In what will undoubtedly be seen as a way to clear inventory before the inevitable launch of a successor, Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 to an astounding $199 (Rs. 13,400) and $249 (Rs.16,750).
Reaching that hallowed $199 price point is an incredible feat for Google, since it has yet to penetrate the mainstream market with its Nexus line. These prices will no doubt send other OEMs scrambling to do the same before the holiday season, as this is clearly the best deal for a high-end smartphone.
Regardless of the reason, this is an amazing deal for anyone looking at a new smartphone. With a quad-core processor, a 720p display, 2GB of RAM, a 2100mAh battery, an 8MP camera and the very latest version of stock Android, the Nexus 4 is a great device at any price. This just makes it better.
However, this price drop seems targeted for the US region, as there has been no news whether we will see the prices of the Nexus 4 in India reduced to match their US counterparts. At present, the 16GB Nexus 4 is priced at about Rs 25,990 in the Indian market.
Even with the outrageous condition of the Rupee at the moment, ordering a Nexus 4 from the US seems like a far better option than buying one from here.
Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Developer Blaine Bublitz has hacked into Google Glass to give us a controller option which can be used to fly a drone. Ever since the Glass was released for developers, we’ve been seeing all sorts of apps being created for it. Google itself implied that tasks like clicking a picture, sending a message, translations and so on would probably need verbal input to function.
But Bublitz’s creation is the latest and probably the best. This was made possible mainly using Google Glass and JavaScript, the developer has made it possible to control and fly a Parrot AR Drone. The flying robot was controllable with help of some simple head movements. The controls were not smooth, but that can be considered keeping in mind that the project is still developing.
If you look at the video below, you will see that that drone is been controlled by the Glass. If you need more information on how this was made possible and what coding was used for the JavaScript, you can click here to go the developers blog.
Google is designing its own self-driving car and has plans to build a fleet of cars it dubs “robo taxis,” blogger Jessica Lessin reports. The news comes on the heels of Google Ventures investing $258 million into the personal mobile car service Uber, a company now valued at $3.5 billion, according to TechCrunch.
The company, which made its name with its search engine, has held talks with a number of manufacturers to build cars to Google’s specifications – a bit like the company’s early approach to Android.
But the talks failed to yield a deal, so Google is planning to build the vehicles itself instead – a bit like its more recent approach to laptops with Chromebooks.
Continental, a German automotive supplier, is reportedly establishing a partnership with Google and IBM for self-driving cars, according to a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine on Thursday. Owing to the enormous complexity and difficulty of manufacturing and selling a car, Google would still prefer to partner with a major auto manufacturer, saysources.
Silicon Valley darling Uber, whose app lets users book taxis and car services in real time, has also raised $258 million in funding led by Google.
Uber will use the funding to “expand into new markets, accelerate customer and driver acquisition, and fight off protectionist, anti-competitive efforts,” CEO Travis Kalanick wrote in a blog post Friday confirming Google’s investment.
Google has bought patents for wearable technology used in gaming and training simulations from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., a primary assembler for Apple Inc.
Hon Hai, a major supplier for Apple and other top IT brands, sold a portfolio of Head Mounted Display (HMD) patents, the company said in a news release on Friday.
The technology, dubbed Head Mounted Display, is commonly used in aviation and ground displays, engineering and scientific design applications, gaming devices and training and simulation tools.
Hon Hai assembles iPhones and iPads, and the company is hiring as many as 90,000 workers in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Zhengzhou to meet client demand in the fourth quarter. It said it had applied for over 55,000 patent rights globally, of which over 5,000 have been approved.
Hon Hai has said it will focus on developing new technology, intellectual property rights and e-commerce as it looks to reduce its reliance on Apple.
Google has been working on the release of Google Glass, a wearable device with a head-mounted display that currently is only available to developers and hand-picked testers.
Last month, Google invested in a Taiwanese chip maker that manufactures components used in the wearable device. It said it would buy shares to hold a 6.3 percent interest in Himax Display, a subsidiary of Himax Technologies.
Google just finished rolling out its Google Play Services 3.2 update, affecting anyone who uses a device running Android 2.2 Froyo or later.
You may recognize the container in your app drawer, the green Google icon with the cog on top, where within you can adjust settings pertaining to location, Play Games, Android Device Manager and more.
According to a blog post on the Android Developer Blog, the update also contains some important behind the scenes additions, such as hardware-based GPS geofencing on devices that support it. When paired with a location-based app, this allows apps to use far less battery when engaging the GPS, while maintaining a precise lock on a user’s position. Also included is the new Fused Location Provider, which also significantly boosts battery life when location is needed.
Google+ sign-in has been fleshed out to include something called simplified sharing control, which cuts the steps needed for a developer to share to Google+.
Photo Sphere now has a compass mode in the Play Services update that allows users to explore these images by moving their phone or tablet and the InstantBuy implantation has been improved with goodies to include increased efficiency, improved latency, a cleaner UI and more. Bottom line here, while some of these items are aimed more towards the developers — the end users should be happy to learn that Google is working to improve the battery life of your devices.
While these features may not matter to the average Android user, one universal benefit should be improved battery life across all devices.
To learn more about Google Play services and the APIs available to you through it, visit the Google Services area of the Android Developers site.
Google has been granted a patent for eye-tracking technology that could one day allow for a pay-per-gaze model of advertising in the real world and online. The Google Glass-like device registers when individuals look at an advert before charging the relevant company, according to the patent.
The technology (spotted by The Verge via Phys.org) could also detect individuals’ “inferred emotional state information” by measuring pupil dilation. The patent was actually filed back in 2011, but was only granted to the company last week.
“Under a pay per gaze advertising scheme advertisers are charged based upon whether a user actually viewed their advertisement,” reads the patent. “Pay per gaze advertising need not be limited to on-line advertisements, but rather can be extended to conventional advertisement media including billboards, magazines, newspapers, and other forms of conventional print media.”
The patent also allows the technology to generate “latent search results” based on “at least a portion of the items views by the user” including items that are in the user’s peripheral vision. Search requests can then be cached for later use automatically without the user’s active permission.
Google has previously been criticised for its attitude to privacy with regard to Glass, particularly by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Google has generously allowed for some degree of privacy here:
To protect individual privacy, personal identifying data may be removed from the data and provided to the advertisers as anonymous analytics. In one embodiment, users may be given opt-in or opt-out privileges to control the type of data being gathered, when the data is being gathered or how the gathered data may be used or with whom it may be shared.
Google’s dream of owning a top level dotless search domain has turned into a nightmare. The gigantic search engine wanted ownership of an “http://search” dotless domain. But this has come up against the stringent restrictions of ICANN.
A dotless top level domain name would resolve without a dot. For example, while something.example will resolve in most browsers, http://example will not.
Google had hoped to use “search” as a dotless domain name. But recent security reports reconfirmed some of the security and stability risks of dotless domains.
There was already a prohibition on dotless domain names in the applicant guidebook for new TLDs. The guidebook requires new TLD operators to get ICANN’s blessing to operate a dotless domain.
Google needn’t give up entirely on all its plans. There’s still the possibility that it may end up owning the .search generic top-level domain (gTLD), even if it’s not allowed to operate it as a dotless domain.
As The Verge reports, the dotless domain rejection isn’t much of a surprise given ICANN’s hesitance to change the status quo. While the organization has said nearly 2,000 new domain names could be on the way, it has introduced new domains relatively slowly. The biggest changes ICANN has introduced this year came in July, when the group activated four generic top-level domains: .???? (Arabic for “web”), .?? (Chinese for “game”), .?????? (Russian for “online”), and .???? (Russian for “web site”).
Technology is ever-growing, one would say each day something new is developed. In this ever growing age of technology, it is not easy to keep yourself updated with all the new developments in the world of technology. We live in a world where present technology seems to fulfill, in some cases present technology is also ahead of what SOME people may think. It is always good to know what does the future technology got for us.
Google Glass:
Google glass is a great step in technology. What is the Google Glass ?
Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display (OHMD) that has been developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project, with a mission; Production of a mass-market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format, that can interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands
As per Google, Glass is fairly simple to use, for taking an image one just has to say take a picture and its all done, you can record everything hands free, even share what you see – Live! get directions right in front of you, just speak to send a message, ask anything that’s on your mind, translate your voice, get few answers without even asking. The structure for the Google Glass is strong and light with an Evolutionary design. The colors it will be available in Charcoal, Tangerine, Shale, Cotton, Sky.
All this features would be of better understanding after you watch this:
We will have to see if Glass would live up to our expectation as Rumored Google is getting these available from next year just for $299. But, will Glass be able to maintain its position in the market because if we look at the technology it is growing, so the day is not far when we might have the same technology on our goggles or in the lenses we wear.
Oculus Rift
The Oculus Rift is an upcoming virtual reality head-mounted display developed by Oculus VR, who have raised $16 million, of which $2.4 million was raised with crowfunding via Kickstarter. The company, founded by Palmer Luckey and the co-founders of Scale form and id Software, John Carmack was later hired as its Chief Technology Officer.
The Oculus Rift is a next-generation virtual reality headset designed for immersive gaming. The test kits are in the process of being shipped out, are you getting your own Oculus Rift development kit?
For more information and to see how this works watch the video below.
If we talk about the technology in the future cars, the BMW i8 concept car is the best example we can quote as if now.
The BMW i8, first introduced as the BMW Concept Vision Efficient Dynamics, is a plug-in hybrid under development by BMW. The initial turbodiesel concept car unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, and the BMW i8 gasoline-powered concept car destined for production unveiled at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. The i8 concept has a 7.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack which delivers an all-electric range of 35 km.
The Vision Efficient Dynamics concept car is a plug-in hybrid with a three cylinder turbo diesel engine. Additionally, there are two electric motors with 139 horsepower. It allows acceleration to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h.
According to BMW, the average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle (KV01) is 3.76 liters/100 kilometers and has a carbon dioxide emission rating of 99 grams per kilometer (1,3 l/100 km and 33g CO2/km ; EU-PHEV ECE-R101). The estimated all-electric range is 50 km, and the 24-liter diesel tank extends the total vehicle range to up to 700 km. The lightweight chassis made mainly from aluminium, windshield, top, doors and fenders are made from polycarbonate glass and the body has a drag coefficient of 0.22.
These are just some that technologies that are upcoming, but as mentioned above the world of technology is ever-growing with ideas and resources. We can hope for a better and luxurious future.
Google Search is making it easier for users to find the information they are seeking within their own Gmail, Google Calendar or Google+ accounts just by making a request using their own voice.
The upcoming new features are bringing the technology that Google Now users have been using for about a year. Google Search is now being engaged to provide a better experience for users as part of a new service that is rolling out to all U.S. English-speaking users over the next several days,”Soon you’ll be able to find this info instantly in Google Search if it’s in your Gmail, Google Calendar or Google Plus. For example, just ask or type, ‘What’s my flight status?’ or ‘When will my package arrive?” Said Roy Livne, Product Manager.
We’ve been offering this kind of info—flights, reservations, appointments and more—for more than a year in Google Now,”. “We’ve gotten great feedback on how convenient it is, especially when you’re on the go. Now that it’s in Google Search, you can get it anytime you need it.” Said Roy Livne, product manager for Google Search, on The Official Google Blog.
Google Now, which was introduced for Android devices by Google in June 2012, it presents its information to users through a series of flip-through “cards” that are visible on the screen of a device, providing a different piece of information on each card. The “cards” appear at the moment they are needed by users, such as the train schedule card appearing when they are heading to the local train station.
As per the blog, the information is secure, via encrypted connection, and visible only to you when you’re signed in to Google. Likewise, you can also control whether you want the service on or off. Whenever you don’t want to see it, simply click the globe icon at the top of the search results page to turn it off for that search session. To turn it off permanently, visit the “Private results” section in search settings.
So if you haven’t tried it, you should! Its definitely worth an attempt!
Are you one of the millions of people who use Google+ everyday on your Android device. If so, Google has a treat for you in the form of new updates.
Google’s Virgil Dobjanschi took to the website this morning to announce five upcoming updates for Google+ on Android. The updates range from usability improvements to the Google killing off certain features in favor of new ones.
First, Messenger is gone, so no more confusion between the built-in messaging service and the better, independent Hangouts client.
Users can also share their location with friends and family — or anyone in a circle, really — at a precise or city-wide level, and can differentiate based on Circles. It’s not a huge change, and we doubt a lot of people use the service, but since Latitude shut down last week this is now Google’s version of Find My Friends.
Perhaps most important in this update is the ability to access Google Drive photos and videos from within Google+, and they’ll be given the Awesome treatment with no user input. This means photos uploaded to Google+ from Drive will be auto-enhanced and perhaps even animated.
Users can also switch between Google accounts more easily, something that was a bit cumbersome in the past. Lastly, Google Apps for Business features are all supported in Google+ now.
Google launched the new Nexus 7 in the market recently and previously we covered that users are facing problems with the GPS in the tablet, it seems that the Nexus 7 is into the the trouble picture again, as per the new reports the Nexus 7 has some issue with its 1920 x 1200 display.
The video clip below demonstrates the bug , where touch targets are sporadically jumping around the screen, occasionally reversed and sometimes registered as a storm of semi-random taps.
Over the past few weeks, chatter on the XDA Developers and Google Product forums suggests it’s fairly common, with a response from Google on the latter stating: “The Android team is aware of this issue and investigating.”
While Google is still investigating this is the second problem that came up for the Nexus 7.
Last year the Google Nexus 7 became the best 7 inch tablet on Android, only because the best 10 inch tablet turned out to be the Nexus 10. This year the Nexus 7 is back in a sleeker and more refined format, only to tackle the title yet again. This is iGyaan’s review of the new Nexus 7.
Build Quality and Hardware
[pullquote_left]Slimmer, Taller, and Thinner[/pullquote_left]
Setting the standards yet again the new Nexus 7 from Google offers the perfect mix of the right build and design you would expect from a tablet today. The back of the Nexus 7 loses the ribbed texture, only to be replaced with a plain soft touch back panel which not only is more comfortable to hold but also adds to the aesthetic. The new Nexus 7 2013 is slimmer, taller, and thinner than the first edition of the market breaking Android tablet.
The front of the new Nexus 7 2013 is laden with a Gorilla Glass display that stretches out to 7.02 inches and features a high resolution of 1920 x 1200 px, simply dwarfing any and every tablet in the market today when it comes to the display resolution. The overall pixel density of the display rests at 323 ppi and the Touchscreen will accept a 10 point touch input.
The Innards are comprised of a Quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with a 1.5 GHz Krait CPU and an impressive Adreno 320 GPU which is clocked at 400 MHz. The 3950 mAh battery provides the juice and the optics are defined by a 5 MP main shooter and a docile 1.2 MP forward facing peephole. All this is supported by fixed internal storage options of 16 GB and 32 GB along with 2 GB of RAM.
Display and Multimedia
Who says extra pixels are not good? On a larger screen the more pixels you can get the less they seem. The New Nexus 7 2013 finds this balance in the display size and pixel density nearing the retina stature for small handhelds. The display is gorgeous no matter what you do with it, movies, browsing and even gaming. The display delivers with vivid colors and excellent viewing angles.
The new Nexus 7 is a great content consumption device you will almost always enjoy picking up the tablet. The interface is instant in terms of response and the overall multimedia experience is just shy of what you could expect from a flagship tablet. The only real downside is the lack of enhanced audio, the inbuilt speakers, although stereo and well placed, simply are not enough.
Cameras
The new Nexus 7 2013 is US $ 20 more expensive than last years edition, most of which can be blamed on the additional 5 MP camera at the back of the tablet. The new camera may be an addition in price, but a lot of owners will accept is as a welcome addition and a valid additional expense.
The camera is no design and engineering marvel, with flat pictures and no real points of emphasis, it is just a camera on a tablet which may as well not have been there. Pictures from the main camera are prone to loss of focus and sometimes exposed inaccurately causing a severe problem in the overall feel when using the new Nexus 7.
Video capture is also average, with a lot of shake getting carried through to the 1080p footage.
Nexus Performance and Gaming
One of the biggest reasons the Nexus 7 came out on top last year was the fact that the tablet ran a completely vanilla Nexus rom with no customizations. Same is the case with newer edition Nexus 7 2013, the experience of pure Android makes performance of the device a notch better, the tablet a notch more responsive than any other custom Tablet UI including those from Samsung and Sony.
Gaming has been best defined in our video below. But, to elaborate a little more, the perfect size of the tablet, the light weigh and the hardware on the inside promises an unmatched gaming experience. You really will appreciate the Adreno 320 Graphics and the S4 chipset in action along with the ample 2 Gigs of RAM which make for an exciting gaming experience.
The new Nexus 7 2013 is more a tablet than its predecessor. Since a modern day tablet has to be portable, powerful, thin and light yet capable of long hours of use, the new Nexus 7 fits those criterion like a glove. The new Nexus 7 is a perfect balance, where on one hand it give you the portability you will need, on the other it offers up the performance you will demand. The tablet choses to look good while doing it as well.
Charging port and Speaker
Buttons Layout
Analogue TV OUT
smooth UI
still pocketable
Conclusion
Since the lower strata of the market is crowded by tablets of the third edition, the slightly expensive Nexus 7 provides the ultimate satisfaction. But since no one is ever fully satisfied, the Nexus 7, just like the iPad, will never be a phone. Honestly, we don’t want it to be a phone, the 4G variant will offer up data on the go for those who need it. The new Nexus 7 has the highest resolution display, the best gaming performance, good looks and portable yet solid construction. Need we say more?
The new Nexus 7 gets tablet of the year 2013 (till September) from iGyaan.We expect the new Nexus 7 to launch in India soon, for pricing and more details click here.
Google has added some new features to the Google Glass in the latest software update for its experiment. There’s a new video player with simple tap to start/pause, swipe to fast forward and rewind commands, and new voice commands for posting an update.
Path and Evernote users can update those apps by saying “okay glass, post an update” for Path or “okay glass, take a note” for Evernote. Speaking of which, voice controls are improved across the board, so you can now chat with Glass more naturally. Which can be a great if it recognizes the voice in neutral accent.
Google also added a new Volume control card in settings, and made it possible to check your timeline and use other features of Google Glass Glass while on an active video call.
The new update also has new cards which includes appointments drawn from your Gmail, nearby movie showtimes with posters, public alerts and the ability to send birthday messages for birthday reminder cards. The new update is named as XE8. Google is constantly trying to improvise the Glass, we will have to wait and see what the final device would look like.
On the eve of India’s independence day, Google is celebrating the spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship of the world’s largest democracy by spotlighting the best local nonprofits that are using technology to make the world better.
As per Google:
Today they are launching the Google Impact Challenge in India, inviting Indian nonprofits to tell us how they’d use technology to improve people’s lives. At the end of the challenge, four nonprofits will each receive a Rs 3 crore (around $500,000) Global Impact Award and technical assistance from Google to bring their projects to life.
21st October 2013 – Google announces the finalists, and the public votes online for their favourites.
31st October 2013 – Each finalist team will pitch its idea to an esteemed panel of judges at an event in Delhi. Four finalists, including the non-profit chosen by the public vote, will be announced as Global Impact Award recipients.
The Blog further said that registered Indian nonprofits can apply online until September 5 at g.co/indiachallenge. Googlers from India, and around the world, will review applications and announce the 10 best projects on October 21. You can learn more about the top 10 finalists then, and cast a vote for who you think should receive the Fan Favorite award.
On October 31, I’ll join Ram Shriram, Jacquelline Fuller, Anu Aga and Jayant Sinha in Delhi to hear the 10 finalists pitch live. As judges, we’ll select three awardees based on their potential impact, scalability and ingenuity. We’ll also announce the winner of the Fan Favorite, according to your vote.” Growing up in India, I’ve seen firsthand the vibrancy and innovativeness of India’s social entrepreneurs. I’m excited to see their projects and support their ideas for how to use technology and Rs 3 crores to change the world.
Said – Nikesh Arora, Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer Google
Happy news for everyone waiting for the new Nexus 7 2013 to officially launch in India. Google and Asus are working closely to bring the device to India through official Google means and should be available for sale as early as End of September.
Our source at ASUS points out :
The Google Nexus 7 did really well in India, despite the delayed launch and Asus has received overwhelming response for the new Nexus 7, despite it not being officially announced for India.
The early launch of the new Nexus 7 will make sense for the computer manufacturer in India, especially considering that Asus is the company working on the 10 inch variant.
The new Nexus 7 is expected to launch at a price of Rs. 18999 for the 16 GB and Rs. 20999 AND 23999 for the 32GB and LTE variants respectively. While we gather more information on the device from the companies, watch our initial set of videos below.
