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Microsoft Reportedly Prepping Office for Android Tablets

2014-07-03T12:00:00.001-07:00

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella gestures while speaking during a press briefing on the intersection of cloud and mobile computing Thursday, March 27, 2014, in San Francisco when Microsoft unveiled Office for the iPad,

Microsoft is reportedly working on a version of its Office productivity suite optimized for Android tablets.

The company is currently preparing a beta version, which will soon be tested with a select number of users, The Vergereported, and a full launch is planned for later this year. It appears the Android-tablet apps will debut before the touch version of Office for Windows, which Microsoft previously said would launch in 2015.

Details of the initial test, including how many users will participate, are not yet clear. But it's possible Microsoft will draw from a pool of participants registered in its pre-release program. The program allows users who are interested in getting an early look at new software to sign up for a chance to be included in early beta tests prior to the official rollout.

The Redmond, Washington-based company released Office for iPad, which includes individual Word, Excel and Powerpoint apps, earlier this year. The three freemium apps quickly rose to the top of Apple's App Store charts.

Microsoft will likely take the same approach with Office apps for Android tablets; this means the apps will be free to download, but most of their features — including document editing — will require a $99 annual subscription. Office's Android-phone apps, which debuted last summer, also require subscriptions to unlock their full suite of features.

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Imagining a New Way to Read, One 3D-Printed Book at a Time

2014-07-03T11:53:00.001-07:00

Graduate student Abigale Stangl (right), who volunteers at the Anchor Center for Blind Children, shows Isabella Chinkes (center) and her mother Linda (L) a 3D-printed version of 'Goodnight Moon.'

Blind and visually impaired children will now be able to experience classic picture books like Goodnight Moon and Harold and the Purple Crayon with the help of 3D printing technology.

Researchers at the University of Colorado have created a new project that can convert standard picture books into 3D-printed pages, letting children with visual impairments follow the raised illustrations by touch as the stories are read aloud.

Tom Yeh, an assistant professor in the university's Department of Computer Science who directed the project, said the goal of The Tactile Picture Books Project is to use computer science to better people's lives.

"I realized we could do something meaningful by interpreting pictures from these children's books using mathematical diagrams," he said. "This project is much more difficult than I envisioned, but it also is much more rewarding."

University of Colorado Boulder students Abby Stangl and Jeeeun Kim are using 3D printers to assist the blind in understanding pictures better.

The project was created in partnership with the Anchor Center, an organization in Denver dedicated to supporting and educating vision impaired children. The center's executive director, Alice Applebaum, told Mashable that books that can be read by touch — tactile books — are central to the education of vision impaired children.

“We often add texture to books; we have a room here where we add braille and things that children can feel to stories," she said. "It’s just like when we learn how to read with our eyes, but they’re learning with all their other senses.”

Since many children don't start reading braille until age 6, this program has given kids the chance to read with their families at even younger ages and get used to exploring with their hands.

Applebaum said the center has always made tactile books "the old-fashioned way," cutting and pasting textured items to traditional picture books.

"It is one more opportunity for visually impaired children to experience literacy in an expanded way," Applebaum said. "Will it make them better readers? Not necessarily, but it will make them more aware of what the world looks like."

Researchers at the university convert the images into 3D-printed books through computational algorithms. Yeh said the ultimate goal is to streamline the process so educators and parents of visually impaired children can take a photo of a children's book and send the photo to a 3D printer to create a tactile book.

"We are investigating the scientific, technical and human issues that must be addressed before this vision can be fully realized," he said. "Since each child generally has his or her unique visual impairment issues, the idea is to customize each book for each child."

Abigale Stangl is a researcher for the project and a student in ATLAS, multidisciplinary Institute at the University of Colorado. She says feedback from children the Anchor Center was essential to their work.

"We have seen a need and opportunity to make some of these practices more efficient and support development of custom learning tools and resources,” she told Mashable.

A page from the 3D-printed version of Harold and the Purple Crayon.

A page from a 3D-printed version of Goodnight Moon with braille.

3D printing has greatly evolved in recent years, with the potential to change the production of everything from fashion to guns. Yeh said he hopes the project will make this technology more accessible to the public.

Several interfaces exist for designing 3D models, Yeh mentioned, such as Google SketchUp — but not many programs have been created with parents' needs in mind. The Tactile Picture Book Project is currently testing software programs and leading workshops to teach parents how to create their own books. Researchers hope to someday provide instructions and algorithms on their website so parents can create products with their own 3D printers; as 3D printing continues to grow in popularity and decrease in price, Yeh said, more people will be able to create books at home.

Currently, tactile books are beautiful, but very labor-intensive and expensive, he added. But the future looks bright.

“Affordable 3D printing technology should be available in the very near future," he said. "In two to three years, 3D printers could be less than $1,000.”

Since the original Goodnight Moon book was 3D-printed, the Tactile Picture Books Project has added The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Cat in the Hat to the collection, and it's continuing to grow.

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The Man Who Turns Amazon Reviews Into Comedic Works of Art

2014-07-03T11:46:00.001-07:00

IMAGE: FLICKR, NIC TAYLOR

You can buy 55 gallons of lube on Amazon. If you want to know if it's worth buying, you can read a review by James O. Thach.

Thach likes to leave reviews, more akin to short stories, on bizarre Amazon products (like the aforementioned lube,Justin Bieber singing toothbrushes and fake vomit). But instead of merely trolling, he turns it into a creative writing exercise.

It all started when Amazon "recommended" he buy a $40,000 TV last November.

"My wife and I bought this after selling our daughter Amanda into white slavery," his comment begins. "Amanda, if you're reading this, hang in there, honey! We'll see you in a year."

And a trolling star was born. Currently, the lengthy comment has been rated by 23,062 people, 22,641 of whom "found it helpful." In his creative comments, Thach has pretended to be a wearymother of three boys (which lit up the Internet), a hardcore Ann Coulter fanand a judge who secretly loves mankinis.

Thach is a writer by trade. He's written three children's books, the last of which is The Seal Pup (which happens to have four and a half stars on Amazon).

Mashable chatted with this Internet wizard, and we found out that writing silly Amazon reviews can actually help you profit in the real world.

Author and Amazon reviewer James O. Thach.

IMAGE: JAMES O. THACH

Mashable: What appeals to you about the format?

Thach: I like that you can write something and get a pretty immediate audience, and that the audience can comment. And I like how big the canvas is. Amazon sells just about everything, so there’s a lot of room to move. I also like that the stories are short. They’re like haiku, only not as boring.

Tell us about your career outside of Amazon. Are you a full-time children's author?

I’m a part-time children’s author. The last one I wrote (and my favorite) is The Seal Pup. I'm working on a couple of picture books and a new chapter book series. I really love doing that.

Beyond that, my career has been pretty much all education — running a tutoring company, working with kids with learning differences, and teaching students about environmental and energy issues. Why do I do it? I like the glamor and fast money.

Do you have more potential fans or customers because of the Amazon popularity?

Some people have emailed me through the website, telling me they like the reviews. And some of them have gone on to buy the books, and come back and said how much their kids enjoyed them. Which I think is awesome. If you can read the Amazon reviews and then say, 'I trust this man to entertain my children,' you’re my kind of people.

I’ve also gotten quite a few emails from people asking me to review their products. They’re clearly nuts.

How do you pick the items you review?

It’s a very scientific process. It involves algorithms, random Amazon searches and people suggesting stuff. Mainly those last two.

How long does it take to write reviews?

That varies a lot. Sometimes an hour, sometimes quite a bit longer. A really long one, like the 55 gallon drum of lube or the John Mayer album, might take a day. Most of the time I tinker with a few for a week, on and off, until I think they’re funny.

What has been your favorite review thus far?

Oh, man. Choices. I really love that first one, about the Samsung TV. And I love the one about Cardamom. And the axe murderer. And the Bieber one's pretty funny. And the Kleenex one…

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9 Ways to Stretch Your iPhone's Life When the End Is Near

2014-07-03T11:13:00.001-07:00

Apple typically releases its next-generation iPhone in September of each year, sparking a nationwide effort in the months ahead for users to hold on to their dying, dwindling devices for as long as possible before upgrading.

It's not just a matter of wanting the newest toy from Apple; the shelf-life of smartphones is typically low, between18 and 24 months. This means devices start to lag, shut down unexpectedly and do other funky things after about two years (not to mention mobile technology quickly becomes obsolete as new software and hardware hits the market).

So if you're trying to get the most out of your device before the iPhone 6 makes its debut, here are a few tips to consider. Most are related to preserving battery life, which is the biggest culprit in aging phones. But by making a few small changes, you should be able to squeeze in a little more time with your ailing phone.

1. Check under the hood

First, see how hard your device is working and what takes up the most space. You may be surprised to see how many apps and services are running in real time, even when you're not using them. Visit Settings > General > Usageand check out which apps are hogging memory.

Then go ahead and make sure you're running the latest version of iOS 7, just to be sure you have the latest security updates.

2. Uninstall apps you don't use

IMAGE: MASHABLE, NINA FRAZIER-HANSEN

You've probably collected dozens of apps over the years that you rarely or never use, and each one is taking up valuable space. Get rid of them. By deleting apps and the data that is housed within, your mobile phone's processor won't have to work as hard. Think of it like this: Once you clean up the clutter on the floor of your house, it's easier to walk around. The same concept works with smartphones.

Apps that aren't running won't make your processor slow down, but by getting rid of ones you aren't using, you can save yourself from accidentally starting an app that might suck up more juice than necessary.

3. Turn off location-tracking apps

Many apps — from Google Maps toTwitter to your camera to especiallyFacebook — are tracking your location at all times. You can turn off Location Services completely (Settings > Privacy > Location Services) or disable certain apps, one by one. We recommend the latter option, so you can still leave on key location-based functions such as Find My Phone if it's ever lost. Even if you don't want to turn off all location-tracking on apps, Facebook is a huge offender here in sucking up your battery life. Shut it down.

4. Turn off background app refresh

The Background App Refresh is set to "on" in iOS 7, and it's likely snapping up hours of precious running time. The feature lets apps run in the background while you multitask and continually refreshes content when running on Wi-Fi or a cellular network. To disable this feature, visit Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Here, you can turn off the entire function or just disable that apps you don't need to refresh on an automatic basis.

5. Turn off Fetch

Some users elect to keep the "Fetch" button on to retrieve emails and calendar updates automatically. VisitSettings > Mail, Contacts and Calendars > Fetch New Data and make sure "manually" is selected. The iPhone will have to work less without continually looking for updates.

6. Additional battery life

IMAGE: MOPHIE

Manufacturers like Mophie have built-in battery cases that can be switched on when you're low on juice. You can also invest in portable phone charger key chains, USB sticks and standalone batteries to keep in your bag for when you need them most. Charging your phone while in airplane mode will also reportedly help speed up the charging process.

7. Airplane mode

IMAGE: FLICKR, TRAFTERY

Speaking of Airplane Mode, users can make the most of this feature when in low-coverage areas or if you want to preserve battery life without powering down.

8. Update when you can

Apple periodically pushes out updates to fix bugs and glitches, and while you might be afraid to download the new software with an aging device, it could be a smart move — as long as the device supports the upgrade. Apple updates will tell you if devices (such as iPhone 4S and higher) can take the upgrade and it might just be the fix you need.

9. Do a hard restart

When your iPhone is running especially slow, do a hard restart. Sometimes restarting your device will flush out wonkiness and even free up space; you can also reset the phone to the factory settings, but you'll want to move all your data to the cloud ahead of time.

While these tips will help your iPhone hang on until you're ready for an upgrade, it's also wise to recognize when it's time to say goodbye. If your phone really isn't making the cut, visit your local Apple store (or Best Buy, or other companies with a trade-in policy) and see if the retailer will offer any money for its parts. You can use the credit toward a new one that will work much better — at least, of course, for another 18 to 24 months.

Microsoft's Upcoming Wearable Might Not Be a Smartwatch

2014-07-03T11:06:00.001-07:00

Microsoft is reportedly working on a wrist-mounted wearable that works with your smartphone, and it might not be a smartwatch.

Tech site WinSuperSite reports that Microsoft’s upcoming device is more akin to a fitness tracker like Fitbit and Samsung Gear Fit, citing unnamed Microsoft insiders.

The report mentioned that the Microsoft device will carry all the usual fitness sensors for heart rate, calories burned and steps taken, and matches earlier reports that it could have up to 11 sensors.

If the rumors are true, its major selling point will be its universal compatibility; the device will reportedly be usable with any major smartphone (not just Windows phones, but Android and iOS, too). It's likely that Microsoft's fitness-focused apps such as Bing Health & Fitness and HealthVault will be available with the wearable.

While Apple may launch a smartwatchthis year (rumors peg it as the "iWatch"), nothing has been confirmed so far. Google, on the other hand, showed off Android Wear watches and software last week at the I/O Developer Conference, and has already put some of the hardware up for preorder.

The report indicates that the Microsoft’s device will be available sometime in the fourth quarter of 2014.

What Teens Are Really Into These Days

2014-07-03T10:55:00.001-07:00

Turn on the nightly news and you're bound to hear about some absurd new trend popular among the youths of today.

E-cigarettes, Snapchat sexts, bubbling(OK, that last one's fake) — teenagers are living in a whole new emoji-filled world.

In this comic, Mikey Heller of Time Trabble imagines the plight of parents shopping for their teenage kids.

At Long Last, Facebook Messenger Arrives on iPads

2014-07-03T10:40:00.001-07:00

Facebook's dedicated chat app, Facebook Messenger, is finally available for theiPad.

The popular chatting app was previously only available on mobile for the iPhone, but the social network pushed out an update on Thursday that includes full native iPad support. In the past, users could use Facebook Messenger on the iPad, but only as an enlarged iPhone app.

Messenger allows users to contact their Facebook friends for free via the tool, forgoing text messaging. Updates to the app include bug fixes and the ability to save videos within the app directly to your phone's camera roll.

Facebook Messenger is now available on iPad for the first time.

The news comes three years after Facebook acquired group messaging app Beluga and later built that technology into Messenger, which became its first mobile app launched beyond its official Facebook app.

Messenger's fate became unclear after Facebook purchased messaging service WhatsApp earlier this year for $16 billion. In April, Facebook confirmed it would force its mobile users to send messages only via the Messenger app, eliminating chat features from the iOS and Android versions of the Facebook app. This indicated that Messenger wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

You download the iPad app from the Apple App Store here.

Disney brings popular Facebook soccer game Bola to iOS

2014-07-03T09:04:00.001-07:00

Disney need to be a bit quicker off the mark than this!

With both the U.S. and England now knocked out of the FIFA World Cup, Disney has just now taken the opportunity to release an iOS version of Bola, the hugely popular Facebook soccer game developed by Three Melons and acquired by Playdom back in March 2010.

Now called Disney Bola Soccer (orDisney Bola Football if you live somewhere where football is used to describe a game in which players kick a ball with their feet), the game is a whole lot of fun — utilizing simple swipe and tap gestures — and is well worth checking out.

It offers quick game sessions, plus a longer solo tournament mode that lets you progress through the map, beating other teams, and earning cups along the way. There’s also a multiplayer mode, which allows you to play against other players’ teams to earn team XP, and climb up in the leader boards.

Disney Bola Soccer can be downloaded for free from the App Store, for iOS devices running iOS 7.0 and above.

Source: iTunes

Xiaomi sold 26.1 millions phones in the first half of 2014

2014-07-03T08:56:00.001-07:00

Hugo Barra, ex-member of the Android team at Google and now working for Xiaomi, has just announced that its new employer managed to ship about 26.1 millions phones globally in the first half of 2014. This is 3.7x times higher or an increase of 271% than what it shipped in the same period last year.

The company also managed to pull a revenue of USD 5.3 billion or ¥33 billion, up a whopping 149% from the 1st half of 2013. Hugo, however,did not reveal how much profit the company actually made.

Xiaomi might be an unheard OEM in the USA, but the company is a force to reckon with in the Chinese smartphone market. The company has consistently released impressive products at an extremely low price, which have always sold out within minutes of going on sale. In China — the biggest smartphone market of the world — the company has a stronger foothold than Apple, which has even led to the latter in revising its strategies from time to time.

The company recently expanded to Singapore and Malaysia and has been working hard to expand to another major smartphone market in Asia — India. With Xiaomi planning on expanding to other major Asian markets, its staggering growth is bound to continue for the time being.

SourceHugo Barra

Alleged HTC Volantis specifications leak

2014-07-03T07:51:00.001-07:00

Renowned leaker, @Evleaks, took to Twitter earlier today to bestow upon us some more information with regards to Google’s next Nexus tablet, codenamed Volantis, which we believe will be designed and manufactured by HTC. We first heard about the device last month when we were sent an early render and some alleged specifications, but it turns out that the initial documentation was in fact incorrect. From the details we now have it looks like Google is attempting to develop the world’s most powerful tablet.

The newest and ‘most reliable’ leak suggests that the Volantis is currently being tested with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 810 processor, and will ship running a NVIDIA Tegra K1 64-bit chipset once the research team has developed a suitable cooling system. The leak also suggests that the slate will boast a colossal 5GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, an 8.9-inch display with a stunning resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels enclosed in an aluminium unibody design with acoustics provided by HTC’s famous BoomSound audio system.

A leaked macro photograph reveals that the device could be the first on the market to come with a version of Android Silver (OS Alpha 1.4) on board, which, for those unaware, is rumored to be the ‘premiere’ Android experience – manufacturers will build smartphones to Google’s exact specifications, pre-load them with minimal bloatware and sell them through major carriers, so that users can get the best possible experience without all the additional software and overlays that usually come bundled with modern-day devices.

As with all leaks and rumors, we have to take these alleged specifications with a pinch of salt until Google provides us with some solid evidence regarding what it has in store for its next flagship tablet — but hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer until we find out.

How to set up your iCloud Email account on Android

2014-07-03T07:45:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, but Android and iCloud can work together in perfect harmony.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve received a number of emails from readers who are either considering or already in the process of migrating from an iPhone or iPad enquiring if it’s possible to configure an iCloud account on an Android-powered device. The quick and simple answer to that question is yes, it is possible, but it can be a bit tricky — so we’ve decided to create this comprehensive ‘How-To’ guide.

So sit back, relax and follow the steps below to set up your iCloud email account on your Android smartphone or tablet. Before we start, though, you’ll need to open the stock Email client on your handset. The design of the application will vary depending on your particular device and the launcher you’ve chosen to use, but its overall function should be the same.

Once you’ve opened the Mail application that ships as standard on your smartphone/tablet, you will be presented with a list of different Email Service Providers — you’ll need to select Other(POP3/IMAP). You should then be redirected to an information screen entitled ‘Incoming Server Settings.’ Here you’ll need to fill in the following information:

IMAP Server: imap.mail.me.com
Security Type: SSL or SSL (Accept all certificates)
Port number: 993
Username: The name part of your iCloud Email address. For example,Josh@icloud.com.
Password: The same password you used for your Apple ID.

After you’ve entered all of the information above, tap the Nextbutton, and you’ll be taken to a similar page in order to configure the Outgoing Server Settings. Keeping the same format, you’ll need to input these credentials:

SMTP Server: smtp.mail.me.com
Security Type: TLS or SSL (Accept all certificates)
Port Number: 587
Username: The name part of your iCloud Email address.
Password: The same password you used to register for your Apple ID.

Then, hit the Done button. You’ll be asked for a Display Name — this is the recipient information that’s displayed when an email is sent from your smartphone or tablet. Enter something suitable (we’d recommend your name) and tap ‘Complete.’

Voilà! You have successfully configured your iCloud account on Android. If you run into any issues along the way, do be sure to let us know in the comments section below, and we’ll do our very best to get you back on track.

Android L ‘s Project Volta can improve the Nexus 5 battery life by up to 36%

2014-07-03T07:38:00.001-07:00

One of key features introduced by Google in Android L is Project Volta, which aimed to greatly improve the battery life of Android devices by smartly and efficiently making use of the available resources and keeping unnecessary wakelocks to a minimum.

But how good is Project Volta? According a test conducted by the folks over at Ars Technica on a Nexus 5, users can see a whopping 36% increase in battery life while running L.

In the test, the Nexus 5 screen is switched on and kept at 200 nits and then a page over Wi-Fi is reloaded every 15 seconds. The result? While running KitKat, the Nexus 5 lasted a total of 345 minutes, while with Android L it increased to a whopping 471 minutes or a jump of 36%.

Battery life has always been one of the Achilles heel of Android devices. Even with humongous batteries, most Android devices struggle to last a day under heavy usage, which was a clear indication of poor software optimization. However, with Android L, Google has finally fixed one of the biggest complaints of Android users.

Keep in mind though, that your mileage will vary in real life since this is a scientific test. But be rest assured that once the Android L update lands on your Nexus device, you will notice a marked improvement in battery life.

SourceArs Technica

“OK Google” hotword detection now available in 9 new languages

2014-07-03T07:34:00.001-07:00

Google has expanded its “OK Google” hotword recognition functionality from the homescreen to nine other new languages. Earlier, the hotword detection was only available to English speaking users in the U.K, US and Canada, with support for French and German users added very recently.

Now, users of English in any locale can enjoy hotword detection from their homescreen along with Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Spanish and Japanese language users.

Keep in mind that the recently introduced “OK Google” hotword detection from any screen will not be available to these users. They will only be able to trigger the hotword detection if they are using the Google Now Launcher or when Google Now itself is opened.

Since this is a server side service, it is not neccessary that the feature would be instantly available to you. To be on the safe side though, make sure you are running the latest version of Google Search (v3.5) released a few days ago.Google has expanded its “OK Google” hotword recognition functionality from the homescreen to nine other new languages. Earlier, the hotword detection was only available to English speaking users in the U.K, US and Canada, with support for French and German users added very recently.

Now, users of English in any locale can enjoy hotword detection from their homescreen along with Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Spanish and Japanese language users.

Future iPhones could intelligently modify security settings based on location

2014-07-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

Future Apple devices may be able to dynamically modify user interface elements, security levels, and other types of behavior based on location, according to a new patent application published Thursday.

Referred to as “Location-sensitive security levels and setting profiles based on detected location,” Apple’s application describes a setup in which both the hardware and software of your iPhone, iPad, and whatever other mobile devices Apple releases in future can seamlessly work together to automatically adjust various UI and device behavior settings.

While this a broad area, the most interesting element of the application are the potential security settings, which would allow iOS devices to intelligently demand differing levels of security authentication depending on whether users are at home, or out and about — meaning that unlocking your iPhone in the confines of your house could involve a simple four-digit passcode, while unlocking it in a public area may require Touch ID.

Your iPhone could demand different amount of security verification depending on if you’re at home, in the car, or in the office

This could possibly work alongside an Apple patent published back in March, revealing how Cupertino is exploring different types of biometrics — including palm prints, face-recognition, retina scans, and voice signatures — which can be requested in various combinations before users are able to access their data.

Location could be determined by a variety of different means, including cellular tower data, recognition of a home Wi-Fi network, GPS data or even closeness to other smartphones, among others. At least two location aspects would be required for the system to be able to function with the kind of accuracy needed for this to work.

New locations could be automatically measured using a “location context” module, which would apply security settings based on a predefined scale. Public areas — recognized through the presence of mobile Wi-Fi hotspots — could also demand higher authentication requirements for apps containing sensitive information, such as Address Book or Calendar.

How the context-aware security settings may appear on a future iOS device.

Apple’s “Location-sensitive security levels and setting profiles based on detected location” patent application was first filed December 31, 2012.

Source: U.S. Patent & Trademarks Office

Spotify now lets you view play queues, and warns about duplicate songs

2014-07-03T06:54:00.001-07:00

Shortly after updating Spotify with the ability to search for downloaded music offline, Spotify’s iOS app has just received a notable new update.

Spotify now lets users view play queues on their iPhone. This can be done by tapping the queue icon on the top right corner of the “Now Playing” screen. The update also features a new dialog box, which appears each time you try to add a song to a playlist which already includes it: a great way of avoiding duplicating songs without you realizing it.

In addition, Spotify now includes new sorting and filtering options in the “Your Music” section.

Having recently received a stunning iOS 7-inspired overhaul, these changes add to what is a better app than ever if you’re a music lover. Spotify Music is available for free from the App Store for all iOS devices, running iOS 6.0 and above.

Source: iTunes

Software Development Outsourcing in India Today

2014-07-03T05:20:00.001-07:00

The second republic has arrived in India. The mantra for one of the economic growth for one of the largest republics with its new leash of life is Thinking Out of The Box …………..

Offloading work then, to this promising economy is a wise choice for enterprises with the need for software development outsourcing. It is the practice of obtaining resources to do work outside the Enterprise realm. Software Development Outsourcing encompasses the complete software development life cycle; Requirements Study, Design, Development, Testing, Implementation and Maintenance or the required few. The Offshore Development model for outsourced software development takes the outsourcing jobs to locations away from the enterprise location, whereas the Onshore Development model gets resources from the outsourcing firm to work at the locations of the client. India, located strategically between the Western and the Eastern Time zones is a prudent choice of venue.

Outsourcing reduces the efforts and costs involved in building an IT development team in-house. The efforts involved in building and retaining a competent team and achieving quality software are too big as compared to outsourcing. It becomes much easier for the outsourcer to focus on its core business and use the services of the IT Company when required. This strategy reduces the cost of maintaining a technically sound team offering greater flexibility.

Benefits of Outsourcing Software Development to India

Concerns of the Outsourcing Strategy

Since the outsourced jobs are carried out by other than the enterprise, it gives rise to general concerns from the enterprise’s point of view for

Maintenance of software quality

Keeping up of schedules

Observing confidentiality of work

Security in communications

Cost Controls

A competent outsource partner would put to rest these concerns and unravel the benefits of outsourcing for the enterprise.

Association Methods

A software development outsourcing partner associates in various fashions to implement

1) Technique

For development of a technology to be used in the project where the client does not possess the skill required

2) Process

To execute a particular functionality of the process workflow like design or testing

3) Complete Development

To execute all the activities required for the software development life

Deliverable's

The software development outsourcing partner delivers various documents to enable smooth project rollouts and transparency to the outsourcer

Requirement Specification documents

The Proposal Analysis document

The Contract Execution document

The Software Development Plan

Quality Assurance Plan

India emerges as a major software development outsourcing hub in the recent years. Collaborations with Software Development firms in India for outsourcing assignments; offshore, onshore or hybrid, have all proven to be rewarding. The new direction and impetus given to its economic growth by a new futuristic, stable government are indications of associations that are certain to be fruitful.

Advantages of Outsourcing Software Development to India

With its geographical location and the historical association with the western world, India has an edge as compared to other countries for being an offshore development center.

SPEC INDIA with 27+ years of experience as an Outsourced software application development partner for clients spread across over 20+ countries using varied technologies provides Customized Solutions in areas of Desktop Application Development, Web Application Development, Mobile Application Development, Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Business Intelligence and Big Data.

SPEC INDIA demonstrates its technical and functional capabilities by maintaining a preferred vendor status with Fortune 100 clients year on year. Our Project Management Practices and consistent Quality Assurance Practices put the software developed by us into a different league altogether.

iOS 7 Features

2013-06-15T18:24:00.001-07:00

iOS 7 introduces great new features like Control Center, AirDrop for iOS, and smarter multitasking. It also makes the things you do every day even easier, faster, and more enjoyable. And while many of the apps look different, the way you do things feels perfectly familiar. So from day one, you know how to use the world’s most advanced mobile OS.In its most advanced form.

Control Center gives you quick access to the controls and apps you always seem to need right this second. Just swipe up from any screen — including the Lock screen — to do things like switch to Airplane mode, turn Wi-Fi on or off, or adjust the brightness of your display. You can even shine a light on things with a new flashlight. Never has one swipe given you so much control.

Do what you need to do. Quick.

Turn on or off Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb. Lock your screen’s orientation or adjust its brightness. Play, pause, or skip a song. Connect to AirPlay-enabled devices. And quickly access your flashlight, timer, calculator, and camera.

Notification Center lets you know about new mail, missed calls, to-dos that need doing, and more. And anew feature called Today gives you a convenient summary of, well, today. One glance at your iPhone and you’ll know if it’s a certain someone’s birthday, if you’ll need an umbrella, or if traffic will slow down your commute. You’ll even get a heads-up on tomorrow. You can access Notification Center from any screen, including the Lock screen. Just swipe down. And get up to speed.

What’s your day like?

Today view gives you a summary of what you need toknow about for the day. And a peek at tomorrow.

See what you missed.

The new All and Missed views let you see all your alerts or just those you haven’t addressed in thelast 24 hours.

Multitasking has always been a smart way to switch between apps. Now it’s even smarter. Because iOS 7 learns when you like to use your apps and can updateyour content before you launch them. So if you tend tocheck your favorite social app at 9:00 a.m. every day, your feed will be ready and waiting for you. That’s multitasking in iOS 7. It knows what you want to do before you do.

A smarter way to multitask.

Press the Home button twice to see preview screens of the apps you have open. To quit an app, just swipe it up and out of preview.

Intelligently scheduled updates.

iOS schedules updates during power-efficient times. Like when your device is on and connected to Wi-Fi. So your battery isn’t drained unnecessarily.

Sending a photo or a document to someone via text or email is fine. But if that someone is right next to you, a text or an email suddenly feels like too many steps. Enter AirDrop for iOS. It lets you quickly and easily share photos, videos, contacts — and anything else from any app with a Share button. Just tap Share, then select the person you want to share with. AirDrop does the rest using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. No setup required. And transfers are encrypted, so what you share is highly secure.3

Make yourself available. Or not.

You’re automatically visible in AirDrop to your contacts running iOS 7. But you can also make yourself visible to anyone nearby using iOS 7 or to no one at all. One tap in Control Center is all it takes.

File received.

Recipients can choose to save whatever you send. When they do, the content is saved right where it should be — a photo in Photos, a pass in Passbook, acontact in Contacts, and so on.

iTunes Radio features streaming radio stations you’ll love from day one — from the best selection of music. The more you listen, the more personalized it becomes. And it’s available on your iPhone, iPad, iPodtouch, Mac, PC, and Apple TV for free. It’s radio re-imagined

10 tips to make your phone's battery last longer

2012-10-19T02:43:00.002-07:00

Even hi-tech smartphones can last for days - as long as you follow a few basic procedures to keep the battery at full.

As smartphones have become more capable - for playing gaming, watching movies and shooting video - battery performance has worsened and now most modern smartphones won’t last a full a day before you need to reach for a charger.

Phone manufacturers are working hard to improve battery performance - Motorola in particular with their RAZR i and RAZR MAXX - but if you buy most other smartphones, be ready to charge every evening.
Here are some tips to help conserve your mobile phones battery life:

                  [Related: First pics of new iPad Mini appear on Twitter]

Power-saving mode
Modern Android and Windows Phone smartphones include power or battery saving modes typically located in the Settings menu. It is activated once the battery reaches a certain level, forcing battery intensive features - including push email, screen brightness and Facebook updates - to switch off. Unfortunately Apple doesn’t include any such power or battery saving features on its smartphones, although free apps like Battery Life Pro help monitor performance and shut down applications.

                       [Related: Get the best prices on mobiles here]

Screen brightness
The biggest drain on a mobile phone battery is the screen and unfortunately the bigger and brighter the screen, the more battery life it uses. Save battery power by selecting ‘Automatic brightness’ and the screen will adjust the brightness automatically depending on the lighting conditions.

Alternatively, if the battery indicator is reaching precarious levels turn the brightness down as low as is comfortable to conserve as much power as possible.

Make sure auto lock is activated, so when your phone isn’t being used the screen shuts down saving power.

If you’ve got a phone with an AMOLED screen (such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 or S2) using a dark wallpaper may also help save battery.

Don’t vibrate
In a working environment where loud ringtones are frowned upon, instead of popping your mobile phone in vibrate mode, which uses your battery, use silent mode instead.

                        [Related: Which Android is best for you?]

Stop email sync
Your phone probably checks for emails every few minutes or if you’ve got a smartphone that supports push email, constantly. Every time your phone syncs or an email is ‘pushed’ though, it uses battery power. To change the rate of email syncing or to switch it off, go into the Settings menu of your smartphone and increase the interval your phone checks email, it varies from phone to phone, but we would suggest setting it to check every half hour, or to switch off sync completely. You can therefore manually check your email as and when you choose and save a sizable chunk of battery life in the process.

Reduce social networking updates
Getting Facebook and Twitter notifications delivered to your phone automatically (like push email) uses your battery, so turn notifications off. Most phones allow you to switch off all syncing with a simple toggle.

Turn connections off
WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth are found on most modern phones. Forget to turn your WiFi off when you leave the house and it will continually look for a WiFi connection, using the battery. So make sure you turn any connections off when you are not using them.

Shut down apps
Even if you are not using an application it may still be running in the background using the battery, so close any apps you aren’t using. Do this on an iPhone by double tapping the menu button, pressing the program icon and click the minus button.

On older Android smartphones, you may need a task manager to do this, however newer handsets running Android 4.0+ allow you to pull up a task manager by simply long pressing the home button. You can then thumb through your open apps and swipe them off screen to close them. You can even see what apps use the most battery in the settings of your Android smartphone.

Don’t download pictures
Downloading pictures when browsing or using email is something most of us do without thinking, but every time you download a photo it uses both data and power. So if you can live without pictures, turn them off in the internet browser’s settings menu.

Flash off
When taking photographs using your smartphone, be conservative with your flash use. In digital cameras the flash is a huge battery drain and the same applies to phones, so instead of leaving it in automatic mode, turn the flash off when taking photographs, only turning it on when necessary.

Night time = downtime
Night time is the time most people charge their smartphones, but if you don’t have a charger to hand make sure you turn your phone off at night.

Airplane mode
Smartphones are always trying to connect to a network, be it a cellular network, a wireless network or a data network. The harder they try and connect, the more battery they use. A
great way to save your battery is to switch on airplane mode when reception is poor or you’re underground. This stops your phone searching for signal when there’s none to be found and makes the best use of whatever battery you have left.

Accessories
If you’ve followed the above tips and your phone battery still doesn’t last very long, it’s time to consider a charging accessory. The Mophie JuicePack Air (£40) fits over your smartphone, doubling the battery life, alternatively if you don’t fancy changing the look of your phone consider a portable battery charger like Proporta TurboCharger 7000 (£54).

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The Sony Vaio Tap 20: A 20 Inch TabPC? PTab? Heck it’s 20 inch Tablet

2012-10-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

In what the Samsung Galaxy Note did for phones Sony attempts to do with the Sony Vaio Tab 20 for tablets. That's right Sony has released a 20 inch 11.4 pound tablet into the world for a starting price of a mere 880 USD. Want to know more? Read on...

It's really just an all in one touchscreen PC with a battery. So what do you get in 880 dollar version? It will be running Windows 8 with some low to mid range specs:

Core i3 processor
4GB of RAM
500GB hard drive
20-inch, 1,600 x 900
display can lie flat
the display is "drop-resistant"
there's a rubber seal around the bezel (That makes the motherboard water resistant?)
display at least uses IPS technology, so it's safe to say you can expect decent viewing angles
NFC
1.3-megapixel webcam
dual speakers
subwoofer

Here is a hands on review of this beast from CNET

Sadly, I am tempted to put this on my tech geek list to Santa Claus this year and see if he truly does make all wish come true. Anyone with me?

iPhone 5 with The New EE 4G LTE Network - Incredible Speed!

2012-10-05T00:44:00.000-07:00

iMore have posted a test with EE's -- formerly Everything Everywhere, the parent company of Orange and T-Mobile -- LTE 4G speeds on a selection of devices, including the iPhone 5.

As you will see from the video the data speeds are pretty impressive, both upload and download, and a real step in the right direction for the UK smartphone market. On the media event, iMore have managed to get the highest download speed which was just over 42mbps. What a terrible speed!

We have covered another 4G LTE on iPhone, which performed on Bell Mobility, the highest speed is only about 8 mbps, no more. And now you understand how fast is 42mbps on a mobile phone.

EE announced their LTE 4G network just a couple of weeks ago but we still do not have a date when it will actually go live (although they have said it wil be within weeks). When that happens, EE will be well positioned in terms of the competitive landscape. They'll be the first UK carrier able to offer an LTE iPhone 5, but also the only one.

Woo, I am waiting for 4G! Now take a look at the video:

You can follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook fanpage to keep yourself updated on all the latest on Apple and iOS（iPhone & iPad）.

2012-08-29T02:45:00.000-07:00

The gulf between smartphones and cameras is getting smaller, thanks to a new point-and-shoot camera from Nikon that's powered by the Android operating system.

The 16-megapixel Coolpix S800c camera, announced Wednesday, will be the first camera running Android on the market when it hits shelves in September.

The addition of Android brings a few much-needed features to the point-and-shoot. Users can download mobile apps from the Google Play store and share images over cellular networks by tethering to a nearby smartphone or tablet.

Pinterest releases new iPad and Android apps [CNN]

When phone makers first started adding tiny, low-resolution cameras to their devices, the camera industry was not terribly threatened. They had glorious digital SLR cameras with interchangeable lenses, sleek pocket cameras with large sensors and manual controls, and features like high-ISO for low-light shooting, megazoom, and rugged bodies for the outdoors.

Anyone who loved photos would certainly prefer the high-quality shots captured on "real" cameras, right?

But the camera companies underestimated just how important convenience was to consumers, and the public's appetite for sharing photos of moments right when they happened. The resulting cellphone images were low-quality, but nothing a little sepia-filter couldn't fix.

The iPhone was not the first phone to have a camera, but it made sharing images online, over its cellular connection, a snap. In 2011, more than a quarter of photos and videos were captured using a smartphone, according to a study from research company NPD Group. That number is only getting larger.

The $350 Coolpix S800c is bringing some of what has made those smartphones so popular to a camera. It doesn't have a cellular connection, but it does have Wi-Fi. Wireless connections have been around for a while on cameras, but the addition of Android means the camera can tether to a smartphone or tablet running Android when there's no Wi-Fi network handy.

The 3.5-inch touchscreen display gives users access to the Google Play store, where photogs can go to download more apps for their camera, including editing tools and social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook and, of course, Instagram. The camera can also run all the regular smartphone apps, allowing users to send e-mail, browse the Internet, listen to music and play games.

Like Apple's iPod Touch, it draws the line at making phone calls, however.

The camera has 10X zoom, can shoot 1080p video, and includes GPS and maps for tagging images with locations. There are no manual controls. The S800c is running Android 2.3, known as Gingerbread, which is not the most recent version of the operating system.

That Nikon is the first to bring an Android camera to market is a surprise, since competitors Sony and Samsung already make Android devices and were in a better position to combine the two products. Polaroid showed off a demo camera running Android at the Consumer Electronics show in January, the SC1630, but it isn't yet available.

Nikon's Android camera may be a first in the camera industry, but it's still playing catch-up to the real competitors: smartphones with increasingly higher-quality cameras.

Source: (CNN)

Release Dates For New Battlefield 3 DLC For PC, Xbox 360, PS3 Revealed!

2012-08-28T12:50:00.001-07:00

The release dates of the next downloadable content (DLC) of DICE’s popular title Battlefield 3has been revealed! Check them out after the jump.

The news comes straight from the official page for the DLC on Battlefield.com. According to the web page, the new ‘Armored Kill’ DLC will release on the PlayStation 3 for Battlefield Premium members on September 4th while Xbox 360 and PC members will get it on September 11th. The rest of us non Premium members will get it a week after Premium release on respective platforms.

A.K. is the third piece of DLC for Battlefield 3 after Back to Karkand and Close Quarters. After the not so well received Close Quarters DLC which many felt wasn’t very Battlefield-y with its small maps and lack of vehicles, DICE aims to please Battlefield 3 enthusiasts with four huge new maps (one of them being “the biggest map in Battlefield history), a new AC-130, five new vehicles including two mobile R.A., a quad bike, and more. Besides this, it includes a new mode called Tank Superiority. All four of the new maps can be played with previously established modes like Conquest, Rush and Team D.M.

PC gamers will get to play on these maps with 64 players, while console gamers get smaller versions of the maps with a player cap of 24. This is due to the technical limitations of seventh-generation consoles which are running on hardware tech that is over 5 years old.
This new DLC will be available on the previously mentioned dates for the price of $14.99 from the PS Store, Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Origin on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC respectively. Battlefield Premium (one time fee of $49.99) members get it as part of their membership.
If you want to get an idea of just how epic the gameplay is of this DLC, check out this gameplay trailer DICE released a few weeks ago.

I have been playing Battlefield 3 a lot over the past few weeks and I find it to be an absoluteblast to play. It’s gameplay and scale is far more epic than any multiplayer game I’ve ever played before.

You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.

Samsung Formally Shows Galaxy Player 5.8 To The Masses

2012-08-27T12:43:00.001-07:00

Samsung continues to mark its stamp of Portable Media Player (PMP) dominance in the Android world, so it’s only fitting that it has introduced a new PMP called the Galaxy Player 5.8, a device we’d heard about recently. The Galaxy Player 5.8, takes several cues from the existing Galaxy S III smartphone and has the typical standard features. First thing’s first— in case you’re wondering, the 5.8 in Galaxy Player 5.8 title stands for the device having a monstrous 5.8-inch screen. While the 5.8-inch screen is nothing to sneeze at, the device does feature a 960×540 qHD display, leaving a lot to be desired especially as other devices do feature a Super AMOLED screen and all. The rest of the features of the device includes Ice Cream Sandwich, a VGA front-facing camera, 2,500mAh battery and 16GB or 32GB configurations.

So while the device is now out in the open, all that’s left to do is simply see when Samsung let’s the world know if its availability and cost. Expect to find out details of both questions to be answered sometime in the near-future.

source: Samsung Tomorrow

Google Responds to Samsung-Apple Verdict with Official Statement

2012-08-27T12:41:00.001-07:00

Samsung and Apple both released statements after Friday’s $1.05B verdict in the world’s most watched tech trial in history. But the 800lb elephant in the room that remained quiet was Google, until late last night.

So what does Mountain View have to say about all of this? The Verge was provided with an official response from Google last night. In a nutshell, they do not want the recent court decision to limit consumers from accessing innovative products, and that the patent claims do not reflect on the core Android OS experience.

Google’s official statement is as follows:

The court of appeals will review both infringement and the validity of the patent claims. Most of these don’t relate to the core Android operating system, and several are being re-examined by the US Patent Office. The mobile industry is moving fast and all players — including newcomers — are building upon ideas that have been around for decades. We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don’t want anything to limit that.

Google hints that some of Apple’s patents are the result of “ideas that have been around for decades”, so presumably they’re talking about patents such as “pinch to zoom” and “double tap to zoom”, among others. It seems ridiculous to think Apple can block such fundamental features on a mobile device; then again, it already has forced the removal of universal searchfrom Android devices.

So what do you think of all this insanity? Hit up the comments and let us know!

Official: BlackBerry Bold 9930 OS 7.1.0.649 from China Telecom

2012-08-27T12:37:00.002-07:00

BlackBerry Bold 9930 users are getting that leaked OS 7.1.0.649 as an official build today. China Telecom has made OS 7.1.0.649 official for Bold 9930.

Download Bold 9930 OS 7.1.0.649 from China Telecom

Thanks BosBod Inc.!

How to: load an OS on your BlackBerry