Tech PIVI

It caught everyone's fancy from the time it was first leaked in a video, and since then, all Android enthusiasts, and especially the ones who swear by the pure stock user interface of the operating system, have been eyeing this smartphone. No prizes for guessing, we're talking about the   Nexus 5 , Google's new platform showcase device which has been manufactured by Korean electronics giant, LG. It's also the first time that Google has launched its flagship device in the Indian market just weeks after its international launch. The pricing of the phone and the promise of priority software updates makes it an irresistible proposition. So, how does it perform in real world conditions? We put it to test and find out in our review. Build/ Design The Nexus 5 sports a very understated look and there's nothing really striking in the phone's design that will shout for your attention. The phone is made of plastic and doesn't feel very premium. Howe...

Facebook, Google has jumped on the bandwagon of polls in India, the world's biggest democracy, by setting up an election portal that gives all polls and politics related news to users in India. The US-based search engine major Thursday launched its election portal which also provides information on political parties. "Election portal will serve as a one-stop destination to help voters get answers to their elections and voting-related queries to make an informed decision," Google said in official blog. In the first phase of the launch, the portal will cover news information and videos related to state elections in Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram covering news from leading publications and broadcasters both in English and Hindi. Users will also be able to watch content hosted by YouTube partners on elections and links to Hangouts done by political representatives in the recent past. Earlier this month, social networking...

While Google is expected to release the next version of its mobile operating system, Android 4.3, next week, a leaked copy of the OS for Nexus 4 devices has already appeared online.  Although it's known that Android 4.3, which would continue to be referred as Jelly Bean, will be a minor update and won't bring major user-facing changes, it still offers some incremental updates. According to a hands-on  video  uploaded by Android Central, the update will increase the touch responsiveness of the Nexus 4. The new update will bring an additional feature to the phone's dialler suggesting phone numbers from your contacts as you dial by matching digits or looking up names. It also adds an option to add pauses while calling a number. Android 4.3 also seems to brings a new Wi-Fi setting, 'Scanning always available' which will allow apps to get location data through Wi-Fi even when Wi-Fi is set to off and not being used for data access. As revealed ...

Google has been consistently updating its social networking venture, Google+, to make it as popular as rival Facebook. Both Facebook and Google have given special emphasis on mobile phone users. While Facebook is already a popular app across different mobile platforms, Google+ is also simplifying things for its mobile users. The latest update from Google enables Google+ users to stay up to date via SMS. To active SMS notifications, users need to verify their phone number from settings page (gear icon) on the Google+ mobile website. Another important feature that update brings is that users can now share photos, post updates or explore content on the Google+ mobile website by simply visiting plus.google.com on their phones. The update is available for users across different platforms including Windows Phone and BlackBerry. Google+ users will also be able to upload photos straight from their mobile phones. “With Google+, you don’t need to rely on wires...

Facebook Inc is weeding out fake "Likes" on its social network that are being caused by spammers, malware and black marketeers as it strives to maintain credibility as an advertising platform. Facebook said the number of Likes, or endorsements by users, on corporate pages is likely to drop by less than 1 percent, on average, after the crackdown. "Newly improved automated efforts will remove those Likes gained by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk Likes," Facebook said in a post on its official blog on Friday. "While we have always had dedicated protections against each of these threats on Facebook, these improved systems have been specifically configured to identify and take action against suspicious Likes," the post continued. Thanks to a growing black market, companies can instantly raise their profile on Facebook by purchasing thousands of Likes at a time a practice that is forbidden by the No. 1 social net...

Following the footsteps of Facebook, Google has also added birthday reminders on its social networking website, Google+. The reminder will appear on the right hand side of the main Google search page when someone in your contacts is celebrating his/her birth anniversary. Google's birthday reminder also allows users to share a message, photo or video to wish the person a happy birthday. It may be noted here that Facebook's birthday reminder shows up a notification on the right hand side pane and lets you send a birthday greeting. "Everyone deserves a little love on their birthday, so we're making it easier for you and your friends to celebrate on Google," software engineer Irene Chung, said in a Google+  post  on Wednesday. "Starting today, you'll see a reminder on Google.com when someone in your circles has a birthday!" Google allows users to control who will see their birthday notifications on Google+. To activate the Google+ birthday...

With its closing stock market value on Monday, Apple Inc. has become the biggest U.S. company, at $623.52 billion, taking away the crown held by Microsoft Corp. since its December 1999 market valuation at $616.34 billion – that's of course, not taking into account inflation. Apple Inc.'s share price closed at $665.15 on Monday, and according to analysts quoted by WSJ, the company would command a $1,000 share price by the end of the year. Experts estimate that prices would need to be greater than $900 to surpass Microsoft’s 1999 record, after inflation. $1 in 1999 is worth around $1.38 in 2012, making Microsoft's 1999 valuation roughly $856 billion in constant dollars. Also, as pointed out by TechCrunch, after adjusting for inflation, the  biggest U.S. company of all time is IBM, whose record-breaking $192.3 billion market valuation in 1967 is now roughly equal to $1.3 trillion ($1 in 1967 is worth $6.85 in 2012). Currently however, both previous record holders,...

The Indian government has come down hard on social networking websites and asked them to remove provocative and objectionable content in the wake of the exodus of the North East Indians from various states. Google and Facebook have already extended co-operation to the Indian government in removing the content that could incite violence. Twitter has also followed the suit by removing as many as six accounts having resemblance to the Prime Minister Office's official account. The accounts have been closed after finding objectionable content on these. According to reports, the PMO had asked the Cyber Security Cell of the Department of Information and Technology to block these accounts. Earlier, the Indian government had warned Twitter of legal actions if it did not comply with the government demand to remove/censor objectionable content. It was speculated that the micro blogging site may fail to comply with the demand due to the huge number of tweets and retweets taking pla...

SAN FRANCISCO :   Oracle Corp   and   Google Inc  responded on Friday to a judge's request for the identity of all writers who commented on the companies' intellectual property lawsuit, and who received money from the tech giants. But while the post-trial order from U.S. District Judge William Alsup   earlier this month had riveted tech and legal circles, the companies' responses contained no bombshells. "Neither Google nor its counsel has paid an author, journalist, commentator or blogger to report or comment on any issues in this case," the Internet search company said in its court filing. Alsup's highly unusual order came months after the companies had squared off at trial, which featured testimony from high-profile technology executives including Oracle Chief Executive   Larry Ellison   and Google CEO   Larry Page . The case attracted heavy media coverage from the mainstream press and technology-focused blogs. In his order, Alsup said he ...

Google: India ranks second in education-related searches With over half of the Indian internet population in the age bracket of 18-35, India has raced to the second position globally when it comes to absolute volume of search queries related to education. India was ranked eighth in 2008 and is now behind only to the US, according to a study by Google India on 'students on the web'.  The study was a combination of Google search query patterns and an offline research conducted by TNS Australia on behalf of Google India. The study revealed that over 60% Indian students, who have access to Internet, use it as their first source to research for information related to educational courses and institutes.  Education-related queries on Google in India are growing at over 46% year on year - highlighting the strong demand for information on institutes and courses that are available in the country. Out of all education related search queries on Googl...

The days of slapping a malicious  Android  app together and  quickly tossing it onto the Google Play store  are at an end. Per  Mashable , Google  ( GOOG ) has updated its developer content policy page to ban specific types of apps that are  detrimental to Android users , including spam apps, apps that misrepresent themselves and apps that disclose “people’s private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, driver’s and other license numbers.”  Mashable  also says that Google sent out an email to its developer community outlining the new guidelines. Courtesy :  http://news.yahoo.com