PageCloud Review – Is This The World’s Best Web Publishing App?

What is PageCloud?

Page Cloud is web design software for dummies, and provides a What You See is What You Get (WYSWYG) editor for making all sorts of creative designs.  In the words of the creator and CEO of PageCloud:

“…it’s the first to deliver this professional level of desktop publishing experience to the Web.”

Craig Fitzpatrick

We all want to know what the benefits are of the self-proclaimed world’s most advanced web editor. They know the world wide web is about to change and they want to invite us all to be part of the change. Let’s review PageCloud and find out what this web publishing company is up to.

The Company

Craig Fitzpatrick, founder and CEO of PageCloud, is motivated by helping people to create and edit their own websites.  He believes HTML and CSS coders should not be the only people who have the “freedom” to create websites.  Therefore he has designed, with his team of seven employees, some software to help the small business owner make his or her own website.  He also envisions granting the “marketing people” the capability to make website edits, rather than having to rely on the tech people.

Mr. Fitzpatrick showcased PageCloud at TechCrunch 2015 and was well-received by the moderators.  The company raised $2.2 million in March, before TechCrunch, from angels Tobias Lutke (CEO of Shopify) and Sarah Imbach, former Chief of Staff at LinkedIn plus more.  Looks like some pretty important names believe in PageCloud.

Like Shopify, PageCloud is based in Ottowa, Canada.

The Product

Citing the small business owner as the typical customer, Fitzptrick is basically selling a drag and drop, cloud-based web design platform that incorporates media integration with YouTube, etc.  Users also get the “freedom” to do Photoship-ish things like fade images.  In fact, one of the main features is that users are able to monkey around with images on their old familiar Photoshop software, then publish directly to the web.

The software also makes your website mobile.  It also connects your widgets to database-driven components like contact forms.  These are also available to manipulate via drag and drop.  Founder Fitzpatrick claims users can imitate the Apple website design with his product.

Users get full access to source access code and customized widgets.  According to Tech Crunch reviewers, the product stands out among its competitors because of the drag and drop capability.  Founder Fitzpatrick likens this feature to PowerPoint, which offers users the same feature.

The Opportunity

PageCloud is still in pre-launch until this Fall (2015).  During this time, anyone who signs up gets a special pre-launch subscription price of $99 per year.  That comes to $8.25 per month.  This represents a savings of at least 65% since the price will go up in the Fall to $25 per month.

The opportunity is that you refer three people (get them to sign up for a subscription to PageCloud) and get your first year for free.

The Verdict

Not sure what PageCloud offers that you can’t get with WordPress plus a ton of plugins, plus some basic image editing software.  Plus, what happens when the customer stops paying the monthly (billed as annual) fee?  Are you left with some files, which would be usable in a non-PageCloud world?  You do own your files, but in what form do they come to you?

Also, what if the user needs a feature that is not offered in PageCloud?  They’ve invested in the software but now they need to hire someone to code in what they really want?  And work with the bloated code the PageCloud software generates, if it’s anything like what Word makes when it publishes to the web.  PageCloud seems limiting in this way, but I could be wrong.

Some would also say that Instapage, a competitor, was there first with the no-coding website generator…contrary to what Craig Fitzpatrick claims in his Tech Crunch presentation.

And shouldn’t there be a demo, a trial period, or at least some screen shots before we commit to $99 (nonrefundable)?  Finally, at $99 a pop (per website), this is expensive, especially considering you can do pretty well with WordPress and a few premium templates.

Is this the Next Generation of Transportation?

A video has surfaced on the website YouTube showing a possible new mode of transportation that would literally take to the skies.

A video has surfaced on the website YouTube showing a possible new mode of transportation that would literally take to the skies.

In the video, a large air transportation carrier seems to float in the air, guided by a track that follows the course of a local highway. The carrier, using large propellers, then glides to a stop at a transportation center, loading and unloading passgengers, before continuing on it's way.

The video can be viewed below:

Hands-on review: Samsung 34" Curved Monitor SE790C

On going to the office to test this, I was told that my curved TV had arrived and was awaiting my unboxing. Little did they know, this was no mere TV but a screen designed to strike fear into the souls of mortal monitors.

From the plain brown box that arrived, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a fancy TV, one of those OLED ones that you can sit three metres from and not really notice the curve.

With a monitor, you’re up close and personal, and 34″ of curved goodness complements your eyes. So much so that if you have the monitor adjusted right, you’ll be unable to identify that there is a curve - it’s just that every point on the display is in focus and facing you.

If it wasn’t curved, the pixels on the edges would be pointing away from you, giving you a poorer picture. With the slight curve, you can fit in so much more.

For example, in Excel, at 100% zoom, I can view 64 rows and columns from A to AZ. And there’s no gap. If you wanted that kind of width on documents, you had to have two monitors with the document spanned over both.

4K monitors aim to offer this capability and fit more on the screen, yet this is at the sacrifice of size. I can easily read with this screen - after all, it is a very wide monitor.

Rather than a Ultra High definition monitor, with its sheer mass of pixels, this has lots of them in one direction – 3440 x 1440. Mmmm, pixel loveliness. And for me, yes I would love this screen in a 4K crispness, then it really would be the ultimate monitor, but my machine has to keep up with it.

The Surface Pro 3 will power this, yet trying to play Netflix through the browser does tend to puff it out (although on battery only).

I’ve used 4K monitors, nasty monitors, and nice monitors. My favourite was the Dell 3007WFP - a pair of these adorned my desk, and for video editing and desktop space, they were unrivalled. Yet the Samsung SE790C kills every other piece of competition out there.

There are no rivals (except maybe the iMac 5K), and as much as 4K monitors are nice, you either have to scale them right, or have the focusing abilities of a kestrel.

This monitor slays all other rivals - I can’t throw enough superlatives at it. Work wise, I use two 24″ monitors, and this monitor (well two) is on my Christmas list.

At about $1300, it’s not an impulse buy. Yet with HDMI, Mini DisplayPort and DisplayPort, you won’t have a problem connecting to this with any modern machine. So Samsung, contact Santa, and set up a wholesale agreement aye?

Xolo Black X1 at Rs 9,999-features 5-inch display,13MP,64bit,32GB and more

Xolo has launched a new smartphone for the Indian market called Xolo Black X1 for a rice of Rs 9,999. The device will go on sale exclusively via Snapdeal starting 6 November via a flash sale, registration for which starts today.

In terms of specifications, the device features a 5-inch full HD on-cell IPS display with a 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution. It is powered by a 64-bit capable MediaTek MT6753 octa-core SoC clocked at 1.3GHz with 450MHz Mali-T720 GPU and paired with 3GB RAM. 

The device includes an internal storage of 32GB which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. The handset runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with HIVE Atlas UI running on top. It comes equipped with a 13MP rear camera with 0.15 seconds autofocus and a 5MP front camera with flash. The Xolo Black X1 supports a Hybrid Dual SIM and is powered by a 2400 mAh battery.

Sunil Raina, Business Head at Xolo said, “With our online sub brand – BLACK we aim to deliver a fresh design approach with future ready technology that is backed by full potential of the hardware, complemented with our proprietary customised software platform- HIVE. Taking this philosophy forward, new BLACK 1X is designed to cater to the growing online, digitally-smart youth who is looking for a perfect combination of seamless computing experience and specs at an honest price.”

The Best VPN extensions for Google Chrome and Chromium-based browsers

Virtual Private Networks, short VPN, serve a variety of purposes. From providing unfiltered access to contents on the Internet over privacy and security benefits to bypassing country-locks of select services.

Regardless of for what it is used for, it works always in the same way. A secure connection is created from the local computer system to a remote server that is maintained by the VPN company. From there, connections to the Internet are established.

Internet traffic flows through the remote server so that Internet services communicate with it directly and not with the local system.

While there are ways to identify VPN connections, by maintaining a database of known IP addresses or using plugins to detect the underlying IP address, it is difficult if precautions are taken.

VPN services are offered in three different ways: as server information that users need to connect to using the operating system's networking options, as standalone programs that establish these connections, and as browser extensions or plugins for select programs.

This guide looks at extensions for the Chrome web browser. Since Google Chrome is based on Chromium, most Chromium-based browsers should support these extensions as well.

VPN Extensions

The main appeal of using an extension is that it is easy to set up. All it takes usually is to install the extension in the web browser to start using it. You may need to activate it, but you won't need to add server or authentication information anywhere to do so.

While that is beneficial, browser extensions are limited to the browser itself. This means that the VPN will only work for connections established in the browser and not system-wide.

Requirements

We have only included extensions that meet the following requirements:

• The extension must be available in the Chrome Web Store.
• It needs to be compatible with Chrome Stable.
• A free version needs to be available.
• It may not inject advertisement into web pages or do other shady things.

ZenMate

You need to enter your email address on the welcome page after installation. The extension won't work otherwise. A password is generated automatically for you on the next screen that you can change there.

Once that is out of the way, the extension activates itself automatically and is ready for use.

It displays a small shield icon in Chrome's address bar which you can click on to display the status of the current connection. Here you can also change the VPN server location to the following ones: New York/United States, Frankfurt/Germany, London/UK, Zurich/Switzerland or Kowloon/HongKong.

Zenmate is free at the time of writing apart from the required registration. It offers unlimited traffic as well which will change in the future. The company plans to introduce paid Pro accounts in the future and when that happens, will limit the traffic of free accounts.

Performance: excellent, worked flawless with all services it was tried on including Hulu and Pandora from the US, BBC from the UK, and ARD in Germany.

Company headquarters: Germany

Privacy Policy: https://zenmate.com/privacy-policy/

Terms of Service: https://zenmate.com/tos/

Hola Better Internet

Hola Unblocker is a free extension for Chrome that uses a slightly different system than others. The free version of it uses bandwidth of users connected to it to power its service. This works similar to how torrent downloads work.

This cannot be disabled but users can sign up to become Premium users so that their devices are not used as a peer to power the service.

A premium account is available for $5 per month or $3.75 per month if paid yearly in advanced.

Free users don't need to create an account to use Hola Unblocker. It works automatically right after installation in Google Chrome.

A click on the icon in the address displays custom information. If you are on a specific site, you can select a remote server location that you want used for the connection.

Other options include opening the options, or configuring specific site and country links so that these connections are established automatically by the application when a connection to the site is made.

Performance: While connections to US-based and German-based websites worked fine and without any performance issues -- buffering for instance -- issues were noticed during connections to sites based in the UK. While contents loaded fine, buffering was an issue as the stream paused frequently.

Company headquarters: Israel

Privacy Policy: https://hola.org/legal_privacy

Terms of Service: https://hola.org/legal_sla

DotVPN

You need to create an account before you can start using the service. To do so, you are asked to enter your name, email address and password into the form in the Chrome browser.

The functionality becomes available right afterwards. A click on the icon displays various information about the currently selected remote server including its location.

You can use the menu to switch to another server that you want to connect to instead. A total of nine different locations are supported right now including the USA, Germany, UK, France, Japan and Russia.

While the initial service is free, the website only lists paid plans. There was no request to upgrade to a paid plan during tests, and it is not clear if one is displayed to users at one point in time.

Performance: The connection quality has been excellent for all tested servers. Streams from the US, UK and Germany played fluently and without any buffering issues or other issues.

Company headquarters: Hong Kong

Privacy Policy: https://dotvpn.com/en/legal/privacy-policy/

Terms of Service: https://dotvpn.com/en/legal/website-terms/

TunnelBear Beta

TunnelBear Beta is a new browser extension for Google Chrome that provides you with access to TunnelBear's VPN network.

You can sign in with an existing account or create a new one, the latter is done within ten seconds as you don't need to verify the email address and are signed in automatically in the extension once you complete the sign up process.

You connect to one of the twelve VPN servers located in different parts of the world through the extension icon or a keyboard shortcut.

Free accounts are limited to 250 Megabyte of traffic per month which you can raise once by 500 Megabyte if you verify your email address.

Performance: The performance of the VPN is excellent. A speed test verified that on a 50/10 Mbit line which it nearly maxed out during the test. Not all streaming services worked (Hulu did not) but those that did work ran fine.

Company headquarters: Toronto, Canada

Privacy Policy: https://www.tunnelbear.com/privacy-policy/

Terms of Service: https://www.tunnelbear.com/terms-of-service/

Conclusion

Four extensions that add free VPN-like functionality to Google Chrome do not seem like much but it should be completely sufficient for most users.

While there are other extensions that promise similar functionality, all that we tried did not work well or acted only as a proxy that did not support multimedia websites at all.

Now You: If you know of another extension that adds VPN functionality to Chrome, feel free to share it with everyone in the comment section below.

Li-Fi is the new Wi-Fi: First real tests of lightbulb technology find it is 100 TIMES faster than current systems

• System invented in 2011 hits speeds of 224 gigabits per second in the lab
• Scientists are now testing Li-Fi in offices and industrial environments
• Li-Fi is uses visible light communication and would be more secure  

Step aside, Wi-Fi. Scientists have just taken to the streets with a new wireless technology called Li-Fi, and it's 100 times faster than current speeds.

Li-Fi transmits data using visible light communication, and it's now being tested in offices and industrial environments in Tallinn, Estonia.

This new wireless system hit speeds of 224 gigabits per second in the lab, and has the potential to revolutionize internet usage.

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This new wireless system hit speeds of 224 gigabits per second in the lab, and has the potential to revolutionize internet usage. The Li-Fi technology uses visible light between 400 and 800 terahertz (THz), and transmits messages through binary code

Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland invented Li-Fi in 2011. 

Haas demonstrated that he could transmit more data than a cellular tower by flickering light from a single LED, according to ScienceAlert.

The system works in a similar way to Morse code, using visible light communication (VLC), but operates at speeds that are too high to be detected by the naked eye.

The Li-Fi technology uses visible light between 400 and 800 terahertz (THz), and transmits messages through binary code, giving it in-lab speeds fast enough to download 18 movies of 1.5 GB each second.

'We are doing a few pilot projects within different industries where we can utilise the VLC (visible light communication) technology,' Deepak Solanki, CEO of Estonian tech company, Velmenni, told

A FASTER, MORE SECURE WI-FI

Lab tests have shown that Li-Fi can hit speeds 100 times faster than current Wi-Fi systems.

Speed is not the only advantage of Li-Fi.

The system uses visible light communication between 400 and 800 terahertz to transmit messages in binary code.  

Visible light cannot pass through walls, making Li-Fi a much more secure system, and less susceptible to interference.

While the system seems promising, it won't likely replace Wi-Fi entirely, at least not anytime soon.

Instead, researchers are now looking to retrofit devices with Li-Fi to use the two wireless systems together to optimize speed and security. 

'Currently we have designed a smart lighting solution for an industrial environment where the data communications is done through light. 

'We are also doing a pilot project with a private client where we are setting up a Li-fi network to access the Internet in their office space.'

Since the light can't travel through walls, Li-Fi could also be a more secure option down the line, and suffer from less interference from other devices.

The system works in a similar way to Morse code, using visible light communication (VLC), but operates at speeds that are too high to be detected by the naked eye. Since the light can't travel through walls, Li-Fi could also be a more secure option down the line, and suffer from less interference from other devices

The system isn't likely to replace Wi-Fi entirely in the years to come, and ripping out the existing infrastructure isn't feasible.

But the two could be used in partnership to create faster and safer networks.

Instead, researchers are working on retrofitting current devices to be Li-Fi compatible.

PureLifi, a company created by Haas and his team, is offering a 'plug-and-play- application for secure wireless access, ScienceAlert says. 

A French tech company called Oledcomm is also working with Li-Fi, and is installing its own system in local hospitals.

Haas says that Li-Fi could combine illumination with wireless data transmission, to make for a cleaner and brighter future.

DRAGONTRAIL VS. GORILLA: THE SUPER TOUGH GLASS GAME IS ON

The touchscreen mobile device business is getting tougher—in more ways than one. Japan's Asahi glass has a new super-tough material called Dragontrail that's aiming to steal some of Corning Gorilla's market.

Ashai is Japan's biggest glassmaker, and it just launched the new Dragontrail material with a fair amount of pomp and circumstance in Japan. The glass is said to be six times stronger than conventional glass, stronger than typical window soda-lime glass and has a "beautiful, pristine finish," according to press materials. It can directly resist scratches (reporters at the event invited to try to damage a sample with a key) and a small, millimeter-thin sample can stand up to 60 kilos of weight by bending before breaking. Check out the demonstration video below:

Asahi is really confident in its product, and expects it to earn well over $350 million of revenue when it's settled into the market in 2012. Ultimately, it hopes to capture up to 30% of its market.

This is no small sum, but it's dwarfed by some expectations for Asahi's big competitor, Corning, with its similar Gorilla glass material, a stressed alkali-aluminosilicate glass that's used on the iPhone and other high-profile devices. Gorilla's 2011 revenues may reach $1 billion.

One big factor driving this new market are the ever-increasing number of portable gadgets we own. Not only do we now carry more digital electronics around with us, but thanks to innovations like the iPhone these gizmos are sporting larger and larger screens—making them more vulnerable to damage by accidental drops or the display-wrecking effects of a scratch caused by sliding a phone into a pocket full of urban detritus. Toughened safety glass that also possesses high optical quality (needed for today's tablet PCs and smartphones) can prevent a lot of this damage.

It also allows bold design decisions to be tried out: like Apple's iPhone 4, which relies on glass for some of its structural rigidity, and the thinness of the tough glass to bring the LCD closer to the user's finger for a more satisfying touchscreen experience. We also suspect that new super-strong, glass-like materials may one day be used to make devices in their entirety.

Two interesting side effects to all this: the glass industry gets a jolt and our future gadgets will be more damage-proof and come in increasingly innovative shapes.

Motorola Moto X Play vs. HTC One M9

Product	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Brand	Motorola	HTC
Product Review Link
Status	Released	Released
Photo
Product Type	smartphone	smartphone
Announced On	2015/07/01	2015/03/01
Street Price (Approx)	Rs. 18,499	Rs. 26,636
Dimensions	148 x 75 x 10.9mm (5.83 x 2.95 x 0.43")	144.6 x 69.7 x 9.6mm (5.69 x 2.74 x 0.38")
Weight	169 grams (5.96 ounces)	157 grams (5.54 ounces)
Rugedness	Not Rugged	Not Rugged
Colors	Black, White	Gold, Grey

Display	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Display Type	IPS LCD, Touchscreen Screen, Multitouch	LCD, Touchscreen Screen, Multitouch
Resolution	1920x1080  (2,073,600 pixels)	1920x1080  (2,073,600 pixels)
Density (PPI)	401 PPI	441 PPI
Color Bits (# colors)	16,777,216 Colors 24 Bits	16,777,216 Colors 24 Bits
Display Diagonal	5.5" (13.97 cm)	5" (12.70 cm)
Screen To Body Ratio	74.4%	68.4%
Glass Type	Gorilla Glass 3	Gorilla Glass 4

Main camera	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Megapixels	21 Megapixel	20.7 Megapixel
Video Resolutions	1080p/30fps	1080p/60fps, 2160p/30fps, 720p/120fps
Max Photo Size	5248x3936	5376x3752
Other Camera Hardware Features	HDR	HDR, HDR Video
Camera Software Features	Face Detection, Geo Tagging	Simul-Shot, Face Detection, Smile Detection, Geo Tagging

Secondary camera	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Megapixels	5 Megapixel	4 Megapixel
Video Call	Yes	Yes
Video Resolutions		1080p/30fps

Memory & Storage	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Memory Card Type	MicroSD (128 GB max)	MicroSD (128 GB max)
Built-In Storage	32 GB	32 GB
Max. Total Storage Capacity	160 GB	160 GB
RAM	2 GB	3 GB

Battery	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Talk Time		21.5 hours
Battery Capacity (mAh)	3630 mAh	2840 mAh
Battery Fast Charge	Yes	Yes
Qualcomm Quick Charge Support		Yes
Battery Charge Speed, in mAh/mn		20
Removable Battery	No	No
Wireless Charging	No	No
Wireless Charging Integrated	No	No
Battery Type		Li-Poly
Battery Standby Time		391 hours (16 days)

Processor & OS	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Processor Brand	Qualcomm	Qualcomm
Processor/Soc Name	Snapdragon 615, 8-core, quad-core 1.7 & quad-core 1 GHz	Snapdragon 810, 8-core, quad-core 1.5 & quad-core 2 GHz
# CPU Cores	8	8
Processor Model	MSM8939	MSM8994
Operating System (OS)	Android 5.1.1	Android 5.0

Cellular Network	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
SIM Type	Nano SIM	Nano SIM
SIM Number	1	1
GPRS	Yes	Yes
EDGE	Yes	Yes
LTE Category		cat6 301.5 Mbps

Audio	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Audio Alerts	mp3, vibration, wav	mp3, vibration, wav
Loudspeaker	Yes	Yes
3.5mm audio connector	Yes	Yes
Speaker channels		Stereo
Noise Cancellation	Yes	Yes
FM Radio	Yes	Yes

Sensors	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Sensors	GPS, A-GPS	Accelerometer, Compass, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Gyroscope, Proximity Sensor

WiFi	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
WiFi Support	Yes	Yes
WiFi Speeds	a,b,g,n	a,b,g,n,ac
WiFi Features	WiFi Hotspot, Dual-Band WiFi	WiFi Hotspot, Dual-Band WiFi, WiFi Direct
Bluetooth Support	Version 4.0	Version 4.1
Bluetooth Features	Bluetooth A2DP, Bluetooth LE	Bluetooth A2DP
NFC	Yes	Yes

USB Support	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
USB Support	Yes	Yes
USB Port Type	Micro USB	Micro USB
Proprietary Data Connector	No	No
USB Host		Yes

Multimedia	Moto X Play	HTC One M9
Multimedia Features		MHL, DLNA, Infra-Red (IR)
Video Playback Formats	h.264, mp4, wmv	divx, h.264, mp4, wmv, xvid
Video CODECS		H.264
Audio Formats	MP3, WAV, WMA	FLAC, MP3, WAV, WMA
Audio CODECS	AAC+	FLAC, MP3, WMA, eAAC+