Technology Effect

Coimbatore recently joined a band of Indian cities that use technology to reduce traffic violations and step up surveillance. Besides the cameras, optic fibre cables and hand-held devices, video analytics is sought to be used to detect traffic-related offences. The aerial traffic control system in Coimbatore has 180 fixed and speed-dome cameras at traffic signals and crowded places such as bus stands and markets. These are networked through dedicated optic fibre cables and wireless systems. The police monitor the signals on the LCD screens at the control room. The traffic police are also given GPRS-enabled hand-held devices to get information on a vehicle. When a constable on the road feeds the vehicle number in the device, it throws up all details of the vehicle and generates an e-challan if it has committed a violation. Video analytics is piloted at a junction to detect white-line crossing. According to Vishal Jain, Director of JVM Networks, which implemented the p...

A number of different technologies are being developed or improved to offer higher speeds for fixed and mobile broadband networks, as operators are preparing to compete with each other and carry video traffic in 3D and at higher resolutions, which is expected to happen in the coming year. Broadband speeds have arrived at the point where increasing them is a challenge for most types of fixed and mobile networks as providers move toward offering 3D and other more advanced services. However, there are things that network providers can do, such as merging several links into one connection in both copper and mobile broadband networks. But broadband speed isn't just about the connections in the "last mile." Equipment that connects users to a network, for example, mobile base stations, also needs to be able to keep up and not become a bottle neck. And raw capacity isn't the only way to increase speed -- content delivery networks, which push content cl...

New Delhi: Computer giant Apple, the company behind the iPod and iPhone, is working on a next generation 3D technology for TV and movies that does away with its biggest problem - 3D glasses. Most current 3D technologies require viewers to wear glasses that allow the right and left eye to see slightly different images to produce the illusion of depth on the screen. The Apple system relies upon a special screen that is dotted with tiny pixel-sized domes that deflect images taken from slightly different angles into the right and left eye of the viewer, reports the Telegraph. By presenting images taken from slightly different angles to the right and left eye, this creates a stereoscopic image that the brain interprets as three-dimensional. A patent recently granted to Apple, however, has now sparked speculation that it may even go further than 3D domain by offering the chance for holographic films. But holographic movies would require new filming techniques, different f...

While 2010 saw the unveiling of hot products like the iPad and iPhone 4 -- as well as the widespread adoption of the Windows 7 and Android operating systems -- 2011 looks poised to build on the best of what the preceding year had to offer. Tablets everywhere Apple's iPad was just the beginning. In 2011, expect an onslaught of competitors that want to take a bite out of Apple's near monopoly in the "pad" market. New models from HP, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, Motorola, Dell, Asus, Cisco, Lenovo, and others are expected to be rolled out in 2011. While these products may not have the instant name recognition of an iPad, they'll all likely have something that the iPad doesn't: affordability. What will Apple do in response? There are plenty of shortcomings in the iPad that could be addressed by an iPad successor. Social networking warfare Upstarts like Facebook and Twitter took the world by storm in 2010. Will tech heavyweights like G...

The Android operating system, introduced by Google in 2007, was on only a handful of phones at the beginning of 2010. But by the end of the year, dozens of new devices sporting the open OS were available on every major U.S. operator's network. AT&T was the last of the four wireless giants to get Android, announcing it would have at least five Android phones in January 2010. TheIn April, ComScore data showed the Android mobile platform growing faster than any other mobile platform on the market . By November Gartner placed Android second in terms of worldwide smartphone market share . The OS accounted for 25 percent of the market in the third quarter, Gartner reported. The year before it accounted for only about 3.5 percent of the worldwide smartphone market. Sales of Android phones only trailed sales of phones running Nokia's Symbian operating system. Android phones have taken off in part because they can hit different consumer segments, Gartner said. Samsun...

YORK--Google CEO Eric Schmidt made a guest appearance at a press conference here Wednesday where Google, Motorola, and Verizon Wireless unveiled the new version of the popular Android Droid smartphone. Schmidt took the stage first and touted the importance of the smartphone category. The"This is not a toy or app engine," he said. "It is a powerful kind of operating system. What is happening now is that people are thinking mobile first instead of desktop first." He cited the importance of a robust wireless network, as well as hardware with fast processors and big screens. But Schmidt said Wednesday's event is notable not just for the announcement of the new Droid, but for the emergence of the entire category of device. Indeed, the new Droid X epitomizes this. The newest version of the Google Android phone made by Motorola offers an HDMI output, a 4.3-inch display, and 720p video capture. The device also comes with faster processors that will ...