Samsung has revealed a new cellphone, the S3030 Tobi, which is aimed at ‘pre-teens’. The phone features an interface which has been especially designed for younger audiences and comprises of animated characters and themes.
Samsung has also made the phone eco-friendly by using bio-plastics, non-toxic paints and non-allergenic materials in its manufacturing process. The younger users will also like the changeable rear covers that also have a sleeve to put in your own pictures.
For parents concerned about their children’s safety, the phone has features such as fake call, SOS messages and SOS calls. The phone is only GSM compatible and weighs less than 100 grams. It has a sliding form factor and features a TFT screen which can display a resolution of 144x176. Memory requirements are handled by the 15MB of internal memory and a microSD slot which supports up to 8GB of memory cards.Although Samsung has not revealed the price, the phone is expected to be launched this month in a number of markets across the globe.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
IBM Unveils Annual 'Five in Five' List
Innovations that can change the way we live - in the next five years
IBM has unveiled its annual "IBM Five in Five" list in which the company details some of the most striking innovations which it thinks has the potential to change the way we live in the next five years. This is the third edition. The 2008 list has the following technologies which, according to IBM, will radically change the way we live, work and play in the next five years.
--Solar technology to become ubiquitous
--Medical soothsayers galore
--Converse with the web in voice
--Coming (very) soon: Digital Shopping Assistants
--Forgot something? Hit Search!
Read rest of this article here:
http://www.techtree.com/India/Future_Watch/IBM_Unveils_Annual_Five_in_Five_List/551-95757-505.html
IBM has unveiled its annual "IBM Five in Five" list in which the company details some of the most striking innovations which it thinks has the potential to change the way we live in the next five years. This is the third edition. The 2008 list has the following technologies which, according to IBM, will radically change the way we live, work and play in the next five years.
--Solar technology to become ubiquitous
--Medical soothsayers galore
--Converse with the web in voice
--Coming (very) soon: Digital Shopping Assistants
--Forgot something? Hit Search!
Read rest of this article here:
http://www.techtree.com/India/Future_Watch/IBM_Unveils_Annual_Five_in_Five_List/551-95757-505.html
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic to compete with Apple iPhone
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is supposed to hit the Indian market in early January 2009 and the phone has some special features, which challenges Apple Inc's dominance in the digital music market. It will be available in black, red and blue variants..
NOKIA, ONE of the top mobile companies in India had finally launched the much-awaited touchscreen phone – Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The launch of touchsreen phone in India is touted as the company’s answer to the latest sensation Apple iPhone. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is reportedly priced at Rs 21,800 for the Indian Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is supposed to hit the Indian market in early January 2009 and the phone has some special features, which challenges Apple Inc’s dominance in the digital music market. The phone can handle as many as 60 different languages and it supports both finger and stylus touch.
The phone weighs 109 grams and the screen size is 81mm (3.2-inch) diagonally, with 640x480-pixel touchscreen display, which can play multiple types of video at a high resolution. The phone also has an accelerometer for display rotation.
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic comes with 81MB internal memory, 8GB microSD memory card, capable of storing approximately 6,000 songs. The memory of the phone can be further expanded up to 16GB. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is equipped with the Symbian S60 interface.
Positioned as a music phone, Nokia 5800 comes pre-loaded with a vast range of music collection. Nokia’s Comes With Music service is the special feature of Nokia 5800, which will allow users to download music for free for a year from a catalog that includes 4 million songs.
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic comes with 81MB internal memory, 8GB microSD memory card, capable of storing approximately 6,000 songs. The memory of the phone can be further expanded up to 16GB. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is equipped with the Symbian S60 interface.
Positioned as a music phone, Nokia 5800 comes pre-loaded with a vast range of music collection. Nokia’s Comes With Music service is the special feature of Nokia 5800, which will allow users to download music for free for a year from a catalog that includes 4 million songs.
Chandrayaan working normally: ISRO
India's unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan the unmanned lunar spacecraft is functioning normally even though there has been a rise in temperature in the moon's atmosphere, an ISRO official said on Wedneday.
“It is a usual phenomena because it is summer on the moon. There is nothing to worry. It will be normal by December,” said Mr Satish, ISRP spokesperson. He said the craft's nine payloads, which have been switched on, are working fine and sending back dat a.
In view of the rise in temperature, ISRO will not work on all the payloads at a given time to ensure that they are not affected by the heat, he said. “Two of the high voltage payloads SARA and Hex will be switched on shortly. These payloads are sensitive equipment and need more voltage. By the first week of December, the atmosphere will become benign on the moon,” he said.
“It is a usual phenomena because it is summer on the moon. There is nothing to worry. It will be normal by December,” said Mr Satish, ISRP spokesperson. He said the craft's nine payloads, which have been switched on, are working fine and sending back dat a.
In view of the rise in temperature, ISRO will not work on all the payloads at a given time to ensure that they are not affected by the heat, he said. “Two of the high voltage payloads SARA and Hex will be switched on shortly. These payloads are sensitive equipment and need more voltage. By the first week of December, the atmosphere will become benign on the moon,” he said.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Motorola unveils luxury edition of RAZR2 in India
Motorola has announced a limited luxury edition of its popular RAZR2 range in India to target the fashion-conscious populace.
This new RAZR2 is bathed in gold and clothed in snake-like skin and includes a soft-touch back, embossed with a sensual snake skin like texture. Other features include 18/24K gold-plated accents, Windows Media Player 11, 2 megapixel camera and 2GB on-board storage capacity.
Lloyd Mathias, director marketing, India & South West Asia, Motorola Mobile Devices said “Design as our hallmark is highlighted in the Razr2 V8 luxury edition’s stunning blend of cutting-edge technology and bold, sophisticated detail that is the pinnacle of ultra-premium cool.
The company claims that this new edition of Razr2 supports Motorola’s CrystalTalk and quad-band technology that automatically adjust the audio controls to avoid any background noise.
The price of this special luxury edition will be Rs 27,440.
This new RAZR2 is bathed in gold and clothed in snake-like skin and includes a soft-touch back, embossed with a sensual snake skin like texture. Other features include 18/24K gold-plated accents, Windows Media Player 11, 2 megapixel camera and 2GB on-board storage capacity.
Lloyd Mathias, director marketing, India & South West Asia, Motorola Mobile Devices said “Design as our hallmark is highlighted in the Razr2 V8 luxury edition’s stunning blend of cutting-edge technology and bold, sophisticated detail that is the pinnacle of ultra-premium cool.
The company claims that this new edition of Razr2 supports Motorola’s CrystalTalk and quad-band technology that automatically adjust the audio controls to avoid any background noise.
The price of this special luxury edition will be Rs 27,440.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Office 2007 Fails The OOXML Test
Microsoft emerged the victor last month when the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) confirmed that the company's Office Open XML (OOXML) specification had garnered enough votes to qualify for standards certification.
However, one ironic drawback remains following Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) efforts to win the votes of ISO representatives: It's now incompatible with Microsoft Office.
According to ISO official Alex Brown, the company's Office 2007 does not correctly support OOXML, even though the formats in OOXML started out as the default file formats for Office 2007. The reason for this appears to be the myriad changes made to the spec to satisfy ISO representatives, encouraging them to change their votes to support the format.
Brown said he determined Office's incompatibility through his own tests.
"[I] thought it would be interesting to validate some real-world content against them, to get a rough idea of how non-conformant the standardization of 29500 [the standards number assigned to OOXML by the ISO] had made MS Office 2007," Brown said in a posting on his blog late last week. He used the 6,000-page specification itself as his test data.
The results? Tests run using a "strict conformance model" yielded some 122,000 errors, Brown noted. A less strict "transitional model" did much better, yielding only 84 errors.
According to Brown, concerns among some of the participating national bodies involved in the standards setting process lead to the transitional version of the specification, which is purposely much more compatible with the original OOXML spec.
"Indeed, a strong motivation for approving 29500 as an ISO standard was to discourage Microsoft from this kind of file format rug-pulling stunt in future," he added.
However, one ironic drawback remains following Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) efforts to win the votes of ISO representatives: It's now incompatible with Microsoft Office.
According to ISO official Alex Brown, the company's Office 2007 does not correctly support OOXML, even though the formats in OOXML started out as the default file formats for Office 2007. The reason for this appears to be the myriad changes made to the spec to satisfy ISO representatives, encouraging them to change their votes to support the format.
Brown said he determined Office's incompatibility through his own tests.
"[I] thought it would be interesting to validate some real-world content against them, to get a rough idea of how non-conformant the standardization of 29500 [the standards number assigned to OOXML by the ISO] had made MS Office 2007," Brown said in a posting on his blog late last week. He used the 6,000-page specification itself as his test data.
The results? Tests run using a "strict conformance model" yielded some 122,000 errors, Brown noted. A less strict "transitional model" did much better, yielding only 84 errors.
According to Brown, concerns among some of the participating national bodies involved in the standards setting process lead to the transitional version of the specification, which is purposely much more compatible with the original OOXML spec.
"Indeed, a strong motivation for approving 29500 as an ISO standard was to discourage Microsoft from this kind of file format rug-pulling stunt in future," he added.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Get Ready India, Here Comes the iPhone
Indian Apple fans can breathe a sigh of relief as a date seems to be near for the iPhone's Indian launch. Come September, Vodafone just might be bringing the legendary handset to the country and no longer will we have to ponder over the big question – WHEN?
It seems European sales are dropping and China Mobile has already said 'no' to being a carrier. The 8GB version of the Vodafone iPhone is expected to arrive in the first week of September, and the price is estimated to be in the range of Rs 28,000 to Rs 30,000.
Although jailbroken iPhones are already available in the country, this is our chance to get a guaranteed genuine iPhone with no need for any messing around, at least to make it workable with a provider. The only difference is it’s available in the gray market for a whole lot cheaper. Stay tuned.
Although jailbroken iPhones are already available in the country, this is our chance to get a guaranteed genuine iPhone with no need for any messing around, at least to make it workable with a provider. The only difference is it’s available in the gray market for a whole lot cheaper. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
MTNL introduces mobile tracking service
MTNL launched mobile tracking service in a tie-up with Micro technologies which traces lost or stolen mobiles through a software.
The software is available for free download from MTNL through GPRS and is compatible for most of the handset models available in the market, claims Micro Technologies.
The software stores the IMEI as well as SIM number of the phone and asks for alternate phone number or email where information can be provided in case of loss or theft of the mobile. In case the mobile is stolen and a new SIM is being used, the software alerts the original owner of the location of the phone.
The service is available at a monthly charge of Rs.30.
The software is available for free download from MTNL through GPRS and is compatible for most of the handset models available in the market, claims Micro Technologies.
The software stores the IMEI as well as SIM number of the phone and asks for alternate phone number or email where information can be provided in case of loss or theft of the mobile. In case the mobile is stolen and a new SIM is being used, the software alerts the original owner of the location of the phone.
The service is available at a monthly charge of Rs.30.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Samsung Introduces its First HSUPA Handset for South Korean Market
HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) aims to offer mobile broadband for cellular phones. Conventional 3G offers upload and download speeds of around 384Kbps, whereas HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) allows upload speeds to 2Mbps.
South Korean vendor Samsung Electronics launched its first handset, SCH-M470 that is said to offer faster upload speeds using HSUPA (high-speed uplink packet access) technology.
The slider-type handset promises to
The slider-type handset promises to
--send data at up to 2M bps (bits per second) when on an HSUPA network.
--WiFi
--Bluetooth
-- 2 mega pixel camera
Chinese hackers penetrate crucial MEA network
Hackers, suspected to be from mainland China, have made deep intrusions into the secure computer systems of the ministry of external affairs, according to top government sources.
The serious breach was detected during a routine security audit by the intelligence agencies last month – the hackers had left clear trails. Alarmed, the government is sending a team of intelligence officials to audit the security standards of systems and computers in key Indian missions around the world, starting with the embassy in Beijing, sources say.
The Chinese hackers had even accessed some of the stand-alone secure computers on which senior MEA officials store secret notes on national policy and mission plans. Sources say these stand-alone computers may have been carelessly connected to the local area network and through it to the Internet giving hackers access.
After the audit at the embassy in Beijing by this month-end, the missions in Europe and the US would be next.
The serious breach was detected during a routine security audit by the intelligence agencies last month – the hackers had left clear trails. Alarmed, the government is sending a team of intelligence officials to audit the security standards of systems and computers in key Indian missions around the world, starting with the embassy in Beijing, sources say.
The Chinese hackers had even accessed some of the stand-alone secure computers on which senior MEA officials store secret notes on national policy and mission plans. Sources say these stand-alone computers may have been carelessly connected to the local area network and through it to the Internet giving hackers access.
After the audit at the embassy in Beijing by this month-end, the missions in Europe and the US would be next.
Nokia Tube: an iPhone killer being developed
Apple’s iPhone should be consider to be the most revolutionary device ever, not only because many tech savvies loved it but also because many mobile phone makers started developing iPhone-like devices after its launch.
During the speech at Evans Data developer conference in the US, Vice President of Forum Nokia, Tom Libretto has confirmed the development of the Nokia Tube, an iPhone challenger.
Though Libretto did not reveal much information about the device, he stated that the Tube is the first touchscreen device from Nokia.
Nokia’s Tube is expected to have Wi-Fi or HSDPA connectivity.
Furthermore rumors are spreading all over the internet about Nokia Tube being actually named as Nokia 5800 Tube.
As per speculations the upcoming Nokia 5800 Tube will be equipped with 3.2 inch touchscreen display, 3.2 MP camera with auto-focus and GPS.
Rumors also say that the phone will feature connectivity options such as 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The phone is also expected to have a 3.5mm headphone jack and TV-output port.
As of now there is no word regarding its launch date and availability.
During the speech at Evans Data developer conference in the US, Vice President of Forum Nokia, Tom Libretto has confirmed the development of the Nokia Tube, an iPhone challenger.
Though Libretto did not reveal much information about the device, he stated that the Tube is the first touchscreen device from Nokia.
Nokia’s Tube is expected to have Wi-Fi or HSDPA connectivity.
Furthermore rumors are spreading all over the internet about Nokia Tube being actually named as Nokia 5800 Tube.
As per speculations the upcoming Nokia 5800 Tube will be equipped with 3.2 inch touchscreen display, 3.2 MP camera with auto-focus and GPS.
Rumors also say that the phone will feature connectivity options such as 3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The phone is also expected to have a 3.5mm headphone jack and TV-output port.
As of now there is no word regarding its launch date and availability.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Nokia:India would have 500 million mobile phone users by 2010
Mobile phone maker Nokia has said that as per their estimates the Indian market would have as many as 500 million mobile phone users by the end of this decade.Nokia is the world’s and India’s dominating mobile phone maker with leading market share.
The company added in its report that out of this, around 60 million users would have the capacity to record videos on their mobile phones.
100 million mobile users would have the ability to listen to music on these devices.
Nokia said that the market would be divided into three categories. The top end market segment would be limited to 50 million customers. The middle end phone range would have 150 million customers while the rest would be using low end devices.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Google hopes to house Web software on App Engine
Google plans to launch a service called App Engine Monday evening that the company hopes will attract programmers and eventually companies needing an expandable foundation for online applications.
App Engine, free to the first 10,000 people who sign up, offers a combination of several online Google services for those who want a place to host software, said Pete Koomen, a product manager on the Google developer team. Those include the BigTable service for data storage and processing--as expected--along with authentication to let people sign on to services and e-mail to let the system handle communications, he said.
App Engine, free to the first 10,000 people who sign up, offers a combination of several online Google services for those who want a place to host software, said Pete Koomen, a product manager on the Google developer team. Those include the BigTable service for data storage and processing--as expected--along with authentication to let people sign on to services and e-mail to let the system handle communications, he said.
The company is pitching App Engine as an easy way for programmers to build software without having to worry about rebuilding it once it gets too big for its original hardware or software britches.
It looks like the move could put some competitive pressure on other online services such as Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Salesforce.com's AppExchange.
Google's App Engine initially will have limits of 500MB of storage, 10GB of daily data transfer bandwidth, and 200 million daily cycles of processor use. That should be enough to power a Web site with about 5 million page views per month, Koomen said.
After the preview period ends, all comers will be able to use that amount of capacity for free, and using more will cost pay-as-you-go fees that Google isn't yet announcing.
Google expects to generate some revenue from the service and from AdSense if developers incorporate that service into their Web applications, said Tom Stocky, another Google product manager. But the real payback from the service is indirect, Koomen said.
"The primary motivation is to enable the Web as a platform and move it forward," Koomen said. "If it's easier for developers to build Web applications, (that) means more applications. That attracts more users to the Web and helps Google as well."
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
HP pavillion dv3000 and HP pavilion dv6800 launched
HP pavillion dv3000 and HP pavilion dv6800 entertainment notebook PCs’ are launched in India. It has been especially designed for mobile professionals; the design with blazing PC performance and features will surely delight your senses.
LABELLED ‘THE ONE’ HP pavillion dv3000, features 13.3 inch wide screen display based on the Brightview technology, along with a full sized keyboard and a inbuilt web cam. Its HP 3D driveguard protects the hard drive while on the go. It is priced at Rs 53,990.
Also the HP pavilion dv6800 entertainment notebook PC was launched, with a 15.4 inch, Bright view wide screen display with desktop features and HD entertainment. As well as the 14-inch HP Pavilion dv2800 Artist Edition Notebook PC features Intel Centrino Duo processor technology.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Nokia launches Replacement phones for emerging markets
In its move to pace up the sluggish market growth in Europe and North America, mobile phone giant Nokia has introduced four new handsets that have been specially designed to let customers in developing markets bid adieu to their old phones and replace them with the newly launched ones.
Nokia 5000, 2680, 1680 Classic and 7070 Prism are the latest phones from the Finnish company. Priced between 50 euros and 90 euros, the devices include basic features such as FM radio receivers and recorders, cameras, and music players, to encourage consumers to upgrade.
Nokia 5000 is the company’s very first sub-EUR100 megapixel camera-equipped phone and incorporates key functions like FM radio with recording capabilities, E-mail, and General Packet Radio Service, or GPRS, connectivity. Priced at EUR90, Nokia 5000 will ship in the second quarter of this year.
Nokia 2680 is Nokia’s first slide model targeted at developing markets and is a camera phone with FM radio with recording functionality. Retailing at EUR75, Nokia 2680 will ship in the third quarter.
Nokia 1680 Classic comes with a VGA camera, E-mail, and phone sharing functionality. It will ship in the second quarter for EUR50.
Nokia 7070 Prism is a flip phone that boasts a voice recorder, handsfree speaker, plans to ship in Q3 of 2008 for EUR50.
Nokia 5000 is the company’s very first sub-EUR100 megapixel camera-equipped phone and incorporates key functions like FM radio with recording capabilities, E-mail, and General Packet Radio Service, or GPRS, connectivity. Priced at EUR90, Nokia 5000 will ship in the second quarter of this year.
Nokia 2680 is Nokia’s first slide model targeted at developing markets and is a camera phone with FM radio with recording functionality. Retailing at EUR75, Nokia 2680 will ship in the third quarter.
Nokia 1680 Classic comes with a VGA camera, E-mail, and phone sharing functionality. It will ship in the second quarter for EUR50.
Nokia 7070 Prism is a flip phone that boasts a voice recorder, handsfree speaker, plans to ship in Q3 of 2008 for EUR50.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Microsoft wins ISO nod for Office OXML
After nearly 14 months of discussion, debate and controversies surrounding them, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has finally declared that Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) file format has received the necessary number of votes for approval as an ISO/IEC international standard.
There has, perhaps, never been a more intense global industry debate over standards since OOXML is backed by Apple, Novell, and closer home by Wipro, Infosys, TCS, and Nasscom.
The rival Open Document Format or ODF is supported by IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, Google, and in India, by the Department of Information Technology (DIT), National Informatics Centre (NIC), CDAC, IIT-Bombay and IIM-Ahmedabad.
ISO approval means government business for Microsoft since governments worldwide, including India, prefer standards that are ratified from bodies such as the ISO.
States such as Delhi, Kerala and others from the North-East are heavy adopters of ODF file formats which are open and free (excluding maintenance and support).
“With 86 per cent of voting national bodies supporting ratification, there is overwhelming support for Open XML. This outcome is a clear win for the customers, technology providers and governments that want to choose the format that best meets their needs and have a voice in the evolution of this widely adopted standard,” said Tom Robertson, general manager of Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft, in a press statement.
There has, perhaps, never been a more intense global industry debate over standards since OOXML is backed by Apple, Novell, and closer home by Wipro, Infosys, TCS, and Nasscom.
The rival Open Document Format or ODF is supported by IBM, Sun Microsystems, Red Hat, Google, and in India, by the Department of Information Technology (DIT), National Informatics Centre (NIC), CDAC, IIT-Bombay and IIM-Ahmedabad.
ISO approval means government business for Microsoft since governments worldwide, including India, prefer standards that are ratified from bodies such as the ISO.
States such as Delhi, Kerala and others from the North-East are heavy adopters of ODF file formats which are open and free (excluding maintenance and support).
“With 86 per cent of voting national bodies supporting ratification, there is overwhelming support for Open XML. This outcome is a clear win for the customers, technology providers and governments that want to choose the format that best meets their needs and have a voice in the evolution of this widely adopted standard,” said Tom Robertson, general manager of Interoperability and Standards at Microsoft, in a press statement.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Transcend JetFlash V85 is Now Available
One more Transcend USB flash drive has been introduced -- the 16GB JetFlash V85. With a sleek zinc-alloy body, the JetFlash V85 measures 49.5mm by 15.8mm by 7.4mm, and can easily slide into small pockets or tightly-stacked USB ports. It stores personal and office documents, music, images, videos, movies, and more.
The V85 too bundles Transcend's JetFlash Elite software that includes seven tools to help manage mobile data. These include: Website auto-login, PC-Lock, favorites, secret-zip, e-mail, data backup, and online update.
The new JetFlash supports Windows 98SE/2000/Me/XP/Vista, Mac, and Linux, and is available in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities. It is fully hi-speed USB 2.0-compliant and compatible with USB 1.0/1.1, and comes with easy plug and play operation. The JetFlash V85 16GB is priced at Rs 4,250, and enjoys a three-years warranty.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Google starts letting users edit documents offline
Google Inc said on Monday it is taking the next step to make its Web-based software useful in the real world of spotty Internet access by allowing users to edit word processing documents offline.
The world's top Internet company said it will begin over the next several weeks to allow users of its Google Docs word processing application to edit documents without an active Web connection, on planes, trains and other disconnected spots.
The offline feature of Google Docs temporarily stores documents changes on a user's local computer. Once reconnected to the Internet, any changes the user made will automatically be synchronized and stored on Google-hosted computers.
"This is still early days. We're working to make more Web applications and functions work where connections are unavailable," Google said in a statement.
These include the ability to edit spreadsheets and viewing or editing presentations, among other applications Google now offers online, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said.
Offline editing is a free feature using a technology known as Google Gears that the company introduced around 15 months ago to application developers to build offline features into their own programs.
The technology already works within Google's news feed reader, Google Reader, and applications from independent Web developers such as task-management service "Remember the Milk," from an Australian-based company of the same name.
The world's top Internet company said it will begin over the next several weeks to allow users of its Google Docs word processing application to edit documents without an active Web connection, on planes, trains and other disconnected spots.
The offline feature of Google Docs temporarily stores documents changes on a user's local computer. Once reconnected to the Internet, any changes the user made will automatically be synchronized and stored on Google-hosted computers.
"This is still early days. We're working to make more Web applications and functions work where connections are unavailable," Google said in a statement.
These include the ability to edit spreadsheets and viewing or editing presentations, among other applications Google now offers online, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said.
Offline editing is a free feature using a technology known as Google Gears that the company introduced around 15 months ago to application developers to build offline features into their own programs.
The technology already works within Google's news feed reader, Google Reader, and applications from independent Web developers such as task-management service "Remember the Milk," from an Australian-based company of the same name.
Indiatimes 58888 launches Mobile Voice service
Times Internet aka Indiatimes claim they've launched the country's first 'Mobile Voice' service. What the service really implies is that for the first time, both SMS- and voice- services will be offered on the same short code ie 58888.
Indiatimes 58888 introduces Mobile Voice value-added service (VAS), which enables a user to start listening to the gossips, news, astro tips and music.
The service is live across all major telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Tata, MTNL and BPL, and will be backed by a 360-degree campaign across media vehicles.
Indiatimes 58888 claims of a user base of 30 million subscribers and being accessible to the entire mobile base of 250 million mobile users across the country.
Available currently in English and Hindi, it will soon introduce its service in Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil, said an official release.
Times Internet Ltd CEO and MD Dinesh Wadhawan said, “This is the first and only pan-operator pan-India single number service which is common to voice, SMS and Wap. With this launch, we are going to change the way consumers use their phones. We will not only fill the current voids in the mobile VAS segment but also constantly deliver new and relevant products."
Indiatimes 58888 introduces Mobile Voice value-added service (VAS), which enables a user to start listening to the gossips, news, astro tips and music.
The service is live across all major telecom operators including Airtel, Vodafone, Reliance, Tata, MTNL and BPL, and will be backed by a 360-degree campaign across media vehicles.
Indiatimes 58888 claims of a user base of 30 million subscribers and being accessible to the entire mobile base of 250 million mobile users across the country.
Available currently in English and Hindi, it will soon introduce its service in Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil, said an official release.
Times Internet Ltd CEO and MD Dinesh Wadhawan said, “This is the first and only pan-operator pan-India single number service which is common to voice, SMS and Wap. With this launch, we are going to change the way consumers use their phones. We will not only fill the current voids in the mobile VAS segment but also constantly deliver new and relevant products."
Monday, March 31, 2008
Airtel launches web portal; partners Google
Country's largest private broadband and telephone service provider Airtel Telemedia Services today launched its internet portal for its customers making Google products officially available on its portal for the first time.
Customers will receive free access to the company's popular Google Apps messaging and collaboration suite, which includes Gmail email services, Google Docs for documents, spreadsheets and presentations, Google Calendar, and the Start Page feature for creating a customisable home page, a company statement said.The services will be co-branded and powered by Google and Airtel broadband, it added.
Airtel has also partnered with content providers like shaadi.com, 24x7guru and naukri.com to offer exclusive deals and discounts on the portal.
''airtellive.com builds upon the current broadband ecosystem infrastructure to establish an Internet destination for web applications. It will drive towards the adoption of broadband in the country,'' said Airtel Telemedia Services President Atul Bindal.
Customers will receive free access to the company's popular Google Apps messaging and collaboration suite, which includes Gmail email services, Google Docs for documents, spreadsheets and presentations, Google Calendar, and the Start Page feature for creating a customisable home page, a company statement said.The services will be co-branded and powered by Google and Airtel broadband, it added.
Airtel has also partnered with content providers like shaadi.com, 24x7guru and naukri.com to offer exclusive deals and discounts on the portal.
''airtellive.com builds upon the current broadband ecosystem infrastructure to establish an Internet destination for web applications. It will drive towards the adoption of broadband in the country,'' said Airtel Telemedia Services President Atul Bindal.
Iqua Mobile Accessories now in India
"Iqua", another brand from the land of Nokia (Finland) has officially stepped into the Indian market yesterday in association with Pathfinder Solutions, an IT solutions company. While the company formally launched in the country only yesterday, its wireless mobile accessories have been available on the market since January this year. "Iqua" currently offers wireless mobile accessories in three categories; namely personal, home and office, and car.
In the personal category, the company offers nearly ten models that include the world's first solar-powered Bluetooth headset.
In the home and office category, the company offers a Smart Card that doubles as an ID card holder and a wireless communication device. This Smart Badge can also be used as a wireless speaker and microphone for the computer, besides being used to make VoIP Internet calls.
Other features of the Smart Card include: talk time of up to 40 hours and stand-by time of up to 600 hours, vibration mode for incoming VOIP calls, and three-way conference call facility.
In the car category, the company offers Iqua Vizer that provides wireless connection with Bluetooth mobile phones or PDAs.
All of Iqua's products across all its categories will now be available in the Indian market. The company claims to have sold around 2,000 products in the range of Rs 1,200 to Rs 7,000 in Chennai and Bangalore alone.
Friday, March 28, 2008
LG SH240 handset launched, keypad feels like human skin
LG Electronics, the South Korean multinational corporation has launched the LG-SH240 mobile phone featuring 3G HSDPA capability, in the Korean market.
According to LG, the unique feature of the phone is its keypad, which feels like the human skin. The unique keypad made of special silicon material will make the user feel as though they are touching a human skin whenever they will touch the keypad of the SH240
Other attractive features include a 2 mega pixel camera, MP3 player, subway map, dictionary and external memory slot. Being a 3G phone, it also provides video-call facility and HSDPA enables faster data speeds.
The LG-SH240 mobile phone will be available to the Korean market through SK Telecom for 400,000 KRW, which is around $400
According to LG, the unique feature of the phone is its keypad, which feels like the human skin. The unique keypad made of special silicon material will make the user feel as though they are touching a human skin whenever they will touch the keypad of the SH240
Other attractive features include a 2 mega pixel camera, MP3 player, subway map, dictionary and external memory slot. Being a 3G phone, it also provides video-call facility and HSDPA enables faster data speeds.
The LG-SH240 mobile phone will be available to the Korean market through SK Telecom for 400,000 KRW, which is around $400
HTc TyTn II Phone unveiled in India
The Professional and Trendy HTC TyTn II phone has finally arrived in India. This 2.8 inch wide-screen phone gives speedy access with HSDPA and has in-built GPS for navigation purposes.
The HTC TyTn II phone adds a feather to its cap with its Wi-Fi 802.11b/g connectivity and 3.5G of fast internet speed. The phone has an adjustable screen which can be positioned accordingly and is ideal while typing emails.
When the attractive phone slides its lower body, it displays a stylish QWERTY keyboard topped up with a jog wheel for ease of use. HTC has also provided a HTC home-screen feature, which allows easy access to calendar entries, text messages, photos, as well as one touch provides the live weather conditions and four-day forecasts. HTC marks its excellence in the HTC TyTn II by adding in features such as :
The HTC TyTn II phone adds a feather to its cap with its Wi-Fi 802.11b/g connectivity and 3.5G of fast internet speed. The phone has an adjustable screen which can be positioned accordingly and is ideal while typing emails.
When the attractive phone slides its lower body, it displays a stylish QWERTY keyboard topped up with a jog wheel for ease of use. HTC has also provided a HTC home-screen feature, which allows easy access to calendar entries, text messages, photos, as well as one touch provides the live weather conditions and four-day forecasts. HTC marks its excellence in the HTC TyTn II by adding in features such as :
Word Mobile, Excel Mobile, PowerPoint Mobile, contacts, calendar, push e-mail, notes, tasks, PDF viewer, etc
Thursday, March 27, 2008
BlackBerry 8820 SmartPhone launched by T-Mobile
T-Mobile and Research in Motion (RIM) have announced the launch of the BlackBerry 8820 Smartphone. The slim Blackberry phone possesses a GPS system and a good Wi-Fi connectivity.
The professional phone has been given a slim and stylish look with its blue color. The BlackBerry 8820 also supports the T-Mobile’s HotSpot @Home service for Wi-Fi calling. The Wi-Fi connectivity provides faster speeds and the GPS system provides a great view with the BlackBerry Maps.
A few salient features of the T-Mobile BlackBerry 8820 are:
-- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE network support for international roaming
-- T-Mobile myFaves capability, making it easy for customers to stay in touch with those who matter most, with quick, one-click access for instant messaging, emailing, calling or texting their Fave 5SM from the Home Screen
-- Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR)
-- Expandable memory storage via microSD/SDHC expansion slot
-- Dimensions: 4.49″ x 2.60″ x 0.55″
-- Weight: 4.7 oz
-- Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE network support for international roaming
-- T-Mobile myFaves capability, making it easy for customers to stay in touch with those who matter most, with quick, one-click access for instant messaging, emailing, calling or texting their Fave 5SM from the Home Screen
-- Speaker Independent Voice Recognition (SIVR)
-- Expandable memory storage via microSD/SDHC expansion slot
-- Dimensions: 4.49″ x 2.60″ x 0.55″
-- Weight: 4.7 oz
Sahara Launches Mini Multimedia Keyboard
Sahara Computers has announced the launch of its latest Mini Multimedia Keyboard.
This new 63DUBG31 Mini Multimedia Keyboard is an ultra slim notebook keyboard with 88 keys and 19 hot keys. The keyboard also provides static resistant magnetic field and disturb resistant functionalities.
The ergonomically designed keyboard has 10 million minutes life. It is a user friendly keyboard, which is WIN 95/98/NT/2000/XP/Vista compatible.
Sahara 63DUBG31 keyboard is available through Sahara Computers' authorized channel partners and ITJ Retails at a Price of Rs. 499 + Tax.
This new 63DUBG31 Mini Multimedia Keyboard is an ultra slim notebook keyboard with 88 keys and 19 hot keys. The keyboard also provides static resistant magnetic field and disturb resistant functionalities.
The ergonomically designed keyboard has 10 million minutes life. It is a user friendly keyboard, which is WIN 95/98/NT/2000/XP/Vista compatible.
Sahara 63DUBG31 keyboard is available through Sahara Computers' authorized channel partners and ITJ Retails at a Price of Rs. 499 + Tax.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Firefox 3 Beta 4 Is Released
Days after Microsoft unveiled the first beta version of its upcoming Internet Explorer 8.1, Mozilla released the fourth beta of Firefox 3.
According to Mozilla, the new beta offers more than 900 enhancements and especially improvements to performance and memory usage.
In addition, the Beta 4 includes fixes for stability, platform enhancements and user interface improvements.
Compared to Firefox 2, web applications like Google Mail and Zoho Office run twice as fast in Firefox 3 Beta 4, and the popular SunSpider test from Apple shows improvements over previous releases, Mozilla noted.
Another feature is resumable downloading, that means the users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting the network connection.
Firefox 3 Beta 4 also features a new location bar and auto-complete capability. Now, a user can type in all or part of the title, tag or address of a page to see a list of matches from his history and bookmarks: a new display makes it easier to scan through the matching results and find the needed page. Results are returned according to their frecency (a combination of frequency and recency of visits to that page) ensuring that the user is seeing the most relevant matches.
Mozilla announced it plans to release at least a new beta, Beta 5, before Firefox 3 will hit the release candidate stage.
According to Mozilla, the new beta offers more than 900 enhancements and especially improvements to performance and memory usage.
In addition, the Beta 4 includes fixes for stability, platform enhancements and user interface improvements.
Compared to Firefox 2, web applications like Google Mail and Zoho Office run twice as fast in Firefox 3 Beta 4, and the popular SunSpider test from Apple shows improvements over previous releases, Mozilla noted.
Another feature is resumable downloading, that means the users can now resume downloads after restarting the browser or resetting the network connection.
Firefox 3 Beta 4 also features a new location bar and auto-complete capability. Now, a user can type in all or part of the title, tag or address of a page to see a list of matches from his history and bookmarks: a new display makes it easier to scan through the matching results and find the needed page. Results are returned according to their frecency (a combination of frequency and recency of visits to that page) ensuring that the user is seeing the most relevant matches.
Mozilla announced it plans to release at least a new beta, Beta 5, before Firefox 3 will hit the release candidate stage.
Locate Laptop Sniffs Out Stolen Laptops
Data care solutions provider, Unistal Systems, has announced the launch and availability of its new software product called "Locate Laptop". As the name suggests, "Locate Laptop" powered by proprietary WebSniff technology can locate stolen laptops leveraging on the World Wide Web. "Locate Laptop" not only tracks and recovers stolen laptops, but also deters theft.
When a laptop is stolen, it's not just the physical loss of a machine, but also of valuable and sensitive information that it stores. According to Alok Gupta, director of Unistal Systems, laptop thefts and loss are on an incessant rise, and have led to serious damages for professionals and corporates. About 97 percent of stolen PCs are never recovered, and 57 percent of corporate crimes are linked to them. In case of corporates, "Locate Laptop" keeps track of the whereabouts of each employee while traveling, and the moment he logs in via the Web, a report is generated with his complete details and is sent to a designated individual within the organization. This is done without the knowledge of the employee, so as to maintain privacy. Users have to just install "Locate Laptop" on their PCs. It resides and operates in stealth mode. In case of loss or theft, users may login to their Web-based Personal Tracking and Monitoring Page through www.locatelaptop.com to view and trace where the laptop has been accessed from. As soon as the offender connects the laptop to the Internet, the WebSniff technology informs the owner about the city and IP address where it is being accessed. It continues to track all the locations whenever the offender connects to the Internet. And the laptop can be retrieved with the help of local law enforcement authorities. Since theft is almost impossible to eradicate, consumers can at least work towards minimizing the impact of theft through the timely recovery of stolen hardware.
When a laptop is stolen, it's not just the physical loss of a machine, but also of valuable and sensitive information that it stores. According to Alok Gupta, director of Unistal Systems, laptop thefts and loss are on an incessant rise, and have led to serious damages for professionals and corporates. About 97 percent of stolen PCs are never recovered, and 57 percent of corporate crimes are linked to them. In case of corporates, "Locate Laptop" keeps track of the whereabouts of each employee while traveling, and the moment he logs in via the Web, a report is generated with his complete details and is sent to a designated individual within the organization. This is done without the knowledge of the employee, so as to maintain privacy. Users have to just install "Locate Laptop" on their PCs. It resides and operates in stealth mode. In case of loss or theft, users may login to their Web-based Personal Tracking and Monitoring Page through www.locatelaptop.com to view and trace where the laptop has been accessed from. As soon as the offender connects the laptop to the Internet, the WebSniff technology informs the owner about the city and IP address where it is being accessed. It continues to track all the locations whenever the offender connects to the Internet. And the laptop can be retrieved with the help of local law enforcement authorities. Since theft is almost impossible to eradicate, consumers can at least work towards minimizing the impact of theft through the timely recovery of stolen hardware.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Mobile TV: The next big thing
New Delhi: Indians are now warming up to the idea of mobile television (TV), says a recent report by Springboard Research that predicts 12 million subscribers will use the mobile TV service in the first year of its launch. It estimates that in the first year of operation, mobile TV could reach a penetration level of 5 to 6 per cent of the total mobile subscriber base in India (taken as 233 million). Mobile TV is a technology that allows people to view regular live television content on their mobile phones or other mobile devices that they get through traditional cable or pay TV subscriptions at home. Springboard estimates that in 2008 India’s market for mobile TV services to reach $360 million (approximately Rs 1,440 crore).
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Computer to be modeled to equal human brain by 2020
Time is not far when a computer shall have equal ability by 2020 as man has today. It shall share the knowledge with human being instantly in a conversation, debate and many other fields. It shall also be able to overcome aging and disease problems and a human being could live for a longer and healthy life. It shall construct a ‘post human’ world, wherein second, intelligent entity is expected to exist beside people.
American computer Guru Ray Kurzweil has envisioned a new advancement that indicates that computers might have a “matching human intellect by the 2020s.”
The intellectual abilities that PCs would incorporate would help the world to resolve some of the most significant intractable problems of the 21st century.
Ray drew his envisage after noticing the computer chips that have doubled the power and keep enhancing its energy every half-century. He expects in the next half of the century, 32 times more technical progress will be observed.
Computers, which are developed by 2D chips made of silicon, are now in the process of using 3D chips with vastly improved performances. These three-dimensional chips could be made from biological molecules to reduce the size of the chips as compared to metal-based computer chips.
It is also believed that computation, communication, biological technologies as well as human knowledge have improved at a much faster pace and continue to increase the capacity, bandwidth as well as performance as time processes.
“Three-dimensional, molecular computing will provide the hardware for human-level ‘strong artificial intelligence’ by the 2020s. The more important software insights will be gained in part from the reverse engineering of the human brain, a process well under way. Already, two dozen regions of the human brain have been modeled and simulated,” predicted leading scientific futurologist Ray Kurzweil.
Ray also forecasts, “We are understanding disease and aging processes as information processes, and are gaining the tools to re-program them. Within two decades, we will be in a position to stop and reverse the progression of disease and aging resulting in dramatic gains in health and longevity.”
American computer Guru Ray Kurzweil has envisioned a new advancement that indicates that computers might have a “matching human intellect by the 2020s.”
The intellectual abilities that PCs would incorporate would help the world to resolve some of the most significant intractable problems of the 21st century.
Ray drew his envisage after noticing the computer chips that have doubled the power and keep enhancing its energy every half-century. He expects in the next half of the century, 32 times more technical progress will be observed.
Computers, which are developed by 2D chips made of silicon, are now in the process of using 3D chips with vastly improved performances. These three-dimensional chips could be made from biological molecules to reduce the size of the chips as compared to metal-based computer chips.
It is also believed that computation, communication, biological technologies as well as human knowledge have improved at a much faster pace and continue to increase the capacity, bandwidth as well as performance as time processes.
“Three-dimensional, molecular computing will provide the hardware for human-level ‘strong artificial intelligence’ by the 2020s. The more important software insights will be gained in part from the reverse engineering of the human brain, a process well under way. Already, two dozen regions of the human brain have been modeled and simulated,” predicted leading scientific futurologist Ray Kurzweil.
Ray also forecasts, “We are understanding disease and aging processes as information processes, and are gaining the tools to re-program them. Within two decades, we will be in a position to stop and reverse the progression of disease and aging resulting in dramatic gains in health and longevity.”
Torvalds gives props to Microsoft for sharing
Linus Torvalds, leader of the Linux kernel project that's among the best-known open-source threats to Windows, has words of praise for Microsoft's announcement last week that it would share some previously hard-to-get technology with open-source programmers.
"I may make fun of Microsoft occasionally, and yeah, I think they do stupid things at times, but I think this one was a step in the right direction," Torvalds said in an e-mail.
"Could it have been even more? Sure. But give them credit for at least seeming to open up a little, even if it probably was at least partially pushed upon them by the EU rulings."
Torvalds' opinion goes right down the middle of the mixed reactions various people in the open-source software area had to the news.
Some praised Microsoft for making it easier for programmers to get access to technology such as communication protocols and file formats, and to get their software to work better with Microsoft's; others griped about Microsoft's continued desire for open-source companies to obtain patent licenses.
Torvalds isn't in the castigation camp. "Does it mean people should trust and love them? No," he said. "But I also don't see the point in flaming them over what is clearly at least an incremental improvement."
"I may make fun of Microsoft occasionally, and yeah, I think they do stupid things at times, but I think this one was a step in the right direction," Torvalds said in an e-mail.
"Could it have been even more? Sure. But give them credit for at least seeming to open up a little, even if it probably was at least partially pushed upon them by the EU rulings."
Torvalds' opinion goes right down the middle of the mixed reactions various people in the open-source software area had to the news.
Some praised Microsoft for making it easier for programmers to get access to technology such as communication protocols and file formats, and to get their software to work better with Microsoft's; others griped about Microsoft's continued desire for open-source companies to obtain patent licenses.
Torvalds isn't in the castigation camp. "Does it mean people should trust and love them? No," he said. "But I also don't see the point in flaming them over what is clearly at least an incremental improvement."
Sunday, February 17, 2008
MMGs from RCom, CanvasM
Reliance Communications (RCom), along with CanvasM Technologies (a Tech Mahindra-Motorola Joint Venture), has introduced multi-player mobile games for its customers in India. Multi-player mobile games (MMGs) enable gamers compete with other mobile- and PC- gamers who happen to be playing the same game. MMGs have other features like: lobby chat, messenger chat, game chat, score posting, profile, allowing users to invite others to play games.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
HTC Shows Off the P3470
Yet another phone with promise unveiled at the World Mobile Congress; the quad-band P3470 from HTC, will set "a new standard in affordable smart phone, GPS-based devices," according to the company.
The highlights of the phone are GPS navigation, a touch-screen, and long battery life (what's claimed is 350 minutes of talk time and up to 240 hours of standby time).
This is a Windows Mobile 6 device; the display is a 2.8-inches QVGA TFT LCD touch-screen. TomTom Navigator 6 is included for navigation, but the company says the supplied software could vary depending on the country. Incidentally, there's a GPS antenna connector so one can hook it up to an external antenna for better reception.
A 1GB microSD card is supplied with the phone; it has 256MB of Flash and 128MB of internal memory. Then there's a 2 mega pixels camera and Bluetooth 2.0. Interestingly, there's no 3G or Wi-Fi.
The P3470 will be made available in some European countries later this month, and will be priced at about $650.
The highlights of the phone are GPS navigation, a touch-screen, and long battery life (what's claimed is 350 minutes of talk time and up to 240 hours of standby time).
This is a Windows Mobile 6 device; the display is a 2.8-inches QVGA TFT LCD touch-screen. TomTom Navigator 6 is included for navigation, but the company says the supplied software could vary depending on the country. Incidentally, there's a GPS antenna connector so one can hook it up to an external antenna for better reception.
A 1GB microSD card is supplied with the phone; it has 256MB of Flash and 128MB of internal memory. Then there's a 2 mega pixels camera and Bluetooth 2.0. Interestingly, there's no 3G or Wi-Fi.
The P3470 will be made available in some European countries later this month, and will be priced at about $650.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Apple: No Time Machine Airport Extreme fix for you.
Disappointed Mac users today confirmed that Apple Inc.'s latest Leopard update does not let them back up with Time Machine to drives plugged into an Airport Extreme router.
"On 10.5.2, my [AirPort] Disk is NOT available to Time Machine," reported a user named Jespes on an Apple support forum. "I can access the [disk] from the Finder, but Time Machine doesn't see it." Others on that thread, and elsewhere on Apple's forums, echoed Jespes' findings.
Last month, some users had held out hope that Apple would make Leopard's Time Machine backup application compatible with the AirPort Extreme's AirPort Disk, a feature that lets users attach an external USB drive to the router and access that disk via the wireless network. The hope had been fueled by rumors on several Apple enthusiast sites that a fix was among the scores slated for the 10.5.2 upgrade.
People who bought AirPort Extreme Base Stations before Leopard's October 2007 release were particularly incensed when CEO Steve Jobs introduced the Time Capsule backup appliance at Macworld Expo last month. Before Leopard's launch, Apple had said that Time Machine would work with AirPort drives.
Time Capsule, essentially an AirPort Extreme wedded to a 500GB or 1TB drive, fills the niche that Apple originally said would be served by the Time Machine-AirPort Extreme combination. Time Capsule is scheduled to ship this month in two models, priced at $299 and $499.
After Time Capsule's introduction, users rued their purchases of AirPort Extreme, calling themselves "one of the suckers" and saying "I feel like I been had."
Some still hope for an eventual fix that would make their AirPort Extreme-USB drive setups the equivalent of Time Capsule, and noted that a patch might come in the form of a firmware update to the router. On a different support thread, for example, someone using the alias "dchao99" said, "10.5.2 OS X update is not going to fix all the bugs between the Mac and AEBS [AirPort Extreme Base Station]. Because the 7.2.1 firmware on AEBS is also buggy. And we are still waiting for the AEBS update."
The Leopard update did, however, include several other improvements to Time Machine, the most visible of which added a menu bar option for the backup program. Apple's list of 10.5.2 enhancements also spelled out multiple changes to the AirPort wireless technology, including improved connection reliability.
"On 10.5.2, my [AirPort] Disk is NOT available to Time Machine," reported a user named Jespes on an Apple support forum. "I can access the [disk] from the Finder, but Time Machine doesn't see it." Others on that thread, and elsewhere on Apple's forums, echoed Jespes' findings.
Last month, some users had held out hope that Apple would make Leopard's Time Machine backup application compatible with the AirPort Extreme's AirPort Disk, a feature that lets users attach an external USB drive to the router and access that disk via the wireless network. The hope had been fueled by rumors on several Apple enthusiast sites that a fix was among the scores slated for the 10.5.2 upgrade.
People who bought AirPort Extreme Base Stations before Leopard's October 2007 release were particularly incensed when CEO Steve Jobs introduced the Time Capsule backup appliance at Macworld Expo last month. Before Leopard's launch, Apple had said that Time Machine would work with AirPort drives.
Time Capsule, essentially an AirPort Extreme wedded to a 500GB or 1TB drive, fills the niche that Apple originally said would be served by the Time Machine-AirPort Extreme combination. Time Capsule is scheduled to ship this month in two models, priced at $299 and $499.
After Time Capsule's introduction, users rued their purchases of AirPort Extreme, calling themselves "one of the suckers" and saying "I feel like I been had."
Some still hope for an eventual fix that would make their AirPort Extreme-USB drive setups the equivalent of Time Capsule, and noted that a patch might come in the form of a firmware update to the router. On a different support thread, for example, someone using the alias "dchao99" said, "10.5.2 OS X update is not going to fix all the bugs between the Mac and AEBS [AirPort Extreme Base Station]. Because the 7.2.1 firmware on AEBS is also buggy. And we are still waiting for the AEBS update."
The Leopard update did, however, include several other improvements to Time Machine, the most visible of which added a menu bar option for the backup program. Apple's list of 10.5.2 enhancements also spelled out multiple changes to the AirPort wireless technology, including improved connection reliability.
Wireless G Router For Broadband
India-based networking company D-Link has rolled out the DIR-300, an entry-level Wireless G router for home and small office users, in the Indian market. By simply connecting the DIR-300 to a cable or a DSL modem, one can share a broadband internet connection with numerous computers.
D-Link’s DIR-300 router incorporates stateful Packet Inspection along with firewall functions to protect the users’ network from malicious attacks. This router also brings in good news for parents who want to keep a track on their child’s internet usage, as its scheduling parental control allows them to have more flexible control on their child’s internet activity. The new Wireless G router enables users to share the web via wired as well as wireless connection.
Based on the 802.11g standard, the DIR-300 router is backward compatible with 802.11b. Wireless encryptions such as WEP, WPA and WPA2 are supported to make certain that the data gets securely transmitted over the wireless network. In addition, the bundle also packs in a quick router setup wizard utility to assist users in setting up the unit for their networks and online with the help of a few clicks.
Key feature of the D-Link DIR-300 Wireless G Router include:
Smart Qos
SPI Firewall Protection
Wi-Fi Protected setup
Advanced Scheduling and User Level Control
WPA (TKIP) and WPA2 (AES) Support
Supports VPN Pass through
Interactive Install Guide
UPnPT Support
Window Vista certified
Xbox live certified
The D-Link DIR-300 entry-level Wireless G router for home and small office users is available in India at around Rs. 2625/- (excluding taxes).
D-Link’s DIR-300 router incorporates stateful Packet Inspection along with firewall functions to protect the users’ network from malicious attacks. This router also brings in good news for parents who want to keep a track on their child’s internet usage, as its scheduling parental control allows them to have more flexible control on their child’s internet activity. The new Wireless G router enables users to share the web via wired as well as wireless connection.
Based on the 802.11g standard, the DIR-300 router is backward compatible with 802.11b. Wireless encryptions such as WEP, WPA and WPA2 are supported to make certain that the data gets securely transmitted over the wireless network. In addition, the bundle also packs in a quick router setup wizard utility to assist users in setting up the unit for their networks and online with the help of a few clicks.
Key feature of the D-Link DIR-300 Wireless G Router include:
Smart Qos
SPI Firewall Protection
Wi-Fi Protected setup
Advanced Scheduling and User Level Control
WPA (TKIP) and WPA2 (AES) Support
Supports VPN Pass through
Interactive Install Guide
UPnPT Support
Window Vista certified
Xbox live certified
The D-Link DIR-300 entry-level Wireless G router for home and small office users is available in India at around Rs. 2625/- (excluding taxes).
BioShock comes to cell phones
The architect of BioShock, IG Fun LLC has announced that it has go the rights to a mobile game version of BioShock, which is one of the most critically acclaimed first-person shooters in the history of video gaming. The game's genius lies, amongst other things, in its mix of atmosphere, narrative, pace, level design, RPG elements and moral-based gameplay.
The company’s decision to bring BioShock to cell phones is a curious one, but it will be interesting to see how IG Fun tackles BioShock's trademark visuals and marvelous soundtrack, to say nothing of the fast-paced, plasmid-fueled combat.
According to IG Fun, transferring all of this (BioShock) successfully to mobile while managing to retain the game's essence is a challenge, undoubtedly, though one that isn't impossible.
Sean Malatesta, IG Fun's CEO, said, "We're trying to do great things and BioShock on mobile promises to offer a whole new gaming experience and unmatched excitement amongst mobile gamers the world over."
"BioShock is a special game in its genre; it brings an element of conflicting morals which has an impact on the storyline, and, among other things, on the difficulty of the game itself," he said.
The company has assured that it will squeeze the game into cell phones successfully, but it hasn’t revealed the release date yet.
The company’s decision to bring BioShock to cell phones is a curious one, but it will be interesting to see how IG Fun tackles BioShock's trademark visuals and marvelous soundtrack, to say nothing of the fast-paced, plasmid-fueled combat.
According to IG Fun, transferring all of this (BioShock) successfully to mobile while managing to retain the game's essence is a challenge, undoubtedly, though one that isn't impossible.
Sean Malatesta, IG Fun's CEO, said, "We're trying to do great things and BioShock on mobile promises to offer a whole new gaming experience and unmatched excitement amongst mobile gamers the world over."
"BioShock is a special game in its genre; it brings an element of conflicting morals which has an impact on the storyline, and, among other things, on the difficulty of the game itself," he said.
The company has assured that it will squeeze the game into cell phones successfully, but it hasn’t revealed the release date yet.
MacBook Air
MacBook Air
Mumbai, Feb 13: Information Technology major Apple launched the world`s thinnest notebook Macbook Air for the travelling executives. "We have built the world`s thinnest notebook without sacrificing a full-size keyboard or a 13-inch display," Apple Product Marketing Manager, Portables and Wireless, Asia Pacific, Angeline Tan told reporters here on Tuesday. Macbook Air measures 0.16 inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76 inches is less than the thinnest point on "competing notebooks". It has a 13.3-inch led-backlit widescreen display, a fullsize and backlit keyboard, a built-in isight video camera for video conferencing, and a trackpad with multi-touch gesture support. "Macbook Air is powered by a 1.6 ghz Intel core 2 duo processor with 4mb l2 cache, and includes 2gb of memory, 80gb 1.8-inch hard drive and the latest 802.11n wi-fi technology with five hour battery life and bluetooth," Tan said. The users of this notebook model can buy the companion Macbook Air Superdrive, an external drive designed for it. "Powered by a USB port, the external drive eliminates nee to carry a separate power adapter. There is no need for an optical drive now that the users can wirelessly backup files with time capsule and access the optical drives on remote PCS to wirelessly install software applications on Macbook Air," she said.
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