Ashwin
(8 comments, 32 posts)
This user hasn't shared any profile information
Home page: http://ashwinsaxena.com/blog
Jabber/GTalk: quizmasterashwin
Posts by Ashwin
Google Glass : The Future of Augmented Reality
7Recently Google unveiled “Project Glass“, a potentially revolutionary augmented reality headset allowing users to take photos, make calls, send texts and browse the internet.
Google’s Project Glass Prototype
Google Co-Founder Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin unveiling the Project Glass Prototype.
Watch this video to get a feel of what is Google’s ‘Project Glass’ about.
Released by Google, this video follows a potential day in the life of a Google glasses user.
While wearing these pair of glasses, you can see directions to your destination appear literally before your eyes. You can check weather forecast and news or talk to friends over video chat while sharing your surroundings with them or even buy a few things online as you walk around. These glasses can do everything you now need a smartphone or tablet computer to accomplish BUT this is JUST A PROTOTYPE for now. They don’t exist YET!
Google’s Project Glass page on Google+ has following description (You can provide your opinions and ideas on the same page):
We think technology should work for you—to be there when you need it and get out of your way when you don’t.
A group of us from Google[x] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment. We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input. So we took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do.
Please follow along as we share some of our ideas and stories. We’d love to hear yours, too. What would you like to see from Project Glass?
So what exactly is Augmented Reality?
According to Google: Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. Augmented Reality in simple terms is the fusion of digital information with viewer’s real environment.
It’s like the “Terminator vision,” as in the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. When the films would cut to the robot’s point of view, you’d see it scan the environment and analyze everything about every object in the frame.Or in the latest Mission Impossible movie where a character is wearing contact-lenses and he sees people and BOOM- he can see their profiles instantly. It is COOL!
Of course Google is not the only one doing research in this arena. Pranav Mistry’s Sixth Sense technology is somewhat like Google’s Project Glass. See Pranav Mistry’s TED-Talk on 6th sense technology yourself :
Microsoft with it’s product Kinect is also doing some noticeable research (http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/augmented/).
My Opinion:
I think it will take at least 5-6 years of research and development before Augmented Reality as demonstrated by Google becomes a reality.
While people are still bickering about how weird the Glasses look, I want to commend Google.
In the field of futuristic research, it is making the news almost everyday it seems which is not helping it one bit since the investors are still not happy with Google. Google shares are down 2% this year at last Thursday’s close of $632.32 (It was $$645.41 on 3rd April before unveiling Project Glass), that’s despite having increased revenue nearly 30% in 2012 and boosting profit more than 20%.
What I think is if Google is going to promote wild R&D dreams like Google Glass and Auto Driving car, it had better get in touch with some of the more mundane tasks of management, such as talking with investors.
Temple Run on Kindle Fire : Game Review
2The popular game for iOS : Temple Run is now available on Android Platform. The game is one of the most popular iOS app. In the iTunes store, it has been in the top 50 most-downloaded apps in December 2011. Many Android owners like me were eagerly waiting for it’s release for their devices and some (including me) even tried crappy bad copies. Since I am from India and I can’t access Amazon App Store (I don’t know if this game is available there yet) and I can’t download from Google Play store either (unrooted Kindle), I had to side-load the game .APK file. The game is free and I am writing this mini review after playing it for 3 hours non-stop. Yes! It’s that addictive.
- Title: Temple Run
- Publisher : Imangi Studios
- Release Date: March 27, 2012
- Tested On : KINDLE FIRE (unrooted)
- Requires Android: 2.1 and up
- Category: Arcade / Action / Running
- Size: 26M
- Price: Free
- Google Play Store Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.imangi.templerun
- Wikipedia Entry : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Run
Screenshots :
My Kindle Fire running Temple Run.
Temple Run (Screenshots taken from AndroidPolice).
Gameplay :
Basically all you have to do in this game is to make your character run, jump, slide and turn to evade obstacles and collect coins to unlock achievements, power-ups, utilities, characters and wallpapers (Wallpapers are not available on Android Version yet!). The story is simple: You’ve stolen an ancient artifact from a temple. Crazy Demon monkeys are chasing you and you have to run as far as you can. There are no levels or no checkpoints.
On my Fire the game looks beautiful (for it’s size and price). This is a fun game to play on a Tablet or on any supported device for that matter! It takes a lot of juice though. Just playing it for 3 hours brought my Fire’s battery charge level to 57% from 92%.
I think I’m going to keep this game around for sometime. There is only so much one can play Angry Birds you know
Reviews from Community :
The game’s getting great reviews from Android users despite few glitches in the game.
Reviews on Google Play Store (at the time of this writing).
Reddit Thread : http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/rffyu/temple_run_is_out/
Issues :
Since the launch of the game yesterday various users are experiencing different issues with the game. Major one being that it’s not coming up in search results when you search it in Google Play Store. Frequent crashes and lag is another problem. Even in my Kindle Fire it crashes whenever I tap “Run Again” after loosing a run and it seems I’m not the only one who has this issue 
. On some devices including SGSII-i9100G and RAZR-MAXX it doesn’t even work!
Verdict:
Since the game is just in version 1.0 and is just launched yesterday I hope the glitches will be solved soon enough. This is a good game which can provide casual gamers hours of fun. My Own Rating : 4.6/5. So go, download and play! 
Kindle Fire in India
2Back to blogging after long time. Hopefully I will be more regular now.
In January (3 months ago) I bought a kindle Fire. It’s an astounding device and for it’s price it’s worth every penny!
See the specifications yourself:
Hardware
Processor:
Dual core, 1000 MHz, TI OMAP4
System memory:
512 MB RAM
Built-in storage:
8000 MB
Multimedia
Speakers:
Stereo speakers
Internet browsing
Browser:
Yes
Supports:
HTML
Connectivity
Wi-Fi:
802.11 b, g, n
USB:
USB 2.0
Connector:
microUSB
Computer sync, OTA sync
Display
Physical size:
7.00 inches
Resolution:
1024 x 600 pixels
Pixel density:
170 ppi
Technology:
IPS LCD
Touchscreen:
Capacitive, Multi-touch
Features:
Scratch-resistant glass
Design
Device type:
Tablet
OS:
Android (2.3)
Form factor:
Candybar
Dimensions:
7.48 x 4.72 x 0.45 (190 x 120 x 11.4 mm)
Weight:
14.57 oz (413 g
I would suggest buying a Kindle Fire if you need a Tablet but don’t want to splurge 20K+ rupees. It costs around 13,800/- in India from ebay. Compared to other similarly priced tablets in India like Reliance 3GTab and iBall Slide, Kindle Fire is a much better alternative. There are many reviews out there just to prove that so I’m not going to write an essay praising it.One more things: Do not compare it with an iPad. iPad has it’s own class. Kindle Fire is an eBook Reader which is also an excellent android tablet.
How to Order Kindle Fire in India?
Officially Kindle Fire is not yet available in India (and chances are it won’t be in near future). You can still purchase it through ebay and such e-commerce websites which imports it from USA. The delivery can take up-to 15 days though so you’d need to be patient. eBay.in has some pretty good deals for a brand new Kindle-Fire. And yes I also bought it from eBay.in.
How to Register Kindle Fire in India? :
Ok. It’s arrived but before you can do anything with it you will have to Register it with Amazon. Do not worry. Indian users can still register it (though using Amazon Premium service is not possible for now), all you need is a free Amazon.com account. Head to Amazon.com, Sign-up and click the link in confirmation email… yada yada yada, you know the drill. Enter the Amazon UserID and Password in Kindle Fire. Your Kindle Fire needs to be connected to a WiFi hotspot/access point. When I received my Kindle Fire, I did not have access to an WiFi Access point. If you are stuck in similar situation, don’t panic. All you need is to configure your laptop (or a Desktop with a WiFi dongle) to act as a WiFi hotspot. I used a simple application- “Connectify” for this purpose. It works on Windows7 and is free for personal use. Once you enter your UserID and Password and click Register Button it will take a few minutes to Register itself with your profile. Voila! It is done! Now you can go ahead and use it’s basic features (which is just – The Oxford English Dictionary which comes with it, the User-Manuel, and the Amazon Silk Browser).
How to install 3rd party applications in Kindle Fire?
As I said Amazon premium services is not available. So forget about installing apps from Amazon App Store. What we can do is side-load apps on it (putting the .APK files in it) and installing them from Kindle Fire itself. I preferred this as I do not have access to a WiFi hotspot and I am on a very slow gprs/edge wireless connection. We have another situation here though. To install .APK files we need a 3rd Party File Browser for our Kindle and for that we need WiFi. Connectify is still needed so we can use laptop/desktop’s connection to download a File-manager/Browser. I installed ES File-Explorer from SlideMe.org. The process is simple – Start Fire’s Browser, open the URL: http://SlideMe.org and search for ES File-Explorer. Install and Done. To install an app just browse to the location of .APK file in ES-File Explorer and tap the .APK file and tap Install.
How to Put Files on Kindle Fire?
Kindle Fire doesn’t ship with a Data Cable. Don’t fret. It comes cheap. Kindle Fire needs a MicroUSB.female-to-USB.male cable. If you have a modern high-end phone, chances are it’s data cable will work fine with Fire. I bought a Nokia MicroUSB cable from a local shop for Rs. 80/-.
All you need to do is plug cable’s both ends in appropriate ports and your Computer System will detect Fire as an external storage device with label- KINDLE.
Now you can put songs/books/music/WhateverTheHellYouWant on your Kindle Fire.
There is another advanced method where you can just transfer files via a wireless LAN. But we will discuss that in another blog-post.
Tada! You are all set to use Kindle Fire in India.
Where to get .APKs or Android Apps?
Well, one source I already mentioned – SlideMe.org. You can also try GetJar store for Android Applications if you can connect to a WiFi-Hotspot (or using Connectify). You can also root your Kindle-Fire and install Google Play client on Kindle Fire to install applications directly from Google Play app store.
What are the best apps/games for Kindle Fire?
There are hundreds of thousands really! I mostly use – QuickOffice Premium for Android for Document Editing, MX Video Player for watching videos and PowerAMP for listening to music. Angry Birds, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline, Where’s My Water, Plants VS Zombies and Samurai II are some of the best games you can enjoy on your Fire.
My Kindle Experience:
Kindle Fire is a device which I absolutely needed. As a media consumption device, it rocks. Reading Books, Magazines and Comics on it is very pleasant. While it doesn’t fit in pocket, it’s much easier to carry than a Laptop. As a tablet there are some major features missing. Lack of a memory-expansion slot is one. It doesn’t have an inbuilt microphone/camera so Skype calling is not possible either. After installing basic apps, 5GBs is all you have for your eBooks and Videos (which works for me actually). But even after it’s various shortcomings, it’s a great Value-For-Money device.
A little about internet censorship
0Exams Finished.
These days we’ve been hearing about USA’s SOPA and in India Kapil Sibal’s rant on Facebook and such websites.
SOPA stands for the Stop Online Piracy Act. It is one of two bills being considered by American congress today. The other is the Protect-IP Act.
Similarly India Court recently order Facebook, google and other 19 social networking websites to remove so called offensive content by 6th Fabuary.
Something similar is happening all over the world. I fear the governments of world are becoming more authoritarian (a la ’1984′?)…
For sake of putting my opinion out there: “I am against any internet censorship.”
Await more on this from me in couple of days. Till than, Adios!
Read more on SOPA here ;
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/22/2648219/stop-online-piracy-act-sopa-what-is-it
http://www.techi.com/2011/12/godaddy-lost-72354-domains-this-week-its-not-enough/
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/np5ee/while_we_are_focusing_on_sopa_we_are_being/