How to send a place from Google Maps from your PC to your mobile phone

Search giant Google has announced a new feature on Google+ by which you can search for a place on Google Maps on your PC and send the location directly to your mobile phone. This feature is available for both Android phones and iPhones that are running the Google Maps app.

 

Google also explains how to do this in their Google Maps Help document. Here are the step by step instructions:

1. First make sure that you have the latest Maps version installed on your mobile and that Wi-Fi and notifications have been turned on. Also, if you have the “lite mode” Google maps in your PC, you will not be able to send the place from it to your mobile.

2. Sign in to Google Maps with the same account on your PC as well as your mobile.

3. Open Google Maps on your PC and search for the place you want.

4. A place card will pop up. Click on the “Send to device” link present on the lower left corner of the card.

5. A list of all your devices will appear. Click on the device where you want to send the selected place. You will receive a notification showing directions to that place on your mobile.

6. You can navigate directly to the place via the Map widget on the status bar or tap on the pop-up to open the place in the Maps app.

Way back in April, Google had introduced a web feature by which you could send map directions via Google Search from your PC to your Android Phone

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How to send a place from Google Maps from your PC to your mobile phone

Broadcom Eliminated from the Competition

Yes, this is the sad news for the week. However, nothing is ever done in business without a purpose. Sometimes we have to end something to start a new venture or to focus on other things that we already we know can do better with, which is the case for Broadcom.

Let us take a retrospect first of its contribution to the mobile market. Broadcom rolled out the first Android-enabled mobile phone platform which supports high definition camcorder, video player and 12mp-capable digital camera applications. Back in 2006, they set up 3G mobile phones for the price of 2G phones made possible by the then new CellAirity.

But through the years, Broadcom has been losing pace in the competition. And now it is really hard for them to catch up with their rival Qualcomm. They can still retail baseband units; however, there is no guarantee to the sale success. So, they had to come up to this unfortunate decision, which according to CEO Scott McGregor would help the company reduce its losses and instead focus their resources on its core strengths, which are evidently set-top boxes and cable TV-related hardware, Internet connectivity and infrastructure tech. McGregor already spilled the beans about transitioning to Ultra HD and H.265 as potential plans of the company. With regard to this, Broadcom is anticipated to scale down up to 20% of its workforce which is about 2,500 employees.

Do you think Broadcom made the right decision? Feel free to comment!

Broadcom Eliminated from the Competition

See the 1st photo clicked using Sony’s curved CMOS sensor

Typical CMOS image sensors available today for cameras are flat and produce flat and somewhat distorted images. Human eye has a curvature which Sony is trying to replicate. Sony’s Device Manager Yarn Soichiro said, “The first idea was to mimic the eyes of the organism”. Sony has been successful in making a curved CMOS sensor that gets rid of vignetting and aberrations and gives a much superior image quality.

Displayed above is the historical first photograph taken with Sony’s curved sensor.

The curved CMOS sensor mimics the structure and working of a human eye (biomimicry) resulting in more sensitivity and less distortion of the image. The lens system here is also much simpler and according to Sony’s engineers it is 1.4 times more sensitive at the center and twice as more sensitive at the periphery.

Sony used a special machine to bend the CMOS sensor and give it the necessary curvature as in the human eye. Then the curved sensor was reinforced with ceramic to stabilize its shape.

Sony has developed two sizes of the curved CMOS sensor – one is a full size chip measuring 43 mm diagonally for the bigger digital cameras and the other is a smaller one measuring 11 mm diagonally for smaller mobile phones. According to the source, Sony is ready for mass production of the curved sensors.

 

See the 1st photo clicked using Sony’s curved CMOS sensor

Google patents laptop and smartphone assembly unit

Google seems to be keen in bringing out a laptop and smartphone assembly unit where the smartphone is detachable. Google had filed for US patent 8,649,821 in September 2012 for a ‘Notebook computer and cell phone assembly’. The said patent has been approved in February2014.

Description given by the company in the patent application says, “Aspects of the present invention relate to a notebook computer and cell phone assembly. The cell phone is used in conjunction with the computer for telecommunication applications, including inter alia Skype, Instant Messenger and video conferencing. In addition the cell phone detaches from the computer for use as a standalone handset in private quiet conversation.”

Patent Drawing Figure 1 (Page 2):

The invention basically consists of a laptop and a cell phone that is attached to the laptop but it can ‘pop out’ of it and can be used as a separate mobile. The transition during the attachment and detachment process is seamless so that there is no break in the cellular service. When the mobile is attached to the laptop, the amplifier in it will indicate call status such as an incoming call and also provide speaker output while making a phone call, irrespective of the fact whether the laptop is in normal, power saving, stand-by or hibernating mode or even switched off.

When the mobile is attached to the laptop on normal power mode, the amplifier will be powered through the laptop battery and in other cases through the mobile battery. Similar is the case with the LED indicator. LED will indicate the status, for instance it will light up to show an incoming call or a call in progress. There may also be an audio indicator that will ring for an incoming call.

Drawings included in the patent application show a laptop and smartphone assembly unit with a special slot for the smartphone. Both devices when together, work in tandem and when detached, can work independently. This might as well be an integration of the Android platform of mobile and Chrome platform of the laptop. Of course, this is just a patent and the actual devices may be modified somewhat.

Patent Drawing Figure 2 (Page 3):

Patent Drawing Figure 3 (Page 4):

A few other companies have tried to integrate laptop/tablet and mobile before such as the Transformer and Padfone series of Asus or the Atrix 4G Lapdock of Motorola. As for Google, this is just a patent. Let us see when Google comes out with the actual product.

Google patents laptop and smartphone assembly unit