WTF!!!! WINDOWS 10

What to expect from Microsoft's next Windows 10 event

After taking big swings with Windows 8 and 8.1 -- how big a miss they were is open to interpretation -- Microsoft's trying to redefine how we work with computers once more. We're going to get a much closer look at Windows 10 at 9AM PT/12PM ET tomorrow (which we'll be liveblogging, naturally), and all the usual suspects will be on hand to wax poetic about Windows' next steps: There's CEO Satya Nadella, of course, along with Windows chief Terry Myerson, mobile impresario Joe Belfiore and Xbox czar Phil Spencer. Let's take a moment to look at what we know -- and what we expect -- Microsoft will show off in Redmond very soon.

A better, deeper assistant

Apple's Siri is strictly a mobile entity. Google's Now voice-recognition and search chops are oozing into Chrome OS proper. And Microsoft? We've known for a long time that Cortana -- its digital assistant with the familiar name -- will make the leap from your Windows Phone to your desktop, and tomorrow's likely the day we're going to see how it all works. Of course, that's not to say we haven't already gotten a glimpse. Last month, WinBeta posted a video of a very early version of Cortana running on a (naturally) pre-release build of Windows 10 that works about as well as you'd expect: Some of the juiciest bits, like Xbox Music integration and navigation directions, weren't in working order yet, but she could still take notes and fire up Skype for calls without much verbal prodding.

The mobile-friendly future

While it's unclear how much of Windows 10 for mobile we'll actually get to see tomorrow, some of the biggest changes are happening under the hood anyway. As far as Microsoft is concerned, the future of the desktop is inescapably intertwined with that of the smartphone in your pocket -- a vision that's been talked up in a big way since the introduction of the Universal app concept at the company's Build developer conference early last year. Microsoft's end goal? To create a single, unified app store that desktop, mobile and even Xbox users can tap into without forcing developers to craft code for each disparate platform.

Gaming without boundaries

No, you read the list of guest appearances right: Xbox head honcho Spencer will be there, too. Within the past few weeks, Spencer has said that Microsoft is gearing up to show off the "best operating system we've ever created for gamers" on Wednesday -- the sort of uber-vague corporate bombast that stokes curiosity without actually satiating it.

"This is the beginning of our discussion with our fans about bringing gaming to the Windows 10 operating system," he noted in a video interview with Microsoft's Xbox Wire. Very enlightening.

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TECH PREDICTIONS 2015!!!!!

Tech predictions for 2015 that you should actually listen to

January may be coming to a close, but the flood of predictions, forecasts, and prognostications for the year ahead hasn’t abated. Among the dross however is the annual list of predictions from GP Bullhound (pdf), a boutique investment bank that specializes in tech companies. The bank is worth listening to: As a dealmaker straddling start-ups and large firms, its sees trends as they’re happening. And its record of predictions from 2014 is more hit than miss.

Quartz picked the ones that will have an impact on consumers, and not just within the industry:

Services like Uber and Airbnb will proliferate this year. The argument is slightly different from the usual ones about under-utilized resources, or the efficiency of marketplaces. Instead GP Bullhound focuses on the fact that such companies “sell trust in the branded entity rather than the component parts.” One example is ThredUp, a second-hand clothing and accessories marketplace where the “primary focus is on customer satisfaction, not daily sales.” Similarly, real estate agents at Redfin, a tech-powered brokerage firm, “earn salaries and bonuses based on customer satisfaction, not commissions.”

Wearable devices such as Fitbit and Jawbone are great at tracking real-world activity and turning that into data, but they “required too much hand-holding from consumers to make them ‘intelligent.'” New devices will be “context-aware applications that automatically collect datafrom multiple sources, learn, make recommendations, and, in some instances, take action without requiring input from users.”

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FACEBOOK NOT A CAUSE OF DISTRACTION :D

Facebook not to be blamed for negative impact on grades: Study

Washington: The negative relationship between Facebook use and grades has little to do with the social networking site Facebook, a new study has found.
Helping college students balance social media use and schoolwork is better than disconnecting, researchers said.

The study by Reynol Junco, an associate professor at Iowa State University, found that while freshman struggle to balance their use, social media is less of a problem for upper classmen. The difference relates to self-regulation.

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3-D PRINTED SHAH RUKH KHAN IN SIGNATURE POSE!!!!!

This 3D-printed Shah Rukh Khan in his signature pose is the world's first life-size 3D printed model

Several actors have their wax models, but superstar Shah Rukh Khan has acquired a life-size 3D printed model of himself in his signature pose.
As a special gift to Shah Rukh Khan, Redchillies.VFX and Autodesk India came together to make the world's first life-size 3D printed model in his signature pose. The model, which is a gift, has made its way into the office of the actor's Red Chillies Entertainments Pvt Ltd.

"It's the first 3D printed life-size model done by Redchillies.VFX and Autodesk team. It is overwhelming how technology has gone forward. 

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NEW LUMIAS TO BE AVAILABLE FOR CHEAP

Microsoft launches affordable Lumia 435, Lumia 532

Lumia 435

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled two new low-cost smartphones aimed at pushing its Windows Phone operating system to users in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The two Lumia handsets -- made by the unit of Finnish- based Nokia which Microsoft acquired last year -- will begin rolling out in February, with prices starting at 69 to 79 euros (USD 81 to USD 93).

Lumia 532

      

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A CHALLENGE TO IPHONE

China's Xiaomi challenges iPhone 6 Plus with new flagship Mi Note

China's Xiaomi Inc [XTC.UL] staked its claim to Apple Inc's crown on Thursday as the world's third-biggest smartphone maker and most valuable tech start-up unveiled the flagship Mi Note, its challenger to Apple's iPhone 6 Plus.Chief Executive Lei Jun introduced the Mi Note in Beijing with a breakdown of the large-screen phone's technical features, with multiple comparisons to Apple's equivalent. At 2299 yuan (244 pounds) for a model with 16 gigabytes of memory, the Mi Note will retail for almost two-thirds less than the iPhone 6 Plus.

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GOOGLE'S TRANSLATOR

Google moves one step closer to becoming a universal translator

Even with the assistance of modern technology, holding a conversation in two different languages can be difficult.

 Google Translate allows you to speak with someone and have each utterance translated as text and audio, but until now you had to manually toggle every time the other person talked.

https://translate.google.co.in/ As expected, Google is speeding up the process with smarter language recognition and speaker switching, which comes as part of a new update

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SAMSUNG'S NEW LAUNCH

Samsung Z1: Samsung launches the first Ti zen smartphone in India at Rs 5,700

Samsung Electronics launched the first smartphone powered by its Tizen operating system, a major development in the tech giant's ambition to build a software ecosystem to rival Android.

The Z1 went on sale in India for Rs 5,700 each, targeting users looking for their first smartphone, the world's No.1 smartphone maker said in a statement. The phone is available in the market starting Wednesday.

The no-nonsense handset - one of the cheapest in the Samsung stable - sports a 4-inch display, a plastic body and a simplified user interface.

The Samsung Z1 runs Tizen 2.3 and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor paired with 768MB of RAM. The phone has a 3.1-megapixel rear camera, a 0.3-megapixel front camera, 4GB of internal storage (expandable up to 64GB via microSD card), and a 1500mAh battery. 

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