Technology

Android has grown from a tiny upstart to the world's dominant mobile computing platform with over a billion active users. Google isn't sitting still, though, and has just unveiled what it calls the most ambitious Android release yet. Currently known only as Android L, there's no dessert-themed codename or even formal version number yet. Android L will release later this year, though an exact date isn't known. We hope to see new smartphones launch around the same time which take advantage of all the new features, and also updates to existing smartphones. HTC is amongst the companies committed to bringing it to its existing HTC One family, while others should announce support soon. Here are some of the most exciting new features of Android L     Material design Android will receive a complete visual overhaul aimed at promoting a consistent experience across Android device sizes and types. The new "Material Design" identity is bolder, more colour

Canadian smartphone manufacturer has launched its recently unveiled large-screen smartphone in India, the BlackBerry Z3, priced at Rs. 15,990. The BB10 OS-based smartphone will be available to pre-order from Flipkart, The Mobile Store, and BlackBerry stores from Wednesday, and go on sale from July 2. The  BlackBerry Z3  is the  first phone to be launched  by  BlackBerry  since new CEO John Chen took the helm late last year. A special pre-order price of Rs. 14,990 is being offered by Flipkart and The Mobile Store. The Z3 runs BlackBerry 10 OS (version 10.2.1) and features a 5-inch qHD (540x960 pixels) display offering an aspect ratio of 16:9. It is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8230) processor with 1.5GB of RAM. BlackBerry's Z3 sports a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera and also houses a 1.1-megapixel fixed-focus front-facing camera. The smartphone includes 8GB of inbuilt storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card.  The smartphone

SAN FRANCISCO: An Android update, wearable gadgets and so-called smart home devices are just some of the innovations Google is likely to show off at its two-day developer conference, which begins Wednesday in San Francisco. In recent years, the conference has focused on smartphones and tablets, but this year Google's Android operating system is expected to stretch into cars, homes and smartwatches. Pacific Crest analyst Evan Wilson believes Google will unveil a new version of its Android operating system - possibly called Lollipop - with a "heavy focus" on extensions for smartwatches and smart home devices. "We think Google will directly counter Apple's recent announcements of health products (Apple HealthKit) and home automation (Apple HomeKit)," Wilson wrote in a note to investors. Google's I/O event comes at a time of transition for the company, which makes most of its money from advertising thanks to its status as the world's leade

Imagine a customer is shopping online for a new pair of sneakers and stumbles upon what seems to be the perfect pair. After skimming the reviews, he notices comments that the shoes tend to run a little small. That’s when he checks the store’s  return policy , which he finds complicated and ambiguous. It could have been written in a different language. Would he still click that 'purchase' button? Probably not. And he would not be the only one to abandon the shopping cart because of a cumbersome returns process. My company, Endicia, recently surveyed more than 1,000 consumers and found that the majority of folks who have never purchased an item online cite “returns” as the reason for cold feet.  It’s critical to identify what a good return policy offers. Here are the top four things online shoppers want when it comes to returns:  1. Clarity.  A positive returns experience starts with clear communication. It’s the only way customers will know what to expect.  Onlin

Riot Games, the maker of the hugely popular PC game " League of Legends ," pays unhappy employees up to $25,000 to quit their jobs - even if they just joined the company. The company does this because it doesn't want to keep staffers who are struggling, or who aren't a good fit with the company culture. "Rather than allow mismatches to fester, we want to resolve them quickly. This is good for the company, and good for the professional. ... we'll learn from this and make better hiring decisions as a result," the company said in a blog post announcing the program . The payment essentially solves that long, dragged-out process that frequently occurs when managers suspect a new hire isn't going to work out but it feels "too soon" to actually pull the trigger...

BlackBerry has confirmed the recently-leaked handset code named 'Winder mere' will officially be announced under the name Passport. It will debut at an event in London this September. Following its quarterly earnings report, during which it announced a return to profit of sorts, BlackBerry CEO John Chen confirmed that the short and wide-set device currently doing the rounds is the real deal. Naturally, as Crack Berry reports, the device will be named after its passport-like dimensions. According to the presentation, the Blackberry Passport will feature a 4.5-inch 1440 x 1440 display that's as square as an Instagram photo. The Passport will be a wide 3.18-inches, which is even wider than the pocket-busting 3.12-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 3. An accompanying photo shows the handset will have BlackBerry's stoutest keyboard yet featuring only three rows of physical buttons. The Passport also appeared along two other handsets named the Z3 and Classic. Internally

Taiwan's Quanta Computer Inc will start mass production of Apple Inc's first smart watch in July, a source familiar with the matter said, as the US tech giant tries to prove it can still innovate against rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. The watch, which remains unnamed but which company followers have dubbed the iWatch, will be Apple's first foray into a niche product category that many remain skeptical about, especially as to whether it can drive profits amid cooling growth in tech gadgets. The production will be a boost to Quanta, given that its work for Apple till now has focused on laptops and iPods, product lines that are in decline. Quanta's role though is likely to raise questions about what involvement Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, one of Apple's biggest suppliers, will play in production. While the watch is widely expected, the start date of its mass production and the extent of Quanta's involvement were not known until now. Mass produ

The Amazon Fire phone has finally been announced after years of speculation, and it's certainly bringing some different ideas to the table. First up it sports five cameras on the front - one is the traditional front-facing snapper, and the other four are part of the Fire's Dynamic Perspective feature. Dynamic Perspective tracks your head, and works out the distance it isthe screen, to produce 3D-like graphics on-screen. Firefly is a supercharged barcode scanner which you can use to scan, well, anything. A pub sign, a car, a magazine, a bottle of beer. You name it, Firefly will scan it, and then probably try and make you buy something. Mayday - Amazon's 24-7-365 interactive customer service - also makes the leapthe Kindle Fire HDX tablet to the Fire phone. Thatsounds lovely, but is it any good? We've taken a look at the early hands on Amazon Fire phone reviewsaround the web to gauge the interest. Gizmodo Gizmodo doesn't hold back, declarin

Teamare Gaston, 17, thinks she'd like to be a business journalist. But Google has other designs on her brain. On Thursday, Gaston and 150 other New York-area high school girls will attend the kickoff event for Made with Code, a $50 million Google initiative with the simple and singular focus of bringing more girls into the coding fold. "Our industry has lots of stereotypes, including the notion that coding means sitting at a computer alone," says Google Vice President Megan Smith. "We hope to show girls that coding is fun. But there's also the simple fact that supply and demand is not working. There are millions of jobs out there going begging." Google's event, held at a hip Manhattan loft called Skylight Modern, features host Mindy Kaling (of TV's The Mindy Project), speakers such as Chelsea Clinton and a range of tech-savvy women bent on inspiring the teens in attendance. Made with Code's mission is anchored by a websitegir

WASHINGTON: Since the report about stored passwords just a URL away on its Chrome web browser, Google has reportedly decided to hide users' credentials in a bid to increase secure browsing. The search giant has built Chromium for OS X , which includes an option that requires users to authenticate with their computer's system password before it will allow access to the list of stored passwords. According to The Verge, the site earlier allowed access to the passwords by navigating to chrome://Settings/Passwords in the browser and showed up all of the login/password data a user saved on Chrome. The company suggests that users should lock their systems when not using it so as to save it from any vulnerability of being exploited, the report added.

  NEW DELHI, INDIA: About 20 lakh mobile subscribers have opted for new service providers ever since the launch of mobile number portability (MNP) services with Vodafone making a maximum gain, says a PTI report. According to the report, the state-owned BSNL lost more customers than it attracted from other service providers.MUMBAI, INDIA: In this interview, Sanjay Kasturia, Syniverse's vice president and also the CEO of the company’s joint venture, Syniverse Technologies India Private Limited, talks to Pankaj Maru about Syniverse's strengthen in providing platform to operators for MNP, the trends of subscribers' choice for MNP and his experience of working in India. Read on... Syniverse Technologies has implemented the clearing house and centralized database for MNP to the mobile operators. So, can you brief about what kind of IT infrastructure, technology and resources (including man-power) have been used in setting up the clearing house facility for

Mobile Music Revenues to Reach $5.5 Billion by 2015, Although Growth Threatened by Online Piracy, According to Juniper Research - A new report published today by Juniper Research forecasts that music consumed on mobile handsets will generate $5.5 billion annually in 2015, a rise of $3.1 billion from 2010. The report finds that mobile music is becoming an increasingly important part of the digital music sector, which is propping up a failing industry hit by over a decade of widespread online piracy. Since the popularisation of P2P file sharing at the end of the last century, the music industry’s sales have gone into free fall, as consumers rejected the physical distribution of music in favour of easier, but illegal means of acquiring it. The industry response was initially slow, but legal digital distribution services, such as Apple’s iTunes are now blossoming, and mobile handsets are increasingly becoming the key platform for them. Mobile Music Opportunities report au

A Powerful Opportunity In today’s ever-shifting media landscape, it can be a complex task to find effective ways to reach your desired audience. As traditional media such as television continue to lose audience share, one venue in particular stands out for its ability to attract highly motivated audiences and for its tremendous growth potential — the 3D Internet . Also known as virtual worlds, the 3D Internet is a powerful new way for you to reach consumers, business customers, co-workers, partners, and students. It combines the immediacy of television, the versatile content of the Web, and the relationship-building strengths of social networking sites like Facebook. Yet unlike the passive experience of television, the 3D Internet is inherently interactive and engaging. Virtual worlds provide immersive 3D experiences that replicate (and in some cases exceed) real life. People who take part in virtual worlds stay online longer with a h

If you think you need a mouse to browse Facebook on your desktop computers, think again. You can browse through your facebook pages without having a mouse using only your keyboard shortcuts. Check out some of these Facebook hidden keyboard shortcuts..The list is not that long but will give you a good basic functionality. ALT + (Shift + 1)(!) - Facebook Home ALT + (Shift + 2)(@) - Your Wall Page ALT + (Shift + 3)(#) - Friend Requests ALT + (Shift + 4)($) - Messages ALT + (Shift + 5)(%)- Notifications ALT + (Shift + 6)(^) - Account Settings ALT + (Shift + 7)(&) - Privacy Settings ALT + (Shift + 8)(*) - Facebook's facebook profile ALT + (Shift + 9)(() - Terms Of Service page ALT + (Shift + 0)()) - Help Center ALT + ? - Search Facebook ALT + Shift + m -- Compose new message

Palo Alto , CA - Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will close in March . Management of the site has become too stressful job WeeklyWorldNews said . " Facebook is out Zuckerberg explained that Facebook is abolished 15th March and since then, users will be able to access their Facebook accounts . " After 15 March the whole site will be shut down , "said Avrat Humarthi , vice president of technical affairs for Facebook . " So if you ever want to see your pictures again , I recommend you download them from the Internet " control , " said Zuckerberg at a news conference , " a stress management company was created and destroyed my life . I want to put an end to this madness . "   Zuckerberg said that this was a difficult decision , but he does not think that people will be upset . "I do not think it's a great thing . " he s

                           Windows 7 Folder Background Changer , as the name suggested, is a freeware portable application, that enables you to add background images to Windows Explorer and folders in Windows 7 and Vista .                            Using this small utility, you can customize backgrounds for Windows Explorer and folders using an image of your choice. After successful download , simply extract the W7FBC.exe file from downloaded zip file to any location you prefer.                                        Simply run the executable file (right click on it and Run it as Administrator) as no installation is required. To add background image to a particular folder, just browse for a folder you want to customize with, then click the Change Background Image button.                                    Locate the background image and the changes will be instantly applied. You can tick the Apply to Sub Folders option if you want to add the same background image all