TECH FLASH

A handful of new smartphone platforms are expected to become available this year, challenging the stranglehold of the two market leaders, Google's Android and Apple's iOS.  Android and Apple account for more than 90 percent of the surging smartphone market, and third place is being contested by BlackBerry and Microsoft's Windows Phone.  But phones using operating systems based on the open-source platforms Linux and Mozilla's Firefox will be hitting the market this year, most likely in emerging markets.  Among smartphone makers, "there is a consensus that there is room for a couple more operating systems," said Ramon Llamas, analyst with the research firm IDC.  "Maybe not globally, but in some markets which could be used as proving grounds."  An IDC survey showed Apple and Android accounted for 91.1 percent of all smartphones sold in 2012, but that new platforms are worth watching in a market with 46 percent growth last year. ...

TomTom expands map coverage and content covering all the major beaches, 34,000 points of interest across 264 categories, more than 170 prominent tourist destinations around Goa with turn by turn voice guided navigation from more than 5800 cities and towns across India.   TomTom India today announced the launch of their world-class Global Positioning System (GPS) in-car Portable Navigation Device (PND) for Goa market. TomTom device will not only enable the tourists but locals to explore Goa and nearby getaways. For Goa, the TomTom devices delivers turn-by-turn voice guided navigation to major beaches and over 34000 points of interest (POIs). These POIs are across 264 categories and sub-categories which include fuel stations, banks, restaurants, pharmacy, clinics, hotels, police stations etc.  Travel Goa and Western India like never before   Besides Goa, TomTom maps have more than 170 prominent and exotic tourist destinations around Goa pre-marked. Exploring western I...

Probably you've got important documents, videos, music or other stuffs that needs to be shared across multiple devices, using  cloud storage technology  is for now the easiest option you've got and the number of people it are increasingly by day. Cloud Storage  has come to say and with so many  cloud service providers , you may be wondering which one could be right for you. The list below will help you based on general summary of each popular cloud service. First, let look at what cloud storage is for the benefit of those that don't know what it is. According to  wikipedia Cloud storage  is a model of networked online storage where data is stored in virtualized pools of storage which are generally hosted by third parties. Hosting companies operate large data centers, and people who require their data to be hosted buy or lease storage capacity from them. The data center operators, in the background, virtualize the resources according to the requirements...

Apple has had a few problems with its latest iPhone and  iPad software update . Released just last month, iOS 6.1 was meant to be a relatively significant update bringing enhanced Siri capabilities, LTE support to more countries, and more iTunes Match features. But it seems as if the update is doing more harm than good. The Verge reports that a new bug, "lets anyone bypass your iPhone password lock and access your  phone app , view or modify contacts, check your  voicemail, and look through your photos (by attempting to add a photo to a contact)." The instructions are pretty simple. First you have to pretend to turn the phone off, then make an aborted  emergency call , then a quick bit of off button and cancel pressing. That boots you into the full  phone app  where you can pretty much call or  message  anyone you like, or edit phone contacts. Besides allowing anyone access to your phone, Apple's latest software update also drains your batte...

In Windows 8, Microsoft  quietly removed  a useful networking feature: ad-hoc networks. In Windows 7 (and previous OSes), the tool could turn your PC into a Wi-Fi hot spot, allowing it to share its Ethernet or other Internet connection with other devices by broadcasting its own network. So, if you paid for Internet  access at  a cafe, or you're at work, and want to share your PC's Internet with your phone or tablet, this feature would let you do that. It is very possible to do this in Windows 8, but the built-in method requires fiddling with the command prompt. And for some of us, walking into that black abyss is daunting. Instead, check out  Virtual Router Plus . It's a free, open-source program that does the geek work for you, allowing you to quickly fire up an ad-hoc network whenever you need one. Once you've downloaded  the file , extract it, and launch the VirtualRouterPlus file within that folder. There's no real  installation  here --...

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.