Fun filled recipe competition with healthy twist @Omnie

What could be better than this for any of us .e.g. a fun filled, exciting, fresh & healthy recipe competition in the office which is an endeavour towards adopting a fit lifestyle! Yes to add a fun and excitement to the fitness drive (inspiring initiative of mini marathon by Omnie Solutions) HR team kicked off the event by the commencement of  “You are what you eat – healthy recipe competition” on Saturday 10th October 2015.  By challenging all team members to come up with  healthy and nutritious recipes. The excitement geared among all more, when we came to know that Recipes which are submitted by the participants will be consolidated in a “You are what you eat recipe cook book” and the same will be shared with the Omnie people. It was really an exciting contest for all of us.

It was not only the competition but a vigorous event encouraging all of us to enhance our culinary skillset with a healthy drive. And also to relate it with the marathon  and health awareness month i.e. October. Undoubtedly number of members actively participated  & followed the guidelines.

Here goes the  set of guidelines for ‘You are what you Eat- Healthy Recipe Competition’ that were

followed during the competition:

1.  Use of fruits and/or vegetables in the recipes would be highly recommended. 

2. Recipes must include a complete list of ingredients with accurate measurements.

3. Recipes need to have  complete step-by-step directions for preparation and   cooking times  and temperature, etc.

4. Recipes (inclusive of grain products) must use whole grain products (rice, pasta, bread, etc.).

5. Recipes (made with  dairy, sauces) must use reduced fat products.

6. Recipes (prepared with  soups, spices and sauces  must use reduced sodium options. Salt products may be used in acceptable quantities.

The  photos of  entire cooking and preparation process  surely added an extra advantage in winning the competition. The participants were invited to include photos e.g. shopping for ingredients at local farmer’s market,  the preparation and cooking process of  the finished product.

So keeping all the above instructions in mind, participants appeared with wonderful, exciting and healthy recipes. 

I remember once the competition was announced, there was so much enthusiasm among the team members that even during the lunch and tea breaks everyone was discussing about the healthy recipes.  In fact, many participants  researched online about the organic foods and low fat food recipes. With the result  it increased awareness and many people learned about the advantages and benefits of it. Even many decided to adopt a healthy lifestyle and use them in their regular lives  to stay fit & fine. This initiative by HR department is really commendable and quite appreciating    similarly, every other organization can promote this healthy initiative  to make their team members aware about it and encourage them to stay fit and fine.

Finally the competition day  arrived which was on 10th October and all the participants submitted their healthy vegetarian recipes with required details and  appealing images to the HR department. Soon after the competition was over every one discussed their recipes with each other. There was so much curiosity among each of us that who is going to win the recipe contest. Lastly, 3 days after the competition the most awaited results were announced. And the lovely thing was that  not 1 but 2 winners were announced Mrs. Arti Tandon and Mr. Sushil Kumar.

Mrs. Arti shared a wholesome and healthy recipe  ‘Sprouted Moong- Vegetable Cutlets’ and the best part of the other winner Mr. Sushil who sported best of his creativity by not only sharing the  recipe “Healthy Chickpea, Veggie Salad with Extra Virgin Oil’ image but also shared amazing and appealing pictures of the entire process of preparation and cooking.

Here things do not end up. I shall soon be sharing the winner’s recipe with the amazing pictures and all the other recipes with you for your yummy & healthy breakfast, lunch & dinner.

I will also share ‘You are what you Eat-Recipe Cook Book’ once it will be ready and shared with the Omnie people. Till then eat healthy stay healthy and make a habit to add organic vegetables in your daily diet.

So, here we bring for you Omnie Solution's ‘You are what you Eat-Recipe Cook Book’ filled with nutritious and healthy recipes.

Augmented Reality – Latest Trends & Innovations

Image source: www.starlive.nl

Augmented reality, a technology with an ability that lets users presume non-existing things as real or an illusion that allow users to see a computer generated image in the view of real world with the help of supplemented sound, video, and graphics etc. The first augmented head mounted display was discovered by scientist Ivan Sutherlands in 1968. 

Till then, the technology has gone through many modifications and now it has become a part of our daily lives. Whether it is gaming, retail, healthcare, education, head-mounted devices, handheld devices, online shopping, computer software or anything else, there is hardly any field left which is not experimenting with augmented reality. A kind of race is happening among big technology companies to develop something more interesting, advanced and useful than the opponent company with the technology.

Recently, many new innovations have occurred in the field of augmented reality. Not only the big giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Google are experimenting with the technology, but there are many other companies as well that want to try their hands on it.

Image source:slidesharecdn.com 

As it is visible in the image given above that revenues associated with augmented reality have increased in a dramatic manner within the last few years. The trend is likely to continue for the upcoming years as well. Let’s now talk about some of the interesting and most recent inventions done by tech giants.

Latest Trends in Augmented Reality

Google: According to the latest news from Engadget.com Google has recently published a patent application that was filed by the company more than a year ago, i.e. in March 2014. The company intends to make a wearable device that will be easier to wear, efficient and will produce more real and involving experience than ever before.

The company’s interest in this technology can also be perceived by looking at its investment of $542 million in Magic Leap (a private company dedicated to bring innovations in virtual and augmented reality), as mentioned in news given by techcrunch.com. 

Apple: As per the latest update Apple has  bigger plans to register a strong presence in this field. If speculations are to be believed Apple is working on its augmented reality headset, as mentioned in techtimes.com. The company intends to make its own augmented reality system, for which the hiring of augmented & virtual reality experts has started already (including ex-project manager of Microsoft’s Hololens).

Earlier this year the company also acquired an augmented reality start-up company named Metaio that is based in Germany. It seems like Apple is soon going to make an important announcement of release of any device or application based on augmented reality.

Microsoft: Microsoft is passionately working on its augmented reality project that is HoloLens. It is an augmented reality headset that will enable high-definition holograms to come to life. Real world integrated with augmented reality is also called the mixed reality. The headset is likely to roll out in the market next year, i.e. in 2016.

Microsoft’s Mobile Fusion app is also a well-known project to bring augmented reality experience into the users’ personal devices by letting them click a 3d image of any object.

Disney: Disney research team has proved that augmented reality is not only something that is related to adults. But, children can also enjoy the best of this technology in their coloring notebooks. The new technology will project coloring book characters in 3D and let children enjoy real characters while doing work.

Look out for this amazing technology in the given video:

Nintendo: A well-known name in the world of gaming is working in collaboration with Pokémon Company to bring augmented reality gaming experience to the personal devices or smartphones of users. ‘Pokémon Go’ will be the name of the game that allows people to hunt for Pokémon in real life. The game is likely to spin out in the market sometime in the next year, i.e. in 2016. 

Explore the real gaming experience here:

How it is going to benefit Users?

With the invention of different augmented reality devices, users will be able to enjoy a new dimension of technology. A technology that makes everything look real that will definitely enhance the gaming experience. It can help students to better understand things by experiencing them virtually. It can prove to be a boon for healthcare to simplify operations. It can produce a real time shopping experience and much more. Overall, the possibilities are endless and users will get a lot of benefit with the technology.

Scope of Augmented Reality

If we take a look at the present scenario and talk about the future scope of augmented reality, it would not be wrong to say that the future is holding immense possibilities for the technology. It may started with a slow speed, but the development of the technology has now speed up. As given in the above mentioned information that some of the prominent tech companies are working hard and spending a lot for making a wonderful product for attracting more and more users.

We will surely see launch and declarations of different augmented reality based devices, tools or applications in coming years. The trend or craze of this technology seems to grow a lot in the near future.

The Big Microsoft Event – Laptops, Mobiles, Wearable, Gaming and Much More

The Big Microsoft Event – Everything from Mobiles to Wearable

By organizing a stupendous event on October 6, 2015, Microsoft has demonstrated its incalculable strength. It’s uniquely fresh and breakthrough technology is definitely going to give some stress to the rivals. After years of speculations and after being stuck around the same technology, i.e. Windows for a while, Microsoft is finally ready to rule. Before less than three months Microsoft launched a new version of Windows, i.e., Windows 10 and now it arrived once again to give some lovely surprises.

Believe us, in the event the enthusiasm of the Microsoft’s employees was worth seeing. It has announced some wonderful products for the tech lovers. We also can’t wait to discuss about them. So, let us give you an insight about  Microsoft’s big event.

  

Microsoft’s New Technology Innovations

Let’s start with a product that grabbed the attention of viewers the most. After touting Surface Pro as a replacement of laptop for years, Microsoft finally announced it’s first-ever laptop.

Image source: www.microsoft.com/

1. Surface Book, a 13 inch Laptop: May be it doesn’t sounds so appealing, a 13 inch laptop, but its features and functionalities will surely blow your mind away.
• To start with, this laptop is the ‘world’s fastest’, yes, it is the fastest laptop ever created.
• Its body is made up of a single magnesium piece and it weighs little more than three pounds.
• The laptop comes with a dynamic fulcrum hinge that can flawlessly transform the device from laptop to tablet to a designer canvas, as shown in the image given above.
• Only a touch of surface pen opens a blank  note page for taking quick notes.
• New palm block technology allows a user to rest his hand on screen while doing important work with surface pen.
• It comes with a backlit keyboard; two USB ports and a full-size SD card port are also included for connectivity.
• The device is packed with a powerful Intel 6th generation Core i5 or i7 processor with up to 16 GB of RAM.
• Surface Book is designed by keeping all the office needs in mind, it works flawlessly with all the office applications.
• Long 12 hours battery life also adds up in making Surface Book a delight.

As per the recent updates, the device will be available from October 26, 2015 with a price range starting from $1,499. Take a look at Microsoft’s Surface Book here:

2. Project X Ray, innovation in the field of augmented reality: Another thing that kept the audiences hooked was the HoloLens demonstration.

One of the Microsoft’s employee wore a head-wearable device and fought to protect himself from the arachnid alien bots. No wires, no connection with the computer, no extra device is needed for the functioning of this amazing technology. And, these deadly killing robots are smart enough to identify furniture and walls in the room, for planning the attacking strategy.

This HoloLens kit will be available in the first quarter of the next year with a whooping price tag of $3000. Click here to see the real demonstration.

Look out for the HoloLens video here:

3. Smartphones, Here comes the turn of smartphones, not one or two, but Microsoft has unveiled three smartphones with spell bounding features. The company focused on the technology, screen size, as well as on the price range of devices. Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL and Lumia 550 are names of the new smartphones that will soon be available.

Though, the Windows smartphones are not doing as good as Android and iOS, but Microsoft is not leaving any stone unturned to make them a success. It would be a matter to see how good these smartphones will perform in the future, but now let’s do a brief discussion on their features.

See the launching of smartphones at the event:  

• Microsoft Lumia 950  

It is a 5.2 inches Quad HD display smartphone that works on latest Windows 10 operating system. The device is powered by latest generation hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, equipped with a 20 Megapixel camera sensor and promises to stay alive for long with a high capacity & fast charging 3000mAh battery. The infrared sensor will unlock a user’s phone by looking at his face with ‘Windows Hello’. The company has also introduced a new liquid cooling system to keep the device cool. As per the updates, the smartphone will be available in the month of November, 2015 with a cost of $549.

• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL

After 950 here comes the 950 XL, as the name itself suggests, this smartphone is a bigger sibling of the previous one. This smartphone is equipped with a bigger display, i.e. of 5.7 inches Quad HD display, works on Windows 10 operating system and powered by octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor. Rest of the features such as camera sensor, support for Windows Hello are same as those of Lumia 950.

As per the updates, this phone will also be available in November, 2015 with a price of $649

• Microsoft Lumia 550

This phone is designed for those who can’t afford to buy such expensive smartphones. This device is reasonably priced and comes with standard features. Its 4.7 inches HD display is powered by quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 1 GB RAM. It features a 5 Megapixel camera, 2100mAh battery and also equipped with latest version of office apps. As per the latest news, the device will be available in European market from December, 2015 onwards and it will come with a price tag of $139.

4. Surface Pro 4

Take a real experience of Surface Pro 4 here:

Surface Pro 4 was a much awaited device especially after the announcement of Apple’s latest iPad Pro and the wait is finally over. The device is brilliant, which is purely a tablet, but also having the potential to replace a laptop. If we take a look at both, Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4, major alterations that user will experience initially are related to screen size, screen quality, improved use of Surface Pen, and less weight.   In Surface Pro 4, bigger screen is packed into the same size device as Surface Pro 3, having a higher pixel density with an upgrade from 2160x1440ppi to 2736x1824ppi. Weight has reduced dramatically from 794g to 764g. Other than that the device is equipped with Pixel Sense technology, Windows Hello etc. As per the information provided by company, price range of the device will start from $899. And it will be available from October 26, 2015.

5. Microsoft Band, Microsoft band is a new fitness tracker that can do anything from tracking user’s heart rate, exercise, calorie burn, sleep quality etc. to sending notifications of emails, text and calendar alerts on the wrist. It is also having an advantage of keeping Cortana (Microsoft’s digital assistant) always along for doing all the important tasks with a command such as sending emails, texts, setting reminders etc. As per the latest news, the device will be available from October 30, 2015 with a price of $249. See how helpful it is in the real world:

This was a short introduction about Microsoft’s new products.  We have to wait a bit for buying them, but the good thing is you can also order for them in advance by visiting Microsoft’s official website. Users will enjoy a lot of benefits from these technological innovations, their important tasks will now complete in an easier and faster manner. Microsoft delivered some decent products in the event and they will surely improve company’s reputation in the market.