Monthly Archives: January 2013

8 posts

The Grand Canyon on Google Maps

Google has released panoramic imagery of one of the world’s most spectacular national monuments: the Grand Canyon. These beautiful, interactive images cover more than 75 miles of trails and surrounding roads, making our map of this area even more comprehensive, accurate and easy to use than ever before.

“Take a walk down the narrow trails and exposed paths of the Grand Canyon: hike down the famous Bright Angel Trail, gaze out at the mighty Colorado River, and explore scenic overlooks in full 360-degrees. You’ll be happy you’re virtually hiking once you get to the steep inclines of the South Kaibab Trail. And rather than drive a couple hours to see the nearby Meteor Crater, a click of your mouse or tap of your finger will transport you to the rim of this otherworldly site.”

More info: http://googleblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/exploring-grand-canyon-on-google-maps.html

Storage Made Easy Provides Complete Unified Cloud Data Access to Mitii

Mitii Development of Denmark, provider of knowledge-based training for brain enhancement and recovery, has adopted Storage Made Easy’s SaaS hosted Cloud file unification solution for employee access to Cloud files.

“As a small start-up company with a need to focus on cost effective solutions, we searched for cloud based file hosting providers. We were surprised to find that not many solutions actually met what we consider basic needs,” said Jan Friis Hansen of Mitii. “However, with Storage Made Easy, we have a technology that delivers the features we need, including unified permissions access to the clouds we use, desktop tools and flexible backup of data.”

Mitii is using Storage Made Easy’s Windows Cloud App suite to provide a single virtual file view to its S3, Google Drive and SkyDrive documents from Storage Made Easy’s European server. Access is critical to Mitii, so they are using the SME technology’s granular permission settings across its folder hierarchies.

“Unification of data for easy management and cross cloud search is only one facet of our proposition,” said Storage Made Easy CEO Jim Liddle. “We also provide unified access from a common set of permissions that can integrate with in-house identity management systems such as Active Directory and we offer cloud integration right into the desktop through the use of native web drives so that working with cloud documents from any vendor is reasonably transparent to the end user.”

Storage Made Easy’s Cloud Service Broker platform adds an abstraction layer on top of any information source. This provides an enhanced cloud experience via a federated view of data through any of the 35 public / private Cloud Providers supported by the Storage Made Easy solution, such as Rackspace, Azure, Amazon, DropBox, amongst many others.

About Mitii Development:
Mitii Development is a Danish Company, that delivers a new, knowledge-based Professional home training solution, which opens new opportunities in the area of rehabilitation of people with brain damage, chronic diseases and others. The system is based on latest brain research and knowledge about how to organise the training in order to help people with brain damage in the best possible way. It uses the Microsoft Kinect sensor and enables training that effectively induces neuroplastic changes in the brain – it’s ability to construct new networks on the basis of experiences. Further information can be found at http://www.mitii.com.

About Storage Made Easy:
Storage Made Easy provides a cloud service data broker platform and related services either as SaaS or a hybrid on-premise solution. Storage Made Easy unites cloud and data services into a single environment, guaranteeing file access no matter the location or device while providing the highest levels of management, security, compliance, audit, and access services. Storage Made Easy is wholly owned by Vehera Ltd., a private London-based limited company. More information can be found at http://StorageMadeEasy.com

Storage Made Easy Update Android Unified Cloud File Manager Client

Storage Made Easy, the Cloud Data Broker company, announced it had done a major update of its Android Unified Cloud File Manager and made the App free on the Google Play Store and Amazon App Store for a limited time.

The App enables users to add multiple public, private file clouds and manage and interact with them from a single App and a single interface. It features secure managed business file sharing as well as features such as cross cloud search of documents and files, and gives the ability to keep folders in sync from different clouds directly with the device, including an ability to set up a scheduled auto-sync.

The free App provides 5GB free that is hosted on Amazon S3 and also gives the ability to add up to 3 other Cloud Providers. Personal and Business cloud packages remove this limit enabling up to 30 Clouds to be added.

Business Cloud File Server packages are built for teams and provide integration with Active Directory, file locking and permissions, in addition to collaboration, event auditing and user governance features, that work above any mapped cloud.

The service can also be hosted entirely on-premise on a companies own infrastructure. – www.storagemadeeasy.com

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos for Android auto-save

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos for Android auto-save now automatically saves your phone’s photos to Cloud Drive.

Other new features include:
Automatically save your phone’s photos to Cloud Drive
Take photos with your phone’s camera directly from the app*
Select multiple files for upload, download, or deletion
View upload and download status
Pause, resume, and cancel uploads and downloads
View current storage usage and receive low-storage notifications
*requires Android OS 4.0 or higher

5 GB of free storage is included with Amazon Cloud Drive to protect and store your photos from your phone.

Download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.clouddrive.photos&hl=en

Dropbox update for Android features public photo album sharing

Dropbox has updated it’s Android app to allow public photo album sharing.

“Choose your favorite photos and videos from family gatherings, show off the amazing soufflé you created with friends, or highlight your mad snowboarding skills with gorgeous albums that everyone can enjoy from their computers, tablets or phones – no Dropbox account required!

From the Photos tab, tap the button on the top right, and select the pictures you want to share. You can add them to a named album to save for later, or just grab the link to share via email, Facebook, or Twitter.”

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your Android device, and even the Dropbox website

Huawei announces 6.1-inch Ascend Mate

Huawei, has launched the smartphone with the largest screen in the world, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate, at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The HUAWEI Ascend Mate features a huge 6.1-inch HD display, a 1.5 GHz Hi-Silicon quad-core processor and a 4050 mAh battery. Together with Huawei’s proprietary Quick Power Control (QPC) and Automated Discontinuous Reception (ADRX) battery efficiency technology and fast sharing technology, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate is proof that bigger is better.

“The HUAWEI Ascend Mate breaks barriers to deliver a supercharged entertainment, communication and creative experience for all your personal and professional needs,” said Richard Yu, CEO, Huawei Consumer Business Group. “The HUAWEI Ascend Mate is an industry-leading smartphone and showcases our innovation as we continue to make great technology available to more people globally.”

HUAWEI Ascend Mate has a screen-to-body ratio of 73% – the highest in the industry – which maximises your viewing pleasure for emails, documents, video or games. The 6.1-inch HD IPS+ LCD screen has a resolution of 1280 x 720 for unsurpassed clarity and colour accuracy, and ‘Magic Touch’ which provides enhanced screen responsiveness even with gloves. The Ascend Mate is slim and stylish, designed to fit comfortably in a single hand at just 6.5mm thin at its narrowest part.

HUAWEI Ascend Mate features a 4050 mAh battery and Huawei’s Hi-Silicon 1.5 GHz quad-core processor. With Huawei’s QPC and ADRX smart power-saving technology, the smartphone provides up to two days of ordinary useage on a single charge. It has the fastest battery charging capability of smartphones in its range, which saves over 30% of battery charging time.

Together with global roaming functionality, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate supports five frequency bands making this smartphone perfect for international travellers. Its dual-antenna design supports high power data transmission and is optimised with maximum ratio combining method, to increase network reception by up to 2.5dB and providing an increase of 20 to 30% of overall network coverage.

Operating on Android 4.1 and featuring an 8.0-megapixel AF rear-facing camera with HDR and 1.0-megapixel HD front-facing camera, HUAWEI Ascend Mate also provides dual MIC noise reduction technology, Dolby® sound system and stereo recording. HUAWEI Ascend Mate features an Augmented Reality navigation application to help reach your destination, ‘smart reading’ functionality allowing quick reference to dictionaries, Wikipedia and Google Search pages, and ‘swift sharing’ to upload pictures, videos and other files two- to three-times faster than other smartphone users in a Wi-Fi environment.

Available in crystal black and pure white, the HUAWEI Ascend Mate will be on sale in China in February 2013.

Canon announce PowerShot A2600 and A1400

Canon U.S.A., Inc., announced the PowerShot ELPH 130 IS, A2600, and the A1400 digital cameras to capture emotions and memories to share in stunning quality. To give consumers a simple, yet enhanced image sharing experience, Canon’s built-in wireless1 functionality has evolved with new options that help make posting on social networking sites easy. Also for users who are constantly on the move, each of the new camera models are outfitted with ECO Mode, a new feature that provides approximately 30 percent longer battery life when enabled, allowing them to shoot more photos for a longer amount of time.

“Our new PowerShot models have advanced features that give photographers an enhanced high-quality imaging experience allowing them to fulfill their day-to-day photography needs, express their vision and tell their story with ease, at a great value,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies & Communication Group, Canon U.S.A.”

PowerShot ELPH 130 IS Digital Camera
The wireless functionality built into the PowerShot ELPH 130 IS digital camera is easy and intuitive and provides users with more connectivity options. With the download of the free Canon CameraWindow app2 from an Android™ or iOS® app store, users can connect to both iOS or AndroidTM smartphones and tablets3 to wirelessly transfer photos and videos from their camera to their device. This camera also has the ability to connect directly to social networking sites using Canon’s iMAGE GATEWAY4, making photos easily accessible and ready to share. In addition, the PowerShot ELPH 130 IS digital camera has the ability to connect to computers and select PowerShot cameras with wireless functionality, making it possible for images to be available in various locations. And for even more connectivity options, photos can be printed using PictBridge5 on select Canon printers, including the new PIXMA MG6320 or PIXMA MX922 Wireless Photo All-In-One printers.

To make connecting easy, a new wireless history menu lists the last three connections used for uploading and sharing images. For users who want to share their images with friends and family, the advanced wireless functionality with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube lets users comment directly from the camera. In addition, users can share images and directly comment to Facebook groups, so the effort of first sending the images to a smartphone, and then posting to Facebook is no longer necessary.

Additionally, with features such as an ECO Mode to help conserve battery life, an 8x-Optical Zoom with 28mm wide-angle lens, and 16-megapixel sensor with a DIGIC 4 Processor, the PowerShot ELPH 130 IS digital camera is a stylish, versatile and easy-to-use camera with advanced technologies for a great shot any time. Adding to its appeal, the camera also features Smart AUTO, which provides an effortless way to get great images in many situations. The 3-inch LCD screen and Intelligent IS also makes photographing easy, with a compact and sleek design. The PowerShot ELPH 130 IS digital camera will be available in a variety of stylish colors: red, grey and silver and is scheduled to be available in February for an estimated retail price of $199.99.

PowerShot A2600 Digital Camera
The PowerShot A2600 digital camera is an ideal user-friendly camera that creates high-quality images. It features a 16-megapixel sensor and 5x-Optical Zoom 28mm wide-angle lens to capture memories that last a lifetime. To make shooting simple, Smart AUTO automatically recognizes and chooses the best settings for 32 common shooting scenarios. 720p HD video is also available with a dedicated movie button to make memories come alive in vivid, lifelike detail. For users that are accustomed to the hustle and bustle of daily life, but looking to treasure those busy moments, the PowerShot A2600 digital camera also comes equipped with a new ECO mode that assists with battery conservation by turning off the 3.0 inch LCD screen when idle. In addition, Digital IS reduces the effect of camera shake and subject movement to help produce crisp, clear images. The PowerShot A2600 digital camera is scheduled to be available in February in five color options: black, silver, red, blue and pink, for an estimated retail price of $149.99.

PowerShot A1400 Digital Camera
With an optical viewfinder, 16-megapixel sensor with a DIGIC 4 Processor, the PowerShot A1400 digital camera gives even the novice photographer the ability to capture spectacular images with ease. The 28mm wide-angle lens with 5x optical zoom aids in capturing great shots from a distance. The PowerShot A1400 digital camera is also equipped with HD Video, and ECO Mode that gives users a camera that is full of features, yet easy to use and economical, allowing for a high-quality imaging experience at a great value. In addition, the PowerShot A1400 digital camera is powered by two AA batteries, allowing for easy replacement whether you are away on an overseas vacation or spending the weekend camping. To make it possible to capture the most cherished moments, the PowerShot A1400 digital camera features Digital IS to help reduce the effects of camera shake and subject movement and a help button that gives users answers to common questions they may have about the camera’s many high-quality functions. For even more imaging options, the PowerShot A1400 digital camera includes scene modes such as fisheye effect, toy camera effect and monochrome that give users creative freedom. The PowerShot A1400 digital camera is scheduled to be available in February for an estimated retail price of $109.99.

For more information, and a full list of product specifications, visit www.usa.canon.com/powershot.

Preview: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/canon-a1400/canon-a1400A.HTM

Google announces YouTube Android app pairing

Google has launched a feature making it easy to send videos from your mobile to your TV with just one button.

“This year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), we’re bringing that mobile/TV pairing feature to devices from our friends including Bang & Olufsen, LG, Panasonic and Sony. In 2013, you’ll see this feature come to even more devices like those from Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio, Western Digital and others. “