The recently launched Android power-house, the Samsung Galaxy S4 came with a million software features and a brand-new Touch-Wiz. The S4 took over the major part of the High-end Android market.

According to a recent leak from GSMArena, The S4 has a Active brother, The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active which is said to be dust and water resistant (just like the new Xperia z). The pictures making rounds on the internet suggest that the phone will have a minimalist red metal case hugging its hardware(though we expect it to come in many colors). The phone looks strikingly similar to the existing S4 but comes with three hard-buttons below the front glass.

There have been several accountable hardware changes in the phone. If rumors are true, the phone will be running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor under the hood. It will sport an 8MP rear camera instead of the 13MP on the existing S4, which is a little disappointing. Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active will have an Adreno 320 chipset pushing a HD resolution of 1080×1920 which sums up to about 480ppi.

Although the leak seems to be from a genuine source we suggest you hold your horses as, there has been no official confirmation of the model coming out from Samsung.

Would be love to see a meaner version of the Galaxy S4 ? Hell yeah.

Got any Questions you need us to answer ? Drop them in the comments below.

Electronic arts has announced the launch of  FIFA 14 at the Xbox launch this week! Always a presence at the launches of the countless gaming consoles till date, this time, they’ve decided to launch FIFA 14 on the day Microsoft unveils the next generation Xbox.

Though its going to be announced for the Xbox version first, its going to be available for all other platforms too. Releasing a teaser on its Facebook page, the company offers sneak previews of what players can expect in the launch and their newest product.

With the launch of Sony’s PS4 and less than 24 hours to go for XboxLive, everyone’s waiting with anticipation to see what the gamers are popping up with back at Redmond.

The Xbox reveal event is barely twenty four haours away, and we’re hoping Microsoft doesn’t goof up this time around.  This is going to be the eighth year since the launch of the Xbox 360, and its popularity was immense. We have more hopes, higher expectations from this launch, and fongers crossed, Microsoft might just not disappoint.

Here’s where you could see more on FIFA 14 : EA SPORTS

I work with in-vitro diagnostic instruments. I’ve repaired, learned about and played with blood counters, ELISA assay machines and those which measure arterial blood gases. A cocktail of all these tests, and a competent doctor can pinpoint exactly what it is that ails you. Armed with the results of these tests- your doctor can arrive at the correct diagnosis- faster, more accurately and thus give you a better fighting chance (in most cases) against the troublemaker.

Modern healthcare basically means lesser waiting time to get results of preliminary tests, more accurate results as the scope for human error is limited, better data collection and retrieval (thanks to databases and computer networks) and most importantly- better more innovative ways of giving a human being back the gift of good health.

Right from the discovery of the antibiotic- pencillin, the human species has only progressed in making the world a healthier place to live. With portable x-ray machines, CT scanners, complete haematological and biochemistry analytical instruments available in the most inaccessible conditions. the mortality rate in previous;y considered hopeless areas, now see more than just a glimmer of promise. With companies coming up with breakthrough research on pharmaceuticals, stem cells, and prosthetics, the standard of living today has improved by leaps and bounds.

What we’ve done right?

1. Prosthetics

If there’s one thing that can debilitate a human in the saddest way, it is the loss of a limb. Prostheses earlier were moulded fiber/ polymer that mereley gave the incomplete limb support and some form of normalcy. Prostheses today are not merely cosmetic. Right from robotic arms that can be controlled by neural signals as beautifully as you can your real limbs are a pathbreaking series of innovations to make the standard of living of the handicapped higher and more fulfilling.

2. Stem cell research

Growing a brand new organ as a replacement for its damaged twin is something that pops right out of a sci fi movie. Stem cell culture has made it possible to grow entire organs and tissue to plant back into the affected area, to help you ‘regrow’ what you’d lost.

3. Antibiotics

Popping pills is probably frowned upon today, but it sure is a relief to have a sound nights sleep after a restless bout of sneezing to an allergic reaction. Anti histamines, analgesics, antipyretics, anaesthetics- we will have no idea of the pain our species must’ve gone through before the dscovery and use of drugs.

4. EMR

The electronic medical record system is a boon for record keepers and doctors alike. With each patient being assigned a unique identity and the medical history being accessible at the click of a button, the doctor has a better chance of diagnoses and treatment knowing the tests and drugs the patient has been subjected to in the past as well as the responses and reactions to the same.

What monsters we might’ve  created

1. MDR bacteria

The pill popping trend has created a monster of its own- the multi drug resistant bacterium. Not responsive to broad spectrum antibiotics or any other, this kind of infection becomes pretty impossible to get rid of, and well, can have some pretty nasty symptoms as well- apart from potentially becoming life threatening.

2. Tailor-made babies

An issue that has the medical and biotechnological fraternity in a bitter battle, the advent of DNA sequencing and tracing out blocks of potentially malicious DNA has been a bitter dispute between ethics and medicine. With the ability to remove chains of DNA tat might give you a perfectly healthy kid- to picking the hair and eye color and intelligence, the term natural selection may not have much meaning in the near future. (And immediately a Robin Cook novel where mutant superbabies were created jumps to mind. Not pretty, I must say.) But then again, if you could eliminate a strand that could let the kid not suffer from a debilitating illness, you’re probably not in the wrong either.

3. The Pill-popping-for-anything syndrome.

You have the sniffles? Put back an antihistamine. A cough- chug down that Benadryl. Seemingly innocent tablets can harm you in the most surprising ways possible. Right from your liver and kidneys crashing to a host of complications, the medicine chest is best used only if unavoidably required.

4. The lets test EVERYTHING syndrome

Usually affecting doctors, you see yourself performing a battery of tests, at the end of which you’re convinced you’re going to die. And then the diagnoses shows you’re fine and you’re sent back with a packet of mutlivitamins and admonishment to rest well. Or you’re diagnosed with ‘mild’ conditions and to please take this pill thrice a day- which in reality might not be needed at all. The nexus between healthcare providers, the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industry can be highly sinister, and basic awareness for every individual is a MUST.

Modern Healthcare, a boon?

Definitely! With institutes like Apollo Hospitals providing the best there is when it comes to healthcare- we can hope to expect better in the time to come. The scope for a better healthcare infrastructure in our country is simply huge, and the need is desperate. And the steps to making it more efficient and help it touch more lives better is what we must strive for every moment

( This post was submitted as an entry to the Apollo Hospitals IndiBlogger contest )

Since we have been telling our readers about the power of a Linux OS, we thought of coming up with a quick guide on Installing a Linux distro. First things first, if you are unsure of switching to a Linux distro, this might help you decide:

http://gizmophiliacs.com/2013/04/why-linux/

If you have decided to switch to Linux but are not sure which distro would work for you, you can choose one of the most popular one’s as listed by makeuseof.com
http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-linux-distributions

If you still haven’t found what you are looking for, you can try visiting distrowatch.com, which will tell you almost everything about almost all the available distros out there.
http://distrowatch.com/

And if you are still in doubt about dual booting a Linux distro with Windows, you can always try installing it as a Virtual Machine.

What you need

1.  A 2 GB pen drive
2. Unetbootin (Download link: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/)
3. An iso image of the Linux distro.
4. 10 GB free space on the hard drive.

This varies from distro to distro, so make sure you know what is the minimum requirement for your distro.)

Note: Making the 10 GB free space a completely separate partition will help in case of installation going wrong. Backing up all the important data irrespective of the separate partition is advised.

Let’s get started

1. Insert your pen drive and right click on the pen drive icon.
2. Choose format and format the pen drive to FAT 32.
3. Start Unetbootin and select the distro you want to install.
4. Make sure you choose the right version and architecture for installing the distro.

 Note: Use a Hdmedia option as the Live option will create a Live bootable pen drive. If the version that you have downloaded isn’t listed, you can choose the closet listed version.

5. Choose the iso image that you have downloaded.

6. Type: USB Drive, Drive will display the letter.

As am using Linux already, instead of displaying the letter for the pen drive, it displays /dev/sdc1. If you don’t see a pen drive being listed, there are high possibilities of your pen drive not being formatted to FAT32.

Click ok and soon you will have a bootable pen drive.

7. Once this completes, reboot the system and press F12 to choose Boot options (This might vary from PC to PC depending on the manufacturer)

8. Choose to boot using USB drive and hit enter.

9. Once this is done, you will be presented with different options. Simply choose Install Ubuntu (or whichever distro you are trying to install)

10. That being done, you will presented with the setup. This is what you get while installing Ubuntu 13.04

 11. Choose your preferred language and click continue.

 12. Choose your preferred options until you reach the screen which asks where you want to install your Linux distro. Look for an option which let’s you choose your own partition, usually specified as manual.

 13. Then choose the partition that you previously made for the distro and click next.

 14. Now better brew a coffee and wait until your distro gets installed.

Quick tip: During the process you might be asked for a password for root account.

15. Once done, reboot. When presented with the login screen enter the password and your distro is ready for use.

 Note: While most people use a root account for their distro, this isn’t considered a good practise. Creating a different administrative account is advised for security purposes.

We hope you enjoy your Linux distro. Here is a quick cheat sheet for commands.

http://www.cheatography.com/davechild/cheat-sheets/linux-command-line/

Android is one of the most popular mobile OSes the world over. What makes it stand out from iOS and Windows? A large contributor to the popularity of Google’s proudest present to the world, is the open nature Android has. Based on Linux, Android has won hearts everywhere because of how YOU can control what your device feels and looks like. This tutorial shows you how you can get started  porting Android to your computer! (an x86 computer)
Android x86 works for PCs, Laptops, Netbooks, and is supported by both Intel, and AMD.

What will I need

• A  2 GB pendrive
• .iso image file of Android 4.0  (link)
  (if any hardware issue download other Android 4.0 iso file (link))
• LinuxLive USB Creator (link)

How do I get started

STEP I. Format Your Pendrive Into The FAT32 format

• Go to My Computer
• Right click on your pendrive
• Click on format
• Select File System as Fat32
• Check the Quick Format checkbox
• Click Start
• Voila! Done!

STEP II. Create Bootable Pendrive for Android x86

• Install LinuxLiveUSBCreator ,After installing Run it.
• Choose proper Pendrive.
• Click on ISO/IMG/ZIP.
• Leave the PERSISTENCE Step as it is.
• When all properly done,Click on the Thunder Symbol.

STEP III. Boot Live Android x86 From the Pendrive

• Boot Computer from the Pendrive (You can do it from BIOS(Del key) or by Quick Boot).
• Once You get into Android Live or Installation CD screen select “Live CD Run Android without installation”

Congratulations! You will boot into Android  (x86) ! 

What Features will I see ?

• Hardware acceleration for AMD Radeon and Intel chipsets.
• Multi-touch support
• WiFi
• Audio
• G-sensor
• Camera
• Backlight control.
• Internal storage.
• Auto mount usb driver and sdcard on plugging.
• Multi-user support (max 8).
• Support Ethernet (only web browser access).
• Support Virtual Box.

What issues might I face ?

• Some apps stuck.
• Games not working.
• Bluetooth not work.
• No Internet(Ethernet) for PC.

Let us know how you liked porting Android to your computer. Drop us a comment in the section below.

Source: Android -x86

Moritz Tolxdorff originally shared this amazing list of cheat codes or easter eggs which seem to have come along with Google’s newly revamped Google Hangouts! Shortly after Google announced their new unified chat service called Hangouts, users discovered a handful of Easter Eggs embedded deep within.

Now these simply amazing and kind of cute (PONIES!) cheats are pretty easy to access. Infact they can be accessed via desktop just by typing in simple commands in the chat box. The cheats work via Google+ or the stand along chrome app and is not found in the mobile version.

Here are a complete list of google hangout cheat codes. BEWARE->They are awesome! The following codes should be entered in your chatbox.

PS: ONLY WORKS ON DESKTOP! NOT FOR MOBILE APP

PONIES

CODE: /ponies

RESULT: An “AWWWWW”worthy pony skips past your chat window right above the text box where you type.

LOTS OF PONIES!

CODE:/ponystream

RESULT: A line of ponies start running above your textbox randomly from one end to another. The cheat code is effective only your own local machine and the person you are chatting with will not see this.

ANGRY MOB:

CHEAT: /pitchforks

RESULT: An angry mob start rioting and running above your textbox.

SHY DINO:

CODE: /shydino

RESULT: A dino shows up. Walks past on top of your textbox..and well feels shy.

BACKGROUND COLOR CHANGE:

CODE: /bikeshed

RESULT: Changes the color of the chatwindow for you and the person you are chatting with.

CHANGE THE BACKGROUND OF YOUR CHATWINDOW:

CODE: press these arrows-> up up down down right left right left, followed by BA and then hit enter.

RESULT: Changes the background of your local chatwindow.

Blackberry has long been the sole device to have the the stamp of approval for use by the U.S military. The U.S Department Of Defense usually allows only a handful of secure OSes to be used by its 600k strong defense forces. The reason being that the agency feels that there is a strong need to protect sensitive data from reaching the hands of people that may make wrong use of the information.

The Pentagon has depended on Blackberry, which have consistently received federal certification for protecting sensitive data. However recently it gave approval to Samsung KNOX devices and was testing apple products for approval. And today, Apple joined a 3 way race to join Blackberry and Samsung in the list of devices approved for use by the Department of Defense.

The US Department of Defense has cleared Apple’s iPhone and iPad for use on its military networks. Bloomberg reports that devices running Apple’s latest iOS 6 operating system have been approved for internal deployment. Up until now, Apple and Android(Samsung KNOX) devices were in the testing phases leaving blackberry as the sole smartphone licensed for official use.

That, the Defense Department has officially given the thumbs up to Apple devices running iOS 6 — paving the way for iPhones and iPads to become standard issue around the Pentagon hardly comes as a shock. The Wall Street Journal had it on good authority weeks ago that the DoD was planning to give iOS its seal of approval.

Apple now joins a list 600,000 mobile devices in use at the agency, 470,000 of which are older BlackBerry smartphones. There are currently more than 40,000 iPhones and 8,700 Android devices in use, however most of them aren’t connected to military networks except for testing purposes.

Assembling your personal computer is a major task that needs to be done neatly and carefully. But with proper guide and knowledge, it becomes less of the drudgery that it is meant to be.

Assembling a Computer simply means connecting all the components in the cabinet. This piece is all about how you can assemble your own PC in the simplest and most methodical fashion possible. Which component goes where, what are the relevant connections, which are the components which have to be placed first- All this and more in a very simple, non confusing and perfectly compiled way. This is the one stop you need to look at for knowing all about How to Assemble a Computer.

Caution!

Before handling the computer components, make sure you have discharged static electricity from your hands.Static electricity can cause damage.
To discharge static electricity from your hands, make use of Anti-static wrist band or simply touch the cabinet or power supply. You need a Screwdriver along with you.

Now you’ve got everything ready, along with the cabinet and PC components. Time to start Assembling your computer!

For Intel Processors

Source: Google images for Intel images

It’s been 2 years since Google+ first appeared on the social networking scene, but much hasn’t changed since. A lot of us still cringe at making a move to G+. That’s about to change after today’s Google I/O event. Google+ will now have one of the world’s most powerful data centers at its disposal and will in the process make your pictures look much better than they do straight out of your camera!

Data-center muscle is coming to Google’s social network in three ways: powerful processing that automates photo selection and image editing; a redesigned news feed that creates automated hashtags to encourage exploration; and a unified messaging service aimed at making Google your central communications hub.

Photos on Google+ will make your friends want to switch over

With your permission, Google will now pick out your best photos, optimize them, and even create brand-new images and animations from your uploads. This is what happens when your Camera and the Google cloud combine. Mind blowing effects like Auto-enhance and Auto-awesome will take your photo albums by storm, all of this, automatically!

Google+ layout is in for a makeover

The next step is to make those photos, along with everything else posted to Google+, feel more interactive. That’s where the redesigned feed comes into play. The three-column layout makes the site more information-rich and easier to scan, while new animations make it feel more playful than before. The data center comes into play with the stream’s new “related hashtags,” which harness the company’s Knowledge Graph to connect text and photo posts with millions of entities that Google recognizes. For example, a picture of the Eiffel Tower will connect to other pictures of the landmark, even if it is never mentioned by name.

Looks like Google is holding on to this one matra when it comes to social networks- “the network that attracts the most photos could someday be the one with the most users”. It’s a mantra that has made Facebook and Instagram major success stories. Google’s idea is to fuse that thought with big data, crunching through text and photos to create a network that is broader, deeper, and more beautiful than any other.

How far do you think can these powerful algorithms stretch the amount of time one spends on Google+?

A topic very close to my heart, and whose meaning is lost today to rote learning and following the age old draconian methods of what is defined as an “education” finally looks like it has hope for a better future.

Starting with the introduction of the ChromeBook Pixel, Sundar Pichai (He’s my favorite now) beautifully explained how changing times call for changing approaches. You don’t have to see Google, or the internet or the possession of a gadget as an unproductive thing! Channel it! Use it! Make the damn thing work for you!

And these weren’t empty words. Two thousand schools across the United States were upgraded with Chromebook Tablets in the last month alone, to help kids computing skills. With the world undergoing a paradigm shift in the way it approaches and processes information, the sooner a kid can adapt to a gadget, the better it will prepare him for the challenges ahead.

Google Play is soon launching a Google Play Education- a section in the App Store dedicated to searching for applications to improve a child’s productivity, creativity and help in moulding a healthy, well balanced, well rounded kid. Targetting kids staring from Kindergarten right upto the twelfth grade, the Google Play Education section is just an indiator of how seriously Google is taking its responsibility as a factor shaping the society of tomorrow.

Hats off for such foresight. Larry Page, towards the end stressed on the importance of a wholesome ‘Education’ – not what you learn for marks. But what you learn for the love of the subject.

” I wish more kids would fall in love with Math and Science. We need more minds as engineers, as scientists. We’re what’s shaping the future!”

Truer thoughts have never been uttered. With Education being limited to note-taking, drudgery, and blindly copy pasting assignments off the net (Giving the internet in correlation with studies a bad name) , this move by Google might just be what it takes for society to NOT trod down the beaten path, forcing them to push beyond the barriers of their minds, and awake into a brighter Future!

Here’s something we’d posted not very long ago. : How Tech is affecting your Kid

Cards..Cards and Cards! That seems to be the way forward for Google and logically so. Google Now has been Google’s most beautiful baby till date. So why not dress up all the other siblings in a similar attire?

Gone is the weird, bubbly look that we’ve seen in the past. The cards-centric UI that we’ve seen on phones and tablets is now coming to the desktop as well. You can select a one, two, or three-column layout and each individual card can flip over with a slick animation and provide more information and options.

The feature we’ve all been waiting for is Google Hangouts. This is the service that we’ve heard rumored under the name Babel. Google wants to be able to unify all the different functions across all services. Text, photos and videos on Android, iOS, and the desktop.

Features:

• You can have single or group conversations that include messages, pictures, and videos in the same feed.
  
• This is truly unified messaging.
• Each conversation gets its own name, like a chat room, and can be labeled with an image or one of Google’s new emoji. (Google says it has created 850 new hand-drawn emoji for Hangouts.)
• Allows any conversation to become a video call with up to 10 friends.
• Hangouts will store all conversations in the cloud, and allow users to message friends at any time, even if they’re not connected.
• visit past conversations and access shared photos and video call history; thanks to Google’s cloud, Hangouts will sync everywhere, giving people access to conversations on any device.
• Gestures and new animations

Impressive? NAH..Mind boggling! Smooth and exciting Google Play Game Services is sure to blow your minds. Today, Google announced Google Play game services that brings a suite of new features that game developers can integrate into their titles. The biggest of them is cloud data sync. Game developers can sync their players’ progress across devices and platforms. Yes, this feature works on Android and iOS. This is hot.

•  Achievements that increase engagement and promote different styles of play.
•  Social and public leaderboards that seamlessly use Google+ circles to track high scores across friends and across the world.
• Cloud saves that provide a simple and streamlined storage API to store game saves and settings. Now players never have to   replay Level 1 again.
• Real-time multiplayer for easy addition of cooperative or competitive game play on Android devices. Using G+ Circles a game can have up to 4 simultaneous friends or auto-matched players in a game session together with support for additional players coming soon.

Google Play game services are available today through an SDK for Android, and a native iOS SDK for IPhone and iPad games. Web and other platform developers will also find corresponding REST APIs, with libraries for JavaScript, Java, Python, Go, Dart, PHP, and more.

This new API will roll out today to all Android users on Android Froyo and up.

The multiplayer aspect of the service will feature both a matchmaking aspect, but the focus is clearly on connecting you to your Google+ friends. The matchmaking feature, as Google’s Huga Barra noted, will match users automatically and the API in general will handle “all of the hardcore data” worked involved in building a multiplayer game.

Android 4.3 has been confirmed in a search listing on Google’s developer website. Mention of the same has since been removed, but people at The Verge, seem confident enough that the next iteration of Android will indeed be Android 4.3 Jelly Bean as expected and no surprise in the form of Key Lime Pie.

Whatever be the result, one thing is certain. A new iteration of Android will indeed be seen today. The new version of Android 4.3 is said to bring in new Bluetooth BLE technology which will significantly reduce power consumption. The OpenGL for Embedded Systems 3.0 graphics specification. BLE would help conserve battery life on mobile devices that connect to peripherals like smartwatches and speakers, and OpenGL allows for advanced visual effects in games and graphics-intensive applications.

Catch us live for our live coverage of the Google I/O 2013.

So as expected Google has decided to take on the cloud Music world. Spotify beware, cause Google is here with its very own Play music access services.

Now we had broken this very news yesterday when The Verge announced a possibilty of Google launching its own music streaming services. Well yet again, Google hasn’t disappointed us. With the Google Play Music All Access, built atop Google’s already-existing music store for Google Play, allows users to stream the millions of tracks already available on the cloud.

But wait, here’s the twist, Google is actually giving you your own personal assistant. A recommendation engine will guide users towards new music the. est part— it also works in a standard web browser — that too any any mobile device! All Access incorporates both local tracks and those available for streaming into one master searchable library, a marked improvement over much of its streaming competition.

Pricing:

Unfortunately, to get something so awesome, you may have to shell out a few dollars. May be more.

Unlike a lot of Google services, All Access won’t be free. The service is priced at $9.99 a month, though there is a 30-day free trial. Google is looking to reward early adopters, however: if you start a trial by June 30th, your monthly fee will run just $7.99.

Google actually goes on to define the All access service as a ”radio without rules.” Not only that, but users are able to create radio stations from particular artists with All Access, giving it comparable functionality.

The day is finally here! All Android fan-boys are pounding with excitement as the Google I/O Developers Conference 2013 starts in less than 4 hours!

Google I/O is an annual platform where Google unveils its latest development in Software and other Technologies! Sir Sergey Brin gave us a skydiving stunt-biking demo of the Google Glass last year which blew our minds. What’s in store for this year? Here are some things you should expect from Google I/O 2013.

Google Play Games

Google is speculated to announce a unified Gaming Portal this year. Google Play Games will help users Sync to the cloud for all the games they play on multiple devices and store all their gaming content in a single space. This will, finally, also allow the Android user to play multiplayer games right from their phone. Watch out for this!

Google Now update

Google Now was announced last year in a bid to compete with Apple’s Siri. This super-intelligent Voice assistant which keeps track of all your locations, calendar, interests, etc is all set for an upgrade this year. Just recently, Google Now was made available on iOS through its Google Search App. As Google Now is a major part of Google Glass, it is certain that Google will make major developments and update this piece of amazing app.

Google Hangout

It is almost certain that Google is putting out a Unified messaging application called Google Hangout. This App will fuse all the messaging platforms into one with integrating Google Voice, Google Talk and Google+ Messenger, under one hood. This application is definitely a big threat to multi-platform messaging applications like WhatsApp, WeChat, etc.

Android JellyBean 4.3 update

Yes! All the rumours were indeed true, there’s most definitely no update to the KeyLimePie just as yet. But all Nexus devices will get the new Jellybean 4.3 hopefully. No major updates to the existing 4.2.2 are rumoured or expected at the I/O. Minor updates and fixes are expected to roll-out for Nexus 4, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10.

New Nexus 7 upgrade

The power-packed Nexus 7 is speculated to receive a hardware upgrade, we’ve already listed all the changes to be made to the existing model here. Nexus 7 has been one of the major selling tablets since it was released last year and upgrading it is definitely the way to go for spicing up its sales.

Nexus 4 with 4G

If the rumours are true, Nexus 4 will be available with 4G spectrum supporting models. The Nexus 4 has been a tough competitor with its Quad core processor and was selling like hot-cakes earlier this year. The Nexus 4, just today, launched in India and is available on flipkart.com on pre-orders.

The Motorola X Phone

We think this speculation is absolutely base-less, but there have been reports of The “SUPER SECRET” Motorola X Phone being developed in the dungeons of Google X offices. Well, don’t get the expectations too high for this rumour.

Google Glass Consumer version

This is something we hope Google will update us about. The developer versions of the Google’s very own Glass have been out in the wild for quite some time now and we’ve seen a million videos of it being used by selected developers around USA. Hopefully the Consumer Version of Google Glass is due by end of this year? Or next ? Or today? We’ll just have to wait for a few more hours to find out.

Smart watch

This is again one of the more imaginative rumours out there. Google Glass like Watch is suspected to be developed at the Google X’ caves, in the woods, far inside the forests.

Google Maps will get in-door mapping

Last but not the least, Google’s patented Google Maps will get an update after which it will support Indoor mapping!

Google’s very own music streaming service

Touted as a potential Spotify competitor, the big news at Google’s developer conference I/O today might be the music streaming service we’ve all been hearing about for the last one year. Google reportedly wrapped up the necessary music partnerships to get it off the ground.

Excited about the I/O ? Make sure you join us for our live-blog as things unfold at Moscone center.

UPDATE : The LG Google Nexus 4 (Black) is now available for pre-order on flipkart as of 15:40PM IST.

Link: Pre-Order Here!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

This is BIG news for all the Android lovers here in the Indian subcontinent. The Google Nexus 4, made by LG, is available in India being sold exclusively by Flipkart. It has been displayed on their website for all details. Although, the device seems out of order according to flipkart.com, it comes as a huge relief for all Indian android lovers to finally taste the sweet stock Android experience.

The Nexus 4 was in launched in November last year by Google at an astonishing price starting from $299. This was an initiative by Google to please the pure Droid fans and sell these devices unlocked, without any carrier confinement. It has been launched at a price of Rs. 25990, which is not that affordable as in the US, but seems to content the soul. This price point also comes as a surprise after LG was in news to be quarreling with Google for a higher pricing in India. The 26k price is applicable for the 16GB version, with no signs of an 8GB version in the market.

The most important factor of this release will be the availability of a one-year warranty on the device, which was liable to be void, had it been imported in from the US. This device from Google is a great device due to its high profile specifications. Having a Snapdragon quad-core processor with 2 gigabytes of RAM, this device will provide greater competition to the market bestsellers, Samsung Galaxy SIII and Note II. Also, included are an 8MP sensor, a 4.7 inch IPS+ display with a resolution of 1280*768 making the the cheapest in its class.  Flipkart also provides an EMI option ranging between 3 to 6 months with a zero percent interest rate. This price is inclusive of all taxes and transit insurance. Due to these perks and the LG India warranty, this device is certain to be sold out as has been observed in foreign nations.

 Google now hopes to reach to the rare Android geek club of India, which had been deprived of much action due to the non-availability of every Nexus till date. This move comes out as a boon for them and might prove to increase Google, or Android loyalty in the future.

ON PERSENOAL INQUIRY, FLIPKART ASSURED US THAT THE NEXUS 4 WILL BE READY TO SHIP IN 1-2 DAYS!

Thanks for the tip:  Aditya Visweswaran Iyer

While the Google I/O is upon us, Google silently tried to deviate some steam off all the rumours. A redesigned version of the latest play Google play store was pushed some hours ago. It’s the Google play store 4.1.6 which brings in pleasing changes.

Features and Changes

The update doesn’t really have as many performance/functional changes as the cosmetic ones. With Google Play Store 4.1.6, Google finally goes beautiful with a more uniform font and texture implementation. Noticeably the coloured and vibrant category tabs and a new way of representing “my wishlist”. A complete list of the above along with other changes observed have been enlisted below:

• Nicer looking button and wishlist designs
  
• More consistent menu text
• New install/uninstall buttons
• The wishlist UI has switched from a list view to a card style.
• The menu buttons for items now list the price of the item next to “buy,” and the settings app is light themed instead of dark themed.
• The Play Store will now warn you about a large update to an app when you are on a mobile data connection
• “Update All” will now work for apps with new permissions.

Download

If you would like to download the newest version, hit up the download links below and install it right over your current version.

• link  #1
• link #2
• link#3
• link#4

[Source: Android Police]

Welcome,

This year, Google has opted to have one big (it’s three hours long!) keynote, instead of the two smaller events it held last year. That means that much of the exciting stuff that Googlers have been working on in the last months will be shown today.

You can watch the Google I/O 2013 keynote livestream right here. We understand many might not have problems streaming live. So we, at Gizmophiliacs, will be live with you guys bringing you up to date news from the Google I/O keynotes event. Stay tuned to our live blog!

[liveblog]

Increasing reports are revealing the fact that the star of this year’s Google I/O might not be a Nexus 5 or Android Key Lime Pie, but in fact Google’s own music streaming service. Touted as a potential Spotify competitor, the big news at Google’s developer conference I/O tomorrow might be the music streaming service we’ve all been hearing about for the last year. Google reportedly wrapped up the necessary music partnerships to get it off the ground, according to The Verge.

As per reports, SONY and UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP have already agreed upon a deal where they will allow Google to use their music on YouTube and Google Play. Another big name in the list is the TIMES WARNER MUSIC group, which reportedly struck a deal with Google early this year.

The news doesn’t really come as a shocker, with the same news having been in the rumour mill last year. The service, if launched by Google, doesn’t really come as a shocker. With a database of users as large as it is, Google will find it fairly simple to romp into the market with heads held high. It’s closest competitor, Spotify, is like a bird without wings trying to take flight. Unlike other streaming services, the search giant foes have a massive advantage. Another thing worth noting is how serious is Google about such a Music streaming system.

Pandora and Spotify apparently haven’t gone un-noticed and if rumours are to be believed, Apple and Google will fight it out to take over this very market.  Both Apple(which recently hit a snag while negotiating with some BIG music labels) and Google had previously raced to introduce cloud-based digital locker services for Google music, which allowed people to access tracks they’d previously purchased remotely from a variety of devices rather than stream tracks Spotify-style. That seemed like a sure precursor to a true streaming service, but labels were reportedly reluctant to go all-in on that model originally.

No one fully knows how will Google go about this, with You-Tube already providing a similar subscription based Video streaming service. Then again, from what we hear, Google latest music streaming service will be something like this :

• The service will likely resemble Spotify
  
• It will serve up music the user chooses on a subscription basis, as opposed to an online streaming radio model.
• No free music streaming option at any level.
• Base price could be nothing less than $10.