The smartphone arena is buzzing again with Google going aggressive with the Android mobile platform. While Apple would disregard the competition with words like ‘they are still catching up the first iPhone we released two years back’, fact remains that Android takes a significant mind share with the new version 2.0 aks Eclair. Verizon has got some google love behind it and has managed to slip in the v2.0 with the Motorola Droid much before any other manufacturer can.

Android 2.0 brings in an improved DNA which catches up with the iPhone better than ever before. Two great things about the Android OS 2.0 is the support for multiple screen sizes / resolution and the revamped gaming support. As you see in the demo video below now developers need not develop different versions of their app for different devices that support varied screen sizes and resolutions. The updated SDK will automatically adjust the app for different screens.

These aren’t the only few things that makes the Android 2.0 a killer platform. Google has just gone ahead and launched a navigation services free of cost. This brings ability to search for a business by its name, traffic data, voice-assisted turn-by-turn directions, combined data from Satellite and Street View and more features to Google Maps. Thus beating TomTom and other expensive paid services. And to add a last blow to the iPhone monopoly in the touch arena, the Motorola Droid / Milestone was spotted supporting Multitouch. If this really goes live for Android devices when on sale, the single biggest advantage for iPhone in the user experience and media handling would be lost. And too us it already looks lost with the Palm Pre offering multi-touch interface since months now.

The only real advantage that the iPhone has is its mega hype, still an unmatched UI and the App Store apps. But Android 2.0 sure is an accelerated attempt to catchup with the iPhone. (the underlining statement perhaps is the fact that Windows Mobile and Symbian are left out in the blue, while Android battles it out with the iPhone!)

About the author: Annkur P Agarwal is a technology lover who loves sharing the latest in technology. You can follow him on Twitter @onlygizmos or read the latest iPhone stuff over at iPhoneHelp

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iPhone versus the Android 2.0

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Digg and social bookmarking sites start with word social, that means where other people can connect and share something interesting. One of the most common misconception with these websites that they are only meant for self promotion and people tend to submit only those articles which are from own domain, and never care to contribute by submitting articles from other domains.

The golden rule to become a social media expert is share anything from anywhere which are good and deserve a share. See the time line of power twitter users or digg power users, you will realize every submission they have made are coming from different domain and posts which people love to tweet, digg or stumble.

Here are few things which I realize any newbie blogger should take care of while trying to set his foot print on social media websites.

One profile One identity

Many social bookmarking websites like Digg or stumble upon do not allow multiple account from same IP. So if you have created more than 1 profile and think you can digg from it or stumble it and this will help your submission, you are extremely wrong. Chances are high that your profile will be banned anytime.

Self promotion

This is one obvious reason most of the bloggers join social bookmarking websites to promote their domain or stuff. But promotion should be done in an honorable way and should not be done like a spammer. See this screenshot in which someone has created a profile on digg, and he is using it to post comments from only one domain.

If you do such mistakes, make sure you avoid it.  Try to create a unique identity, so that other will remember you for great share. You can also consider reading following posts which will help you to understand Digg and social media sites.

• What do Digg and twitter have in common?
• Digg The Beginners Guide
• How to become Digg power user?

Last two articles were written year back but still many of theory explained there, hold true even now.

How do people know you on such sites? As a contributor or as a spammer? What action do you take to make sure people will love you as a social media person?

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Are You Social Media Spammer or Contributor?

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I first started using social networks while I was still in school. I remember how popular hi5 was in those days. I saw myself moving on to Orkut and finally Facebook. A recent market research by Nielsen Claritas has released some debate worthy trends among users and relates social networks to the demographics and background of the users.

Nielsen examined few of the most visited social networking platforms in the US viz. Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, Twitter, WordPress, ClassmatesOnline and LinkedIn.

While the first fact revealed is not news to us – that the number of users participating in social networks is on the increase worldwide.

The second revelation is somewhat astonishing. According to the survey, in which more than 200,000 users participated, the more affluent societies prefer Facebook over others. The top 30% of the lifestyle segments are likely to use Facebook while bottom one third uses MySpace. There is no specific explanation for this. While some users say they prefer Facebook as it is cleaner other give its secure platform the credit.

A strong overlap was also found to be seen when it came to users of Facebook and LinkedIn. This is not the first time that such a research is made. Back in 2006, we had heard similar stuff from Danah Boyd.

When it comes to Blogging, the demographics have less to do with affluence. However, it relates to the geographic locations. A large majority of WordPress and Blogger users come from the highly developed urban areas compared to the small towns. Well, we could attribute this to the level of exposure in the various regions. For obvious reasons, the people dwelling in the metropolitan areas have had longer and greater access to technology.

Similar trend was also found to be true for the increasingly popular micro blogging platform Twitter. However, Twitter has by far the most diverse set of users.

India has a slightly different scenario in terms of choice of networks. As comScore reported early this year, In India myspace is replaced by Orkut. The top social networks in India are (rank order) Orkut, Facebook, BharatStudent, hi5, iBibo and MySpace. While Orkut has the largest number of users still, a large fraction has been found to have shifted to Facebook this year. The thing about affluent and urban population holds good here as well. The other networks aren’t that much in the league though BharatStudent is coming up at a great pace.

When it came to user experience, the opinion was pretty much unanimous. All users seemed to hate when it came to improper incorporation of Ads in the webpages. The new tech savvy generation looks forward to ease-of-use while being able to connect to their mates after school or work and at the same time wish to have a secure environment for themselves.

I would love to hear back from our readers as to what they think about this demographic study. Is it just a coincidence or there’s actually a class divide when it comes to choice of networks? Also, tell us which social network appeals to you the most?

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Social Class Deciding Choice of Social Networks

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One of the useful feature of wordpress is we get notification inside wordpress dashboard when we see an update, and when it comes to wordpress, we should install the latest version of wordpress to endure the security and bug fix of current wordpress version.

But when it comes to Wordpress plugins, it has a complete different story, Wordpress plugin gets an update for following reasons

• For latest Wordpress version compatibility
• For Fixing any current bug
• For Adding more feature

Though some time updating wordpress plugin breaks our wordpress blog and my advice would be make sure you take the backup before updating or installing any new plugin.

Another suggestion would be while updating any plugin to the latest version, check the change log in the latest version, and make sure if you really need that update.

Check this simple screenshot which will guide you on how to check the change log and if required update the plugin and make sure you take the backup of wordpress database.

In this screenshot I will be taking care of Wp-thumbie plugin, which shows related posts along with thumbnail.

Click on View-Version *.* details and click on change log to see the update in latest version.

As you can see the latest update fixed a big which is specific for a particular hosting and I don’t need it. So instead of making update, I will keep it as it is, and in the next update or after wordpress update I might make an update.

Do let me know your opinion on this part, do you update your wordpress blog plugin at the same time when you see a notification or you wait for some time? Meanwhile for more Wordpress Tips, I will suggest you should check out and subscribe to my latest wordpress Tutorials blog : Themepremium.com

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How to upgrade Wordpress Plugin Correct Way

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Few days back Shoutmeloud wrote a post on Tools to improve English grammar and I always wondered if there was an easy way to minimize those petty grammar or spelling errors that would creep up in your blog article? Today, I introduce you to a new tool that will help you write better and spend lesser time editing your article.

“After the Deadline” is a WordPress plugin that has checks not only for spelling errors but grammar mistakes as well. This open source software is not only very efficient but free too.

It also has features to ignore certain words for instance the proper nouns you would use, such as your own name or your blog’s title. Once you install it in your blog you need to click on the proofread button in the visual or HTML editor to check spelling, style and grammar. Since After the Deadline communicates with a software service, you’ll need an API key to use this plugin. The same API, which is actually your profile as an author, can be used on multiple blogs that you might be wrting. The API key is unique to you and can be created on the author’s homepage.

Head over to this page polishmywriting.com to get a demo of the software before you go ahead with the installation of the tool to your own blog.

For more info on this tool or to know how to install it on your own WordPress blog head over to afterthedeadline.com

Check it out for yourselves folks, and let us know if you find this solution effective? Would you incorporate this tool on your own Blog? Have you been using any other spell check tool for Blogging, previously?

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After The Deadline : English Grammar Check Wordpress Plugin

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Last week we spoke about Google’s newly introduced service Fast Flip. Fast Flip aims to bring to us an enriching experience while reading news articles from web as well as print media. Yesterday, while browsing from my phone, I discovered that they’ve introduced the same service for iPhone and Android too.

Fast Flip for mobile allows you to enjoy the same “flipping” experience on your touch screen enabled phone by just a swipe of the finger. It also gives the user the ability to search for a news article or even share interesting articles with friends via e-mail.

Personally, I feel this service will gain more popularity on the mobile platform as mobile users seek to access information faster. A heavy page with improper presentation on the small screen coupled with long load times over the slow mobile networks can tend to be irritating. So Fast Flip helps here. Of course the best experience comes when we have more publishers and more articles here but they’ve only begun, right?

The user flips through stories by swiping his finger. To view full article he has to tap once on the screen. On the Apple devices you could also use the multi touch gestures such as pinch to zoom in and out.

Right now, this service seems to be present in the form of a web-app for all Android devices and Apple’s iPod Touch and iPhones. All you gotta do is visit fastflip.googlelabs.com using the mobile browser. You could create a bookmark or link on your home screen for instant access.

Do check it out and let us know if you like it.

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Google Fast Flip now on iPhone and Android

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In today’s world of technology, blogging has become an addiction to many people. People are so involved in their blogging that even they are neglecting their own health. So I decided to write a post on eye care because this is one of the most common problems faced by Bloggers who spends hours of day sitting in front of computer. We have already informed you about Pro-blogging stress and solution.

Eyes

Image Credit

This is not only for Bloggers but also any one who spends lots of time in front of computer, television Here are some important tips and suggestions to take care of your eyes.

1) Take a break – in between your work have small breaks especially if you are working for long hours which help you in reducing strain on your eyes and increases blood supply to your body.

2)Drink more water – this point looks so simple but very effective because if you take more water puffiness of your eyes can be reduced.

3) Apply palming method – this method but you have to rub your hands against each other until they get warm and then you have to cup your eyes for some time. The advantage of doing this that both your eyes as well as elbows get relaxed simultaneously.

4) Looking at distant objects in between your long working hours and again coming back to normal near vision will help your eyes to focus better.

5) Diet is very important – take green vegetables, tomatoes, citrus, spinach, dairy products and foods rich in A, E, C.

6) Do some eye exercises- for this I would like to tell you one of the best exercises that is –“first blink your eyes for some time and later close your eyes and just roll your eyes clockwise and anti-clockwise. In between this process you just several deep breaths and slowly breathe out and open your eyes.  Do this exercise for about 2 minutes before going to work.

Note:

• Never rub your eyes
• Visit doctor if you have any eye problems
• Try to cut your alcohol or smoking intake
• You can use anti glare glasses

I’m sure even you spend lots of time in front of computer or television. What steps do you take to take care of your eyes? Do share your Eye care tips with us.

Note : This is a Guest post By Rajesh from Medicine2life. If you want to write for Shoutmeloud Read : Join Shoutmeloud revenue sharing program.

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Eye Care tips for Bloggers and Internet Users

ShoutMeloud

Dreamhost is one of my favorite shared hosting account from last 1 year and I still recommend Dreamhost to my readers for reliable hosting. Though reasons to go With dreamhost are endless and more over they have added Live chat support feature, which I always missed on dreamhost. So if you need any technical assistance you can quickly get it from Dreamhost web panel.

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Useful resources for Dreamhost Webhosting

• How to signup for Free Dreamhost webhosting Trial account with 50$ discount
• How to install wordpress on dreamhost webhosting
• How to access website stats in dreamhost
• How to access phpmyadmin in dreamhost

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Dreamhost Discount Coupon for November 2009

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