Google developing game console and smartwatch

Google developing game console and smartwatch

Google is developing a game console and smartwatch, both powered by Android, and is preparing to release a second version of the Nexus Q media streamer. These devices are all intended to increase Google’s reach beyond smartphones, and to fend off similar plays that are expected from Apple.

Google will be releasing one of these by the end of this year.Whether the smartwatch will be something similar to the existing Sony smartwatch is yet to be seen.Even though Ouya- an android game console was released lately, it has received poor reviews.So the market does not offer much competition for an android game console.With  these devices google is definitely looking to reign supreme.  

Touch free mobile technology developed by an Indian woman

Touch free mobile technology developed by an Indian woman

Touch-free, or gesture recognition, technology is something that mobile phone manufacturers are targeting as the next cool feature in smartphones. It is something that they are trying to develop and implement for years.

Now, the industry appears to advance a step further in making such technology a reality, thanks to the research of Andrea Colaco and her co-partner Ahmed Kirmani. Goan native Colaco and Kirmani won the Massachusetts Institute Technology's (MIT) entrepreneurship competition with their touch-free mobile technology called "3dim"--which provides real-time, millimeter-accurate 3D gesture sensing by employing patented signal processing methods.

They won US$100,000 in funds and will use it to develop the technology with mobile manufacturers which had expressed an interest.

This innovation would obviously eliminate the need to use a keyboard or touch screen for many tasks, as gestures could be programmed into mobile devices to recognize the pattern and then execute the command.

One of the greatest features for touch-free technology will be the elimination of multiple windows to run several applications since, with a gesture, users can move seamlessly from one application to another.

Gesture recognition will also opens up new ways in the gaming industry also.

Sony SmartWatch 2 launched: a water resistant android device

Sony SmartWatch 2 launched: a water resistant android device

Sony's taking a second stab at the fledgling wearable category it helped pioneer with today's announcement of the SmartWatch 2. The Android-powered wristwatch retains the familiar remote functionality of its predecessor (i.e., allowing users to answer calls, read email and texts, snap photos, etc.), albeit now from a larger, 1.6-inch (220 x 176) touch display. Sony's packed all of this "second screen" functionality into a handsome, aluminum body design that's crafted to be dust- and water-resistant (IP57), much like the Xperia Z line before it. And for users that want a little variety, the company's also offering a pack-in stainless steel wristband that can be swapped out for any other 24mm strap (Sony plans to offer alternative straps sometime soon).

The SmartWatch 2 also features support for NFC and Bluetooth 3.0, so you can easily pair it with compatible devices running Android 4.0 or higher -- something like the Xperia Z Ultra, perhaps. As for battery life, Sony claims the SmartWatch 2's rated for a maximum of four days with moderate use. But those with a lighter touch, or a penchant for digital wristwatches, may be able to eke out a full week's worth of juice. There's no pricing information to share at the moment, only a semi-concrete global release date for this September. Which is just about enough time for you (or, more likely, your Dad) to dust off that Dick Tracy impersonation.

Smartphone with flexible display screen by samsung

Smartphone with flexible display screen by samsung

Samsung’s aiming to make smartphone tech a little less rigid with the introduction of new, flexible screens that can be used in smartphones and tablets to make them more resilient.

In the keynote presentation at the tConsumer Electronics Show, Samsung device head Stephen Woo and lab lead Brian Berkeley showed off bendable, rollable, foldable displays with several concept devices. The flexible screens, which Samsung has branded as Youm, are designed to have displays as rich and crisp as current smartphones, but with more options for form factors.

The screen bends around the edge of the device to display information on the side of it, similar to the information on the side of a book. More broadly, flexible screen technology could help improve the resilience of consumer technology devices and make them even more portable.

HTTP 2.0 - connection multiplexing ,expected release in 2014

HTTP 2.0 - connection multiplexing ,expected release in 2014

HTTP 2.0, the next generation of the principal protocol underlying the World Wide Web, is moving closer to implementation. Interoperability testing is due soon and a completed specification is planned in a year, the editor of the draft specification said.

Version 2.0's new capabilities include multiplexing, said Martin Thomson, a Microsoft employee who is the HTTP 2.0 editor at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). "What HTTP 2.0 does is provide full multiplexing, which can send as many requests as you like at the same time," he said.

Interoperability testing should start in about six weeks, Thomson said, with completion expected in spring 2014. "If it's not done in a year, or at least done to the point where we people can implement it, we've failed."

HTTP 2.0 is promised to make Web pages load faster and improve API functionality, said Google's Roberto Peon, who has worked on SPDY, a predecessor protocol also intended to boost Web speed. SPDY and HTTP 2.0 are now largely the same, and the current version of SPDY is expected to be the last one.

Samsung Galaxy NX with interchangeable lenses, and Android 4.2

Samsung Galaxy NX : interchangeable lenses and Android 4.2

Samsung released its first Android-based camera late last year, but that seems to have been merely a test run. The Galaxy NX Camera has just been detailed, and it has the entry model version beaten in just about every way. As part of Samsung’s NX line it’s first Android camera with interchangeable lenses, but the surprises don’t stop there.

From the front, this device could almost be mistaken for a DSLR, but from above it’s clear this is a different animal entirely. Whereas the mega-bizarre Galaxy S4 Zoom is really just a phone with a mid-range point-and-shoot grafted on, the Galaxy NX Camera is a high-end mirrorless camera with all its non-photographic electronics replaced with an Android device.

The back screen is a 4.8-inch LCD touchscreen at HD resolution. Presumably that means 720p in this context, but Samsung wasn’t more specific. Samsung loves AMOLED screens, but the decision to go with an LCD is advantageous for a camera. AMOLEDs tend to have very blown-out colors, and to wash out in direct sunlight. Those are things you definitely don’t want a camera to do, so an LCD makes sense. There is also an electronic viewfinder right above the screen with a resolution of 800×480.

The Galaxy NX Camera can take 20.3MP images — which puts it well outside the realm of smartphones — and uses an APS-C sensor. Even phones with high megapixel counts tend to have minuscule sensors that produce a lot of noise (or miss shots entirely) when conditions aren’t optimal. This unit operates a ISO 100 up to 25,600. If you want to take video with the Galaxy NX Camera, it can do 1080p at 25fps.

 It will run Samsung’s flavor of Android 4.2 with a few camera-specific additions. For example, it’s going to have Smart Mode built-in, which suggests scene modes for your photos based on available light. It’s actually a nice feature to have if you’re not an experienced photographer.

Samsung has not announced a date or price for the Galaxy NX Camera. Judging from the price of the non-Android NX series, it won’t be cheap. Most of those cost in excess of $600. The new Galaxy NX Camera might show up at a subsidized price on a US carrier whenever it does launch. This is an interesting device, but it’s not clear if it’s going to have general appeal. Most folks just use their smartphones now.

World’s first 3D digital brain

The world's first high-resolution 3D digital model of the human brain has been developed by scientists.The 3D model is detailed to the microscopic level and allows to see features smaller than a strand of hair.
The "Big Brain" will be made freely available to neuroscientists to help them in research.From the brain of a deceased 65-year-old woman, researchers sliced 7,400 sections,  each half the thickness of a human hair.
Each slice was then stained to highlight the anatomical detail and scanned into the computer in high definition.Finally the scanned slices were reassembled inside the computer. In all, 80 billion neurons have been captured in this painstaking process which took 10 years to complete.