Touche: An interface system to add gestures to your “door knob”!

Preeth — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:20:55 +0000

Tech researchers are working tireless to put forward innovative ideas. The most recent invention by a team of researchers at Disney and Carnegie Mellon will excite you all. They have developed an innovative interface system to bring multiple gestures to any objects out there. Called the Touche, the system can add multiple gesture capabilities to a variety of objects like a doorknob. Well, a doorknob with the Touche will perform quite smarter than the usual one. It will simply start working based on gesture commands from users, the researchers claim.

The concept

The scientists from Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University have set up an interesting method to take the multitouch interface of smartphones and tablets to a new set of objects. Amazingly, the Touche technology can overlay touch interface on any objects from tabletops to human body parts. It is brilliant that users can now provide inputs to their computers, tablets and smartphones with multitouch gestures towards these objects. Yes, you are no more expected to depend only on the crammed touchscreens and keypads of the smartphones and tablets to provide inputs in the new world.

The functioning

The researchers in a video clip demonstrate the functioning of Touche on various objects that include a smart doorknob, couch, tabletop and simple hand gestures in air. The smart doorknob recognizes various touches of a user to open and lock the door. A pinch, a grasp and a single touch will do some important functions thanks to advanced sensors. When it comes to a couch it acts like a TV remote. Users can switch off the TV, change channels and adjust volumes with various multitouch gestures on the couch in the bed or sofa.

The video demo also shows a person taking out some multitouch gestures on tabletop, which the nearby computer simply identifies. Amazingly, Touche will also make human body as an input device. Users can hold their fingers up and down to switch music on and off on their smartphones or music players. A researcher says that it is now quite feasible that we will have handsets and tablets in future without screens, buttons and keypads. Users can simply rely on their body itself to provide inputs thanks to Touche.

The technology

When traditional capacitive touchscreens operate as a binary system, the technology behind Touche makes use a new system to sample the return energy from the touches of users several times. It will result in a range of frequency values to make any object capable to accept multitouch gestures. The researchers have developed a method called the Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing (SFCS) to help capture more information and function with various types of gestures apart from mere toughing.

According to Ivan Poupyrev, senior researcher at Disney Research, the researchers could successfully improve a huge variety of objects with high fidelity touch sensitivity technologies. He claims that once combined with the advanced gesture recognition technologies, Touche will be able to provide recognition rates with almost 100 percent accuracy.

About the author: Alyssa Clarke is a blogger who also happens to be a tech buff. She is always on a lookout for latest tech updates and is currently in love with the new Sparrow email app for iPhone. She recently read about the new Mercedes DICE System and is really impressed with it.

Yahsat’s second Satellite Y1B successfully launched

Preeth — Thu, 03 May 2012 09:35:19 +0000

Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC, “Yahsat”, has announced the successful launch of its second satellite Y1B. The launch took place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on April 24^th, 2012, at 2:18 am Abu Dhabi time.

The Y1B weighs more than 6,000 kg and features a spacecraft power of 14kW and has a 15-year design lifetime. It is equipped with a commercial multi-beam Ka-band payload, which will be used to provide a variety of government and commercial applications, including “YahClick”, a new reliable and affordable satellite broadband service for the Middle East, Africa, and South West Asia.

Commenting on the successful launch of Y1B, Jassem Mohamed Al Zaabi, Yahsat Vice Chairman, Mubadala ICT Director stated, “The successful launch of Yahsat’s Y1B satellite reaffirms Abu Dhabi’s commitment to growing and developing the ICT sector across the region. We believe technology has the ability to change the way we live and work – by pushing the boundaries of technological development we can enhance communities’ lives.”

Celebrating this great success, Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani Yahsat CEO said “We are delighted to see this milestone in our business plan reached with the launch of Y1B. With the satellite in orbit, we are on track in our mission to connect communities around the region with reliable, affordable broadband services through our “YahClick” service. Communications is a vital factor for economic and social growth in today’s world and we are very excited to be bringing this pioneering vision into reality.”

Transmitted through the Y1B satellite the “YahClick” service will provide connectivity to remote and underserved areas across the region. Satellite connectivity has the advantage of providing high bandwidth and easily accessible broadband services to these markets, with minimal time required to set up communications.

Yahsat has established partnerships across 28 countries within the regional geography, selecting reputable communications companies that understand the needs and conditions of each local market.

The partners have been carefully selected to ensure that the “YahClick” service will be reliably and effectively marketed, installed and supported for customers. Yahsat is also working closely with key telecommunications providers to ensure comprehensive availability of the “YahClick” service to homes, schools and businesses throughout the region.

Samsung Launches the next Galaxy smartphone teaser video.

Preeth — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:06:33 +0000

Samsung mobile’s twitter page has tweeted “Destination: tgeltaayehxnx” which translates to thenextgalaxy and the site tgeltaayehxnx.com was running the countdown for the past 24 hours .Following the trend Samsung seemed to have named the latest smartphone the next galaxy and it’s not Galaxy S3 as predicted earlier and it seems Samsung has taken a leaf out of Apple in naming the next new product.

Update: the website countdown has ended and Samsung has released a teaser video (nothing much in the video too so keep guessing) , the official launch is May 3rd as announced before.

And here are the teaser videos..

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Microsoft announces Windows 8 editions PRO,RT and Windows 8

Preeth — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:47:58 +0000

Microsoft has announced Windows 8 will be available in 3 editions namely Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT. Windows 8 is the official product name for the next x86/64 editions of Windows. PCs and tablets powered by x86 processors (both 32 and 64 bit), we will have two editions: Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.

Windows 8 Pro is designed to help tech enthusiasts and business/technical professionals obtain a broader set of Windows 8 technologies. It includes all the features in Windows 8 plus features for encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain connectivity. Windows Media Center will be available as an economical “media pack” add-on to Windows 8 Pro.

Windows RT the single edition will only be available pre-installed on PCs and tablets powered by ARM processors and will help enable new thin and lightweight form factors with impressive battery life.

READ :WINDOWS 8 REVIEW IN PICTURES.

READ: INSTALL WINDOWS 8 ALONG WITH WINDOWS 7.

READ :DOWNLOAD WINDOWS 8 PREVIEW.

Complete features in Windows 8 ,Windows 8 pro and Windows RT are highlighted below.

Feature name	Windows 8	Windows 8 Pro	Windows RT
Upgrades from Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium	x	x
Upgrades from Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate		x
Start screen, Semantic Zoom, Live Tiles	x	x	x
Windows Store	x	x	x
Apps (Mail, Calendar, People, Messaging, Photos, SkyDrive, Reader, Music, Video)	x	x	x
Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote)			x
Internet Explorer 10	x	x	x
Device encryption			x
Connected standby	x	x	x
Microsoft account	x	x	x
Desktop	x	x	x
Installation of x86/64 and desktop software	x	x
Updated Windows Explorer	x	x	x
Windows Defender	x	x	x
SmartScreen	x	x	x
Windows Update	x	x	x
Enhanced Task Manager	x	x	x
Switch languages on the fly (Language Packs)	x	x	x
Better multiple monitor support	x	x	x
Storage Spaces	x	x
Windows Media Player	x	x
Exchange ActiveSync	x	x	x
File history	x	x	x
ISO / VHD mount	x	x	x
Mobile broadband features	x	x	x
Picture password	x	x	x
Play To	x	x	x
Remote Desktop (client)	x	x	x
Reset and refresh your PC	x	x	x
Snap	x	x	x
Touch and Thumb keyboard	x	x	x
Trusted boot	x	x	x
VPN client	x	x	x
BitLocker and BitLocker To Go		x
Boot from VHD		x
Client Hyper-V		x
Domain Join		x
Encrypting File System		x
Group Policy		x
Remote Desktop (host)		x

Yahsat’s second Satellite Loaded on Launch Vehicle

Preeth — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:57:02 +0000

After successful transportation from EADS Astrium facilities in Toulouse, France, to the Baikonur Commodore, Kazakhstan on April 15^th, Yahsat’s second satellite has now been mounted onto its launch vehicle the ILS Proton Breeze M; ready to be moved to its final position on land for its successful launch into space next week.

Set to launch on April 24^th, Yahsat’s Y1B satellite will go through a series of vigorous functional tests and launch rehearsals before the rocket is armed and moved into position for take-off.

The Y1B weighs more than 6,000 kg, features a spacecraft power of 14kW and has a 15-year designed lifetime. It is equipped with a commercial multi-beam payload in Ka-band, which will be used to provide a variety of government and commercial applications, including “YahClick”, a new reliable and affordable satellite broadband service.

Press Release issued:Abu Dhabi, Wednesday 18^th April 2012.

Manage many cloud services with a single login .

Preeth — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:44:03 +0000

Google Drive i.e cloud service similar to dropbox from Google is expected to be launched next week.When more and more cloud service providers do come with free storage ranging from 2GB to 25GB of space its worth considering cloud services as more and more services will be integrated in the cloud.
Personally I use most of the cloud services like drop box, box.net and pretty excited about the upcoming Google drive ,one issue having many cloud services is you have to login to each of the services either on the web or on an app and that’s time consuming and searching for a particular file is really a tough task.Thankfully we have Otixo ! The concept is simple the service will help you manage your cloud accounts from one place.

Here are the easy steps…
1. Create an account with Otixo and confirm your email address with the verification link
2. Login and add the cloud services you have.

This is primarily a web-based service. To get the desktop app which is currently in beta refer the article here. Otixo currently supports Drop box, Amazon S3, Google Docs,skydrive, Apple iCloud, and personal FTP accounts and there will be more services added to the list in the future.A great service and for personal use there is 250MB bandwidth of free usage the shortcoming is there is no Android or iOS Apps for mobile users .

Has Your Gmail Emails Disappeared? You’re Not Alone

Preeth — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:48:51 +0000

Its seems the worst has happened my Gmail has lost access to all my mails before March 2011, After going through the Gmail help forums it seems i am not the only one there are many especially during the period September 2011 till date cant figure out what has caused this but using the Gmail help form was useless as i got a lame reply from the support team.(pic below) and the so-called investigation was done within less than a minute that’s the time i took use to send them an email and i got the reply in 30 Seconds.

A simple search on Google search using the term “disappearing emails Gmail” just reveals there are many users who are facing this issue and sadly there seems no solution for it. One of the users in Google mail help forum also blames that the issue of disappearing emails started after switching to the new Gmail interface. Not a solution till now as we are still evaluating the culprit behind this including the security checks as prescribed by Gmail.

Any help/Fix/support will highly be appreciated for this issue .

How to fix the Google plus #whitespaces ?

Preeth — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:07:00 +0000

The #useforwhitespace is now trending on Google plus and it seems the big white block on the right side of the new Google + stream is grabbing everyone’s attention for what it could be used for .If you have a Google plus account click here or search the hash tag #useforwhitespace in Google plus for awesome creativity submitted by Google plus users even we had one of them see pic below.

Here is the actual whitespace person on Google plus are talking about.(image below)

So how to fix the white space on Google plus ?

Yes there is an extension for that ,what it does ? It adjusts the page styles a bit to make the content fill the screen better and available only on chrome. The white space is reduced and your stream. has more space on the screen by fixing the width on the new Google +. Also adds some small CSS tweaks.

Download the extension here https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kmiofoikdfidbblikpbmihfecpcelaal

Google + getting a new simpler design .

Preeth — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:43:16 +0000

Vic Gundotra has just announced a worldwide update of a new simpler design for Google plus as more than 170 million people have upgraded to Google+.

“We’ve just begun the worldwide rollout of a more functional and flexible version of Google+. We think you’ll find it easier to use and nicer to look at, but most importantly, it accelerates our efforts to create a simpler, more beautiful Google.”

check the video & images below.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

How big is Linux and how is it built [Video]

Preeth — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:17:17 +0000

While Linux is running our phones, friend requests, tweets, financial trades, ATMs and more, most of us don’t know how it’s actually built. Linux is 20 years old .This short video takes you inside the process by which the largest collaborative development project in the history of computing is organized. Based on the annual report “Who Writes Linux,” this is a powerful and inspiring story of how Linux has become a community-driven phenomenon.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.