Go indoors with Google Maps 6.0 for Android

Google Maps for mobile had its sixth birthday earlier this month and we’re celebrating by releasing the next generation of Google Maps for Android, which is first to get indoor Google Maps.

Mapping the vast indoors 

When you’re inside an airport, shopping mall, retail store, or other public space, Google Maps 6.0 for Android brings the freestanding map directory to the palm of your hands -- helping you determine where you are, what floor you're on, and where to go indoors. For example, in this busy travel season, you can use Google Maps 6.0 to help you find your way around airports.

Detailed floor plans automatically appear when you’re viewing the map and zoomed-in on a building where indoor map data is available. The familiar “blue dot” icon indicates your location within several meters, and when you move up or down a level in a building with multiple floors, the map will automatically update to display which floor you’re on.

Switching between features gets easier

When you open Google Maps for Android, you can do many things: view your location on the map, discover where to go with Places, get GPS turn-by-turn directions with Navigation, check in to share your location, and more. We wanted to make it easier to hop from one feature to another; so, we’ve added a drop-down menu to the top toolbar for quick access.

Discovering what’s great nearby with the new Places home screen

The new Places home screen includes popular searches for your current location, so you can find the best spots in any area you travel.

Check the walkthrough here and simply upgrade the google map from android market and enjoy the surf of 6.0

6 Things Which You Shouldn't Do On Facebook

I dont need to explain why i am writing this post. Finally i thought, its time i write a post :-) Here are the top 10 things one shouldn't do on Facebook :-

1. Adding people you don't even know

It's one thing to add an old friend and then never speak to them. It's another to add anyone whose name you kind of vaguely sort of recognize. It's like that old man in the pub who slaps everyone on the back as if they were old pals, when in actual fact he has no friends, largely because of this habit.

2. Accepting friend invitations from people you don't know

It's one thing to complain about irritating people adding you on Facebook, but if you accept those invites, you've only got yourself to blame. If you scan through your Facebook friends list, you'll doubtless find a handful of people in there you barely know. It's a horrible realisation - like when you suddenly realize your hand is resting on a knob of someone else's chewing gum underneath a desk.

3 Inviting people for joining Game or polls
If people don't want to play game, why to force him/her? Allow some time to share only when the recipient agrees to play the game or sends out message to sent invitations.

4. Use Facebook mail instead of proper email

Are you silly? Why would one use FB mail rather than other mail clients?


5. Write on a wall instead of communicating privately
The driving force behind the success of Facebook is 'Unwanted Status'. Come on, for god sake, Facebook is not for writing smileys, greeting people on their wall, its much beyond that. Does it make sense when others are watching what people are doing? Status messages like "i am confused.." "I am delighted.." " i need peace"...certainly, Facebook is not for this type of status messages.Saying hello,hi..come on, this is not SMS pathway :-)

6. Update Facebook profile when you're supposedly ill

How many times have we seen it? Someone calls in sick in the morning and then updates their Facebook profile minute-by-minute throughout the day, documenting a day of ice cream, chips, video games and jumping on the bed.Seems like some storyline of illness movie.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich - Feature Preview

After Android Honeycomb, there will be Ice Cream Sandwich for all as Google announced at a press conference in San Francisco, that the next Google OS will merge the best of Honeycomb and Gingerbread. 

Lets take a look at the Android Ice Cream Sandwich features revealed so far.

1. Getting that Honeycomb look

Built from the ground up and optimized for tablet devices, the best of Honeycomb will be available to Android phone users which will bring elements such as the slick holographic user interface, an updated app launcher, the interactive homescreen widgets and can also look forward to using the multi-task bar currently located at the bottom of the HoneyComb tablet OS.

2. New developer API
It’s good news for devs as they will now be able to build apps for tablet, phones and other connected devices under the same framework. That should help the rollout of Android apps across different hardware platforms to be done all at the same time.

4.  Music in the clouds

Much rumoured, Google finally revealed its cloud music service set to give iTunes a run for its money. Currently only available in beta to our American friends, amongst the features, you'll be able to share playlists instantly across all Android devices.

5. Movies on the move

Now Android users can get their hands on a host of movies straight from the Android Market which can be watched from the web, on your tablet and on your smartphone. On the rental front, you’ll have 30 days to keep hold of it with HD selection currently being priced at $4.99 in the US.

6. Android meets Kinect

Devs will be able to play with a 3D display system that can track movement and detect the position of a person’s head, nose and eyes. The benefits? Potentially creating devices that will let you input data and commands using facial gestures in real-time for example.  

7. One OS for all

Google has spoken of its plans to bring Android devices closer together, and while tablet devices and phones appear key to this unification, other connected devices like Google TV will also reap the benefits of the Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

8. 0-click NFC sharing

It's starting to surface on smartphone devices already, and with Ice Cream Sandwich you'll be able to share web pages, contacts, YouTube videos and more by the power of Near Field Communication.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich Coming This October

Finally it's official, after months of rumors and speculation the release date for Ice Cream Sandwich (aka Android 4.0), Google’s latest Android operating system, has been set for October 11. That’s right, in less than a week the wait will finally be over. The new mobile operating system will be unveiled at the Samsung Mobile Unpacked event in San Diego, likely alongside the Nexus Prime.Regarding Ice Cream Sandwich, several improvements are expected to come bundled with version 4.0 of the Android OS. New expected features include united app framework, better multitasking, multi-core optimization and facial recognition among many others. 

Samsung and Google have been teasing us and have teamed up to announce something big which is even more reason to mark October 11 on your calendar. Check out the following teaser video which was recently uploaded on YouTube by Samsung Mobile.

According to Droid Life some of the specs for the much anticipated Nexus Prime MIGHT include the following:

• All new 1.5GHz Exynos processor
• 2050mAh battery
• 8MP camera
• PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU
• 4.65 inch Super AMOLED HD screen display

Apple 4S - Launch Time

Its been many months of speculations, rumors and mock-ups, Apple has officially raised the curtains on the next generation handset, the iPhone 4S.There was a consistent drop in line while checking the live coverage of the same last night, but i could cover up the major part of Tim Cook's Conversations.

Some key points of the iPhone 4s are  :

• iOS 5 running on an Apple A5 chipset
• Dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU and PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU
• 3.7-inch Retina Display
• GSM and CDMA networks
• HSDPA of up to 14.4 Mbps
• 8MP AF rear camera with LED flash
• 1080p video recording with Image Stabilization and Temporal noise reduction
• Airplay mirroring
• Internal memory - 16GB, 32GB and 64GB

Another 10 days and we would bee iPhone 4s in white and black color shades in US,Canada,Australia,UK,France,Germany and Japan.Over 70 countries and more than 100 carriers will receive the iPhone 4S before the end of this year. 

The iPhone 4S will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model and $399 for the new 64GB model. 

Bad news is that India's launch date is not yet confirmed so we might have to be waiting for the same until next announcement. But to be honest, i really dint find these features quite interesting  just like the investors.

Some Key Points which i derived from this LiveLaunch 

1. Apple iPhone 4S fails to wow investors, fans
2. The iPhone 5 will be considered "improved," not "different.

Samsung Omnia W - India's First Windows 7.5 Smartphone

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd has launched the Samsung Omnia W, its first Smartphone based on the latest release of Microsoft’s Windows Phone, code-named Mango. The Company also launched its first bada 2.0 device Wave III (GT-S8600) and its Android based entry smartphone targeted at younger audience, the Galaxy Y (GT-S5360).

Mr. Ranjit Yadav, Country Head, Mobile and IT, Samsung India, was quoted in a press release as saying, "We are very proud and delighted to be announcing the launch of India’s first smartphone based on the Windows 7.5 platform. The potential of Windows based phone and the possibilities it opens for Samsung customers are endless. 

The Omnia W (GT-I8350) reportedly sports a minimalistic contemporary design with a metallic finish and features a 1.4GHz processor, 3.7-inch SuperAMOLED display, a 5MP camera, and integrated 14.4Mbps HSPA+ connectivity.

Mango’s unique user interface lays out applications in mosaic 'Live Tiles' which flow and move on the screen in response to the users touch. The interface provides the benefits of a user environment usually associated with a larger display within the portability of a smartphone screen, delivering a flexible and intuitive experience.

The Windows Phone People Hub is reportedly integrated with social networking services built-in Windows Live, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, ensuring that users always stay in touch with their social community.

Office Hub provides enhanced productivity on-the-go and includes access to Windows Live Sky Drive, which provides 25GB of free storage and allows documents and media files to be easily stored and accessed anywhere. Users can also create and edit documents through mobile versions of Microsoft Office Excel, Word and PowerPoint, as well as utilize One Note, a note-taking platform allowing the easy sharing and storage of voice memos, images and text-based notes.

iBall Slide Android Tablet

Past 3 months, and is been just a tablet world. Olive, Reliance,Beetle and now iBall . iball primarily into computer accessories , Launched new first tablet named iBall Slide.This Tablet Available in affordable Price at just Rs. 13,995. 

Form Factor

Spekaing about the form factor, i really have no comparison to big giants but within its scale, i think its a good tablet. The Slide lacks the royal styling which current tablets offer,but i would say whatever the work, its put up nicely together. The first thing you’ll probably notice is the lack of a rear camera, which is a bit of a downer seeing at a 2MP camera lens is staring at you in the face for video VoIP calling support. The 7-inch capacitive display is actually quite bright and the though resolution.

User Interface

IBall Slider runs on a 1Ghz ARM Cortex-A8 processor with Android Gingerbread (2.3) the iBall Slide offers no customized UI.The UI worked out to be much more fluid compared to the others in its segment with enough juice to play full HD (1080p) content almost flawlessly.

Media

This is where it lacks to impress customers. Audio listening quality is not very great and is the major factor not to have this tablet as priority purchase for all music lovers. Strange is, even with the headphones, it works weak.

Connectivity

Other than 3G data connectivity via a USB dongle, the Slide also offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 on-the-go. Video chatting is enabled using the skype which can be either connected via 3G or WiFi.With Skype pre-loaded on the card you can video chat with your contacts via 3G or Wi-Fi. Rest of the android features like Gtalk,Search,Voice and YouTube are preloaded just like the other tablets on android. No GPS support is another down factor for this tablet. 

Battery

With video, 4 hours is what iBall guarantees, which i feel is less. Run iBall slide powered by 4000mAh lithium-ion battery for 2 hours of video and somewhat closer to that, run music, and i am sure what you will notice is nothing more than red bar of battery low time.

Nokia unveils Android-ish Like Symbian Belle

Nokia pulled the cover off Symbian Belle, which will debut with the three new models (600, 700 and 701).By the sound of it, this new version brings more improvements to the homescreen. The homescreen now consists of up to six rather than three panes and the widgets that live on those panes will be available in five different sizes.The widgets can be resized too, which gives you even more flexibility.

Another big change is a pull down menu for notifications from any homescreen - we're guessing Nokia has decided to copy Android's notification area much like Apple and Samsung. This menu will also offer toggles to control mobile data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Silent mode.

Free-form, differently-sized, live widgets: widgets like the clock, email, music player, favorite contacts and the calendar have been redesigned and now come in five different sizes and rearranged to create a completely personalized set of screens. There are also new ‘Toggle’ widgets for tasks like switching on Bluetooth and changing profiles.

More homescreens: with Symbian Belle the maximum number of homescreens rises from three to six, so now you can have absolutely everything close at hand.

Improved status bar: It looks more androish here with kind of similar features to have notifications of common features like missed calls,incoming messages and the rest.

Modernized navigation: the navigation and options bar at the bottom of the screen sports a modern, new look, similar to that first seen on the Nokia N9.

Informative lock screen: the lock screen now tells you about missed calls, messages in your inbox and more, so you can check your phone at a glance. You can now also add a colored wallpaper to your lock screen.

NFC devices: With Symbian Belle, Near-Field Communications (NFC) is now deeply integrated into the operating system, so you can share pictures, connect with accessories, and check-in – all with just a tap.

Visual multitasking: Switch between the apps with just a quick flick way :-) 

Skype's Facebook Chat Integration For Mac Users

Skype on Mac just received an update - a newly-released beta version of the popular VoIP service is now available. After adding HD video calling, Mac Beta 5.4 integrates Facebook more deeply into Skype.Skype users on Mac will be able to message and call their Facebook contacts. Additionally, it also features the popular 'News Feed' feature on Facebook right within the Skype application on the desktop. Easier access to News Feed while using Skype would be convenient to most of the Skype users avoiding need to screen shuffles.

To begin, all that users would have to do is sign into their Skype account, click on the tab called 'Connect to Facebook' and add their Facebook log in details. Another addition, which will only be visible to the non-paying Skype users would be the inclusion of display ads. 

Review : Sprout Social

Sprout Social was created for small business owners to be able to use their time more efficiently. Started in October 2009, this Social media management application takes care of most difficult social media tasks for any business. Lets hunt down its features:


Installation :

Sprout Social has different membership levels and offers a 30-day free trial.  If you’re currently using HootSuite or Tweetdeck, it’s worth taking a look at Sprout Social. Try Either the business plan or the basic plan for 30 days trial and i am sure you may like it. You can just start using this application by using your Twitter,Facebook or Linked in account.Don't worry, it really doesn't draw much time, Sprout social authorizes the app and provides you with access to its free trial within few seconds.

The Dashboard :

I am sure by now you will feel this has one of the systematically placed dashboard. Amazing color and varied features to catch hold of your time spending over this dashboard.There are a number of cool features with Sprout Social.  I’m not going to take time to cover them all. Ones you've connected with all the social media, you will have the dashboard as shown as above .The quick links are very well aligned for quick access. Along with the dashboard widget, there is also a provision for static sidebar quick icons. I really liked this cool look. The two most important terminologies followed by sprout social are Engagement and Influence.By now you must have guessed what it might be. Engagement is an indicator of how well you are communicating with your audience. The higher your engagement, the more valuable your audience will become to your business. And Influence  is an indicator of your growth and the interest level among your audience. These numbers are commonly low, but increasing them over time will result in greater brand awareness and enthusiasm for your business.

The Inbox :

If you sync FB, LinkedIn and Twitter , and all you have to do is , just click inbox and you have all mega sync at this individual place.Sprout Social stands out because of the way it brings together many different tools to cover just about every possible aspect of social networking. This section also allows you to DM, Follow and also Archive the feeds fetched from social sites.


Social Discovery:

Equipped with Twitter Search,Business search,people Search and Twitter Suggestions, the social discovery is made very simple. Save every record of search and track results as per your time.Thus bringing in more detailed information, it encourages the user to enjoy sucess over few simple smart clicks :-)


Report Generation:


So far i am sure you must have found this web application quite simple to understand and easy to use, but the word "Organized" is more relevent to this section. You can have complete overwhelming results of mentions,clicks,Retweets and replies, and not to forget, all in Graphical mode, including line and pie charts. 

Automatic Scheduler :

Like many other social media tools, Sprout Social also provides the ability to schedule messages to go out in as per planned time, including automatically sending out posts from any rss feeds. You can also manage your own RSS feeds.

The Diaspora* Way

Diaspora (stylized DIASPORA*) implements a distributed social networking service, providing a-decentralized alternative to social network services like Facebook. I have been using diaspora for quite a well now and i am quite impressed with its simplicity and simple UI. I am sure most of the people will feel that UI is similar to Facebook and some features are quite similar to Google+, but it will be shocking to tell you that Google+ was released later to Diaspora.

Lets head straight to the features of Diaspora.When you login to the system, the first sight is at Stream. The feature is quite similar to Facebook wall. A feature that i liked in this is the, Its embedded with URL shortening and RSS feeding.Also, the "Aspect" feature allows to post on diaspora more than ones at time. Toggle public services by clicking the icons and with the highlight of the post, it goes to the concerned person :-). I quit liked the share button type, it looks very cool. "All aspects" is feature to Share the post with Family,Friends,work and Acquaintances.

Every action is quite synched like twitter success messages right on the top of the browser view  It looks nice but Green could've been a change :-) With the feature of "Featured Users" you can search for Featured users you can Socially sync with. 

Inviting friend is just with a click. All your Facebook friends and other email friends can be clubbed to your Diaspora ecosystem. 

Diaspora is still in beginning stage but considering social medium i feel its much similar than Google+. With some quality work and good UI and social features, i am sure it will rock.

Beetel Magiq Tablet

Have a contemplating feeling to buy a tablet? Here comes another Tablet. With the likes of the Reliance 3G Tab making the tablet market cringe when it comes to the price, here’s one that thought they can do better. Beetle Phones and Beetle Codless and now Beetle Tablets. Having good chance, i had expirienced Beetle Telephones way back many years and i had no issue with it until it was aged. But I’m sure you’ll be quite familiar with atleast the name "Beetel".It’s priced at just Rs. 9,999 and i expect tablet prices still coming down. 

Beetel's Magiq 3G Tablet runs on Android 2.2 and has 7 inch TFT touchscreen and powered by a 1 GHz processor. Reliance launched their 3G Tab recently, but this tablet is cheaper and has faster processor. The Magiq tablet also comes with free 3G data for both prepaid and postpaid customers from Airtel.Whats surprising about the tablet is the pricing under Rs.10,000 considering it runs on Android 2.2.

Key features :-

• Android 2.2
• 7" WVGA TFT Touch Screen
• Dual Camera - (2MP + 2MP)
• Track Pad
• 3G Wireless
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• Bluetooth
• Dual Camera - 2MP/2MP
• 2200 mAh Battery
• External Memory Support - up to 16GB
• 1Ghz Snapdragon Processor
• Android Market
• E-mail
• Facebook
• Stereo Speaker
• Comfort Stand
• HD Playback
• 3.5mm Jack
• Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot

Huawei Ideos X2 - A New Launch

Huawei has so far launched three Ideos Android smartphones under its own brand name in the Indian market. Huawei has launched 3 new handsets Huawei IDEOS X5, IDEOS X2 and IDEOS Chat, in India


The design of the phone is different from the rest of the lot because the back panel has a matte finish which continues to the front of the phone till the bottom of the screen. Both side panels have a gunmetal finish. The top of the phone has a glossy finish. The body seems to be of good quality and looks nice and quite unique.


The device has a 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen with 320 x 480 pixel resolution. The display is good to look at, producing decent colour and a sharp image. The touch response is good too. The track pap at the bottom aids navigation, making it a sweeter deal.


There are four physical buttons at the bottom of the phone, a volume rocker on the right side and a power button at the top along with a 3.5 mm audio and USB jack.

• 3.8 inch (800 x 480 pixels) WVGA TFT capacitive touch screen
• Android 2.2 (FroYo)
• Pre-loaded SWYPE for text input
• 5 MP auto focus camera with flash and 720p HD video recording and playback
• Exchange email support, document, and calendar management
• 4GB in-built memory, expandable up to 32GB with MicroSD
• Wi-fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, 3G and GPS with A-GPS
• 1500mAh battery
• 3.2 inch HVGA capacitive touch screen
• Android 2.2 (FroYo)
• Proximity and ambient light sensor
• 3.2 MP camera
• FM Radio
• Wi-fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, 3G and GPS with A-GPS
• 1150 mAh battery

Price : Rs.8,000/-

HTC Evo 3D - first Android smartphone with 3D capability

HTC Evo 3D is HTC's first Android smartphone with 3D capability Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. The stunning 4.3-inch qHD display gives you crisp websites, vivid images and incredibly fluid videos.A new and improved camera and full HD camcorder with zero shutter lag and stereo sound recording so you can always capture that timeless moment.This phone features dual 5-megapixel cameras at the rear, for recording stereoscopic 3D video at 720p resolution.

Stream photos or videos to your big screen TV via DLNA so you can share comfortably to a bigger audience.Now your photos can have as much depth as the moment itself. HTC EVO 3D captures your photos and videos in 3D, plus you can view them without the glasses. 


HTC Evo 3D which brings not only 3D but also more battery capacity and screen pixels (540x960) to the party, may be welcomed by HTC fans for the small price difference. The HTC Sense UI is a value add as well. The only other 3D phone in India currently, is the LG Optimus 3Dwhich is priced slightly higher than the HTC Evo 3D.A personal Wi-Fi hotspot anytime, anywhere lets you share your Internet connection with multiple devices wirelessly.

Price : Rs. 34,000/-

MapMyIndia CarPad - Innovating Driving Directions

I have been using MapmyIndia which came along with my tablet and i was quite happy using it. Now,collaboration with Qualcomm,MapMyIndia Incorporated to announce the launch of their new CarPad. The device is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S1 processor, and comes with a 7-inch capacitive touch display, 3G connectivity and a 3D GPS navigation interface.

The CarPad comes pre-installed with Aura, their latest navigation interface – with 3D navigation for maps, including house numbers, as well as city and travel guides. All the maps are pre-installed on MapmyIndia CarPad, making it independent of the network. 

According to MapmyIndia, the CarPad is pre-loaded with comprehensive and accurate all-India maps, with over 5 million places, national-level maps for 5,79,000 towns and villages, street-level maps for 1,200 cities, house-level maps for 18 cities and 3D landmarks and building footprints for major cities. It will be bundled with the car kit’s head-rest and windshield mounts that allow them to be used in the car’s back or front seats. For connectivity, it will have in-built 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

MapmyIndia CarPad will be priced at Rs 22,990/- (which includes the CarPad device with 3G, Wi-Fi, 8GB SD card memory, pre-installed MapmyIndia Navigator Aura, as well as Car-kit worth Rs 6,990/-, containing the headrest mount, windshield mount, CarPad holder and car charger, in separate box FREE with CarPad).

Mercury mTab tablet for Rs. 9,499

Yet another Computer Peripheral Manufacturer, 'Mercury' have announced the launch of their new mTab tablet, which runs on Google’s Android 2.3 OS. 

mTab is powered by a 1.2 GHz 3-Core processor and 512 MB of RAM along with an in-built storage of 4GB (supports up to 16GB optional memory) and a microSD card slot support up to 32GB. It has a 7-inch WVGA TFT LCD touch display with a 1.3 megapixel front camera and a G sensor. The device weighs 400gms and no battery information has been provided so far, but the company claims that it supports continuous video playback for upto four hours. The mTab will also be 3G-enabled, which means, that while it doesn't have inbuilt 3G, an external 3G USB dongle can be used to access the services.  

The Mercury mTab is priced at Rs. 9,499. The specs seem impressive and at that price may just give the mTab an edge over its competitors. What do you think about the mTab? Let us know in the comments section below.

Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Settings - Making Control Simple

Today while browsing facebook randomly,i came across the new feature of Facebook with an upgrade of inline privacy control and asked me if I want to have its tour. The message said:

I quickly read through the details and found it quite interesting. Followed with some features, i too updated few status ( but deleted them as they were crazy test status's)

In the first step Facebook asked me to tell them who i’m with and it allows to add my location in it too if i wan’t you to know the place I am at.

 Upon selecting the further option to take the tour, the beautiful tour of the new feature begins clearly explaining the overall feature of the new upgrade.

Use this to manage who can see and comment on posts you share, including ones with location, if you add it. When you change this setting, it will stay how you set it for future posts until you change it again. Posts (including check-ins) from old mobile Facebook apps will use your new default privacy setting.

Also, Notice that Facebook has changed the label for “Everyone” to “Public,” but your posts will still reach the same people.