With comic and tweet, cartoonist raises $8 million for museum

NEW DELHI: No one raises money like Matthew Inman, the creator of Oatmeal comics. With a web comic and a tweet on Wednesday, Inman raised $8 million dollars for building a museum dedicated to Nikola Tesla, the scientist and innovator who worked on many technologies, including electricity, that power the world of today. Inman is a big Tesla fan and is trying to raise money to build a Tesla Museum.

Before Wednesday, he has collected over $1.3 million in donations for his cause. But according to Inman, who is collaborating with Tesla Memorial Society, this is not enough to build a museum.

On Wednesday, Inman wrote a review of Tesla S, an all-electric car sold by Tesla Motors, and asked the car company's CEO Elon Musk on Twitter to donate $8 million for the proposed Tesla Museum. Musk, a visionary and innovator who also happens to be one of the richest men on earth with around $12 billion net worth, agreed. "@Oatmeal I would be happy to help," Musk said on Twitter.
Earlier, Inman had tagged Musk in a tweet and said, "@elonmusk I wrote a review of my Model S, and then asked you for a little favor here."

Halo 5: Guardians for Xbox One coming in 2015

343 Industries has revealed that Halo 5: Guardians will launch on Xbox One in the fall of 2015.

Bonnie Ross, general manager at 343, made the announcement on a blog post that detailed the future of the Halo franchise as a whole. Ross talked about Master Chief's next journey, saying, "Halo 5: Guardians is a bigger effort than Halo 4. Certainly there are some core elements carried over from prior games, but we've invested a huge effort in retooling our tech to take full advantage of the Xbox One's hardware and ecosystem to create worlds and experiences worthy of next-gen."

We got our first glimpse at the next generation of Halo at Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference, which featured a short teaser showcasing the iconic character trudging across a desert in a poncho.

Ross also hinted at what we'd see from the franchise at this year's E3, stating, "Many fans noted that I was very deliberate with my phrasing on stage at E3 last year. I spoke about a 'journey,' rather than a destination — and that journey definitely begins in 2014 with a giant leap, rather than one small step. We'll give you much more information about our plans for this year at the Xbox E3 2014 Media Briefing on June 9, and we're confident that Halo fans will be pretty excited [about] the special plans we have in store."

Apple, Google settle smartphone patent litigation

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple and Google's Motorola Mobility unit have agreed to settle all patent litigation between them over smartphones, ending one of the highest-profile lawsuits in technology.

In a joint statement, the companies said the settlement does not include a cross license to their respective patents.

"Apple and Google have also agreed to work together in some areas of patent reform," the statement said.

Apple and companies that make phones using Google's Android software have filed dozens of such lawsuits against one another around the world to protect their technology. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs called Android a "stolen product".

Google and Apple informed a federal appeals court in Washington that their cases against each other should be dismissed, according to filings on Friday. However, the deal does not apply to Apple's litigation against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Narendra Modi's victory tweet creates record

It's worth pointing out that Twitter has played a major role in the Indian elections with candidates using it as a medium to reach out to voters and news organizations leveraging its capability to disseminate information and update users. Just a day ago, Twitter India had announced that more than 56 million election-related Tweets were tweeted from January 1 till May 12, in 2014.

Today's victory tweet has been retweeted almost 8 times more compared to Narendra Modi's other highly retweeted tweets. Modi's last highly retweeted tweet had registered 4842 retweets.

IBM launches pre-configured mobile apps

LAS VEGAS: IBM has expanded its mobile application development portfolio with what it calls Ready Apps that can help firms build mobile apps within hours. The company says these pre-configured apps will save users upto 60% time and resources. It has also opened 18 studios called MobileFirst, including one in Bangalore, to help business leaders accelerate mobile initiatives.
IBM Ready Apps include those for banking, retail, healthcare, insurance, travel, and government organizations. Companies can change the look and feel of these apps and also add features. It will be particularly useful for startups that are limited by resources.

"As mobile apps become a primary touchpoint with clients, the stakes run high to delight consumers. At the same time, the cost of a poorly designed app can significantly impact both the brand and bottomline," said Marie Wieck, general manager, IBM MobileFirst. "IBM's mobile platform, apps and studios are designed to help businesses accelerate the adoption of a mobile strategy for business growth."

IBM mobile studios will provide clients direct access to local teams of mobile experts including designers, developers , architects and consultants . Clients can work along with IBM mobile professionals to conceive, design, build and deploy new apps.

IBM said its Worklight, Cloudant and BlueMix technologies will enable developers to create and manage apps, on-premise or in the cloud. Worklight is a mobile enterprise app development platform deployed on a client's IT infrastructure, while BlueMix delivers similar capabilities as cloud-based services . IBM also announced that more than 30 new cloud services are now available in BlueMix, its platform-as-aservice (PaaS), to help developers integrate applications and deployment of new cloud services. The company launched its first BlueMix Garage by which developers, product managers and designers can interact with IBM experts to innovate and deliver new cloud apps deployed onto BlueMix.

Microsoft Windows 9, Cloud-based OS in the works: Report

An image shared by an infamous Chinese Windows leaker has revealed what Microsoft has on its Satya Nadalla-influenced roadmap in 2014

Posting on the Neowin forum, FaiKee has shown that Microsoft is working on Windows 9, Windows 365, Windows 8.1 Update 2, Office 2015 and more.

The image also provides a list of products Microsoft plans to update, including existing ones like Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and Office 2013.

It also lists Windows 9, "& Server & mobile edition," all but confirming that there will be a separate Windows Phone 9 release.

Windows 365 is given a mention, and its status is listed as "Alpha based on Windows Core." This is expected to be a cloud-based platform that ties in with Office 365.

The road ahead
The listing of Office 2015, which is currently being built, suggests a possible release date of 2015 for all of these products, Windows 9 included.

Before we get the next Windows, however, there is Windows 8.1 Update 2 on the horizon, which is widely expected to include the restoration of the much-missed Start Menu, albeit with the twist of tacking on some Modern tiles as well.

Another interesting rumour is that Windows 9 will be given free to all Windows 8.1 users, which should greatly increase adoption of the newer platform.

Facebook says it may open sales office in China

Facebook Inc said it may consider opening a sales office in China to provide more support to local advertisers who use the website to reach customers overseas.

While Vaughan Smith, Facebook's vice-president of corporate development, told Reuters it was exploring ways to provide even more support locally, he did not comment on how soon it plans to be in China.

Facebook currently has a Hong Kong sales office with a staff of 30 to 40 people who deal with advertisers locally and in mainland China, where its services are blocked. The sales office would, for the first time, put Facebook employees inside mainland China.

Apple Patents Wraparound Edge-Mounted iPhone Displays With Virtual Buttons

Apple has a new patent granted today (spotted by AppleInsider) for a side-mounted   wraparound display that could be used to add virtual buttons to the edges of future     iPhones in place of physical controls. The display would run the circumference of the device, and offer up virtual versions of current physical controls, including volume up/down, but it would also make it possible for Apple to show a number of other controls and information away from the main screen.Some examples of what could appear on the side display include a slide unlock controller, or some app icons from the home screen or dock. Other options include music playback controls, and both caller ID and message summaries. In specific apps, like the calculator, additional functions may appear on the sides of the device, like the extended formula set for scientific calculator mode.

Microsoft says it is ready with 4G devices

Software and mobile handset major Microsoft is ready with 4G band devices, said a senior executive today. 

"As soon as the operators decide about the 4G, we can offer them the technology," said Raghuvesh Sarup, sales director at Nokia India, a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobiles. 

Speaking after the launch of the Lumia 630 dual SIM smartphone handset, the first device with Windows 8.1 system in the country, he said, "We have been LTE-ready with devices starting 2012; we have the technology. As the India LTE landscape has been recently clarified, we are working closely with operators. We also support FDD band 3 (1800MHz) which was recently auctioned." 

Currently telecom operators are busy trying to assess their own network capability for LTE, he said, adding "it's not yet known which major telecom player will choose what band. But, we are ready." Talking about the Lumia 630, first dual SIM smartphone from the Microsoft stable, Sarup noted that over 80% of the smartphones sold in the country are dual-sim ones.

Twitter adds mute button for unwanted posts