Jan 24, 2011: News Digest

This post is a summary of technology, gadgets, electronics news and items  that I find interesting from different sources. You never know, something from this list may interest you too... Check it out...


Topics: 
1) Google opens up Cloud printing for Google Docs and Mail
2) Be prepared to buy a phone that is outdated when you buy it
3) Holocube launches 70 inch holographic projector. Why isn't this used for 3D TV?
4) Fan of Matrix Trilogy? Matrix 4 and 5 are being discussed
5) Why such biased coverage for Notion Ink?
6) Google introduces new Weather widget for mobile

Google opens up Cloud printing for Google Docs and Mail

Source: Google Blog

One of the major hurdles for Chrome OS was to enable printing in a cloud based operating system. In the last month Google announced its Beta program for Google Chrome development channel users, in which you can sign-in to enable Cloud Printing service. During the initial time frame, all you could print was a test page to any of the network or local printer that is configured on PC.

Today Google announced that it is enabling the Cloud print service in the Google Docs or Gmail from mobile. The service is rolling out today and tomorrow for English speaking users in the US and will work with any phone that can support HTML5, which includes Android 2.1+ and iOS 3+ versions. 

I have personally tried this from my iPhone 3GS to print a mail from my Gmail account and it worked seamlessly. 

To get started you need configure the Cloud Print service with the network or local printers that you would like to use. You can use this link to enable the printers.

Now all I need is the CR48 or a laptop capable of running Chrome OS.

Be prepared to buy a phone that is outdated when you buy it

Source: Engadget

In CES 2011 we heard tons of announcement from different mobile manufacturers, each boasting dual core processors and 1+ GHz speeds. If the roadmap from Tegra is to be believed, as soon as we buy the phone it is likely to be outdated any another launch which is faster and more powerful.

Mimicking the pattern of the desktop processors, the mobile platforms have already gone ahead to deploy dual core systems. While this has not even become the norm, the roadmap from Tegram (NVIDIA) shows that by Fall 2011 we should have Tegra 3 Quad Core processors.

When we purchased our laptop and desktop, we felt that the systems outdated after 6 months. In this new trend the mobile platform are likely to have one week of glory days.

Holocube launches 70 inch holographic projector. Why isn't this used for 3D TV?

Source: Engadget

Holocube has been demonstrating holographic 3D projects for a while now. They extended their interface t be touch enabled recently and now in the new version they have demonstrated a 70 inch display. The current iteration has a 70 inch transparent display that can be viewed from both sides and is powered by Windows 7 and the image is rendered through 1080p projector. The video shows this in action

Now the question is why cant this technology be extended to 3D TV. We don't need eye popping 3D, but the 3D shown in this video is good enough for what we have in our content today. We don't need glasses to visualize this either.

Fan of Matrix Trilogy? Matrix 4 and 5 are being discussed

Source: IGN

Matrix Trilogy was one of the series that I really enjoyed watching for its action sequences, trend setting cinematic sequences and more importantly for its storyline. Lot of people get lost with the seemingly discontinuous plot, but for people who have followed closely and added Animatrix to the mix the movie is one of the great movies.

As per the news in IGN, Keanu Reeves had revealed that Wachowskis are planning two more Matrix movies and the rumor is that the script is ready for the two movies. Lets hope this will be a come back movi for the Wachowskis, as their attempts since Matrix has not reached the same level of success. 

Why such biased coverage for Notion Ink? 

Source: Engadget, AndroidPolice

Engadget reported that some consumers have received the much anticipated Notion Ink tablet today and has posted some unboxing video in its report

When Notion Ink was slowly progressing, it was constantly criticized by this site for the delays and even claimed this to be a Vaporware. Now that the product has received FCC approval and shipped, it is reporting some problems with the OTA update as the deal breaker. Apple and Google also had problems with their devices when they launched it. If the article from Engadget was reporting the problem as part of its its report, it is completely acceptable. What they did instead was to headline the news and lower the priority of first shipment from a company that was considered to be a vaporware all along.

Give small companies some chance. All tablets do not need to come from Apple, Microsoft, Motorola, HTC etc...

The OTA update that bricked some of the Adam Tablet has been halted until further notice. In the meantime Notion Ink has released a fix for the bricked devices. Hoping to see genuine and unbiased reviews from sites.

Google introduces new Weather widget for mobile

Source: Google Blog

Google has released a new mobile widget for location based weather that can be accessed from iPhone or Android phones. All you have to do is search for "weather" and the application will do the rest.

The widget displays current condition, forecasts and animates to display the 12 hour forecast when the slider is moved over.