Technology Effect

San Francisco: Personal devices like smartphones and televisions are going to sense our moods in near future and will be offering advice to the user, said Intel Corp's Chief technology officer Justin Rattner. Talking about context-aware computing at the annual Intel Develop Forum in San Francisco, Rattner demonstrate how ultra- smartphones can react to our moods and how personal devices will one day offer advice that goes way beyond local restaurants and new songs to download."Future devices will constantly learn about who you are, how you live, work and play", said Rattner. He also demonstrated a television remote control that figures out who is holding it based on how it is held, and then learns the viewer's entertainment preferences. According to market research company IDC, the smartphone industry, including technology giants like LG and Samsung, is likely to sell 270 million phones this year and grow 25 percent in 2011. There will be features that support c...

Microsoft Corp. unveiled the “beta” test version of Internet Explorer 9 on Wednesday, the first of a new generation of web browser programs that tap into the powerful processors on board newer computers to make websites load and run faster. IE9, which is free, also arrives with a more minimalist look and a few new tricks that start to blur the distinction between a website and a traditional desktop application. Following the lead of Google Inc.’s stripped-down Chrome browser, Microsoft’s IE9 comes with far fewer buttons, icons and toolbars cluttering up the top of the screen. Its frame is translucent, and as people browse the web, IE9 can be subtly adorned with small icons and signature colours of the websites being viewed. The new browser also takes cues from Windows 7, Microsoft’s most recent operating system software for personal computers. In Windows 7, people can “pin” favourite programs to the task bar at the bottom of the screen, creating a one-click shortcut. They can also...

Twitter is turning its text-messaging website into a multimedia showcase by adding a new pane that will make it easier for its 160 million users to check out photos and video.The redesign unveiled on Tuesday may compel people to linger on Twitter’s website for longer periods and come back more frequently, making it a more attractive advertising vehicle. “We are still figuring out all the new possibilities,” Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said in an interview. The facelift, expected to roll out around the world in the next few days, splits the website into two panes. One is devoted to the 90 million messages, or “tweets,” posted on Twitter each day, and the other features the images contained within the text. Until now, most links to photos and video have been displayed on other websites or browser tabs.The new look further underscores Twitter’s emergence as a major communications hub.In the process, Twitter has evolved from a geeky hangout when it started four years ago to a worldwide...

New Delhi: Taiwan based electronics major Acer launched its latest Liquid E Ferrari special edition smartphone. Acer has collaborated with luxury supercar maker Ferrari to design the smartphone which uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset, the company said. "The new range of Acer smartphones has been rolled out to meet the increasing consumer demand to access mobile internet in style, anytime and anywhere. These phones personify versatility, performance and stylishness," said S. Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India. "Acer is a pioneer in offering its customers the best in technology and the Snapdragon mobile processor from Qualcomm makes the Liquid E Ferrari special edition a product par excellence," he added.The smartphone comes loaded with a 5 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and an elite Bluetooth headset, which can regulate volume automatically. The introductory price of the smartphone is Rs.29,999 which will be increased after Diwali, once the festive ...

The Intel Developer Forum saw some important announcements made by Intel. Prime among them were the opening of the software application store 'Intel AppUp' and unveiling of new Atom processor E600 System-on-a-Chip (SoC) series.The new processor series, called the Tunnel Creek, has been developed specifically for embedded applications such as in-vehicle infotainment systems for cars, smart grid devices and IP media phones. Doug Davis, Vice President and General Manager, Embedded and Communications Group, Intel said, "The SoC integrates additional capabilities onto the chip and features an open interconnect for added flexibility. Making it easier to design and customize with these new products, vendors including OKI Semiconductor, Realtek Semiconductor and STMicroelectronics will offer interconnect chipsets, and other companion silicon offerings from Dialog Semiconductor and ROHM will regulate voltages and synchronize clocks." Davis also announced the details of an up...

The more you talk, the longer your cell phone battery will last — that’s the future scientists have predicted with a new technology that converts sound to electricity. Scientists from Korea have turned the main ingredient of calamine lotion into a tiny material that converts sound waves into electricity, reports Discovery News. The research could lead to panels that can charge a cell phone from a conversation or provide a boost of energy to the nation’s electrical grid generated by the noise during rush hour traffic. Using zinc oxide, the main ingredient in calamine lotion, Young Jun Park, Sang-Woo Kim and their colleagues created a field of nanowires sandwiched between two electrodes. The researchers blasted that sandwich with sound waves, which at 100 decibels were not quite as loud as a rock concert. A normal conversation is about 60-70 decibels. The sound waves produced a mild electrical current of about 50 millivolts. The average cell phone requires a few volts to operate,...

ISRO is gearing up to launch eight spacecrafts annually to increase revenue and meet global technology demand, a top official of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre said on Tuesday. “Right now, we have four launches including GSLVs and PSLVs per year. The process is on to launch eight spacecraft a year to meet global demand,” VSSC Director P.S. Veeraraghavan told reporters on the sidelines of a function here. On steps taken by ISRO to double the number of launches, he said, “We need to increase throughout in getting various subsystems from industries and then increase our own internal work.”On the commercial aspect, he said India currently earns about Rs. 1,000 crore through commercial satellite launches. “Through Indian remote sensing satellite and through other satellite launches, we are getting revenue of Rs. 1,000 crore per year. This is growing at the rate of 20 to 30 per cent every year,” Mr. Veeraraghavan said. Noting that India has become sixth in the world in space tech...