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Month: March 2014

Facebook Acquires Oculus VR

March 31, 2014

Fresh from getting a hold on the popular messenger application Whatsapp last month, Facebook has added yet another weapon to its armory by acquiring the virtual reality gaming startup. The deal has clearly indicated that the social networking giant is not at all hesitant to make full use of its strong market position and offer its users a world that will change the way they communicate and play in the virtual world.

The deal stands at an overall price of $2 billion; that includes 23.1 million shares of Facebook in addition to a cash amount of $400 million. Among the other facts associated with the deal, Mark Zuckerberg stated that Oculus VR will continue to be headquartered in Irving.

Oculus VR is best known for its development of Oculus Rift. It is a virtual reality head-mounted display that is extensively used in video games. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear to the world that this acquisition and the last month deal on Whatsapp, both are meant to give the company an edge when it comes to social platforms in future. Mobile platforms are the norm today; Oculus will give Facebook that edge when it comes to platforms of the future.

The prime source of raising funds for the development of Oculus Rift came through a Kickstarter campaign back in the year 2012. After raising $2 million in 2012, this count went up to a staggering $91 million last year. With this deal, Oculus Rift is all set to become one of the most successful Kickstarter projects of all times.

This is what the Facebook CEO had to say about the acquisition: “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.” He further added, “Oculus has the potential to be the most social platform ever. Imagine not just sharing moments with your friend’s online but entire experiences.”

Zuckerberg also clearly mentioned that Oculus was way ahead of the lot when it came to the ‘best and brightest’ minds in technology. By acquiring the company, the social networking giant was also adding to its human resource prowess; by having people with an impeccable knowhow of computing and technology on board, Facebook is going to reap significant benefits.

Investors and web developers from across the world echoed similar sentiments as those shared by Mark Zuckerberg when it came to virtual reality being the ‘future of computing’.

With the deal finally being official, Facebook is all set to become a totally immersive experience for its users who can share events, visits, and lots more with friends, making them truly connected to one another in the process.

Different Types Of Networking Cables

March 25, 2014

Though wireless network technology has evolved many folds, still people use wired networks at home and offices. They use cables as a medium to transfer information and communicate through networked devices. These cables do look similar to a naive; however, they are quite different. You must know what kind of cable you need for your LAN and for this; you must understand different types of cable available in the market.

Coaxial Cables
The Coaxed cables or coax are copper cables, which are a standard for 10Mbps Ethernet cables. Cable companies used these cables to connect TV sets with antennas. Even the telephone companies use these cables. Two major types of coax cable, which were used in 1980s and 1990s, were thinnet (10BASE2 standard) or thicknet (10BASE5 standard). These cables are widely used in office Ethernet and LANs. The cable has an inner copper wire of varied thicknesses, which is surrounded by insulation and other shielding.

Twisted Pair Cables
Twisted pair cables are made of two copper wires, which are twisted together to reduce electromagnetic field. These wires are often wound together in pairs. Ethernet twisted pair cables have up to 8 wires wound together in pairs. These wires were introduced during 1990s, starting with 10Mbps (Category 3 or Cat-3), which later on evolved as 100Mbps (Category 5 or Cat-5) and soon became high-speed 10Gbps wires. Twisted pair cables are of two types, Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) and Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP). Higher grade twisted pair is used in LANs as it is far cheaper than coaxial cable.

Fiber Optics
Fiber optic cables have made the dream of long distance calls, internet, and cable TV a reality. These cables transmit information through strands of glass and pulses of light. These cables can easily bend, as they are made of glass and are used in Wide Area Networks (WANs) where the communication traffic is high. Single mode and multimode are two types of fiber optics. Single mode fiber optics has higher bandwidth capacity; therefore, it is used in long-distance telecommunications networks. The local networks use multimode because they are cheaper.

USB Cables
USB cables have twisted pair wiring and are used to connect computer with peripheral devices such as mouse, keyboard, etc. They are not used for connecting a computer with another for networking. By using Dongles, an Ethernet cable can be easily connected to a USB port indirectly.

Crossover Cables
Crossover cables such as Null modem cables connect two similar devices, for example two PCs. It is constructed by crossing over the order of the wires so that it can connect two computers directly. It looks similar to regular Ethernet cable, so one needs to buy carefully.

We at Centex Technologies provide complete office computer networking solutions to our clients. For more information, call us at (855) 375-9654

Promote Your Business With Instagram

March 19.2014

With more than hundred million users in the Instagram community, it has the potential to promote businesses to new heights. Here are some ways to use Instagram for the marketing and promotion of your business.

Take catchy photographs:
Photos are the best medium to grab the attention of people and ignite conversation about your products. If you want to market your business using Instagram, then click some attractive pictures of your products and services. Upload these pictures and share in the community. This is a great way to make people aware about your products. You can introduce new products and services to create a buzz. By putting interesting tag lines, you can define the pictures and the products that you are highlighting.

Use hashtags on photos:
To categorize your photos, use hashtags. This will make it easy for users to find brands and products. By picking a hashtag name, you will make your brand and products identifiable.

Create interest:
By sharing photos on instagram, you can make users curious about the pictures and the products. You can use interesting contests to engage your followers such as asking them to post pictures showcasing the creative applications of your products. If you are from service industry, then you can use before and after pictures to show your results.

Give a face to your brand:
You can make your brand more accessible by promoting your business activities, events, and achievements online. To promote your brand, you can associate with a celebrity or highlight the performance of your employees.

Invite others to share:
Invite your clients and other contacts to share the photos uploaded by you. It would be great if your customers upload photos of themselves using the product. You can also announce prize for the best photos, this will encourage more people to share your photos and popularize your brand. Inviting others will make it interesting and interactive. This will further encourage users to visit your account time and again to get new updates.

Arrange events:
Plan events and interesting activities and create hash tags for these to increase the participation. Hashtaging the event much before the actual date helps you get huge attention. Post the photos of the event.

These simple ways will help you use Instagram effectively to establish your brand; however, it is crucial to update your account and communicate with your target audiences regularly.

Debunking Rumors About iPhone 6

March 10. 2014

The expectations from iPhone are mounting with the launch of the Innovative smart phone approaching fast. With the rising excitement, there are many rumors about its release date, specifications, and special features. This article aims at debunking some of the rumors that surround the launch of next generation smart phone.

What you can expect from iPhone is a new colorful range that will be made in plastic and available at budget prices. The next generation phone is expected to have more powerful processor, bigger storage, better battery life, and a much bigger screen. With an improved camera, the phone will feature near-field communications for various functions such as unlocking doors in buildings and cars, quick purchases, and personal identification. The smart phone is likely to be between 4.7 and 5.7 inches.

Big Screen: The first rumor about iPhone 6 is that it will have quite a large screen and the company may advertize this iPhone as its first phablet. It is expected that the screen size of smart phone is likely to be between 4.7 and 5.7 inches.

Curved glass: Another rumor that has been prevalent for long is that iPhone 6 may have a curved screen. This will enhance its look along with making it sit nicely against user’s cheek while calling. The screen quality will also be much better. It is noticed that the curved screen phones are hardwearing and produce less glare while watching video. It is somewhat sure that iPhone 6 will have curved screen; however, there are rumors about the glass material. Forbes predicts it will be curved Gorilla Glass and Times suggests that it will be scratch proof, expensive Sapphire glass.

Improved sensors: TechCrunch suggests that improved screen sensitivity is what you can expect from iPhone 6. According to Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch, Users who find the current screen size enough may be more interested in sensor developments. Improved sensitivity will improve the drawing and handwriting applications on the iPhone and iPad much better. This will make the Apple devices more like professional-level artistic devices. It is predicted that iPhone 6 will have features that will benefit those who want to make a note or doodle on their smart phone.

Solar power: According to USA Today, it is possible that iPhone 6 will have solar powered battery. Forbes has informed that Apple has filed patents for devices powered by solar cells. This will make you charge your phone battery by simply walking with it on a sunny day. This will solve the problem of limited smart phone battery life.

Digital Trends claims that Apple may launch two slightly different models of iPhone 6. One model will be smaller and other will be larger model, more like a phablet.

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