Wednesday, May 22, 2013

NOKIA Do Good Hackathon event : Design and develop apps for people and planet

Ever felt like you had a really good idea for an app that could change people’s lives and make the world a better place? Then this is a golden opportunity knocking at your door.
Devworx in collabration with Nokia gives you a chance to create an app based on your idea and win prizes that you would cherish.
What will you get?
  • For each Hackathon
  • For each hackathons and for each category
    • Grand Prize: Nokia Lumia 920
    • Second Prize: Nokia Lumia 820
    • Third Prize: Nokia Lumia 720
What are you supposed to do?
  • Register yourself for the Do Good Hackathon event!
  • Share your app idea with us latest by:
    • Bangalore: May 31, 2013
    • Delhi: June 5, 2013
    • Pune: June 12, 2013
  • Best ideas would be selected by a jury of experienced technology enthusiast and selected developers would be invited to participate in a 24 hr hackathon in any of the 3 given cities.
  • Based on your idea, start developing app(functional/semi-functional at simulator) on your system before coming to the event
  • Complete the app on the day of the Hackathon and present it infront of a grand jury.
No registration fees required. So don't sit back, send in your app ideas today.
register now
HURRY UP !! LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE
For more details on the program, quality criteria etc. please visit here



Friday, May 17, 2013

Ten Reasons Why Samsung's 5G Is Mostly Hype

On Monday, Samsung made a 5G announcement promising download of 3D movies in seconds.  Samsung did the most masterful job of spinning a test for the maximum public relations impact that I have seen in a long time.  Samsung served up such a sumptuous treat to the media who seem fascinated by technology. Obviously many media people are not engineers and as such may not have the background to know the right questions to ask.
The announcement first caught my eye when it was reported by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency .  Subsequently Samsung stated that its new 5G technology will provide transmission rates of several hundred times faster than 4G.
Here is why Samsung’s announcement is a hyperbole.
  • Its experiment achieved a data rate of 1.056 Gbps.  This is not several hundred times of today’s fastest 4G LTE networks.  According to a study, even AT&T which does not have the fastest network in the world achieved 57.7 Mbps of maximum download speeds in real life.  Samsung’s test achieved only about 18 times AT&T’s max average speed.
  • Transmissions in the millimeter wave band do not pass through building walls.
  • Transmissions in the millimeter wave band are attenuated even by trees.
  • Transmissions In the millimeter wave band are easily absorbed by rain drops, humidity has significant impact.
  • Samsung claims to have used a 64 element antenna.  There are no more details about this antenna.  Considering the claims Samsung is making, it appears to me that transitioning such an antenna from a mere outdoor experiment to the point of miniaturization so that it can be used in an actual phone may be not be easily achievable.
  • Transmissions in the millimeter band are typically used in line-of-sight applications because they do not bend or reflect well.
  • There is a doppler shift when the recipient is moving and this can be a significant issue.
  • At these high frequencies, a phone can be severely  impacted by shadowing caused by the user’s body.
  • Although 4G has become part of our daily vocabulary, there is no 5G standard that exists today.  5G is simply a generic term for the next generation network.  In general, in the world of communications, standards are developed long before commercialization.  There is no 5G standard published by any recognized body.
  • Samsung itself projects that the technology may not be ready until 2020.
Samsung deserves credit for working on new high speed technologies.  As I wrote yesterday such developments may pose risk to Apple. New developments may also pose risks for Qualcomm.  The rest of the Google Android phone manufacturers, BlackBerry, and Nokia will simply license new technologies.


Samsung To Launch 5G By 2020, Hits Speeds Of 1Gbps In Tests

samsung-logo
Samsung Electronics has developed core technology that will allow it to deliver high-speed 5G wireless data connections to consumers by 2020, the company announced today. The system allows data transmission up to several hundred times faster than current 4G networks.
5G mobile communications technology is the next generation of 4G LTE networks tech and can offer data transmission speeds of up to several tens of Gbps per base station. Once 5G networks are commercialized, they will allow users to transmit massive data files, including UHD movies and remote medical services, “practically without limitation,” Samsung claims.
4G connections have gradually become available to consumers around the world since 2008, but many countries, including China, are still working toward launching their LTE networks. Samsung says, however, that its new adaptive array transceiver technology overcomes the limitations that millimeter-wave bands had when transmitting data over long distances. It transmits data in the millimeter-wave band at a frequency of 28 GHz at a speed of up to 1.056 Gbps to a distance of up to 2 kilometers.
“The millimeter-wave band is the most effective solution to recent surges in wireless Internet usage. Samsung’s recent success in developing the adaptive array transceiver technology has brought us one step closer to the commercialization of 5G mobile communications in the millimeter-wave bands,” said Samsung executive vice president and head of digital medial and communication R&D ChangYeong Kim.
Samsung isn’t the only company to announce that it has developed 5G core tech. In February, NTT DoCoMo confirmed that it had successfully conducted a 10Gbps wireless tes



Samsung's 5G Is 'Several Hundred Times Faster' Than 4G

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Samsung has developed a new mobile data transfer technology that's potentially up to "several hundred times" faster than current 4G networks. More precisely, the company announced "the world’s first adaptive array transceiver technology operating in the millimeter-wave Ka bands for cellular communications."
Samsung says the technology "sits at the core" of a 5G mobile communications system, and it can say that with relative ease, as 5G (unlike LTE or 4G) is currently not a defined set of standards — more a vague idea of whatever comes next after 4G.
Samsung's new technology, which the company plans to commercialize by 2020, sounds impressive when it comes to data transfer speeds. In its testing, Samsung managed to transmit data at a speed of up to 1.056Gbps to a distance of up to 2 kilometers.
In practice, Samsung envisions mobile transmission of "massive" data files, which include high-quality movies, "practically without limitation."
Though 4G technology hasn't really reached the hands of consumers yet, the race to set the standards for 5G are already underway. In March 2013, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology established a working group to research 5G, and the EU announced in February it will invest 5 million euros in 5G research.




Samsung Galaxy S4 to be Optimized for Improved Internal Storage Capacity

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a generally well received smartphone, however, the devices operating system and additional software add-ons take up a large chunk of the mobile devices internal storage capacity.
According to a new report the company is now preparing to fix storage issues. The BBC consumer affairs show Watchdog investigated numerous customer complaints about TouchWiz implementation and other additions that took up valuable storage space.
Samsung is not the only phone manufacturer to suffer from storage issues. For example, the HTC One offers 16GB but takes up 7.14GB of space. Apple on the other hand takes up just 3.5GB for its storage space on the iPhone 5.

The 16GB model of the Samsung Galaxy S4 leaves buyers with just 8.82GB of free space. The one advantage the device has over the HTC One and Apple iPhone models is the inclusion of a microSD card slot that provides greatly expanded memory up to 64GB.
Speaking to CNET Samsung says of the internal memory issue:
“We appreciate this issue being raised and we will improve our communications. Also, we are reviewing the possibility to secure more memory space through further software optimization.”
Users looking for a Samsung Galaxy S4 with better memory management might want to wait for the unlocked Google version of the smartphone. Google recently announced that it would sell a fully unlocked version of the Galaxy S4 that comes equipped with a stock installation of Google Android.
The Android stock version of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 will go on sale June 26 for $649.
Google has not yet announced which version of the Google Android OS will be placed on the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Will you be purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S4 or would you rather buy the stock Google Android version which will likely take up less memory?






Thursday, May 16, 2013

Be a part of Google Student Ambassadors (GSA) Program 2013



The magic of success is a perfect blend of education, passion, hard and smart work. In today’s fast changing technology landscape, programs that bridge the gap between what is taught in the college and what is sought by the industry are important. Google facilitates one such partnership through its Google Student Ambassador (GSA) program – where we partner with academia to promote the use of technology in everyday lives. The Google Student Ambassador is a liaison between Google and the students’ college or university. The Ambassadors work directly with Google to conduct activities within their campuses during the academic year, - introducing fellow students to new Google products and features, and acting as campus contacts connecting Google with partnering institutions.

Following an overwhelming response to the program last year, we are working with over 500 colleges and universities in India, this year, to identify and recruit Student Ambassadors for the upcoming academic year. After a pre-defined series of evaluations and interviews, 300 GSA’s will be selected to represent their educational institutions this year. We are currently in the process of identifying faculty members who would act as the single point of contact to support the program in each of the shortlisted educational institutions. This year we are accepting applications only from the students who are referred by the identified faculty members.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for students who are:
  • Studying in one of the identified institutions – listed HERE.
  • Going to be enrolled in the pre-final year of their Under Graduate or Graduate studies in the 2013-2014 academic year.
  • Referred by the identified point of contact from one of the shortlisted institutions – mentioned HERE.
  • Passionate about technology, learning and sharing.
  • Able to work with students and college authorities to drive various programs and initiatives.
The point of contact for each institution is updated on a daily basis. Please keep checking the list to see if the contact for your college or university has been identified. If you satisfy the above mentioned criteria, and have a passion to learn and share information about cutting-edge technology, then this is your opportunity to make a difference.
GET IN TOUCH with the identified faculty contact from your institution, REQUEST him/her to refer your name for the program, we will get in touch with you and get to know you better and select the most deserving candidate from your institution.
Come, be a part of a Technology Revolution!







Sunday, May 12, 2013

Nokia Lumia 928, The Facelifted Lumia 920 Goes On Sale In The US

nokia lumia 928

Nokia has launched it’s new high-end smart phone, the Lumia 928 in the United States. The new smart phone is a bid by the company to regain it’s market share, which it has been losing to Apple and Samsung since a few years now. 
The Nokia Lumia 928 is a small upgrade over the Lumia 920, which was launched earlier this year. The Lumia 928 features almost the same set of hardware as the Lumia 920, but in a slimmer and lighter body. 
The Lumia 928 is 23 grams lighter than the Lumia 920, weighing at about 162 grams. The new smart phone is also 0.6mm thinner than the Lumia 920.
Coming to the specifications, there aren’t any major differences between the specs of both the smartphones. However, the Lumia 928 promises to enhance the low-light photography as compared to the Lumia 920, as it features a Xenon flash, as opposed to dual-LED flash on the Lumia 920. The camera itself on both the devices remains the same, which is an 8.7 megapixel Pure view camera at the back, and a 1.3 megapixel camera at the front. 
Second difference between both the devices comes in the form of their display, as the Nokia Lumia 928 features a 4.5-inch AMOLED PureMotion HD+ ClearBlack display, while the Lumia 920 has an  LCD IPS display, with all those bells and whistles. 

Powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, the Lumia 928 gets 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, same as the Lumia 920. 
Both the smart phones get the same capacity battery as well, which is rated at 2,000 mAh, but while the Lumia 920 has a Li-Ion battery, the Lumia 928 gets a Li-Polymer battery.
The Nokia Lumia 928 promises a better audio quality as well, as it features louder and improved speaker, giving 140db audio, which surpasses even the HTC One’s 89db.
While the Nokia Lumia 920 is available in a wide range of colors, the Lumia 928 is available in only Black and White color options.
The Finnish smartphone-maker is trying really hard to win back it’s market share, be it with it’s the lower-end devices or the top-of-the line smart phones. A couple of days back, Nokia announced the new Asha 501 in New Delhi, and next week, the company is holding an event in London, where the long-rumored Nokia Catwalk is expected to make an appearance.
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