TECH FLASH

I could still remember the day I watch the iRobot as a teen, and being skeptical about my brother’s statement that one day, the driverless car will become reality. And it’s now a reality, made possible by… a search engine company, Google. While the data source is still a secret recipe, the  Google driverless car  is powered by artificial intelligence that utilizes the input from the video cameras inside the car, a sensor on the vehicle’s top, and some radar and position sensors attached to different positions of the car. Sounds like a lot of effort to mimic the human intelligence in a car, but so far the system has successfully driven 1609 kilometres without human commands! (Image Source:  Wikipedia ) “You can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people can experience this.” Google co-founder, Sergey Brin said. However, innovation is an achievement, consumerization is the headache, as Google currently face the challenge to forge...

Meet the first generation of the gaming tablet. Razer’s  Project Fiona  is a serious gaming tablet built for hardcore gaming. Once it’s out, it will be the frontier for the future tablets, as tech companies might want to build their own tablets, dedicated towards gaming, but for now Fiona is the only possible one that will debut in 2013. This beast features next generation Intel® Core i7 processor geared to render all your favorite PC games, all at the palm of your hands. Crowned as the best gaming accessories manufacturer, Razer clearly knows how to build user experience straight into the tablet, and that means 3-axis gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer and full-screen user interface supporting multi-touch. My body and soul are ready.

Eye tracking has been actively discussed by technology enthusiasts throughout these years, but it’s really challenging to implement. But  Eye Tribe  actually did this. They successfully created the technology to allow you to control your tablet, play flight simulator, and even slice fruits in Fruit Ninja only with your eye movements. It’s basically taking the common eye-tracking technology and combining it with a front-facing camera plus some serious computer-vision algorithm, and voila, fruit slicing done with the eyes! A live demo was done in LeWeb this year and we may actually be able to see it in in action in mobile devices in 2013. Currently the company is still seeking partnership to bring this sci-fi tech into the consumer market but you and I know that this product is simply too awesome to fail.

Multi-touch desktop is a (miserably) failed product due to the fact that hands could get very tired with prolonged use, but  Leap Motion  wants to challenge this dark area again with a more advanced idea. It lets you control the desktop with fingers, but without touching the screen. It’s not your typical motion sensor, as Leap Motion allows you to scroll the web page, zoom in the map and photos, sign documentss and even play a first person shooter game with only hand and finger movements. The smooth reaction is the most crucial key point here. More importantly, you can own this future with just $70, a price of a premium PS3 game title! If this device could completely work with Oculus Rift to simulate a real-time gaming experience, gaming is going to get a major make-over.

Virtual Reality gaming is here in the form of  Oculus Rift . This history-defining 3D headset lets you mentally feel that you are actually inside a video game. In the Rift’s virtual world, you could turn your head around with ultra-low latency to view the world in high resolution display. There are premium products in the market that can do the same, but Rift wants you to enjoy the experience at only $300, and the package even comes as a development kit. This is the beginning of the revolution for next-generation gaming. The timing is perfect as the world is currently bombarded with the virtual reality topic that could also be attributed to Sword Art Online, the anime series featuring the characters playing games in an entirely virtual world. While we’re getting there, it could take a few more years to reach that level of realism. Oculus Rift is our first step.

We compare the Chromebook Pixel with two Apple Macbooks to see if the Google notebook is worth its price. Google has announced its intent of storming into the ultraportable laptop market with the announcement of the brand new   Chromebook Pixel   netbook. The Chromebook Pixel will run on Google's own Chrome OS, that also powered the earlier Chromebooks, but instead of relying on other manufacturers like Samsung and Acer, the Chromebook Pixel will be completely designed and manufactured by Google. The Chromebook Pixel's premium design and pricing make it interesting competition for Apple's Macbooks. Of course, there are certain things that set these laptops apart- the Chromebook Pixel's 13-inch display is also touch-enabled whereas the Macbooks aren't (although it's rumoured that Apple are also headed the touchscreen route for its notebooks). The Macbooks run on a “proper” operating system capable of running full-fledged productivity applications. The ...

We begin the month of February by sharing our list of most anticipated games for the month on which you can drop your hard-earned cash. And February looks to be the month that will burn quite a big hole in your pocket! Hitman HD Trilogy We start the list by respecting gamers who will pick up the HD remaster of the original Htiman Trilogy. Newcomers to the world of gaming who have some hands on time with  Hitman: Absolution , know this – the original games were tough as hell and took a lot of patience and perseverance to get through the levels. The trilogy will include Hitman: Contracts, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Blood Money. Gamers will play through more than 40 intense missions across the three classic games. The best part, all the three games have been remastered in glorious HD. The Hitman Trilogy will be available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in the first week of February for Rs. 1,499 approx. watch a cool trailer :- http://youtu.be/SSI5qPFbdpE ...

Facebook is planning to attract the hardcore gaming audience with the hope that gamers will spend more time and money playing hard-core games on the social networking website. Facebook plans to diversify the audience that plays games on the social networking website. The website plans to launch 10 high-quality games in 2013. These games will be targeted at the hard-core gamer, unlike casual social games like Farmville, Mafia Wars and more. Facebook, which takes a cut of the revenue generated by these games, hopes to keep its 1 billion-plus users logged in and spending more time and money on the website. Micro transactions, which are small in game purchases, are the biggest source of revenue through these games. Studies have shown that the hard-core gaming audience is the population between the age of 18 and 30. They spend a large number of hours playing games like Halo, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and more on the home console and PC. "You'll see a whol...

Dead Space 3 is now available in store shelves globally, but still needs to see the light of day in India. Reviews of the game are out and most of them say that the game doesn’t live up to its hype. That isn’t to say that the game is bad, it’s just that the presentation and overall package of its predecessors is better. A general consensus on the review of the Dead Space 3 says that the game looks gorgeous with its graphics, the gameplay is still fun as ever, and dismembering a Necromorphs is still a thrilling experience. The addition of multiplayer in the story means that you can now share the adventure with a friend. A new mechanic added to the game is the ability to create your own weapons or modify them, as you like. This is a break from the standard upgrade mechanic and is a good twist to the game. On the downside however, the story of the game is weak. It isn’t well connected and doesn’t keep you as engaged as it did in Dead Space 2. A DLC pack...

As the date for E3 edges closer and closer, we’re getting little spurts of leaks about the upcoming updated Xbox console (a.k.a Xbox 720), codenamed Durango. The source of the leak, who goes by the alias SuperDaE, first came to public attention when he tried to sell one of the Durango developer kits on eBay (seen below), a sale that was blocked by Microsoft. SuperDaE seems to be in possession of a number of white papers on the next-gen console from Microsoft, papers essentially written for game developers. Included in these documents are some very interesting details that, as we have learnt from the past, are not all necessarily the guidelines for the final production model. Amongst the many new features, the first that sticks out is the new “always-on” Kinect setup. The next gen console might require the Kinect unit to be plugged in, switched on and configured to the room in order for the Xbox to work. The Kinect unit itself has apparently received a ma...