Google to launch Android 5.0 Jelly Bean with multiple lead devices?

Google is reportedly working on a new strategy for its forthcoming mobile operating system, Android 5.0 Jelly Bean. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Internet giant is going to give mobile device manufacturers an early access to the new mobile operating system in an attempt to come up with a more robust ecosystem and to take on arch-rival Apple.

The WSJ report, citing unnamed sources, says the new strategy could be launching the new operating system with multiple devices, doing away with current practice of working with single manufacturer on a "lead device" based on a new Android release. The report says Google may collaborate with up to five device-makers to produce "Nexus” lead devices, which could be either smartphones, tablets or both.

Google has changed its strategy for Android operating system quite often, it's learnt. Back in 2010, Google came up with its self-branded Android-based smartphone, Nexus One; but soon the venture was shut down.

Earlier this year, reports said Google was once again looking to launch co-branded Android devices manufactured by third party device makers through its online store. Another round of reports said Google would come up with own Android tablets this year via Motorola Mobility, the consumer arm of Motorola that Google acquired for $12.5 billion in 2011 and sell them through its online store.

News from - http://www.thinkdigit.com/Software/Google-to-launch-Android-50-Jelly-Bean_9554.html

Google updates search with new Knowledge Graph

Google's dominant search engine is set for another major revamp, as the Internet giant introduces a new tool called the “Knowledge Graph” – that will provide users with more relevant results. The new Knowledge Graph will appear in the form of short snippets to the right column of its results and provide users more information on a topic and help users explore related items as well. The new feature will be rolled out in the next few days to desktop, mobile and tablet users.

Google's new Knowledge Graph leverages Google-built database of over 500 million people, places and commonly sought queries to provide a brief information about a topic alongside the main search results.

“The Knowledge Graph enables you to search for things, people or places that Google knows about—landmarks, celebrities, cities, sports teams, buildings, geographical features, movies, celestial objects, works of art and more—and instantly get information that’s relevant to your query,” Amit Singhal, senior vice president of engineering at Google, said in a blog post. “This is a critical first step toward building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the Web and understands the world a bit more like people do.”

Google's launch of Knowledge Graph comes days after Microsoft revamped its own Bing search engine with deeper integration of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The revamped Bing includes option to feature social results from Facebook and Twitter in searches. Microsoft also added new features to Bing to make the search engine easier to use.

Check out the new Knowledge Graph in the video below: 

News from - http://www.thinkdigit.com/Internet/Google-updates-search-with-new-Knowledge-Graph_9559.html

Top 5 Global Brands

Bangalore: Facebook has over 157 million users from different parts of the globe which allows these companies to grow globally. More the users checking the industry profile the more they get pageviews or likes or comments. Thus giving them the basic idea whether the consumers like their product and brand or not. In a study done by a social marketing firm, SocialBakers, presents the top 5 global brands depending upon the fans on Facebook.

Coca-Cola

Coke is a carbonated soft drink which is sold all around the world in about 200 countries. They have many other flavours of cola drinks.  In 2011, it was regarded as the world’s most valuable brand. This company is located in United States. One of its major competitors is PepsiCo. Coca-cola ads are very famous because it features well renowned actors or pop stars or sports stars. It has also been an element of popular culture. Even though it has been criticized for the adverse health effects still it has managed to stand still in the market. In Facebook, this company holds the first position among the top 5 brands to engage the users and it has almost 42 million fans.

Starbucks

This is an international coffee company and coffeehouse chain which is based in Seattle, Washington. It operates in almost 58 countries and also has grocery stores. It is well known for its drip brewed coffee, expresso based hot drinks and snacks etc. The company also has an entertainment division and Hear Music brand. It markets books, music and film.  It has partnered with Apple to collaborate on selling music. Starbucks stands on the second position on the Facebook’s top 5 brands and has about 30 million fans.

Converse

This company was founded by Marquis Mills Converse in late 30s and was named as Converse Rubber Shoe Company. Another unit was founded by Elisha converse in Malden, Massachussetts in 1908. In 1917 the Converse All-Star basketball shoe was introduced. The company became famous when a basketball player named Charles H. Taylor also known as “Chuck” was made the ambassador and salesman and later his signature was added to the All Star patch. Converse is very popular amongst the younger generation and so it ranks third in the list of Top 5 brands on Facebook with 30 million fans.

Red Bull

It is an energy drink which was created by Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian entrepreneur in 1987 in partnership with an inventor of an earlier energy drink, Chaleo Yoovidhya from Thailand. It is the most popular energy drink in the world in terms of market share, with $.5 billion cans sold each year. It has been marketed through advertisements with the slogan “Red Bull gives you wings.” It sponsors many events like Red Bull Air Race, Red Bull Racing, and Red Bull New York etc and also endorses with its record label known as Red Bull Records. This holds the fourth position in the list of Facebook’s top 5 brands and has around 28 million fans.

Oreo

It is delicious sandwich cookie and was introduced by Nabisco division of Kraft Foods in 1912. It has become the best selling cookie in the United States. In Canada it is sold under the brand name Christie. It is sold in many shapes and sizes, and also in different flavors. It has a great demand all over the world and is the fifth most engaging brand on Facebook with almost 26 million fans.

News from - http://www.siliconindia.com/news/business/Top-5-Global-Brands-nid-116060-cid-3.html

Database Testing: Is It Significant?

With the number of applications increasing day by day, there is a need to test its various parameters so as to make it reliable and user friendly.  Apart from testing the various codes and attributes, testers would need to test one of the most vital part in a system-the database.

There are basically four operations that are facilitated by Database Tools like MS- Access2010, Oracle 10g and others. They are
•    Create: - Users will create information and save it.
•    Retrieve: - Information that is stored can be retrieved by the user.
•    Update: - Users can either edit or modify the information that has been saved previously.
•    Delete: - If any information that was saved becomes outdated, users can delete the information.

How to test Database?
1. Create Query
For an accurate Database test, the tester should possess a profound knowledge of the Structured Query Language (SQL) and Data Manipulation Language (DML) apart from a good understanding of internal database structure of the Application under Test (AUT). This will in turn help him verify the results using the SQL query.

2. Verify the result using the table
Apart from using the SQL, the tester can also view the tables of database to verify the results. However, this will be a tedious job especially if the amount of data is large and spread in different tables.

3. Obtain Query from the Developer
The tester can perform any of the operations that are facilitated by the database tools and confirm the impacts by verifying the SQL query from the developer. This method is the simplest but it has some drawbacks especially when the query obtained from the developer doesn’t match the users’ requirement.

Importance of Database Testing
The importance of database testing in software testing should not be ignored as it is the data which is visible to the user.

1. Quality Assurance
Before the software is made available to the user, testers should ensure that it meets the quality standards as required by the user. The database management system should be able to retrieve any information as requested by the user from time to time.

2. Feasibility
If the amount of data is less, then manual counting is feasible. However, it can be a hectic task for anyone to count data with many attributes. The main objective of database testing is to ensure the usefulness of the data and that subsequently facilitate the systems functionality.

3. Identifying the problem
Database testing will help the tester identify the root cause of the problem apart from detecting the hidden bugs in the database.

Database is the most critical and the backbone of any software applications. Without a proper database, the system will not be able to function as required by the user. A software application can be re-written over and over and old applications are thrown away. However, the database is carefully migrated when changing the applications.

News from - http://qa.siliconindia.com/news/The-Importance-of-Database-Testing-nid-115854.html

5 Common Online Marketing Spelling and Grammar Mistakes

Grammar and spelling mistakes are very common, and with the rise in shortened ‘text speak’, becoming even more so. The English language is made up of a lot of words that are really difficult to spell, but a lot of mistakes are simple to fix once you know what you did wrong.

The same can be said of grammar. Common grammar issues like “you’re” and “your” are easy to learn, it just takes a little time.

That’s not the only mistake you’ll see when reading, or maybe make when writing yourself. You could be writing for the web, either for a blog or as part of an online marketing strategy. You might be writing a novel or reviewing a product. Regardless, good grammar not only makes you appear more intelligent but it flows better when read back too.

In an effort to reduce these annoying little slip ups, here are five commonspelling and grammar mistakes you need to stop making now:

1# Recurrent misspellings

Even those who think they know all the tricks of grammar can get fooled by this one. A lot of people tend to write it as “alot” which isn’t a word.

2# There, Their and They’re

They all sound the same when read out loud, but have a separate meaning. It looks confusing at first, but it’s simple to learn the difference.

“Their” signifies possession. It’d work in a sentence like “It’s their house.”

“They’re” means “They are”. If “are” wouldn’t fit behind “They” in your sentence, “They’re” isn’t the one you’re looking for.

Finally, “There” is best used when talking about a position. “I’m going there” or “It’s over there”.

3# You’re and Your

This one is equally as common as the one above. “You’re” and “your” are often seen mixed up, but it’s easy to work out which is which once you know the difference.

“You’re” works the same as “They’re”; it stands for “You are”. “You’re getting better at grammar” works, because you could easily swap out “You’re” with “You are”.

“Your” is for possession. “Your book” means that you own the book, so “Your” is the correct word.

4# Using an apostrophe

An apostrophe is great when it’s used right. Often, when people want to put an “s” on the end of a word then they’ll put an apostrophe before it. This is sometimes right, but often not.

You should use an apostrophe in two cases only.

It shows possession of something; “Company’s employees” shows that the employees belong to the company.

The other use is for contractions, and you can see it in the points above. You can use an apostrophe on “You are” to make it “You’re”, just like you can on “They’re.”

Often, you’ll see “it’s” written where it shouldn’t be. “It’s” is contracted from “it is” or “it has” and can be used in place of them. “Its” should be used all other times.

5# Literally

“Literally” is a great word used wrongly far too often. It’s often misunderstood and people use it where it doesn’t make sense.

“Literally” means exactly to the point. Using “literally” in a sentence describing an event means that event happened exactly as you explained with no exaggeration.

When someone says “I literally died because I was laughing so hard” then they’re implying that they’re dead.

News from - http://www.techmaish.com/5-common-online-marketing-spelling-and-grammar-mistakes/