'Gangnam Style' Crosses One Billion Views on Youtube

"Gangnam Style" has achieved yet another milestone, with the viral pop song surpassing one billion views on YouTube. The achievement comes not long after PSY’s hit picked up the Guinness World Record for the most YouTube likes, standing at 2.2 million in September— a number that has since surged to well over six million and Guinness World Record for most viewed video - surpassing Justin Bieber's Baby.

"Gangnam Style" spent 5 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100, reaching the No. 1 spot before even debuting on the Hot 100. The song is in its 15th week on the U.S.-based Hot 100, with 7 weeks spent in the No. 2 position, held from the throne by Maroon 5's "One More Night". For a time "Gangnam Style" was the most listened to song on streaming platforms such as Spotify, Rdio and Mog, holding the No. 1 spot on the On-Demand Songs chart for 5 weeks.

It’s remarkable to think that a single video has been viewed over one billion times by people all across the world, an achievement that’s been made possible by technology, the internet, and the power of sharing. The quirky and bizarre tone of the song certainly helped, but at the end of the day it's a testament to just how deeply technology is rooted in our culture.

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XDA-University is Now Live

As the holiday season kicks in, with most students enjoying their days away from college/schools (also the reason why I did not have any post in the past few weeks), XDA has finally launched their own University!

"XDA Developers (also known simply as XDA) is a mobile software development community of over 4.7 million users[2] worldwide, started in January 2003.[3] The site's main purpose is discussion, troubleshooting and development of Android, Windows Phone, WebOS and Bada phones. The site also offers Windows Mobile and Android users general information about devices, ROM upgrades, technical support, Q&A, and reviews of device applications and accessories. Separate forums exist for each model of phones manufactured by HTC, Samsung,LG, Motorola, and many others. Forums are also available for tablets and many other devices. The name XDA Developers is originally derived from the O2 XDA, which was marketed as a PDA with "extra" features" – Wikipedia

XDA-University is the new site by the XDA administrators to provide learning tools and materials for Developers And End Users Alike. On my first visit it looks like something of a mix between a text book and a wiki source. The XDA administrators have described it as "crowd-sourced", and the resources provided will be regularly updated, though there is no way for public users to edit the content as yet. More than anything else, it will provide a destination for new Android users (or even experiences ones) to brush up on the basics of both Android as a operating system and XDA as a community of creators and users. The site has detailed guides for app development, hacking & modding, using Linux for kernels, etc., with more content to come in the future.

I was really excited when this project was announced a couple of months back, and it has lived up to its initial expectation. Will it reach the same high standards as the XDA Developers site? Only time will tell.

It will greatly serve the newbies (noobs as per XDA nomenclature) before they take a deep dive into the XDA Developer world and help aspiring developers to form their firm knowledge base without being lost in the search forums of XDA.

The site is now live at XDA-University.com.

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World Won't End Next Month : NASA

No, the heavens will not crash down upon thee, NASA confirms.

Some human folks may fall for all the talk about the worlds end on December 21 2012. But the scientists at NASA have come out with a detailed FAQ to do away with all such rumours. They point to the fact that December 21, 2012 will be just another winter solstice.

"Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012" - NASA states on the FAQ page.

NASA states that all the rumors about the end of the world started with claims that Niburu, a planet discovered by the Sumerians was coming our way. Intrestingly the end was predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the date was postponed to December 2012 and was linked to the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar. the Mayan calender's cycle ends on a winter solstice, hence the date 21 December 2012 was chosen.

NASA also quickly pointed out that it was not the end of the Mayan calendar, it is only the end of a long cycle. "Just as your calendar begins again on January 1 - another long count period begins in the Mayan calendar" - NASA states in its post.

More importantly, NASA clearly states that there is no evidence or science to back these claims and asserts that these are fictional assertions.

The buzz surrounding the 21 December 2012 phenomenon has been quite noticeablle, especially on all social networking websites. albeit in a humourous way. While the truth will only be known when the date arrives, a trusted body like NASA slamming the rumours goes a long way in spreading awareness.

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Ingress - Augmented Reality Game by Google

If you've been checking out all the latest Android apps lately, you've probably heard that Google—by the name of "Niantic Labs"—released a game of some kind. You might have also watched a trailer that depicted people discovering hidden energy fields within statues, landmarks, and artistic sculptures. You had no idea what the whole thing was about. Yet, you signed up for an invite anyway, because like any other weird Google product, you want in regardless of what it is. Well, I got my invite a couple days ago, and I'm happy to tell you, it's absolutely worth it.

"XM" are collected by walking in your surroundings

Ingress is a project of former Google director of geo John Hanke and his Niantic Labs, a start-up team wholly inside of Google. 

Ingress aims to get people out in the physical world, both for physical activity and to see their surroundings in a new way. Users can generate virtual energy needed to play the game by picking up units of “XM,” which are collected by traveling walking paths, like a real-world version of Pac-Man. Then they spend the energy going on missions around the world to “portals,” which are virtually associated with public art, libraries and other widely accessible places. While it seems like a relatively simple concept, and perhaps even downright common to players of MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, it's something that could only be done by Google, and goes far beyond simply a game. The point of Ingress is to get you out of the house and exploring your city.

Going on Missions through "Portals"

Of course, Google's not entirely without gain here. You can submit your own potential portal locations. Snap a photo of a candidate for a new place of interest, make sure GPS data is included, add a description and send it off. You can be pretty sure that Google's using that data to improve their other products, like Maps or maybe even Google Now. Advertising deals are also possible in the future if the game really kicks off. That’s because Ingress incorporates real physical sites and areas in the game. Maybe, portals in a coffee shop or a supermarket?

This isn't a casual game. If you want games for your couch, I'll point you to Angry Birds Star Wars or maybe Jetpack Joyride. Ingress is an experience. The whole point is to go out and find some portals, then, once you've established your presence, take a look at the real world. Enjoy some artwork, explore areas. Get inspired. Interact with people. Make new friends, even. May as well make use of that wonderful mind of yours and share it with others.

The Ingress app is available on Google Play, with an iOS version in the pipe. If you haven't signed up for an invite yet, you can do so here.

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'Star Wars: Episode VII' Writer Confirmed

It looks like Lucasfilm's forthcoming film in the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: Episode VII, has already found a writer. In a blog post today, Lucasfilm has confirmed that Michael Arndt (writer of Toy Story 3 and Little Miss Sunshine) would be penning the script. According to Lucasfilm, producers Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas have already begun development discussions with Michael Arndt. 

Rumor is that the plan had been to sent to some of Hollywood's top directors, a list that includes Steven Spielberg, Brad Bird and JJ Abrams. Spielberg took himself out of the running, by stating: "No. No. It's not my genre. It's my best friend George's genre."

For those are yet unaware, late last month, Disney announced its acquisition of Lucasfilm for roughly $4.05 billion in cash and stock, with plans to release three new films in the Star Wars series, as well as additional movie, television, and games projects based on the franchise. 

Star Wars: Episode VII is slated for release in 2015.

Android Celebrates Its 5th Birthday

Android Inc. was originally founded by Andy Rubin and Google snatched him and Android up, back in 2005.  On November 5th, 2007 — Android was officially announced (although the SDK wasn’t made available until the 12th).

I find it hard to believe that Google‘s mobile operating system, Android has now been around for five years. It feels like it’s been around for a long long time, but it was only five years ago when the Open Handset Alliance, consisting of a handful of technology companies including the owner of Android, Google,HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and LG unveiled a beta of the Android mobile operating system with the goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.

If we look back to Android 1.0 and compare it with the latest Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, we get a feel that we are looking at two different operating systems. Android has come a long way from it’s first full version from just a little over four years ago, with tons of new features, and of course much better and bigger devices to show it all off with.

In October 2008, HTC released the first Android phone, The HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1 in the US). It had a 3.2-inch display with a 3.15 MP camera, 192MB of RAM, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and came with Android 1.0, although it received upgrades all the way to Android 1.6 Donut a year later.

If you compare the G1 to Google’s Nexus 4, you’ll see how far we've come with not only on the software side, but the handsets as well. The Nexus 4 has a 4.7-inch HD display, a quad-core processor, an 8 MP camera, and 2GB of RAM. That’s quite a huge jump in just four years, and makes you quickly think about how much we’ve taken technology and software for granted over the last several years.

Here’s a YouTube video from the early Android creators introducing their all new mobile platform.

I wish Android a happy fifth birthday, and certainly hope the next five years will be just as innovative as the last.

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HyperSmash

iPad Mini vs. Nexus 7

Ever since the first rumors regarding Google’s own Nexus 7  budget tablet emerged online, a multitude of websites started reporting that Apple (the company that jumpstarted the tablet market with the introduction of the original iPad back in 2010) would bring to market a budget tablet of its. Fast forward a few months and both these rumors have finally materialized into two hardware devices.

Before we start analyzing which one of these devices is the better budget tablet, it might be best to first explain why the battle between the Apple iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7 is of ultimate importance for the future of both Android as well as iOS. As representational tablets for their respective ecosystems (as in Android vs iOS), these two budget tablets will undoubtedly play an important part in the market share battle between Android (and all the Android OEMs out there) and Apple and its proprietary operating system.

So, which one is better: the Google Nexus 7 or the Apple iPad mini ? Lets find out, shall we?

Display:

Schiller was quick to suggest that there's a huge difference when you tack on that 9/10th of an inch. Sure, when factoring in the total viewable screen, the iPad Mini has 29.6 inches of space where the Nexus 7 has 21.9 inches. But is that really a big deal? Though Schiller says yes, let's take his logic and apply it elsewhere. I'd be curious to hear what he thinks of the difference between the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen and, say, the 4.8-inch display on Samsung's Galaxy S3.

The ASUS / Google Nexus 7 uses a 7-inch display running at a 1280 by 800 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio), thus obtaining a Pixel Per Inch (PPI) density of 216. While it is not the best display currently available on a tablet, the Nexus 7 display is impressively crisp, bright, offers good color reproduction and decent viewing angles. Given that the most expensive component of a tablet is its display (not to mention that the display is also the main feature of a tablet), you’re probably going to be impressed by the quality of the display on the Google Nexus 7 (a budget tablet by definition). In the other corner, the freshly announced Apple iPad mini features a 7.9-inch IPS display running at a 1024 by 768 pixel resolution (4:3 aspect ratio), thus obtaining a PPI density of just 162. The iPad mini uses the same resolution as the second generation Apple iPad, but has a smaller display, hence the minor improvement in crispness over Apple’s second tablet (the iPad 2 has a 132 PPI ratio). Firstly screen utilization will be more in the Nexus 7 with the 16:10 ratio as compared to the 4:3 aspect ratio of iPad Mini. Also 162 PPI, is too low for a modern day gadget.

Schiller pointed out that the iPad Mini offers 49 percent more Web browsing space than the Nexus 7. it was clear that the iPad Mini offers more space. But I don't buy Schiller's claim that the open tabs at the top of Chrome and buttons do not matter to the browsing experience. I happen to love being able to hop from one open tab to another. The soft keys across the bottom come in very handy when going back or jumping to another Android app. Yes, it's true that they don't specifically factor into the Web experience, but many Android users like them. And their opinion isn't wrong because Apple says so.

Winner: Nexus 7

Software (Let the Apps War begin)

It is a fact iOS has a ton more tablet apps and games as compared to the Nexus 7. When Apple releases a new product, developers absolutely scramble to make compatibility happen. Granted, the iPad Mini will be less of a reason to scramble than a new iPhone or regular-sized iPad (at least for now), but they'll still move a hell of a lot quicker than Android app developers - because they know exactly what they're developing for, and they know lots of people are going to be using that device. It's not even going to be a contest. Granted, Android will start catching up as these cheap tablets become more and more popular in the western world

Most of the Android tablet apps could still use some polish. Generally iOS apps are of higher quality and usually look better than their Android counterparts. On the other hand, many Android apps have been written for Android 4.0 and later, most of which employ the Holo aesthetic. Also, while I'm being honest, Android developers do not have to write for tablets now that we've gone back to unifying the platform at Ice Cream Sandwich. This is much better than writing two different apps for mobile and tablet (iPhone/iPad).

I'm still not sure they'll ever catch up to Apple's iPad app selection. Android is so far behind here it hurts. Sure, we have a growing number of tablet apps to choose from, but many are remnants of the early days of 10" Android tabs, and have been left to basically rot on the Play Store.

Winner: iPad Mini

Processing Power:

The Apple iPad mini uses the Apple A5 System On a Chip (SoC). Even non-tech savvy readers are probably aware that this is the same CPU / GPU combination that was used by the Apple iPad 2 and the Apple iPhone 4S. This translates into a 1 GHz dual-core Cortex A9 CPU and a PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. In the Android corner, the Google Nexus 7 uses a slightly underclocked version of the Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC: a 1.3 GHz quad-core Cortex A9 CPU, and an Nvidia ULP (Ultra Low Power) GPU.

The Google Nexus 7 uses 1GB of RAM memory, while the Apple iPad mini is said to have 512MB of RAM under the hood (Apple usually doesn’t mention RAM for its iOS devices during launch events).

While the Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU is generally faster than the A5 CPU, graphical performance should be a tad better on the Apple iPad mini since its GPU (although similarly powerful as the Nvidia GPU inside the Google Nexus 7) has to power up less pixels (33% less pixels to be accurate). I’m one of those guys that prefers extra detail over a few extra frames per second.

Winner: Nexus 7

Other Hardware:

On to the cameras and ports, the Google Nexus 7 uses a 1.2 MP front-facing camera for videocalling, the same resolution used by the sensor on the Apple iPad mini’s front facing camera. Since it is not recommended to use a tablet for taking pictures, I’m not all that into the 5MP primary camera used by the Apple iPad mini, so I’d advise against giving too much attention to this aspect.

Since NFC is still a young technology, you’re probably not going to miss the fact that the iPad mini does not use an NFC chip. If NFC is a thing that you need, go for the Nexus 7, since it does carry an NFC chip.

Battery-wise, the Google Nexus 7 has a 4325 mAh battery, while the Apple iPad mini uses a battery of currently undisclosed capacity. However, we should expect the two tablets to have similar battery life spans: roughly around 10 hours.

Winner: Draw

Price:

Let’s get one fact clear, Nexus 7 was marketed as a budget Android tablet, Apple is not doing this with the iPad Mini. Currently, the Nexus 7 starts at $199 for the 16GB model and $249 for the 32GB variant. The iPad Mini is priced at Wi-Fi: $329 (16GB), $429 (32GB), $529 (64GB). Cellular: $459 (16GB), $559 (32GB), $659 (64GB).

Finally, we have to consider that the 32GB Nexus 7 is rumored to replace the current 16GB model and retain the same $249.99 price. Do we then compare the 32GB iPad Mini and its $429.99 sticker? If so, then the new Apple tablet could be construed as being 72 percent more expensive than its closest competitor.

Winner: Nexus 7

Verdict:

I’m sure the iPad mini will sell. There are already 100 million iPad customers that are locked into an ecosystem and this would be a great upgrade for those that are still using the first-generation iPad at a much smaller price tag. Those that are coming from the iPad 2 won’t complain either since they’ll actually get the same tablet at a smaller form factor and also cheaper. If you think of it, the move wasn’t so crazy since those who own a 3rd-Generation iPad have barely owned it for 9 months and are not likely to be iPad mini customers any time soon.

For the first time in over half a decade of iOS products, Apple has launched a me-too device. Something that’s just there to offer another option, but not really capable of making the rest of the market worry. I honestly feel that Steve wouldn’t have been proud of such a device, and I know many of you will agree with me here. There’s really no point in a beautiful product that doesn’t serve its purpose better than any other product in the market. That’s just a fact Apple will have to deal with.

Apple may have the edge when it comes to product lore and sheer ubiquity, but for those deliberately seeking an affordable, portable in-between device, the Nexus 7 is an obvious choice.

It'll be an interesting battle to watch unfold, for sure, but by no means does a small iPad spell doom for the Android tablet.

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Watch Apple’s Special Event Live

For the first time in its history Apple will provide the general public with a live stream of its "Apple Special Event". Apple is known for not streaming or allowing for a stream of their past events but they usually make the recordings available on their website and iTunes a couple of hours later. However all this seems to be changing with today’s event.

At today's Apple event, we can expect to see the rumored iPad Mini, along with a new Macbook Air with Retina Display, a new Mac Mini and official launch of iTunes 11.

If you are not able to follow the live feed, you can also check out the live-blog by Engadget here.

To watch the Apple Event live click here. The event will start at 10:00 PDT (17:00 GMT/22:30 IST) 

Take a Look Inside Google’s Data Centers

As part of an effort to build appreciation for how it actually runs online services like search, Google is showing off its massive computing resources.

Google only rarely gives outsiders a look at its data centers, but today it's trying to make up for lost time with a large online photo gallery and Street View tour of the computing hardware.

The company launched a new site, "Where the Internet Lives" with a lot of eye candy for people who enjoy racks of computer gear, raised-floor ventilation systems, multicolored cables, and massive air-conditioning chillers. Urs Hoelzle, Google's senior vice president for technical infrastructure, announced the site in a blog post today.

Here are some of the best shots I collected while roaming through Google's various data centers.

Google data centers use color-coded pipes to indicate what they are used for. The cycle is a mode of transport within the building.

The Matrix feeling, anyone? 

A Google center is incomplete without an Android model!

And Star Troopers!!!

All damaged hard-disks are destroyed within the center.

There is no denying that the data centers look extremely beau-ti-ful. Check them out for yourself and you may find something really beautiful.

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Microsoft Surface RT Prices Revealed

After announcing its Surface tablets nearly four months ago, Microsoft has now unveiled the pricing for both of its ARM-based Surface RT tablets at its Microsoft online stores. The 10.6-inch Surface, powered by Windows RT, will go on sale on October 26th and will be priced starting at $499 for the 32GB version without Touch Cover and a 32GB version with the Touch Cover for $599. Microsoft is also offering 64GB model for $699 with a Touch Cover included. 

Microsoft listed its Surface pricing at its online Microsoft Store this morning, but were taken down shortly afterwards suggesting some guy at Microsoft got a bit too excited and put up the page well before its prime time. The company has also listed the prices for its Touch Cover, at $119.99 each, and Type Cover for $129.99. The Touch Cover appears to be available in white, red, black, blue, and purple colors – while the Type Cover is listed as a single item in black.

Microsoft's has already started the marketing campaign of the Surface, with Surface street art spotted in a number of US cities over the past few weeks and another TV/Online Ad. The software maker is expected to hold a Surface reception event for press and analysts on October 25th, and some of the company's holiday pop-up stores will open at midnight on October 26th to start selling the tablets.

Earlier, the WSJ reported that Microsoft anticipated selling as many as 3 to 5 million of these tablets in Q4, which is ambitious, but at least they’re not overpriced for the category.The pricing is in direct competition with the iPad, will it sell like the latter is yet to be seen.

Update: Microsoft’s pre-order page for the Windows RT tablet has gone live, confirming what we had just seen. 

Source: TechCrunch

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Rumour Roundup – Nexus 4 and iPad Mini

The geekier parts of the web have gone abuzz with rumors of the mythical mini iPad and the all-powerful Nexus 4. Daily we are seeing a new bunch of reports, photos, speculations, hopes and fears. Here is a round-up of what the rumor mill has made of these two devices till now.

iPad Mini:

The Amazon Kindle Fire, Google Nexus 7 and Nook HD have stolen the budget tablet show, by launching some very impressive tablets. High specs, at minimal cost. It has certainly stolen a small share of the iPad market (a very small hare). It now looks like that Apple may well want a bite of the, well, apple. Back in 2010, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that smaller screened tablets were not "sufficient to create great tablet apps" and would be "dead on arrival", so rumours suggesting a new iPad mini is in the works reveals a potentially new direction for the firm in its post-Jobs era.

There's not even an official sign from Apple that the iPad Mini/iPad Nano is in the works, so a release date for the tablet is even more up in the air. However, if the rumours turn out to be true, we can expect Apple to start rolling out the iPad Mini very soon after an extraordinarily over-hyped launch event. Most rumours suggest it's likely to happen well before Christmas, with the latest leaks pointing to a October 23 iPad Mini launch event (stealing the limelight from the lauch of Microsoft Surface?), with a release date potentially on October 26. This news comes from "people familiar with Apple's plans". Hmm, let’s wait and see if apple starts sending out invitees in the coming week.

Apple is known for its extravagant products, and even more extravagant prices. But the iPad Mini may herald a new era for those who long for an Apple device, but cannot churn out the money required to do so. I do not expect it to land at $200 and go head to head with Nexus or the Kindle Fire. If the rumours are true, expect the base model price (8GB, Wi-Fi only) to come at around $250. This price is quite high compared to the current Android dominated budget tablet segment, but I always expect Apple to charge a little higher because, well its Apple! Apple is expected to offer an 8, 16, 32 and 64GB iPad mini, both in Wi-Fi and cellular. Other sources say that the iPad mini will only have Wi-Fi models with no cellular support. Apple’s sheer strength in number of selections, may be too overpowering for the competition to handle.   

At the start of March, Digitimes reported that the new iPad Mini would actually come with a 7.85-inch display – a tad bigger than the 7-inch screen found on the Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7. It is expected to have the same resolution as the original iPad and iPad 2, at 1,024 x 768 – meaning developers wouldn't have to tweak their apps. Information about the other specs is still very sketchy.

Well, I’m still unsure whether Apple will go down the iPad Mini route. But the budget tablet market is one that is definitely growing, and one that Apple isn't currently part of, so it won't be too much of a surprise if the firm does decide to go down this route. We'd love to see a new iPad Mini come to market, since it would certainly give Amazon and Co a run for their money.

Update: Apple has sent an invitation for a media event on 23 October.

Nexus 4:

To say we’ve had a plethora of rumors and leaks surrounding the LG Nexus 4 (aka Optimus G Nexus) would be a major understatement. How about to say that this is the most hyped and thoroughly-leaked Android phone since the Samsung Galaxy S3? We've already seen LG's upcoming Nexus 4 photographed from every angle imaginable, and now someone's gone and reviewed it, before it's even been announced. Talk about jumping the gun. The device, if launched maybe called the LG Nexus 4 or the LG Optimus Nexus or maybe something else entirely.

The device looks like it is based on the Optimus G but doesn’t look the same. All the leaks point to a 4.7 inch screen, with a 1280 x 768 True-HD IPS screen. The device is expected to run on a Quad Core Snapdragon S4 processor with 2GB RAM. It is expected to have a 8GB model (maybe a 16GB too) with no microSD slot (seriously Google, why you hate giving customers some expandable memory?). Some rumours report that the Nexus 4 will have inbuilt wireless charging.

It has become a ritual for Google to launch a new OS, with the launch of every Nexus device.  Most reports point to a launch of Android 4.2 (a new version of Jelly Bean rather than Android Key Lime Pie.). The updated version is expected to be similar to Jellybean (v4.1) with implementation of Project Roadrunner (upgrade from Project Butter) and some bug fixes. This is one part of the rumour mill that I find very hard to digest. We got our hands on the v.4.1 Jellybean less than a year ago, Google coming out with a new OS within month’s looks like a very bad strategy to me. A part of me still believes that the Nexus 4 will come out with only Android 4.1.2 (which was made available last week). A launch of v4.2 will cause further fragmentation in the Android Market. The latest stats by Google point that only 1.2% of the android devices. Gingerbread (an OS that is nearly 2 years old) is still the top Android platform, and is running on nearly 57.2 percent devices. Releasing a new OS will cause more problems for the companies looking to upgrade their flagship models (OneX, S3, Etc)

All the current reports point to a October 29 launch. If true, we will soon know all there is to know about this all powerful Nexus device.

An interesting bit of rumours point that from now on Google will let any manufacturer release devices as part of the Nexus program. All they'll have to do is stick to strict standards laid down by Google. The tip came from "a regular source who has provided accurate information in the past" but wishes to remain anonymous, according to Android and Me. In order to qualify as part of the Nexus family, companies will have to make devices that use stock Android and 64MB of secure memory for faster media streaming. Though they can add custom UI skins as part of a new "customisation centre" Google will introduce. This looks like a great move as this will ensure faster upgrades in the future.

As always these rumours should be taken with a pinch of salt. If they turn out to be true (which most probably, they will) we will have two top end devices releasing this November, not to forget the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft Surface and a plethora of Windows 8 phones. I will seriously advice all those in the market for a new phone/tablet, hold on till the start of the holiday season. Exciting times ahead…

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RailRadar : Spot Your Train in Real Time!

“Introducing RailRadar, where you can Map Your Trains Live ! On RailRadar you can not only find the latest train status, but also find nearby trains, see routes on maps, stops, and much more... as our trains make their journey through various parts of our glorious nation.”

RaiYatri.in on Facebook

The Centre for Railway Information Service (CRIS) has announced a new web application called RailRadar, which allows users to access location of a train on Map and track movements of trains on a real-time basis. The new RailRadar service is considered to be an improved version of the earlier tracking system ‘Spot Your Train’.

The RailRadar application has been jointly developed by CRIS and RailYatri team (Stelling Technologies) . The web app will help users find the exact geographical location of 6,500 passenger trains of the Indian Railways on Google Maps on a real time basis. Users can also access RailRadar service from their mobile phones, via the device's browser.

This move is certainly welcome on one of the largest rail networks in the world -- it operates more than 10,000 trains everyday. To find out where your train is, simply search for its name or number and RailRadar will spot it for you. You can also find trains by entering the name of the station. Blue highlights indicate trains that are on time while red means it's behind schedule. If you click on a train, it'll show its entire route from start to finish. 

RailRadar project is currently in a pilot mode and is expected to become a permanent feature in the coming months. The logical next step would be for this to be on smartphones via a dedicated app, though I don't think that's on the cards just yet.

This is a great move by the Indian Railways. It will help the millions of the daily travelers. Although how precise is the displayed information is yet to be seen. Check out there web app at http://railradar.trainenquiry.com.

Web Platform

As the Web continues to move towards the usage of next-get Web technologies such as HTML 5, CSS 3 and others, the current reality is that there aren't many  definitive online resources that cover the best practices for these technologies and their implementations.

Fortunately, a conglomerate of big companies that include Apple, Adobe, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia and Opera (all working closely with the W3C) have come together and launched a website that plans to become such a definitive resource for HTML 5, CSS 3, and any other web development technology. The website, intuitively called “Web Platform” will also cover the standardization and cross-browser implementation part of these technologies (since many technologies such as HTML5 -for instance- has not been yet standardized by the W3C).

The aim is to improve the standards across all platforms, which means the resource should ideally set the standards for every other company, whether it’s meant for desktop, mobile or other device.

We are an open community of developers building resources for a better web, regardless of brand, browser or platform. Anyone can contribute and each person who does makes us stronger.

Although at the time being there are only a handful of tutorials, ones that mostly relate to the general principles behind these next generation web technologies, the website is organized under the form of a Wiki. In the future, representatives from each of the companies listed above will update the Web Platform with tutorials pertaining to certain aspects of web development.

Users willing to learn the best practices of tomorrow’s web development techniques will also be able to interact and share advice using the forums or the website’s IRC channel. At the time being, the content is supplied in its entirety by the companies part of the project. In the future, though, visitors with the appropriate knowledge will be encouraged to share tips, code examples and such on the Wiki. All the content on the Web Platform website will be licensed under the “creative commons” license.

Here is what Adobe officials had to say regarding the Web Platform initiative:

It is now up to the web community to help create and maintain the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for web technologies. So, go check it out and start contributing. Document the web!

To me, this looks like an awesome initiative, and given the high profile of all the companies that are supporting the project, the Web Platform website might soon become the number one resource for any technology relating to web development and even mobile.