Top Gadgets Review

Electronic Gadgets For Men : Tips and Recommendation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 00:18:00 +0000

Electronic Gadgets For Men : Tips and Recommendation

Electronic gadgets for men in 2020 can be your best consideration. We know that nowadays we live in an era full of electronic technologies. That means we can’t deny the important function of those gadgets for our lives, especially for our daily needs. Gadget is not only about phone but about all electronic technologies that will open up easier way to us get access or simplicity.

Each year, there are so many sites that show some reviews or news about recommended electronic gadgets for men. Maybe you can browse about them for your best guide if you want to buy new gadgets. But not only those sites, we also have our own tips and recommendation about cool gadgets for men. Interested to read it? Well, go check it before you decide about what kind of gadget you want to buy!

Tips About Cool & Great Electronic Gadgets For Men

Before we tell you about the most recommended electronic gadgets for men in 2020, we have some tips about cool & great gadgets for men so you won’t get the wrong one :

– Before you buy it, better to get recommendation from some tech and gadget magazines. Usually you will get complete reviews about positive or negative side from one gadget. It can be your best guide.

– It’s an important thing to remember: don’t buy something you don’t need. It’s basic guide not only for gadgets but for all things you want to get for yourselves. Some gadgets maybe will make you amazed of because its stunning look or cool design, but stay true to get gadget that suitable with what you need. Quality comes first.

– What about online shopping about cool and great gadgets, guys? If you don’t have time to get a gadget (or choose the best one) in official store, online shopping can be your alternative idea to do. Not only save your time but also because there are more choices in online way for your consideration.

Recommended Electronic Gadgets for Men

So, now what about recommended electronic gadgets for men? For Electronic gadgets, you can get is portable compact speakers. Most men will love to hear music, especially hard-rock genre. Speakers like Denon Heos can be your good choice if you want to hear music in the most easy-listening way. And for Phone, it looks like iPhone still become the most promising phone for your best recommendation. iPhone with white color can be your greatest option if you looking for casual yet elegant design. Full reviews and specification about iPhone and Smart Phones. Visite Here TOP 10 best smartphones of 2020

TOP 10 best smartphones of 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 07:48:00 +0000

Best smartphone of 2022 In this collection, you will find the best phones of 2022. Flagship models that offer cutting edge solutions.

What features should the best phone of 2022 have?

Let's start by looking at what the best phones of 2022 have.

6.5 inch 120Hz screen? Huge displays with elongated proportions and thin bezels are no longer surprising. A few years ago, 7-inch smartphones were laughed at. Now they have become commonplace. Almost all new flagships are very large, have 6 or even 6.5 inch screens. HDR and AMOLED matrices are already standard. Controversial nuances like the notches on the display slowly fade away. They are replaced by retractable chambers or round holes. A panel refresh rate of 90 or 120 Hz is a step in the right direction.

An important and useful trend is the use of displays with an increased refresh rate of 90 Hz or 120 Hz. This is a very important addition for users because it improves the smoothness of interaction with software and games, while reducing eye strain. More cameras Many people may get the impression that every year there are more and more cameras on flagships. In 2020, 4 or even 5 lenses no longer cause a sensation. One telephoto lens? Why not two? Of course, there are pluses in this, as well as in the enlarged approximation: 10, 50, 100x. Some models already use 100 megapixel sensors and instead of optical zoom they simply "crop", that is, they cut out smaller and smaller parts from the center of the frame. Add to this an ultra-wide-angle camera and a macro lens for close-up photography (2-4 cm from the lens).

Shooting 8K video

The 8K race starts this year. Because we really need it. Well, the truth is, every home already has an 8K TV, an 8K monitor and an 8K display on a smartphone, right? Yes, this is a joke. It's just that manufacturers need to come up with new gimmicks and marketing hooks to divert attention from what's really important. For example, batteries, and autonomy.

8 GB of RAM, 12 or 16 GB?

How much RAM does a smartphone need? Apple iPhones do a great job with 3GB or 4GB of RAM, but Android phones require more memory than Windows 10 laptops. Well, big numbers look more attractive in spec tables. But, the speed of the data storage is equally important. In flagship smartphones UFS 3.0 is already a standard, providing faster startup, software and system operation. The best flagship phone should also have a very good, efficient processor. Today, the Snapdragon 855 used, for example, in the Xiaomi Mi 9, is no longer the leader. Although it definitely matches the current level of flagships.

Snapdragon 865 and Android 10

As far as Android smartphones go, of course the most powerful processor here is the Snapdragon 865. Although in the iPhone, Apple is likely to offer the latest Apple A14 at the end of 2020.

The flagship should also run on Android 10 (or the latest iOS). 5G cellular communications are not yet the standard, unlike Bluetooth 5.0, aptX HD, NFC and fast battery charging (including induction).

We are all waiting for the best batteries

A big step forward would definitely be beneficial in terms of improving battery autonomy. The latest and greatest smartphones of 2020 mostly work away from the outlet - a day, maximum two, with normal use. There has been no clear progress in this regard for many years.

It should be admitted that only more advanced charging technologies are being introduced so far, which allow you to fully replenish the battery with energy even in half an hour. Induction (wireless) chargers are also getting faster. However, this is not enough. I think everyone will appreciate the flagship smartphone with 2 weeks of battery life, right?

Best phones of 2020

If you don't know which phone is better to buy? Here are the recommended models:

Samsung Galaxy S20 is the best smartphone of early 2020

Galaxy S20 in almost everything, the best smartphone of early 2020, even among the flagship models. The only controversial element here is the appearance of the rear camera, but that's a matter of taste.

The device is very fast, the performance is enough to run any game at the highest settings. It also features a large AMOLED display with thin bezels and a 120Hz refresh rate. This provides phenomenal smoothness in both the system and games. The cameras shoot 4K 60 fps video in the front and 8K 24 fps in the back, while taking great photos. We also get a good battery, fast induction charging and a lot of memory. In our opinion, this is the best smartphone you can buy at the moment. Like Galaxy S20 52Don't like the Galaxy S20 60

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 10.

· Screen (diagonal) 6.2 inches.

· Display (resolution) 3200 x 1440 pixels.

· Processor (name) Samsung Exynos 990.

· 128 GB of internal storage.

· Camera (main) 12MP + 64MP + 12MP.

· 8 GB of RAM.

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro - very good and cheaper than competitors

When Xiaomi launches a flagship smartphone, it tends to have the best combination of price, functionality and quality. Many people don't want to pay big bucks just for a brand.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 has the best processor currently available on Android phones - Snapdragon 865, 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of internal storage. It comes with a 90Hz AMOLED HDR display, state-of-the-art wireless connectivity, large battery and Android 10 OS with the latest MIUI.

The rear and front cameras also deserve special attention. Interestingly, the main lens here is 108MP, it can record 8K video at 30fps. Lens brightness and image quality are slightly better than the Galaxy S20. No wonder Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro are among the best smartphones of 2020.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 10.

Screen (diagonal) 6.7 inches.

Display (resolution) 2340 × 1080 pixels.

Processor (name) Qualcomm Snapdragon 865.

256/512 GB of internal memory.

Camera (main) 108-MP + 20-MP + 12-MP + 8-MP.

8/12 GB of RAM.

Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro - still a decent device

Why Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro and not Mi 9? The reason is simple: Mi 9T Pro has a longer battery life, slimmer bezels and a nicer-looking body. It works very quickly thanks to the use of an ultra-efficient processor and a well-optimized system.

Depending on when you read this rating, the Mi 9T Pro has either already received or will soon receive an update to Android 10. The smartphone is equipped with a retractable front camera, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, 3.5 mm headphone jack, dual SIM card tray. and fast battery charging function. However, the case is not waterproof and there is no room for a microSD card.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 9.0.

Screen (diagonal) 6.4 inches.

Display (resolution) 2340 × 1080 pixels.

Processor (name) Qualcomm Snapdragon 855.

128 GB of internal storage for data.

Camera (main) 48-MP + 8-MP + 13-MP.

6 GB of RAM.

Samsung Galaxy S10e - relatively small

Another smartphone that has received our approval is the Samsung Galaxy S10e. This is the cheapest of the three versions of last year's flagship S10, and in our opinion, the most profitable. It has a smaller and more comfortable body.

The Galaxy S10e fits very comfortably in the hand. Equipped with a superb Super AMOLED display with HDR10 + (5.8 inches), no curling at the sides. The bezels are thin and the front camera is housed in an inconspicuous hole in the display.

The phone supports a modern wireless connection and can inductively (wirelessly) charge another device. Cameras with 4K 60fps and 4K 30fps capabilities also make a positive impression. It's still Samsung's most economical flagship.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 9.0.

Screen (diagonal) 5.8 inches.

Display (resolution) 2280 × 1080 pixels.

Processor (name) Samsung Exynos 9820.

128 GB of internal storage. Camera (main) 12MP + 16MP.

6 GB of RAM.

OnePlus 7 Pro - speed leader

OnePlus 7 Pro belongs to the elite smartphones. It features a large AMOLED display with thin bezels without cutouts, HDR10 + technology and a refresh rate of 90 Hz.

The display is smooth and the controls are comfortable. In our opinion, the OnePlus 7 Pro is faster than the Google Pixel smartphones, which is a significant achievement. This is mainly due to the perfect system optimization, efficient processor and up to 12 GB of RAM. The smartphone also got decent cameras and is pretty autonomous.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 9.0.

Screen (diagonal) 6.7 inches.

Display (resolution) 3120 × 1440 pixels.

Processor (name) Qualcomm Snapdragon 855.

128/256 GB of internal storage.

Camera (main) 48-MP + 16-MP + 8-MP.

6/8/12 GB of RAM.

Asus ZenFone 6 with flip up camera

When we tested the Asus ZenFone 6, we found it impressive in three important respects.

First, it has a powerful 5000 mAh battery, so it lasts longer than most competitors. Secondly, its rear camera flips over and also acts as a front camera. This allows you to capture identical 4K 60 fps photos and videos from both sides. Thirdly, the new ZenFone 6 is very fast - in some cases even faster than the top Xiaomi devices, but not at the level of the OnePlus 7 Pro. It is a pity that there is no AMOLED display, only LCD.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 9.0.

Screen (diagonal) 6.4 inches.

Display (resolution) 2340 × 1080 pixels.

Processor (name) Qualcomm Snapdragon 855.

128 GB of internal storage. Camera (main) 48MP + 13MP.

6 GB of RAM.

Huawei P30 Pro - takes great photos

Huawei P30 Pro is still in the TOP 10 best smartphones of early 2020. This is an impressive machine in many ways. For example, it has an excellent camera that, thanks to its excellent night mode, can take beautiful photos in low light. The function works great even without a tripod - night shots are bright and accurate.

In our opinion, the Huawei P30 Pro is the best phone for night photography. It is also worth highlighting the benefits of the 5x optical zoom and optional ultra wide-angle lens.

The P30 Pro works fast, looks good, has a large battery and a great AMOLED display.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 9.0.

Screen (diagonal) 6.5 inches.

Display (resolution) 2340 × 1080 pixels.

Processor (name) HiSilicon Kirin 980.

128GB internal storage for data.

Camera (main) TOF 3D + 40MP + 20MP + 8MP.

6 GB of RAM.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 - a flagship with a useful stylus

The Galaxy Note 10 has so many advantages that it's not clear where to start. In practice, it can be considered the best smartphone of 2021-2022. This is a great gadget in every way.

But in our opinion, buying it is not profitable. That being said, it has an impressive display, high performance, a useful stylus and plenty of memory. The device looks great, is waterproof, has very good cameras and a modern wireless connection.
Nevertheless, it is very expensive when there are competitors on the market that offer not much less for half the price.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 9.0.

Screen (diagonal) 6.3 inches.

Display (resolution) 2280 × 1080 pixels.

256 GB of internal storage.

Camera (main) 16-MP + 12-MP + 12-MP.

8 GB of RAM.

Apple iPhone 13 Pro - the choice of Apple Fans

We think that many will be outraged if not included in the rating of the best smartphones Apple iPhone. On basic version 11, you can't even watch Full HD movies in full resolution. On the other hand, the Max is too big and heavy. That's why we chose the iPhone 13 Pro.

I don't like its looks, but I have to honestly admit that the Apple smartphone is very fast and smooth when the performance is impressive. The device is ideal for playing games or watching movies. We are also offered good 4K 60fps photos and videos, from either front or rear cameras. The phone received a very good AMOLED display and a compact waterproof body.

Main characteristics

Operating system IOS 13.

Screen (diagonal) 5.8 inches.

Display (resolution) 2436 × 1125 pixels.

Processor (name) Apple A13.

64 GB of internal storage.

Camera (main) 12MP + 12MP + 12MP.

6 GB of RAM.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is a budget flagship with good cameras

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro are smartphones that we recommend for their functionality and quality. Both versions differ only in memory, 6/128 GB versus 8/256 GB. Otherwise, everything is the same.

In practice, both devices are very fast, have powerful 5260mAh batteries, large AMOLED displays ideal for movies or games, and a good camera system. Among them are two telephoto lenses, a macro camera, an ultra wide-angle lens and a 108-MP main lens.

The flagships also feature NFC, a dual SIM tray and a 3.5mm headphone jack. These near-perfect devices cost half the price of the competition.

Main characteristics

Operating system Android 9.0.

Screen (diagonal) 6.5 inches.

Display (resolution) 2340 × 1080 pixels.

Processor (name) Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G.

128 GB of memory for data.

Camera (main) 108-MP + 20-MP + 12-MP + 5-MP + 2-MP.

6 GB of RAM.

Which smartphone to buy in 2022?

In our opinion, the best early 2022 device is the Samsung Galaxy S20 if your budget allows. Even in the basic version, this is a phenomenal smartphone. Very fast, modern, efficient, with an impressive 120Hz display. If you want a cheaper flagship, take the Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro, you won't regret it.

Putting together a gaming computer 2020 | what to choose so as not to overpay?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 05:54:00 +0000

Putting together a gaming computer 2020: what to choose so as not to overpay?

The current computer hardware market is oversaturated. In order not to be mistaken with the selection of computer components, you will have to look through many offers. We did it for you and invite you to familiarize yourself with the assembly, which is more than enough for modern AAA games at high / ultra settings.

2019 is drawing to a close, but long before that moment, game developers have told gamers about their plans for the next 12 months. And, apparently, 2020 promises to be very "hot". Dying Light 2, Halo Infinite, Wasteland 3, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Quarantine, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord, Vampire: Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, and, of course, Cyberpunk 2077. All of these projects are likely to be very demanding to the computer hardware. Therefore, it is worth preparing for the release of new products in advance.

Moreover, the computer hardware market has grown quite strongly over the past year. A host of graphics cards from Nvidia and high-performance multi-threaded processors from AMD make it possible to build a powerful gaming machine at an affordable price. We did not choose only the most top-end solutions on the market, but decided that the cost of products is of key importance. Therefore, we bring to your attention one of the best sets of components in terms of price / quality ratio, which will be enough for all modern games at high / ultra settings.

Gaming computer 2020: processor

Last time we told you about a budget computer for gaming , in which we included the Ryzen 5 2600 processor. And in principle, this model is sufficient for the vast majority of games. Only a few projects are able to load the 16 threads that premium processors have. Therefore, 12 threads are quite enough: you almost never come across friezes. In order to get more "frames per second", you can pay attention to the representative of the Zen 2 microarchitecture.

This model outperforms its predecessor by 15% on average, which makes it a good choice for a gaming build for a reasonable price. It will cost you an average of 14,000 rubles. For this amount, the competitor offers us Intel Core i5-9600, which has the same 6 cores, but the number of threads is also 6. In our opinion, this is not enough for modern gaming. And although you will get a higher FPS counter, in some projects you are guaranteed to encounter freezes, because, as mentioned above, 6 threads are already not enough.

If you want more, then you can look towards the Ryzen 7 3700X, which has 8 cores and 16 threads. You won't see much difference in performance compared to the Ryzen 5 3600. But if you are streaming, editing videos, or working in any other program that requires processor resources, then the difference will be noticeable. 16 threads are able to process information very quickly and with this model you will save a lot of time in your work and will be able to execute many resource-intensive processes in parallel on your computer.

Anything that is higher in price, as it seems to us, in most cases is unnecessary. These are processors that have either high price tags, such as the Intel Core i7-7700K, or sharpened for highly specialized tasks. Today we are talking about gaming, so we won't even look further. We believe that it is better to distribute the budget in such a way where the video card will be the key component. And she, by the way, is next in line.

How to Build a Gaming Computer 2020: Graphics Card

In a budget gaming computer, we recommended you to put the GTX 1660 Super, because it is the best choice in terms of price / performance ratio. But its power is clearly not enough for 4K gaming, towards which the gaming world is actively moving. Monitors and cables are not as expensive as they used to be, and Nvidia's new generation of graphics cards are remarkable for their excellent performance at an affordable price. Therefore, we will make the choice with an eye on 4K.

In one of the past posts where we selected a graphics adapter for 3840x2160 resolution , we concluded that the RTX 2070 Super is the best buy in terms of price / performance. We will not fully explain our choice but we will only analyze the main contenders for a 2020 gaming computer.

In our opinion, comfortable gaming in AAA projects starts with the RTX 2060 video card. It provides a stable frame rate above 60 frames only at FullHD resolution. From 2560 x 1440 she already had difficulties. And although it supports ray tracing, the new technology is very difficult for her. Only a few projects will be able to turn the Ray Tracing sliders to the maximum. In the vast majority of games, if it is possible to enable ray tracing, then only to the minimum values (assuming stable 60 frames, of course). Therefore, we cannot recommend this chip to a gaming machine with a couple of years in advance. It is rather a model that is called "end-to-end" to the current recommended system requirements in modern AAA games. We would recommend the RTX 2060 for a mid-range gaming PC, but not a premium one.

And if you look at the lineup further, we will see the RTX 2060 with the Super prefix, which is only a couple thousand more expensive, but at the same time in terms of performance, on average, it is 15% ahead of the regular version in average. Therefore, it is more expedient to choose even it, and not the RTX 2060. But this is still not enough to play everything and not worry about anything. To do this, you will have to pay a little more.

For the next chip in the lineup - RTX 2070, you shouldn't pay extra about 4000 rubles. The 2060 Super is just a couple of percent behind. Accordingly, in our opinion, the overpayment is not worth it. To get a tangible increase, you will have to pay about 32,000 rubles for the RTX 2070 Super, which is 20% more powerful than the RTX 2060 Super. Yes, the difference in price is about 8000 rubles and from the point of view of price / performance, 60 turns out to be a better buy.

But the trend is set by game developers who have been releasing very demanding projects lately. In order to play comfortably in 2K resolution at high settings or ultra settings at FullHD - 2060 Super is the perfect choice. If you want more, like touching 4K or ray tracing, you'll have to pay for the RTX 2070 Super.

If we take it even higher, the difference in performance between the RTX 2070 Super and the RTX 2080 is not so significant if we take into account the difference in price (about 10,000 rubles). And for the RTX 2080 Super, they ask a lot. If the wallet is so fat that your pocket is torn and you feel uncomfortable, then you can drain its contents immediately onto the RTX 2080 Ti and not think about anything for a few more years. For other buyers, we recommend the RTX 2060 Super in the mid-budget build and the RTX 2070 Super in the premium segment.

Gaming PC 2020: motherboard

For the aforementioned Ryzen 7 3700X, you will have to choose an appropriate motherboard with good cooling. If the motherboard overheats due to a high load on the controller, the processor can reset the frequency. Thus, budget motherboards are not suitable for high-performance processors due to the fact that they have poor cooling of the power supply circuits.

Our choice fell on the Asrock B450 Pro4. This is an ATX form factor motherboard. It has a quality power circuit with two massive heat sinks that will fight overheating. The number of slots for RAM is 4. This number is not necessary, but it will come in handy for a future upgrade. In general, 2 slots for Ryzen are more than enough, because overclocking 2 strips is much easier than 4. But if the modules are overclocked from the factory, then in the future you can buy 2 more strips of the same volume as planned at the initial purchase. The maximum memory frequency is 3200 MHz with the support of the XMP profile. Mother also supports CrossFire. Although a duo of video cards from AMD is such an idea. There is a slot for M.2 storage and 14 USB ports. What else is needed for complete happiness?

Gaming PC Build 2020: RAM

If you want the RAM to work out of the box at a high frequency, you will have to overpay a little. Among high-frequency memory, we like modules from Corsair, which often take the declared frequency and keep it stably. Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 is a set of two 8 GB brackets. 16 GB is still an overkill for most games, but in the next couple of years, AAA projects will come close to this value. So we take with a small margin so that you can sit in the browser in parallel. And 8 GB doesn't look solid anymore. It's okay for a budget gaming computer, but not for a solid gaming computer.

Build a gaming computer 2020: hard drive and SSD

We have deliberately combined two different types of media in this category, since both are desirable to install on your gaming PC. An SSD is needed for fast loading and operation in Windows 10, and an HDD is needed for storing large amounts of data and working with them, for example, a bunch of games with a huge size. Now some games already need 100 GB of hard disk space - no SSD is enough.

So, to install the system, we offer ADATA Ultimate SU800 256GB, which costs about 2500 rubles for 256 GB. One of the most inexpensive but reliable drives available today. In our tests in the CristalDiskMark benchmark, it showed excellent write speeds for large files - 370 MB / s, and reads - 407 MB / s.

Hard drives, in our opinion, survive the rest of their times and practically do not evolve in any way. High-speed drives are conquering new peaks in terms of volume and are getting cheaper every year. Thus, in nature very soon there will be hard drives that have huge volumes that are not needed for home use, but will only be useful in server stations. Therefore, you can choose almost any hard drive from famous companies. According to their characteristics, they are all very similar. For example, here's a good option:

2020 gaming PC case and power supply

For our needs, a 600-watt power supply is enough. We have tested the Thermaltake TR2 S 650W for 3500 rubles more than once and, perhaps, will stop at it. As for the case, we liked the Deepcool Matrexx 55 Black for 3000 rubles. It can easily accommodate a large graphics card. Has a lower horizontal position of the power supply, as well as 3 USB connectors on the front panel. Equipped with RGB lighting, two 2.5 "drive bays and two 3.5" drive bays.

Gaming computer 2020: final configuration

· Processor - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 for 151.68$ or AMD Ryzen 7 3700X for 240.16$

· Video card - RTX 2060 Super for 303.36$ or RTX 2070 Super for 404.48$

· Motherboard - ASRock B450 Pro4 for 75.84$

· RAM - Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 for 63.20$

· SSD - ADATA Ultimate SU800 256GB for 31.60$.

· Hard drive - Seagate ST1000DM010 for 37.92$.

· Case - Deepcool Matrexx 55 Black for 37.92$.

· Power supply - Thermaltake TR2 S 650W for 44.24$.

Intel Launches 6th Generation Intel Core vPro Processors

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 10:23:00 +0000

Intel Corporation has announced the availability of its 6th Generation Intel Core vPro processor family for the modern workforce. The latest iteration of Intel Core vPro processors addresses the security and productivity demands of large businesses with new innovations in authentication security, enhanced performance and collaboration for 2 in 1s, Ultrabooks, All-in-Ones and the latest desktops.

“With incredible, new, eye-catching designs, added performance, and longer battery life, the 6th Gen Intel Core and Intel Core vPro processors are setting a new standard for business computing,” said Frederico Carvalho, Regional Business Director, Intel META . “By also adding enhanced security capabilities in the hardware, Intel has helped to make these newest PCs an integral part of a business’s overall security solution, making users more secure and productive than ever before.”

Locking the PC’s Virtual Front Door with More than Password Protection
Hackers are finding new ways to break into old PCs through the virtual front door by stealing user credentials to gain privileges inside organizations. Today, more than half of data breaches start with misused or stolen user credentials. Older PCs that use eight-character passwords that change every 90 days worked well a decade ago, but increasingly sophisticated attack methods require a deeper level of security.
To address this, Intel is previewing a new security innovation called Intel Authenticate for businesses to begin internally testing and qualifying. Intel Authenticate is a hardware-enhanced, multifactor authentication solution that strengthens identity protection on the PC, making it less vulnerable to identity and security credential attacks.

Intel Authenticate verifies identities by using a combination of up to three hardened factors at the same time: “something you know,” such as a personal identification number; “something you have,” including a mobile phone; and “something you are,” like a fingerprint. IT can choose from multiple hardened factors of authentication that are based on company policies, and no longer has to rely solely on employees remembering complicated passwords. Intel Authenticate is compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, 8 and 10, and is available for customers to preview.

Upgrading Business PCs Adds Productivity, Reduces Overall Cost
Older laptops can cost businesses $4,203 per year, for every three PCs, in maintenance and lost productivity. New business PCs can help address this by delivering up to 2.5 times the performance and a 30-times increase in graphics performance over a 5-year-old device, providing users with much more productive and powerful business tools.
For small businesses, Intel is offering Intel Small Business Advantage (Intel SBA), an easy-to-use solution to help small business owners protect and grow their company. It provides small business owners with an easy and centralized way to connect and share information coupled with automatic security and maintenance updates. Intel SBA includes collaboration features, such as chat and file share, coupled with security capabilities, like the USB blocker, to help keep small business owners in control of their data.

Read More: Intel Launches 6th Generation Intel Core vPro Processors

HTC Will Unveil New Smartphone Flagship on April 12

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 10:14:00 +0000

HTC will unveil its next flagship smartphone on April 12, the company announced in an email today. Thanks to Twitter leaks, we already know quite a bit about the phone, including the fact that it will likely be called the HTC 10, dropping the letters from the nomenclature the company has used until now for phones like the A9 and the M9.
HTC first teased the upcoming smartphone during Mobile World Congress in February, when it tweeted a silhouette of a device accompanied by the #Powerof10 hashtag. A few days later, serial leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer offered some specs: a 5.15-inch QHD display, a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel camera and a USB Type-C connector.

The high-end smartphone market has grown crowded barely three months into 2016, with Samsung's Galaxy S7, LG's G5 and Apple's iPhone SE. Together with HTC's offering, these phones will have to compete for consumers' dwindling appetite for premium devices.

Whether or not the HTC 10 will present formidable competition is anyone's guess at this point. The company's current A9 is expensive, has a few design flaws and a higher-than-expected price for its feature set, but it still impressed us with its smaller size and overall good looks. So Android users who are looking to avoid feature bloat might find the HTC 10 to be the phone for them.
On the other hand, the company's entry-level smartphones, like the new HTC Desire 626, leave a lot to be desired. That phone looks good, but suffers from slow performance, short battery life and lots of bloatware.

YouTube Creates Team to Minimize Copyright Claim Mistakes

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 10:32:00 +0000

A number of high-profile YouTube content creators have been hit with copyright notices lately. Whether fair or not, the resolution process can be frustrating, as it often sucks up a great deal of a person's time to respond to notices, file counter-notices, and generally hope that YouTube doesn't pull your advertising while it all gets sorted out—effectively leaving these creators without a revenue source for something they might not ultimately be guilty of doing.
However, YouTube has either noticed this has been happening to a greater degree, or it has received an increasing number of complaints from content creators affected by the company's tricky copyright complaint system. Now, some changes are afoot to hopefully please the service's content creators and copyright owners without placing a heavy burden on either.

"Recently, there's been a lot of discussion about the enforcement of our policies, from video takedowns to channel demonetization. We want you to know that we monitor video takedowns very closely, and while we haven't seen a big change in the overall rate of removals, it's true that we do make mistakes. For this, we're sorry and we strive to do better by you, our community," reads a recent post from a member of YouTube's policy team on the Google Product Forums.
"The good news is that the feedback you've raised in comments and videos on YouTube and beyond is having an impact. It's caused us to look closely at our policies and helped us identify areas where we can get better. It's led us to create a team dedicated to minimizing mistakes and improving the quality of our actions. And it's encouraged us to roll out some initiatives in the coming months that will help strengthen communications between creators and YouTube support. We'll also make improvements to increase transparency into the status of monetization claims. And of course, as we work to implement these improvements as quickly as we can, we'll continue to take your feedback seriously."

It remains to be seen how YouTube might specifically address the elephant in the room: The notion that a copyright claim can pretty much be filed by anybody, and the onus is then on the content creator to prove that he or she is using the work in a fair manner. While that kind of a system might work for average people who just upload videos of things they shouldn't because they don't know any better, it can lead to a world of difficulty for the uber-popular YouTube stars who rely on the service for a paycheck.

"Why not make it so channels with over 50k (or another set amount) subscribers undergo a manual review when flagged for copyright infringement, and channels with less than that amount can be subject to the automated system. The chances of a larger channel posting something that needs removing by the automated system quickly (something that severely breaches policy) would be a lot less than a small channel," one reader of YouTube's post suggested.

Of course, YouTube's hands are a little tied, given that it has to respond to copyright claims fairly quickly in order to maintain its "safe harbor" status under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. (And losing that would be a much more problematic issue for the company to deal with.

Source: By PC Mag ME Team

Monitor a Laptop or Desktop PC from a Mobile Device

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 00:36:00 +0000

Monitor a Laptop or Desktop PC from a Mobile Device

by Marco Chiappetta - originally published at PC World Magazine

If you are still wasting time trudging over to PCs to perform routine maintenance on them, check for software updates, and power them down at night, you haven't gotten with the program. Here's how to check on your PCs from anywhere, and save your business both time and money.

Get started: A number of remote PC management utilities are available, but we'll focus on an excellent tool called PC Monitor (www.mobilepcmonitor.com), which is free for three PCs. It works with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone OSs, as well as with Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.

Install PC Monitor: Installing and configuring PC Monitor requires just a few steps, and the default setup options should be sufficient. Install the appropriate application on each system that you want to monitor.

The first time you launch the PC Monitor Manager, it will prompt you to create an account for connecting your PCs to your mobile devices (or for monitoring the systems via the Web). At your first login, enter a computer name and a group name for the system.

Customize your counters: To configure a custom monitor or counter (for CPU use, say), click the System tab, and work your way through the tabs in the pane: General, Services, Network, and so on. The Schedule Tasks tab lets you enable the monitor simply by ticking a task. Under the Performance Counters tab in the System pane, you can set up custom counters based on criteria that you specify.

Set up notification alerts: To get the most from PC Monitor and to have it notify you the moment something critical occurs, click the program's Notifications tab, and then click through the tabs in the resulting Notifications pane, enabling appropriate alerts as you go. These alerts may include when the computer starts up or shuts down, when particular users sign on, when someone plugs in a removable drive, or when a processor begins to overheat. More advanced notification options may require you to set up rules manually.

Grab the PC Monitor mobile app:

After installing the PC Monitor app on the relevant PCs, you must install and configure the companion mobile app on your mobile devices.

Select a PC: Upon signing in to PC Monitor, you should see a list of your systems. Tap a system name in the list to bring up an overview of the system.

Monitor your PC from your couch: If you've enabled notifications already, all that remains is to explore the mobile app for monitoring and managing your systems. PC Monitor will send alerts if necessary, but the mobile app also provides real-time data.

After you tap a system name in the left pane of the app, the right pane will become populated with system details and buttons for performing various tasks, including such options as opening a command prompt, checking for OS updates, and restarting the monitored system. In addition, you can use the PC Monitor mobile app to send messages back to the associated desktop PC, if you want to alert the PC's user.

After the application is installed on a system, the PC Monitor service runs in the background. During our testing, the service rarely, if ever, consumed a detectable amount of CPU time, and it used no more than 44MB of RAM.

The Best Antivirus for 2013 | Top Gadgets Review

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 14:40:00 +0000

By Neil J. Rubenking

The Best Antivirus for 2013

Most antivirus vendors that run on a yearly update schedule wait until the fall to release the next year's version, just like car manufacturers. So, the "2014 models" appear in the fall of 2013. They're definitely rolling in; I've reviewed four that actually contain "2014" in the name. Four others come from vendors who've dropped the notion of adding a version or year number, but they're still the "(2014)" editions.

As new versions arrive, most of the same products retain their positions at the top of the heap. Here are the best from the current crop of antivirus products.

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iPhone 6 specs, features, release date, price, news & rumours

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 20:13:00 +0000

by: David Ludlow

iPhone 6 specs, features, release date, price, news & rumours

Apple launched the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c on the 10th of September, killing all speculation that it would be called the iPhone 6. We're still expecting Apple's 2014 handset to be called the iPhone 6 and have preserved the rumours until we get more information. Click through to find out more about the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c

Apple is in a slightly strange position at the moment: it doesn't have the smartphone with the fastest processor or the highest-resolution screen. In fact, looking at specs alone, the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and Samsung Galaxy S4 are all giving the smartphone king a run for its money and making people think about the Android platform.

That's not say that Apple has been idle. In fact, it's clearly been working hard on both new hardware and a new operating system in order to re-assert itself. From the existing rumours, it would appear as though the next iPhone will be the iPhone 5S, an update to the iPhone 5. Then, we're going to get the iPhone 6, a completely revamped phone.

In this article we're concentrating on the iPhone 6, although it may turn out that some of these features make it into the iPhone 5S. Apple may even just dump the iPhone 5S and move straight to the 6 instead. Regardless of names, if Apple's going to continue to make the most desirable smartphone it's going to have to pack some serious technology into its latest handsets.

iPHONE 6 RELEASE DATE

At the start of the year you could pretty much pick any month and say that's when the iPhone 6 was coming out. Obviously, a lot of rumoured launch dates have been massively wrong. Trying to pin down a date is very hard, but there are some pointers that give us more likely dates.
First, if Apple follows its usual release schedule, it means it releases one generation of phone and the following year, uses the same case and design, but updates the hardware. If Apple sticks to that, it would mean that the iPhone 5S would follow the iPhone 5.

So, first we need to work out when the iPhone 5S would launch. Most of the information we have would point to an autumn launch. Here's why. First, Tim Cook hinted at an autumn launch in a call with investors. "Our teams are hard at work on some amazing new hardware, software, and services that we can’t wait to introduce this fall and throughout 2014," Cook said.

Next, we know that iOS 7 is due for release in autumn, so we'd expect it to come out with the iPhone 5S, iPad 5 and iPad Mini 2.

Finally, Apple's CFO, Peter Oppenheimer said that Apple would have a "very busy fall" in a more recent earnings call, but said that he would give "more detail in October".

One of the latest rumours, reported by AllThingsD, is that the next iPhone will be announced at a special event on September 10th. Obviously, Apple hasn't said anything about this rumour, so we're going to have to wait a bit longer to find out if it's true.

Typically, Apple products are released around two weeks after the launch event, so we could expect to see the next iPhone around the end of September or very early October. The best guess is that this will be the iPhone 5S, while we'll get the iPhone 6 in 2014.

Apple typically waits for a year before launching a new product, but many think that we won't have to wait that long after the iPhone 5S for the iPhone 6. It's rumoured that the iPhone 6 will have a larger display, so Apple could quite happily continue to sell both phones. In many ways this would be similar to the Samsung strategy of having the large Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.

iPHONE 6 SCREEN

Apple has been known for its high quality screens and it's going to be interesting to see what it can do with the iPhone 6, particularly as it looks like the iPhone 5S will have the same screen size and resolution as the iPhone 5.

Big-screen phones are the thing of the moment, with Samsung, Sony and HTC all opting for large, Full HD screens. Now, Apple's not one to necessarily follow what everyone else is doing, but given the demand for such phones, we wouldn't be surprised to see that the iPhone 6 has a larger display. Of course, the screen would need to be Retina, which means that you can't see the individual pixels when used at a normal viewing distance.

Currently doing the rounds are the rumours that the iPhone 6 will have a 4.8in screen, which would make the phone similar in size to the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One. At this screen size, Apple could then move to a Full HD (1,920x1,080) resolution or even go beyond.

While Apple has not previously made a large-screen phone, upping the screen size for the iPhone 6 makes a lot of sense. It means it can compete with the large-screen phones from other manufacturers and keep the iPhone 5S as a smaller alternative, giving iPhone users more choice.

Tim Cook has made a statement that would appear, on a first glance, to deny a large-screen Apple iPhone 6. In an Apple earnings call, Cook said, "My view continues to be that the iPhone 5 has the absolute best display in the industry, and we always strive to create the very best display for our customers.

"Some customers value large screen size, others value other factors such as resolution, colour quality, white balance, brightness, reflectivity, screen longevity, power consumption, portability, compatibility with apps and many things. Our competitors had made some significant trade-offs in many of these areas in order to ship a larger display. We would not ship a larger display iPhone while these trade-offs exist."

What that statement says, to us, is that Apple won't ship a large-screen iPhone until it's managed to iron out all of the trade-offs. A thinner screen, to make a lighter phone, could well be the right way to go, then.

It's no wonder, then, that Apple may also be considering the screen technology that it uses, with a Sharp IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) screen top of the list. This new technology allows for screens that use less power and are considerably thinner. Rumours certainly picked up when the Sharp IGZO technology was demonstrated at CES 2013.

Sharp has also started manufacturing a super-sensitive touchscreen, which you can write on with a pencil and even operate with gloves on. Given Apple's relationship with Sharp, rumours have linked the new technology to the iPhone 6.

The new screen technology has eight times the sensitivity of existing models, is scratch resistant and is also thinner than existing screens. In other words, it would be hard to see why Apple wouldn't want this technology.

iPHONE 6 GAZE DETECTION

A bigger screen requires more power, so any technology that can increase battery life has to be good. For the iPhone 6 Apple could be about to revisit gaze detection technology, where the phone can tell if you're looking at the screen or not. If you were to look away, the phone could pause a video playing and turn the screen off. PatentlyApple has dug up the full information on how the technology is likely to work.

Given that Samsung has similar technology in its Galaxy S4 smartphone, we'd say there's a high chance that Apple will follow suit and implement its own version.

iOS 7

Although incredibly innovative and easy to use when it was first launch, iOS is now looking a bit dated. Each update to iOS has really felt like a tweak, leaving the same user interface alone. Some would argue that iOS6 , which was introduced with the iPhone 5, was actually a step backwards with Apple Maps proving to be far worse than the Google Maps app it replaced.

Well, we now know exactly what we're getting with iOS 7, which was unveiled at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June). Designed by Jony Ive, the system is a big departure from the current version. For starters, the interface and icons have all been completely redesigned with a 'flatter' appearance. It's certainly more modern looking.

On top of that, there are a raft of new features, including Control Center, which lets you access common settings from a swipe-up menu; a Today view in the Notification Center pull-down menu; AirDrop, which lets you transfer files via Wi-Fi to other users; a new Camera app, with new filters; and lots more.

We will see iOS 7 in autumn, most likely with the iPhone 5S, but a tweaked version could come to the iPhone 6

Apple has said that iOS 7 will be released in autumn, which should nicely coincide with the launch of the iPhone 5S. With the iPhone 6, though, we're likely to get a tweaked version of the OS that introduces some new features. For example, if the rumoured NFC chip makes it to the iPhone 6, we may see a new Apple payments app.

iPHONE 6 CAMERA

One of the most important part of any smartphone is the camera, with people generally preferring their phone over a compact camera. With the competition putting a lot of effort into the quality of their cameras, Apple has slightly fallen behind, with the iPhone 5's quality not matching that of the Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One.

Recent rumours, reported by MacRumours have stated that the iPhone 5S will get a 12-megapixel sensor, up from the 8-megapixel version on the iPhone 5. It stands to reason that the iPhone 6 will get the same, or better, sensor.

Upping the sensor resolution can introduce problems with noise, though, as there's less light per pixel. Apple will be keen to counteract problems like this, so a lens with a faster aperture would make sense. Currently the iPhone 5 has an f2.4 lens, but an f2.2 or f2.0 lens would mean better low-light photography.

iPHONE 6 STORAGE

In terms of storage, 64GB has been the top model for a couple of years, so we'd expect the top model to now be 128GB. We know that Apple now has that capacity, thanks to the recent launch of a 128GB iPad 4.

The new model doubled the maximum capacity of the previous high-end iPad (64GB). This update was said to be about increasing the variety of uses for the tablet, with Apple stating that more storage was good for large files for use in applications such as CAD and music production. It's also a more useful amount of storage for photos and videos.

The update to the iPad 4 was a completely new model with a new price, so we'd expect the same range of capacities and prices to be available from the iPad 5: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. With Apple now using 128GB storage in its tablets, the question is whether or not it will provide the same range of capacities in its iPhone and iPad Mini range, too.

Given that the capacity is now available to Apple and that the smartphone market is even more competitive, we'd say that a 128GB version of the new phone is more than likely.

TOUCH ID: NFC AND FINGERPRINT SENSOR

One of the omissions from the iPhone 5 was NFC, but with the technology starting to appear in most new Android phones, we'd expect this in the in iPhone 6. With Apple pushing its Passbook App, for storing store cards, tickets and coupons, integrating this with NFC would make a lot of sense.

With Apple also rumoured to be including a fingerprint sensor to secure transactions, it would make sense for the company to also launch a payments app, so that you can pay for items with your smartphone. Contactless card readers are becoming more and more popular in the UK, so the technology for receiving these payments is already there.

Apple did have a slight dig at NFC when it launched iOS 7's AirDrop feature, saying that its technology was easier than bumping phones together. However, that may be the case for transferring files, but for secure payments NFC is a must. Most likely, Apple's dig is because NFC is a technology that it currently doesn't have.

The current speculation is that booth NFC and a fingerprint sensor will be integrated into the home button, and will be known as TouchID when Apple introduces the new phone.

iPHONE 6 PROCESSOR

Judging what Apple will do with the processor is harder, but we'd expect an updated model in the iPhone 6. Currently the iPhone 5 has a dual-core Apple A6 processor, but a quad-core Apple A7, using ARM Cortex A15-based cores, sounds plausible to us.

It also seems more than likely that Apple will use ARM's big.LITTLE architecture. This allows a processor to have low-power cores that save on battery life, when not much CPU power is required, switching to full-power cores when more intensive tasks are required. Apple's always been hot on battery life, so this move would make sense, particularly as it's something that ARM's really pushing at the moment.

Alleged shots of the iPhone 5S have shown the internals of the phone, including an unknown processor. Obviously, you can't tell specs from a shot of a chip, but a new processor could well mean an A7 chip, which will be used in the iPhone 5S first, before making an appearance in the iPhone 6.

This alleged shot of the inside of an iPhone 5S shows an unknown processor - could it be the Apple A7?

iPHONE 6 PRICE

Apple typically releases its new models at the same price as the old ones. If that holds out, then, and assuming that the 16GB model is dropped, we'd expect the 32GB model to cost £529, the 64GB model £599 and the 128GB model £699. However, if the company continues to sell the iPhone 5S, we could be in for some new pricing, with the iPhone 6 a premium model that sits above it.

Click Here>>> The 50 Best iPhone Applications

Tablet PC Guide | Top Gadgets Review

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 13:31:00 +0000

2013 is the age of Modern technology - Touch Screen computing & Smart gadgets - The Tablet PC Guide 2013.

by James Hunt - Micro Mart Magazine

It's clear now that tablet PCs are no fad. Beginning with the launch of the high-price, low-powered iPad 1 in April 2010 and culminating with the release of the low-price, high-powered Nexus 7 in July 2012, tablets have gone from being a niche, luxury-only computing peripheral to the latest must-have accessory.

To keep up with technology in 2013, you either have a tablet or you're buying one soon.

However, the fast pace of the tablet world means you can be forgiven for struggling to keep up with the changes to software, hardware, pricing and manufacturing. Sometimes it seems like there's a new tablet every other week, each better and more desirable than the last. Rather than leave you to fend for yourself, we've put together this six-page guide to tablets in 2013 - those that are on Shelves now, those that are being released soon, what you might want to look for if you're buying a tablet and what, if anything, you should avoid.

Here we are describing some features you must know if you are going to purchase a Tablet device.

What Screen Do I Want?

Tablet screens range in size from tech near pocket-sized 5" versions to a comparatively colossal 12 inches on the largest devices, but it is much more typical for screens to be between seven and 10.1 inches in size. Note that this is a diagonal measurement, so a 7" screen is actually has almost half of the visual real estate of a 10" screen (hence the moniker 'mini-tablet' to refer to devices in the 7" to 8" device class.)

While it's tempting to assume that 10" screens automatically better for being larger, there are benefits to 7" devices. Not only are they more portable (it's possible to comfortably hold them in one hand - something that may appeal to those planning to use a tablet as an e-reader), but they're often able to make better use of their technical capabilities, because they're managing fewer graphical resources.

Rather than the screen size, though, pay attention to the resolution. At a minimum, any device you consider buying in 2013 should have a resolution of at least 1024x768 (or similar), but the higher the resolution, the sharper text and images will be - especially when zoomed in. Apple’s Retina display remains the gold standard for tablets, offering a resolution of 2048x1536 on the iPad third- and fourth-generation’s 9.7” screen. The likes of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD are better-performing in the 7” device class, however, with their 1280x800 resolution easily trumping the iPad Mini’s 1024x768.

How Much Storage Is Appropriate?
Storage is one of the most widely varying factors in the tablet market. Tablets use solid-state drives, which are compact, quiet, shock-resistant and less power-hungry than hard drives. That said, the expense of SSD memory means that tablets therefore have much less space than modern laptops and desktops - typically between 4GB and 64GB.
The amount of built-in storage cannot be changed or upgraded, although many tablets do have slots for memory cards (usually micro-SD), which can be used to add removable storage. Some notable exceptions to this rule are Apple’s iPad range, no model of which has any provision for removable storage, the Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7, which will only support SD cards and USB flash drives after a combination of software modifications and additional hardware purchases.
The lack of expandable space on such popular devices is something of a contrivance designed to push consumers towards the more expensive, higher-capacity devices. However, the relatively small amounts of storage on modern tablets, combined with their ubiquitous internet connections, has led to an increase in the popularity of cloud storage systems. Apps such as DropBox and SkyDrive allow tablet users to utilise the internet for storage of data, minimizing the trouble associated with a lack of space.
Nonetheless, cloud storage is far from a perfect replacement, and even SD cards can prove fiddly. We’d suggest buying a device with at least 16GB if a model is available. That should be enough to last you the two to three years of the tablet’s life without becoming inadequate.

Does The Processor Matter?

When looking for a tablet, you can expect a number of other components as standard, but some vary from model to model or between manufacturers. The amount of memory and storage space often differs wildly, as does support for external devices and flash memory. Portability factors such as battery life, weight and screen size should also be considered. However, as with desktops and notebooks, the processor is perhaps the chief indicator of how a tablet PC will perform. The most popular tablets run on ARM-based Cortex chips, but a minority run on Intel chips, and there’s even variation within both brands.
Unlike Intel, which develops and manufactures its own processors, ARM Holdings only designs the chips, then licenses the designs for other companies to produce, meaning that there are often multiple variations of single architectures. The most popular chip at the moment is the Cortex-A9, which is the basis for the Apple A5 & A5X chips (used in the iPad 2 and iPad 3), the Nvidia Tegra 2 and 3 (used in the Google Nexus 7 and Microsoft Surface), and the TI OMAP 4 (used in the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD).
While it’s fair to say that devices based on the same chipset have comparable performance to one another, the actual speeds experienced by the user will of course depend on the hardware and software resources available - in particular, the amount of RAM or model of GPU. It is, however, fair to say that the A9 devices are better than the A8 devices, and that the next ARM model (the Cortex-A15) will similarly outclass them both when manufacturers are ready to introduce it later this year.

Although ARM processors undoubtedly have the edge, there are a number of tablets running on Intel hardware, and it’s usually Intel, since unlike the desktop market, AMD does not have a major foothold producing Intel-compatible chips for tablets. Intel’s low-power and portable chips allow tablet PCs to run Windows 7 and 8, although at speeds closer to netbooks than laptops. More powerful tablets may contain full-size Core i5 processors, of the kind found in desktops and powerful notebooks. The increased performance capacity makes for a better Windows experience, but they are less compact and consume more power than mobile chips, meaning a worse battery life and a larger, less portable form factor.

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Will Windows 8 be More Secure? | Top Gadgets Review

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 16:20:00 +0000


Top Gadgets Review

Martin Cooper takes a step back from all the Windows 8 fanfare and examines whether the cyber criminals will love or loathe Microsoft’s new OS.

Window 8, Windows 8 phone and Surface tablets – it seems it’s all happening over at Redmond. As Microsoft’s readies its new operating system roll out, we’ve every right to get excited, but with all eyes distracted by the new system’s sheen, it’s easy to overlook the mundane but essential business of security.

Over last 12 to 18 months, security – of the lack thereof has cast a growing shadow over Windows and the antivirus firms we trust to keep us safe online. Indeed, some have suggested that the bad guys might be winning in the never-ending game of high stakes chess. So the question is, will Windows 8 let us sleep sounder in our beds?

Security as Standard

To help protect Windows machines Microsoft has for a long time offered its Security Essentials antivirus program as a free download. Despite this, it’s reckoned that almost a quarter of all Windows 7 PCs have no anti-malware software installed.

To address this problem, Microsoft has opted to install Windows 8 Defender by default.

Windows 8 Defender is a combined system. it’s comparable with Security Essentials, with basic protective features thrown into combat common threats.

We certainly applaud the move, as it makes the initial hurdle that much tougher for virus writers. However, when PC Format asked Collin Davis, senior director of engineering at Symantec, about Defender, his response was unequivocal. “It’s not enough”.


Top Gadgets Review

Davis says circumventing Defender will become the virus writer’s first mission. “It’s just not worth their effort releasing malware that can’t beat it,” he warned. Speaking from California. Davis explained how the bad guys had breached Windows 7′s security features and Security Essentials.

As Windows 7 and Windows 8 have so much in common under the hood, Windows 8′s default security isn’t – in his view – likely to overly challenge malware writers.

Boot Level Protection

Dig a little deep into Windows 8 and the story doesn’t seem so bleak. During the PC boot phase, Microsoft has made strides to see off future malware.

Booting through the BIOS has remained largely unchanged for nearly 30 years. At its heart is a chain of module that tare executed in order. The process begins with the BIOS waking up, taking in ROM-based operations and calling on the master boot record.

The chain culminates in the Windows kernal and drivers being loaded and run. If malware can penetrate this initial process, the next program to run can be corrupted. In short, no process after the point of exploitation can be trusted.

Malware such as Mebroot, TidServ and StuxNet insert themselves into this critical chain of events, compromising Windows at a very low and fundamental level. From such a privileged position it makes itself hard to detect and difficult to remove.

To combat this problem, Windows 8 includes a trio of technologies which are known collectively as Secure Boot Architecture. The first component is the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, or UEFI. Assuming that your hardware is current and supports it, UEFI should make the lives of the virus writers’ considerably harder.

Liek the BIOS, a UEFI system executes a sequence of baton-passing modules that lead to the OS . In a UEFI system, however, modules are security-signed and each module must check the subsequent operation’s signature before it allows the next process to execute. The UEFI chain can be updated with a white list of trusted certificates.

Features and Flaws

The UEFI system isn’t without a couple of flaws. Though all contemporary Windows systems will come with it as standard, older PCs still use the BIOS loading process and therefore remain vulnerable. The UEFI certification system has also enraged Linux users, as it makes it difficult to install the open source OS.

The next technology of note in Windows 8 is Early Load Anti-Malware. According to Microsoft, “|ELAM| starts before other boot-start drivers, enables the evaluation of those drivers and helps the Windows kernal decide whether they should be initialized.” It is, in essence, a way of detecting malware during the boot process and blocking it.

Most Malware that Runs on Windows 7 will work on Windows 8

Windows 8 is designed to boot very quickly through, which places limits on what ELAM can achieve.

The Windows 8 specification also limits the amount of memory it can consume. Because it runs so early in the boot sequence and under such limitations, Symantec has already stated that “ELAM does little to improve security”.

Remote Attestation is an optional feature. Implementing it inevitably slows down the boot process, which may not prove very popular with PC builders. If you upgrade or tinker with your PC, the timing check system will also need to be recalibrate. Remote Attestation, therefore, looks like a feature that we think will be best suited to corporate environments where systems remain unchanged by design.

The Metro Question

Windows 8 is all about the Metro interface – a collection of tiles linked to programs. Simply sweep though the wall of information and images, then tap the program you want to run. If you don’t have a table or other touch enabled devices, you can use the interface with a mouse and keyboard instead.

There are two versions of Windows 8 – one designed to run on x86 chips and another complied for low-power ARM processors. The PC firms we spoke to had little to say about the latter version, and it’s unlikely that malware authors have been able to research it much either. If Windows RT (as the ARM version is called) becomes a success, it will probably become the focus of malware writers, but at the moment it’s impossible to say.

Looking at the x86 incarnation, Collin Davis explained that Windows 7 and Windows 8 classic are very close cousins. Therefore, most malware that runs on Windows 7 will work on Windows 8. Metro is however a different beast to a degree.

The Janus OS

From a security perspective it’s easy to think of Windows 8 as two operating systems; Metro and Classic. Neither will run programs designed for the other. Metro is the more restrictive of the two, as you’ll only be able to get programs from Microsoft’s App Store, but the separation between Metro and classic Windows isn’t clear cut.

Each Metro app works in a sealed environment or sandbox, which means it can’t interact with other programs. In other words, Metro works in much the same way as Apple’s sandboxed iOS – an OS that has so far avoided any major security silver bullet though. it is, in the words of Davis, “One of many tools that works well if it’s done well.”

Asked if Microsoft has implemented its sandboxing well, Davis replied, “It’s too soon to tell.”

There is one major chink in Metro’s sandbox Armour. Metro is much like Windows Media Center-an environment that effectively sits on top of Windows Classic. Davis says this means that “a Metro app can’t attack a Classic app, but a Classic app can attach a Metro one.”

He adds that developing malware for Metro would be no harder or more expensive for virus writers.

It seems then Windows 8 makes the business of securing your PC subtly different, yet largely the same. The same rules, requirements and risks apply, so users should install a well-rated security suite and keep it updated.

New iPad vs. Top Android Tablets: Specs Compared

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 13:12:00 +0000

New iPad vs. Top Android Tablets: Specs Compared

This time around, the Apple iPad rumor mill was mostly right on. With the Apple's third-generation tablet, we got a super-high-res 2,048-by-1,536-pixel Retina Display powered by a beefed-up A5X CPU, a better camera, and fast 4G LTE on AT&T or Verizon. This all brings up the eternal tablet question again: iPad or Android?

Though the battle might seem a bit lopsided, we felt it was important to compare Apple's latest tablet with the best Android tablets available right now. A slew of promising quad-core Android slates like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Toshiba AT270 were announced at Mobile World Congress, but specs and release dates aren't solid. Of what we've seen coming down the pike, the forthcoming Asus Transformer Infinity matches the new iPad closest on specs, but with no release date announced, who knows when we'll see it? If you're considering the new iPad when it's released next Friday, the tablets in the chart below are some of the best large-screen Androids we've tested—and they're available

now.

As it stands, the closest match is the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which packs Nvidia's latest quad-core Tegra 3 processor. The Transformer Prime has one distinct advantage over any iPad, and that is its ability to dock into a slick keyboard accessory that turns the tablet into a veritable laptop. It also adds battery life and a full-sized USB port. Sure you could get a keyboard case for your iPad, but it's not going to emulate that laptop form factor nearly as well as the Transformer Prime. So if productivity is your main priority, the Transformer Prime could make a viable option over the iPad, despite its shortcomings elsewhere.

If you want the most advanced hardware you can get now, it's hard to argue with the new iPad. The Retina screen is unparalleled, the camera is improved, and its new A5X chip with quad-core graphics should be more than enough to satiate tablet gamers. And if you've already invested in the iOS ecosystem, the iPad is a no brainer.

Two other viable large-screen Android options available now are the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Sony Tablet S. Of course, you could go the budget route and pick up the $200 Amazon Kindle Fire or the Nook Tablet, but that's a different story altogether.

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By Eugene Kim

Apple Unveils New iPad With 4G LTE, Retina Display

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:10:00 +0000

Apple Unveils New iPad With 4G LTE, Retina Display

Apple on Wednesday unveiled a new iPad complete with a Retina Display, quad-core GPU, 4G LTE, and an improved camera.

The updated iPad will hit stores on March 16.

Apple did not provide a specific name for its new tablet, calling it simply "iPad" instead of the rumored iPad 3 or iPad HD.

With 4G LTE, the new tablet will provide up to 73 Mbps download speeds, Apple said. Partners include Verizon and AT&T here in the U.S. and Rogers, Bell, and Telus abroad. Optional software can turn your tablet into a personal hotspot for up to five devices.

The iSight camera includes a 5-megapixel camera, advanced optics with an IR filter, autofocus and white balance, and face detection. It has the optic system included in the iPhone 4S and will support 1080p video recording.

The new iPad will run the rumored dual-core A5X processor, which will provide quad-core graphics. Apple claimed this chip will provide four times the performance of the Tegra 3.

The revamped tablet will also include a 2048-by-1536 display at 264 pixels per inch (ppi), which Apple said is the most ever in a mobile device.

When you turn on that new iPad you are going to see graphics text, icons sharper than you can imagine, they're just beautiful, Apple's Phil Schiller said during a press event in San Francisco today.

The updated iPad will also include voice dictation. You can type or just tap it, speak into your iPad, and it'll type what you have to say, Apple's Tim Cook said. It will support U.S., U.K., and Australian English, French, German and Japanese voice dictation.

The dictation feature is not the Siri app featured on the iPhone 4S, though Apple added support for Japanese to Siri today.

Apple promised 10 hours of battery life on the new iPad; 9 hours on 4G - the same it promised for 3G.

The tablet comes in at 9.4mm and 1.4 pounds, and will be available in black and white. It's 9.5 inches high, 7.31 inches wide, and 0.37 inches deep.

It will be priced the same as its predecessor: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB at $499, $599, $699 for Wi-Fi. For 4G, it will be $629, $729, and $829, respectively.

Also today, Apple unveiled a revamped Apple TV with 1080p support, as well as iPhoto for iPad and revamped iLife and iWork.

The release of the new iPad comes just over a year after Apple released the iPad 2. That device - which was slimmer and faster than its predecessor - helped Apple sell 15.43 million iPads during the fourth quarter, a 111 percent increase from the year before.

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By Chloe Albanesius

Hands On With the New iPad

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:52:00 +0000

Hands On With the New iPad

Apple didn't actually need to release an iPad to stay on top of the tablet game. The company dominates the tablet market; its top competitor, Google, has been doing a notoriously poor job of cultivating third-party apps for its tablets, and Microsoft doesn't have a tablet product on the market quite yet.

But that said, the tablet Apple did release is gorgeous. Competing tablets don't have apps, but at least they're looking to have great hardware. Apple just slapped down industry-leading hardware along with an app ecosystem far better than anyone else can offer. I spent about half an hour with various new iPads after the announcement.

The Wi-Fi model of the new iPad looks and feels almost exactly like an iPad 2: same shape, same back, same finish, same black and white colors, same Home button. It's ever-so-slightly thicker—.37 inch compared with .34 inch—but that's not something you can notice unless you're also holding an iPad 2.

The screen is extraordinary. The iPad 2 has a bright screen, but images are a little jaggy. The 2,048-by-1,536 Retina Display is super-sharp, and colors pop. Web pages look delicious. The sharpness doesn't just appear in Retina-enabled apps, because all standard system controls take advantage of the new screen.

Take Zillow, for instance, an older iPad app. That app uses the standard map control on the left, along with images and text on the right. The map and text both become Retina-sharp; only the house images and buttons stay a bit lower res.

Apple's new apps are lovely, especially iPhoto, which makes it very easy to arrange and edit photos; as our software analyst Michael Muchmore said, the company clearly has it in for SnapSeed. iMovie's new movie-trailer mode is an almost embarrassingly cheesy gimmick. It lets you generate trailer-type movies from your existing footage, but frankly, I'd be embarrassed to show one of these silly, over-the-top productions to someone. That doesn't change iMovie's status as an easy-to-use movie editor.

That's the thing. The iPad isn't about hardware, not really. It's about having a world-beating complement of excellent third-party apps, being the default "post-PC" platform for people to compute on. Apple wanted to boost the display quality because they could, because it offers a better experience, and possibly because a bunch of its competitors will have 1,920-by-1,200 displays entering the market soon. But the company's priority was to keep those apps running, and to enable new ones. There it did well.

Checking Out the Hardware
The new A5X processor improves graphics speed, but Apple didn't say anything about improving overall processing speed. Scrolling was super-quick in the Web browser, and images zoomed smoothly in the browser and iPhoto. But I was disappointed to see how long some apps took to load; Autodesk Sketchbook Ink took so long that I gave up, for instance. Whether or not this is true, I got the impression that some Retina-enabled apps were larger and heavier than earlier apps.

I took some photos with the two new cameras. The 5-megapixel camera on the back is very, very fast, and took a decent if somewhat soft photo in a dimly-lit room. I was impressed that it avoided serious low-light blur. The front camera, on the other hand, is clearly just for video chatting: it takes hideously grainy 640-by-480 pictures.

The new dictation feature is heavily dependent on background room noise. My first try with it was at a quiet moment, and it got my words almost perfectly. The second time was around some more bustle, and the dictation had some problems. I'm curious to see if there's a way to activate it completely hands-free. The iPad doesn't have Siri, by the way—just dictation.

There's also no new haptic feedback. The day before the iPad came out, there was a lot of chatter about the iPad including a new force-feedback technology. It doesn't; the touch keyboard is just as unresponsive as ever, and I'd still recommend buying a keyboard dock or case for people who want to take advantage of powerful creative apps like Pages.

I looked at a few Wi-Fi iPads and one AT&T LTE model. The LTE models have settings to let you flip off LTE and live on 3G, or to flip off cellular data entirely. LTE felt just as quick as Wi-Fi, maybe even quicker. A high-def YouTube video loaded faster than it could play, just as promised; ditto for a high-quality Vevo video. Apple says LTE won't have much of an effect on battery life, promising 10 hours of Wi-Fi usage and 9 hours of usage with LTE active, just like the older 3G iPad 2.

At the same price as the previous iPad, the new iPad is an obvious buy. Get this one, not the cheaper iPad 2, because the Retina screen improves every aspect of the iPad experience. Most iPad users surf the Web heavily, for instance: the new screen makes Web pages sharper and easier to read. And with no battery penalty, the new iPad's faster modems will give a much smoother Internet experience.

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By Sascha Segan

Touring Google's Crazy MWC Booth

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:28:00 +0000

Touring Google's Crazy MWC Booth

Just like last year at Mobile World Congress here in Barcelona, Google’s booth is a playground. The search behemoth behind the Android mobile operating system is using its share of expensive tradeshow floor square footage as a place for OS and app developers along with enthusiasts to hang out, do business, get nourished, and have fun. More importantly, the company is showing off its dominance as the unquestionable number-one smartphone operating system provider. (For now, at least, of course.)

Google is all over the place here at MWC. There have been dozens of Android phones released in the last two days alone including handsets from HTC, LG, Samsung, and ZTE. Our Mobile World Congress Page has even more, along with scores of Android tablets, and we're not even halfway through MWC, which wraps on Thursday. Here at the show, the company's senior vice president of mobile, Andy Rubin tweeted that Android activations have topped 850,000 per day. To say that Google is dominant at MWC is an understatement.

All by itself at the end of Hall 8 in the Fira de Barcelona convention center, Google’s booth has dozens of stands where Android app developers show their wares, but there are some other non-traditional trade show booth elements including bedazzling robots, an Ice Cream Sandwich-centric snack bar, a conveyor belt rotating an endless supply of Android phones, fun claw machines stuffed with cuddly Androids, and a whimsical two-story slide, for instance. Check out our slideshow to take a visual tour of Google’s wacky, but impressive, MWC booth.

1: Greetings From the Android Slide

Bow to the Android. The Android welcomes you, with a free slide down from the second story of the Google booth. Just like at a carnival, you can collect a photo of you looking silly as you go down the slide, at the end.

2: Android Bedazzling Robot

One of the showpieces of the booth is an industrial robot, who slowly bedazzles cases for Galaxy Nexus phones. The wait list for a custom case was long enough that the robot will be working 24/7, Google rep said. And, yes, the robot runs on Android.

3: Android Bedazzled Cases
Want a custom Galaxy Nexus back made by an Android-powered robot? These are your choices. It’s just one day’s wait!

4: Android Robot Lays It Down
The Android bedazzling robot, hard at work: I discovered that some of the British staffers at the Android booth don’t know the word “bedazzling,” which is clearly American English.

5: Android Snacks and Smoothies
Hungry? Google has you covered, but I feel like the smoothies have been better. Last year, Google had smoothies flavored like Eclairs, Gingerbread and Honeycomb–all versions of Android. This year, the predominance of Ice Cream Sandwich at the Android booth has led to other flavors, which aren’t necessarily tie-ins.

6: Android Bartender
This fellow was serving up the Android smoothies at the Google booth. He told me all the actual ice cream sandwiches were melted, so I had to go away hungry.

7: Android Conveyor Belt
Back for the second year, the rolling conveyor belt holds an endless march of Android phones, while text on the wall behind it chronicles the rise of Android since 2008. The conveyor belt even includes some more obscure Android phones, models that were only released in China or Japan.

8: Android Demo Stations
Several Android phone vendors had demo stations in the booth, including Huawei, Sony, ZTE, LG, and Samsung. Some phones, such as ZTE’s flagship quad-core device, were available to play with in Google’s booth when they couldn’t power on at their manufacturer’s booth!

9: Android Graffiti Area
This niche was devoted to the idea of using Android tablets as music players. Can you feel the beat, DJ? Can you feel it?

10: Android Claw Machine
Deep within the nightclub-like music playing area, there’s this claw machine where you can try your luck at getting a cuddly stuffed Android! There’s another claw machine at the other end of the booth space. It doesn’t look like it, but there’s a long line for these claw machines.

11: Android Meeting
Up on the second floor of the booth, there are comfy couches where Android developers and their friends can have meetings. Each table has a phone clipped to it.

12: Second Floor Overview
Looking down from the second floor you see some of the app developer areas. Those Androids with hats each signify a different app category, which is being demoed in that space.

13: Android Design Wall
This one baffled me; it’s a wall of strangely textured objects, some rough, some furry, some bouncy. The theme seemed to have to do with the materials Android phones are made of. That guy is touching the screen, but nothing in this part of the booth seemed to be a touch screen.
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By Sascha Segan

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:52:00 +0000

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 ($799.99 direct with 14-42mm lens) is the camera that many people wanted the Lumix DMC-GF3 ($599.99, 3.5 stars) to be—a compact Micro Four Thirds body with plenty of physical controls, an accessory port, and a hot shoe. The 16-megapixel camera does a better job in lower light than other Micro Four Thirds bodies, but not as well as mirrorless cameras with large APS-C sensors such as the Samsung NX200 ($899.99, 3.5 stars) or our Editors' Choice Sony Alpha NEX-C3 ($649.95, 4.5 stars), and its kit lens can't match the sharpness of the one included with a competing Micro Four Thirds camera, the Olympus E-PL3 ($699.99, 3.5 stars)—of course, there's nothing stopping you from using the Olympus lens on the Panasonic camera, thanks to the interoperability of the Micro Four Thirds system.

Design and Features

Like the smaller GF3, the Lumix GX1 is styled after a point-and-shoot camera. It features a sardine-can shaped body with a modest hand grip. The GX1 measures only 2.7 by 4.5 by 1.6 inches and weighs 9.6 ounces without a lens. The GF3 is only slightly smaller at 2.6 by 4.2 by 1.3 inches, and a bit lighter at 7.9 ounces. Even though the Lumix GX1 is compact, it does include a built-in flash—something that other mirrorless cameras like the Olympus E-PM1 ($499.99, 4 stars) and Sony Alpha NEX-5N ($699.95, 4.5 stars) don't.

The standard kit lens included with the GX1 is Panasonic's tried-and-true 14-42mm (28-84mm equivalent) zoom. It isn't the smallest in the world—in fact, it's not too far off in size from the 18-55mm (27-82.5mm equivalent) zoom that manages to cover the large image sensor in the Sony NEX camera line. If you're looking for a more compact version of the GX1, consider a kit with the collapsible Lumix GX Vario PZ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH power zoom lens, which reduces the overall size of the camera and is priced at $949.99. Panasonic also offers a pancake prime for the Micro Four Thirds system—the Lumix G 14mm f/2.5 ASPH ($399.95) features a fast aperture and a fixed, wide-angle field of view.

The camera's rear 3-inch LCD features 460k dots of resolution and supports touch input, just like the one found on the GF3. The display is fixed, which is makes it less useful than the tilting displays found on the Sony NEX series and the Olympus E-PL3. The fixed display limits you to using the camera at arm's length, like a point-and-shoot, when taking handheld shots. If eye-level shooting is what you're after you can add the optional DMW-LVF2 Electronic Viewfinder ($249.99), an LCD finder with a 1.44 million dot resolution.

The GX1 has almost as many physical control buttons as a D-SLR, which is a departure from the control interface found on the consumer-oriented GF3. The top of the camera houses a Mode dial, iA button, Shutter release, and a Movie Record button. On its rear you'll find a Control Wheel and buttons to adjust ISO, White Balance, and the Autofocus Area. There is also a Q. Menu button, which launches an overlay menu that allows you to change other shooting settings on the fly—either via the camera's physical buttons or via touch input.

Performance and Conclusions

The GX1 performs quite well in terms of speed. It can start up and grab a shot in 1.1 second, records only a 0.1 second shutter lag, and can rattle off photos with just 0.25 second between shots. Perhaps most impressively, when shooting JPGs, it can keep this 4 frame per second pace for about 62 photos before slowing down. This compares favorably to the Olympus E-PM1, one of the faster Micro Four Thirds that we've previously tested. That camera requires 1.2 seconds to boot and shoot and also manages to grab 4 frames per second. Its shutter lag is slightly longer at 0.2 second.

Sadly, the GX1 and included lens don't quite do as well in terms of pure image quality. I used Imatest to measure its sharpness at the wide, mid-range, and telephoto settings of its 14-42mm zoom lens. At 14mm the lens was only able to resolve 1,552 lines per picture height of sharpness—shy of the 1,800 lines that denotes a sharp photo. It did better at 28mm, recording 1,864 lines, but softened to 1,778 lines at 42mm. The more compact—and more expensive—power zoom version of the 14-42mm actually scored a bit lower in terms of sharpness. It netted 1,676 lines at 14mm, 1,670 lines at 28mm, and 1,485. Olympus also makes Micro Four Thirds cameras, and kit lens included with its latest generation models can grab more than 2,100 lines per picture height at 14mm.

I also ran tests on the GX1 to see how it will perform at higher ISO settings. Increasing a camera's ISO makes the sensor more sensitive to light, so you can manage to grab sharp photos in lower light, but image noise increases as you raise the sensitivity. Like other tested Micro Four Thirds cameras, the GX1 didn't perform spectacularly in this regard. Its images were able to keep image noise just under 1.5 percent through ISO 1600—but at the next setting, ISO 3200, noise shot up to over 2.2 percent. If you want to use the camera at its top ISO setting, 12800, be prepared for some extremely grainy photos—noise at that ISO makes up 3.3 percent of your photos. Some other mirrorless cameras with larger APS-C image sensors, like the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 and Samsung NX200, are able to grab clean images through ISO 6400.

The GX1's video recording capabilities are quite competent. It supports 1080p30 and 720p60 video recording using AVCHD, as well as 1080p30 and 720p30 in MP4 format. Regardless of the setting, video is crisp, smooth, and features very nice color. Audio is recorded with a built-in stereo microphone. It can autofocus while recording, although that sound can be heard on the soundtrack, as can the sound of the optional power zoom lens moving in and out. Unfortunately, there's no mic input jack, so you won't be able connect a better microphone to the camera. You can output video to an HDTV via mini HDMI, or connect the camera to your computer via a proprietary USB port. It supports standard SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards.

Demanding shooters should be happy with the amount of physical control options available on the GX1, but may feel a bit underwhelmed by the fixed rear LCD and lack of a built-in EVF. It is the only 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds body that is currently on the market—the upcoming Olympus OM-D EM-5 ($999.99 body only) will match that resolution, but in a larger form factor with a built-in EVF. Unfortunately, the included 14-42mm lens doesn't quite keep up with the sensor in terms of sharpness, and the newer, more expensive power zoom version scores lower in this regard. If you've invested in the Micro Four Thirds system and already have some lenses or a dedicated flash, the GX1 is a capable, compact camera—and you can buy it without the kit lens and save $100. But if you are considering your first mirrorless camera and aren't looking for more advanced features like a hot shoe and a bountiful number of physical controls, you may find more value in one with a larger sensor like the Sony Alpha NEX-5N. That camera can do much better in low light and has an external viewfinder accessory available, just like the GX1.

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By Jim Fisher

How to Buy a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:37:00 +0000

How to Buy a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera

By far the largest segment of the digital camera market, point-and-shoot models are compact, easy to use, and typically take great pictures with minimal effort. You simply press the shutter button, and the camera automatically adjusts shutter speed, aperture, focus, and light sensitivity to capture a clear image with optimal color. Unlike Digital SLRs which offer larger image sensors, more manual control and interchangeable lenses, point-and-shoot cameras can often slip into a pocket, and are typically less expensive.

Deciding to buy a point-and-shoot camera is the simple part, but with hundreds of models with varying price points and feature sets to choose from, selecting the best one is no easy feat. Follow these rules to find the right compact digital camera.

Rule #1: There's More to a Photo Than Megapixels

"That camera looks great, how many megapixels does it have?" This is a question I've heard time and time again, but the truth is that more megapixels don't make for better photos. A decade ago, when cameras were making the jump from 2-3 megapixels to 4-5, it was a matter of discussion. But now, with point-and-shoots starting in the 10-megapixel range and climbing as high as 16 megapixels, it's a moot point. Very few of us are going to make prints large enough to take advantage of all those extra pixels.

Sensor size is much more important. Putting too many pixels on the smaller image sensors (which are generally 1/2.3" when measured diagonally) found in compact cameras, can actually hurt camera a camera's low-light shooting performance. These sensors are much smaller than those found in D-SLRs, which can make color gradations less smooth, and make it more difficult to create a shallow depth of field. But the advantage is the ability to put lenses with longer zoom factors in compact packages—you can find a camera with an 18x lens that can fit into your shirt pocket like the Nikon Coolpix S9100 , something that no D-SLR can match.

Some compact cameras have larger image sensors, in the 1/1.7" range, but these are usually aimed at enthusiasts and are priced accordingly. If top-notch image quality in a compact package is an absolute need, no matter the cost, consider one of these larger-sensor compacts like our high-end Editors' Choice, the Canon PowerShot S100 . These cameras can't match the long zoom range of compacts with smaller sensors, but generally perform better in low light. You won't be able to blur the background like you can with a D-SLR unless you're focusing on an object only a few inches from the lens, but larger sensors generally produce images with a bit more depth than their smaller counterparts.

Rule #2: Pay Attention to Lens Focal Length, Not Just Zoom Factor

The zoom range of a camera is often highlighted in marketing material, but that "x" number, which expresses how far a camera's lens reaches, doesn't tell you the full story. The focal length range, which is generally expressed as a 35mm equivalent value, tells you more about the field of view that the camera can cover. For example, two cameras may both have 3x lenses, but if one covers 24-72mm, like the Samsung TL500 , and the other 36-108mm, like the Olympus T-100 , the former will be better suited for shooting in tight spaces while the latter will have a longer telephoto reach. Better point-and-shoots start at around 28mm these days, which is a nice wide angle that is well suited for shooting in tight spaces. Budget cameras often start around 35mm, which is less useful for family snapshots, as it will be harder to frame photos with multiple people in smaller spaces.

Rule #3: Weigh Size Versus Features

You can get a truly capable point-and-shoot camera that's downright tiny, but it will likely lack a long zoom lens and other advanced features, to keep it slim. And it might come with harder-to-manipulate controls, especially if you have larger hands (smaller cameras mean smaller buttons and dials). If you can, get your hands on a camera before you buy, it's the best way to see which models feel best.

If you're happy with a moderately long zoom and you don't need, say, an articulating LCD, an ultracompact model like our midrange Editors' Choice, the 8x Canon PowerShot Elph 310 HS is a very capable camera that takes beautiful photos and will slide into even a tight pocket. Cameras that add more advanced functionality, like the GPS-equipped Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX7V or the ruggedized Olympus Tough TG-310 will generally be a little bit bigger. And if you want a camera with an extremely long zoom range, like the 35x-equipped Canon PowerShot SX40 HS , you'll be nearing the size of a small D-SLR.

Rule #4: When it Comes to LCDs, Display Resolution is as Important as Size

Because you'll be using your camera's rear LCD to frame and review photos and videos, its quality is paramount. You should look for a camera with at least a 2.5-inch display, although 3 inches is preferable. Camera LCDs are generally measured in dots, with larger values representing sharper displays. A 230k-dot display is just passable in terms of sharpness for a standard 3-inch screen. You'll be able to see fine detail in your shots and enjoy better outdoor performance with a camera with a bright 460k or 921k LCD. Larger point and shoots, like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150 , sometimes include articulating screens, which can rotate a full 360 degrees, allowing you to shoot from more interesting angles.

You can also get a point-and-shoot with a touch-screen interface. These models allow you to adjust camera settings and fire the shutter by tapping the rear screen, eliminating traditional physical control buttons. The main advantage is the ability to put a larger screen on the rear of the camera—the Canon PowerShot 510 HS has a 3.2-inch display. If you're the type who wants to fiddle with manual controls, a touch-screen camera might not be a good choice, as it takes longer to change settings when compared to button-based commands. But if you want to happily shoot in automatic mode, the touch interface could be an appealing choice.

Rule #5: Good Low-Light Performance Lessens the Need for Flash

We test the high-ISO performance of every camera that comes through the PCMag Labs. Basically, ISO is a measure of the camera's sensitivity to light. The higher the setting, the more light the sensor collects. A camera that is set to ISO 100 will capture the same amount of light with a one-second exposure as it will with a half-second exposure at ISO 200. Getting a camera that performs well at higher ISO settings will make it possible to snap blur-free photos in lower light. Almost every compact camera has a built-in flash, but there are certain situations where it doesn't make sense to use it. Because the surface area of the flash is much smaller than that of a professional light, it's better to let the camera use it to fill in shadows rather than provide the entire of illumination for a scene.

As you increase the ISO, image noise increases as well—and too much noise makes for grainy, blotchy photos. A camera that performs better at high ISO values—you should look for one that keeps noise under 1.5 percent at ISO 800—can use the a lower powered flash to grab sharp photos, without creating a washed-out look. It's important to check reviews to see how cameras actually perform at these higher settings, as one camera may produce much better images at ISO 1600 than another. A few point and shoots are really masters of low light—the Olympus XZ-1 has an extremely fast f/1.8-2.5 lens that can snap clean images through ISO 1600.

Rule #6: Image Stabilization is a Must

Optical image stabilization, which compensates for the shakiness of your hands when taking a photo, is a must in a point and shoot camera, unless you plan on shooting on a tripod all the time. Nowadays, almost every midrange and high-end point-and-shoot includes this feature, but if you're trying to find a camera in the $100 range, it's something you should definitely check for. Our roundup of the best budget cameras is a good place to start.

Rule #7: Go for HD Video

Almost every point-and-shoot on the market will capture video, but you should set your sights on one that can record in HD. Don't get hung up on full 1080p resolution, a compact that records in 720p is more than capable of capturing video destined for online sharing. Most models that record HD video also feature a micro or mini HDMI output port to the camera connect to your HDTV for hi-def image and video playback; if you have a large screen HDTV, this is where you might benefit from the higher video resolution.

As far as recording the video, you'll want to check and see if the camera can zoom while recording, but be aware that the sound of the lens zooming is often picked up by the camera's mic. Some larger point-and-shoots will have an external mic port, making them better suited for more serious video work.

Rule #8: Get Last Year's Camera for Less

Point-and-shoot models are generally refreshed yearly, and improvements are usually incremental rather than dramatic. You can save a bundle by going for a year-old model, without sacrificing much in terms of functionality. For example, our Editors' Choice for high-end compacts was the Canon PowerShot S95 until its successor, the S100, came to market and stole its crown. If you're able to live without the features new to the S100, you can find the S95 for sale at a full $100 off its original $400 sticker price. Likewise, the predecessor to our Editors' Choice superzoom, the Nikon Coolpix S9100, a $330 camera, is the Coolpix S8100 . It doesn't feature quite as long a zoom lens, but can be found online for as little as $130—which is an excellent value in our book.

Finally, before you settle on your perfect shooter, read our recent point-and-shoot camera reviews, and check out The 10 Best Digital Cameras for the top point-and-shoot cameras we've tested.

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By Jim Fisher

Google Releases 'Android Design' Style Guide

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 07:15:00 +0000

Android Design' Style Guide

What makes something an "Ice Cream Sandwich" device? What does it mean to embody the spirit of Android? To help answer these questions, Google on Thursday unveiled Android Design, a guide for how to create the best Android apps and interfaces.

Android Design is "the place to learn about principles, building blocks, and patterns for creating world-class Android user interfaces," Christian Robertson, head of the Android visual design group, said in a blog post. "Whether you're a UI professional or a developer playing that role, these docs show you how to make good design decisions, big and small."

Robertson said Google is "committed to helping you design amazing apps that people love," and promised more in-depth content on Android Design, as well as design-related blog posts and Google+ Hangouts, in the coming months.

At this point, the Web site has basic tutorials on Android style, patterns, and building blocks.

Google said the latest version of its Android operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich, focused on three overarching goals for core apps and the system at large: enchant me; simplify my life; and make me amazing.

During an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt touched on the need for an aesthetically pleasing user interface. The search giant wants to attract "people with great taste," Schmidt said. The new model for Android is "cleaner, pristine, and more spare," he said, doing "enough of what you need" without cluttering the space.

That's a description you might normally hear coming from Apple, a company that prides itself on a simple, intuitive design across all its devices. Google, meanwhile, has a customizable UI that could look very different from one device to the next. There are also many different versions of Android floating around—Ice Cream Sandwich is on just 0.6 percent of devices at this point—which has prompted concerns about Android fragmentation. At CES, however, Schmidt said he was not convinced Android was fragmented, arguing instead that there was a "differentiation" between the versions.

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By Chloe Albanesius

Windows 8 Vs. Mac OS X Lion: Feature by Feature

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:59:00 +0000

Windows 8 Vs. Mac OS X Lion: Feature by Feature

With the Windows 8 Consumer Preview coming the end of this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the world will get a more complete look at Microsoft's next big operating system. But thanks to the company being very open about what's in store with Windows 8, we already know a lot about it. The team building the operating system has posted extensively on the Building Windows 8 blog, providing a level of detail that is rarely seen in this world of surprise major tech releases.

On the other side we have Apple, which unveiled its latest desktop operating system, Mac OS X Lion, fully gestated, without a chance for the public to run it beforehand. Both operating systems exhibit a similar trend: emulating the company's mobile operating system in their desktop OS. For Lion, Apple drew heavily on iOS in several ways—its App Store, Launchpad screen of icons, and touch interface among the most notable. Windows 8 will be no exception to this mobile-to-desktop trend, as evidenced by the Windows 8 Developer Preview, released last September in Anaheim.

Both companies have been very open about this mobile-envy: in October of 2010 at an event on the Apple Cupertino campus called "Back to the Mac," the world got its first peek at the stylish tech firm's latest desktop operating system, "OS X Lion." CEO Steve Jobs explained that the success of the company's iPad tablet was a major driver in adding features to Lion.

The similarities don't end at the two future desktop OS's mobile influencers. Both Lion and Window 8 will make heavy use of touch interfaces, but with a big difference, as you'll see in the slideshow below. Both will have an App Store, both have full-screen app views, and both offer new ways to switch among and navigate within apps.

There are, of course, important differences between Microsoft and Apple's overall OS strategies It all hinges on tablet support. Apple is aligning its tablet and phone OSes, and keeping the desktop OS separate, though mobile-influenced. Microsoft, on the other hand, is creating one OS for tablets and desktops, while keeping the phone OS separate—for now, anyway. Both companies may even have ideas for a grand unified OS for all devices.

Clearly, the tablet and mobile worlds have begun to impact the desktop OS in a major way. This begs the question: Can the desktop survive? Once you see all the powerful goodies these new system software heavyweights bring to the table, however, you'd be hard pressed to make a case for the irrelevance of the desktop computer. Click through the slideshow to see whether you disagree, and to see which looks better to you: Windows 8 or Apple's OS X Lion.

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By Michael Muchmore

Small Cameras, Big Zoom

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:02:00 +0000

Small Cameras, Big Zoom | Top Gadgets Review

It used to be that if you wanted a long zoom lens, you had to tote a bulky camera. No longer: More and more manufacturers are packing serious zoom factor into cameras that you can carry in your back pocket. With all the options to choose from, though, there are a few things you should consider when you're looking for the right superzoom camera.

When it comes to lenses, it's not just the degree of optical zoom (12x or 14x, for example) you should look at. Focal length is a better indicator of how close to your subject the lens can actually take you. For example, Panasonic boasts 16x optical zoom in its $380 DMC-ZS10. But the focal length of the lens only reaches to 384mm. The $350 Canon PowerShot SX230 IS, on the other hand, has a 14x lens, but focal length is longer at 392mm.
Since these models have slightly larger bodies than standard compact point-and-shoot cameras, there's room for extra goodies inside. But you need to decide which extra features you need—and what you want to pay for. Take HD video, for one: All of the cameras here are capable of recording high-definition video, but only a few capture 1080p (1,920 by 1080) footage. The others record smaller-size videos (720p), but can ocassionaly have higher frame-rates (up to 60 per second).
A few of these cameras integrate GPS for geotagging your photos. Models like the Casio Exilim EX-H20G, Canon PowerShot SX230 HS, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX7V, Fujifilm FinePix F600EXR, and Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10 all include GPS. When you view your photos from those cameras in a program that supports geotagging, like Google's Picasa (4.5 stars), they'll be plotted on a map with location information, and you'll also see the direction in which each photo was taken. The DSC-HX7V also has some innovative in-camera software for reducing image noise, and a cool feature called iSweep Panorama that lets you swipe the camera up, down, left or right, while it fires multiple images and then stitches them together in a few seconds.
It's not all about fancy features, though. The Casio Exilim EX-ZR100 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX7V, both $300, are the least expensives model here. They're both able to pump out impressive photos. For some, that's the most important feature of all. For more, hit our Digital Cameras Product Guide for the latest camera reviews and The 10 Best Digital Cameras for the top-rated models.
Superzoom Cameras Featured in this Roundup:
Canon PowerShot Elph 510 HS

$349.99 direct
The Canon PowerShot Elph 510 HS is a very good choice if you want a lot of zoom (12x) from a small camera body, and you prefer a touch screen to physical controls. But poor low-light performance and a slow start-up time hold this compact superzoom back.

Canon PowerShot SX230 HS

$349.99 list
The Canon PowerShot SX230 HS is a top choice if you want a long 14x zoom lens, plus bonus features like GPS, in a camera that can fit in your pocket.

Casio Exilim EX-H20G

$349.99 list
If you're an avid traveler, you'll like the sharp photos, 10x zoom lens, and integrated GPS the Casio Exilim EX-H20G offers, but if you don't need to geotag your photos, you can get better performance for the price.

Casio Exilim EX-ZR100

$299.99 direct
The 12.5x-zoom Casio Exilim EX-ZR100 is a speed demon that shoots excellent photos and video, but its high price tag, and quirks with zooming and autofocus, hold it back somewhat.

Fujifilm FinePix F600EXR

$349.95 direct
The GPS-equipped Fujifilm Finepix F600EXR shows a lot of promise on paper, packing a long 15x zoom lens into a compact body. But the GPS doesn't work as well as we'd like, and images from this superzoom camera are very noisy in low light…

Nikon Coolpix S9100

$329.95 direct
The speedy-shooting Nikon S9100 delivers a big 18x optical zoom lens and a high-res LCD in a small, pocket-size package at a great price.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10

$379.99 direct An impressive set of specs including a 16x zoom lens, a high-quality touch screen, GPS, and 3D image capture, can’t compensate for the subpar image quality and low-light performance you get with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS10.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX7V

$299.99 direct
The compact 10x-zoom Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX7V packs in features and delivers impressive, low-noise images even at its highest ISO. But it falls a bit shy of its predecessor in terms of image sharpness.

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By Jim Fisher

The Best Ipad 2 Cases| Top Gadgets Review

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:32:00 +0000

The Best iPad 2 Cases

A brand new shiny gadget is a beautiful thing. One that's scratched, scuffed, or (gasp!) smashed is not only regrettable, but avoidable. Fragility and mobility are the perfect combination for disaster when it comes to tablets. If you have an iPad, the first thing you need to do is get a case to protect it. The good news is that a simple Google search turns up scores and scores of cases designed specifically for the iPad 2, so there are plenty of types and styles to choose from. We've looked at a lot of them to bring you 35 very cool cases.

Besides providing protection, a good case can help you do more with your iPad. One of the more popular flavors is the folio, which when folded the right way acts as a stand, propping up your iPad at various angles for typing, gaming, video viewing, or ebook reading. When you're not using the stand, the case folds back to cover the iPad's back panel, and more importantly, the very fragile 9.7-inch screen, keeping it safe from damage when you shove it into an overstuffed backpack. We found a bunch of folios in various materials and designs.

If you want to add some personality to your tablet, a protective shell could be the way to go. Shells, typically constructed from plastic or rubber, come in bright colors, patterns, and textures—we found some sweet-looking ones. But a shell will only cover the iPad's back panel, so you'll need a transparent screen protector or something like Apple's Smart Cover, which is a thin perforated layer of polyurethane or leather that uses magnets to adhere to the iPad's screen to protect it.

Not a fan of the added bulk of a case? At least get a sleeve to protect your iPad while it's in transit. We've got some of those too. But keep your fingers crossed that you don't drop that tablet while you're using it—you'll be out of luck.

By Wendy Sheehan Donnell

How To Automate & Schedule Regular Windows 7 Backups

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:52:00 +0000

Far too many PC users fail to properly back up their systems and their data. Because of that, I’ve often found myself in the position of having to tell family and friends that all of the family photos and financial information they’ve stored on their computer is completely lost. There are so many free and inexpensive ways to set up regular backups, that there is really no excuse to lose all of those precious memories and important files.

Tina recently described a step-by-step approach to setting up the Windows 7 backup and restore feature that’s built right into the operating system. It really doesn’t get much easier than that. Justin also provided 10 free products that can help with manually taking regular backups. In this article, I’m going to offer three other free products that you can use to configure regularly scheduled, automated Windows 7 backups.

Back Up All of Your Computers Today

These are products that are guaranteed to work with the Windows 7 operating system, but you can also use them to back up other PCs in your house as well. The best of all, the client-server solution, which I’ll describe last, offers a very cool centralized approach to your entire household backup needs.

Fast & Simple Backups With True Safe

The simple fact is, some people just don’t know where to start when it comes to computer maintenance. In my opinion, True Safe offers one of the simplest solutions for taking PC image backups.

It is free software, but you will need to register with the site using an email address. The process is simple and painless. Once you’re done, the software will take you through a very simple four step backup process.

Best of all, part of the process includes an option to schedule the backups only at a regularly scheduled time of your choosing. In the “Choose Schedule” step, you get to define when the backups take place, and how often they take place. Make sure to choose the “Automatic” mode in this step, or you won’t be able to schedule your backups.

Once you’re through the four steps, your PC is now protected with regular backups of either your entire drive, or select files and folders that you’ve chosen, to the destination of your choice. This can be a network share that you’ve set up on a different PC, or some external or internal drive.

Image Your Hard Disk With ODIN

The second tool that I wanted to offer is a very easy to use open-source disk imaging software tool called ODIN, that lets you quickly configure what partitions you want to image, and where you want to store those images.

The manual operation of this tool is a quick one-screen operation, which is very cool. It offers one of the easiest ways to take a quick backup of your hard drive to an external hard drive where you probably (should be) storing all of your hard disk backups.

However, the reason I’m covering the tool here is because it also offers a command line feature that you can schedule using Windows 7 task scheduling tool to fire off at automated, scheduled intervals.

You can get all the usage options by typing “usage” after the executable. Using the -backup parameter lets you define the -source and -target for the images. You could install the software on any PC where you want to take backup images and just schedule the backup command to kick off whenever it’s convenient for you – like when no one is likely to be using the computer.

Use UrBackup to Set Up a Client-Server Imaging Solution

In this article, I’ve saved the best for last. I absolutely love the UrBackup imaging solution. I like it because it follows the general goal I have to accomplish most of my home network maintenance and processing tasks using a centralized server to do all of the work.

Basically, you install a UrBackup Server app onto your centralized server where you would like to store all of your backups. Then, you install the UrBackup Client software on all of the PCs in your house that you want to back up.

The nice thing about this solution is that it bypasses messy antivirus or firewall problems networking sharing often introduces, because once you enable the client software, the server software has full access to take backups.

As you can see above, for each client, you tell the server software where to store the backups and at what frequency you want to take images.

On the client machine, you can either trigger manual backups by right clicking the UrBackups icon in the taskbar, or you can open up the client software to define the schedule for that client’s automated backups.

You can schedule only a backup of files and specific folders, or if you prefer you can define an interval for incremental image backups. Make sure the “active” box is selected, or the Server schedule settings will be used instead

On the server, you can select between all of your clients by using the drop-down list at the top of the main screen.

In my opinion, UrBackup offers the nicest solution because you can set up, schedule, and organize all of your backup configurations and storage from one central location. Attack a massive drive to that server and you’ve got an awesome at-home backup solution for all of your home computers.

Do any of these Windows 7 backup solutions strike your interest? Do you know of any others that work well? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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by Ryan Dube

Creating a user locked folder in Windows 7

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:49:00 +0000

Creating a user locked folder in Windows 7

Whether it is possible to create a folder that will contain user’s personal documents that can only be opened by the user and all other users of the Windows 7 on the same PC can not access it anyway?
Yes it is possible.
I will show you, how to create a folder with a lock sign on it, that can only be accessed the original user or author, no other user can access it, even it is not in My Documents folder.
For example, I have created a folder named The Customize Windows in E partition of my Windows 7 PC:
By right-clicking on the folder, select Properties and open the Security tab :
Now, click the Users other than you; click Edit:
Select the user group/user and fill the check box how much you will give access to the user.
You can allow only to read, not to copy or even not to access/open the folder. After restart or simply restarting the explorer.exe, when an unauthorized user wants to open the folder, he/she will get this:
In the above example, I have made all users to be denied by the System to access the folder.

(Top Gadgets Review)

Google Wallet Assimilates Google Checkout. Resistance Is Futile

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:46:00 +0000

Google Wallet Assimilates Google Checkout

When Google Wallet was announced, and the interest in wireless payments cooled, there was an obvious question. Where did all of this leave Google Checkout? Now, we know exactly where – in the stomach of Google Wallet, which has now swallowed its sibling service whole. According to information released by Google, the Checkout service will be merged into Wallet, and no longer exist as an independent entity.
Don’t worry. This doesn’t mean that all of the online checkout features have been given the axe. It only means that those features will now be referred to under the Google Wallet name. Going to the old site will re-direct you to the new version but the functionality remains the same.

Google Checkout | Top Gadgets Review

If you’re a merchant running a site that accepts Google Checkout payments, you don’t have to change anything yet. Google states that it will “ask merchants, organizations and developers who use Google Checkout who sell items or collect donations to change any website text that talks about Google Checkout to Google Wallet” in early 2012. No changes will need to be made to site integration as a result of this switch.
While the main site now redirects to Wallet, the older brand remains on a number of other pages. Google has not indicated exactly when all current pages will convert over to Wallet, but if the company will be asking merchants to change their wording in early 2012, the answer is likely “soon.” (Top Gadgets Review)
by: Matt Smith

The Week in Tweets: Adobe Pulls the Plug on Flash

noreply@blogger.com (shabi tech) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 03:30:00 +0000

Adobe Pulls the Plug on Flash

With rumors swirling, Adobe officially pulled the plug on Flash for the mobile Web Tuesday. In the real world, that left Flash developers struggling to figure out what to do next while Adobe partner Research in Motion scrambled to reassure its ecosystem that the Flash show would go on because, you know, there’s at least a couple of hundred BlackBerry PlayBook owners out there who were getting nervous.

In the Twitterverse, where all things are possible, Steve Jobs was reported to be chortling from beyond the grave—an image that is probably better left unrealized, even on HTML5.

“Hug a Flash developer today,” tweeted Anthony de Rosa, when the hammer came down. We scoured Twitter for tweets about the demise of Flash, and to be honest, that may have been the only non-example of schadenfreude that we found.

You people really hate Flash!

But it’s not likely Adobe didn’t kill the beast graciously. Here’s what the company had to say about HTML5:

"[It] is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively, [making it] the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms."

The switch, Adobe said, "will allow us to increase investment in HTML5 and innovate with Flash where it can have most impact for the industry, including advanced gaming and premium video."

And it’s not like Adobe hasn’t been steering developers towards this day for a while. As PCMag lead software analyst Michael Muchmore points out, “Adobe has been making a push for HTML5 development tools, highlighting its new tools' ability to target sites to multiple mobile devices.” The upcoming Adobe Edge tool, he writes, “is basically a Flash-building tool that outputs HTML5 rather than actual Flash.”

All well and good, but HTML5 isn’t going to spring fully formed from Flash’s grave, Muchmore warns: “I'm thrilled about the non-proprietary future of HTML5, but it will take time before the hundreds of billions of sites already out there have updated to HTML5.”

Wise words but not ones you’re likely to find on Twitter. So let’s throw caution to the wind and break out the Tweets.

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By: Damon Poeter

Top Gadgets Review

Electronic Gadgets For Men : Tips and Recommendation

Electronic Gadgets For Men : Tips and Recommendation (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Tips About Cool & Great Electronic Gadgets For Men

Recommended Electronic Gadgets for Men

TOP 10 best smartphones of 2022

What features should the best phone of 2022 have?

Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro - very good and cheaper than competitors

Main characteristics

Samsung Galaxy S10e - relatively small

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); OnePlus 7 Pro - speed leader

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(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Asus ZenFone 6 with flip up camera

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Huawei P30 Pro - takes great photos

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10 - a flagship with a useful stylus

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Apple iPhone 13 Pro - the choice of Apple Fans

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Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is a budget flagship with good cameras (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

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Which smartphone to buy in 2022?

Putting together a gaming computer 2020 | what to choose so as not to overpay?

Putting together a gaming computer 2020: what to choose so as not to overpay?

Gaming computer 2020: processor

How to Build a Gaming Computer 2020: Graphics Card

Gaming PC 2020: motherboard

Gaming PC Build 2020: RAM

Build a gaming computer 2020: hard drive and SSD

2020 gaming PC case and power supply

Gaming computer 2020: final configuration

Intel Launches 6th Generation Intel Core vPro Processors

HTC Will Unveil New Smartphone Flagship on April 12

YouTube Creates Team to Minimize Copyright Claim Mistakes

Monitor a Laptop or Desktop PC from a Mobile Device

Monitor a Laptop or Desktop PC from a Mobile Device

Grab the PC Monitor mobile app:

The Best Antivirus for 2013 | Top Gadgets Review

The Best Antivirus for 2013

For Desktop interface Visit>> Virtual desktop interface

iPhone 6 specs, features, release date, price, news & rumours

iPhone 6 specs, features, release date, price, news & rumours

iPHONE 6 RELEASE DATE

iPHONE 6 SCREEN

iPHONE 6 GAZE DETECTION

iOS 7

iPHONE 6 CAMERA

iPHONE 6 STORAGE

TOUCH ID: NFC AND FINGERPRINT SENSOR

iPHONE 6 PROCESSOR

iPHONE 6 PRICE

Tablet PC Guide | Top Gadgets Review

2013 is the age of Modern technology - Touch Screen computing & Smart gadgets - The Tablet PC Guide 2013.

What Screen Do I Want?

Will Windows 8 be More Secure? | Top Gadgets Review

Martin Cooper takes a step back from all the Windows 8 fanfare and examines whether the cyber criminals will love or loathe Microsoft’s new OS.

Security as Standard

Boot Level Protection

Features and Flaws

The Metro Question

The Janus OS

New iPad vs. Top Android Tablets: Specs Compared

New iPad vs. Top Android Tablets: Specs Compared

Apple Unveils New iPad With 4G LTE, Retina Display

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Hands On With the New iPad

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Touring Google's Crazy MWC Booth

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1: Greetings From the Android Slide

2: Android Bedazzling Robot

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1

Design and Features

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How to Buy a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera

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Rule #1: There's More to a Photo Than Megapixels

Rule #2: Pay Attention to Lens Focal Length, Not Just Zoom Factor

Electronic Gadgets For Men : Tips and Recommendation

OnePlus 7 Pro - speed leader

Asus ZenFone 6 with flip up camera

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is a budget flagship with good cameras