Surface Pro 3 - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

So Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 event happened today and it made me get back to my blog. I am just gonna give you guys the gist about the product in the aspect we care about. 

Pic Source: yahoo.com

Basically Microsoft had this 'Versus Apple' theme again saying Surface Pro 3 is a replacement of iPad and MBA combined. In a traditional tech event way, they gave some statistics about most of the apple customers who have an iPad also have a computer. So releasing a tablet that will replace your laptop. Sounds catchy and tempting, but is it up to the mark ?

Here is what you need to know and keep in mind after today's event if at all you are tempted to buy Surface Pro 3. With Microsoft's hint I am gonna use MBA to compare to make my point. 

MBA (Core i5) with Intel's Haswell processor microarchitecture, has been on sale for about an year and after its recent price reduction it costs $900.

Surface Pro 3 on the other hand is being introduced now with the same Haswell processor. The issue here is Intel has confirmed the release of PCs with Haswell's successor - Broadwell chips in the near future. So if you buy Surface Pro 3, it will be outdated before even you know it. And the Core i5 equivalent is $100 more than MBA. Also its unclear (may be to me) whether the start price of $799 (Core i3) includes the peripheral devices. 

Well the other aspects of device type and usage, Surface has a detachable keyboard and touch screen feature which is what Microsoft is emphasizing on. And Surface has a better display of 2160x1440. Although I don't care much about the little difference in weight of the devices, it might matter for some of you who like cases on PDAs because it weighs almost the same as MBA with the peripheral devices.

Well these are not all the deciding factors. Let someone buy it and we'll ask them about the performance aspects, battery life etc etc., before we come to a conclusion.

#kpsaravan

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http://kpsaravan.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-thing.html

I will appreciate if you fellas leave a comment below. 

Google Glass sale day (Only in US) - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

Hey US residents, Happy Google Glass sale day. Just today, Google glass' 'Explorer' version goes on sale for US residents with Google apologizing to other country residents that they are not yet ready for sales on other countries.

The $1500 (price hasn't changed since the start) smart eye-wear will certainly make more fuzz today (15th April 2014), being on sale.

I really want to see the categories of target customers and the interested customers on Google glass, particular during this period of time.

Latest News: Just a day before going on sale, Google updates Glass to Android with KitKat support canceling video calls.

#kpsaravan

Me:

Twitter - www.twitter.com/kpsaravan

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan

My Photo blogs:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan.kpsaravan

Flickr - www.flickr.com/kpsaravan

Instagram - kpsaravan

My Blog theme:
http://kpsaravan.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-thing.html

I will appreciate if you fellas leave a comment below. 

Amazon Dash - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

Here is a new gadget for you to buy this year and this device is for you to buy stuff for your house. Remember when you wished if your grocery list app in your phone could place order of all the items on your list ? Now, Amazon developed the app into a hand held device.

In inventory and logistics processes Voice recognition and Barcode scanning methodologies are not new, but now the technologies are in the hands of the consumers. Now thats interesting.

Although this is not totally a new technology in the field of logistics and inventory management, Amazon has quite impressively experimented and brought it to the consumers in a more appreciable manner.

pic source: amazon.com

Now that Amazon has amazed almost everyone, no one will make jokes about the amazon drones for a while.

#kpsaravan

Me:

Twitter - www.twitter.com/kpsaravan

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan

My Photo blogs:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan.kpsaravan

Flickr - www.flickr.com/kpsaravan

Instagram - kpsaravan

My Blog theme:
http://kpsaravan.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-thing.html

I will appreciate if you fellas leave a comment below. 

Grid Diary - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

We all like to write journals at the end of the day. And nowadays its much easier with cloud based apps in our mobile and laptops. Choosing the right type of app to write your journal makes it much more easier. For instance, apart from write a passage based journal we also like Quick Journals. What makes a journal a quick journal ? - Questions. What makes it much more easier ? Customized Questions.

Grid Diary app for iOS is one of my favorite journal apps that I use everyday. Its available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I cannot wait for it to be available for Mac.

Everything is simple in this app and the iOS7 redesign is so elegant.

The app by default gives you a question template with set of general questions. But no one is asking you to stick with those questions. You can always customize the template with your own questions that you want to ask yourself everyday. 

You can always frame innovative emoji questions like I did here. :P Hahaha !

The sync, backup and restore options in this app works perfectly fine and actually really helpful. The recent update added 'Read mode' which is my favorite feature.

I highly recommend this app. It costs $2.99. Although this app goes free once in a while. Follow Orange Octothorpe to get updates on when apps like these go free.

#kpsaravan

Me:

Twitter - www.twitter.com/kpsaravan

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan

My Photo blogs:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan.kpsaravan

Flickr - www.flickr.com/kpsaravan

Instagram - kpsaravan

My Blog theme:

http://kpsaravan.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-thing.html

Orange Octothorpe:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/orangeoctothorpe

Twitter - www.twitter.com/OOctothorpe

I will appreciate if you fellas leave a comment below. 

Medium for iPhone - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech, 

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

If you like reading trending stories and articles of people you follow, you will have more than three apps by now in your phone. Me too. But I have been looking for the simplest app. By simplest I mean, an app with minimal navigation and not many 'pageviews'. 

Evan Williams (@ev), known for blogger and Twitter introduced Medium for iPhone. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/medium-everyones-stories/id828256236?mt=8

For now you need a twitter account to login, which I prefer better than having multiple logins. Because the recommend articles that you get are based on the people you follow in twitter. This is what I call 'keeping it simple'. 

Swipe left and right to browse all the articles. 

Swipe up and down to read the article. 

Best and simple app instructions ever. Exactly what I was looking for. 

I tried to look for something more that this app might need. I just couldn't. 

#kpsaravan  

Me:

Twitter - www.twitter.com/kpsaravan

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan

My Photo blogs:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan.kpsaravan

Flickr - www.flickr.com/kpsaravan

Instagram - kpsaravan

My Blog theme:

http://kpsaravan.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-thing.html

I will appreciate if you fellas leave a comment below. 

Chromecast - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech ,

If you guys are over thinking about what to get your geeky friend for his/her birthday, stop thinking and check out Chromecast. I am obsessed with this device and I have even stopped watching regular TV after Chromecast came into my life. AND it is cheap. 35$ in US. And Ofcourse there is Slickdeals.

pic source: verge.com

For y'all who haven't seen this before, its a HDMI device which can stream online videos and music on your TV through your smart phones and Chrome browser on you computers. Best part is, any device connected in the same wifi as the chromecast can stream videos with apps like,

• Youtube
• Google Play Music
• Google Play TV & Movies
• Netflix
• Red Bull TV
• HBO Go
• Hulu Plus
• Pandora

And the new apps included recently,

• Songza (I love this app)
• Vevo
• Plex
• PostTV
• Viki
• RealPlayer Cloud

You can also play mp4, wmv videos from your computer through chrome browser by casting the tab.
To check other formats supported by chromecast click here.
And Ofcourse by casting your chrome browser's tab, you can stream the webpages that you are browsing.

My observation: Chromecast seamlessly streams online videos with a minimum internet speed of 512kbps. Its just awesome.

For now Chromecast is available only in the US and it is rumored about UK release this month. But we always have eBay.

#kpsaravan

Me:

Twitter - www.twitter.com/kpsaravan

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan

My Photo blogs:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan.kpsaravan

Flickr - www.flickr.com/kpsaravan

Instagram - kpsaravan

My Blog theme:
http://kpsaravan.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-thing.html

I will appreciate if you fellas leave a comment below. 

Orange Octothorpe - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

Being the first tuesday, I would like to tell you guys what I will be talking about in here on Tech Talk Tuesdays. I, like most engineers am a geeky kid. I am also an apple fan in addition to being an amateur iOS developer. So you will be seeing a lot of reviews about iOS apps and iPhone tweaks. I will also be talking about whatever attracts me thats happening in the tech world.

To Sum up,

What will I be talking about in here on Tech Talk Tuesdays ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

As you know, there are thousands of bloggers and even organizations reviewing about apps, games and other techie stuff. But I will only talk about the apps, games and stuff I like. Since few months I have been sharing the apps I like that go on offer for a day, to my friends in a private photo stream. My friends liked it and asked me to do that often and in a wider window. So me and my other geeky friend +Baradan Dharumaiyan started a Facebook page and Twitter account - Orange Octothorpe (Find links below). So if you want to know instantly about apps that go free or dropped in price for a day, follow Orange Octothorpe.

The recent techie tweet I tweeted about is about the iOS 7.1 update that was released yesterday (10.03.14). The update made my iPhone really fast. Trust me. Also there are many other accessibility and UI features added in this update. The Siri update where she listens until releasing the home button is a good one. And I really hope this update will make iPhone 4 work better with iOS 7. And ofcourse this update include CarPlay features which I am still learning about.

So, guys go check out Orange Octothorpe about my recent updates on the new apps I liked and let me know what you think.

#kpsaravan

Me:

Twitter - www.twitter.com/kpsaravan

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan

My Photo blogs:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpsaravan.kpsaravan

Flickr - www.flickr.com/kpsaravan

Instagram - kpsaravan

Orange Octothorpe:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/orangeoctothorpe

Twitter - www.twitter.com/OOctothorpe

Baradan Dharumaiyan:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/deabi23

Twitter - www.twitter.com/deabi23

My Blog theme:
http://kpsaravan.blogspot.com/2014/03/new-thing.html

I will appreciate if you fellas leave a comment below. 

X-callback-url support on Launch Centre Pro - Version 2.0 - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

As we all know Launch Centre Pro was updated to V2.0 on October 2013.

Launch Centre Pro - old and new icon.

For those who haven't used the app before, #LaunchCentrePro in easy terms is a 'Shortcut for your apps' app. Before the latest update, the app hand basic shortcuts like taking you to write a new mail without having to going to the native mail app or a new message, tweet etc etc., My favorite ones were flashlight and google search and app groups. So basically all the actions you design were straight forward and basic.

Launch Centre Pro V1.0

Now with the latest update (V2.0) everything has changed with the app and with the iPhone too.

Launch Centre Pro V2.0 on iOS7 

I should say, the new icon is so cool.

Apart from all the awesome minor updates, the one big thing that will change the future iPhone usage is the Expanded x-Callback support.

Using x-callback-url’s source apps can launch other apps passing data and context information, and also provide parameters instructing the target app to return data and control back to the source app after executing an action.

Look up x-callback-url support here.

Another cool feature in this version is, launching Launch Centre Pro from outside using launchpro:// is a remarkable update.

I am still experimenting and having fun with the x-callback-url schemes and I would like to share whatever I encounter. I will update the customized actions I create or I find somewhere.

Before that, here is the list of known apps that support x-callback-url

• Begin
• Byword
• ClouDrop
• Definition
• Drafts
• Due
• Editorial
• Google Chrome
• iCab Mobile
• Instapaper
• iPGMail
• iZettle
• Kippster for Kippt
• Launch Center Pro
• Missives
• Notesy
• Otto’s Remote
• Phraseology
• Pleco
• Poster
• Prizmo
• RollPG
• Scanner Go
• Silo
• Streets
• Terminology
• TextExpander Touch
• Textastic
• Tumblr for iOS

Source: http://x-callback-url.com/apps/


To start with Clipboard to Twitter Post: 

Say, you have a text in the clipboard and want to Tweet it, this action is the one.

twitter://post?message=[[clipboard]] 

*/Either paste the above url to the url customizing section in Launch Centre Pro, or

launchpro://import?url=twitter://post?message=[[clipboard]]&title=

*/Open this link in your iOS device which will prompt you to install the action in the Launch Centre Pro App.

Launch Centre Pro V2.0 on iOS7

I will keep posting other Actions I try.

Tamil font in iOS7 - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

As we know, in the WWDC event 2013 Apple announced the next iOS version #iOS7. For now only the developer version is released. After many bug fixes in the Beta1 release, the current Beta2 version seems to be better and smoother than the previous.

Since there are thousands of reviews on the internet about iOS7, I am just gonna tell you about one of the features that I really liked.

#Tamil font !

I would love to write about this in Tamil but my typing speed in tamil is not fast enough YET.

1. As shown below Tamil is added to the available keyboards for iOS. 

2. This shows the first set of keys in the tamil keyboard. I like the Space and Enter keys in Tamil. 

3. This shows the second set of keys in the tamil keyboard (Capslock set)  This set has few tamil letters that I have never seen in my life before. 

4. This is how the Tamil keyboard looks in the Search iPhone screen. 

5. And ofcourse typed words are stored in the buffer memory. I hope the word suggestions get really better for tamil.
Btw thats my name I typed there. 

6. Om, Really ? The guy who designed this probably didnt tell the other Non-Tamil Apple guys that this letter is religious. 

7. I also like the typing methods. க+இ = கி, instead of க+ ி = கி, thus reducing the number of keys in the layout. 

#kpsaravan

Foursquare iOS update - version 6.0 compared with version 5.5.1 - #LetsTalkTech

Hey fellas, Let's Talk Tech.

What will I be talking about in here on Let's Talk Tech ? 

I will talk about Technology and stuff happening around in that part of the universe.

I have been using Foursquare app for the past two years and thats one of the few apps that I use everyday.
As known everyone now, Foursquare released their updated version 6.0 on April 10, 2013.
Here are a small comparisons between version 5.5.1 and version 6.0 using some screenshots.

Version 5.5.1

The above shown screenshot is from the previous version 5.5.1 which layout with navigation buttons all in the same main screen. I found this similar to the twitter app, which had some majorly vital buttons on the bottom. 

Version 6.0

The above screenshot is from the latest update, version 6.0. It clearly shows they gave a dedicated page for the user's profile instead of a common main page for the app. This major layout transformation was implemented with the idea of slide screen layout, which we are familiar from the facebook app. 

Version 6.0

Version 5.5.0

The new update clearly shows many obvious changes in the button layouts like, 

• The Checkin button
• The notification button
• The Explore Nearby button and 
• The list of options from the slide layout (shown below) 

They have come up with a Home, Profile, List, Find friends and settings buttons layout which is not unique from apps of other social media organizations.

It is understandable that the app is progressing in the terms of user interface, but I see this kind of progress as a group action. I mean, facebook's layouts are either being a threat for app developers in a positive competitive way or a negative bling follow way. I am saying this because, our university (Newcastle University) started developing apps for the students and staff for various uses for which they totally took the facebook app layout and did not impress the students. Even a local newspaper company (Dinamalar) in my current city (Chennai) made a similar app which reminds faceboook's app.

I wish every social media have their unique way of user interface. In that context I like twitter's constant upgrade and unique layout. 

#kpsaravan