Monthly Archives: April 2011
The War is Ignited: Hands on the **NEW** BlackBerry Playbook
“Wow!, the iPad 2 is amazing and I can do some much with it. The multitasking is cool and there is much more features than that! The iPad 2 can never be beaten and is like the best tablet in the world. BOOM!!!! What was that?” That was the BlackBerry PlayBook. The new competition with the new iPad 2. Let’s go undercover for more information on this new extra handed pricey tag.
THE FEATURES:
The new PlayBook probably has some pretty cool and juicy features embedded on it’s main processor. Most of the new features are finally some better multitasking. For once the greatest competitor in multitasking was the iPad and the iPad 2. Now it’s the new PlayBook. The multitasking is based on a core processor for multitasking made by Texas Instruments. Their development on this was worked on hard and has payed off. The PlayBook has the multitasking of a computer. For once you can play the any of your music and download things in the background. It is really light weight about 1 lbs. It is also pretty small but it’s like a pocket traveler with you the whole time. Not like a crummy iPad that you have to stuff in a bag. It has 1024 x 600 resolution of HD graphics. Pretty cool, right? It has 1 GB of ram and 1 ghz core processor. Without any trouble we finally have something that works with flash. Thank YOU BLACKBERRY!! We can now do pretty much what a computer does, what a relief. Now, don’t forget the cameras. 5 megapixel and 3 megapixal (front and back cameras). It now also supports some cool sofwares too: POSIX OS, SMP, Open GL, WebKit, Adobe Flash and Adobe Mobile AIR. This new product is pretty cool!
THE SPECIFICATIONS:
- 7-inch LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
- BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
- 1 GHz dual-core processor
- 1 GB RAM
- Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
- Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
- Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
- HDMI video output
- Wi-Fi ( 802.11 a/b/g/n) <- For people who want to know.
- Bluetooth (2.1 + EDR)<- For people who want to know.
- Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
- Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java(these are types of programming)
- Ultra thin and portable:
- Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
- Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
- RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.
Credit: http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/27/rim-introduces-playbook-the-blackberry-tablet/
THE BAD:
Well there’s one thing simple enough: it’s small. People who usually buy this type of stuff usually want it to be a little bigger. This thing is just a little bigger than the iPod touch. That’s pretty small which makes it as a big advantage. Even with the iPod touch having 128- 256 MB of ram the PlayBook has 1GB! That’s a lot which is what allows the multitasking to be much better. That’s one of the reasons you’re computer lags when you open a lot of programs that take up a bunch of RAM space. 1GB though can make the make the PlayBook slow and sometimes lab a lot. Another reason to go with Apple products. Since BlackBerry is not really into apps, they barely have any apps to play right now. They have only a few games to play with and a few other apps that work on it. That’s pretty much it.
THE GOOD:
One of the good parts is the memory 16GB, 32 GB, and 64GB. That is a lot of memory for the PlayBook which can be useful for people. The multitasking has improved the technology so much you’ll be amazed. Also the HD features on the screen make it look like the HDTV that you have at home. It also has a good RAM speed of 1 GHZ for it’s main processor. It also supports more audio formats for basically more music. All you programmers out there who really have a good idea. The Playbook supports all sorts of programming types that gives you to think broad. So now basically people don’t have to narrow-minded bigots like the developers at Apple who learn only Objective-C for their Cocoa based applications. There’s now even an HDMI port so you can connect it to your TVs etc. that support HDMI. Now it’s even more thin than the regular iPad which means you can fit it in many places. The size can also make it portable to use.
VIDEO:
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Polls tab
From now on all the new polls will be placed in the poll tabs. I will still announce the new polls here too.
-Karthik
The Path of the iPhone Generation. What’s next?
The first television, the first computer, the first program, the first internet, the first OS system, the first media device, the first ever smartphone. Then, there’s the first ever iPhone. Wow. If you sit back and look at that timeline you’ll be amazed. Humans are smart. We can do all sorts of things. From the first human to the first ever iPhone. The first ever iPhone was released just in 2007. It wan’t just soda that was cool. It popped and fizzed on it’s very first arrival to the world. The people behind it: Apple Co.. The company that was once just sitting down and creating computers had created this. This revolutionized the Apple market. From computers to phones and media devices. Next there will the holographic TV and after that….god knows. The iPhone, the iPhone 2, the iPhone 3, iPhone 3GS (OR 3.5), then finally the iPhone 4. Trust me there will be a iPhone 17GS by the time I’m even in college. So much has happened in all these years. It’s hard to even talk about what is even going around with Apple.
The first release of the iPhone brought in AT&T’s interest. This is what Randall F. Stephenson (CEO of AT&T) though, “I’m going to beat you in signing that $%$^ contract Verizon! After I sign this you’ll be screwed and I’ll buy you just like what I did to Cingular, they never lived after our domination!”. Verizon: ” Woah hey there Mr. Stephenson calm down the world is not going to end, K? You signed that contract happy?” That’s what kinda happened there, but anyway Verizon signed a contract in February 2011 with Apple. Both carriers made a lot, but after Verizon was a carrier, more and more and more people bought the iPhone 4. I guess that saying was right, “2 heads are better than one”, well for Apple at least.
The new iPhone is really attractive ,but lately some people are still having trouble with the signals. The new iPhone 4’s engineering put in the signals on the border of the metal outlining. Well, people while holding the phone have been blocking that signal so all the calls are being dropped. Apple solved that with giving out free bumper cases for the recent edition. The fixed the problem later on with new editions of the model. With all the cool gadgets, Apple is making cash with spendthrifts money. Apple has really, really low security on their device. Have you seen a BlackBerry hacked, no. All of Apple’s devices has had low security due to all the cool features. People could easily hack into your device and get some information about you, or you could just jailbreak your device. Apple has lost A LOT of money just because of this one reason. The company that should’ve been making money in billions of dollars, is only making millions due to jailbreaking and getting apps and other features for free through cracking and leaking out a bunch of information. If you haven’t also noticed multitasking is probably (I would say) the worst type of feature. For one part a lot of RAM space is being taken over by just this multitasking and it’s slow, bugging and really really weird. If you haven’t heard all ready the BlackBerry Playbook is new competition with the iPad with amazing features and great multitasking. Back to the subject. The iPhone doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Just some new features and attractive looks that all people think of. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Apple just has some horrible security. Just to tell you, before the iPhone 4 ever came out. It was already leaked into the internet. Horrible for Apple because after the leaked information people already knew how it would look like and the features. Just imagine, it’s like Steve Jobs on his iPhone Expo and he is like, “We have finally come to a point where we have a phone with retina display and amazing graphics, with a new look. It’s the iPhone 4!!!” Audience: “‘chirp’ ‘chirp’ We’ve already heard of it!” That’s pretty sad because there is not suspense in that at all. Even after that people knew how the new iPod touch was going to look!
Although Apple has all those disadvantages. The money is what their even here for. Apple probably created FaceTime so it could persuade you to buy a new Apple device. If you haven’t heard of it. FaceTime is this new app that Apple created so that you could call friends who have the new iPod touch or iPhone and you could use the camera to communicate. All really cool! Requirements: iPhone 4 or new iPod touch. Wow. That could a lot of people’s attentions. Including some of my friends. “WOW! I could call all my friends and use the camera that’s sweet!” Oops you forget the “requirements”. That’s a pretty good market strategy for Apple though. I have to give that to them.
With the years to come bye Apple should still have a tank full of ideas to be used. I just hope that there is enough for this company to stay alive.
citations:
Google Images
I Command You to Do As I Do!
I’ve always dreamed of those robot characters in Zathura to actually think on their own. To me robots are just retarded space equipment, because they do what you do. To tell the truth thinking on your own is not that easy when you go to your brain. You have nerves and brain cells floating around and doing stuff. Back to the future kiddo, we’re not with Frankenstein anymore!
This idea is known as Artificial Intelligence (AI). If you’ve played game like Halo and other sci-fi games then AI bots should be familiar to you. They are robots that can command and do things that whatever they want to do. It’s not that simple when you think about artificial intelligence. How do you make a person think in different perspective. You can’t code all the things in the world in a zeta byte or terabyte. There are so many things to learn in the world and you can’t program it all to one memory chip. To have AI, you need to see the secret behind how we think, how we talk, and how we learn. All the problems in this should be solved easily when you have the idea of what’s going around in your brain. You can’t copy the exact same blueprint of the brain and construct your own. The brain has billions of little cells that have a mind of their own to perform specific tasks. I have ideas on how to figure some of this stuff out. 1st thing that comes in mind is an autopsy. This way we can find some parts of the brain that we have never hear a and seen. What we can do after that is then figure out what it functions. For that we’ll need a volunteer. But in this same idea. We may have found all the parts in the brain and may not be able to zoom in microscopic size to see everything that we may need to see.
The big big problem that we are concerned about is the obvious. It’s the money. How much money would we spend for this big project? Would it be worth it? Will we get any progress? All we can do so far is just to program robots. ASIMO was probably the biggest step in this generation with a robot that has it’s own cameras to determine what to do, where it is and send functions up to is brain to see how. To see how. That is a big step. If we can get an AI chip to get working. To see how, we’ll be able to create a robot that will be able to learn and think on it’s own. Military could use these robots to protect the people. Just imagine how useful this could be. But more robots could mean more power. If someone got the hands on the robot and changed it’s system they could do anything they could ever imagine with the robot. I don’t think that would be good, so that’s definitely off of the list.
If you see this photo, you’ll laugh and be amazed at the same time. ASIMO has a short battery supply can can do various tasks and play sports.
Now Toyota is in the business of robotics. They have recently developed a robot that can carry people around when you speak to it and they have developed another robot that actually play the violin.
Robots and AI have been a big idea, to do things that you want it to do, or to do as I command. Simple as it is, robots and AI are definitely the future for us.
-Karthik Velayutham
citations:
images.google.com
Problems
Sorry about all the technical problems ,but i’m having slow wifi and have a buggy computer so posts will be coming up around in April 27th due to technical problems and a lot of work that i have. You can still email me and i will right some short articles.
-Thanks!
Hands on the new iPad 2! It’s cool!
Yesterday, I goot bored in the mall so I decided to have a little break. After walking and waiting @ stores, I decided to kill some time at the Apple Store. Barely any people were there (morning XD ), so I got the chance to try out the iPad 2. I don’t really like the iPad regularly because of the idea, but to all you Apple haters. You guys are dumb if you don’t even get your hands on the iPad 2!
For one fact, it’s lightweight, so Apple didn’t lie about that. I just hope it’s not so lightweight that it’ll get blown away! Trust me, I’ve seen that happen before. The cameras are OK and I guess it’s like a portable Mac. The iPad has many features including new games and new looks. It’s much more slimmer and they used this new chip, (I don’t really care about that). At first when I saw the commercials, I was like: “……………….” , because it didn’t get me attention. One question on the commercials. Why are the hands and fingers like robots. It’s always like one straight finger sticking out and scrolling the pages. This iPad 2 though was really different. It felt like I was holding a Mac that was portable. Here’s the good part, jailbreaking your devices is now legal (has been for a while): http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/feds-ok-iphone-jailbreaking/ . If you see this article, you’ll being laughing your lungs out of your nostrils (horrible idiom! :P)
Hacking the iPad 2 will give you great features. You pretty much save money on buying a real Mac. Other than that it has great features and it proves a new generation for us as we go into the future, every second and every minute of the day. The iPad 2 is pretty cool ,but one of the things I don’t like about it is that they say “iPad 2”. They should cross out the -2- . So, I stood there and used the iPad 2 for like 25 minutes and watched the great graphics and messed around with some of the apps. One thing that I think is cool though is some of the apps. With a big screen, eBooks and other educational apps are really easy to use right now though iBooks is not making a lot of money. It could be a good study tool, but you get get goofed off because of all the multitasking and other fun things that you could do with it.
The case that Apple had made for the iPad 2 is great. It’s foldable so it can be a holder for your iPad 2. See how annoying it is to say ‘iPad 2’ instead of iPad. FaceTime, another great built-in app from Apple. It’s a way to communicate with your friends using an Apple device with your cameras on any Apple device. (At least the ones with the cameras!) Now, it’s much more faster and has a lot of battery. I think it’s like 10 hours of great playing! Don’t forget the internet. Wi-Fi, AT&T, or Verizon. You choose, 3G or Wi-Fi.
Here’s the disadvantages. For one thing we now is that it’s very fun and exciting to use, but the price for just 16 GB is $499! That’s A LOT. I think that a 32 GB iPod Touch 4g would be worth the price for that. Another problem is with the eBooks. We have to choose one. Print or eBooks. In this generation of me (’99 and ’98 and below) and other students, teachers, etc. out their. It’ll probably be print. It’s not easy to just read textbooks of your iPad.. 2! 1. You get eye strain, playing with good quality with bad eyes, doesn’t work. 2. People are much more used to reading things that are in print because we were born with that habit! I even hate reading an article online sometimes!
Everything is pretty cool with the iPad…2! But I don’t see the point of it. Here’s the basic thing: it’s just an over stretched iPhone/iPod touch with just a few more features. Apple is now just waiting for this epiphany. They’re kinda out of fuel right now. 😛 😛 😛 😛 😛
I would rather buy the 3DS with my allowance!
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THE BATTLE IS ON!!
The Mac is one of the greatest computers of all time made by Apple. But it wasn’t the first though. It’s major rival: Microsoft Windows. Microsoft was created by Bill Gates and he created the first operating system computer in the world. Steve Jobs then followed him and competed with him with the idea of the Mac and Mac OS X. The Battle was on.
Both companies had many products and yet one of the most successful for Apple would be their generation for the iPhone and Mac. With Windows the best known would be the computer. Microsoft’s other products couldn’t compete with Apple. You’ve probably seen those cartoons with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates right? Yeah, there such good friends. LOL. That’s in you world bub. If you ever come across something like that. DON’T TRUST IT.
The Mac is cool and has a lot of good features. But what are the odds you have a Mac at school to use? 😛 The odds are like 1/100,000,000,000. For right now you’re lucky to have a Mac at school. Windows is much better in 2 ways. 1, it’s really easy to use. 2. most people use it. Have you ever watched commercials between Spongebob Squarepants? Do you ever notice that if people ever show a website, it’s always a Mac using Safari. “Go to http://www.theisisnotarealwebsite.com, and get a free house and much more……. :P”. What’s being used?: A Mac.
Have you ever watched iCarly. Trivia: What computer company is their computer brand related to? Answer: iCarly uses the idea of “Pear”. Which relates to Apple. Pear, Apple, what’s the difference. Their still fruits that grow from a tree. What about Orange? Apple so far has dominated the stands of entertainment shows and commercials. You should be like the smartest person in the world if you ever notice a Windows being used in a commercial.
Here the good things about the Mac though. It attracts people. Hey, you are basically a “cool guy”. I still use a Windows and I’m a horrible technician with the Mac. There is still one guy that I know that I think is the best with computers: Jay Purohit. I’m a “OK” with the Mac. I mean I can use the software and other things ,but I’m not the best using the other features. With the years to come, unless Windows comes up with an idea to stay alive in this war. There’s only one word I can say: “You’re screwed.” Well maybe 2-3 words, but you get the point.
I still thin that Windows can hang on because of it’s dealers. I mean, Sony, Dell, and many other companies, have supported the Windows operating systems. If you look at the Mac, the only company with the Mac supporting is Apple. “Pssshhh……….”,but still they still have like a LOT of people buying it. But with companies buying the software from Microsoft. Microsoft is still top of the game, with Apple hanging around right behind them.
If you look at the technical things. Only a few softwares that are famous on the Windows are limited on the Mac. If you want things like Visual Basic etc. You pretty much can’t do it. Windows still has a bunch of great softwares the Mac doesn’t support, but it’s the same thing for the Mac. It has great softwares that Windows doesn’t support at all. I guess I’ll be sitting here on my computer watching for the rest of my life seeing who’ll win this monopoly and take over. Maybe until some another operating system comes in.
Robots: The Robotic Swiss Quadrocopters
Have you ever used this Air Hogs toys? The ones that can float around when you place your hands. Those are pretty cool right? I’ve used those before and I guess my favorite one was the one that had a camera on it. You could fly around without people noticing and take a video or a snapshot. The disadvantages on those are that they have limited altitude. So you can’t be a James Bond or Alex Rider with all the cool gadget used for spying. Introducing the Robotic Swiss Quadrocopters. ETH Zurich Flying Machine Area had used the idea of embedding some tennis rackets on these robots and to allow them to have a tennis match.
You can watch the video below.
You can notice that these robots are competitive in one another to be the “best robot” in this tennis match. You can also see an impressive juggle by these robots.
Go to:http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-03/video-watch-swiss-quadrocopters-awesome-tennis-moves for more info.
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