Is WhatsApp about to land on your desktop?

The world's most popular social mobile messaging app is rumoured to be developing a PC version of its service. 

Dutch blog AndroidWorld.nl has uncovered references to a web client version of WhatsApp while sifting through code connected to the current Android smartphone app. 

The code in question also suggests that rather than coming as a desktop app, those of us that want the app on our computers as well as our mobile devices will be able to access it via the Web — it looks as if the web app will be compatible with Google's Chrome browser whether running on a Mac or a PC. 

It might seem strange at first to take a mobile service and make it immobile, but WhatsApp wants to compete with Google Hangouts and Apple's iMessage, both of which work seamlessly across devices. 

If you're working on your computer when a message arrives, isn't it better that it appears on the desktop rather than on a phone which could be buried at the bottom of a bag? 

Continuity of services across devices is set to be one of the standout trends of the coming year. Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 will have features baked in that will let users shuffle documents and content from desktop to handset and even game consoles. 

Samsung is also developing its own system for its ever growing product line that will let its smartphone users get notifications on their smart TVs and push computer files and video content between video players, tablets and smartphones too. — AFP/Relaxnews 2014

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY TO ALL MY FRIENDS.
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Warping images using your PC graphics card

By projecting images onto contoured surfaces you get a virtual experience that puts you at the center of the action. Now, a quick and easy calibration technique could help the concept find a wider application beyond the planetarium.

It's almost as if you were weightless. You can reach out and touch the Big Dipper and all around you are multitudes of twinkling stars. The glowing band of the Milky Way is clear in the sky, leaving you with the impression of actually being enveloped within it. In short, the perfect illusion – numerous projectors broadcasting a recreated version of the actual night sky onto the huge dome of the planetarium. The biggest of these domed projection screens measure over 20 meters in diameter. Now, scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems FOKUS in Berlin have joined forces with graphics card manufacturer NVIDIA to integrate the technology required to project images of this type using a standard PC graphics card. "Desktop warping" allows any Windows desktop display to be projected onto curved screens – just like in a planetarium.

But how exactly do you go about "warping" screens? Manuel Schiewe, a FOKUS researcher who has dedicated a lot of time to the topic, is on hand to provide some answers. To get an even picture on a curved screen, each of the projectors must be precisely calibrated with one another. Each of them projects a part of the image, parts which together form the whole. "It's a bit like a puzzle. Every piece has to slot in exactly with the others to get the right picture," explains Schiewe. Projectors must be set up so that the images they project are of an equal brightness and suitable for a curved surface. This requires Schiewe to recalibrate the images, which were originally intended for a flat screen.

Initially, the only way this could be done was to calibrate manually. "As soon as the position of the projectors moved even slightly, we had to step in and make manual adjustments," recalls Schiewe. The solution came from Fraunhofer FOKUS's laboratories in Berlin, where researchers developed a piece of software that automatically calibrates images to match the projection screen. To do this, cameras capture test images generated by the projectors. The software then uses image processing algorithms to calculate the current calibration of the images on the projection screen. It then has all the information it needs to make auto- matic corrections to the calibration and brightness of the images. "Today, planetariums, theme parks and simulators use the `Projector auto-alignment' tool to guarantee an even picture on large contoured surfaces," says Schiewe.

ANDROID

Android is a Linux-based operating system designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones andtablet computers. Initially developed by Android, Inc., which Google backed financially and later bought in 2005, Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance: a consortium of hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. The first Android-powered phone was sold in October 2008.

Android is open source and Google releases the code under the Apache License. This open-source code and permissive licensing allows the software to be freely modified and distributed by device manufacturers, wireless carriers and enthusiast developers. Additionally, Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of devices, written primarily in a customized version of the Javaprogramming language. In October 2012, there were approximately 700,000 apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play, Android's primary app store, was 25 billion. A developer survey conducted in April–May 2013 found that Android is the most popular platform for developers, used by 71% of the mobile developer population.

Operating Systems have developed a lot in last 15 years. Starting from black and white phones to recent smart phones or mini computers, mobile OS has come far away. Especially for smart phones, Mobile OS has greatly evolved from Palm OS in 1996 to Windows pocket PC in 2000 then to Blackberry OS and Android.

 One of the most widely used mobile OS these days is ANDROID. Android is a software bunch comprising not only operating system but also middleware and key applications. Android Inc was founded in Palo Alto of California, U.S. by Andy Rubin, Rich miner, Nick sears and Chris White in 2003. Later Android Inc. was acquired by Google in 2005. After original release there have been number of updates in the original version of Android.