Dec 31, 2011
Hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder 1440x900
Dec 25, 2011
Intel's Medfield: Android concept Mobile & Tab is awesome
Dec 20, 2011
Apple MacBook Air 13 with Thunderbolt
Like before, the omission of these ports leaves the Air free to pinch down to a delicious taper beneath the keyboard, thin enough to make for a decent cleaver when no proper blade can be found -- or when you just can't be bothered to find one. Even on the fat end it measures a mere .68-inches (17mm) thick. Or thin, rather. (engadget.com)
Apple's Thunderbolt 27inc Display
Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch) [Apple]
Apple iPad 3: Production Started
Dec 17, 2011
Microsoft buy Nokia - 3 reasons wont & 3 reasons it might
1- Microsoft gains nothing in the deal
The simplest reason Microsoft won't buy Nokia is this: Microsoft gets nothing out of the deal. Microsoft already has what it wants out of Nokia -- that the world's largest phone manufacturer settle on Windows Phone 7 as its smartphone operating system. Why spend billions for something you've already got?
Nokia makes a lot more than just smartphones, notably inexpensive, low-end phones. That's a business Microsoft has absolutely no interest in, and would gain nothing from owning. Why buy something that would just be a drag on your business and offer no strategic value?
3- Combining corporate cultures could be nightmarish
Whenever one company buys another, there's inevitable conflict as the two firms try to merge corporate cultures and business practices. Microsoft is at a crossroads right now, facing multiple challenges, most notably in mobile, Internet search, and the cloud. The last thing it needs is that type of distraction.
HTC lost to Apple in Patent case
Can Nokia survive with Lumia Series?
BlackBerry App World 3.1 released with gifting option
Research In Motion (RIM) reeled out BlackBerry App World v3.1. The upgraded application market brings along a variety of new features like the ‘Request Gift’ functionality and comes incorporated with an industry standard content rating system.
For those feeling generous this festive season, the new ‘Request Gift’ feature should be apt as it lets them send a gift request to any one of their BBM contacts so that the particular friend has a better knowledge of what to buy. For added convenience in purchasing gifts, this refreshed version of the App World provides users with multiple payment methods. Purchases can be made via the PayPal account, credit card or directly through the wireless bill.
Tech News of 2011
The Blackest mark
BlackBerry went down and with it went the hopes and dreams of the company. People across the world lost access to mails, BlackBerry Messenger and confidence in the company. The effect was brutal and the handling of the situation was terrible. This was just one in a long string of problems for the company. From lower phone sales, disappointing OS upgrades and the failure of the PlayBook Tablet, the dark black clouds became thicker over RIM.
Effect: BBX (the new OS) is coming but it may not be enough. Many predict that BlackBerry will eventually have to move to Android with BlackBerry push mail and Messenger intact.
Light my Fire
In a one horse race, it’s easy to lose sight of the winning line. But the iPad has been Tunnel Vision in its focus. So focused that it dominated the entire market. iPad-killer after iPad-killer came and went. Till the Amazon Kindle Fire. It’s priced beautifully; it has content and an ecosystem in place and it has Amazon’s magic touch behind it. It also had a large market share within days.
Effect: Amazon, Samsung, Asus and Apple: it’s a four-pronged race now with each throwing in a giant compelling reason to buy their product. 2012 may bring Apple down to about 50 per cent, which in itself is also amazing.
It’s big, it’s there, it’s not, yes it is... no it’s gone!
The best OS, the biggest hardware manufacturer, the buzz as big as Apple and a product that looked like a million bucks. The HP TouchPad came, made news and was killed – all in the blink of an eye. Some truly disastrous seat-of-the-pants decisions (a fire sale of the product and conflicting announcements) of the top HP brass led to the CEO getting the boot along with the TouchPad as well.
Effect: It could have been a five horse race but it’s not. HP could have taken Web OS to the top, but it won’t! HP, HP, HP – what have you done?
The World’s biggest and struggling
The world’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer gets into bed with the world’s biggest software manufacturer.
At stake: literally the future of both companies. Nokia and Microsoft join hands to come out with the Lumia series. The devices are good, the marketing is top notch and the money being spent is astronomical. Now the future of both lies in your hands.
Effect: If the predictions are true, ‘Micro-kia’ will be number 3 in 2012. If this doesn’t work out, well, it’s Game Over for both.
Tabletting the impossible
A Tablet that will cost a student just Rs1,000. The $35 Akash Tablet is the most controversial Tablet in the world. A wonder of out-sourcing, ingenuity, hard-nosed pricing and hype, the first Akash works but is underwhelming. It’s a great idea let down by some poor choices on hardware.
Effect: We are the only nation in the world to dream it and do it. By the time the much-improved Akash 2 hits the market (March 2012?), we may be the only country supplying Tablets to every nation in the world.
The Big G
Google dominated world headlines for all things good and bad. Google+ was the only competition to Facebook but seems to be losing momentum. Google bought out Motorola and made all other Android partners nervous. The first big OS threat to Windows was the Chrome OS. But it has petered out to a has-been already.
Effect: Google+ still has a big chance as it is doing most things right. The problem is that there is no real reason to leave Facebook. Motorola-Google will be the most aggressive mobile phone player of 2012.
The Chrome OS: can you say dodo?
Nexus S & HTC gets 4.0 Ice Cream update
Coming as a festive present for owners of the Samsung Google Nexus S is the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update. Engadget states that this upgrade is only going to be valid for those Nexus S devices running on networks that are GSM and UMTS compatible.
Those who can’t wait for Android 4.0 on a CDMA smartphone can now buy one as Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus with LTE support launched this week. The handset costs $299 with a two-year contract or $649 without. Various reviews have mostly mirrored my own experience with the unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus I’ve been using for a few weeks, although there are some slight differences.
“We’re rolling out Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, to GSM/UMTS Nexus S devices over the coming month, starting today. Enjoy the tasty update! Once you get the update, check out some tips and shortcuts for getting started at the Android 4.0 Help Center,” cited the official Google+ Android page.
The HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE are the smartphones that will be receiving the Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade. Also to be updated are the HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze 4G in the U.S. Released just last month, the latest version of the Google mobile OS brings along a host of unique functionalities such as Face Unlock, the NFC powered Android Beam and the People app.
Dec 15, 2011
is that paying through NFC is safe?
NFC wireless technology is considered a "complement to Bluetooth," reported Threatpost, and it has been "built into mobile phones and a wide range of wireless smart tags, akin to RFID tags, that can store a wide range of information and interact wirelessly with NFC-enabled phones. Applications for NFC technology include mobile payments, in which phone users could transmit credit card or banking information wirelessly from their phone to a check out device, as well as ticketing. So-called 'smart posters' have already been deployed in some cities and contain smart tags with direction and even information that can be wirelessly transmitted when NFC phones are brought in proximity to the phone."
How to protect yourself:
With the rising concern over mobile security, we asked Lookout CTO and co-founder Kevin Mahaffey what consumers can do to protect themselves.
“Consumers can protect themselves by being cautious when clicking links within emails, SMS or social networking sites that ask for personal information,” he says. “We also recommend that user’s download a security app and always take time to read the reviews before downloading any new applications. Make sure they read the permissions to make sure they make sense!”
These are things to look out for, and through their report Lookout highlights the different things that the consumer can do to keep their information safe. Each of theses has a varying level of danger because they can be packaged with legitimate apps or channels that people trust, so it does create an issue because the average consumer wont know which is safe and which is not.
Jan 16, 2011
Firefox 4 : gonna kick ass
Developers should not disable Flash, Silverlight, or other major plug-ins because Mozilla needs as many people as possible testing on these programs, Sicore said. Windows users also need to report instances of hardware acceleration causing crashes or other issues. "Don't just assume that someone else has filed a bug already," he said.
"Firefox 4 is gonna kick ass, and you should be fiercely proud of it," Sicore concluded.
Mozilla released Beta 8 of Firefox 4 in late December. It sported a trimmed-down user interface (as has been the trend started with Google Chrome and followed by Opera and IE9 beta), and made some significant internal changes, with a new add-in system, a faster JavaScript engine, and lots more HTML5 compatibility.
Mozilla is almost ready to ship Firefox 4 and is working toward a late February release, Damon Sicore, Mozilla's senior director of platform engineering, said in a Tuesday note.
"We've worked tremendously hard on Firefox 4, and it's time to ship it," Sicore wrote to the developer mailing list. "We have to reach Release Candidate status as quickly as possible, ideally finishing the hard blockers by the beginning of February and shipping final before the end of February."
At this point, Mozilla has about 160 hard blockers - or bugs - to address. "Historically it has taken us six weeks to reach RC once we have 100 blockers left," Sicore wrote. "We must press hard now."
Those bug counts "demand another beta," he continued. "We'll drive the beta bugs to zero and ship another beta. If we can't get them to zero in reasonable time, we'll repeat, deliberately."
Addressing these bugs is priority number one, he said, "since it pushes the rest of our schedule." (story: PCMag)