Particle a new start up shop which produce several tiny applications, has released a brand new and massively tiny application called Robo.to.

The application did not look too convincing or to be taken too seriously initially, but as more research was put into the it, the GIF-esque Flash avatar which was present on the home page slowly unraveled little delights. The application had been created for users to enjoy what they were doing while social networking while not having to think too much about it. So in short the application was created to simplify processes and create user friendly technology served on a platter!

The flashy avatar that appears on the front page contains a badge that appears in a narrow, mobile-friendly form and links to a page with any pointers one can choose to direct visitors to other online homes. This application also helps you record videos  which you can post on Facebook, Twitter and all the other networking sites, the only hitch here being the vidoes are soundless.Considering it’s a tiny application and is fresh into the market is has been found to be delightful making it very simple for users to make use of it.

Just like any new application, once released ,it has to compete with all the bigger sharks in the ocean(namely Facebook and Twitter) if it has to survive. Even though it has user friendly technology and has simplified step wise links and also seems like glittery eye candy, the question of revenue comes into play. Primarily not many users are aware of the tiny applications like Robo.to and moreover if all they get to record are soundless videos they might not want to come back. Moreover the software does not have any distinctive features that make it more desirable than the other bigger products and users may not even remember it! And finally with upcoming new softwares that users would rather log into the newer tiny applications usually get demolished due to lack of revenue.

All these facts considered Robo.to seems an interestingly delightful application today in the market, but the question of its survival can only be defined with time.

On Monday, 20/08/2009, Toshiba, one of the world’s leading vendors of consumer electronics and the creator of the HD DVD optical disc format unveiled its plan to release its own Blu-ray Disc player before the end of the year 2009.

A recent report from the Digital Entertainment Group, indicates that Blu-ray sales in the first quarter of 2009 were double that of the previous year. This report has anticipated Toshiba to ignore its idea of developing a next-generation technology that would supersede the Blu-ray format, and enter the Blu-ray market.

Toshiba said: “In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association). Toshiba aims to introduce digital products that support the Blu-ray format, including BD players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives, in the course of this year. Details of the products, including the timing of regional launches, are now under consideration. We will make announcements in due course.”

Gliffy is an online diagramming tool that helps users create and share flowcharts, network diagrams, floor plans, user interface designs and other drawings online without installing any additional software. Gliffy has released the API using which bloggers on the Wordpress can easily add diagrams and flowcharts to their posts, and a backup script that lets users to backup their Gliffy documents to local machines.

All you need to run Gliffy is just a web browser with Macromedia Flash 7 or better, and a Gliffy account which may be basic or premium account according to user requirements. The API comes with OAuth support for third party applications.

“We pioneered this market nearly four years ago,” said Chris Kohlhart, founder and CEO, Gliffy. “We’ve done it again by resetting the criteria needed to compete not only against our leading online platform, but against legacy, platform-restricted competitors like Visio and OmniGraffle.”

In order to support developers in building a new products and services using the powerful diagramming and flowchart features, the company has a growing developer community, forum and a public issue tracker that provides answers for developers at any time.

Globalfoundries is a California-based joint venture of microprocessor manufacturer AMD and financial investor ATIC (an investment company wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi). STMicroelectronics has become first true outside customer of Globalfoundries.

Today, an official contract is signed by the two companies, to make low-power chips using a 40-nanometer process which will be ideal for the next generation of wireless applications, handheld devices, and consumer electronics. Whereas, Intel pioneer in the chip manufacturing company manufactures flash memory chips at the 34-nanometer level.

“To ensure ample capacity for our customer/partners at the leading-edge of low-power design, ST needs an agile and high-performance manufacturing partner that can adapt to our changing needs,” said Jean-Marc Chery, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, STMicroelectronics. “With a strong commitment to manufacturing and technology excellence at the leading-edge, we believe Globalfoundries is an excellent partner to collaborate on low-power design innovation in 2010 and beyond.”

Globalfoundries has planned to extend its structure by building a wafer manufacturing facility at the cost of $4.2B in Malta, N.Y. Once complete, the additional facility is expected to be the most advanced semiconductor foundry in the world.

Fujifilm is the world’s largest photographic and imaging company which brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, including electronic imaging, photofinishing equipment, medical systems, life sciences etc. Now Fujifilm is talking the digital camera technology to the next level by offering a 3D digital camera model.

The principle is simple; it uses two lenses whose images are merged into a single 3D picture or movie. You can view three dimensional images without wearing special 3D spectacles. As the camera performs a series of image processing steps automatically, you can take 3D stills and videos with the high quality picture by just pointing the camera and hitting the shutter button.

You can adjust the camera settings to go well with the scene being photographed. You no need to adjust the settings to capture a 3D image as when using the 3D two-shot function, the camera shifts to take the second shot after taking the first shot, and saves a single 3D image in the camera automatically.

Also you can turn this 3D digital camera into a 2D one by hitting the 3D/2D switch button available on either sides of the camera. It is possible to transfer your 3D images to other devices such as SD/SDHC cards, Real 3D camera, and also to your computer via USB or high speed infrared communication.

The 3D digital camera will be available from September 2009 and you can get the camera at just $600.

Video chat rooms are a great place to communicate with people effectively. The productivity of many companies is greatly improved by using video chat rooms. A lot of valuable time can be saved, when you can record videos of meetings or interviews from your own office without traveling to interviewees place. It is not only useful for business people, but also applicable for regular users who want to chat with their friends from comfort of their own homes.

Recently, I came across a new site called as Wetoku which allows you record videos in the chat room and embed them in your blog. Once the recording is done, the interviewer can copy URL of video to easily embed the interview content on blog or other sites. The service is wholly free and there is no software to install. Bloggers can directly use their webcam to conduct the real time interview over the web and post the recorded video on their blog right away. Also the interview videos can be placed in your video library for future reference.

With this service interviewing someone on the internet is so easy. It helps interviewer create an interview session through webcam recorder and make the interview process easier than before.

Microsoft is changing its entire strategy. The company announced its new version of Office 2010 will be accessible for free. What does it mean? All your office’s software like Word, Excel, PowerPoint which you use every day, will be available from any browsers. The version will be lightweight.

It is a real upheaval that wants to make its delay in relation to Google. Let me remind you that Google launched in 2006 its own Google Documents, a free service.

Microsoft lost web and search engines’ war against Google. Moreover its operating system Windows Vista disappointed a lot. But Microsoft stays the leader in this field. In 2009, it earns $9.3 billion.

The installation of main software seems to be inevitable and it cost you at least $200. Now, a lot of users decide to make economy and use only Google Documents.

Another competitor appeared: Open Office.  Even French administration is using this free and safe system.

To prove its effectiveness, Microsoft began the competition with Google to launch Bing against Google search engine, its own search engine, which is meeting a large success. It wants to continue with Office 2010.

Some analysts think it as a risky gamble. In fact, Microsoft will offer for free its products that it is still succeeding in buying. The goal is to head users for using Bing.

The question is: who will be the winner?

Toyota has developed a mind-controlled wheelchair in collaboration with researchers in Japan. Basically, the chair uses Brain wave-detecting technology, or electroencephalography (EEG) to respond to human mind. A cap wired with sensors, detects a person’s brain waves and sends the detected data to a computer. The computer analyzes the information and delivers neuro-feedback to a driver which controls the wheel chair motion.

Scientists are working the technology for decades, and had difficulty achieving short response times. Toyota’s chair has the quickest response time yet: 125 milliseconds, or 125 thousandths of a second. Owing to its quick response, plans are under way to turn the wheelchair into a commercial health care product.

Toyota hopes the system could ultimately be applied to brain waves generated by emotions.

Toshiba has released its new satellite laptops in four models, namely, A500, U500, M500/5-5 and P500/P505, for range of users starting from casual users to multi-media users who need a bit more power.

The smallest model U500 ($849.99) is just 13.3 inch and more suited to on-the-go computing, while the A500 ($749.99) is a 16-inch multi-media machine. Newly announced models are, the M500/M505 ($699.99) has 14-inch high-definition LED display and the P500/P505 costing $799.99 comes with 18.4-inch desktop replacement with slot-loading DVD drive.

A500, M500/M505 and P500/P505 have the LED backlit keyboard which allows you to keep typing even when the lights are low. All the new Satellites include multimedia command keys, webcam, face recognition software, harmon/kardon speakers and, of course, the world renowned eSATA/USB combo port.

Microsoft research center has come up with a new game creating tool christened as “Kodu” which enables users to create games of their taste. No programming knowledge is required to use Kodu. Just following the simple instructions given by Microsoft is enough to build your game.

Video games will lose its grace once it has been played for several times. So the research team at Microsoft bring forth with a new innovation in the game world. Now, video game lovers can give life to their imaginary games in this virtual world and start playing them.

Kodu has easy-to-use game creation techniques that help non-programmers build personal playgrounds, with the help of an Xbox 360 controller. The basic idea is that players can choose characters from a variety of visual building blocks and set special effects for selected character in order to develop their own unique creation.

“We’ve done everything possible to make sure that creating a Kodu playground is not only easy, but that it is also fun and engaging for people of all ages and backgrounds,” principal program manager for Microsoft Research and lead Kodu designer, Matt MacLaurin said. “Since Kodu ’s interface is intuitive and prevents common programming mistakes, we’re making it easy for everyone to enjoy the magic of game creation.”

In the Kodu blog, the team claims that the tool is headed into the final stages of production and scheduled for a release before the end of the month.