::TECH CIELO::

Indian iPad Price gets Dropped!!!

2011-03-07T23:33:00.000-08:00

The iPad 2 launched last week and Apple followed it up with a price cut for the original iPad. We assumed that since India wasn’t in the list of countries the iPad 2 was announced as releasing in (oh, I’m so surprised), and since the original iPad had only just released here, the Indian prices wouldn’t be affected.

That doesn’t seem to be the case though, because one look at the Apple India website will tell you that the iPad rates have been slashed, barely a month after release. Check out the new prices below (initial prices are in brackets):

Wi-Fi + 3G:

    * 16GB – Rs. 31,900 (Rs. 34,900)
    * 32GB – Rs. 36.900 (Rs. 39,900)
    * 64GB – Rs. 41,900 (Rs. 44,900)

Wi-Fi:

    * 16GB – Rs. 24,500 (Rs. 27,900)
    * 32GB – Rs. 29,500 (Rs. 32,900)
    * 64GB – Rs. 34,500 (Rs. 37,900)

Now I don’t know if that’s a foreshadowing of the iPad 2’s release here, as opposed to a Women's Day special offer, but I’m sure a few of you out there are hoping so. Either way, props to Apple India for following up on a worldwide price cut, even if they didn’t have to. Now where’s that iPhone 4 and iPad 2?

Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook

2011-03-07T23:19:00.000-08:00

If you were looking for something more worthwhile to spend Facebook credits on than virtual trinkets for some game, Warner has an idea: all those movies you said you "liked." Starting today it is testing out a plan to rent movies right on their respective pages for 30 Facebook credits / $3 each. The first one on deck is The Dark Knight (again?) which should be live later today, with more available to rent or purchase in the future. there's no word on resolution or other features, but at the price we're assuming SD only. Full details are in the press release after the break, but the rentals have the standard 48-hour VOD window and can be paused/resumed simply by logging back into Facebook. In its current state, we doubt Netflix, Amazon and the rest have anything to worry about as far as competition, but maybe Warner thinks it can snag a few bucks from simply making sure there's a buy button of some kind awaiting our various identities in as many places as possible.

How To configure a Wi-Fi Router Correctly

2011-03-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

Last week, we looked at ways to look for a good Wi-Fi router. Its one thing to choose a Wi-Fi router, but it's equally important to spend the same time to install and configure it correctly. If you’ve bought a router from your ISP, then someone from the ISP might have come over to your place and installed the router for you.

Routers have more to them than you expect

Sometimes, the ISP personnel might not have any knowledge of wireless security and have no idea about your network setup at your home. If you’ve bought your own Wi-Fi router, then you will have to configure your router yourself. Let’s look at some of the most important features that need to be configured on your router.

Logging into your router
At this point, we are going to assume that you’ve setup the cables between the ISP and the router correctly. Routers and modems do not have any controls or LCD displays that let you configure the settings for them externally. The firmware on the router can only be accessed through a web browser. The web interface can typically be accessed on http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1. The user name and password are both admin most of the time as well. If that doesn’t work, refer to the router manual for the correct URL or look at the back of the router. The user name and password will also be mentioned there.

Entering authentication details for internet account

Some of them require you to authenticate using a web login while most of them use PPPoE (PPP over Ethernet). When you first buy your router, you might have to enter these details into the router manually for once. The interface and location of the menus differs from one brand of routers to another, but the features are common everywhere. If your ISP doesn’t use PPPoE, you can use DHCP as your setup type and if your ISP assigns you specific IP addresses, you can choose the Static IP option and enter the details manually.

Enabling MAC Address Cloning
Every single network device has a MAC address which is unique to that device. ISPs lock internet access to MAC addresses on their clients’ PCs. So when you buy a new router, the ISP detects a different MAC address and disables internet access to that connection.

MAC cloning allows new routers to be recognized by ISPs

Fortunately, routers have a MAC address cloning feature that allow you to manually add the MAC address of your PC. Most of the routers have a MAC address auto-detection feature built into them. Enable it if you find your internet connection not working the moment you install your brand new router.

Securing your Wi-Fi network
Wi-Fi security is absolutely important if you don’t want your network PCs to be exposed and if you don’t want random users using your internet connections. Most routers come with no passwords set for the wireless network, which makes it easy for you to get online but at the same time, also easy for those unauthorized users. There are a few steps that can reduce the chances of that happening.

Setting a complicated password is a must

When you first install the router, make sure that you have Security mode on your router setup to WPA2-Personal and enter a long and somewhat complicated password. Most ISPs today distribute routers amongst their users with the passwords set as admin, password, the user’s phone number or name.

MAC filtering only allows specific devices to connect to the wireless network

The next step is to block all MAC addresses other than your PC and other devices that you might be using. Remember, we talked about ISPs blocking PCs with unrecognized MAC address? Routers have a similar feature that blocks devices whose MAC addresses aren’t present in the white list. Linksys calls the feature the Wireless MAC filter.

Disabling SSID Broadcast hides your network to outsiders

Disabling SSID Broadcast is one of the last steps to securing your router. With the broadcasting disabled, users aren’t able to see any wireless networks and accessing it isn’t possible unless you know the exact SSID of the network. Ideally, disable this once you’ve connected your devices to the Wi-Fi router at least once so that the SSID, password and settings are saved.

Setting up port forwarding
A lot of P2P applications and games might require open ports, which basically means that the router should be able to accept ports and forward them to your devices. Since all the connections being made to your network pass through the single router, the router needs to redirect those requests to specific PCs. In this case, incoming connections coming to various ports need to forwarded to the correct PCs. P2P applications for example need an accessible incoming port. Once you know which port your P2P application knows (which is something you can find out from the connection settings for the application), you can specify the port you would like the router to forward and to which PC or device.

Port forwarding is necessary for certain applications to operate flawlessly

Some manufacturer use the term NAT, port forwarding or in the case of recent Linksys routers, the feature is available through a menu called Applications & Gaming. In this case, users can choose from one of the preset applications and ports or can choose to manually enter the values. For example, if you were hosting a game of Quake III Arena (a game that uses the port 27960) for your friends, you would need to specify the external port to be 27960, the internal port to be 27960 as well and mention the destination PC’s IP address. Don’t forget to specify TCP/UDP traffic. You can set it to be both if you’re unsure.

Enabling bandwidth priority
Streaming Youtube uses a lot of bandwidth. If you happen to be playing a multiplayer game online while someone else is watching a Youtube video on the same connection, you’re likely to face lag or disconnections. This is obviously very annoying.

Load balancing between PCs is possible using QoS features

Routers have a feature which allows users to set higher or lower priority for bandwidth provided to specific PCs or applications. The QoS feature should allow you to select MAC addresses, IPs address and ports, so that bandwidth priorities can be assigned to them.

Tiny Wings, the Game that's Currently Pwning Angry Birds

2011-03-03T00:08:00.000-08:00

The world seems to love its feathered mobile games and we at Tech2 aren't pretending to not be a shrine to Angry Birds. So when another birdy app, Tiny Wings came along and knocked Angry Birds off of its sustained top spot in the App Store, we obviously had to see what the fuss was all about.

THIS took number one from Angry Birds

First of all, Angry Birds has been knocked off its top spot. If you've managed to get yourself together, get this, it's been knocked off by a game called Tiny Wings. Tiny Wings is a 99 cent (approx Rs. 45) game, developed by Andreas Illiger and is somewhat a runner game where you have a little bird who basically is running away from the night. The bird flutters its wings to gain height over mountains and you touch the screen to make it stop fluttering its wings when it goes downhill. The longer the bird goes downhill, the more momentum it gains when its flying and therefore it covers more distance. You're supposed to make the bird hop from island to island and sometimes solve challenges for its nest but the gameplay has been such nonsense that we haven't even gotten past the second island.

Seriously, why is this game of all games the one to defeat Angry Birds? It's clearly designed to appeal mostly to women (unlike Angry Birds which is pretty neutral) and the objective of the game is, pardon my rudeness, kinda dumb. It seems like it's another Cut the Rope phenomenon where the game gets brief popularity because it seems cute and fun but then people get sick of it so it stays on the top 25 charts but lower down. Here's to hoping both Angry Birds Rio and the St. Patrick's Day Seasons Update knocks Tiny Wings back below the top ten where it belongs.

iPad 2 official

2011-03-02T11:30:00.000-08:00

Apple has just made its second-generation iPad official! It features a dual-core A5 chip and, finally, cameras, both front and rear! The new CPU is said to be up to twice as fast, with graphics performance up to nine times better than on the original iPad, while power requirements have been kept the same. Battery life is, consequently, unaltered, with Apple promising 10 hours. Pricing, too, has been left unchanged, starting at $499. The new tablet will come with an HDMI output capable of 1080p -- which will set you back $39 for the requisite dongle -- but we've yet to hear any rumblings of Thunderbolt connectivity. There's an enlarged speaker grille on the back, as expected, though resolution has not budged from the original iPad's 1024 x 768.

720p video recording at 30fps will be on tap from the rear-facing camera, which can also do a 5x digital zoom if you're into that kind of thing, whereas the front-facing imager will record at a more modest VGA resolution, also at 30fps.

There's a new cover for the device, which is best defined by Steve Jobs himself: "We designed the case right along side the product. It's not a case -- it's a cover." Basically, it's a magnetic flap that protects the front and automatically wakes and puts the device to sleep according to whether it's open or closed. Guess we know what that proximity sensor was about now. These Smart Covers will cost $39 in plastic or $69 if you opt for leather.

The iPad 2 is 33 percent thinner than its predecessor, at a mind-melting 8.8mm, and a little lighter at just over 600g, while chromatic options have been expanded: you'll get a choice between white and black. It'll be available on both AT&T and Verizon, and all variants start shipping on March 11th. Apple Retail Stores will start sales at the unusual hour of 5PM, which will probably make online pre-orders the fastest way to get yours.

In terms of new software, Apple's launching iOS 4.3 alongside the new iPad and bringing with it much improved Safari performance as well as FaceTime, Photo Booth, iMovie and GarageBand apps specifically for the newly camera-enriched iPad. Personal Hotspot capabilities are also arriving in the latest version of the OS, but they'll be exclusive to the iPhone 4, so you won't be able to share your 3G iPad's connection.

courtesy: engadget

Facebook "Un-Shares" For a Few Features, Leaving You With "Like"

2011-03-02T00:10:00.000-08:00

Facebook's self-professed goal is to create a system where people can share information. Few days ago, however, they removed the "share" link from a few features. For instance, if you see a friend's status update that's cool, you can "like" it but you can't share it anymore. Previously, if you clicked on share, it would show up in your status update as "Your name via Friend's Name Whose Status You Shared". Now, if you allow it to in your settings, once you like something, it will only show up on your wall as something you like.

Like it or not

Links, photos and videos still have the share button but here too, the share button is going to be replaced with the like button. When you like a link, a whole box will show up on your profile with a thumbnail from the link and will also show up on your friends' homepage, instead of just a line saying you liked a link. You and your friends will be able to comment on your action. This might make you more unlikely to like links now because it does seem a little intrusive but it's designed to increase pageviews for the sites whose links you post. Facebook continues to develop the Like button and has stopped all development on the Share button.
This seems logical because the prevalence of both the Like and the Share button makes Facebook activity a little redundant. However, we're hoping that you can control what type of content will show up as a post on your page when you hit like and what doesn't, without insulting your friends too much of course.

Test Drive Unlimited 2

2011-02-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

Let me start by clarifying one very basic and often misunderstood fact about the first Test Drive Unlimited game, and this, its follow-up. This is not a racing game. Yes, there are times when you will participate in car races, but you do that even in Grand Theft Auto. Test Drive Unlimited is a driving game that encompasses and aims to bring to your living room the complete car experience, right from walking into a swanky showroom and inspecting the car you want to buy in minute detail, to taking it out for a leisurely drive along the coast. Like Gran Turismo, Test Drive Unlimited is about a love for cars, but it doesn’t haunt you with realistic car handling nor does it take itself too seriously. Get in and drive; it’s really that simple, and its beauty lies in that simplicity and freedom.

Rad Company

While the basic formula has made it over to TDU2 intact, developers Eden Games have done a whole lot more to build upon it. TDU2 is an open world game, and while in the first game Oahu, Hawaii was your playground, this time there’s a new, beautiful location – Ibiza, while Oahu returns with a significant visual upgrade. Both islands are massive and it will take you well over 20 hours to even explore both islands, let alone completing the missions on them. While the first game had you restricted to the tarmac, the islands are now open to you in their entirety, paving the way for off-road vehicles and SUVs and events revolving around them. You now also have day and night transitions as well as dynamic weather, and the game looks absolutely stunning at night and when it’s raining.

So without even getting into the gameplay, you can just tell from the setting that TDU2 is a far more expansive game, and it attempts to make the best use of that expanse by breaking up player progression into four sections. Events and activities level you up across four parameters – competition, discovery, social, and collection. Competition, as you would expect, involves races, time trials, tournaments, and earning licenses. Discovery requires you to explore the island, find hidden vehicles or photograph landmarks. Social involves making friends online, entering online events and building clubs. Lastly, collection entails buying cars and real estate in investing in them with upgrades. As you can see, the game extends beyond driving and is almost a lifestyle game, but it stops well short of turning into The Sims, and you’re never forced to perform any event you don’t want to. You have complete freedom to play the way you want.

Hang Solo

The carefree approach to the game extends to the vehicle handling as well. There are three driving difficulties to choose from and even the hardest of them is fairly easy. In fact, the lowest difficulty, at which it is set by default, is the worst. Cars almost feel like they’re on rails, so the first thing you should do when you start the game is change this setting. There aren’t hundreds of cars in the game, but there is a great selection, and the way they’re presented gives them a sense of exclusivity. You’ll find cars either in manufacturer or region-specific showrooms, where you can inspect cars closely, sit inside and have a look at the interiors, and even take them out for test drives. Plus, there are used car dealerships for when you’re short on funds.

The highlights of TDU2, as in the first game, are the long solo driving missions that are just you and the road. Each has a few conditions to be met, such as not damaging the car or keeping your passenger calm by not driving too dangerously. The long cross-island drives are equally memorable, and even more so thanks to the beautiful environs. As I mentioned before, TDU2 is visually stunning, but some of the luster is taken away by the uneven framerates. On a GTX465-powered rig, the framerates still always remained above 30, but never static, which can get annoying. Also, bear in mind that the PC version has an intrusive DRM that requires you to be online each time you launch the game, which sucks because on a few occasions, Atari’s own servers have been offline, locking me out of the game.

All said and done, fans of the first game will have no reason to complain about Test Drive Unlimited 2; if anything, it’s a whole lot more of what we loved. For those new to the series, just remember what I said at the start. Go in expecting a driving game, not a racing game, and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Pros:
Beautiful game world
Massive open world
Accessible controls
Tons of missions and activities

Cons:
Uneven framerates on PC
Intrusive DRM
Unstable game servers
Some strange lifestyle activities

GFail - Thousands of Users Lose Google Mail Data

2011-02-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

In what could be a blow for those advocating cloud storage, Google Mail users today experienced something bizarre - their accounts were reset and they had lost all of the e-mail that was stored on their account, along with chat logs and the like. Some even reported seeing a welcome screen for first-time users when they logged in.

Google, credit to them, have responded swiftly. If you check their Apps Status Dashboard out, you’ll see they’re working on fixing the issue, as well as stopping any misinformation from spreading by giving out info periodically. This issue has apparently affected 0.08% of Gmail’s users, which still amounts to around 150,000 people which is a staggering number.

Anyway, we hope for a quick fix to this problem, and that anyone who lost what could be years upon years of communication get them back. Speaking of which, were you affected?
original post by : Sriram Gurunathan

Apple Launches New and Improved Macbook Pros

2011-02-26T10:48:00.000-08:00

It was Steve Jobs’ birthday on 24th, and as was speculated a couple of days ago, Apple did indeed release the updated MacBook Pros on their absentee CEO’s birthday. The new MacBook Pros come powered by Intel’s second generation Core i5 and i7 processors, codenamed Sandy Bridge, and either Intel HD3000 integrated graphics solutions or AMD’s 6-series Mobility GPUs.

They also feature updated front-facing cameras for Facetime, and Intel/Apple’s new optical input/output interface - Thunderbolt (previously called Light Peak) - which will allow for transfer speeds of upto 10Gbps and also support nearly every kind of digital video output interface.

The new MacBook Pros also have a few optional components you can include in your customized notebook, which include 128, 256 and 512GB Solid State Drives, upto 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3 RAM, an anti-glare display, Apple Remote, various adapters, etc.

The new MacBook Pros will be bundled with Snow Leopard and Apple’s updated iLife software suite. The prices for the various default configurations are as follows:

    * 13-inch/2.3GHz Dual-Core i5/320GB HDD – Rs. 69,900
    * 13-inch/2.7GHz Dual-Core i5/500GB HDD – Rs. 84,900
    * 15-inch/2.0GHz Quad-Core i7/500GB HDD/Radeon HD6490M – Rs. 1,04,900
    * 15-inch/2.2GHz Quad-Core i7/750GB HDD/Radeon HD6750M – Rs. 1,24,900
    * 17-inch/2.2GHz Quad-Core i7/750GB HDD/Radeon HD6750M – Rs. 1,42,900

How to Choose a Wi-Fi Router

2011-02-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

The days when most of us had a single PC or laptop are gone. Many of us use a PC and a laptop and there are those who have many more. The modern geek’s home usually has a primary desktop, a netbook or notebook, a smart phone and obviously an HTPC in the living room right next to the television set. Networking all of these PCs and laptops is possible with a simple hub or switch but there are a bunch of cables involved.

The easiest solution is investing in a WiFi router. If you don’t already have one, you may be able to buy one from your internet provider. Some providers offer Wi-Fi routers on rental basis whereas some offer an over-the-counter purchase option. The only problem there is that you have no control over the model. Its better if you buy your own router, but like buying any other product these days, things can get a little confusing. Let’s look at some of the most important things to consider before going out to buy one.

How much will I need to spend?
Wi-Fi routers can be bought for as little as Rs. 600, if you buy it from your ISP. Other branded routers start from as little as Rs. 1,300 and go right up to Rs. 12,000 or more depending on the kind of features. If you’re looking for a basic router that you want to use with your devices for just browsing, then something in the range of Rs. 1,300 to Rs. 2,500 will be fine. The moment you want higher speeds for streaming good quality video content and more advanced features, then be willing to increase your budget.

ADSL2 connectivity
Many of the larger ISPs today use ADSL to distribute internet connections and customers are provided with ADSL modems to use with their PCs. If your ISP uses ADSL, then look for a compatible router which has the ADSL2 modem functionality built into them. These are bound to be a little more expensive than regular Wi-Fi routers but you’re no longer dependent on a separate ADSL modem for internet access.

Which one - 802.11g or 802.11n?
Most routers are sold as either 802.11g or 802.11n. They’re all backward compatible but 802.11n offers faster speeds than 802.11g. IEEE 802.11g has a speed limitation of 54Mbps whereas 802.11n offers speeds of up to 150Mbps in a single stream. Dual band setups can reach twice that speed. The performance of routers as we’ve seen changes one from location to another. IEEE 802.11g offer enough speeds to transfer fairly large files and browse the internet and even stream Youtube and DVD-quality content over the network. You’ll have problems streaming HD 720p and 1080p content though.

IEEE 802.11n’s improved bandwidth definitely increases that limit but streaming HD 1080p content is still off limits when you move from one room to another. Once again, this depends on the layout of your home or office.

Ethernet ports
Wi-Fi routers typically come with Ethernet ports which can also be used to connect PCs using cables. These can be used to connect a PC that’s kept right next to the router. The advantage you get is 100Mbps or 1000Mbps speeds and there’s none of that tiny latency increase that you notice with wireless connections. If you’re looking for good wired connectivity, look for routers with Gigabit Ethernet ports, but also remember to upgrade your cabling to CAT6 to support the higher speeds.

USB ports
USB ports on a router are becoming a common sight these days. The USB ports on a router can be used to connect external storage devices such as an external hard drive or a flash drive.
You can access all the contents of that drive from anywhere in your home or from the web. Sometimes, the USB ports may also be used to connect a 3G USB modem as well.

Additional services
The USB functionality adds a whole world of possibilities to routers. Sharing data on a Windows network is just one of the basic features. Some routers offer FTP functionality which lets you host a FTP server with the option to set user permissions as well. Some of the more advanced features are built-in download managers which allow file downloading capabilities without the need of a dedicated PC. Downloading Torrents without a PC is also possible. All of these features can be accessed through a web interface.

Custom firmware support
Routers have upgradeable firmware and almost every router should have that feature. There are custom firmware developed by third party developers and communities. Two of the well known are DD-WRT and Tomato.

These custom ROMs are free for download but unfortunately, only work on specific models of routers. Before you go out and get yourself a new router, you might want to check the compatibility lists on these sites to see if your router will be supported. Remember that you might void the warranty of the router if you install a custom firmware.

3G functionality
If you’re looking to use your router with a 3G broadband connection, look out for routers that support 3G dongles. There are some routers which have a slot for a 3G SIM card as well. These routers are somewhat more difficult to come by and expensive as well. Some of the 3G enabled routers are also compact, can be powered by a USB connector and carried in a pocket. These are great if you're traveling very often.

12 reasons why Android is better than Symbian

2011-02-26T00:21:00.000-08:00

Symbian has been popular with users, but lately that popularity has been declining. Among the other devices out there, Androids are probably the most prominent in the news. Hence, many may ask themselves the question: "Why should I get an Android"? In fact I see such questions all the time, but I didn't see a clear topic with some answers. For that reason, I've decided today to post this short list to explain why someone should go for an Android device instead of Symbian, if he is trying to decide which one to buy.

But before that, I'd like to stress two things:
a) There are all kind of Android devices, but for this post I'll refer only to the high-end phones.
b) Sybmian devices also have their strong points, but I'm sure these points will be posted in Symbian forum section.

So, here we go, the advantages of an Android device:
1) Great processing power based on modern processors. Androids use Cortex-A8 based processors which deliver a much better performance than Symbians with Arm 11 CPUs. Excellent examples are HTC Snapdragons (currently with 2nd generation) and Samsung Hummingbirds, both running at 1 GHz speed (versus 680MHz speed in Symbians). The gap in processing power is even larger with the newest dual-core CPUs based on Cortex-A9 architecture (like in Motorola Atrix). That makes Symbians to fall even farther behind Androids.

2) Screen resolution. Androids use higher screen resolutions with 800(854)x480 compared to Symbians (640x360). This allows more details to be displayed on screen, which is especially handy with web browsing (the extra information on screen saves the trouble to scroll too much). Furthermore, the recently announced Atrix brings even a higher qHD resolution (960x540)! That means 2.25 times more pixels on the phone display than those found in Symbian phones.

3) Memory (RAM). Everyone hates when the applications in a phone start to crash because of low memory. While 512MB RAM is normal for Androids, Symbians have to leave with 256MB RAM. Despite Nokia trying to optimize the memory usage, “out of memory” messages still happen in Symbian phones. On the contrary, some Androids reward you with even more RAM (768MB in Desire HD, 1GB in Atrix).

4) Graphics and games. Symbian devices use the Broadcom BCM2727 GPU, which while seems to perform pretty well against the old Adreno 200 chips (Nexus One), it falls behind the newest Android GPUs. Current Android devices come with powerful GPUs based on Adreno 205 (Desire HD) or PowerVR SGX540 cores. Furthermore, the newest Nvidia Tegra 2 chips bring even further boost in graphics performance, that is said to show 3-4 times better performance than Adreno 205 or SGX540! Nvidia has opened a special portal called Tegra Zone, where the owners of Android Tegra 2 devices can enjoy high quality gaming (as Nvidia describes the chip: "capable of extreme multitasking with the first mobile dual-core CPU, hardware accelerated Flash, and console-quality gaming with an ultra-low power GeForce GPU).

5) UI and customization. It has been pointed out by many analysts that Nokia UI is not modern enough to compete with Android/iOS. The limited customization of the homescreens and deep menus are all weaknesses of Symbian. On contrary, Androids offer huge customization of homescreens, menus, launchers, widgets that will satisfy vast majority of tastes. Either go with manufacturer customized UI (like HTC Sense with its 7 homescreens and widgets) or create a new one completely suited to your tastes. Popular launchers like Launcher Pro or ADW Launcher are handy to create customized UIs.

6) Web Browser. The Android stock browser is the most popular out there because it does the job nicely. Starting form Android 2.2, it can support Adobe 10.1 full flash, that is being used in many websites. This enables full browsing experience, enables flash video streaming and playing flash games from websites like Kongregate. Symbian browser at this moment is a headache to use. For that reason, some users have jumped to use Opera, but it doesn’t support flash.

7) Multimedia. Thanks to powerful hardware and abundance of multimedia applications, playing videos, listening to music or playing with photos is fun on Android devices. Large screens (up to 4.3"), great displays (Super Amoleds), huge amount of media players, support for all popular audio/video formats, HDMI connectivity, DLNA media streaming - all these contribute to the media fun. Symbians have to limit themselves with lesser displays, rely on default media player (because there are hardly any good alternative applications) and miss DLNA connectivity.

8.) Applications Store. While Symbian OVI Store has grown recently (258% in 2010), it's growth is lower compared to Android market (544% in 2010). The number of applications is also much higher in Android Market (200,000) compared to OVI (40,000). However, what the user notices most is how these app stores integrate with their phones. While OVI seems to be just a disconnected place to download applications, Android Market will synchronize your installed applications, will notify you of almost daily updates, will auto update them all if you wish (even simultaneously) and offer similar apps. Some alternative client applications for Android Market, like AppBrain, take it even further by allowing you to browse the applications on PC and schedule auto installs on your phone or allow customized selection of apps suitable for your needs.

9) Applications. As pointed above, there are more Android apps available than Symbian Apps. But what does this give us?
For one, you can do more things that you can't do with Symbian, because Symbian doesn't have similar application. Next, there is the variety of applications. Thanks to more developers being involved with Android, we get a huge choice of applications. Try to count the number of applications available for Android and Symbian in a particular interest, say how many music or medical applications are available in each platform.
When we look at the applications outside the Apps Stores, they are most easy to install on Androids: just copy them to the phone and run it there. With Symbian, you have to deal with the complicated Symbian signing procedure. DailyMobile's Symbian forum has probably a few thousands posts with desperate questions on this matter.
Finally, sharing apps on Androids is a breeze thanks to Apps Sharing applications and QR codes. There are multiple ways to do this, including Dropbox sharing and Barcode scanning.

10) Custom ROMs and Modding. This is a special area where Androids shine above other platforms. Professional modding communities like Cyanogen, XDA-World, or Modaco are immensely popular by creating new firmware with either new OS versions or improving those that come built-into the devices or by adding new features. For people who love to scqueeze the best out of their phones, Android truly offers the best possibilities.

11) OS updates. On average, every 6 month there is a new OS version in Android. While manufacturers have different ideas about updating their phones (HTC does an excellent job updating their phones), you can almost always update your phone to latest version thanks to custom ROMs. The fist Android phone (G1) that was released in 2008, was updated to Android 2.2 Froyo via Vodaphone and via custom ROMs. Symbian jumped from S60V5 to S^3 for touch devices, but none of those S60V5 devices was updated (probably because the hardware was crap).

12) Market trends.Some trends are obvious, like declining popularity of Symbian devices, falling Symbian and rising Android market shares, other manufacturers abandoning Symbian at all (like Samsung and SE), disposal of Symbian foundation, etc... It has come now to "One versus Many" where Symbian is alone (Nokia) against a team of players (Google, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, SE, LG, etc...). In January, the CES 2011 electronics show was all about Android devices (now even stronger with tablets invading the market), while Symbian was nowhere to be found. Maybe in MWC in February? Maybe... Taking too much time between announcing a phone and releasing it doesn't help Symbian at all (typical examples are Nokia N8 and E7). Contrary to this Androids keep it short, between 1 to 3 months (see DHD or Nexus S or LG Optimus 2X).
So, which devices have a brighter future? One doesn't need to be an Oracle to point it in Androids direction...
Folks what gonna be your next phone??

Nokia WP7 Concept Previewed in MWC 2011

2011-02-13T23:34:00.000-08:00

Concept image shown at Nokia’s Press Event

Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 based concept phone renders got leaked earlier this week. Today at the Nokia event we got confirmation from Jo Harlow that these concepts were a culmination of two months of combined work by Nokia’s hardware engineers and Microsoft’s software engineers.

Combining the best of the Nokia hardware with brushed aluminum hardware and the Metro UI from the Windows Phone 7 , the concept image certainly looks good however it lacks basic functionality including copy-paste and multitasking. Would you buy a Nokia Windows Phone 7 device ?

JVC Unleashes Camera-Camcorder Hybrid

2011-02-05T23:06:00.000-08:00

We’ve already seen DSLRs turn into point and shoot cameras to some extent with Sony’s NEX series of cameras. JVC is releasing the GC-PX1, a hybrid between a camera and a camcorder so you don’t have to switch between two gadgets on your outings.
Under its very unconventional design, the GC-PX1 is actually a full fledged camera and camcorder. The GC-PX1‘s camcorder component can shoot upto HD 1080p video at 60 frames per second with video bandwidth going right up to 36 Mbps. There’s built-in 32 GB of memory which should be enough to record longer videos in HD and also a 3-inch screen that should help in capturing all the action. The camera can click 10 MP photos as well. The large lens and body means that JVC were able to integrate a 10x optical zoom lens. Most of the other specs are similar to any other point and shoot camera. The GC-PX1 will be available for sale sometime at the end of February 2011.

Aircel to launch 3G services this month

2011-02-04T02:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Aircel announced it’s plans to launch its 3G services in the country before the Cricket World Cup. As we know that WC starts February 19, so we can expect a launch next to next week.We will aim for a multi-city launch across its 13 circles, Aircel chief operating officer Gurdeep Singh yesterday said at the Dell Venue launch event.

Honeycomb gets official!!

2011-02-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

Google has finally unveiled the tablet-optimized Android version. Dubbed as Honeycomb, this is Android’s version number 3.0.
While Honeycomb has been custom-made for tablets, but Google also seeks to clutch it with smartphones in the coming future – Though, no guarantees there.
Honeycomb has been built from the scratch to make it a true tablet OS. While the objectives of Android have been kept as usual, UI has seen a total change.
Many new features have been introduced and a few have been tweaked. Some of these changes have been listed below.

Multi-tasking made easier, buoyed by a dedicated button at the bottom of the screen
Widgets are scrollable and developers can write their apps to take advantage of the feature. New “stack” style widgets let users flick through (books, Youtube, etc).
Notifications are now non-intrusive, improving the phone experience. They pop-up at the bottom right hand side of screen, with added details such as pictures and more.
Settings can be toggled swiftly from bottom right hand side of the screen
Brand new RenderScript 3D graphics platform made for our elegant UI. I will soon post more details on RenderScript.
A new music player, better looking with carousel and other features

Watch full Honeycomb launch event now.This video will give you the first hand information about the tablet OS along with app demos.

Google launches virtual tour of world's finest museums

2011-02-02T23:40:00.000-08:00

Google is harnessing its controversial Street View technology to take you on a virtual tour of the world's finest museums, from the comfort of your home.

The search giant even claims its Art Project tours are better than the real thing, with one exhibit in each location available in a high-resolution image that goes beyond "what is possible with the naked eye".

Each painting is captured in around seven billion pixels, making their online display around 1,000 times more detailed than an average digital camera.

Tate Britain and National Gallery here, Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (Russia) and the Palace of Versailles (France) are among 17 museums that have collaborated with Google to offer 360 degree virtual tours of their galleries.

Other works of art which can now be seen in great detail include Vincent Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night' from the Museum Of Modern Art (New York) and 'The Ambassadors' by Hans Holbein the Younger at the National Gallery, the Daily Mail reports.

Google said it took between four and eight hours to capture each painting in great detail with thousands of images which are "stitched" together.

The technology reveals hard to see details such as the tiny Latin couplet in Holbein's 'The Merchant Georg Gisze'.

Google has used its Street View technology to enable people to explore 385 gallery rooms around the world in the same way as they can wander down streets virtually with Google Maps.

Tate director Sir Nicholas Serota said the project "gives all our audiences an unrivalled opportunity to come really close to great works of art."

Nelson Mattos, vice president of engineering at Google, said that "millions of children who will probably never have the opportunity to see these great pieces of art will now be able to do so online".

Firefox 4 Beta for Android and Nokia N900 Released – Its faster than ever

2011-02-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

The Firefox team has released a new Firefox 4 Beta version of their Web Browser for the Nokia N900 and Android devices. You can get Mozilla Firefox 4 Beta from the Android Market to test on your Google Android device or go here to get Firefox 4 Beta on your Nokia Maemo device. This release is the fastest performing Firefox 4 Beta for mobile yet. You will notice faster start-up, page load times and responsiveness to panning and zooming. The Firefox Mobile Add-ons Gallery also offers more than 100 add-ons to customize the features, functionality and look of your Web experience.

Line Phone, the next generation concept phone

2011-01-30T03:48:00.000-08:00

I have seen a lot of concepts phone, but some concepts are just mind blowing, like the Mozilla seabird concept phone. Today, I will show you another concept phone, and I am sure that this phone is going to blow your mind away. Presenting the Line Phone and this concept phone is made in China. Most of the people think that Chinese stuff is just lame, but folks this one is really heart touching. The phone also won a gold award of Digital Product and Service Design Competition at the 2010 Furong Cup in the Republic of China. So folks, watch the video after the break and tell us what you think about the concept phone. Have a look:

Facebook now has Pirate-speak as a Language Option!!

2011-01-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

What be troublin' ye? Maybe it'd help if you Blabber t' yer mates about it so they can see it on their Home Port, or their bottle o' messages. Your blabberings are now going to Arr'd a lot more and you can even check out the sorry louts who think they're yer mates! Thar be more to it, as you can now scour fer mateys or customize yarr vessel.

Confused? Well, long story short, Facebook now has Pirate Speak as one of the language options for its users. Likes are now Arrs and you can reply to event invitations with Aye, Nay and Mayhaps. An additional English language option has also been added, which lets you read everything Upside Down. Your friends' names are still going to be upright though, so that's a bit useless.

I love the pirate speak though. It makes a website that I consider pretty boring infinitely more entertaining. Most of my scallywag mateys are now Cap'ns and are now wagging their scurvy tongue at, or admin' stuff on each other's Litany of Misdeeds.

I don't think I'm ever going to go back to the original because I Arr this too much, so I hope this isn't just a limited time thing.
original post by: Sriram Gurunathan

Number of Internet users worldwide reaches 2 billion: UN

2011-01-27T03:57:00.000-08:00

The number of Internet users worldwide has mushroomed to reach the two billion mark, the head of the UN's telecommunications agency, Hamadoun Toure, said on Wednesday.

The number of mobile phone subscriptions also reached the symbolic threshold of five billion, the secretary general of the UN's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) told journalists.

"At the beginning of the year 2000 there were only 500 million mobile subscriptions globally and 250 million Internet users," he said.

"By the beginning of this year 2011 those numbers have mushroomed to over five billion mobile users and two billion subscribers to the Internet," Toure added.

An ITU statistician told AFP that the figure for mobile telephones related to subscriptions.

Fresh data posted online by the agency showed that the estimated number of Internet users had reached 2.08 billion by the end of 2010, compared to 1.86 billion a year earlier.

The estimated number of cellphone subscriptions worldwide reached 5.28 billion at the end of the last year, compared to 4.66 billion at the end of 2009.

"The very high growth in mobile (phones) is slowing and we're reaching the end of double digit growth in mobile," Susan Teltscher, ITU head of market information and statistics, told AFP.

With the world's population exceeding 6.8 billion, nearly one person in three surfs online.

Fifty-seven percent of the users are in developing countries, three years after the ITU reported that Internet use there overtook developed nations.

The number of fixed broadband internet subscriptions in the world passed the half a billion mark for the first time in 2010, reaching 555 million, while the number of mobile broadband subscriptions surged to 940 million.

Meanwhile, fixed telephone landlines declined for the fourth year in a row, dropping just below 1.2 billion.

Asia and the Pacific spearheaded the shift into cyberspace, adding more than 100 million internet users to the global tally to bring the number of Internet users in the region to 857 million -- largely due to China, Teltscher noted.

But the highest density of online surfers in the population is found in Europe, followed by the Americas, former Soviet states and Arab nations, according to the ITU data.

The most rapid online growth in recent years has occurred in the latter two regions.

In Arab states, the estimated number of Internet users has reached 88 million, doubling in the space of about five years.

Growth in Commonwealth of Independent States was even faster: 127 million people used the Internet there last year, compared to 51 million in 2007 according to the ITU estimates.

"They have been catching up because they had lower penetration rates before," Teltscher explained

Now smell the games you play on TV!

2011-01-27T03:43:00.001-08:00

'Smell-O-Vision' is a plug-in device for computer games that emits a variety of odours, depending on the scenario.
If your character is crawling around the jungle, it whiffs out the unmistakable smell of pine.

Should you find yourself at sea, the smell of the water will be instantly delivered by the 'personal scent delivery system'.

The ScentScape has around 20 pre-loaded smells and is programmed to respond to exactly what is happening on screen, the Daily Mail reports.

But its makers hope that the in-built editing application will allow gamers to make their own scents and share them with other users.

The $69.99 device from California-based Scent Sciences has a 'volume control' feature to ensure you are not overwhelmed by the fumes.

Additional 'smell cartridges' such as holiday and summer mean it will also be possible to add smells to home videos. Other cartridges could be created for aromatherapy and other applications.

"ScentScape is an innovative digital scent delivery system, which provides extra dimension of scent to gaming, entertainment and other consumer markets," Scent Sciences says on its website.

"Simply connect the Plug-N-Play unit to any compatible PC or gaming console for an instant experience of sight, sound and smell."

Technicians have for years tried to find a way to combine smell with vision, often with ridiculous consequences.

Airtel Announces Prices For Its 3G Data Plans

2011-01-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

Airtel has already kicked off its 3G services on Karnataka, with the rest of the 3G circles in India being targeted within the next couple of months. At the launch event, it detailed the plans that will be available to the customers.

In slides that were acquired by Telecom Talk, Airtel has decided to offer plans that fit the heavy as well as light data users. The 3G data plans start from Rs. 9 for 10MB with 1 day validity and go all the way upto Rs. 750 for 2GB with 30 days validity. Apart from these, Airtel also has a flexi-shield plan where users pay Rs. 650 a month, where they are given 1.25GB of free data usage. After the free usage is over, all the 3G data will be charged at Rs. 10p/ MB upto 14GB and after that the speed gets capped to 128kpbs. Unfortunately, Airtel has not announced an unlimited data plan and that is kind of disheartening.

Below is the list of time-based plans for Airtel 3G

Rs. 9 for 10 MB, validity 1 day
Rs. 45 for 40 MB Validity 3 days
Rs. 60 for 65 MB, validity 3 days
Rs. 103 for 100 MB, validity 30 days
Rs. 200 for 250 MB, validity 30 days
Rs. 450 for 600 MB, validity 30 days
Rs. 750 for 2 GB, validity 30 days.

Users can also subscribe to a ‘pay as you go’ plan, where the user will be charged at 30p per 20kb. Those who want to activate the 3G service on their Airtel Mobiles need to send an SMS with the message ‘3G’ to 121, after which a confirmation will be send to the subscriber. Any 2G services that were active during that time will be deactivated.

Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook Page Hacked

2011-01-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

It looks like even the best are vulnerable to being hacked. News broke out today that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s own Facebook page was taken control of by a hacker who was able to gain access and started posting updates and message on the wall.

An update on Mr. Zuckerburg’s wall said the following “Let the hacking begin: If Facebook needs money, instead of going to the banks, why doesn’t Facebook let its users invest in Facebook in a social way? Why not transform Facebook into a social business the way Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus described it?"

The post also contained a shortened URL which led to a Wikipedia page for ‘social business’. Just before the page was taken down by Facebook, it gathered over 1806 ‘likes’ from various followers. Mr. Zuckerberg page has been redirected to a new URL and is now up and running for all to see.

It is not yet known how the breach occurred, but it’s still bad news for Facebook, which has been in the limelight recently for its decision to use a person’s activity as advertising or wanting to share your information with third party apps which it later backtracked on.

Nokia most trusted brand in India

2011-01-21T22:23:00.000-08:00

Nokia has emerged as the most trusted brand in India ahead of homegrown Tata, while master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has been ranked ahead of Mahatma Gandhi by a survey. The survey titled The Brand Trust Report, India Study 2011, released on Wednesday, puts Japan’’s Sony in the third position, ahead of Korean consumer electronics and appliances makers LG and Samsung that are ranked at number four and five.

MNP – Mobile Number Portability goes live !

2011-01-21T00:35:00.000-08:00

After years of waiting and with numerous delays for mobile number portability, it will finally be available all over India from this January 20 2011.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said,
“We’re very happy that we are going to launch it nationally. It’s a great step forward for the consumer. It enhances his choice.”

What is MNP?

Ever frustrated with your current service provider? Want to move a better service provider by keeping your present number..? This is just the right time. There are millions of cell phone users in India, So with MNP it gives you freedom to shift to a better service provider with less hassle. This service is applicable to both the Prepaid as well as the Postpaid customers.

Procedure

   1. To shift, send an SMS “PORT” followed by your mobile number from your phone to 1900.
   2. Your service provider will reply with a unique porting code.
   3. Use that code while filling out a detailed form for the new service provider you want to shift to.
   4. Within 48 hours, your service will be activated, a nominal fee of Rs 19 will be charged for the same.

More on MNP Process

    * Your cell number will be switched off for only one hour. All bills after that, are paid to your new service provider. You’ll be stuck with them for at least 90 days before you can shift again.
    * While you can shift from a GSM service to CDMA or vice versa, you cannot shift from one circle to another. If you do, roaming charges will be applied as usual.
    * When you port your number, you also need to change your SIM
    * For a prepaid number, carry forward of any balance to the new service provider is not permitted.

Meanwhile, for more info, these service providers below have given their toll free numbers as follows :

    *Aircel - 9802098020
    *Airtel -18001031111
    * BSNL-18001801503
    * IDEA MNP Helpline: 1800-270-0000
    * MTNL Mumbai-1800221503
    * TATA Docomo MNP Helpline: 1800-266-0000
    * Vodafone MNP Helpline: 1800-1234567

I hope that clears most of the confusion. Do comment if you have any more doubts on the same.
original post by ArunD