Samsung Galaxy Alpha With Octa-Core SoC to Launch on August 13

The rumour mill has been spewing out several conflicting launch dates for the anticipated metal-clad Samsung Galaxy Alpha (aka Galaxy S5 Prime and Galaxy F). First a report claimed the August 13 launch, then on Wednesday it was rumoured for August 4, and now yet another report claims the launch of the rumoured Galaxy Alpha will be on August 13 itself.

On Thursday a German website named Allaboutsamsung had published a report scrapping the August 4 release date from Sammobile, and claimed the rumoured metal-clad Samsung Galaxy Alpha smartphone will launch on August 13. The website also published purported specifications of the handset, along with an image of the alleged Samsung Galaxy Alpha's back without the panel (showing the SIM card slot and model number, as well as visible metal seams), as well as purported Galaxy Alpha AnTuTu benchmark screenshots.

The purported image and benchmark screenshots of the Galaxy Alpha shows the devices' model number to be SM-G850F. It appears that the smartphone will come with support for only a single SIM (Nano-SIM), and will not support storage expandability via microSD card. Notably, the website claims it is unsure about if the smartphone seen in the image is the final design that will appear on shelves, and that it is waiting for Samsung to launch the device on August 13.The purported Galaxy Alpha AnTuTu benchmark screenshots reveals a 720x1280 pixel display resolution with a pixel density of 320ppi for the rumoured 4.8-inch screen. The other leaked specifications of the anticipated Galaxy Alpha include an octa-core Exynos 5433 SoC with a Mali-T628 GPU; 2GB of RAM; 32GB of inbuilt storage; a 12-megapixel rear camera; a 2.1-megapixel front camera, and Android 4.4.4 KitKat.

Earlier this week, the alleged metal-clad Samsung Galaxy Alpha was purportedly spotted in a user agent (UA) profile on Samsung's support site, as well as on Samsung's developer console, once again pointing to a 720p display resolution.

Apple's 'transparent texting' tech lets iPhone users safely message while moving

To enable a "transparent texting" system, Apple proposes that an app's background be modified to display video images continuously captured by an iPhone's rear-facing camera, according to a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 

Due to their inherently mobile nature, smartphones are often used while moving. This is fine for voice calls, but could be problematic for operations that demand visual attention like reading or writing text messages. Aside from appearing antisocial, texting could potentially cause bodily harm if a user operates their device while walking. 

If smartphones were to have a transparent display, or a system that offers the illusion of transparency, users would be more aware of their surroundings. 

The implementation as described by Apple is quite simple. A device uses its rear-facing camera to continuously capture video and present the images as a background within a text messaging app currently being displayed. The onscreen result would be offer the illusion of a transparent display with floating text. 

In one embodiment, the live video background is displayed behind the usual dynamic user interface seen in iMessage, complete with colored bubbles denoting a chat session between two or more people. These bubbles may be opaque or, in some cases, partially transparent to allow greater visibility of the live background. 

The system can be activated via an in-app button that transforms the GUI from the normal white background to a live video version. Extending the application beyond messaging apps, the live video feed can be used in other situations requiring a significant amount of visual concentration. For example, the implementation may be an option in the use of mobile Web browsers, where text and images would float over the live-view background. Another embodiment covers e-book readers such as Apple's iBooks.

While not a completely foolproof system (users must point the iPhone camera straight ahead while walking for full visibility), Apple's invention proves the company is actively investigating unique ways to leverage existing hardware technology for the purpose of enhancing the mobile device experience.It is unknown if Apple is planning to work such a feature into its next iOS build, but the tech required to enable similar functionality is already in place. A transparent texting window could even be considered a good fit with the new "flat," layered iOS 7 design aesthetic. 

Web Animations - element.animate() is now in Chrome 36

Web Animations - element.animate() is now in Chrome 36

Animation on the web was once the province of JavaScript, but as the world moved to mobile, animations moved to CSS for the declarative syntax and the optimizations browsers were able to make with it. With 60fps on mobile always your goal, it makes sense to never step outside of what browsers know how to efficiently display.

More tools are appearing to make JavaScript-driven animations more efficient, but the holy grail is a unification of declarative and imperative animations , where the decision of how to write your animations is based on what’s the clearest code, not what is possible in one form and not in the other.

Web Animations stand to answer that call, and the first part of it has landed in Chrome 36 in the form of element.animate(). This new function lets you create an animation purely in JavaScript and have it run as efficiently as any CSS Animation or Transition (in fact, as of Chrome 34, the exact same Web Animations engine drives all of these methods)

The syntax is simple, and its parts should be familiar to you if you’ve ever written a CSS Transition or Animation:

element.animate([
  {cssProperty: value0},
  {cssProperty: value1},
  {cssProperty: value2},
  //...
], {
    duration: timeInMs,
    iterations: iterationCount,
    delay: delayValue
});

The biggest advantage of this new function is the elimination of a lot of awkward hoops we formerly had to jump through to get a smooth, jank-free animation.

As an example, for Santa Tracker last year, we wanted to have snow falling continuously, and we decided to animate it via CSS so that it could be done so efficiently.

However, we wanted to pick the snow’s horizontal position dynamically based on screen and events going on in the scene itself, and of course the height of the snow’s fall (the height of the user’s browser window) wouldn’t be known until we were actually running. This meant we really had to use CSS Transitions, as authoring a CSS Animation at runtime gets complex quickly (and hundreds of snowflakes means hundreds of new styling rules).

So we took the following approach, which should be familiar:
snowFlake.style.transform = 'translate(' + snowLeft + 'px, -100%)';
// wait a frame
snowFlake.offsetWidth;
snowFlake.style.transitionProperty = 'transform';
snowFlake.style.transitionDuration = '1500ms';
snowFlake.style.transform = 'translate(' + snowLeft + 'px, ' + window.innerHeight + 'px)';

The key is in that 'wait a frame’ comment. In order to successfully start a transition, the browser has to acknowledge that the element is in the starting position. There are a few ways to do this. One of the most common ways is to read from one of the element properties that forces the browser to compute layout, thereby ensuring it knows that the element has a starting position before transitioning to the ending position. Using this method allows you to congratulate yourself on your superior knowledge of browser internals while still feeling dirty with every keystroke.

In contrast, the equivalent `element.animate()` call couldn’t be more clear, saying exactly what is intended:
snowFlake.animate([
  {transform: 'translate(' + snowLeft + 'px, -100%)'},
  {transform: 'translate(' + snowLeft + 'px, ' + window.innerHeight + 'px)'}
], 1500);

There are many more options. Just like with its CSS counterparts, Web Animations can be delayed and iterated:
snowFlake.animate([
  {transform: 'translate(' + snowLeft + 'px, -100%)'},
  {transform: 'translate(' + snowLeft + 'px, ' + window.innerHeight + 'px)'}
], {
  duration: 1500,
  iterations: 10,
  delay: 300
});

YouTube, Facebook Account for Nearly a Third of Mobile Traffic

Facebook and YouTube are now dominating mobile traffic shares in early 2014, as more people shift to a mobile device to upload photos to social networks and watch cat videos.Facebook and YouTube now account for 32% of data sent to and from mobile devices, according to a report by Sandvine. Individually, Facebook's share was 26.9% for upstream traffic and had a 14% share for downstream traffic during peak periods in North America through the beginning of this year, while YouTube only had 3.7% share for upstream traffic, but a 17.6% share for downstream.With Facebook's high upstream traffic, it seems users are uploading photos and videos from mobile devices more than ever before on the social network. YouTube's downstream traffic share is essentially unchanged from the Sandvine's number from last year, 17.7%.

The following chart, created by Statista, lists the top 10 web services ranked by mobile traffic share. 

Adobe Launches Standalone Storytelling App for iPad

Many of Adobe's mobile offerings have been extensions of the company's popular software products, such as Photoshop or Lightroom.

Increasingly, however, Adobe is focusing on providing more tools for its mobile users. The company rolled out Adobe Voice Thursday, an all-new storytelling app for iPad users.

SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Free iPad Apps

The app gives users a way to easily create and share animated videos that combine images, music, voice recordings and special effects.

"Adobe Voice puts the power of Creative Cloud's industry-leading video and audio technology into the hands of the masses," Winston Hendrickson, Adobe's vice-president of products for Creative Media Solutions, said in a release.

The app is meant be simple to use, and provide people — especially those who may not be able to use traditional video-editing software — with ways to tell stories through video.

Users begin by choosing from a preset story template that helps outline the structure of their video. They can then import their own photos, draw from the app's library of 25,000 icons or search the web for their own images.

Adobe also included specially created soundtracks, so users can add music to fit the story. Users can also record their own voiceovers.

The company said it envisions the app to be particularly useful in schools, where students and teachers may want to create interactive videos, but don't necessarily have the knowledge or resources to use conventional video software. Adobe even had students and teachers test the app during its beta period.

News of Adobe Voice first surfaced last fall, when images of the app's private beta, codenamed "Ginger," leaked online.

Nokia XL announced at MWC 2014 : Nokia’s Android Vision in a 5-inch phablet

While everyone believed that Nokia will be announcing one Android phone, the company took MWC by surprise with three Android-based phones. The Nokia X and X+ are the 4-inch budget phones, while the Nokia XL is the 5-inch phablet version of Nokia’s Android reworking.

Just like its smaller siblings, the Nokia XL will be available in dual-SIM configuration in Q2 this year and thanks to the larger display and better camera, it sports a higher 109 euros price tag. Officially, the Nokia XL will run the Nokia X software platform that’s based on Android Open Source Project, with Microsoft and Nokia services baked in, instead of Google’s services.

The 5-inch IPS display might sound good, but it has a lowly WVGA resolution of 800×480 pixels, which might just be a tad too low-res for a display this size. We’ll have to see it in person, before making any judgment though.

Just like the other X phones, the XL boasts the Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1GHz processor, but it gets 768 MB of RAM, along with the 4GB internal storage. There’s also the provision for a microSD card slot. It gets a 2-megapixel front-facing camera along with a 5-megapixel primary shooter, which also has an LED flash.

In terms of connectivity options, the XL gets Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and 3G for cellular connectivity. The 2000 mAh battery is removable and is rated for 16 hours of talk time on 2G and 13 hours on 3G, along with a standby time of 30 days.

Users can sideload apps, and get access to third-party app stores and Nokia’s own store. You will find Microsoft essentials such as Skype, Outlook and OneDrive on the Nokia XL, while search is powered by Bing. Users will get one month of free Skype calls to mobiles and landlines when they purchase the Nokia XL.

Outernet Era – World without Internet!

Outernet is the latest phenomenon that is going to take the world by storm. This technology which is being built by Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), is expected to change the way we communicate, interact and interconnect with millions of users worldwide. This transition is aimed at restructuring and transforming the locked barriers of Internet and provide an open user-populated network of information that will be available free of cost. Outernet is built by a team comprising of Aaron Rogers, Branko Vukelic, Edward Birrane and Syed Karim.

The Internet as you know, is a collection of interconnected computers and users who connect to World Wide Web. This forms a matrix of connectivity that includes multiple peripheral and subsidiary services, hardware and technologies. This includes entities such as server farms, Internet service providers, routers and many more. Outernet aims at breaking this conventional method of relying on paid services and providing free unlimited data and information for users. This is achieved by the use of a combination of:

·         Long range Wifi multicasting

·         Low altitude satellite constellations

·         End users with wifi enabled feature phones, smart devices etc.

The concept of outernet is simple and straightforward. Outernet will deploy huge arrays of satellite constellations which will work in unison to receive and transmit data to local ground units. The ground units will consist of multiple stations that will receive, distribute and transmit data from and to the satellites. The transmission medium will be long range low frequency Wi-Fi signals. Though Wi-Fi is currently used for connectivity in a closed environment, Outernet aims at utilizing the possibility of using this for long range data transmission.

The conventional Wi-Fi technology uses IEEE 802.11 standards that ensure up to 20 feet distance inside buildings. This technique provides a data transfer rate of 2.4 Ghz to 5.6 Ghz. Outernet aims at using lower frequency Wi-Fi signals which will allow signals to be sent across longer distances (>10) and thereby ensure a reliable communication path between satellites and  users on earth.

Low-frequency high-range Wi-Fi signals have the following qualities:

·         Higher penetration power (Obstacle penetration)

·         Higher transmission range without attenuation

·         Ability to get unlicensed Spectrum

These additional advantages of low frequency wi-fi signals make it the best suitable solution for Outernet technology. Along with the ease of implementation and lower set up cost(than conventional low frequency transmission antennas), researchers have come to the conclusion that Outernet can work flawlessly with the use of long range wi-fi transmission.

Outernet will act as a large scale broadcasting platform of interconnected users who share free data. They are in the process of discussing the terms with NASA for utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) for their deployment. The team is optimistic about providing free, “priceless” network connectivity and data access to everyone on earth by 2015. Outernet is a wonderful innovative and revolutionary technology that will transform the way we communicate, collaborate and evolve.