A1 Technology - Innovation in the Software Industry

New HTC Legend in Market Now !!!

2010-04-26T02:29:00.000-05:00

It has been seen that HTC has launched its new HTC Legend which is the new Android phone with HTC sense. It comes with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera and has a LED flash. It contains a GPS antenna, Wi-Fi and 3.5 G connectivity. It supports the Adobe Flash Player and has a 3.5 mm stereo audio jack connector and Bluetooth.

For music lovers Legend has a good audio quality. It has been seen that the neutral mids work fine whereas the quality of bass drop offs is low.

The resolution of the camera has a maximum of 2592×1936 pixels and gives a very nice picture quality. The user interface is not that impressive. The camera also comes with heaps of manual settings. The camera is not suitable for low light situation because it gives a poor contrast.

The talk time of the phone could go up to 6 hrs and 10 minutes and if the phone is kept on standby it can stay up for 560 hrs.

HTC Legend is available in India for the price of Rs. 25,990.

Source: Stockwatch.in

Facebook And StumbleUpon - The Most Traffic Generating Social Sites

2010-04-23T05:03:00.002-05:00

Twitter generates nearly 10 percent of social media global hits to websites, according to new research from StatCounter.

The report found that Facebook is still the main source of traffic to global websites with almost half (48%) of social media hits followed by StumbleUpon with 25 percent.

The data for March is based on 13 billion page views across the StatCounter network of member sites. The analytics firm just recently added social media to the categories its tracks.

"From a business perspective the findings suggest that there is merit in having a corporate Facebook page or Twitter account," said Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter.

"The surprise packet is StumbleUpon, which over the past year has been consistently in the top two Social Media sites in terms of generating global website traffic. Indeed, in the US in March StumbleUpon was number one ahead of Facebook in terms of website traffic generation."

The top social media sites to generate global website traffic after Facebook, StumbleUpon and Twitter are YouTube (6%), reddit (4%), Digg (2%) and MySpace (2%).

"Social Media market share fluctuates a lot more than browser or search statistics," said Cullen.

"For example, Facebook peaked over Christmas and the New Year with almost three quarters of the total, perhaps reflecting its important role in communications between families and friends."

Read More...

Apple Profile Increase 90 Percent

2010-04-21T07:06:00.001-05:00

Boosted by an increase in iPhone and Mac shipments, Apple reported a 90 percent increase in quarterly profits Tuesday.

The company reported net profit of US$3.07 billion for the quarter ended on March 27, which compares to profits of $1.62 billion from the same quarter a year ago. The company reported earnings per share of $3.33, which beat expectations of $2.45 from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue was $13.5 billion, a growth of 49 percent from the year-ago quarter. Revenue beat analysts' expectations of $12.03 billion.

Worldwide iPhone shipments totaled 8.75 million during the quarter, an increase of 131 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. Mac computer unit shipments worldwide totaled 2.94 million, an increase of 33 percent compared to the year-ago quarter. iPod shipments totaled 10.89 million, a 1 percent drop.

The company estimated its third-quarter revenue to be in the range of $13 billion to $13.4 billion, with earnings per share of about $2.28 to $2.39. The third quarter has started with a bang for Apple. The company on April 3 announced the iPad tablet computer, and sold close to 300,000 units on the first day.

"We've launched our revolutionary new iPad and users are loving it, and we have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement.

Anticipation for Apple's next-generation iPhone has also heated up after a prototype was said to be found in a California bar recently.

Read Here ...

Facebook Connectivity Approaching to iPhone

2010-04-20T06:45:00.002-05:00

Facebook's iPhone app is one of the well-known app in Apple's App Store. But if recent buzz are true, some of that app's functionality could be accessible to iPhone owners after the release of iPhone OS 4.0.

According to a report from Gunning for Safety, the safety blog has discovered evidence in the developer preview of iPhone OS 4.0 that Facebook friends and events could be integrated into the new software.

"It looks like Apple plans to implement Facebook’s Events into the iPhone’s Calendar app, as well as add Facebook’s friends network to the iPhones contacts database," the blog wrote.

Rumors are already swirling over how Apple plans to integrate Facebook's information into the iPhone. But if Gunning for Safety's accounts are accurate, the company could make it easy for Facebook users to add events from the social network to their iPhone calendars. Users might also be able to bolster their contact lists with friends.

That said, it's important to note that Gunning for Safety's findings don't necessarily mean that Facebook integration is coming to the iPhone; neither company has confirmed such features. In an e-mailed statement, Facebook said only that the upcoming version of its iPhone app will deliver new features; it wouldn't confirm or deny that Facebook will be integrated into the iPhone.

"We continue to work on bringing new features to Facebook for iPhone," a Facebook spokeswoman wrote. "We're really excited about the upcoming version of the Facebook for iPhone app and we think people will be happy with it, but we don't pre-announce products or when they will be released."

Apple did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Read More..

New "Drag-and-Drop File Attachment" Feature Made Gmail More Powerful

2010-04-19T02:22:00.002-05:00

Gmail is the fastest mean of mailing system nowadays. But attaching a file seems a very tedious task, as you have to click "attach a file" option and then browse the particular file, which is a little bit time consuming. So, here is the solution for you now. Now gmail has extended its functionality by providing drag-and-drop file attachment feature.

With this functionality now users can drag-and-drop photos, documents, spreadsheets and other files from their computer to Gmail. According to Google, the feature will help users who already have a folder open or have number of files to attach.

Google software engineer Adam de Boor wrote in a blog post, "Suppose I want to attach some files to an email, and I already have a folder open containing those files. I used to have to click 'Attach a file', find the photos, click them, etc. [Now] I can just drag and drop the files to attach them."

For now the feature is only available to Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox 3.6 users. However, Google plans to soon make it available to other browsers as well.

Twitter to Have Official Android App

2010-04-15T05:23:00.001-05:00

Twitter managed to make a lot of developers uneasy last week when they acquired Tweetie and made it their official Twitter app for iPhone. Then there was the launch of the RIM Twitter app for BlackBerry that sounded official until Twitter stepped in to correct that impression. Now it looks like Twitter will also have an official Android app.

The news follows an announcement made at the company’s Chirp conference in this regard. Though it is clear that the company will indeed be launching their own Android app, its uncertain whether Twitter will acquire an existing third party app or partner with a developer
or mobile phone manufacturer, as reported by TechCrunch. The company has done both in the past. We’re referring to the Tweetie acquisition and partnership with RIM here.

A lot of concern has been raised about Twitter attaching the ‘official’ label to their app since this means added competition to third party clients, while some view it as a way for Twitter to have better control over the brand.

Read More Here

Opera Mini is on Apple App Store Now!!

2010-04-13T05:29:00.002-05:00

Opera Software announced Monday that Apple approved an iPhone version of its Opera mini mobile browser. By Monday evening, the free browser was available for download from the App Store. Many may wonder why is this such a great thing,since it already has the Mobile Safari browser.

Here's the Fact:
The Opera Mini uses Opera's powerful servers to compress data by up to 90% before sending it to your iPhone, so page-loads are lightning fast. This is great for countries (like India) where 3G isn't yet available with a majority of cell-phone operators. Opera Mini iPhone app really excels is speed. It can render pages in their full, desktop glory in seconds, and because it uses servers to compress data before pinging it over to you, anyone with a slow connection should really notice the load time difference compared to Safari for iPhone.

Some great features of Opera Mini:

Speed Dial gets you to your favorite Web sites with a single tap.

An address field with auto-completion means you type less.

Tabs allow for multitasking with several Web pages.

Bookmarks can be easily managed and accessed.

iPad 101: FAQs

2010-04-05T04:36:00.000-05:00

With iPad in the market now, if you are still not sure what all the hubbub's about, get some questions you need answered before you click the "buy" button? Help is here.

What's so special about the iPad — or tablets in general, for that matter?
The iPad will be Apple's first tablet device since the early 1990s, when the original (and now-extinct) Newton landed with a thud. Back then, though, laptops still weighed 10 pounds, PDAs didn't really exist yet (the Newton was arguably the first), and the only people with cell phones were the likes of Gordon Gekko. Now, of course, touchscreen smartphones and ultralight laptops are everywhere, but tablet PCs — which are, as Steve Jobs himself admitted during the big iPad unveiling, stuck somewhere between a smartphone and a laptop — have yet to truly take off. Will the iPad be the device that finally turns the tablet PC into a mainstream gadget? Looks like we're about to find out.

How big is the iPad?
Boasting a 9.7-inch display, the iPad itself measures 9.6 long, 7.5 inches wide — a little bigger than a magazine — and about half an inch thick. It's not super-heavy at 1.5 pounds, but those who've hefted the iPad report that it feels a tad heavier than they expected, considering its size.

How does one use the iPad, exactly?
A lot like you would the iPhone. The main "home" screen displays your various iPad apps, with a row of four core apps (Web browsing, e-mail, photos, and iPod) along the bottom. Tap to launch an app, swipe through photos and e-mail, "pinch" to zoom in or out of a Web page — you know the drill. Nice, but those hoping for some kind of groundbreaking tablet UI on the iPad will be disappointed.

When will the iPad arrive, and how much will it cost?
The initial, Wi-Fi-only wave of iPads will go on sale Saturday, April 3, and they're available now for pre-order. The 16GB iPad sells for $499 (much cheaper than many had been expecting), while a 32GB model will retail for $599 and a 64GB version will go for $699. Later in April, Apple will start selling iPads with embedded 3G wireless capabilities for surfing on the go; the 3G iPads will also come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB flavors, although each will be $130 more than their Wi-Fi-only counterparts.

What about those 3G iPads — will I need to sign a contract? Which carriers are supported?
The good news: No need to sign another two-year agreement for a 3G iPad data plan. Instead, you can get a month-to-month prepaid plan: $14 a month for 250MB of data (which should be fine for checking e-mail and light Web surfing, but not so great for streaming large quantities of video), or $29 a month for unlimited data. The bad news: AT&T is the only U.S. carrier offering an iPad data plan, for now anyway.

Will I be able to (wirelessly or otherwise) "tether" my 3G iPhone to a Wi-Fi-only iPad for shared, on-the-go data?
The answer, straight from Steve Jobs: No.

What about battery life?
Expect 10 hours of active use on a single charge, or a month of stand-by time, according to Apple. As with the iPhone, though, the iPad's battery is sealed in the shell, meaning you won't be able to swap in a spare battery if you're running out of juice. Apple says it can replace a dead for you, but the service will set you back a cool $99.

I can't wait to hear about the camera. How many megapixels? Will it have a flash?
Uhhh, sorry, folks: No camera on the iPad. Yes, I know. You're not the only one who's disappointed, believe me. (Can you imagine what video conferencing on, say, Skype for the iPad would have been like?)

What are the physical buttons and ports on the iPad? Is there a slot for a memory card?
Besides the Home button that sits below the display (which, as on the iPhone, takes you back to the home screen), the iPad has a "sleep/wake" button on the top, a screen rotation lock and a volume up/down rocker along the right edge, and a standard Apple dock connector on the bottom edge. So, where's the memory card slot, you ask? There isn't one. Instead, you'll have to get Apple's $29 iPad Camera Connection Kit, which includes an SD card adapter.

Will I be able to check my e-mail, surf the Web, manage events and contacts, and play music and video, just like I can on the iPhone?
Yes indeed, except the iPad versions of the calendar, contacts, Safari, and the iPad media player all promise to look and feel more like their desktop counterparts than like the pared-down versions on the iPhone and iPod Touch. For example, the calendar on the iPad looks strikingly similar to iCal for Mac, and the iPad's iPod player is a kissing cousin to the desktop version of iTunes. Surfing the Web and watching videos should especially benefit from the iPad's jumbo 9.7-inch display; personally, I can't wait to watch movies on the iPad while cooling my heels at 30,000 feet.

Nice! So I take it that Safari on the iPad will support Flash, right?
Ah, no. Steve Jobs has made it perfectly clear that he's not that keen on Flash (he called it slow and "buggy" during a recent town hall at Apple HQ); instead, Safari for iPad (and the iPhone, for that matter) supports HTML5, a new Web standard that can handle streaming video. Still, expect to see lots of little blue "there-should-be-Flash-here" icons scattered around the Web during your iPad surfing.

How do you type on the iPad? Is there an actual keypad, or do you type on the screen?
Like the iPhone, the iPad comes with a virtual, on-screen QWERTY keypad — except on the iPad, the virtual keypad is almost the same size as a standard keyboard, which means you won't have to peck on the iPhone's tiny little on-screen keys. If you're more comfortable with an actual keyboard, though, Apple will be selling an iPad keyboard dock for $69 in "late" April.

OK, what about apps? Will iPhone apps on the App Store work on the iPad?
Yes, in one of two ways: either a "windowed" mode, in which the app in question runs at its normal iPhone size surrounded by a big black window, or in full-screen mode thanks to the magic of pixel doubling. Not the most elegant solution, to be sure, but workable.

What about multitasking? Will the iPad be able to run multiple apps at once?
Not any more than the iPhone can, unfortunately. Apple's core iPad apps (think e-mail, the iPod app, etc.) will run in the background, but not third-party apps, although they will support push notifications for incoming events (like instant messages or breaking news).

Will there be apps written specifically for the iPad's larger screen?
You bet, and several companies have already announced their initial iPad offerings, ranging from Gameloft (which has already showed off a revamped version of its first-person sci-fi shooter, "N.O.V.A.") to Amazon (which is teeing up a full-screen Kindle reader for the iPad). Meanwhile, Apple has promised iPad versions of its iWork productivity suite (including Pages for word processing, Keynote for presentations, and Numbers for spreadsheets). Not only will iPad-specific apps benefit from greater resolution, they'll also have more screen real estate to deal with, meaning better and more precise touch interfaces and controls. Indeed, much of the excitement surrounding the iPad centers more on its potential for future iPad-specific apps and games than on the iPad hardware itself.

Speaking of the Kindle, isn't the iPad supposed to be some kind of Kindle killer?
Well, that's what Apple's hoping, away. One of the first iPad apps out of the gates will be iBooks, which will offer access to a new Apple e-book store complete with thousands of titles from Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette. (Notably absent from the list, for now, anyway: publishing giant Random House.) E-book prices on iBooks are said to rival (if not equal) those on Amazon's Kindle store, and we can expect such niceties as animated page turning, customizable background and font colors, and high-resolution text. As I just mentioned, though, Amazon will have its own Kindle tablet app ready for the iPad, and Barnes & Noble says it'll be getting in on the iPad action, as well.

So that covers books; what about magazines and newspapers?
Magazine and newspaper publishers have been eyeing the iPad as a possible savior for their industries — imagine, they say, "Sports Illustrated" on a 9.7-inch touchscreen, complete with jumbo pictures and video, interactive polls and quizzes, live scores and updates, you name it! That all sounds quite promising, but so far we've only seen a few, somewhat tepid examples of what a newspaper on the iPad might look like. The New York Times showed off a reasonably slick app during the iPad unveiling that features pages and articles that look like the print version; and publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal and Time to Wired and Esquire say they've got their own iPad apps at the ready. But whether the first iPad versions of the Times, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and others will truly wow us — and, more important, whether users will pay for iPad newspaper and magazine subscriptions — remains to be seen.

Say I buy an iPad and don't like it. What's Apple's return policy?
You've got 14 days from the day you receive your iPad to return it for a refund, according to the Apple store's terms and conditions. If the iPad box is unopened, you'll get a full refund; if you crack open the box, though, Apple will charge you a 10 percent restocking fee.

Facebook or Google? What say ?

2010-04-01T01:52:00.004-05:00

Facebook traffic stats have amazed the search engine users in the week ending March 13, 2010, celebrated as Registered Dietitian Day in the US. The social networking king has surpassed Google in the US to become the most visited website for the week. According to the Hitwise stats chart: more than 400 million users, the average user spends 55 minutes a day on the site, 3 billion photo uploads per month.

Facebook.com recently topped the charts ranking on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day as well as the weekend of March 6th and 7th. The market share of visits to Facebook.com increased 185% last week as compared to the same week in 2009, while visits to Google.com increased 9% during the same time frame. Together Facebook.com and Google.com accounted for 14% of all US Internet visits last week.

A recent Hitwise Report shows that Facebook is driving traffic to news and media sites, also its follow up data reveals that readers are more loyal to these sites and tend to come back for more, Googlers: not so much.

Its not about that Google is not performing well, as according to Hitwise, the search giant's numbers are up 9 percent as compared with the same week in 2009. It's just that Facebook's numbers are up 185 percent. This doesn't look like a Hitwise anomaly; data from Compete.com signifies the same trend, although a little less starkly.

Facebook has develop itself into a form which is equally enticing to the college and high school students and for the parents as well. It has enchanted tremendous people, who are falling under its spell of status updates, photo tagging, and gaming apps. Also Facebook has no other social network to seriously compete with, Google will have to guard against the surprisingly tenacious Bing.

Google is the most powerful force on web and traffic isn't everything for it. It is all because of the breadth of its offerings—search, advertising, maps, news, YouTube, Web apps, and so much more. Even Facebook technically don't have more visits or page views in its credit. Also Google is experimenting with gigabit Internet service, while Facebook is still figuring out its ad targeting.

But the point is still looming high on Google: with the vertigo-inducing effect of the chart above and Google's inexpert incursion onto Facebook's social-networking turf, Google's need be worried.

Enjoy “Orkut and Google Buzz” Widget on Android Phone Now!!!

2010-03-27T01:43:00.002-05:00

Do you want to use orkut on your andriod phone, then Google has announced the release of an Orkut widget for phones that use the platform.

Orkut is a dominant social networking site in Brazil and India where even Facebook finds itself relegated to the second spot. Although Facebook has managed to usurp Orkut's dominance in India to an extent of late, it has not managed to do so in Brazil.

Orkut is all set to roll on mobile phones with Android through a newly released widget aimed at making it easier for users to update their status and share content with others. This is an added advantage for the ardent Orkut users with Android phones.

The widget lets you stay connected to your orkut friends wherever you go -- via scrap notifications, direct photo uploads to your orkut albums, and a phonebook synced to your Orkut friends' phone numbers and status messages. Orkut for Android lets you stay in touch with pals through friends live folders, Scrap notification, and Photo uploads to orkut albums.

Along with the Orkut widget, Google Buzz is also a new Android widget. The Google Buzz widget helps you do what it is intended to do - post Google Buzz updates. You can post buzz about your fun trip to the nearby amusement park and share photos of the same. You can post text, photos and stuff directly from the phone. To save time, your posts will upload in the background. The posts can be tagged as well.

The Google Buzz widget for Android is compatible only with devices that have Android OS 1.6 installed. To add the widget, all you need to do is to go to Menu > Add > Widgets > Google Buzz and that should do the trick. The widget is currently available in English for Android phones. Google says it plans to add support for other languages soon.

So go and get new widgets on your android phone and share your ideas with us on http://www.androidsoftwareprogramming.com.

New Full QWERTY, Touchscreen LG Android Phone Out

2010-03-24T04:23:00.002-05:00

LG has announced the launch of its full slide-out QWERTY, Android laden touchscreen handset, the LG GW620 in India.

The phone comes in at a time when the likes of HTC and Samsung had launched quite a few handsets in the mid-range segment -all based on Android. The LG GW620 is expected to compete with the likes of the Samsung i7500 Galaxy and the HTC Tattoo - both of which are priced lower than the former.

Let's now see what the GW620 has in store for you. The handset, as mentioned earlier, happens to come with a physical QWERTY keyboard. This is probably the first handset in its price range to come with a full-fledged hardware QWERTY keyboard in India. The phone has a 3-inch capacitive TFT screen. There is a 5 megapixel camera at the rear capable of recording Videos as well. Video recording isn't impressive at just QVGA resolution. The camera supports geo-tagging, face detection and even has image stabilization features crammed into it. The phone supports playback of Divx files and comes with a document viewer as well. As of now, it runs Android OS, v1.5 (Cupcake). LG has incorporated its custom S-Class UI over Android on this phone."

The GW620 is 3G ready and tips the scales at 139 grams. A 3.5 mm jack is provided for music enthusiasts. The phone comes with 150MB of internal memory and can take microSD cards of up to 32GB. Connectivity options include GPRS, EDGE, WLAN, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, and v2.0 micro USB. FM Radio fans rejoice! Unlike the Samsung Galaxy, this one has FM Radio! It boasts of a powerful 1500 mAh Li-Po battery that endows it with a talk time of 7h 40 minutes. The standby time is 500 hours.

The phone is now on sale in India and is priced at Rs. 18,990.

See Also : Techtree.com

BlackBerry Storm 2 Review

2010-03-19T03:17:00.003-05:00

According to a revelation made by Research in Motion (RIM), BlackBerry will make its latest phone the BlackBerry Storm 2 available in Australia from this month. The BlackBerry Storm 2 is seen as a major threat to the iPhone market and is expected to face tough competition from its rivals in the touchscreen category namely, HTC Desire, Samsung, Wave and Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X 10.

The makers of BlackBerry Storm 2 after giving due consideration have made some minor changes in its predecessors, the BlackBerry Storm. The company did not make some of the major renewal adjustment in Storm.

However many minor changers in BlackBerry Storm 2 have led to a major impact due to which the phone offers a little more in comparison to its predecessor and many of its competitors. These changes have surely gone into making the device more user friendly.

Talking about the design, the BlackBerry Storm 2 now comes with a trendy touchscreen buttons with improved button control on the side. The battery lid and joints of the handset and been smoothed away to make the grip more handy and user friendly. It also avoids the annoying light that releases on the side of the screen. Hence these little innovative updates in the device are taken very positively making the Storm a visual delight.

Among the new specifications and features of BlackBerry Storm 2 are the stylish sleek look, touch support and interface with touchscreen. Another add on feature is built-in Wi-Fi and bigger keys set in horizontal mode to make sending email lot more simple, error free and fast.

The touchsreen in Storm 2 is now electronic rather than mechanical with a whole lot of features such as faster web browser, third party apps and another feature that helps select the text using 2 fingers and simultaneously with shift button where you can press to capitalize letters.

BlackBerry Storm 2 with its latest features and specifications is truly that phone which can give competition to iPhone. It has 3.2 MP camera with autofocus, flash and video recording that leaves iPhone far behind. Also the users can enjoy its multi tasking features by holding down the menu key and easily switch between many open apps. So, with a BlackBerry Storm 2 be sure that you have an icon in your pocket.

Read More...

Which One is Best for iPhone App Testing – iPhone QA / Web QA?

2010-03-17T06:30:00.003-05:00

Testing is a procedure of technical investigation that is intended to reveal quality-related information about the product with respect to the context in which it is ordained to operate. App testing is an essential process that comprises part of the application development life-cycle. Through testing you can analyze how your developed application will perform in a real-world environment by installing and testing it directly on iPhone or iPod touch.

iPhone testing is more or less similar to website testing. Website testing involves various kinds of testing like; functionality testing, GUI testing, security testing etc. Similarly we check the iPhone application for its functionality, display of the various images and content and data protection. In website testing, for detecting security issues, we use the following techniques: -

1) Penetration testing.
2) Password cracking
3) URL Testing
4) Virus Detectors etc.

Whereas the security testing of iPhone app testing is done in a different manner. Following features can be adapted for the security of the iPhone apps: -

1) Encryption
2) Remote Wipe
3) Local wipe

In website testing we check for the scalability of the website that include stress testing and load testing. In this we check the performance of the website when subjected to various kinds of load by the users. On the contrary, iPhone applications are free from such kind of testing modus operandi, as the application has to be uploaded on a single device.

In the iPhone applications we focus more on the memory issues as many of the non-reproducible bugs you come across while testing iPhone apps are related to memory problems. It is quintessential to know and report available free memory before launching an application. Consequently, a crashing defect may vanish when there's plenty of free memory available.

A1 technology's iPhone application Quality Assurance team verify applications in its entirety and test the functionality of each setting related to the application. The team works in close co-ordination with the application developers to identify and resolve all crash points. Our testing experts test the behavior of iPhone app in low connectivity mode and verify proper behavior.

A-1 Technology's quality analysts measure the memory usage of the application to determinate all memory leaks and test the application in the sleep mode. The iPhone Quality Analysts possess the expertise to resolve all the testing issues and ensures that your applications run smoothly.

Tips to stop Google Buzz Replies in your Inbox

2010-03-16T03:39:00.002-05:00

Google Buzz seems good innovative way to share what you are thinking, it much more simpler and easier to use and understand but one of the most annoying things people started noticing is the google buzz replies in their gmail inbox. These replies are not only your own buzz getting comments but some one else buzz on which you have commented.

Many people don’t like the large number of replies, Finally google buzz team has added some options in gmail to control the number of buzz replies you see in your inbox.

In order to control what buzz replies you want to see in your gmail inbox, log in to your gmail account and click the settings link at the extreme right top of the browser. Under Settings click the Link Buzz which could be the last link.

Now, You will see the following options which controls which buzz replies will be sent to your inbox.

With some other options below, you can even disable google buzz in gmail, set the privacy options related to google chrome, that’s it.

Here are some points related to Google Buzz:

1) Settings to control what gets sent to your inbox
From the Buzz tab of Gmail Settings, you’ll be able to choose whether the following buzz items get sent to your inbox:

* Comments on your posts
* Comments on posts after you comment on them
* Comments on posts after you are @replied on them

2) Explanations for why posts get sent to your inbox and an easy-to-find "Mute" link
You'll see a new message at the top of each post in your inbox that explains why it’s there: someone commented on your post, you were @replied, etc. Google also added an easy-to-find "mute" link that will stop subsequent comments from bringing the conversation back to your inbox.

Google is Going to Close its Search Engine in China

2010-03-15T06:47:00.000-05:00

In view of the hardening of positions on both sides, Google reportedly has chalked out a detailed strategy for closure of its search engine in China, and it is almost final now as the talks over censorship with the Chinese authorities have reached an apparent deadlock since January of this year. The Chinese government on Friday warned the US based search company, that it was not prepared to compromise on internet censorship with Google in China.

To recap on what happened, it was December last year when the Google – China relations took a bad turn. Someone from China targeted human right activists Gmail accounts. These Google human rights activists accounts in China were hacked by hackers who originated from mainland China. As a reaction, the dismayed authorities at Google threatened to withdraw its services from China, saying that it can no longer censor its search results on the Chinese version of Google homepage i.e. Google.cn. Google, in a detailed blog post said that if it is unable to find a way to operate an unfiltered search engine within the Chinese law, which currently requires it to block access to millions of websites, it will have no option but to close its operations in China. Few days later, Google-China debacle took a new turn when Google in a secret counter-offensive encounter managed to hack these Chinese hackers back. It was successful in breaking into the source computer in Taiwan which was involved in these attacks. Google engineers, thus found out some evidence which were pointing fingers towards mainland China. It appeared as if the whole script was orchestrated by the Chinese government. Later in a new development, U.S. authorities were able to track down the man who wrote the code to attack Google in China. The guy in question was a freelance security consultant in China, and his discovery made it even more difficult for the Chinese government to deny their involvement.

In mid last month, some more scary details came to light where linkage of two Chinese Institutions were discovered in hacking Google sites. These schools were also reported having tacit connections with PLA.

Google also delayed the launch of two Android based smartphones from Motorola and Samsung, and didn’t plan to unveil Nexus One in China.

Redmondpie.com

Motorola, Microsoft in Deal to put Bing on phones

2010-03-11T04:42:00.000-05:00

Motorola Inc has reached a deal with Microsoft Corp that will put Bing search and mapping services on its phones that use Google's
Android operating system.

Motorola said the partnership with Microsoft means that a Bing bookmark and search widget will be loaded on cell phones, starting in the coming weeks with phones in China.

The move follows shortly after Motorola struck a similar deal to let consumers in China use Baidu Inc, among others, as the default Web search instead of Google on Android based phones.

The partnerships come against a backdrop of Google's dispute with China over censorship, which, if it leads to Google withdrawing from the country, could cause big headaches for Motorola.

That's because Motorola is banking on its ties to Google's Android and its sales in China to help in a big turnaround effort. Having search alternatives on the Android phones should lessen Motorola's dependence on Google, in China or elsewhere, analysts have said.

Economictimes.indiatimes.com

Google Earth Available for Android

2010-03-10T05:35:00.000-05:00

Nexus One, which runs Android 2.1 and Motorola Milestone known as Droid, which runs on Android 2.0.1 has become an august platform to illustrate the rich and highly technical features of Google Earth. Nexus One carries a lot of performance in a slender package.

After a lot of touches and experiments, the app is ready with the bouncing features for Android. This is the fastest mobile version of Google Earth yet, with a smooth frame and a beautiful 800 x 480 screen.
With the release of Google Earth for Android, Google has also introduced the Roads layer, a very prominent feature of the desktop version of Google Earth. Thus, giving you a better sense of where you are with road labels drawn on top of the satellite imagery.

In addition, Google has taken advantage of the integrated voice recognition potentialities of the Android platform to support the best Google Earth experience yet -- a pocket globe that responds to your every command. Try speaking "Eiffel tower" or "best burrito Mission district of San Francisco." Maybe you're trying to find some nice lodging for an upcoming getaway to Lake Tahoe. Just say "romantic getaway Lake Tahoe."

With Google Earth for Android, the app has brought together the convenience of Google Search by voice with the power of Google Local Search to make it easier than ever to navigate the globe and find whatever you are looking for.

As with other versions of Google Earth, the users can also browse photos, places, and local businesses, whether it is in your local community or on the far side of the globe. Click on an icon to see photos, videos, and read about prominent places in the world. You can easily customize your version of Google Earth to display the layers that most interest you.

In addition to Nexus One, Google Earth will be available in Android Market on most devices that have Android 2.1 or later versions. So as devices such as Droid get updated to Android 2.1, others will also be able to fly to the far reaches of the globe with a swipe of their finger.

RIM, iPhone & Android market share up

2010-03-09T05:57:00.001-05:00

Gartner has released a comprehensive report on the list of smartphone platforms sale of mobile phones worldwide. In its reports, gartner has enlisted the iPhone at number three, right behind Nokia's Symbian OS and the RIM software used in Blackberry devices. More importantly, the report reveals that Apple's unit share has more than doubled in the last year, from 11.4 million units in 2008 to more than 24 million in 2009.

Gartner claims iPhone sales made up 14 percent of the smartphone market last year to WinMo's 9 percent, but that still puts Apple behind the other two leaders in the market: BlackBerry manufacturer RIM in third place with 20 percent, Finnish firm Nokia still ahead with a mighty 47 percent.

It's an influential stat when you consider that iPhone is just one handset confronting to the leagues that run WinMo software, but Apple still has some way to go if it wants to reach the zenith.
Android is also on the list, and while it's not quite competing with iPhone yet, that brand experienced even greater growth, from less than a million phones in 2008 up to almost 7 million in 2009. And perhaps the most interesting takeaway is that while Symbian encountered a nearly 10% drop in market share, both its and RIM's totals actually climbed up. While cellphone sales at large have dropped, smartphone sales have jumped across the board. It clearly shows that more people are doing more things with their cell phones than just the usual calling.

According to Gartner's principal research analyst Roberta Cozza, "Android's fourth-quarter growth should continue, but some suppliers had "expressed growing concern about Google's intentions in the mobile market." If this led them to transform their product strategies, "this might slow-down Android's growth in 2010."

Buzz Around Google Buzz

2010-03-04T05:27:00.000-05:00

Google, following the footsteps of social media giants Facebook and Twitter, introduced its new social media feature, Google Buzz on Feb 9, 2010. It is a fully open and distributed platform for conversations. Much like Twitter and Facebook, Google Buzz allows space for the expression of thought. Twitter, however, places a limit on length, allowing a mere 140 characters at most. And while Facebook is wildly popular among all ages groups, its interface is confusing to many new users. It is a fully open and distributed platform for conversations.

Google Buzz has opened a new door in the realm of public relations possibilities. The most preferred advantage of Google Buzz is its ease of access. Moreover, automatically connecting it to the users gmail contacts is the incomparable way to connect the users to their friends. This eliminates the lack-of-network issue that users encounter when they first sign on to a social networking site.

Google has taken social media a step further and created the perfect blend of the two. Buzz is not a Facebook killer as, the latter offers a complete integrated platform to share updates, pictures, videos, games, maps, etc. with a network built on family and friends.

There are speculations that Buzz will not pose a threat for Twitter too. Twitter is a non-symmetric network used to access and broadcast information, to establish new connections, to chat, and to freely blab about anything. Twitter users listen and tweet to an audience that has a very small overlap, if any, with their Gmail address books. Similarly, this audience is mostly disjoint from their Facebook friends. Thus unless one can convince family members, friends, acquaintances, and professional connections to all move to Gmail, Twitter users will keep using Twitter for its very purpose. That is not even considering how users consume tweets. Buzz has nothing like it, at least for now. And Twitter’s lightweight and open API has created one of the richest and most innovative ecosystem in social networks –the best is still to come.

In an interview with eWeek, Google’s Brad Horowitz stated, that Google’s vision was a place where all social services could come together, a place where people would discuss events, trends and engage in real conversation. “It’s not just status-casting. It’s not just checking in. It’s really meaningful interactions around meaningful topics within Buzz and it’s reaching the right audience and people are engaged. That kind of value proposition is I think unique to Buzz,” Horowitz added.

Buzz will fall somewhere in between Facebook and Twitter as it appeals to Gmail users who are unfamiliar to Twitter and find Facebook way too confusing. That is, of course, if Facebook’s future email service does not pick up any momentum, and if Twitter does not bring innovations to its platform. Then you can guess what will be left of Gmail’s Buzz.

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series – Try, Try and Try again

2010-03-01T11:38:00.001-05:00

The New York Times says that Microsoft had to start the development of Windows Phone 7 from scratch because the previous previous was beyond redemption. While there are nice features here, the software has failed to excite the audience at Barcelona, though it did win good feedback from Business Users who like the seamless integration with Sharepoint, Outlook and Exchange.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/technology/01soft.html?hpw

Engadget in it editorial on the release of Windows 7 said this was a entire reboot and nothing from Windows Mobile survives. While the OS is very good, the battle is yet to be fought whether it can upend the iPhone and the Droid and carve a space for itself or will it go the way of the Palm Pre. http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/editorial-engadget-on-windows-phone-7-series/

Mary J Foley on Microsoft-Watch says that Windows 7 Phone Series will be delayed until 2011. Will Microsoft launch a branded phone with its own hardware.http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/windows_7/windows_phone_7_series_offers_questions_hint_of_dell_smartphone.html

Gigaom says Window 7 Phone is a impressive try but it wont stick until they come up with a Appstore strategy which takes advantage of the Phone. http://gigaom.com/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7/

The Apple Blog was fulsom in its praise and said “Of all the companies competing in the cellphone industry, it is perhaps more than just a little poetic that Microsoft should be the first to offer a truly compelling product to rival Apple’s iPhone.” http://theappleblog.com/2010/02/16/microsoft-starts-over-announces-credible-iphone-competitor/

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series - Try, Try and Try again

2010-03-01T11:18:00.001-05:00

Engadget in it editorial on the release of Windows 7 said this was a entire reboot and nothing from Windows Mobile survives. While the OS is very good, the battle is yet to be fought whether it can upend the iPhone and the Droid and carve a space for itself or will it go the way of the Palm Pre. http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/editorial-engadget-on-windows-phone-7-series/

Mary J Foley on Microsoft-Watch says that Windows 7 Phone Series will be delayed until 2011. Will Microsoft launch a branded phone with its own hardware.http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/windows_7/windows_phone_7_series_offers_questions_hint_of_dell_smartphone.html

Gigaom says Window 7 Phone is a impressive try but it wont stick until they come up with a Appstore strategy which takes advantage of the Phone. http://gigaom.com/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7/

The Apple Blog was fulsom in its praise and said “Of all the companies competing in the cellphone industry, it is perhaps more than just a little poetic that Microsoft should be the first to offer a truly compelling product to rival Apple’s iPhone.” http://theappleblog.com/2010/02/16/microsoft-starts-over-announces-credible-iphone-competitor/

What's new in Palm webOS 1.4?

2010-02-28T10:38:00.002-05:00

The latest update to Palm webOS is now arriving on your phone via an over-the-air update. The update is now available for customers on the Sprint network in the US and on the O2 UK, O2 DE, O2 Ireland, and Movistar networks in Europe. [February 27: The update was released today for customers using the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus on Verizon Wireless.] The update is expected to be available for Palm webOS phones on other networks soon. Highlights of the latest update include:

* The ability to capture, edit, and share video: Not only can you easily shoot video footage from your Palm webOS phone, but you can also make quick edits and upload your footage to YouTube or Facebook (or send them via email or MMS) with just a couple of taps. See the video capabilities in action in the video below.

* Get more done faster: The Calendar, Phone, Messaging, and Email apps have all been enhanced with new features to simplify common tasks (many based on feedback from our customers). For example, in the Calendar app, you can now dial a number that appears in the subject of an appointment. In the Email app, you can now sort by date, sender, and subject. In the Phone app, the Call log offers more options to easily connect to a contact (such as via SMS). And there are some new shortcuts for zipping from one app to another (for example, moving from a chat view to a phone call with that person). You¹ll also see improved performance in these apps.

Source: http://blog.palm.com/palm/2010/02/whats-new-in-palm-webos-14.html

Android,iPhone-Fastest Growing Smartphone

2010-02-27T01:09:00.002-05:00

Android and Apple's iPhone OS were the fastest-growing smartphone platforms in 2009, with sales of the iPhone OS overtaking those of Windows Mobile, research company Gartner said Tuesday. Symbian and Research In Motion's BlackBerry still lead the market, it said.

Worldwide sales of smartphones running Symbian totaled 80.9 million in 2009, up from 72.9 million a year earlier. Because total smartphone sales grew faster, to 172.4 million from 139.3 million a year earlier, Symbian's market share declined to 46.9 percent, Gartner said. Second-place RIM's market share rose to 19.9 percent from 16.6 percent in 2008.

Apple's smartphone OS took third place. Apple sold 24.9 million iPhones in 2009, compared to 11.4 million in 2008, taking its share of the market to 14.4 percent.Get the latest tech news on your iPhone with IDG's ITnews iPhone app.

Microsoft's smartphone OS dropped to the fourth spot as its market share fell from 11.8 percent to 8.7 percent, and sales dropped by about 1.5 million phones. The launch of a new version, Windows Phones 7 Series, appears to make it a more competitive platform, but as phones based on the rewritten OS won't show up until late this year, sales will continue to struggle during most of 2010, according to Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Android was only the sixth largest smartphone platform in 2009, with a market share of 3.9 percent. However, that looks likely to change soon. Android phone sales really started to pick up during the fourth quarter. Four million out of a total 6.8 million units were sold during the last three months of 2009. Sixty-nine percent of those were sold in North America, driven by Verizon Wireless's promotion of the Motorola Droid, Cozza said.

While the smartphone market is booming, total worldwide mobile phone sales of 1.2 billion units were down about 1 percent compared to 2008.

Source:Infoworld

10 billion songs downloaded from iTunes and counting

2010-02-26T05:55:00.001-05:00

Apple’s iTunes has reached the milestone everyone has been waiting for – its song download count just reached the 10 billion mark. The Cupertinos have been tracking this milestone for the last couple of weeks. The consumer who downloaded the magical number song will be getting $10,000 iTunes Store gift card.

Apple is yet to announce the name of the individual who is the winner of this promotion. This is great news for Apple’s music store which has been in the mainstream since 2003. This landmark says a lot about the strong and firm position iTunes has in the music industry.

This is not the first milestone that Apple has reached. Its App Store has already provided download for 3 billion apps. I am pretty sure that the game is far from over for Apple and it will continue to touch new levels. How do you see Apple’s latest milestone? How many songs have you downloaded from the music store?

Source:http://www.geekword.net/itunes-10-billion-songs-downloaded/

Blackberry Can Now Read E-Books

2010-02-25T23:37:00.004-05:00

Amazon says that demand from users led to the development of a software e-reader for BlackBerry.Amazon launched on Thursday (18/02/2010) an application for BlackBerry Kindle. Thus, users of smartphones from Research In Motion (RIM) now have the functionality to read digital books purchased by Amazon’s online store, and synchronize them with the reader Kindle and other devices that support the e-book.

With the launch of the BlackBerry line joins the iPhone and iPod Touch that already have the application. The software also is available for Windows PCs. Amazon has plans to take the same product for Mac and the newly launched iPad.

Electronic books purchased by Amazon’s site can be downloaded to the Kindle via the wireless technology Whispersync. By launching applications Kindle, Amazon paves a way to sell as many books as possible. According to the company, the idea of bringing the application to BlackBerry refers only to meet user demand.

“Since the launch of the iPhone application last year, customers have asked us to provide similar experiences for BlackBerry line, and today we offer this,” said Ian Freed, vice president of Amazon Kindle in a statement.

According to The New York Times Amazon’s 420 thousand e-books available, including 102 of the 112 best-seller. How to use Amazon technology copyright protection itself, the store has less than half of electronic books available on competitors such as Sony and Barnes & Noble, which support a standard e-book open.

Still, the Kindle leads off with the market for e-reader. In presenting the results of the fourth fiscal quarter, last month, the chief executive of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, said that for every ten physical books sold, he sold six e-books.

Source:Ub-News