Raj Agrawal – Page 28

AfterShokz Headphones: Listening To Music With Your Bones, Not Eardrums

January 13, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

If you like listening to music on the go; whether you are an audiophile or not, this technology will pique your interest!

A new way of listening to music is available now, without having the need to stuff things in your ear. AfterShokz Headphones (using Bone Conduction Technology) deliver sound directly to the inner ear, bypassing the eardrum. Bone conduction headphones were originally created for military use. But, now you can experience it too!

What makes these headphones different than the conventional ones?

When you are using regular headphones/ earphones, the sound waves travel via ‘air’ to finally reach your eardrums. Whereas, in case of headphones using Bone Conduction Technology, all sounds are delivered through your skull to the inner ear, without interference from air; not to mention the crystal clear accuracy that the headphones shall provide.

The main intent of creating this technology was clearly to allow the user to be able to communicate through media while still being able to hear what is going on around. The earphones in use today have major drawbacks – when the surroundings are too loud, the users have to pump up the volume; on and around-ear headphones are just ‘unwieldy’ and make the dork in you stand out; and the in-ear ones, though providing good quality, block the user from the outside world.

Watch the video talking about AfterShokz Headphones, from CES 2012,

Bone Conduction Technology

To those who find it hard to believe, try holding a watch between your teeth, the ticking is audible. A tuning fork held to your forehead will also do. Bone conduction simply is, passing of frequencies through the skull plates to the inner ear. A high frequency makes parts of the skull vibrate, so as to put it in layman’s terms. Correspondingly, low frequencies make the skull vibrate as a whole. From this, the inner ear can deduce the frequency being passed.

AfterShokz Headphones have been designed such that they press on the cheekbones and have good grip. And you do get to experience high fidelity and stereo quality sound. Normal earphones are irritating when used for long durations; the in-ear ones block air access to the ear canal, the other ones simply hurt since people tend to use them at high volumes. Joggers and active people have to keep adjusting them from falling away.

Drawbacks

Whether this technology has any drawbacks is not known. However, a skeptic may point that making a person’s skull vibrate all the time may be harmful in the long run.

Availability

Three models of AfterShokz Headphones are available: AfterShokz Sport Headphone, AfterShokz Mobile with In-Line Mic, and AfterShokz Game Headphone.

What Is The Best FPS Of All Time?

January 10, 2012 by Raj Agrawal 3 Comments

The first person shooter genre is probably the most popular in gaming. Even after almost 10 years after its release, people still play Counter Strike. Call of Duty and Battlefield series of games are breaking sales records year after year. There have been enough FPS games in the past ten years to eclipse all the other genres in gaming. So the obvious difficulty i’m having in choosing the best FPS game ever made shouldn’t come as a surprise to many.

The FPS genre has undergone a severe transition over the years from being single player focused to multiplayer focused. Call of Duty and Battlefield 3 both have single player campaigns, but they’re an afterthought when compared to the excellent multiplayer offerings. This makes the decision to find the best game even more difficult. One side you have games which rely heavily on single player such as Half life 2. On the other side you have multiplayer games like Modern Warfare which have changed the scope of multiplayer games.

Off the top of my head I can list the following games that thoroughly deserve the crown:-

Half Life
Half Life 2
Bioshock
Halo
Halo 2
Unreal Tournament 2004
Doom
Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare
Battlefield 2
Call of Duty

All of the above are shining examples of what a good FPS must be. Games like Unreal Tournament and Modern Warfare have changed the multiplayer landscape, whereas Bioshock and Halo have redefined single player gameplay. To choose one best game out of these would be to seriously insult the others since the competition is so close. But, to not chose even one would completely betray the purpose of writing this article. Hence I shall pick two best games which i think have defined FPS gaming. And when I say defined FPS gaming, I do not imply popularity, in which case Modern Warfare and Halo would be runaway winners; it’s how much they have affected FPS game development on an evolutionary scale, and how they have changed the way players look at first person shooters.

Half Life 2

The original half life was sort of an evolution in the FPS landscape. It did nothing special, but whatever it did, it did perfectly. Well almost perfectly, otherwise I wouldn’t pick the sequel above it. Half Life 2 was something completely different. It’s an unrelenting campaign from start to finish. It pauses without stopping and rushes without hurrying. Couple this perfect pacing with a good story and some new fantastic gimmicks such as the gravity gun and physics puzzles, and you have a winner. But HL2 was much more than that; one which relies more on versatility than anything else. What i most remember the game for is its variety in levels. You won’t play the same time of environment in this game for more than 3-4 hours. And it’s a long game which will last you almost 20-25 hours. How can a game have all of these features and not be one of the best games of all time. I thought the same, and frankly I couldn’t come up with one reason about why it deserves anything less.

Bioshock

I was torn between Bioshock and Modern Warfare for this spot, but in the end Bioshock just about managed to nudge ahead. Storytelling in videogames have never been good enough to compete with movies, but this game come scarily close. And the story has a very deep impact on the game world and the characters. There’s much to talk about this game, but most of it will serve as a spoiler. This is one game which will constantly surprise and awe you, and I intend to keep it that way. And as far as twists go, this one is right up there with the best.

Well thats my two cents. What do you people think about these choices? Whats your favorite FPS of all time?

4G LTE Technology Massive Roll Out To Begin In 2012

January 3, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

UPCOMING TECHNOLOGY – With a step up in the way smart phones/ tablets are used and the steep rise in data consumption, 3G technology seems outdated to meet the rising bandwidth requirements. While the data transfer capability offered by 3G networks might be sufficient for many users, it isn’t for many others. Mobile devices are continuously being used for streaming video, audio and other data involving heavy data transmission and in countries where 4G isn’t out yet, it can be disappointing. And there are devices are already out in the market that exceed the network’s bandwidth capabilities, some devices might fail to fully utilize it’s data transmission capability because of the network’s speed limitations.

4G LTE advantages — Graphical representation of data

But, this will soon be history. Firstly, let me explain what 4G LTE is. 4G LTE stands for Long Term Evolution, which is one of the latest standards in mobile network technology. It offers data transfer speeds as high as 1 GB/s. Statistics say – 280 operators in 90 countries are building 4G LTE networks, as reported by The Global Mobile Suppliers Association. And a good number of them will make their services live in 2012. And iSuppli Corp’s research suggests, the 4G LTE subscribers to grow by 400 percent in 2012; about 10 percent of global wireless subscribers will have LTE connections by 2015.

Notably, the speed offerings are variable in different countries, as you can notice in the chart above. For the geek and web enthusiast folks, it’s a win and a delicious treat for accessing content on the web at super high speeds. Just think about it, once this new technology reaches every corner of the world, human interactions over distance will be strongly connected than ever. You won’t really need to move out of your shelter or travel, where the communication can be achieved via your 4G LTE communicating device.

Via [IEEE]