BlueRov2 ; a drone to light up your under water imaginations

US based Blue Robtics have succeeded in developing  a version of “under water GoPro”  to explore the sea or ocean with out wetting your body.   

The remote controlled water drone can reach up to 100M depth to take pics and videos.  The device is being connected with a computer  placed at land by a cable controlled by Qground control app.  The unit also comprises an open-source Pixhawk autopilot, along with  a Rasperry Pi microcomputer.

The BlueROV2  uses a motorized controlled system seen in expensive machines.  The device can be fitted with high end cameras in its dome cabin.   

The powerful LED s will light up the path if the water is turbulent.  

The water drone aimed at “universities. Research organization, small business, hobbyists

Currently ROV’s battery pack is currently good for about one hour of heavy use or up to four hours of lighter duty.  The whole unit weighs up to 10 Kg and 100-m tether adds around 4.5 Kg more.

Videos are captured either an SD or HD (1080p/30 fps) onboard camera and is visible at users laptop at an interval of 200 milliseconds. 

GOOGLE HOME ready to beat AMAZON ECHO to ease your life.

With  Google’s launch of smart speaker “GOOGLE HOME”  many predicts it will outcast  Amazon Echo.

Unlike Echo’s cylinder shape ; Home come in vase shape smaller than Echo looks more friendly with home environment.  

Why Home having edge over the Echo is Google already have plenty of services to integrate with the smart speaker. 

Further Google have many hardware partners to make Google Home a spectacular device.

Google Assistant will take the place of Alexa of Echo that has been  already with Google since 2012 as voice assistant.

While Amazon having Prime Music and Spotify;  Google has its own Google Play Music that offers integration with Google Cast ecosystem which include Spotify, Pandora, iHeart Radio.

As Google already owns Nest  which controls a number of home automation devices,  its not a big thing for Google Home to reign the market.

Besides , the biggest search engine Google will provide best choices to the orders given to Home; Just tell to Google voice assistant.

Motorola's MOTO Z with extra capabilities

MotoMod

Most notable feature in the phone is it compatibility to addons.

Motorola is possibly introducing 16 connector pins at the back, where modular backplates can be attached for added utility.  Namely “MotoMods” the addons for this connector includes a battery pack, a rugged cover fitted with a wide-angle lens, a camera grip complete with a flash module and optical zoom, a stereo speaker and a pico projector. It has been rumored that MotoMod could bring as much as 10xoptical zoom if connected to the back.

The smartphone supposed to be come in two variants : Moto Z and Moto Z Play; and also a possibility of slightly  lesser specified variants.

The probable specifications are 5.5-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 3GB or 4GB of RAM , l back camera with 16 megapixel , 32GB built in storage. 5.2mm thickness, 2600mAh battery,

The Moto Z Play probably come with a sport a 5.5 inch full-HD display, a Snapdragon 625 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13 megapixel  rear camera, 16GB and 32 GB storage variants, 3500mAh battery, and 7mm thickness.

The phone come in Rose Gold, Gold and silver colors supposed to be launched on 2nd week of June 2016

PROJECT ARA : THE DREAM REACHING REALITY??

Project Ara is taking shape and is being released by next year.  The dream project by the tech giant Google aims the revolution of mobile phone industry by the introduction of replaceable modules as per the users requirements.  At  least 6 parts can be replaced in project Ara by the time being.  The camera, the RAM, the battery etc. can be customized; means upgraded or downgraded.

The effort of Google is appreciable in a  sense that it can reduce the accumulation of e-waste.  Certain  parts that can be replaced by the user himself is an innovative idea by google.  Recently LG have introduced a mobile with limited capability of modular telephone.  But it will not come near to the more flexible Ara'.

In project Ara the skeleton of the telephone will be static. The screen, CPU and GPU WILL remain the same irrespective of the modules  replaced. If those parts  got damaged the entire phone has to be replaced still. 

Any ways the digital enthusiasts are waiting for the lunch of Project Ara since quite long time and now the recent developments and news from Google suggests a promising release of the Ara by next year.

BoomStick to enhance your audio experience

BoomCloud 360 launches an audio enhancing device BoomStick.  Plug your headphones into the BoomStick, Plug the BoomStick into whatever audio device and experience a better audio .

It is s an affordable, lightweight alternative that improves the sound that emanates from your headphones. 

TV, Computers , mobiles etc have achieved ever increasing video qualities at short intervals.  The audio severely lagging behind. Only a negligible percent of end users will say that they are experiencing audio to their satisfaction.

BoomStick  gains this enhanced audio quality by writing alogrithms to the processor .

BoomStick can be described as an affordable version of portable DACs (digital to analog converters. )

Other  quality of the BoomStick is its ability to differentiate various sounds.  

Boomstick  work with almost all audio devices if the connecting jack is compatible. Those who tried the BoomStick gave reports of superior dialogue audio and instrument differentiation along with increased volume. 

AMAZON ECHO;- A family member ready to help you

ECHO

If you are searching for a device to do multipurpose tasks Amozon’s Echo is more than that.

It listens our commands and obey with elaborate answers, most of the time with astonishing accuracy.  You just on the device, and give some commands or ask some questions like what is the height of the Mount everest?, Who is the head of Uganda? What is Halliburton?  How many teaspoons comprises one table spoon? You will get correct answers.

Further it can control our home devices that compatible with WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, Nest and ecobee smart home.

ECHO DOT

How it works

Connect your mobile or tab the Wi-Fi network of the Echo. Sync with the home network using Alexa App.

The devise will respond by calling “Alexa” or Amazone or Echo.  The light will on if the devise hear this calling.  It will hear our calling in the midst of cacophony.  The presence of 7 microphones are effective in sound cancelling and help the device to “hear” the distant sounds with the help of “Far-field” voice recognition technology. This will make Echo- a good listener.

The demand for Echo points its acceptance all over the world as a very helpful family member.

As Amazon describes:-

-Echo Plays all your music from Prime Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and more using just your voice

-Fills the room with immersive, 360º omni-directional audio

-Allows hands-free convenience with voice-control

-Hears you from across the room with far-field voice recognition, even while music is playing

-Answers questions, reads audiobooks and the news, reports traffic and weather, gives info on local businesses, provides sports scores and schedules, and more using the Alexa Voice Service

-Controls lights, switches, and thermostats with compatible WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, Nest, and ecobee smart home devices

-Always getting smarter and adding new features and skills--over 100 added since launch, including Domino's and Uber

The new version of Echo is Echo Dot.  The difference is that the size became small as the speakers have gone.  With dot you can connect with your own audio-system with blue-tooth.  But it will serve all the duties of Echo as well. 

Super AMOLED vs Super LCD3

SAMSUNG GALAXY S7 and HTC Desire 826 are the best examples of  two types of latest mobile screens namely Super AMOLED  and Super LCD3.

TFT-LCD

TFT-LCD screen is the most popular screen available on the mobile phones.  TFT-LCD stands for thin-film transistor liquid crystal display

 Displays with  dull colours have narrow viewing angles and  if you look at them from sides we could not recognise what is on the screen.

High quality LCD screens will have bright accurate colours and have visibility from any angle.

LCD screens requires light behind them which shines through the pixels to make them visible. As a result they don’t give the quality of AMOLED technology.

The LCD undergone number improvements namely Super LCD, Super LCD2 and Super LCD3 similar to AMOLED screen enhancements. 

AMOLED

AMOLED or Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode displays don’t need a backlight-each pixel emits its own light-so phones with AMOLED displays can be thinner than LCD mobiles. 

AMOLED technology is based on organic compounds that offers best image quality on very low power usage. This kind of screens utilizes very little electricity even for watching videos on black screens compared to the dark grey of LCD screens.

AMOLED screen manufacturing is very hard compared to LCD manufacturing as it has to go through number of stages till its transformation to the functional screen.

SUPER AMOLED SCREEN

This is derivative of AMOLED screen .  During manufacturing capacitive touchscreen technology is being included so that it is not required to overlaid later. The power usage can be further reduced than AMOLED and is capable of increased brightness.

SUPER AMOLED PLUS

This most advanced AMOLED screen provides much sharper crisp images equivalent to LCD screens by making considerable changes subpixel construction.  

IPS- or in-plane switching smartphone screens are characterised by vibrant colours and excellent off-axis viewing angles. The images are viewable from any angle.

With IPS, the crystals are aligned horizontally to the screen and electrical field is applied between each end of the crystal molecules. As the liquid crystal molecules are not adhered to the lower glass substrate, so move more freely into the desired alignment.

Based on the functionality of the screen it can be generally divided in to two. 

Capacitive touch screen

Capacitive touch screens are more responsive to user action and allow for the use of multi touch technologies. Capacitive touch screens simply transfer a small amount of energy to users body when it is on touch with the screen. With the help of app. the  mobile will calculate which specific area of the mobile have changed its charge.

Resistive touch screen

This technology consists of two thin metal layers under the glass screen of the mobile, which collects location data when pressed together. The user has to press hard by exerting more force on the screen. This will result in less responsive user experience