Remember watching the Predator and thinking how cool it would be to see the world around you in thermal imaging? Though the technology has been around for quite a while and has been proactively used by militaries around the world. And we know consumer versions have been out for the benefit of campers and hikers, but nothing can come close to what FLIR ONE claims to offer.
FLIR ONE lets you use your iPhone as a thermal imaging camera. All you need to do is get the FLIR ONE case and the companion app and you are good to go do some predating. The FLIR ONE case itself comes with a thermal imaging camera which slides on behind the iPhone. The case is good to look at and bulks up your phone by just 110 grams and also makes the phone look good.
The case brings thermal imaging right on your phone
The technology can come handy in day to day use too and is not just limited for the outdoorsy folks. It can help people living in cold areas to find thermal leaks and make their heating more efficient. It will make it a lot easier to find your lost pet at night; it might make you feel a predator looking for its prey. It can also be used for driving on a foggy or rainy day.
FLIR ONE also has options for time lapse capture, paint and panorama functions. Apple might bring the time lapse feature with the iOS 8 update which might challenge the developers of this app to compete with Apple’s official offerings.
FLIR ONE will be available on Apple Stores and online retail portal in August. The pre-orders on the website will begin tomorrow. The case comes in Space Gray and will come with silver or gold versions later. It costs $349.99 and at this price only the serious enthusiasts will give it a try. Android users may have to wait for a while before they have an thermal imaging case, but maybe soon the technology might arrive pre-built into the future mobile phones.
In the year of acquisitions, Apple’s latest is a $30 Million purchase of a Radio curation service called Swell. The report was brought out by Recode which said that Apple is close to buying the service.
Swell is a Radio and podcast compiler app which is currently available to iOS device users. It is a great service which is often compared to Pandora but for talk radio. The service offers access to major talk radio content providers.
It is said that under the clauses of the agreement, the team behind Swell will also come work for Apple. Apple might want to utilize their talents to better their own streaming service which is one of their least appreciated products. Swell’s app developers were also working on an Android version of their app, but with this acquisition, that project is probably out the window.
Apple has been seen this year going on a spending spree with a major Beats Audio purchase and other such smaller ones. In total the company has completed about 30 plus acquisitions in the past nine months. With this latest purchase of Swell, the app will now be taken down from the app store by the end of this week. It might be reintroduced with the new iOS 8 release.
HTC was one of the biggest Windows phone manufacturers till January 2012 before Nokia raced ahead. HTC completely switched to the Android OS with the shutting down of the HTC 8S and 8X. Now it is being speculated that HTC is planning a return into Microsoft’s territory. The Taiwanese phone manufacturers and contemplating a Windows 8.1 based HTC One (M8).
The 8X was one of the last windows phone offerings from HTC
The update was reported by WMPoweruser, but there is no official confirmation at the moment. There is update on a specified release date for the device.
The phone is expected to hold the same specs as is in its Android sibling. So it might have One M8’s 2.5 Snapdragon 801 Processor. The dual camera system, which makes it stand out in the crowd and hopefully the aluminum casing, will not be compromised on.
HTC’s re-entry into the windows ecosystem as it will give consumers some options in a market of generic looking devices. This is definitely welcome news for Windows enthusiasts who were getting discouraged by the lack of choices.
We use a lot of screens now. If you are working at a technology based institution like coding, gaming or a BPO, you probably even dream of looking at a screen. But all these screens are have an intense adverse effect on our eyes. We are not evolutionary trained to look at light emitting displays all day. This has caused a lot many people to take trips to the ophthalmologists quite regularly. Now scientists from the University of California Berkeley has authored a paper which states that it is possible to create screens that can display their content based on the perception capabilities of the users eyes.
The premise that the scientists put forward is fairly simple to understand. For the technology to work, it requires an algorithm that alters an image based on the glasses prescription of the users which works in tandem with a light filter in front of the display. The algorithm helps in altering the light emitted from each pixel which is then passed through a tiny hole in the plastic filter. These rays of light reach the retina in a way that recreates a sharp, focused image. The technology will be developed in cooperation with MIT and Microsoft.
A lot can benefit from this technology, even folks with visual issues which cannot be corrected through the use of glasses, and no, it can’t cure blindness but can address visual issues cased by physical deformity.
This technology can be embedded in almost all kinds of displays thereby almost eliminating the need for glasses. One major drawback is that it cannot be used by people with multiple optical needs. Also the technology depends of motion tracking to assess the users distance from the display. One of the authors of the paper believes though that these problems can be addressed by using the technology on bigger screens.
Overall this is a great research for the mobile age. In times when we are forced more and more to look at screens all day with the mobile work cultures, the biggest losers have been our eyes. So what if this technology will still have us looking at screens, at least they will adjust the content as the eyesight devolves.
Russia is in a weird place right now. After months of unfavorable international gaze on the geographically giant nation and ex-superpower the country intends to crack down on dissenting opinions. With the incursion into Ukrainian territory and supporting separatist group in that country who recently shot down the Malaysian Airline MH 17, the country has constantly been under negative light.
The country’s Interior ministry has taken out a tender to 3.9 Million Rubles ($111,290) to try to identify the anonymous users of the TOR network. The decision came to light when a group of human rights activist began protesting against the tender.
The Russian Interior ministry issued a tender to unlock TOR network which will be announced on August 20
TOR network hides the identity of the user by encrypting the data and sending user information through thousands of random pathways, therefore, making it harder to trace. This pathway is also used to access the unarchived Dark Net. Though the system has been used by anti-social elements too, but the anonymous features have helped information activists to reach their audience without being identified for persecution.
Russia has enacted some major regressive laws to contain unfavorable opinions within territories. The nations new blogging law ask all bloggers with a daily audience of over 3000 have to register their identity. The ones protected by the decision are those bloggers who use the TOR network, and this is the government’s way of uncovering such hidden bloggers.
The fact is that only a small number of internet users in Russia use the TOR network, but their burgeoning number has the Kremlin worried. It is estimated by Apparat.cc magazine that the number has grown from 80,000 in May to 200,000 by the month of July. Russian contemporary politics seems as a decisive factor that is encouraging people to opt an anonymous route to address their displeasure with their government.
It is not the first time that there have been steps taken by the government to track anonymous service users. The world’s gossipy aunty who always wants to overhear every conversation, A.K.A the NSA has invested resources to uncover the network, but that involves a lot of time and expense. The anonymous network stands quite resilient in the face of opposition.
This whole scenario is also a reminder that internet needs to be protected from prying eyes and its independence needs to stand. Information and dissent go hand in hand. A free internet has the potential to change the world of tomorrow.
Google’s semi-secret workshop is one of the most innovation oriented institutions in the world. The research facility takes on some of the most fundamental questions on transportation, communication and others. Then, it takes an alternative bottom-up effort to understand them. The facility worked on concepts like Teleportation, Space elevators, and it is also the birthplace of projects like Google Glass, Driverless car and the upcoming Project Loon. Now with Project Baseline, Google plans to understand how a perfectly healthy human should look like and what factors restricts humans from achieving it.
The plan is as audacious as President Obama’s Brain Initiative.
The study will collect anonymous genetic and molecular data beginning with 175 people. They will eventually accumulate data of thousand more individuals. The study is lead by Dr. Andrew Conrad, who is a molecular biologist. He is credited for the development of cheap, high-volume tests for HIV in blood-plasma donations. Dr. Conrad has set up a team of about 70-to-100 experts from fields including physiology, biochemistry, optics, imaging and molecular biology for the study.
The study is a reimagination of the workings of the human body and how diseases can be prevented. This will be a prevention-oriented study which will try to find ways to inhibit naturally occurring diseases like stomach and heart ailments.
The project will collect hundreds of different samples using a wide variety of new diagnostic tools instead of focusing on specific diseases. Then Google will use its massive computing power to find particular biological patterns, or “biomarkers,” buried in the information. The researchers hope to use these biomarkers to see if they can be helpful in detecting diseases at an earlier stage. Google wants data on parameters like contributors’ entire genomes, their parents’ genetic history. Apart from that, information on how they metabolize food, nutrients and drugs, how fast their hearts beat under stress and how chemical reactions change the behavior of their genes will also be assessed.
Google has massive computing infrastructure for processing the massive information that will be generated by this project. According to the research team, Baseline, like previous Google X projects will be a look into the unknown. This project can also run in correlation with President Obama’s BRAIN initiative which is one of the most intensive looks into the functioning of the human neurons.
Like other Google X moonshot projects, this project is not time bound. Google’s look into teleportation was seen as scientifically unachievable, whereas a look into a healthy human body will be practical and help some of the fundamental problems with healthcare. Google has also promised that it will not share the data with corporate interests, and this will be anonymous study.
Baseline will try to identify Biomarkers which can be used to identify and prevent diseases earlier
There is of course series oversight as the study tries to peer into the human body at a molecular level. When the study kick starts, it will be monitored by institutional review boards comprising of medical professionals from Duke and Stanford University. The board will also keep a vigilant eye on how the information is being utilized.
This project basically is a massive pattern recognition exercise. It aims to understand in the most fundamental sense as to what makes us human and what makes us tick. Studies like this and the BRAIN initiative will certainly help us gaze into our self and figure out what separates and unites us. Health research should be a priority research and done by the government thereby democratizing the data. As they also involve massive costs; the BRAIN initiative will cost $300 Million a year for ten years; these projects should have public investment to prevent misuse of data for commercial purposes.
Google also deserves credit for envisioning this audacious study, for taking on the research in an open, transparent manner, unlike the healthcare industry which persists on closed patented knowledge. Google has always pushed for free knowledge and its most prominent success in this field has been the Android operating system. Also, they need to be appreciated for taking on resource intensive projects without compromising with their quarterly results. Google has shown that it is not hard for a giant corporation to not be evil.
It seems the year 2014 would be known as ‘The year of takeovers’. In just the last few months we have seen some major billion dollar acquisitions by tech giants. Without a doubt the golden throne of big dollar takeovers is ruled by Mark Zuckerberg with his takeover of Oculus, Whatsapp and Liverail. Microsoft finished the $7.2 billion acquition of Nokia this year. Google is now planning its own billion dollar deal. The Search giants are now interested in taking over gaming video streaming network Twitch under the Youtube brand name.
It was reported in Variety and the Wall Street Journal that Google was in talks with Twitch for acquiring the company. It is now being reported that the companies have reached an agreement and will announce it soon. Though as of now both parties have refused to comment on the issue.
Twitch is a cool service which lets users share their game video streams. It’s a great way for the nerds and super-nerds to hangout, share stats and their gameplay. You can easily see how this service can be in line with YouTube’s streaming medium. Maybe its an effort by Google to give gamers some kind of contact with the mainstream world.
Just when you were thinking that Xiaomi was the kickass all-in-one package, a new competitor is raising its head at the horizon. Smartphone manufacturer One Plus is planning to come to India with its One Plus One smartphone and boy, is it impressive.
The One Plus One has an incomparable spec sheet at the price it is offered. The phone runs on CyanogenMod 11S based on Android 4.4 Kitkat. It has a heart of steel with a Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz Quad-core processor. Its graphics is powered by a 578MHz Adreno 330 GPU. The RAM on the One Plus One is a phenomenal 3 GB LP-DDR3 and comes in a 16 GB and 64 GB variants.
Everything is Awesome about the One Plus One
The camera department is as impressive as the hardware spec sheet. The main camera is 13 Megapixel with Sony Exmor IMX 214 sensors and a dual LED Flash. The front camera is a distortion free 5 MP Selfie Shooter. The camera also has a wide aperture of f/2.0. The most remarkable feature is its 4K recording capability with and its ability to record slow motion at 720p resolution at 120 frames per second(fps). Now that’s a camera!
The display on the One Plus One is a giant Full HD, 5.5 inch, Corning Gorrila Glass 3 screen. There is nothing to complain about in this phone, a true all-rounder from every angle. To power all of these epic features, this phone comes with 3100 mAh battery.
If you thought the features are impressive the One Plus One also provides impressive back panel options
Now you might be asking, how much lighter would your pockets get if you get this power packed gizmo, well the answer is: the 16 GB variant comes at $299 (around Rs. 17,900)and the 64 GB variant comes at $349 (around Rs. 20,900). Yeah, you read that right, go ahead pull your jaw up!
The company said that there is an enormous interest in their phones in India and they have heard talks of Indians importing them from the US. They would like to take advantage of this favorable situation.
Now this is a real competitor to Xiaomi, which came in and cleared the market and took the limelight away from the Moto G. Indian smartphone consumers might be feeling like a king right now in the times of heavy inflation. So what if food is expensive, you can simply distract yourself with these badass phones.
Taiwan based phone manufacturers Oplus have introduced their 5-inch smartphone by the name Xonphone 5 in India today.
The Xonphone 5 runs Android 4.4.2 out of the box. It gets it processing power from a Mediatek 1.3GHz quad-core processor. It possesses 1 GB of RAM with 16 GB’s of internal storage with expandable storage support for a 32 GB MicroSD card. The phone is powered by a 2000 mAh battery. The phone is dual sim capable with a Micro SIM and Mini SIM slot.
The display on the Xonphone 5 is a 5 inch 1280x720p HD display with an 180-degree viewing angles. The display also has a 320 ppi display which sounds impressive for the price. The main camera on the device is an 8 MP shooter with autofocus and LED flash, and the front cam is a 2 MP fixed focus selfie cam.
The makers of the phone provide a screen protector inside the box with the usual USB connector, charger and earphones. The phone provides a Yamaha professional bass speaker system which will give a good audio experience.
The selling price of the device is set at Rs7,999 which is pretty competitive for the Indian market. The company has made an exclusive deal with Snapdeal to reach the consumers. If its performance matches up to its spec sheet, it might be another Asian brand that will create troubles for the Indian manufacturers like Micromax, Lava and others.
Now right when you were wondering if the 128 GB expandable option would make your memory troubles obsolete, a group of scientists has something better in store for you. The researchers at Rice University have come up with a new resistive RAM (RRAM) which can be made with regular equipment at room temperature.
Several companies have been in the process of developing an RRAM, but they all have required higher temperature and voltages thereby making the production process expensive and inefficient for the manufacturers.
The RRAM acts as a flash memory and can store data without a constant influx of power. Now unlike the regular flash memory which uses transistors to save the data, this new technique uses resistance to save their bits. These bits can, therefore, be stored in a smaller area in comparison to a flash drive and hence increasing the amount of data that can be stored in a small amount of space.
Also like a multiple core processor, these RRAM’s can be stacked on top of each other so their storage capacity increases phenomenally. It is also said that RRAM performs much faster than regular flash storage, about a hundred times faster. They are apparently so efficient that they a postage stamp sized chip can hold a terabyte worth of data.
The research is being led by Professor James Tour of the Material science department. The technique is cheap and efficient as it utilizes one of the most abundant elements on the planet, Silicon. The process involves a silicon oxide with tiny 5 nanometers holes. This material acts as an active electrode and data bits can be stored by changing the conductivity of the electrode with low-voltage pulses.
Mobile technology will get a boost with this advancement. Major companies like Samsung are also experimenting with RRAM’s. While we would want our phones to be as robust and large data capable as our computers, we are restricted by the miniaturizability of the storage technology. RRAM’s and technology like it will bring us closer to achieving that. Maybe we could someday have a pro video rendering capability on our iPads.
Remember the time when there was a profession dedicated to guides? oh yes they still exist and Google has plans to make that job obsolete. With the new ‘Explore’ feature, exploring new places will get a lot easier. The feature will be available on Google Maps app on both Android and iOS platform.
The Explore feature will be available on Android as well as iOS
All the user needs to do with this update is to tap the new Explore button at the bottom right corner of the map to get a quick look at what’s nearby (where available). The feature will provide you information on different places and activities that adapt to each area and moment throughout the day. This also allows you to browse other neighborhoods and cities on the map so you can plan your day’s outing or daydream about your next vacation.
The feature also gives you an option of finding what is nearby the place where you’ll be in the next five minute walk or a 20 minute drive. The convenience of finding a spot that suits your taste has never been this easy. As the results change according to the time of the day and weather, you can be assured that you will find exactly what you are looking for. The feature performs optimally when the location reporting and web history have been turned on.
The Awesome functionality of this app will make it stand out.
The feature also lets you assess the reviews and relevant information about the spot you have chosen to hang at. This can be done by tapping on the ‘My location’ on an Android devices. You can also save these places for future references. Like other data analysis based system, the app will personalize itself with regular use.
On the look from, the upgrade features Google’s latest material design. The interface is simple, clean and easy to understand.
So if you have an itch to always be outdoor and exploring, Google Maps and the Explore feature was what the doctor would prescribe for you. So go ahead, get Exploring !
Apple is surely going to have a good this year. With the mega buzz around the new operating system, the OSX Yosemite and the iOS, Apple is confident of its hands being full with cash by the end of this year. Now the company is planning to bring out a 12-inch Macbook and a new iMac with 4K display or a standalone 4K monitor.
The 4K display would be immense step forward for the company and for the graphical and entertainment industry. An entire industry thrives on Apple systems and by having an iMac with 4K display will really speed up the content production for that medium. This will also help in bringing in these advanced displays to the lower mediums like the Macbook Pros.
The new Macbook is described to have a thickness between the Macbook Air and the Macbook Pros. This laptop computer will come with an intel processor instead of the Apple A8 processor. Though this started off as a rumor last year but its validity is getting established with each new report.
This report coming from Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac, is definitely going to make a lot of people happy. The software prowess of the Mac’s is the best in business and when united with superior displays, it’s going to be magical. Let’s hope these come out as soon as possible. They will surely obliterate the competition.
After taking in the Nokia brand and completely trashing away the Android based Nokia X series, Microsoft Mobility has come back with their Lumia series. The new phone known as the Lumia 530 will come in single and double Sim variants.
The Nokia Lumia 530 will come with a 4-inch FWVGA (480x854p) display. It gets its processing power from a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor with a 512 MB RAM. Though the phone comes with a 4 GB internal storage but is expandable upto 128 GB which is definitely welcome. The device is juiced up through a 1430 mAh battery which seems good enough for a 4-inch screen.
The camera on the phone is a 5MP fixed focus shooter without an LED Flash. The phone also lacks a front facing camera so that might be a dissuading factor for prospective buyers. Connectivity wise, the Lumia 530 offers Bluetooth 4.0, FM Radio, Wi-Fi, 3G and A-GPS.
Lumia 530 comes with Multi color Flip cover options
The phone comes preloaded with Microsoft Office apps and provides 15GB of free cloud storage space via OneDrive. Storage wise the phone is a warehouse but might lose in the feature race. The phone comes with multiple back panel color options like Orange, Green, Black and White. The company also provides multicolored Flip covers which is known as Flip shells.
Lumia 530 will be released globally and selective roll-outs will begin in August 2014. The expected price of the device is around 6,900 which is pretty steep when compared to what the competition offers at that price.
Considering this was the first independednt release from Microsoft they should have offered a lot more instead of a generic release. This phone doesn’t even match its predecessor, the Nokia Lumia 525 in terms of specs. A Moto G or E like release would have really set brand Microsoft in the Phone business. This phone seems inadequate except in terms of storage.
We saw material design at Google I/O and it was impressive with its minimalistic and clean user interface. Now Play Store Version 4.9.13 has been rolled out by Google and it has got the material makeover.
The new Play Store gets a visual makeover and this one does look more appealing. The app view especially looks much cleaner and better organized than its predecessors. The books, album and movie listing pages are much easier to move around in.
The material design elements, with drop shadows, add dimensional features to the interface which is fun to move around in. There is a lot of moving around that needs to be done as the bigger cover designs introduced by this update so that’s a tiny downer. Though the new animations and introduction of a lot more color, covers up that flaw.
Overall, this is a great new update from Google and we can’t wait for material design to now come to our phone and the entire Google ecosystem.
Our latest update is rolling out right now! We’re excited to share a sneak peek of what you’ll get in the coming days pic.twitter.com/k5BidxR4Vu
Apple released its third quarterly results and it looks good for the company. The Cupertino based tech giant saw quarterly revenue of $37.4 billion and quarterly net profit of $7.7 billion, or $1.28 per diluted share. This growth was mostly powered by iPads, Mac sales and services. The Earning Per Share (EPS) has increased grown by 20 percent. The company saw an increase of about $2 billion in revenue over last year’s $35.3 billion with net profit of $6.9 billion.
The Gross margin also increased to 39.4 percent compared to 36.9 percent from last year. International sales accounted for 59% of this quarter’s revenue.
These favorable figures lead the board of directors to declare a cash dividend of $0.47 per share of Apple’s common stock.
With Yosemite and iOS 8, the future looks good for Apple
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook sounded rather elated when he said “Our record June quarter revenue was fueled by strong sales of iPhone and Mac and the continued growth of revenue from the Apple ecosystem, driving our highest EPS growth rate in seven quarters. We are incredibly excited about the upcoming releases of iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, as well as other new products and services that we can’t wait to introduce.”
Apple’s target for the fiscal fourth quarter of 2014 are:
• revenue between $37 billion and $40 billion
• gross margin between 37 percent and 38 percent
• operating expenses between $4.75 billion and $4.85 billion
• other income/(expense) of $250 million
• tax rate of 26.1 percent
Considering the hype generated by Apple’s phenomenal show this year at the WWDC and the regular product leaks, these targets are definitely realizable. With the release of the new generation OSX and iOS 8 later this year and Apple’s enterprise tie-up with IBM, it seems like this will be the year of the Apple.
