Author: Shivaank Rana

Report : Facebook To Add Video To Instagram on June 20

Facebook may be preparing to add video-sharing features to its Instagram app, in a direct response to the popularity of Twitter’s Vine app.

According to TechCrunch, the company will unveil the new service at an event on June 20th. Earlier it was rumoured that Facebook will launch it’s own RSS service at the June event.

Instagram is a popular photo-sharing application that is available for Android and iOS. Facebook had acquired Instagram in 2012 for a whopping $1 billion. About three months ago, Instagram had announced that it has 100 million monthly active users and these users are uploading over 40 million photos per day.

There are several clues suggesting that video may be the next step for Instagram, which now boasts of 100 million active users. For example, Facebook has prevented Vine from using its friend-finding feature. By doing this, Facebook looks embed users into its platform first, rather than a service like Twitter.

Another instance of Facebook protecting its brand is how it is preventing Instagram uploads from being posted directly onto Twitter. Users can still share Instagram photos on Twitter, but users need to click the link to see them. By directing users back to the Instagram platform, users will spend more time in the photo sharing application.

Adding the ability to shoot and share short videos directly from the wildly popular application could certainly give Facebook a boost in the social media war.

Last week, Facebook announced that it was enabling hashtags on its site, also comparable to Twitter capabilities.

[Via]

June 18, 2013
How To Remove Scratches From Your Devices’ Screens
Some of you out there may know the horrible frozen-in-time moment, somewhere between the cozy grip of your hand and the rough gravel of the terrain below, when you realize you’re about to damage your expensive and beloved device. A thousand thoughts can fly by through your head between losing control and the eventual painful landing.

Scratches on your cell phone screen are an inconvenience, not to mention an ugly eyesore. No matter how much you try to ignore it, it’s there.

So here’s what you’ve got to do to remove them from your device’s screen :

Things Required
- Microfiber Cloth
- Toothpaste
- Baking Soda
- Polish
1. The Toothpaste Method

Just dab a bit of toothpaste at the end of a cotton swab or a soft cloth. Gently rub it in to your screen’s scratches in a circular motion, being careful not to rub too hard and remove any surface coating. Then wipe the whole thing down with a soft, barely-damp cloth.

Note – The abrasives in the toothpaste will also buff off the screen’s oleophobic coating, which is what guards against smudges and makes the screen really easy to wipe clean. Also, make sure you’re using a paste based toothpaste and not one of those gel based toothpastes.

2. The Baking Soda Method

Not only good to keep your refrigerator smelling fresh, but can do some amazing things with scratches as well. Use with a few drops of water.

Mix two parts baking soda with one part water to form a thick paste. Use the Micro-fiber cloth to apply the paste to the lens, rubbing in a circular motion. Wipe with a wet cloth afterward and dry with a separate cloth. This step may need to be repeated for stalwart scratches.

3. The Polish Method

To begin with you’ll need a suitable polish. We’re dealing with glass screens only (check your phone’s specs to make sure it doesn’t have a plastic screen), so you need a tough polish. We recommend cerium oxide, which comes as a powder that you need to mix with water, although you can buy 100ml of pre-mixed compound online.

Disclaimer – Although these methods have been used to measurable success by various people, you should do so at your own risk. Make sure that the ports and other sensitive parts of your device are not exposed to the ingredients you use!

Have we missed out on any method? Do let us know in the comments section below!
June 18, 2013
AMD Preparing Its First ARM Chip, Called Seattle

AMD has a new strategy for competing in the data center, and it includes a big bet on ARM.

The chip maker Tuesday unveiled its 2014 server processor road map, which includes a new x86 APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), an x86 large-core processor, and the company’s fist ARM-based server CPU, code-named Seattle.

With Intel gearing up to refresh the midrange and high end of its Xeon E5 family of processors with “Ivy Bridge” updates in the second half, it can’t be a particularly relaxing ride for CEO Rory Read and his minivan of chipmakers.

In 2014, AMD will also ship “Berlin,” a core available in both a CPU form factor as well as an APU, which integrates the processor with an integrated graphics coprocessor. Finally, there’s the “Warsaw,” which will compete with in high-performance computing (HPC) applications with the Xeon.

Seattle is of interest to both AMD and to other industry watchers because it represents one of the more interesting opportunities for AMD to regain share in the server market. Last year, AMD said last year that it had agreed to license ARM 64-bit technology, and would combine it with its Freedom Fabric, the name given to its high-speed networking technology it acquired via SeaMicro.

We hope AMD rises again to keep Intel on its toes; the fight between these rivals doesn’t just result in cheaper servers, but also better ones.

[Via]

June 18, 2013
HTC Desire 200 Officially Launched With 1GHz CPU, Beats Audio

HTC has just officially announced its latest budget offering, the HTC Desire 200.

We heard yesterday about an upcoming new budget Android smartphone from HTC that was leaked before it had been announced and even starred in a hands on video. The confirmed specifications of the handset include a 3.5-inch LCD display with a resolution of 320 x 480.

Under the hood of the HTC Desire 200 is a single core Qualcomm S1 processor running at 1GHz and paired with 512MB of RAM, and the official specs of the handset lists Android but doesn’t state which version but the device leaked yesterday had Android Ice Cream Sandwich on board.

There is only 4GB of on board storage but luckily there is the option of expanding this by up to 32GB via microSD card, and on the back HTC has fitted a 5-megapixel camera with a VGA unit around the front of the device.

The removable 1,230 mAh battery is promised to provide users up to 7.5 hours of 3G talk time or 812 hours of standby. Connectivity comes in the form of Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, microUSB, and 3G HSDPA.

Pricing and availability of the HTC Desire 200 are unknown at this point, but it’s just a matter of time until major retailers and carriers are ready to share this info.

June 18, 2013
Sony Launches New 55″, 65″ 4K X9004 BRAVIA UHDTV (Eyes On)

At an event in Delhi today, Sony launched 2 variants of its X9004 Ultra-HD television range, a 55″ model and a 65″ model.

The 4K LED televisions contain 8 million individual pixels (3840 x 2160 pixels), have a 16:9 aspect ratio and come with Sony’s latest generation processing engine analysis, which cleans and refines images, restoring impressive results from lower quality sources.

The X9004 Bravia series also up-scales 2K data to 4K quality and deliver images which are clearer and sharper. This is also aided by the Reality Creation database and super resolution processing optimisation that these TVs come with.

The X9004 Bravia also comes with Sony’s unique TRILUMINOS display with Edge-LED backlight, which expand the range of colours BRAVIA TVs can display when compared with normal TVs.

As is the norm these days, the X9004 Bravia is a 3D TV and 4 pieces of 3D glasses are bundled with the television.

At a time when most TV manufacturers pay lesser attention to the audio output of TVs, Sony has added Magnetic Fluid Speakers to the front of the device, which deliver amazing sound with lesser energy consumption. These are a 2.2 channel, 2 way speaker system, and have various sound modes such as sports and cinema.

On both these TVs you can access Skype via an optional camera, with WiFi direct for WiFi connectivity. As it is a smart-TV you also get an inbuit browser and various application for accessing web content.

In terms of dimensions, the Sony X9004 Bravia is 58mm at the edge. These TVs come with a chrome plated stand with a blinking LED light at the bottom, to make the design a lot more elegant.

The 55″ X9004 Bravia has been priced at Rs.3,00,000/- and the 65″ has been priced at Rs 4,00,000/-.

You can watch our eyes-on video with the Sony X9004 Bravia TV below :

[youtube id=”T6_5TfVWSe4″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

Images

June 18, 2013
iOS 7 For iPad Screenshots Leak

Apple showed off iOS 7 to the world last week and promised its release to consumers sometime ‘this fall.’ The developer community have been busy working through the many changes, but Apple only made it available on the iPhone and iPod Touch, missing is an optimized version for the iPad.

However, if you’re on of the millions who are wondering exactly how iOS 7 will look on your iPad then these leaked screenshot will give you an indication. These images are from an iOS 7 emulator and carried over to iPad, but a notable change brings a full screen Notification Center to the forefront. Overall it seems that Apple is still working things out as important features like the Control Center and calendar aren’t in sync with how the iOS 7 beta looks on the iPhone.

On the iPad, iOS 7 looks largely the same as it does on the iPhone, but more spread out. As is the case with iOS 6, Apple leverages the increased screen real estate the tablet affords it in order to improve certain areas of the OS’ functionality.

Apple’s iOS 7 will come to the iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4 and iPad mini this fall, and an iPad iOS 7 beta is reportedly coming in the weeks ahead.

[Via]

June 18, 2013
Report : Microsoft Paying Devs $100,000 To Develop For Windows Phone

Sources close to Microsoft have confirmed that the tech giant is determined to prop up its Windows Phone 8 App Store, and it’s willing to bust out the big boy checkbook to do it. According to Business Insider, Microsoft has offered several top tier developers upwards of $100,000 to bring key apps to its mobile platform.

This is on top of offers to pay $100 per app, up to $2000, if developers publish an app before the end of this month.

The payment aims to entice developers to create apps for Windows Phone 8 as Microsoft play catch up to other app stores for Apple, Android, and BlackBerry.

Windows Phone chief marketing office Thom Gruhler told Bloomberg that Microsoft currently has around 145,000 apps and games in the Windows Store, although versions of Pinterest and Instagram are still missing for Windows Phone.

Although Windows Phone 8 is missing these two particularly popular apps, Gruhler explains that the store does still contain 48 of the 50 most-downloaded apps across all platforms.

While some may argue bribing developers is cheating, this is exactly the level of support we expect Microsoft to provide for the ecosystem, and of course Google and Blackberry both used the same strategy in their early years.

Last year, Google announced that Google Play had 600,000 apps, matching Apple’s App Store.

June 17, 2013
Intel To Release 8-Core Haswell-E With DDR4 Support, X99 PCH
People would think Intel will stop for a while as the craze over their fourth-generation continues but they are not the leading player for nothing. As VR Zone reports, Intel announced that it will be releasing Haswell-E in 2014 and it is even better.

Haswell-E will be Intel’s last and best offering using the 22 nm fabrication process, it will come in two versions, core count wise, 8 core part as well as 6 core part with hyper-threading enabled, therefore, boasting no less that 16 execution threads for the 8 core chips and 12 execution threads for the 6 core version. Judging by that alone, Haswell-E should constitute a far superior upgrade over Ivy Bridge-E, compared to what the latter will be in relation to Sandy Bridge-E,

Haswell-E offering two additional physical cores that translate into four additional execution threads. The new chips will boast 2.5 MB of L3 Cache per core, summing up to 20 MB total L3 cache for the 8 core parts. TDP will remain in the same neighborhood it was in the case of its predecessors, around 130-140 W.

Intel will launch Haswell-E with Wellsburg family – next generation of motherboard shipments. The chip set will set the pace for DDR4 support clocked at 2133MHz. This offers more room for overclocking. Features for the Wellsburg X-PCH include:
- Up to 6 x USB 3.0 ports
- Up to 8 x USB 2.0 ports
- Up to 10 x SATA 6Gbps ports
- Integrated Clock support
- TDP of 6.5W
People should also expect Quad-channel DDR4. Speed options come in 1333MHz, 1600MHz, 1866MHz and 2133MHz.

Lots of changes coming and they all look good!

[Via]
June 17, 2013
Leaked Images Show Nokia EOS Aluminum Body

Earlier this week, Nokia started sending out invites to an event in New York City on July 11th. This is when the Lumia EOS is expected to be unveiled – a Windows Phone 8 smartphone that’s rumoured to have a 41MP camera with Xenon flash, 4.5-inch OLED display (1280×768 resolution), wireless charging and 32GB of internal storage. Over the past few weeks several pictures of the Nokia EOS have leaked online that show a polycarbonate body, which is similar to previous Nokia Lumia devices like the Lumia 925, 920 and 820.

Now more images have arrived online that reveal Nokia could be coming to market with an aluminium variant of the Nokia EOS. The leaked images also clearly show the camera lens with LED flash on the back, SIM-card slot and USB port on the top.

There is also some different aluminum lens caps leaked. One has “41 megapixel” and “PureView” stamped in, and there is also one black and one white, and the 41 megapixel stamp is more proof that we will see a real super camera phone, with lossless zoom and all. It will be a tight fight between the coming super phones Nokia EOS and the Sony i1 (Honami)

If these images prove real, Nokia might be launching two versions of the same device, but that seems somewhat unlikely. A more plausible idea is that this is simply a prototype shell, one of many design iterations that the EOS device would have gone through before going into production.

[Via]

June 17, 2013
Leaked : Rumoured Logitech Gaming Controller For iOS 7

A leaked photo of the iOS 7 gamepad has surfaced, showing an iPhone 5 compatable gamepad device featuring the Logitech G logo design.

In iOS 7, Apple has designed a bunch of specifications to enable accessory makers to deploy controllers with consistent sets of elements that both players and game designers work with.

The controller fits around an iPhone 5 and features a thumb stick and five buttons. The Logitech manufactured peripheral will work with devices running iOS 7, according to Kotaku, who received the leak.

Since the controller appears to be a G-series product in Logitech’s lineup, we have reason to believe it’s a prototype (i.e. not the finalized product).

No word on when we might see this, although we would expect it to come to market when iOS 7 is released late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter. While Apple is not expected to offer its own gamepad, the Logitech model in the picture is just one of many expected options available for game playing Apple iPhone 5 owners by the end of the year.

The idea of a decent gamepad controller for the iPhone is something that many gamers — casual or otherwise — are bound to be happy about.

[Via]

June 17, 2013
Leaked : Windows 8.1 Screenshots

As you probably found out by now, the new Windows 8.1 Preview will come with enhanced support for smaller tablets, so some of the built-in features will be specifically tweaked to look good on 7- and 8-inch units.

Today a collection of screenshots, showcasing redesigns within key Windows 8.1 applications, were leaked online. The shots showcase changes in the Windows Store and Xbox Music, along with brand new apps including a calendar, alarm clock, and voice recorder.

Beta user Bavo Luysterborg sent the screenshots of Windows 8.1 on Twitter earlier today.

From the screenshots, we can see that the Xbox Music app will be receiving a complete UI overhaul in the Windows 8.1 update. It’s unclear whether this app will be included with the Windows 8.1 Preview, or if it will need to be downloaded as an update through the Windows Store.

The new Store interface (as The Verge reports) finally gives recommendations to similar apps based on what you are currently browsing. For example: If you are looking at the Xbox Music app, the store might also recommend Pandora or Slacker Radio.

Frank X Shaw, Microsoft’s corporate vice-president of communications, said the “continuous development cycle” introduced by Windows 8.1 will become “the new normal across Microsoft”, confirming the update model will apply to products beyond Windows 8 and RT, including Windows Phone and Server.

Windows 8.1 will be a free update available from the Windows Store, for both Windows 8 and Windows RT.

Via @BAVO on Twitter.

June 17, 2013
Google Working On A Plan To Eradicate Child Porn On The Web

Google may have found the ultimate weapon in the fight against child porn on the Web. The company told The Daily Telegraph that it has built a new way for Web companies to share information about child abuse images.

Photos and videos of child pornography on the Web have multiplied at an alarming rate over the past few years. In 2011, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it received 17.3 million images and videos of suspected child abuse, which is four times more than 2007.

“Behind these images are real, vulnerable kids who are sexually victimized and victimized further through the distribution of their images,” Google Giving director Jacquelline Fuller wrote in a blog post on Saturday. “It is critical that we take action as a community — as concerned parents, guardians, teachers and companies — to help combat this problem.”

Google’s plan is to build a database of child porn images that can be shared with other tech companies, law enforcement, and charities around the world. The database will let these groups swap information, collaborate, and remove the images from the Web.

Google will use a technique called “hashing” to build the particular data base. The “hashing” will help the firm tag images featuring sexual abuse of children with unique identification codes.

Google has also announced that it is donating $5 million for the cause of fighting child pornography. Part of the aid will go to global child protection partners like NCMEC and Exploited Children and the Internet Watch Foundation

The fight to remove these images from the internet is a global one, and we hope these measures will help in that important battle

June 17, 2013
Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail Album Coming To Galaxy Devices For Free

Jay-Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail” album will be available to a million Samsung Galaxy users via an app that can be accessed June 24 on Google Play. “Magna Carta Holy Grail” will be ready for download through the app on July 4, three days before its scheduled release.

During the fifth game of the NBA finals a commercial aired which showed Jay-Z in a room with super producers, Swizz Beatz, Pharrell Williams, Rick Rubin and Timbaland.

The commercial, though, was actually a Samsung commercial. The tech giant and the mogul rapper have teamed up on an ambitious business plan which will see Samsung purchase 1 million copies of the upcoming Jay-Z album.

The first 1 million Galaxy S III, Galaxy S 4 and Galaxy Note II users that download the customized mobile app on June 24, can get Jay Z’s new Magna Carta Holy Grail album gratis.

Jay-Z is quoted at www.magnacartaholygrail.com stating, “We need to write the new rules.”

Under those rules, you can share the app with other Galaxy others via Twitter, Facebook or the wireless S Beam feature on the phones. The album will be “unlocked” at 12:01 a.m. ET on July 4, three days before it is released for sale to everyone else.

Magna Carta Holy Grail will be Jay-Z’s follow-up to The Blueprint 3, which was released about four years ago. A behind-the-scenes video about the album reveals Jay-Z has worked with all-star producers and musicians including Rick Rubin, Pharell, Timbaland, and Swizz Beatz on the new record.

Check out the video below for more.

[youtube id=”B–ZARCwSIE” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

June 17, 2013
BenQ GW2760 HS Flicker Free Monitor Full Review

Build Quality and Design

The BenQ GW2760 HS comes in an all black design with glossy plastics used for the bezel and stand. The bezel measures a slim ~11.5 along all the sides. The screen looks pretty neat and attractive and has a smooth feel to the overall shape. The panel coating is a light anti-glare (AG) offering. The display has a native resolution of 1,920-by-1,080.

The BenQ GW2760 HS also has a ‘flicker free backlight’, indicating that PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is not used to dim it.

The base is a oval shaped plastic block, again in a glossy black plastic. It’s quite a task to get it in place, and can pick up dust and finger prints quite easily.

The stand offers decent stability and we had no real problems with it as such. Our main disappointment though were the limited ergonomic options, with only tilting being possible.

The back of the screen is a squared off matte black plastic, with a texture pattern in the middle.There are 4 screw holes for VESA 100 x 100 mounting if needed.

In addition to a menu button that launches the OSD (on screen display) system there are hot keys for changing the input source, all of which lie towards the back of the display and offer decent tactile feedback. This is presumably a design feature to try to keep the bottom bezel as thin as possible.

I/O ports are scarce; DVI, HDMI or D-SUB (VGA) inputs are located at the rear of the cabinet, but that’s all you get with this model. There are no USB ports.

Display Panel And Backlighting

At the heart of it the BenQ GW2760 HS has a 27” LED-backlit AU Optronics (AUO) VA (Vertical Alignment) panel with 1920 x 1080 resolution and 300 cd/m2 typical max brightness. The monitor is designed to cover the sRGB colour space (so is standard gamut) and features true 8-bit colour per channel without dithering.

Responsiveness is certainly something AUO and BenQ have improved in recent times. A 4ms grey to grey response time is being quoted for this model which may be a tad optimistic but is similar to their other models which perform admirably in practice. Interestingly a 3000:1 contrast ratio is specified which is certainly strong in the grand scheme of things but lower than the 5000:1 static ratio often specified. This seems to be down to something BenQ have dubbed ‘Color Shift-free Technology’.

At 178 degrees vertically and horizontally, the viewing angles are likewise pretty good and the matte screen reduces reflections from any direction. Backlight bleed is virtually non-existent and blacks very deep.

Senseye® Reading Mode

The BenQ GW2760 HS is mainly being marketed as an office desktop, with a special Reading Mode being integrated into it. What it does is that it increases the temperature of the colours, and reduces brightness a bit, which makes reading text easier on your eyes.

Speakers

As mentioned above, the BenQ GW2760 HS features 2x1W integrated speakers, which as expected lack bass and volume. So if you’re going to use this display for gaming or other multimedia use, we advise you to invest in a decent set of speakers.

Conclusion

The BenQ GW2760 HS is an excellent monitor. It has great viewing angles, good colour reproduction, and the flicker free panel is a joy for all those sore eyes. The only drawbacks are the weak speakers and the lack of a USB port, but the black depth and contrast ratio were excellent.

The BenQ GW2760 HS has been priced at Rs. 20,000/- in the Indian market and we feel that it is one of the best monitors you can get for that price point.

Video Review

[youtube id=”Lu0QJppmM5E” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

June 15, 2013
Rumour : Facebook RSS Reader Set For June 20 Launch

Facebook sent out press invitations via snail mail for a launch event, possibly for a Facebook RSS Feed or news reader, at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California on June 20.

The Facebook launch event invitation postcards request that reporters come and see the “big idea” that their “small team” has been working on, Mashable’s Emily Price reported.

The dead-tree invitation features a printed coffee cup stain ring and the words “A small team has been working on a big idea. Join us for coffee and learn about a new product.”

With Facebook having launched hashtags, which is still technically in its early trial-and-error phase, this new product might have something to do with that new feature. But what we’re guessing is that the product announcement just might have to do with the discovery of an Facebook RSS reader hidden inside of Facebook’s Graph API code. Facebook hasn’t commented on the bit of code alluding to an RSS reader that was found, and come July 1, Google Reader will officially be killed off. The timing lines up pretty well.

If Facebook does have a new Facebook RSS reader, the move would fit in with the company’s strategy of trying to become the go-to place for internet users looking to know what is going on in the world, a strategy Mark Zuckerberg pointed to at the March launch of Facebook’s revamped news feed.

June 15, 2013