February 1, 2014February 1, 2014 by Kush Sharma

XBOX ONE vs. PS4: Who won the battle?

Gadgets, Showcase
4, battle, comparison, microsoft, one, play, sony, station, vs, xbox
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The great debate of our time, it could be a destroyer of friendships or a sponsor of new. This is what makes boys out of men. It doesn’t get any better than this, does it? Loyal fans will have already made their choice, while open-minded gamers might very well pick up both systems. But no matter your preference, there’s nothing quite as stimulating as a (hopefully civil) argument over who to claim as the victor.

Hardware

Based on AMD Jaguar APUs, there’s a very thin dividing line between the graphical quality of games. However, there’s no doubt that on paper the PS4 has a slightly better GPU than the Xbox One’s. PS4 also provides removable hard drive which should be at least 160GB.

RAM:

XBOX: 8GB GDDR3
PS: 8GB GDDR5

CPU:

XBOX: 8 Core Microsoft custom CPU
PS4: Single-chip x86 AMD “Jaguar” processor, 8 cores

Peak GPU Shader Throughput:

XBOX: 1.31 TeraFLOPS/s
PS: 1.84 TeraFLOPS/s

Controllers

PlayStation fans like their parallel analog sticks just the way it is; while the Xbox controller’s diagonally distant analog sticks work as well, if not better. Both the Xbox One controller and the DualShock 4 are incredibly comfortable, treating you right even after marathon gaming sessions.

The Xbox One’s impulse triggers and PS4’s touchpad both leave a lot of room for interesting growth, whenever developers decide how they want to incorporate them into their games. When it comes to either system’s input devices, there’s very little to complain about.

XBOX: Xbox One Wireless Controller(included) [Batteries: Rechargeable (built-in)]
PS4: DualShock 4 (included) [Batteries: AA (2). Rechargeable battery packs (sold separately)]

Motion Controllers

Nothing to debate here. Microsoft’s Kinect wipes the floor with PlayStation’s Move controllers. When Microsoft released Kinect, it ended up surprising itself and selling over 8 million units in the first 60 days of its release. It still holds the Guinness Book record for the fastest selling consumer electronics device.

Exclusive game titles

It’s still early days in the lives of these spiffy new “next-gen” consoles, but the Xbox One has clearly stolen a march on the PS4, in terms of exclusive game titles on offer for their respective fans and what’s due to come in the next few months. While Sony’s failed to announce any new exclusive game for the PS4, Xbox One fans are eagerly awaiting Titanfall – an exclusive that’s giving gamers all over a wet dream. Some exclusive titles:

XBOX: Dead Rising 3, FORZA motorsport 5, Titanfall, Halo 5
PS4: Killzone: Shadowfall, Infamous: Second Son, Uncharted 4

Backward compatibility

Due to the 7-8 year long wait before Sony and Microsoft decided to refresh their respective consoles, gamers on either side of the chasm are facing the prospect of having their beloved gamer’s collection being reduced to nothing but dead plastic. Totally outrageous, of course! But try selling that to Xbox fans – which is what Microsoft did, in a way by declearing that the Xbox One won’t be compatible with X360 games, despite promises of a cloud feature to enable the same.

Neither Xbox One nor PS4 will play previous generation games. That means you’ll need to keep your Xbox 360 and PS3 in order to replay Halo 4 and Uncharted 3. Same with Sony and the PS4, a Real bummer!

Remote play And Sharing

This is one feature that both Xbox One and PS4 deploy, but where SmartGlass only works as a companion app- similar to PlayStation’s app for smartphones and tablets – the PS4 has the added bonus of beaming a live game onto a PS Vita. This is a cool differentiator.

The fact that you can easily stream your gameplay from a PS4 gives it the edge, letting you share your experiences with the world in real-time. The Xbox One’s sharing functionality in the Upload Studio is impressive, with the ability to add voice-over to your videos and easily access them from a computer. But when it comes to showing off your gaming accomplishments to your friends, the PS4 comes out on top.

Online network

Purely concentrating on gaming content the Xbox Live online service had an early advantage over Sony’s PSN. But Sony’s ramped up PSN with PlayStation Plus subscription with a ton of games on offer – for free. PSN offers game trials, automatic demo downloads, including exclusive downloadable content, store discounts and early access to PSN games.

Indie games

Sony got out in front by supporting independent game developers, attracting names like Supergiant Games, Red Barrels Studio, and Young Horses at the time of its E3 press conference.

At first, Microsoft maintained that Xbox One games would require be fronted by a publisher. That changed recently when the company is announcing that not only would it allow self-publishing but also every console acts as a development kit.A free dev kit sounds appealing, especially when PS4 developer kits cost thousands of dollars.

Sony has the indie developer crowd right now, but such pricey technology for tomorrow’s basement-run teams could decrease the company’s indie following over time.

Connectivity

XBOX: WIfi – Direct, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 & 5Ghz)
PS: Bluetooth 2.1, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi

Power Supply

XBOX: External (power brick)
PS: Internal

VERDICT:

The new PS4 is our pick; it is slightly better centered around gamers than the Xbox One. But then again Microsoft console you get the potential of more than just games console, but an entertainment hub. The ultimate choice, as always, is yours.

Top reasons to pick a PS4

It’s much smaller than an Xbox One
It doesn’t have a separate power brick
It already has iPlayer
It’s a bit cheaper
The PS4 is more powerful
Remote Play for Vita is awesome
PS Plus’s free games plan is great
The PS4 controller is better

December 3, 2013December 5, 2013 by Kush Sharma

Google Chromecast review

This is an interesting little device that should be high on your gadget gifts list as it effectively connects your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop PC to an HDMI enabled HDTV – without connecting wires, too. The Chromecast seamlessly lets you beam content from your handheld smart device onto your big-screen TV – watch YouTube videos, Netflix, Google Music, Google TV and Movies. When you’re doing this, your phone or tablet becomes the TV remote. Its beta screen mirroring feature – which lets you beam your Chrome browser session to a large screen – is still restrictive, but it’s only a matter of time before Google keeps adding more apps to the Chromecast party.

Design

The whole thing is a little under 3 inches long, and it’ll stick out about 2.5 inches when plugged into an HDMI port. There’s a short HDMI extension cable in the box to provide extra clearance if you can’t fit the Chromecast against the back of your TV, but you might need something longer depending on your setup, as the extension really just makes everything stick out more.

Chromecast is so small it could easily be mistaken for an oversized USB thumb drive with a little more heft to it. That contrasts with Apple TV and the “buddy boxes” that run Google TV. These devices that are filled with more audio and video ports than users know what to do with: component, S/PDIF, Ethernet, multiple HDMI connections, you name it.

Chromecast doesn’t have an HDMI port, it just fits right into one.

Setup

The setup can be remarkably easy if you follow Google’s directions and download the setup app on your computer or mobile device. On the back there’s an LED, a button, and a Micro USB port, which is how the Chromecast gets power. Yes, power — Google actually recommends that you use the included external power adapter to plug the Chromecast into the wall. Once you’ve got the Chromecast plugged in and powered, the next step is getting it on your Wi-Fi network.

The Chromecast is basically a small Android computer that can connect to the internet and play video files. When you hit the Cast button in a supported app, the Chromecast directly connects to the internet and streams the video itself — it’s not streaming from your device.

Since there’s no single, definitive place to control the Chromecast, it’s easy to find yourself watching a video without any immediate way to pause, rewind, or mute — you have to remember where the video came from and open that app. It’s not a big problem, but it’s added complexity. Google really needs to add basic playback controls like play, pause, and mute to the Chromecast setup app. Google also desperately needs to add in some basic password controls; right now anyone walking by can grab control of your Chromecast and send video to it. That makes it super easy to use, but also opens up a world of elaborate trolling.

You can set up multiple Chromecasts on the same Wi-Fi network, and the setup app even lets you rename them, so you can label each HDTV and room. By default they’re called “ChromecastXXXX” (with different four-digit numbers to identify them), but you can easily change them to “Living Room” and “Bedroom.”

Digging

There’s a “cast” button that is uniformly built into the top right of all of the compatible mobile apps: YouTube, Netflix, Google Play Music, and Google Play Movies & TV. The same goes for the Chrome browser extension on computers, but not Chrome on mobile devices, which have been left out of the media extending picture.

Pressing “cast” causes the Chromecast to start pulling an app’s video and audio to the TV on its own. This conveniently frees up your computer, phone, and tablet to fine-tune the streaming content’s timeline, audio settings, or make other selections within the app.

Chromecast can act as a second screen in a couple of cases, letting you browse the internet or do something else on the computer while a tab with your Gmail, Twitter feed or a video is running in a “casted” background on the big screen.

But don’t make a mistake thinking that this can be a dedicated second screen option for work; it’s just an extra screen to watch.

The Chromecast tab extension is also limited to Chrome at the moment and may never work outside of the Google-owned browser. That means FireFox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera users are out of luck if they had hoped to “cast” using their favorite browser. If Google opens up the Chromecast API, that could change in the future instead of forcing everyone to use Chrome for this one reason.

Downside

The Chromecast’s biggest limitation, of course, is content. Right now, the system only supports video from YouTube, Netflix, and Google Play Music & Movies on mobile. Having only rarely used Google Play’s VOD service and owning a variety of other devices with which to watch YouTube and Netflix, the novelty of the Chromecast’s app streaming functionality wore off quick. But Google promises more apps are on the way, and given the company’s clout, I’m inclined to believe them.

Though generally painless, there are scenarios when the Chromecast can be challenging to configure. For instance, if your TV is somewhat far or a few rooms away from your router, the Chromecast can struggle to maintain a connection.

Wrap-up

I can say that it has easily become my favorite way to watch Netflix and YouTube, which makes up a big part of my TV viewing these days. But Netflix and YouTube are clearly just the beginning for Chromecast. Hulu, Vimeo, HBO Go and others have already pledged their support, and a small army of independent developers has started to hack away and bring their own apps and games to the device. All of this means that Chromecast will get substantially better over the coming months.

Bad Stuff :

Not enough apps yet, Windows Phone not supported
Mirroring limited to browser tab
Weak Wi-Fi range
Chrome is the only supported browser

Good Stuff:

Streams Android to a big TV
Works with iOS, Macs and PCs
Easy to setup and transport
Cheapest media adapter
Supports multiple Chromecasts on the same network.

November 1, 2013November 19, 2013 by Kush Sharma

Camera Keywords Explained

Have you always been fascinated by photography but found the whole thing to be a little too daunting? Have you always been “clicking an auto” but want to learn the finer details of functions? Well, worry not as we’re going to simplify all the technical keywords that comes with having to operate a camera, so that all you have to do is dial in the settings and shoot.

Aperture: Aperture is the term that refers to a circular curtain inside the lens which determines just how much light goes into your camera. An aperture values signifies just how much the curtain opens and is measured in fractions. Therefore, a bigger fraction denoted a bigger opening, eg. ½ is bigger than 1/16. The larger the aperture opens, the more light hits your sensor. Therefore to shoot in low light, a big aperture is a must.

Shutterspeed: Once the light has crossed the aperture, it sort of just sits inside your camera before hitting the sensor. What’s blocking it is another curtain called shutter. The shutter decides for how long all this light that has entered your camera will hit the sensor. Allow it too much time and your image will start turning white and allow it too little time and it will be too dark. The duration for which the shutter is open is measured in fractions as well, unless you are doing a long exposure of several secs/mins/hours.

ISO: The ISO on your camera determines just how sensitive your sensor is to light. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive it is, meaning it needs lesser light to create an image. This, however, does not mean that you can crank the ISO setting all the way to the highest, as there are a few downsides to using High ISO.

Light Meter: A light meter is a little module that measures the amount of light coming into camera and factors all the conditions to generate a “good” exposure based on preset parameters. This is what tells you how much shutter speed and aperture values to use. Unfortunately, the light meter is not always a 100% accurate, so always review your images after shooting and if they look over or under exposed, do use exposure compensation.

By Kathy Eyster

Exposure Compensation: Exposure compensation is the method where you expose a little longer or for a shorter duration than what your light meter says should be the right setting. This can occur when you shoot at the light meter recommended settings and your exposure Is either over or under exposure. So you can do positive exposure compensation (to increase exposure) or use negative exposure compensation (to underexpose). You’d ideally use exposure compensation as a quick fix to your exposure problems, without having to change the shutter speed or aperture.

Depth of Field: The Depth of Field (DoF) of a particular photograph essentially refers to the area in front and behind your intended point of focus. The more the depth of field, the more you will have in focus in your image and smaller the depth of field, the more background (and foreground) blur you will get. Macro shots tend to have a “shallow” depth of field, while group shots must have a great depth of field.

Bracketing Shots: Bracketing is a method where the camera can take a number of shots simultaneously at different exposure values. Normally, this would be a “0” exposure (the value determined by your light meter as ideal) and two (or more even numbered shots) more with an exposure value of a higher and an equally lower value. This is an extremely handy method for shoot High Dynamic Range images. If you are going to buy a new camera device, than don’t forget to check these point of concern that you should keep in mind.

June 7, 2013June 7, 2013 by Kush Sharma

NFC Demystified: Just a matter of touch?

First of all, NFC stands for Near Field Communication. It is a technology for wireless transfer of data between two devices. If that sounds a lot like BlueTooth or WiFi, that is because it is a similar.

NFC has its roots in RFID or Radio Frequency Identification. RFID tags are like bar-codes that don’t need to be scanned, but merely placed near an RFID reader. An RFID chip—which by the way can be smaller than a grain of rice—can be read by an RFID reader without the need for contact, so if a shopping mall were to tag everything via RFID, all a shopper would have to do is pass their shopping bag / trolley near an RFID reader, and all the products could automatically billed.

An RFID tag is essentially a chip storing some data which gets activated by an RFID reader. The radio waves from the RFID reader are intercepted by the RFID tag, and these are enough to power the device. The tag uses the power it gets from the RFID reader to send back its own radio message with the data it stores—or it could just have a small battery. In this case an RFID reader is a passive device that sends the same bits of data it is stored no matter what.

What if you were to create a similar system where two devices could communicate using similar means? Where both devices could work as both a tag and a reader to pass along small messages. Well, NFC is exactly such a system. NFC is in fact compatible with RFID, and you could have NFC tags, just like RFID tags.

Many experts say NFC really is fundamentally secure by virtue of its extremely short range. In order to snag your NFC signal, a hacker would need to be very close to you. Uncomfortably close. In other words, you’d know they were there. And unless it was a very intimate friend of yours, you’d likely not be happy about it.

Aspect	NFC	Bluetooth	Bluetooth Low Energy
RFID compatible	ISO 18000-3	active	active
Standardisation body	ISO/IEC	Bluetooth SIG	Bluetooth SIG
Network Standard	ISO 13157 etc.	IEEE 802.15.1	IEEE 802.15.1
Network Type	Point-to-point	WPAN	WPAN
Cryptography	not with RFID	available	available
Range	< 0.2 m	~100 m (class 1)	~50 m
Frequency	13.56 MHz	2.4–2.5 GHz	2.4–2.5 GHz
Bit rate	424 kbit/s	2.1 Mbit/s	~1.0 Mbit/s
Set-up time	< 0.1 s	< 6 s	< 0.006 s
Power consumption	< 15mA (read)	varies with class	< 15 mA (read and transmit)

NFC technology is mainly aimed to be used in mobile phones. NFC uses both write and read technology. The connection is established when two NFC devices are bought within the distance of 4 centimeters.

Applications

As you can guess from the name, and from its ancestry NFC is for communication between devices placed very close by, distances much closer than those required by BlueTooth or WiFi. In fact devices usually have to be touching or placed a few centimetres apart. While this might seem like a disadvantage, and most certainly can be in many situations, it also has its positive sides. While BlueTooth and WiFi require that a device be paired, or share a mutual password, NFC has no such requirements.

Authentication is assumed based on the fact that the devices are nearly touching, which would require both device users to choose to do so. In fact NFC can be used as an alternative to entering long WiFi keys or traditional means of pairing devices using BlueTooth. For example if you have a WiFi point that supports NFC, it could automatically transmit the WiFi key to any device that is placed very near it. Or, rather that start a tedious BlueTooth pairing process, you could simply tap two phones together and they would use that gesture as consent for a BlueTooth pairing. This particular feature is in fact available in Android in the form of Android Beam. While NFC can be used for data transfer, it can be quite slow for large amounts of data, especially when compared to BlueTooth or WiFi.

So Android Beam uses NFC and take advantage of its convenience in quick communication over short distances, and uses that to authenticate the devices so that that it can use quicker technologies for the actual transfer of data. As such it can transfer anything, music, videos, or the state of an application, such as tabs open in a browser, the saved state of a game etc. NFC is also finding many uses in places where RFID was used earlier.

NFC isn’t a newfangled technology, but it’s just now beginning to filter into mainstream products like smartphones. With an NFC chip and antenna, you can use your smartphone to make contactless payments at NFC retail terminals, parking meters, taxis and many other places.

Key Benefits of NFC

NFC provides a range of benefits to consumers and businesses, such as:

Intuitive: NFC interactions require no more than a simple touch
Versatile: NFC is ideally suited to the broadest range of industries, environments, and uses
Open and standards-based: The underlying layers of NFC technology follow universally implemented ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards
Technology-enabling: NFC facilitates fast and simple setup of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)
Inherently secure: NFC transmissions are short range (from a touch to a few centimeters)
Interoperable: NFC works with existing contactless card technologies
Security-ready: NFC has built-in capabilities to support secure applications

For example it can be used as an alternative to ID cards. One up and coming use is as a means of payment. Google Wallet for example allows one to initiate payments by simply tapping your phone on a payment device. Your financial details can be stored on Google Wallet, and when you initiate a transfer using NFC, Google Wallet only needs your authorization for payment, and handles the rest. Games can use NFC to initiate a multiplayer gaming session and use WiFi or BlueTooth for the actual game data. Tapping mobile and tablets, or putting them in close proximity makes a lot of sense, but one is likely to have a hard time imagining such a thing working with desktops. Even so, a laptop or desktop fitted with NFC can use that functionality to enable all kinds of useful interactions. You could for example, transfer your browsing session to your tablet / mobile from your laptop / desktop before leaving home. Or sync between you laptop / desktop and mobile / tablet just by using NFC.

NFC is only one technology, with Bluetooth and RFID just as able to strike-up a conversation between two gadgets, but there are distinctions within NFC, too. In comes in both passive and active flavours, including P2P mode (exchanging information, such as business cards or contacts) and SecureElement NFC (where a machine recognises a NFC phone as a bankcard).

You won’t find NFC on many laptops or desktops but it is only a matter of time. Look at how BlueTooth is now common on any laptops and you will see how it is likely to find future laptops fitted with NFC. Desktops usually have neither but are flexible enough to use dongles to add those capabilities. There are tons of imaginative uses for NFC that people have yet to come up with. All one needs to know are the advantages of NFC at your disposal, quick initiation of communication, moderately fast data transfer speeds (around 400 kbit/s) and the possibility of having passive (without battery) items that interact with NFC devices.

March 5, 2013September 23, 2018 by Kush Sharma

7 Apps that every traveler should have

Apps, Showcase, Software
android, applications, apps, ios, traveller
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Here are some apps to get you started and on the way to getting extra value for the money you spend on your upcoming trips, and also in a way unlocking your smartphone’s hidden potential.

Ask A Nomad

For any new place you visit, inevitably there are bound to be a lot of questions – mostly regarding which place to visit. Quite simply, Ask A Nomad lets you ask a question, and get answers from other users who may have some idea about that subject. This is a lot more interactive than just searching for information on the web. Alternatively, you can also answer questions about places you’ve been to. The app divides the world very neatly into continents, countries and then cities. This makes asking a new question, reading other discussions and replying to a query simpler. Better way of getting all the information you need about a place, from people who have probably already been there.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS devices

Agoda.com

This is an app you should definitely refer to, because it will surely have information on the hotel that you plan on staying in. Considering over 1,50,000 hotels worldwide are a part of this database, users can search for hotels based on pricing and type, and even get special deals. This service also lets you book using credit card, along with special offers and deals from time to time.

We believe that even though you may find it a little risky to book from here, it is useful app to check out and compare hotels.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS devices

Foursquare

This app isn’t very new, but it is a must have on every smart mobile device and most people have used it. But if you have a number of contacts who are explorers in their own right, this may just be the app for you.

Utilise the knowledge base of your friends to get information about a place you’re going to visit, or have already checked in to. Also get recommendations from other users who have visited the place and written reviews about it.

Price: Free

Platform: Android, Blackberry, iOS, Symbian and Windows Phone

Expensify

Use Expensify on your Android™ device to log expenses, capture receipt images and manage reports on the go! Even better, SmartScan will read your receipt images, fill out the expense details, and create a new expense (or attach to an automatically imported bank/card transaction).

An essential app for business travelers, Expensify allows users to scan or log their receipts to be compiled into expense reports.

Price: Free

Platform: Android, iOS

Google Translate & Goggles

Google Translate helps you make sense of 63 different languages. You can even speak text to be translated into the local language.

Search by taking a picture: point your mobile phone camera at a painting, a famous landmark, a bar code or QR code, a product, a storefront, or a popular image. If Goggles finds it in its database, it will provide you with useful information. Goggles can read text in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Turkish, and translate it into other languages.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS, Android

WeatherBug

If you are sensitive to weather changes or do not like snowfall or rainfall, you would obviously be interested to find out about the weather in the places where you are going to be during your trip. WeatherBug gives accurate and reliable weather information, letting you know beforehand the kind of weather you can expect during your stay in a foreign city.

This app allows you access to the most reliable weather stations across North America to find out the exact weather conditions at thousands of locations around the world. You can thus avoid places where weather is not to your liking if you have this app installed.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS, Android

Google Maps

Whether you need directions to your destination, the closest good place for a bite to eat, or just a sense of where you are, Google Maps for Android can help.

Immediately after Apple Maps landed, customers and critics complained loudly (and rightly) of inaccurate location search and a lack of map data over points of interest. Fortunately, Google does search better than most everyone, and Google Maps for iOS is no exception. You also can search for addresses like you would expect, but also landmarks, local restaurants, businesses, and common search terms like “pizza.” Google database is more extensive and generally much more accurate than Apple’s offering.

Price: Free

Platform: iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Symbian

December 26, 2012June 7, 2013 by Kush Sharma

Cool Bluetooth Gadgets Worth the Money

Who doesn’t like surrounding themselves with Bluetooth accessories for their electronic gadgets? We celebrate this fact of human nature

How Convenient would life be if everything turned wireless? In the present world that sees technological advancements every minute, it wouldn’t be wrong to believe that everything can be present at our fingertips. Let us discuss some of the cool Bluetooth-capable gadgets, that are now your wireless puppets.

Polaroid PoGo Instant Mobile Printer

We’ll start with my favourite. The Polaroid’s PoGo printer(Rs.3835) prints 2×3 inch-colored photos under a minute directly from your phone or digital camera. It runs on ZINK( Zero Ink) Technology. The photo paper has microscopic crystals that are activated by heat in the printer to produce color. The device has a range of over 35 feet, and the rechargeable battery runs for about 15 prints. The photos are smudge proof with a glossy finish. They are also water and tear-resistant.

InsecDroids

This one is for the smart kids. A company named D-RED came up with a new OS app called InsectDroids, for children of ages 5+. It is designed to control small plastic bugs of the same name. You can make these insects scamper about on the floor using your iPhone or iPad. It comes with a rechargeable battery. This toy will cost you close to Rs.2500

Medisana TargetScale

The Medisana TargetScale is a Bluetooth-capable weighing scale that shows you accurately your body mass index(BMI), body fat and water, plus muscle and bone mass aside from your weight. The “smart scale” has flashing rings which gives it a futuristic look, more like the Star Trek transporter. It works in conjunction with a VitaDock app, and sends data to your iPhone or iPad so that users can analyze their progress on the go. It will cost you USD 130, and it isn’t available in India.

Qi-wear Streo Bluetooth Sunglasses

It has Streo Bluetooth connectivity and eye protection in one package. The Q-i-wear stereo Bluetooth Eyewear by iharmonix is designed with dual microphones to cancel ambient noise for clear communication and noise-isolating ear-tips to reduce noise levels by up to 42 decibel. It has on-frame controls and can deliver up to 4 hours of talk time, 8 hours of music playback and up to 7 days on standby when fully and replaceable lenses in clear, gray and amber. It’ll cost you USD 300.

Cobra Tag

How often do you forget your car keys, on your smartphone when you leave the room? Cobra Tag is designed to hang on your keychain, and use the Bluetooth technology so you never lose your phone or your keys. It creates a two way separate alarm between your android or BlackBerry smartphones and the tag. If you walk away with your phone, and the connection is broken, both your phone and the tag start emitting a high-pitched noise reminding you to come back for the keys. If that’s not enough, the Cobra Tag app can send you a text message, email or tweet to inform you that you’ve lost your belongings and for the unmindful people like us, it sends a map to locate the whereabouts of your device. Take note that this device will cost you close to Rs.3200.

Beam Bluetooth Toothbrush

Now flash your tooth, with Bluetooth. It is true that for most of you, brushing your teeth would not be on top of your priority list. Beam Technologies came up with this high tech toothbrush with sensor, that monitors your oral hygiene habits and sends analysis to your smartphone via Bluetooth. To lure people into brushing for 2 minutes, it also allows you to play music while brushing. Parents can keep a track of their child’s brushing habits by pairing all Beam Brushes to same smartphone. Later versions will track how much time you spent in scrubbing certain areas of your mouth and help improve your oral hygiene. So, there’s no way out for the sloth in you. What’s next, Bluetooth floss? It costs USD50.

Lego Mindstorm NXT Robot Kit

This Shows the real potential of the Bluetooth technology. The Lego Mindstorm NXT 2.0 for you geeks features 32-bit microprocessor, a large matrix display, 4 input and 3 output ports, and Bluetooth and USB communication link. It has ultrasonic, touch and color sensors and 3 motors to make your robot alive. Basically, it is a bunch of electronic parts, motors, gears and cams that can be put together to create different robots that respond to programs you create and transmit via Bluetooth. Once it’s together, you can wirelessly tell your robot to move, spin, make noise and even pick up a ball with its claw. It can be easily programmed using software on your Mac or Windows with an intuitive drag-n-drop interface. The programs are transmitted to the robot from up to 25 feet away. Show off your creation, or take it apart and start over. There’s no limit to what you can build with this kit. Go ahead and buy it just for Rs.19000.

Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard

It’s compact, it is wireless and it takes full control of your home entertainment PC setup. The keys are twice the size of BlackBerry, but it encourages thumb-typing. The control pad lets you change from touch-pad-style control to directional up-down-left-right controls by sliding a small switch. The keyboard has 45-feet range and its battery should run for two weeks of on-and-off use. The diNovo Mini is also compatible with the PlayStation 3, but lacks Apple and xBox360 support. A well-integrated mouse-pad, backlit keys, multiple connectivity options and media buttons make the diNovo a valuable asset. Buy it for just Rs.5000.

OnStar FMV

Once found only in General Motors vehicles, the OnStar FMV-“For My Vehicle” is now available as an add-on rear view mirror for a wide variety of other cars. Who knew safety could come in this little a package? The GPS enabled device offers accurate turn-by-turn voice directions, hands-free phone calls and all sort of vehicle assistance. Sync your phone via Bluetooth and make calls without taking your eyes off the road. OnStar FMV provides Automatic Crash Response, 24×7 emergency services, stolen vehicle location assistance and roadside assistance. It will be your favorite assistant on road. This behind-the-wheel peace of mind costs you USD 300 plus installation charges, about USD 200-300 a year for the OnStar services. Unfortunately, we don’t have this service in India as of now.

November 25, 2012June 7, 2013 by Kush Sharma

Android 4.2: A new flavor of Jelly Bean

The latest version of Google’s mobile OS makes a number of evolutionary improvements to its already impressive repertoire — including a new quick settings menu that can be accessed from the notification pull down and support for multiple user profiles. The multiple user support is especially handy for tablets like the new Nexus 10, which are much more likely to be shared, and now offer quick and easy user switching right from the lock screen. If you don’t want to share your tablet, just what’s on it, the new support for Miracast makes will allow you to wirelessly beam movies, games or anything else to a compatible display. The 10-inch tablet UI has also received a slight tweak, moving closer to the design for phones and the Nexus 7, with centered navigation buttons and the notification area up top. It might seem strange for users used to the Honeycomb-style tablet layout, but the new design is much simpler and provides a consistent experience across devices.

Google has also overhauled the photo experience and added Photo Sphere — a 360-degree panoramic shooting mode that captures everything around you. Obviously, you’ll be able to post those shots to Google+, but you’ll also be able to add them to Google Maps, basically creating your own personal Street View. Interestingly, Google has also taken a page from Swype’s playbook, adding “Gesture Typing” to its keyboard. There’s also a new screensaver called Daydream that offers up news, photos and other content when a device is docked or idle.

Perhaps the biggest, and creepiest improvements are to Google Now, which can monitor your Gmail for relevant content such as flight numbers. Hotel and restaurant reservations are now presented as cards, as are packages enroute to your humble abode. The service will even remind you of events you’ve purchased tickets for, essentially making Calendar redundant for a lot of your personal life. For more info check out the source links.

Fast and smooth

We put Android under a microscope, making everything feel fast, fluid, and smooth. With buttery graphics and silky transitions, moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book.

More reactive and uniform touch responses mean you can almost feel the pixels beneath as your finger moves across the screen. Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device’s CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don’t need it to improve battery life.

Beam photos and videos

With Android Beam on Jelly Bean you can now easily share your photos and videos with just a simple tap, in addition to sharing contacts, web pages, YouTube videos, directions, and apps. Just touch two NFC-enabled Android devices back-to-back, then tap to beam whatever’s on the screen to your friend.

A smarter keyboard, now with Gesture Typing

Writing messages on the go is easier than ever with Gesture Typing – just glide your finger over the letters you want to type, and lift after each word. You don’t have to worry about spaces because they’re added automatically for you.

The keyboard can anticipate and predict the next word, so you can finish entire sentences just by selecting suggested words. Power through your messages like never before.

Android’s dictionaries are now more accurate and relevant. With improved speech-to-text capabilities, voice typing on Android is even better. It works even when you don’t have a data connection, so you can type with your voice everywhere you go.

Bottom Line

Would you buy a new phone just because of Jelly Bean 4.2 ? – No.

Are their any cool updates ? – Yes

November 13, 2012June 7, 2013 by Kush Sharma

iPad Mini

In many ways, the iPad Mini is the perfect iPad for a first-time buyer. All the apps you want to use on the full-size iPad are available on the Mini – and this cannot be overlooked. The iPad has by far the greatest wealth of quality apps of any tablet, and they are typically far more than stretched out iPhone apps. This is by far the greatest asset of the iPad Mini, and for many it will warrant Apple’s higher asking price.

All of the standard iPad button and switch placement is intact here, save for the move of the speaker grille to the bottom of the device (it’s been around back for iPads previous to this version), along with the new Lightning port. And that’s a good-sounding set of stereo speakers, by the way. You’ll find separate volume buttons on the right side beneath the mute / rotation lock toggle, and the power / sleep button on the top, just as expected. The front of the device is all glass, save for an HD camera in the center of the top bezel (as you hold it in portrait) and the home button on the bottom. There’s also a 5-megapixel camera on the back.

Though the iPad mini sports a slightly larger display than other devices in this class, its profile feels extremely lean. Sometimes too lean. The device weighs just 0.68 pounds, and it’s only 0.28 inches thick (noticeably thinner than the Nexus 7’s 0.41 inches or Fire HD’s 0.4 inches). I actually had a little trouble holding onto the device when I wasn’t using the Smart Cover due to the back being as smooth as it is, and the frame being so thin. Maybe it’s just my big hands, but I wanted a little more to grab onto. In that regard, I prefer the feel of the Nexus 7.

Much has been made about the display on the iPad mini. The IPS screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally, and is 1024 x 768 in resolution. For those keeping count, it’s the same resolution as the original iPad. That makes for a pixel density of 163 ppi, which as you might guess doesn’t seem too terrific next to devices like the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD (each 216 ppi), Nook Color HD (243 ppi), or the big daddy 4th generation iPad (264 ppi). It’s also much lower in pixel density than pretty much any smartphone on the market right now.

But how does it look? Well for starters, it’s a really good looking display in general terms. Apple is using the same treatment here as it does on the iPhone 5 and iPad, and it makes for a crystal-clear screen that seems to hover just a tiny bit beneath glass. Colors are vibrant and blacks are deep, and games, photos, and video look terrific.

That’s only half the story, however. There’s no question that to the naked eye this screen does look lower in resolution than its nearest competition. Pixels are noticeable, especially in webpages, books, and when viewing email — and that can be distracting sometimes. Since Apple is the company that’s gotten our eyes used to the hey-look-no-pixels trick of the Retina display, it’s hard to take a step back and not notice. I don’t think the lower resolution is a deal-breaker in this product, but it is a compromise you have to be aware of. It simply doesn’t look as clear as other products on the market.

The most popular accessory for the iPad mini will be the new Smart Cover that, despite being both smaller and of considerably simpler construction, still costs the same $39 as the bigger, 10-inch version. That’s a little unfortunate, especially because we don’t think this version works as well. There is one positive change: the smaller Smart Cover moves away from the aluminum hinge on the bigger version, a good thing because we’ve seen plenty of scratches caused by that metal-on-metal contact.

It’s still attached magnetically, but where the 10-inch model will immediately snap into the perfect placement every time, we found the mini cover just as eager to attach either too high or too low. It requires a little more precision. Hardly a deal-breaker (how often are you removing your Smart Cover?) but a bit of an annoyance.

Specs and cameras

Inside the mini, you’ll find specs essentially identical to the iPad 2, save for a few alterations. The system is built atop the two-generations-old A5 CPU, appears to sport a dangerously tiny 512MB of RAM, and ships in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage capacities (I tested the 64GB, Wi-Fi-only version). All the requisite radios are here too: Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, and eventually you’ll be able to buy a version with CDMA, GSM, and LTE cellular options. As you would expect, a light sensor, accelerometer, and gyroscope are here as well. It really is a mini version of the iPad 2, except for the cameras, which are significantly improved.

As you may know, I’m not a fan of people taking photos with tablets. Just as with previous models I’ve tested, I find the act to be not only awkward, but embarrassing as well. The slightly more diminutive size of the iPad mini does make the experience slightly better, and its 5 megapixel backside camera is actually not terrible for general shots. In fact, its color tone and low light performance was better than what I’ve seen on many newer smartphones. It was sometimes difficult to get a clean image due to shakiness, but that has more to do with the odd physicality of taking a photo with a tablet than it does with the actual camera.

The front-facing FaceTime HD camera is fine for video chatting (and I think is a lot more comfortable than chatting with the full size iPad), but won’t be useful for anything more than that.

THE VERDICT

While most technology enthusiasts would be better suited with a full-size iPad with Retina Display (starting at $170 more) or a cheaper 7″ tablet, the iPad Mini is sure to fill a niche for many. Its smaller form factor makes it ideal for traveling and daily commutes, and its construction feels almost inarguably better than any of its competitors.

If your interest is piqued but your tech speck checklist is not fulfilled, wait a year. The iPad Mini 2 is sure to pack all the features you could hope for and by then we’ll have even more compelling options (not to mention bustling app stores) from Google, Amazon, and maybe even Microsoft.

The iPad mini hasn’t wrapped up the “cheapest tablet” market by any stretch of the imagination. But the “best small tablet” market? Consider it captured.

August 13, 2012June 7, 2013 by Kush

Microsoft Surface Lands

From touch to type, office to living room, from your screen to the big screen, you can see more, share more, and do more with Surface.Create, collaborate, and get stuff done with Office. Explore your world with fast, fluid Windows 8 apps. Discover new music, movies, and games in the Windows Store.

Surface is thin, light and it has a great battery. At 9.3mm, Surface for Windows RT is just thin enough to still sport a full sized USB port. Print, share, or charge your phone on the go.² Head out knowing that you are ready for anything. Surface has a 10.6″, 16:9 widescreen HD Display. Microsoft’s ClearType HD Display technology delivers a great picture for movies. An ultra-wide viewing angle makes it easy for your friends to share in the vibrant experience. The auto-adjusting screen intensity delivers great visual clarity, indoors and out. The addition of the Micro SD card slot means you can bring your entire movie and music collection with you on vacation.

The rear-facing camera will be angled at 22 degrees to allow proper framing of another person while the “kickstand” is in use. The “kickstand” is a .77 mm thin built-in stand that spans the width of the device and allows Surface to be propped up at an angle in landscape orientation for a hands-free viewing experience. Surface Pro has perimeter venting which allows air to flow out the sides, and helps avoid airflow being impeded by hands holding the device.

Touch Cover and Type Cover

Microsoft will offer two keyboard covers for Surface: Touch Cover and Type Cover. Both, when folded up, serve as protective covers that connect to the Surface via a magnetic strip. When opened, the covers are keyboards. The Touch Cover is 3 mm in thickness and has a touch-sensitive keyboard. The Type Cover is thicker and includes a tactile keyboard. The keyboards have a gyroscope and accelerometer sensors to determine, based on position, whether or not to accept input. Both also include a multitouch touchpad.

About

Surface was designed to be your go-to-device. It comes with a precision crafted VaporMg casing that protects the vital technology inside and leaves a high quality finish and feel.Touch Cover comes in five vibrant colors. Type Cover offers classic typing experience for those who prefer a more traditional keyboard. Pick the one that best meets your needs and represents your sense of style.

August 12, 2012June 7, 2013 by Kush

Hate Spending Money? Grab These Free Games

Games, Showcase, Worthy
age, black light, empire, fortress, Free, games, team, tribes
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Free-to-play (F2P) refers to any video game or social or mobile application that has the option of allowing its players/users to play/download without paying. The model was first popularly used in early massively multiplayer online games (MMO) targeted towards casual gamers, before finding wider adoption among games released by major video game publishers to combat video game piracy and high system requirements. Since games using the concept are available at no cost to players, they use other means to gather revenue, such as charging money for certain in-game items (like powerful bonuses which are usually available for real money only) or integrating advertisements into the game.

Blacklight: Retribution

About the Game

Wage war with advanced weapons and technology in Blacklight: Retribution, a free-to-play, futuristic first-person shooter. Deploy devastating armored exoskeletons and utilize lethal hand-held weapons in vicious competitive modes.

SUIT UP, SIGHT ON, FIRE AWAY

The Hardsuit is the ultimate weapon. Powerful but slow, this armored suit packs a one-shot, one-kill railgun and a high velocity minigun to clear rooms… fast. Only by using teamwork, heavy weapons from in-game Weapon Depots and the Hyper Reality Visor (HRV), can players overcome the futuristic killing machine.

Tribes: Ascend

About the Game

Tribes: Ascend is the world’s fastest shooter – a high-adrenaline, online multiplayer FPS with jetpacks, skiing, vehicles, and multiple classes. The classic shooter franchise Tribes has been played by well over 1 million people. With Tribes: Ascend, the franchise is reborn – fast-paced, vertical, acrobatic combat combined with class-based teamwork and stunning sci-fi visuals.

Age of Empires Online

About the Game

Age of Empires Online is the next chapter in the best-selling Age of Empires PC game franchise features some of the greatest ancient civilizations including the Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, and Celts, with more being introduced all the time, and offers more than hundreds of hours of gameplay for free!

And that’s just where the experience starts! As players grow their empires and look for new adventures, Age of Empires Online delivers the opportunity to buy new Premium Content Packs – everything from entirely new civilizations to Booster Packs with new game modes and more. It’s the biggest Age of Empires game ever.

What’s more, Age of Empires Online adds new social interaction, customization, and MMORPG gameplay in an evolving and persistent world. Play co-operatively or competitively, craft and trade items, and level up by completing quests – all for free! Plus, Age of Empires Online still offers all the classic RTS gameplay, empowering players to build mighty empires, manage resources, earn rewards, and battle their way into rich new worlds full of lively villagers, epic warriors, and historically-themed architecture.

Team Fortress 2

About the Game

“The most fun you can have online” – PC Gamer

Is now FREE!

There’s no catch! Play as much as you want, as long as you like!

The most highly-rated free game of all time!

One of the most popular online action games of all time, Team Fortress 2 delivers constant free updates—new game modes, maps, equipment and, most importantly, hats. Nine distinct classes provide a broad range of tactical abilities and personalities, and lend themselves to a variety of player skills.