Tag: Gadgets

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Sleep talking PC’s save cost & energy

Now your computer could save large amounts of energy. Computer scientists at UC San Diego and Microsoft Research have created a plug-and-play hardware prototype for personal computers that induces a new energy saving state. It is known as “Sleep Talking.”

The Problem:

A large number of people keep their computers on even not in use, mainly because they want to stay connected to an internal network or the Internet or both.

  • When a PC is in “Awake Mode” it consumes power even when not in use.
  • When a PC in low power “Sleep Mode”, it saves a lot of power, but are inactive and unresponsive to network traffic.
  • The new “Sleep Talking Mode” not only has the save-energy feature of Sleep Mode, but also takes some of the network and Internet connected conveniences of the Awake Mode.
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Recently, a computer science Ph.D. student Yuvraj Agarwal presented this work at the USENIX Symposium on NSDI 2009. Computer scientists at UC San Diego and Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington and Cambridge, UK, collaborated on this project. Click here to view the research.

Yuvraj Agarwal said:

“I realized that most of the tasks that people keep their computers on for – like ensuring remote access and availability for virus scans and backup, maintaining presence on instant messaging (IM) networks, being available for incoming voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls, and file sharing and downloading – can be achieved at much lower power-use levels than regular awake mode.”

The Solution:

Soon after this realization, the team built a small USB-connected hardware and software plug-in system that allows a PC to remain in Sleep Mode while continuing to maintain network presence and run well-defined application functions.

Sleep talking mode supports:

  • Instant messaging applications
  • VoIP
  • Large background web downloads
  • Peer-to-peer file sharing networks such as BitTorrent
  • Remote access.
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Somniloquy:

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The computer scientists named their system Somniloquy, which means “the act or habit of talking in one’s sleep.

“Somniloquy uses a very small low-power computer. It has a low-power processor, some memory, a lightweight operating system, and a small amount of flash to store data. Everything is scaled down and extremely energy efficient,” said Agarwal.

The idea behind all this is to encourage users to put computers in sleep mode as much as possible and help reduce the consumption of energy, as a result, save costs and reduce greenhouse gasses.

(Source: eurekalert)

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Amazon’s Kindle DX Launched

Today, Amazon launched the much awaited, new and improved Kindle DX. Kindle DX has been designed especially to make the experience of reading newspapers, magazines and documents easy. In an earlier post on Devils Workshop, I had written about Amazon Kindles and how the launch of bigger, better ones will create a buzz in the market. Finally, it’s here.

Kindle DX – Some new features:

  1. This time the Kindle is designed to be 250% bigger (9.7 inch screen) than the recently-announced Kindle 2 gadget .
  2. Now you don’t have to scroll, pan or zoom. Just read.
  3. It has a built-in PDF document reader.

To view the Kindle DX gallery, click here

The new Kindle costs $489 and will be released this summer.

Deals announced by Amazon:

  • Deals announced with three leading textbook publishers to put their content on the e-reader.
  • Deals announced with the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe to put their editorial on the device.

(Source: engadget)

(Image Credits: engadget)

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Robots coming soon on Facebook!

Now you could soon be chit-chatting and making friends with robots on Facbook, helping bridge the so-called “divide between humans and machine”. Yes! This sounds unreal, but it’s true.

The man behind the idea of coupling robots with social networks?

Dr. Nikolaus Mavridis!

  • Research indicates that humans lose interest in robots after about a week because of their programmed behavioral patterns.
  • Dr. Mavridis, along with a few other co-researchers, is looking to explore new ways to do away with the human unwillingness to stay in touch with robots.
  • Researchers want to take a deeper dive into this by having humans and robots deal with the same circle of friends and a pool of shared memories.
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Which means – now robots will have a Facebook profile of their own too!

The platform for exploring

  • A robot that can recognize faces (which is created by Dr. Mavridis and colleagues from the Interactive Robots and Media Lab (IRML) at the University of the UAE, along with co-workers in Germany & Greece).
  • This is based around a PeopleBot machine from ActivRobots, to which they have also added a range finder, touch screen and stereo camera.
  • The current prototype is called “Sarah.” When the project begins, this will be swapped for a machine with the face of an Arabic scholar – Ibn Sina aka Avicenna.

Software modules for the robot

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  1. To help the robot recognize the faces of real people or the photographs users place of themselves on Facebook.
  2. To help the robot carry on real-time conversations using a language module.
  3. To help the robot maintain a database of its friends and their social relationships based on information it gets from Facebook. This social database will also keep its own Facebook profile up to date.

In a month long trial for this robot, Dr Mavridis wants to let Ibn Sina wander around IRML talking to people it meets and trying to get to know those that it does not. When it meets anyone for the first time it will check on Facebook to see if they have a profile page and use what it finds there as the starting point for a conversation.

This is the world we live in – the world of technology and innovation, where something new is happening every day, every minute. While the robot-human engagement has happened before a lot of times, but never before have we seen anything like this on a social networking site. Whether or not this will foster a meaningful “friendship” between humans and machine, can only be seen in course of time. I am quite excited to see how this research and experiment progresses.

(Source: bbc)

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Palm Pre: Apple’s New Competition

Palm Pre is a new smart phone that is soon going be launched in 2009 (the word is around July 2009). Its comparison with Apple’s iconic iPhone is inevitable.

I think, Palm Pre is a legit challenger to the iPhone. Some are already claiming it to be an iPhone killer. iPhone fanatics, however, think otherwise.

Reasons why I think Palm Pre will create its own niche:

  1. Apple has shown the world that instead of confusing the customers with array of features, focus on limited features and provide complete narrow experience.
  2. Even Steve Jobs keynote too the Press had revolved around on few features only like: Music, Video , Call simplicity (many would agree that having a call conference has never been this easy!)
  3. People do frown on the absence of many features like camera features (only 2 mega pixel? Come on! Nokia’s low end mobile does better than that), Bluetooth file transfer etc.
  4. Palm with its new management has shown some re-incarnated spirit by reverting to what they were i.e., innovating mobile platform.
  5. Palm unveiled the new mobile operating system they will be using henceforth, called WebOS . Palm claims developers can create applications with html and css  – no new language has to be adopted (there is a hot debate going on this right now on how viable is this, although Palm has showcased it Mojo SDK which is yet to be tested and seen)
  6. Like iPhone, Pre too uses multi touch (Tim Cook , Interim CEO of Apple had clearly given a hint that a legal war might be very well in waiting but guess we have to wait how that tide turns out ) and any one who has used multi touch would tell you how superior it feels as compared to other touch screens.
  7. It also has a removable battery and physical Qwerty keyboard that many users were craving for.
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There are things that go against Palm too, like:

  • Their consumers’ lost faith
  • Current financial woes
  • Ever increasing competition

But if every thing goes right, we could have a new exciting mobile platform in waiting. For consumers, I’d say, bring it on. More the competition… the merrier!

(Image Credits: MobiHealthNews)

[Editor’s Note: This article is submitted by Shyam Mudliar. This is his first blog post on Devils Workshop.

If you, too would like to write for Devils Workshop, please check this. Details about our revenue sharing programs are here.]

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Amazon to launch bigger, better Kindles!

Bigger, better kindles are finally coming our way. Amazon is conducting a press conference tomorrow (May 6, Wednesday) to launch the new, more advanced Kindle for e-readers.

Kindles appeal to many, especially heavy readers who like to read while traveling without wanting to carry the the weight of books. Amazon is now launching a larger version of its Kindle wireless device tailored for displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks.

Apparently, Google too wants to get into the electronic book market so that they could offer a way for people to read the more – the 7 million scanned books from various devices including phones that use its Android operating system.

A little more about the Amazon Kindle

  • An electronic book reader made and sold by Amazon.com.
  • First introduced in November 2007 (at a price of $399, later lowered to $359.)
  • A second version, with more memory and longer battery life, was introduced in February 2009 at the same price.
  • Uses electronic ink (which is a display technology), that replicates the experience of reading black letters on white paper.
  • Has bright lights to create a better reading experience
  • Uses less electricity as against laptops, computers and cellphones.
  • Does not need to be connected to a computer, rather works on a wireless network
  • Displays text from books on the screen which is almost the size of a standard sheet of paper
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NY Times tells us that the current version of the Kindle has proved in a limited way that this is possible. Even though its six-inch black-and-white screen is made for reading books, Amazon offers Kindle owners subscriptions to more than 58 newspapers and magazines, including The Times, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. (The Journal subscription costs $9.99 a month, The Times is $13.99 a month and The New Yorker is $2.99 a month.)

Things are about to get better. We will only know more after the launch. One more day to go!

(Source: The New York Times | Engadget)

(Image Credits: The New York Times)

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Googles New Gadget – “What’s Popular”

Google is now competing with popular services like StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit by providing the same. Google launched a new iGoogle gadget “What’s Popular”. This simple and easy to use gadget may out smart other service providers in long run.

What does this gadget do?

This gadget helps users to discover many interesting items on the web and allows viewers to pop stories that they find interesting. Based on pop and user activities in a number of Google services like Google reader and YouTube, Google can decide what’s popular and display popped stories on it.

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Users have the option to rate items that they like or dislike by clicking the ratings buttons which come with each item. There is no comment option in this gadget but users would like to share there views about pops. I think by adding comment option in this gadget may attract more users and fetch an additional edge to compete.

This new gadget has four tabs namely All, My Pops, My Adds and About.

  • ‘All’ tab shows the most popular stories
  • ‘My Pops’ shows the stories which user have allowed.
  • ‘My Adds’ tab displays URL added by the user.

Click here to add this new iGoogle gadget.

Link: What’s Popular

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Cheap calls to the US and Canada with Magicjack

Telephone costs are becoming cheap these days, thanks to the modern day technologies which rule the world. Though there are numerous VoIP services like Skype, Yahoo,Voxox, etc., many people still have a hang for the traditional telephone. Some of these may offer excellent services but old people may have some difficulty in using them.

There is a solution… Magicjack!

What is Magicjack?

Magicjack is a VoIP service provided by YMAX Corporation. Magic jack is available across the US and Canada and can be bought from any retail store or can be purchased online from www.magicjack.com. You can also opt for a free trial for 30 days before purchasing.
Magicjack consists of a Magicjack USB. This can be connected to any USB port in a computer having a broadband internet connection. The other end of the Magicjack can be connected to  any ordinary telephone using the standard telephone wire  (RJ 11, I guess…). Every Magicjack has an unique telephone number which can be personalized.

How will it be useful for old people?

If some one is working in the US and their parents are in India, Magicjack is a boon for them. Their son or daughter in the US can procure a Magicjack, do the first time initial configuration and send them over to India. Their parents in India, can use Magicjack, and keep in touch with their loved ones. The best part of Magicjack is that once you have it with you, you can call any number in the US/Canada, for absolutely free! In fact, there is no restriction to the number of calls.

The initial investment is around $40 and after that, the yearly  payment is $20. I think this is a worth investment as you get unlimited calls for a pretty cheap price. To get a hands on experience, I procured a Magicjack through one of my relatives and connected it to my comp. Initially, it takes a bit of time for downloading the Magicjack user interface. After that, I tried placing the call from here in India to my friend in the US. The voice clarity was amazing… far far far… better than what I expected,with a clean and simple user interface and I think this is a real good investment. It is a boon for all those people who want to keep in touch with their loved ones.

Note: This is not an advertisement campaign for Magicjack. It is my personal review of the product and your own experience results may vary.

Link: Magicjack

(Image Credits: phonedog)

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Create Your Own Favicon on Favicon.cc

A favicon is short for favorite icon, which is also known as the website icon, shortcut icon, url icon, or bookmark icon. It is a small, 16×16 pixel square icon that you could see in the browser’s address bar and next to a page’s name in a list of bookmarks.

There are various ways you could create your favorite icon and favicon.cc will help you achieve that quite easily.

This site will allow you to draw your own icon, with or without animation and even import an existing image that you could further edit to suit your requirements. Preview the favicon in the ‘Preview’ window or in the address bar of this site and once you think you’re done, download it or even publish it under an open license.

How does it work?

  1. Choose a color or colors you wish to use.
  2. Click on the squares and paint your logo as desired.
  3. Use animation if necessary
  4. Preview your favicon
  5. Download when done
  6. Put the favicon.ico file into your webserver directory
  7. Optionally publish it under the CC (Creative Commons) license

Hope you enjoy creating your very own favicon!

Link: favicon.cc

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Simple Home Remedies To Save Your Expensive Gadgets!

Our life is full of gadgets. We can’t live without them.  There are times when your gadgets stop working because of some faults. Ever thought of some ideas that can help you repair these gadgets with the use of simple home remedies? Well, here are some, but, mind you, none of them come with 100% scientific guarantee. But they work! Take a look!

Continue reading “Simple Home Remedies To Save Your Expensive Gadgets!”
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Nokia Could Leap Over to Laptop Manufacturing!

If the rumors floating around the world of Internet is correct, Nokia, one of the largest manufacturer and seller of mobile devices in the world may soon enter into the computing sector too (specially laptop manufacturing).  Actually, recently Nokia chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo during an interview to Finnish national broadcaster YLE disclosed about these plans by Nokia.

Though there is no such official information about Nokia entering laptop market, but this news may be treated as correct to some extent because it has been passed over from the mouth of Nokia’s Chief Executive who is among one of the top officials in a company.

Here is exactly what, Nokia’s Chief Executive has to say:

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We are looking very actively also at this opportunity. We don’t have to look even for five years from now to see that what we know as a cell phone and what we know as a PC are in many ways converging. Today we have hundreds of millions of people who are having their first Internet experience on the phone. This is a good indication.

What made Nokia consider jumping into laptop market?

Recently we saw some of the PC manufacturers jumping over to the cell phone bandwagon. Though Acer announced launch of some of its smart phones last week, there is no official information about Dell entering into smart phone business but even Dell is said to be planning to manufacture smart phones. So, this initiative by Nokia (to manufacture laptops) could be a reply by Nokia to those trying to reduce its market share in cell phone industry.

Its just a matter of time that will bring the fact on the screen!!

[Via Information Week]