Finally it happened in america's got talent 2011

 Yes finally it happened!!!

Whatever Howie wished for happened finally!!!

And I wrote about it last week that it would definitely satisfy him.

It happened finally.

Finally a guy caught on fire on america's got talent.

See the clip...

Are you happy now Howie?????

My picks on America's got talent 2011 Semi finals

 Last night at the semi finals on america's got talent 2011 every act stepped up from the previous rounds.Every one did their best.Now the question is who will win this round.

 I liked Sandou Trio Russian bar.They were ok when the girl jumped on the bar balanced on the shoulders of the two men.Then they kept some nails on the ground and then she jumped again and the judges especially Howie liked it a lot since that was "DANGEROUS" to him.

 Last night they took off the Russian Bar from the title and became just Sandou Trio.The didn't jump instead sang a song playing a piano.Did I mention that she and the piano was hanging from the ceiling and while she played they piano and her were turned upside down? The background was nice but the singing is not that great,but you have to remember that she is singing upside down.And as usual Howie mentioned that the dangerous part was missing.

 Someone should light themselves on fire and should run around the stage.So that he will be satisfied with danger part.

 Coming to my picks on the two teams.

 1.I liked the dancing of Miami All Stars.It was a feast to the eyes to watch.They kind of remade the dance scene from the movie "The Mask".All the guys are dressed in various shades of Jim Carrey dress and all the girls as Cameron Diaz.But no one uttered the word "The Mask".Sharon carefully said that the dance is like a movie.

 I liked the dance.I really enjoyed it.

Here is the clip.

2.Team iLuminate:

 Team iLuminate was also wonderful.They have designed the dance moves as a video game.Everything computer controlled and completely like a video game.
I liked it too.

Here is the clip.

  I wish the above two acts gets through for the finals.

What does Samsung Conquer bring to the table.

  Samsung has introduced another android phone in Sprint called Samsung Conquer. So what does Samsung Conquer bring to the table.

 According to Cnet:


 The good: The Samsung Conquer 4G is affordable and offers 4G capabilities. The Android 2.3 Gingerbread device also has a next-gen 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a front-facing camera for video calls, and mobile hot-spot capabilities.

The bad: The smartphone has a lower-resolution display. Camera and speakerphone quality could be better.

The bottom line: Though you sacrifice some higher-end features, the Samsung Conquer 4G gives Sprint customers a solid 4G smartphone at an affordable price.

But one has to remember that the review by cnet is not a users review but it is a reviewer's review.These reviews are done for a day or 2 with a brand new phone.So everything will work perfect.

But only a users review will tell you what the actual story is.And that too not an immediate one.You have to wait at least 3 months.That review would be the best.

When samsung transform came out it had similar kind of reviews.Now read about my experience with samsung transform.

Whenever samsung brings something that is advertised as affordable or mid range then you have to be very careful in considering that.

Anyway below are the features for Samsung Conquer:

Connectivity Ultra-fast 4G connectivity with simultaneous voice and data capability (peak download speeds of more than 10 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1 Mbps; average download speeds of 3-6 Mbps) 3G data speeds (EVDO Rev A.) in areas not yet served by 4G (peak download speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1.8 Mbps; average download speeds of 600 kbps-1.4 Mbps) Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go. Built-in mobile hotspot functionality allows up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices to share the 3G or 4G experience on the go with a laptop, camera, music player, game unit, video player, or any other Wi-Fi enabled device. Next-generation Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity backward compatible with older Bluetooth-enabled peripherals and includes stereo audio streaming. Onboard GPS for navigation and location services Google Integration Android 2.3 OS (Gingerbread) Android Market for browsing and downloading thousands of free and paid apps Preloaded Android apps: Browser, Calculator, Calendar (Google or Corporate), Camera, Clock, Contacts, Email, Gallery, Messaging, Music, News & Weather, Phone, Settings, Video Player, Voice Dialer, Voice Search, YouTube Google applications: Gmail, Google Search, Google Voice Search, Google Latitude, Google Maps, Google Places, Google Talk Google Maps Navigation with spoken turn-by-turn directions showing real-time traffic and 360° views of the destination Communications & Internet Full HTML Web Browser with Flash 10.1 Support Virtual QWERTY keyboard Full messaging capabilities including SMS text, MMS picture/video and IM instant messaging Personal and corporate e-mail access with support for Exchange ActiveSync as well as personal e-mail accounts (Google push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP).

Hardware 1 GHz Snapdragon single-core processor speeds up everything--from playing games to watching shows to opening files from work. 3.5-inch multi-touch display (320 x 480 pixels; 26 million colors). MicroUSB port Removable battery Camera 3.2-megapixel rear camera with flash, auto focus, and 4x digital zoom. Video capture capabilities 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for easy video chats. Multimedia Music player compatible with MP3, WMA, and AAC/AAC+ Video player compatible with MPEG4, H.264, H.263 Memory Pre-loaded 2 GB microSD memory card Memory expansion up to 32 GB via optional cards. More Features 3.5mm headphone jack Organizer tools including calculator, world clock, stopwatch, countdown timer, and memo Hearing Aid Compatibility: M4, T4

Top 10 Streaming Digital Media Players

Top 10 Streaming Digital Media Players

Kiss good bye to your cable company.No not yet.But the time is coming soon.If you are not interested in the current episodes and if you are ok with watching older tv episodes and If you are ok watching old movies,then you will be really interested in these streaming devices.

Basically you will be paying only for the internet and everything else is free is you are ok for the above said.

Still you are not completely thrown in to the old age.If you pay a small monthly subscription you will be able to watch streaming movies without advertisements.
Also you can watch the newer released movies as pay per view.And there won't be any subscription costs.

Streaming Players

What do Streaming Players do?

Most of the streaming players connect to internet via your home network and stream the videos from the video sources like netflix,hulu,google videos ,youtube etc.

What are the benefits of this kind or Digital Streaming Devices?

1.You can watch the program that you like at anytime.This basically gives you the flexibility of living your way of life and not depending on the broadcast time.

2.Most of the programs are free.

3.Not only you are able to watch the programs provided by the broadcast television you can also watch interesting videos posted by common people like us.Sometimes these videos are more interesting than the ones that we get on broadcast television.

4.Some of the streaming media players allow you to browse the internet from your television.Which means you don't need to have a PC(personal computer) to browse the internet.

5.Some of the streaming media players allow you to connect to social networking sites like facebook , twitter etc. This should be very helpful for older people who are not tech savvy.They don't need to worry about something going wrong like in a PC.

As far as disadvantages :

You don't get to watch the newest episodes or some of the live tv.

List of top 10 Digital Media Players and Streaming Devices:

1. Logitech Revue Companion Box with Google TV

2. Roku 2 XS Streaming Player 1080

3. Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p

4. Western Digital WD TV Live Plus

5. Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p

6. Boxee Box

7. Western Digital WD TV Live Hub

8. Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Player with Wi-Fi

9. Patriot Box Office 1080p

10. Iomega 35039

Top 10 Streaming Media Players

Top 10 Streaming Media Players

 

Kiss good bye to your cable company.No not yet.But the time is coming soon.If you are not interested in the current episodes and if you are ok with watching older tv episodes and If you are ok watching old movies,then you will be really interested in these streaming devices.

Basically you will be paying only for the internet and everything else is free is you are ok for the above said.

Still you are not completely thrown in to the old age.If you pay a small monthly subscription you will be able to watch streaming movies without advertisements.
Also you can watch the newer released movies as pay per view.And there won't be any subscription costs.

Streaming Players

What do Streaming Players do?

Most of the streaming players connect to internet via your home network and stream the videos from the video sources like netflix,hulu,google videos ,youtube etc.

What are the benefits of this kind or Digital Streaming Devices?

1.You can watch the program that you like at anytime.This basically gives you the flexibility of living your way of life and not depending on the broadcast time.

2.Most of the programs are free.

3.Not only you are able to watch the programs provided by the broadcast television you can also watch interesting videos posted by common people like us.Sometimes these videos are more interesting than the ones that we get on broadcast television.

4.Some of the streaming media players allow you to browse the internet from your television.Which means you don't need to have a PC(personal computer) to browse the internet.

5.Some of the streaming media players allow you to connect to social networking sites like facebook , twitter etc. This should be very helpful for older people who are not tech savvy.They don't need to worry about something going wrong like in a PC.

As far as disadvantages :

You don't get to watch the newest episodes or some of the live tv.

List of top 10 Digital Media Players and Streaming Devices:

1. Logitech Revue Companion Box with Google TV and Keyboard Controller

2. Roku 2 XS Streaming Player 1080

3. Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p

4. Western Digital WD TV Live Plus 1080p HD Media Player

5. Roku 2 XD Streaming Player 1080p

6. Boxee Box by D-Link

7. Western Digital WD TV Live Hub 1 TB Media Center

8. Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Player with Wi-Fi

9. Patriot Box Office 1080p High-Definition Media Player PCMPBO25 (Black)

10. Iomega 35039 1 TB ScreenPlay DX HD Media Player

Streaming movies to TV

Streaming movies to TV :

            This post discuss about the streaming of movies from internet to TV via Roku player.

 What is Roku?

            Roku is a media player which connects to your television either wired or wireless.

It also comes in different versions. It’s a HD player.

            For Roku player to function you should be having a good router. It should atleast be a G router or N is better.

            With Roku player you can watch instant movies from a lot of available movie streaming services. One great example being Netflix.The other is Amazon instant video.

 I connected the roku player wirelessly to the router and started streaming netflix videos to my HDTV.

I was suspecting the picture quality before I bought the player but the picture quality was very good.It is not like a HD channel but you get a very good picture quality similar to the one from an upconverting DVD player.At that time netflix is the major channel that was available in the ROKU player.There were few other documentary channels like the NASA tv etc.

Then amazon added its channel to ROKU, which I mentioned already. It is called Amazon instant video, where you can rent movies, watch trailers etc. That’s where the channel lineup started building up.

Now if you see the channel line up in ROKU player there are a lot of paid channels and free channels available for ROKU.

One doesn’t have to have a cable or any other TV sources except the ROKU player. Most of the tv shows you can watch from HULU plus.

There is a whole free movie channel available in ROKU called as CRACKLE which has a lot of movies to watch with very few advertisements.

For the Indian population they have a huge line up of the channels.

As for as the indian community are concerned they get dish tv or the direct tv to watch their favorite language channel.Even if they don't watch indian channels when their parents visit from India they install dish or direct tv with or without contracts.

But if you have a ROKU player you can have most of the channels without the need for any equipment installation.

Here are a few channel lineups in ROKU:

Channellive - offers Tamil channels(Sun TV, Kalaignar TV, Jaya TV, Mega TV, Isai Aruvi, Jaya Max, Angel TV Free*: Chutti TV, Podhigai),Telugu channels,Kannada channels and is in testing phase of malayalam channels.

BOMTV - offers over 15 Malayalam channels(Asianet news,Asianet ,Asianet Plus,Asianet USA,india vision,Kairali news,MCN,Jeevan TV ,Powervision ,Shalom,Yes Channel ).

ReliableIPTV - offers lot of Telugu channels(ETV,MAATV,GeminiTV,LocalTV,TV1,Vanitha TV,ATV) and news channels. 

Bollywood - This is a free channel that offers Bollywood movies and shows.

The above said are only a small fraction of what ROKU offers.If interested go to http://www.roku.com/ to see the channel line up.

 Now the newly introduced ROKU player has a famous built in game”Angry Birds”.

Verizon and Google Motorola takeover

 As I mentioned in my previous post ,Verizon also feels the same way that Google's takeover of Motorola may bring stability to disputes.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Verizon's Senior VP and Deputy General commented on Google bid for Motorola Mobility Holdings stating, "At first glance, to the extent that this deal might bring some stability to the ongoing smartphone patent disputes that would welcome development."

 Even thought verizon's words are comforting for Google and android it is not.Verizon's ultimate aim is to promote iphone.Actually it is pushing apple for releasing iphone 5 sooner.And when it is released verison will use all its advertising resources to promote and push the iphone and where as leaving the motorola android phone promotion on the company itself.

 Had google hadn't taken over motorola that would be a greater hit for motorola.Since google has the android market and other advertising resources it will use them to promote the android based motorola phones.But this will take up some of the advertising revenue.

 On the other hand apple will be enjoying free advertisement from verizon.If apple releases its phone on the other two networks(sprint and t mobile) and if verizon advertises for iphone then it will be a free advertisement for sprint and t mobile as well for the subscribers who dosen't want to switch.

 We have to wait for a month to see how this is all played.

Wooo Hooo Kinetic King is back

 And so is Charles Peachock.

 If you were reading my blog I have posted last week that the judges decision of sending Charles Peachock is not right.And Kinetic King is one of my favorites in the game.

 So I think the judges also felt that sending Charles Peachock is wrong and brought him back.Don't tell me its just Piers who brought him back.We all know that a team works on that.

 Peachock did good but not that great.He was entertaining last week.Since this guy Howie wanted danger he started doing some boring fire tricks.If Howie wants danger and fire then every participant is going to pour gasoline on themselves and lit them on fire and run around the stage.

 You know what Howie??

 Danger is Boring.You can watch is for a minute or 2.But not for 90 minutes. Remember the execution scene from Green mile? :)

So as they said he didn't screw up majorly.But it was also not so entertaining as the previous round.

 As far as Kinetic King is concerned he played it very safe.

 Instead of the sticks which may stick togather he used cans.And it went well.

Its upto America to decide who forwards.

Here is the clip of Kinetic King from last night.

Google acquiring Motorola Mobility Inc. What does that mean to us?

 A couple of years back Apple and Google were hand in hand friendlier companies.Then Google CEO Eric Schmidt was on the board of Apple.

 Then apple decided to enter into the cellphone market and introduced iphone in 2007.Even then google and apple were in friendlier terms.But when google introduced android 1.0 in september 2008 the relationship kinda broke.

 But in an important note google acquired android even before iphone was released.Android was acquired in the year 2005.

 What is android?

 Before being acquired by google android is a small company which was in development of a unix based operating system for the cell phones.It is the name of the company as well as the name of the operating system.

Within 2 years of introduction of android it over took iphone in sales.

 Then all the patent fights started.

 Apple sued Samsung.Samsung sued apple.Nokia sued apple and won.Apple sued HTC.

 Mostly apple sued Samsung and HTC for the UI(User Interface) and the design of the phone.I am not sure why samsung didn't sue Apple for its iphone 4 resembling Samsung Instinct.Here is the link where I discuss the resemblance of iphone 4 and samsung instinct.

 Basically android is a linux based mobile OS(Operating System).And it is an open source system,meaning anyone can download the OS and customize it according to their needs.

 Thats what Samsung and HTC did for their phones.And apple sued.

 So it is time for Google to step in.But how?

 Google is not an electronics manufacturer nor does it have the mobile patents.

  When Google tried to acquire Nortel networks patents few months ago apple and microsoft together out bid google to acquire them.Apple and Microsoft together. :).

 So by buying out motorola mobility Inc google is acquiring a lot of patents that Motorola holds.Which puts google in a very good position for not only defending the phone manufacturers who use android as their OS but also for improving android based phone's hardware.

Here is the excerpt from the Google press release:

The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

 Now that google has their own hardware they can bring more bells and whistles to android and the phones that they are going to manufacture.

 And Motorola has been manufacturing a series of products.So google will be trying to implement android in all the products.

 Imagine the cable box that we have also delivers google tv without the need for buying a seperate equipment.That would be awesome. 

 Also the android version for the tablets can be improved a lot since motorola has its own tablet.It can be optimized for a dual core machine.

 So in short google acquiring Motorola is a very good news for us.And we can expect a lot of equipments to have android and everything integrated to your gmail account.Send and receive emails from your tv and no need for a computer.Shop through your tv or mobile phone.The possibilities are nearly endless.

Samsung Galaxy SII Soon to be released

 When I wrote about south Asian language support in android the pictures I have posted actually were the Samsung SII galaxy.The model number as usual according to Samsung is I9100.

 I have given the specification at the end of this post.

 I hear from my friends at Samsung that the phone is going to be released in the United States on August 29th.Its a monday :).

 There were a lot of reviews around the web for this Samsung SII galaxy.One might wonder how is that possible to have reviews months before the release in the united states.Thats easy US is the last country to get this phone.

But if you are going to jump on this phone wait for the real review.The one review by the user and not a reviewer. See my post on samsung transform.The reviews by users come after months of usage and not the initial looks and features.

 I really not able to understand why samsung does this for all their gadgets.

 I had a samsung mp3 player and they released a firmware for multiple options and user interfaces.As expected united states is the last country to receive the update.

So in the case of Samsung Galaxy SII ,Samsung did it again.

Please post your thoughts about Samsung releasing most of its products in the US very late in the comments section.

Anyway according to the specs the phone looks attractive,But I would wait for the reviews by actual users.
I have given some more pictures of the phone after the specs.

 The specifications are:

Some more pictures of the Samsung Galaxy SII.

Final Hollywood Round and You tube round in Americas got Talent 2011 -- How Brett made Marilyn disappear

( I saw how Brett made Marlyn disappear.Read the full post.)

 Today is the final hollywood round.And this is the youtube round where last year runner up Jackie Evancho submitted her audition.(That is a brilliant way of submitting auditions without embarassing yourself in front of millions.But That will not give you your 15 minutes of fame if your act is not extremely good.) 

Here is the excerpt of today's show.Videos tomorrow.

TNC Elite: They are todays first dance troupe to do their act.They are cloggers.Even though they had a not so great start they finished it good.Not great but good.

BRETT DANIELS:He made the Marlyn Monroe picture turn white and a real Marlyn Monroe appear.I was able to see how he made the Marlyn Monroe picture white.The picture was made of 2 pieces and I was able to see the picture going up when he pulled the curtain.Similarly he could have done for the appearance of Marlyn's picture.But his act was nice.But slow.Piers buzzed.

GABE ROCKS:Just doggy tricks.Nothing impressive.Did not rock.Except if you think peeing on Piers' picture.Piers buzzed.

AEON : Bunch of guys doing acrobatics and in a ring.Not that great.Piers buzzed.

 

BREENA BELL:The Contortionist.She is 8 years old.For her age she for performed well.But as the judges said that this is too early for her.I would agree with Piers that she has to prepare for the olympics for gymnastics. Piers buzzed.

KEVIN COLIS:Singer.Sang a song with a guitar.Good voice.

BETH ANN ROBINSON:Ballet style dance.Good.


GYMKANA: Acrobatics team.With the ladder.Another amazing acrobatic group where girls took all their risks and the guys where simply standing. Kidding.


KALANI BASKETBALL FREESTYLE:He is from Honolulu.He did few amazing tricks with basket ball and the judges doesn't seem to like it much.Piers buzzed.

WEST SRINGFIELD DANCE TEAM:Another dance troupe.Dressed as Vampires.And with contacts in their eyes.OK dancing but the judges seemed to like it.

MATT WILHELM:This is nice.This guy did awesome tricks in his cycle in the dark in black light entertainment.

POWERHOUSE: A coir dance group.The costumes and the lighting were nice.But the dance was ok.Howie buzzed.

And thats all for tonight folks. I will update the videos once they are available.

Extensions , Apps and Add ons for your browser.

How many of you are still using the no-fun(hmmm IE) browser?

About a year ago my collegue and my friend told me about angry birds game for iphone and ipod touch.He said it was the number one selling game in Apple app store.When I downloaded the lite version in my ipod touch I was immediately addicted.Then I bought the full version.That is the first app I bought.

Why am I telling this in a post where I am going to talk about browser extensions? Lets see in the post.And I am going to tell you how to get angry birds for free.

I heavily use firefox and google chrome for my browsing.I am also an online shopper and I do most of my purchase online.

There is this cool add on for firefox called invisible hand.When I shop online for a particular product it shows a cool tool bar that whether the product I am looking at is available cheaper somewhere else.

If it is available for cheap somewhere else it displays where and how much it is cheaper.

 Another add on which I use is camelizer.I use amazon a lot.A lot in the sense really A LOT.I will post it in a different post why I use amazon a lot.This camelizer extension displays a graph for the product that I am seeing in amazon and its price ranges for a particular period.

 You can opt for 3 months 6 months 1 year etc to see the price variations for that particular product.It really helps in deciding whether to buy the product or to wait.And also it helps to decide whether the price that you are buying is a the best price.

 And then there is this cool iris.you can watch all your photos in picasa in a wall format and then you can navigate them in 3D.

Now they have extended cool iris for shopping as well. You can do the navigation in 3D.

So there are lot of addons and Apps are available for firefox and google chrome.Try them.

As I said I am going to tell you how to get angry birds for free.

Angry Birds Free .

Click the above link for free angry birds from amazon android app store.

If you want angry birds free for your pc you can install free from Chrome store.For that you need to have google chrome.

Thats not right,Sharon and Americas Got Talent 2011

Last night was the results night in Americas got talent 2011. The results were announced.

First the dance group Fatally Unique got selected for the next round.

Then Zuma Zuma - all male pole dancing and Piers Morgan liking group got selected for the next round.(Piers is the one who said who would like to see male pole dancer a few rounds back ,or something in a similar meaning) .

Then the team iLuminate went through for the next round.And Sharon praised this group a lot.

This team iLuminate is an enhanced version of Fighting Gravity last season.I am just saying this to compare those two acts and not in any way to degrade team iLuminate.In fact I love team iLuminate and would be happy if they win.And there was another group called Arc attack last year.They were also awsome last year.

The reason I mentioned Arc attack and Fighting gravity beacuse when one of the acts performed Sharon said that it was too technical for her and she dont understand and it was a no from her.

So if an act was wonderful and everyone likes it and if Sharon don't understand its a NO.Or in the judges round she will vote NO and you are in danger of getting eliminated.


Coming back to last night the host Nick Canon announced that the fouth and the fifth place acts were juggler Charles Peachock and comedian Melissa Villasenor.

Charles Peachock played a piano with his juggling balls.Not just hitting the keys but a meaningful music.

Melissa Villasenor mimiced Sharon and Luke Wilson.

Here are the videos of them performing.

Charles Peachock:


Melissa Villasenor:


The judges are supposed to pick an act between these two.

Sharon said all the nice things about the juggler but voted for the comedian.

Piers voted for the juggler.

Howie voted for the comedian.

So the comedian advanced.And the juggler was sent home.

Here are my questions:

1.If America has voted fouth and fifth place ,shouldn't the person voted in the 4th place advance?If no then why America is voting at all?

2.If two of the judges don't understand an act,but if the rest of america enjoys it ,still the act gets axed.Dosen't it say in your face America we can do whatever we want?

Watch the videos and you decide.

Why Kinetic King should move to the next round in Americas Got Talent 2011

Kinetic King .

 He is a geek.He is an artist and he is a lone wolf.He is a little bit of everything.

Even though his chain reaction didn't work last night because of the humidity he has more in him.

Imagine this every other act had a team working for them and this guy alone came to conquer.

If at least he moves to the next round we can judge what he has in him.

See his last night's video below.

Biggest Disaster in America's got Talent 2011- THE KINETIC KING gadget didn't work on live TV

I liked the Kinetic King.

He made gadgets using tongue depressors (flat wooden sticks) and then like chain reaction those gadgets would explode.

watch below.



It is very interesting to watch.Its like a chain of dominoes and instead of dominoes he uses tongue depressors.

For the America's got Talent live show today he worked for 36 hours to construct a biggest chain reaction and he was going for Guinness record.

And when the girl started the chain reaction nothing happened.And he was baffled and dumb found.

He was really not able to understand what happened.

And the possible theory was that because of the humidity in Hollywood the sticks stuck together and didn't cause a chain reaction.

I do accept the theory.And I would like to see him in the semifinals to see what he can do.

Please vote for him so that he can come for the semi finals and show us what he can do for the Guinness record.