The Worlds Shrinking

Huawei Ascend P1

Airtel and Huawei have teamed up to launch Indias first LTE smartphone. Ascend P1 supports 4G networks,so users in Kolkata or Pune can browse the Web at ultra high speeds,as of now.

Augmented reality AR platforms are here to enhance your mobile experience. American company,Qualcomm,which makes processors for mobile phones has launched Vuforia and AllJoyn. These are yet to arrive,full-fledged,in the Indian market.

Vuforia: Augmented reality

Vuforia is a tool that uses AR to allow users to interact with real world objects in a virtual environment. It allows consumers to buy products they see on television or retail stores from their smartphones or tablets.

For instance,if you are at a stadium for a match,you can point your phone at your ticket and see a 3D model of the stadium,your seat location and the closest entrance,with Vuforia. The camera is vital to this experience. It syncs with the Vuforia-based app and when you point it at a target,it gives you additional information. For instance,you like a trouser at your local store,but the colour you want is out of stock. Vuforia helps you check availability of different sizes and colours across outlets of that store. The technology supports both iOS and Android. Qualcomm claims that over 1,000 applications use Vuforia.

AllJoyn: Server-less link up

Another Qualcomm technology lets users pair two devices using WiFi or Bluetooth. AllJoyn searches for compatible devices nearby and quickly pairs with them. As of now,this is applicable only for gaming.

AllJoyn is an open source technology,which means anyone can download the development kit for free and incorporate it into their apps or games. Imagine this: you start a game on your mobile when youre bored at a mall. You use AllJoyn to quickly find other players near you. Pair with them and start gaming.

If app developers can utilise its potential,we will see AllJoyn being used for more than just multi-player gaming. If it integrates support for near-field communication NFC,transfering money to other smartphones or bill payments may become much easier.

Reverie: Type in your language

Chatting in Indian languages is common,but few phones and fewer smartphones support scripts. So,we take the easy way out use the Roman alphabet. This creates some uncomfortable moments while typing long sentences,and many people just switch to English in the middle of a conversation.

Most people are conversant in English but need devices that support their first language. Enter Reverie Language Technologies,a company that specialises in embedding language support in various devices like mobile phones,set top boxes,etc. You could install a couple of fonts or apps to chat in your mother tongue,but the experience is not as good as Reveries native language support.

The company supports 32 languages,22 of which are Indian. Their technology works on three layers: display,input method and text processing. They embed fonts on the device and the rendering engine ensures that all characters look crisp. On touch devices,their keypad support is good. Although Hindi has a lot of characters,they have managed to make a fairly intuitive keypad complete with the ability to predict words. If your address book is in English,you can view it in Hindi using Reveries two-tap transliteration feature. A few phones from Micromax and Intex currently come with these features.