Google doodles on 160th birthday of petri dish inventor Julius Richard Petri

Google today celebrates 160th birth anniversary of German scientist Julius Richard Petri with an innovative doodle on its home page. The doodle features Petri's famous invention – the Petri Dish, used to culture cells or small moss plants.

Julius Richard Petri (May 31, 1852 – December 20, 1921) studied medicine at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Academy for Military Physicians (1871–1875) and got his medical degree in 1876. He continued his study at the Charité Hospital in Berlin and continued as a military physician until 1882.

From 1877 to 1879 he was working at the Imperial Health Office, where he assisted Robert Koch. Petri developed the standard culture dish, also known as Petri plate. He also developed the technique of agar culture to purify or clone bacteria colonies from single cells. His work is said to have made it easier for scientists to identify the bacteria responsible for diseases.

Modern Petri dishes often come with rings on the lids and bases, which enables stacking so that they don't slide off one another. There are now “multi-well plates” as well that allow multiple dishes to be incorporated into one plastic container. Learn more about Petri dishes here.

Today's animated Google Doodle features a series of the Petri dishes in Google colours, replacing the “Google” word. On clicking, a hand appears that swabs each of them. Then you can see as the bacteria grow. There's a lens button on the right that directs users to search results on Julius Richard Petri.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Google-doodles-on-160th-birthday-of-petri_14854.html

YouTube adds slow-motion video effect to editing suite

Google allows users to create entertaining and innovative YouTube videos through various effects and features on its YouTube Editor. The company has now added a new enhancement to growing portfolio of automated editing options – Slow Motion.

The slow motion feature is expected be beneficial for those editing music videos or short films. The feature allows them to mix up or set the tone for their videos.

“Anyone who’s seen a slow motion video of a dog drinking water, rubber bands breaking a watermelon, or footballs in faces knows the age-old proverb: slomo makes everything better. What’s the best way to make slomo better? Let everyone make their own slomo video on YouTube,” says YouTube team in a blog post.

YouTube's slow-motion effect looks smoother and makes the video speed reduced to 1/8th speed.

“To create a slomo video, visit the Enhancements tool or the YouTube Editor and apply it to one of your existing videos. You’ll get a smooth, slomo video that makes it look like it was filmed with a high-speed camera.”

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/YouTube-adds-slow-motion-video-effect-to-editing_14821.html

IRCTC website to soon support booking 7,200 e-tickets per minute

Indian Railways' IRCTC website gets a massive number of hits every day. However, IRCTC is flooded with complaints with regards to slow loading/crashing of the site and failure to complete ticket booking procedures. It is often criticised for its incapability of handling huge web traffic.

However, IRCTC is now looking to address these complaints, as it reveals plans to boost the site to book 7,200 e-tickets per minute. In a presentation on upgrading the IRCTC website, IRCTC Managing Director R K Tandon said the upgrade would cost about Rs. 100 crore. CRIS, the technical arm of railways, will also be participating in the upgrading of the IRCTC website.

The official says the upgrading site is a continuous process and that an average booking per day has been increased from 3.67 lakh in 2012 to 4.15 lakh now.

Currently, the site is capable of handling 1.2 lakh concurrent connections on web servers and can book about 2000 tickets per minute.

It's notable 37 percent of 31 crore reserve tickets being booked in a year are booked online and 8 percent through ticketing agents. Ex-Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had announced in his Rail Budget 2013-14 plans to increase IRCTC capacity to 7200 tickets per minute as well as improving the site's efficiency.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/IRCTC-website-to-soon-support-booking-7200_14809.html

Google to set up wireless networks in emerging markets: Report

Google is reportedly planning to set up wireless networks and offer related services in emerging markets in the near future. According to the Wall Street Journal, the networks would be set up outside the big cities where wired Internet connections aren't available. Moreover, the company is looking to partner with local companies for the deployment.

“As part of the plan, Google has been working on building an ecosystem of new microprocessors and low-cost smartphones powered by its Android mobile operating system to connect to the wireless networks, these people said. And the Internet search giant has worked on making special balloons or blimps, known as high-altitude platforms, to transmit signals to an area of hundreds of square miles, though such a network would involve frequencies other than the TV broadcast ones,” says the WSJ report.

The report goes on to say helping connect more people to the Internet would help Google get more potential users for its search engine and other products/services such as YouTube, Google Play media and app store. More users will help drive more online advertising to Google services.

Narayanan Shivakumar, a former Google engineering executive, says the expansion will help Google net more data about consumer behaviour - that would allow it create more personalized services and target users with more relevant ads. “And by profiting from data it gleans from how people use a network it operates, Google could build a business more cheaply than traditional carriers do today,” he adds.

“Providing wireless networks would allow Google to circumvent incumbent cable companies and wireless carriers. Such companies, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, have clashed with Google, believing it is unfairly reaping profits on the back of their networks. Google has long feared such companies would make it harder for its Web services to work properly on the networks,” the report quotes people with direct knowledge of the matter as saying.

It's notable Google already provides wired Internet in select cities of the US through its fiber-optic deployments. The company also plans to 'powerful Wi-Fi networks' in these cities.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Google-to-set-up-wireless-networks-in_14789.html

NVIDIA announces GeForce GTX 780 GPU

NVIDIA has introduced the GeForce GTX 780 GPU, which is supposed to provide speedy frame rates and ‘smooth’ visuals for the next generation of PC gaming titles – including Call of Duty: Ghosts, Watch Dogs and Battlefield 4. In addition, NVIDIA has released to production the NVIDIA GeForce Experience software.

Designed for gaming enthusiasts, the GeForce GTX 780 boasts a powerful Kepler GPU with 2,304 cores and 3GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory – each 50 percent more than its predecessor.

The GeForce GTX 780 supports NVIDIA’s latest array of gaming technologies, including PhysX and NVIDIA TXAA, while the newest GeForce drivers reduce frame time variations to provide smoother frame delivery and a richer overall experience. And for those gamers who demand the very best, NVIDIA SLI technology – the industry’s preeminent multi-GPU solution – scales to deliver even higher levels of performance.

“The GeForce GTX 780 delivers the fastest frame-rate and smoothest animation at a value never before seen in PC gaming,” said Scott Herkelman, general manager of the GeForce business unit at NVIDIA. “This level of performance allows gamers to become fully immersed into a game the way the developers originally intended.”

The GeForce GTX 780 includes NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 technology, which automatically increases the GPU’s clock speeds for enhanced performance, while adding temperature target and fan controls, as well as extra over-voltage headroom and optimizations for advanced water-cooling solutions.

A high-quality cast exterior aluminum frame and high-efficiency vapor chamber cooling – the most sophisticated thermal solution NVIDIA has created – contribute to the exotic design of the card. With GeForce GTX 780, form meets function with uncompromising acoustic performance as well for near silent gaming operation.

“The GeForce GTX 780 thermal solution is the most sophisticated we’ve ever created,” said Andrew Bell, vice president of engineering at NVIDIA. “The human ear detects not just sound intensity, but also sudden variations in noise levels. For this reason, we created brand new adaptive temperature controllers to reduce unnecessary fan speed variations and deliver beautifully silent operation. This makes the GeForce GTX 780 an awesome choice for powering enthusiast-class PCs including desktop gaming towers as well as the new breed of sexy, small form-factor PCs.”

Optimization with NVIDIA GeForce Experience

Available exclusively to GeForce gamers, the beta version of NVIDIA GeForce Experience software has been used by more than 1.5 million people since the beginning of the year. Now released to production, GeForce Experience is the perfect complement to the GeForce GTX 780’s raw horsepower.

GeForce Experience automatically configures the 3D setting for each game to ensure the best experience based on the system configuration. It notifies gamers of software updates and automatically installs GeForce Game Ready drivers so gamers can maximize the performance of their GeForce GPUs and enjoy the latest PC games the day they are released.

Availability and Pricing

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 GPU is available immediately from the world’s leading add-in card suppliers, ASUS and Zotac. Pricing is expected to start at INR 48,990.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Parts-Peripherals/NVIDIA-announces-GeForce-GTX-780-GPU_14783.html

Google Maps to offer panoramic images of The Galapagos Islands

Google has over the months continued to enhance its Google Maps Street View experience with panoramic images of the world's exquisite destinations. It recently added Grand Canyons and Everest, and now the latest to appear in Google's Street View panorama will be The Galapagos Islands.

Google in a detailed blog post revealed it is collecting imagery of the Islands, which includes Underwater Street View photography. The visual content is expected to appear on Google Maps later this year.

Google further says the biodiversity of the Islands inspired Charles Darwin to come up with the theory of evolution. Now taken care by Ecuador, the local government and conservationists are working together to rotect the Galapagos from threats posed by invasive species, climate change and other human impacts.

The Internet company tied up with the Ecuadorean government, the Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), the Galapagos National Parks Directorate (GNPD), and the Catlin Seaview Survey to gather panoramic images of the Islands. For above-ground images, Google used is Street View Trekker while the coastal shelf were captured by Catlin Seaview Survey team, which has also teamed with Google, using three SVII cameras on its diver-operated, motorized underwater scooter.

“Our 10-day adventure in the Galapagos was full of hiking, boating and diving around the islands (in hot and humid conditions) to capture 360-degree images of the unique wildlife and geological features of the islands with the Trekker. We captured imagery from 10 locations that were hand-selected by CDF and GNPD. We walked past giant tortoises and blue-footed boobies, navigated through steep trails and lava fields, and picked our way down the crater of an active volcano called Sierra Negra,” said Google in a blog post.

“Life underwater in the Galapagos is just as diverse as life on land. We knew our map of the islands wouldn’t be comprehensive without exploring the ocean that surrounds them. So for the second time we teamed up with the folks at the Catlin Seaview Survey to collect underwater panoramic imagery of areas being studied by CDF and GNPD. This imagery will be used by Catlin Seaview Survey to create a visual and scientific baseline record of the marine environment surrounding the islands, allowing for any future changes to be measured and evaluated by scientists around the world.”

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Google-Maps-to-offer-panoramic-images-of_14771.html

 

Apple makes iPhone more affordable in India with discount and EMI schemes

Despite being premium priced, the iPhone is a hot product in India. It has been facing some stiff competition from other flagship smartphone makers like HTC and Samsung. In order to make the iPhone more accessible to consumers, Apple has come up with a bunch of schemes that is making the iPhone an attractive purchase.

Student who trade in their old smartphone for an iPhone will receive a discount of Rs. 7,777. If you are not a student, fear not. You will still receive a discount of Rs. 7,000 for trading in your old smartphone.

If you purchase the iPhone via your American express card, you will receive 10% cash back. If you are an American Express card user, you will get cash back of Rs. 6,000 on the purchase of an iPhone 4, 4S or 5 before June 10. This information is advertised in local newspapers all over the country. You can also avail the American Express installment offer at Redington and Ingram Micro distributor outlets. So, if you purchase an iPhone 5 (16GB), you will receive Rs. 4,550 on six monthly installments of Rs. 2,374. You will have to pay Rs. 9,990 rupees as a down payment.

BlackBerry a company struggling to keep its head above water too has introduced EMI schemes to boost the sales of its entry level BlackBerry Curve 9220 and the recently launched flagship BlackBerry Z10.

You can pick up a BlackBerry Curve 9220 at an EMI of Rs. 799 per month for 12 months and the Z10 can be yours for an EMI of Rs. 4799 for a period of 9 months. You can figure out which store near you has the BlackBerry smartphones on offer by sending an SMS - BBEMI <city or pin-code> to 575758.

Samsung too has a series of offers for its smartphone product lineup. You can catch the details of Samsung’s offers here.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Apple-makes-iPhone-more-affordable-in-India_14736.html

Sony teases PS4 console design ahead of Xbox 720 unveiling

Sony is trying to steal a bit of Microsoft’s thunder by showcasing a teaser video of the hardware design of the PS4. The teaser trailer was released a day before the announcement of the next-gen Xbox.

The video showcases a blurry PS4 console. The look of the PS4 console is something we were waiting to see at the Sony February PS4 event but unfortunately the company didn't reveal it. What the event showcased was a bunch of game demos, the potential of the hardware, a new controller design and some online features.

The teaser trailer ends with June 10 being the grand unveiling of the console, which is the date for Sony’s E3 press conference. Hopefully we will get some concrete details about the price and its availability as well.


The reveal of the next Xbox is in a few hours. You can catch the live webcast of the event here. There are a lot of rumours about the next Xbox such as a sleeker console design, redesigned Kinect, always-on internet connection to play games, a Blu-ray drive, compulsory installation and more. All these rumours will hopefully be put to rest once the event kicks off later tonight.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Gaming/Sony-teases-PS4-console-design-ahead-of_14721.html

ZTE to launch smartphones, tablets in India; partners Pune-based Calyx Telecoms

Chinese manufacturer ZTE has set its sights on the Indian smartphone and tablet market as it teams with Pune-based Calyx Telecoms, which will be marketing ZTE smartphone s and tablets in the country. ZTE plans to launch new smartphones within the price range of Rs. 5,799 and Rs. 14,999 by October this year. The company hasn't yet decided on the pricing of its tablets.

As per the agreement, Calyx Telecoms will be taking care of distribution, sales and marketing ZTE smartphones and tablets in the country. ZTE India's chief executive Xu Dejun believes the partnership with the Pune-based firm will help the company "strengthen its position" in a local handset market, currently dominated by the likes of Samsung, Nokia, Sony, Apple and BlackBerry.

"Backed by Calyx's strong distribution channels, we expect to strengthen our position in India, which is a key growth propeller for us, contributing up to 10% of overall revenues," said Dejun.

ZTE says the first lot of smartphones and tablets shipped in India will be made in China but plans to manufacture them locally in the near future. "We look forward to manufacturing the smartphones and tablets at our Gurgaon factory in future," said Dejun.

Calyx Telecoms executive director Gaurav Somani said the company is "broadening its distribution network" to market ZTE's product portfolio initially in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. "We are targeting 60 cities and towns through over 7,000 touch points."


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/ZTE-to-launch-smartphones-tablets-in-India_14702.html

Spice Stellar Horizon Pro Mi 505 dual-SIM 3G phablet launched at Rs. 8,499

Spice Mobiles has launched a new 5-inch Android smartphone/phablet, Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505. The smartphone comes with dual-SIM functionality with both SIM cards supporting 3G network. The Spice Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505 is priced at Rs. 8,499.

The Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505 features a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen with 800 x 480 pixels resolution. It runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor. It has 512MB of RAM. The smartphone comes with 4GB built-in storage and supports additional storage up to 32GB via microSD.

The Stellar Horizon Pro Mi-505 sports a 5MP camera on the rear and a 1.3MP front facing. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone supports GPS, 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB. The smartphone is powered by a 2,100 mAh battery.

Spice is offering preloaded propreitary NetQin antivirus app with the Horizon Pro Mi-505, along with a free leather cover and screen guard worth Rs 500.

Spice's Horizon Pro Mi-505 is the cheaper variant of the original Stellar Horizon Mi-500, which sports dual-SIM, 5-inch screen, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a relatively more powerful 2,400mAh battery. The smartphone is available online for approximately Rs. 12,000.

"We have received phenomenal success with Stellar Horizon Mi 500 launched last year. We have followed it up with this enhanced version with exciting features at a more attractive price point. We are confident the Horizon Pro will offer best value for money to its users,” TM Ramakrishnan, CEO, devices, Spice Mobiles is quoted as saying.

Source:: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Spice-Stellar-Horizon-Pro-Mi-505-dual-SIM_14682.html

Micromax quashes Canvas Pro HD reports; A110Q Canvas pops up online

Micromax has quashed rumours of launching a full HD smartphone called the 'Canvas Pro HD A120'. A Micromax spokesperson confirmed with The Mobile Indian, stating: “The Micromax Canvas Pro HD A120 is just a rumor and the company is not working on any such device." In the meanwhile, a new Micromax smartphone, called the A110Q Canvas, has been spotted online. The company hasn't yet commented on the A110Q Canvas reports.

Details about the Micromax A110Q Canvas are scarce, but DroidExtra says the smartphone comes with 5-inch screen with 480 x 854 pixels resolution, 1.2 GHz MT6589 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and runs Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean.

The site further claims it had previously leaked info about the Micromax A115 Canvas 3D that came out to be true.

 

On the other hand, the Canvas Pro HD A120 was spotted recently on Sulekha with specifications details. The smartphone, according to the listing, has 5.5-inch Full HD 1920x1080 pixel display, and will run on a Cortex A7 quad-core processor. The phablet will also house the PowerVR Series 5XT GPU and 2GB of RAM.

The rear of the A120 will have a 13MP camera and the front will have a 3.2MP camera for video calling. It will sport 8GB built-in storage expandable up to 64GB via a microSD card. The Canvas HD Pro supports dual-SIM capabilities as well. A 3,000mAh battery powers the device.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Micromax-quashes-Canvas-Pro-HD-reports-A110Q_14579.html

India's telephones subscribers base slips to 895.51 million: TRAI

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its latest report on the performance of the telecom service providers during the quarter ending December 2012. The report covers parameters and growth trends for the Telecom Services as well as Cable TV, DTH & Radio Broadcasting services in the country.

Unsurprisingly, the number of telephone subscribers in India slumped from 937.70 million at the end of Sep-12 to 895.51 million at the end of Dec-12, registering a negative growth of 4.50% over the previous quarter Sep-12.

This reflects year-on-year (Y-O-Y) negative growth of 3.35% over the same quarter of last year. The overall Tele-density in India has declined from 77.04 as on 30th September, 2012 to 73.34 as on 31st December, 2012, reports the note.

According to the report, Internet subscribers increased from 24.01 million at the end of Sep-12 to 25.33 million at the end of Dec-12, registering a quarterly growth rate of 5.49%. Top 10 ISPs together hold 95.42% of the total Internet subscriber base.

Number of Broadband subscribers increased from 14.68 million at the end of Sep-12 to 14.98 million at the end of Dec-12, registering a quarterly growth of 2.02% and Y-O-Y growth of 12.23%. Share of Broadband subscription in total Internet subscription decreased from 61.16% at the end of Sep-12 to 59.15% at the end of Dec-12. 84.82% of the Broadband subscribers are using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Indias-telephones-subscribers-base-slips-to-89551_14562.html

LG Optimus G2 spotted in benchmarks, boasts of 2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU

The successor to LG flagship smartphone, the LG Optimus G has made its appearance online. The smartphone conveniently called the LG Optimus G2 was spotted in the AnTuTu benchmark along with Bluetooth SIG getting its Bluetooth certification.

In the AnTuTu Benchmark score it is revealed that there will be three variants of the smartphone - the F320K, F320L and F340L. The F320K is powered by a 1.5GHz processor and runs on Android 4.1.2. A 2GHz processor and run on Android 4.2 power the F320L and the F340L. It is most likely that the F320L and the F340L run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset.

An interesting reveal from the benchmark scores is that the F320L, which as a 2GHz processor scored less than the F320K, which has a 2GHz processor in the AnTuTu, benchmark. It is possible that the three variants of the smartphone are for different carriers in the US or may be for different regions globally. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has two variant launched globally. One that runs on the Qualcomm chipset and the other, which runs on the Exinos 5 Octa chipset.

In terms of other specifications, the LG Optimus G2 will have a 5-inch display with a full HD 19020x1080 pixel resolution. Keeping up with the next generation smartphone hardware, the device will house a 13MP rear camera and sport a 2.1MP front facing camera for video calling. A 3200mAh battery is expected to power the device.

There is no official information about the LG Optimus G2 but leaks suggest that the device will be unveiled to the public in August/September 2013.


Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/LG-Optimus-G2-spotted-in-benchmarks-boasts_14507.html