Two cameras. And a big hello to FaceTime for iPad

 

You’ll see two cameras on iPad — one on the front and one on the back. They may be tiny, but they’re a big deal. They’re designed for FaceTime video calling, and they work together so you can talk to your favorite people and see them smile and laugh back at you.³ The front camera puts you and your friend face-to-face. Switch to the back camera during your video call to share where you are, who you’re with, or what’s going on around you. When you’re not using FaceTime, let the back camera roll if you see something movie-worthy. It’s HD, so whatever you shoot is a mini-masterpiece. And you can take wacky snapshots in Photo Booth. It’s the most fun a face can have.
Learn more about FaceTime
Learn more about Camera
Learn more about Photo Booth

Readmore..

Now one can touch the virtual world!

Bangalore: Germans have discovered a new technology to make the virtual world real and this may enable people to meet the desired person online. Through this method virtual copies can be turned to real objects and these copies can be touched and even sent via the web.

By the sense of touch the user can get deep into virtual reality. This is an attempt to make sci-fi possible in real world. The scientists wanted to transmit a virtual object to a remote person who could not only see but feel and remove it.

Their first step was to successfully transmit a virtual object to a remote person, who could not only see the object, but also feel it and move it. The degree of immersion is higher in virtual reality when more senses are stimulated. As of now, it has not been possible to touch a virtual object. The researchers developed a method for combining visual and haptic impressions with one another.

A user senses the object using a haptic device when a 3D scanner records an image of the object. The internet has the provision to send a VR copy to the desired user. Data goggles with a monitor onto which the virtual object is projected, and a sensor rod which is equipped with small motors are required for a person to be able to see and feel the VR. When the VR object and the sensor rod meet, signals are sent to motors in the rod. By the usage of brakes, resistance is stimulated and the user has the sensation of touching the virtual reality frog whereas from outside it appears that he or she is touching the air.

Whereas earlier attempts simulated the virtual object largely on the basis of assumptions, the method developed by the ETH researchers is based more heavily on measured data. So very aptly people are looking forward to accept this as the technology of future.

Readmore..

Now make phone calls from your Gmail account

Google will now facilitate Gmail users to call telephones directly from their email. It will be in direct competition with Skype and traditional operators like AT&T and Verizon Communications.

After offering computer-to-computer voice and video chat services, Google will now allow calls to home phones and mobile phones directly from Gmail. Calls to the U.S. and Canadian phones from Gmail would be free of cost this year and for calls to other countries, there would be certain charges fixed at a lower rate. Google said calls to Britain, France, Germany, China and Japan would be as low as 2 cents per minute.

According to analysts, this service would likely be a bigger competitive threat to services like Skype’s than to traditional phone companies, which have already been cutting their call prices in recent years in response to stiff competition.

“This is a risk to Skype. It’s a competitor with a pretty good brand name,” said Hudson Square analyst Todd Rethemeier. Like Skype, Rethemeier said the Google service will likely be much more popular among U.S. consumers making international calls, than among people calling friends inside the country.

Readmore..

Honeycomb – Google’s sweet iPad killer attempt

Google’s cauldron seems to be quite fascinated with sweet products at present. After the release of Gingerbread, now, it’s Honeycomb, the tablet platform, an iteration of the Android operating system (v3.0). Whether it’s the Samsung Galaxy tab or the homegrown Adam from Notion Ink, the tablet market is heading on a quite furious note and Google definitely, couldn’t resist it too.

Ofcourse, as the company maintains, it will limit it’s foray to just the Android guru or the creator Andy Rubin gave the gadget freaks a glimse of Google’s tablet platform, ‘Honeycomb’ within the button-less Motorola prototype. The roughly 10-inch, Motorola device was sleek, black, thin and sported an Android interface.

The desktop appears to be redesigned with the extra screen space in mind, along with the new app grid. There was a very clean homepage, but the app page looked almost Apple iPad-like. When Rubin brought up the Gmail app, it resembled Gmail on iPad. It flaunted an NVidia dual core CPU. Rubin said that HoneyComb brings “new APIs that… allow an application to split its functionality to multiple views.

Apps will know when they’re on a tablet.” According to engadget, Rubin unveiled the platform during his talk at All Things D’s Dive Into Mobile conference, where he demoed the new software and hardware.

Honeycomb and Motorola tablet will release some time next year.

Readmore..

India’s cheapest Android phone coming from Intex

Intex is joining the Android bandwagon by releasing its first Android smartphone in February 2011. And this is not just the end of news. The smartphone from Intex will also be the cheapest Android phone to be available in the Indian market at 5,500.

Due to launch in the first week of February next year, the phone will be running on Android 2.2 (Froyo), complete with a 3.2MP camera, 2.8 inch resistive full-touch screen, Wi-Fi and GPS.

It should be noted that the Intex phone will be in competition with Micromax’s Andro A60, launched earlier in the month. The Andro A60 however costs more at 6,999 and runs on Android 2.1. This will give an edge to the Intex phone when it releases.

While we don’t have the full specs of the Intex phone at present, we will get all of that when the phone releases. We have to wait for the phone to release to see how the market reacts to it.

Readmore..

Find Free Wi-Fi/ Wireless Hotspots

The world is slowly switching to wire free networks from wired ones. So some service providers are ready to provide free Wi-Fi/Wireless network services in many places.

In this scenario, PCWorld and JiWire can help you spot free/paid Wi-Fi/Wireless network service providers in your area. You can search their directory to locate wireless services near to you.
You can also browse by a specific address, a city, state, country, airport or zip code to find nearby access points.

I feel, for a better search result you have to provide your exact ZIP/PIN code.

Remember that you may have to create an account of your own for accessing some networks. Also take care of the basic rules and safety tips of using Wireless networks.

Checkout the Wi-Fi /Wireless Hotspots finder.

Readmore..

Convert images and photos to video with Microsoft Photo Story 3

Photo Story 3 for Windows is an excellent tool from Microsoft to convert or to say express your photos and images as video. Photo Story 3 gives you a very user friendly interface, that will let you narrate your story with photos and images.


Photo Story 3 offers lot of cool features

• This will let you import images as group.
• You can adjust color level and correct the red eye in images.
• It allows you to give lot of effects like black and white, sepia, washout, negative and diffuse glow and heading to each photos.
• You can even customize the time of motion in each photos.
• Even this will allow you to put background music to your video story, either by selecting a pre-existing one or by creating by itself.
• You can even create the video album for your Smart Phone or Pocket PC with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile or even for Portable Media Center.

Photo Story 3 is a great tool that will let you create a video album from your static photos of an event. This will be very much helpful if you wish to create your marriage video album from your marriage photos. Here is a tutorial from Microsoft that will explain you how to make wedding photos to a wedding memories video album.
[ Download Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows ]

Readmore..