Tech News

Facebook Eating Users Data:500 TB A Day.

2012-09-07T15:27:00.001-07:00

With more than 950 million users, Facebook is collecting a lot of data. Every time you click a notification, visit a page, upload a photo, or check out a friend’s link, you’re generating data for the company to track. Multiply that by 950 million people, who spend on average more than 6.5 hours on the site every month, and you have a lot of information to deal with.

Here are some of the stats the company provided Wednesday to demonstrate just how big Facebook’s data really is:

2.5 billion content items shared per day (status updates + wall posts + photos + videos + comments)
2.7 billion Likes per day
300 million photos uploaded per day
100+ petabytes of disk space in one of FB’s largest Hadoop (HDFS) clusters
105 terabytes of data scanned via Hive, Facebook’s Hadoop query language, every 30 minutes
70,000 queries executed on these databases per day
500+terabytes of new data ingested into the databases every day

“If you aren’t taking advantage of big data, then you don’t have big data, you have just a pile of data,” said Jay Parikh, VP of infrastructure at Facebook on Wednesday. “Everything is interesting to us.”

Parikh said the company is constantly trying to figure out how to better analyze and make sense of the data, including doing extensive A/B testing on all potential updates to the site, and making sure it responds in real time to user input.

“We’re growing fast, but everyone else is growing faster,” he said.

What's your WebStory today?

Boarding With Apple Passbook:Two Major Airlines

2012-09-07T15:09:00.001-07:00

It looks like United Airlines isn’t the only airline that will integrate boarding passes with Apple’s new Passbook feature coming in iOS 6. Both American Airlines and Delta Airlines are likely on board as well, according to travel industry blog Skift.

Passbook, if you’ll recall, is an Apple-created app that can hold digital boarding passes, rail tickets, movie and sporting event tickets, hotel confirmation info, coupons, gift cards and more. We got a preview in June, which showed United and Amtrak tickets, as well as Starbucks digital gift cards and a Target reward card in use. Obviously the more businesses that integrate with Passbook, the more useful the feature will be.

It’s not intended to be just a central repository; it’s supposed to be a smart tool. Passbook is location-aware and time-sensitive: when you arrive at the airport or movie theater, your boarding pass or movie ticket will pop up on your iPhone screen.

It’s likely there will be more in store though at next Wednesday’s iPhone 5 and iOS 6 official introduction in San Francisco. This report follows an earlier post Friday from Australian Business Traveller, which recounted a reader’s experience with Passbook and Virgin Australia. The reader, who was reportedly running the beta version of iOS 6, says he was prompted by the software to add his Virgin Australia boarding pass to Passbook — which could indicate the airline is planning to participate in the service as well.

There are already services like PassSource that will help any company create gift cards or coupons that will integrate with Passbook, but Apple is no doubt talking to mainstream consumer brands about direct integration. I’m betting we’re going to be hearing about a lot more big names next week.

WebStory: A fantastic blog client for WordPress

The B&N Nook Simple Touch & GlowLight:Pre-Order For $139,Expected in May

2012-04-13T03:45:00.002-07:00

Barnes & Noble just announced its latest ereader: The Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight. It doesn’t look any different from the previous model until you turn it on. That’s when the magic happens. Powered by a front-lit screen dubbed GlowLight, the new Nook emits a pleasant glow that’s sort of different from traditional backlighting. It’s easier on the eyes but the light cuts the battery life in half — which honestly is not that big of a deal.

The original Nook Simple Touch could go for 2 months on a single charge. The new model lasts that long as well, however, turn the light on and it drops to one month.

Inside the familiar body is the same TI CPU, 2GB of storage and 7-inch E Ink display. B&N developed the GlowLight internally. It’s toggled by the Nook’s little N button on the bottom of the ereader.

The Nook Simple Touch With GlowLight is priced at $139 and B&N is accepting orders starting today. The company expects the product to ship and hit stores in May.

Amazon fans, your glowing Kindle should be released later this year.This isn’t the first time B&N has beat Amazon to the punch. The Nook Color launched a year before the Kindle Fire and B&N beat Amazon to the touch game with the Nook Simple Touch by almost five months.

Via:Tech Crunch

Microsoft:Starts XP Retirement Countdown

2012-04-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

Microsoft yesterday kicked off what it called a "two-year countdown" to the death of Windows XP, its longest-lived operating system.

Microsoft extends Vista, Windows 7 support for 10 years
Windows XP and the business productivity suite Office 2003 both exit all support on April 8, 2014, a company spokeswoman said in a Monday blog post.

On that date, Microsoft will stop shipping security updates for XP and Office 2003.
XP went on sale in October 2001 while Office 2003 launched October 2003.
"Windows XP and Office 2003 were great software releases for their time, but the technology environment has shifted," argued Stella Chernyak, a Microsoft marketing director.

When Microsoft pulls XP's plug, it will have maintained the OS for 12 years and
5 months, or about two-and-a-half years longer than its usual practice and a year longer than the previous record holder, Windows NT, which was supported for 11 years and 5 months.
This wasn't the first time that Microsoft has urged XP users to dump the operating system -- and perhaps their PCs too -- for newer tools.

In June 2011, a Microsoft manager said it was "time to move on" from Windows XP, while earlier that year an executive on the Internet Explorer team belittled XP as "lowest common denominator" when he explained why the OS wouldn't run the then-new IE9.
The company has not yet turned on Windows XP like it has on the 11-year-old Internet Explorer 6 (IE6). For more than two and a half years, Microsoft has urged users to give up IE6, going so far in March 2011 to launch a deathwatch website that tracks IE6's dwindling usage share.Windows XP's share is dropping.

In the last 12 months, XP has lost nearly 10 percentage points of share, or 14% of what it had as of April 1, 2011, according to Internet measurement company Net Applications. If XP continues to shed share at that pace -- unlikely as a linear decline might be -- the OS would have just 17.1% in April 2014.
As Net Applications' data hints, some PCs will still be running Windows XP when Microsoft retires the operating system.

"Our recent Symposium survey [in October 2011] had respondents telling us they'd have 96% of their PCs migrated off XP by end of support," said Gartner analyst Michael Silver in an email reply to questions Monday. "But 16.5% of organizations say they will have more than 5% of their users still on XP after support ends."

Not surprisingly, Microsoft wants XP users to upgrade to Windows 7 now, perhaps figuring money in the hand with Windows 7 is better than dollars from the bush that's the unfinished Windows 8.
"We don't recommend waiting [for the next editions of Windows or Office], said Microsoft's Chernyak. "Not only is it important for companies to complete deployment before support runs out, but ... by upgrading to Windows 7 and Office 2010 today they can gain substantial results while laying the foundation for future versions."

On Microsoft's website, the company was blunt about XP's ticking clock.
"If your organization has not started the migration to a modern PC, you are late," Microsoft said, citing data that claimed OS migration programs in businesses take between 18 and 32 months to complete.

Smsng Galaxy w/Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich On Its Way.

2012-04-12T04:16:00.000-07:00

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 was the first of the company’s tablets announced to arrive running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

A little bit later on, we learned about plans for a larger 10.1-inch version. While we’ve had a good amount of technical data on both tablets, the picture of their eventual release has been a little less clear. First it looked like there might be an international launch late last month, but those plans fizzled. Today Samsung has some news for us about the tablets’ release plans, revealing just how they’ll be making their way to Android fans in the States.

The Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 will be the first to arrive, with pre-orders opening in
just a couple days, on April 12. Even then, the wait for the tablet to arrive won’t be long at all, and retail availability will start later this month on April 22.

There’s a bit of a longer wait for the Tab 2 10.1, though it’s still going to get here relatively soon. Pre-orders for this model will kick-off on May 4, with the actual tablet showing-up on May 13.

The seven-inch Tab 2 will run you just about $250, which could see it steal some customers away from the Kindle Fire. The ten-incher is going to sell for nearly $400, matching the pricing we’d already seen.

Via : BGR

G+ gets Makeover.

2012-04-12T03:37:00.000-07:00

Google plus got revamped social network, Google Plus, a makeover Wednesday, whole new look of the service.The new design is looks simpler and easier to navigate than its predecessor.

If Google can learn anything from the $1 billion sale of Instagram to Facebook this week, it’s that many people see mobile as one of the most important platforms for sharing on social networks. The Web, it seems, is becoming a lean-back viewing experience.

Google made its social network site on the Web cleaner and smoother, with soft gray tones that flow into a central stream of updates from users. It presents a neat stack of icons that sit off to the left of the screen, allowing people to jump quickly to different areas of Google Plus. The options include Hangouts, the Google group video chat; Google Plus Photos; Google Circles; and Games.

The input box to share updates, links or photos is also much smaller. In the past, this input area was so large it seemed to take up a majority of the Web browser window when typing.

Photos have become a focus of the new Google Plus design. Images shared in the stream are presented in a large view and flow into the Google Plus stream seamlessly. Google has also hidden icons on the page to avoid cluttering up the site. Hovering over the photo icon, for example, will present more icons to add photos or view albums.G. have given hangout new look.

In a blog post on the company’s Web site, titled “Toward a simpler, more beautiful Google,” Vic Gundotra, a Google senior vice president, wrote about some of the design changes and noted that 170 million people had upgraded to Google Plus.
“A critical piece of this social layer is a design that grows alongside our aspirations,” Mr. Gundotra wrote. ”So today we’re introducing a more functional and flexible version of Google Plus. We think you’ll find it easier to use and nicer to look at, but most importantly, it accelerates our efforts to create a simpler, more beautiful Google.”

In the past the Google Plus design has come under fire from user experience experts. Some complained that it was clunky and difficult to navigate; others that Google designs were too “dull.”

But the new design isn’t all party hats and balloons. The new design of Google Plus does not extend to the mobile experience, yet. Kat Eller, a Google spokeswoman, said via e-mail, “Today, the mobile experience will not change, but we are looking at ways to integrate these changes into mobile devices.”

Women gets crowned this time ... As Facial Recognition Billboard Only Lets Women See the Full Ad

2012-02-22T06:54:00.000-08:00

A new kind of outdoor advertisement is being tested on Oxford Street in London’s West End. The interactive advertisement uses a high-definition camera to scan pedestrians and identify their gender before showing a specific ad. The built-in system has a 90% accuracy rate in analyzing a person’s facial features and determining if they’re male or female.

The £30,000 display is set up by Plan UK, a not-for-profit organization that helps children in third-world countries.

Female passersby will be shown the full 40-second video of its ‘Because I’m a Girl’ campaign that promotes sponsoring a girl to receive proper education in a developing country. Males won’t be able to see the full ad and will be directed to Plan UK’s website instead. The purpose of this was to show men “a glimpse of what it’s like to have basic choices taken away.”
The ad campaign will run for two weeks and hopes to raise quarter of a million pounds in donations during the next four months.

This article originally published at PSFK here.

ANGRY BIRDS out in SPACE.

2012-02-22T06:28:00.000-08:00

Apparently a year is too long to go without a new version of the game arriving, so Rovio’s put up a teaser page letting us know about the coming launch of Angry Birds Space, briefly mentioned in the latest Top 10 Tech This Week.
It’s been a while now since we’ve seen a full-on new edition of Angry Birds. Sure, Rovio regularly release new episodes for its Angry Birds games, full of new levels and the occasional new bird, but ignoring the Symbian-only Angry Birds Magic with its NFC tricks, the last we got was the promotional movie tie-in of Angry Birds Rio last March.

Details on the game are sparse, but Rovio has disclosed that it will be arriving on March 22. For some reason, the company’s recruited NASA and National Geographic as partners in the app’s launch, but it’s unclear how they could fit in besides just providing background imagery for the game.
How will Space differ from existing Angry Birds titles? The obvious change would be letting level designers mess around with the strength of gravity. There will also supposedly be a “lightspeed destruction” mode, though it’s unclear just what that will entail. Rovio will likely have more details to share, as well as some in-game footage, as we approach the launch date.

Flickr gets Makeover, Like P

2012-02-22T05:35:00.000-08:00

Flickr will be rolling out a number of changes in the coming months, beginning with a new photo stream design, Justified View, and a new uploading feature, Uploadr.
Markus Spiering, Flickr head of product, discussed these changes with Mashable Tuesday. The company’s main focus, he says: user engagement.
The new upload feature dubbed Uploadr, which will go live in late March, lets you drag and drop photos from your computer onto the site. Spiering calls Uploadr more like an app and less like a website. Photos are instantly viewed as thumbnail images, allowing you to add tags as you upload. Spiering thinks this will increase engagement, as Flickr continues to build the Internet’s largest collection of geo-tagged photos (currently numbering at about 270 million).

Moving forward, Spiering says Flickr stands behinds Yahoo’s “mobile first” strategy, suggesting some future tricks the photo sharing service may have up its sleeves. The site’s first mobile app, for Android, was released in September 2011.

Though you may not think of Flickr as a mobile photography center in the likes of Instagram or Hipstamatic, the iPhone is now the top camera on Flickr, losing ground only to the iPhone 4S.

What do you think of Flickr’s changes? Where do you think the site fits into the mobile sharing space? Let others know what you use Flickr for in the comments.

Warner Bros. Teams w/Facebook for VOD movie play...

2011-03-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

Will Facebook + Warner Bros. Effects NetFlix.!!

Social media Goliath Facebook has jumped into the digital-movie delivery game, partnering with Warner Bros. on a trial that will allow users to rent content from the studio through the Facebook site using Facebook credits. First up: The Dark Knight, which will cost users $3 (or 30 credits) for a 48-hour rental.

(Click here for details.).The studio in a press release said it will test the waters with the Batman flick before deciding whether to expand into more VOD and electronic sell-through.

"Facebook has 600 million registered users, and courtesy of Zynga and other social games, a big chunk of them are already using the site's virtual currency," said Kafka. "[It's] easy to connect the dots here."

The deal is only available to consumers in the United States at the moment, Warner Bros. says, adding that it plans to add more titles for rental and purchase soon.

The movie will be available in full-screen mode and have all the associated pause-and-play options you'd expect. What it also has is the ability for users to access full Facebook functionality while they're watching the movie, which is seen as a significant built in edge for Facebook, which already is one of the largest video sites in the world, just behind YouTube.

"Facebook has become a daily destination for hundreds of millions of people," said Thomas Gewecke, President of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. "Making our films available through Facebook is a natural extension of our digital distribution efforts. It gives consumers a simple, convenient way to access and enjoy our films through the world's largest social network."

This isn't Facebook's first foray into the VOD world. In addition to clips and trailers that populate the site, Facebook also hosted the PBS documentary Earth Days last year, where it was available to users before it aired on TV.

Amazon and Redbox also recently announced streaming initiatives to challenge Netflix, which with 20 million subscribers is, at the moment, in the catbird seat for the segment.

Moto Rolled Flash Update in xOom, Finally...

2011-03-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

Motorola is updating its Xoom tablet's software with Flash support.

After rushing its tablet to market ahead of Apple's iPad 2 announcement,. Is it a coincidence it's on the same day Apple's iPad 2 goes on sale? I think not.

Motorola announced on Twitter (see image opposite side) that the Android software update for the Xoom tablet is being rolled out in phases starting March 11, which includes enhancements to support the upcoming Adobe Flash Player 10.2.

Launched on February 24, the Xoom was pushed out to the market with some half-baked features, just so it arrived on the market before a new iPad. Despite certain hardware advantages over the original and new iPad, the Xoom flaunted

4G radios, SD card memory expansion and Flash support. However, none of these features were actually available when the device launched.

Flash support and SD card expansion were said to be part of a future software update, while 4G radios update would be an affair that will see you parted with the Xoom for six days, some time later this year. Motorola did not say whether the new software update it is now rolling out would fix the SD card issue, but at least Flash support is now on its way.

Will anyone take notice of Motorola's update on the day the company with 90 percent of the tablet market share is launching the second iteration of its sought-after tablet? Some people should, at least current Xoom owners; they will finally be able to access Xoom's Flash website from their own tablet.

Flash support on the Xoom should also give Motorola an advantage over the iPad 2, which famously does not support Adobe's Web plugin.

Can the Xoom Flash update stop huge queues forming outside Apple stores for the iPad 2 this weekend? It's unlikely. The Xoom, a fine piece of hardware from Motorola, still lags behind several key advantages of the iPad 2. As reviewers point out, the iPad 2 is thinner, has less buggy and much more varied software and not least - it's cheaper.

Microsoft IE9 Coming Up....

2011-03-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

This week brings great news for fans of Microsoft's perennial web-browser

Internet Explorer with the release of IE9, this week at South by Southwest, or SXSW, as it is commonly referred to.The official launch for users of the web-standard browser is, Monday, March 14th at 9:00 PM Pacific Time.Among the new features that Internet Explorer 9 touts are:

Streamlined Design

The new interface is sexy and puts it's emphasis on the internet browsing experience as opposed to the large search tools and boxes we find on earlier versions of Internet Explorer. Fear not, however! If you are a fan of the "old" interface, Microsoft gives you the option of restoring those features with a simple right-click functionality.

Pinned Sites

For sites that you visit frequently, all you need to do is click the icon to the left of the website address and drag it to the task bar. Faster means better productivity and better social networking.

Download Manager

Microsoft, ever the target for viruses and hackers looking to steal your information, has implemented a great new feature into IE9. The new download manager not only lets you pause and restart downloads, it also notifies you of possibly malicious programs looking to hijack your computer.

Enhanced Tabs and New Tab Page

If you want to "snap" a page out of IE9 and have a side-by-side image or comparison with another web-page, think shopping comparisons, Internet Explorer 9 lets you do just that. The new tab page automatically color codes the sites you visit most often for fast navigation. Those that don't want this feature may disable it, giving the user the flexibility to tailor his or her browsing experience to their own liking.

Search From The Address Bar

Taking a direct clue from Mozilla's Firefox, IE9 now allows you to search directly from the address bar.

Notification Bar

Important status notifications. There if you want them, but not in the way.

Add-On Performance Adviser

Those little add-ons to our browser’s that have become so popular, e.g., Zynga's Tool Bar, are now able to be monitored more closely. The Add-On Performance Advisor in Internet Explorer 9 will tell you which add-ons may be slowing your internet browsing experience down.

Internet Explorer 9 also adds some other new upgrades to your browsing experience, aimed at making your browsing faster and safer. Hardware acceleration,tracking protection and Active X filtering aim to keep you faster and more in-control of your safety online.

Microsoft seems to have taken great steps forward in the re-imagining of it's Internet Explorer 9. You can download it by visiting Microsoft on March 14th. Happy Browsing!

Dell Tablet Cut Price From $549.99 to $399.99,save around $150.

2011-02-22T11:42:00.000-08:00

Noteworthy Device in Less Price From Microsoft.

Day in day out new devices popping out from the different manufacturers.So a clever move from Microsoft definitely empowers you to raise your eyebrows for Dell Inspiron Duo Convertible tablet comes with innovative flip design with efficient touch screen.As buying it from Microsoft you can save around $150.
(Preview).
You can switch from touch tablet mode to push the screen back 180 degrees and close the lid to type mode in seconds.(Another preview)

The Dell inspiron tablet is powered by Intel powerful Intel dual-core Atom N550 processor and 2GB of RAM.Get HD display and HD accelerator for smooth HD playback performance.Stay connected to friends and family with the 1.3 MP Webcam and microphone.

Experience superb visuals on the 10.1-inch HD multitouch display.Get through everyday tasks quickly and easily with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium.See Details for specs.

Transform it into a digital picture frame, an alarm clock or a music player with the optional Inspiron duo Audio Station featuring JBL speaker technology which you might have to but separately..

Its design gives you flawless feel between touch and type what ever you choose.By just touching you can easy access to your music,movies and photos.

Detail Specs:

Processor
Intel Atom Dual Core N550 (1.5GHz/1MB cache)

Operating System
Genuine Windows^® 7 Home Premium

Memory
2GB DDR3 SDRAM

Chipset

Intel^® NM10 Express Chipset

Video Card

Integrated Intel^® NM10

Display

10.1 inch display (1366x768)

Audio and Speakers

2 X 1W speakers for total of 2W standard

Hard Drive

Up to 320GB SATA hard drive (7200RPM)

Power

29Whr 4 cell battery, captive factory replaceable
Up to 3 hours and 57 minutes of battery life

Camera

Built-in 1.3 megapixel Webcam

Wireless

Wireless 802.11b/g/n
Wi-Fi Options:
Wireless 802.11b/g/n/ Bluetooth 3.0 Combo Card
Bluetooth
Wireless 802.11b/g/n / Bluetooth 3.0 combo Card (Optional)

Ports, Slots & Chassis

Externally Accessible
(1) Microphone
(1) Headphone
(1) SIM card slot
(2) USB 2.0
(1) AC adapter connector

Touch Screen
Capacitive Multi-touch technology

Dimensions & Weight
Width: 11.22" (285.0mm)
Height: 1.03" (26.2mm) front – 1.13" (28.7mm) back
Depth: 7.66" (194.5mm)
Starting weight of 3.39 lbs (1.54Kg).

Facebook + Hotmail Chat .. Enjoy !! Keep Connecting.

2011-02-21T23:44:00.000-08:00

Facebook chat in Hotmail now available everywhere.

From 21 Feb 2011,Facebook chat is available to Hotmail customers worldwide, wherever facebook is available.

Dick Craddock (Group Program Manager,Hotmail) on the blog said " This service before was only available for customers in six regions.Since announcing the availability of facebook chat in Messenger worldwide two weeks ago, nearly 2.5 million more people connected their facebook accounts to Windows Live, bringing the total to over 20 million customers. And with three out of four hotmail customers using facebook, we expect that many more people will want to take advantage of this feature, now that it’s available from your hotmail inbox."

You can try it out,by first connect your Facebook account to Windows Live and make sure the “Chat with my facebook friends in Messenger” box is checked to give your consent to facebook. We’ll link your accounts (this may take a few minutes), and you can start a chat from Hotmail just by clicking on the name of a Facebook contact. If this doesn’t work right away, sign out and back in again, and you should be going good.
Enjoy !!!! :)

Kinect with Windows Phone 7

2011-02-16T05:23:00.001-08:00

In the future, people sitting next to you on the couch with their Windows Phone 7 device will be able to jump in on a game you're playing on the Kinect. (Click 2 see preview)

At least that's the message being delivered by Microsoft in a technology demo video that shows off the company's vision it outlined earlier today in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress.
The technology preview, which runs less than a minute in length, shows off a male player going up against the computer in Rally Ball, a mini-game included in the Kinect Adventures title that ships with Microsoft's Kinect unit. In it, he's joined by a female companion who fires up an app on her Windows Phone 7 device to take over as his opponent.

Microsoft takes the demo one step further, adding a second player on the Windows Phone 7 device, who is also able to fire out a barrage of virtual rubber balls. Falling in defeat, they all share a laugh and the demo ends.
One interesting prospect this introduces is that Microsoft may have found a way to dramatically increase the number of players who can partake in Kinect games, which could be especially useful for people with small living rooms. The Kinect requires a certain amount of play space, which can be especially hard to come by when there are two players, something that for Kinect Adventures and other two-player games require several additional feet of depth to make work well.

Have a look at the video for yourself below, just keep in mind this does not necessarily mean the functionality will be added to the current version of Rally Ball:

In case you were getting your hopes up that this feature would arrive this year, we've been told that's not the case. In an interview with CNET earlier today, Greg Sullivan senior product manager for Windows Phone 7, said:

"That's not a product announcement or end-of-year feature. That is real code, something we're able to accomplish in the labs, but not a 2011 deliverable thing. We've got big ideas how we can tie these things together."

Of course that doesn't rule out seeing more of this functionality--as well as some ways developers can build ties between the two platforms into their games and applications--unveiled at this year's E3, or another games show.

Source : Cnet.

PS3 & KillZone 3 - Bundled.

2011-02-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

Because of its price, it worth a second look.

Next week , Killzone 3 will finally reach eager gamers waiting for their next chance to ruthlessly murder some Helghast. To commemorate this event, Sony has announced a new PlayStation 3 bundle .
The Killzone 3 PlayStation 3 Bundle will be released on the same day as the standalone game.

The bundle includes a standard, slim PlayStation 3 unit packing a 160GB harddrive, as well as a copy of Killzone 3.

Why is this so notable? Because the bundle retails for $299.99, the same exact price that you would spend on a PlayStation 3 with no game at all.

DEKJ7JBTGGPD

You can also read more about the bundle at the PlayStation Blog.

eXperia Gaming - Are The Console Wars Moving To mobile?

2011-02-16T05:22:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has brought Xbox to Mobile,now the PlayStation to Mobile.

In Barcelona, Spain, the 6th Mobile World Congress has kicked off with the latest technology on display. Let's take a look at what's in the spotlight this year.

The Xperia Play features a new media player, 2 cameras (front and back) and a 4 inch multi-touch display that can impressively run true HD games at 60 fps. The phone will be released with the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) software on it, and will allow for multiplayer gaming with friends. The Xperia Play is also Playstation Certified. Speaking of the Xperia Play, Sony said that it’s the,” World’s first-ever PlayStation certified device… the perfect combination of communication and entertainment.”

Game On. Sony Ericsson grabbed the spotlight as Mobile World Congress got underway in Barcelona, launching the hotly anticipated Xperia Play which brings PlayStation gaming to the mobile.

Bert Nordberg, CEO of Sony Ericsson said "This is sort of a PlayStation we launched here in Barcelona. It's Android, Gingerbread software - the latest software from Google. It's a great smart phone and when you don't need to do the smart phone job any more, you open it up and it becomes a PlayStation.

"This is interesting. Of course, Microsoft has brought he Xbox to the mobile, you're bringing the PlayStation to the mobile. Are the console wars moving on to the mobile?

"Yeah, I think for the mobile gaming world to open up in Android it required a good console and due to the cooperation with one of our parents, Sony, we were able to get the PlayStation into the phone."

The US will be the first country to receive the Xperia Play as shipping of the device starts in March, and with the UK release being set for April, we can expect to see “lots of people with their heads down and thumbs up” this spring. No price has currently been announced.Research In Motion also announced it plans to launch a 4G version of its Playbook tablet computer.

How Much People waisting Time on Fb.

2011-02-16T05:20:00.001-08:00

Facebook Now Has 149M Active Users In The U.S.; 70 Percent Log On Daily

Two days back Facebook’s head of U.S. agency relations Sarah Personette, revealed a number of statistics about the global usage on the social network. According to Facebook, 149 million Americans now actively use the social network (as of 2009, the network had 100 million active users in the U.S.). And 70 percent of these active users in the U.S. log on to the social network daily.

Personette also revealed a few other country specific numbers—France has 22 million active users, with 65 percent returning daily; the UK has 29 million active users, and Canada has 19 million active users. We contacted Facebook for confirmation and were issued this response “we’re not offering guidance on the matter.” Odd, considering that Personette presented the data to the public at the event.
While we’ve heard some of the numbers regarding active users (Facebook says its has over 500 active users), these appear to be new. Generally, 50% of the networks active users log on to Facebook daily, but in these major countries mentioned, it appears that the rate is much higher. And Socialbakers reveals country-specific data via Facebook’s advertising tool.

Source : Tech Crunch

Extra Minutes .... !!!

2011-02-16T05:19:00.001-08:00

AT&T sweetens the iPhone pot with extra minutes

AT&T isn't just getting aggressive with ads to tout the iPhone on its network versus Verizon's, it's giving away minutes as well.

Many current AT&T iPhone users have received text messages from their carrier today thanking them for being loyal customers, and while the text doesn't say so, we're sure it's also a thanks for not switching during Verizon's underwhelming iPhone launch this week.

The text comes with instructions to reply with "yes" to receive 1,000 extra rollover minutes. AT&T tells us these will be applied to each iPhone on the account.

The texts are coming from the number 11113020, and when a user replies with the "yes," another text is received saying that the minutes will be applied in the coming weeks.

With our testing, we found that iPhone users can simply text "yes" to the SMS number and get the deal, though we can't say yet if it applies to all iPhone customers or just those with contracts expiring soon.

Source : CNET

Update Coming For Windows Phone 7.

2011-02-16T05:19:00.000-08:00

Copy-paste Next Month, Multitasking and IE9 This Year.

When Windows Phone 7 launched last year without multitasking or cut-and-paste support (features Microsoft ridiculed Apple for years for not having in its iPhone OS), Microsoft promised to remedy the situation promptly.

How promptly? Four months later and we still don’t know, but it is coming, as Microsoft has announced that they are prepping a major update for Windows Phone 7 which will add both multitasking, cut-and-paste and a mobile version of Internet Explorer 9 to the operating system.

How will multitasking work? Similarly to iOS or webOS, it’s essentially quick app-switching. You simply press the back button to flip back to your last userd app, or press and hold to enter a switching screen, which displays screenshots of your open apps to switch through. Re-enter an app, and it resumes instantly.
In other words, unlike what we mean by multitasking on a desktop OS, multitasking in Windows Phone 7 freezes apps in their state upon exit and allows you to switch between them instantly while certain core APIs — like background audio — continue to run.

The new version of IE9 is a new big improvement, given that current Windows Phone 7 handsets ship with the four year old IE7.

Another feature coming to WP7 is SkyDrive, which will give users 25GB of online cloud storage that ties both into the desktop and the smartphone.
As for copy-and-paste, while IE9 and Multitasking are set to be introduced as part of a monolithic system update due vaguely out “sometime this year”, copy-paste is officially coming to all WP7 handsets next month.

Multitask & IE9 For WP7.

2011-02-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

How will multitasking work? Similarly to iOS or webOS, it’s essentially quick app-switching. You simply press the back button to flip back to your last userd app, or press and hold to enter a switching screen, which displays screenshots of your open apps to switch through. Re-enter an app, and it resumes instantly.

In other words, unlike what we mean by multitasking on a desktop OS, multitasking in Windows Phone 7 freezes apps in their state upon exit and allows you to switch between them instantly while certain core APIs — like background audio — continue to run.
The new version of IE9 is a new big improvement, given that current Windows Phone 7 handsets ship with the four year old IE7.

Another feature coming to WP7 is SkyDrive, which will give users 25GB of online cloud storage that ties both into the desktop and the smartphone.

As for copy-and-paste, while IE9 and Multitasking are set to be introduced as part of a monolithic system update due vaguely out “sometime this year”, copy-paste is officially coming to all WP7 handsets next month.

Windows 7 Update.

2011-02-11T23:20:00.000-08:00

Will begin pushing the update to systems on February 22nd via Windows Update.

Microsoft has finished work on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) .

Microsoft has today hit the RTM (Release to Manufacturing) stage for both Windows 7 SP1 and

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and has started shipping the code to OEMs.

If you are a TechNet or MSDN subscriber you will be able to get your hands on the code from February 16th.

So what’s new:

For Windows 7, SP1 will help keep your PCs well supported by delivering ongoing updates, many of which have been made previously available through Windows Update.
It also includes client-side support for RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory which are two new virtualization features enabled in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. Read more about those updates here from the Windows Server Team.

In my experimenting with the beta and leaked versions of SP1 for Windows 7, there’s no new cool stuff to see, no UI tweaks and no performance boosts. This is primarily a bugfix release that brings together all the patches and updates released so far.

The virtualization features however, are compelling and should help to reduce the system load and increase virtualization density on servers. Good news all round.

Source : ZDnet

Nokia + Microsoft = !!!

2011-02-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

Nokia and Microsoft have inextricably hitched their wagons to each other in the mobile market. Could this be a precursor to a mega technology merger?

Rumors of a Nokia-Microsoft merger first percolated last year, even before former Microsoft executive Stephen Elop took the reins at the troubled cell phone giant. And while many expected the company to at least be in discussions with Microsoft over a potential partnership, few had predicted the tight relationship announced in London this morning.

During a press conference at its annual investor meeting, the Nokia CEO and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer announced that Nokia
will ditch its Symbian and Meego operating systems for Microsoft Windows Phone 7. Going forward Windows Phone 7 will be the predominate operating system for Nokia smartphones. The strategy is a bold one meant to combat the growing momentum by mobile competitors Google Android and Apple.

"We think this will make a three-horse race," Elop said during a press conference. "It's for Nokia and it's good for Microsoft. It allows us to move far faster than we could otherwise."

The partnership between the two companies goes much deeper than just an agreement to install Microsoft's OS on Nokia's phones. The companies plan to build products and services together as well as share strategic plans. The vision is to create a "third ecosystem" that can compete directly against Apple's iOS and Google's Android platforms.

The partnership described by the executives is so close that it doesn't take much to wonder why the companies didn't decide to simply merge. Perhaps they are testing the waters much like a couple moving in together before they take the plunge into marriage.

Regardless of whether they ever consummate their relationship with a merger, it's clear that Nokia's and Microsoft's fates will soon be inextricably linked. If either company fails in its execution of strategy, it will hurt the other, something that will likely irk investors.

The deal
Unlike other reseller deals, Microsoft and Nokia plan to combine assets and collaborate on joint marketing initiatives, as well as share development plans and build products together.

From Microsoft's perspective, the company will bring broader integration of software from all its different products as well as its Bing search capabilities and advertising platform, which Nokia can leverage on its devices. Meanwhile, Nokia, the world's largest handset maker, will bring its hardware expertise, its vast manufacturing and distribution scale, operator billing relationships, and its Navteq maps and navigation business.

Through this collaboration the companies expect that they will be able to drive more revenue into each other's pockets through mobile applications, services, social-networking integration and gaming via the Xbox product line.

Microsoft has forged many partnerships in the past. The company's core software business is predicated on strong relationships with key partners, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard. And it's attempted to partner with other handset makers in the past to get a stronger foothold in the mobile market.

The mobile market, however, is very different from the PC market. And it's clear that Microsoft sees the value in Apple's model of owning both the hardware and software of a mobile device. Microsoft has already demonstrated its willingness to move into the hardware business with the Xbox. And it has built a successful ecosystem around the product.

But the Zune, Microsoft's attempt to challenge Apple's iPod, have not been as successful, showing that building hardware from scratch is not always the best strategy. Even acquiring hardware hasn't been an easily achievable path for Microsoft, as demonstrated by the acquisition of Sidekick maker Danger in 2008. The fruits of that acquisition was the Kin cell phone, which was only on the market a few short months before Microsoft killed the effort and focused on Windows Mobile 7.

Alcatel-Lucent Shrinks Cell Tower

2011-02-11T22:09:00.000-08:00

French mobile telephone infrastructure manufacturer Alcatel-Lucent today unveiled technology that shrinks a cell tower to a box the size of a Rubik’s cube, potentially changing the structure of the cellular network, reducing greenhouse emissions and bringing mobile broadband into new areas.

Called lightRadio, the technology was displayed in London supported by partners Freescale and HP.

According to Wim Sweldens, president of wireless activities for Alcatel-Lucent, by reducing the technology from something the size of a filing cabinet,
networks would reduce the total cost of ownership by half, as well as halving the global CO2 emissions from the mobile industry currently equivalent of 15 million cars a year.

Mr. Sweldens said the company has applied for more than 200 patents to protect the intellectual property. The company has set an ambitious timetable, launching an alpha product this year and going into full production in 2012. He committed the company to a rolling timetable of six-monthly upgrades into 2014.

Mr. Sweldens said that five mobile network operators had signed up, although only three were named: Orange, Verizon and China Mobile.

lightRadio represents a new architecture where the base station, typically located at the base of each cell site tower, is broken into its components elements and then distributed into both the antenna and throughout a cloud-like network. Additionally today’s clutter of antennas serving 2G, 3G, and LTE systems are combined and shrunk into a single multifrequency, multistandard Wide-band Active Array Antenna that can be mounted on poles, sides of buildings or anywhere else there is power and a broadband connection.

30x more wireless data traffic by 2015

Multiple units can be combined to provide the equivalent capacity of a typical cell in use today, or smaller cells can be constructed using just one or two units, with the traffic being carried over existing broadband connections. Breaking large cells up also helps preserve battery life on existing mobile phones, as they can use lower-power radio transmissions to talk to the tower. Small cells also allow greater spectrum efficiency.

Other manufacturers have previously offered what are known as micro, femto or pico cell devices, which typically are used to take cellular traffic off congested 3G networks and delivered over broadband connections. Alcatel-Lucent claims their offering differs in that existing devices are mainly used to supplement existing cell towers in areas of high demand, such as railway stations and sports events, rather than replace them.

The new technology could help operators adjust to surging growth in data traffic. Alacatel-Lucent forecasts an 18-fold increase in smartphone devices and a 30x more wireless data traffic by 2015. But in addition to surging smartphone usage, machine-to-machine communications, the so-called “internet of things” with IP-connected sensors in just about everything from electricity meters to cars, will see an explosion in data demands.

“Operators will have to look at dramatic ways to cut costs, you cannot increase investment 30-fold,” Mr. Sweldens said.

The move is part of an overall trend in shifting intelligence in networks away from the center and out into the network itself. Intelligent base-stations that can be dynamically configured according to user-demand has the potential to increase user experiences, while reducing the cost of ownership. lightRadio units are compatible with 2G,3G and future LTE networks.

Gitube Wireless Camera.

2010-11-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

U might had always wonder that there should be a camera which you can control from distant place. Ultimately a newly introduced camera got all the features which u might have dreamed off. Yup with new Gitube Wireless camera you can control your camera from a far place. Its ideal for tourists & photographers. The Gigtube gives you live view display and remote control of your camera from a distance, using the latest 2.4G signal transfer technology. The 3.5″ bright color LCD protected by a screen hood, displays great quality pictures even under harsh sunlight conditions.