The wait is over PS4: Sony unveils new:PlayStation 4 console

Sony Corp unveiled its first video game console in seven years on Wednesday that will let users stream and play video games hosted on servers, hoping the move will help stem user losses, pre-empt the next version of Microsoft's Xbox and propel it back to the top of the videogame hardware industry.
The company revealed its PlayStation 4 console, which will succeed the PlayStation 3, at a flashy event in New York with game developers like Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard in attendance.

Sony said the console would be available for the holiday 2013 season. It did not immediately disclose pricing.

The console will be up against the next version of the industry-leading Xbox console, which is expected later this summer.

The controller on the new console dubbed "DualShock 4" will have a touch pad, Mark Cerny, lead system architect on PlayStation 4, said.

Sony purchased U.S. cloud-based gaming company Gaikai for $380 million in July. Using that technology, the new console will offer a cloud-gaming service, the company said.

The 8GB PlayStation 4, which has been in development for the last five years, can also instantly stream game content from the console to Sony's handheld PlayStation Vita through a feature called "Remote Play," the company said.

Sony has also revamped the user interface on the new console that keeps tabs on user preferences and added social networking features.

Sony's announcement comes amid industry speculation that Microsoft is set to unveil the successor to its Xbox 360 later this summer. The market-leading Xbox 360 beats the seven-year-old PlayStation 3's online network with features such as voice commands on interactive gaming and superior connectivity to smartphones and tablets.

Gaining a lead over Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo Co Ltd's new Wii U could help Sony revive an electronics business hurt by a dearth of hit gadgets, a collapse in TV sales and the convergence of consumer interest around tablets and smartphones built by rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Tablets and smartphones already account for around 10 percent of the $80 billion gaming market. Those mobile devices, analysts predict, will within a few years be as powerful as the current slew of game-only consoles.

After six years, Sony PlayStation sales are just shy of Xbox's 67 million installed base and well behind the 100 million units of Wii sold by Nintendo, according to analysts.
Here is also a look of the kills zone shadowlands for ps4

Microsoft suffering loses due to its absence from iOS

Microsoft's absence from Apple's hot-selling tablet iPad may be costing the world's biggest software maker a fortune. In a research note, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Holt said that Microsoft is losing as much as $2.5 billion per year by not providing its Office Suite on Apple's iOS.


Holt estimated that if Microsoft begins offering Office Suite - which includes programmes like Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc - at a price of $60, 30% of iPad users are likely to purchase the app. In his note, he said that approximately 200 million people will be using iPads in 2014, thus allowing Microsoft to rake in $2.5 billion for the year, even after paying Apple the 30% commission it charges.

As of now, the Office Suite is only available on Windows platform and more importantly on Surface tablets, the rivals of iPads. In his note, Holt said, "While Microsoft has resisted offering a full version of Office for the iOS, the company may ultimately decide there is more upside with Office on iPads, particularly if Windows tablets fall short of expectations."

On Windows 8, Holt also said that Microsoft's new operating system provides the company with a new avenue to generate revenue. However, the growth potential of this touch-friendly platform has been hampered by the limited availability of Windows-powered touchscreen devices. Another factor for this is that enterprises have slowed down in upgrading the software they use in office computers.

HTC READY TO COMPETE WITH ITS RIVALS

HTC, a smartphone maker based in Taiwan, announced its new flagship device on Tuesday. The phone, which has been christened HTC One, will compete with Apple's iPhone, flagship Android devices and other smartphones. It is powered by Google's Android Jelly Bean aka Android 4.1 and the new version of Sense, a proprietary user interface created by HTC.

The phone is likely to be available in March in various countries. Currently, there is no specific date for the India launch.

HTC, which has seen its market share dwindle in the last one year, is hoping to get back in the game with the new phone. This is one of the reasons why the company has pulled out all stops for HTC One and has equipped it with the best hardware available at the moment. The phone, which has a metal unibody design, is powered by a Qualcomm quad-core processor running at 1.7GHz. It sports a 4.7 inch screen with 1080P resolution and features 2GB RAM.

The phone will be available with 32GB or 64GB internal storage. There is no support for microSD card. It has a 2.1 mega pixel front camera and a battery with a capacity of 2300 mAh.

HTC claims the highlight of the phone is its primary camera, which comes with a new technology that is reportedly better than the camera technology used in the existing phones. HTC One camera will shoot pictures in just four mega pixels. But the company says that more important is what the phone is going to do with these pixels.

At the launch event in the US, an HTC official said, "For years, people have been misled about what is important in a camera - what matters is not pixel count, but pixel size. Bigger pixels let in more light, it's simple physics... We're trying to balance out what a lens can support and what a sensor can support. We're talking about real image quality, not just megapixels for the sake of megapixels. The era of the megapixel is over."

HTC claimed that the camera in its new phone can capture 300% more light than the cameras in existing phones. It can also produce better HDR pictures and videos. Just like the camera in Lumia 920, the camera in HTC One features optical image stabilization.

Taking a leaf from the Nokia's phones, specifically PureView 808, the Taiwanese company has also equipped HTC One with better speakers. It is calling the feature BoomSound.

HTC has announced its latest phone just a week ahead of Mobile World Congress where other phone companies are expected to unveil their top devices. Samsung, which competes with HTC, is expected to announce its flagship phone - likely to be called Galaxy S IV -- on March 14.

While HTC had some good smartphones in 2012, it lost to companies like Samsung and Apple that aggressively ramped up their sales and marketing operations. The latest IDC report on global phone market showed that HTC shipped 25% less phones in 2012 compared to 2011. At the same time, its market share halved from over 8% in 2011 to 4% in 2012.

Recently, HTC CEO Peter Chou told Wall Street Journal that his company has suffered because competitors "were too strong and very resourceful, pouring lots of money into marketing."

"The worst for HTC has probably passed. 2013 will not be too bad," Chou told the newspaper.

Apple iTV Event Set for March

Rumors surfaced that Apple may be interested in acquiring German TV maker Loewe, and now a fresh report has surfaced suggesting that the Cupertino-based company is planning an event in March that will be focused around the TV. What remains unclear, however, is if it’s just an update to the Apple TV (we wonder if that’s enough for an event, despite incredible sales), or if it’s a discussion around the highly rumored iTV.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek is the source of the rumor, and he thinks that an iTV software development kit (SDK) is one possible announcement. He even suggests that Apple is aiming to launch an iTV in September or October.

It’s all very interesting, but we’ll need to wait until invites are official before we get too excited. After all, rumors of an iTV have been floating around for quite some time now.

Wanna make Siri better?here are 9 ways

Siri can already write and send texts and e-mails, set reminders and timers, play music, launch applications, or answer any number of context-sensitive questions about sports and movies, as well as restaurants and businesses nearby. But as the software becomes a greater centerpiece across all Apple products -- it started on the iPhone, but has since spread to the iPad, and might hit the Mac later this year -- the problems with Siri are also much more glaring than ever before.

Many Siri rivals have debuted since Apple released the iPhone 4S in October 2011, including Nuance’s “Nina” and Google’s enhanced Voice Search app. Both of these particular competitors outperform Siri in a few key ways: Nina can authenticate users based on their voices, and Google Voice can dictate words as they’re said, processing the search as it’s being asked to prevent long wait times for answers.


With iOS 7 expected to arrive later this year -- an early build has already been discovered in the wild by developers -- Apple needs to polish up the Siri experience, but also add more features to make the service more reliable and user-friendly.

1. More Attentive Siri: Siri isn't a great listener all the time. Yes, Apple says she can hear "natural language," but she often struggles with acronyms, common foreign language words and names, excessive background noise and certain commands -- for example, if you ask Siri to call you an ambulance, Siri will reply, "OK. From now on, I will call you 'An Ambulance.' Is this correct?" In the time it takes you to cancel and start over, you might've already bled out and died. Therefore, better listening, and perhaps instant feedback like Google Voice Search, should rank toward the very top of the priorities list for Siri in iOS 7.

2. Web-Integrated Siri: When Siri doesn't know the answer to a question, she will quickly refer you to the Internet; unfortunately, Siri often doesn’t know the answer to the question. Siri is still doing your dirty work, dictating your words and searching them in Safari, but still, searching the Web forces users to leave Siri to find the information they’re looking for. In iOS 7, we’d love to see Siri include some search results directly in its beautiful grey-and-white interface, rather than opening up Safari or another browser to essentially do what you would’ve done if you weren’t so lazy.

3. Siri And Wikipedia: Siri is a good way to search your phone, but Wikipedia retains its crown as the king of all encyclopedic knowledge on the Internet. Google Voice Search is smart: When you ask a question, it quickly searches Wikipedia for a quick answer, and reads a portion of the answer to you out loud, as well as providing you with a link to the Wikipedia page. Siri could save users a lot of time and effort in iOS 7 if it simply started using Wikipedia as a resource in this way.

4. Siri In The AM: We all have our morning routines. For some, it's checking email, Facebook, or Twitter. Others read news stories; others still prefer to check the weather forecast each morning. How nice would it be if every morning, you could turn on your iPhone and see exactly what you wanted to see? Since Siri is so smart and “personal,” this “Morning Paper” feature would be a nice addition in iOS 7, by giving users what they want to see without having to do any extra work, which is particularly appreciated in the morning. With Siri in iOS 7, mornings could be much easier to bear.

5. Journalist Siri: News breaks all the time, and Siri can’t be expected to know what news you want to read. However, in iOS 7, it would be nice if you could ask Siri about a certain news story, and Siri could return five to 10 relevant articles about a specific topic, using Google News or Yahoo News as its prime source.

6. DJ Siri: Many people listen to music on the iPhone, and Siri was partially designed so users could control their music without ever having to remove the device from their pocket. However, there are currently a few inadequacies: Siri can play a certain genre, playlist or artist, but if you plan to use Siri while the music is already playing, Siri will turn the music off so you can offer another command, even if it’s just to change the song. The interruption is jarring; it would be nice in iOS 7 if Siri could distinguish the user from the music currently playing, which would allow users to simultaneously play music while experimenting with Siri. Also, when you currently want to switch a song, you must say “skip.” Skipping a song somehow requires Siri to connect to the Internet – which makes no sense – and furthermore, if you’re in a music playlist and you want to skip the song, there’s no way to be able to listen to more songs by the artist you’re listening to. Siri in iOS 7 ought to be able to fully accommodate the user’s listening experience, which is a key factor in the overall enjoyment of iOS.

7. Conversational Siri: Siri will help you immediately and remind you when needed, but unlike a human assistant, Siri doesn’t remember your previous conversations in the future. If you ask Siri to find a particular restaurant or business, but you then get sidetracked, Siri won’t remember what you two were previously talking about. In iOS 7, it would be nice if Siri could keep a log of the important things you tell her, which certainly is a helpful tool in keeping track of where you’ve been or what you’ve searched for.

8. Nurse Siri: In iOS 7, Siri could take a page from Watson and turn into a personal, digital nurse. If Apple could integrate WebMD's symptom checker into Siri, assuming she could hold a conversation and remember prior details, users could tell Siri all of their symptoms, and Siri could return lists of possible conditions. Furthermore, Siri could search deeper through WebMD to recommend certain drugs or home treatments, or even locate and contact a nearby pharmacy to go pick up medicine.

Beyond iOS 7, this symptom checker could have unlimited potential in the medical industry. If Siri were able to respond to each answer uniquely, and even further the conversation with the user by asking for clarification, doctors and nurses could save thousands of hours of asking patients the same list of prying medical history questions. There are not enough doctors to do the work that needs to be done, but Siri could potentially change that, hopefully in iOS 7.

9. Shopaholic Siri: Users can use Siri to search the Web for all their shopping needs, but it would be nice if Siri could keep track of the things you want to buy in the future – similar to the way iOS users use the Reminders app. automatically find the lowest available price for whatever you're looking for. In iOS 7, Siri could track your current location and give you a notification if certain stores with the items you want are nearby. If you’re in a shopping mall and several stores have the item you want, Siri in iOS 7 could automatically find the lowest available price for whatever you’re looking for and direct you there.

Lets talk about iwatch!

They brought you the iPad, the iPod and the iPhone - to name but a few.
Now prepare yourself for Apple's next big thing - the iWatch.
According to reports in China, where Apple manufactures most of its products, the latest 'smartwatch' is set to go on sale next summer.

iWatch: Wristbands with space to clip on the last generation of iPod Nano are already available on the market, but rumour has it an actual iWatch is on the way
The watch will reportedly have a one-and-a-half inch LED screen and allow users to send and receive email, texts and Facebook alerts as well as communicating with other devices wirelessly though Bluetooth.
It is believed to be Apple's next big thing - yet the secretive firm has not made a single comment about it..
However, that hasn't stopped people around the world speculating on exactly what an 'iWatch' might look like and how it would work.
Designers have even revealed their take on Apple's new 'smart watch' with professional looking mockups of the device, ranging from a glass cuff to a 'claw' design.
The rumours started when Chinese websites reported in December that the computer giant is working with chip-maker Intel on a wrist-worn gadget.
It is thought to have a 1.5inch screen and uses Bluetooth to communicate with other devices, which could include an iPhone.
The 'iWatch' will go on sale at some point this year, the report claimed. Chinese site Tech.163 said Intel has developed a Smart Watch that Apple is interested in.
The watch in question has a 1.5 OLED display with indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass, and uses Bluetooth to communicate with a user's iPhone.
It is believed the iWatch will run a version of iOS, the same software as the iPhone and iPad, allowing apps to be easily downloaded.
Releasing a watch could also help it compete with Google, which claims it will release 'Google Glass', a headset with a screen, this year.Apple is also working on adding a tiny speaker and microphone to the iWatch to enhance its capabilities.
It is not, however, the first time that the so-called smartwatches have been developed.
Microsoft famously ended its development in 2008.
Sony more recently released a smartwatch design to accompany mobile phones which was met with mixed reviews.

iPhone 5S and 6 spotted-reports

Over the past few months, the rumour mill is abuzz with reports about iPhone 5S and iPhone 6 - the two new smartphones that Apple is supposedly working on. Speculations have been rife about the upcoming models, from their prices to colour options and features. Now a report claims that the two smartphones have been spotted for the first time at the facility of an Apple supplier.

A user named Old Yao has claimed on a Chinese microblogging website Sina Tech that a friend of his working with an Apple supplier has seen the iPhone 5S and iPhone 6. He revealed that the former looks exactly like iPhone 5, while the latter is longer, wider and thinner. The post also said that the two devices are likely to be launched in 2013.

Previously, we reported that Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities, has said that Apple is working on an iPhone 5 successor that will have new features like snappier processor, fingerprint sensor, better camera and more powerful LED flash. Kuo's claim of fingerprint recognition system gains a little credence from Apple's 2012 acquisition of Authentec, which deals with this technology.

The second iPhone will be cheaper and will be same as iPhone 5 but will be a little stockier, said Kuo. Instead of the aluminium body and waistline of 7.6mm, the cheaper iPhone will have a plastic casing and measure 8.2mm around the sides. He also said this device will be available in six colours, a rumour that has done rounds in the past as well.

Technology blog iLounge has also reported about the upgrade in camera sensor, saying that the upcoming phone may have Sony's 13MP unit. The report also says that the two prototypes under development are named N51 and N53.

Apple raises its sales in India by 400 percent

Apple, which has for long ignored India, appears to be vying for the attention of the affluent Indian smartphone buyer who has been cultivated assiduously by rival Samsung for many years.

The increased level of interest in India is happening in the backdrop of concern among Apple's investors that the iconic company may have hit a plateau as smartphone penetration levels saturate in developed markets.

It is in the middle of an extensive advertising and marketing campaign for its iPhone, pivoting away from a strategy that relied on tie-ups with mobile operators. This, analysts said, could be the beginning of a sustained effort by Apple, which also makes the iPad tablet, to compete in the top end of the smartphone market.

"Apple is doing what it did in China three or four years ago. They studied the market, learned consumer needs and suddenly went aggressive," said Jayanth Kolla, founder and partner at Convergence Catalyst, a telecom research firm. "From having about 30 people here six months ago, Apple India is now about 150-people strong."

Market researcher IDC estimates that over the past three months, sales of Apple devices, especially iPhones, have gone up by 3-4 times. Part of the success has to do with opting for an open distribution model, signing up with distributors Redington and Ingram Micro. "Apple is aggressively looking at the Asia-Pacific market with strong focus on China and India," said Manasi Yadav, a senior analyst at IDC India.

More than 700 million smartphones were shipped in 2012, and in the final quarter of the year Samsung cornered 29% of the market compared with Apple's 22%. Smartphone penetration rates in developed economies stand at over 50%, compared with less than 10% in India.

Apple, founded by the late Steve Jobs who came to India in search of spiritual salvation, has had only a marginal presence in the country. It has a negligible share of the local smartphone market, where Samsung is the clear leader. The company, which shuttered a technology support centre in the country a few years ago, declined comment for the report.

Last month, Redington, which handles nearly 70% of Apple's India sales, surprised analysts with better-than-expected revenue from iPhone shipments — a little over Rs 400 crore in the December quarter. Redington, which declined comment for the report, told analysts during an earnings call that Apple reimbursed it the cost of full-page newspaper advertisements through higher margins on iPhones.

Brokerage Nomura reported that Redington's costs in the December quarter jumped 20% from the preceding three months, driven mostly by iPhone-related advertisements. "It is a joint effort by Apple and its distributors. While other brands have an in-house team for advertisements, Apple does that through its partners," said JK Jaishankar, managing director of Ingram Micro India, one of the largest distributors of electronic merchandise.

Beyond the brand positioning and visibility, Apple is also trying to make its products, although expensive, accessible to a broader base of consumers. Its iPhone 5 sells in India for Rs 45,000 and competes with Samsung's Galaxy S III, the Samsung Note II (which run on the Android operating system) and Nokia Lumia 920 (which ships with Windows 8). Some 251 million phones are expected to be sold in India this year.

"Apple understands that instalments-based payment is an effective tool for bridging the gap between value and affordability. We started the EMI scheme with Apple early this year and witnessed a three-fold increase in sales," said Himanshu Chakrawarti, CEO of TheMobileStore, a national retail chain that operates 1,000 outlets in 150 cities.

Despite its recent marketing efforts, Apple will struggle for volume growth and market share because of its limited product range, experts said. "Aggressive marketing and a push with distributors can increase brand visibility and connect, but they would need a broader portfolio for increasing market share," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Samsung galaxy s4 vs iPhone 6 (rumour round)

Samsung galaxy s4
Display -1080 HD display
The Galaxy S4 will almost certainly use a 4.99-inch Full HD 1080P display with a pixel density of 441 ppi
The Galaxy S4 is expected to use a quad-core processor, support 4G LTE in the U.S. and feature a 13MP rear facing camera. A 2600 mAh battery is rumored, as is the wireless charging kit which could arrive at launch.
Colours-black and white possibly

iPhone 6
+retina display
4 or More that 4 inches possibly 4.5 or so or four-inch IPS variant with a resolution of 1917 x 1080 pixels
+HD recording
Colours-more than black and white
Memory-quite possible to have 128gb storage or remains 64
iOS 7
Quad-core ARM Cortex-A15
LTE
13-megapixel camera
A6x processor

Samsung Galaxy S4 Release Rumored for May or June in U.S.

The U.S. Samsung Galaxy S4 release date is rumored for May or June, a month or two behind the likely Galaxy S4 release in Europe.

Leaks pointed to a Samsung Galaxy S4 launch event on March 22nd, but a new report from SamMobile claims Samsung will hold an Unpacked event on March 15th to launch the Galaxy S4.

It’s not clear where the Samsung Galaxy S4 launch will take place, but New York City is a likely location in the U.S. Samsung is expected to send invitations to the Galaxy S4 launch event shortly after Mobile World Congress, which runs from February 25th to the 28th in Barcelona Spain. Samsung will be at MWC 2013, but is reportedly not planning to launch the Galaxy S4 there.
The Galaxy S3 was first released in late May internationally, and arrived in the U.S. a month later in late June, with availability on the major U.S. carriers by July 2012.

Galaxy S4 Accessories

Samsung is reportedly prepping a number of Samsung Galaxy S4 accessories for release alongside the phone. SamMobile reports that Samsung is planning these accessories for April, so U.S. shoppers may not need to wait for Galaxy S4 accessories. Many of these rumored Galaxy S4 accessories are similar to those for the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.

Clear Cover
Flip Cover
Protective Cover
Pouch
Extra Battery Kit
Wireless Charging Kit
HDTV Adapter
Headset
If Samsung can deliver the Wireless Charging Kit at launch it would mark a change from the Galaxy S3, which is still missing an official wireless charging kit. There is no mention of a Smart Dock, like the one for the Galaxy Note 2, which turns the device into a small computer with multiple USB ports and an HDMI out. Also missing from the rumored Galaxy S4 accessories is an extended battery.
In addition to the new Samsung Youm flexible display prototype that the company showed off earlier today, Samsung also announced a brand new Exynos processor called the Exynos 5 Octa which features an octo-core CPU and takes advantage of ARM’s big.LITTLE processing power. The fact that the processor has 8-cores doesn’t mean that it’s an octo-core processor.


The Galaxy S4 display could feature the new Exynos 5 Octa processor from Samsung.
Instead, there are two sets of four-cores that will run as needed. One set of four cores is Cortex A15 and the other set of cores on the Exynos 5 Octa is Cortex A7. Depending on how the device is being used, one set of four cores will spring into action. High performance will be handled by the more powerful Cortex A15 cores while the low-level usage will be tackled by the Cortex A7.
Samsung also touts the battery life with this chip which is going to be used in smartphones, tablets and more. According to Samsung, the Exynos 5 Octa uses 70-percent less power than a typical quad-core Cortex A15 processor and it also supplies better battery life than its own Exynos 5 processor that is found in the company’s Nexus 10 Android tablet.

The announcement comes after NVIDIA and Qualcomm made their two big processor announcements with NVIDIA announcing the Tegra 4 and Qualcomm revealing its Snapdragon 800 processor which is said to deliver much better performance than its current Snapdragon S4 processor.
The Galaxy S4 remains a mystery, but a better picture of the Galaxy S4 is coming together thanks to rumors and leaks. The Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected in two colors, black and white, but little is known about what the device looks like. This isn’t stopping various renders from showing what the Galaxy S4 could look like based on past Galaxy smartphones.


The Galaxy S4 will almost certainly use a 4.99-inch Full HD 1080P display with a pixel density of 441 ppi. Samsung is reportedly manufacturing this display for an early March Galaxy S4 launch.

Google glasses

What is it?
Project Glass is a research and development program by Google to develop an augmented reality head-mounted display (HMD).[2] Project Glass products would display information in smartphone-like format[3] hands-free and could interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands.[4] The prototype's functionality and minimalist appearance (aluminium strip with 2 nose pads) has been compared to Steve Mann's EyeTap.[5]

The operating system software used in the glasses will be Google's Android.[6]

Project Glass is being developed by Google X Lab,[7] which has worked on other futuristic technologies such as self-driving cars. The project was announced on Google+ by Babak Parviz, an electrical engineer who has also worked on putting displays into contact lenses; Steve Lee, a project manager and "geolocation specialist"; and Sebastian Thrun, who developed Udacity as well as worked on the self-driving car project.[8] Google has patented the design of Project Glass.[9]
The Google Glass project is making use of bone conduction technology in order to transmit sound to the wearer of the device and save users from needing headphones. Google’s Project Glass was filed with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday.
Using bone conduction, Google Glass could stray from traditional audio earpiece technology. An internal transducer mechanism vibrates bones in the wearer’s head, generating more vibrations in the cochlea (the fluid-filled part of the ear), turning all of these vibrations into what the wearer hears as sound.
Google filed for the audio device’s patent just a week prior to the FCC confirmation which only makes one note of the “vibrating element”.

Bone conduction audio is said to provide many advantages over most headphones. Some people say that the audio is clearer, while others report that it removes any obstructions in the way of real-world audio (such as day-to-day traffic noise and important alerts from passers-by).
The vibrating element is expected to be included on the Explorer Edition of Google Glass. The Explorer is said to cost around $1,500 and will be released in 2013, readying the market for a projected 2014 release.
Do you believe bone conduction audio is a step up from traditional headphones? What advantages or disadvantages do you see with the new addition? Will you purchase Google Glass when it is released to the public?
Google's new wearable computer, Google Glass, uses the human skull to conduct sound.
The news comes from Google's documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission which shows how the computer that sits on one's nose like a pair of glasses, uses "bone conduction" to send vibrations to the inner ear and make sounds, according to The Independent. The advantage of using the skull to transmit sounds is that it allows the person to hear ambient noise, too.
Google Glass, which has been modeled frequently by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, doesn't have any earbuds, so it's not surprising that its creators had to use their creativity to make sound audible. While the "bone conduction" sounds a little odd, we feel sound vibrations everyday in our bones from someone's car pumping bass to jackhammering construction. At least this time it's something that we want to hear.
Mr Brin, 39, who runs the secretive “Google X” development group, has also been spotted wearing the hi-tech specs around San Francisco. He demonstrated an early iteration of Google Glass at a conference in May 2012, where the audience was treated to a live feed from the glasses’ built-in miniature camera, worn by members of a skydiving team in freefall.
When the headset is connected to a wireless network, it can overlay augmented reality information about the wearer’s surroundings, culled from Google search and location data, on to their view. It can also capture video and photos and instantly share them online. According to the FCC papers, the device can store video files and be recharged with a power cable that attaches to the right-hand arm of the spectacle frame. Mr Brin has admitted its battery life is a work in progress.
The $1,500 device is expected to be delivered to software developers sometime this year, and Google has already begun to host “hackathons” in New York and San Francisco, for those developers to brainstorm new and exciting applications for Glass. The firm has said it hopes to make the device available to the public by the end of 2014.

Do you know about the 3d printer?not yet

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes.3D printing is considered distinct from traditional machining techniques which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling (subtractive processes).

3D printing is usually performed by a materials printer using digital technology. Since the start of the twenty-first century there has been a large growth in the sales of these machines, and their price has dropped substantially.[3]

The technology is used in jewellery, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering, and many other fields.
Product Round-up You may not know why but you probably want a 3D printer. These are intrinsically cool devices: A mix of engineering, electrical engineering, material science, chemistry, electronics and software.

As an emerging technology you need to understand a bit of all of these to get the most from a hobbyist device, just as early computer users needed to be competent with a soldering iron and writing assembly code. Here we look at ten of the most interesting 3D printers around. There is a mix of technologies, and some are not yet shipping, but it goes to show just how diverse this nascent industry is.

3D Touch 3D printer

This is an extruder-type printer that does Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) using ABS or PLA thermoplastic from a spool. It’s unusual in that it is quite good looking and has up to three heads, meaning it can print in three colours of plastic at a time. The extruders use a screw mechanism and the heat comes from the platform. Colours are “spot” colours and they cannot be mixed. Files are printed from a USB stick and there is a touchscreen user interface. It is beautifully finished in stainless steel and aluminium, and is particularly targeted at education. The device has an exceptionally print area of 27.5x 27.5x 21cm.
Steampunk styling and aluminium construction give this Polish printer a special feel, with the exposed parts adding to the design rather than making it look unfinished. The handle on the top makes it transportable rather than portable. Individual parts seem particularly well finished, and an innovation is the self-tensioning belts. As an FDM printer it uses ABS or PLA thermoplastic from a spool. It will print models of up to 20 x 26 x 18cm albeit slowly at 100mm/minute. Two nozzles are available in 0.3mm and 0.5mm. These machines have been shipping since summer 2012.The technology behind 3D printing has allowed users to craft musical instruments and prosthetic limbs, and now European scientists are taking a serious look at printing their own moon base.

The European Space Agency (ESA) study is investigating how practical constructing a manned base on the moon only using 3D printing technology could be, given that it would rely primarily on lunar dirt for building materials.

"Terrestrial 3D printing technology has produced entire structures," Laurent Pambaguian, who heads the project for ESA, said in a statement. "Our industrial team investigated if it could similarly be employed to build a lunar habitat."

A moon base with style
"As a practice, we are used to designing for extreme climates on Earth and exploiting the environmental benefits of using local, sustainable materials," Xavier De Kestelier of Foster + Partners said in a statement. "Our lunar habitation follows a similar logic."

Foster + Partners' 3D printed design is a simple four-person moon base that can be made completely out of repurposed moon dirt, which scientists call "regolith."

Because the entire design is made primarily from indigenous lunar materials moon, there is no need to transport costly materials from the Earth into space. The base would be built using a robotic printer roving over an inflatable dome.

"3D printing offers a potential means of facilitating lunar settlement with reduced logistics from Earth," Scott Hovland of ESA’s human spaceflight team said. "The new possibilities this work opens up can then be considered by international space agencies as part of the current development of a common exploration strategy."

Hollow moon dirt walls

The base would have a cell-like but strong frame resembling the structure of bird bones that will protect lunar residents from gamma radiation and micrometeorites that could destroy a less robust build.

ESA and the agency's partners have already built part of the base. Using a mixture of silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron and magnesium oxides meant to simulate surface of the moon. The team has started printing various structures inside a vacuum chamber.

This isn't the first time a space agency has considered 3D printing a lunar base . Last year, NASA officials challenged researchers at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. to 3D print the ceramic-like simulated lunar regolith into smooth, cylindrical shapes to test the strength of the material.

Foster + Partners is also partnering with other firms to build the first private spaceport in the world. Known as Spaceport America, the $209 million base will serve as a hub for commercial spaceflight. The spaceport should be completed later this year.

iPhone 6-midyear launch,larger display?

Apple iPhone 6: Rumours swirl about mid-year launch?

The US technology giant Apple Inc . is reported to have started preliminary builds of the next iPhone, dubbed iPhone 6 or iPhone 5S. The new iPhone is likely to be launched in June or July, said a report.

The report on macworld.com.au said: "Apple is currently testing two new iPhone prototypes, Jefferies analyst Peter Misek told investors in a note this week. One of the prototypes is the 'iPhone 5S', said Misek, while the other is likely to be the widely speculated cheaper iPhone."

The analyst has reportedly predicted that the next iPhone will be 0.8 inches bigger than the iPhone 5 's at 4.8 inches diagonally, adding "Similar to the iPad mini, we expect a concentrated low-cost iPhone rather than a 'cheap' one. Likely specs: polycarbonate case with 4in non-Retina display and no LTE."

Recently, Apple overtook Samsung to become the largest mobile phone vendor in the US in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In its latest report, research firm Strategy Analytics estimated that Apple shipped 17.7 million mobile phones in the US for a record 34 percent share of the market in the fourth quarter of 2012, making the tech giant the No.1 mobile phone vendor by volume in the US for the first time ever.

Samsung, Apple's arch-rival, shipped 16.8 million handsets for a 32 percent market share in the country, reported Xinhua.

The report said Apple's success has been driven by its popular ecosystem of iPhones and App Store, generous carrier subsidies and extensive marketing around the new iPhone 5 model.

However, Apple's hard-won victory is expected to be short-lived. Samsung had been the No.1 mobile phone vendor in the US since 2008 and it will surely be keen to recapture the title this year by launching improved new models such as the rumored Galaxy S4, Strategy Analytics said.

Meanwhile, the report pointed out that despite a solid fourth-quarter performance, the US mobile phone market had contracted for the first three quarters of 2012, making annual mobile phone shipments fall by 11 percent in 2012 from the year of 2011.

Earlier the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple had halved its orders for the iPhone 5. The report led Apple's share price to dip below $500 per share on Monday, but some suggest that the WSJ report was flawed, and that there may have been some stock manipulation involved.

Apple's 128GB iPad Just Gave Every Android Tablet Manufacturer

Apple’s announcement of a new iPad SKU with 128GB of storage is a wonderful tactical stroke. While consumers are going to love the extra choice, and hardcore users will flock to the extra storage capacity, it’s the Android tablet manufacturers that are going to be crunching the numbers overnight.
By increasing the top level of storage on the iPad, it will drive public perception towards ‘tablets should have 128GB of storage’. That 128GB has been seen as a psychological target by many people looking at iOS devices, and now it’s here (and is following the standard Apple model of doubling storage for $100 more) many will say it was obvious.
Importantly for Apple, they’ve got their tablet with the magic numbers on sale first.
The competition are still kicking around at the 64GB mark, although some are not even that close. The Nexus 10? 16GB or 32 GB. The Galaxy Note? 16GB to 64Gb. The BlackBerry PlayBook? 16GB to 64GB. The Kindle Fire? 16GB to 32GB for the seven inch, and 64GB for the 8.9 inch.
Apple has topped them all, and the other manufacturers are going to have to start offering higher specs in storage or run the risk of being left behind in what is the next step in a specification war.
Always fight on territory that is comfortable to you, and awkward for your opponents. There’s probably a Sun Tzu quote that covers that, but the principle stands..
If there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that TIm Cook understands the supply chain, and can extract the maximum value out of it. Under his guidance Apple has better access, at preferential rates, to more component suppliers than the majority of other manufacturers. The iPad 4 with 128GB hits the stores in seven days, and the competition are left standing still.
Even if they wanted to react, they’re going to be at a disadvantage in terms of manufacturing and sourcing supplies (unless they had plans in place already). Once they do reach the shops, it will still be first mover advantage to Apple, and their public perception as innovators remains.
As for the rapidly rising cost of memory pushing up the bill of materials, this matters less to Apple, a company that can traditionally keep prices high. But Android devices, many of which are built to a specified cost and occupy the lower end of the price scales, will have less room to absorb around an increased production cost.
The 128GB iPad is an attractive product for a number of iPad users, but I suspect that the knock-on effects in the rest of the tablet space are a very nice bonus for Tim Cook and his team at Apple.