Google launches the third annual Google Science Fair.

Google has launched its iconic global science fair by inviting students around the world to present ideas that could shape the world and perhaps become the next Ada Lovelace. Lovelace was a teenager in the early 1800s when she became fascinated with math and went on to write what is considered to be the first computer program. "Many great scientists developed their curiosity for science at an early age and went on to make groundbreaking discoveries that changed the way we live," Sam Peter of Google's science fair team said in a blog post. Partners in the third annual Google Science Fair include European research organization CERN and the toy LEGO Group. The Internet powerhouse known for investing in unusual projects such as self-driving cars and glasses linked to the Web said that students ages 13 to 18 can compete for the top prizes in the science contest. Challenges tackled by prior fair winners included early diagnosis of breast cancer, cataloguing the ecosystem found in water, and enabling people with hearing loss to better listen to music etc according to Peter. Science fair prizes include a $50,000 scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos with National Geographic Expeditions. The deadline for submissions is April 30 and top finalists will be brought to Google's campus in Mountain View, California, where winners will be announced during an event on September 23.

Micromax launches Canvas HD

Micromax Canvas HD

Micromax has claimed that it shipped more phablets - the Android phones with a screen size of over 5 inches - than Samsung in the last three months in India. 

At an event, where the company announced a new phablet called Canvas HD, Micromax said that it had imported over 1.98 lakh phablets in India in the months of October, November and December. In comparison, the company claimed that Samsung imported around 1.89 lakh Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II tablets during the same period, outright beating samsung!

Deepak Mehrotra, CEO, Micromax, told, "We plan to launch 30 smartphones this year." 

With a screen size of five-inches and a resolution of 720P, Micromax Canvas HD is aimed at consumers who like 'phablets' such as Samsung Galaxy Note II and HTC Butterfly but consider them too expensive. 

For its price, the device has an impressive hardware, having a high resolution screen, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8 megapixel camera and 4GB internal memory with support for up to 32GB micro SD card. The device is powered by Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean. While the quad-core processor in Canvas HD may not be as good as the quad-core chip in Butterfly or Note II, it is likely to be powerful enough to handle the average workload. 

Micromax said that Canvas HD would be available in the first week of February at a price of less than Rs 15,000. 

Facebook's hacker cup now open for registeration.

Facebook has now opened registration for its third annual Hacker Cup, which shall begin from January 25. The top prize for the competition is set at $ 10,000 as against $ 5,000 last year and as many 25 of the best hackers will be taken to Facebook's headquarter in USA, a statement said. The Facebook Hacker Cup is an annual worldwide programming competition where hackers compete against each other for fame, fortune, glory and a shot at the famous Hacker Cup. "The competition will be held in two rounds starting with an online qualification, out of which 25 of the best hackers are then flown by Facebook to their headquarters inMenlo Park, CA," Facebook said. "The preliminary round will be held between January 25 and February 16 while the onsite final round is scheduled for March 22-23, 2013. Contestants will be judged on accuracy and speed as they race to solve algorithmic problems to advance through up to five rounds of programming challenges," it added. Last year, the Hacker Cup attracted 8,000 participants from 150 countries, with the winner- Roman Andreev, hailing from Russia, Facebook said. "Hacking is core to how we build at Facebook. Whether we're building a prototype for a major product like Timeline at a Hackathon, creating a smarter search algorithm, or tearing down walls at our new headquarters, we're always hacking to find better ways to solve problems," Facebook said in its Hacker's Cup page. Facebook said that those who registered for a previous year are automatically registered for the competition year, however, they still need to check their information is up-to-date.

Google Handwrite improved with am.update

Google Handwrite was launched in 2012, allowing users to write out search terms using longhand on their touchscreens. While quite handy in certain situations, it lacked recognition quality for languages with intricately-written symbols, resulting in issues for those in Japan and China, as well as a handful of other niggling issues. Earlier today, the search engine giant rolled out an update that fixes a lot of these issues. As far as recognition goes, Google has added a manual correction box that allows users to select the correct letter or number when the handwritten version is mistaken as something else. For example, if a user writes a “z” and it is mistaken as a “2,” the user can select the correct item from a drop-down menu. Finally, to help solve the issues experienced by those using the service with Chinese characters, Google has added multi-character support to Handwrite. Whereas previously users had to write only one Chinese character at a time, users can now write multiple characters at once, reducing the amount of time it takes to pull up a search.

Google planning to get rid of passwords!

Since passwords have become an increasing problem for many, Google has been roumered to be trying to replace them entirely and is experimenting with tecgnologies USB keys, mobile phones or even your jewellery that can act as a physical "key" to give you access to your account easily and hassle free. The search giant's security department is said to reveal its findings next month and announce if such a thing could be feasable or not. The Yubikey, which is believed to have been tested by Google, can automatically log users onto all their accounts without ever asking for a password by placing it into a Google laptop. This tiny key can be used in any machine with a USB drive, and acts as a physical "key" to unlock the user's account. It can automatically log users in to all of their accounts, and even into their favourite websites, without ever asking for a password. The firm is also believed to be working with wireless chips that are already built into some mobile phones, and can even be built in jewellery. 'We'd like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorize a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity,' the team write. The firm is also believed to be addressing the obvious problem with the system - users losing their "key". The firm is thought to be developing a simple system to replace them. The USB Keys can be placed on a keychains, and are similar to the ID readers required by many banks to allow people to log into their accounts However, the pair admits that they will have to rely on websites to support the scheme. The USB keys are resilient to being dropped, and can even be taken underwater without ruining them.

10 most data consuming Android apps

Android Logo

Several Google Android mobile phone applications, including the Angry Birdsgame, have been found to extract personal information of users like their location and contacts.

The other nine applications include Toss It game, Talking Tom virtual pet, Backgrounds HD Wallpapers, Dictionary.com, Mouse Trap game, Horoscope, Shazam music, Brightest Flashlight and Pandora Internet Radio, the Daily Mail has reported.

The list, compiled by Carnegie Mellon University researchers, in Pittsburgh, US, was released after analysing the 100 most popular applications on the android system.

Dr. Jason Wong, a faculty at the university's Human-Computer Interaction Institute, said that although applications such as Google Maps were expected by users to take their personal details, the Angry Birds and the Brightest Flashlight applications came as a complete surprise for a majority of people.

Users, who do not know why their details are taken, may be facing potential privacy issues, since they have some level of informed consent, said Dr. Wong.

They would be less suspicious if they were told as to why the information is extracted, he added.

According to Dr. Wong, development of efficient business models to keep user privacy and better policies is necessary for removing the suspicion of users.

Sadeh, however, added that developers of such applications are invited by platforms to collect more than relevant information, which they may use in an improper manner.

Man finds his lost Dog After Identifying Her by Her Bark

When a family pet goes missing, it's really bad for the owners. Not knowing where the beloved pet is and if it will return home safely can cause extreme anguish and heartache. For those who depend on animals not just for companionship, but also for assistance with daily routines, losing a pet can be that much more difficult.

When Shane Wilson's dog, Lucy, jumped out of the back of his pickup truck in Commerce, Ga., he figured he might never see her again. Wilson's home is 30 miles from the spot where Lucy went missing. So he drove the stretch of road every day for six days in search of her. He almost gave up, but then he got a phone call: Two women told him that they thought they had found Lucy.

Becky Davis and Tiffany Scoggins were having breakfast at a restaurant when they saw the dog, and they walked down a freeway exit ramp to get her. Even though Wilson had posted fliers all over Commerce about his missing dog, Davis and Scoggins were unaware of who she was. The two women took Lucy to a veterinarian, and the vet knew exactly who she was.

When Wilson got the call, he was hopeful, but hesitant to completely believe Lucy had been found because he'd had so many false reports. Wilson had the vet get Lucy to bark, and then he was sure. Not only is Wilson happy to have his companion back, but to have his little helper back: Lucy is a service dog who helps Wilson when he falls, and she also opens doors for him. Wilson lost his right leg after a motorcycle accident five years ago, and walks with a prosthetic leg.

"God sent us two angels today," Wilson said of Davis and Scoggins. The women would not accept the $500 reward that was offered, instead saying that just seeing the reunion of Wilson and Lucy was "worth a million dollars," and they added, "it made our day."

RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Ready Program Is Attracting Converts

If you’re looking for a good barometer of enterprise interest in Research In Motion’s forthcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system, the company’s BlackBerry 10 Ready Program is one place to check.

With its offers of free BB10 training and the opportunity to easily upgrade existing BlackBerry Enterprise Server licenses, the program was designed to woo RIM’s bread-and-butter customers to its new platform. And it appears to be doing just that.

RIM says that more than 1,600 businesses in North America have registered for BlackBerry 10 Ready since it was announced in December — among them, government agencies, Fortune 500 companies and universities. And, according to Bryan Lee, senior director of enterprise accounts at RIM, BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 is currently in beta testing with some 130 major government agencies and corporations.

“We are very enthused by the engagement and response of our customer base,” Lee told Reuters. “In terms of verticals and segments, we are seeing good activity levels across all of our segments from small- and mid-market to large enterprises.”

That’s encouraging news, and it bodes well for RIM, which is struggling to regain traction in the enterprise market it once dominated. The company is scheduled to debut its first BlackBerry 10 device at an event on Jan. 30.