6 cool features of Android rival Sailfish

Sailfish OS, a rival to the popular Android and iOS by former Nokia engineers, has entered the mobile operating system arena with the new Jolla phone.

Unlike the two most popular mobile OSs in the world -- iOS and Android -- Sailfish is based on the now-defunct Nokia MeeGo operating system and is a gesture-based software that does not rely on hardware keys to navigate the device. 

With the first Sailfish smartphone in the market already, here are six cool features of the new OS worth knowing.

1. Multitasking first

instead of the home screen filled with widgets and apps that you see in Android and iOS, Sailfish gives you the list of running apps first. The multitasking menu looks much like the one we have seen in BlackBerry 10 OS, with small square windows for each app. Below the list of running apps on the first screen are four apps, Dialler, Messaging, Browser and Camera.

2.Gestures in multitasking

The multitasking menu of Sailfish OS is more advanced than the ones seen in rivals. You can not only see the running apps and a screenshot of the last task they were performing but can also execute specific actions without even opening them.

For example, you can pause/start or switch music tracks in the media player from the multitasking menu by swiping to the right or left on the corresponding icon.

3.Supports Android apps

Swiping up from the multitasking menu gives you the app drawer, similar to the one seen in Android and iOS. You can not only download apps from the Sailfish store, but also any Android app from third-party Google Play apps.

4.Swipe away

Just like iOS 7, Sailfish uses gestures to return to a previous screen. For example, if you open the web browser and check several articles on the same tab, you can go back to the older articles by swiping from left to right.

Accessing notifications in Sailfish is also similar to what we have seen in iOS 7. You just need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the Notifications Menu. However, unlike other operating systems, you can return to notifications by just swiping from left to right instead of starting from the home screen again.

To access Options in any menu, you just need to swipe down from the top of the screen. Keep dragging the screen down to scroll between various options in any particular app.

5. Customizable hardware

The first Sailfish-powered Jolla comes with removable back covers, much like the ones we have seen in Nokia Lumia handsets. However, the Jolla back covers (officially called The Other Half) are capable of changing the colour scheme, wallpaper, fonts and profiles in the whole smartphone.

6.Facebook everywhere

Sailfish has deeply integrated Facebook into services like messaging and photos. So you can open Facebook pictures in the phone’s photo gallery and like them or comment on them without even opening the social networking website’s app. Similarly, you can chat using Facebook Messenger directly from the default SMS app.

Is HTML5 the best option?

If you are a developer, one common question is why does one need to use HTML5? How is it different from other applications? Is it supported by vendors worldwide?

The answers to these questions are fairly simple. HTML5 is by far the most flexible web language and is easily adaptable. Due to which millions of developers across the world prefer to use HTML5 over other web applications. Also, it’s supported by major vendors around the globe such as Apple, Windows, Android to name a few.

Keeping this growing popularity in mind, a lot of tech driven companies are heavily investing time towards helping developers understand the core elements of HTML5 and the overall app usage. 

“One such example is Intel, which provides tools and resources to help developers import applications to HTML5 – whether it’s an existing or a new application,” says Shwetha Doss, senior application engineer, 

Survey confirms, Facebook affects your career

NEW DELHI: The digital world is influencing career graphs as firms embrace technology and turn to specialised job searches and social media platforms to aid in recruitment, a survey byHeadHonchos said.

About 89 per cent of the professionals surveyed are of the view that social profiles are "important" for their careers, according to a snap poll conducted by the job and career portal.

Just over 49 per cent agreed that profiles on online platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook, or even a personal blog, are "very important" for one's career.

"The digital world offers a perfect opportunity to project your image to influencers and gives candidates an outreach that they have not had before," said HeadHonchos CEO Uday Sodhi.

Social media has emerged as an important platform for personal branding, Sodhi said.

During the hiring process, a strong social presence can tilt the balance in an applicant's favour, especially at senior levels, where reputation and stature are often reflected in the social profile, he added.

About 40 per cent of the participants in the poll believe their social profiles are "somewhat important" for career progression, although not a make or break factor, the survey showed.

Only 11 per cent of those surveyed indicated that their social profile is "not important" for careers.

The online snap poll had a sample size of 129 respondents.

Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 specs get leaked

The successor to Samsung Galaxy S Duos -- Galaxy S Duos 2 -- seems to be on the way. Hungarian website Tech2 has published the device's alleged specs and images.

According to the report, Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 runs on a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and packs 4GB of internal storage and 768MB of RAM. The dual-sim device has a 4-inch WVGA display. Galaxy S Duos 2 will come with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box. The phone has a 5MP rear camera and a VGA in the front. The battery is 1500mAh battery, same as in the earlier version.

From the specs, there doesn't appear much difference between S Duos 2 and original S Duos (launched in September 2012), except for the upgraded processor and operating system. The leaked image also suggests that Duos 2 will have same design as the earlier Duos.

Samsung has reportedly already started importing the device and plans to launch it soon in the country. Though there are no pricing details available of the device in India. According to a Mumbai-based retailer Manish Khatri, Galaxy S Duos 2 will sport an MRP of Rs 11,230 and best buy of Rs 10990.

iPhone 5S volume hits record 5,00,000 units a day

Apple's supplier is reportedly making record 5, 00, 000 iPhone 5S units per day to cater to the demand for the latest hi-tech smartphone with finger scanning technology.

The tech giant has requested its supplier, Foxconn, to shift resources away from the cheaper iPhone 5C and increased production for the standard iPhone 5S, thereby reduce waiting time for the latter device.

According to Mashable, sources have revealed that Foxconn is now producing the iPhone 5S at the rate of 5, 00, 000 units per day, and has 600 employees to achieve the daily target.

Apple's earlier marketing focus was on the cheaper iPhone 5C models, however, with lower demand for the phone, it has apparently shifted its resources on the standard iPhone5S which was immediately put in back order within week of launch in September, the report added.

Android KitKat: It’s not so sweet for Nexus 4 users

NEW DELHI: After waiting several weeks, most of the Nexus 4 users have received an update for their phones that installs Android 4.4 aka KitKat on their devices. But these users are finding that the KitKat experience differs significantly on their phones compared to what Nexus 5 users get even though Nexus 4 is just one-year-old device and is supposed to run the 'pure' version of Android. 

In terms of user interface, KitKat offers several small but useful improvements over Android Jelly Bean. Nexus 5, which is the launch device for KitKat, features a transparent notification and navigation bars. Also, the app drawer on the phone has translucent effect, through which a user can see the default wallpaper in the background. 

On Jelly Bean, notification and navigation bars are solid black. Similarly, the background in app drawer is also solid black. 

On Nexus 4 the same user interface has been retained even when the device has been updated to Android KitKat. 

The bigger and cleaner looking icons, which are part of Android KitKat on nexus 5, are also not available on Nexus 4. 

Compared to Android Jelly Bean, Android KitKat is not a major change in terms of user interface, even on Nexus 5. It looks cleaner and adds a few user interface elements, but most of the improvements are under the hood. 

With virtually none of these new elements available on Nexus 4, in terms of looks it is hardly different from Android Jelly Bean. 

"I used KitKat on my brother's Nexus 4. It's very boring," said Shamal Harkison, an Android enthusiast. 

Other than the lack of user interface elements, new wallpapers and bigger icons, KitKat on Nexus 4 also lacks the deep integration with Google search found on Nexus 5. For example, option to access Google Now through a swipe from left to right on the home screen on Nexus 5 is not available on nexus 4. On Nexus 4, users still have to swipe up from the home button. 

The "OK Google" command, which is available on Nexus 5, to perform search through voice commands is not part of Android KitKat ton Nexus 4. 

But, the integrated phone launcher, which searches not only the local contacts but also publicly available phone numbers, is available on KitKat in Nexus. The new Hangout app, which integrates SMS and Google Talk is available, but it is not set as the default option. 

The KitKat user interface on the older Nexus 7 tablet is similar to the one on Nexus 4. 

Though they miss out on the user interface changes, users of older Nexus devices get other benefits that are part of Android KitKat. For example, the under-the-hood changes in the OS make Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 feel a bit faster with KitKat compared to the same devices running Jelly Bean. 

For some users, battery life has improved with the KitKat while a few others report a decrease in it. 

Install the KitKat user interface manually
To get the similar user interface, including Google Now on the left most screen and "OK Google" feature, Android users can manually install Google Experience Launcher (GEL) which is available as APK file on various websites. However, Harkison said the "side-loaded GEL lags badly". 

User can also try third-party launchers like Nova and Go to get KitKat user interface on their older Nexus devices. 

While it is not new for companies to not offer all features of an updated operating system on an older device - many features available in iOS 7 are not available on iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S - it is surprising to see Nexus 4, which has very capable hardware, getting a different version of KitKat compared to the one used on Nexus 5.

Jolla: First Sailfish OS smartphone goes on sale

HELSINKI: A team of ex-Nokia engineers is launching a smartphone based on the former world No. 1 cellphone maker's old software, hoping to grab a share of a highly competitive market.

The Jolla handset's Sailfish operating platform is based on MeeGo software, which Nokia abandoned in 2011 when it switched over to using Microsoft's Windows Phone.

The 4.5-inch phone features an 8-megapixel camera, supports 4G internet connections and includes Nokia's HERE maps covering 180 countries. It is compatible with some 85,000 apps by Google's Android.

It will first launch in Finland on Wednesday and then in 135 other countries.

Jolla was founded in 2011 after Nokia laid off thousands of workers as it lost market share to rivals. It has over 90 employees in Finland and Hong Kong.

Resize Image without loosing Quality

People hate to visit websites which require more time for loading. So one should always seek to improve the webpage load time, so to do so you have to look at many things like loading sources, page cache, media files etc. One among such media file is images, adding beauty to your page, but at the same time, it is regarded as the most bulky resources which takes much time to load on the page, thereby causing inconvenience to the visitors.

But one can improve the page loads time by cutting the size of an image to a significant amount. But even resizing the image without any proper knowledge may be troublesome as you may lose the quality it had. Though photoshop provides a nice feature to save the original quality of the pic, it is not preferred much as it’s too expensive to purchase the photoshop application for desktop or web version. So here I’m going to provide you with free online tools to Resize Image without loosing Quality

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Web Based Tools to Resize Image without loosing Quality

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1.Kraken.io :

JPEG, PNG, GIF, SIV are some of the image formats that can be compressed with this online application. This reduces the image to a quite considerable point without losing the image size. This application is also available in Chrome and Firefox extensions

2.Imageoptimizer.net:

After uploading the image from your computer, give the size of the image and quality you wish to have after processing. This provides only some control of the output and compression ratio But Greatly Helps to Resize Image without loosing Quality.

3.Smush.it:

Smush.it is the best and popular online application you can have to compress images. It is present with an up-loader as well as URL box to have the image. In this you will not be provided with the ‘enter’ option to enter the image quality as that of previous one because it automatically optimizes the image by compressing it to a limit.

4.Compressjpg.com & Compresspng.com :

I would suggest you to have these application, for more control of the image quality. A slider appears as soon as you upload an image to auto control the quality of the last image. A preview panel is provided for showcasing the changes according to the quality slider change. So before downloading the image you can have the review of your final image. This application is available on different domains for JPG and PNG images.

5.Punypng.com :

This application is available to compress the PNG files. Upload an image and you can get a compressed size of the image. Besides this, tinypng.com , a quick tool to compress the PNG images to the best level without affecting the image quality.

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Desktop tool to Resize Image without loosing Quality

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If you need a Desktop tool to do this task then i would suggest you to have PNG Gauntlet as your first choice, You will need .Microsoft Net Framework 4.0 to run this tool on your Windows.

You won’t Face any difficulty in Using this tool as it is very User Friendly. While Optimizing the images PNG Gauntlet will show you older size and Optimized size of the image. this Program is not that Fastest at it work but Usefull.

Click photos at speed of light with this camera

An inexpensive multi-purpose 'nano-camera' that can operate at the speed of light has been developed by a team of MIT researchers, including Indian-origin scientists. 

The $ 500 camera could be used in medical imaging and collision-avoidance detectors for cars, and to improve the accuracy of motion tracking and gesture-recognition devices used in interactive gaming. 

The three-dimensional camera was developed by researchers in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. 

The camera is based on "Time of Flight" technology in which the location of objects is calculated by how long it takes a light signal to reflect off a surface and return to the sensor. 

However, unlike existing devices based on this technology, the new camera is not fooled by rain, fog, or even translucent objects, said co-author Achuta Kadambi. 

"Using the current state of the art, such as the new Kinect, you cannot capture translucent objects in 3-D," said Kadambi, a graduate student at MIT. 

"That is because the light that bounces off the transparent object and the background smear into one pixel on the camera. Using our technique you can generate 3D models of translucent or near-transparent objects," Kadambi added. 

In a conventional Time of Flight camera, a light signal is fired at a scene, where it bounces off an object and returns to strike the pixel. 

Since the speed of light is known, it is simple for the camera to calculate the distance the signal has travelled and therefore the depth of the object it has been reflected from. 

The new device uses an encoding technique commonly used in the telecommunications industry to calculate the distance a signal has travelled, said Ramesh Raskar, an associate professor of media arts and sciences. 

Raskar was the leader of the Camera Culture group within the Media Lab, which developed the method alongside Kadambi, Refael Whyte, Ayush Bhandari, and Christopher Barsi at MIT and Adrian Dorrington and Lee Streeter from the University of Waikato in New Zealand. 

In 2011 Raskar's group unveiled a trillion-frame-per-second camera capable of capturing a single pulse of light as it travelled through a scene. 

The camera does this by probing the scene with a femtosecond impulse of light, then uses fast but expensive laboratory-grade optical equipment to take an image each time. This "femto-camera" costs around $ 500,000 to build. 

In contrast, the new " nano-camera" probes the scene with a continuous-wave signal that oscillates at nanosecond periods. 

This allows the team to use inexpensive hardware -- off-the-shelf light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can strobe at nanosecond periods, for example - meaning the camera can reach a time resolution within one order of magnitude of femtophotography while costing just $500.

How can I convert Gmail from standard view to basic HTML view?

Hi there Everyone! Supppose if anybody Needs to  convert Gmail from standard view to basic HTML view

Click The direct link to basic HTML view is:

 https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html&zy=h

First look: Nokia Lumia 1520, HTC One Max

NEW YORK: I find giant phones hard to carry and use, but I'm well aware that many people like the bigger images and text they offer.

These so-called phablets, with screens measuring about 6 inches diagonally, are nearly as big as the smallest tablets. Unlike tablets, they can make phone calls over cellular networks.

Two new ones are worth considering. Neither comes with a stylus, a signature feature of Samsung's 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 3, which is one of the most popular phones of its size. But the 5.9-inch HTC One Max and the 6-inch Nokia Lumia 1520 both have larger screens than the Note.

Nokia Lumia 1520 ($585 without contract, $199 with contract through AT&T)
The 1520 runs Windows Phone 8, which has a sliver of the smartphone market -- and thus fewer software developers making apps for it. But apart from that, the 1520 is a decent phone.

It's also among the first Windows phones of its size.

What I like about Windows' approach to bigger phones is that text and images don't simply get blown up. The software adapts the layout to take advantage of the larger screen.

With big Android phones, including the Max, you see about the same amount of content that you would on a smaller phone, just somewhat enlarged. With larger Windows phones, you get a third column of apps on the home screen. You can preview two lines of emails rather than one, and you see more contact information at once for people in your address book.

There's also a new driving mode, which lets you block incoming texts and calls when you're near a Bluetooth device associated with your car. You can set it up to send automated replies to say you're driving.

Windows phones of all sizes come with a free Office app to read and touch up documents. With iPhones and Android phones, the app is available only as part of a $100-a-year Office 365 subscription. None of these Office apps are meant for heavy-duty work, though.

To me, the iPhone 5S is the best camera phone for everyday shots, but the 1520's camera does a great job in low-light situations. It has the same camera technology as the 4.5-inch Lumia 1020, though a software fix gets rid of the 1020's tendency to make images too yellow.

To keep the camera thin, Nokia dropped the 1020's protruding lens and sacrificed resolution. The 1520 can take photos of up to 19 megapixels, instead of 38 megapixels on the 1020. Still, that's more than most phones. Grabbing and storing all those pixels takes time, so both phones tend to be slower than most cameras in snapping shots.

To keep those photos organized, a Storyteller app automatically groups photos by date and location, if that feature is on when taking shots. I like that as you zoom in on a map, photos split off into smaller groups and are shown down to the street corner or backyard where you took them.

Nokia also has a new Refocus app, which takes up to eight shots with varying focus, so you can decide later whether you'd rather have the foreground or the background come in sharper. You can even have the app blend the shots so that everything's in focus.

Nokia Corp phones are often overlooked because they don't run one of the dominant operating systems. Besides having a good camera, I find colours on the screen more vibrant than on other phones. Before you buy, check the Windows online store to make sure the apps you want are available. It's getting better, but apps tend to come to iPhones and Android devices first.

HTC One Max ($600 without contract; with two-year contract: $250 through Sprint, $300 through Verizon)
The Max is largely a giant version of the regular, 4.7-inch HTC One. HTC expands on Android by offering a home screen with a mosaic of customized content -- such as your favorite news sites and content shared by friends on Facebook and Twitter. That can get annoying and clutter up the phone, but you can turn that off if you prefer a traditional home screen experience.

Where the Max differs is in offering a fingerprint scanner for bypassing the security password. Unlike the iPhone 5S, the Max launches a different app depending on which finger you use. That gives you quick access to Facebook, the camera or whatever app you designate. Sadly, unlike the iPhone's sensor, the one on the Max often fails to recognize my prints. The feature is supposed to make one-hand operation easier, but I end up using my other hand anyway to type in the password.

The Max, like the standard One, promises better low-light shots. The camera is 4megapixel, compared with the minimum 8megapixel that most high-end phones have. Instead, HTC makes the sensor for individual pixels larger to pick up more light. Night shots don't come out as dark.

However, the sensors sometimes pick up too much light, so lights on store signs and Christmas trees bleed together and wash out colors. And with fewer pixels, images aren't as sharp when blown up.

I like how the One's Gallery app automatically organizes your photos by events, based largely on time and location. Another feature turns selected shots from an event into a short video, with customizable music and special effects. Although the standard One has these features, the Max removes a 30-second cap and lets you choose your own tunes, rather than ones included.

Both Ones come with Zoe, a feature that takes up to 20 shots in three seconds so you can choose the one with the right smile or action.

Samsung's Note 3 is lighter and easier to hold, but the Max is a good choice if you really need an Android phone that's even larger than the Note.

Anick Jesdanun is deputy technology editor for The Associated Press

Micromax Canvas Juice A77 listed online at Rs 7,999

A new budget smartphone by Micromax, India's No. 2 smartphone maker, Canvas Juice A77 is out. The device has been listed by online retailer HomeShop18. Micromax Canvas Juice A77 has been priced at Rs 7,999 on the website and will come with a free gift certificate worth Rs 1,000 and Airtel freebies worth Rs 12,000.

The all-new Canvas Juice A77 has a 5-inch display with 854x480p resolution and Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system. It packs a 1.3GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM under the hood. The handset comes with 4GB internal storage and external storage support via microSD card up to 32GB.

Micromax Canvas Juice A77 has a 5MP camera on the back and a VGA camera in front. Connectivity suite of the phone consists of 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and microUSB. It has a 3,000mAh battery that offers talk time of up to 10 hours, according to the listing.

Though the smartphone has been listed online, the website is currently showing the device "Out Of Stock."

Canvas Juice A77 has not been listed on Micromax's official website as of now.

'Sharing personal info on social media may lead to hiring bias'

Sharing personal informationon social media by job seekers may lead to hiring discrimination, a new US study claims. 

A large-scale field experiment conducted byCarnegie Mellon University researchers tested the impact that information posted on a popular social networking site by job candidates can have on employers' hiring behaviour. 

While various surveys have suggested that employers have been using the web to screen prospective job candidates, there have been no controlled experiments measuring the frequency of firms' usage of online profiles in hiring decisions and how profile information actually affects those decisions. 

Researchers estimated that a minority of US employers regularly searches for candidates online. 

"While it appears that a relatively small portion of US employers regularly searches for candidates online, we found robust evidence of discrimination among certain types of employers," Christina Fong, senior research scientist at CMU's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said. 

Fong and Alessandro Acquisti, associate professor of information technology and public policy at CMU's H John Heinz III College, used data revealed online by actual members of popular social networking and job-seeking sites to design job candidate resumes and online profiles for their experiments. 

They experimentally manipulated personal traits the candidates revealed online regarding religion and sexual orientation, while holding signs of professionalism and work ethic constant. 

The researchers first used a survey experiment involving more than 1,000 online participants to capture reactions to the candidates' resumes and online profiles, and to test whether or not the candidates' profiles appeared realistic. 

Researchers submitted applications on behalf of the candidates to real job openings at more than 4,000 US employers. 

"Our survey and field experiments show statistically significant evidence of hiring bias originating from information candidates shared on their online profiles," Fong said. 

The findings suggest that, while hiring discrimination via Internet searches and social media does not seem widespread, the impact of revealing certain traits online can have a significant effect on the behaviour of employers who look online for candidates' personal information. 

"Employers' use of online social networking sites to research job candidates raises a variety of notable implications, since a vast number of job candidates reveal personal information on these sites that US employers can't ask in an interview or infer from a resume," Acquisti said.

Do you need a smartphone with 1080p display?

If 1080p in a phone sounds like a lot, that's because it is. When the first iPhone with a "retina display" came out, it packed a 3.5" screen with a resolution of 960x640, giving it 326 pixelsper inch (or ppi). Notably, when Apple increased the physical size of the iPhone to 4", it also increased the resolution to 1136x640 which is still 326ppi. In most cases, 300ppi or so exceeds what the human eye is able to distinguish at a normal viewing distance (which is what Apple's "Retina" is supposed to refer to). 

A 1080p phone, on the other hand, has an insane amount of pixels in comparison. In a 5" phone, a display of 1920x1080 has a whopping density of 440ppi. If you go down to, say a 4.7" phone like the HTC One, you reach 468ppi. That's a resolution that's about 50% higher than what most human eyes can readily distinguish under normal usage. You can probably see pixels if you squint really close, but is there any real benefit to going up this high? 

High resolution displays use more battery power
It's impossible to add more pixels to a device without needing power to run them. Some types of panels like AMOLED only light up pixels as they're needed, which means you can conserve some power by using darker themes, but LCD displays will light them all up no matter what, which requires more juice. Not only to physically turn them on, but it also requires battery power to run the processor harder to account for the added complexity (which we'll come back to in a bit). 

Just how much extra power does it take? Well, when Apple released the 3rd generation iPad with "retina" (here defined as 264ppi), it came with a whopping 11,666 mAh battery, which was 70% larger than the battery in the previous generation. However, it still only promised the same 10 hours of use. Why? Well, it would be oversimplifying to say it's solely because of the new display, but it's also correct to say that doubling the ppi over the previous tablet (132ppi for the iPad 2) would require a significant increase in power consumption. 

You can somewhat see this reflected in Android phones as well. While Android phones vary wildly in battery size, the ones that last the longest are also typically the ones with the biggest batteries. LaptopMag rated the LG G2 as the Android phone with the best battery life around. It also carries a 3,000 mAh battery. Comparatively, the Moto X has a 720p display with 2,200 mAh battery. Both phones will run a full day (and the G2 can actually run longer than that), but larger batteries don't make phones more efficient. They're more akin to Hummers with large tanks than a fuel-efficient hybrid. 

High resolution displays use more processing power
While powering all those pixels will have a direct effect on battery life, they'll have to go through some processing power on the way. How much is difficult to gauge since there are so many factors that affect performance and efficiency in software. However, as one independent game developer explained to us, increasing the number of pixels in a display will always tax the GPU more: 

These higher res screens tax fragment shaders (which do the processing for each pixel) on the GPU more. That means you get worse battery life for the same GPU/battery because for all applications more pixels need to be processed. It also means that in anything that actually gets near the limits of the hardware you have (primarily games), you're going to hit those limits much more quickly. Especially because, in games, the fragment shaders are, the vast majority of the time, going to be the primary bottleneck. 

In most cases, we accept this trade-off because things look nicer. However, since the human eye can't tell much of a difference between a 300+ppi display and a 400+ppi display, the extra processing power needed to run those pixels is mostly wasted. Ironically, having a higher resolution display can result in worse-looking graphics purely because the GPU is wasting time on rendering more raw pixels (that you probably can't see), instead of allowing developers to use those resources on adding more elements or details (like the advanced particle systems, lighting effects, and texture mapping you see in advanced AAA games). 

High resolution displays are Good for CJK characters
There are, however, a few benefits to having a high resolution display-like CJK characters. If you haven't heard of CJK characters, then this benefit doesn't apply to you. CJK stands for Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters. Unlike the Latin-based alphabet that consists of a small collection of a couple dozen or so distinct symbols that create words based on combinations, CJK symbols can be distinct words on their own and potentially bear striking similarities to different words. 

The question of whether or not super high-resolution displays actually aid in reading CJK characters is, as with anything, highly subjective. However, text is one of the first things to become illegible at low-resolutions and CJK characters are considerably more complex than Latin ones. 

Keep in mind that, while it's true in an overwhelming majority of cases that a ppi exceeding 300 is overkill, it depends heavily on how good your eyesight is and how far away you view your device. You probably don't normally look at your phone three inches away from your face, but if you do, 300ppi might not be enough. 

If you have a need to read text using CJK characters, your best bet is to just look at a phone with a 1080p display yourself, hold it the way you normally hold your phone, and see how it feels for you. However, if you stick with latin-based characters, it's equally likely that trying to distinguish between two screens will just result in your brain playing tricks on you. 

Ultimately, your phone choice is up to you and none of them are particularly bad. However, the higher up the ppi in phones get, the more questionable the benefit is. Even if you feel a tangible benefit to a 1080p display in a 5" phone, it won't stop there. LG, for example, recently showed off a 5.5" display with a mind-boggling 538ppi. Arguments about viewing distances, special characters, and "retina" definitions aside, there's an upper limit for phone displays and we're straddling that line now. Chances are for most consumers, worrying about battery life and performance should be a much higher priority.

Source: Eric Ravenscraft, Lifehacker.com

Apple acquires 3D tech company PrimeSense for $350 million: Bloomberg

Apple agreed to buy Israel-based PrimeSense, a developer of chips that enable 3D vision, for about $350 million, Bloomberg reported citing a source. 

PrimeSense's sensing technology, which gives digital devices the ability to observe a scene in three dimensions, was used to help power Microsoft's Xbox Kinect. 

Apple's interest in PrimeSense was first reported in July by the Israel-based Calacist news website. 

"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," a company spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told Reuters via email. 

PrimeSense could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular US business hours. 

The PrimeSense deal makes it Apple's second purchase of an Israeli company. It bought flash storage chip maker Anobit in January 2012. 

PrimeSense's investors include Canaan Partners, Silver Lake, Gemini Israel Funds and Genesis Partners, Bloomberg reported.

5 hot Google Chrome apps

Even without a Chromebook , you can still try out some fantastic web apps if you have Google Chrome installed on your machine. Whoever said a browser is only good for surfing the web, didn't hear of the Chrome Web Store... Head to google.com/chrome to download and set up the Chrome browser. Once installed, visit the Chrome Web Store at chrome.google.com/webstore and search the app (by the name in bold). Click, and download.

Quake The game's premise is simple: you're armed with some really big guns, and you have to run like crazy in a dungeon-like setting, pulverizing monsters before they pulverize you. Strictly Darwinian - it's all about the 'survival of the fittest.' If you haven't played Quake yet, in Chrome, you can. Load times are minimal, there's a lot of action, and it can be played offline. It even includes support for a gamepad, freeing you from the keyboard. Run!

Until AM
Itching to scratch some vinyl? Download Until AM and turn Chrome into a DJ console. The dashboard lets you load tracks on its virtual turntables from SoundCloud and your Google Drive account. You can also use Until AM offline, adding songs from your PC. Cross-fade from one track into the next, tweak the tempo, change the pitch, and create your own groove. Mix it, beat master!

piZap Photo Editor piZap Photo Editor is your digital fairness cream, teeth whitener and shine shampoo. This photo 'rejuvenator' is a simple, but useful tool that lets you create some awesome Facebook cover photos and Twitter header cover shots. You can upload pictures or import from Picasa, Instagram , Facebook and Flickr. Add stickers, paint over the photo, or create a meme. The edited image can be downloaded or shared directly on your social networks.

Little Alchemy So you're not the great Wizard Merlin, but you can still put your powers to the test with Little Alchemy. You start with the basics of nature - fire, water, air, earth - and you are entrusted with the job of conjuring up to as many as 430 new elements. At first, it's really simple: fire and water give you steam; water and earth creates mud, but as you proceed your true 'metal' will be tested. Take help from the random hints and click on objects to drill down to their original composition. In the end, there's just one question. Can you create gold?

365Scores If you're a 'born spectator', with 365Scores, you can keep tabs on your favourite sport - football, tennis, basketball, volleyball and hockey - while you are at work, or stalking somebody's timeline. It's your go-to app for team standings, news and videos, and also a "Who will win" polling section that displays what fellow users think about your team's chances. You can catch up on highlights and commentary in the video section, dive into a game result for a quick stat check or click on "All Scores" to skim through results.

6 tips to improve your laptop's battery life

Working on the go and your laptop has run out of juice? This problem plagues most laptops as they tend to lose their battery capacity over time. But worry not, as there are several ways to improve laptops' battery life without too much trouble.

 So, here are 6 ways to improve your laptop's battery life.

1. Display

Similar to phones, laptop screen is also a power guzzler. Keep the brightness as low as possible. Also, If you also have keyboard backlighting, turn it off.

2. External Devices

Any external device plugged in the USB port constantly draws power from your laptop. Removing them after use conserves battery.

3. Overheating

Overheating leads to the internal fans to run faster - which in turn consume more battery. Use a laptop cooler to keep the temperature at bay.

4.Hibernate

Instead of putting your computer on standby, choose to hibernate - it saves the state of your computer and shuts down the computer and saves battery.

5. Windows Power Plans

Laptops running windows have built-in power plan settings. You can choose various items such as display brightness, when to turn off the display/hard-drives and USB power. Use these to improve your laptop battery life.

6.BatteryCase

Laptops running windows have built-in power plan settings. You can choose various items such as display brightness, when to turn off the display/hard-drives and USB power. Use these to improve your laptop battery life.