Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
It is Siri-like but much better and faster with the updated Google Search app (for iPhone http://goo.gl/h8M50, for iPad http://goo.gl/D7TVH). The new Search app is more like Google Now.
Fast and accurate voice recognition technology enables Google to understand exactly what you’re saying. Getting an answer is as simple as tapping on the microphone icon and asking a question like, “Is United Airlines flight 318 on time?” Your words appear as you speak, you get your answer immediately and—if it’s short and quick, like the status and departure time of your flight—Google tells you the answer aloud.
You can get answers to an increasingly wide variety of questions thanks to Knowledge Graph, which gives our search technology an understanding of people, places and things in the real world. Here are a few of the questions that Google can answer:
- “What does Yankee Stadium look like?” Google will show you hundreds pictures instantly.
- “Play me a trailer of the upcoming James Bond movie.” The trailer starts playing immediately right within Google Search.
- “When does daylight savings time end?” The answer will appear above the search results, so you can set your clock without having to click on a link.
- “Who’s in the cast of The Office?” See a complete cast list and find out who made you crack up last night.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Google is introducing three Nexus versions, Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 plus new updates in the operating system Jelly Bean 4.2.
We’ve always focused on building great devices at great value. And we think today’s devices offer the very best that money can buy. Here are more details on when and where you can pick up your next Nexus device:
Nexus 4: 8GB for $299; 16GB for $349; available unlocked and without a contract on 11/13 on the Google Play store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada. The 16GB version will also be available through T-Mobile for $199, with a 2-year contract (check here for more details).
Nexus 7: 16GB for $199 and 32GB for $249; available in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan, and also through our retail partners Gamestop, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples and Walmart.
Nexus 7 with 32GB and mobile data: $299 and unlocked, on sale 11/13 in the Google Play store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada.
Nexus 10: 16GB for $399; 32GB for $499; available on 11/13 in the Google Play Store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan.
Shop now at play.google.com/nexus
Friday, October 26, 2012
It looks like a desktop laser printer but is a shredder from Swingline. Named aptly Stack-and-Shredder, can shred upto 60 pages stacked together at one time, but if you just have one or two pages then there is the manual shredding option. It can also shred credit cards. It is available in both red and black colors. This will be for businesses and in homes.
- Rio Red shredder matches your red Swingline stapler Hands Free Shredding - just stack, shut and you're done
- Cross-cut shredder meets moderate security needs (Level 3)
- 60 sheet capacity on automatic operation, 5 sheet capacity on manual
- Manual bypass also shreds credit cards; 4-gallon waste bin
Thursday, October 25, 2012
I wanted to open one of the old Microsoft Word files but it was pass-protected and I forgot the main password. Since it was an important file, I wanted to see how I can recover the lost passwords with a software program, I found Office Password Recovery Professional.
After I installed the software, I opened the program and opened the Microsoft Office file to recover the last password. There are two options to open the file, either through online recovery or locally as shown below. After you click the Next button it will ask whether you can remember the word partially or not, even if you can't remember that it tries to recover the password.
It was able to find out the password within minutes but for some long and tough passwords it may take longer. Nevertheless, I was able to recover and open the file. There were no bloatware, it just did the job like the CCleaner and other freeware.
A demo of how this works is shown in video:
If you know similar programs that does a good job of recovering passwords, please leave a comment.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Square payment is growing big day by day, now they are expanding and is available in Canada. It's great for small and medium businesses, easy to use and much better than PayPal with less hassles to deal with. To get started visit Square's register page: https://squareup.com/register#signup
Square, the company making business easy for everyone, today Announced availability in Canada. Square Enables anyone, anywhere to accept credit cards, run and grow Their business.
Square's free Mobile Card Reader plugs into the headphone jack of an iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Square Register is the free app That allows anyone to safe and secure credit card payments with one simple, low transaction rate of 2.75% per swipe, with no hidden fees. Funds are available the next business day, Eliminating the wait for cash flow.
Canada is Square's first market outside the U.S.. Over 2 million Individuals and businesses businessman can accept credit cards with Already Square, and Square is processing over one billion U.S. $ 8 in Annualized payments.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Nice update if you search for the flight status in your mobile phone. A search in mobile for Delta Flight 1262 gives the above results. It gives the scheduled time of arrival, departure and your scheduled time of your destination point. Besides that they have added the flight's progress path, how far it is from the destination point.
Frustrated when your flight schedule is up in the air? When you're traveling on your own or waiting for family and friends to arrive at the airport, getting the most up to date flight information on your mobile device is easy when you enter the flight number on Google Search. You'll see if the flight is on-time, its departure and slated arrival times, and the terminals and gates. There's even a visualization of the plane's progress from departure to destination.
I checked Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7, I see all the details except the flight's path, hopefully it will be updated in the mobile platform soon.
Via Google+.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Nice ad from GoPro for their camera GoPro HERO3.
"Shot 100% on the new HERO3® camera from http://GoPro.com.
The Wi-Fi enabled HERO3: Black Edition is the most advanced GoPro, ever. No expense was spared during its development, resulting in a GoPro that is 30% smaller, 25% lighter & 2X more powerful than previous models. New resolutions and frame-rates include 4Kp 15, 2.7kp 30, 1080p 60, 1440p 48, 960p 100, 720p 120 and 12MP burst photo capture at 30 fps. Yes, for real.
Sit back and enjoy the HERO3: Black Edition in all its glory. #GoPro"
Saturday, October 20, 2012
A good review of Google's new offering "Chromebook" from Samsung. It is available on a pre-order basis for $249.99 (Wi-Fi) and $329 (3G) in Amazon. It has all the essential things necessary for a second computer, can do plenty of productive office work and personal stuff better than in a smartphone or a tablet. It will be a great complement to a PC and keep them in sync via the Cloud. Google offers a healthy 100GB free option to this Chromebook.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Reading magazines in tiny smartphones and even in 7" Galaxy Nexus tablet is not that conducive, but in smaller screen Android has "Text View" option to read the magazines. Though it is fine but still it doesn't look like the magazine we read like before. With this new "Read" option in Google Play however, we can get the magazine feel in our laptops or PCs/Macs.
After you purchase the magazines in Google Play, just click the read button shown in the picture above and start reading the magazines in big screen laptops or computers.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
The new Chromebook laptop from Google will become available next week at a great starting price of $249.
From Google Chrome blog:
The new Chromebook is a great computer at any price, but it’s an incredible computer at $249. It’s one of the lightest laptops on the market. You can easily carry it around all day—it’s 2.5 pounds, a mere 0.8 inches thick, with more than 6 hours of battery life for the typical user. And with 100 GB of free storage on Google Drive*, you can get to all of your stuff anytime, anywhere.
Even with its compact design, it’s packed with performance—it boots up in less than 10 seconds and resumes instantly. High-resolution videos (in 1080p) are beautiful to watch and when using the touchpad, you’ll notice smooth scrolling due to a hardware-accelerated user interface. And as you‘d expect from a Chromebook, it’s easy to share with others. Everyone—mom, dad, grandparents, tech lovers, tech haters—can have separate accounts where all of their stuff is kept safe. Finally, if you’re an active Google user of products like Gmail, Drive, Search, Maps, YouTube, Play or Google+ Hangouts, everything just works seamlessly.
Starting today, the new Samsung Chromebook is available for pre-order online from Amazon, Best Buy, PC World and other retailers. Next week it will be available for sale from these same online retailers as well as the Google Play store. You can also buy them at over 500 Best Buy stores across the U.S and over 30 PC World and Currys stores in the U.K.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
If you would rather use credits option like in iTunes, then you can do the same in Google Play store from today (available only for the US users for now). Click the "Buy Google Play Credit" at the bottom of the Google Play store page (as shown above). Once you click the Buy link, you can add different amounts as shown in the picture below.
After the purchase, the amount is added to your Google Wallet and you can access it in "Google Play Balance" to pay for your purchases in Google Play (Apps, Music, Books, Magazines, Videos and Devices).
This will be a good option to have if you don't want to pay with credit or debit cards in Google Play, just add the amount to your Google Play credit one time accessing your card.
If Google adds the Gift option for this it will be good.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Important lesson for marketers worldwide.
“If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen (you need to speak my language).”
- Willy Brandt
via +Guy Kawasaki.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Ovo Timer works as advertised, is very simple and effective. After you install the app either drag the circle to get the timer set or set the timer via voice (uses Google Voice) to input the time. The timer starts instantaneously after that. After the time is reached, it gives an alarm and a notification.
Timer like this is very useful to check the time of cooking or time for meditation.
It is a free app you can download it in Google Play.
Besides Ovo Timer if you want more functions, there are a number of related Stop Watch or Timer apps in Amazon App store and in Google Play.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
This offer is available in Amazon Local, one voucher per customer. Offer is available until October 15, 2012.
- Voucher will expire if not used towards a movie or TV rental or purchase from Amazon Instant Video by October 31, 2012
- Voucher is valid for a $2 discount off the price of a movie or TV rental or purchase; customer will be responsible for payment to Amazon.com for final price of movie after discount, plus applicable taxes
Thursday, October 11, 2012
We can create polls either manually, which is slightly cumbersome or we can do it with "Do Share" Chrome browser extension, which helps us to write and schedule posts in Google+. Besides the awesome scheduling feature, Do Share has added this poll feature option recently.
To add polls in Google+, follow these steps:
1. Install the "Do Share" extension and connect your Google+ and Do Share settings.
2. Click the "Do Share" icon in Google Chrome and compile the post as shown above.
3. Click the ticked box icon to compile a poll. You will see three options, "Yes", "No" or "Maybe".
4. Either keep the polling options or edit them in the box shown above. You can also add more options by clicking the "+" button.
5. After you complete the post, you can either schedule the post or click "share now" button.
6. Once you hit share button, it will create a poll in Google+ without comments, your circles can then "+" the poll options.
Via +Mike Elgan.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Gamila, a Raleigh, NC based company is advertising this new advanced coffee brewer in Kickstarter. Their project is fully funded and more for now. It is similar to French Press but without too many parts.
I ordered one, will post a review as soon as receive it.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
The Japanese car enthusiasts not only love the Group C Porsche 962 riding in the racing circuits but also on the streets. They use the car like a regular car driving around the city
The Group C Porsche 962 is an iconic race car to say the least. In the 80's it won countless Le Mans races and to this day holds a very special place in car enthusiasts hearts. One particular Japanese car enthusiast loves this car so much that he can't keep this race car restricted to circuit duties only. He feels the overwhelming need to spend much more time with it, on the streets!
In Windows PC computers, there is a dedicated button "PrtScr" in the keyboard to capture the screen and save a copy in the clipboard, but in Apple Mac computers there is no dedicated button, you have to use shortcuts.
Lockergnome.com gives the following tips to save the screenshot:
There are five keyboard shortcuts you can use to take different types of screenshots.
command + shift + 3: Captures the entire screen.
command + shift + 4: Captures an area of the screen.
command + shift + 4 followed by spacebar: Captures an entire window.
control + command + shift + 3: Captures the screen to the Clipboard.
control + command + shift + 4: Captures an area of the screen to the Clipboard.
Photo of how to capture the entire screen in Mac computers from Ancestry.com.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Financial Times releases tons of management books on a wide range of topics. Their books are usually priced high but periodically the books are available on sale for free in Amazon. I have downloaded some books in the past and currently they have the following books available for free (some of them are collections, have two or more books):
1.) Investing Essentials: What You Need to Know (Collection) (Original price $29.99 now $0.00)
2.) The Rules of Work, Expanded Edition: A Definitive Code for Personal Success (2nd Edition) (Richard Templar's Rules) ($24.99 now $0.00)
3.) Liz Weston on Personal Finance (Collection) ($33.99 now $0.00)
4.) Identity: Your Passport to Success ($22.99 now $0.00)
5.) The Truth About Getting the Best From People ($22.99 now $0.00)
6.) Entrepreneurship Lessons for Success (Collection) ($53.99 now $0.00)
2.) The Rules of Work, Expanded Edition: A Definitive Code for Personal Success (2nd Edition) (Richard Templar's Rules) ($24.99 now $0.00)
3.) Liz Weston on Personal Finance (Collection) ($33.99 now $0.00)
4.) Identity: Your Passport to Success ($22.99 now $0.00)
5.) The Truth About Getting the Best From People ($22.99 now $0.00)
6.) Entrepreneurship Lessons for Success (Collection) ($53.99 now $0.00)
You can bookmark this below link and check it regularly to see whether other FT Press books are available for free.
Friday, October 5, 2012
In the internet, you see the same photo across multiple sites but they never mention the source. I always try to give credit to the images posted in blogs and sites but sometimes it is hard to find out which artist produced that image or photo. Google's "Search by Image" Chrome browser extension helps narrow the search in most of the cases.
After you install the extension, when you look at a photo in any website or even this site, you will see the blue camera icon at the bottom part of the image as shown above, just click once to see the source of the image. Google will post results in a separate page.
There is another way you can do the search also as shown below. Right click as you hover over the image, you will see the "Search Google with this image" option.
I have tried it several times, Google usually highlights the author in the first results. In some cases, Google can identify more information about the images as well.
"Search by Image" extension is a good one to have for Google Chrome browser.
Images from Google.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Maily, looks like a nice app for kids to begin with in this networked world and be able to communicate with their grandparents, family, friends and classmates. It is more than texts, they could add pictures and handwriting like they do when they send private notes to their parents and grandparents.
Especially designed for kids from 4 years old, Maily allows your kids to send quirky, personalized emails to mom and dad, their grandparents or close friends easily, rapidly, and securely.
Your kids can now create and send their own emails, using elements like digital pencils, brushes, photos, personalized backgrounds, stickers, and their most commonly used expressions.
New emails from family or close friends arrive in your kids' personal inbox, and with their personal contact list, they can reply and send emails anytime.
Maily comes with extensive built-in parent control features, which enables you to be completely in charge of who your children communicate with, and when, including the ability to approve or reject messages before they are sent or received by their children.
It is currently available only for iPad. This should be available for Android and Windows as well, a good app to have for children.
Screenshots from Maily App:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
