Google I/O 2013 Update
The registration for Google I/O, an annual conference held by Google opens on March 13, 2013. The event itself will begin May 15 and continue for two days till May 17. Registrations open at 7:00 AM PDT and will remain open until all the tickets are sold out. Last year, they were sold out in less than 30 minutes. The ticket prices will be USD $900 for general attendees and $300 for academic attendees. Attendees will have to make sure they setup a Google+ account and a Google Wallet buyer account for getting the tickets.
Stay tuned to developers.google.com/io for more.
Easter Egg in Chromebook Pixel
Ever heard of a laptop with an easter egg? The Chomebook Pixel which was unveiled by Google yesterday comes with one. It involves the Konami code which is a cheat code that appeared in many video games such as Contra. If you enter the code, i.e. up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A, then the lightbar on the laptop’s lid blinks a colorful pattern of lights.
Way to go, Google!
Chromebook Pixel Announced
Remember that leaked video of a new Chromebook a few weeks ago? Google has just announced it. Some of the specs listed below are pretty darn impressive.
- The highest pixel density(239 ppi) on any laptop. This translates to a resolution of 2560 X 1700.
- Gorilla Glass multi-touch screen
- Powered by an Intel Core i5 Processor(Dual core 1.8GHz)
- One TB Google Drive cloud storage for three years
All this plus the anodized aluminium body makes it truly inspire future innovation. Well, how much do they cost? The WiFi version comes at $1299. There is also an LTE version that costs $1449.
I would like to see where Google would go with this. First, there were the low-range Chromebooks that most people thought were too cheap to buy and now suddenly they complain about a high-end model. Also, Google is hinting at something with the “For what’s next” caption on the website.
Ok Glass!
Google has revealed what it’ll be like to wear Glass, its augmented reality specs in a short video.
The voice commands all start with ‘ok glass’. This is used to activate the device. From the video, I could identify the following instructions that Google Glass can perform:
- ‘google’ – search the web
- ‘take a picture’
- ‘record a video’
- ‘hangout with’ – conduct a Google+ hangout
- ‘get directions to’
All of these including replying to messages is shown via an interface similar to Google Now.
One thing I’m looking forward to is a movie fully captured by Glass.
HDR mode in CyanogenMod
Recently, the CyanogenMod team added HDR mode for the stock CM 10.1 camera. This has been implemented similarly to what was done in the Nexus 4. And this feature has already rolled out to the latest nightlies of a few devices.
Here’s what HDR mode is all about. High Dynamic Range allows a greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image. It involves taking multiple pictures at different exposure levels and intelligently stitching them together to produce a picture that is representative in both dark and bright areas.
