Don't Know ? Just Ask Cortana..

Tech giants like Apple and Google have given lot of importance to Voice assistants. With the SIRI coming in, Microsoft wants to ensure that it isn’t late for the party and has given Cortana a big push in Windows 10. Cortana was showcased at Windows 10 event held at Redmond. The biggest highlight was Cortana will be coming to desktops as well. At the core, it is similar to what we saw in Windows Phone, but now Cortana is more skilled at natural language, handling your daily appointments and so on.



Improved search is the first and foremost feature of Cortana.It can look up specific Word files or Presentations. It also lets users search for contextual information. For instance, you can look for “videos from September.” It can also go beyond your computer and search for videos or docs from Microsoft’s cloud service – OneDrive.

Another key thing needless to say Cortana learns its users’ tastes and preferences, just like some other voice assistants. There’s a new feature called Notebook that keeps a tab on all the saved information. It also keeps a track of the sports scores, travel, weather and such similar information that you may be interested in. It’s in the Notebook, that you can add other things that you expect Cortana to keep a track.

Sources say Cortana is integrated with Spartan Browser, given that Google has integrated voice-search in Chrome as well. Cortana will bring predictive search into the browser. Cortana also takes dictation. Yes, you can simply dictate an email, now. You can also ask it to play music. In case you are on a page of a hotel/restaurant, it instantly pops up the menu or Maps with directions. In the search bar, it also helps with generating auto complete.

Cortana needless to say just the right move as Windows 10 is expected to bring seamless experience across all Microsoft devices. Microsoft’s move to bring Cortana to desktops  makes perfect sense as voice-assistant are being seen as the future of search.

Oops HTTP or HTTPS ??

Most of internet websites depend on third party vendors for secured socket layer(SSL) However, before entering your payment information such as credit card details, PayPal username or password it is important to be sure that the page is secure by checking for HTTPS at the uppermost part of the page

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a communications protocol for secure communication over a computer network, with especially wide deployment on the Internet. This is actually the first element you spot on any URL and it is used to send information over the web.Technically, it is not a protocol in and of itself; rather, it is the result of simply layeringthe Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) on top of the SSL/TLS protocol, thus adding the security capabilities of SSL/TLS to standard HTTP communications. The security of HTTPS is therefore that of the underlying TLS, up to dateencrypt the data flow between client and server

Why use HTTPS?

What HTTPS does is provide encryption, which blocks authentication, and sniffing thereby preventing spoofing. The first indication of whether a website is secure for processing your information over the web is by checking the presence of prefix HTTPS.

 HTTP is insecure and is subject to man-in-the-middle and eavesdropping attacks, which can let attackers gain access to website accounts and sensitive information. HTTPS is designed to withstand such attacks and is considered secure against such attacks.

Things to check in HTTPS

Though HTTPS is secured network , we need to ensure that the antivirus that we are using is quality one and the datebase is up to date. This is because a virus infection can enable intruders of your payment information to get hold of everything you input into your computer. That is why it is advisable to never save your private information like bank account details, social security, and credit card number on your computer. Instead, put such information in your head or in any other safe place

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A virus has the potential of secretly installing a program into your computer. This places your information in a vulnerable position of being retrieved by the public. Many people do now know that you may be using webpage that has HTTPS yet has an error on it. Use the secure webpage with caution. Check if the left lower hand corner of the page has a yellow triangle normally with an explanation point on it. Yes, the website may have an SSL but it may be improperly installed. Do not overlook such errors and compromise your information simply because you spot the prefix HTTPS.

How to go HTTPS ?

First and foremost, make sure that the SSL certificate is properly installed and it is working. Then go to the admin dashboard and point the cursor on Settings. Proceed by clicking General. You will see WordPress Address (URL) and Site Address (URL).Replace the default HTTP:// for both cases with HTTPS://. Do not forget to save the changes by clicking on the save button.

Nokia + Android = Normandy ??

 @evleaks posted a photo with that caption “Android on Nokia ( -virtual buttons)” that could perhaps be further suggesting a Nokia device running Android is in the works. Code Named Normandy, Nokia's Android smartphone seems to be coming back from the dead.Tipster evleaks have revealed that such a device is in the works, and will be announced in the MWC conference  through the Chinese website tieba.baidu.com, a screen capture of Nokia's Android phone has been leaked, seemingly confirming the existence of an Android running Nokia phone.



Firstly, the model number for this Android Nokia is A110, and it's running Android 4.4.1. It is running a 3.4.0 Kernel.This device is running on Snapdragon Processor with camera spec of 5MP, resolution of 854 x 480 and is a confirmation of the fact that this device is targeted for the low-end market.

The appearance of the phone is a mix of Lumia and Asha series designs, with only a single capacitive 'back' button on the front face.This Lumia-style device, according to a report by The Verge, has “no apparent capacitive buttons for navigation” and ”supports Android applications like Skype, and other popular top apps.”Comparing the above image to smartphones running Windows Phone, the navigation bar is nearly identical as far as the layout of the status bar icons.

According to an India website BGR, this Android phone will be "de-Googled", which means it will not be able to access the Google Play Store, will not include Google maps, Gmail, Google Search services, and instead will be using Nokia's own maps, Bing Search and Microsoft Outlook for the mail client.

Another rumor claims Nokia have been in contact with many top-tier app developers and are in talks to develop apps for their own Android store.There are also app developers who claim that over 80% of the apps in the Play store is compatible with Nokia Normandy, and only needs minor tweaks.

As there is no confimed news on launch of Normandy, we cannot expect it to make it to market based on  the official photos leaked, but it proves that Nokia is in development of an android phone.According to leaks Nokia could be announcing the Normandy in the MWC 2014 in the end of February.

via @evleaks, GSMArena

Android 5 Jelly Bean rumoured to be released in Q3

Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice cream sandwich and now latest Android 5 -Jelly Bean adds up to the Google's sweet code names.A report from Taiwanese news publication claims that Google could launch its latest version Android 5 ,codenamed Jelly Bean in second quarter of 2012.

There has been some reports that Google is planning to bring this new OS to netbook and laptop thus increasing the presence of Android OS.The new OS will integrate "Chrome system Functions".The current version of OS ICS Android 4 is out but not universally adopted by android device makers,vast majority stuck with the older Gingerbread flavour.



May be jelly will endup a minor update to the latest version 4 but now the world think its Android 5.

Google is yet to announce the release date of this new OS,but the rumours have spread that it will be launched in early November 2012. Jelly Bean could get a public showing in Google I/ODeveloper Conference on Jun 27-29 at San Francisco.

Inside Jelly Bean 

The new OS is featured to have better power management,gesture recognition and also there is dual boot support for MS Windows 8 which would be a surprise.As ICS is more of a smartphone OS ,Google want its Jelly Bean to be an ultimate tablet OS.

Will Jelly Bean support Voice recognition like Siri in Apple , we need to wait and watch till the release date.

Firefox With A New Add-on -Smart Address Bar

If you think searching on Firefox is time consuming  compared to Google Chrome, you are mistaken now Firefox have developed a new add-on -Smart Address bar , which will provide the  Omnibar Bar features of Chrome to Firefox.


Smart Address Bar makes the URl of the browser to a faster and more intelligent search tool.After the installation of add-on , you restart the Firefox and is done, now type the first few letters of the search item in URl and now we can see the Bar displaying intelligent and specific search results in a dropdown list view with the search words highlighted and underlined for better clarity.

It may even pull up the history of your browsing to display the exact thing and more accurate results.With this feature you can now reduce the typing to half and can additionally discover new and interesting things based on the predictive algorithm that interests you.


All you have to do is to install add on and type first few letters of search and voila !!    you get the search item predicted in the drop-down list.When you click on one of these address bar opens with result in same tab,you can scroll and find what you want.


This add on is easy to use  and it gives accurate and speedier browsing experience and one more interesting thing is it is not consuming much memory when compared to opening another tab in Chrome or using another extension in Chrome.

Windows Vs Android - Is it ethical ?

Nokia has been aggressively marketing their Lumia family of Windows Phones on a massive global scale, with events sporting 4D projections, augmented reality experiences, and live music performances the manufacturer appears to have extraordinarily deep pockets for the marketing budget, something that Microsoft needs from an OEM with its new mobile platform


As well as Nokia we've seen Microsoft pushing hard with carriers and the famous Smoked by Windows Phone campaign. Following on from this successful array of stunts, Nokia has kicked off "Blown away by Lumia" in India, which hasn't gone down too well with Samsung, who is backing the Galaxy family of devices.


The advertising campaign, which is basically a spin-off of Microsoft's own 'Smoked by Windows Phone' campaign, is being run in India, with similar marketing going on in the UK as well. Basically, contestants are picked out of a crowd in public places and compete against someone using a Lumia handset to see who can complete a task first. Assuming that the Lumia beats whatever the contestant is using, the contestant gets their picture taken holding up a sign that says “My phone just got blown away by the Nokia Lumia.”


As with the Smoked by Windows Phone challenges, contestants have to try and best the Windows Phone (a Lumia handset in this case) with general smartphone tasks, such as taking a photo and uploading it to Facebook. Which ever device completes the task first wins. Should the contestant lose, they have to hold up a sign that reads: 'My phone just got blown away by the Nokia Lumia'.


Reported by Tech2.com -At one of the events in Delhi, one of the participants was asked to click a picture, tag it and upload it to Facebook. The time taken by the two devices was compared with the eventual winner in that particular incident being the Nokia Lumia phone. Well, the guy did state that the Lumia phone won and that he was using a ‘Samsung Galaxy’ phone, but that’s not it. Once he lost the mini competition, the girl along with him got pretty fed up and said that his current phone was ‘the worst piece of sh*t’.

Samsung apparently isn't happy about this, with a spokesperson from Samsung India calling the campaign “clearly unethical.”


Nokia explains the challenges were validated by Nielsen, with Nokia India Director of Marketing, Viral Oza, commenting the following on the accusations of unethical campaigning. According to the ironically named Viral Oza, a Marketing Director at Nokia India, “the Lumia 800 emerged as a clear winner by winning 94% of the total 104 challenges timed by Nielsen. This challenge,” he added, “has not been created to target competition but to highlight the social media capabilities of the device.”


Microsoft's own Smoked by Windows Phone campaign garnered some criticism of its own after a contestant threatened legal action because Microsoft award him a promised $1,000 PC after his iPhone 'smoked' a Windows Phone.And just for the record, Samsung pulled a similar stunt of their own with the Samsung Street Challenge, so they really don't have much room to complain.


Mobile phone analysts feel Nokia's strategy to compare Lumia with competitive brands is a smart move since the company has been losing share in the segment."At the top-end of the smartphone segment, Indian consumers are showing bigger affinity for Samsung, BlackBerry or Apple rather than Nokia,That way, Nokia's campaign for Lumia 800 can help them since its comparing with competitors in social networking and internet capabilities which are the most important factors for younger consumers while choosing a handset",says Rahul Gupta ,Senior manager strategies at Mobile tech Research firm.But is it ethical on part of Nokia ? Debatable....Right ?