Image Credit & Copyright: Ligustri Rolando
Comet ISON
Image Credit & Copyright: Ligustri Rolando
Why phablets are becoming popular with students
(If you've got it, flaunt…)
VISAKHAPATNAM:
If you've got it, flaunt it, is the mantra Gen Y lives by. And the
latest trend taking college students by storm is the phablet, a gadget
which has the features of a smartphone and tablet.
An increasing number of students are now giving traditional desktops and laptops a miss to connect with the latest that technology has to offer. Endorsing the trend, Andhra University student Govind said, "Earlier I was using a smartphone and also had a tablet but later realised that a phablet was better as you can make calls and use it as a tablet as well. I switched over to one and it has made life easier!"
An increasing number of students are now giving traditional desktops and laptops a miss to connect with the latest that technology has to offer. Endorsing the trend, Andhra University student Govind said, "Earlier I was using a smartphone and also had a tablet but later realised that a phablet was better as you can make calls and use it as a tablet as well. I switched over to one and it has made life easier!"
Shravan Kumar, a third year student of AU College of Engineering, who
is soon planning to graduate to a phablet, says, "The processing speed
is high, you can access the internet much faster and on the go. You can
connect to social networking sites, make presentation, play games, watch
movies, videos, listen to songs and all that at an affordable cost, "
said Kumar.
The trend has sent cash registers ringing at electronics store in the city.
Nageshwara Rao, another electronics goods showroom owner, confirmed a similar spurt in sales. "Phablet sales have shot up by 35% over the past month or so. There is a demand for phablets across models and price ranges. About six months ago, it was more of smartphones that were in demand. Today, the phablets are giving them a run for their money." The price of phablets starting from Rs 6000 is also a major draw. "Ever since phablets hit the market, smart phone sales have dipped. Last month we sold about 100 smartphones and about 25 phablets as against around 150 smartphones per month earlier."
The trend has sent cash registers ringing at electronics store in the city.
Nageshwara Rao, another electronics goods showroom owner, confirmed a similar spurt in sales. "Phablet sales have shot up by 35% over the past month or so. There is a demand for phablets across models and price ranges. About six months ago, it was more of smartphones that were in demand. Today, the phablets are giving them a run for their money." The price of phablets starting from Rs 6000 is also a major draw. "Ever since phablets hit the market, smart phone sales have dipped. Last month we sold about 100 smartphones and about 25 phablets as against around 150 smartphones per month earlier."
Boeing engineers use potatoes to improve in-flight Wi-Fi
Engineers
at Chicago-based Boeing used sacks of potatoes as stand-ins for
passengers as they worked to eliminate weak spots in in-flight wireless
signals.
RELATED
CHICAGO; If the wireless internet connection during your holiday flight
seems more reliable than it used to, you could have the humble potato
to thank.
While major airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi on many flights, the signal strength can be spotty. Airlines and aircraft makers have been striving to improve this with the growing use of wireless devices and the number of people who don't want to be disconnected, even 35,000 feet up.
Engineers at Chicago-based Boeing used sacks of potatoes as stand-ins for passengers as they worked to eliminate weak spots in in-flight wireless signals. They needed full planes to get accurate results during signal testing, but they couldn't ask people to sit motionless for days while data was gathered.
"That's where potatoes come into the picture," Boeing spokesman Adam Tischler said.
It turns out that potatoes - because of their water content and chemistry - absorb and reflect radio wave signals much the same way as the human body does, making them suitable substitutes for airline passengers.
"It's a testament to the ingenuity of these engineers. They didn't go in with potatoes as the plan," Tischler said.
Recapping the serendipitous path that led to better onboard wireless, Tischler said a member of the research team stumbled across an article in the Journal of Food Science describing research in which 15 vegetables and fruits were evaluated for their dielectric properties, or the way they transmit electric force without conduction.
Its conclusions led the Boeing researchers to wonder if potatoes might serve just as well as humans during their own signal testing. Despite some skepticism, they ended up buying 20,000 pounds of them.
Video and photos of the work, which started in 2006, show a decommissioned airplane loaded with row upon row of potato sacks that look like large, lumpy passengers. The sacks sit eerily still in the seats as the engineers collect data on the strength of wireless signals in various spots.
The Boeing engineers added some complicated statistical analysis and the result was a proprietary system for fine tuning internet signals so they would be strong and reliable wherever a laptop was used on a plane.
Boeing says the system also ensures Wi-Fi signals won't interfere with the plane's sensitive navigation and communications equipment.
"From a safety standpoint, you want to know what the peak signals are, what's the strongest signal one of our communications and navigation systems might see from a laptop or 150 laptops or 350 laptops," Boeing engineer Dennis Lewis explains in a video.
In a nod to the humor in using a tuber to solve a high-tech problem, researchers dubbed the project Synthetic Personnel Using Dialectic Substitution, or SPUDS.
The company says better Wi-Fi signals can be found already on three Boeing aircraft models flown by major airlines: 777, 747-8 and the 787 Dreamliner.
While major airlines offer in-flight Wi-Fi on many flights, the signal strength can be spotty. Airlines and aircraft makers have been striving to improve this with the growing use of wireless devices and the number of people who don't want to be disconnected, even 35,000 feet up.
Engineers at Chicago-based Boeing used sacks of potatoes as stand-ins for passengers as they worked to eliminate weak spots in in-flight wireless signals. They needed full planes to get accurate results during signal testing, but they couldn't ask people to sit motionless for days while data was gathered.
"That's where potatoes come into the picture," Boeing spokesman Adam Tischler said.
It turns out that potatoes - because of their water content and chemistry - absorb and reflect radio wave signals much the same way as the human body does, making them suitable substitutes for airline passengers.
"It's a testament to the ingenuity of these engineers. They didn't go in with potatoes as the plan," Tischler said.
Recapping the serendipitous path that led to better onboard wireless, Tischler said a member of the research team stumbled across an article in the Journal of Food Science describing research in which 15 vegetables and fruits were evaluated for their dielectric properties, or the way they transmit electric force without conduction.
Its conclusions led the Boeing researchers to wonder if potatoes might serve just as well as humans during their own signal testing. Despite some skepticism, they ended up buying 20,000 pounds of them.
Video and photos of the work, which started in 2006, show a decommissioned airplane loaded with row upon row of potato sacks that look like large, lumpy passengers. The sacks sit eerily still in the seats as the engineers collect data on the strength of wireless signals in various spots.
The Boeing engineers added some complicated statistical analysis and the result was a proprietary system for fine tuning internet signals so they would be strong and reliable wherever a laptop was used on a plane.
Boeing says the system also ensures Wi-Fi signals won't interfere with the plane's sensitive navigation and communications equipment.
"From a safety standpoint, you want to know what the peak signals are, what's the strongest signal one of our communications and navigation systems might see from a laptop or 150 laptops or 350 laptops," Boeing engineer Dennis Lewis explains in a video.
In a nod to the humor in using a tuber to solve a high-tech problem, researchers dubbed the project Synthetic Personnel Using Dialectic Substitution, or SPUDS.
The company says better Wi-Fi signals can be found already on three Boeing aircraft models flown by major airlines: 777, 747-8 and the 787 Dreamliner.
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