General – K2B SOLUTIONS – Web Design & Mobile Apps Developement

Internet of Things (IoT) is winning races making others feel jealous

k2B Admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 07:05:19 +0000

The smart devices are now becoming overwhelming and helping people be at their best and especially the human-machine communications are imperative making things possible. When everyone thinks of the “next big thing”, they never go beyond the drawn borders, and it is not because of the lack of thinking or even imagination but because of the lack of scrutiny. We don’t see the next big thing as we imagine something big, and we don’t care about what we have. Unfortunately, what we have now is the next big thing. We call it as the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Internet of Things (IoT):

Nowadays, we just talk about the human-machine interactions as one of the controllers to rule our future. But, there is something happening now, and it is nothing but the machine-machine communications. The techies call this interaction as the “Internet of Things”. IoT name was coined in the year 1999 by Kevin Ashton, a British entrepreneur.

What is the Internet of Things? It is a connection between physical objects or even with objects embedded in electronics, sensors or any other physical device to collect information and also to exchange data. This technique was developed to make sure that the communication is established between the physical world and the computer-based applications. The accuracy, efficiency and economic benefits are improved as a result of such implementation.

Wired.com stated an example that made things clear about Internet of Things (IoT). Here is what they stated.

The Past, The Present and The Future:

Many of us haven’t thought that the everyday things that we use are IoT. The past of IoT was so easy to find and understand. For example, the switches used to power various electrical applications also comes under the Internet of Things concept. Not only switches, but also many day-to-day electronics like remotes are also an excellent example of IoT in the past.

We are now witnessing the present of Internet of Things (IoT) and if we sit down and think the past and the present, we will be stunned by how IoT have changed our lives over the time. From smart homes to smartphones, everything is making our day-to-day activities easier.

What is happening in the present?

The present have many things that elevate our living style. The concept of connected homes involves many things from Smart thermostats to Smart appliances, HVAC systems to Smart security devices and applications and lot more. Not only connected home but the present has connected cars, connected cities, wearables, industrial internet and many more to make people stay in the comfort zone and to make them enjoy everything.

Stats of IoT:

What made IoT possible is the reduction in the cost of technology and the related hardware. Here are some numbers .

Cost of sensors: average cost of $1.30 to $0.60 in the past ten years
Cost of processing: reduced by 60x times over the past ten years
Cost of bandwidth: reduced by 40x times over the past ten years

What is the reason for this tremendous growth?

The growth was driven by two major factor – the cost of the technology and the increasing number of smart devices. The increase in the smartphones usage has now made them the gateway to IoT. And comparing it with the past, now almost everyone can access the wireless network at free of cost or a very low cost. Considering all these, the companies are concentrating more on IoT as it in now becoming the hot spot for generating revenue and also, they are using the IoT to improve the productivity and save costs.

As the present has impressed us with the Internet of Things, the future has taken up much responsibility as it has the deliver the perfect balance of machine-machine communication along with the human transactions. And as the predictions and the current development towards the bright future, we can decide that the future is completely going to be in the hands of Internet of Things.

The demand for technology keeps on increasing as a result of companies and people acquiring new technological products to help reduce cost and also to make day-to-day activities easier. Couple of years back Cisco data revealed that there were over 8.7 billion connected objects. Currently, the numbers have been increased to nearly 22 billion, and it is expected to reach 50 billion by the end of 2020.

The factor that drives IoT adoption is the customer demand as they want the technology to help then to improve in areas like health and fitness, security, energy savings and more. The increase in demand of IoT and also the rise in usage of smartphones and wearable devices made a clear statement that everything will depend on hardware and connected application. As the result in these increases, the IoT web and mobile applications’ demand is rapidly growing resulting in an enormous hype. To stay in the race of the increasing demands, every company need to deploy their applications to helps people what they acquire.

Google I/O and WWDC 2015 – What were the new launches and upcoming announcements?

k2B Admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 09:28:11 +0000

Google and Apple Inc. are the two giants of the tech world. They always follow a unique style that announces all their launches and updates. Google announcements are made yearly in a conference called as Google I/O and Apple does the same in a conference named Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). A couple of weeks back Google I/O 2015 happened, and Apple’s WWDC 2015 happened on June 8th, 2015. Both the Giants made several announcements with respect to many factors from convenience to the advanced user interface (UI).

What happened in Google I/O 2015?

“Google I/O mainly focuses on the announcement of Android and other new stuff and features that are about to be launched.” This statement answers “What is Google I/O?” Google I/O 2015 was an interesting one because there are many new and advanced features and apps that make our future bright. The following is the breakdown of everything that happened in this year’s IO.

Android M
Android Wear
Google Now
Google Photos
Google Translate
Android Pay

Android M

Same as Lollipop, Android M also has many expectations from the ground level to the higher/upper level. Android M will be totally focusing on the performance and advanced features that allow the user to ease with everything. Before the version title announcements, Google has announced the most important and notable features of Android M.

App performance
Web experience
App links
Mobile Payments
Fingerprint support
Power and charging

Android Wear

Google wear is still behind the Apple watch in sales, and it is trying to improve with the improved and important updates that were announced during this year’s IO. Many new features like always-on apps and emoji recognize are sure to impress everyone who owns an Android Wear.

Another feature that is a good addition to Android Wear is the wrist gesture. Scrolling through apps is easy with just a wrist shake or action. All you need to do is to twist your wrist adorned by the Android Wear. The Wear market has more than 4000 dedicated apps that are sure to satisfy your needs.

Google Now and Google Photos

Now is a digital assistant that helps the user by answering their queries. They used a term called “Now on Tap” which will be available in Android M. It majorly functions in context and offers data and information based on the simple request.

Google Photos is another important app that was launched during the Google I/O 2015. This app automatically syncs all your images from various devices associated with your account. Not only store but also organizes the images neatly and just by a pinch to zoom in and out to make your selection by a specific date, month or year. It uses machine learning search algorithm to categorize your photos.

There were also many other announcements like Project Brilo, Google Weave, YouTube VR, Google Pay, offline maps and Cardboard in the classroom that inspired the many present in the hall.

What happened in WWDC 2015?

Worldwide Developer Conference is an annual event conducted by Apple Inc. Where it will announce and launch its new products, app and feature updates. This year’s WWDC happened in San Francisco, California on 8th June.

Unlike Google I/O, Apple’s WWDC concentrated more on software tweaks rather than that of any new gadgets launch. Some important announcements are as follows

iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan
Apple Music
WatchOS 2

iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan

As said earlier, iOS 9 will be having existing feature updates and will not have anything new. The major improvement is with Siri that it will perform at higher speed and can handle over a billion of requests per week. It also improves the battery life of devices running on iOS 9 and also has a battery saving mode. True multitasking is now enabled in iOS 9.

Apple also announced the new version of OS X and named it as El Capitan. A major part of it is an update of existing features and only handful of new features launched. New features include simple swipe for deleting emails, Spotlight search with movable and resizable window and also feature to pin popular sites on Safari.

Apple Music

Finally, the streaming music app from Apple is here. Apple Music allows you to stream music available on iTunes and will also provide playlist that have been created by listeners. Beats 1, a popular radio station that plays most popular songs from worldwide artists is included in it.

There was also lot other announcements like WatchOS 2 which are sure to impress the apple users.

Get ready for the Next Generation Computing – Augmented & Virtual Reality Systems are on the Roll

k2B Admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2015 09:08:40 +0000

Companies are up on the mark of dreaming about the next generation gadgets which will give a new insight to user experiences. Virtual and augmented reality is taking up the role of getting the viewing and computing experiences to next level. The giants like Microsoft, Facebook, Sony, Google, Samsung and many have raised their hands to make things possible.

The various devices which are up on the production are stated below

Microsoft’s HoloLens
Facebook’s Oculus Rift
Google’s funded Magic Leap
Sony’s Morpheus
Samsung’s VR Goggles and the list continues

But, the journey is up on the track with the three major devices – HoloLens from Microsoft, Oculus Rift from Facebook and Magic Leap from Google.

HoloLens from the Windows Giant – Expected to the best and match scorer

What does this mean? Indirectly they are saying that they didn’t consider Oculus Rift and Magic Leap as their competitors rather the HoloLens is different and way far from what the industry thinks. We are updating the virtual and augmented reality concepts with holograms to bring everything in virtual reality.

Alex Kipman is the main source behind the Microsoft’s HoloLens. He is with Microsoft for the past 15 years and he is specially called as the “inventor” among the Microsoft world. The company’s most ambitious product of the year allows you to virtually interact with the views with the help of the holograms.

Will HoloLens will do like the concepts and visuals shown in the movies “The Matrix” and “Star Trek”? Not exactly, but YES! 3D images will not be produced rather this device creates a visual which can be seen only by the people wearing the glasses and to others it will just look like a mad dog wearing something funny on its face. It has transparent glasses allowing you to still view the real world.

Oculus Rift from the king of Social Media

It was a-dream-come-true for Palmer Luckey. He actually dreamt of playing video games in a simulated 3D world which led him to develop the world’s innovative gadget. The Lawnmover Man was a movie which invoked the idea of developing computer-generated sensory immersion gadget. The miracle just happened when Luckey was just 16 years old. Without any engineering background, he designed a working prototype of his dream at his garage.

Last year Facebook took over everything. They just bought Oculus Rift for $2 billion and now in control of the production of this valuable virtual reality glasses. Oculus Rift was a dream of Luckey and its core focus was on virtual reality on video games. But Facebook bought this to make virtual reality even more interesting. They are actually working on the concept to bring virtual reality to the world of social media which makes everything possible.

Magic Leap from US is ready to do miraculous magic

Glasses that uses augmented reality concepts? Or virtual reality? Or both? Confusing but still a expected device of the decade.

As from Wiki, Magic Leap is a US based company focusing on developing a gadget which helps people to view virtually with the help of augmented and virtual reality. Rony Abovitz is the founder of the company and was announced in the year 2010. Later, it was said that Google has led its funds of $540 million to make thing possible soon.

Unlike HoloLens or Oculus Rift, this device will not project any visuals on the glasses or on to the outer world rather it will directly project the visuals on to the eyes of the people wearing this device.

They are keeping the information regarding the device secretly. The Magic Leap is still mysterious for which everyone is still waiting.

Is Github service necessary to be maintained for Source Code Management (SCM)?

k2B Admin — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 06:37:03 +0000

Before knowing what actually a Github is, you need to know what a Git is. A Git is commonly referred to as a distributed revision control system that stress on data integrity, speed and also the support for distributed workflows. Its predecessors like Subversion and CVS have a central repository of all the project files. If a developer makes any changes to the project, it is directly done on the central repository. But while using Git, the developers take a copy of the project on to their local system and works on the changes. That’s why Git is called as distributed version control system.

Github – Repository Hosting Service

A Github, an open source web hosting service provides source code management (SCM) and distributed revision control schemes of Git. It also adds its own feature to make everything possible for the developers. Generally, Github is referred as a social networking site for programmers.

The most important function of Github is “forking”. It is a process of copying a repository from a user to another user. This forking helps in taking up a project to your account from another user to make any changes to it without affecting the original content on the repository. If you think the changes made are effective and would like to share it with the original owner, you always have the option to send “pull request” notification to the owner and with just a click, the original owner merges the old repository with the new repository.

The History of Github

Founded by Tom Preston-Werner, Chris Wanstrath and PJ Hyett in February 8, 2008, Github was one-of-its-kind of open source platform and the best hosting service that helps developers to repost their project and also patches with other projects. From then Github’s performance was on the hike. It was like over 100,000 users by the end of June, 2009. And just in a span of 4 to 5 year, Github reached 10 million repositories by December, 2013.

Github web hosting got hit in 2014 and present 2015, as it was blocked in Russia due to some content that was referred to as Suicide. It was also blocked in India in December, 2015 as it got repositories from ISIS, an activist group. Later in January 2015, Github was unblocked.

Claim Features of Github

Github, a code management system has been a pioneer to all other open source repository management systems. It has many important features compared with all other systems. Some of the key features are listed below.

Issue tracking that has been integrated allows developer to keep track of their issues and also helps arrange issues according to their status.
Many tested tools or field-tested tools are deployed which helps developer to use it then and there. These tools are kept open for public projects and secured for private projects.
Managing team within an open or private organization is easy. Github allows organization managers to limit the capabilities and usage of every member in the team. Each and every member is granted with accesses like Read, Write, and/or Admin-level access to the repositories.
With Windows and Mac applications, sharing is made simple. Github also has an Android app and mobile web views to help on-the-go user to be productive.

Is Github service necessary to be maintained for Source Code Management (SCM)?

This question is something which tweaks the brain of every developer as it relates Source Code Management with that of the Github services. Source code management service is something that every organization or individual look out for. Using Github services for the same purpose makes everything easy.

Yes, Github service is necessary to be maintained for Source Code Management (SCM). What other SCM like SVN or CVS do is that they store a copy of the repositories from the servers to the local system. But Github allows the developer to copy the entire repository to the local drive and once the relevant changes are made and when the connectivity is available, the files can be pushed in to the git repositories.

Git is something where you commit locally and push it in to the shared repositories while others like SVN/CVS is something that you checkout and commit. The difference is subtle but important!

The Concept of Jailbreaking your iOS device

k2B Admin — Wed, 01 Apr 2015 13:31:27 +0000

What is Jailbreaking an iPhone means?

Bored of the app store’s restrictions? Then, Jailbreaking your iOS device will be a perfect choice. Jailbreaking is the process of rooting the device to gain unrestricted access to your Apple device as it opens up the possibilities to get more out of your iOS device. For example, Jailbreaking idea is similar to that of letting a captive animal out of its cage after a long time. It can be done in all-of-your iOS device starting from iPod to the Second Generation Apple TV.

Few reasons not to Jailbreak your iPhone/iPad device

Even though Jailbreaking opens up many possibilities, there are few vulnerability that needs to be kept in mind.

It shakes your device’s safety:

Jailbreak will be not be your bet if you like perfections. There are few extensions and add-ons that may crash your device which in turn takes time to recover. There are many troubleshooting tools that might help the device to recover but they are not as easy as it looks.

It makes iOS updates difficult:

It not so easy to update your Jailbreak Apple iPhone/iPad to the newly released iOS version as it involves a tedious process. If you update, the jailbreak will be lost and you have to re-jailbreak and also reinstall the apps and extensions which you have on your Jailbreak device. Patience will be your highest bet when your try to re-jailbreak your updated iOS device.

It doesn’t give good apps at low price:

The best-in-the-slot apps are bit pricey! Cydia, the Jailbreak store has many exciting apps, extension and add-ons that are not actually affordable. Some app like better SMS, better notifications are not of low cost and if you prefer to use these kinds of app on a low price, keep your Apple device in unjailbroken state.

Tools that help jailbreak your Apple device

There are many tools in which below are few that make Jailbreaking pretty easy.

TaiG
Pangu
Evasi0n

Common steps that have to be followed while Jailbreaking your Apple device

These steps are more important as they are quite common for all the Jailbreaking tools.

Backup your device as you may get any trouble while Jailbreaking. This could be done by clicking the settings -> iCloud -> Backup
Passcode or password (if you have any) will make Jailbreaking difficult. Just disable all your passcodes by navigating to Settings -> Touch ID and Passcode
The important thing to note is that the mode in which your phone is operating. Airplane mode is most required and the mode can be changed just by sliding up the screen and selecting Airplane Mode

Remaining steps depends on the tool which is used. The tool-wise detailed steps for Jailbreaking are listed below.

The Super Ultimate – TaiG

TaiG is a specific tool developed for Jailbreaking iOS 8.1.1 and 8.1.2. Jailbreaking industry leads like MuscleNerd have confirmed that TaiG is safe and free from malware and spyware.

Here are the steps to complete Jailbreaking after your phone is set with the initial requirements

Download TaiG and install on your Windows or Mac device
Now, click open TaiG and press the green ‘Start’ button. Make sure that your Apple device is connected to the system and also don’t forget to uncheck the 3K assistant button on the TaiG interface.
Jailbreak operation will now begin and as soon as it is completed your device will restart. Do not plug out your device from the system as it may result in malfunctions.
Now you are ready to go with the latest version of Cydia on your jailbreaked device

From the Chinese hackers – PanGu8

According to Chinese mythology, PanGu relates to the first living being and the creator of all. Pangu8 is specifically created to jailbreak devices that run on iOS 8 and 8.1. The latest version of Pangu8 has restore function integrated to it which helps in easy restoration of parent OS.

Once your device is set to the common/initial steps, follow the below steps to complete your Jailbreaking

Download and install Pangu8. Make sure that you have iTunes 12
Plug your iOS device to your system
As soon as your device is identified by Pangu, click “Start Jailbreak”
A prompt appears and in that just click “Already Did”
The tool will now run Jailbreaking and once it is done, your device will automatically reboot.
Disconnect your phone from PC and just click Cydia on your iDevice to complete the process

The Magic of Jailbreaking

“The restrictions are removed and the device is now free to take anything!“

Once Jailbreaking is done, the device lets you do the most form your iOS device. Few wonders of Jailbreaking are stacked below.

Restrictions Removed:
Turn it on!

iOS doesn’t allow you to turn your iDevices in to a WiFi hotspot in free of cost, as the different service providers may charge to do so. But, if your device is jailbreaked, you can easily turn your iDevice in to a hotspot or easily tether with the help of an app called MyWi. There are also many other applications that will help to do the same.
Exciting Function Upgrades:
The wait is over!

You don’t have to wait for the Apple’s simple update as they take more time to update even a single task. For jailbreaked devices, there are many options available as app like Activator to customize your button functionality, Wi-Fi Sync to synchronize without any wires, etc.
Easy UI Customization:
Turn on your creativity!

Cydia helps you to even customize the overall theme with the support of an app called Theme it which is not even available in app store. You can even deeply customize the look and feel of your iOS’s interface.

How to Restore iPhone from Jailbreak?

Don’t worry if you want your parent OS back! In 4 easy steps your iProduct can be restore without any trouble.

Download and install iTunes on your PC/Laptop
On the settings menu of your device, click iCloud and disable “Find my iPhone/iPad”
Connect your iDevice to your PC using the desired USB cable
Once the iTunes recognizes your device, just click “Restore” on the Summary tab. Everything is done and you are ready to go.

Adobe Muse – an amazing app from Adobe Creative Cloud

Nithish Kumar — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 05:42:44 +0000

Latest App – no code – only creative website!!!

Are you a graphic designer well-versed in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and In-design??? Don’t you know the code of the markup languages to design a website??? No worries!!! Here is a gifted boon for you all designers – Adobe Muse. An incredible app from Adobe which helps the graphic designers to craft a creative website design on their own without inscription of a single line code. Let us have a brief tour of Adobe’s latest and interesting app ‘Adobe Muse’ in this section.

What is ADOBE MUSE???

Adobe Muse is a product of Adobe and it is a division of Adobe Creative Cloud. This Adobe app is for designers to create, design and bring out the HTML websites without writing a single line hand-code.

Why Adobe Muse???

Adobe Muse CC assists all the creative designers to bring out the excellent output of HTML web pages with the help of well-known Adobe tools. HTML web pages can be planned, designed and published and as per the latest web standards.

Master pages, user-friendly sitemaps, and drag-and-drop workspaces in these web pages allows you to work steadfastly. HTML pages created using Muse facilitate rich experience as there are lots of interactive tools, precision typography, image control, and browser pinning, in them.

Adobe Muse Features

Adobe Muse, being a part of Adobe Creative Cloud, whatever the latest updates and future releases in it will reflect Muse also. And the users can access them.

Integrates with other software in Creative Cloud – Adobe Premier Pro, After Effects, Speed-grade, Media Encoder, Prelude and Story Plus
If you any tool from Adobe Creative Cloud, you can handle or learn all the other tools in it. Reason is that they have analogous user interfaces.
The speed of the projects’ process is very fast and we can have a clear and flawless workflow
Files from Final Cut Pro can be imported easily.
One can deal with more process in less time
All-in-house app – making use of all Adobe tools from Creative Cloud helps you to do multitask at one place. That is, video editing, sound mixing, adding colors and motion graphics.
The designs created are universal. Whatever you create in your device appears the same flawlessly in any device. Anyone can open your creative design anywhere and they can share their feedbacks too.
Free training library is there to help even the new designers with less experience.
Designers can append more advanced customization and functionality.
The site owners and their team members can update their personal content, image content, text, etc in the web page.
The common elements for designing includes, color, images, logos, widgets, graphic styles, characters, and guides can be organized and reused wherever necessary.
Animated effects can be produced using Scroll Effects.

Adobe Muse Compatibility

The designers can focus only on the website design despite of worrying the browser compatibility while working with Adobe Muse. This exciting app generates cross-browser-compatible code for all the designers. This app is compatible with the following browsers:

Apple Safari 5 for Mac OS
IE 7 and latest for Windows
Firefox 11 for Mac OS and Windows
Chrome for Mac OS and Windows

Adobe Muse Beta Programs

Adobe Muse serves as an InDesign equivalent for designing and publishing web pages. The programs of Adobe Muse are in beta mode. By taking part in Adobe Muse Beta program with Adobe Muse membership, the designers can make use of the upcoming versions of it. Whenever a new beta is built by the professionals, you can enable the beta software installation by making minute changes in the settings of Muse software. By this way, you can discover and access latest features of the software. The designers are given freedom to share their valuable comments, suggestions, and feedback. This helps the Adobe Muse team work on their defects thereby improving their next version.

Language Versions of Adobe Muse

Adobe Muse is available in different languages like English (U.S.), English (International), German, Italian, French, Japanese, Dutch, Danish, Spanish, Korean, Swedish, Norwegian, Turkish, and Traditional Chinese. The users can switch back to their preferred languages by selecting their languages from the Preferences Menu. This will automatically update the user interface.

Digital Marketing Helps You To Stand Out In The Online Market

K2B Editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 12:53:21 +0000

If you are really concerned about your online business to grow up and excel to the success, and also you want it to come up with relatively distinguished ratings, then look out for digital marketing to your target audiences.

To profitably promote your product or business, then choose digital marketing to attract your target audience in an effective manner.

Digital marketing is the perfect medium to promote your products or brands through various forms of electronic media or digital media channels such as email, mobile phones, social networks and the like. It has become very important due to the rise of technology and also the growing awareness that make people expecting more qualitative and quantifiable results.

Digital marketing is completely different from traditional marketing. Earlier, the traditional marketing method of promoting your product or brand used to be very slow and not very effective.

But now digital marketing has changed the trend in the marketing industry. It has become very popular among business people, as it is so pervasive that consumers have access to information any time and any place they want it.

In these days, digital media has become ever-growing source of entertainment, shopping, news and social interaction. Therefore, the consumers are now exposed not just to what your company says about your product or brand, but also what others saying as well.

Therefore, the use of digital marketing enables you to measure quantitative results, providing you information about exactly who was exposed to your message, and also when and which actions the viewers performed as a result.

Using digital marketing, you can launch successful campaigns without having any prior knowledge, and also not hiring any professional who is expertise in this niche. As digital marketing has so many significant advantages, it becomes an important addition to your business and helps you to achieve success.

So, do you want to effectively promote your product or brand? Look out for a professional digital marketing company that provides you with premium and cutting-edge solutions focused on your business requirements.

Generally, there are three most ingenious solutions that help you to grab for better promotions. They are the web presence, email marketing, and better engaging customers. These cost-effective solutions are offered by many of the digital marketing companies that you find assisting.

There are some professional companies that expertise in growing your business through online marketing channels. They usually implement the right customizing solution. To find the most appropriate digital marketing channel for your business, you need to examine the requirements and resources of your company.

Whether it is email, mobile phones or social marketing, or may be numerous channels that incorporate the different types, the professional digital marketing service providers will offer you simple, effective, advanced and comfortable solutions.

How does augmented reality works?

K2B Editor — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 12:25:09 +0000

Augmented Reality or AR is a cutting-edge technology that enables a digitally enhanced view of the real world. It is alive, either direct or indirect, view of physical and real-world environment in which elements are improved by computer-generated sensory input such as video, audio, graphics or GPS data.

The possibilities of Augmented Reality are nearly endless. It enhances one’s current perception of reality. Using Augmented Reality, the artificial information about the environment as well as its objects can be overlaid on the real world.

The main objective of Augmented Reality is to build a system in which the user cannot be able to find out the exact differences between the virtual amplification and the real world. Hence, Augmented Reality is used in almost all industries today.

Now, let’s take a look at how augmented reality actually works. This will give you a pretty knowledge of why and where we are with Augmented Reality applications, and what is going to take this technology up to the next level.

To understand the process clearly, we will break the process down into the necessary components that make Augmented Reality possible.

There are different options, such as a projector that can be placed on the top of the surface you want to augment, or the another common one, a monitor or television that provides a clear view of reality through a remote camera, and also the power to display graphic information based on the things that are added by the production team in their broadcast studios or your computer hardware.

Also, you have some other devices for other senses like a glove or earpiece that could provide more information to both the sense of touch or hearing. Whatever may be, something must be there in between your organic senses to allow them to transform an unseen stimulus into something that you can able to detect.

Window on the world:

The first and foremost thing that you need for Augment Reality is absolutely some reality. If you have some reality, then you can possibly create an exclusive virtual world. So, the main thing that you need for Augmented Reality is a window on the world. Either a remote view through a video screen or the location with which you want to augment, you need the canvas of reality to add information. If there is no reality, there is no Augmented Reality.

Augmented Reality display device:

After getting your background environment, you need to think about the way of displaying the augmentations. The main idea of Augmented Reality is to provide information about your environment, that is, otherwise not detectable to your naked senses. So, to make this to work, you need a method of exhibiting those annotations that would not normally exist. Most often, an effective frame is needed through which you can look at the world. The typical examples are mobile phones, head mounted display like a visor or glasses, heads up display, or tablets.

The second option is the Internet, which is the great source of freely accessible data. For example, Wikipedia, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc., are some of the sources where you can able to retrieve data such as photos, telephone numbers, status updates, likes, dislikes, and so on.

Connection:

No matter wherever you retrieve information, you need a live connection to that information for Augmented Reality to work. You need to use high-speed cables to have a direct and flawless connection between the computer and your windows on the world, i.e., your Augmented Reality display device. For consistent Augmented Reality experience, the user must rely heavily on coverage and speed of the Internet connection.

Application:

The hardware is in place, however, there is a lot of reality out there and a huge amount of information on the Internet for your Augmented Reality display device to connect to. Now, you need some software to recognize what is coming into your device from the outside environment, call up the needed information according to that, and then instruct your mobile device or HMD to display and overlay the data flawlessly.

However, you will require some graphics processing hardware that works appropriately for the initial recognition part of the process and also having the capacity to generate the augmentations for the users to view. Moreover, all of these have to be done in real-time for it to work.

The initial recognition part includes using GPS to track the user’s location instead of having to rely on the software to perfectly identify the user’s environment based on a view of information through the lens of your mobile device.

Perhaps one of the difficult tasks of all is nothing but tracking the virtual objects and render them perfectly in 3D, so that the users can able to move through their environment while still receiving perfect annotations of what they view.

It might be possible for an application to pull in 3D information of absolutely everything in a scene. Hence, it is significant to have something that is both selective and self-effacing as well. This is nothing but augmented reality, and both the augmentations and the reality are just as imperative as one another.

Conclusion:

These are the elements that made Augmented Reality possible. If you manage to complete that chain from one end to another, then you can have a system that works well, and is hopefully useful at the same time.

Recent trends in internet technologies 2014!

K2B Editor — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 09:08:27 +0000

Today’s life is definitely dominated by the prevailing technology of the internet. Every phase of our life is either directly or indirectly connected with various existing internet technologies such as the internet of electronic things, wearable devices, augmented reality, big data & machine learning algorithms, mHealth technologies, 3D printing, Intraday delivery, mobile payment & virtual currencies, electric cars, and e-learning.

Almost all electronic devices are now connected to the internet. Initially electronic devices, such as personal computers, notebooks, tablets and mobile phones, were the only things connected to the internet, but later on, some more have been added such as televisions, cars, glasses and watches.

Subsequently, the things like refrigerators, electric meters, hoovers, and many more will also be connected in the future. However, these smart devices are not only just connected to the internet, but also will provide contextual relevance and a smooth experience to the users. So, these devices are expected to have higher adoption rates, linking every part of our lives.

Next, wearable technology is going to be a big buzz in the year 2014. Some products like activity bands, smart helmets, smart clothing and Google Glass are all equipped with interconnected devices powered by the internet. While wearable watches are already available on the market even they have very limited functionality.

And, Google Glass is getting closer to the consumer, introducing a new trend in the market, where web-based information is directly integrated into our daily activities. The launch of Google Glass in the year 2014 will definitely lead to a greater growth in the market. This will shorten the distance between the technology and the users by allowing them to augment their day-to-day activities such as buying products by merely scanning them from a magazine, watching a video on the cover of a newspaper, taking photos and videos, etc.

Furthermore, it is expected that the technology is going to merge with clothing too. For example, Smart Shoes from Adidas will be having an integrated accelerometer, Bluetooth, and a gyroscope, which will motivate the user to do exercises.

Another new technology that is having a great impact in this modern world is the augmented reality, i.e., the apps that connect the physical world and the virtual world. It is the assimilation of digital information with live video or the user’s surroundings in real time. It is predicted that the market for augmented reality mobile apps is going to grow rapidly during this year. According to the report given by Juniper Research, the revenue will be expected to reach $5.2 billion by the year 2017.

However, traditional analytics has become outdated, and the future of technology is going to be shaped by machine learning algorithms, i.e., the algorithms which can be learned from the data they process and trained to advance as they process a huge amount of data.

Due to the exponential growth of data, simple data analysis is no longer valuable today. Machine learning has become very important in our lives, as it helps in filtering spam emails, providing appropriate searches on the top pages of Google search, and so on. Machine learning technologies always provide you the information that you want when it is required.

With the proliferation of mobile phones at low costs in the up-and-coming economies, mHealth technologies have possibly improved the lives of millions of people all around the world, and also making health care more customized and effectual. Based on the analysis, it is expected that the global mHealth market is going to be worth $11.8 billion by the year 2018.

The ingenious dimensions of the latest technological possibilities are enormous, ranging from architecture to interior design to art & education. On the other hand, technology also plays a vital role in manufacturing. Now it is not necessary to store spare parts in large warehouses and send them over thousands of kilometers. Instead, you can print them whenever and wherever they are really required.

Also, the new technologies in e-commerce have changed the way we do online shopping. For instance, one-day delivery service model has entirely disrupted the business models of traditional logistics and transport companies. This model has important consequences, even though air traffic control and buzz safety and usage system are there which prevent rapid proliferation.

Another internet technology with a huge impact on the world is the mobile payment. Not only the number of mobile phones has increased, but also the payment methods have significantly increased. Various payment methods, such as PayPal’s new wireless payment solution, NFC-enabled devices, digital wallets, and Beacon, etc., have been progressively reaching the mass market, enabling people to pay an amount without using any wallet or cash.

Applications that provide flexible payment options are Google Wallet app, Apple’s iBeacon technology, etc. Google Wallet app allows users to send money using only their mobile devices, and Apple’s iBeacon technology not only just provides various payment options but also provides indoor mapping as well as personalization.

In 2014, many vendors including traditional car manufacturers have launched electric cars. Unlike traditional cars, the electric cars will be equipped with wireless connections, computers, and sensors. This allows the cars to know more information about the drivers, which could be very helpful for the manufacturers. Even though few issues are there with the batteries and charging, some enhancements and adaptations are expected to be done in the coming future.

Finally, e-learning has changed the face of education and learning system forever. Several novel online learning platforms and portals have also been disrupted the traditional education models. Initially, these platforms and portals were introduced to provide high-quality education, but later the consequences have been unexpectedly high. This technology has made the classrooms an interactive and inspiring learning environment, and also made knowledge accessible to everyone easily.

If there is one segment in Information Technology that had an enormous amount of innovation and swift development in the past 10 years, then it is internet technology. So, it is important to have a better understanding of the changing trends in internet technology in today’s competitive business world.

What to do to differentiate your Ecommerce Business?

K2B Editor — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 08:59:46 +0000

Just imagine that you could be able to sell your products or services online at very good prices, and also have your customers be excited to pay the amount whatever you charge for your products or services. This sounds good! Yes, it is utterly possible if you use proper methods and strategies in your e-commerce business.

To make your e-commerce business different from your competitors and steer miles ahead of them, then these are the ways that help you to achieve your goal:

One of the best ways to separate yourself from your competitors is through absolutely exceptional customer service. Offering an outstanding and unique customer service is easier said than done. As an e-commerce business owner, you have to analyze and decide on what would appeal to your customer base. It could be quick delivery, packaging, and may be shipping options. Find out the unique ways of serving your customers in a better manner, and stand out from your competitors.
Personalization and customization are the most popular aspects in e-commerce business. Personalization involves modifying your e-commerce website to suit your customer’s preferences by using cookies. For example, if a customer is buying a product from your website, you need to list out the similar products of interest on your homepage when the next time the customer login. On the other hand, customization helps you to empower the users by providing them tailor-made solutions based on their requirements.
Enrich the user experience when the users come to your e-commerce website for buying your products or services. Creating a memorable and exciting experience for the users not only brings satisfaction to them, but also guarantees repeat business. Even for first-time visitors of your website, the novelty of the user experience immediately sparks their interest, draws them into your online store, and keeps them do more online purchases from your website.
Harnessing technology and social media into your e-commerce business is very important to beat your competitors. If you are innovative, you can always harness the latest available technologies and integrate them into your e-commerce website to grow your online business. On the other hand, given that social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn and so on, have turned out to be a tidal wave, hence it is mandatory to accord it a special place in your e-commerce strategy.
Offering attractive or competitive price is obviously one of the best ways to attract more customers. You can sell your products or services at lower prices as compared to your competitors by following various options such as managing to source your products or services at affordable prices, or being able to cut down or reduce the shipping expenses, etc. Indeed, lower price can be a formidable competitive advantage. So, price is undeniably considered as a strong way of differentiating your e-commerce website.
Offering a guarantee on your products or services shows your customers that you are assuming the risk, because your customer satisfaction is your primary concern. Apart from providing best customer service and amazing user experience, you can put your customers at ease with a splendid guarantee. Offering guarantee speaks volumes about your e-commerce business, and how firmly your business stands behind your products or services.

Ecommerce is obviously a promising realm of opportunities for ambitious business owners, and the only way to outdo the competition is by daring to be absolutely different. Apart from the above mentioned strategies, there are also some other strategies available to differentiate your e-commerce business. However, it all depends on your ground-breaking and passionate approach.

Create a Facebook Page for a business now!!

K2B Editor — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 10:35:57 +0000

Have you decided to create a Facebook Page for your business? Wondering how to get your Facebook Page started? This article helps you to set up a new Facebook Page for your business.

If you have a Facebook account, then you can able to create a Facebook Page within few minutes easily and quickly. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a web developer, web designer, digital marketing expert or tech savvy to create an enticing Facebook Page.

To set up a Facebook Page for your business, just follow the below mentioned steps:

1) Log into Facebook: Don’t you have a personal profile set up on Facebook? First, create your personal profile rather than just creating a “business-only” Facebook Page. Your Business Page will be tied to your personal profile; however both the Pages are completely separate. No one can view your personal information, not even your name, from your Page.

2) Select a Category: Open the link www.facebook.com/pages/create.php, and select any one main category that suits your business very well. Don’t select Local Business or Place if you don’t have any physical storefront. This is because Facebook will automatically turn your Facebook Page into a Place as well.

3) Name your Page: Think well and provide your Facebook Page name carefully. If you have a clear brand name, then naming your Page is easy. Have keywords in your Facebook Page title, because this helps your Page to come up in Facebook search. Once you have provided the name, select the check box next to “I agree to Facebook Pages Terms” and click Get Started.

4) Add your profile picture: Your profile picture will be appearing next to each and every post that goes into the news feed from your Facebook Page. So, add an image relevant to your business, for example: brand logo, as your profile picture. Once you have added your profile picture in your Page, then click Next.

5) Add your basic “About” information: The About Page is the main page where you can briefly provide the information about your business. As this page is indexed in Google, make sure that you provide descriptive and keyword-rich content in this page. Also, ensure that you link your business website in this field, so that the visitors can able to easily find out your website. Here you can also add other websites that you want to direct the visitors to. Once done, click the Yes radio button and click Save Info.

6) Like your own Facebook Page: Facebook allows you to give “like” to your own Facebook Page. You can give “like” to your own page if you want, else you can skip it.

7) Don’t invite your email contacts: Facebook displays a page where you can invite your email contacts. However, until or unless your Facebook Page is updated a bit more, it is better to avoid inviting your email contacts. Instead, create your own email message and send it directly from the email service you use.

8) Start sharing: Facebook allows you to share your first status update. You can either share your update now or you can skip this step. But, before you start inviting people to like your Facebook Page, you can have many status updates on your timelines, which makes people to see the types of things you are going to be sharing.

9) Add a cover photo: Read the Facebook’s Cover Photo terms properly, and then add a cover photo to your Facebook Page accordingly. Before adding your cover photo, make sure that it meets all the guidelines. Then, click the Add a Cover button and select Upload Photo. Choose your photo, place it properly on your Page, and click Save Changes.

10) Review your permissions: Go to Edit Page, manage permissions from the admin panel and then review how your permissions are set up. Here, you may want to change the Profanity Blocklist to Medium, and also your Message button. Ensure that you monitor all the messages there, and also that you are making it easy for the people to send you messages in a different way.

Your Facebook Page is almost ready! It’s now time for you to get some likes on your Page!

Why Social Media Marketing is better than Traditional Marketing?

K2B Editor — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:25:32 +0000

In today’s ever-changing and fast-paced world, social media marketing has revolutionized the way how companies and business people interact with their clients, partners, dealers, suppliers and others who are important to their businesses.

Even traditional media, such as television, radio, magazines and newspapers, is also partly moved online where they can easily share their information to a huge number of people all around the world.

Today, marketers are questioning the real differences between traditional marketing and social marketing. Is social marketing is really better than traditional marketing? Let us look at the benefits of social media campaigns in comparison to the conventional marketing strategies.

Social Media is cheaper: The major advantage of using social media for marketing or promoting is that it costs nothing for businesses to set up social media accounts. Using social media, businesses can reach a lot of people for a fraction of the cost than they can reach through traditional media. Social media not only makes your business promotion easy, but also allows you to do it with free cost.

Effective One-on-one communication: Social media marketing enables most companies to have a conversation with the people, who are important to their business, in such a way that few promotional tools can make. The conversational nature and the easy accessibility enable businesses to easily connect with their clients one-on-one. Using social media, they can respond to their customers’ or others’ comments, feedbacks and posts everything instantaneously and vice versa the way they do business.

Generate pre-qualified traffic: If you use social media for marketing, then it is easy for you to drive pre-qualified traffic to your website, and thus generate sales and profits. Generally, people who are interested in your company will follow your company social pages regularly. So, in order to attract many people and make them visit your website, you can post updates on social networks regarding your new products, offers, discounts, and run exclusive promotions. Even though, it is possible to generate traffic by using traditional media, the prospects that are gained through social media would be definitely warm leads.

Flexibility and adaptability with campaigns: Suppose, if you have signed off on traditional marketing campaigns such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio advertising, then you will be having some restrictions on the changes that you can make, without acquiring a huge amount of cost. However, if you use social marketing, you will have the adaptability and flexibility to include or remove promotions, and also you can make changes to your campaigns through social networking websites at a moment’s notice with very less set up time needed.

Easily evaluate the results: You can able to easily evaluate social media campaigns by using social network analysis software such as Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and so on. This software helps you to find the metrics such as how many users clicked on links, how many people shared the links with their community, and which network refers the highest traffic to your website. Whereas, measuring the success of conventional offline campaigns like advertising or public relations is very difficult.

Therefore, social media has become a very important channel for news as well as information distribution and utilization that has taken over the benefits of traditional media. That is, social media has replaced the traditional media significantly by presenting great information consumption and distribution channel. Furthermore, the recent trend shows that the popularity of social media has grown over the past few years, and also the growth remains the same trend.