Tech Talk

LG unveilsG3 Smartphone
phoneThis year’s worst-kept tech secret finally debuted last Tuesday when LG Electronics unveiled its next-generation G3 smartphone.

The 5.5-inch follow-up to 2013’s G2 more closely resembles a phablet than its predecessor.
Specifically, the LG sports a Quad HD 2,560-by-1,440 display with 538 pixels per inch, compared to the 5.2-inch Full HD display with 1080-by-1920-pixel resolution on the G2.

To achieve that, the electronics maker left no space between your palm and the new metallic backing, which promises a less plasticy aesthetic and fewer fingerprints. The power and volume buttons are still on the back of the device.

The device runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat at launch, and a 2.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. It comes in 16 and 32GB flavours with 2GB or 3GB of RAM and microSD slot that can expand storage up to 128GB.

Content Lock keeps private files safe and hidden when a friend is using your device. “When the G3 is connected to a PC, Content Lock prevents file previews so the data is still safe,” LG said. The locked files can reside either on the LG G3’s internal memory or on the microSD card.
Meanwhile, the kill switch will let G3 owners remotely disable their phones if lost or stolen. It also includes antivirus scanning and remote wipe and lock.

The G3 features a 2.1-megapixel front camera and 13-megapixel OIS+ rear camera with Laser Auto Focus, which measures the distance between the subject and the camera using a laser beam.

Other photo features include tapping the subject to focus and trigger the shutter. The front-facing cam includes a larger image sensor and larger aperture for better-looking selfies. Meanwhile, just clench your hand into a fist and the LG G3 will begin the automatic three-second countdown.
Like the G2, the G3 sports a 3,000mAh removable battery. The phone will support 4G, LTE, and HSPA+ 21 Mbps (3G) networks. There are Wi-Fi, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth Smart Ready (Apt-X), NFC, SlimPort, A-GPS/Glonass, and USB 2.0 connectivity options. To get or not to get!

Apple acquires Beats for big $
appleApple on Wednesday confirmed it has acquired the headphone maker and music streaming service Beats.
In a press release, Apple said it acquired the company for approximately US$2.6 billion in cash, plus $400 million in stock that will vest over time. Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple as part of the deal, the iPhone and iPad maker said.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter — around September — the same fiscal three-month reporting period when the new iPhone is expected to be unveiled.Beats will remain a separate brand from Apple’s, and the company will offer both Beats’ streaming music and headphones, along with its own branded headphones.

Google’s new self-driving car:
carElectric, no steering wheel, and incredibly cute-No driver needed!
You are looking at Google’s very own, built-from-scratch-in-Detroit self-driving car. The battery-powered electric vehicle has as a stop-go button, but no steering wheel or pedals. The plan is to build around 200 of the mostly-plastic cars over the next year. The cutesy appearance is undoubtedly a clever move to reduce apprehension towards the safety or long-term effects of autonomous vehicles — “Aw, how can something so cute be dangerous?”
Disappointingly, Google’s new car still has a ton of expensive hardware — radar, lidar, 360-degree cameras — sitting on a tripod on the roof. This is to ensure good sightlines around the vehicle, but it’s a shame that Google hasn’t yet worked out how to build the hardware into the car itself, like other car makers that are toying with self-driving-like functionality.
Removing everything except for a stop-go button might sound like a good idea, but it’s naive. How do you move the car a few feet, so someone can get out, or for backing up to a trailer? Will Google’s software allow for temporary double parking, or off-road for a concert or party? Can you choose which parking spot the car will use, to leave the better/closer parking spots for your doddery grandfather? How will these cars handle the very “human” problems of giving way for other cars and pedestrians? Can you program the car to give way to granny, but not an angry-looking trucker? Let’s see…
Skype gets speech translation

At the inaugural Code Conference in California, CEO Satya Nadella has revealed that Microsoft’s real-time speech translation technology will finally make the jump. On stage at the conference, Nadella demoed a beta version of Skype Translator, which performed real-time translation of English to German speech, and vice versa. Skype Translator isn’t perfect, but it’s tantalizingly close to the creation of a Star Trek-like universal translation-that allows everyone in the world to communicate, even if they don’t share a common language.Alavida-Good-bye in Hindi!

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