The Kolkata Bloggers

Sunday 9 August 2015

From the pages of a Tech Neophyte



The title did make your eyes go up a bit, didn't it? Well this isn't a conventional read like the other two posts

How many of us has shrunk in a corner as soon as some techy mentioned "Quad- Core Processor"? How many of us judge phones on the basis of front and back cameras megapixels? Guess what, my mind conjured statistics say that almost 70% people suffer through the same "NoTechyKnowledge" Syndrome.





I would like to start by saying that my grasp on technical knowledge is less than satisfactory. But that does not mean I am not willing to learn more about it from the veterans and I speak for all those unfortunate souls who, inspite of having the desire to participate in a tech convo, are too shy to say so.




From a non-technical person's point of view, technological and electrical components are as tough as complex integral maths and sometimes as boring as RGV ki Aag ( I still want my money back). The main purpose of this blog is to bring out the technical stuff to you in such a way that even a person like me finds interest in it and it is well within the threshold of my comprehension. 



Every time my techy friends start a convo 


Lastly, it is okay to not know everything. It is acceptable to give your tech friends a blank stare which might exasperate them to no end. So next time you are sitting amidst such hardcore Tech Geeks, just saythat you do not understand them without any inhibition at all, because c'mon everybody loves to indoctrinate novices. 



Thursday 6 August 2015

Facebook announces Aquila - An aircraft bringing Internet connectivity to remote places




In this world where clicking a selfie and posting it on social media, takes hardly a few seconds, it is amazing to note that only 40% of the world is acually connected. 
    
                        
       Simple reason: Connectivity is costly.


It involves an expensive infrastructure something which operators may not be able to afford, forget about those people whose daily income is around $1.25. With this in mind, Facebook started the Connectivity Lab which came up with a 


    solar powered, unmanned, high-altitude aircraft 

      that can beam data to the ground using lasers.



Aquila

Aquila will operate at heights of 60000-90000 feet above air traffic and weather. 


A few notable features include:
Wing is made of cured carbon fibre stronger
than steel but flexible

  • Wingspan size same as Boeing 747.                  
  • Lighter than a car.
  • Aquila will have a connectivity radius of 50 kms.




The communication equipment sits in the middle of the aircraft.The most amazing milestone reached by the lab is a breakthrough in laser technology where according to Mark Zuckerberg's post


"We've also made a breakthrough in laser communications technology. We've successfully tested a new laser that can transmit data at 10 gigabits per second. That's ten times faster than any previous system, and it can accurately connect with a point the size of a dime from more than 10 miles away."


Aquila will transmit data between aircrafts using lasers





Aquila can stay up in the air for upto 90 days since it only depends on solar energy and the fact that all this was achieved in 14 months along with a breakthrough in laser technology is impressive. Aquila will be tested later this year.

India along with other underdeveloped countries have signed up for Aquila, including Zambia, Ghana, Colombia, Pakistan and others. Let's hope that this ambitious project by Facebook helps connect the world better.


     Take a sneakpeek into the Connectivity Lab


                                

For more news and info, keep watching this space

Monday 3 August 2015

Microsoft Introduces Hololens in the time frame of Windows 10



             


Ever thought about a virtual reality, to aid your projects giving you a 3-D impression of your product, offering you a whole new set of holograms to blend in with your environment and guess what, all at the expense of   gestures.

Microsoft Hololens

                                             
A headband designed for comfort, integrated with Windows 10 requiring
  • no external wires
  • no external cameras
  • no connections to phones 
giving you the freedom to walk completely untethered.


Hololens comes with an advanced HPU(Holographic ProcessingUnit) that processes data around you per second, sensing where one looks and gestures, thus mapping the world around in real-time.


HPU



Sensors
 Hololens comes with sensors capturing information about your actions and  advanced optics that generate multi-dimensional full-colour images, letting holograms be created around.
            
                                                            
   
                                                            
             
           
Speakers
                                                           
    Hololens has speakers that produce spatial
sound
            










Hololens comes with a HoloStudio, pretty much like Paint only here you can get the various holograms letting you create what you love.
            
         To watch a live demonstration of the Hololens, click here.




                                              



Hololens is probably Microsoft's coolest product in a long time and by the looks of it can make a real difference to the way we work. And what more, you can  
          be a part of this revolutionary technology at Build 2015.

      

Hololens is being used by architects and constructors by bringing 3-D 
models to life.



                                                   


           
   



Live Mars projection in lab

The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
 will soon explore Mars using Mars
 Rover images to have a real life feel 
 of how it is to be there thus helping
 to learn faster.




                                 
Case Western Reserve University using Hololens
                                                                                                            


                                                                                                           
                       Hololens partners:






















  For more news and information, keep watching this space.