Panasonic's 'connected camera' pairs an Android smartphone with a one-inch sensor and f/2.8 lens

Compact, point-and-shoot cameras are dying, simply because people would rather use smartphones and tablets to snap their dinner and instantly share them to Instagram. Unfortunately, that's a segment of the market that Panasonic abandoned (at least in Europe) back in 2013. That left the company without a convincing rival to the Lumia 1020 and Samsung's various phone / camera hybrids. That's why the company has now launched the DMC-CM1, a "connected camera" (i.e. a smartphone with a proper lens) that's capable of taking 20-megapixel stills and record 4K video thanks to a one-inch MOS sensor.

Comparison: Xiaomi RedMi 1S Vs Android One IndiaToday.in New Delhi, September 16, 2014 | UPDATED 12:51 IST The Indian budget smartphone market is heating up day by day with ultra affordable, feature rich smartphones flooding a highly lucrative market. Among devices that have created the most splash are Xiaomi's Mi3 and RedMi 1S, which have been overwhelmingly scarce, and proportionally high in demand. Yesterday, Google announced the first set of Android One devices and the Micromax Canvas A1 was quick to sell out on Amazon India. We're rounding up the two most talked about device ranges and comparing what's on offer. RedMi 1S vs Android One...here we go! Computing power The new Android One devices for now sport a 1.3Ghz quad core Mediatek processor with 1GB RAM while the RedMi 1S comes with a slightly bumped 1.6GHz quad core Qualcomm processor also coupled with 1GB RAM. Both devices are dual-SIM equipped. Operating system Xiaomi provides users with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with its own MIUI layer on top. Google on the other hand has pushed the latest 4.4 KitKat flavor running on stock to provide a no-frills, high performance experience. Display Micromax, Spice and Karbonn have offered 4.5 inch IPS screens in their devices with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels with no additional screen protection while Xiaomi's offering comes with 4.7 inch 1280 x720P, scratch resistant Dragontail panel. Camera Android One devices sport a 5MP primary camera, with full HD video recording which is offset by the 8MP Exmor R CMOS shooter on the RedMi 1S. While the RedMi has the edge down back, Android One phones trump the RedMi's 1.6MP front camera with their 2MP shooter. Storage Xiaomi has provided 8GB of inbuilt storage in the RedMi 1S which can be taken to 64GB via microSD. In comparison the Android One devices come with 4GB internal storage and 32GB microSD support. Battery and Pricing The Android One devices we saw yesterday come equipped with a 1700mAh battery and can be purchased in the Rs. 6k-7k range. RedMi 1S packs a 2000mAh battery and can be had (if one manages to) for Rs. 5,999.

Google Offers Early Stage Startups $100,000 In Cloud Platform Credits For 1 Year

If you are an early stage startup, Google wants to give you $100,000 in Cloud Platform credits for one year so you can host your applications on its servers (and not on AWS or Azure). This offer is part of Google’s Cloud Platform for Startups initiative, a new program the company’s senior vice president for its technical infrastructure Urs Hölzle announced at the Google for Entrepreneurs Global Partner Summit today.

To be eligible for this program, startups must be less than five years old and have less than $500,000 in annual revenue. They must also be part of one of 50 accelerator programs, incubators and VC funds around the world that Google has already partnered with (Google plans to add more partners over time and those organizations that aren’t part of this first batch can contact Google to join this program).

Among these partners are the likes of Y Combinator, 500 Startups, SV Angel, Techstars, Code for America, Chicago’s 1871, and (unsurprisingly) Google’s own Google Ventures. Google is also working with Gaza Sky Geeks, the first accelerator program in Gaza, and many other organizations around the world.

“This offer supports our core Google Cloud Platform philosophy: we want developers to focus on code; not worry about managing infrastructure,” writes Google’s Julie Pearl today. “Starting today, startups can take advantage of this offer and begin using the same infrastructure platform we use at Google.”

In addition to the Cloud Platform credits, startups will also be able to schedule office hours for 1:1 technical architecture reviews and they will get access to 24/7 phone support.

Just like its main competitors, Google has always offered a (limited) free tier for startups that wanted to get started on its platform. Since late 2013, AWS has also been offering its “Portfolio Package” to accelerators, incubators and funds through AWS Activate — a program that is quite similar to Google’s new initiative. Amazon offers startups in this program up to $15,000 in AWS credits. WithBizSpark, Microsoft has also long offered a comparable program for early stage startups, though its benefits also often include. Compared to Google, however, the $150 monthly Azure credits startups get through Google’s program looks a bit small.

In some way, though, Google’s $100,000 credit for one year is a bit of a marketing gimmick. Most startups won’t need anywhere close to this many resources to get going unless they either become extremely popular (Google loves to note that Snapchat uses its services) or plan to use Google’s servers for very heavy computations (I assume Google would ban a startup that would use these credits for Bitcoin mining…).

Google is clearly interested in taking some mind share from the likes of AWS, which for most startups is still the go-to cloud service. Chances are, this program will help it to get more of these companies on board and once they are on Google’s servers, they will likely stay there as they grow (and get to the point where they have to start paying their bills).