The miracle device by Google: Chromecast

The huge Google fan following at a recent event held by Google expected another android device/tablet to hit the market. But Google known for its innovation announced something far more interesting and important. The Chromecast , a small stick that plugs into the back of your television via HDMI and allows you to view the content from your phone, tablet or computer on the big screen via Wi-Fi. At a decent price of $35, Chromecast is a pretty much a delightful device for what it does.



Chromecast being cross-platform supports android as well as iOS phones and tablets and Chrome Browser for the mac and Windows works like a charm. The Device itself controls the playback, so if you want to turn up the volume of the Television, simply turn up the volume on your phone. Any program that use Googlecast SDK can send content. Google specially mentioned Netflix and Youtube.
The chrome browser itself can also sling content via "Chrome tab Projection."



It means no matter what the web video or audio source, you should be able to play it if it plays on your desktop browser tab. That brings up the vivid web based entertainment options right out of the box without having to wait for developers to take advantage of Google's SDK. You can even project Flickr photos, your web based presentations and likely anything that runs in the browser.
Apple's Airplay , Roku's Streaming stick are some of the other solutions that tried to create a similar experience. Nevertheless, these devices do come with a steep price tag of $100. Nothing has been so device independent, cross platform, and this cheap($35).


Does that make Google the king of the living room ? We are yet to find that out. But, it definitely just cozied up on a lot of couches and got comfortable. 




8:43 PM | Category: | 1 comments

Weapons Of Mass Destruction : In the hands of Novices
Iran's Economy is certainly in a retreating state and the views of the Supreme Leader of Iran definitely indicates that Iran needs relief from the sanctions to revive its economy. And, for achieving the same "a more constructive negotiating stance on the nuclear program will be needed" says Hassan Rohani, the most outward and moderate fced Presidential Candidate. Despite the severe economic pain that the tightening of sanctions has brought on Iran's people, its strategic calculus has not shifted. Mr.Rohani's resounding victory in the elections has raised hopes for a nuclear deal between Iran and the International community. His election means the next round of negotiations will be conducted in a better atmosphere. 

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But to what end? 


The Nuclear Program is worth almost any sacrifice on the altar of buying peace with the international community, because it guarantees the regime's survival against the external threats. It seems obvious that nothing is likely to stop Iran getting the bomb, if and when it decides it wants one. For Iran, the continuity of nuclear talks would mean getting some alleviating off sanctions, in exchange of concessions that will have little impact on its Nuclear Program. The troublesome truth is that while the talks seem destined to continue, Iran is close to what is known as "Critical Capability"- the point at which it could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one or more bombs, before the Western Intelligence Agencies would even know it had done so.
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How close is Iran to Critical Capability? 
American Sources say, it is about a year away from having enough material to make a bomb and mastering the nuclear technology. Reports say if Iran has a small enrichment facility designed to enrich uranium from 20% to 90%, it could quite soon be able to manufacture enough material for making 5 bombs in about 14 weeks using newer technologies. Iran is adding to its enrichment capability at an obstinate pace and at this speed it could produce the fissile material needed for an implosion device, the most common form of nuclear bomb. Iran's stockpile of low enriched uranium has gone from 2.50 MT to around 4.30 MT in the same period; quite a growth within strict observations. However, these developments are proceeding, without Iran appearing to risk crossing either the red line, announced by Barack Obama or the most recent limit set by Israel's Prime minister.
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Neither Iran's Election, nor sanctions nor military threats are likely to divert it from the path it is on getting nuclear weapons.
9:01 PM | Category: | 0 comments

Google Glass : A new Breakthrough in Technology



THE PROJECT GLASS 

Google has always been known for revolutionizing the technology industry. And this time Google has once again proven it with its new soon to be launched Product " Google Glass". I am sure most of us have heard of the potential Google Glass has. Currently in process of developer testing, Google Glass boasts of some really amazing features.


I have briefed up some of its exceptional features : 

1. Small yet Powerful (Hardware)

Its really spectacular to see how the Google Glass Team has managed to squeeze in an array of features into a tiny computer. Google Glass comes packed with Bluetooth, wifi, a camera, speakers, microphone and a touchpad with possibly a gyroscope. On the front right, we have a tiny screen which actually displays all the information we need at our fingertips.  

 



2.  At your commands with Google Now (Voice Search)

Google glass has got a nice built in microphone and with Google Now, it connects you directly to the giant search engine. Activating Google Now is easy with just a simple command "Okay Glass" followed by your question or a command. Tilting your head up does the same thing.






3. Capture everything as it comes 

With Google Glass, capturing any moment with you is just a command away. No more foraging around for the camera, tweaking the settings of your photo apps and letting the moment go by without a single snap. Just say "Take a Photo" and your view at the moment is captured. Other than photos you can do the same for videos.








4. Getting lost again is now a thing of the past 

With an inbuilt GPS chip, Google Glass will help navigate you to almost everywhere with help from the world's best known maps "Google Maps". You don't need to peek into your smartphone every time for a direction while driving or when you're walking down a crowded street. This is a perfect example of Augmented Reality.





5. Live From The Field 

You will always be updated with "Live Information" that comes from the predictive software of Google Now. On Android's jelly bean, Google Now knows when you are leaving your home for your work and can warn you of bad traffic before you get stuck in there. Getting latest sports updates, live news feeds is all a swipe away. All these features are available on Google Android but with Google Glass, you can skip checking your smartphone and just get it shown to you as and when it happens.




10:29 PM | Category: | 0 comments

Printing for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch made easy With Active Print


You and your iPad are in Japan, but your printer is back at your home or your office. And you need to print. You need Active Print Cloud Printing! 

 Yes, You read that right. Finally printing through your iDevice wont be a headache anymore. We know with the introduction of AirPrinting in ios4 , printing in ios devices became integrated. But there were certain glitches and problems with it. Only a handful of  new printers were compatible with AirPrint. This left the non-Airprint printers unproductive and inefficient for ios users with old printers. I remember, It used to be a breakdown for me when I wanted some documents or webpages to print while surfing.

 But with the coming up of Active print, things really changed. With ActivePrint you can print office document types like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and Adobe PDF. You can also print all of your standard image formats such as Jpeg, PNG, GIF, BMP, and more.ActivePrint provides full integration with your DropBox and Box.net accounts, Microsoft SkyDrive, and iTunes File Share. With this you can easily print ALL of your documents.

 I have been using this app for years. It truly is worth trying.
7:31 AM | Category: | 0 comments

The Big Fat Indian Weddings : A display of Wealth & how they contribute to the Indian Economy
Indian weddings are considered a special occasion, celebrated with zest and enthusiasm. After all marriages have always been an important element of the Indian Tradition. But, I feel the wedding knot tied between two people is always accompanied with huge costs and hefty spending.

Marriages which once comprised of lucid rituals have now become an epitome of status symbol and showoff. India’s burgeoning middle class – now 300 million strong – are turning weddings into showcases of their growing disposable incomes and new found appetites for the goodies of the global marketplace. The average budget for an Indian wedding ceremony is $34,000(Rs 17,00,000) while the upper-middle and rich classes are known to spend upward of $2 million.(Rs 10,00,00,000) and the average American wedding costs $26,327. The latest fad is to stage the whole shebang on pontoons, putting family and friends on a veritable flotilla of flaunted wealth. Now to much of a surprise, this figure doesn't include cash and valuables given as part of a dowry. If you consider the fact that India’s middle class are those considered to be earning “$4,545 to $23,000 a year”, weddings are priced comparably to an Ivy League education in the US.


And after researching further into this matter, what I get to know is that excess is in order in all
departments of the Indian wedding industry, estimated to be a staggering US$ 25.5 billion (Rs.1,42,596 crore) – certainly the economy of a small country and growing at an explosive rate of 20 to 25 per cent every year. " Indian wedding market is USD 30 billion industry. If we account for all the capital expenditure (investment in cars, jewelry etc.) that surrounds it this amount is USD 120 billion. And yes, now we are talking big numbers."


The Fact that people have surplus money to spend certainly is associated with the extravagant spending. Weddings are (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event, and matrimony is a big event, but as we all know, happy memories are certainly not created by extravagant spending.
5:02 AM | Category: | 0 comments