Wii 2 – Nintendos next generation Gaming Console

Posted on April 19, 2011 by admin

Wii 2 keeps the rumor mill churning. Some of the highlights in the rumor, though Nintendo has not officially declared any of these yet:

  • Features ATI’s R700 series GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) clocking at 900 MHz making it 80% more powerful than XBOX 360 (GPU at 500 MHz) and Sony PS3 RSX GPU at 700 MHZ.
  • Controller with an inbuilt screen
  • Screen may or may not be HD and touch sensitive.
  • May come with blu-ray disc.

Lets wait and see till June 7th for E3 2011 and see how powerful Wii 2 is going to be…:)

With Sony’s NGP – PSP’s successor, Rumor of Microsoft updating disc format for XBOX 360 we can wiat and watch out new era in Gaming industry for 2011 apart from the Tablet PC’s war 2011….

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Cricket World Cup(CWC) 2011

Posted on March 30, 2011 by admin

A short analysis on Team India as of today 30th March 2011:

  1. So far Cricket World Cup(CWC) Won by 5 Countries.
  2. West Indies(2), India, Australia(4), Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
  3. In 2011 CWC India defeated the 2 time (1975 and 1979) CWC winners West Indies in Pre-Quarter Finals.
  4. Also India defeated the 4 time (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007) CWC Winners Australia in Quarter Finals
  5. India defeated 1992 CWC winners Pakistan in Semi Finals.
  6. Finally the last one to get defeated is 1996 CWC Winners Sri Lanka on April 2nd, who also defeated us in 1996 Semi finals played in India. All the Best Team India for April 2nd 2011.
  7. If we hold the CWC 2011, Team India has a chance of defeating all the previous world cup winners in one tournament.
  8. Also Team India have a chance of winning the World Cup 2011 by match hosting Nation, which has never happened before in CWC History of 35 years. (Though Sri Lanka won the CWC 1996 which is a part of hosting the tournament where as the finals was played in Lahore, Pakistan.)

CWC – Cricket World cup.

More info on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_World_Cup

And analysis done from different news resources like NDTV.

Till now Team India has made all of us proud with their performance in CWC 2011. Hope we will be able to see a billion people smiling altogether at once on April 2nd…:)

And last but not the least….:)

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iPad2 launching – part2 Accessories

Posted on March 2, 2011 by admin

No Big surprises yet as till now all the features added were all ready expected features and  the real surprise will be if they announce Flash support. I guess Apples main intention is to judge their product rather than going for high end tablets like Motorola Xoom which is  with multi processors and costlier than ipads. Now getting on to the accessories:

  • HDMI Video out
  • What you on Ipad is what you see out…:) upto 1080p
  • Charge your ipad while you are using it
  • Smart covers
  • iOS 4.3 – Increasing safari performance, Nitro Java Script engine from MacOS X.
  • Wireless streaming over wifi to iPad, iPhone, iPod touch
  • Apps and web sites can be played from airplay
  • iOS 4.3 on March 11 for ipad, iphone 4 and iPod touch 4th generation
  • iMovie app which comes with an editor, multi-track auto recording, playback on airplay.
  • timeline app which comes with 50 sound effects, create clips, pick clips etc.

On summary nothing much great than expected. At least it would be nice if they had given the option of USB port, SD Card slot. People who don’t like iPad will not love iPad2. Over all iPad2 is with camera, better processing and light weight.

Source: informationweek.com live blog: Apple launches iPad2

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iPad2 Launching – Part 1

Posted on March 2, 2011 by admin

Steve Jobs finally at the iPad2 launch event … Some of the highlights of the launch event (Source from informationweek.com)

  • more than 2500 publishers in part of iBook
  • 200 million accounts across all the stores
  • Apple paid recently $2b to the developers for selling apps on app store.
  • 15million ipads in 2010
  • iPad2 – A5 chip – Dramatically faster, Dual Core, 2X faster CPU, 9X faster graphic performance, same low power as A4 chip
  • As every body expected .. built in camera, built in gyroscope
  • Thinner than iPhone4, also lighter 1.5 pounds to 1.3pounds
  • Shipping both black and white from Day 1
  • Both Verizon and ATT from Day 1
  • Same 10hr batter life and one month stand by
  • surprisingly same preserved price…:)
  • Shipping from March 11th (in one week….)
  • 26 more countries by March 25th

…..more to come. Stay tuned

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Samsung Captivate Android 2.2

Posted on February 25, 2011 by admin

Samsung Captivate Android 2.2 Froyo is officially released through AT&T. (on a side note it was available from May 2010 for those who did already root the phone) . Let me tell you some of the new features with Android 2.2 Froyo:

  • Support for USB Tethering
  • Mobile Hotspot
  • Install apps on SD Card
  • Enhanced Microsoft Exchange
  • Flash 10.1

Steps I followed while upgrading to Android 2.2 Froyo:

  • Launch Kies in Laptop/Desktop
  • Make sure the phone is charged fully before starting the upgrade process.
  • When Kies is launched it checks for latest version of the Kies. If it is not the latest it asks for the upgrade of Kies.
  • After getting the latest Kies restart the system and launch the Kies.
  • Connect the phone in the USB Settings of Kies(Firmware update)
  • After the connection in the Kies window it asks for upgrade and click on the upgrade icon.
  • That’s it…you are done! Sit back and relax till the phone restarts with new upgrade.

It took 8 minutes for me for the whole process. Few changes I noted as soon as I switched on the phone: Keyboard change, Desktop settings changed, new default apps like car mode, home mode etc. Now I have to check more for new features, performance and will add more details about it in my next post.

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Is it True? iPhone 200$ no service contract

Posted on February 11, 2011 by admin

News circulating all over the web that Apple is going to launch a smaller version contract free iPhone for 200$ which will be a third smaller of the current iPhone and with out a home button told by the person who saw the prototype. As in the current market so many smartphones are being offered at low price made apple bound to offer the low price model.

But the option of contract free and lesser price phone will help new model to be attracted international markets and easy switching of carriers. May be in US we can expect this smaller phone for free with a two year service contract :) Sweet..isn’t it?

But I guess people might be expecting a bigger screen iPhone rather than a smaller one! Lets see how the public responses for the newer version of iPhone. It can be a bigger screen or a smaller screen. Apple can do anything :)

News is that Apple is also developing a technology called Universal SIM which allows users to switch between different networks without switching traditional SIM cards.

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Saurav Ganguly retiring from cricket……..

Posted on February 7, 2011 by admin

Is it true…..our Dada, Saurav Ganguly retiring? I know web is flooded with this news and for some it might not be a surprise as he is seen away from international cricket from past 3 years. What ever be his performance during last few matches of his presence but retiring in such a way that none of the IPL team selecting him was disappointing and made him to take the decision of retiring from Cricket. His first ODI debut was in January 1992 vs West Indies and Test debut was in June 1996 vs England. He was last seen in November 2007 ODI vs Pakistan and in November 2008 Test match vs Australia. Since then he has been participating in Ranji Trophies.

Some of his comments on indulging him in politics “I have played cricket as captain for 5 years, 8 years under different skippers. I have helped in building what Team India is today. And this does not come by playing politics.”

He was very much disappointed for not being selected to IPL4 in any of the 10 teams of which almost 70 Indians were selected. and he was practicing cricket and participating in Ranji’s to be fit for IPL. But when none of the IPL teams showed interest he took this decision. He was so disappointed that he said he is not interested in playing competitive cricket. But his passion for cricket will not die.

My blog on Dada is only to show sympathy for one of the successful captain for retiring from Cricket with a disappointment. Hope he will find a way in sharing and training his talent and game to young cricket fans of India. All the best DADA!

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Cloud Printing from Google lets you print from Mobile

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Deepak Kotla

Google Cloud Print — Most of you might have heard of Apple’s AirPrint technology which is for Apple ios and Apple devices. But Android fans too now can get wireless printing from their mobile devices. In fact all the mobile device which supports Google Mobile Service can be benefit from this service. Google offering cloud printing service for windows users for now by downloading a special beta version of Google chrome from Cloud print website.

Steps:

  1. Download Google chrome beta version from Google Cloud Print website
  2. Add your printer top the Google Cloud services
  3. Associate it with your GMail account
  4. Make sure a PC running with windows XP , vista or 7 for which the printer is connected (Mac and Linux users need to wait until Google release their version of software)
  5. Login into gmail account on your mobile (compatible with GMail’s mobile service)
  6. You can print emails and attachments (html, doc, pdf)

Beauty of this service is your mobile need not be on the same network as your printer is. There are several security questions will be raising because of a piece of software needs to install. But all of them are addressed at FAQ

So Friends start trying Google cloud Print service if you feel it is safe and secure…:)

Share your experiences and difficulties if any…:)

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2010 – Year of happiness & satisfaction

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Deepak Kotla

Yes, 2010 I can call it a year of happiness & Satisfaction. Let me justify my saying…:)

  • First Celebration in the year was Naming Ceremony of our lovely daughter, Light of our Life … “Devi Sesha Sai Saranya” when she was in her 3rd month.
  • Had a wonderful time with parents and in-laws after 3 long years.
  • Had a wonderful birthday celebrations as Dad(myself) and Mom(Raji)
  • New job @ Estuate Inc.
  • Moved to Bay Area – Fremont, CA.
  • Saranya’s Annaprasana (First Rice) ceremony when she was in her 9th month.
  • Successfully celebrated Saranya’s 1st Birthday on Nov 7th.
  • Raji’s successful craft ideas – Quilling, Origami, Cake decorations, Balloon decorations, Ribbon Rose flowers and Saranya’s monthly birthday celebrations.
  • Friends and Relatives visits from London, Phoenix, Atlanta, Bay Area, Maryland and India …:)
  • Places Visited : Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay.
  • Work locations – Cantor Gaming (Las Vegas), Wells Fargo(San Francisco), SRI International (Menlo Park, CA – currently working)
  • Gadgets we own in 2010 : Samsung Captivate, 2TB HDD, Seagate Media Player, HP Laptop, couple of Digital Frames, Lots of toys for Saranya … :)
  • Back in India: Dad’s promotion to Director in TLC, Praveen’s new job @ VMWare, Ananth’s Graduation
  • New friends and neighbors.

Apart from all the above we have so many small and happy moments spent in 2010. Most happiest thing was to spend time with parents and in-laws, taking care of Saranya. Wishing 2011 will also be filled with joy and happiness for everyone..:)

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iphone 3g to Samsung Captivate

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Deepak Kotla

With the latest iPhone 4 and new ios releases I am not able to do much with my iPhone 3g as all the new apps and new features are supporting iPhone 4 and ios 4.x. After a journey of 18months with iPhone 3g I have decided to upgrade my phone as I am eligible for upgrade in ATT and thought of giving a try to Android phone though iPhone 4 was released by that time. I want to get used to Android OS as well and want to see the innovations being done by Samsung as well.

The Samsung Captivate is a decent phone and had lots of features that kept it in line with iPhone 4.One drawback I noticed in Captivate is the battery life. As it uses more brighter screen and more options in background. But I am able to manage the battery life with app available in Android market ‘Advanced Task Killer’ and setting the phone features to minimal usage level brought back the battery life to 2.5 times more…:)

Initially it took a while to get used to Android OS, setting up the emails, syncing the contacts but it is a one time effort when migrating to new handset and new os phone. Captivate powered by a 1GHz Hummingbird Processor with a 512 MB ram, powerful 5 megapixel Camera and 720p HD Video capture (though camera lacks LED flash light) and the screen equipped with 480X800 pixel Super AMOLED — Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode, offering a brighter and bigger 4″ screen.

The voice controls were nice and integration with Google voice is also very nice. GPS turn-by-turn instructions are perfect. The music player features with 5.1 channel options, and different equalizer options is good. The widgets feature allows you customize in so many ways of organizing the apps in phone. The feature of shortcuts on home screen is good.

Another reason why I felt it is worth to try this phone is I was getting Samsung Captivate for 20$ in upgrade option compared to 200$ for iPhone 4….:). But I am pretty sure so many changes and new features going to  happen in the Mobile industry in next 15 months (when I will be eligible again for another phone from ATT). One of the new technology change going to happen is dual core smartphones. Check this link…. dual-core-smartphones-the-next-mobile-arms-race

Check couple of videos shot using my Captivate phone and uploaded to Youtube directly…:)

Posted in Gadgets, Mobile, Technology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment