techSaid

World‘s first smartphone for the blind, made in India          The world's first smartphone for blind people is here. Soon, they will be able to read SMSes and emails on this phone, which converts all text into Braille patterns. "We have created the world's first Braille smartphone," says its innovator, Sumit Dagar, whose company is being incubated at the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, located in IIM Ahmedabad campus.           "This product is based on an innovative 'touch screen' which is capable of elevating and depressing the contents it receives to transform them into 'touchable' patterns," he says. Dagar, who is a post-graduate from the National Institute of Design (NID), says he was motivated to develop the device when he realised that so far, technology was only serving the mainstream and ignoring the marginalised. He is collaborating with IIT Delhi on making the prototype, which is currently bein...

Facebook Home for Android            Facebook Inc unveiled 'Home' software on Thursday to place the world's social network front and center on Android users' smartphones, a move that may divert users from Google services and steal some of its rival's momentum in the fast-growing mobile arena.Its new family of apps will let users display mobile versions of their newsfeed and messages prominently on the home screens of a wide range of devices based on Google's Android operating system, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters.Shares in Facebook climbed 2 percent to $26.83 in the afternoon. Google stock was off 1.5 percent at $793.81.'Why do we need to go into those apps in the first place to see what's going on with those we care about?' Zuckerberg told the hundreds of reporters and industry executives gathered at Facebook's Menlo Park campus.'We want to bring all this content to the front.'Facebook executives showed a new 'chat...

TabL - Xtra Large Tabs for Businesses & Homes               TabL is a huge touch table with a very cool and sensitive touch interface that could be used as an entertainment,Information and professional. The Extra Large Tab features a 42" inch display and runs on Microsoft windows 8 OS.The Os's can be customized to other OS's capable of implementing touch interfaces like that of android.It has an amazing multi-touchpoints which detects upto 16 touch points.The hardware is designed to be water resistant.            TABL change the way people interact with Friends, Colleagues, Customers and Information. TabL would be the finest companion in your home & organization whether you are in Entertainment, Retail, Hospitality, Healthcare or the Public sector, TabL will change the way you lead your personal and professional life. Features are Customers Guaranteed - Make Customers more eng...

Send SMS to charge your cellphone                     Out of battery? Just send a text! People living off-grid can now power their phones simply by sending a text message.A London-based company Buffalo Grid has introduced a solar-powered cellphone charging station that is activated by text message.A patchy or absent power grid poses a conundrum of problems for rural areas in the developing world, particularly in Africa and Asia, where the use of cellphones is rapidly rising.          The company's basic technology, which was recently trialled in Uganda, should help tackle this issue, 'NewScientist' reported.The battery extracts power from the solar panel using a technique called maximum power point tracking (MPPT). A 60-watt solar panel charges a battery.A solar panel's power output is dictated by environmental conditions, such as temperature and the a...

Mobile threats: Android most vulnerable                    Kaspersky Lab in a recent statement said that mobile users were actively searching for software from suspicious sources and taking no precautions when launching an unknown programme - all of which makes it easier for cybercriminals to infect devices.             Kaspersky Lab's key mobile forecast for 2012 had said that cybercriminals indeed focused their attention on the highly popular Android platform, and the number of threats for it continued to grow at a rapid pace. In January 2012, the lab had less than 6,000 unique malware samples for Android in its database, but the year ended with an astounding figure of 43,000+ malicious programmes. Over 99% of new threats found in 2012 targeted Android-based smartphones and tablets, with less than 1% aimed at devices running Symbian and BlackBerry op...

Mozilla to launch Firefox OS phones in July            Mozilla, makers of the popular Firefox internet browser, is preparing to challenge Google and Apple's grip on smartphone software.        A new Firefox operating system for mobile devices is set for a July release after winning the backing of 13 wireless service providers around the globe, including Spain's Telefonica, China Unicom and America Movil.      Mozilla   is betting there's room for a software developer-friendly mobile platform alongside Apple's and Google's Android, which together power the majority of mobile devices on the planet.       The new software is based on open web standards and is capable of operating on devices with much lower hardware requirements than today's existing crop of smartphones, according to Mozilla.        Because the   Fir...

Google Mapathon India contest kick started     Winners of the contest, which is meant to improve Google Maps, to be awarded Android tablets, smartphones, gift vouchers or Google merchandise. Google has begun its crowd sourcing initiative in India which will help improve its Google Maps service further. The initiative that has begun in form of a competition, called Google Mapathon 2013, on February 12 involves users adding data to Google Maps via Google Maps maker application. Users can help improve the existing service or can also add newer points of interest to the mapping service. Once the entry is submitted with Google, the entry will be scrutinized and will be added to the mapping data. Jayanth Mysore, product manager, Google India said, "Google aims to provide better maps for India by building better maps for the users, by the users. Today, citizens across India can participate in this great project through Mapathon 2013." Top 1000 contributors to th...