Google announces the future of Android: Meet Android L (Developer Preview)

Google has announced a developer preview of the upcoming Android L release. Previous the search giant would unveil a new version of its platform at the I/O event, making it available for download almost immediately. Now, we've got a developer preview that will only serve for developers to play with and optimize their apps with the actual public release coming later on.

The Android L (final name and version number yet to be confirmed) brings various changes to the UI, with refreshed status bar, dialer and just about every other system apps. Google has also redesigned the transition animations so they look cooler and more natural.

The notifications have been enhanced and are now available on the lockscreen. You can either tap a notification from there and be taken to the app responsible for it, or you can swipe it right off.

The Chrome browser, which has been the default Android browser for some time now has been upgraded as well. It offers a new fluid design with the different parts of its UI changing size to give you easier access to the most relevant options. Its performance has also been tweaked and the GUI rendering has been fixed at 60fps making scrolling around appear extra smooth.

 The new runtime environment in the L release is ART, launched as an alternative to Dalvik in KitKat. ART allows apps to run faster and is compatible with ARM, x86 and MIPS architectures. In addition to performance gains, it also provides better memory benefits and is supports 64-bit.
   

Performance isn't the only thing Google wants to improve with the L Release. The battery performance is also important and to make it better, Google introduced Project Volta.
There's a new Battery Saver mode, which can tune down the CPU, turn off the phone's radio and as a result extend its power autonomy. On the Nexus 5, for example, this should earns you 90 minutes additional usage time.
    

Another major change Google introduced is a separation between personal and work data. No modification to existing apps is needed, Android will keep the data separate and secure. Company IT admins will be able to bulk deploy apps to employees.
Samsung contributed a lot of what it developed with KNOX but the feature will work on devices by any manufacturer. Best of all you don't need Android L, this feature will be brought to any Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and above.

Android L also unifies the fitness tracker experience into one app, Google Fit (hi, Apple HealthKit). It will pull data from sensors in your phone, your smartwatch and other wearables. Nike Fuelband is one, but Adidas, Motorola, LG, Bais, Polar, RunKeeper, HTC and even Intel will be bringing supported devices.

Google Fit will track steps, your sleep and other health metrics. Apps will be able to request access to this data, but it's up to the user to allow it.

The factory images for the Android L release on the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 are available. Over the air updates for end-users will arrive in the Fall.

Blackberry is back with a vengeance: Introducing the Passport and the Classic

  New management, new goals. BlackBerry's short flirtation with touchscreen-only phones will be taking a step back as new CEO John Chen (pictured above) says BlackBerry's new phones will "predominantly" have physical keyboards. 

Meet the Blackberry Passport(pictured above), their first smartphone with this new goal. It sports a square 4.5" screen with 1,440 x 1,440 resolution (a QHD screen cropped to 1:1 aspect ratio). Below the square screen is a three-row QWERTY keyboard. The BlackBerry Passport will be a very wide device, the screen is about 81mm wide. Although we don't know more about the device at time of writing, it's said to have a much more advanced chipset a Snapdragon 800 say the rumors.

There's another new device too, the BlackBerry Classic(pictured above). Built to succeed the Q5 and Q10, it's again built around a hardware QWERTY keyboard. It will have a more manageable 3.5" screen (in diagonal), also square (the resolution is unknown). The Classic will also see the return of the familiar optical trackpad from the pre-BB10 devices.
   
The new Passport and Classic were proudly shown off by John Chen, who took over as Blackberry's CEO last November. Chen said early this year that new BlackBerrys will "predominantly" have QWERTY keyboards.

The Passport will launch in September, while the Classic is expected in November.

Does God exist?

‘Does God exist?’ Each one of us comes across this question in his lifetime. Since childhood most of us are taught that God is the ultimate power, who is responsible for everyone and everything.

People believe in Jesus, Allah, Bhagwan, etc. Some say these are just names given by people of different religions to the same God. There are people who say that God does not exist.

Every group of people, every civilization believed in God or some form of afterlife. The Bible says that creation declares the glory of God.  Where does the wind come from? What  happened when the first star was made, and what caused it to be? What the universe is made of and how far it stretches? When was the first morning? We have no theories and scientific proof for these questions.

"God works in mysterious ways." This is a religious person's way of saying "I don't know." People say they can feel the presence of God, they have seen God or they have seen His miracles. Sure, it could be God's presence... Or you could simply be delusional.

The theory of evolution, produced by Darwin, states that there isn't a 'God' at all. There is no authenticated evidence to suggest that 'God' does exist. Whereas, there is more than enough evidence to support Darwin's theory.

The Bhagwadgita, the holy book of the Hindus have instances like freezing time during a battle which is not practically possible. It has things which cannot be proved unlike Darwin’s theory.

We do not know whether God exists or not. But, people believe that there is something powerful and responsible for all the creations and happenings in the world. Science does not prove how the Big Bang actually happened? But, people are attached with the term “God” in a way which actually helps them to do things. A person might be walking alone on a deserted street at night. You chant God’s name and pray to him to keep you safe. There might be no God at all but it gives you confidence.

No scientific theories and holy books have come to a conclusion yet. Whether “God exists or not?”

iPad's biggest threat has arrived: Meet the Samsung Galaxy Tab S

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Tab S (10.5) and Galaxy Tab S (8.4) yesterday. The Android tablets sport Super AMOLED screens worth WQXGA resolution (2,560 x 1,600 pixels) resulting in insanely high pixel densities (well at least for a tablet). The 10.5" Galaxy Tab S, rocks 288 ppi, while the 8.4" Galaxy Tab S 8.4 one cranks it up to 359 ppi.

    

These Super AMOLED panels offer excellent contrast and saturated colours, but also come with the added benefit of being extra slim. The Galaxy Tab S tablets are a meagre 6.6mm thick (just 0.2mm short of the Xperia Z2 Tablet) and quite light. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.5 Wi-Fi tips the scale at 465 grams and 467 grams for the LTE version and the Galaxy Tab 8.4 is just 294 grams and 298 grams for the LTE version.
  

Speaking about Wifi and LTE versions, Samsung will offer the tablets with two chipset varieties. The LTE Tab S will pack a Snapdragon 800 (a 2.3GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU), and the Wi-Fi Tab S will go with Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa chipset (a quad 1.3GHz Cortex-A7 and quad 1.9GHz Cortex-A15 paired with an ARM Mali-T628). Both variants of the Tab S will arrive with 3GB of RAM. Samsung will offer the Tab S with 16GB or 32GB flavors with a microSD card slot on board supporting up to 128GB cards. Battery size for both tablets are pretty good (especially considering their thickness) the 10.5" features a 7,900mAh Li-Ion battery while the 8.4" has a 4,900mAh Li-Ion battery.

Following Apple's TouchID, Samsung introduced a fingerprint scanner in their 2014 flagship, the Galaxy S5. Now, Samsung improved the fingerprint scanner on the Tab S and combined it with Android Tablet's multi-user feature. Now, you can have upto 8 user accounts on the Tab S and just by swiping your finger on the home button, it will open you account. This is something Apple and others can learn from Samsung.

For all those who are into tablet photography, Samsung has equipped both tablets sport 8MP cameras with LED flash and made them capable of recording 1080p video. And for selfies and videochatting (which we guess is the main use of a camera on a tablet), both the Tab S' have 2.1MP front-facing snappers. Just like their smartphone counterparts, the Galaxy Tab S family also sports a number of sensors - IR blaster on the side and a fingerprint scanner in the Home button are the main stars here.

The design of the slate is something which we are really sceptical about, but again the question is to be answered by the consumer, weather he likes Samsung's faux leather and faux metal design philosophy or not. The slates. like the Galaxy S5, have a dimpled plastic back with a faux leather look.

The slates will boot Android 4.4 KitKat with Samsung's Magazine UX with Samsung extras like Multi Window, S Voice and a collection of proprietary apps.

Pre-orders for the Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and Galaxy Tab S 8.4 start today, but actual shipments are expected to start on in July. Prices start at $399 (approx. Rs. 23812) for the Galaxy Tab 8.4 and $499 (approx. Rs. 29780) for the Galaxy Tab S 10.5.

Is this the Android-touting iPad Air we have all been waiting for? Or is this another Samsung slate which will fade away in the rigorous competition by Apple, Asus and others? What do you think? Did Samsung do it right this time?  

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S (8.4) in while 

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S (10.5) in white.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S (8.4) in brown

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S (10.5) in brown