communication

End Of Smartphone Era ???!!!

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You’ve heard that Google is working on computerized glasses. They’re called Google Glass, and developers can already buy them.
It turns out Microsoft is working on something similar. It filed some patents on the project and Unwired View dug them up.
There’s a big difference between what Microsoft is working on and Google Glass, though.
The most recent word out of Google is that Google Glass isn’t going to use “augmented reality” – where data and illustrations overlay the actual world around you.
Google Glass is actually just a tiny screen you have to look up and to the left to see.
Microsoft’s glasses seem to utilize augmented reality. In a patent illustration we’ve embedded below, you can see that the glasses put data on top of a live action concert and a ballgame.
Both gadget concepts are very interesting.
Lots of people disagree with me, including other BI writers, but I think something like Google Glass or whatever Microsoft is working on could end up replacing the smartphone as the dominant way people access the Internet and connect to each other.
First off: something has to. Disruption is inevitable.
Secondly: The trend is obvious.
Computers have been getting smaller and closer to our faces since their very beginning.
First they were in big rooms, then they sat on desktops, then they sat on our laps, and now they’re in our palms. Next they’ll be on our faces.
(Eventually they’ll be in our brains.)
By the way, you can bet that if Microsoft and Google are working on computerized glasses, so is Apple and Jony Ive.
And that’s pretty exciting.

write up by..Nicholas Carlson in Business insider .com
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Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-end-of-the-smartphone-era-is-coming-2012-11#ixzz2DcPuGSSy

Road to Happiness!!!!!

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source:::
An excerpt from Book
“The Road to Happiness”
by Mac Anderson and BJ Gallagher

When I travel on business, I like to talk to the taxi drivers who take me from the airport to my hotel, or to a convention center, or to a restaurant. Taxi drivers are often immigrants with interesting personal histories and unusual cultural backgrounds. I ask them how long they’ve been in America, how they chose which city to live in, and what they like best about where they live. Of course, I also ask them for advice on good local restaurants and any special attractions they’d recommend to a visitor. I’ve had some great experiences on my travels, thanks to the advice of taxi drivers!

On one trip about ten years ago, I was making conversation with the taxi driver, asking him my usual questions about how he came to live where he lived. Then I asked him a hypothetical question: “If you could live anywhere in the world-and if money was no object-where would you live?”

Without hesitating even for a second, he replied, “I live in my heart. So it really doesn’t matter where my body lives. If I am happy inside, then I live in paradise, no matter where my residence is.”

I felt humbled and a little foolish for my question. Of course he was right-happiness is an inside job. He had reminded me of something I already knew, but had forgotten. If you can’t find happiness inside yourself, you’ll never find it in the outside world, no matter where you move. Wherever you go, there you are. You take yourself with you.

I am grateful for the wisdom of that taxi driver. And I’m grateful for all the wisdom others have shared with me about how to be happy.

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want.”

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9 Most Expected Apple Products of 2013!!!!

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: Apple’s 2012 schedule has been incredibly busy; the iOS6, iPhone 5, iPad mini, new iPods, and updated Macs with specialties like retina displays and bigger sizes. And then a question arises, what’s the Apple line ups for 2013? The company had already given hints about some interesting devices, including a low cost iPhonecooking inside the Cupertino giant’s executive kitchen. Here are the speculated Apple devices which will see the light of the day in next year as compiled by Business Insider.

 
1. Apple television?

 
Apple came up with the updates of just about everything at the end of 2012. This gave birth to the speculation that Apple either planned nothing for the spring or on the contrary it’s got something big to unveil.

 


So the next possible big release from Apple’s bag of products for the spring could be its “television”. Rumors of an Apple television have been rampant for years. So the year 2013 can be the best period to wave a green flag for the Apple TV or which may be called ‘iTV’ as Apple’s nomenclature follows.

2.  iPad Mini with Retina display

 
Apple’s iPad mini made waves in the media prior to its release and was also hit the market with the blast. But all the fanfare was fizzled and as the Apple bloggers place it “iPad mini is the real iPad, there’s only one problem which took the sheen out of device and it’s the screen”. So Apple, to rectify this problem may come up with a smarter display, the new Apple innovation “retina display”. This spring we can hope for a iPad mini which along with other things can come up with retina display.

 

 
3. iRadio

 
Apple has intensified talks with music labels to unveil its own advertising supported streaming radio service and it will be the competitor to Pandora Media Inc. The iRadio is supposed to start early next year, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations who want to stay anonymous.

 


 “Radio is a natural step for Apple,” Rich Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG LLC in New York, said in an interview, reports Bloomberg. “This helps Apple dominate in cars, where people listen to an average of two hours of radio a day.”

4.Apple TV app store

 
So once the Apple TV gets big launch the next best possible offering from the Applecould be an App Store exclusive for its TV. And the company may also open up its gates for the developers to contribute the apps for its new device, in turn creating a whole new experience with the TV.

 
5. OSX 10.9

 
Apple has reported to be actively testing its new version of Mac OS, called as OS X 10.9. And there were rumors that the Apple Mountain cat is about to take a big leap and include the key features from the popular iOS mobile platform. OS X 10.9 is supposed to include the Apple Maps along with Siri, the company’s virtual personal assistant that was first introduced on the iPhone 4S in late 2011.

 
Apple says it’s going to start updating its desktop software more frequently. Now that the person in charge of iOS is in charge of OSX, we expect the release schedules to be linked. And we expect more cross over between the two operating systems in terms of features. This new release is rumored to have Siri and Apple Maps.

 

 

6. : iOS 7

 
Apple, in each new version of iOS attempts to deliver an upgrade to add new user experiences. The iOS 6 is a good OS but for its Apple Maps and some Notification Center issues. So the next update is expected to deliver on these two discontents along with offering other new features. If one follows the pattern of Apple’s software releases , we may expect to see the iOS 6.1 this spring and later iOS 7 at

 
With each new version of iOS, Apple delivers an upgrade to parts of the user experience and this Notification Center mock-up shows one of the features we hope Apple includes in iOS 7.

 

If Apple follows their pattern for software releases, we can expect to see iOS 6.1 this Spring and the announcement of iOS 7 at The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2013, with the possibility of an iOS 7 release date tied to the iPhone 5S release, or whatever Apple calls the next iPhone.

7.  iPhone 5S

 
The rumors of the iPhone 5S were sparked amazingly just weeks after iPhone 5 release. A report from the Chinese Commercial Times added fuel to the rumors stating that Apple would be manufacturing 50,000 to 100,000 test units of the “iPhone5S” in December this year.

 
As for the rumor goes the iPhone 5S will possibly be unveiled in the middle of 2013 as opposed to the end of next year. Apple has launched iPhone 4S in October last year and the iPhone 5 in September this year, so there was a gap of nearly a year for the launch of new iteration. But this time, as the rumor goes, Apple fans will be in for a surprise as the Cupertino giant will put in orders for the iPhone 5S starting in March or April of next year, way earlier than many assumed.

 
The Apple may choose the summer launch next year to boost the sales of its device in holiday season and also to take on with its rival Samsung.

 

8. The iPad 5

 
Apple shocked technophiles and industry experts around the world with its unexpected unveiling of the iPad 4, alongside the iPad Mini, at an event in California last month.

 
The company’s near 12 month cycle for the new iteration’s launches, which use to be under wraps, has become predictable. But the launch of iPad 4 was so covert that the rumor mill was completely unaware of its existence until it launched.

 
Nevertheless this new strategy from Apple is not stopping the rumor mill from speculating the launch of iPad 5. The rumors are already abounding about that the new sleeker, lighter and loaded iPad 5 will hit the shelves early next year.

 

9. WILD CARD: A cheap, totally different iPhone

 
Apple iPhones were considered to be costlier with respect to its rival android devices. So Apple may come up with the iPhone which would be cheaper and totally different from the existing iPhones to gain market especially in the developing countries like India and China. May be it will be a reality in next year.
source::::: silicon india net

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Web 2.0 is The Millionth English Word !!!

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The Global Language Monitor today announced that Web 2.0 has become the millionth English word or phrase to enter the language. A technical term meaning the next generation of World Wide Web products and services, Web 2.0 has crossed from technical jargon into far wider circulation.
Before the millionth word announcement was made Jeremy Paxman spoke to Professor David Crystal, a leading linguist and Paul J J Payack, President of the Global Language Monitor to debate the the validity of the claim that the millionth word was about to appear.

source:::::bbc.com

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Public Apologies of Few Tech . Companies in 2012….

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The year 2012 was filled with high octane tech launches, iPhone 5, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, Android Jelly Bean, iPad mini and a plenty more. Each event was festive. Then there were other events too, where tech companies came out public about their follies and said “please forgive us users”. Read on to know few such tech companies who did public apologies as compiled by Network World.

Apple

Apple’s iPhone 5 and iOS 6 were most awaited Apple products of the year. But somewhere down the line Apple fans went queasy over buying iPhone 5 and updating their OS to iOS6, for these Apple products left out the omniscient Google Maps. The fans were more annoyed when they discovered the biggest flaws in Apple’s mapping service.

Apple CEO promised to make up for this and apologized: “At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”

Microsoft’s bundle of apologies

When it comes to apologies, Microsoft had a bundle of them this year. Some coder from the company has pulled a naughty prank, by slipping a raunchy term in the software code connecting Linux Kernel to the Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization product. And there was also a raunchy dance routine that preceded an Azure presentation in Norway.

Microsoft issued an apology: “We thank the community for reporting this issue and apologize for the offensive string. We have submitted a patch to fix this issue and the change will be published in a future release of the kernel.”

And Microsoft also issued apology for a dance folly at Azure presentation in June, “This week’s Norwegian Developer’s Conference included a skit that involved inappropriate and offensive elements and vulgar language. We apologize to our customers and our partners and are actively looking into the matter.”

And then the company apologized again for interruptions to Azure services in July when its cloud offering went on the fritz in Western Europe: “We sincerely apologize for any issues this caused impacted customers, and will make the necessary adjustments to help prevent a similar issue from occurring in the future. Impacted customers should contact support to file an SLA credit,” wrote Mike Neil, general manager, Windows Azure, on a company blog.

Google earnings snafu, Gmail outage

Google like its wide range of services has also a plenty of apologies they made this year, for several of their service shambles. In October, Larry Page, CEO of Google apologized during an analysts’ call for accidental early releasing of its earning statements which caused fall in Google’s stock price “I’m sorry for the scramble earlier today”, however the stock did not stabilize even a month later. In April and June the company issued apology for Gmail outages: “We apologize for the inconvenience and thank the Gmail users for their patience and continued support. We are continually making improvements to its system reliability, which is our top priority.”

However in July, the users face another Gmail outage, which left the company embarrassed. Nevertheless company apologized again; the apology resembled the previous one: “Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.”

Yahoo’s massive breach

Yahoo apologized in July for a network breach that compromised users’ data. About 400,000 Yahoo user names and passwords, among other information were exposed. The breach was especially bad because it tied in with Gmail, Hotmail and other online accounts. The hacker group who claimed the responsibility said it used a SQL injection.

Yahoo’s apologized over this issue: “At Yahoo! we take security very seriously and invest heavily in protective measures to ensure the security of our users and their data across all our products. We confirm that an older file from Yahoo! Contributor Network containing approximately 400,000 Yahoo! and other company users’ names and passwords was stolen yesterday, July 11. Of these, less than 5 percent of theYahoo! accounts had valid passwords. We are fixing the vulnerability that led to the disclosure of this data, changing the passwords of the affected Yahoo! users and notifying the companies whose users’ accounts may have been compromised. We apologize to affected users. We encourage users to change their passwords on a regular basis and also familiarize themselves with our online safety tips at security.yahoo.com.”

Nokia’s camera trick

Nokia’s big Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 splash in September got off to a rough start when the promotional video about the phone camera’s Pureview camera technology got in fix over Nokia’s not-so-hidden cameraman trick.

As Network Worlds Colin Neagle wrote in September: “Nokia was caught red-handed in a lie, after tech bloggers spotted a cameraman capturing a video the company claimed was shot with its new, highly touted Lumia 920 smartphone. After apologizing,Nokia posted a real video shot with the Smartphone, displaying the optical image stabilization (OIS) camera technology that was faked on the first try.”

Tech bloggers in the promotional video spotted a reflection of a cameraman with a professional camera actually taking the shot of a woman on a bicycle, and were upset about Nokia’s lie.

The company said its main fault was failing to publish “a disclaimer stating this was a representation of OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) only.”

McAfee

McAfee the security software firm apologized in September when the update to the antivirus software that generated false negatives for some malware on Windows personal computers, leaving users flummoxed.

“We would like to apologize for all the disruption caused to our many customers worldwide. We recognize the issue is very serious, and are doing everything we can to resolve it.”

source::::silicon india net
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Nikesh Arora…Google”s Fourth Pillar !!!!

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The internet has ingrained into our day to day life. There are currently over 1.5 billion internet users, which means, if considered as a country, the “online community” would have been most populous in the world. The amount of information that gets stored online in a year exceeds 50 times what was created in entire human history. Yet, Nikesh Arora says “you have seen nothing yet”, in an interview with Shyamal Majumdar of Business Standard, on the way exploring the Google’s Business Boss’ thoughts on online world’s migrants and natives and how advertisers are missing the bus.

Arora, the fourth most important executive at Google, after founders Sergey Brin, LarryPage and Chairman Eric Schmidt, says that online world is moving fast from migrants to natives, making net connectivity a “must-have” from “nice-to-have” just five years ago. “People like you and I are migrants in this online country. But people of my daughter’s generation are natives because they haven’t seen a world without Googleor Facebook,” he said.

So this transition of being a native in theonline country will eventually see most of the things that we know to become extinct, and his list of things includes entire media business in its current form like television advertising, which is destined to move into interactive networks.

Also, books will be dead and become just collectors’ items; Arora says “I can see this happening with my daughter who is in the ninth standard. Earlier, her books used to come in a big box. This year, she has been given an iPad. The books come loaded with it; she does her homework and submits it online, and her teacher uses cloud to access it.” He asks, “Can you imagine kids of her generation ever carrying books when they join college?”

Being a chief salesman at Google, which clocked revenue of $38 billion in 2011, he says, the challenge is how this transition, of migrants to natives, can be managed because that will impact the search giant’s revenue flow. Close to 96 per cent of Google’s revenue comes from advertisements.

Arora faced 399 rejections before getting a job at Fidelity Investments. “I thought life would be easy after doing my Masters from Boston and an MBA from Northeastern University. But here I was in an alien country — married but without a job, and living off the $3,000 that my father had sent me,” he said.

On reflecting about the time he joinedGoogle, Arora said that he was planning to do something on his own when a friend asked him in 2004 to consider joining a company that could offer a start-up kind of an atmosphere. The two Google founders conducted the interview among the artifacts of the British Museum; he says “We walked around. We looked at the exhibits and a lot of our conversation was about the Rosetta stone,” referring to an Egyptian artifact that dates to 196 BC and is inscribed in three languages.

Majumdar writes that one of Arora’s key contributions at Google has been driving revenues from other regions and building relations with advertisers. Presently more than half the company’s revenue comes from outside of the U.S. compared to just one-third when he joined eight years ago. It’s thus obvious why Google made a rare move last month, and decided to pay its top salesman $8 million in cash, instead of the previously agreed upon stock options and stock units. Arora, who made more than $23 million last year, will have to repay Google if he chooses to leave his position before April 25, 2015, the date the stock units and options will have vested.

Majumdar writes, whilst Arora at the age of 45 already been a top player at Google, and won’t he remain the tallest pygmy in a company where the founders are much younger than him? Before winding up his worthwhile conversation, he asks Arora, what’s next? To which Arora says, “Does things to undo the pattern every time his life takes on a steady pattern”. But he still loves going to office every day in a company that loves disrupting conventions, and where his colleagues are always excited about solving the most complicated of technological problems, Majumdar adds.

source::::silicon india net
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Why U.S.A. Can”t Get $20 Tablets Like India?!!!

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Aakash, India’s low cost tablets made recent headlines by being the cheapest one available in market. Students were in store for a big surprise, as Datawind, the makers of Aakash 2 offered the tablets to them at just RS. 1,132, which hardly touched the $20 mark, after a government subsidy. For others, it’s made available for $45 retail, yet retaining the tag of cheapest tablet in India, probably the world too.

The price of these gadgets, along with almost all the “smart” functions similar to high end devices, will bring a lot of people to computing world, a sure excitement for the people of developing nations like India and china.

But the people of developed countries just can’t get the tablets with same functionality as of Aakash 2 at its price. Though the tablets are cheap, the distance from supply chains or the manufacturing base of these devices to the countries where they are marketed, will add 100 percent to the cost of tablets, and then it’s not cheaper any more.

We can take the example of iPhone 5, which was recently released in India. The device follows a stiff route till it gets into the hands of users. There are shipping charges, import duties, margin for the importer, the new warranty charges, as its original warranty isn’t valid in the country of import. And in India there are three levels of distributors—the importers, who brings the goods into the country, then he sells it to super stockiest, like wholesaler, then wholesaler sells it to distributers, who in turn sells it to retailers, and finally retailer sells it to customers, each levels have their cuts in turn shooting up device prices.

Aakash was able to overcome all this and reach the customer carrying the tag of “cheapest tablet.” But how? According to Suneet Tuli, CEO of Datawind, who spoke to Mashable about strategy the company follows to bring the tablets at amazing lower costs, “the Micromax Funbook, which has approximately same specifications as that of Aakash 2, costs around Rs 6,500 or about $120, which is about twice the prize of their device. The reason is that Datawind assembles the tablet in India upon importing parts from South Korea, china and U.S., which is cheaper than importing completely assembled devices.” Then the company markets the products online or by couriers, saving the commission on distributers and retailers.

In China, it’s a similar story, says Jay Goldberg, a financial analyst. Functional 7-inch tablets can be had at Shenzhen malls devoted to electronics for as little as $45. That’s because the supply chains required to build these devices are located in the city and in nearby provinces.

Many of China’s cheap tablet manufacturers hit on the idea accidentally, says Goldberg, and it all started with the manufacturing cell phones which were cheap too.

“Not quite 10 years ago, Mediatek of Taiwan entered the cell phone market,” says Goldberg. MediaTek Inc, a fabless semiconductor company, designing and selling components for wireless communication and other electronic gadgets, found contract manufacturers in mainland China that had machines to put chips on circuit boards, and they were mostly doing this as subcontractors, churning out parts for larger electronics companies with recognizable brands.

Later the company figured out it could save money by handing these manufacturers both the chips required to build a phone and a complete blueprint for assembling them into basic phones. That transformed thousands of small manufacturers from subcontractors into factories for completed products. This same strategy led to development of cheaper Smartphones and tablets too.

source:::: silicon india net…

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Smartphones…Is it Alright to Tuck Them in to Bed !!!

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Gone are the days when Granma’s lullabies put us to sleep, or the days of cute teddy bear’s hugs in bed. The young generations are now taken on to Smartphones to tuck them into bed, literally. A cool infographics by Online Psychology Degree shows the extent Smartphones become indispensible in our daily lives, almost like bodily appendages.

The infographics shows that 90 percent of the young people in the age group of 18 to 29 sleep with their Smartphones; 95 percent of the people use the phone for something just before going to bed; half of the people check their phones immediately if they wake up during the night.

The finding may look staggering about the attachment that have evolved between human and his gadget buddy, and it seems quite okay as consider it as coming of age process but as infographics reveals more about, our body’s physiology is not yet grooved with the change yet.

About 63 percent of the people aren’t getting enough sleep, and too much of screen-time wake reduces melatonin level, the hormone that induces sleep. Not having enough sleep in turn causes stress and depression and also raises heart attack risks by 50 percent.

So this is a wake up call about prioritizing our needs over our wants as infographics puts it “You love your gadgets, but taking them to bed isn’t worth it. When you go to bed say goodnight to your technology too.”

source::::siliconindia net…

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PHORCE…A One Stop Solution for Your Gadgets Charging!!!!!

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For those who are addicted to their gadgets, such as smartphones and tablets, low battery life can be a major problem. Finding a charging point can often be a daunting task. But worry not, a project on Kickstarter called Phorce, hopes to bring an end this charging madness. 

 

So what is the project hoping to provide? Well a smart bag that will let you charge your electronic devices on the go, from your laptops to your smartphones and your tablets.

The Kickstarter project states, that Thanks to its integrated lightweight battery pack, Phorce is powerful enough to charge an iPhone 5 over 8 times, a Galaxy S3 about 6 times, or an iPad Mini 2.5 times. 

The Phorce smart bag. Image from Kickstarter project.

According to TechCrunch the bag also features a convertible design, and can become a messenger bag, briefcase, or two shoulder backpack as well.

The bag will also sync with your iPhone or your Android device via Bluetooth. Oh and if you leave your Phorce bag somewhere, it will point on your phone that you’ve forgotten it. As long as its charged that is.

In terms of design and colour, it does look  very cool. As a concept a must need for everyone!!!!!

 

source::::firstpost net

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What Future Smartphones might Look Like!!!!!!

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 source::::::::siliconindia net

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The future has always been something that intrigues us, the fear of the unknown.  Gadgets are devices that keep undergoing various innovations on almost daily basis. The technology like 3G, huge screen smartphones, thin laptops, LTE were something which until few years ago were thought of as being impossible. But like they say “nothing is impossible.”

 

Here are 5 futuristic smartphones that we wish would become a reality in the years to come!!!!

 
1. Palm iPhone concept

 
With the release of iPhone 5 the latest jokes doing the rounds about Apple is that each year they would come out with an iPhone with the exact same features, only difference being that it would be longer. This joke is a bit nasty.

 
Apple has always been known as a company that innovates.  The new futuristic concept of iPhone is the Palm iPhone. This concept was created by Designer Samuel Lee Kwon. If this gadget becomes a reality you will be able to wear the phone instead of carrying it. The Palm iPhone can be strapped around your wrist. The device comes with a projector that would project the screen on to you r palm. This means that once you wear your smartphone there would be no question of leaving it somewhere in a hurry. The only question is – will Apple work on this concept, and if yes, how soon?

 

 

2. Philips Fluid phone

 
The Philips Fluid Phone’s concept is slightly similar to that of the Palm iPhone. This phone might be a flexible strip which takes the shape of your wrist when not in use and straightens out to become a phone when needed. The screen boasts of a high resolution OLED display screen. If this concept is worked on and developed it could usher in a new era in the gadget world.

 

 
3. LG Paper Touch

 

Thinner, slimmer seem to be the new mantra with the gadget world. We have already seen many such smartphones in the market. Well the electronic company LG is looking to make smartphone with the thinness of a paper. In fact they have already got the concept ready. Along with being thin as a paper you can also fold the phone four times because of the elastomer joints it has.  At every fold the gadget would have different uses. It would serve as a music player or you can even turn it into a flip phone and when opened completely it functions as a tablet.

4. Blue Facebook phone

This is for sure going to be a delight for all the Facebook addicts out there, if this phone actually finds its way into production. This phone would have a complete blue body keeping in mind Facebook’s color. The phone comes with a wedge design. It comes with Facebook buttons like – Like, Notifications etc. The camera with a LED flash allows the user to take pictures and immediately upload them on your Facebook profile.

To make calls you will have to turn the phone and speak as the speaker is located on the reverse side of the phone.


5. Nokia HumanForm

Nokia has developed a transparent phone concept.  Along with transparent concept this futuristic phone also comes with flexible design and can assess the mood of the user. Creepy but true! Nokia is working to make their futuristic smartphone as human as they possibly can.  Along with this, as the phone is flexible you can turn it into various shapes to perform various different commands like; twist the phone to browse and bend it to zoom.  Many times people complain about the phone being stiff. This smartphone looks to address that issue. The phone will take the shape of the ear of the user.