BuzzIT: Buzz in Technology

Dylan Hoffman, Wisconsin Second Grader Wins Doodle 4 Google 2012

buzzintech — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:04:23 +0000

Google announced that Dylan Hoffman, second grader from Caledonia, Wisc. is 2012 U.S. Doodle 4 Google National Winner. Hoffman, from the Prairie School in Racine, Wisc., came up with his Google Doodle named “Pirate Times” featuring a pirate ship on treasure hunting trip in an island.

Dylan’s submission was under this year’s theme “If I could travel in time I’d visit…” The boy explaining his doodle said his dream is to “sail a pirate ship looking for treasure, have a colorful pet parrot and enjoy beautiful sunsets from deserted islands.”

The winning pirate times Doodle will be feature on US Google’s main page today and in addition Dylan has come into wins a $30,000 college scholarship, a Chromebook computer and a $50,000 technology grant for his school. Dylan’s doodle will also be on the front of a special edition of the Crayola 64-crayon box.

Wisconsin Kid Wins Doodle 4 Doodle Competition

In addition to selecting the National Winner as Dylan, Google also announced the four National Finalists and each of them wins a $5,000 college scholarship;

Grades 4-5: Talia Mastalski, Grade 5, East Pike Elementary School, Indiana, Penn., for her doodle “Traveling to me.” Talia says, “When I think of Google, I think of a wormhole leading me to knowledge. If I could travel in time, I would visit a similar wormhole into the future to find out about ME.”

Grades 6-7: Herman Wang, Grade 6, Suzanne Middle School, West Covina, Calif., for his doodle “Retro City.” Herman says, “If I could travel in time, I’d visit Retro City. A future city made of robots and humans.”

Grades 8-9: Susan Olvera, Grade 8, SOAR Alternative School, Lafayette, In., for her doodle “Traveling Back to the Future.” Susan says, “If I could travel in time, I’d travel back to the future. If there is life on other planets, I believe we’d visit the natives as well as invent different ships and rockets for quicker transportation. With what we have accomplished currently, I believe the ‘future’ isn’t so far away.”

Grades 10-12: Cynthia Cheng, Grade 11, Edison High School, Edison, NJ, for her doodle “A World of Adventure.” Cynthia says, “If I could travel in time, I’d visit the age of the Vikings. Though their tales of monsters may not have been entirely true, they were some of the greatest explorers in history. It would be a remarkable experience to share adventures and discover new lands with them.

Facebook Acquires LightBox, a Mobile Photo App, for Talent

buzzintech — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:49:20 +0000

Facebook Acquires LightBox

Facebook is fresh off buying Instagram for a billion and busy preparing for filing its IPO. Still, Facebook found time to acquire LightBox, a mobile photo sharing startup company, for its talent. LightBox is a UK based startup founded by Thai Tran & Nilesh Patel in March 2011. LightBox started as Android app for photo sharing. Till Instagram launched an Android version, LightBox was one of the Android apps that made photo sharing easy for Android users.

Announcing the acquisition, in a blog post, LightBox co-founders said that Lightbox team is joining Facebook and the acquisition is for talent; Facebook will not be using any of the user data on Lightbox.com. And the users have until June 15 to download their photos. LightBox founders also said that LightBox will be be open sourcing portions of their code and post them to Github repository.

Here is the full blog post announcing the acquisition.

Lightbox is joining Facebook!

We started Lightbox because we were excited about creating new services built primarily for mobile, especially for the Android and HTML5 platforms, and we’re honored that millions of you have downloaded the Lightbox Photos app and shared your experiences with the Lightbox community.

Today, we’re happy to announce that the Lightbox team is joining Facebook, where we’ll have the opportunity to build amazing products for Facebook’s 500+ million mobile users.

This means we’re no longer accepting new signups. If you’re an existing user, you can continue to use Lightbox.com until June 15 and you can download your photos from here.

Facebook is not acquiring the company or any of the user data hosted on Lightbox.com. In the coming weeks, we will be open sourcing portions of the code we’ve written for Lightbox and posting them to our Github repository.

We’d like to thank the Lightbox community, our investors, and our families for supporting us during this journey.

Google’s Mother’s Day Doodle: Google’s “g” Becomes a Mom and the two “o”s Become the Kids

buzzintech — Sun, 13 May 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Google Doodle sports a motherly look with two kids for celebrating Mothers Day today in US, May 13 2012. The Mothers day special Google Doodle is animated and starts with a door opening.

The two “o”s in Google, in red and yellow colors, come running out as kids towards Google’s small “g”-the mom. Google’s “g” sports a motherly look in blue color with necklace. The two “o”-kids jump over “g”-mom and give their gift, a flower boquet while the remaining alphabets in Google join later in grey color.

Here is a series snap shots of Google’s Mothers Day animated Google logo.

Google Announces the Winners of 2012 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarships

buzzintech — Sun, 06 May 2012 02:01:17 +0000

Google announced that it has selected 70 young women students for Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship for the year 2012. The winners mainly comprise of undergraduate and graduate students attending universities in United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East or Africa.

The winners of the Google Anita Borg Scholarship recipients will receive $10,000 award for the 2012-2013 academic year and are invited to attend the Annual Google Scholar’s retreat. In addition to the 70 winners, Google also announced 79 Google Anita Borg Memorial finalists and they get to attend the Google Scholar’s retreat in the summer.

The students from the U.S. and Canada will attend the annual retreat at Google Headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., while the students from Europe, the Middle East and Africa will attend the retreat in Zurich, Switzerland.

Among the 70 young women who won the scholarships 25 are from US universities, 5 are from Canada, and the remaining 40 students are from Middle East, Africa and Europe. Google also awards Anita Borg Memorial scholarships to students from Asia, Australia and New Zealand. However, Google has not announced the winners from these countries yet and will do soon.

Here’s the full list of this year’s winners of Anita Borg Memorial Scholarships from US and Canada.

Google Anita Borg Scholarship Winners from US Universities

Jenny Abrahamson, University of Washington
Hannah Adams, Oregon State University
Jillian Aurisano, University of Illinois at Chicago
Sarah Bird, University of California-Berkeley
Roshni Chandrashekhar, University of California-San Diego
Zhu Chen, Northwestern University
Angela Dai, Princeton University
Wenqing Dai, Stanford University
Nicola Dell, University of Washington
Ruta Desai, Carnegie Mellon University
Anca Dragan, Carnegie Mellon University
Judy Gichoya, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Ashwini Gokhale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Maria Gorlatova, Columbia University in the City of New York
Sandy Huang, Stanford University
Ann Irvine, Johns Hopkins University
Neha Kumar, University of California-Berkeley
Lauren Lui, University of California-Santa Cruz
Kanika Pasricha, Princeton University
Anicia Peters, Iowa State University
Amanda Peters Randles, Harvard University
Kehontas Rowe, Mills College
Sunmi Seol, San Francisco State University
Alexandria Shearer, Santa Clara University
Sophia Westwood, Stanford University

Google Anita Borg Scholoarship Winners from Canada

Militina Gorobets, University Of Calgary
Veronica Irvine, University Of Victoria
Cristina Ribeiro, University Of Waterloo
Fiona Whelan, McMaster University
Leanne Wu, University Of Calgary

Here is the full list of 2012 Google Anita Borg winners and finalists
http://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/2012_Anita_Borg_Scholars_and_Finalists.pdf

Logitech Introduces Solar Keyboard for iPad

buzzintech — Sat, 05 May 2012 02:52:56 +0000

If you want to go green with your iPad, here is a chance. Use solar powered keyboard/case for iPad from Logitech. The LogiTech Solar Powered Keyboard for iPad is ready to be pre-ordered for $129.99. It will be available by the end of this month in both US and UK.

The wireless Bluetooth iPad keyboard is powered by any kind of light, either low light, lamp light, indoors and out. Logitech claims that once the keyboard is fully charged, you can type on it for two years—two hours per day, even in complete darkness.

Logitech Solar Keyboard/Case/Folio/iPad Protector

The Logitech solar keyboard can also serve as a nice case/folio to protect your iPad. Just like Apple’s popular iPad case, the LogiTech solar keyboard/folio lets your iPad go automatically on or off as you open or close the folio. And it offers two standing modes for using the full keyboard comfortably and type or to watch a video leisurely.

The solar keyboard works with the new third gen iPad and iPad 2. Announcing the pre-order availability of light powered protection for iPad, Alexis Richard, director of product marketing at Logitech, said

Now that people are seemingly inseparable from their tablets, using them for everything from sending emails to watching videos, they want accessories powered to meet their needs. The Logitech Solar Keyboard Folio is a smart partner for your iPad. Its sleek built-in keyboard uses light to charge and it provides hassle-free protection for your iPad – both for the front and back. It gives you an ideal way to use and protect your tablet without adding bulk.

If you don’t have an iPad and still interested in a wireless solar keyboard, don’t worry. Logitech has been selling wireless and solar powered keyboard for Mac and Windows for $79.99.

LinkedIn to Buy SlideShare for $118.75 Million

buzzintech — Fri, 04 May 2012 02:32:06 +0000

LinkedIn announced that it will be acquiring Slideshare, the largest web service that lets you share your slides easily, for $118.75 million. SlideShare was founded in Founded in Oct 2006 by Rashmi Sinha, Jonathan Boutelle, and Amit Ranjan. SlideShare is headquartered in San Francisco, and also has its presence in New Delhi, India. In addition to making it easy to share your presentations online, it also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars. SlideShare’s website says that the site attracts 60 million visitors per monthl and 130 million pageviews per month.

In the press release announcing the acquistion news LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner

Presentations are one of the main ways in which professionals capture and share their experiences and knowledge, which in turn helps shape their professional identity. These presentations also enable professionals to discover new connections and gain the insights they need to become more productive and successful in their careers, aligning perfectly with LinkedIn’s mission and helping us deliver even more value for our members. We’re very excited to welcome the SlideShare team to LinkedIn.

Rashmi Sinha, CEO of SlideShare said that

We built SlideShare to help professionals share presentations and connect people through content. What we can build with LinkedIn, the largest professional network on the Internet, is the most natural extension of this vision. I am excited about what we can build together.

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S III, Android Smartphone Inspired by Nature

buzzintech — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:56:51 +0000

Samsung unveiled the third generation GALAXY S, the GALAXY S III, Android smartphone inspired by nature that can recognize your voice, knows your intention, and makes it easy to share instantly. The new Samsung Galaxy S III is powered by Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich and features a 4.8 inch HD Super AMOLED display with 16:9 wider viewing angles. In addition to supporting 3G and Wi-Fi, Galaxy S III will also have 4G network capability depending on the market.

Samsung Galaxy S III also boasts an 8MP camera for taking pictures and a 1.9MP front camera that offers face recognition related options. The Galaxy 3 comes with storage sizes; either 16GB or 32GB with microSD slot that can expand to 64GB more storage. Samsung also announced that 64GB version will also be available soon.

Unveiling The Galaxy S smartphone, JK Shin, President and Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung said

With the GALAXY S III, Samsung has maximized the consumer benefits by integrating superior hardware with enhanced smartphone usability. Designed to be both effortlessly smart and intuitively simple, the GALAXY S III has been created with our human needs and capabilities in mind. What makes me most proud is that it enables one of the most seamless, natural and human-centric mobile experiences, opening up a new horizon that allows you to live a life extraordinary.

Samsung did not reveal the pricing details but said that Samsung Galaxy S III will be first available in Europe starting from the end of May and later in the other markets.

Galaxy S III Tech Specs

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Size: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, and weighs 133 grams
4.8-inch Super AMOLED display with 1280 x 720 resolution
1.4GHz quad-core processor
1GB RAM
16GB or 32GB storage (64GB in future), expandable with microSD card (up to 64GB)
8-megapixel rear-facing and 1.9MP front-facing cameras; LED flash; zero shutter-lag; 1080p video recording;
Accelerometer; ambient-light sensor; gyroscope; GPS
NFC, Bluetooth 3.0; WiFi N
2100 mAh battery

Verizon Introduces New Data Plan for World Travelers

buzzintech — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:55:25 +0000

Verizon launched a new global data plan for international travelers. The new global data plan offers 100MB of data for $25 per month and it covers 120 overseas destinations, including US neighbors Mexico; Canada; all of Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and Asian countries like Singapore and India.

Verizon calls the plan as “the best global roaming data rate on the market”. The global data plan can be added by Verizon customers who already have domestic data package and Verizon already has Global data with pay as you go option. However, the new global data plan offers hassle free, simple plan without the need to keep track of the money and the data spent. Once a user completes 100MB, Verizon would send a text message notifying that an additional 100 MB of data for $25 has been added.

Verizon’s Pay As You Go Roaming Data Plans

Verizon’s already existing roaming data plan for occasional users cover more than 200 destinations with different rates for different countries. Here is the pricings for the Pay As You Go data plans from Verizon

$0.002/KB or $2.05/MB: for data usage within the Canada:
$0.005/KB or $5.12/MB: for data usage within the Mexico
$0.02/KB or $20.48/MB: for other available countries

If you are interested in just global voice roaming option, Verizon offers Global Value Plan for $4.99 per month in about 150 countries worldwide.

The big advantage of the global roaming voice and data packages is that they can be added when you need before traveling and canceled after the return. Visit http://businessportals.verizonwireless.com/international to learn about Verizon’s resources for global travelers. You might also be interested in Verizon’s Global Traveller program that lends you Verizon smartphones for short trips. Learn more from http://buzzintechnology.com/2010/08/verizon-wireless-offers-help-to-global-travelers/.

No doubt, it is also worth learning about how much the 100MB is worth and what you can do with 100MB data from the data caluculator.

Sony Xperia Smartphones to Get Android Ice Cream Sandwich Update

buzzintech — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:53:20 +0000

Sony announced that the 2011 Xperia smartphone will get the goodness of Android Ice Cream Sandwich software upgrade. Sony started the upgrade from 13th April and the first Xperia smartphones to get the update are Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray in Europe first. And now the global Xperia customers will also be getting the update.

Visit http://talk.sonymobile.com/ to find if the software kit for your Xperia is ready to roll. Also visit http://www.sonymobile.com/update to learn more instructions on upgrading. Basically one needs to conect
the 2011 Xperia smartphone to a PC or Mac and follow the instructions

Here is the full list of Xperia smartphone that will be getting the Android 4 update.

Xperia arc
Xperia arc S
Xperia PLAY
Xperia neo and neo V
Xperia mini and mini pro
Xperia pro
Xperia active
Xperia ray

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

Apple Sells 35 Million iPhones, 11.8 Million iPads and Apple’s Net Profit Increases 94%

buzzintech — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:54:14 +0000

Apple announced the financial results for the 2012 second quarter and posted 94% increase in its net profit compared to the year ago quarter in 2011.

Just like other quarters the increase in net profit was driven by the growth in iPhone and iPad sale. Apple announced that it sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, with iPhone sales showing 88% growth over the year-ago quarter. In this quarter, Apple sold 11.8 million iPads with a whopping 151% increase over the year-ago quarter.

Apple’s Mac sales grew slightly and it sold 4 million Macs with a 7% increase over the year-ago quarter. As expected, Apple’s iPod sales continue to decline. Apple said it sold 7.7 million iPods with a 15% decrease from the year-ago quarter.

Announcing the financial results, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO said

We’re thrilled with sales of over 35 million iPhones and almost 12 million iPads in the March quarter. The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you’re going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.

Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO said

Our record March quarter results drove $14 billion in cash flow from operations. Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter, we expect revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.