Hasta La Gadget!

Earlier this year, NVIDIA took the wraps off their Android-powered handheld gaming console which was known as SHIELD. The device had a lot of promise and we actually enjoyed it a lot during our review of the product, but if you were hoping that some of the specs could be different, or if you were hoping for a different design, you might not have to wait too long because come 2014, we could be looking at the SHIELD’s successor, which presumably could be known as the SHIELD 2. This is according to an interview that Engadget did with NVIDIA’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang.

When talking about NVIDIA’s upcoming Tegra chip which has been codenamed Project Logan (also known as Tegra 5), Huang was quoted as saying, “We should expect a new Shield whenever there’s a new Tegra and we create a new Tegra every year.” Assuming that his statement will be taking effect starting with Project Logan, it seems that 2014 is when we can look forward to a new SHIELD handheld gaming console. It is an interesting move by NVIDIA because while mobile phones and tablets are typically refreshed on an annual basis, gaming consoles aren’t, so we will have to wait and see if NVIDIA’s strategy of an annual refresh will work out for them.

NVIDIA SHIELD 2 Could Be Unveiled In 2014 original content from Ubergizmo.

Apple’s iOS 7 operating system for mobile devices was unveiled in the middle of the year during Apple’s WWDC 2013 event. While the update was a long overdue redesign of the operating system’s overall look and feel, there were many who criticized it, claiming it looked too cartoony, and that the gradient effects for some of the app icons looked “cheap”. While we’re pretty sure this is not how Apple went about designing iOS 7, YouTuber Vaclav Krejci seems to believe that iOS 7’s home screen can actually be recreated using nothing more than Microsoft Word and some clever manipulation and an extensive knowledge of Microsoft’s word processing software.

In the video above, Krejci shows how to recreate iOS 7’s home screen using various tools in Microsoft Word, and based on what we can see in the sped up version of the entire process, it is mind boggling just how many similarities iOS 7’s design has with some of the tools offered in Microsoft Word. If anything, this video lends credence to the detractors and critics’ claims of iOS 7 being cheap and cartoony, and to a certain extent we can’t help but agree after watching this video. In any case we’re guessing this video was meant to be more informative and funny rather than a criticism, but if you have some time to spare, you will definitely want to check this out.

iOS 7 Home Screen Gets A Stunning Recreation In Microsoft Word original content from Ubergizmo.

Check out this newly launched dual SIM Android 4.1 tablet from iBall for the Indian market, the Slide 3G 8072. Specs-wise, the tablet packs an 8.0-inch 1024 x 768 capacitive touchscreen display, a 1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 processor, a 1GB RAM, a 4GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot (up to 32GB), dual SIM card slots (3G+3G), dual cameras (front & 2MP rear), aGPS, USB OTG, WiFi, Bluetooth, a 4000mAh battery and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS. The Slide 3G 8072 sells for Rs 11,999 (about $196). [Product Page]

“Bullet time” – the magical moment in a movie where everything slows down, and you get a 360 degree view of what’s going on. It did seem like magic as bullet time went mainstream and captured the imagination of the masses with the release of the Matrix at the end of the last century. In order to shoot a bullet time scene, one would need a rig of cameras in a circular configuration that are shot all at once, allowing it to capture the same shot of a particular subject from multiple angles.

This particular Qualcomm rig that does bullet time at a public photo booth is highly impressive, too, as it carries a whopping 130 HTC One smartphones which will be able to cover 540 degrees of movement. At the end of it, an animated GIF will simulate movement around the subject that was shot while it remained in the center of the rig. Do give the video a watch, while the quality is nowhere near that of the movies, it is still a pretty impressive video. There are fire breathers in there, a person who showcased his dog catching a frisbee in mid air after jumping off his back, as well as simulations of Force powers.

130 HTC One Handsets Form Bullet Time Photo Booth original content from Ubergizmo.

No, Project Shield has nothing to do with the gaming rig from NVIDIA, but rather, Google has just announced this initiative that intends to ensure that smaller activist sites will be able to remain active and running during Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The project’s initial focus would be on offering protection to under-resourced sites that serve up what they call “media, elections, and human rights related content.”

Right now, Project Shield has seen action to assist a bunch of small sites in sensitive areas to remain up and running even though they come under attack from civilian and governmental hackers. Project Shield has so far notched up some notable “victories” underneath its belt, including a Persian-language social and political blog, a website that offers early warnings of scud missile attacks to folks who happen to live in war torn Syria, as well as enabled a Kenyan election monitoring service to remain up for the entire election duration. Unfortunately, this is an exclusive “club” as it remains an invite-only service, with additional invitations being rolled out on a “rolling basis.”

What do you think of this particular initiative? We do wonder what the effective rate is when it comes to DDoS protection against external hackers.

Google Announces Project Shield original content from Ubergizmo.