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Conversational computing platforms and its origin Although, till date, most of the computing platforms have owed their existence to the US, conversational computing platforms might be something that would owe its existence to the east and China in particular. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say that China’s Tencent pioneered the concept of conversational computing platform through its WeChat application. The Chinese application is a world in itself and allows you to chat, send money, book rides and do a whole lot of other things from the app itself....

Obviously, this is Corning’s most durable glass ever. Corning says the focus has been to improve drop resistance, specifically the multiple drops that happen at 1m or below. As per a study by Toluna, on average, people drop their phones seven times a year, with more than 50 percent of the drops occurring at 1 meter or below. So the scientists at Corning have developed and engineered an entirely new material to address the challenge of multiple drops....

That pretty much summed up the sentiment of a few US and UK based colleagues who saw Xiaomi’s global Vice President launch the Xiaomi Mi5 at Barcelona yesterday. For, while the product presentation did go off smoothly, it had not the element of insane magic that many had heard so much about (for the record, it is true – we wrote about how Barra channeled Steve Jobs at the launch of the Mi 4i in India last year)....

The map designed by the state government can be accessed here. It shows shelter homes (where people can sleep for the night, besides getting the free meals) in the form of a red icon with a fork and spoon, while schools, where food is being served, are marked in blue with a beverage icon. The link opens the tweaked Google Maps on your browser and shows you different locations of the hunger relief centers in the city....

This is a quick heads up on a special giveaway for EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard 4.3.6 which is a popular software from EASEUS. We had planned to have this as part of our Christmas Giveaway, but couldn’t accommodate it due to some technical reasons. Here is a chance to grab a free license of this hard disk recovery utility! Each license of EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard normally costs $70, but just for a few days it will be given away for FREE!...

Download Windows 8.1 preview right now If you know you’re into these things, then you can easily head over to the Windows 8.1 preview download page and take it over for there rather than clicking the download links directly. For the moment, you can install the Windows 8.1 preview following directly this download link (don’t worry, it’s secure and it’s Microsoft official). Microsoft makes sure to warn us about a few important things:...

The Windows Live Essentials suite of applications includes the popular programs – Windows Messenger Photo Gallery Windows Movie Maker Mail Windows Live Writer Family Safety Windows Live Mesh Messenger Companion Bing Bar Outlook Connector Pack Microsoft Silverlight Download Windows Live Essentials 2011 We will review the Windows Live Essentials 2011 soon, but you can go ahead and download the stable version right now from their website. Download Windows Live Essentials 2011 (web setup) The Offline installer is around 155 MB in size and includes all the programs, you can chose which needs to be installed while running the installer....

ARKit is an augmented reality platform which comes integrated with the upcoming eleventh update of iOS. Like every other implementation, ARKit allows you to superimpose virtual 3D objects into the real world. Planning to buy furniture? Point your phone’s camera at the spot and see how it goes with the rest of the decor before purchasing. Minecraft world in your living room? Sure, why not. However, apps built using ARKit function are capable of functioning without any sort of special hardware unlike, for instance, Google Tango....

Early days Ever since its conception, back in 1985, when Windows 1.0 saw the light of day, it has been a continuous effort to make it better and more reliable than the version before. Microsoft has long struggled with the need to satisfy its clients, and within every new version of Windows OS we saw a new and interesting feature. The next cornerstone for Windows was Windows 95, released in August 1995....

In a statement on Monday, Systrom, CEO of the company, said, “We’re planning on taking some time off to explore our curiosity and creativity again.” He also said they were grateful for “the last eight years at Instagram and six years with the Facebook team”. Systrom, 34 and Kriegar, 32 have known each other since 2010, when they met to work on a software built by Systrom, to what is today called Instagram....

Firesheep is a Firefox extension by developer Eric Butler which exposes the soft underbelly of the web by letting you eavesdrop on any open Wi-Fi network and capture users’ cookies. This is how it works. If a site is not secure, it keeps track of you through a cookie (more formally referenced as a session) which contains identifying information for that website. The tool effectively grabs these cookies and lets you pose as the user....

And well, we have got both black variations in our review units – the iPhone 7 in black and the iPhone 7 Plus in jet black. And we can say without any reservations that they look flat out gorgeous. Mind you, we still wish Apple had at least made some attempt to make them more compact – they are the exact same size as their predecessors. The iPhone 7 remains 138....

Android’s Fragmentation Problem Newer versions just end up adding more and more features to the plate but some of the older phones can’t handle them because their hardware isn’t advanced enough to do so. So, that’s why your friend with a HTC Incredible will be able to run certain apps while you and your T-Mobile G1 will be left out on dry land. And more evidence is building up to support the fragmentation story....

The report has revealed some startling changes including the fact that 51% of the total time spent on the Internet is on mobile devices as opposed to the 42% of time on desktop. This is the first instance wherein the time spent consuming digital content on mobile devices has surpassed the time spent on desktops or laptops. Time spent on mobile Internet usage has grown three folds from less than an hour in 2008 to nearly three hours in 2015....

Price and remote control On Google’s Chromecast, you’ll need to run everything from your phone, tablet or PC. However, sometimes it can be less relaxing than using a remote, so, in the end, it’s up to you – do you prefer using your device or you’ll opt for the good old remote control? Media content Apps and games Performance Interface and ease of use Chromecast’s really basic interface is perhaps the most consumer-friendly out of the two....

Android One, for those who don’t recall, is Google’s ambitious plan to improve the user experience in the low echelon segment. Announced at the I/O developer conference last year, for Android One project, the company has partnered with a number of smartphone manufacturers. Google provides these companies with design guidelines — including hardware specs — that manufacturers have to follow. Among other interesting USPs, Android One handsets run on stock Android and receive updates directly from Google....

As with all the Chrome experimental feature this one too can be toggled on/off at chrome://flags. The Chrome Canary is usually the testbed for Google to test run a particular feature before turning it on permanently. Truth be told, Chrome has a stash of interesting opt-in features. The newest experiment is the one that beams push notification for breaking news event and is aptly titled, ‘Breaking News Push.’ Google will make use of the GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) service in order to push the notifications....

Storyboard The first one is an Android-only app titled “Storyboard.” Storyboard uses a series of algorithms to figure out the most attractive frames in a video automatically and transform them into a single-page comic with the appropriate filters. If you’re unsatisfied with the outcome, you can even pull down and refresh the elements of the page. Storyboard is free and currently limited to Android. Selfissimo! The next one is “Selfissimo!”, an iOS and Android app that tries to mimic the experience of a photo booth or “an automated selfie photographer,” if you will....

Fast forward to the current year, and we feel tempted to use the same lines to describe the Pixel 3 XL that we did for its predecessor. For, let’s get it out of the way, yes, its design does seem a slight refinement from its predecessor (more glassy, more classy, if more smudge-prone too) in spite of the large notch on the top that seems unusually intrusive, and the hardware is top notch (pun intended), but – BUT – there is just no doubting that the camera on the Pixel 3 XL is a tech miracle of sorts....

The new products include Acer Chromebook Spin 11 and Asus C213. The Asus Chromebook Spin 11 comes equipped with an 11-inch HD IPS display layered with corning Gorilla 3 and a 360-degree hinge that facilitates various configurations. The best part is the Wacom Electromagnetic Resonance stylus and the MIL-STD 810G US military standard rating. The military standard rating, however, doesn’t come as a big surprise since Google has been encouraging the same to ensure the greater degree of durability for the harsh usage conditions....