More veggies in space

Astronauts will now turn into cosmic gardeners and grow lettuce in space as United States space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is all set to send the largest ever plant growth chamber to the International Space Station (ISS).

It will launch the Vegetable Production System aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule on Monday.

The plant growth chamber will grow lettuce inside prototype flight pillows that will help the plants withstand zero gravity, The Verge reported. Red, blue, and green light emitting diodes (LEDs) will help sustain the vegetables, and the plant chamber itself can grow to 11.5 inches wide and 14.5 inches deep, NASA said.

This will be “the largest plant growth chamber for space to date,” according to NASA payload scientist Gioia Massa.

The project was originally slated to launch late last year, but faced delays meant to ensure all safety precautions were taken, the report said.

It is now hoped that the chamber will eventually be used to grow a wider variety of vegetables, and even be used for recreational gardening, the report said.

The chamber may even be used for more ambitious projects, like providing food for the average person back on Earth. After extensive testing on weightless horticulture, NASA is confident the lack of gravity will not impede growth.

However, space-borne microbes that may develop during growth are a cause of concern. Therefore, the lettuce will undergo extensive testing before astronauts chow down.

Twitter users can now tag friends in photos

Twitter users can now tag their friends in pictures.

Long available in other social networks, the new service is part of an update of the Twitter app for iOS and Android that is now available.

Users can tag up to 10 friends in a picture and still have 140 characters to write a tweet, says the company.

Anyone who doesn’t want to be tagged can remove the label later or even block tags entirely. The update also allows users to include up to four pictures with a tweet. Previously, the limit had been one photo.

BlackBerry gets clearance for security solution in US

BlackBerry said it received US government security clearance for its solution that separates and secures work and personal data on mobile devices powered by Google's Android platform and Apple's iOS operating system.

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 certification, a coveted US government security clearance, will allow government agencies to deploy the new devices as soon as they are launched.

The certification will encourage BlackBerry's large customers to continue to use its services, even as employees seek to support their personal devices on corporate networks, which could create security breaches.

 

Apple wins patent ruling against Samsung in Japan

Apple has won another legal bout against Samsung in its ongoing patent row.
The move comes as Tokyo District Court Judge Koji Hasegawa ruled that Apple's iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 did not infringe on patents held by Samsung related to data communications.
After the ruling, in a statement, Samsung said it will analyze the decision and possibly appeal it, addi The company added that it is disappointed with the court's ruling.
According to CNET, Samsung had argued that the devices were violating its intellectual property and it should be compensated in damages for the alleged infringement.
Apple and Samsung are in a bitter patent dispute for the last few years. The two companies have been urged by courts around the world to put an end to their patent disputes.
However, the companies have decided to continue to battle it out in court.

Google launches indoor maps in India

The service will be available free to Android and iOS users.

Technology giant Google has launched indoor maps in India that will help users browse through and locate specific locations inside venues like malls and museums.

The service, available as part of Google Maps, is already available in countries like the U.S., Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

“Using indoor maps, users will find it easy to locate stores, especially in an unfamiliar shopping mall or when they plan a visit to a museum like Salar jung in Hyderabad. With Indoor Google Maps in India, people can access detailed floor plans for 75 popular indoor venues with a few easy swipes,” Google India Director and Product Manager (Maps) Suren Ruhela told PTI.

The service will be available free to Android and iOS users, he added.

Some of the major locations include Ambience Mall in Gurgaon and Select City Walk in Delhi.

“To date, we’ve worked with 75 partners across 22 cities in India to bring indoor maps,” he said, adding that the list will be expanded in the coming days.

Apart from the metros, indoor maps will cover locations in cities like Bhopal, Coimbatore, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow, Ludhiana and Moradabad.

Apart from malls, indoor maps would be available for National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi, Salar jung museum in Hyderabad and Hyderabad International Convention Centre.

Karbonn And Lava Into Microsoft Windows Based Phone Fold

Karbonn and Lava can now use cheaper and soft keys to make Windows Phone-based mobiles and also adapt designs from their Android phone equivalents.

Microsoft has started its biggest push yet to make its Windows Phone software more popular in emerging markets with the induction of domestic mobile phone players Xolo and Karbonn as partners who will make smartphones that use the company’s trademark mobile software.

This push, which is one of the first moves by the company after newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella took over, is also accompanied by several changes in the company’s policy towards these partners. For instance, Microsoft is easing several restrictions on how phone makers use its software, in a bid to encourage them to drive down costs.

“We’re open for business on Windows Phone to anyone who wants to build a Windows phone,” said Nick Parker, Senior Vice President for mobile makers, while addressing reporters at the Mobile World Congress trade fair here.

The other new partners include South Korea’s LG Electronics and China’s ZTE, Lenovo and Gionee.

These sweeping changes also come on a day when Nokia, which Microsoft will finish acquiring later this quarter, decided to bring out an Android-based line of smartphones.

One of the major restrictions that Microsoft had earlier imposed, which hampered domestic players like Karbonn, was on how the hardware layout of the phone should be manufactured.

With this restriction now gone, Karbonn and Lava can now use cheaper and soft keys to make Windows Phone-based mobiles and also adapt designs from their Android phone equivalents.

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