World's biggest Android Tablet, 65 inches

Ardic Technology, based in Istanbul, Turkey has ported a regular Android Tablet in to a 65 inch full screen Tablet. Imagine playing Angry Birds on a 65 inch screen. WOOT.

Android vs iOS

If you own iPhone or a Android phone I am sure at some point you have argued with your friends/colleagues why your phone is better than the other. Users would come up with the most innovative ways to defend their choice as supreme and why their friends should also make the switch.

This is one war in which I don't think there is a clear winner nor will be in the near future. I feel both are winners and ultimately it is what the end users are looking for in their dream phone and which one of these would be a better fit.

As far as profitability goes there is no argument there. Clearly Apple's iPhone till date is way more profitable than Google's Android. Comparing phone features may be seen as subjective (which I may compare at a later date), so I decided to put out a comparison chart based on statistics. I hope this will help you in your next debate.

As of 3Q 2011	iOS (Apple)	Android (Google)
Total Devices	250 Million iOS devices sold including iPhone, iTouch, and iPad	190 Million Devices Activated. Including Phones and Tablets
New Sales	367,000 iOS devices sold daily	500,000 androids activated everyday
Ownership	27.7% of Smartphone subscribers in USA are iPhone users	43.7% of Smartphone subscribers in USA are Android users
Available Apps	More than 500,000 iOS apps	Around 250,000 Android Apps
Launch Date	June 2007	October 2008
Different Phone Models	In 4+ years iPhone has come up with 5 different hardware models. Latest being iPhone4S	In 3+ years dozens of hardware models run Android. Motorola, HTC, and Samsung lead the pack.
Tablet Sales	iPad rules 66.6% of Tablet Market Share	Android Tablets have 26.9% of Market Share

Source: Stats from CNET

QuickOffice Pro for Android Free today only on Amazon App Store

Amazon AppStore for Android gives out 1 paid app for free everyday. Today on 11/14/2011, Amazon is giving out QuickOffice Pro for free which normally would cost you $14.99. This offer will expire at midnight PST time.

Source: Amazon App Store

Amazing Video of Earth as seen from Space

Michael König, editor of this amazing video, puts together time lapse sequences of photographs taken with a special low-light 4K-camera by the crew of expedition 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011. I only have one word for Michael and his Video, Brilliant!


Earth | Time Lapse View from Space | Fly Over | Nasa, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.


Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

Source: Vimeo

Watch London Olympics in Super Hi-Vision with 33 megapixel video

You thought HD NFL game on your 60" LED TV is the best thing out there? Think again. During the London Olympics in 2012, NHK is going to hold public screening of the Olympics in Japan, UK, and USA. The public screening will display the highly realistic Super Hi-Vision (16 times better then HDTV) video featuring 33 megapixel as well as 22.2 channel sound system.

They haven't disclosed the date or venue where they will hold the public screening, but they have said they plan to target Washington DC area in July/August time frame.

Don't expect Super Hi-Vision to land in your household anytime soon, but if you would like to witness it live you can plan your trip to Washington DC area during the public screening. Watch this space for more details.

Source: NHK

Replace Land Line with Google Voice and ObiTalk

I am sure most of you, if not everyone is familiar with Vonage, MagicJack, and similar Voip providers. Voip telephone service providers are replacing the traditional land lines at a rapid pace. Where traditional land lines cost you $40-$50 a month for limited calling within 50 USA states, voip provider, Vonage offers users unlimited calling to US and 60 other countries for $24.99 a month. To beat that price Magic Jack offers $19.99 a year for unlimited calling to USA and Canada.

Apart from huge monetary savings Voip services also provide the flexibility to easily shift your land line with you when you change apartment or house. Simply unplug the voip adapter from your current home and plug it back when you get to your new home. All you need is Internet connection. You can also take the voip adapter with you to a different country and use that for calling back your friends and family in the United States.

Last year Google launched free domestic calling within the US and Canada with a small plugin – right from within Gmail. To give you some technical background (mostly irrelevant), most of the voip providers use SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) for voice communication, however Google uses XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol). ObiTalk is the first and the only device I am aware of which supports XMPP. Hence to use the free domestic calling by Google you will need to purchase a Obitalk device. Obitalk is available on Amazon for under $50.00. Either model Obi100 or Obi110 will work. This will be a one time cost for free unlimited calling for life. (Well not life, but at least until Google keeps its service free) 

Click on read more link to a Step-By-Step guide for setting up your ObiTalk Device.

Forget Micro-SIM, Nano-SIM will be the future

Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) presents the world’s smallest SIM card: the nano-SIM. A third smaller than the micro-SIM, the nano-SIM enables manufacturers to produce devices that are even thinner and perform even better. This new development from G&D could be finding its way into the first mobile devices as early as next year.

Nano-SIM will be about 30% smaller than the micro-SIM and 60% smaller than the regular SIM card. It will approximately measure 12mm X 9mm. One of the major difference that sets Nano-SIM different from its predecessor is the thickness of the card has been reduced by 15%. According G&D it was a tremendous technical challenge to reduce the thickness.

Backward compatibility will be ensured by an adapter which can fit the micro and regular SIM card slots available on most phones today.

G&D will be showcasing the nano-SIM at the CARTES & IDentification 2011 trade show from November 15 to 17 at stand 4 J 001.

Source: Giesecke & Devrient