Upload Photos Directly From Your Mobile to Google Maps v5.8

Google has updated its popular Google Maps service to version 5.8 for Android-based mobile devices. Among the features that have been found interesting and very timely is the ability to upload photos directly from one’s phone. Users of the previous versions of Google Maps would know that this feature in the previous versions was conspicuous by its absence. With more and more people getting hooked onto social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or the latest, Google+, an integration, in the least hassling way possible can be an asset.

Upload images directly

According to an official blogpost, the update allows users to share their experience of a new place they just visited, or are at present, by simply clicking an image of it and sharing it right away. This will also help at times when the user wishes to see how a place is in terms of its appearance and its reviews and ratings. The photos one ends up contributing can be managed or deleted using one’s Picasa account. 

A word that best describes

Better enhancing this feature for Google Maps on mobile is the ‘descriptive terms’ feature, that adds short, precise descriptive tags to particular locations, to better describe them or associate them to the businesses there. Specific places ‘starred’ by you, can be accessed instantly too, using the My Places feature. The update also lets users add a certain location, if it currently does not exist and has the user wanting to ‘check-in’ to it. A user has to then click on the ‘Add Place’ option, and enter the relevant details like the name, and location of the place they want to add. Once done, although the place will not pop-up in the search options on Google Maps, it will be visible to those who wish to log in to it from Latitude.

Get your favorite hangout listed

Those keen on trying it need to have an Android OS 2.1+ device, and can download the update,here.

File Your IT Returns Online, Before 31st July, 2011

Those following the news regularly, especially around this time would know that the last date for filing their Income Tax Returns is fast approaching - 31st July, 2011. Being constantly re-iterated by the government as a fundamental duty of every salaried citizen to file his or her income tax returns, this date and the days preceding this one hold much significance. Usually, income tax return filing in India is associated with long queues, excessive documentations – a hassle, in short.

Rush now!

Taking a cue from institutions like banks and travel agencies that carry out their transactions and other activities online, the Government of India began the concept of e-filing some time back. Over the years, the concept has picked up fairly well with the urban masses, owing to the considerable load that it has taken off the shoulders of anxious citizens looking to file their returns. Before proceeding to file one's taxes, all tax dues need to be cleared. Then post successful payment of one’s taxes, an acknowledgment, a lot like a challan issued by a bank can be obtained. This detail of the acknowledgment has to be mentioned during the process of e-filing of returns.

Users can log on to www.incometaxindia.gov.in, and if they’re a new user, they’ll have to register their PAN (Permanent Account Number) number on the site to create their account. Once registered, a link is sent via email to the id provided at the time of the registration. It is only on the clicking of this link that the said account can be activated. With the help of an XML file then generated, from the ITR form, the XML file needs to be uploaded to the website by logging onto it. Once done, an acknowledgement in Form ITR V is generated, which is also automatically sent to the e-mail address provided by the user while filling his form. This form then needs to be printed and signed manually by the user and sent to the Income Tax office in Bangalore for attestation.

Exploring App Stores – Media Players for Android

One of the main reasons people buy Android phones is the wealth of customization options available in the form of apps. Apple’s App Store may still be the largest one today, but the Android Marketplace is expanding rapidly, and you’ll find most of the popular apps available on both platforms. When it comes to multimedia, the stock music and video player in Android offers very basic functionality and supports just a handful of formats. Unless you have something like Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, which supports MKV and FLAC out of the box, you have to rely on apps. Here are some of the best video and audio players available in the Marketplace, which I think are worth checking out.

RockPlayer Lite
We start off with RockPlayer Lite, a free video player that’s been around for sometime now and is still one of the best players. The player supports most popular video formats including MKV. The interface is not very fancy and directly gives you access to the folders and files in your phone. It also supports subtitles for movies.

A very capable barebones video player

Currently the only free version is available, which puts a little ‘R’ in the upper right corner of the screen and since the paid version has been taken down, there's no way around this.

Moboplayer
This is my personal favourite media player, as it offers all the features of RockPlayer in an easy-to-use interface. It supports multiple audio streams from a single video, multi-subtitles, hardware and software decoding, video streaming though HTTP protocols and thumbnail display of videos. The OSD controls are very intuitive as well, for example swiping your finger on the right side of the screen lets you control the volume, while the left controls the brightness.

Will play just about any video format

You can also lock the OSD by tapping the ‘Options’ soft key on your phone. The best part, besides it being free, is that when you start it the first time, it checks if you have the necessary codecs installed. If you don’t, it will redirect you to the Marketplace for the right codec pack for your phone. 

TuneWiki  
Let’s face it, the stock Android music player is a disappointment. This is where TuneWiki comes in. It’s a novice friendly music player app with a social networking twist. You sign in using your Facebook or Twitter account and invite your friends on TuneWiki. Then, through the SongBox feature, you can see what your friends are listening to, which is a great way to discover new music.

Discover new music through your friends with Facebook and Twitter integration

It even has an ‘F Like’ option for Facebook. Song ID is a feature similar to Shazaam and Sound Hound. The app also automatically pulls lyrics for the currently playing song and shows up at the bottom of the ‘Now Playing’ screen. Other features include managing and editing playlists, Song Maps that let you discover what songs are trending, videos of the songs in your playlist and streaming radio from SHOUTcast.   

Cubed This app is currently still in Beta, but it works just fine and I haven’t come across any major bugs, yet. Albums are displayed in the form of a 3D cube, which can be flipped vertically to scroll through the albums or horizontally to find any album alphabetically. The animations are really slick and smooth, but you’ll probably need a fast processor for the best experience.  Cool animations make it fun to use A five band graphic equalizer is present as well with a nice graphical representation. You also get different desktop widgets, so you can access your music without opening the app.  PowerAMP This is possibly the best and most powerful music player app in the Marketplace. The free version lets you try the app with all its features for 15 days. The paid version is not cheap, but worth it if you’re a music buff. The audio support list is quite extensive, which includes FLAC and APE formats, as well. The 10 band equalizer can be adjusted for a single song or a list of songs, perfect for the audio geek. Excellent tweaking options for your music Other features include crossfade, gapless playback, folder view, CUE file support, download missing album art, visual themes and many more. Hit the title to try the free version.  mVideo Player Finally, if you’re somewhat of a neat freak, then you’ll love mVideo Player. It’s not as powerful as Moboplayer or RockPlayer, as it will only play videos that your phone can natively play. However, it does one hell of a job organizing all your videos into categories, perfect if you have many TV shows on your phone. Great app for organising your video collection It also has IMDB and OpenSubtitles integrated to give you quick info about the movie you’re watching or find subtitles for the current video. Poster search lets you find movie posters making it easier to recognize the movie in your library.   That’s it from my end. Feel free to share your favourite media players in the comments below.

Happy Birthday DOS, You’re 30!

DOS or Disk Operating System (MS-DOS), as it was called back then celebrates its 30th birthday. The MS in MS-DOS stands for Microsoft. The OS was the backbone of most PCs for the following decade or longer. In schools across India, DOS was one of the first things taught in computer classes. While there was no graphical user interface that we’re so used to on Windows, the operating system had everything from text editors to games and mouse support. For example, titles such as Wolfenstein and Doom on PCs originated on DOS. Ever since Windows 95 or so, DOS has been present as a standalone product only to kickstart downed systems. The last operating system to use DOS-based startup disks was Windows XP. The last commercial product used was DOS 6.22.

Three decades and counting...

Three decades later, DOS is still present on Windows systems, often hidden away. You can use it by type CMD in the Run diag box. There are also DOS emulator and free versions of DOS on the web. If you want to go back in history and try out a few DOS apps and games, do check outDOSBox. 

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