Android Notebooks will be ready to dazzle
Could you imagine a notebook with Android operating system?
How interesting this notebook would be?
Dadi Perlmutter, Intel’s chief product officer has recently
unveiled to CNET that the Android notebook runs Intel’s mainstream Core line of
processors. Not only that surprising news, but the price of the device will be
as low as $399 to $499.
Notebook prices should hit $200 soon, but especially, they
will be Android-based devices not Windows 8 or other Operating System, said an
Intel executive.
Intel CEO, Paul Otellini said if the touchscreen PCs could
debut at prices as low as $200 in the coming months. Unfortunately, he did not
specify what operating system of those products would run. On the other hand,
Dadi Perlmutter, Intel executive vice president and chief product officer told
that notebooks priced at the level of $200 will be predominantly the
Android-based devices running on Intel’s Atom mobile processor. Whether the PCs
that run Windows 8 hit that price largely depend on Microsoft.
When confirmed by CNET, Perlmutter declared "We have a
good technology that enables a very cost-effective price point. The price of
Windows 8 laptops depends on how Microsoft prices Windows 8. It may be a slightly
higher price point".
Intel,
as the power of majority in world’s computers and servers, has been pushing new
types of computers as the Intel faces a slowdown in the key market. Particularly,
the company desires convertibles or detachable to gain customers’ attention
towards their products. As an example of convertible device is such a device
convert between a tablet and a notebook depending on user needs at a particular
time.
Dadi
Perlmutter did not specify what the Android notebook will look like, but it is
probably a kind of convertible-type devices. He also added that he expects the
PC market to pick up in the back half of the year 2013 since the new devices
become available in 2014.
In
the year of 2014, Intel will introduce a new technology of mobile chip that is
capable of integrating LTE on the same piece of silicon as the application
processor. The company has been trying to gain some appeal in smartphones, but
volumes remain low. That’s why Intel expects that the traction of their
products to the buyers will get higher volumes in 2014. It is essential for
Intel to extend into smartphones and tablets as its PC market slows.
Skype (Preview Version) is now available for Blackberry 10
Started from April 26th 2013, owners of Blackberry
Q10 device will be able to get to use Skype’s free video and voice calling via
the official Skype application. This is quite surprising and exciting since
Skype was never available before for Blackberry devices, therefore, many of
Blackberry users thought if there is such a limitation for Blackberry users to
get other applications as well as downloaded and installed on Android devices.
Skype is now available on Blackberry World. The application
will automatically add your Skype contacts to your Blackberry phonebook when
you sign in once it’s installed. Other features in Skype include the capability
of sending text messages and make calls to landlines and mobile phones for
free. This feature may attract more attention because people used to use Skype
through PC, and since it came on the Android and now Blackberry 10 device, it
gets easier to communicate with free calls.
According to Skype, though the application is now available
on Blackberry 10 device, this application is still a “preview version”. For Skype
and Blackberry users, the term means that all of the features are there, but
the user experience will likely change.
Skype is one of many social networks that each day grows to be more compatible on many kind of devices. It is needed to pay attention to the usage of every social network that we are using whether it brings many benefits or just damages.
Skype is available on Blackberry World for Blackberry Q10
users only. Those with the Blackberry Z10 device will have to wait until the
operating system is updated to the version of 10.1 before the application is
compatible. Though there’s still a little bit effort to use Skype on Blackberry
device, at least the application is starting to be more convenient among the
Blackberry users. We can only wait until the next “slap” comes to make further
technology progress eases people’s communication.
The new Facebook’s Finch stickers bring out livelier face on messaging
Texting is seemingly a part of people's life nowadays. That's why some social networking sites try to make a better innovation in order to make their users feel a great messaging experience. Facebook seems like having outstanding capability of creating
new stuff to its users. The new one is Facebook’s Finch stickers which show up
with a new animated sticker pack created by illustrator Matt Jones as part of
much larger effort to make messaging over Facebook more human.
Facebook’s Finch sticker is not only a ruse. Instead, the
stickers make people in a messaging conversation feel like seeing the face of
the interlocutor. The messaging products are able to mimic face-to-face
interactions of its users.
Sticker which is essentially known as a character-driven interpretation
on emoticons, made their first appearance in Facebook’s iOS application in the
middle of April. The social network has added its warm and fuzzy digital
machinations to the Messenger application of Android. The social media will
eventually bring the characters to its other messaging apps as well.
On Friday, Facebook revealed if the release of a new sticker
pack which is based on a character made by Jones, called as Finch. The new
sticker pack features 16 facial expressions such as sympathy, surprise, cheerfulness,
and sadness, and of course, this sticker pack is available as a free download in
Facebook’s Sticker Store.
We might think if this Facebook’s innovation seems inane, but
we have to know that the Facebook’s stickers are the product of months of
careful research, consequently designed to improve messaging experience and
make it livelier. Aaron Goldsmid, the product lead behing Facebook’s sticker
initiative told CNET, "We're looking to figure out how we can create a
private-sharing experience to most mimic and capture what's lost in
face-to-face connections".
"As an artist, it was an interesting
challenge to try to improve upon what is already an iconic symbol -- the
emoticon," Jones said in a statement shared with CNET. "By applying
classic animation principals, both in design and motion, we arrived at Finch --
an appealing character who appears to think, emote, and communicate. We hope we
have achieved the first step in redefining emoticons."
No matter what improvement that Facebook makes,
as long as it still relevant and interesting to the users, it is really fine
since Facebook is not the only company which embrace stickers. There is Line
that has a larger life emoticons, and it has become a new monetization vehicle
for private social network Path.
Microsoft signed patent deal with Chinese phone maker
The software giant, Microsoft, stated if it has made a patent
deal with companies that make 80 percent of Android phones sold in the United
States and most of them sold worldwide.
As we know, the software giant has been expanding its
technology that does affect almost in all latest technologies or devices. In
its lunge of continuing journey toward making up deals with every major Android
and Chrome device making company, Microsoft declared on Tuesday a
patent-licensing agreement with Chinese manufacturer ZTE.
On the deal signed by Microsoft and ZTE, there is an
agreement that grants ZTE a license to Microsoft’s worldwide patent portfolio
for ZTE phones, computers, tablets, and other devices made by ZTE that run
Android and Chrome OS. According to the latest information, Microsoft didn’t
disclose about if ZTE would pay royalties or the amount it might have to pay
under the agreement.
Last week, Microsoft published a similar deal with Foxconn’s
parent company, Hon Hai. Microsoft Vice President and General Counsel Horacio
Gutierrez said, "Much of the current litigation in the so-called
'smartphone patent wars' could be avoided if companies were willing to
recognize the value of others' creations in a way that is fair". "At Microsoft, experience has
taught us that respect for intellectual-property rights is a two-way street,
and we have always been prepared to respect the rights of others just as we
seek respect for our rights”, they added.
Gutierrez underlined if Microsoft has paid patent holders
more than $4 billion over the last decade for securing rights of products it
makes. Though Microsoft has professed that Android and Chrome violated on its
patents, it has not accused Google, which created both OS. Instead, Microsoft’s
reach agreements with several hardware makers including Acer, Compal
Electronics, HTC, Wistron, and Quanta Computer. Microsoft states if 80 percent
of Android smartphones sold in the U.S and moreover, a majority of the products
that have been sold worldwide are covered under the patent agreements with the
company.
An additional information announced by Google that neither of
the operating systems (Android and Chrome) infringes on Microsoft’s patents.
Being Hacked – LivingSocial got 50 million people affected
The Daily deals website LivingSocial is the latest database
target of hackers, who have compromised the personal information of more than
50 million users.
AllThingsD obtained the internal LivingSocial e-mails, the
unidentified culprits seem to have made off with the names, e-mails, dates of
birth, and encrypted passwords of what appears to be the spacious majority of
LivingSocial customers.
The Washington D.C-based site owned in part by Amazon, claims
that it has around 70 million users worldwide but the the company’s divisions
which are in the Phillipines, Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand remain
unaffected since they are hosted on different servers.
Robert Hansen, director of Product Management and Technical
Evangelist at WhiteHat Security said if it is important to consider its scale
to put this breach in perspective. He revealed, "If there are approximately a billion people
on the Internet, this hack single-handedly represents about half a percent of
all Internet users. This could be catastrophic, not for the accounts and credit
cards that are stolen directly, but also because of password reuse of all of
those millions of users. They should be changing their passwords immediately”.
The LivingSocial CEO, Tim O’Shaunessy wrote an
e-mail in which he stated, “We recently experienced a cyberattack on our
computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data
from our servers. We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate
this issue”. He also advised to LivingSocial customers to create a new password.
The daily deals website has subsequently reset its users’ passwords though it
is not celar enough if all of the customers’ passwords were reset or just
people who were hacked.
In
this case, there’s still one saving bounty of the hack. It is that the merchant
and customer financial data that includes credit card number seems to have
avoided the hackers’ grip. Chris
Wysopal, an information security expert at Veracode, said in a phone
conversation with CNET’s crew, "The fact that the credit card information is
stored separately is good, and I'm glad that they did that”.
When
being confirmed, LivingSocial declined to comment on the questions of the type
of attacks were used to get the database and how long the attacks occur. The
LivingSocial spokesperson claimed if they do not discuss about timing or
details regarding to the attack due to the ongoing investigation.
According to Wysopal, when given the type of data stolen, he
stated, “It's likely that the attacks used a Web app
to get at the site's SQL databases. If it was a Web application, testing
should've been better”. “That's one of the frustrations out here in the
professional security world. If we knew what the root causes were of these
hacks, it would be easier to help companies improve their security", he
added.
The Fastest Android Gaming Tablets Listing
Playing game is an increasingly popular way of
tablet owner to spend their time with their devices and chip makers are paying
attention on it. When gaming experience on Android tablets has increased by
leaps and bound in the last year, it is bound to only get faster, prettier and
smoother and hopefully getting more fun. That’s why it is important to get the
best Android tablets which provide you with smoothest gaming experience on your
devices. Looking for the best Android gaming tablets for the smoothest gaming
experience? Let’s check this listing out!
Samsung
Galaxy Note 10.1
With its sensible design and very good
performance, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is listed as one of the best Android
gaming tablets. What makes this tablet looks special is that the Samsung Galaxy
Note 10.1 represents overall gaming performance. It is heavily GPU-biased, so
despite the Note 10.1’s faster CPU, it’s underwhelming GPU performance land it
last on the list.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 8
As one of the smaller members of Samsung
Galaxy devices, the Note 8 has an ability of the best-looking screen as a small
tablet. It shares a few similarities with the Note 10.1 including the S Pen and
unimpressive GPU performance combined with a well performing CPU.
Kobo Arc
When you experience using Kobo Arc, you may
feel like this tablet has an unexpected contender, but actually it has powerful
GPU earns it a spot on this list. The Kobo Arc has PowerVR SG544 that delivers
high frame rates in games, but it has standpoint design and features. It is
considered as a better 7-inch tablet choice.
Google Nexus
7
The Google Nexus 7 is still undeniable as the
best 7-inch tablet with the combination of comfortable design, good at whole
performance with low price. Through this Android tablet, you can get a smoothly
run games but never impressively so. The Google Nexus 7 runs 1.2 GHz quad-core
Nvidia Tegra 3 with tested OS Android 4.2.2.
Sony Tablet
S
The Sony Tablet S’s has Tegra 3 chip that delivers
gaming performance near the top of the heap, but unfortunately a few
show-stopping software and hardware prevent this tablet to be a truly great
tablet.
Google Nexus
10
The Google Nexus 10 has a capability of
delivering its superior gaming performance since it is the fastest Android
tablet that the CNET’s members ever tried. This tablet is admitted ad the first
to house Samsung’s Exynos 5250; a Cortex A-15 System-on-Chip with a Mali T-604
GPU. However, this tablet is great for all uses, but among Android tablets, this
is the best Android tablet.
Is it the end of Plasma TV?
The existence of Plasma TV is
undeniable. Panasonic, as one of electronic monster companies revealed if it is
not suspending plasma development. The statement came from Panasonic spokesman
pertaining to the latest rumor if the big company would no longer be developing
plasma. Though Panasonic has confirmed that the rumor was not true, the rumor
itself has tickled some interesting questions to come up since the plasma
television development and production do have a time when they come to an end. The
same thing would happen too to the LCD’s development and production.
The timing of both LCD and plasma is
quite crucial, but at least, the more suitable replacement for plasma TV may
cause an awful effect on picture quality across the board. Then how does the future
hold for flat-panel TVs?
Actually, if the plasma TV production
and development is stopped without any decent replacement, it would cause a bad
thing for any picture quality fan, somehow on technology preference. For
example when the time we lost the Pioneer Kuro in the year of 2009, and as good
as the quality of TVs production has become, still in some ways we haven’t seen
an equivalent quality with Kuro’s picture quality. This thing makes us to
figure out, even if the upcoming Panasonic TC-PZT60 shows a better performance
than the Kuro, it came after four years since the Kuro disappeared, -- an
eternity of technology world.
In the years since the Kuro’s demise,
TVs have gotten cheaper and far more energy-efficient of which is also thinner
but comes with tons of sophisticated features.
So, another question that comes to
the surface is, will we face a similar performance deficit if Panasonic really
pushes the envelope of picture quality? It’s probably not.
The first reason and foremost is that
there’s Samsung. In the story of electronic productions, there have been some
companies that were so intent and capable of dominating as well as Samsung. The
company has brought plasma TVs to be developed, though theirs are not as good
as Panasonic’s best, but Samsung’s plasmas have still been very good in quality.
After all, LG is still barely making plasmas.
The next reason is that there’s OLED
(Organic Light-Emitting Diode) TV technology. OLED guarantees greater performance
than the plasma TV with its greater energy efficiency and thinness. The OLED is
uberexpensive, since technology comes down in price as it matures. One of
plasma TVs developer as well as Panasonic has said if it is diverting
engineering talent to OLED. For this declaration, there’s still another
question arises about how soon will we get it?
The only answer is just we are
standing in the middle of a transition between plasma TVs and OLED. We can only
assume if what we have now is the best (plasma TV) until the OLED really comes
to coloring the electronic market.
