Comment What a day! (Score 1) 2
As cliched as it may sound, it truly is an 'end of an era'
Submission + - Nokia Officially Ends up in Microsoft's Deep Pockets 2
SmartAboutThings writes: It was quite a surprise when we heard back in September, last year, that Microsoft was going to acquire Nokia’s Devices and Services unit for just $5 billion. And today, more than eight months after the announcement, the company whose name was once synonymous with “mobile phone”, gets officially acquired by the Microsoft behemoth. Just as a reminder, $7.2 billion is the price that Microsoft paid for the acquisition. The merger will have a big impact on Nokia’s employees, as Microsoft will transder approximately 25,000 workers from around the world. The company also mentioned that Nokia’s factory from Masan, South Korea, and the factory in Chennai, India, will stay with Nokia.
Submission + - EU Votes for Universal Phone Charger
SmartAboutThings writes: The European Union has voted in favor of a draft legislation which lists among the “essential requirements” of electrical devices approved by the EU a compatibility with “universal” chargers . According to a German MEP, this move will eliminate 51,000 tonnes of electronic waste. The draft law was approved by an overwhelming majority of 550 votes to 12 . At the moment, according to estimates, there are around 30 different types of charger on the market, but manufacturers have two years at their disposal to get ready for the new restriction.
Submission + - 1GB of Google Drive Storage Now Costs Only $0.02 per Month
SmartAboutThings writes: Up until today, I always had the impression that cloud storage was pretty expensive and I’m sure that many will agree with me. It’s a good thing that some bright minds over at Google have the same impressions as they now have drastically discounted the monthly storage plans on Google Drive. The new monthly storage plans and their previous prices are as follows: $1.99 for 100GB (previously $4.99), $9.99 for 1TB (previously $49.99), and $99.99 for 10TB.The 2 dollar plan per month means that the price for a gigabyte gets down to an incredibly low price of only two cents per month.
Comment Re:Competition is always good (Score 1) 153
Does Tizen support Android apps in any manner? (i.e., in a manner like BlackBerry 10 supports Android apps).
Yes, It will support sideloading of Android apps
Submission + - Samsung's First Tizen Smartphone Gets Leaked
SmartAboutThings writes: We are less than a month away from seeing the first ever Tizen smartphone from Samsung. The leaked image points towards Feb 24th launch date at MWC 2014 in Barcelona. The phone design is very similar to Galaxy phones, while the UI reminds us of Windows Phone 8 . Samsung is also the world's top smartphone vendor, so it has all the chances of developing a mobile OS of its own, what do you think?
Submission + - The Pirate Bay block will be lifted in the Netherlands (www.nrc.nl) 1
swinferno writes: The Dutch ISP's Ziggo and XS4all are no longer required to block access to the websites of The Pirate Bay. This has been decided by the court in The Hague.
The blockade has proven to be ineffective. The Dutch anti-piracy organization BREIN will have to reimburse legal costs of EUR 326.000. The internet provider XS4ALL has already started lifting the ban. The website of The Pirate bay was ordered to be blocked by the two major ISPs in January 2012. Recent studies by Amsterdam University and CentERdata.showed that this did not reduce the number of downloads from illegal sources. Many people circumvented the blockade.
The blockade has proven to be ineffective. The Dutch anti-piracy organization BREIN will have to reimburse legal costs of EUR 326.000. The internet provider XS4ALL has already started lifting the ban. The website of The Pirate bay was ordered to be blocked by the two major ISPs in January 2012. Recent studies by Amsterdam University and CentERdata.showed that this did not reduce the number of downloads from illegal sources. Many people circumvented the blockade.
Submission + - OneDrive is Microsoft's Rebranded Name for SkyDrive
SmartAboutThings writes: Microsoft has just announced that SkyDrive, their cloud storage service will be renamed to OneDrive very soon. This follows the news of trademark infringement case filed by British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSkyB)last year over SkyDrive branding . Microsoft had initially hinted at fighting BSkyB’s claims over SkyDrive branding, but then decided to step back and rebrand their cloud offering. The Redmond giant has registered onedrive.com and has also posted a promotional video on YouTube announcing the upcoming change.
Submission + - Intel's Haswell Chips Pushing Windows RT into Oblivion
SmartAboutThings writes: Intel has started shipping the fourth generation Haswell chips for tablets, which brings power-efficient processors and hence much better battery life to Windows tablets. According to IDG, Intel has now started shipping new low-power, fourth-generation Core i3 processors, including one that draws as little as 4.5 watts of power in specific usage scenarios. These new Haswell processors could go into fanless tablets and laptop-tablet hybrids, bringing longer battery life to the devices. This is a great news for Windows lovers, who have had to sacrifice performance for battery life (and vice versa) until now. Now, with almost 50% better battery life as promised by Intel for Windows tablets, the OEMs have no real need to come out with Windows RT based tablets and hybrids anymore.
Comment It's so complicated (Score 1) 2
In India we never had this concept of phone insurance. I guess Nokia was the first to introduce it in partnership with some company few months back.
Submission + - The new AI, where neuroscience and artificial intelligence meet. (wired.com)
An anonymous reader writes: We're seeing a new revolution in artificial intelligence known as deep learning, algorithms modeled after the brain have made amazing strides and have been consistently winning both industrial and academic data competitions with minimal effort. Are we ready to blur the line between hardware and wetware?
Submission + - Pay Using Facebook to Become Reality (techpp.com)
SmartAboutThings writes: "A recent story on NY Times talks about a possible partnership between Facebook and mobile billing company Bango. If this will not remain as a rumor, then quite soon we might be able to pay for goods using our Facebook accounts! Could this help Facebook regain the lost trust for their investors?"
Submission + - Samsung's comparison of Galaxy S to iPhone (scribd.com)
david.emery writes: "In a document from the ongoing Samsung/Apple trial, provided in both English translation and Korean original, Samsung engineers provided a detailed comparison of user interface features in their phone against the iPhone. In almost all cases, the recommendation was to adopt the iPhone's approach.
Among other observations, this shows how much work goes into defining the Apple iPhone user experience."
Among other observations, this shows how much work goes into defining the Apple iPhone user experience."
Submission + - Nuance Launches Siri Rival "Nina" (ibtimes.com)
redletterdave writes: "Siri can send texts and emails, set alarms and reminders, surf the Web, ask questions, place calls, play music, and get directions. But would you trust Siri, or any of her similar rivals out there for Android, to pay your bank bill? Or report a lost card? Or set up an auto-payments for your bills? Even if you wanted to do these things, how does Siri even know you are who you say you are? Nuance has clearly thought about what's missing from the voice recognition department, and unveiled its own solution on Monday, called "Nina." The Nuance Interactive Natural Assistant, or NINA, is a cloud-based AI that can be enabled in most business and enterprise applications thanks to a set of APIs and an open SDK for iOS and Android. Nuance calls Nina "a watershed of firsts for virtual assistants," mainly because she is the "first [VA] to understand what is said and who said it" using voice-ID authentication software. Unlike Siri, Nina can help users manage their bank accounts, book flights and hotels, oversee and manage their investments, and more."
Submission + - Raspberry Pi to Get Fully Functional Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (techpp.com) 1
SmartAboutThings writes: "Raspberry Pi, the credit card sized low cost mini-computer that got so much media attention these days, might be getting a functional Android port real soon. According to a post on their official blog, they have managed to port almost all the basic functions of Android 4.0 on Raspberry Pi, besides Audio Support. This comes after the Raspbian OS has been released for Raspberry Pi, and it promises to be 40% faster. With Android as a viable option, where can tiny computers go?"
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