Microsoft ditching the Nokia name on smartphones

Microsoft is ditching the Nokia brand name from new devices, less than a year after acquiring the Finnish mobile firm.

New Nokia Lumia smartphones will instead by known as Microsoft Lumia, the company said.

Nokia's non-mobile division, which is not owned by Microsoft, will continue to use the name.

The mobile operation was bought by Microsoft in April in a deal worth $7.2bn (£4.6bn).

Since then, Microsoft has quietly shifted away from the Nokia brand.

A post on Nokia France's Facebook page confirmed the branding shift. The renaming will roll out globally in due course, Microsoft has said.

The announcement comes despite Microsoft agreeing to a 10-year deal to use the Nokia name on mobile products.

Microsoft is currently having a big shake-up. In July, chief executive Satya Nadella announced the cutting of 18.000 jobs

The bulk of the cuts, around 12.500 will be from staff taken on after the Nokia acquisition.

Europe accepts the universal charger por mobile phones.

The European Parlament has  recently released the new law.The chargers´s factory will have three years for get used to the production of this new product.

This law does not affect only to mobile phones. Europe is thinking to use this for remote controls on TV and on remote controls for cars.

This was approved with 550 votes in favor, 12 votes against and 8 abstinence.

Despite this law, we will have to see the Apple´s decision,who still having his particular charger and plug.

Click here for read more about the new.

Talon Hand, a prosthetic hand created with a 3D printer

Father and son have worked together to bring us a new demonstration of what to do with a 3D printer Solidoddle: complete hand prosthesis. The name Talon Hand, we have a fully functional hand that has been created to Peregrine Hawthorn, son and co-creator of it. 

Work is not the original game from scratch and has several designs to create this Talon Hand. The final work, so that you can see in the pictures and in the video is remarkable given that these two people have been working with the printer only nine months.

May the force be with you, an interactive exhibition to remove virtual waters with Kinect

Surely many of you, after seeing the Star Wars films, have tried to make the hand gesture Jedi knights do to move things at a distance. You know, that move with an open hand to create a perfect unseen blast to shoot a troop of robots and soldiers of the Empire. 

What today we are going to teach may not sate your desire to emulate Obi Wan and company but as an interactive installation that combines art and technology is quite interesting. Moving? Projected on a wall virtual water? This is what is proposed display Teo Park.

WWW (World Wide Web) turns 25 years.

The 12th March 1989, the British investigator Tim Berners-Lee described in a report for CERN the protocol for the transference of hypertexts, that the next year became on the "World Wide Web".

Berners-Lee didn´t invented Internet. The global net was created in the 70s, and was released in 1983, for a military project.

The idea was not instantaneous. He started to work in CERN in 1980. His first work was to design Enquire, a data base for order the disconnected information that started to accumulate on the computer´s memory. He left CERN at the end of the 80s, was a short period of time on industry and he returned back in 1989, when CERN was one of the biggest internet companies in America.  It was there when, cooperating with Robert Caillau, he presented a proposal for set a system that allowed to access to other archives by entering its link. It was the beggining of the Web.

Right now, this system keeps 40 billion of web pages, a big number for only 25 years
For see the first web page, click here.

Green Throttle Games, another purchase of Google Android destined to come to our classrooms

We can not rule out Google in any field of activity, and in fact, in a little over a year is becoming serious with everything that has to do with games. In May last year Noah Falstein hired as head of game design, while giving visibility to suGoogle Play Games. 

Today we have a new episode that has to do with enhancing the development team Mountain View, having acquired the company Green Throttle Games. Something that could have occurred late last year, but has come to light now.

The Raspberry Pi already have their own sound cards

The developers of the popular Raspberry Pi announced the availability of a new sound cards adapted to these small computers, and based on Wolfson audio chips. 

The audio processor is the same as found in the LG G2, for example, audio and supports 24-bit, 192 KHz, which can be played either via the traditional 3.5mm and through the S / PDIF digital audio.

From WhatsApp to Telegram: The instant messaging app´s war.

The people´s habits have changed. Last years young people have been chatting and communicating

among themselves using strange symbols and abbreviations expressed in 160 types. This is used for send SMS, but there´s one more reason: save money.

WhatsApp was the app that revolutionized the communication. Facebook, the social network with more members in the world, couldn´t resist to it´s easy interface, that it´s right now on 465 million of devices.

May be the only failure of WhatsApp is its pour security. Everytime it stops working, it paralyze 465 million people. It won´t be strange if a new instant messaging app, like Telegram, that has a very high security and right now has the highest speed of people checking in.

There are more apps that want to be the most popular, like Line or WeChat. This battle has just begun.

Robotic Arm playing ping-pong better than most mortals

Maybe the robots are not yet up to fight face to face with humans, but it is true that certain tasks are achieving breakthroughs. Not surprisingly the robotic arms have for years as part of production chains. 

We've seen robots aided by artificial vision systems are able to interact in play and recreational activities such as table hockey and today we showed UHTTR (Hoffman Ulf Table Tennis Robot) showing its ability to play ping-pong.

Robots, human and Cyborgs: it's time

First it was Robocop and then Her. The theme of robots, the relationship of humans with technology, artificial intelligence and even Cyborgs had a strong presence in recent weeks at Engadget. We invite you to wander through a world that may not be as far as it looks in the movies.

An app for Google Glass detects a change on the frame of mind

An app created by a little startup Emotient will be able to detect a change in the frame of mind of the people, measuring even the most indiscernible gestures of the face.

According to Marian Bartlett, Emotient cofounder, the first part of the process detects the tipe of emotion, between positive, negative and neutral. Then, it deepens inn the feeling, guesing if it´s happiness, fear, anger, etc.

The idea of the app is to use it on shops and outlets, for see if the sent product causes a good or bad feeling in the consumer.

However, this technology probably will be used for security, like a lying detector.

The Lenovo Pad Folder highlighting Lead by design

Lenovo is going to go for a tablet model under Windows 8.1 with the Surface touch too. Do not tell them, but we can imagine and image viewing Folder Pad Lenovo has unveiled "accidentally" web of Red Dot design awards. 

This upcoming tablet that will surely catch the attention of consumers using its slim design, oddly wedge finished with two accessories that remind us much bet Microsoft: a cover that serves as a support and above all, a keyboard very thin. 

Nothing more is known about this tablet, shown in orange and very classic in Lenovo, and with an expected 10 inches diagonal.

Vodafone already has preliminary OK to buy ONO, Reuters

Reuters reports that Vodafone is very close to buying ONO. After a few rumors that have occurred in recent weeks that pointed to the breakdown of any agreement due to an economic downturn, Reuters says that Vodafone has improved the supply and there is already a preliminary agreement between the two companies. 

The operation will not be ratified immediately, but it looks like it will take only a few days. ONO has shareholder meeting next Thursday, March 13, where they discussed the IPO of the company and, according to Reuters, also supply Vodafone. There are no exact data, but we note that the previous proposal of January totaled 7,000 million euros to get an idea. 

This important saga in the world of Spanish telecoms brewing takes several months. Fueen summer when the first rumors, which have been gradually intensify until January the two companies began talks began to emerge. The agreement is very close to done during the month of March, but as usual neither company has yet to issue an official response. I fear it will be next week when we get out of doubt and then we'll see if we were right when we study how the market would change with this important transaction.

China wants to use drones in the fight against pollution

Pollution is a critical problem in China, and the authorities of that country have announced a series of initiatives to try to fight this type of pollution. And drones could become a solution to the problem. 

So I believe the developers of a system that will soon be in evidence and makes use self devehículos carrying 700 kg of chemical materials against pollution. Each of these drones could achieve clean air in a radius of five kilometers.

"Ring" a smart ring able to controle devices only with gestures.

This small device, made of silver, can send text messages and control different electronic gadgets.

Apparently useful, as elegant and discreet, that is the idea that  the Japanese company Logbar has on mind.

The idea comes from rings that already received notifications, in a similar concept to smartwatches. It can recognize the gestures that are made with the hand.

With these new invention his porter can send text messages, control electronics like a TV, or even realize online payments. You can draw letters in the air for write a message or if you draw a musical note you can access to the audio player.

The ring connects to the phone by Bluetooth, and it´s available for iOS and Android. It will be on the stores on July.

Lufthansa will get you the movie you want directly to your smartphone or tablet

If you have Internet on the plane or screens at every seat with video on demand are not sufficient to " goad " to fly with one airline , Lufthansa has decided to go further and tempt you with something that is sure to like: content streaming directly personal device. Thus competition will other companies offering similar services who can convince a certain group of customers by a company or other flying .

This summer , twenty of its Airbus A321 aircraft will feature the company 's own system called BroadConnect . It is a server on board the plane that distributes content to iOS , Android and Windows Phone devices via Wifi just install on your smartphone or tablet application company . This option is available on European flights .

But come on Reuters, not all companies are so convinced . For Qatar Airways, the integrated system will continue using their aircraft because they want all passengers turning their tablets and smartphones at the same time even though many of them traveling with them. Then fear the opposite end represented by Icelandic company Air Wow , that to compensate for their low cost flights to the U.S. there is no integrated entertainment systems , will choose to rent iPads preloaded with content.

Konami Digital Entertainment has a new president

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced a new president: Tomohiro Uesugi, who until now had been the executive vice president of this company. The Japanese have made ​​the following statement on his appointment: 

"I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to be the head of our talented and passionate employees, and I have a deep respect for our community of fans. We will focus on our talent and our iconic brands as we continue to deliver innovative products to even more experiences for our customers deep and enjoyable. "

Mr. Uesugi has a good reputation as a manager of human resources and finance. This experience will provide an interesting perspective to help Konami and, presumably, to extend their brands and improve sales in North America, Central and South.

This is the aspect of Cortana, the voice assistant that will come with Windows Phone 8.1

It has long been known that Microsoft is preparing a voice assistant to replace Bing as search center in its mobile OS. Your name, Cortana, is a clear reference to the famous saga Halo, and now we have screenshots showing its appearance. 

The images have been leaked to The Verge, which cited people familiar with this development and allow us to see how Microsoft will not use the image of the character of that game, but unsencillo animated circular icon.

The AMD virtualized Android on your PC will be available this year

For some time we have been talking about a curious service: AMD and Bluestacks is provided and although they announced a few years ago, have not yet been launched. It seems that this will not take long to happen, because AMD has used MWC 2014 to affirm quellegará to stores later this year. 

But do it in a somewhat confusing way. According to official information service offered to customers who purchase a new computer with AMD hardware, and will be in the store when 'hired' Bluestacks. They also talk about that in some stores there may be a kind of extension for those who have an old AMD PC, but in no case will be a free software download or access.

Apple will begin to work on health and automotive.

Apple is developing a device to prevent heart attacks through a system that feels the bloodstream, but this is not the only project that is on Apple´s plans. They also are planning to get into the automotive world, specifically with Tesla Motors.

In 2011, Apple hired engineer Tomlinson Holman, the inventor of the sound system THX and the surround 10.2. This system allows listen the bloodstream´s sound, that can go in a bracelet or another complement, and the carrier will be able to prevent a heart attack.

On the other hand, Apple is negotiating with Tesla Motors. They probably will make a deal for cooperate, but in different sides, without any kind of acquisition.

Apple, the company that once changed the world with their computers, are opening new ways for invent new brilliant ideas and expand the diversity of their products, that since now they were only smartphones, tablets and computers.