Free Internet All Over The World. OuterNet!!!

Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) a non profit organisation has announced their project OuterNet which will give free Internet access to all, regardless of where on this planet they are.

Internet has a wealth of knowledge to share but statistics show that only 40% of the worlds population has access to the internet. Although the price of smartphone and tablets are dropping year to year the prices for data seems to be increasing or way too high for a majority to afford, like rural areas, remote regions and mobile towers or ground cable just does not exist. OuterNet looks forward to eliminating this and providing free internet throughout the planet.

OuterNet is comprised of groups of low cost miniature satellites in Earth's orbit. These satellites receive data streams from a network of ground stations and transmits data in a continuous loop until new content is received. To be able to server maximum audience possible the entire constellation utilizes globally accepted, standards-based protocols such as DVB, Digital Radio Mondiale and UDP-based Wifi Multicasting. 

"OuterNet is a modern version of shortwave radio". It uses leading-edge technology to address a deep rooted social problem. More than 3 billion people in the world are excluded from the vast ocean of knowledge: the internet due to cost, geography or jurisdiction. OuterNet will increase opportunities for everyone to access digital news and information, providing greater opportunity and education.

"We are excited to incubate such a revolutionary project" said MDIF CEO Harlan Mandel. "OuterNet will by-pass censorship, ensure privacy and offer worldwide access to information to everyone, including those who today are beyond the geographic reach of the internet or cant afford it."

Outernet for now will be one way, data will flow from feeders to the satellites which will broadcast to all.MDIF plans to add the ability to transmit from anywhere once funds become available.

Building such a network is fairly expensive. The satellites in question run up costs from $100,000 to $300,000 to build and launch.

OuterNet Vision

Access to knowledge and information is a human right and Outernet will guarantee this right by taking a practical approach to information delivery. By transmitting digital content to mobile devices, simple antennae, and existing satellite dishes, a basic level of news, information, education, and entertainment will be available to all of humanity.

Although Outernet's near-term goal is to provide the entire world with broadcast data, the long-term vision includes the addition of two-way Internet access for everyone. For free.

IP67. What Does It Mean?

With the release of Samsung S5 people have been going on and on about IP67. So what is IP67?

IP or Ingress Protection is a number used to depict  the environmental protection of enclosures around electronic equipment. These rating are determined based on specific tests. The IP number is composed of two digits:
1. Being protection against solid objects
2. Being protection against liquid substances
The higher the number, the better the protection.

First Digit: Solids

Second Digit:Liquids

Google Project Ara. A completely customizable phone for $50. What You Need To Know

Don't you just hate it when you have to wait for a phone which has your dream specs to be released? And on the other end how totally awesome it is that you can customize you PC to your hearts content. Well Google has come to the rescue for all you geeks out there who just do not want to compromise on even the tiniest upgrade possible.

Project Ara: A modular based smartphone

We have Project Ara. A Motorola initiative to do to hardware what Android has done to Software. I think you know where i am going from here?

On August 11th, 2011 Google purchased Motorola for 12.5 billion dollars and later in 2014 sells it for 2.91 billion dollars for a loss of over 9 billion dollars. But many people do not know that Google actually held on to a majority of Motorola's patents and the team behind Project Ara: an open based modular smartphone.

The goal of Project Ara being let 3rd party developers create modules of the phone which can be chosen by the user. And how awesome would it be if you could just build your smartphone from scratch, just like a PC. Sources says that the device would come with an "Endoskeleton" aka "Endo" that holds all the chosen modules together. The basic Endoskeleton would come with a screen and a Wifi radio. They will be designed to be sold at all major convenience stores. From there users can customize their device as per their requirements. Its more cost effective to swap out a single part and upgrade it than purchasing an entire new device?

Parts of a functional prototype of a Project Ara phone -- still a work in progress.
Including the endoskeleton frame, the screen, electrical components & custom
3D-printed module enclosures.

What holds these modules together

Ara Knaian, lead mechanical engineer
on Project Ara, with the phone in its
current functional prototype form.

 What will keep these modules from falling apart in your pocket or when you accidentally drop your device. The modules in the front of the Endo use latches where as the ones in the rear use Electropermanent magnets. In both these cases you would use an App (thats right an app) to lock things in place. These devices will also be resistant to water and other environmental threats.

Now for the down side, the modules themselves are about 4mm thick tiles. And inseted into the endoskeleton the phone is about 9.7mm thick in its current prototype which is a tad less than HTC One which comes in at 9.3mm.


Google just does not want to stop at the functionality part of the device, it is also working on its aesthetics. Here is where 3D Systems next gen of 3D printers come in. It would be able to print colour images at 600dpi on these modules which could be made out of multiple types of materials. Now that's what i call customization.

Ultra HD/ 4K Displays. What You Need To Know

Today we would be discussing one of my favorite topics: Pixels. As you may or may not know, i absolutely love Pixels! The higher the PPI (Pixel Per Inch) or Pixel Density the sharper the picture.

What are 4K TVs
4K is a resolution and its measured in pixels. Lets make things easier for you with a simple comparison below:
 
Pixel Density compared (from smallest to largest):
Smart Phones: the average smart phone has a 1280x720 aka 720p display
Laptops: the average display would be around 1400x900
Desktops: We all know this one, its 1920x1080 aka 1080p displays or Full HD
4K Displays: They are mostly 4000 from side to side and 2000 top to bottom. 4K resolutions do not have a definitive standard yet but more or less towards Ultra HD (UHD) standard which would be 3840x2160 which is exactly double the resolution on a 1080p display. Have a look at the image below on available 4K resolutions:

As a kid you would have sat down real close to your TV (when i say real close i mean a couple of inches away from the screen) just to have a look at the Red, Green and Blue (RGB) lines on the screen. Well, these are the colors which makes up the image on your screen.

 Another factor which determines the number of pixels crammed into an inch is the average distance from which a device is viewed. For instance: You use you mobile a few feet away from your face, hence the pixel density has to be high enough for you not to be able to view those little RGB lines.  As for laptops which are used relatively further away from your eyes can have lower pixel density than your mobile phone and still at normal distance you would not be able to view those RGB lines, which is good. Now when you sit further away from a device like you television, the pixel density is reduced even further, in normal cases it drops to 40ppi which is fine because at this distance you would not be able to view the RGB lines. With a 4K TV you would never be able to see those RGB lines. This due to higher ppi which gives out sharper and more crisper images. How crisp? Watch this LG 3K TV video to find out:

Know more. Share your knowledge via comments.

What is Host Card Emulation (HCE)? What you need to know.

Making financial transactions using mobile devices is considered to be the next break through in payment. NFC or Near Field Communication was designed and developed to make mobile transactions simple, secure and faster. But NFC dint quite take off as expected due to high cost of infrastructure required to implement this form of mobile payment. Here is when HCE comes into play.

The beginning
HCE was a term created by the founders of SimplyTapp, Doug Yeager and Ted Fifelski, in 2011 to describe the ability to transact with remotely operated smart cards.  They launched their Tapp Near Field Communication payment wallet for the CyanogenMod Android community.

What does it do
In Layman terms, HCE is a technology built into the mobile operating system which is the virtual representation of a smart card using only software. It allows a mobile device to emulate a NFC card to make NFC payments. The benefit of this being the transaction credentials no longer required to be stored within the device, but instead get hosted remotely in the cloud. With HCE, any application on an Android 4.4 device can emulate an NFC smart card, letting users tap to initiate transactions with an app of their choice.

Android and HCE
Since the release of Android 4.4 version, Google has implemented HCE within the Android operating system. Google introduced a new platform support for secure NFC-based transactions through Host Card Emulation (HCE), for payments, loyalty programs, card access, transit passes, and other custom services. With HCE, any app on an Android 4.4 device can emulate an NFC smart card, letting users tap to initiate transactions with an app of their choice. Apps can also use a new Reader Mode so as to act as readers for HCE cards and other NFC-based transactions.

What does this mean
This means that HCE is no a viable alternative to thousands of card emulation projects since no physical secure element is required in the device. This offers more control to the application issuers. Service providers have more business model and partners to work with.

Early Adopters
UKraine's PrivatBank is to launch a cloud based NFC payments service using HCE. The new application namely LiqPay will be available to customers with NFC smartphones running Android 4.4. They will be able to link any Master Card or Visa card to the app to fund payments and make purchases with the tap of their phone at any MasterPass terminal.

Break free with HCE
HCE is the magic that has helped breaking Google Wallet free from carriers and their control over your phone’s secure element. That really gave Wallet the freedom to expand.

Know more? Contribute via comments.

Mergers and Acquisitions. The basics.

In the last few years you would have heard of some major acquisitions by tech giants like Google, Yahoo, Apple and the latest being Facebook. Like always consumers want something fresh every now and then. This generation of tech giants eventually acquire younger more innovative start ups to keep themselves alive. More like a fountain of youth for these old Geysers, which bring us to the topic of M and A.

What is M and A?
M and A or commonly know as Merger and Acquisition, are both aspects of corporate strategy, finance and management dealing with buying, selling, dividing & combining of different companies and similar entities that can promote rapid growth of the enterprise.

In various respects Merger and Acquisitions are quite similar. AS in from a legal point of view, a merger is a legal consolidation of two organizations into one entity where as a acquisition is the process when one organisation takes over another and completely establishes itself as the new owner. In this case the acquired organisation still exists as an independent legal entity although its controlled by the acquirer.

Read more on: Facebook's WhatsApp Acquisition

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Why Facebook purchased WhatsApp? The Real Deal!!!

As you know Facebook stunned the tech world by acquiring WhatsApp for a whooping $16 billion (€ 12 billion approx). An no it wasn't because Mark Zuckerberg's subscription to WhatsApp ran out.

The real real deal behind Facebook taking such a shocking decision would lie in the hands of the youth. Facebook has been facing a issue of declining of pre-teen & teenagers. When Facebook CFO David Ebersman announced a decline in the daily usage from its teen market segment in October 2013, investors showed a loss in confidence in the company which resulted in volatile share prices. Since investor confidence hinges on the revenue potential from all demographic segments; the youthful consumer spending is a large source of earnings for any online platform.

Facebook builds its credibility by promoting products such as fashion, technology and other lifestyle brands on its platform and since the youth consumer spending market make up for more than $200 billion alone in the USA, this causes significant interest to investors and companies the world over. Of lately the grey haired socity encroachment on Facebook has led to a loss of its "being cool" among the youth and there by making WhatsApp a more convenient and "cool" mode for instant communication. Keeping all this in mind Facebook decided to acquire WhatsApp as a part of its plan on M and As.

Got more dirt on this deal? Post it as a comment below.