New research has found out that electronic devices like Smartphones can be charged with the ‘humidity’ in the atmosphere.
According to MIT scientists, water droplets clash with a highly repelling surface and produce electric charge. This reaction can be used to create electricity which can then be harnessed to charge electronic devices. The electricity produced during this process is in small amount that, if utilized properly, would be enough to charge an electronic device.
The research was done by Nenad Miljkovic, Evelyn Wang and colleagues from MIT, published in the ‘journal Applied Physics Letters’, can enable the creation of devices that can use the humidity in the air to charge Smartphones and many other electronic devices. Clean water could also be obtained through this system.
The device could be created with only some flat metal plates placed over one another. The research team used copper plates in their initial experiments but the device could be created with any metal with conductive properties like aluminuim.
The initial tests produced only very small amount of electricity i.e. 15 picowatts per square centimeter of metal plate but researchers are sure that the process could be evolved into producing at least 1 microwatt per square centimeter.
This output would be equal to the amount electricity other systems produce from vibrations, waste heat and other forms of energy which is then used to power electronic devices in some places.
While this system can prove to be an easy and cost effective method for powering electronic devices; however, it will need a humid atmosphere to work.
Now did you really think that Sony was going to let Microsoft have all of the Blu-Ray 3D fun?
Fresh off the heels of Xbox One’s Blu-Ray 3D support, Sony has announced that the PS4 will soon support Blu-Ray 3D.
Sony Europe revealed that support for Blu-Ray 3D will, indeed be coming to the PS4, but there hasn’t been any word as to whether or not other features will be available in the update, like support for home theater systems, DLNA, MP3 playback, or Bluetooth remotes.
If you’re excited to watch Blu-Ray 3D support titles on your PS4, then keep an eye out for Software Update 1.75.
About a couple of weeks ago LG boasted about its new 18-inch flexible OLED display panel, which can be rolled into a tube. It also announced that it’s developed a transparent OLED screen that has three times the amount of transmittance that the current crop of LCD displays offers. And today we get to see both of those on video.
The Korean company’s flexible OLED is really bendy, as it’s being rolled up to a radius of about 3 cm. The transparent display apparently has a 30% transmittance, which makes for a clearer viewing experience compared to LCDs.
The 18-inch flexible OLED which you can see in the first video below getting rolled up has 1280×810 resolution, but not much else is known about it yet.
It’s the same thing for the transparent panel showcased in the next short video. That said, both of these serve just as demonstrations of what’s currently possible to achieve with OLED technology.
Ultimately, LG plans on having both a flexible and a transparent model bigger than 60 inches available for purchase by 2017. That’s an ambitious plan undoubtedly, but as this project is being funded by the Korean government it might not be impossible.
Intel’s Broadwell and Skylake-powered high-end detachable Android devices are said to be coming in 2015, according to a report.
Intel will start offering Bay Trail-T or Bay Trail M processors by the end of 2014 and these gadgets are expected to be priced in the range of $179 to $249 in the market. In 2015, the company will come out with Cherry Trail, the next generation Atom powered tablets.
Intel’s roadmap suggests that the company has some big plans for the Android tablet market in the coming year. Besides the introduction of Cherry Trail Atoms, the firm will also showcase the Braswell Atom powered Android slates in the entry level segment. Braswell is built on the 14nm architecture and is highly efficient.
If the rumors are to be trusted, the upcoming tablets will be thinner than 10mm and will have a detachable form factor. The screen size of these slates will vary from 9.6-inches to 12.5-inches. The tablets will be equipped with 4GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and an optional SSD. The devices are expected to feature a wide range of connectivity options and a battery that lasts for about 8 hours.
Pricing of these powerful machines will range from $299 to $499. Given that these tablets are still months away from being official, they might see a lot of changes through their development cycle. So, take it all with a pinch of salt.
Nokia has set up an interesting project to promote the Lumia 930 in the UK. What seems to be a product of a joint meeting with Greenpeace is actually a giant wall made of potatoes and apples. Why? To charge up a phone.
Some of you may know this, but for others this is a headscratcher. The process of charging the battery using potatoes and apples is possible thanks to the chemicals inside them, which help transfer energy via the metal wires.
And since one potato and an apple won’t cut it, Nokia used 800 on them. Then, the giant garden was hooked concurrently together with a single wire plugged into the Nokia Lumia 930 wireless charger.
And voilà, you have yourself a charger, and a dinner for later. Check out the whole process in the video below.
Microsoft’s mobile division sure seems to be proud of the recently unveiled Nokia Lumia 530. This, you may remember, is the successor to the best selling Lumia 520, and it will become available in August.
As you might expect, the ten reasons that Microsoft lists for why the Lumia 530 is simply great aren’t extremely objective, not all of them anyway. But let’s take them one by one.
First off, the company boasts how cheap the phone is. And at €85 before taxes and subsidies, you can’t really argue with that. Except the Moto E is pretty cheap too, so the Lumia 530 certainly isn’t the only decent smartphone in this situation.
The second reason has to do with “high-end features”, with which the handset is “bursting”. Mentioned here are the Action Center, customizable home screen backgrounds, as well as Cortana, Microsoft’s personal assistant. However, all of these features have to do with the version of the OS the Lumia 530 is running, namely Windows Phone 8.1. Sure, it’s nice to see such a low-end device come with the latest software, but these things aren’t unique to the 530.
Number three on the list is the “powerful” chipset, and for a handset priced like this that’s true. At No. 4 we find the 15GB of OneDrive cloud storage you get for free… but everyone with a OneDrive account gets that amount of space for nothing, you don’t have to buy a phone for this reason.
We’re also told the Lumia 530 “loves apps”, and that it has a dual-SIM version. Next up the camera is touted for its 5 MP resolution, though you really shouldn’t expect it to rival units from more expensive devices in any way. The best it can do is to one up those used in similarly priced devices.
Here Maps gets a shout-out too, and its offline navigation capability is (rightfully) praised. Number 9 on Microsoft’s list is that you can both work and play on this smartphone, using the Office suite for the former and services such as MixRadio for the latter.
And finally, the company says its new device looks great, but beauty is a rather subjective thing, isn’t it? That said, the Lumia 530 is indeed colorful as you’d expect given that it’s a Nokia. And it supports changeable shells too, so you can make it your own.
At least that’s what new sales reports indicate. Tha market share has grown 11% with 49.3 million slates sold in Q2 2014 alone.
Despite these encouraging numbers, there still has been a 1.5% sequential drop from quarter to quarter in 2014. Analyst Jean Philippe Bouchard attributes the growing size of smartphone displays along with users keeping their tablets for longer periods of time before upgrading as to the cause of dwindling sales.
Apple is the head of the tablet pack, selling 13.3 million iPads in Q2, which is a decline from Q1. Samsung also saw a decrease in sales from Q1, with its market share dropping to 17.2%. Things are looking better for Lenovo, however, as the computer manufacturer managed to surpass Asus in the tablet realm, selling 2.4 million units and capturing 4.9% of the slate market share. This leaves 4.6% of the market to Asus, and Acer with 2%.
The study was conducted by IDC, which also reports that a lot of computer and cell phone companies that have decided to move into the tablet realm recently have achieved some success. Companies that offered tablets as a bundle for purchasing a computer or cell phone have also been gaining traction in the tablet market.
Google’s Voice service now supports calling people with Hangouts, and you won’t even need a Google+ account to do so.
The feature also works even if you are using Hangouts outside of gmail.
So how do you do it? Well, when you’re in Google Voice, all you need to do is select Hangouts from the drop down menu called, “Phone to call with.” After that, a Hangouts window will open up and you’ll get to chatting away as you normally would.
Google’s been hard at work lately improving Hangouts by trying to make it the all-inclusive texting, messaging, calling, photo sending application that crosses multiple platforms. Despite not playing so nice with iMessage (messages tend to send out of order, picture messages don’t download), Google seems to be making the right moves.
By incorporating Voice, it looks like Google is getting one step closer to making Hangouts the one-stop-shop for all of your messaging needs, so don’t be surprised if, in the future, Voice is phased out entirely.
Are you a fan of Hangouts? Or do you prefer to have your messaging options segregated?
Western Digital has given its WD Red a major upgrade. The Red is a standard internal hard drive designed specifically for network attached storage devices, generally known as NAS servers.
The upgrade includes two new capacities, 5TB and 6TB, for the Red drive and an all-new WD Red Pro drive that's available in 2TB, 3TB, and 4TB.
The new Red and Red Pro drives share the same NAS-optimized firmware with NASware 3.0 technology. WD says NASware 3.0 enables supported hard drives to work reliably around the clock, while at the same time offering RAID support, compatibility, and better data protection against power failure.
Both the the WD Red and the WD Red Pro support SATA 3 (6Gbps) and come with 64MB of cache memory. The WD Red Pro, however, spins at 7,200rpm and features hardware vibration compensation, making it work better in applications where many hard drives are used side by side at the same time.
WD says the WD Red Pro is best used in NAS servers that have from 8 to 16 drives bays, whereas the WD Red is more suited for those with 1 to 8 bays.
Facebook gets it: Sometimes, there's just too much stuff in your feed to keep up. So, the company's launching a new feature called "Save" to allow customers to mark things they'd like to see later.
If a user sees something on their timeline, such as an article about Apple's upcoming earnings announcement from CNET, they can indicate that they want to save it from their timeline by tapping on the top-right corner of the story. Facebook says places, movies, TV, and other items can also be placed in the Save list.
Users can view their saved items under the "more" tab on their smartphone or tablet. It will also be accessible through a standard Web browser on a computer.
The move is also a half-step into competition with other services, such as Instapaper and Pocket, which promise a way for users to collect interesting items from around the Web that they'd like to read later.The new Save feature brings an interesting twist to the world's largest social network. Until now, the only way items such as news articles would rise to the top of any given user's news feed was via an intricate algorithm that managed what users see based upon their interests and usage of the site. That algorithm was at the heart of Facebook's controversial emotion study in 2012.
But Facebook's service is limited: Users can't send items to the service from the outside world. The service also only works when connected to the Internet, so those on an airplane, a remote desert island, or living in parts of San Francisco without reception are out of luck.
Facebook said the new feature should be rolling out to iOS, Android, and Web users in the next few days.
Facebook and Oculus VR say they have officially finished their $2 billion deal, placing the world's largest social-networking company squarely in the consumer electronics industry.
In a joint statement Monday, the two companies said they look forward to working together "building the next computing platform and reimagining the way people communicate."
Oculus, which makes a virtual-reality headset called the "Rift," has been at the center of a seeming sea change in the video game industry as companies large and small have begun developing new applications for the device. Neither Oculus nor Facebook has committed to a launch date for the device.
The startup, founded by Palmer Luckey and headed by Brendan Iribe, initially launched as a Kickstarter project shipping prototypes to developers in 2012. The company has been steadily updating its prototypes with new features such as higher-resolution images and better sensors to interpret user's movements.
When Facebook purchased Oculus, the social-networking giant's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said he saw opportunity beyond video games to communications, medicine, and education. "Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction," he wrote in a blog post. "But the Internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones."
Currently, most of the attention is on video games. And there, Oculus isn't alone.
Sony in March unveiled its own "Project Morpheus" virtual-reality headset, designed for the PlayStation 4 video game console. The company revealed it has been working on this technology for years, and wants to start inviting developers to make apps for its device. A week later, Facebook said it had agreed to buy Oculus for $2 billion.
Other companies have been developing virtual-reality headsets as well, including smartphone giant Samsung and gaming devices maker Razer, people familiar with the matter have said.
Oculus, for its part, has been growing in size, hiring big names from game companies like Valve, Electronic Arts, and others. The company has also fought a nagging lawsuit from ZeniMax Media, former employer of its CTO John Carmack.
The increasing financial burden had raised eyes at Facebook, which hasn't produced consumer hardware before. Still, Oculus has said, it plans to sell its devices as close to cost as possible, and break even as a business.
The company has also been quietly working on motion controls which would allow users to interact with games through body and hand movements.
Oculus has also announced plans for a developer conference in September, during which it said attendees will have an opportunity to "learn about upcoming Oculus technology."
Google is one of the many companies vying to transform New York City's increasingly anachronistic phone booths into Wi-Fi hot spots.
The search giant was present at an informational meeting held in May to discuss the project. Other big-name attendees include Samsung, Time Warner Cable, Cisco, and Verizon. Bloomberg reported news of the meeting attendees late last night.
The company also provides wireless access around its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters and its office in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. Last July, Google announcedthat it would give $600,000 to San Francisco to provide Wi-Fi access to several of the city's parks.Google is no stranger to the business of Wi-Fi connectivity. The company has a project called Fiber, which aims to provide revved-up broadband speeds to Internet users. Google also has an ambitious initiative called Loon that seeks to bring connectivity to rural areas via high-altitude, giant Wi-Fi balloons.
The strategy expands Google's reach -- in turn allowing more people to use the company's products and services. Google declined to comment on the NYC pay phone project.
The project was unveiled in 2012 by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a way to repurpose the city's more than 73,000 phone booths. In October, several of the city's existing contracts with companies that maintain and operate public pay phones will expire, and the city is looking at alternative infrastructure plans. The companies that are trying to take over the pay phones are allowed to charge for phone service -- excluding calls to 911 and 311, the city's informational phone line -- but are barred from charging for Wi-Fi access
Those of you still stuck on the no-longer-supported Windows XP should at least make sure you're running a reliable antivirus product. A new report from independent test lab AV-Test offers several suggestions.
In April, Microsoft cut off official support for Windows XP, meaning no more security patches or bug fixes to protect the core operating system. If an overall vulnerability in Windows is discovered,Windows 7 and Windows 8 will get patched, but XP will have to fare on its own. Windows XP still accounted for more than 25 percent of global desktop OS traffic in June, according to Web tracker Net Applications.
Your safest bet is to upgrade from XP to a more modern OS. In the meantime, though, several antivirus products can help you battle your average piece of malware.
Spotted by CNET sister site ZDNet, AV-Test analyzed 23 antivirus products for individual consumers and 9 for corporate customers that all work with XP. Each product received a certain grade based on protection, performance, and usability, with scores represented visually by a series of circles numbering up to six.
The consumer products that scored the highest grades in all three categories included BitDefender Internet Security 2014, Kaspersky Lab Internet Security 2014, and Panda Security Cloud Antivirus Free 3.0, earning grades of 18 across the board. Used as a baseline to measure the other programs, Microsoft's own Security Essentials fared poorly, receiving just half a circle for protection and three for performance.
No corporate product got a perfect grade, but Kaspersky Endpoint Security 10.2, McAfee VirusScan Enterprise with EPO 8.8, and Trend Micro Office Scan 11.0 were the top contenders.
As an independent test lab, AV-Test is a good source for evaluating and rating antivirus products. But XP users beware. This may be the last time the lab offers advice on AV software that supports XP. In a tweet posted last week, AV-Test said: "Windows XP is dead, long live Windows XP! Next week, we will publish the probably last AV-Test on Windows XP."To evaluate each program, AV-Test looked at protection against malware infections (such as viruses, worms or Trojan horses), the effects of the product on computer speed in daily use, and the impact of the software on the usability of the computer as a whole. Both paid and free products were part of the roundup, so XP users have a range of choices.
That doesn't mean antivirus software will suddenly stop working on XP. But it does mean XP users will have to find another independent source to seek out advice on the most effective products.
Apple and Samsung are already nasty enemies in the smartphone world, and headphones may be their next battlefield. Samsung has just launched its “Level” family of high-end audio products in the United States.
The series includes 3 variants of headphones – over-ear, on-ear and in-ear. To add to that there is also a portable Bluetooth speaker. Each headsets are available for purchase via Gilt since Thursday.
The Level-Over is a Bluetooth over-ear headset priced at whopping $349.99. It has a touch panel on the side, which can be used by the user to quickly skip between songs, control volume, play/pause using swipe gestures. The touch panel can also be used for activating the S-Voice feature. The headset also supports NFC pairing. And if you don’t like the way Level Over headphones sound out of the box, Samsung also offers an Android app that allows for EQ customization, or what the Samsung refers to as “SoundAlive.”
The Level-On is a wired headset which the company claims to be elegant, compact and simplistic. Considering none of the high-end features are available on this headset, it is priced at just $179.99. The Level-In is the in-ear headset and can be used as an independent 3-way speaker system. The earphones are priced at $149.99.
The rollout of Samsung’s Level products comes since Apple looks to complete its acquisition of Beats Electronics. Samsung has also entered the music subscription arcade with the weirdly named Milk application. But the company has some severe work to do if it aims to make a name for itself against Beats with mainstream consumers and other competitors appealing to audiophiles. That doesn’t mean Samsung should be terminated outright, though. It’s brought some clever audio products to the market before, but $349.99 headphones might prove a very hard sell — especially when there’s no Beats badge on the side.
Its more advantages for file share just convert RAR file and upload to your account then it will generate public link. it can direct download method no need login in recevied person..
Originally YouSendIt, Hightail was one of the first companies that latched on to the 'fire huge files across the internet' thing, and it's grown rapidly since being founded in 2004. The free 'lite' plan - 50MB transfers, 2GB storage - looks a touch limited these days, but the company's longevity is reassuring, and its enterprise options will appeal to corporates.
(CNN) -- What happens when you ask a super-car designer to create a super luxurious train?
Magic, judging by the above images released by Japanese rail company JR East.
Yamagata-born Ken Okuyama, well known in automobile design circles, was brought in to style the company's super slick new Cruise Train, due to start chugging down the tracks in spring 2017.
Holding a maximum of 34 passengers, the Cruise Train will have 10 carriages made up of five suites, one deluxe suite, two glass-walled observation cars, a dining car and lounge.
Okuyama has worked as a chief designer for General Motors, a senior designer for Porsche AG and design director for Pininfarina, the company behind the Ferrari Enzo and Maserati Quattroporte.
According to his company, Ken Okuyama Design, he wanted to create a train that would allow passengers "to appreciate the flow of the time and space," while enjoying Japan's landscapes and culture throughout the journey.
One of the more unique features is the observation carriage at the front of the train, which allows passengers to see onto the tracks ahead.
The other observation car is at the end of the train.
JR Rail says the train will be fitted with furniture that conveys the nobility of traditional Japanese culture.
The Lounge, for instance, is wrapped in graceful curves and features decor inspired by trees.
All suites will have a private bathroom with a shower and toilet, but the top sleeping space is the split level deluxe suite, which sleeps four.
On the bottom are two double beds, on the top a traditional Japanese dining area, with seats on the floor.
The train will be able to run on both electric and non-electric rails.
Can't wait till 2017?
JR East's upcoming Cruise Train won't be the first Japanese train to take the super-luxury route.
JR Kyushu's Seven Stars
train, which features Japanese and Western design elements, hit the tracks in the fall of 2013.
This one only travels through the island of Kyushu and has 14 luxury guest rooms, two deluxe suites, three presidential suites, a lounge car, dining car and bar.
Guests can choose either the two- or three-night experience.
The name "Seven Stars" represents the seven prefectures of Kyushu, the seven carriages of the train and the seven main tourist attractions of the island (nature, cuisine, hot springs, history/culture, spiritual sites, local hospitality and sightseeing).
Those who want to take a Seven Stars journey need to apply online. Prices start from ¥180,000 ($1,765) per person for the two-night trip.
No first come first serve here.
The company says that in the event that applications exceed available places, a lottery will be conducted to select participants.
What do you think is the highest pressure that can be produced and studied in the lab?
A recent experiment just hit the answer with a mind-boggling number of five terapascals, which amounts to 50 million atmospheres — “a pressure similar to that at the centre of Saturn.”
Not just this, it has mimicked on earth what can happen to matter at the centres of distant, massive exoplanets. The paper by R.F. Smith et al, is published today (July 17) in Nature.
Dr. Smith is from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California.
One of the questions that has been of interest to scientists in recent times is how matter behaves under pressures that are a million or billion times more than what we experience on earth.
This question gains importance with the discovery of huge numbers of massive planets outside our solar system, where matter may exist under such high pressure conditions.
Now, experiments have made it possible to study such high pressures in the lab. Pressures up to 50 terapascals have been realised at the U.S. National Ignition Facility using the world’s largest laser to generate this pressure by increasing the pressure in steps (ramp-loading). Using 176 laser beams, the pressure was applied on nanocrystalline diamond samples and the changes were observed.
Theories of how matter behaves under pressure may break down under such large pressures, so it is necessary to have experiments that can mimic these high pressures and observe how materials transform under these pressures.
Then comparing the predictions of a theory to the observed patterns can help confirm whether the theory holds good — very different from extrapolating based on what we know of matter under earth conditions.
In this case, the density functional theory (DFT), which is a quantum mechanical theory of condensed phases of matter, appears to make predictions that are in agreement with the results of the experiment.
The experimental techniques developed at the Facility can create the pressure-temperature conditions that prevail deep inside these massive “super earth” exoplanets which are rich in carbon.
This augurs well for future studies of these planets in earth-based laboratories.
German luxury car maker Audi is betting big on its upcoming sedan A3 to stretch its leadership in the Indian market and has started local production of the model from VW group firm Skoda’s Aurangabad plant.
The A3 will be the first model from the Audi stable to be locally produced before being launched in India. Other models, such as sedans A6 and A4; SUVs Q5, Q7 and Q3 which are locally produced now were imported as completely built units (CBUs) at the time of launch.
“The local production of the Audi A3 Sedan in India is in continuation of our growth strategy and consistent focus on the Indian market,” Audi Board Member for Production, Hubert Waltl said.
The A3 is slated to be launched in the Indian market next month and will be available in both petrol and diesel variants.
Explaining the reasons for producing the A3 in India even before it is launched, he said: “The market potential coupled with the world-class infrastructure in the plant, efficient working processes, qualified workforce and a well-developed logistics environment were the factors that motivated us to expand the product portfolio at the Aurangabad plant”.
The whole-year capacity at the plant for all Audi models is more than 14,000 units in a one-shift operation.
Bullish on the potential of the A3, Audi India Head Joe King said: “We believe that the launch of this car would see us further consolidating our market share and strengthen our leadership position”.
In 2013 Audi sold 10,002 units in India, becoming the first luxury car maker to cross the 10,000 units milestone and stay as the number one ahead of German rivals Mercedes (9,003 units) and BMW (7,327 units).
He further said: “The Audi A3 Sedan will be a game-changer for us in India, since it will open up the Luxury segment like never before...I feel that the Audi A3 sedan is just the right product for the Indian market”.
Globally, Audi A3 has been a huge success and was voted ’World Car of the Year’ in 2014 overcoming 23 other rivals, the Audi India Head added.
In India, the luxury car market has seen the likes of hatchbacks A Class and B Class from Mercedes and 1 Series from BMW that has improved the affordability range with prices starting just above Rs 20 lakh.
The Audi A3 is also targeting aspiring customers as well as repeat buyers.
“(With) Audi A3 Sedan, we will be creating a new segment, that of the compact luxury sedan, in India. The Audi A3 sedan will attract an entirely new customer segment,” he said.
JBL has launched the new JBL Flip 2 wireless portable speaker with Bluetooth/NFC connectivity . It is the successor of the JBL Flip speaker . The changes in the new model are addition of standard micro USB port for charging (JBL Flip comes with proprietary charger !) , little sound power improvement from 5W to 6W speakers , built-in control buttons for premium look , and a new hard case cover . It is powered by a 2000 mAh rechargeable battery and there is still not much improvement in the battery backup time . Considering all the changes , the inclusion of the micro USB port for charging is the major one and is the reason why it makes sense to buy the new JBL Flip 2 instead of JBL Flip even when the new one costs more .
JBL Flip 2 key features :
Built-in bass port for full range sound
NFC/Bluetooth wireless connectivity
5-hour Li-ion battery
Equipped with SoundClear® echo and noise cancellation
State-of-the-art microphone
Available in 5 different vibrant colors
Cutting-edge drivers and a built-in bass port – Dual, performance-tuned JBL drivers with a built-in bass port for full range sound.
Bluetooth wireless streaming and connectivity to all smartphones and tablets – Wireless Bluetooth stereo streaming with NFC.
Signature JBL Flip design for portability that fits in your hand – Easy set up and connection to multiple smart phones or tablets
The life of the party made portable , Next Generation for more power and more portability.
The award-winning Flip 2 wireless portable speaker from JBL brings rich sound into your portable lifestyle for all your wireless phones and tablets. Engineered with JBL aptitude and attitude, the Flip 2 uses two drivers and a built-in bass port for powerful bass that adds dynamic depth to your listening experience along with crisp vocals all in a speaker that fits in your hand.
And because sometimes your phone is for more than music, the Flip 2 has a built in microphones and SoundClear® echo and noise cancellation technologies so you can use Flip 2 as a hands free speakerphone and never miss a word. JBL Flip 2 the wireless, portable, rechargeable battery powered speaker that is an all-terrain party you can carry in the palm of your hand.
This year Samsung is pretty much planning to bring its next handset in its famous “Note” series and the rumors for the Galaxy Note 4 have already started catching much heat. We all know that Samsung is quite well-known for its Exynos processors and recently the company introduced its new octa-core Exynos 5433 chipsetwhich comes with integrated LTE Cat 4 facility and much more. Now recent reports coming from IBTimesshow that Samsung might plan to bring this chipset to most of its Galaxy Note 4 models available globally. This chipset even hosts the Intel LTE Category 6 modem and with the Intel XMM7260 cellular chip on-board, the Galaxy Note 4 could facilitate its users to get faster download speeds of 300Mbps.
In addition to these Exynos versions, the Galaxy Note 4 could also be powered with the famous Qualcomm chipsets. Moreover, recently both the versions of the handset have been spotted on AnTuTu benchmark. In addition to the powerful Intel modem, the Exynos 5433 chipset also comes with Mali GPU which gives the device a considerable bump in the graphic capabilities of the device.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is very likely to be unveiled at the IFA show this year in Berlin, to be held in September. The Galaxy Note 4 could come with a new design along with the Google’s latest released Android L OS.
The metal-body covered Samsung Galaxy F aka the Galaxy Alpha is back in news and this time it has appeared from the South Korean website ETnews.com. The article doesn’t however reveal much details but insiders from the industry claim that the much rumored Samsung Galaxy Alpha that is likely to boast some high-end specs could be unveiled next month on August 13. Well, it is believed the upcoming Alpha model will compete with Apple’s much rumored iPhone 6 and would come up with a leather faux covering over the metal clad. There have been previously quite a big number of rumors for the Galaxy Alpha and is you are a Samsung fan you can surely know it here. Different reports have claimed different specifications for the device which puts it to sport either a 4.7inch or a 5.2inch or a 5.3 inch QHD display. However, most of the rumors have agreed upon that the device will surely come up with a Super AMOLED display resolution. Moreover, the device is likely to host very thin bezels on its sides. The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is likely to host a Snapdragon 805 chipset at its heart. Well, with days to come, we hope things get clear soon.
Samsung’s enterprise solution known as Knox was quite heavily supported last year and even received endorsement from the U.S. government to be used by its officers. Samsung was conjointly discovered to be contributory the work finished with Knox to Google which might mean that future iterations of Android can have a Knox like answer by default. This feels like enough reason for Samsung to ditch it as having 2 services of a similar nature would build it slightly redundant.
The report that produces from Forbes goes onto counsel that Samsung’s shrinking profits and a razor skinny adoption rate of Knox among customers is additionally a contributory issue behind scrapping this project overall. However fortuitously, Samsung makes sure that their work doesn’t attend waste because it has provided Google the required code for implementation inside Android. This can be a logical move by Samsung and can be welcome by fans. It’s said that solely a pair of Samsung device holders make use of Knox that is sufficient reason to drag the plug.
Update: Samsung has allotted the subsequent statement on the matter – “Samsung is committed to the long run evolution of mobile security and therefore the current development of Samsung Knox. Whereas Samsung is contributory a section of Knox technology for the advantage of the whole Android community and enterprise customers, Samsung Knox remains the foremost secure Android platform from the hardware to the applying level. Samsung can still work with our associates to modify Knox for all of our valued customers. Our list of enterprise and government shoppers continues to grow speedily, and could be evidence to our assurance to providing highly-desirable, secure mobile devices across all diligences. Moreover, Samsung endures to supply differentiated and extremely valuable mobile enterprise services like Knox EMM and Knox Marketplace to produce consumers with the foremost secure and ascendible quality management answer.”
Back in March along with the launch of HTC premium flagship HTC One M8, the company also launched its brand new Dot View cases. However, for the moment, the Dot View cases are sharing their compatibility only with One M8 whereas recent reports show that the Taiwanese giant is planning to bring these trendy cases to more of its handsets this year. Moreover, it’s not one or two but a bulk of handsets which are likely to get this Dot View compatibility.
Based on the latest image released by @evleaks, the “Dot View Premium” cases will be compatible with M8 Ace (HTC One E8), W8, B2 and Eye. However, the HTC W8 and HTC Eye are yet to get confirmed from HTC but it is being said that HTC W8 could be the first Windows Phone 8.1 smartphone from the company. Well, the HTC Eye could be the next Android-based “selfie phone” from HTC that would compete against Sony’s recently launchedXperia C3.
Additional information reveals something about the “Dot View Standard” that is compatible with A51 along with the “Dot View Lite” that could work with the HTC A11 and the HTC A21. Now with so many devices to be coming up from HTC with a support for the “Dot View” cases, one thing is sure that the coming year for the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer is going to much better. For the time being if you are unaware of the HTC One M8, get to know the details of the device here.
GoTenna is a pocket-size communication tool that lets smartphones talk to one another without cell service.
Our modern, wired society often romanticizes going off the grid. Pack-toting hikers bravely venture into areas without electricity or -- gasp! -- cell service, unfortunately inhibiting the posting of that picture-perfect Instagram shot.
While few discount the benefits of unplugging now and again, it's not necessarily safe to trek miles into the wilderness without a backup plan -- or for that matter to live even in urban areas potentially crippled by a natural disaster. That's why people often shell out anywhere from $500 to $1,500 for a trusty Globalstar or Iridium satellite phone.
GoTenna, a Brooklyn-based hardware startup, has a modified, smartphone app-based approach to staying in touch at a lower cost when cell service is shaky, no satellite connection required. The device, a thin 2-ounce wand that can be strapped to a backpack or belt loop, connects to a smartphone app via Bluetooth low energy (LE). Slide out the antenna and power on the device and you'll then be able to send messages and GPS coordinates from your smartphone to others connected to a GoTenna. The company offers downloadable, high-resolution offline maps for referencing transmitted location data.
GoTenna doesn't give your smartphone LTE-style data, so no Twitter scrolling or Facebook browsing. What it does is create a low-frequency radio wave network for its iOS and Android app that can last around 1 mile in skyscraper-filled urban areas, but up to 9 miles in most outdoor situations like hiking and camping. If you're climbing or, say, out skiing, it shoots from 9 miles to as high as 50 miles once you start ascending to higher elevations.
GoTenna is 5.8 inches in length and weighs 2 ounces. When the antenna is extended, which is required for use, the length extends by 2.2 inches.
"That's just the science of radio waves. We are operating at the limits of physics," said GoTenna co-founder and CEO Daniela Perdomo. "If the Earth was curved a different way, you could get more miles than that."
The idea is to allow text messaging both between fellow off-the-gird participants and someone located within the net of reliable cell service in the case of an emergency. There's also a function, called Shout, that lets you transmit information to any GoTenna devices in range. Messages are end-to-end encrypted and not stored anywhere. They also can be set to self-destruct once the recipient reads it.
"You get delivery confirmation," Perdomo said. "Unlike walkie-talkies where you send something out into the void, there's no guess work here." Bridging the gap between WhatsApp and a satellite phone is the point.
"The experience of using this should be the same as a messaging app on your smartphone," she said, though it comes with a bit more juice. A GoTenna can last up to a year and a half on a single charge if it remains off, and its lithium-ion battery will last for 72 hours of occasional use, Perdomo said.
GoTenna is taking preorders starting Thursday. For $149, you get a pair of devices. Following the first batch of sales up to $50,000, GoTenna plans to raise the price to $299 per pair.
Bootstrapped in Brooklyn
Not often does a hardware startup go from product inception to full-blown company without a major financial backer. Yet GoTenna managed to hatch out of Brooklyn's NYC Resistor hacker space -- where 3D printer company MakerBot got its start -- without the footing provided by a venture capitalist. Prior to a much-needed funding round late last year, led by firms Andreessen Horowitz and Bloomberg Beta, GoTenna was completely self-funded for much of its first year.
The brainchild of Perdomo, a former journalist and startup product manager, and her brother and now-CTO, Jorge Perdomo, the company was born from the connectivity nightmare following 2012's Hurricane Sandy. In the aftermath of the storm that devastated the tri-state area that fall, many residents were facing downed cell towers that left them out of contact with friends and family.
That's precisely why GoTenna isn't aimed solely at off-the-grid trips like hiking and camping. Its other use cases are traveling abroad without a dedicated SIM card, attending large-scale events like concerts and sports matches, and during natural disasters that leave cell service crippled and unreliable.
GoTenna's iOS and Android app can sync with your phone's contact list -- or rely on an anonymous ID -- to send messages and location data.
Now that it's on sound financial ground, the team of six -- four additional engineers alongside the Perdomo siblings -- are using a presale campaign to gauge demand for their first batch of GoTennas. The road here, however, was complicated and not without failure.
"Our first device worked on the 900 Mhz band and was huge and worked over the audio jack," Daniela Perdomo explained. GoTenna was originally conceived as a kind of phone case that would forgo the need for a wireless accessory. However, that frequency -- allocated for amateur (also known as ham) radio and some walkie-talkie equipment -- wasn't reliable enough. It cost the company more than just a few product design iterations to maneuver to something wireless.
"We are now at a device that is Bluetooth LE-enabled that works on the 151-154 MHz range," Perdomo said. "The propagation characteristics of these waves are so fantastic. They like to turn corners, go over mountains, they interact with matter well."
Even more challenging than designing a slide-able, tiny antenna, and ensuring that the device's own circuitry wouldn't interfere with its capabilities, was creating their communication network. It needed to be one that could operate without talking to a server and wouldn't choke on itself as it expanded.
"Some of the more interesting and novel stuff we're doing is on the network layer," Perdomo said. "The No. 1 thing is how do we make this work without any central server -- every one single person being their own autonomous node."
The team decided that asynchronous bursts of text, instead of real-time voice, was the way to go and relied on rigorous testing to ensure it could be sustained at scale. "People have been using radio frequency technology for a century. That's easy to model out," Perdomo explained. Still, the company has put hundreds of devices within range of each other. And on the virtual side, many more.
"We've been running simulations with not hundreds, but thousands and thousands of people," she added. "We learned a lot. It's hard to work with these invisible things and getting to be really power-efficient and transmitting at the range you want, and getting to the right people."
Boiled down singularly, the scrappy team that backed their hardware startup with their own money thousands of miles from the heart of Silicon Valley learned the oft-quoted tech lesson: Hardware is hard.
"Radio frequency engineering is really hard. It's truly a black art," Perdomo said. If all goes according to plan, GoTenna's black art will be what powers a seamless experience that, like most modern technology, we often use as if it really were magic.
