BUYING GUIDE

Nasdaq hackers target service for corporate boards

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:11:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Hackers broke into a Nasdaq service that handles confidential communications for some 300 corporations, the company said Saturday — the latest vulnerability exposed in the computer systems Wall Street depends on.

The intrusions did not affect Nasdaq's stock trading systems and no customer data was compromised, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. said. Nasdaq is the largest electronic securities trading market in the U.S., with more than 2,800 listed companies.

A federal official told The Associated Press that the hackers broke into the service repeatedly over more than a year. Investigators are trying to identify the hackers, the official said. The motive is unknown. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry by the FBI and Secret Service is continuing.

The targeted service, Directors Desk, helps companies share documents with directors between scheduled board meetings. It also allows online discussions and Web conferencing within a board. Since board directors have access to information at the highest level of a company, penetrating the service could be of great value for insider trading.

Nasdaq OMX spokesman Frank DeMaria said the Justice Department had requested that the company keep silent about the intrusion until at least Feb. 14. However, The Wall Street Journal reported the investigation on its website late Friday, prompting Nasdaq to issue a statement and notify its customers.

DeMaria said Nasdaq OMX detected "suspicious files" during a regular security scan on U.S. servers unrelated to its trading systems and determined that Directors Desk was potentially affected. It pulled in forensic firms and federal law enforcement for an investigation. They found no evidence that customer information was accessed by hackers.

Rich Mogull, an analyst and CEO with the security research firm Securosis, said Web-accessible services like Directors Desk are a prime target for hackers, and have sometimes been a back door for systems that aren't directly connected to the Web. The presence of files on the Directors Desk system and the claim that no customer information was compromised could indicate that hackers were able to get in but not complete their attack, he said.

Computer security experts have long warned that many companies aren't doing enough to protect sensitive data, and recent events have underlined the point. The secret-spilling organization WikiLeaks has published confidential documents from banks in Switzerland and Iceland and claims to have incriminating documents from a major U.S. bank, possibly Bank of America.

In 1999, hackers infiltrated the websites of Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange leaving taunting messages, but Nasdaq officials said then that there was no evidence the break-ins affected financial data.

Nasdaq OMX CEO Bob Greifeld said in a statement that cyber attacks against corporations and government are constant and the company is vigilant in maintaining security.

"We continue to evaluate and enhance our advanced security controls to respond to the ever increasing global cyber threat and continue to devote extensive resources to further secure our systems," he said.

Some of the Wall Street's technological scares have been unrelated to hackers. In June 2009, a computer glitch knocked out trading in 242 stocks on the New York Stock Exchange for several hours.

More recently, high-speed trading software precipitated a "flash crash" on May 6. One trade worth $4.1 billion touched off a chain of events that ended with 30 stocks listed in the S&P 500 index falling at least 10 percent within five minutes. The drop briefly wiped out $1 trillion in market value as some stocks traded as low as a penny.

___

Associated Press Writer Pete Yost contributed from Washington.

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Google launches Android Market for the Web, shows off Honeycomb

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:10:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

The just-launched Android Web store lets you find, purchase, and remotely install new Android apps onto your device, all straight from a browser. Also: Google demonstrates some of the new bells and whistles in Honeycomb, the upcoming tablet-centric version of Android.

You can check out the new, Web-based Android Market right here, although some users (including me) were having trouble logging in to the site Wednesday afternoon. (Word had it that the glitch would be fixed later in the day.) Update (3:15 p.m. ET): Looks like it's working now.

The online market looks a bit like a pared-down version of Apple's App Store on iTunes, complete with jumbo-sized promos and an abundance of users reviews.

A series of categories sits in the left-hand column of the page, while tabs to the right let you check out featured apps, as well as the most popular paid and free applications.

An info page for a given app contains the usual screenshots and user ratings, while users will also be able to recommend the app to friends, watch an embedded demo video (a feature sorely lacking in the Apple App Store), or tweet their latest app discoveries.

Click the "buy" button, and an info screen pops up with permissions and access warnings (telling you, for example, whether the app will be tapping into any personal or location data), and giving you a choice of stored credit cards.

Once that's all done, just hit '"install," and (here's the really clever part) the app will begin installing itself on your Android device, no syncing required. (A "My Devices" page in the Android Web store will let you name and manage your various Android apps, by the way.)

Google also announced that it's finally enabling support for in-app purchases, good for unlocking new "premium" features, buying extra ammo or weapons in a shooter game, and so on.

Google also took some time during Wednesday's briefing to demo Honeycomb, the upcoming, tablet-focused version of Android that'll be powering new dual-core tablets from Motorola and LG. Among the improvements: revamped home-screen navigation, including a snazzy multitasking view that lets you see thumbnails of running apps in their respective frozen states.

During CES, we already saw the trio of on-screen buttons in the lower-left corner of the display: one for home, one for back, and another for … something else. Well, that something else turns out to be multitasking, and Honeycomb take a clever approach to letting you switch between apps.

Rather than just swiping back and forth between a series of static icons, tapping the multitasking button calls up a column of medium-sized thumbnails showing your running apps frozen in the background; tap one, and it'll jump back to life. Nice.

Also new is a rejiggered notification bar, which sits in the bottom-right corner of the display. The new, expanded notifications will show both contact names and images for incoming texts and IMs, play and pause controls for music, and other features depending on the whim of a given developer. Tapping on the notifications bar will call up a pane showing all your notifications at once, which you can dismiss individually by clicking the "X" next to the item.

Not bad, but the most compelling new features for Honeycomb lie under the hood, with developers getting a custom toolkit allowing them to easily revamp their apps for use on both a smaller smartphone screen and a jumbo tablet display.

That's not to say existing Android apps won't already work on Honeycomb-powered tablets, with a Google exec showing off how Fruit Ninja, a causal game built before Honeycomb even existed, works "amazing" well on a tablet—and indeed, a live demo showed the exec slicing away at various animated fruits and vegetables on the Honeycomb-running Motorola Xoom, complete with a series of multi-finger swipes.

But developers will now be able to funnel the content and features of their apps into so-called application "fragments," which can be exposed, hidden, and rearranged depending on the device and screen size. A demo of Gmail, for example, showed the app running in a two-pane view, with the left-hand pane sliding off the screen to make room for the body of a message. Those various columns in Gmail are essentially chopped up into different app "fragments" that behave differently for smaller smartphone screens or bigger tablet displays (which can also be oriented vertically or horizontally).

The Gmail demo also showed off a few other impressive Honeycomb-native features, such as a "drag manager" that allows users to drag a message from the list pane into the neighboring folder pane.

Along the top of the display, a dynamic application bar includes controls that change depending on a given situation—for example, enabling bulk actions if you've got multiple e-mail messages selected versus individual actions for a single selected message.

Google execs also showed off Honeycomb's native video chat features, even pulling in Grammy nominee Cee Lo Green (who chose "Lady Killer" as his handle) for an impromptu call.

Games in Honeycomb will be able to take advantage of 2D hardware acceleration with the addition of a single line of code, Google execs said, while a new 3D rendering engine, dubbed "RenderScript," will allow for polished 3D graphics. The developers of the PlayStation 3 title Monster Madness showed off a reasonably slick-looking, RenderScript-powered port of the game for Honeycomb, while the hundreds of marching troops in strategy title "Great Battles Medieval" was said to push the Xoom's dual-core processor "to the limit."

CNN was also on hand to demonstrate a Honeycomb version of its tablet news app, complete with streaming video and the ability to upload video snippets to the network's iReport site.

— Ben Patterson is a technology blogger for Yahoo! News.

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How Google removed the muzzle on Twitter in Egypt

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:10:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Even before his first day on the job at Google, Ujjwal Singh was trying to figure out how to use his passion for the spoken word and the company's technological prowess to help Egyptians bypass government efforts to muzzle the massive protests there.

Singh, 38, helped start an online service that lets fans share voice messages with the likes of Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. Google bought the startup Jan. 25, and a Google product team leader trying to figure out a way around Egypt's recent Internet blackout asked Singh for help before he reported to work.

A weekend of brainstorming and programming later, Speak2Tweet was born — a service that lets people call a phone number and leave a message, then posts a link to the message to Twitter.

It allowed Egyptians to communicate even as the regime of President Hosni Mubarak cut Internet and cell phone services for days, trying to squelch furious protests in the streets of Cairo demanding an end to his three decades of authoritarian rule.

By the time Singh started his job Monday, his service was already part of the uprising.

"He designed, built and launched his first product before he started at Google, which is now our all-time record," says Steve Crossan, a Google product manager who has been working at the Internet search leader for five years.

Almost 2,900 spoken tweets had been posted as of Friday afternoon on the Twitter account (at)speak2tweet. Some of the heaviest volume came after access to both Twitter and the Internet was restored in Egypt earlier this week. The alternative method of tweeting has turned into a forum for longer-form expression because the voice recordings aren't confined to Twitter's 140-character limit.

Another Twitter account, (at)AliveInEgypt, has been set up to transcribe the messages, which are mostly in Arabic, into text. An Internet radio station also is playing the voice recordings at http://egypt.periszkopradio.hu.

The service has been used to express outrage, indignation, fear, exhilaration and pleas for help in the fight to oust Mubarak. "This corrupt regime must be eliminated," said one of the translated tweets on AliveInEgypt. Another said: "For all our Arab Brothers, for all the men in Tahrir Square. Please help us, stand with us, if you abandon us we will die."

One woman, speaking in English, said it would take more than an Internet blackout to silence her. "The last time when they did this I was completely freaked out," she said. "I was so scared that they are going to, like, shoot us all and nobody would know about us. This time I am not scared at all. I feel like I want to tell them, `Bring it on.'"

There is no way to verify that every tweet came from the site of the protests, or even from Egypt. When the service can trace the country code of the call, it adds a note, or hashtag, specifying the location.

The service's use was limited by the very problem that created it: Without Internet access, most Egyptians didn't know Speak2Tweet existed, says Jillian York, a project coordinator for the Berkman Center for Internet & Society in Harvard University.

Even so, it provided a vital link between Egypt and the rest of the world, says Cynthia Wong, director of the Center for Democracy & Technology's Project on Global Internet Freedom. As the word of the service spreads, York expects it to attract more voice messages because only about one-fourth of Egypt's population has Internet access.

"It's important for activists and companies to do everything they can to keep the channels of communication open when a government is trying to shut them down," Wong says.

The service got its start Jan. 28, when Crossan began to wonder how people might be able to get their messages out to a mass audience without the help of Internet or text messaging on mobile phones.

Crossan says he wasn't interested in making a political statement — he just wanted to tackle a complex problem that also might further Google's crusade to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible."

So Crossan contacted a former Google colleague, Katie Stanton, who now oversees Twitter's international services. She referred him to Benjy Weinberger, another former Google employee who is now a Twitter engineer. The two men spent the rest of Friday swapping ideas through instant messages and e-mail.

Cooperating with Google on the project was a no-brainer for Twitter. "Twitter is more about human communications than technology," Stanton says. "We want people's voices to be heard."

Initially, Crossan and Weinberger tinkered with a system that would interpret the tones of a telephone keypad and translate the sounds into tweets. After that idea proved too complicated, Crossan remembered something he had read earlier in the week: Google had just acquired a Palo Alto, Calif., startup called SayNow, which developed technology that lets teens exchange spoken messages with celebrities.

Crossan, 39, decided to contact SayNow's founders, Singh and Nikhyl Singhal, about the problem before they were scheduled to start work for their new parent company.

Crossan was helping his 2-year-old son ride a bike for the first time in a neighborhood park Saturday morning when he heard back from Singh. The two men figured they might be able to develop a voice-to-tweet service by building on the same technology SayNow used.

"Voices capture emotion, personality and the moment," Singh says. "It gives you the intangible that you can't get through text and data."

The idea had another appeal: It would work whether the person was calling on a rotary telephone or a smart phone.

With the help of Google employees in Switzerland and Australia, the new tweeting service was taking shape late Saturday night when Crossan realized he had overlooked one detail: He hadn't even told Google what he was doing.

That wasn't a major oversight because Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have always encouraged engineers to devote 20 percent of their time to pet projects. In theory, the freedom is supposed to foster new ideas and drive employees to work harder so their pet projects might turn into actual products more quickly.

The formula worked well in Google's early days, but the pace of innovation has slowed as the company grown to more than 24,000 employees. Google CEO Eric Schmidt is stepping aside from that job in April and handing the reins to Page as part of an effort to weed out bureaucracy and accelerate decision-making.

In Crossan's case, he saw that one of his bosses, Bradley Horowitz, happened to be online late Saturday. Crossan e-mailed him about the new service. Crossan said Horowitz told him the idea was "awesome." Crossan and Singh spent the rest of the night spent coding.

Although the speak-to-tweet service was available before dawn Sunday morning, it didn't attract a lot of attention until Google announced it on its corporate blog Monday afternoon.

Now, Crossan and Singh are hoping the speak-to-tweet survive will survive long after Egypt quiets down. If nothing else, they say it will serve as a reminder that phones still can serve another purpose besides texting and surfing the Web.

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Technology Writer

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Germany sells vision for 'green toys' to world

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:09:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

The hottest "green" toy in Germany isn't made of organic or recycled materials. That's so 2010. This one has a solar panel and only runs if kids remember to insert bright red "energy stones" that power the rest of the space station.

Germany, a pioneer in many renewable energy initiatives, is also at the forefront of creating environment-friendly toys aimed at making kids think about where energy comes from and how much of it they can use, raising awareness through play.

A panoply of high-tech green toys are on display at this year's Nuremberg toy fair, which runs through Sunday. Among them, hydroelectric-powered toy cars, and doll houses with wind turbines and rainwater catchers.

The bright green "Future Planet" space station features an inner atrium with a fan that is powered by a functioning solar cell. Its aim is to get kids to use their imagination about how energy will be created in the future.

Makers and retailers believe such toys will play an increasingly important role in their future — and that of our kids.

"Energy is the question of the future and we are definitely thinking about this as we move ahead," said Judith Schweinitz, a spokeswoman for Playmobil, maker of the solar panel-fitted space station. "It is increasingly being brought into our play concept."

Green toys — which range from those made of sustainable materials to ones like the space station that just raise environmental awareness — make up only a sliver of the nearly $84 billion international toy market, but their share is growing, studies indicate. Environmental research firm Earthsense, based in Syracuse, New York, predicts that green toys will account for about $1 billion, or 5 percent, of U.S. toy sales in the next five years.

Stacy Lu, a 46-year-old mother of twins from Allendale, New Jersey, is a self-described "rabidly eco-friendly" consumer who has researched toxins in the household — and is drawn to toys that make kids think about the planet's future.

"In my mind, just knowing that there are alternatives to energy sources that involve environmentally disastrous digging and drilling is important," said Lu, who recently bought her godson an alternative-energy electrical kit as a gift.

Eco-friendly toys were given a special section at the New York toy fair last year and organizers of the Nuremberg fair, Germany's leading international gathering of toy makers and sellers, also highlighted green toys.

Robert von Goeben, co-founder of San Francisco-based Green Toys Inc., started making toys and other children's products from recycled milk jugs in 2008. Since then, he said, sales have exploded, recording 80 percent growth last year as demand for the toymaker's bright tugboats, pastel tea sets and colorful trucks surged.

"I think that the success of our company, shows that there is clearly a wide segment of the population that will pay a little more for environmentally friendly toys," said von Goeben, whose toys cost roughly a third more than comparable playthings made from conventional materials.

But Wild Toys, makers of animal figures and exploration sets, said their experience had shown otherwise.

The company, which sells mainly to zoos and museum shops, jumped on the green bandwagon two years ago, bringing out a line of purely organic plush animals, even making sure the cotton for the stuffing was grown with organic fertilizer. The toys cost about 25 percent more than their conventional counterparts.

"They are still sitting in our warehouse," said Wild Toys spokesman Valdemar Barde, adding that consumers are not yet ready to swallow the cost of going green in the toy box.

"We are still in that phase on toys that consumers say, 'Yes, we want to be green, but no, we don't want to pay for it."

But according to a survey conducted by the Nuremberg toy fair, roughly a third of consumers in Germany said they would pay 10 to 20 percent more for playthings made from sustainable products, also with an eye to their longevity.

"Sustainable toys are also high-quality toys, meaning they last longer and then we also have the aspect that it is worth it to invest a few more euros," said Rainer Weisskirch spokesman for Germany's TUV quality control organization.

Von Goeben noted that safety concerns play a role and that recent scandals over cadmium in many Chinese-made toys and BPAs in conventional plastics have made parents more concerned about what goes into their kids' toys.

"No longer can we have this anonymous plastic thing from someplace and give it to the child. Parents are smart and they want information about what's in the product. That's what's really driving the market."

By MELISSA EDDY, Associated Pres

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noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 16:09:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Verizon Wireless on Friday said its first day of taking online orders for the iPhone produced record sales, and it's stopped taking orders until Wednesday.

The cell phone carrier said that in just two hours Thursday morning, between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., more customers had ordered the phone than in the full day of any previous phone launch.

The company didn't specify how many iPhones had been ordered. It halted orders at 8:10 p.m. Thursday, and said it will resume taking orders at 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

It's only taking orders from current Verizon subscribers. The phone will be available in stores for the general public next Thursday, but supplies are likely to be tight.

AT&T Inc. has so far been the exclusive carrier of Apple Inc.'s popular phone in the U.S. It activated 15.2 million of them last year. Analyst estimates for Verizon iPhone sales this year vary widely, from 5 million to 13 million. Analysts expect the sales to Verizon subscribers will be strong, but the big question is how many iPhone buyers will be jumping ship from other carriers.

Barclays Capital analyst James Ratcliffe wrote in a research note Friday that he had been expecting that AT&T would still be able to add a net 250,000 subscribers on contract-based plans in the first quarter, but news of the strong iPhone pre-orders on Verizon prompted him to lower that forecast to zero.

Verizon shares fell 7 cents to close at $36.31. AT&T shares fell 2 cents to $27.97. Both stocks are close to their two-year highs.

Verizon is offering trade-in rebates for new customers, which can help offset the cost of breaking a contract with AT&T. For instance, it's offering $212 for a 16-gigabyte iPhone 4 in good condition. AT&T's fee for breaking an iPhone 4 contract early is $325, but that's pro-rated by $10 per month.

On Thursday, Verizon revealed that it will slow down traffic for heavy data users on unlimited plans if they're hogging the local cell tower. This only applies to subscribers signing up for a new data plan, or renewing a contract. Since the unlimited data plan is required for the iPhone, Verizon is reserving the right to throttle all iPhone traffic.

It also said it will conserve data capacity by recoding all online video requested by data subscribers. It said the effect on image quality should be minimal.

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer

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iPhone App Strips Out Spam to Turn Twitter into a News Reader

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:19:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Web denizens are turning to social sites to find and consume news more and more. Smartr, an iPhone app released in mid-December, is going after the social news crowd who turn to Twitter for their daily news fix.

Smartr for iPhone [iTunes link], which comes from natural language processing startup Factyle, gathers all the tweets in your Twitter timeline and determines which of them have meaningful content. The app then fetches the web pages housed within tweets and optimizes the content -- text, images and video -- for iPhone.

Instead of seeing tweets, the Smartr user views a Twitter feed filled with news snippets. "It's a lens on top of your Twitter Feed," says Factyle founder Temo Chalasani.

Users can click on updates in the filtered Twitter stream to read a Smartr reformatted, ad-free version of the article, share it with Facebook, Tumblr or Posterous, and choose to save it in-app or via Instapaper or Read it Later.

The application is best suited for news junkies who want an experience that automatically filters out checkins, badges, stickers and updates of the same ilk -- updates the startup considers "Twitter spam."

Poorly formatted articles with excessive ads will also get caught in Smartr's spam filter, according to Chalasani.

The still-nascent application has a small but highly engaged audience, says Chalasani. App users are making Smartr their primary way of consuming content, and the team added in support for Twitter lists after its community clamored for the feature, he says.

Smartr just released an API, and next up is an iPad app slated to go live in 10 to 14 days. Future plans include feature updates to make Smartr even smarter -- think automatic queries that pull in Twitter, Facebook or other web info on people mentioned in articles. The company may also add price tags to the applications down the line.

The team behind Smartr spent two years building their natural language processing technology and was awarded a $160,000 grant from the Canadian government in the process, according to Chalasani. Factyle has since opted to focus on applying its technology to mobile to engineer a more fluid content consumption experience.

Factyle is operating on funds supplied by friends and family, but is actively seeking outside funding. The startup's line of mobile applications fall within the same category has those offered by the arguably more flashy Flipboard or Pulse. Factyle is betting that a significant pool of users will prefer the utility of Smartr over the magazine-style of the others.

Mashable by Jennifer Van Grove

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Man Used Facebook to Try to Blackmail Girl for Porn

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:19:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

A 27-year-old California man pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges that he tried to coerce a 14-year-old girl into sending him pornographic videos by threatening to publicize sexually explicit pictures of her that he'd dug up.

Starting in December 2008, James Dale Brown used Facebook to contact the girl, who lived out-of-state, demanding that she send him a video of her having sex.

Somehow he'd obtained photos of the girl, some of which were sexually explicit. He said that if she did not send him a video, he would send the pictures to the unidentified victims' underage friends. If she sent the video, he promised to "delete all pictures of her 'from the Internet,'" the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday in a statement.

Brown, a United Parcel Service (UPS) worker who used the alias "Bob Lewis" on Facebook, finally carried out his threat on April 18, 2009, sending links to an explicit image of the girl to one of the victim's friends. Five days later, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation raided Brown's Fremont, California, residence. He was arrested on Aug. 26, 2010.

Brown's lawyer, Robert Beles, could not be reached immediately for comment.

Just last month, another California man, George Bronk, admitted to breaking into more than 3,200 e-mail accounts in a hunt for explicit photos of women. He would use Facebook to learn answers to the security questions that Web-based e-mail services use to reset passwords and then use that information to break into his victims' Gmail and Yahoo Mail accounts.

Bronk ultimately convinced one woman to send him even more explicit photographs before he was arrested last year.

It isn't surprising that there are so many of these images in women's e-mail out-boxes and mobile phones, according to Amanda Lenhart, a senior research specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

According to her, a May 2010 Pew survey found that 6 percent of adults have sent a "suggestive nude or nearly nude photos of themselves to someone else via text messaging," a practice known as "sexting," she said in a January e-mail interview. Amongst 18-to-29 year-olds, that group jumped to 13 percent.

In another survey, Pew found that 15 percent of cell-phone owning teenagers had been sent sexually suggestive photos or videos of someone they know.

Brown could face 30 years in prison on the extortion and child pornography charges. He's set to be sentenced on May 11.
PC World

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Emerging markets boost Vodafone and Teliasonera

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:34:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Strong demand from emerging markets and from smartphone users helped cellphone operators Vodafone and TeliaSonera lift sales last year and give cause for confident outlooks for 2011.

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, nudged up its profit forecast for the year to end-March on Thursday, while Sweden's TeliaSonera cheered investors with a $1.6 billion share buyback, lifting its shares 2.9 percent.

Vodafone's service revenues in the last three months of 2010 rose 2.5 percent, in line with market expectations, thanks to strong demand in India and some improvements in Europe, although analysts said concerns remained about the business on its home continent.

Vodafone has made some of the biggest bets on emerging markets, including spending $11.1 billion in India in 2007 to get a 67 percent stake in what is now Vodafone Essar.

While demand is growing rapidly, the Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific division is still worth only 30 percent of group sales. It grew 9.3 percent on an organic basis in the third quarter, while European revenue edged up only 0.2 percent.

The British-based firm said it now expects adjusted operating profit for the year to end-March to be toward the upper end of its previously stated 11.8 to 12.2 billion-pound range ($19.1 to $19.8 billion).

But Vodafone shares were down 0.9 percent at 175.5 pence by 3:34 a.m. ET, the weakest performer in a flat Stoxx 600 Europe telecoms sector index.

Liberum Capital analyst Mark James said the headline numbers were good but noted that Europe was still tough and particularly so in Spain. Other analysts reckoned that the Vodafone share price was close to its fair value.

Vodafone has also recently restructured its business to now include the faster-growing Turkish market in its European division. In its previous structure, European service revenue was down 0.9 percent, following a fall of 0.8 percent in the previous quarter.

"One of the reasons we are not more enthusiastic on Vodafone is that its European operations, which generate some 70 percent of group EBITDA, are still going backwards," James said.

SMARTPHONES

Nevertheless both Vodafone and Teliasonera said they had benefited from increased demand for internet services. Mobile operators initially struggled to profit from the explosion in data traffic but many, including Vodafone, are now retreating from flat-rate tariffs.

Vodafone's data service revenue rose 27 percent in the last three months of 2010, while Telia said seven out of every 10 phones it sold in Sweden were now smartphones, whose users spend more time surfing and using premium services, boosting revenues.

Vodafone Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said: "Our performance has been driven by the effective execution of our strategy to strengthen our businesses and deliver growth, particularly in data services and emerging markets."

TeliaSonera, Europe's fifth-biggest operator by market value, said it expected sales in local currencies excluding acquisitions to grow 4 percent this year, though the strong Swedish crown could impact reported figures.

"This will mainly be driven by mobile data in the Nordic region, increased market share in Spain and higher mobile penetration in Eurasia," the company said in a statement.

Vodafone's improved outlook followed solid trading in its fiscal third quarter, with strong growth in India and Turkey and improvements in Britain, Germany and South Africa.

However, the Spanish market was worse than expected, with revenues down 7.4 percent.

Its business in Spain, which grew strongly for several years before the recession hit, has been particularly affected by thousands of migrant construction workers leaving the country and cancelling their contracts.

The group did add subscribers in the third quarter but with prices falling due to competition its revenues slumped. In contrast TeliaSonera, which has held onto customers by offering lower rates in the first place, said it expected to grow further in Spain.

TeliaSonera, which has also seen a growing share of income in recent years from markets like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, said its overall costs would grow less than sales, and its core profit margin should rise compared with 2010.

On Thursday British fixed-line operator BT and Danish operator TDC said they had also benefited from cost cuts and some analysts suggested investors should switch from Vodafone to BT.

(Reuter Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

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Dell Releases Ubuntu-powered Cloud Servers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:33:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Dell has released two servers for the U.S. market that have been customized to run Ubuntu-based cloud services, the company announced Wednesday.

Dell has outfitted its PowerEdge C2100 and C6100 servers with Canonical's Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC), an implementation of the Eucalyptus private cloud software that runs on the Ubuntu Server Edition operating system.

Dell is marketing the servers to organizations developing applications to run on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Organizations could use the servers to test the applications locally before uploading them to Amazon's paid service. The servers have a preconfigured testing and development environment. Eucalyptus duplicates the AWS APIs (application programming interfaces).

Partnering with Canonical allowed Dell to deliver an infrastructure-as-a-service product in an integrated package and based on open standards, said Andy Rhodes, executive director of marketing for Dell's data center solutions division, in a statement.

In the suggested setup, the C2100 server acts as a cloud compute node, while the C6100 can act either as a cloud compute server or as both a server and a node.

It marks the first time that Dell has offered the Linux-based Ubuntu OS in servers, although it has used the desktop edition of Ubuntu for some of its netbooks, laptops and PCs.

In addition to the servers themselves, Canonical also offers a variety of enterprise support subscription plans, which start at US$1,175 per server per year.
PC World

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Google Spills the Details on Tablet OS, Honeycomb

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:33:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

he great tease is over: Today, here at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., Google showed off Android 3.0, a tablet-friendly operating system also known as Honeycomb. The new tablet OS emphasizes a slick interface, beefed up graphics for games, and support for in-app purchases.

Along with the new operating system, Google also announced an Android Market Website that allows Android phone and tablet users to browse, purchase, and download apps directly to their devices -- no wires or USB syncing to a PC needed. The Web-based Android Market is live now.

The live Android 3.0 demos were performed on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet. Google showed off other enhancements to the OS, such as a Contact Shortcuts feature that allows you to create quick links to contacts for video chatting or sending e-mail. Google also offered live demonstrations of its video chat feature, new camera interface, visually immersive games, and multitasking capabilities.

One notable improvement is the redesigned message-notification system. Instead of a pull-down menu from the top, notifications are now a pull-up list from the bottom. Just like in Microsoft Windows, you'll see a pop-up (one Google described as un-intrusive, but that might depend upon your perspective) appear at the bottom right of the screen in landscape orientation (which was how Google demonstrated everything). The pro is that you see more information in each notification, and the messages disappear quickly.

Google also introduced a technology called RenderScript that allows smooth flipping, panning, and zooming of the Honeycomb interface and in apps such as Google Maps. The feature is credited to create a smooth navigating of the interface--similar in look and feel to Apple's Cover Flow technology.

Android 3.0: All About the Cloud

One important goal of Honeycomb, said Google vice president Andy Rubin, was to provide a seamless experience between Android devices and the cloud (Internet)."It's the cloud that makes these experiences seamless to improve performance," Rubin said. "In the future, you can see a real seamless integration between the phone, tablet, and Google TV."

Ultimately, the goals of Android 3.0 were multifold: To provide a better user experience, and to provide improved tools to developers using the AGILE development system. "We designed this platform for the amazing apps," said Hugo Barra, Google's director of product marketing.

One thing Google made a point to mention several times was that developers would be able to repurpose and reuse the new widgets, panes, and other elements added to the Android development toolkit. Presumably, the modularity of these elements will make it easier for developers to rapidly create new content, and to do so at a lower cost.

Web-based Android Market

Also introduced today was a version of the Android Market designed for access via the Web. Available now at market.android.com, the Web-version of Market provides a new way to search for content and install it directly to your device. You can choose your device from the Android Market interface, and your results are filtered to apps supported by your device. It provides an easy, single point of management for your apps across multiple devices, and apps get more room to advertise and explain themselves, too. Also confirmed as coming to the Market: In-app purchasing and local-currency support.

Unfortunately, the on-unit Android Market appears to be the same, and Google made no mention of whether any changes are afoot there; that version of Market is need of an update, too--particularly one that reflects that numerous devices and hardware/software fragmentation is the harsh reality of the Android universe.

Today's event gave us a closer look at some of the coming apps (CNN and Disney were among the developers who took the stage), and a brief overview of the new Honeycomb OS. The whole package looks promising and sweet, but I'll reserve final judgment for when I get a deep dive on the shipping version; only then will I be able to tell whether it goes far enough for Google to surge ahead of the competition.

PC World Melissa J. Perenson

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Google rolls out Android Market for Web browsers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:33:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Users of phones running Google Inc.'s Android operating system are getting more ways to browse and buy apps for playing games, reading the news and other tasks.

The Internet search leader announced its Android Market Web store Wednesday. The store lets users choose apps through a Web browser and have them installed remotely to their smart phones and tablets. Previously, the Android Market was only available on Android-running devices.

Chris Yerga, director of engineering for Android cloud services, said the move is meant to give users more ways to find and install apps on their Android-running gadgets. It also gives developers more control regarding the promotion and sale of apps, he said.

Like the Android Market app, the Web store allows you to look for apps by category or browse featured or most popular ones.

The announcement of the store, at market.android.com, came at a media event for a new version of Android. Called Honeycomb, the new software is geared toward tablet computers, which are growing more popular amid Apple's launch of the iPad last April.

Also Wednesday, Yerga said Google will start supporting in-app purchases, which means that Android app developers could make it possible for users to buy virtual items such as additional levels or features within games. This is a feature Apple Inc.'s iPhone already has.

Bart Decrem, general manager of mobile for The Walt Disney Co., demonstrated that feature on the popular music game "Tap Tap Revenge." In the game, which has long been available for the iPhone, users buy songs and then tap along on the touch screen in time to the music to score points.

Decrem co-founded Tapulous Inc., which created the "Tap Tap Revenge" games and was sold to Disney in July for an undisclosed amount. He said the games have been downloaded more than 50 million times so far.

Since "Tap Tap Revenge" games are free and make money from advertising and in-game song sales, the announcement is a big deal for Decrem.

"It's a pretty big step forward in the maturing of the platform as an app platform," he said.By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer

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Honeycomb Brings Data Encryption to Android Tablets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:33:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

As much as we all like to hear about advanced cameras, more memory and faster processors in upcoming tablets, there's one very important feature - especially to business customers - that's been lacking from Android tablets so far: data encryption.

This is about to change with Android 3.0 a.k.a. Honeycomb, which brings the option to encrypt all data on the tablet and protect it with a password.

Engadget has spotted the option on Motorola Xoom, but Google claims it's not a Motorola exclusive, which means it'll be available on most upcoming Honeycomb-based tablets. The description of the option (see image below) claims you can "encrypt your accounts, settings, downloaded applications and their data, media and other files".

The encryption process takes an hour or more, but there are still many unknowns about the feature: we don't know what crypto standard is used for encryption (the iPad uses 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption) and will encrypting the data slow down your tablet and drain more battery in everyday usage. (mashable)

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Verizon iPhone comes, but should you buy?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:30:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Ever since Apple's iPhone went on sale in 2007, Verizon Wireless customers have held out hope that, one day, AT&T's grip as its exclusive U.S. distributor would be broken.

That day arrives next week, when Verizon's iPhone goes on sale. Verizon is accepting preorders from existing customers beginning Thursday.

It's the same phone as AT&T sells, with a few small tweaks. The price is the same: $200 or $300, depending on how much memory you want. Verizon wants your signature on a two-year contract, just like AT&T.

But even if it's the same phone, Verizon does things differently from AT&T, so there are some important factors to consider if you're thinking about getting one.

The big difference is likely to be network performance. AT&T's network is notoriously congested in some cities, including San Francisco, where for a week I tested both phones side by side. Out in the country, Verizon has much wider coverage for broadband wireless data.

The Verizon model was generally speedier at loading maps, websites and videos. For example, I was already done watching a YouTube clip of an adorable sneezing baby panda on Verizon's phone when AT&T's finally gave up on loading the video. At times, I couldn't make a call on the AT&T iPhone but could easily do so on the Verizon one.

So Verizon was faster for me, but the situation could be the opposite in many places across the country. Where AT&T's network isn't congested, it's actually faster than Verizon's, at least where AT&T has made recent upgrades.

There are two other big changes.

Verizon's iPhone is the first to work on so-called CDMA networks, the type Verizon uses. AT&T uses GSM, a technology that's more widely used around the world. This means the Verizon iPhone has very limited international roaming abilities. It won't work at all in Europe, for instance.

Verizon's iPhone also includes Personal Hotspot, a Wi-Fi sharing feature that is becoming increasingly common on smart phones. It lets you connect as many as five gadgets to the Internet through the iPhone. If you're stuck without an Internet connection for your laptop, for instance, you connect through the phone and Verizon's cellular network.

The feature is easy to use, but there's a price for this convenience: $20 per month on top of what customers already pay for voice and data services. With voice, text and data plans, that could mean monthly bills topping $110.

By contrast, AT&T lets you use the iPhone to surf on the Web on a single computer — and only by connecting the two with a USB cable or through Bluetooth. This, too, costs an extra $20 per month.

Another thing to consider about Verizon's iPhone: If you're a data hog, or think you might want to be one, you might be drawn to Verizon's data plan, which allows for unlimited use.

AT&T got rid of unlimited-data plans for new customers last year. Most users get by with the 2 gigabytes of data alloted through its $25-per-month plan, which is $5 cheaper than Verizon's unlimited plan. But if you go over the monthly allotment you'll shell out for more data — $10 automatically for every gigabyte or fraction of it over.

If unlimited data is a must, sign up now, because Verizon has said it will switch to limited-data plans some time this year. By getting an iPhone now, you can lock in the unlimited plan for at least two years.

Another thing to consider about Verizon's iPhone: You won't be able you use data services while making a phone call. That means that if you're chatting with your grandmother about her upcoming birthday, you can't put your grandma on speakerphone while ordering her a bouquet of tulips online. Nor can you look for new games in Apple's iTunes App Store while jumping into that conference call for work.

It's annoying, though not a deal breaker, for me at least. And if you can connect to Wi-Fi, you will be able to use that to get online while talking on the phone.

Beyond the features, whether you get one will depend on when you last got your phone. If you are switching from another carrier and must pay hefty contract termination fees, it may not be worth it. Likewise, if you recently got a phone through Verizon Wireless, you'll likely pay more than the standard $200 or $300 price.

One more consideration: It's likely a new iPhone model will be out this summer, and it's not clear whether Verizon will get it right away. If it will, then this is a bad time to buy the iPhone 4. If it won't, the new AT&T iPhone 5 might be attractive enough to justify getting that instead of a Verizon iPhone 4. Unfortunately, we probably won't get any answers on this for months.

If weighing the pros and cons get to be too much, just remember that whether you buy it now or hold out for the next iteration, you're still getting an iPhone, silly.

And when it comes to smart phones, that's a smart decision.By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer

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Top iPhone games from Chillingo

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:05:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

October was a good month for the mobile gaming publisher and distributor Chillingo, to say the least. It was announced that gaming giant Electronic Arts was purchasing the company for $20 million, while they continued to dominate due to the success of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope.

So while the company’s tagline as ‘The Premier Games Publisher’ could be viewed as a little bragadocious, at the same time it’s hard to argue with them, at least as far as iOS gaming goes.

But I’m not here to argue that statement, but instead pick the best games from the premier games published – sans Angry Birds, as the phenomenon behind that game has been discussed at length already. Given the company’s large catalog of games, and their impressive number of successes, the issue certainly isn’t coming up with enough apps, but instead somehow limiting it to only five.

Cut the Rope ($0.99)

While Cut the Rope is relatively new to the iPhone, it is already evident that it is one of the few games with the goods to compete with Angry Birds. In fact, last month Chillingo announced that the ZeptoLab game reached two million sales within the first three weeks of its release.

For the few who have yet to check it out, it is a puzzle game in which you have to get candy into the mouth of a cute, green monster-looking thing called Om Nom. This puzzler has a number of gameplay elements that will be familiar to physics gaming fans – such as air pumps and jagged spikes – and a few that are unique – such as a spider slowly crawling down the rope toward the candy. Just about everything the game offers is above average, most notably its nice presentation and impressive replay value. Though it sounds like a casual gamer’s delight (and it is), Cut the Rope is a good enough game for any iOS device user to download.

Predators ($0.99)

Chillingo’s first movie-themed game – Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – was a modest success, but Predators success has been anything but. Unlike many of the company’s releases there are no cute characters, humorous one-liners or cartoonish graphics here, but instead intense action gaming you would expect from a game based on a film of this type.

Like the latest movie, the game takes place on an alien planet, and you control a Predator and must kill the human prey. The controls are at first unspectacular, using the typical d-pad with two action button set-up. But there are a number of combos, such as the spectacular trophy kill, that make this much more than your standard button masher. It can get a bit gory so it isn’t recommended for someone looking for a more playful action game (see Guerrilla Bob for that), but as long as you don’t mind a little blood and guts with your iPhone gaming experience than Predators is all kinds of fun.

Guerrilla Bob ($2.99)

Guerrilla Bob is a dual-stick shooter from Angry Mob Games, and while it’s one of the higher-priced games published by Chillingo, most would agree it’s also well worth it. The app’s most noteworthy feature is its look, which is both colorful and full of character.

As far as gameplay goes, it’s solid and there’s enough depth as well, including multiple modes (including a story campaign mode) and a variety of over-the-top weapons. Furthermore, even on the easy mode this isn’t the easiest game, as enemies come fast and are equipped with some wicked weapons themselves. Guerrilla Bob definitely isn’t reinventing the dual-stick shooter genre, but it does the necessary things well and has great presentation. That makes this not just one of the top games with Chillingo attached to it, but one of the top dual-stick shooters available.

Helsing’s Fire ($0.99)

The success of Helsing’s Fire confirms my faith in the video game industry, as it’s always nice to see such a stylish and unique title become a success. While at its core this is a puzzle game, it includes boss battles that add an action element to the game and spice things up.

At the beginning of each of the game’s 120 levels you are given potions and you must decide what order to use them in and in what areas to use them in, avoiding things such as damsels in distress. The game’s dialogue is humorous and witty, and while it’s a relatively small part of the overall experience it’s good enough that you’ll look forward to passing a level just to see what absurd thing the two characters have to say next. I wholeheartedly recommend the game to puzzle gamers, for no other reason than you simply haven’t played anything like this before.

Knight’s Rush & Knights Onrush (both $0.99)

Knight’s Rush is acknowledged as the sequel to Knights Onrush, though they are quite different games. The series’ first release, Onrush, is a castle defense game, with you flicking enemies away and using various weapons such as cannons to protect your castle door. The second release from MoreGames Entertainment, Rush, is a side-scrolling action adventure app that can easily be described as a hack-n-slash game. Of course there are plenty of similarities as well, from the game’s nice cartoon graphics to the addition of RPG elements such as leveling up and the ability to purchase additional weapons. Both games also feature frenetic gameplay, though it has to be said it can become repetitive. That complaint aside, Knight’s Rush and Knights Onrush are both good times, especially for anyone looking for a medieval-themed action game.(appolicious)

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These iPhone apps will keep you up-to-date on world news events

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:04:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Americans aren’t exactly celebrated for their international savvy. Most speak just one language, and forget about asking them to name foreign heads of state. But that doesn’t mean you can’t buck the trend.

Whether you want to read up on the drug czars in Mexico, or the Taliban in Pakistan, your iPhone is a good place to start. So check out these international news apps, they are the best of the bunch. All apps are free unless otherwise noted.

The Associated Press app is a good choice not only because of its excellent content, but also for its customized features. When you first open the app, it allows you to select what region of the globe you are in, as well as in what languages you would like to view the news. Its wire rival, Reuters, also earns a spot on our list for its impressive collection of video clips. The Reuters app is a good wire source for international news too.

For really innovative, alternative reporting, check out the PRI (Public Radio International) app. A great recent story examined corruption in the Ukraine through the eyes of American businessman trying to open a business in Kiev, without paying out bribes. (He didn’t succeed).

You can’t go wrong with the BBC News app, either. The content is terrific, and it comes from every corner of the globe. You can browse stories by geography and by topic. In addition, the app includes lots and lots of news in a dozen foreign languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Urdu. There is plenty of audio and video clips in addition to written content.

To western ears, Al Jazeera may have been accused of flirting with terrorist propaganda produced by the likes of Osama bin Laden, but its role in the Arab world cannot be overlooked. It offers fascinating and important news from non-western sources. Recent stories took a look at the United States' mid-term elections: They are even more a spectacle to the outside world than they are to us!

Other good sources of international and national news via your iPhone include The New York Times app and The Wall Street Journal app. Yes, both are based in the Big Apple and run a little heavy on East coast stories, but considering they employ many of the best journalists in the world, they can hardly be ignored.

Finally, if you could only select one iPhone app to supply all your international and national news go for the NPR News (National Public Radio) app. The quality of reporting is outstanding, the writing is superb and the multimedia features are second to none. (appolicious.com)

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Apple stores freeze iPhone sales; situation to improve after Nov.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 09:02:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Along with the opening of a simplified Chinese Apple online store, the sales model of the Apple iPhone 4 saw a second change in a month. Apple's brick-and-mortar stores have already suspended sale of the mobile phone products and other products that are on sale normally. But exceeding all expectations, there is now no supply of the iPhone 4 at Apple's online store.

People cannot buy iPhone 4 online or offline.

Apple launched its official online store in China on Oct. 27, saying it is the easy way to buy products online, such as iPhone 4 and iPad. Reporters found yesterday on the iPhone online order page that only the 8GB model of iPhone 3GS can be ordered, but the 16GB and 32GB models of the iPhone 4 are out of stock.

A reporter had successful made an order and bought an iPhone 4 earlier, and the delivery time was shown as one to two weeks. A netizen said that he had also successfully ordered an iPhone 4 in the afternoon of the day before yesterday.

Are the orders are full in the short term or are there really no goods in stock? Yesterday, an Apple public relations official only said that it is taking the online information as usual and did not disclose other conditions.

Beijing currently has two Apple retail stores. Sanlitun Apple Store staff told reporters that the store has suspended sales of mobile phone products.

"All mobile phones are now sold through the online store and customers must pay the money after the order is made, then the company will distribute it to the designated place for free," the staff member said.

This means that Apple's sales model for the iPhone 4 once again changed. Since it began selling last month, the iPhone 4 was a hot item, and the price was driven up by scalpers.

On Oct. 8, Apple started to require online reservations in China and limited purchase to one per person per day. People must book online first and then go to the store to pick up the goods. Since that time the store has always displayed a sign saying the iPhone is not in stock. (peopledaily)

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BlackBerry Tablet Computer Poised for Debut

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:07:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Research In Motion may debut a tablet computer next week at a conference for developers that tailor software for the Canadian firm’s BlackBerry smartphones, according to the Wall Street Journal. RIM responded to an AFP inquiry with a terse email stating that the company’s “standard policy is to decline comment on rumors and speculation.”

A tablet computer referred to unofficially as the “BlackPad” is due for release by RIM by the end of the year, prompting talk that it will be introduced at a Devcon 2010 gathering beginning in San Francisco on Monday. The Journal cited unnamed insiders as saying BlackPad will have a seven-inch touch-screen, built-in cameras, and link wirelessly to cellular networks through BlackBerry smartphones.

BlackBerry smartphones have been under pressure from Apple iPhones and handsets running on Google-backed Android software. Apple earlier this year unleashed a new titan into the mobile arena in the form of its hot-selling iPad tablet computers and firms have been racing to field competing devices.

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iPods and Mobile phones 'behind Surge in Road

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 05:05:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Texting while driving and listening to iPods are increasingly to blame for fatal road accidents, according to safety campaigners. They claim young drivers in particular ignore new laws introduced in 2003 that make using a mobile phone while at the wheel illegal.

A major safety conference will be told today that more young drivers are dying on Britain's roads than 15 years ago. Tune into Traffic also claim young people are more likely to die in a car crash than to be stabbed, abused or neglected.

Overall death rates on the roads have fallen by a third since the mid-1990s but 16 per cent more 16-19-year-olds drivers are being killed today. Campaigners want new initiatives on road safety to focus on the dangers of texting or fidding with an iPod while driving or cycling.

Tune into Traffic, an online campaign group, wants the Green Cross Code's traditional 'Stop, Look, Listen' message to be updated. It insists young drivers need to be warned about the dangers of listening to music and not being alert while at the wheel.

Founder Manpreet Darroch said: Road traffic collisions are the biggest cause of death among young people and, from our own observations and what young people are telling us, the distraction posed by these devices is huge.'

He added: 'Road traffic collisions are the biggest single cause of death among young people in Britain and the world and we're asking Government to take notice of the way modern lifestyles are contributing to that horrible fact.'

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner warned about the dangers of iPods in 2008 after the death of a cyclist while she was listening to the device.Abigail Haythorne, 17, died of severe head injuries after she cycled into the path of an oncoming car, apparently without noticing it.

The coroner said: 'I would urge cyclists to reserve their hearing and not to use their earphones while using the roads.'Jordan Bell, 14, also died in 2008 after she failed to look up while crossing the road and stepped out in front of a car while listening to her iPod.

Delegates at the World Safety Conference in London will also suggest that young drivers should be banned from driving at night or unsupervised with friends.

Researchers at Cardiff University claim 'graduated driver licensing' for 17 to 19-year-olds could save more than 200 lives and avoid 1,700 serious injuries a year.

The system, already in place in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and parts of the U.S., means the young drivers obtain their licence but can only drive under certain conditions. Researcher Sarah Jones said: 'Most people in this country know someone who has been touched by the death or injury of a young driver.

'GDL works in other countries and there's no good reason why it wouldn't work here - the cost ot eh NHS would be significantly reduced.'

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents supports the call for drivers and road users to avoid being distracted by music and mobile phones.
But it warned against the practical problems of introducing a graduated licence, which would be complicated to police.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'We urge young professionals to give the road their full attention and we promote the Tune into Traffic campaign through our THINK! materials for use in schools.'

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The 18 Best iPhone Apps

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:50:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

No need to sift through all the titles at the App Store--here are some of the best iPhone apps, including IncrediBooth, Whole Foods, and WolframAlpha.

Seeking the best productivity tools, utilities, and games for your iPhone? Here's our selection of the best apps exclusive to Apple handsets. To see multiplatform apps and titles made just for Android or BlackBerry, read the other articles in this package.

Productivity Tools

Sync your calendar: CalenGoo syncs with your Google Calendar and even has a similar look. Other neat features include the ability to invite people to events, plus an integrated task list. $7

Browse in style: Re-creating a desktop browser on the iPhone's screen, Atomic Browser has tabs, ad blocking, multitouch gestures, a passcode lock, Facebook/Twitter integration, and more. Free basic version, $1 premium version

Manage your reading: Through Instapaper you can save Web articles you browsed on your iPhone for later reading, using a browser bookmarklet. The Instapaper Website reformats your saved articles (sans Flash ads and clutter) for quick reading on the desktop. $5

Reference Apps

Get answers: The WolframAlpha app is the ultimate tool for know-it-alls. Ask questions in sentence form ("What is Nancy Pelosi's voting record?"), and the semantic search engine returns the answer. Though it can already answer just about any question you ask, the creators are constantly updating it with new information, making it an ideal companion for pub trivia night. $2

Whole Foods for iPhoneWhole Foods gives you ideas for dinner and presents recipes in a clean interface.Discover healthful recipes: In the Whole Foods app you can find creative recipes using what you have on hand, and see them in an easy-to-read interface. Free

Cook with a pro: The How to Cook Everything app, based on Mark Bittman's book of the same name, gives you access to 2000 recipes, as well as to no-nonsense cooking advice, how-to illustrations, ingredient information, built-in timers, and organized shopping lists. $5

Utilities and Timesavers

Watch your calories: For keeping track of your caloric intake, Lose It is a handy tool. The app tells you exactly what you're eating during the day, and it gives you a chance to enter your food intake on the go, so that you don't forget to do so later. Free

Add a phone line: Line2 brings a second line to your phone (with a special number). Calls on that line connect as free or cheap VoIP calls over a Wi-Fi or 3G data connection, but they can move to a cell network (which costs you plan minutes) when such connections are unavailable. This service is great if you have weak cell coverage in your home, or if you just want to cut down your cell-minutes usage. $15 per month

Never forget passwords: To maintain your usernames and passwords on your iPhone in one place, try 1Password. The mobile app syncs with the desktop version, as well. If you wish, you can use it to store other personal information, too, such as your Social Security number and credit card numbers. $10 basic version, $15 premium version

Locate Wi-Fi anywhere: A must-have for travelers, Wi-Fi Finder is a directory of paid and free Wi-Fi hotspots in over 280,000 locations in 140 countries. You can filter results by provider or by location (restaurant, café, and so on). Free

Find your way: The TomTom app turns your phone into a GPS navigation device with turn-by-turn directions. Maps and routes are stored in your phone's memory, so updating maps and changing routes happens quickly and without requiring a wireless network connection. $50

Audio and Photo Tools

IncrediBooth for iPhoneIncrediBooth faithfully re-creates old-time photo-booth fun.Revisit the photo booth: One of the first apps to use the iPhone 4's front-facing camera, IncrediBooth gives you an almost genuine photo-booth experience (minus the shopping-mall atmosphere). You get three "retro effects," and you can share a photo strip or just one image with Facebook friends. $1

Make trippy photos: In Diptic you can combine two or three photos to create a cool new image. Juxtaposing a close-up of your cat with a photo of your pals has never been so addicting. $2

Hear new music: In Last.fm you enter the name of an artist you like, and the app recommends other artists based on your preferences. You can listen to as much music as you want, too. Free

Find public radio: With Public Radio Tuner you can hear public radio stations from all over the country. After detecting your location, the app can supply a list of the stations around you. Free

Entertainment Apps and Games

Keep it rolling: In the bizarre but fun I Love Katamari, you're a pint-size alien prince who has been ordered by the King of All Cosmos to collect objects by rolling a highly adhesive Katamari ball. You use the phone's accelerometer to control the Katamari. $5

Slay the undead: The Plants vs. Zombies strategy game has you defending your home from zombie invasion with an arsenal of deadly flora. Cute animation, witty humor, and addictive gameplay make this title one of the best paid games in the App Store. $3

Play word games: In the Scrabble-like Words With Friends you can play against buddies or strangers. The game cleverly uses push notifications to tell you to take your turn, and you can invite pals to play via social networks. Free

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Apple's iPhone 4 Lives Up to All Expectations

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:49:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

The Apple iPhone 4 ($199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB version, with a two-year contract from AT&T) is everything that a new piece of technology should be: It's innovative, attractive, and ahead of its competition. In comparison, previous iPhone upgrades seem inconsequential--that's how much iPhone 4 brings to the table. But two serious design flaws keep it from being perfect. Before there were fixes, we were hesistant to recommend the phone and therefore removed its rating. Now that both of these issues have been addressed and fixed, we have reinstated a rating for the iPhone 4 and put it back on our Top 10 Phones chart.

By now, you've probably heard all about the iPhone 4's poorly placed antenna and dropped data speeds when the phone is held in a certain way. Apple addressed this issue in a press conference on July 16 and offered free cases to iPhone owners as a solution. This fix is a clumsy solution to the problem, but it does fix the dropped calls issue.

Perhaps a bigger issue was the phone's faulty proximity sensor, which caused the phone to activate while you made a phone call. Before the fix, we accidentally sent e-mails with our cheeks, turned on FaceTime and muted the phone while on a call. Fortunately, the iOS 4.1 update, available on September 8, completely fixes the proximity sensor problem.

For more detailed accounts of some of the issues we've had with the phone, read iPhone 4 Fix: Many Questions Left Unanswered and iPhone 4 Hell: A Personal Tale of iPhone 4 Woes.
Premium Design

The iPhone 4's look can be described in one word: stylish. Whereas the iPhone 3GS looks and feels plasticky, the iPhone 4 is svelte and has a premium feel. Surprisingly, it achieves that impression while retaining the same general design, although the edges appear a bit more squared than before.

It's noticeably slimmer than the iPhone 3GS, measuring 0.37 inch deep versus the iPhone 3GS's thickness of 0.48 inch (that translates to 24 percent less). The iPhone 4 is also slightly narrower, 2.31 inches to 2.44 inches. The weight stays the same at 4.8 ounces, but the tweaks to the dimensions make the iPhone 3GS seem almost blocky in comparison. (See all iPhone 4 specs.)

However, it's the aesthetic design touches that make the iPhone 4 an upgrade from the 3GS. The overall design screams elegance--from the rounded, individual volume up and down buttons that replace the plastic volume rocker on the iPhone 3GS to the ring/silent switch and the power/sleep button up top. The face and back are made of glass that is specially treated to withstand scratches and oily fingers, according to Apple. Despite the company's claims, though, I found that both the front and back of my review unit were ridden with fingerprints after only a couple of hours of use.

The side edging is stainless steel, and doubles as the device's three cellular and wireless antennas. At the iPhone 4 launch, Steve Jobs proclaimed that this new design would improve wireless reception. Hooray, we thought--until we heard about its serious design flaw. When you hold a phone, you're sometimes inclined to grip it by its edges. But if you hold the iPhone 4 by its edges, your fingers might block its antennas, thus seriously degrading the wireless connectivity. Senior Editor Mark Sullivan conducted a series of data tests around San Francisco to see how much the connectivity was affected by this, ahem, design fail. In the majority of his tests, he saw dramatic decreases in connectivity. Apple's response to this problem? The company essentially suggests that users not hold the phone in that way.
Gorgeous Display

Of course, the iPhone 4 isn't just about cosmetic enhancements, pleasing as they are. What makes this phone such a technological improvement is what's inside the handset.

Like its predecessor, the iPhone 4 has a 3.5-inch display. But the new phone's screen doubles the resolution to a 960-by-640-pixel IPS display. At 326 pixels per inch, this is the highest resolution available on a phone to date.

That display truly makes a difference. Whereas the iPhone 3GS's text--in the menus, in apps, or on Web pages--appears thick, fuzzy, and undefined, the iPhone 4's text is razor sharp, even when enlarged (as we tried doing when viewing a PDF).

The new "Retina display"--so named because it surpasses the number of pixels that the human retina can process--also greatly improves the sharpness, clarity, and visible detail of images.

In both cases, we'd liken the magnitude of difference to that between a standard-definition 480p DVD and a high-definition 1080p Blu-ray Disc: When you view both on an HDTV, the differences are striking. And once you see them, you can't go back.

The real value of the new display will become evident for people who spend time reading on the iPhone 4. We expect that the display will make reading a more pleasurable experience (although, clearly, limits will remain given the inherently modest screen size--modest, at least, as compared with handsets such as the HTC EVO 4G, which has a 4.3-inch screen, and with the much larger 9.7-inch iPad screen).
iOS 4: Best Features

The iPhone 4 uses Apple's A4 CPU, the same processor powering the Apple iPad. It runs the newly renamed iOS 4 operating system (which the iPad will also use, starting in the fall).

As part of iOS 4, the iPhone 4 gains a bevy of capabilities. One of them--multitasking--is long overdue, but as with the long-awaited cut-and-paste feature, Apple delivers on the promise of making multitasking work smoothly.

You quickly double-tap on the home button to pull up a pane that shows which apps are open. From there, you can swipe horizontally through the apps that the iPhone 4 has retained in either a running or suspended state.

When you find the app you want, you just click on the icon. The app will then resume its activity, and, if written to take advantage of this new feature, it will pick up precisely where you left off. At the very least, reaccessing the app will be faster.

Equally as elegant as multitasking is Apple's implementation of Folders, an increasingly necessary addition. To add icons into a folder, you simply drag one icon on top of another to create the folder, which automatically gets the name of the category those apps share--or, if you prefer, you can rename the folder on the spot. You can pack a maximum of 12 apps within a single folder (giving you three rows of four apps across the home screen). And, thanks to the addition of Folders, you can now add up to a maximum of 2160 apps.
Dramatic Camera Boost

The iPhone 4 brings much-desired camera and video recording advances, as well. The primary camera on the back bumps up from 3 megapixels to 5 megapixels, while retaining the same pixel size (which can further improve image quality). The camera also gains an LED flash, a backlit sensor, and an integrated 5X zoom. The camera now lets you shoot in high-def, at 720p, 30 frames per second; in addition, video gains the tap-to-focus feature already available on the still camera.

PCWorld's testing methodology for the iPhone 4's camera (as well three Android smartphones) was a truncated version of our regular testing methodology for point-and-shoot cameras. We affixed each phone to a tripod and shot two images with the flash turned off:

1. One still-life scene with a color chart and delightful random objects to rate exposure quality and color accuracy.

2. A target chart and printed text to evaluate sharpness and distortion levels.

Here's evidence that megapixel counts rarely matter: Apple's 5-megapixel iPhone 4 beat out the other smartphones we tested for overall image quality, serving up well-exposed, brightly colored images. However, the iPhone 4's image quality did lag behind the competition in two categories, sharpness and visible distortion.

We tested the camcorder capabilities of the iPhone 4 (along with those same three Android smartphones) in the same way we test pocket digital camcorders. Lab Manager Tony Leung recorded a 1-minute video of a toy train and Ferris wheel to gauge several aspects of the video quality: smoothness of motion, color accuracy, and artifacting. We shot the same scene twice, with each device in the same tripod location at its highest video-quality setting--once in bright indoor lighting, and again with the overhead lights turned off and a floor lamp turned on behind the phone. Once we shot all of the footage, our panel of judges rated each clip for its overall quality.

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iPhone: Great Device, Lousy Telephone?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:49:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

If you have an iPhone, this experience may be familiar: Your phone shows only a bar or two, and either you can't make a call or the call you do make is so scratchy and garbled that the person you're calling can't understand what you're saying. Meanwhile, right next to you, someone on a different AT&T phone connects without a hitch and chats away happily. I decided to informally test whether there's a solid basis for that common gripe. My findings: The two iPhones I tested had lower rates of connecting successfully and had poorer voice quality in AT&T low-signal areas than did two non-Apple AT&T phones that I tested under the same conditions.

I tested four phones on AT&T service in two cities over three days. I drove around San Francisco and Los Angeles comparing the performance of the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS against the performance of the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000 and the Pantech Impact in voice calls placed at roughly the same time from areas where coverage from the AT&T network is less than optimal.

What I found was surprising. Calls on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS failed to connect or dropped in midcall far more often than did calls on the other two phones, and the iPhone calls that connected successfully sounded marginally worse than calls placed with the BlackBerry and Pantech phones.

My testing is not meant to be scientific or definitive, but the results raise real questions about the world's favorite smartphone: Is the iPhone a great personal computing device but a bad phone? Please click the chart below to see average call quality scores (on a 1-5 scale) for all test calls made in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Voice call quality chart; click for full-size image.
Testing Methodology

I made test calls from seven medium- to low-signal locations in San Francisco; then I validated my results with a second round of testing at the same locations two days later. Finally, I performed similar tests from five locations in Los Angeles. I tested from various locations, including a parking garage, a forest, a train station, a library basement, and a moving bus. I noted each dropped or failed call, and scored each successful call that I made using the five-point Mean Opinion Score (MOS), a scale developed by Bell Labs to quantify call quality. (Please see the "Mean Opinion Scoring Guide"--the rightmost column in the accompanying chart--for definitions of the possible call quality scores, 1 through 5.)

At locations where my first call on a given phone dropped, I noted the drop and then placed an additional call, applying a MOS number to the second call if it completed successfully. Obviously, I couldn't give a voice quality score to a phone if it failed in both attempts to complete a call at a certain location.
The Dropped-Call Champions

The data point that sticks out in my results is the number of dropped or failed calls placed by iPhones during my tests, especially in the San Francisco tests. In total, the iPhone 4 dumped or couldn't connect in half of test calls -- 14 out of 28 -- in low-signal areas. The iPhone 3GS did even worse, connecting only 12 calls in 30 attempts, for a success rate of 40 percent.

Meanwhile the iPhones' competition in our tests proved far more reliable in dealing with less-than-ideal signal strength. The least expensive phone in our tests--the Pantech Impact--had zero failed or dropped calls in the 19 test calls I placed on it, despite poor cell conditions. The BlackBerry Bold 9000 was also far more reliable than the iPhones, connecting on 18 out of 21 test calls in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Call Quality

I also evaluated the voice quality on calls that connected successfully. In my conversations with a colleague in the PC World office, I listened for things like drop-outs, static, thin or fading voice, delay, and garble, and I gave each call a MOS score based on the cumulative disruption caused by these imperfections over the course of the call.

Here, the results were more favorable to the iPhone, and much closer across the four phones I tested. All four phones earned average MOS score of between 3 and 4 (that is, between "annoying" and "fair"), a range that is said to be typical of calls placed on cell phones.

On average, the iPhone 3GS scored the worst of the four phones in call quality. The 12 calls (out of 30 total) that the 3GS managed to connect and hold received an average MOS score of 3.16 (out of a possible 5). The iPhone 4, with its improved antenna (provided you hold it just so), fared a little better than its predecessor did in my call quality tests. The 14 (out of 28) successful test calls placed on the iPhone 4 averaged a mark of 3.27, also between "annoying" and "fair" on the MOS scale, though again, like the iPhone 3GS's score, closer to "annoying."

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 produced the highest-quality voice calls overall in my tests. Calls made with the Bold 9000 had an average MOS score of 3.77 across 18 test calls, putting it near the upper end of the range between “annoying” and “fair." The Pantech Impact also outperformed the iPhones in call quality, with an average MOS score of 3.61 for its 19 test calls.

The BlackBerry Bold 9000 proved the best phone in our tests for placing calls from low-signal areas.
Conclusions

The iPhone's poor performance in my tests could have been caused by myriad things, from the tuning of the iPhone antenna to the amount of network resources AT&T allocates to voice calls placed by iPhones specifically.

Neither AT&T nor Apple offered any sort of explanation. In response to a request for comment, an AT&T spokesperson said merely: “We recommend you reach out to the device manufacturers." Apple did not return our calls requesting comment.

The iPhone is undeniably a superb device for browsing the Web, playing games, and watching videos. Further, the iPhone 4 clearly improved on its predecessor in microphone quality, speaker quality, and noise cancellation effectiveness, all of which help make voice calls sound great--when cell service is strong.

But at least for now, weak cell-signal zones are a fact of life for just about everybody, whether you encounter them on the road, in your office, or in your living room. Cell signals also tend to degrade when making their way through the walls of our homes, necessitating an amplifier--or in AT&T’s case, a Microcell--that, more often than not, you have to pay for. And wireless operators usually invest in additional cell towers and in radio improvement only when increased traffic levels (which translate into average revenue) are likely to be high enough to justify the capital expense.

While we don't have the resources to do our testing nationwide, the data I collected in San Francisco and Los Angeles, combined with the anecdotal evidence, is enough to indicate that iPhones may well have more difficulty than other phones placing calls in areas of less-than-optimal wireless service.

If you're considering buying an iPhone, and phone calls are important to you, it's wise to take the time to test the phone for as long as laws in your state allow to understand how well the device works in the low-signal areas you frequent.
(source articel: PC World)

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iPhone vs. Everybody: Battle of the Smartphone Death Grips

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:49:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

When reports began flooding in that Apple’s new iPhone 4 suffers from a serious antenna problem that disrupts voice and data signals, Apple fired back at its critics and competitors by claiming that all smartphones have the same issue. But do they? To see how common a problem antenna attenuation is, we took the iPhone 4 and five of its top smartphone competitors into the field to put Apple’s claims to the test. Here’s what we found.

We tested five smartphones that compete with the iPhone 4: the HTC Nexus One (T-Mobile), the HTC EVO 4G (Sprint; not on 4G), the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 (Sprint), the Motorola Droid X (Verizon), and the Samsung Captivate (AT&T). First we measured each model’s signal strength when held normally. Then we tested each handset while holding it in its death grip--the position where our hand covered the phone's antenna most effectively.

Because signal loss has far more severe real-world implications in environments where cellular coverage is already poor, we decided to test in a weak signal environment that we had previously identified in our ongoing testing of 3G network performance. The location we chose was Crestline Drive (Google Earth), near San Francisco’s Twin Peaks; we have consistently obtained poor coverage from all four of the major networks at this location.

We measured signal strength in decibels per milliwatt (dBm), a standard way of expressing the power of a radio signal in relation to 1 milliwatt. In high-signal areas--for example, in locations where a smartphone user stands close to a cell tower--a signal measured at -51 dBm is the highest (and best) that can be achieved. In poor coverage areas, phones can connect and hold a call until the signal weakens to approximately -113, at which point the call drops and the network connection fails.

To measure the real-world implications of signal loss, we tested both data speed performance and voice call quality. For data speed, we used the FCC-endorsed Ookla testing app to measure upload speeds and download speeds. We ran three consecutive speed tests on each phone at each location, and then picked the best upload and download speeds of the three.

The voice-call tests were more subjective. We placed calls to a common local number, listening for static, jitter, delay, dropped calls, or failure to connect.

We stress that these tests are informal, nonscientific and by no means definitive. Nevertheless, we believe that we got a very good look at the death grip in action, and a reasonably good idea of how legitimate Steve Jobs’s statements at the Antenna-gate press conference were.

Signal Loss Results

In its earlier tests of signal loss of the iPhone 4 when held, AnandTech found that the iPhone lost about 24 dBm of signal strength. In high signal areas, AnandTech surmised, the IPhone 4 can sustain a loss of 24 dBm and still maintain a clear voice call and a high-speed data connection. But in low signal areas, that level of signal loss can reduce the signal to a point where calls degrade and drop.

So 24 dBm is the magic number--the standard measurement of the death grip’s effect on the iPhone, and the benchmark we used in looking at the phones we informally tested. Our results for signal loss due to death grip appear in the chart below. (Please click on the thumbnail to see the full-size chart).

We measured death-grip signal loss by comparing the signal strength (in dBm) of each phone when held “normally” (flat in hand) to the corresponding signal strength (also in dBm) of the phone when held in a death grip (blocking the phone’s antenna).

In our “weak signal” location, the Samsung Captivate on AT&T's service had the greatest amount of signal loss--even when we held the phone loosely at its bottom (where the phone's antenna is located). The Captivate dropped 30 dBm from -81 to -111 dBm.

The HTC EVO was the next-most strongly affected by the death grip: Its dBm reading dropped from -87 to -101 dBm, a loss of 14 dBm--still far less than the Samsung suffered.

The Nexus One and the Motorola Droid X each lost marginal amounts of signal strength in their respective death grips, with declines of 6 dBm and 3 dBm, respectively--nothing approaching the iPhone 4’s loss.

Oddly, the death grip actually improved the signal strength of the RIM BlackBerry Bold by 13 dBm when we held the phone with our fingers tight around its edges.

Data Download Speeds

To understand the implications of the death grip on various phones, we looked for data speed decreases that seemed to result from it. We tested data speed loss on all phones except the BlackBerry Bold and obtained the results listed in the chart below (the Ookla test is not available from BlackBerry App World, and the alternative speed test application we used produced wildly inaccurate results). (Please click the thumbnail to see the full-size chart).

Again, the AT&T-based Samsung Captivate experienced the worst drop-off of the non-iPhones we tested, sinking from a transfer speed of 27 kbps to a basically unusable one of 6 kbps--a 78 percent loss. The Nexus One, Droid X, and EVO 4G had closely bunched results, with death-grip-induced data speed losses of 47.8 percent, 44.33 percent, and 40 percent, respectively. In our test group, the Droid X delivered the strongest data speeds in our low-signal location, with an average of 97 kbps for the normal grip and 54 kbps for the death grip.

The iPhone 4 completely choked in our data speed test. At first, we couldn’t get the speed test app to connect to its servers to run the tests. After a few tries, the test registered a speed of 6 kbps in a normal grip. But when we held the iPhone 4 in the death grip, we couldn’t get the testing app to connect at all--not even when we tried closing and reopening the application a few times.

These findings tally with the results of our earlier informal tests of the iPhone 4's performance when held in its death grip, which we conducted when the phone had just come out.

Voice Call Tests

For another look at death-grip implications, we conducted some limited voice-call tests, listening for dropped calls or for calls with noticeable static or delay. Of all the phones in our tests, only the iPhone 4, the HTC Nexus One, and the Samsung Captivate showed significant signs of call quality degradation as a result of the death grip. Calls on all three phones sounded garbled, and on two of the phones--the Nexus One and the iPhone 4--we experienced dropped calls.

Unlikely Death Grips

Though it seems entirely plausible that an iPhone 4 user might hold the device in such a way that the grip would interfere with the antenna and reduce the phone's signal strength, the various death grips required to attenuate the antennas of the other phones we tested seem far less likely in the real world.

For instance, the death grip for the EVO 4G involves cupping your hand around the top of the phone. You wouldn’t purposely hold your phone like this; it feels very awkward and makes accidentally hitting the volume buttons on the phone’s spine much more likely. Even more unnatural is the death grip for the Droid X: We had to use a two hands to grasp the bottom and the top of the phone simultaneously. Other death grips, though a little less exotic, still felt decidedly artificial.

Holding your palm (or finger) over this break in the metal band around the iPhone 4’s edge can seriously compromise the performance of the phone's antenna.Part of the reason the iPhone is different is that Apple built its antenna into the metal housing that forms the outside edge of the phone. This represents a dramatic departure from the way most antennas are built into phones--namely, inside the shell and usually at the bottom of the phone. As a result, the iPhone 4’s exposed antenna is much more susceptible to interference (attenuation) from the hand of the person holding the phone. This risky (and apparently not fully tested) design move now looks like an epic fail--a cautionary tale that will be retold at drafting tables for years to come.

The Bottom Line

Apple’s assertion that antenna attenuation is a common problem on smartphones is clearly true. Every one of the phones we tested experienced some degree of attenuation when held firmly in a position that covered the device’s antenna. On the other hand, our informal tests indicate that different phone models do not exhibit attenuation to the same degree--and the iPhone 4 performed far worse when attenuated than did most of its competitors in our tests. Most significantly, the iPhone 4--almost certainly because of its “innovative” external antenna--was the only phone we tested that has a distinct (and easily reachable) weak spot capable of ending a call with a single touch.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab vs. the iPad: Compare For Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:49:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

The Android vs. Apple battle has officially made its way into the world of tablets.

Samsung took the wraps off its new Samsung Galaxy Tab Android tablet on Thursday. The Galaxy Tab is a 7-inch slate built to complete with the current tablet king, Apple's thus-far-unchallenged iPad.

Sure, there have been a couple other Android tablets on the market already (see Streak, Dell), but the Galaxy Tab is the first that truly qualifies as a contender.

Samsung Galaxy Tab*According to manufacturers' estimatesSo how exactly does Samsung's Galaxy Tab differ from the iPad? Check out this comparison chart for a side-by-side glimpse at the two devices' specs and see for yourself.

In a nutshell, the Galaxy Tab is smaller and lighter (though rumors suggest a couple of larger editions will debut before the year's end). It has the same speed processor but twice the RAM. Like the iPad, the Galaxy Tab comes with different options for internal storage. It also, however, supports up to 32GB of expandable storage; Apple's device is limited to the internal space only.

The Galaxy Tab has two cameras -- a rear-facing 3.2-megapixel camera and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video chatting -- while the current models of the iPad have none. Samsung claims up to 7 hours of video playback for the Galaxy Tab; Apple says its iPad can last up to 10 hours.

In terms of software, the Galaxy Tab's Android 2.2 operating system gives the device a number of selling points Apple's iPad can't claim, including full-featured multitasking, support for Adobe Flash, and unrestricted access to applications (Apple is notorious for censoring all sorts of material -- ranging from political satire to swimsuit-clad women -- and also for banning apps that provide functions such as free tethering and customization of the operating system).

Samsung's Galaxy Tab is set to launch in Europe within the next few weeks, then in the U.S. shortly thereafter. Pricing and carrier information for the States is not yet available, though rumors suggest the Galaxy Tab could end up on Verizon.

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5 Reasons Why People Hate Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:48:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Every company has its opponents, but Apple really gets people worked up. Some people hate Apple a lot, more than they hate Nazis or Smurfs. They leave angry comments on Apple blogs. Based on my extensive observations of the species, Apple-haters fall into five categories. If you're an Apple-hater, which one of these categories do you fit in?

You believe buying Apple undermines your individuality. You see yourself as making a bold stroke for your individuality and freedom by your refusal to buy Apple. You use words like "brainwashed" and "lemmings" to describe Apple fans.

These haters frequently have very poor grammar and spelling. Many of them seem to be barely literate. They also often have issues with alternative sexuality, accusing Apple fans of performing acts of love with Steve Jobs that were, until recently, illegal in many states.

Is this a good reason to hate Apple? No, it's dumb. Your choice of consumer products says nothing about your individuality. The true individual doesn't care what the herd does, he does what's right for him. Sometimes that means forging a unique path, but other times, what the masses do is just fine. If your sense of individuality is bound up in the consumer products you buy, then you have no individuality at all -- you're just one of the Body of Landru, kidding yourself that you're a unique special snowflake.

Moreover, Mac OS has just 5% market share, Windows still runs on more than 90% of desktops. The iPhone is only the third most popular phone in the U.S., lagging Android and BlackBerry. If Apple is trying to absorb everyone into its universal groupmind, they're doing a poor job of it.

You hate Apple culture. Your favorite word is "arrogance." You look at Apple's secretive culture, its slick stores, its polished advertising campaigns, and you think that Apple feels it's superior.

There is some truth in this. Apple does feel it's superior. But they're hardly alone. Everybody who works in the computer industry thinks they're superior to everybody else. The same is true for Christians, Jews, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Americans, Europeans, Objectivists, and New Yorkers. It's part of the human condition to think that your tribe is better than everybody else's tribe.

Is this a good reason to hate Apple? No, it's dumb. What do you care what Apple thinks about you? Do you get worked up in a hissy fit if the barista at Starbucks looks at you funny?

The more you go on about Apple's "arrogant" culture,the more you reveal about yourself, your own insecurities and father-issues. Go get therapy, give yourself a hug, and shut up about Apple already.

You've had a bad experience with Apple products. Every company produces occasional lemons, and if you're stuck with one of them, you're likely to hate the company that sold it to you.

Is this a good reason to hate Apple? Heck, yes. If a company sells me a bad product, or gives me lousy service, they're dead to me. I'm still holding a grudge over a bum Compaq laptop I bought in 2002. I have a voodoo doll of Carly Fiorina that I torture whenever I'm felling blue. Carly, you know that pain you occasionally get in your lower back? That's me.

On the other hand, relatively few people have had bad experiences with Apple. Apple has great quality control, its customer satisfaction rankings are routinely among the highest for retail experience, the App Store, the iPad, its technical support, and the iPhone.

But what about the iPhone 4's antenna problems? Surely that caused Apple's customer satisfaction ratings to drop?

Did they? I haven't seen any surveys to support that data. It appears that if you're in an area where service was already marginal, the iPhone 4's antenna design will make it worse. If service where you are is good, then you shouldn't notice a problem. The iPhone 4 antenna problem apparently only affects a few people; its effects were magnified by an echo chamber of journalists and bloggers.

But if you're one of the people having problems with the iPhone, or with any other Apple device or service, then I don't blame you for hating Apple.

Graphic: Diego AguirreApple isn't right for you. There are great swathes of people for whom Apple products simply aren't right. Apple is rarely the right choice for large and medium-sized businesses. The company doesn't provide the kind of close, hands-on relationships that these customers require.

The iPhone isn't for everyone. Phone service is poor in many areas of the US, including New York, San Francisco, and Boston, so if voice calls are still very important to you, then you're better off with an alternative. Likewise, if you want tethering, true multi-tasking, an open operating system, or Flash support, then an Android is a better choice.

Is this a good reason to hate Apple? No, it's dumb. I don't like McDonald's, but I don't spend a lot of energy denouncing it. I just don't go there.

You hate Apple's closed architecture. By refusing to buy Apple, you see yourself as striking a blow for freedom. You believe that Apple's control over the App Store is an affront to your right to read what you want to read, view what you want to view, and run whatever software you choose, without Daddy Steve Jobs telling you what to do.

Is this a good reason to hate Apple? Well, half-and-half.

App Store restrictions protect the consumer. The iPhone is a device for people who don't want to take a lot of time customizing, managing, and learning to use their phone, and App Store restrictions mean consumers spend a lot less time worrying about porn (which many people don't want to see, even if it is also popular among many others), malware, and junk apps.

App Store restrictions do sometimes go too far, as when Apple blocks a a Pulitzer-prize-winning political cartoonist and an app from a Republican Congressional candidate. That was wrong. And while Apple reversed itself on those cases, we don't know how many other cases there may have been where the wronged app developer simply walked away quietly.

However, even when Apple blocks an app from the App Store, you're not blocked from seeing the content. Apple does not block content on the iPhone Web browser, just in the App Store. So porn and political speech that are blocked from the App Store are still available in the browser.

Overall, my beef with the App Store restrictions aren't that they exist, they're that they need to be better. I want a native Google Voice App -- Google developed one, but Apple rejected it. I want an app that will let me update all my podcasts automatically, over the air, without having to sync to iTunes; Apple blocked a podcasting app in 2008.

While Apple kills those useful apps, it allows more than a hundred fart apps,including iFart Mobile, Atomic Fart, Fart Piano, 1,000,000 Fart Generator, and something called "Bluetooth Fart" (because, presumably, USB and Firewire farts just weren't good enough). You stay classy, Apple.

Still: Apple is not blocking your choices. Apple isn't the only choice in any of the markets it serves, you can always buy an Android phone, a Windows desktop, and download your music from Amazon.com. If Apple is trying to control America's thoughts, they're doing a poor job of it, an alternative to Apple is on the next aisle of any electronics store.

Raging against Apple censorship is just a cheap way to make you feel brave. You really want to be a freedom fighter? Go argue with the mullahs in Tehran. Until then, take off your Che Guevera beret and stop congratulating yourself.

For more information
For more on retail outlets, check out our where to buy Bestsellers in Phones article.

http://buyingsguide.blogspot.com

http://video2be.com

HTC Droid Incredible

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 05:48:00 +0000

BUYING GUIDE.

Verizon Wireless today announced Droid Incredible by HTC, the newest Android device on the nation’s most reliable wireless 3G network, will be available beginning April 29.

Featuring a “topographic” design that demonstrates the powerful engineering just beneath the surface, Droid Incredible by HTC is designed with craftsmanship and precision while making it easier than ever to stay connected.

Droid Incredible by HTC features the newest version of the HTC Sense experience, a seven-panel home screen with a wide selection of interactive widgets so the most important content is immediately available at a touch. Customers will enjoy seamless integration with Exchange ActiveSync®, quick and easy access to Flickr for sharing and viewing pictures, video, and Android Market™ with more than 30,000 Google applications. Droid Incredible by HTC is the first Verizon Wireless phone that takes advantage of Qualcomm’s 1GHz superfast Snapdragon processor, and it’s the first available phone from Verizon Wireless to include an 8 megapixel camera.

Shortly after the phone becomes available, customers will be able to enjoy two of the latest exclusive apps from Verizon Wireless – NFL Mobile and Skype mobile™.

Additional Key features:

* Android 2.1 with HTC Sense experience
* 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor for maximum responsiveness
* Friend Stream for unified Flickr, Facebook and Twitter updates
* “Leap” view for quick access to all seven home screen panels
* 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash for crisp, detailed images
* Razor-sharp 3.7 inch WVGA (480x800) AMOLED capacitive touch display
* Optical joystick for smooth navigation
* Dedicated, touch-sensitive Home, Menu, Back and Search keys
* Proximity sensor, light sensor and digital compass
* Integrated GPS
* Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)
* 3.5 mm headset jack

For more information
For more on retail outlets, check out our where to buy Bestsellers in Phones article.

http://buyingsguide.blogspot.com

http://video2be.com