Quantum Levitation

From Science Fiction to Reality

If you're interested in science fiction or even in just science it self, James May's Big Ideas Program is a splendid watch. And if you've missed the chance of watching it when it aired on BBC2 in 2008, head over to YouTube ASAP and search for James May's Big Ideas. Here are my favorite parts from Episode 2 titled Man Machine when James May meets ASIMO, a life like robot that can walk, run, shake hands and even more intuitively; THINK.

Part 1

Part 2

Robot that flies like a Bird

Robotics - Big Dog

This video is quite old but interesting still. The robot cited here is named BigDog but it replicates the size and movement of a Mule. Nonetheless, it shows an amazing ability to manage weight while balancing it self.

The Making of Lamborghini Aventador

Mission Impossible 4

Tom Cruise is back again after starring in not so impressive movies lately. I also was not that impressed by the last Mission Impossible movie. Mission Impossible 4 may seal his demise or it may bring back his fame.

I still remember how glad I was to watch Mission Impossible 2, especially the awesome stunts scenes and the bike chase and the final fight with the villain. Checkout the intense final sequence of MI2 in voiced in URDU :).

MeeGo - To be abandoned by Nokia

Stephen Elop said in an interview that Nokia will not support the MeeGo operating system in future. Reason? he thinks Microsoft Windows Phone is more liked by users than MeeGo. That's why they say love's blind.

But there are still some sensible people in this world whom have filed a petition to save MeeGo. 

For those of you who are still not familiar with MeeGo, its an open source mobile operating system based on Linux, mainly targeted for Smart Phones, Tablets, Vehicle Consoles, TVs, etc. The project was initially conceived by Nokia and Intel to address the shortcoming of Microsoft's solutions for embedded/portable OS. Later on, big names like AMD, Asus, Acer, joined the alliance for supporting this project. I feel that Nokia is completely ignoring the fact that this might be the spark that can reignite its ailing market share.

 

Brave - Trailer of Pixar's upcoming Feature

Checkout the fresh trailer of upcoming feature film from Pixar, Brave.

Launching in 2012, Pixar is featuring a female lead character for the first time in this dark feature about magic and beasts. Here's the synopsis of this movie   

Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. In Brave, a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts. Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Witch (Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.

Vertu Signature Precious - A class of its own

Not too many people would have heard of Vertu. It is an independently run subsidiary of Nokia and it does manufactures cellphones, but in an entirely different way and for an entirely different class. Molded from precious metals like stainless steel, silver, platinum or gold, ruby engrossed keypads and sapphire glass front face, these luxurious and classy mobile phones are hand crafted by a master craftsmen who sign it with their very own signature. On the inside, they are based on Symbian platform and future models are to be rolled out with Windows Phone OS. Each phone come with ringtones composed by academy award winning music composer Dario Marianelli. Price tags are obvious to complement the exclusivity while ranging from 6,000euros to 24,000euros for different models. 

Take a look at this demo of brand new Signature Precious

N9 Announced - Welcome Back NOKIA???

Nokia N9

When Nokia ambitiously launched the N8 back in 2010 with first ever 12MP camera, it was coined as the flagship devise that would let Nokia face its ferocious competitors. This might have done the trick only if Nokia had at least considered what exactly is the product it was supposed to make. A "SMART" phone with convenient and user friendly interface housed on a powerful hardware to support future's communication needs. N8 was launched in Oct 2010 with just 256MB ram, and 680MHz processor underneath the failed Symbian3. In contrast, back in June 2010 Samsung had already launched Galaxy S with 1GHz processor and 512MB ram housed by state of the art Android. Apple also had launched iPhone4 in June 2010 with 1GHz processor and 512MB ram on its trademark iOS. Both iPhone4 and Galaxy had 5MP autofocus cameras, sufficient enough for a standard users needs.

It seems that Nokia is yet to learn from its mistakes that have sunk its brand image. They are launching N9 with similar out of date features. They don't even have any FIRST TIME feature under their belt this time, like the 12MP camera in N8. Have a look at N9's official videos before its features are compared with  competitors

Have a look at the comparison of smart-phones of 2011. In the dual core mobile processor age, Nokia has just a plain giga hertz processor, small 3.8in screen with no gyro sensor, no radio, lowest battery and an ugly design to compete against companies it used to lead. Even the price does not complement its features. I would rather buy a Galaxy S2 with better features and almost same price tag. Or the much cheaper LG Optimus 2X.

	Nokia N9	Samsung Galaxy SII	LG Optimus 2X	HTC Sensation
Display	AMOLED	Super AMOLED+	IPS LCD	S-LCD
	3.9in	4.3in	4in	4.3in
	Capacitative	Capacitative	Capacitative	Capacitative
	Gorilla Glass	Gorilla Glass	Gorilla Glass	Gorilla Glass
		Gyro Sensor	Gyro Sensor	Gyro Sensor
	Multi-touch Input	Multi-touch Input	Multi-touch Input	Multi-touch Input
Size & Weight	117x61x12mm	125x66x8.5mm	124x63x11mm	126x65x11mm
	135g	116g	139g	148g
CPU	1GHz	Dual-Core 1.2GHz	Dual-Core 1GHz	Dual-Core 1.2GHz
	PowerVR530 GPU	Mali 400MP GPU	GForce Tegra2 GPU	Adeno 220 GPU
RAM	1GB	1GB	512MB	768MB
Internal Storage	16/64GB	16/32GB	8GB	1GB
OS	MeeGo v1.2	Android 2.3	Android 2.2	Android v2.3
Camera	8MP Auto Focus	8MP Auto Focus	8MP Auto Focus	8MP Auto Focus
	Dual LED Flash	LED Flash	LED Flash	Dual LED Flash
		Image Stabilization	Image Stabilization	Image Stabilization
	Face Detection	Face/Smile Detection	Face/Smile Detection	Face Detection
	720p Video Rec	1080p Video Rec	1080p Video Rec	1080p Video Rec
Connectivity	Wifi + USB + AGPS	Wifi + USB + AGPS	Wifi + USB + AGPS	Wifi + USB + AGPS
	Bluetooth v2.1	Bluetooth v3.0	Bluetooth v2.1	Bluetooth v3.0
Misc Features		Stereo FM Radio	Stereo FM Radio	Stereo FM Radio
	TV Out	TV Out	TV Out	TV Out
Battery	1450mAh	1650mAh	1500mAh	1520mAh
Price (appx)	500EUR	550EUR	350EUR	600EUR

Re-Incarnation of electronic music

And we thought windows surface is the future of human machine interface aka HMI. Reactable had manufactured an amazing DJ desk called Reactable Live, which has redefined not just the future of music, but the future of HMI. Check out this live demo video

Its amazing to know that this idea came into being as far back in 2003 before gradually evolving into a viable commercial product.

Real Life AngryBirds

This setup was organized by T-Mobile for promotion of their smartphones offerings. They always come up with great ideas for advertisement, take for example, their previous marketing stint which again, was organized to benefit from public's involvement.

In a similar promotional stunt, McDonald recently installed a huge billboard on a high street corner in Sweden where anyone could play a ping pong game on it using their smartphone. Heres the video for your delight

Want an iPhone4 for just under 30$ ?

Want an iPhone that omits no radiations, has zero carbon footprint and makes no noise pollution. Best thing is, rather than requiring exhaustive maneuvering, and muscle strain it helps you loosen up and relax.

It was obviously not that hard to guess that this is actually a cuddly cushion. Head over to www.iCushions.net if you would like to get one for your self.

Meaning of insanity - FarCry 3 (Game Play Video)

Far Cry series stands out as the best game with most vibrant colors, realistic visuals and gripping storyline in any first person shooter out there. This is why both FarCry and FarCry2 have won Game of the Year Awards from numerous bodies. Watch this awesome game play video of Far Cry 3, the upcoming sequel in this franchise, courtesy of GameTrailers.com.

iOS5 coming to your nearest i[Device]

iOS5 was unveiled with 200 new features, at the WWDC 2011 (Apple's World Wide Developers Conference, Jun 6-15). See their official website for more details.

The most bragged about feature was the Notification Center, but this seems to have been copied from Android. They have obviously improved the idea with animated overlay notifications bar that will haunt you even while playing games. For some this might turnout to be a likable new feature.

A nice addition is iMessage that will enable text & multimedia messaging through the WiFi, saving your network costs. Rest of the features include improved Mail, Calender, Reminders & Browsing experience. On the go Camera and Photo manipulations and all new game center. Take a look at following video of official iOS5 demonstration.

They are also promising to set your iDevice free of any connections like with your PC and allowing you to link  with peripherals like TVs. This is their strategy to make you spend more on their supplementary accessories.

All in all, the new version promises to make your iDevice a lot more productive. Thankfully, iOS5 will be released for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 and not just for iPhone 5, iPad and iPad 2.

COD MW3 Gameplay Demos

Checkout these gripping game play demos of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 from E3 2011, courtesy of www.GameTrailers.com.

I would say theres not much of extraordinary improvement upon previous installments but nonetheless, these new missions will keep us on the edge of our seats.

Life size Mechanical Hummingbird

AeroVironment is an american organization that specializes in scientific research to develop futuristic solutions mostly for govt sectors and defense authorities. It is important to note here that world's first electric car prototype was developed by them. Their main focus however, is unmanned aircrafts and they have recently showcased a DARPA funded breakthrough project called Nano Hummingbird. 

We can imagine what can be achieved with an unmanned aircraft that looks, acts and weighs exactly like a hummingbird. Especially when its able to hover, fly up to 11miles per hour, withstand 5mph gusts, easily maneuver indoors and outdoors and sport an on-board camera. Close quarter Surveillance obviously!

Have a look at following public showcase video 

  

Also have a look at this video to see how the project evolved from experimentation

 Oh and it can even do a 360 degrees flip.

Engadget's Chris Ziegler interviews Nokia's new Man

Tiles to replace your Windows - Windows 8

At first instance, it looks like an improved version of Windows Phone 7 with the sole purpose of energizing tablets. But behold, its the next version of our beloved Desktop OS. Windows 8 that is and this is just a preview of what we will be able to get our hands on, in 2012.

I wonder why they are not naming their versions after the calendar years as is the norm in the industry. Its seems that they have not reset theirs counters and are using the number of actual releases for this purpose. This will be the 8th major iteration of Windows OS if we ignore the CE, Mobile & Server editions. 

From the looks of it, we will have a completely revamped user interface now based on tiles just like in Windows Phone 7. While in my recent post on WP7, I criticized this (Atari age) tile based interface being the reason for its demise; I am afraid that it will also do no good to Windows 8. Apart from the rugged tile interface, Windows 8 promises the Instant-On Applications feature which has been missed for ages. Almost all the fun features are built for tablet users while owners of non touch screen devices are likely to get bored easily.

Nonetheless, lets hope this really is just a preview and theres more good stuff cooking up for the final release. In the mean time, check out this first look video of Windows 8. 

Develop & Publish a Mobile App in just a snap

For newbies interested in (duly hyped-up) mobile application development, this is good news. OVI has launched a designated website for the very purpose.  

Anyone with basic knowledge of web and no knowledge of development tools or programming languages can develop and publish a REAL mobile application in less then 5 minutes. However, every good news comes a bad news. This service only allows for a very simple application to be developed. A web feed reader to be exact which would only be beneficial  for bloggers or webmasters. Here are a few snapshots of this service.

Turns out that the good news is actually not that good. But then, we shouldn't be complaining because its from Nokia which is not in its best form these days.

So long Nokia OVI - Nokia to rebrand OVI

I have been using Nokia's Cell Phones since 2002. Nokia PC Suite had fulfilled all my transfer data, install apps, connect to internet through mobile, etc. needs. Sometime around 2008, I was instructed to download the OVI Suite while realizing too late that this was intended to replace Nokia PC Suite. 

First public beta was released in Aug 2008

Nokia actually intended to integrate the power of internet in their household application and involve 3rd Party Vendors for service provisioning on their devices. This could also have been their answer to Apple's App Store, an unfulfilled ambition nonetheless. I personally liked the idea but would rather they didn't use the sophisticated codename from Finnish language meaning "doors". Also I was disappointed by the shortcomings of OVI store, it was not able to 

• Recognize mobile devices that easily
• Allow convenient offline management and synchronization of contacts, messages, notes and calendar
• Properly integrate maps into the devices
• Allow effortless applications management and installation on devices   

Now, hardly 3 years after its launch, as they were learning from their mistakes and refining the product, Nokia decided to take OVI down and re-brand it simply as Nokia Services. This transition will start from July 2011 and is expected to complete by the end of 2012. Heres an explanation from a Nokia's Official

"We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia. By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture – while continuing to deliver compellingopportunities and experiences for partners and consumers alike.

The reasons for this decision includes the fact that Nokia is a well-known and highly-loved brand the world over. Our mobile experiences are tightly integrated with our devices – there is no longer a differentiation. For example, if consumers want the best mobile navigation experience, they know it’s a Nokia that they can rely on. These last few years, and moving forward, our mission remains unchanged: we will continue our work to deliver compelling, unified mobile service offerings and next-generation, disruptive technologies."

Shouldn't you have one? (Windows Phone 7)

Talking about Windows Phone 7?

Yes! Why not....

Because I like staring at just a bunch of tiles with Atari age icons, appreciating that they display the count of my missed calls or emails and can even act like buttons. I can sync my Zune with it (only if I was crazy enough to buy one). I can also read my office documents (with a magnifier) and play my Xbox live games (because my Xbox is broken). 

After all, I have my Android or iOS phone for all the cool stuff.

Dynamic Views of Blog

Learnt about this feature a while ago and loved it. Blogger.com automatically sets up intuitive dynamic views of any blog hosted on their domain. All the visitor has to do is to add the /View keyword ahead of blog's web address to browse them.

http://drivebytech.blogspot.com/view/mosaic

http://drivebytech.blogspot.com/view/sidebar

Quad Core Mobile Processor is upon us (almost)

While we are getting excited about dual core CPUs in Cell Phones, Nvidia went ahead and showcased the next gen Quad Core CPU code named Kal-El which is expected to be released in Aug 2011. This will be the first quad core mobile CPU in the market, while being bundled with a 12 core Geforce GPU featuring extreme HD video up to 2560x1600 resolution similar to that of Blue Ray. This platform will be 5x faster than the current Nvidia Tegra 2 Dual Core and almost closer to that of a Intel Core2Duo. For the sake of knowledge, Kal-El is the birth name of our very own Super Man (Clark Kent is his earthly name). Nvidia is apparently naming its Mobile Processor series after super heroes as the following projects will be named Wayne, Logan and Stark. Take a look at these amazing demos to have an idea of Kal-El's power. 

Here is an overview of its specs

• Processor: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore, up to 1.5 GHz
• GPU: 12-Core Nvidia Geforce with 3D stereo (12 unified shaders)
• Video: output up to 2560x1600, 1080p H.264 High Profile video decode

WindScreen of Future

I thought AutoGlass is a company expert only in Windscreen repairs. But they're more than that. They are actually inventing stuff in their field. First it was self repairing glass 

and now its their vision for intuitive future windscreen technology expected to arrive in 2020.

Next level input in modern devices?

I remember when I saw Sony Ericsson's P900 (a long time ago) with a touch screen and a stylus for navigation. I thought that was the next level. But then came phones with capacitative touch screens for smooth touch input and gyro sensors for movement control and front facing cameras for gesture control. 

And after watching this now, I wonder when can the next level really be it. 

Movies on My Watchlist

Hangover 2

Pirate of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides

Fast 5

Kung Fu Panda 2

Cars 2

X-Men First Class

Thor

Source Code

Green Lantern

Transformers Dark of Moon

Cowboys & Aliens