Project Loon is a network of balloons travelling on the edge of the space, designed to connect people in rural and remote areas to help fill the gaps which still don’t have Internet access. Not only it will help the technologically backward places but will also help places which are blown apart by natural disasters. It will help people get back online in no time and communicate with the world. Making it easy for everyone in ways more than we can imagine.

HOW LOON WORKS?

The balloon of Project Loon travels 20km above the Earth’s surface in our stratosphere. This is to make sure the balloons travel at a steady pace as winds in the stratosphere are steady and slow-moving ( 5-20mph ). The software used to run the balloons determine its location and decides where it needs to go, this way each loon is kept apart from each other and are travelling in the stratosphere by moving wind. This way it creates a large network of loons around our planet, thus creating a large, wide-spread communication network.
Each balloon provides connectivity to a ground area of about 40km in diameter at speeds which are comparable to 3G. There are special antennas which help the balloons communicate with each other and help setup the ground communications as well.

WHERE AND WHEN THIS STARTS?

The Pilot Project has already started with about 50 testers in New Zealand using 30 balloons. These testers have a special antenna that can connect balloons when they are within 20km radius.
If you are in New Zealand you can register to become a Pilot Tester. Fill up the online form if you are interested.

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The feature is simple to use and easy to learn. All you have to make sure is Dropbox is running in background ( check system tray for the Dropbox icon ). This is only available in the experimental build for now so you can either download the it now and start using it or you can wait till it comes to the final build and your desktop app automatically updates.

HOW TO CAPTURE SCREENSHOTS?

Windows

• Press the ‘Prt Scr’ button ( Print Screen )
• Open ‘Paint’
• Paste the screenshot ( Ctrl + v )
• Save the Screenshot

Windows 8′s optional method

The usual Windows method still works in Windows 8 but Windows 8 has one additional method to do that.

• Press ‘Windows + Prt Scr’ button together.
• Screenshot is autosaved in ‘Pictures > Screenshots’

Mac / OS X

OS X  has a few many options to take a screenshot

• Command + Shift + 3 = Screenshot of the whole Screen.
• Command + Shift + 4 = Screenshot of custom part of the Screen.

There are a few ways to customise your screenshots before you take them, read about  all the options here.

HOW TO CAPTURE & SHARE SCREENSHOTS WITH DROPBOX ?

With the new upcoming Dropbox update, you have two different ways to store and share screenshots

1. ‘Ctrl + Prt Scr’ = A screenshot of your entire desktop will be saved in the screenshots folder.
2. ‘Ctrl + Atl + Prt Scr’ = A screenshot of the only the program window open in foreground is saved.

In both the cases, as soon as a screenshot is stored/saved, the public share link is copied to your clipboard.
You can download the Dropbox experimental build to start using this feature.
For now this is only available for Windows & Mac.

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Even though Windows power users didn’t welcome the new Modern UI but everyone very well accepted it. There is still the lack of Start button that irks most users, but for a touch screen user this lack of start button was not missed. Keeping the same idea in mind but this time considering a lot of things the community found missing, Microsoft would be releasing Windows 8.1 on June 26th 2013 which will be the first major update to Windows 8 since its release.

Codenamed as ‘Windows Blue’, this update will be Microsoft’s first step towards releasing annual updates to Windows Operating System as promised similar to how Apple releases version updates for their Operating System OS X.

PERSONALIZATION

• Lock screen allows Local / SkyDrive picture slideshow
• Full customisable color scheme for start screen. Full set of color palette to choose any color you want.
• Start screen background ( Static images as well as Animated )
• Desktop Wallpaper can be used as the start screen background.

LIVE TILES

• 3 Different Live Tile sizes.
• Extra large tiles hold more information if possible like Weather, Calendar, etc.
• Multiple Tiles can now be selected to resize, rearrange and uninstall apps.

DIRECT TO DESKTOP

• The Start Screen now be skipped and you will directly reach the Desktop.
• The Desktop now has the very much missed Start Button.

NEW REVAMPED SEARCH

• Search can now do a global search of Apps, files, settings and even web searches directly from Windows.
• Live Search recommendations based on what you type.
• Search results open a app-like screen that combines Wikipedia like data, preview of other results from the internet, images, videos and local content matching that keyword.

ENHANCED MULTITASKING

• Apps load directly besides the running apps if triggered within the App itself.
• Split-screen apps can now be custom resized to the amount of screen you want it to share.

There is a lot more to Windows 8.1 and it is very exciting to see how quickly Microsoft is improving their product with the help of the community. It is commendable that since the release of Windows 8, Microsoft has been actively looking into what Window 8 lacks and what users miss. Based on the user feedback, Microsoft had added all these minor required changes plus the big improvements which were required to make Windows 8.1 a very real competing product.
Mark your calendars and look for an update for Window 8.1 on June 26th 2013.  All the apps are being updated or will be updated to adjust to the new Windows 8.1 features. Most of the core Apps are already updated.

Windows 8.1 update will be available in Windows Store.
It will be a free update for both Windows 8 and Windows RT users.

The post Windows 8.1 : Release Date, Screenshots & Features [Video] appeared first on Tech FanaTic Blog.

Experience the keynote, Android development tools, Android updates, Play Store Updates, Google Plus features, Google Play Music, Chrome, Developer Tools, amazing technologies Google is working on and Larry Page’s heartfelt speech in less than 5 minutes.

Pumped up watching this video?! Still want more?
Check out our short Google I/O Keynote coverage.

The post Google I/O 2013 Highlights in less than 5 minutes [Video] appeared first on Tech FanaTic Blog.

It is deemed to have the Nexus experience i.e. Stock Android experience. Yes, all the Samsung software fluff you get with the TouchWiz UI can be skipped and what you get is the royal pure Android experience.

No one was disappointed with this announcement, rather everybody ( even the ones who hated S4 ) like S4 much more than before.

But with this release came the major question, what happens with HTC? HTC was the first company to launch the Nexus device. The one Nexus device which was loved and used by millions for years. HTC’s Nexus device was the most stable device for few years. Despite all the hardware advancements post its launch and various new devices equipped with better hardware were launched. HTC Nexus was still an Android lover/user’s favorite or the best Android device.

So the obvious question was will HTC make their HTC One the Nexus device? With only two devices out in market right now which are deemed to be best Android smartphones right now, S4 and HTC One are the only ones which people like the most. It would be a logical move for HTC to give the pure Android experience a.k.a. Nexus experience in their HTC One to all the HTC  & Nexus fans.

Making everyone happy and answering the major question, HTC revealed a new version of HTC One that runs an untouched, stock version of Google’s Android Operating system.
The device will be unlocked and run on all carriers with the support of high-speed LTE on available networks. HTC has provided an easy to read and understand spec sheet with all the 3 different HTC One versions.

This release was actually teased by a Developer Evangelist at HTC at the time of Google I/O

So you can pay $649 for a piece of plastic running stock or… You can wait #IO13 

— Leigh (@jetleigh) May 15, 2013

Benefits of running stock version of Android

• Quick updates. As soon as an Android update is released, you do not have to wait for the manufacturer’s Android update. You can quickly do a OTA and get the latest update. Basically, Google handles the update.
• Lesser known bugs.
• No superficial UI running on top of your OS, makes your device run fast and more effective.
• No app issues. All apps run smoothly as they are purely originally made to run on stock Android. No UI tweak or glitch to crash it.
• Pure Nexus Experience. If you loved Google Nexus devices in past, you’ll love this one too.
• Unlocked device, no more carrier restrictions on your device.
• Skip all the bloatware installed by the manufacturer, carrier or UI.
• Having no UI essentially runs your App at full potential and increases your battery life.

 via HTC Blog

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What it means is, if you share a folder with some other person, the counting data in shared folders is not counted for everyone. Instead of counting it for all the accounts Copy allows users to ‘split the bill’ and control which files count against their storage capacity. This helps not burderning all accounts with the same data which is stored in shared folders and shared  amongst other users.

So whats so special about Copy?
Well nothing really. The only benefit is the ‘Fair Storage for All’ Intitiative.

Copy “Fair Storage for All” Initiative — Instead of counting data in shared folders against all members’ individual storage quotas so everyone pays for the same data over and over, Copy allows users to “split the bill” and control which files count against their storage capacity. Copy was created to meet the exceedingly high design demands of today’s online and mobile users, and to provide the advanced security and corporate features required for businesses.

It provides everything else the other cloud storage services do, but one thing it stands out is the referral program. And here is how to gain that extra 5GB and bump you account immediately to 20GB free storage.
We all love extra free cloud storage, we already covered various other ways to get all the possible free storage on Dropbox, we already covered the excellent SkyDrive feature we all missed somehow and we also provided you a speical service which gives you very secure and free 50GB storage with no strings attached.
And the same with Copy, we will give you the extra 5GB storage with no strings attached.  Heres how,

Get 20GB Free storage instead of 15GB

• Copy is running a special Referral program, when you sign up via our link, you will get 20GB FREE permanent cloud storage instead of the regular 15GB storage. Just make sure you sign up via our link. You get an extra 5GB storage.
• Verify your email, and download + install the desktop client.

Once you have done this, you will get your extra 5GB immediately.

Since this is a common referral program you too can start stacking up the free referral bonus. Once you sign up via our link, head over to Bonus and referral and copy your referral link and share it on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Or email your friends and get the referral work running. Each person who registers via your link gets an extra 5GB and in return you too get 5GB of extra space. The referral bonus has no limitation so you can go on crazy stacking up the free storage. Yup, can make it 1TB too if possible.

This is a limited referral program, so make sure you Sign up quickly and get your free 20GB Cloud storage immediately.
Copy is available for Windows Desktop | Mac OS X | Linux | Android | iOS

The post New Cloud Storage Service provides 20GB of FREE storage to all appeared first on Tech FanaTic Blog.

Some Fascinating Numbers :

• 900 million Android devices activated
• 48 billion app installs
• 2.5 billion app installs every month
• 200,000 push messages every second i.e. 17 billion messages a day.
• 1 million+ websites use Google Maps

For Developers :

Beta Testing & Staged Rollouts :
Developers can now add new features and test it at Alpha stage as well as Beta stage within and choose to do that within the Developer console. This would allow developers to pick a percentage of users that will get an update, and then choose whenever they want to release it for rest of their users.

Android Studio : An IDE made by Google keeping in mind the Android developer environment. The Android studio is also integrated with all the Google cloud services used by Developers.

App translation services announced : Developers can now request their apps to be translated directly in the Developer console making the process of releasing region language apps easy. Developers have the choice to choose the translation service they want and choose an appropriate translation service which would fit their budget.

Google Cloud Messaging : It now supports persistent connections, upstream messaging and syncs notifications.

Google released a new Samsung Galaxy S4 variant which runs on stock Android ( Jelly Beans ) and will be coming to Google Play for $649 on June 26th 2013.

Google Play Music All access : Essentially a music streaming service with a monthly subscription model. This service would cost $9.99 / mo ( $7.99 if taken by June 30 ) with 30-days trial.

Google + Updates :

• 41 new features which drastically changes the Stream, Hangouts and photos. Stream is now multi-column design with a new layout and a lot of new features. Photos uploaded to Google+ now get free touchup, this auto enhances the photos to give it a fresh, new and original look.
• Auto Awesome feature automatically combines pictures together I order to create a new animated image like a gif.
• If photos are taken side by side, a panorama can be created using those photos.
• Hangouts are not available on iOS, Android and Chrome making it a cross-platform feature.
• Google+ now gives you 15GB of free storage space for full-size pictures as well as unlimited space for standard resolution images.

New Google Maps

• Google maps app for iOS would get a major update with a lot new features including relevant nearby places based on your social graph.
• Traffic incident and re-routing features based on the live update would be added to the iOS app.
• The desktop version of Google Maps would be updated with new interface, imagery and much gives much more personalised experience.
• Google Earth can now be accessed from your browser without installing any plugin, you can quickly switch to Google Earth view right from the Google Maps webapp making it a seamless transition.
• WebGL is used and vector maps are loaded making it quick to load and produce much intensive and interactive imagery.

Request for an invite to the new Google Maps for Desktop here.

Google Wallet

You can now send money from Gmail itself by mailing somebody the payment. This will be done by using your Google wallet balance.

Google also gave a free Chromebook Pixel to all I/O attendees.

The post Everything from the Google I/O 2013 Keynote appeared first on Tech FanaTic Blog.

Other cloud storage providers know from their user usage that photos are very important to them. Their users need it and use it quite frequently. Most of the cloud storage services have some sort of a gallery which auto detects your photos and self organises it logically making it easy to store, find, browse and share photos.

Stepping in the same shoes, and observing user behavior ( especially after lauching the new Windows Phones ) SkyDrive has now introduced Photo Timeline, which would organise all your photos in a timeline view with thumbnail view making it easy to sell all your photos.Dropbox being the pioneer are one of the pioneer in nailing that feature. This not only puts a tough competition to other cloud storage services but also puts a small frown on the photo sharing services which solely are made for users to upload and share photos.

As expected the photos are organised or grouped by events and time. This will make it easier to organise, delete and share them with other friends. With this new update, SkyDrive desktop app has been updated too. The desktop app sees a big performance boost which Microsoft claims would make photo uploads 2-3x better. Also full resolution photos and videos shot with Windows Phone 8 can be backed up as they are taken with the SkyDrive camera roll feature.

For more info check out Inside SkyDrive

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But for now, Marvel has released a 6 second teaser trailer. But wait its not on YouTube or their own website. Rather its not even a video teaser trailer.
Marvel has chosen to release it on Vine. The full 6 second clip is filled with action and at the end it re-introduces Agent Phil Coulson, the character The Avengers fans have seen dying.

Not much of the details of the show are out yet as the its yet to be announced when its going to relaease. For now enjoy the 6-second Vine of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

via Marvel on Vine

The post Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D releases its teaser on Vine appeared first on Tech FanaTic Blog.

Amazon’s new App lets iPhone and iPod Touch owners upload, store and share images on their Amazon Cloud Drive. Even though this App is just photo-centric as the UI being very gallery like. This surely is a good competition to Google Drive and Dropbox as Amazon has a huge userbase which uses their cloud player, kindle books and it would be easy for them to upload and share photos from their Cloud Drive.If you have an Amazon account and wanted to use up or start using the 5GB free storage you get with your account, you should definately try this app.

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos for iOS

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