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Monday, 29 December 2014

Jaasta’s Wireless Keyboard Features E-Ink Keys.

  Author : Harmanpreet Singh     No comments
14:50


Depending on where you’re from, your keyboards will be sold to you either in English or feature characters from your native language. This is usually a choice that users have to make as they would have to decide whether their base language should be English or their native tongue, especially since these characters are pretty much etched onto the keys themselves.

This is unlike virtual keyboards where you can switch languages at a touch of a button. Well if you wanted a similar feature for your regular keyboard, you might be interested in the Jaasta Wireless E Ink Keyboard. As the name suggests, this is a keyboard that uses an e-ink screen behind each individual key.

From there users will be able to switch languages whenever they want and have the corresponding keys reflect those changes. On top of that, the keyboard will also sport a 3.5-inch multi-touch touchpad and a display where users can see the time, the language, battery life, and so on.

Unfortunately this also means that the keyboard will not come cheap. The device is priced at a whopping $300 which is mighty expensive as far as keyboards are concerned. However if you don’t mind paying that much, the company has announced that they are planning on opening up pre-orders soon, so if you’d like to learn more, pop on over to its website for the details.


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New King of Tech Startups: Smartphone Maker Xiaomi Raises $1.1 Billion at $45 Billion Valuation.

  Author : Harmanpreet Singh     No comments
10:30



Xiaomi has said it has closed a massive $1.1 billion round of funding that values the fast-growing Chinese phone maker at a jaw-dropping $45 billion, pre-money. The huge amount makes it the most highly valued tech startup in the world, besting a recent whopping valuation of Uber at over $40 billion.

 CEO and founder Lei Jun officially announced the investment on a post on China’s Weibo just now. He said the funding, which has been widely reported was coming, was completed last week.

 Yuri Milner’s investment group DST Global, which sources say has already poured $500 million into Xiaomi, took part in the latest round, which is mostly made up of new investors. Milner’s interest in the Chinese company has been intriguing, akin to his big-money bets in Facebook many years ago.

 A private equity group affiliated with Alibaba Group‘s Jack Ma also invested in this round, along with a pile of other powerful players.

 The reason is clear: With a focus on rapid innovation and nifty software, Xiaomi has quickly grown to become the world’s third-largest phone maker. However, a recent financial report showed profits remain slim, just $56 million in 2013.

 The company’s valuation, though, has continued to soar as the company has expanded beyond its home turf in China, with an eye toward becoming a global giant. A 2012 funding round valued the company at $4 billion, while investments last year pegged its valuation at $10 billion.

 Sources say that $10 billion is now equal roughly to the amount of revenue that Xiaomi is doing annually, as the company continues to expand into new markets, including India. In China, Xiaomi frequently sells tens of thousands of its phones per minute through its online storefront.

 As was the case with Alibaba, the latest Xiaomi funding reflects strong global interest to back companies that have thrived in China’s cutthroat domestic market and have the scale and ambition to take their efforts worldwide.

 Overseeing Xiaomi’s big global plans is Hugo Barra, a former Google executive who was part of the team that leads Android development.

 The investment is the second massive one to take place in the last month, creating private companies that are valued at sums akin to public ones. Uber, the sometimes controversial transportation startup, recently announced a similar funding. Like Uber, Xiaomi has grown very big, very fast.

 Xiaomi executive Bin Lin appeared at D: Dive Into Mobile in 2013 to discuss the company’s humble roots, its winning online sales strategy and its plans to grow far bigger.
And here’s a translation of Jun’s post:
Xiaomi Completed A New Round of Financing Last Week.
Xiaomi raised a new financing round at a $45bn valuation last week. The total amount raised was more than $1.1bn. Investors include All Stars, DST, GIC, Hopu and Yunfeng. This fundraising round is in recognition of the results Xiaomi has achieved in the last four years since inception, and also unveils the next chapter of development for Xiaomi.
Xiaomi will assume we are starting from scratch, and continue working towards our dream to let everyone globally enjoy a better life through technology. Our goal is always to pursue high quality, high performance products with good user experience.
Xiaomi will launch some heavyweight flagship products in January 2015 to show gratitude to the fans, partners and investors who have been supporting us.

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Google Reveals First Real Build of their Self-Driving Car Prototype.

  Author : Harmanpreet Singh     No comments
04:35

Google Self-Driving Car Prototype.

For quite some time, Google has been working on a self-driving car. We’ve seen progress over the past few months in Google’s foray into the auto field, but the first working car to debut was only an early prototype. In fact, the car in the self-driving promotional video didn’t even have working headlights! Now that’s all changed as Google showed off their first “complete prototype” for the very first time in an announcement today.

The company has been working on a number of different prototypes to test different areas of the car. For instance, they would have two separate test cars: one that focuses on actual car parts like steering wheels or brakes, and another for self-driving parts like computers and sensors. Now, they’ve come up with a fully-complete prototype.

Google says they’ll spend the holidays testing the car on their test tracks, and they hope to get the car on the streets sometime within the year 2015. In the mean time, Google’s safety drivers will continue to oversee the way the vehicle runs, using temporary manual controls as needed while they continue to test and learn.

This hopefully means that we should begin seeing some more progress come out of Google’s self-driving labs in the near future.

Google self-driving car concept
Google is taking over the future, one application at the time.

Today, from the not-Android-but-mind-blowing department, we have the first self-driving car designed from the ground up by Google. Yes, it looks like something a cartoon character would get around in, but what really matters is what’s on the inside or, better said, what isn’t.

There’s no steering wheel, no pedals, no shift stick, not even a rearview mirror, because why would you need it when the car does all the driving?

Google has long been working on self-driving cars, but until now it used regular cars like Toyota Prius hybrids or Lexus SUVs modified with a self-driving system. This completely new model was designed and built in-house by Google as a prototype, and the company wants to manufacture about 100 units in the following months.

Following a test period that will see pilots “drive” versions with manual controls, Google hopes it’ll be able to let a limited number of cars roam on their own on California’s roads within the next two years.

For now, the car is limited to 25mph (40km/h) and the interior is mostly empty. There’s not much to look at because Google just wants to introduce the concept and prove that it’s feasible and, more importantly, safe.

More details on Google’s blog post and in this preview from Re/code.

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Goodbye, Aereo: Company To Sell Off Its Assets To The Highest Bidder.

  Author : Harmanpreet Singh     No comments
01:09



Once believed to be a cord-cutters dream, Aereo will conclude its near 8-month-long death rattle as the company sells off its TV streaming technology to the highest bidder in late February 2015. According to The Wall Street Journal, all sales will be overseen by the broadcasters that originally busted up Aereo in the first place.

After the highly publicized court case in June came down with the decision that Aereo's approach to online streaming was, in fact, illegal and violated copyright laws, the decision was then immediately tested against other streaming services, and Aereo shut down the next day. Promises that Aereo wasn't done yet suggested the company might return as a DVR service. But a month later, the company closed its office in Boston and soon filed for bankruptcy.

Despite these murky waters of legality, 17 bidders are interested in Aereo's technology. The Wall Street Journal reports that Aereo believes its tech can be used legally but broadcasters are wary, which is why they'll have two weeks to object to any deal Aereo makes. It's unlikely Aereo will resurrect under another guise considering the broadcasters' strict oversight.

So for Aereo, this is how it ends-picked apart piece by piece. Luckily, it's not a complete dead end for live TV streaming. The internet always finds a way. 

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