World’s First Braille Smart Phone For Blinds, Made In India

April 19, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash Leave a Comment

In a country like India, where there is absolutely no infrastructure for physically disabled, this news brings the fresh air of change and hope. A start-up, Kriyate Design Solutions, based in India has successfully created World’s first Braille smart phone for blind people.

This phone converts all text in to Braille pattern and thus allow the blind people to read SMSes and emails. Sumit Dagar, the innovator of this smartphone claims, “This product is based on an innovative ‘touch screen’ which is capable of elevating and depressing the contents it receives to transform them into ‘touchable’ patterns“.

The working of the phone was explained by Times of India as:

The phone uses Shape Memory Alloy technology, based on the concept that metals remember their original shapes, i.e. expand and contract to its original shape after use. The phone’s ‘screen’ has a grid of pins, which move up and down as per requirement. The grid has a Braille display, where pins come up to represent a character or letter. This screen will be capable of elevating and depressing the contents to form patterns in Braille. All other elements are like any other smartphone.

Dagar, a TED fellow and recipient of prestigious Rolex award for Young Laureate, says he felt the need of such a device when he realised that so far, technology has completely ignore the marginalised ones and focuses mainly on the mainstream people. His idea got the boost at the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, located in IIM Ahmedabad. The prototype of the device is being developed at IIT Delhi and is currently being tested at L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad.

I am very thrilled to see that finally India is using its technical power in the right direction.

Microsoft To Unveil Xbox 720 This May

April 9, 2013 By Kiran Yasmin 1 Comment

images — Microsoft’s Xbox 720 Event Rumored

Since the times when Microsoft was titled as the Software Icon, it now and then efforts to unveil some extra ordinary and user friendly technology products. Some of the previous were viewing that Microsoft has a plan of launching its next Xbox this month, but guess what– all proved to be nothing more than a gossip. Now the company has been reported to release its updated video gaming console–Xbox (720) on 21st May Press Conference. It seems that the project coordinator, Paul Thurrott, was waiting for a suitable day for Xbox release or may be it is just to slow down the sale of its arch rival Play Station 4.

Many many thanks to the two reports, one by The Verge and the other by which finally let the people know about its actual release date. According to these two sources, Microsoft has planned Xbox release in May so that it can succeed in getting the attention of maximum people.

Adam Orth, Microsoft Studio’s creative team head was forced by various mediums to submit an apology for issuing an official rumor again and again since a long time. So, recently Microsoft issued an to the GameBeat, letting the people know that the new gaming console–Xbox is strictly confidential and thus the company never allowed its workers to make any remarks about it. The various rumors have further focused on the reports that the new Xbox would not be working better in the absence of a speedy internet connection. Surprised that if a person has not the facility of speedy internet then he cannot enjoy the Xbox 720 gaming experience… so as I

But I am happy to know that it is still a rumor so anything favorable can happen

Why The Android Users Are Unhappy With Twitter?

April 8, 2013 By Kiran Yasmin Leave a Comment

Twitter is a real-time global communication platform, developed in 2006. After Facebook, it is considered to be the top social media website with over five million visitors on a monthly basis. Not only this but also has over three million active global users.

Why Android Users Are Unhappy?

This week, Twitter rolled out sweeping updates to all of its mobile properties. But why the Android users are unhappy with Twitter? Well, it’s because the new Twitter Cards app is not working properly on Android Operating Systems. There are many Android users who complain that this app is a big buggy on Android platforms and they are not at all happy with its services. Also, the new update for the app left people wondering about how to switch between multiple accounts.

The Problems Are Extending:

At some places, the users are experiencing the problems with the “Me” tab. They say that they are coming across the difficulty to open this tab, and thus most of the times they are unable to access their DMs and switch accounts and thus fail to update their profiles. But when I personally tried to access this problem, then I came to know that this issue is not at all affecting all the devices, however, is showing that it is still a widespread issue.

With the minor problems that the Android users experience include a blank screen and a small spinner, with no information or message. This is may be sometimes because of the use of poor internet service or it may be a big ol’ bug.

Anonymous’s Attempt To Erase Israel From Cyber Space Failed!

April 7, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash 1 Comment

Anonymous’s audacious attack to completely disrupt the Israel cyber space is not much of a success. The infamous hacking group Anonymous had announced, in a , another massive cyber attack on Israel dubbed as #OpIsrael on 7th April 2013. The previous attack was in November 2012 during Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense. The aim of this attack was to “disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace” in a symbolic protest of Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians.

The You Tube announcement says:

“elite cyber-squadrons from around the world have decided to unite in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel as one entity to disrupt and erase Israel from cyberspace.”

The #OpIsrael operation is enthusiastically supported by many Arab hacker groups along with several “Muslim hackers” which is quite normal considering the Jew-Muslim conflict. The sage was set for the attack with a OpIsrael Twitter handle, website and a twitter campaign with #OpIsrael hashtags.

Little success for #OpIsrael:

Far from erasing Israel from cyber space, operation #OpIsrael saw little success till now. An announcement by N4m3le55 cr3w, an Arab hacking group affiliated to Anonymous, said that they had identified 600 websites and more than 100 servers to attack. N4m3le55 cr3w also speculated the total attack targets by all the groups will be thousands.

As of now, dozens of Israeli websites are unaccessible in Anonymous’ signature DDoS attacks. Apart from that, many other Israeli websites have been defaced. But the damage is not as big as it intended to be. Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, of the government’s National Cyber Bureau said that hackers had mostly failed to shut down key sites.

“So far it is as was expected, there is hardly any real damage. Anonymous doesn’t have the skills to damage the country’s vital infrastructure. And if that was its intention, then it wouldn’t have announced the attack of time. It wants to create noise in the media about issues that are close to its heart.”

Israeli hackers’ retaliation:

This was only expected. The announcement made by Anonymous stirred up the Israeli geeks and the Israeli hacker groups planned a counter attack on Arab cyber world. The biggest and most embarrassing causality taken by Anonymous was the hacking of its OpIsrael official website by EhIsR.

As we write, an ongoing war between the two sides going on and as per news coming in, Israeli hackers have got the upper hand.

Xbox Live Users Can Now View WWE Events

April 4, 2013 By Kiran Yasmin Leave a Comment

Are you a wrestling fan? If yes then there is a wonderful news for you. Today goliath of has set up a shop on Xbox Live. To amuse the viewers and fans from all parts of United States of America, the WrestleMania XXIX would be unveiled on Xbox on the basis of pay per view event. Keeping in mind the likeness of billions of people, this decision has been made by the WrestleMania XXIX officials.

The purpose of this event is to let the people enjoy their favorite wrestling shows live at Xbox 360. So, it has made easy for the universal fans to enjoy some of the outstanding PPV matches in one collection. What so ever the match would be—battle for a gold championship, personal affairs/pride issues or anything, the matches would be in access of the the Xbox 360 users. In pay per view event, the wrestling fans only need to pay a few cents in order to view their favorite shows on to their Xbox devices. Isn’t it wonderful? Thanks to Gaming House Entertainment who made this idea possible.

Baidu Eye Aims To Compete Google Glass

April 4, 2013 By Kiran Yasmin 3 Comments

is likely to come up with the aim to give the users a feel to wear a hands-free computer device. It allows its users to take pictures, record videos, search the exciting photos from the internet and display the weather updates. So, overall its an exciting innovation to amuse the people in this technology oriented world.

But it seems that China has decided to come up in the race of introducing some innovative and creative technology products and put behind the American search giant. Baidu–a famous Chinese search engine has recently unveiled Baidu Eye. The news has been confirmed by .

Specifications of Baidu Eye:

Some of the awesome specifications which make Baidu Eye an ultimate choice of the users include:

Voice recognition technology (similar to Google Glass)
Objects’ image recognition capacity so that the users can view the clear images of the objects around.
Bone-conduction technology which lets its user communicate via the spoken words.
It runs with Google’s Android operating system.
Baidu Eye is said to be built in with , with 100GB of cloud storage.
An ocular interface and built with LED.

Kaiser Kuo–Baidu’s director of International Communications has viewed in an interview that Baidu Eye is far much different and better than Google Glass. The better functions and multimedia options can make it an ultimate choice of millions of the users around the globe. And if nothing else, in my opinion, lower price will certainly be a USP here.

These days, the company is doing some internal testing on it now on a small scale to evaluate the future of this innovation. Now lets see whether Baidu Eye succeeds in dominating the Google Glass or not? For getting the answer, we will have to wait till it is launched.

Meanwhile, if you think you cannot afford a Google Glass or Baidu Eye, feel free to do something like this 😛

Festo’s Innovative Robotic Dragonfly Touches The Skies

March 31, 2013 By Kiran Yasmin Leave a Comment

Festo name needs no introduction as it is one of the leading electrical automation Technology Company. Festo is not behind in the race of technology development. Recently the mechanical experts of this Germany based company have created an innovative 180 grams robotic dragonfly named as BionicOpter.

In BionicOpter, Festo has input the complex flight properties of a dragonfly with great efforts. The ultra light four wings of this BionicOpter can be controlled independently. It can accelerate forward, backward and even can flight like tiny insects without any hurdle. In addition to the flapping wings of different frequencies and twists, each of the four wings can feature easily as an amplitude controller. To check and balance the direction of the wings a thrust regulator has especially been fitted in the robotic dragonfly. So, there is no hurdle for the robotic dragonfly to touch the skies with great speed and what a wonderful thing that it’s working and functions are completely remote-controlled. Not only this but also it can be controlled with the help of a smart phone (according to the company’ documentation).

The Lightweight Integrated Design & Style

The unique flight concept in the BionicOpter has been made possible due to its light weight and integrated design. Its functionality is exceptional because of the presence of auto-sensors, actuators and other mechanics’ based components. The control systems of the robotic dragonfly’s open and closed-loop are installed in such a way that it even flies through some tight space and narrow areas.

Heinrich Frontzek, the chief of Festo’s Corporate Communication and Future Concepts has clarified in an interview that this unique robotic dragonfly is a good addition in the Festo’s electrical products and for sure it would bring the company name to the heights of success. According to the Canadian Manufacturing report the company has the plan to launch this robotic dragonfly in April at Hannover Messe trade show.

Nexus 7 Follows Eric Schmidt to India! Available for Rs 15,999

March 26, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash 1 Comment

It seems Google Chairman Eric Schmidt’s visit to India is followed by more good news. Google’s flagship 7″ tab, Nexus 7, is now available in India. The product is available in Google Play and can only be ordered online which is very unlike the traditional way of buying retailers in Indian market. But keeping in mind the trend of online shopping in India, especially the urban youth, the ‘online only’ selling should not harm the sales.

The price tag for 16Gb Nexus 7 is Rs 15,999 (excluding shipping charges). Though the product can be ordered starting from today, the website says that it will only be shipped by 5th April. Here is a quick look at the specifications of Google Nexus 7:

Google Nexus 7 Specifications:

Screen

7” 1280×800 (216ppi)
HD IPS

Dimensions

198.5 x 120 x 10.45 mm
340g (WiFi Only), 347g (32GB + Mobile data)

Cameras

1.2MP front-facing camera

Connectivity

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
NFC (Android Beam)

Processor and memory

16GB or 32GB internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less)
1 GB RAM
NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor

Features

Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
4,325 mAh battery
Accelerometer
GPS
Gyroscope
Microphone
Magnetometer

Bill Gates To Award $100,000 For Creating Next-Gen Condom

March 24, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash 3 Comments

Yes! You read it right. You can win $100,000 for proposing an innovative idea to make the traditional condom ‘better’. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which works for several charity works, and AIDS being one of them, has announced an initial funding of $100,000 up to $1 million for improving the present day condom, technically and/or culturally.

The conventional condom has not been changed much for last 50 years, barring the occasional flavoured, dotted and other such tweaks. According to studies and survey, most of the men do not want to wear condoms as it decreases the pleasure and sensation while intercourse. While the widespread fear of AIDS has encouraged the use of condoms, it still is not preferred by many.

Similar argument is for female condoms which require proper training for the usage, which is a bit more complicated than the male counterpart and thus acts as a deterrence in the acceptability of the use of condoms.

The idea behind this project is to get men wear the condom more often. As a side result, it will help in addressing a number of health and development issues such as STD, AIDS, population control. It will also help in indirectly handling several other issues which are the results of an over populated family such as malnutrition in children of a poor family.

Any one with an innovative idea can take this challenge, you don’t need to be a scientist for this task. As the challenge suggests:

Additional concepts that might increase (condom usage) uptake include attributes that increase ease-of-use for male and female condoms, for example better packaging or designs that are easier to properly apply. In addition, attributes that address and overcome cultural barriers are also desired.

You have an idea for a new, better condom? Feel free to apply for it here.

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