Techy Labs » Rishabh

Twitter Announces Fast Follow Feature

Rishabh — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:23:24 +0000

Twitter just announced a fascinating new way for mobile users (even those without a Twitter account) to quickly and easily start following the short message bursts of the Twitterverse. With the new "Fast Follow" feature (say that three times fast), anyone can text "Follow @rish404" (or any other username) to Twitter at 40404 and they will instantly start receiving SMS alerts for that user’s tweets.

What is more impressive, however, it that those without an account of their own can still receive alerts and can even sign up right from their phone via SMS. While this is a simple feature add for Twitter, it is a brilliant move that will get more people trying the service.

Now with Fast Follow, anyone can start following tweets as easy as they vote on American Idol or donate to the Red Cross. Now business, organizations and even people can say, "Follow me on Twitter by texting ‘Follow @chcameron’ to 40404," and people will know what that means and how to do it. There is much more familiarity with SMS short codes than there is with signing up for Twitter and following people that way.

Indian Students To Get Rs 1,500 tablet PC

Rishabh — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:24:00 +0000

Today, Government of India announced a Rs 1,500 (around $ 30) tablet PC designed specifically for students. The device would be made available to students in 2011.

When the ministry floated the concept of a low cost laptop some years ago, officials said it would cost Rs 500 ($ 10). It will now cost about three times the initial projections.

The ministry expects the prices to drop to Rs 1,000 ($ 20) and reach Rs 500 ($ 10) as innovations are introduced.

The device, no bigger than a conventional laptop, is a single unit system with a touch screen and a built in keyboard along with 2GB RAM, Wi-Fi connectivity, USB port and powered by a 2-watt system to suit poor power supply areas.

The ministry also invited private players to produce similar low cost computers.

"When we started the project, the response from the private sector was lukewarm. Now many are willing to join the innovation," Sibal said.

The ministry started its efforts by holding discussions on this concept with a group of experts at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Bombay, a ministry official said.

The low cost tablets will be distributed in institutions by the HRD ministry. The final price will depend on the transportation cost.

"We will give some subsidy on the device. As far as transport is concerned, if the transport cost in less, the government can bear that as well," Sibal added.

Cisco Unveils the iPad Killer

Rishabh — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:20:19 +0000

Cisco has unveiled its first entry into the tablet computer space: the Cius, a 7-inch HD business collaboration device running the Google Android operating system. It is a virtual desktop and telecommunication machine, complete with a front facing 720p HD camera and a second, 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.

The device is designed to be mobile. It runs a modified version of the Google Android operation system. It also comes with 3G capability, along with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Micro-USB support. Cisco claims that the device will go for eight hours “under normal usage.”

Tablet Specs

802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, 3G/4G data and Bluetooth
3.0HD video (720p) with Cisco TelePresence solution interoperability for lifelike video communication with the simplicity of a phone call
Virtual desktop client Android operating system, with access Android marketplace applications
Collaboration applications including Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share, WebEx, Presence, and IM
Tablet Highlights:
7” diagonal, high-resolution color screen with contact-based touch targets
HD Soundstation supports Bluetooth and USB peripherals, 10/100/1000 wired connectivity and a handset option
Detachable and serviceable 8-hour battery for a full day of work
Highly secure remote connections with Cisco AnyConnect Security VPN Client
HD audio with wideband support (tablet, HD Soundstation

Dropbox Just Gone Better

Rishabh — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:21:33 +0000

Your favorite content sharing application, DropBox just got better and a cool new feature is added to it:

Any file or folder in your Dropbox is now linkable!

These links are presented in a snazzy new web view that allows people to view or play your shared files straight from their browser.

Here’s an example of a single file

And an example of a folder

Here’s how it works:

1. From the web or desktop app, pull up the context menu of the file/folder you’d like to share, then click ‘Get shareable link’

2. This takes you to the page view of the file/folder you’re linking, and you can grab the link from the top of the page.

3. You can then share this link with anyone!

Some more info:

This will only work with Dropbox clients 0.8 or higher and the feature is currently in beta. You’ll have to restart your client to enable the feature. You can get it here
All your links are viewable from the ‘Linked Items’ tab on you Sharing page. You can even make shared folder links, which will be viewable from both tabs.
The public folder will still work as it always has.
Both the music and movie players will keep autoplaying until they run out of stuff to play. It’s pretty handy to set it and forget it (In the future: more controls for the media players)
Office files, pdfs, code files, etc. are all displayed using custom viewers (or scribd, when appropriate)
My current favorite sharing model trick: selective sync my entire music library, and still be able to play all my music via sharing model from my laptop
On the horizon: password protection and expiration, other cool stuff

eBay Acquires RedLaser, the Leading Barcode-Scanning iPhone Application

Rishabh — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:15:59 +0000

eBay, a leader in mobile commerce and the world’s largest online marketplace, today announced that it has acquired RedLaser, the popular barcode-scanning application for iPhone, and related technology from Occipital. With over two million downloads, RedLaser is the top-selling iPhone barcode-scanning application for comparison shopping and finding product information using a mobile device. Terms for the deal were not disclosed.

eBay plans to integrate RedLaser’s barcode-scanning technology into its leading iPhone applications, including its eBay Marketplace, eBay Selling, StubHub and Shopping.com applications, providing more than 10 million users with access to product information for fast and easy selling and comparison shopping. The technology is designed to help consumers find great deals online for virtually any product with a barcode, and for eBay sellers to quickly create listings by accessing pricing trends and product details for millions of items in eBay’s catalog. The eBay Selling application for the iPhone will be the first iPhone application to take advantage of RedLaser’s barcode-scanning technology for mobile users to sell items online.

To download the free RedLaser iPhone application, Please Go Here