Recap: Things You Should Know From Google I/O 2013

May 17, 2013 By Arshdeep Singh 3 Comments

So yesterday was Day One of Google I/O 2013 and most of you might have watched the entire keynote or even attended it. It was held at Moscone Centre in San Francisco. Android reached 900 million activations in 2013 which was 400 million in 2012. Google Play Store hits 48 billion app installs also revenue generated for developers is increasing at an incredible rate.

There are many other big announcements let’s check them in detail:

New APIs:

This time Google announced three new API’s these tools help developers to make great applications and even existing ones better. Basically API helps to determine location of the operator of device in various ways whether by using GPS, network or Wi-Fi so to make this even better they added new APIs named as: Fuse Location Provider, Geofencing and Activity Recognition feature. Fuse Location Provider helps to acquire location more swiftly and uses 1% less battery per hour. Second one is GeoFencing it allows developers define a virtual fencing around a particular area and find location of user easily. Third one is Activity Recognition Feature it helps to track physical activities, it senses whether one is walking, cycling, driving and will do it without even using GPS which saves a lot of battery juice.

New Android Studio for developers:

This year’s I/O is largely focused for developers taking this into care Google launched new Android Studio, an integrated development environment based on IntelliJ platform. It has great interface in which a developer can see how his/her application will look like after development and on even different screen sizes. Android comes with live code updates and even font changer tool too.

Google Play Games Service:

We all heard lot of rumors about Google releasing Play Games which is no more a rumor but it is officially live. This Game service is available on cross platform too means you can enjoy gaming with your friends those are on iOS and web. This service offers cloud save feature means syncing game saves, statistics, leader boards, achievements, matchmaking and even multiplayer across various devices. Multiplayer feature is managed by Google Plus means other person should have a G Plus profile.

Google Play Music All Access:

Basically Google Play Music All Access means ”radio without Rules” and it focuses on music discovery when user clicks on single track Google will recommend playlist and radio station based on your selection. This service is currently available in US but will soon come to UK and more. This service comes at price though i.e. $9.99/ month but if users in the States signup by the end of June they will receive for $7.99 only.

Stock Samsung Galaxy S4 is real:

Google launched Samsung Galaxy S4 with stock Android providing all updates thus giving it a Nexus like feel plus Google will sell the 16GB version of the device in Play Store which comes 4G LTE, unlocked bootloader and will be available for $649 from June 26^th in US only.

Google Plus New Layout:

Google Plus got a major overhaul new layout, new design, auto Hash tags, auto- awesome photos, new stream and new hangouts. It’s been two years that Google launched Google Plus since then it didn’t get any major update. Google Plus now has support for three columns with lot animations. This layout fits itself according to the size of display and chooses the best viewing mode. Hangouts got a separate application available on iOS, Android and Web from now only. One can see when new member joins and even see when one is typing and this hangout now saves history. Hangout now replaces you GTalk on your device.

This is not the end of the story:

There are many more things and new services which are launched at this Keynote and yet more to come in coming days. Some of the other new updates are: one tap Checkout Button means if you want to buy something in store then you need to simply tap the purchase button your payment and address will be automatically added from wallet information. Google Play for Education here applications will be made for students, teachers and related to education. Google Now got new cards and reminders some new services are announced which you will get to know when you will use it major added features are knowledge graphs and more. Google Maps will get Zagat Integration this includes 5 star rating for restaurants, hotels, cafes, bars and more.

So these were some major announcements at Google I/O yesterday. So did you guys liked it or not do tell in comments below.

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Anonymous Now Plans To attack US Banks, Institutions

May 7, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash Leave a Comment

Hacking group Anonymous has threatened of another hacking attack and this time the target is USA. Anonymous announced OperationUSA (#OpUSA) and targets mainly US banks and institutions. The attack, according to Anonymous, would be a response to social and political injustices. The group said:

“America you have committed multiple war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and recently you have committed war crimes in your own country. …Now it is our time for our Lulz (fun),”

Anonymous rhetorically bragged: “We will now wipe you off the cyber map“. Considering how miserably it failed in wiping off Israel from cyberspace in OpIsrael attack, it seems unlikely that they are capable of “destruction”.

But why take risk? The typical Anonymous attack consists of distributed-denial-of-service attack along with DNS attacks, redirects, database leaks etc. Possible targets in USA should be working closely with network security teams to thwart the incoming attacks.

TwoGo: A Mobile, Cloud-based Ride Share Program for Corporate by SAP

May 6, 2013 By Guest Author Leave a Comment

Have you ever thought about how the concept of carpooling service can gain sustainability in workplaces?

Carpooling is not a new concept. We often do it with our colleagues, friends, and neighbors. Carpooling not only saves you money on diesel spending, but it also helps addressing the environmental concerns and soothes traffic conditions in our towns and cities. However, very little has been done yet in this field so as to make it innovatively automatic and ensure its availability all the time. SAP, Germany has introduced ‘TwoGo’, a platform specifically designed to encourage and facilitate carpooling solutions and enhanced employee networking among corporate users.

The ultimate aim of TwoGo is to help employees save money on parking; at the same time help companies better manage company/hired cars, and business trips. The platform is a real boost for corporate. Companies hire the service of the entire commuting on per trip basis or pay as per the contract. Usually, a short distance cab service availed by an employee costs almost equal to a full trip. Also, most of the time, due to a slight chance of mistake or delay, company has to pay separately for the cab service availed by different employees for a common route. Cumulatively, all such costs add up to a huge amount and the overall profitability, accordingly, is hampered. TwoGo by SAP is the solution for such concerns of companies.

TwoGo uses NOKIA’s location cloud – HERE for its ability to provide spectacular mapping and location experience across a range of mobile devices, multiple screens, and operating systems. NOKIA HERE is a robust communication app that ensures accurate and comprehensive global mapping information, traffic updates, and routing capabilities. TwoGo can utilize the most advantageous feature of HERE as it has and is planning to expand its compatibility to most of the popular operating systems and devices; including Android, iOS, Firefox OS, Windows 8 Phones, NOKIA N9, WebOS, BlackBerry 7.0, and more.

Ride share and carpooling are not the only features, for which TwoGo will become popular. Employee network and knowledge transfer are somewhere hidden behind the philosophy. Companies spend huge on employee inclusion, openness, and knowledge transfer. TwoGO will enable a natural environment to the employees, where they will automatically get scope to interact with each other, beyond their expertise and designation. This will again develop a sense of engagement and inclusion with the company and the employees will gain from the experiences and expertise of others.

In the long run, company will benefit from more knowledgeable employees, a better work environment, more engaged, aligned, and inclined workforce. Employees’ commitment towards their companies will improve, resulting in less resignations and employee separations. For organizations, this is bonus and the overall cost-structure will be profitable, due to saving from spending on employee training, employee motivation, recruitment, and online recruiting software etc.

TwoGo by SAP can particularly be a useful concept for corporate in all the aspects. While at one end, there is direct savings in terms of reduced frequent trips, trip cost sharing, at the other hand, both the employees and the company can enjoy a better working relationship, conducive for growth and development of the individual as well as the organization.

Author Bio: Mohit is a seasoned online marketing professional with more than 7 years of experience. He also writes on various topic of his interest including technology, computing, Internet marketing, SEO, telecom, ecommerce, and many more.

Get $10,000 For Downloading 50 Billionth App Today

May 3, 2013 By Abhishek Prakash Leave a Comment

The download counter on App Store is about to reach 50 Billion mark. And to celebrate that Apple is offering $10,000 in iTunes gift card to the lucky person who manages to download the 50 billionth app.

Apple has celebrated such milestone earlier as well. Previously, when the app download counter reached 10 billion and 25 billion, Apple generously awarded $10,000 iTune gift hamper. But this time, there is more to just $10,000. If you miss the 50 billionth app, you still have a chance to win. Any one who manages to downland among first 50 apps after 50 billionth download, will get $500 gift card.

And all this is bound to happen tonight (or today, depending upon your geo-location). Interestingly, app download hit is increased exponentially. 10 billion download milestone was reached on 14 January 2011 and it hit 25 billion mark on 2 March 2012.

If you don’t know when you should buy/download the app, check the real time counter at Apple store which is running at a speed of more than 1000 downloads per second (at the time when this article is being written).

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