iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle : Soon to be dumped by Apple

iPod Classic

iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle are some very old iPod models launched by Apple which are dated now and have been superseded by the sleeker designs of the relatively newer models like iPod Nano and iPod Touch. This is the reason why Apple is supposed to stop production of these two old models from next week onwards.

iPod Shuffle

As per the assumptions, Apple has plans to announce this along with the release of iPhone5 next week. Though the sources are not authentic and completely unofficial but as per the report, the classic is a holdover from 10 years of iPod existence, bearing many similarities to the original iPod whereas the shuffle is basically the same form factor as the nano, minus a screen.

Moreover, this groundbreaking device in personal tech, credited with reinvigorating Apple a decade ago, the iPod line at present accounts for just about 7% of Apple's overall revenues. The iPhone and iPad, which offer music and video streaming along with lots of other features, have in some way trumped the iPod's usefulness. 

With the growing technology and the demand of iPhone and iPad in Apple's store, iPad is losing its space day by day. You may very soon see once very popular iPod completely out of market.

This is how Facebook is going to look after few weeks from now

Hi friends, this post is specially meant for all you facebook addicts. I know most of you are more than regular on facebook and here is a news on which you may tend to revolt. Yes, you guessed it right, this is about new features and changes in facebook.

I am sure all of you must have noticed by now some of such changes done in facebook recently, most significantly :

1. The new real-time "Ticker" at the top right of your Facebook profile.
2. The "Top Stories" that now appear at the top of your Facebook news feed

and lot others...

Facebook users globally reacted negatively to these changes just like most of my friends posted on their wall and even on some of the blogs. If you are one of these users, who is disappointed with these miniscule  changes in facebook interface, then here is a shocking news for you as facebook is about to transform its interface into a complete new design which will look similar to the snap here.

These changes are to be done within a weeks and the most surprising fact is that even 10% of the users of the most popular social networking site are not aware of this. Like most of my friends, i am sure you will also agree with the fact that all the new features launched by facebook are not useful and you would have disliked it. In this case, this may come out to be a freaking news for you.

So, what exactly are these big changes we are talking about? 

Facebook will change your entire profile page ,which should be optional for first few months most probably, so that you can get back to restore your profile to earlier design if you don't like the new one. Your Facebook profile will go from having one central column to two, with boxes of text, photos, videos and even maps of your favorite locations. Rather than just displaying your most recent activities, your profile will become a scrapbook documenting your entire life, all the way back to your birth. Facebook will become a record of your existence: All your memories, your victories and your defeats, your loves, your losses and everything in between. This is exactly what Facebook Timeline Profile is meant for. You'll add a big, new "Cover photo" to your page and waste a few hours preening your Timeline, choosing to feature your happiest memories, hide the inconsequential ones, and lingering awhile on the most bittersweet of moments. It will in turn put all your highs and lows on the profile and with time you will notice that your facebook says more than what you know of yourself.

So yes, you will be shocked and most probably you will even hate the new Facebook profile when it will be launched in the coming weeks. But as facebook developers claim, with time you may realize that Facebook has unleashed something so remarkable that you didn't even recognize it at first: A meaningful social network. And like any other groundbreaking technology, the PC, the smartphone, the iPad, you'll wonder why life wasn't always this way, and how you got by without it.

An amazing experince with a moral of anti-corruption

This is a great experience one of my friend had today which started day before on a traffic signal. Below here is the experience as stated by him :

Yesterday, on the way to office, I was stopped by traffic policemen, and asked to show relevant documents of my bike. I told them that -

1. pollution certificate has expired and 
2. Insurance copy that I was carrying is also outdated (although I have the renewed Insurance policy but was not carrying at that time). 

The senior Inspector told me to that this will reach to a heavy penalty amt. So he offered me to SETTLE DOWN the matter then n there. (A thought ran in my mind, asking myself: I was the part of people supporting "Anti-Corruption" movement lead by ANNA HAZARE, just a month back, and the practical situation was in front of me, n how to deal with that). Suddenly, I got my answer, and I refused them to pay anything, and asked them to issue a CHALLAN. Hence, they issued the same with 2 offenses viz. 

1. Expired Pollution and 
2. Expired Insurance and retained bike's RC (Registration Certificate). 

To pay the penalty I was to appear at Karkardooma Court (room no. 30) by 4pm today. So, I went there, at the scheduled time. The moment I parked my bike, a bunch of people called Agents approached me and started querying about the matter, and were assuring to do the job done in 15 min. and were telling me that for both the offenses I 'll be charged about Rs. 2000/-, and if I had the Insurance then Rs 1100/- at least, but they can settle the matter within 500-600 rupees (including their commission worth Rs. 100). From parking up to Room no. 30, some dozens of Agents approached me and delivered the same damn story. I told them "listen, If I were to pay You people then I would have paid the policemen and need not come here".

I submitted the copy of CHALLAN and waited for my turn in Room no. 30. The (Lady)Judge appeared in the court and began hearings... after 5-7 minutes my name was called and was asked to present the valid Insurance doc. I presented the Original doc. and in fraction of seconds she announced the PENALTY AMOUNT, paid the amount immediately, collected my RC and the Amount Receipt later after the rest of hearings. HMMM... I know, u all are interested in the Penalty Amount, to my SURPRISE!! as well, it came to just Rs 100/-, nothing else. I was getting a feeling of Satisfaction and Proud, in the sense that, ATLEAST I TRIED to live up to the Ideology of 'ANNA's Movement' against Corruption, in real sense.

MORAL: Never hesitate to approach the officials directly to resolve our personal matters. This way, we will get to know the actual rules n regulations and could contribute in removing CORRUPTION

HP Stock rises instantly by 10% on the rumor of CEO getting fired

HP Stock Rise

Well, this is quite interesting. There is the company well known for innovation, Apple, whose stocks fell down with every news of illness of its former CEO, Steve Jobs. And there is HP, whose stock pops up by more than 7% just because of the rumor that its CEO, Leo Apotheker will be fired by board.

As per the report, HP is planning to offer this position to eBay head Meg Whitman. Whitman, 55, has been an HP director since early this year. Previously she has served as eBay's president and CEO from 1998 to 2000. Soon after this announcement, HP shares spiked by about 10% and at the end of the day, it closes at around a rise of 6.7%.

Apotheker, former CEO of business software firm SAP, was a surprise choice as an external candidate for the CEO post which was ironic to the fact that HP had been widely expected to appoint an internal employee. Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's personal systems group, and Ann Livermore, leader of the company's enterprise business, were among the leading contenders for the post.

Moreover, Apotheker came with his own checkered past. He served for a short time as CEO and for many years in other top roles at SAP, which is struggling to hold its market share against onslaughts from Oracle and IBM. After more than two decades at SAP, Apotheker was ousted in 2009.

Talking about the compensation drawn by him from HP, Apotheker landed an annual salary of $1.2 million, plus a $4 million signing bonus and an additional $4.6 million for relocation assistance and to offset payments from SAP that he forfeited by taking the new job. He was also eligible for a cash bonus of $6 million for 2011.

This explains the reason why stock boosted up by 10% instantly right after the news of Apotheker being fired.

Microsoft to end Intel's dominance with Windows 8

With the Windows 8, unlike its previous releases Microsoft is not just limited to radically enhanced user interface but it has ended up its long held duopoly with Intel as new Windows will be coming for tablets and and with this step Microsoft has opened a gate for new Chipmakers.

Before this, all computer manufacturers were restricted to use processors built on Intel's processor architecture to ship Windows devices but for the first time in its history PC manufacturers can ship windows devices that runs on processors other than Intel's architecture.Windows 8 will run on both x86 chips and processors based on the architecture created by British chip designer ARM.

ARM-based semiconductors are among the fastest-growing chip sets in the world, thanks to their popularity in mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. The ARM chips are particularly good at sipping power, preserving battery life and enabling constant connectivity, all things that will be crucial components of Windows 8 tablets. In past few years, ARM has really captured the smartphone market with its highly efficient processor.

The opening up of the Windows platform unlocks new doors for ARM-based chipmakers like Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia. Each believes it is uniquely suited to take advantage of the Windows 8 opportunity. On the other hand, this step from Microsoft is also likely to end up the dominance of Intel and bring up a competitive market for chipmakers where efficiency and performance will be preferred and not the brand.

Claremont : Chip that runs on solar power

Intel introduced an innovative chip this week which could lead to devices with significantly lower energy consumption. The chip called Claremont is a near-threshold voltage processor, which allows transistors to operate at super-low, near "threshold" voltages to increase efficiency and decrease energy consumption. 

 While experimenting, chip was powered only off a solar cell of the size of a postage stamp which shows its minimal power requirement. The chip can run on other power sources as well. Moreover, it iss heat-sink free, and rather than operating at those super low thresholds all the time, it switches into NTV mode (under 10 mW in power consumption) when its workload is light to save power in ultra low power state

The technology can be used to develop zero-power architectures where power consumption is so low that we could power entire digital devices off solar energy, or off the energy that surrounds us every day, like vibrations or movements, ambient wireless signals or solar power. It can be used in applications ranging from processors and mobile devices to embedded devices, appliances and automobiles.

Energy efficiency has always been a concern for device manufacturers and chipset makers, but as the hardware industry moves to mobile and more lightweight computing, it's become a much bigger issue. Intel has been working on low power chips since long to empower small gadgets and ARM and OAK Trial processors are such inventions which are widely used today. NTV is a significantly bigger step than these commercial processors which has improved energy consumption by 5 to 10 times.

But the technology is not without problems at present. When electrical noise is introduced, logic level readings can be inaccurate and hence the challenge is to maintain a balance of performance versus efficiency. Though this innovative chip is of no practical application as present but it is definitely a major step towards energy efficient future processors.

Planet discovered which orbits around two stars

There has been controversies since long about the existence of circumbinary planets, one which orbits two stars. Ending all such controversies, NASA has found Kepler-16b (named as it is searched by Kepler space telescope). Kepler-16b is around 200 light-years from Earth and it is orbiting two stars.

According to NASA, previous research did hint at the existence of circumbinary planets, but clear confirmation remained mysterious until the Kepler mission’s latest discovery. The newly found circumbinary planet is likened to the fictional inhabited planet called Tatooine, which was portrayed as having two sunsets in the "Star Wars" series.

The newly discovered planet is not thought to harbor life. It is an an inhospitable, cold world about the size of Saturn and thought to be made up of about half rock and half gas. Kepler-16b is comparable to Saturn in both mass and size and orbits around both the stars in 229 days. The two stars which Kepler-16b orbits are said to be smaller and cooler than our sun and 20 and 69 percent as massive as the sun.

Kepler Telescope is used to search for earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone, the region in a planetary system where liquid water can exist on the surface.

Thermal imaging technology to detect liars

After the earlier lie detectors, this time a research lab in UK has come up with a device running on thermal imaging technology to catch liars. The technology is developed by the University of Bradford in the north of England and it is still at an early stage but have, so far, yielded some promising results.

It uses a thermal imaging camera which captures variations in facial temperature in response to questioning. Whenever someone answers a lie the brain activity changes and this rises the facial temperature. Most sensitive areas are areas around the eye - the periorbital, and the cheeks where temperature rise can be easily detected. The thermal imaging camera tracks facial gestures frame-by-frame which are analyzed using Facial Action Units, a system for categorizing facial expression.

While testing the device, total 30-40 subjects were tested and the success rate was 2 out of 3. Surely its in a very early stage and mush of the work is yet to be done but researchers are sure that the device can find real world applications

This technology after optimization and successful trial runs can be implemented in various day to day operation for examples in airports and railway stations for security reasons, in interrogation units and various other such places.

Google to help out Intel in smartphones

Intel, which has always been dominating the computer market, has struggled consistently on its another sector - smartphone. In order to break into the smartphone market, Intel has taken another move with getting helping hands from Google and now Google will be designing Android for Intel chips now.

Android is already established as a number one smartphone operation system worldwide. As per Google Executives, The next version of Android for phones and tablets, called Ice-Cream Sandwich, will debut next month or in November this year.

The partnership will aid Intel in delivering on its promise to finally release smartphones with its technologies by the middle of 2012. On the other hand, Google may benefit from accommodating a company that has significant influence in computers, which is the market Google is struggling to break into with its Chromebook project. The two companies already collaborate on that laptop operating system.

There is no such declaration as which chip will power upcoming Android phones or which manufacturers have agreed to make devices for it. For now, as we know, most smartphones and tablets use chips designed by ARM Holdings, which are popular for their efficiency. But one thing is clear that this collaboration is going to boost both the companies in their future in two different dimensions.

Google launched new flight search service this tuesday

The search giant Google has covered another major sector in the search world with its new launch this Tuesday - Flight Search. This new launch has put Google into direct competition with other popular travel sites like Orbitz and Kayak..

For the timing, this service is restricted to only round-trip economy-class flights between certain U.S. cities, but it will be expanded very soon covering various countries and all classes. So if you are a US citizen, you can try Google Flights by just searching for "flights from New York to Chicago". This will get you a "Flights" link on the left side of Google's search page. Google Flights can also be accessed directly on http://www.google.com/flights/.

It displays a shortlist of flights based on cost and total travel time, including various departure times and airlines. Filters are set for "reasonable" price and duration, but users can manipulate them to show more flights. Taking care of the existing competition in the market and leaving all rivals behind, Google has embedded an innovative feature called open-ended destination: Users can click the Flight Search map and use filters to see where they can go within certain time and cash boundaries. For example, a San Francisco flyer can check where he can visit within 3 hours for less than $300. Moreover, the selection of flights shown is not influenced by any paid relationships with the airlines.

Google's mission for the flight search started  a year back in July 2010 when Google intend to purchase ITA, the world's largest airline search software company. for $700 million. It was a controversial purchase as right after Google announced its intent to buy ITA, travel search players raised concerns about search behemoth Google having unfettered access to valuable flight data. Consequently, Kayak, with backing from Expedia.com, offered to buy ITA to prevent Google from purchasing it. Finally, in April this year, the Department of Justice said Google could buy ITA only if the search giant accepts certain restrictions to avoid a monopoly. But even with these conditions, Google's entry into the travel search space is a blow to rivals.

New gesture based browser for iPad

The creator of popular browser Dolphin for both Android and iPhone, MoboTap, has recently come out with a new innovative browser for iPad.

The browser application unleashed by MoboTap is Dolphin Browser HD. It has all gesture control features that have made it a hit on the Android platform. For example, drawing a "<" will take you back a page, and drawing a ">" will take you forward. Apart from these gestures, users can also create their own gestures and shortcuts to access their favorite websites or launch browser commands. For example G for Google and F for Facebook and so on.

In addition to these exciting features, the iPad app also includes Webzine, the browser's Flip-board-style system for reading web content, tabbing browsing, a URL bar that predicts what website you're going to type, and a speed dial for accessing favorite websites with a quick tap. Users can access their bookmarks by swiping from left-to-right or their open tabs by swiping right-to-left.

Talking about technology, just like its iPhone counterpart, Dolphin Browser for the iPad is also built on top of Safari. It is fast and the gesture commands are intuitive for the touchscreen browser. We could see a lot of people removing the Safari App from their App Trays and replacing it with Dolphin.