Microsoft Surface Pro to supersede Surface RT

As announced by Microsoft, it will hardly take another 90 days, when the successor of recent release Microsoft Surface RT will come into the market.

The new release to be called as Microsoft Surface Pro will be powered by Intel third generation processor and Windows 8 operating system. In addition to this, the new release will also come with better battery life and double storage capacity. Here is the key specifications of the expected new tablet from Microsoft.

Surface (Windows Pro) tablet key specs

• Windows 8 operating system
• Intel third-generation Core i CPU
• 13.5mm thick
• 903 grams/31.85 ounces
• 10.6-inch ClearType "Full HD" Display
• 42 watt hour battery
• Ports: microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort video
• Storage options: 64GB and 128GB
• Front- and rear-facing "HD" cameras

Microsoft enters the tablet market with Surface RT

Surface table with the innovative magnetically attached touch pad

The tablet wars are no longer a head-to-head collision between Apple and Google, with Microsoft entering into this domain. Announcing this at Los Angeles today, Microsoft unveiled Surface, a line of tablet devices running the company's next-generation Windows operating system. 

The Surface tablets feature 10.6-inch touch-screens wrapped in a magnesium case that Microsoft calls VaporMg (pronounced "Vapor mag"). The distinctive feature of the new tablets is a magnetically-attached, 3mm-thich Touch Cover that folds down and functions as a full touchscreen keyboard. Another cover option, the 5-mm thick Type Cover, has a built-in track pad. The keyboards power down when they're folded back against the tablet thanks to a built-in accelerometer.

The Surface tablets will be available in two distinct versions. The Windows RT version -- which is effectively the "light" version of Windows 8 -- will launch with Windows 8 in the fall, and run on an ARM CPU. While it won't have the full desktop version of Windows 8 (it runs only the "Metro" apps available through the Windows app store), it will include a version of Microsoft Office at no additional charge. 

Surface RT tablet key specs

• Windows RT operating system
• Nvidia ARM CPU
• 9.3mm thick
• 676 grams/23.85 ounces
• 10.6-inch ClearType HD Display
• 31.5 watt hour battery
• Ports: microSD, USB 2.0, micro HD video, 2x2 MIMO antennae
• Storage options: 32GB and 64GB for Windows RT
• Front and rear-facing "HD" camera 

Facebook acquires Face.com

Facebook, the most popular social networking site, has acquired Face.com, the facial recognition software company whose products power Facebook's photo tagging suggestions. Rumors of this acquisition began to circulate in late May itself.

Face.com not only provides technology for photo tagging suggestion, but also provides branded Facebook apps. One such application, Photo Tagger is very similar to the native Facebook app, while another app Photo Finder, the company's first app, helps users find untagged photos of themselves. Face.com offers an API (application programming interface) that powers third-party apps including CelebrityFindr, which allows users to search for photos of celebrities on Twitter using facial recognition technology.

According to the announcement, Face.com, even after being occupied, will continue to support third-party developers. Since, lots of developers use the technology to power various apps and make wonderful products, hence Face.com might have decided to support the third party developers even after the acquisition. Although the announcement did not reveal any specifics about what Facebook will do with the app company, but as per exerts Facebook may look to tailor Face.com's technology to craft a mobile experience.

Mobile, definitely being the next most important platform, Facebook will be concerned about, because the key to getting faces online is tapping the many cameras on mobile phones. After acquiring Face.com, Facebook will definitely take steps towards monetizing mobile users as effectively as it does desktop users. In that case, Facebook might also be interested in acquiring Face.com facial database.

Do plants really talk to each other?

Plants have been known for reacting to light by growing towards them. Earlier this year, Exeter University even found cabbage plants emit a volatile gas to warn others of danger such as caterpillars or garden shears. But do they really communicate to each other producing human inaudible sound?

Researching the possible conversation between plants, scientists at Bristol University used powerful loudspeakers to listen to corn saplings, and heard clicking sounds coming from their roots. To verify the same, when they suspended their roots in water and played a continuous noise at a similar frequency to the clicks, they found the plants grew towards it. As per the researchers, this is their first solid evidence that plants have their own language of noises, inaudible to human ears, the Daily Mail reported. As per the research, sound and vibration play an important role in the life of plants.

Thinking logically, it makes sense for plants to produce and respond to sound vibrations, as it gives them information about the environment around them. Moreover, sound waves can travel easily through soil and it could be a way of picking up threats such as drought from their neighbours further away.

So, next time when you see plants around you swaying in breeze, don't take it in a usual way, they may actually be conversing with each other as they not only respond to sound but also communicate actively by 'clicking' noises.

Hats off to the new Rajya Sabha MP

Sachin has always been known for his honesty and dedication both on the field and off the field. Today, he proved it once again.

Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar today refused to accept the government bungalow he is entitled to as Rajya Sabha member, saying such a stay would be a waste of taxpayer's money.

In his words - "I am not keen on staying in any govt bungalow when I will be in Delhi for only a few days. I feel this would be a waste of tax payers money and it would be better if the bungalow is allotted to someone else who needs the bungalow more than me. For me the honor of being nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP matters much more than the perks and privileges like being given a govt bungalow."

Tendulkar, who took oath as MP on Monday, said he would prefer to stay in a hotel in Delhi every time he is in Delhi. Ever since his nomination, there have been questions over whether he would be able to devote time for Parliament over his cricketing commitments.Replying the same Sachin said, "Not taking a government bungalow would not affect my responsibilities as Rajya Sabha MP. I do hope to attend few days of parliament in every session."

Samsung plans for Galaxy S3 successor

In the past few months, we have seen a number of android smartphones from various manufacturers. Samsung has been on the top of these companies preceding HTC and LG. With such quick releases, one after another, users don't even get time to explore his new handset before its new version gets launched.

Following the same trend, Samsung ups the ante by planning to launch a variant of its new flagship, the Galaxy S3. The international variant ships with a 1.4 Ghz Exynos processor and 1GB RAM. The Korean mobile company is set to bring out a new Galaxy smartphone with the same processor but with 2GB RAM.

The recent release S3 runs on the new Android 4.0 and features Samsung’s revamped Android interface, the TouchWiz 4.0,

According to the reports, the newer model merges the best of both the variants that are being released around the world. This new version of the S3 will retain the acclaimed 4.8 inch Super AMOLED HD screen along with similar features like the S-Voice, Smart Stay and Pop-and-Play.

The major variant in the European and Asian markets features the Exynos processor clocked at 1.4 GHz while the US Edition of the S3 sports a dual-core 1.5 GHZ Snapdragon S4 processor and 2GB of RAM.

LinkedIn joins hands with FBI on password theft

LinkedIn Corp is working with the FBI as the social network for job seekers and professionals investigates the theft of 6.4 million member passwords.

A spokeswoman with the FBI declined to comment stating that LinkedIn is still in the early stages of the investigation. As per the investigation team, it was not yet determined whether the email addresses that corresponded to the hacked passwords were also stolen or just the LinkedIn accounts.

Earlier, on Wednesday, LinkedIn confirmed that millions of passwords were stolen. Taking immediate action,  the company sent affected members emails explaining how to change their passwords.

Several security experts said that LinkedIn's stolen passwords had not been adequately secured and that the company did not employ best practices utilized by the world's largest websites. Whereas LinkedIn officials said that LinkedIn had already boosted the security of its database and they place the highest value on the security of our members' data.

The most destructive batsman Gayle returns back to WI playing squad

Former captain Chris Gayle has been chosen by West Indies for the first time in 14 months as part of their one-day squad to tour England later this month. The 32-year-old opener, whose public spat with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) resulted in him being ineligible for nearly a year, was included in a 15-man squad announced on Monday for the three-match series that begins on June 16.

The powerful Jamaican left-hander is the most prolific West Indian century-maker in ODIs, with 19 hundreds in 228 matches since his debut in 1999. But Gayle played his last match for West Indies on March 23, 2011, the quarter-final defeat to Pakistan in the World Cup.

He was critical of the WICB in a radio interview in April 2011 after being omitted from the subsequent one-day series at home against Pakistan. Those comments, many hostile to current coach Ottis Gibson, led to his lengthy spell out of the team. Gayle instead played lucrative Twenty20 tournaments in India, Zimbabwe, Australia and Bangladesh.

Last March, a meeting between Gayle and the WICB, facilitated by CARICOM government ministers, cleared the way for his return. Last Sunday, the few residual matters in the long-running impasse were sorted out to clear the way for his return.

Arctic warms as tundra shrubs grow upto trees

We have always known Tundra as a cold, treeless region in the Arctic. Due to the harsh weather at the region, tree growth is stunted. But in the recent decade, scientists have observed shrubs and willows in some part of the region, some of them even growing upwards to the height of a tree. As per the scientists, the growth of these shrubs is really linked to temperatures. Therefore they are considering the sudden growth of trees in this treeless region as an indication of warming climate in such regions. This change first came to the attention of scientists, when nomadic reindeer herdsmen, the indigenous Nenets, said they were losing sight of their reindeer in the new trees.

Roughly 30 years ago, trees were nearly unknown in the region, but about 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the land in the southern part of the north-western Eurasian tundra, which stretches between Finland and western Siberia, is now covered by new tree-size shrubs, which stand higher than 6.6 feet, new research has found. These shrubs are even growing further responding to the rise in temperature due to global warming.

To better understand the climate dynamics associated with the increase in growth in the north-western Eurasian tundra, Macias-Fauria and team studied information from the herdsmen’s observations, temperature data, growth rings in the wood of shrubs and satellite data, including observations of how much green covers the landscape during the growing season. The researchers, who detailed their work in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that the shrubs grew most in years with warm Julys.

This a clear indication and a warning note for all of us towards the rate at which global warming is booming across the globe.