutting down pages, apps and accounts that are up to no good. The tieup with these companies will now enable Facebook to build a database of malicious web pages, so the whole of the 900 million+ Facebook users won’t be exposed to them. Facebook claims that this filter now scans trillions of web pages a day. The Facebook Security Blog is put in place to keep its users updated on security updates.


The service is known to support apps and games within its service and simply clicking on a masked link is an easy way to get infected. It’s not uncommon to find the signs of malware attacks on your contacts' walls. Security agencies of late have updated their security solutions that scan local PCs, mobile phones and now even Facebook walls and content for any kind of malware.




Source:- Tech2

Apple's new iPad officially launches in India, prices start at Rs. 30,500

Today, Apple launches their third generation iPad or simply, new iPad in India and it will be available across the country in all Apple authorized outlets. The new iPad brings with it a host of new features like the Retina Display, a much better camera and faster quad-core graphics. The pricing hasn’t changed since the last time we reported it and here it is once more, in case you missed it the first time. The brand has also dropped the prices of the iPad 2 in India with the 16GB Wi-Fi version available for   24,500 and   32,900 for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.  

iPad Wi-Fi only

• 16GB –   30,500
• 32GB –   36,500
• 64GB -    42,500

iPad Wi-Fi + 4G

• 16GB –   38,900
• 32GB –   44,900
• 64GB –   50,900

The Retina display on the new iPad features a 2048x1536 resolution, 44 per cent greater colour saturation and about 3.1 million pixels, in the same 9.7-inch space. That’s four times the number of pixels in iPad 2. Those pixels are so close together; your eyes can’t discern individual ones at a normal viewing distance. This makes the picture appear a lot more natural and it’s also a lot easier on the eyes. The Retina display on the new iPad wouldn’t be possible without the new and powerful A5X chip. Its quad-core graphics processing makes everything you do on the iPad feel incredibly responsive. From the little things like swiping, scrolling and pinching to the big things like editing photos in the new iPhoto, applying titles and transitions in iMovie and, of course, playing games. Finally we come to the camera – a 5MP iSight shooter that features a backside illumination sensor. This gives it the ability to capture great-looking pictures whether by sunlight or candlelight. Autofocus, tap to focus and tap to set exposure functions are present and there’s built-in face detection that automatically balances focus and exposure across up to 10 faces. 




Source:- Tech2