Google has just unveiled their new Commerce Search tool for retailers. It’s an enterprise tool for retail shopping sites aimed to make shopping experience more worthwhile as the holiday season is approaching.

“Search quality is a big factor in changing visitors to buyers online, and in making customers happy too. Visitors spend an average of just eight seconds before deciding whether or not to remain on a website, so having a good search tool is important for turning visitors into buyers. Google Commerce Search is hosted by and uses Google search technology to make online retail searching both fast and customizable” –Google Blog

Basically, it’s targeted to make the search experience on an e-commerce site more precise. It’s hosted on Google’s cloud servers which make it more scalable and deliver results faster than standard search results on shopping sites. Stemming, Synonyms and Spell Check makes sure that online shoppers gets exactly what they are looking for, even if he or she doesn’t exactly know the product name.

For retailers, Commerce Search is integrated with other Google tools such as Google Checkout for payment handling and Google Analytics for tracking your visitor’s behavior and other metrics on the shopping site. Check out the introductory video of Google Commerce Search:

Shaun Ryan did some research on Google’s Demo shopping site, which is powered by the same tool and he thinks that the product is not ready for prime time yet. He tried searching for “tshirt” and it delivered no results, whereas searching for “t-shirt” delivered 42 results, which is quite disappointing. The price of this product is based on number of products and search queries, but starts at $50,000 per year which is quite “high” in my opinion.

© thilak for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Commerce, Enterprise, Google, Search, Tools

More or less every Tom, Dick, and Harry hates Internet Explorer, but still we continue to use it occasionally. Reason – It comes pre-installed with our dearly loved Windows operating system and operating system prior to Windows 7 can’t uninstall it. This graph from TheNextWeb.com got me laughing:

I would also like to add “Checking Your New Website’s design” to the above graph. I keep using IE over and over again to check how my web designs look like in Internet Explorer.

© thilak for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Funny, Humor, IE, Internet

Until recently, Google used inbound links and sitemaps to discover new content on your site and index them. The problem was, if your site has no sitemap or inbound links, your content will not be discovered by Google. Of course, most large-scale websites/blogs do have sitemaps and plenty of inbound links, but pages within small websites might go unnoticed at times. According to a new post at Google Webmaster’s Tool, Google is now using RSS and Atom feeds to find your content and index them in “almost real-time” speeds. Here’s an excerpt from their post:

“RSS/Atom feeds have been very popular in recent years as a mechanism for content publication. They allow readers to check for new content from publishers. Using feeds for discovery allows us to get these new pages into our index more quickly than traditional crawling methods. We may use many potential sources to access updates from feeds including Reader, notification services, or direct crawls of feeds. Going forward, we might also explore mechanisms such as PubSubHubbub to identify updated items.”

With services like Google Reader and FeedBurner under their control, it wouldn’t be that hard for Google to index content in real-time as and when they are published. We don’t know whether Google uses the feed just to discover pages or if they use the content in the feed as well.

If Google is using the content in feeds for indexing, then I guess they must come out and talk about it openly because some of us publish partial feeds, whereas other publish entire content. Those publishing partial feeds would be losing the juice!

Googlebot needs to access your feeds inorder to get your fresh content indexed, so if you are blocking your feeds using Robots.txt, it may be wise to modify and grant access to Googlebot. To know more about Robots.txt, please refer Google Webmaster Central.

© thilak for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Feeds, RSS, SEO, Webmaster

Windows 7 has a unique “not-so-heard” about feature called Virtual WiFi. What it really does is, virtualize one Wireless Adapter as many separate adapters. Well, for an average Joe, such a feature would be insignificant; but quite frankly, this feature has a lot of prospect.

One such potential was tapped by a Philadelphia developer to make Connectify – a free beta application which uses Virtual WiFi in Windows 7 to share your internet connection with other computers over WiFi. In a nutshell, your computer’s wireless adapter is turned into software-based Wireless router, which shows up as a WPA2 encrypted wireless hotspot for other computers.

You can participate in the beta by registering on Connectify homepage. It runs on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 only. Setting it up is fairly simple:

· Select the Internet connection you wish to share

· Choose a name for your new wireless network

· Choose a wireless passphrase

· Press the Internet Sharing button to turn on your wireless network

· Now, from your other devices, you can see your wireless network. Choose to join it, and enter the wireless passphrase to connect.

Connectify reminds me of JoikuSpot Light for Symbian devices, which does the same thing of sharing internet connection (3G or GPRS) using the phone’s wireless adapter. JoikuSpot Light eventually turned out to be a commercial product, but a free version is still available. Connectify is expected to have a similar fate.

(Update: Android users try out Android WiFi Tether)

© thilak for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Sharing, WiFi, Windows 7, Wireless

Google’s homepage design has always been simplistic, and most likely it will always remain so. But this time around Google has something new in store for everyone. Google.com has been experimenting with a new “fade-in” effect on Google.com which hides everything on the homepage excluding the Google Logo and the Search Box. It reveals the rest of the navigation elements with the fade effect only when you move your mouse.

The whole approach seems to focus on the search box. The user can move the mouse to reveal the buttons or press enter to search Google.

Check out the video:

It seems Google is bucket testing multiple versions of this new look for it’s homepage. So not everyone will get to view it, only a small number of random users may get to view it after all. From the initial looks of it and the comments from so many users, it doesn’t seem to be favored by most of them.

So what do you think about it? Let us know!

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Google

Apple released the Apple TV 3.0 update recently, and now here comes the iTunes update. iTunes 9.0.2 is now available only via Software Update and is officially compatible with the Apple’s version of the set-top-box; Apple TV 3.0. With a new and improved, look and feel it has a easier-to-explore iTunes Store. Feel free to download and update your current iTunes to this latest version. Also another major update in this version is that Apple has now completely killed Sync capabilities with Palm Pre. Looks like their spat continues.

The 88.5MB update is available via Software Update or direct download from Apple.

System Requirements are: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later, Windows Vista 64, Windows XP SP 2 or later, and Windows 7.

Palm and Apple have battled each other for months. As Palm tricked Apple into syncing Palm Pre with iTunes and Apple going a step further by disabling it.

Meanwhile take a look at the changelog:

iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility.

iTunes 9 comes with many new features and improvements, including:

• An improved look and feel, including a new Column Browser for easily browsing your artists or albums, movies, TV shows, and more.

• iTunes Store has a brand new look, with improved navigation for quick and easy exploration.

• iTunes LP and iTunes Extras create unique experiences that feature exclusive interviews, videos, photos, and more — available with select album and movie purchases on the iTunes Store.

• Home Sharing helps you manage your family’s iTunes collection between computers in your home. iTunes can automatically transfer new purchases, or you can choose just the items you want.

• Genius Mixes are created for you by iTunes and play songs from your library that go great together.

• iPod and iPhone syncing now allows you to organize your iPhone and iPod touch home screens directly in iTunes. Syncing is now also more flexible, allowing you to sync individual artists, genres, or TV show and Podcast episodes.

• iTunes U items are now organized into their own section in your iTunes library.

• Sync with iPod nano (5th generation), iPod classic (Fall 2009), and iPod touch (Fall 2009).

• iTunes 9 also includes many other improvements, such as HE-AAC encoding and playback, more flexibility with Smart Playlists rules, simpler organization of your media files inside an iTunes Media folder, and more. 

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, itunes

Apple recently released an update for the Apple TV 3.0 Software, featuring a new menu. It now includes Genius Mixes and Internet Radio Access. It finally looks like Apple is getting iTunes Extra and LP features to its Apple TV 3.0 software, which Apple had previously denied from being included into Apple TV 3.0. So be sure to hit that ‘update’ button to update your current software to the latest version.

Meanwhile check out what the Apple press room had to say:

Apple Introduces Apple TV 3.0 Software With Redesigned User Interface
Enjoy iTunes Extras, iTunes LP & Genius Mixes on Your HD TV

CUPERTINO, California-October 29, 2009-Apple® today introduced new Apple TV® 3.0 software featuring a redesigned main menu that makes navigating your favorite content simpler and faster, and makes enjoying the largest selection of on-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes® Store even better on your TV. You can now enjoy iTunes Extras and iTunes LP in stunning fullscreen with your Apple TV, as well as listen to Genius Mixes and Internet radio through your home theater system. The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners, and Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for just $229.

"The new software for Apple TV features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favorite content," said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. "HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV customers, and with Apple TV 3.0 they get great new features including iTunes Extras, Genius Mixes and Internet radio."

The redesigned main menu on Apple TV gives you instant access to your favorite content. Recently rented or purchased movies, as well as other content including TV shows, music, podcasts, photos and YouTube, are accessible directly from the new main menu. The new software also allows Apple TV users to enjoy stunning fullscreen iTunes Extras and iTunes LP, including great new movie titles such as "Star Trek" or classics like "The Wizard of Oz" and albums such as Taylor Swift’s "Fearless (Platinum Edition)" and Jack Johnson’s "En Concert." iTunes Extras gives movie fans great additional content such as deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album, delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.

Now Apple TV users can enjoy Genius Mixes through their home theater system and listen to up to 12 endless mixes of songs that go great together, automatically generated from their iTunes library. Customers can also enjoy Internet radio, allowing them to browse and listen to thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as tag favorite stations to listen to later. Apple TV’s support of HD photos is enhanced with iPhoto Events, which simplifies finding your favorite photos on Apple TV, as well as iPhoto® Faces, which gives access to photos organized by people identified in iPhoto.

Apple TV users have direct access to a catalog of over 8,000 Hollywood films on iTunes including over 2,000 in stunning HD video available for rent or purchase. Users can also choose from a selection of 11 million songs, 10,000 music videos and over 50,000 TV episodes to purchase directly from their Apple TV or browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 175,000 free video and audio podcasts. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their Mac® or PC or all current generation iPods or iPhones.* iPod touch® or iPhone® users can download the free Remote app from the App Store to control their Apple TV with a simple tap or flick of the finger.

Pricing & Availability
The new Apple TV software is available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers. The 160GB Apple TV is available from the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US). Apple TV requires an 802.11b/g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. Video availability varies by country.

Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed Wi-Fi, Apple TV automatically plays your iTunes content without setup or management.
*Movie rentals work on iPod classic®, iPod nano® with video, iPod touch, iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple TV 3.0

Our friends over at Billshrink came out with a comparison on cost of ownership between the 3 competitive smartphones in the market today. Apple’s iPhone 3GS versus Palm Pre versus the newest competition in town, Motorola Droid.

Moto Droid is the latest entrant in the smartphone marketplace dominated by the Palm Pre with Sprint and Apple’s iPhone 3GS with AT&T. If you didn’t know which phone to select and which network to associate with; here’s a chart to help you figure out which one of the phone and service provider suits you needs in the best way possible. It will help you make an informed decision.

Check it out now:

[Via: BillShrink]

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: AT&T, Droid, iPhone, Motorola, Palm Pre, Verizon

If you were looking for some details regarding the new Droid then you don’t need to look any further. Motorola also released the Official Fact Sheet for the Droid and some nice quality Official Pictures.

Check it out now:

DROID by Motorola Fact Sheet:

A no-compromise supergenius

Introducing DROID by Motorola, a Smartphone powered by Android 2.0 developed in partnership with Google and Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest 3G network. DROID delivers high-speed Web, voice-activated search, a super large touch screen and thousands of customizable apps and widgets from Android Market^™. With the thinnest full QWERTY slider available on the market, it’s a no-compromise supergenius in your pocket, multitasking at break-neck pace to get things done.

High-Speed Mobile Browsing

• See the Web at break-neck speed on the largest high-resolution display with a Flash 10 ready HTML browser.

• Look up favorite sites, video and music fast with a high-speed, cortex A8 processor and lightning-fast connection.

• View it all on the 3.7” display with more than 400,000 total pixels, which is twice that of the leading competitor.

• Work faster on the Web with double tap to zoom in and out.

Google Searches Beyond the Web

• Type your search to deliver results such as contacts and music offering a complete search experience on a mobile device. 

• Use voice-activated search to serve up both your contacts and Google search results, based on your location.

• Find your way with free spoken turn-by-turn directions with Google Maps^TM Navigation (Beta), with Street View and Latitude^TM. View geographic information, such as My Maps, Wikipedia entries and transit lines, right on the map.

Customize Your DROID

• Access thousands of applications and hundreds of widgets from Android Market^TM.

• Customize your home screen with preloads like Facebook™ and Google Maps^TM or download¹ applications for music, news, sports and games.²

• Toggle back and forth between up to six applications at a time.

Multitask Messaging

• Integrate work (Exchange) and personal (Gmail^TM) e-mails into one inbox with emails pushed directly to you. Plus, undo common operations in Gmail^TM for fast corrections.

• Find your contacts using a universal list that pulls in work, personal and Facebook™ contacts

• Slide out the full QWERTY keyboard to comfortably text, IM and e-mail¹

• Have your work calendar right at your fingertips at all times

Additional Bells and Whistles

DVD quality video recorder features quick and easy playback plus optimized YouTube^TM uploading for sharing with friends.²

5 megapixel camera loaded with the works like dual-LED flash, AutoFocus, and image stabilization

Features 16GB of storage space (or upgrade to 32).

Stereo Bluetooth® gives you the option of wireless connectivity³.  Or if you prefer traditional, headphones utilize the 3.5mm headset jack.

Easily copy text and URLs to simply paste them into an e-mail, text or status update¹ or copy images off the Web directly to your gallery.

Optional Accessories

Use the multimedia station⁵ to transform DROID into an alarm clock, movie player or digital picture frame.

Place DROID in the car mount⁵ to instantly launch a full-blown GPS navigation device.

DROID by Motorola with Google™

Talk and Standby Time⁴

TT: 385 mins/6.4 hours

SB: 270 hours/11.25 days

Form Factor

Capacitive Touch; Full Qwerty Side Slider

Band/Modes¹

800/1900, CDMA EVDO rev A

OS

Android 2.0

Weight

169 g / 6 oz

Dimensions

60.00 (x) x 115.80 (y) x 13.70 (z) mm

2.4 (x) x 4.6 (y) x 0.5 (z) inches

Browser¹

Webkit HTML5 based browser; Flash 10 ready

Email Support¹

Gmail^TM, Exchange, IMAP, POP, Macmail, Gmail^TM, MSN Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL^®

Battery

1400 mAh

Connectivity¹

Bluetooth® v2.1+EDR, 3.5mm Headset jack, USB 2.0 HS

Display

3.7”, 480×854 WVGA

Display Resolution

WVGA display houses 400,000 pixels

Messaging¹

SMS/MMS, Full HTML5 Browser

Audio

AMR-NB/WB, MP3, WAV, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA

Video

Advanced Video record/playback at D1 resolution (720×480) with up to 24fps capture and 30fps playback, MPEG-4, H.263, H.264

Camera

5.0 megapixel, AutoFocus, dual LED Flash and image stablization

Memory

16GB card included in phone, Up to 32GB microSD expandable

Location Services¹

aGPS, sGPS

Extras

802.11b/g, 3-axis accelerometer

DROID by Motorola with Google™ will be available in Q4 2009. For more information regarding pricing and product availability in your region, please contact your local Motorola representative. To experience DROID, please click here.

DROID is a trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. and its related companies. Used under license.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. The Bluetooth trademarks are owned by their proprietor and used by Motorola, Inc. under license. Facebook is a trademark of Facebook, Inc.  Google, YouTube, Picasa, Gmail, Google Earth, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Talk, Android, and Android Market are trademarks of Google, Inc. All other trademark and product or service names are the property of their respective owners.  © 2009 Motorola, Inc.  All rights reserved.

¹Certain features, services and applications are network dependent and may not be available in all areas; additional terms, conditions and/or charges may apply. Contact your service provider for details
² The unauthorized copying of copyrighted materials is contrary to the provisions of the Copyright Laws of the United States and other countries. This device is intended solely for copying non-copyrighted materials, materials in which you own the copyright, or materials which you are authorized or legally permitted to copy. If you are uncertain about your right to copy any material, please contact your legal advisor.
³ This device supports Bluetooth A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP, PBAP, OPP profiles. In order for Bluetooth devices to communicate with one another, they must utilize the same Bluetooth profile. To determine the profiles supported by other Motorola devices, visit www.motorola.com/bluetooth. For other devices, contact their respective manufacturer.
Certain Bluetooth features including those listed may not be supported by all compatible Bluetooth-enabled devices, and/or the functionality of such features may be limited in certain devices, or by certain wireless carriers. Contact your wireless carrier about feature availability and functionality.
⁴ All talk and standby times are quoted in Digital Mode, and are approximate. Battery performance depends on network configuration, signal strength, operating temperature, features selected, and voice, data and other application usage patterns.
⁵ Accessory sold separately

[Via: Motorola]

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Droid, Motorola

Opera has done it again. They have managed to speed up internet browsing with their new browser, which is not only packed with features but has a Turbo mode which compresses your web page before downloading it to your browser. Therefore it eliminates some of the excess time taken to view a page which is heavy on bandwidth consumption.Opera has done it again. They have managed to speed up internet browsing with their new browser, which is not only packed with features but has a Turbo mode which compresses your web page before downloading it to your browser. Therefore it eliminates some of the excess time taken to view a page which is heavy on bandwidth consumption.

You can now surf the web faster on a slower connection using Opera 10 and its new, fully functional Turbo Mode.

According to the Oslo, Norway based outfit Opera:

Over the first month following the release of Opera 10 on September 1, 2009, approximately three million unique users escalated their surfing speeds with Opera Turbo. Those three million consumers viewed almost 668 million compressed Web pages. This high usage rate of one particular browser feature underscores that Opera’s turbo-charged technology addresses a distinct need of the Internet-using public. Opera 10 with Opera Turbo is available absolutely free from http://www.opera.com/.

Low bandwidth affects everyone, whether you are on a dial-up connection at home or you are suffering from limited surfing speeds at the local airport. In some cases, consumers use Opera Turbo for the speed advantage it offers. But Opera Turbo is also popular for consumers who use pay-as-you-go plans. By compressing the Web pages before they are sent to the device, less data is transferred, saving money.

What do the statistics mean?

“The numbers tell us that Opera Turbo solves critical bandwidth issues. People everywhere experience either slow, congested networks or must pay as they go for Web access. It is an issue that affects everyone, from the business traveler to the Internet café user. Opera Turbo has become universally useful,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software.

Opera Turbo and Opera’s One Web philosophy

Opera Turbo falls under Opera Software’s One Web philosophy, and is a step towards providing better and faster browsing to anyone, anytime and anywhere. By developing new technology that helps to create a better Web experience under any circumstance, Opera is slowly breaking down the remaining barriers to worldwide Internet adoption.

What is Opera Turbo?

Opera Turbo is a unique compression technology available in both Opera 10 and Opera Mobile. Opera Turbo reduces the size of Web pages up to 80%, giving you a dramatic boost in browsing speed over slow connections, or, if you pay as you go, more megabyte for your money. To activate Opera Turbo, simply click the Opera Turbo icon in the lower left-hand corner of the Opera 10 browser. Then sit back and surf the Web at warp speed.

[Via: Opera]

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Opera

If you check out the DroidDoes.com you will notice the little countdown timer for Motorola Droid Eris. The little count down timer on the DroidDoes website is made up of glyphs. Some awesome anonymous decoder, decoded it at Phandroid, has now proven that the date has changed.

According to Phandroid: The announcement should occur over 27th midnight going over to 28th October.

Double check it all yourself. You can decode the images from other articles and other sites from when they were originally posted and do the math. It’s true ladies and gentlemen it is true. If this droided up countdown timer is right, we’ll see Verizon Wireless announce the Motorola Droid on October 27th/28th at midnight!

If this is true and Verizon launches the Eris today, it surely wont turn the mobile world on its head. But we’ll surely keep you updated over its announced. For you Android fans out there, keep your fingers crossed.

[Via: Phandroid]

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Droid, Motorola, Verizon

Yahoo! finally pulls the plug on GeoCities. Yahoo! closed GeoCities on 26th October. Yahoo! bought over GeoCities in January 1999 for $3.6 billion dollars. It is considered one of the original web-hosting services on the internet which was acquired by Yahoo!

GeoCities before its closure hosted over 7.5 million websites and over 8 million images.

GeoCities was one of the pioneers of web-hosting services. GeoCities gave users several publishing tools, which any one with almost zero web design/coding skills, could use to build their own webpage over the internet. I still remember building my own GeoCities website in the late year 2000.

It is known that GeoCities traffic has been falling over the recent months and therefore Yahoo! decided to pull the plug on one of the oldest internet web-hosting services on Tuesday.

We decided to search for GeoCities on Google and it turned up some interesting results!

Check it out now:

Google web search for GeoCities showed us 7,450,000 results

Google image search for GeoCities showed us 8,430,000 results

Those who are interested to know more about Yahoo! GeoCities closing down read this!

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Yahoo GeoCities

As the name suggests, this is a very quick look back at the Google story over past 11 years. Starting from Stanford to Mountain View and around the world, featuring many different products, starting with BackRub (Search) up to most recent ones; Google Wave, StreetView and Chrome.

Google UK captures many important events from Google’s rich history in an excellent animated video.

Check it out now:

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Google Story

Yes you heard it right! This mouse was first showcased at Dutch Design Week 2009. From the house of Dutch based outfit Intelligent-Design, the Bluetooth laser mouse known as “ID Mouse” is for those who demand luxury and perfection at their finger tips.

Its features are:

• Neodymium scroll wheel for smooth scrolling for the web.
• Hand-formed Grade 1 Titanium and Resin (high-quality plastic)
• It’s wireless
• Its compatible with Windows XP/Vista/7 and Mac OS X
• It runs on two AAA batteries
• It features laser tracking
• It is ideal for left and right handed users.

It can be bought in either black or white colors is sold at a staggering $1200.

Look at the pictures and decide for yourself if it is worth it or not!

I’m sure there is a very limited market for these luxury products out there. Nonetheless it’s an interesting item which a few computer users with deep pockets will crave for.

[Via: Intelligent-Designs]

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: $1200 Titanium Mouse

Google launched a new service called Google Voice. It allows the mobile phone users to move away their voicemails from their carriers to Google Voice. With it’s new services in the telecommunications arena, Google apparently plans to become a hub for for phone calls for mobile, home and office numbers.

Google’ Voice is a new Internet service using VoIP technology to link phone numbers together.

Google Voice includes new features such as:

• Once setup your voicemails, from people who call your number goes into Google Voicemail.
• You can make low cost calls to the world.
• You can create custom greetings for your callers.
• You voicemails are automatically transcribed.
• Receive voicemail notifications via email or SMS.
• You share voicemails by forwarding, embedding or downloading voicemails.

Cons: People choosing to stick their existing phone number wont be able to use all their features of Google Voice such as, directing calls to a home or office numbers.

You get more features with a Google Number:

• A single phone number that rings all your phones.
• Send, receive & store text messages online.
• Block calls by sending unwanted callers straight to voicemail.
• You can record calls; record phone calls and store them online.
• You can make Conference calls; join several people into a single call.
• Screen callers: hear who is calling you, before you pick up.

You can read more about Google Voice here!

NOTE: Google Voice is currently available by invite only and it is only available for sign up in the US. If you are from the US, sign up here!

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Google Voice, Voicemail

Upgrade disc are generally meant for those who are upgrading from a previous operating system. If you perform a clean install using the upgrade media and try activating Windows, it won’t work. But Paul Thurott from WinSuperSite Blog has figured a work-around to use Windows 7 upgrade media to perform fresh full install of Windows 7. This means, instead of purchasing the regular copy of Windows 7, you can go for Upgrade disc and save $80 immediately! Unlike Vista, where you had to install the OS twice to be able to use the upgrade media to perform clean install, there is a much simpler alternative for Windows 7. This is how you do it:

1. Perform a clean install of Windows 7 and make sure there are no pending updates in Windows Update. Now go to Start Menu and type “regedit” and press the enter key. (UAC will show up, if enabled).

2. Navigate to HK_L_M\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE

3. Change the value of MediaBootInstall from “1” to “0”

4. Go to Start Menu and type “cmd”. Now right clicking the shortcut and choose “Run and Administrator”. (Again, UAC will show up, if enabled)

5. In the command prompt, type: slmgr /rearm and press enter. That’s all. Now try activating Windows 7 using your product key, it should work.

© thilak for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: How to, Save Money, Upgrade, Windows 7

Apple Mac has several short comings. It lacks several simple functionality. Apple launched another one of their negative ad campaigns against Microsoft Windows on the launch day of Windows 7. You can check out those new ads here!

Meanwhile, learn about the simple things that a Mac cannot do:

These are with respect to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

Things OS X Cannot Do

Right Click to Create Text Files: You have to open TextEdit, create a file, navigate to the right folder, and save as…just to create a stupid file.

Set a picture as background: You certainly cannot select a picture in finder to set it as background. No app in OS X lets you do that. You have to use go through a long series of clicks in desktop background settings and manually find your file. The only other way is to open your image file in firefox and set as background, but having to open a a image from a browser to set it as background is lame.

Choose entire folders to be wallpapers: You can add a folder, but SUBFOLDERS ARE NOT INCLUDED. That means you can’t manually organize your wallpapesr. Again, iPhoto is useless for anything but photos, so unless all your wallpapers are photos, don’t expect iPhoto to be a solution.

Merging folders: (See a comment below for why you need to do this) When you copy a folder, if the new location contains a folder of the same name, there is no way to merge the folders. Instead, Finder overwrites the original folder with the new one. All files in the original folder are lost. The only way to get around this is to use the unix mv -v command….very user unfriendly design.

Trash is Broken

Cannot selectively delete trash: There is no way to delete one or several items in trash at a time. (useful when you want to double check the items one at a time before you actually delete them). You can only empty all the trash at once.

Cannot restore trash: If you accidentally moved something to trash by accident, there is no option to restore the file to its original location. You have to remember where it was. Why do you even need trash if you can’t even restore what you deleted to where it was? If you accidentally deleted a file buried deep in the filesystem, does it make sense to drag it back to….for example…Desktop??

Finder is Broken

There is no cut: There is no "cut" option like in all other OS. So to move a file you have navigate to the destination in a separate Finder window and drag to it, or drag while navigating in the same Finder window through many folders and hope you don’t miss.

Can’t calculate total size: When you select some files in a folder and right click -> Get Info to find the total size, Finder displays a box for EACH item with the individual sizes.

There are lots more if you are interested to know. Read the complete list at xFlaws

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, Mac OS X

Apple has released 3 new Mac ads which scream of attention! They were launched coinciding with the launch of windows 7. Apple has often used negative advertising campaigns against Microsoft, to gain popularity for their products while trashing Microsoft Windows. This time around its back, advertising the short comings of Microsoft Windows, all the while ignoring the simple things a Mac cannot do!

While Apple Mac Ads is harping on its customer satisfaction and ridiculing Windows 7. It ridicules Windows 7’s claim to be better than its predecessors and how they have claimed to be better than their predecessors. Apple doesn’t seem to realize that it has several of its own short comings! Check them out here!

Why don’t we see any ads explain the things that a Mac can do!

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apple, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 7

One of the coolest features of Windows 7 is the support for rotating wallpapers in themes. Prior to the official launch of Windows 7, very few theme packs were available for download. Microsoft has now released several fresh new theme packs to spice up your desktop.

Microsoft has released 14 sponsored themes, which promotes famous brand names like Bing, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Ferrari, Porsche, Zune etc.

Users don’t have to pay anything to download these themes, but looks like Microsoft is charging companies to promote their brand using Windows 7’s themes functionality. Nevertheless, its clever way to keep users happy at the same time make some money.

New international theme packs have also been added which feature scenic photographs from different region of various countries. You can download these theme packs from here.

© thilak for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Personalization, themes, Wallpapers, Windows 7

Motorola Droid was seen on Motorola’s website. It gave us an opportunity to find out some info’ about it and see what it’s capable of.

Here’s the spec sheet:

Android 2.0 (Eclair) UI, HTML5 (Flash 10 support in 2010), EVDO Rev A, 3.7-inch 480×854 resolution TFT display, 550Mhz processor, 16GB microSDHC memory card pre-installed (supports up to 32GB), 5MP autofocus camera with dual LED flash, 720×480 at 24fps video recording, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, 3.5mm headset hack, microUSB 2.0 port, and 1400mAh battery.

Droid Dimensions are 4.6″H x 2.4″W x 0.5″D (when closed) and weigh 6oz (169 grams).

An act of publicity? May or may not be, from the looks of it, people seem to be very interested in the Droid!

See the video and decide for yourself!

© Meghan for TechBuzz, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Droid, Motorola