One of the most interesting product demos on display at Google I/O this year was a virtual sky diving simulation built using eight separate computers running Chrome, along with a Kinect-like motion sensor made by ASUS called the Xtion Pro. The Maps Dive experiment was created by Portland-based independent digital agency Instrument.

Developer Ben Purdy explained that they built the impressive tech demo to show what’s now possible with Chrome and how it can be used to create an amazingly rendered multi-display experience that looks like you’d expect it to be powered by current-gen gaming hardware instead of just a loose assortment of lightweight Linux-based computers running the kind of code that web developers are already comfortable with.

Maps Dive provided an experience that seemed at least as accurate and sensitive as your typical Kinect game. Purdy said that it’s really just an early example of things that could be built with the computers we already have, as well as mobile devices. Considering how far Chrome already reaches, imagining this type of experience running on even low-cost Chromebooks and Android tablets does open up a lot of possibilities.

According to Lee Young Hee, Samsung’s EVP, the Tizen OS based phones will be out in August or September this year and would be in the high-end range. The phone with the Tizen OS is expected to have specs in line with the top devices of Samsung, like the Galaxy S4.

Samsung is already working on a full HD AMOLED display with 441 pixel density to provide a unique experience with the new OS. The reason Samsung seems to be diverting away from Android is because, like most other mobile operating systems, it is tightly controlled. Tizen, on the other hand, being an open-source software platform would make it easy to develop for a range of devices.

Following the success of Samsung’s Android-powered handsets such as theGalaxy S2 and S3, the Tizen phone will be one of three premium handsets released by the company this year.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 was unveiled yesterday and the Galaxy Note 8.0 will also hit the market to compete with its biggest rivals, Apple.

Bloomberg interviewed executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division, Lee Young Hee, who states, “The device will be the best product equpped with the best specifications.”

No other Tizen devices are on sale yet but Chase Perrin from Tizen Association says users should expected ‘thousands’ of applications. The device will run on an open-source software platform.

Samsung is under pressure to hold its place as the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones following Google’s acquisition of Motorola’s Mobility Holdings Inc. last year.

Tizen is one of many operating systems reported to be released in the future along with Ubuntu Touch, Firefox OS & Sailfish. Samsung is among 12 companies developing Tizen inclunding, Intel and Sprint Nextel.

The Tizen Association also confirmed the OS would have “thousands” of apps available for the devices. The company claims that the devices would be the best product equipped with the best specifications.

All the smartphone lovers out there, particularly those who share the likes for Android and Nexus range of smartphones, we have some exciting news here. The favorite of many – the Android 4.2.2, has started to roll out for the devices mentioned in the headline already!

Of interest particularly for those still waiting for an OTA (Over The Air) update notification is that a factory image is also available for download!

Also read: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean on the way

The so-called “factory image” consists of nothing much but a clean copy of the Android 4.2.2 operating system. That enables the device to run perfectly under factory conditions, should your operating system end up corrupted by your own curious doing (or through a wayward and malicious app).

Stay tuned!

Microsoft Office has been trying for several years to release their application for the iOS. A report was published giving an amount in dollars to show how much losses Microsoft suffers every year its application doesn’t have an iOS version.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Holt says that the loss that Microsoft is facing is about $2.5 billion per year from potential iOS customers who would prefer Microsoft Office over other word processing applications on the iOS devices.

According to Holt, he thinks at least 30% of iPad users would buy Microsoft Office if it had an app right now. If the number of iPad users goes up to 200 million by 2014, it would have generated $2.5 billion after Apple takes its share, if there was an Office app. And this amount is just for iPad users, it would certainly be a lot more if iPhone and iPod Touch users were included in the picture.

But there is also the question about how much Microsoft Office would lose if the released a non-WIndows based application. Microsoft is already going all the way to publicize its Windows Phone 8 platform and publishing an Office application for a non-windows operating system could have a huge impact on business.

Stay tuned!

With the number of Windows 8 OS users steadily rising, we expected an equivalent rise in the number of apps available for the OS. Unfortunately, this isn’t happening and has caused a lot of discontent amongst the users. GetYourAppsBack by Bluestacks is a unique initiative to provide the apps from the largest app store, Google Play to the Windows 8 users.

Bluestacks, which is an Android virtualization software for PC’s, was earlier available for Windows 7 and provided a fully emulated Android Tablet experience. Now the same can be availed by Windows 8 users.

To install Bluestacks on your Windows 8 device, visit GetYouAppsBack.com and download the required software. You can then proceed to the Google Play store and run any Android choice in the Windows environment. You can also install the Cloud Connect app on your Android device to sync between the two platforms.

With a very few useful apps on the Windows Store, Bluestacks is a really good alternative to getting good apps for your device. Though the emulated apps won’t perform as per the standards on the hardware they were intended for, till Windows Store comes up with good apps, this is the only option available.

We take a look at some more newly released and odd Windows 8 apps that we have found published in the Windows Store, including a foggy glass simulator, a crying baby and more.

Crying Babe

A crying baby at the center of a Windows 8 app, really? We were initially not able to comprehend its significance and are still puzzled! If you or someone happens to find out, please share your version of the story as we’re up for listening!

1990 Cartoon Series

There is an app based on TV series such as Camp Candy and the Angry Beavers; and our guess is that Microsoft wants people focused at them! We do not know why.. Do you? If yes, please share in the comments! However, if you are someone who appreciates this kind of fun and likes it, then you should be liking this already by now.

Hollywood Valentine

This could be interesting. You enter your or anyone else’s name and the app suggests to you a celebrity name based on none other than the name itself! What is the point, we’re still wondering and confused… Maybe it is useful if someone wants to make themselves happy comparing themselves with celebrities! It might do worse as well by the way, so watch out!

Foggy Glass

This app is simply but actually kind of cool. It makes your screen look liked a fogged up window. If you have a touchscreen PC or laptop you can take your finger to wipe off the moisture and make designs that you can save or send to friends. We could see this being used quite a bit to send fun messages.

Mocha TN5250

Now here’s an app that will have a tiny, but extremely hardcore, computing audience. This is a terminal emulator which lets users access an IBM AS/400 server remotely. It’s very cool but we can’t imagine this being used by more than a few people in the whole world.

Stay tuned!

Definitely, the PC official that has been the most disparaging of Microsoft throughout the launch of Windows 8 has been Acer president JT Wong. In the past, Wong has hammered Microsoft’s choice to start the Surface tablet. Be that as it may, a couple weeks in the past Wong declared that Acer still had a “sit back and watch” demeanor for the victory of Windows 8 itself.

Today, in another meeting, Wong seems to have surrendered the “sit back and watch” mode. Bloomberg reports that Acer had a 28 percent drop in its PC shipments for the final quarter of 2012 contrasted with a year in the past. Wong included:

 ”Windows 8 itself is still not successful … The whole market didn’t come back to growth after the Windows 8 launch, that’s a simple way to judge if it is successful or not.”

Today, in another meeting, Wong seems to have surrendered the “sit back and watch” mode. Bloomberg reports that Acer had a 28 percent drop in its PC shipments for the final quarter of 2012 contrasted with a year in the past. Wong included:

“You saw that all the marketing and promotions were not as broad as Windows 8, so to reach this success is encouraging.”

Acer is still evaluating whether or not to launch a Windows RT-based tablet and won’t launch one before the back-to-school shopping season at the earliest, according to Wong.

Stay tuned!

Telstra has just confirmed the Windows Phone 7.8 update for Nokia Lumia 800. ModGadgets recently reported on Nokia pushing an update to some of their applications which now need clients to upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8.

At the time this seemed to reveal that the long awaited update for older Windows Phone devices might be released really soon. O2 then went ahead and formally stated that Windows Phone 7.8 might be rolled out by the close of the month.

A different carrier, Telstra, has now come up and have posted more definite qualified information on the upcoming Windows Phone 7.8. As you can see in the visualization most importantly devices are expected to get the redesign. However some will get it sooner as opposed to later.

Nokia’s Lumia 800 is the first gadget to get the overhaul, the other ones being planned for later in February and March, with definite dates to be chosen later.

This obliges what we declared prior, that the overhaul may be postponed on certain carriers. Besides to be honest O2′s official revelation was with respect to the Lumia 800 particularly.

We’re glad these updates are coming though we can’t help feel that they’re too little too late at this point. Let us know how you folks feel below.

Stay tuned!

As suggested by O2, the Windows Phone 7.8 could be out by the end of the month of January. Nokia recently overhauled some of their applications and that they stated now need Windows Phone 7.8 to be installed. This incited some hypothesis that the overhaul may be revealed truly soon. Notwithstanding there appears to be some further evidence to fuel our aggregate positive thinking.

O2 has stated prior on Twitter that this is in fact the case. Answering to a follower’s issue they say that Windows Phone 7.8 can overhaul their devices by means of the Zune programming.

As our followers know, WP 7.8 doesn’t carry an excessive amount of extra qualities yet it does carry the capacity to better modify clients’ begin screen with resizable tiles and in addition a more extensive extent of shade subjects. The Bing auto-altering lockscreen can additionally utilize this quality or depending on if its limited to first-party ones. There are moreover some general bug enhancements, as with any upgrade and there could conceivable in addition be some OEM particular firmware overhauls.

O2 is the first transporter to affirm our prior suspicions that WP 7.8 might be touching base by the finish of this month. As we get closer to the genuine launch we can need other transporter to stand up. How about we just trust they won’t defer this overhaul such as they did with past ones.

Stay tuned!

Intel recently released the sales figures for the revenue generated in the Q4 of the year 2012. While the figures beat past evaluations, Intel’s incomes and benefits were still easier than they were for the same period a year prior.

Nonetheless, current Intel CEO Paul Otellini still feels that going with Microsoft and third party PC producers on unique PC convertible plans (for example the Dell XPS 12, demonstrated above) will accommodate Intel in the long run to battle off the ascent of tablet-just items for example the iPad and Kindle Fire. CNet.com reports that throughout Intel’s Q&A with fiscal experts on Thursday, he stated:

“We are in the midst of a radical transformation of the computing experience with the blurring of form factors and adoption of new user interfaces. It’s no longer necessary to choose between a PC and a tablet. Convertibles and detachables combined with Windows 8 and touch provide a 2-for-1, no-compromise computing experience.”

Besides shouldn’t we think about rivalry from ARM-based processors for example the ones from NVIDIA and Qualcomm that are, no doubt, being utilized as a part of a couple Windows RT tablets for example the Surface. Otellini appears to be unimpressed thus far, guaranteeing that Intel’s upcoming “Bay Trail” and “Clover Trail+” chips will perform a cut above ARM-based plans. He included:

“These devices are simply becoming very small computers, and that’s what Intel is exceptional at.”

Origin: CNet.com | Image through Dell | Stay tuned!