Google+ Ultimate Allows Design Customization for Google Plusn

Chrome: The browser extension
Google+ Ultimate adds a
notification counter with
dropdown, fixed floating
navigation , and an optional side -
by-side stream view along with
other tweaks.
The extension 's current full list of
features include:
The notification counter is
helpful when not at a Google
website. You can click on it to
view your notifications just
like you can on a Google site.
Fixed floating navigation for
the top and left bars means
that you'll have access to your
icons , streams, and sparks no
matter how far down you
scroll.
Ultra -compact navigation puts
all of your navigation options
in the menu bar . This is meant
to be used on larger
widescreen displays.
Optionally reduce image sizes
in your stream .
Optional side- by- side view of
your stream .
Google+ Ultimate is a free browser
extension in the Chrome Web
Store .

HOW TO: Become a Google+ Beta Tester.

Want to test new Google + features
before they become available to the
public? Now you can , thanks to a
newly launched Google + program .
To sign up to be a beta tester, head
over to the Google + Platform
Preview page and enter your email
address. Any address will work , so
long as you’re signed in to your
associated Google+ account .
You’ll need to click on a link in a
subsequent confirmation email to
confirm your entry into the program .
After that , Google will email you
every time new features are available
for you to test out .
If you’re looking for additional
Google+ resources , be sure to check
out our roundup of 15 guides and
services for Google + power users

Who Could Have Guessed : 3 D Hurts Your Eyes

After experimenting on 24
adults, a research team at the
University of California, Berkeley
has determined that viewing
content on a stereo 3D display
hurts your eyes and your brain.
The scientific term is “vergence -
accomodation, ” which means
that the eye must constantly
adjust to both the distance of
the physical screen and that of
the 3D content.
This can supposedly cause visual
discomfort, fatigue , and
headaches , which I had thought
were just a part of life but
apparently there ’s a scapegoat:
3D technology .

Control an R/C car with an Android phone with the Blue Drone

For those who have ever wanted
a Nissan GT-R in miniature form
are about to get your wish with
the Blue Drone R /C Racer.
Not only is this R /C car a tiny
replica of a $ 90,000 , 530
horsepower car, but it has a
very unique feature . It can be
controlled by a Bluetooth-
enabled Android phone or
tablet.
Yes , thanks to a free application ,
you can control this R /C car
with the use of a touch screen ,
or steer it using your mobile ’s
accelerometer. The car has a
range of thirty feet, is powered
by three AAA batteries , and can
last for about three hours .
This is one of those Kickstarter
projects, which means that it
hasn’ t been made into a reality
as yet . The makers are looking
for $200 , 000 to get started , and
if you are willing to lay down
$59 , you can get one for
yourself.
You can go to the project page
for more information. If you go
to the Source link below , you
can watch a demo video of it in
action.
I wonder if this is the beginning
of R /C toys that are controlled
by an application rather than a
remote control apparatus of
some type. We might as well
phase out that device, as it
seems rather old -school in
comparison to a smartphone.

Star Wars themed Xbox 360o unveiled at Comic-Con

Star Wars themed Xbox 360 unveiled at Comic-Con http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20110722/star-wars-themed-xbox-360-unveiled-comiccon/

Toshiba stretches targets in Indian market

This year will see Toshiba move forward in India as TIPL establishes an R&D Centre at its Gurgaon headquarters to localize and develop new products for India in India; opens one-stop call centre supporting all digital products; starts to stretch its nationwide network of Toshiba stores to 6,000; begins to localize production of LCD TVs; and expands its line-up of products that combine technology with innovation and add user-friendly functionality.

Advances in digital convergence are bringing new capabilities to digital TVs and computers, and opening the way to the creation of exciting products that offer customers new features, functions and higher value.

Toshiba said it is taking full advantage of this transition by promoting a global digital products strategy dedicated to reinforcing its leadership in innovation and in the market place. In alignment with this, TIPL is taking steps to cultivate new capabilities and to secure a leadership position in the Indian market.

India’s economy continues to surge and key markets are recording dynamic growth. The laptop market will enjoy a CAGR of 20% from FY2010 to FY2013, growing from 3.8 million units to 6.5 million, and in TVs the figures are even more impressive: a CAGR of 59% from FY2010 to FY2013, with unit sales climbing from 3 million to 12 million units. 

This huge advance will be fueled by the transition from traditional cathode-ray-tube TVs to sleek LCD TVs.

TIPL is positioning itself to take full advantage of this trend. In July this year, the company unified its TV and PC business operations into a single organization, combining resources and creating a wider network of customer touch points and service centers. 

One immediate consumer benefit from this will be the establishment of a one-stop call centre to handle all digital products, a move that will immediately enhance the customer support experience, said the company.

The establishment of a new digital product R&D Centre this month will support product localization and development and advance innovation in unique products deeply reflecting local needs. 

TIPL also intends to bring this approach to the production of LCD TVs for the Indian market, and has already launched a project to start mass production for the Indian market by as early as the third quarter of FY2011, a move that will significantly enhance TIPL’s supply chain management.

TIPL is also making sure that it can get its products out to people in the market place by doubling its nationwide network of Toshiba stores. Today’s 3,500 stores will climb to 6,000 by the end of March 2012. In future, the Toshiba sign will be a familiar sight to consumers across the country.

Commenting on the new India growth strategy, Masayuki Ito, Vice President of Toshiba Corporation’s Digital Products & Services Company, said: "India is an important market for us and we want to offer our customers here leading-edge products offering more functions. After having consolidated our presence in India, and having established Toshiba as a reliable brand, we are now focused on extending our reach and finding growth with products specially designed for India. 

"We target a 10% LCD TV share in FY 2012 and 15% share in FY2013, accelerating our previous announced plans, and 10% PC share in FY 2013.”

Toshiba India Private Limited is a 100% subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation Japan. Toshiba Corporation, the parent company, is a world-class innovator and industry leader in three key domains: Digital Products (visual image products, including digital and flat panel TVs, DVD recorders & players, portable PCs, digital audio players, hard disk drives, mobile phones and multi-function peripherals).

HTC Evo 3D and Evo View 4G Reviews: Zippy phone, but pricey tablet

Sprint made its mark at the annual CTIA show last March when it introduced two new Android devices, the Evo 3D smartphone and the Evo View 4G tablet. Though both devices are built on previous HTC products, they brought new features to the table, like glasses-free 3D video (the Evo 3D) and support for Sprint's 4G WiMax network (the Evo View 4G). Now, after a long wait, we've finally had the opportunity to give them a full CNET review.

 Full CNET reviews
• HTC Evo 3D review
• HTC Evo View 4G review

Smartphone guru Bonnie Cha first put the Evo 3D through its paces. As you might expect, Sprint is pushing the 3D video as one of the handset's most exciting features. Indeed, Bonnie though it was fun, but she also thought it was best in small doses. And even worse, the effect gave her a headache if she used it for too long.

HTC Evo View 4G

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Fortunately, the Evo 3D succeeds where a phone should. The 1.2GHz processor keeps the it running at a steady clip and the larger battery gives it a lot of life. Call quality was passable, but the Evo 4G also offers a decent feature set to keep you busy, and the $199 price tag is fair.

Tablet reviewer Donald Bell followed with his take on the Evo View 4G. If you think you've seen the device before, that's because you have. The Evo View 4G is a basically a rebranded HTC Flyer, but with support for Sprint's 3G and 4G cellular networks. Otherwise, the design is the same down to the sturdy construction and the 7-inch display.

Donald appreciated the Evo View 4G's screen quality, HD video recording, the digital pen compatibility and HTC's Sense UI customization. On the other hand, he wasn't so enamored with the Gingerbread (Android 2.3) interface, the total ownership ($399 plus service), and that the pen may run you an additional $80.

Web apps get the ultimate endorsement: Windows 8

With the Internet's importance steadily gaining, it's not as if Web programmers needed an ego boost. But Microsoft has given them a major one anyway with a radical change coming in Windows 8.

The next-gen Windows will come with a new programming foundation, letting developers build native apps with the same techniques they use for Web applications. Microsoft calls this new variety "tailored apps."

It's a bold move for the company. Microsoft's financial fortunes have depended heavily on Windows sales, and Windows' continued momentum has depended heavily on the wide range of software written to use Windows' direct interfaces.

Tailored apps, in contrast, use a higher-level interface: a browser engine. Now we know why Microsoft has been so gung-ho on IE9 over the last year.

Why this sharp break from the past? Microsoft isn't commenting on its rationale beyond speeches earlier this month, but here's one very good reason: ARM processors.

Today's ARM processors, from companies including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Nvidia, Samsung, Apple, and Freescale, are usually used in mobile devices. But they're growing up fast, and Microsoft is designing Windows 8 to run on ARM chips, too.

Windows has run on other processors besides x86 chips from Intel and AMD--Itanium, MIPS, Alpha, and PowerPC. Although each of those versions has been abandoned over the years, Microsoft clearly has adapted the Windows code base for processor independence.

Getting programmers to come along is another challenge altogether, though.

It's a chicken-and-egg problem. Why should a Windows programmer create, say, an Itanium version of some product when there are so few Itanium computers shipping? And why should a person buy an Itanium-based computer if there is so little software shipping?

Web programming, though, is inherently cross-platform, as illustrated by the wide range of computers and operating systems that can be used to browse the Web. Windows 8's tailored apps will call upon browser interfaces: HTML (Hypertext Markup Language, for describing Web pages), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets for formatting), and JavaScript (for executing programs).

Once Microsoft issues its ARM version of Internet Explorer--Windows 8 will come with IE10--the tailored apps should become cross-platform. In contrast, ordinary native apps such as Adobe Systems' Photoshop or Microsoft Office that are written to Windows' lower-level interfaces would have to be created separately.

Mike Angiulo, vice president of Windows planning, demonstrated the approach in a Computex speech, playing a touch-screen piano app on two machines. "These are the same apps. This is running on x86, this is running on ARM," he said. "It's the same app, completely cross-platform, based on the new Windows 8 app developer model."

Microsoft already has a cross-platform programming foundation, .Net and Silverlight, and there has been fretting among its fans about Microsoft's Web-tech move.

But ultimately, Microsoft's position makes some sense. Windows remains a powerful force in the industry, but almost all the hot consumer-level programming action today is taking place either with Web apps or with mobile apps running on iOS and Android. Every now and again a new native app arrives for Windows--Angry Birds, say, or any number of other video games--but the hot platforms of the moment are mobile and the Web.

Windows 8 has a very different interface. These dynamically updated tiles represent apps.

(Credit: Screenshot by CNET from Microsoft video)

"Over 60 percent of people's time is spent in a browser when they're using virtually any system," said Angiulo said.

There's already an army of Web-savvy programmers, a fact that helps ease with the chicken-and-egg problem of spinning up a new programming foundation. It's not clear how closely tailored apps will resemble Web apps, but it's likely that something like Facebook's interface could be repackaged without major difficulties. That could help flesh out the Windows 8 app store faster.

"This application platform is based on HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS--the most widely understood programming languages of all time," Angiulo said. "These languages form the backbone of the Web, so that on day one when Windows 8 ships, hundreds of millions of developers will already know how to build great apps for Windows 8."

In addition, Web programming is expanding beyond the Web already: Hewlett-Packard's WebOS uses Web technology, as do browser extensions written for Google's Chrome, Apple's Safari, Opera, and the imminent Jetpack framework for Mozilla's Firefox. Note that Chrome extensions can be sold as full-on Web apps through the Chrome Web Store already, and that Web apps are what Google's Chrome OS runs.

Thus, in a way, Windows 8's tailored apps are close cousins to Google's Chrome OS apps.

With the fevered rush of standards development, the Web is getting more powerful. One of the hot areas today is in CSS, It's growing more advanced not just as a way to put drop shadows behind boxes with rounded corners, but also as a way to animate changes such as boxes popping up and even provide 3D effects such as windows flipping over.

Two Windows 8 apps can share the screen, but the usual approach is to devote the entire area to a single app.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Other work is improving CSS Web typography and layouts. With Scalable Vector Graphics, more complex graphics are possible. HTML5's Canvas element provides a two-dimensional housing for such graphics.

Browsers haven't been known for their performance compared to native apps, but Microsoft is pushing as hard as it can to use hardware acceleration. It does so for Canvas, SVG, CSS, and even text rendering. It also is working on faster JavaScript, in part by spreading work across multiple processor cores.

Another Microsoft effort makes more sense in light of tailored apps: pinning. IE9 Web pages can be pinned to Windows 7's task bar the way native apps can. With Windows 8, this behavior makes perfect sense since the Web-style tailored apps will be full peers to native apps.

One big unknown is how closely Microsoft will adhere to Web standards and how broadly it will support them. After years in the wilderness, Microsoft has caught Web standards religion, participating in their development, promoting them, offering test cases to iron out compatibility problems, and most notably, building them into IE9. So it seems likely Microsoft will toe the line here, but given how fast the Web is changing, it's probably safe to expect compatibility problems between, say, Chrome OS apps and Windows 8 tailored apps.

But it's not clear just how far Microsoft will go in its support. Much of the development of Web standards takes place in browsers, not just in conference rooms at standards meetings, and browser makers are keen to move forward as fast as possible. Windows itself hardly moves at a breakneck pace.

One uncertainty is whether Microsoft will support IndexedDB, a database technology that a browser can use to store complicated data and could be helpful for applications that have to work when there's no Net connection. And it looks all but impossible that Microsoft would support WebGL, a new standard enabling 3D graphics on the Web that also can improve 2D apps such as games.

Windows 8 tailored apps resemble those using Windows Phone 7's Metro user interface. They're touch-enabled and use a lot of rectangles that slide and swing around.

(Credit: Rafe Needleman/CNET)

Don't expect existing Windows interfaces to go away: Microsoft has a huge collection of existing software to support, and you can bet programmers who don't want to be confined to tailored apps' limits will keep demand high.

What's not clear, and won't be until Microsoft's Build conference in September, is when Microsoft thinks programmers should use the different programming foundations.

Here's one big difference between Web apps and native apps, though: state. It's an arcane technical subject, but in short, it refers to who's in charge. With Web applications in a browser, state is maintained on a server. That lets multiple people simultaneously edit a Google Docs spreadsheet, for example; the server handles connections to all the browsers. With native apps, though, it's the local machine that typically maintains state.

For a good illustration of state, think of what cloud computing means to Apple vs. Google. Apple's iCloud synchronizes data among different devices, but when you play a music track, it's playing from the local device's storage system. Google streams it from a server, and the browser is at its beck and call.

HTML is getting more powerful abilities to store information locally, though, so that a server isn't required. The browser increasingly is able to maintain its own state.

Here's another difference: programming tools. Microsoft has kept the loyalty of many programmers through highly regarded tools used to build software. Web programming is comparatively primitive.

It seems very likely, therefore, that part of Microsoft's news at Build will concern how programmers can quickly make tailored apps.

After all, while Microsoft has had trouble matching Apple and Google in mobile devices, it's stayed competitive with programming tools. Don't expect the company to throw that asset away any time soon
.