Tech
New BPG Image Format Provides Better Compression Results Over JPEG
Better Portable Graphics (BPG), which is based on video encoding standard HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) or H.265, provides a modern lossy image format that is better than JPEG. It has a better visual quality at the same file size as JPEG, and has comparable results to JPEG at half the file size.
Following a study by Mozilla determining the results of various lossy compression algorithms, BPG was developed when it was found that HEVC was shown to be far superior to other algorithms.
For lossless compression, the PNG format has replaced the GIF format for most uses. For lossy compression, will BPG replace the JPEG as well?
Check out this LINK here for image comparisons.
Texting Turns 22
Texting has now been around for 22 years; I’m just a few years older than the technology. Who would have thought that texting would be such an important part of our lives today?
What Do You Think Goes On In The Minds Of The 4.3 Billion “Offline” People?
There’s an article published on TechCrunch that provides us insights on what goes on in the minds of the 4.3 billion “offline” people through different usability tests they performed with the unconnected/newly connected. It is understandable that they would have difficulty and have quite a learning curve in adapting to new technology. It is also interesting that for a lot of the people in the modern world, most, if not all of the things that they are asked to do, would just come naturally for us.
Here’s the link to that article: Peering Into The Minds Of The 4.3 Billion Unconnected
Image Credit: TechCrunch
Mobile deposit makes depositing cheques easier without going to the bank
I love it that the banks that I am using now have mobile deposits available for their customers. To be able to make mobile deposits, what you need to do is, first, download and install the mobile app of the bank on your smartphone. Once you have the app installed, login with your account, take a picture of the front and back of the cheque that you received and upload these onto the app. It is a pretty straightforward process; just make sure you follow the instructions indicated in your bank’s app. Also, remember to keep the physical cheque in your possession (don’t shred it yet!) until you have confirmed that the bank has cleared the cheque to your account.
As of this writing, the Canadian banks that have this feature are the following:
- CIBC
- PC Financial
- Royal Bank of Canada
- Tangerine
- TD Canada Trust
So, what do you think of this feature?
Prynt Case: the next gen of Polaroid for smartphones prints instant photos from your smartphone
There is a French company that has developed a new smartphone case that will print out a small, hard copy of photos you take with your smartphone. The printer is connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth and prints out the photos in 50 seconds.
The case will be first available via Kickstarter for $99 by early next year (2015).
I think this is pretty awesome. Check out the video about Prynt below.
Tech-Life in Pink 