Life is Fun - Experience it

review on bitColor

noreply@blogger.com (Sun Shine) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 02:26:00 +0000

recently I was introduced to bitColors.com by one of my friend. I explored their feature and interestingly enough, I found couple of good things about them. bitColors if fullyfeatured blog, I guess far better then the blogspot, they have far more plugins then what I would have imagined at blogspot. The number of themes they support are humangous. Most importantly you can search for the people who are working in your field and colloborate with them or discuss with them. They have quite friendly and open supportive teams. Bitcolors is basically a community of professions and blog of professionals. I was benifited by moving their by the amount of exposure and the traffic that i am receiving there. I strongly recommend, if you have some blog move it to bitColors.com or create a fresh one if you dont have any.

If you would like to add something more to this informaiton, please feel free to comment.

30 Websites to follow for Web Development

noreply@blogger.com (Sun Shine) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:45:00 +0000

I’ve made it a goal to learn at least one useful thing each day so that I can stay sharp and well-versed on the topic of web development and design. To that end, here’s some of the websites I keep track of to find new techniques, resources, and news about building websites.

Most of these sites are updated frequently, so there’s never a lack of new content that fills up my Google Reader.

Because the role of the web developer is ever-expanding, I’ve also included a variety of sites that covers fields relating to web development - such information architecture, user interaction, and web/graphics design.

1. NETTUTS

NETTUTS is a recently launched blog/tutorial site that provides "spoonfed web skills". There are already plenty of useful and detailed tutorials that range from offloading static content to Amazon S3 to creating a beautiful tabbed content area using jQuery. NETTUTS is perfect for developers just starting out, since the tutorials are very thorough and in a "step by step" format. For more advanced developers, it’s an excellent source of inspiration and learning new techniques.

2. woork

Woork is a blog by Antonio Lupetti, a developer from Italy. He provides short, easily-consumable tutorials on various topics of web development such as PHP, Cold Fusion, JavaScript, and CSS. His knack for creating beautiful tutorials, chock full of custom-made images that illustrates the concepts he talks about is a testament to the detail and "work" that Antonio puts in each of his posts. Check out his awesome tutorial on a "Top-Down approach to simplify your CSS code" where he explains his preference on creating and formatting stylesheets.

3. Web Designer Wall

Web Designer Wall is a blog by Nick La that features design ideas and elaborate, stunning tutorials such as creating a CSS gradient Text Effect - a technique that uses an image overlay over normal XHTML text, and jQuery tutorials for designers which showcases ten techniques to get you started with jQuery.

4. Smashing Magazine

I won’t say much about Smashing Magazine since most of us have probably heard of it, but if you haven’t, Smashing Magazine is an excellent resource for web designers and developers looking to be inspired. Smashing Magazine also manages to publish almost everyday, despite their very detailed and thorough posts.

5. Vitamin

Vitamin offers a large amount of information on the topic of web development and design. With many contributors, Vitamin manages to cover a wide range of topics including Ajax, CSS, development techniques, best practices, and workflow management.

6. Wake Up Later

Wake Up Later is the blog of Samuel Ryan, a freelance web developer/designer. Rather than covering specific web development techniques or providing tutorials, he talks about general web development related things such as reasons not to write your own code, tips on improving productivity, and common design mistakes made by developers.

7. Snook.ca

Snook.ca is run by Jonathan Snook, an icon in web development and design. His blog provides tutorials and articles about PHP, JavaScript, and more recently (the blog dates back to 2001), Adobe AIR. He also provides useful resources and bookmarks that are worth a read, and talks about things that are part of being a web developer such as project management via email and maintaining your personal brand online.

8. Signal vs. Noise

Signal vs. Noise is a design/usability company blog by the people over at 37 Signals - known for developing remarkable web applications such as BaseCamp and their involvement in the popular open source web application framework, Ruby On Rails. The blog gives insights about being a productive and effective web application developer and keeping things simple, with entries such as "Workaholics fixate on inconsequential details" and "Sleep deprivation is not a badge of honor".

9. adaptive path blog

adaptive path’s company blog offers news and posts on the topic of user interface design. There’s a variety of useful posts that cover the topic of creating user-friendly designs (not limited to just web applications). Some things the adaptive path crew writes about are "Tips for presenting the look & feel to a client" and "The Lure of the Single Click".

10. Tutorial Blog

Tutorial Blog provides handy tutorials, resources, and lists on various web development and design topics such as code snipplets for web designers, using layer comps in Photoshop to manage designs, and Flash tutorials. Tutorial Blog has a section on user-submitted tutorials which allows readers to share their own tutorials.

11. WebAppers

WebAppers is a blog created by Ray Cheung, a freelance web developer. The premise of WebAppers is to provide news and resources related to open source and free applications that are useful to web developers and designers. From cost-free fonts and icons to navigation menus and image galleries, WebAppers seeks to hunt down useful tools and applications aimed at reducing your time developing custom solutions.

12. Web Resources Depot

Web Resources Depot is similar to WebAppers - it discusses new web resources that web developers and designers may find helpful. Web Resources Depot is an excellent way to stay up to date with what’s currently available out there all in one place.

13. Ajaxian

With continual advancements in Ajax, it’s imperative to keep up to date with modern techniques and news. Ajaxian is the leading Ajax community run by some of the biggest names in the field. You’ll find information, reviews on JavaScript frameworks, helpful tools, and server-side technology specific (like PHP, RoR, and .NET) articles. If Ajax news and information is what you’re looking for, you can be sure to hear about it from Ajaxian.

14.DZone

DZone is a social news site for developers. Users share links related to development and can vote on submissions (very much like Digg but limited to developer links). You can subscribe via RSS to various pages and sections such JavaScript, Flash/Flex, or databases if you want to get instant updates to things specific to your interests.

15. Design Float

Design Float is social media site created for web and graphics designers. Like Dzone, people get to vote up submissions. You’ll find stuff about CSS, HTML, and Photoshop submitted to Design Float.

16. IBM’s developerWorks

With the name camel-cased, you already know off-the-bat that it’s a great site for developers. developerWorks offers many articles and tutorials pertaining to development topics, not just about web development, but also on related fields such as systems administration and open source technologies and applications. developerWorks has a knack for writing about complex topics and boiling it down to consumable, understandable articles. Some of my bookmarks include "Debug and tune applications on the fly with Firebug" (an introduction to Firebug) and the "Make PHP apps fast, faster, fastest" series.

17. del.icio.us

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site where members can post bookmarks to keep and share. It’s not strictly for web developers but you can monitoring specific tags such as webdev, development, or javascript.

18. Sharebrain

Sharebrain is site that shares useful resources for web workers. You can find resources and tutorials on various web development and design topics such as Photoshop tutorials, Usability, SEO Tools, CMS’s, and interviews.

19. Style Grind

Style Grind shares useful news and information about web technologies and designs. Resources and news reported by Style Grind include a variety of web development and design topics such as updates on Erik Meyer’s CSS Reset and new plugins for jQuery.

20. PSDTUTS

Your value as a web developer increases when you’re proficient in design as well. Some examples would be Wordpress theme developers who not only know how to develop themes, but can also design them. PSDTUTS is a great place to improve on Photoshop skills and is a site I follow to learn more about graphics/web design.

21. Design Reviver

Design Reviver is aimed at providing useful information for web designers. You can visit to read tutorials such getting started with 3D in Flash, to get free downloads like Photoshop brushes, and to find design inspiration.

22. Blog.SpoonGraphics

Blog.SpoonGraphics is a blog about graphics and web design created by Chris Spooner, a graphics and web designer. You can find many tutorials on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, free, downloadable resources like “Sliding Door” tab menus, articles for inspiration, and news.

23. John Resig

John Resig is the self-titled blog of John Resig - a premier JavaScript developer and author most known for his creation of jQuery, a popular JavaScript framework. John Resig’s blog shares his thoughts about JavaScript development and web applications. It’s where I found out about the release of his new project: Processing.js (a JavaScript port of the Processing programming language) and where he voiced his thoughts on Google Doctype.

24. Boxes and Arrows

Boxes and Arrows is all about best practices, innovations, and trends in the topic of design - including information architecture, graphics design, and user interaction design. You can read about findability (how people look for information), counter-arguments of front-loading information above the fold, and web accessibility.

25. PHPDeveloper

PHPDeveloper brings together news and resources about PHP from blogs and sites that cover PHP. You’ll find reports varying from PHP video tutorials to interesting developments over at Zend.

26. Coding Horror

Coding Horror is a very popular blog (over 100,000 RSS subscribers!) by Jeff Atwood, a software developer. He talks about web development too, posing questions such as Is HTML a Humane Markup Language?, discussing Amazon S3’s viability to host images, and sharing information on versioning databases.

27. O’Reilly Network

The O’Reilly Network by O’Reilly Media (publisher of development books) features articles and blogs pertaining to web development and open technologies. Some recent articles include Creating Applications with Amazon EC2 and S3 and Getting Started with the Google App Engine. Some blogs that are part of the O’Reilly Network include WindowsDevCenter.com (for Windows Developers), ONJava.com (topics cover the Java language) and ONLamp.com (which talks about Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP).

28. Google doctype

Google Doctype is Google’s new project that will include entries "by web developers for web developers". Currently, it doesn’t have very many articles, but it’s certainly a resource to follow in the upcoming months.

29. Web Monkey

Web Monkey - the web developer’s resource is back! Though they’re just getting back to the swing of things, it’s definitely a website to keep track of.

30. Digital Web Magazine

Digital Web Magazine is the online magazine for web professionals (web designers, developers, information architects). You can find many things included here such PHP, Web Standards, and Programming.

Other notable sites to check out

webtricks: .com domains for free

noreply@blogger.com (Sun Shine) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:56:00 +0000

Signup at EzyRewards. It is completely free. You are required to use real information when you signup. However, create a junk email right now that you will use to receive all the inevitable spam this offer contains. Also, it is required to use your real information. You must use a real phone number.

Upon signup, you can instantly start taking surveys. The surveys range form 1-3 pages and must be filled with real information. The companies have never called me but if you want to be sure, use the number you made at Privatephone.com instead.

Once you complete a survey, it will take a couple hours for the points to cash. If it says Pending next to the offer, that means you will be credited soon.

Download a toolbar or something that has the option to autofill forms. This can reduce your time taking greatly, as it does get pretty tedious reentering your details about 20 times. As soon as you have taken a good amount of surveys, wait for your points to total up.

Now heres the part where your spend your points. If you have 1200 points you can finally get your .com. You must make an account at Optinom.com before you order however. The registration takes 5 seconds and after you are complete, you are given an ID number. Head back to ezyrewards and order your 1200 point domain and put your Optinom ID number in the form. Make sure you have the correct ID and hit accept.

By doing this, in about 24 hours you will recieve $8.20 credit for your optinom account. When the cash is transferred over, you can now purchase your domain. After you purchase a domain, you can either configure it to your existing webhost, or you can get free webhosting from ezyrewards here. In order to signup, you will need to have already bought your domain. You can have up to 100 MB space and 2GB bandwidth absolutely free, just be sure to apply on the forums.

Top 10 CES 2009 Gadgets

noreply@blogger.com (Sun Shine) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:10:00 +0000

Technology, whether medical, constructive or state-of-the-art has certainly evolved with time. While some in the past year chose to use technology as a means to destroy a nation through terror attacks, smart chaps on the other end of the globe decided to flaunt their technology in the New Year through innovative and intelligent devices at the Consumer Electronics Show 2009 (CES).

Held from January 8 to January 11, the CES 2009 lasted just 4 days. However the event definitely managed to give us technology lovers some soul-stirring devices. This year at the CES, gadget freaks were thrilled to lay their hands on some really innovative products that we think should rock 2009. The products don’t just manage to use technology to the best of their advantage, but they also leave us in awe for sheer use of intelligence. So we bring to you a list of which we think are the top 10 gadgets that were displayed at one of world’s largest technology affairs.

1. HP TouchSmart dx9000 Desktop PC: Touch these days is a technology that hasn’t been left ‘untouched’ by practically any device manufacturer. We think a product at the CES that used the touch technology to the best of its capabilities is the HP TouchSmart dx9000 PC. As the name suggests, the desktop PC is enabled with touch functionality and will certainly catch your eye with its sleek design. The novel PC incorporates a 22” high-def widescreen display along with other features like Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and HD support. The PC packs in the HP TouchSmart software which has been particularly optimized for touch interactions. The touch enabled all-in–one desktop PC is also available in a 25.5” display option. While the 22” display will cost around $1,199, the 25” HP TouchSmart Desktop will cost around $1799.99.

2. Sony Vaio P series notebook: We can certainly say that the Sony Vaio P series notebook was one of the most awaited products of 2009. The gadget created quite a rage in the technology terrain once it was launched. The highlight of the P notebook is its small form factor that resembles a mobile phone. The Vaio P series lifestyle PC has an 8” 1600 x 768, LED backlit 8-inch ultra-wide diagonal display and combines Sony’s XBRITE-ECO LCD technology with some great functionality. Available in many colors, namely garnet red, emerald green, onyx black, crystal white and classic black, the notebook is powered by the Windows Vista OS and weighs just about 1.4 pounds. Lasting about 4 hours in battery life, the VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC comes for a starting price of $899.99.

3. Palm Pre smart phone: While smart phones may have been the talk of the town in the past year, we think not too many mobile phones managed to leave an impression at the CES. Though one device that seemed to catch the eye of practically one and all was Palm’s novel Pre smartphone that came bundled in with a new platform called webOS. With a large 3.1” HVGA touch screen, the phone offers a host of connectivity options too including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Equipped with a 3 mega pixel camera, the Palm Pre boasts of 8 GB internal storage. While we have no updates on the pricing details, the Palm Pre smartphone is expected to launch exclusively through Sprint in Q1 of 2009.

4. Logitech Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote: Logitech’s latest innovation, the Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote is meant to take a user’s home entertainment experience to elevated heights. In a stylish design, the award winning device is wrapped with some really cool features. Encased with a brushed-black aluminum top case, the Harmony 1100 includes a 3.5” QVGA touch screen that is customizable along with a rechargeable battery, RF- capability and an optional Harmony RF Extender. The high spot of the stylish remote is its user-friendly touch interface that is very simple to use. Well, we can’t wait until this one starts shipping in February 2009. The Logitech Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote will come for an approximate price of $499.99.

5. Samsung BD-P4600 Wall-Mountable Blu-ray Player: The next device which we think caught the fantasy of many at the CES 2009 in the home entertainment category is Samsung’s BD-6400 Blu-ray player. Adorning a stylish form factor, the player bundles in many functions that should excite multimedia enthusiasts. Dressed in a piano black design with ruby accents on the edges, the Samsung BD6400 is just about 1.5” in thickness. Offering complete support for HD 1080p, the Blu-ray player includes many advanced features that make it stand out in the crowd. To top it, the BD-6400 Blu-ray player can be mounted on a wall at a 25 degree angle thanks to its distinct stand. There is no word yet on the price or availability of this distinguished device.

6. Samsung HT-BD7200 2.1-Channel Blu-ray Home Theater System: Besides the Blu-ray player, Samsung also showed off a new home theatre system called the HT-BD7200. We think it manages to stand out in the crowd of the many home entertainment systems revealed thanks to its stylish design. Adorning Samsung’s signature ToC design accents, the system is astonishingly just 2.6” deep. The ultra-cool home entertainment system also supports an iPod dock besides offering compatibility to the BD-Live technology. The Blu-ray system boasts of a 5.1 channel surround sound that offers a 1000W output. With support for low power consumption, the Blu-ray home theater system also includes an improved amplifier engine. There are no details on the price or availability of the Samsung HT-BD7200 Home Theater System.

7. Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard: The CES also had loads in store for gaming enthusiasts. One such gadget that seemed to have caught the fantasy of most gamers was the novel G19 Gaming Keyboard by Logitech. The keyboard is bundled with 12 fully programmable G-keys that offer 3-macros per key support. With a multi-key input functionality, the G19 keyboard is bound to enhance a gamer’s experience while playing on the computer. The keyboard also supports 2 USB ports and is compatible with both, Mac and Windows computer systems. The powerful keyboard should launch around March 2009 in Europe and US for an approximate price of $199.99.

8. Sony Wi-Fi DSC-G3 camera: While there were many exciting digital cameras launched at the CES, one that really grabbed our attention was Sony’s new Wi-Fi DSC-G3 cyber shot digital camera. A camera that is equipped with complete Wi-Fi enabled functionality, now that’s really cool! We think the digital camera reveals how technology is indeed enhancing at a sky rocketing pace. Besides the Wi-Fi connectivity option, features the camera wraps in include a 3.5” Xtra Fine LCD display, 10 MP image sensor, 4 GB internal memory and many other advanced image management tools. Dressed in black color, Sony’s super cool Wi-Fi DSC-G3 digital camera is up for grabs now at a price of around $500.

9. Sennheiser HD 800 earphones: Germans, we must say, are known to deliver some of the most innovative technologies. Doing just that, German based Sennheiser showed off their novel headphones called HD 800. The headphones are all ready to create a stir in the audio terrain thanks to their unique blend of technology and design materials. In a new open back ear cup design, the earphones will certainly excite dedicated audiophiles. Highlights of the new earphones is its large transducer that make the earphones more powerful while the Japanese Alcantara materials used for the ear pads increases the comfort factor of the earphones. The earphones are, however, heavy on the pocket costing around $1400 for a pair.

10. iriver P7 PMP: Finally, the CES 2009 also made way for many interesting MP3 players. Standing out in the crowd was the P7 PMP from iriver. The portable player wraps in many advanced features that should offer users the much needed functionality they yearn for in a music player. The best part about the player is that it will come in 4, 8 and 16 GB Nand Flash models with a microSD card slot. The P7 player is also more durable and adorns a sleek design. Sporting a 4.3” LCD, for users who are always on the move, the player wraps in 50 hours of audio playback. The P7 player will certainly catch the eye of many with its advanced functions like SRS WOW HD and 7 Preset EQ settings. No details on how much this smart PMP should cost, though we are hoping to see it come around soon.

Google shows the Epoch time hitting 1234567890 on valentine

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:39:00 +0000

The Unix Epoch will hit a date of 1234567890 on exactly 13 February 2009 (Friday) at 23:31:30 GMT. If you wait 1.011 more seconds you'll have the numbers 1-11 in the date!

This is displayed on google too currently

Escape from Google Ban: Recover back from Ban

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:14:00 +0000

What is Google ban?

Google ban is a penalty that Google imposes on sites violating its Webmaster Guidelines. It is not a step-down the Google search results pages and not a disappearance from them for a day or two because of a sudden change in the ranking algorithm. Google just removes information about sites that violate its guidelines from its index. Having a site that users cannot find is a webmaster's worst nightmare.

How can you find out if your site has been banned?

A sudden drop in traffic is a good reason to make sure that everything is okay with your site, says John Honeck, Google Webmaster Forum Top Contributor.

A gray inactive Google PR toolbar, that had previously been green or just active, may be a sign that the site is no longer listed in the search engine index. - If your search for a command site:www.yoursite.com shows no results, the sad truth is that your site has been banned.

You can also find out about a ban using Google Webmaster Tools. There you may see whether the pages of your site are included in the Google index and when Googlebot last accessed your homepage. In addition, you may receive a message from Google explaining what the problem with your site is, but most likely Google will inform you about such elementary violations like hidden text.

Instead of panicking...

check your robots.txt and meta tags to make sure indexation is allowed from there

check if there are pages on the Web that duplicate your content

check if your site meets all Google Webmaster Guidelines. This is especially important if you have inherited the website or consulted an SEM company

visit Google Webmaster Help Forum, especially if you have implemented these steps but still cannot locate the problem. There you can find answers to all your Google-related questions.

How to get back?

When you understand the reason why your site has been dropped from the Google index, remove the cause of the trouble immediately. Then enter Google Webmaster Tools, go to Dashboard and choose "Request reconsideration". Follow the steps, and do not forget to swear that you will never ever do evil again.

20 Largest Social Bookmarking Sites

noreply@blogger.com (Sun Shine) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:54:00 +0000

1 \| digg.com
	560,598,000 - Inbound Links \| 33,432,650 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 12,200,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 284 - Alexa Ranking.
2 \| Yahoo! Buzz
	4,231,000 - Inbound Links \| NA - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 4,000,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| NA - Alexa Ranking.
3 \| Technorati.com
	250,287,000 - Inbound Links \| 2,259,592 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 2,300,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 457 - Alexa Ranking.
4 \| StumbleUpon.com
	305,000,000 - Inbound Links \| 4,209,353 - Compete Monthly Visitors \|978,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 939 - Alexa Ranking.
5 \| del.icio.us
	606,665,000 - Inbound Links \| 1,704,343 - Compete Monthly Visitors \|325,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \|2,648 - Alexa Ranking.
6 \| kaboodle.com
	3,693,000 - Inbound Links \| 4,903,654 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 3,400,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 1,422 - Alexa Ranking.
7 \| reddit.com
	210,685,000 - Inbound Links \| 3,807,418 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 1,200,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 4,815 - Alexa Ranking.
8 \| mixx.com
	17,326,000 - Inbound Links \| 961,684 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 2,100,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 673 - Alexa Ranking.>
9 \| Propeller.com
	5,903,000 - Inbound Links \| 1,080,258 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 773,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 2,252 - Alexa Ranking.
10 \| Fark.com
	55,162,723 - Inbound Links \| 450,773 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 1,300,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 6,550 - Alexa Ranking.
11 \| newsvine.com
	90,708,775 - Inbound Links \| 744,534 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 768,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 7,106 - Alexa Ranking.
12 \| Slashdot.org
	62,071,035 - Inbound Links \| 881,082 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 461,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 10,512 - Alexa Ranking.
13 \| clipmarks.com
	765,141 - Inbound Links \| 409,530 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 552,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 6,294 - Alexa Ranking.
14 \| Furl.net
	170,628,144 - Inbound Links \| 173,364 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 85,500 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 21,691 - Alexa Ranking.
15 \| faves.com
	2,067,453 - Inbound Links \| 157,420 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 232,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 8,846 - Alexa Ranking.
16 \| dzone.com
	4,933,009 - Inbound Links \| 222,058 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 193,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 46,502 - Alexa Ranking.
17 \| blinklist.com
	78,582,576 - Inbound Links \| 95,238 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 50,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 28,616 - Alexa Ranking.
18 \| ma.gnolia.com
	60,917,444 - Inbound Links \| 89,558 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 18,300 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 79,651 - Alexa Ranking.
19 \| simpy.com
	37,090,730 - Inbound Links \| 55,396 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 42,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 65,050 - Alexa Ranking.
20 \| BlogMarks.net
	31,281,453 - Inbound Links \| 36,048 - Compete Monthly Visitors \| 9,500 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors \| 42,675 - Alexa Ranking.

Top 25 Social Networks Raking - Who is on Top

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:24:00 +0000

BigBang - Cashing On Smartphone Application Stores

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Smartphone Application Stores

The SmartPhone companies are opening up for SmartPhone applications & SmartPhone applications developers . Current trends suggest a huge surge in the number of SmartPhone applications developed by independent developers.

Smartphones, which offer e-mail, Web surfing, music, and other Internet services, are growing in popularity. Smartphone sales increased to 19 percent of all mobile-phone sales in the second quarter, a 9 percent increase from the same period a year ago, the NPD Group reported.

"People who are going to succeed in the OS wars are the ones that are going to draw the most attraction from developers," says Ryan Reith, an IDC analyst

The phones of future will be defined by the software.

Apple - (Apple Application Store)
The Apple's launch of iPhone - App Store has been a big success. A per the report apple has it has made a revenue of $30 million in its first month of operations. iPhone and iPhone 3G users have reportedly downloaded over 360 million iPhone apps since the store’s launch last month. iPhone applications earn something like $0.8 million on an average per day. Apple takes a 30% revenue cut for all iPhone applications, which could have Apple taking in $360 million over the course of the AppStore’s first year of sales.

Samsung (Sansung Mobile’s store)
On January 29 2009, in partnership with PocketGear, Samsung has launched its mobile application store for all its smartphones whether they run Windows Mobile or Symbian S60. In total, there are about 1,100 apps available in the catalog and that number is expected to grow with the time. (coustsey SymbianOne)

Google (Google Android Market)
Google on Android Market, an online center that will let people find, buy, download, and rate applications and other content for mobile phones equipped with the open-source operating system. (Courtsey Andriod-develoers). Google also provides developers with a useful dashboard and analytics to help drive their business and ultimately improve their products

Palm (The Palm Softwar Store)
In partnershipw with PocketGear Palm launched on 31st January 2009 its mobiles store. Around 1500 developers joined the program and it already has 5000 applications for Windows Mobile OS and Palm OS. Palm intoduced the Nova operating system at Consumer Electronics Show. Palm is clearly targeting the same audience as the Apple iPhone, looking to merge business and life on the smartphone platform. (Courtsey - WashingtonPost)

Microsoft (Skycenter - not available yet)
Microsoft Corp. is planning a series of new programs and services for mobile phones. In coming weeks, the Redmond, Wash., company offer a new version of the operating system, called Windows Mobile 6.5, that provides a more-sophisticated interface and could further narrow the gap with the iPhone, these people say. (courtesy Wall Street Journal)

Nokia (Nokia App Store - not available yet)
In line with current market trends, even Nokia is lining up its mobile application store. According to this blog, the store has been up and running for a while, but in stealth mode. One blogger, by the name of Eldar Murtazin, said that the Nokia portal was looking "so so"

Platform	Number of Apps	Revenue split
Apple App Store iPhone	10,000	30% to Apple 70% to Developer
Android Market Place T-Mobile G1 and other Android devices	500	30% Carrier 70% Developer
RIM Application Center Blackberry	TBD	20% RIM 80% Developer
Palm Software Store Various	5,000	50% Palm and other parties 50% Developer
Microsoft Skycenter Windows Mobile Devices	TBD

Top 10 Things You Could Do to Avoid Your Layoff

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:06:00 +0000

Tough times requires tough measures, I always knew that phrase. These times have defined the meaning too and this time I din't need any teacher to explain me the same. So here we are, 10 things that you should be doing to avoid your LayOff aka rose slip, obviously with not so good flavour:

Kiss up and boast, doesn't work always though
Work harder & smarter
Try to shift your job to the department that's company's bread & butter
Create dependency by taking extra responsibility & deliver the same, work extra hours
Be in good relation with your boss, his boss etc .. etc..
Bridge the gaps, if any gaps created
Talk about company positively & demonstrate your company's values
Stay visible to the crowd, more you hide heigher is the chance of getting you
Keep cool and be friendly, avoid rumors, neither create one
If its part of your role, give ideas to your superior how to improve productivity.

All right finally the list is over, this will reduce your chances of Lay-off. However be prepared for worst any time. Keep alternates ready & dont give up either. Life is too short to worry for long. Don't forget to check my post on 5 Effective ways to survive economic recession.

George Bush : Insanity unleashed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:35:00 +0000

George bush will be remembered for his some of the good things and some of the bad things, But above all he will be remembered for his slippages and "un-presidential behvaiours" Checkout the videos, would you beleive'em.

George Bush at his best : Silly Speeches

Top 10 George Bush Bloopers, Check out the Butt slap & Glass cleaning

He really made these speeches !

6 Tools to Help You Analyze a Web Host

noreply@blogger.com (Sun Shine) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:23:00 +0000

You have a website. You are satisfied with the web hosting provider but you still think it could be better. What to do? There are fortunately a few excellent tools that will help you monitor how web hosts are performing. We will cover 6 popular tools to help you analyze your hosting provider.

1. DNSstuff

One of the better tools is the one that is provided by DNSstuff. They have tools that cost a small fee or that are free of charge. Some of the free DNS tools are Traceroute, Country IP Range, Wake-on LAN, RFC Lookup and others. They also offer a free trial for the Standard and Professional Tools. Whether you think you really need the service is up to your website needs and demands. If you want convenience, the toolset is the best option.

2. Who is Hosting This?

At Who is Hosting This? you are able to check out what hosting provider is hosting a particular website. Simply type in the domain name and get immediate results. This might seem like a simple website tool but if you know of a website that never has any problems with down-time, for example, it could be a good thing to partner up with this hosting provider. As of August 5th, 2008 from the official WHT blog, there is a new owner so we can expect changes in the upcoming months.

3. Netcraft

Screenshot of Uptime.Netcraft using w3c.org as an example

Netcraft is a data and analytics company. They provide a wide range of services from anti-phishing to hosting provider server failure. They also have an uptime monitor for websites where you can type in any website domain and find the server information, ip address and a reboot graph in some instances. The downside to Netcraft is that the data provided in some articles are extremely outdated, as old as 2001 or 2002. You will have to peruse documents and information given on the site.

The latest performance report can be found on the uptime main page. Do be careful as the results are the 50 hosting providers that paid to be included in the report, not necessarily the 50 best performing providers.

4. YouGetSignal.com

At YouGetSignal.com you will find a proper collection of useful tools when you are analyzing a hosting provider. Use reverse IP domain check to find other hosted websites, WHOIS lookup to find out who owns a domain, Visual Trace Route to see where a website’s host server is located and other useful tools. With its own in-house network tools YouGetSignal.com is a great place to get more knowledge about a web host.

5. SamSpade.org

It is similar to WhoIs.com but with more detailed information. SamSpade allows you to find out who is hosting a certain website by simple typing in its domain name or IP address. It also gives you access to contact information, name servers, domain expiration date, and more juicy tidbits geeks love.

6. GeoTool

Some of the tools on the internet do not seem to have been designed with the user in mind, but Geotool is not one of them. With Geotool you can check up where all online businesses (from Amazon to your neighbor’s home business) have their hosting situated. In an instant, you can see details of the city where the server is situated, its IP Address, ISP and the region of the server. It is important information to know since websites should have their servers located where most of their traffic comes from.

Conclusion

There are many more web hosting related tools up for grabs on the net and the more information you have about how a web host is performing, the better for you and your website. Ask for advice, do your research, and use services that are convenient for you.

5 Effective Ways to survive Economic recession

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:14:00 +0000

The U.S. economy is in a bit of a pickle. In no particular order, we’ve had a housing bubble, a credit bubble, a bear market in stocks, soaring energy costs, falling consumer spending, increasing unemployment, high food costs and burdensome debt levels.

The government has taken steps to maintain calm and stabilize the system—lowering interest rates, mailing $100 billion in stimulus checks, bailing out Bear Stearns, guaranteeing the debt of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, passing a $300 billion homeowner rescue package—but the problems have spread so rapidly that they threaten to pull the United States and possibly the rest of the world into recession.

To be sure, the economy is not yet officially in recession. It’s up to the National Bureau of Economic Research to make that call, and so far it hasn’t. Sometimes, however, we don’t need a doctor to tell us our arm is broken, especially if bone is poking through the skin. Consider the diagnosis of investor Warren Buffett: “By any common-sense definition, we are in a recession.”

So, we’re either in a recession or well on our way to one. Whatever the case, financial experts say there are ways you can protect yourself:

1. Don’t panic. Recessions have historically occurred every few years and they last, on average, about 10 months. No matter how bad it gets, the vast majority of people will still get up and go to work, pay their mortgage, and take a vacation now and then. The steepest recession in the last 30 years occurred in 1981. It lasted 16 months, the economy shrank 2.6 percent and unemployment reached 10.7 percent. More recent recessions have been less severe. The 2001 recession lasted only eight months, the economy shrank less than 1 percent and unemployment was barely over 6 percent.

“The last recession was over before it was officially announced,” says Ernie Goss, professor of economics at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. “This one will likely be somewhat longer because of the sharp downturn in housing, but the economy will eventually recover.”

2. Repair your balance sheet. Many who took on heavy debt to purchase inflated assets like real estate are now in a position where they owe more than they own. According to a recent report by real estate website Zillow, nearly one-third of all homeowners who bought since 2003 now owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. For some, selling or refinancing may be an option.

Get rid of debt where possible and build up your cash reserves so you can ride out the storm. And put away the plastic. Credit cards in a downturn are like saltwater to a thirsty person lost at sea: It looks tempting, but it won’t help. Cut up all your cards except one for emergency use and then make a list of creditors to whom you owe money. Starting with the high-interest-rate credit cards first, pay off your purchases from years past before making any new ones.

3. Stop the bleeding. We all have leaks in our budget that can add up to serious money. Spending $10 a day at the vending machine or the mall is $3,650 per year. That same $3,650 would be a good start on a cash reserve or could be used to pay off high-interest credit cards. Miscellaneous expenses are the easiest to cut, but don’t be afraid to trim the fat in the rest of your budget as well.

4. Meet with your advisers. During the last bear market, many people learned the hard way that their investment portfolios were not properly allocated. Now is the time to ensure that your investments make sense based on your goals, time frame and risk tolerance. If you’re currently working with an adviser, these meetings are likely included in the fees or commissions you’re already paying. If you’ve handled your finances on your own and are just interested in receiving a second opinion, most firms are willing to provide consultations on a fee-only basis, usually ranging from $100 to $300 per hour.

5. Keep investing. When money is tight, it’s tempting to stop making IRA and 401(k) contributions. Because of the power of compounding, however, taking even a one-year break could put a serious dent in your nest egg—even more so if cutting back on your contribution means giving up your employer match. To illustrate, if you have 10 years to go until retirement and are contributing $250 per month to your 401(k), skipping just one year of contributions would shrink your nest egg by $6,000, assuming an 8 percent annual return.

Also, if you’re nervous about throwing money into a sinking market, consider the tip offered by health services coordinator Dorothy Ray of Omaha: “Investing into a volatile market has been scary, so rather than watching my account balance I’ve been watching my share balance. More shares will eventually translate into more money.”

Legendary investor Shelby Davis says it well: “You make most of your money during a bear market. You just don’t realize it at the time.”

Evolution of 10 Essential Gadgets & Technologies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:30:00 +0000

Geeks are living in a golden age - the geeky gadgets we love get smaller, cheaper and more capable by the day! Where did it all begin? Explore the evolution of geek tech through these 10 engaging examples, from classics including refrigerators and boom-boxes and car audio players to contemporary cellular phones, cars, computers, calculators, video games and more.

1) The Evolution of Cellular Phones

(image via: Dialaphone )

Cellphones have evolved so fast even last year’s models are already uncool. Go back a few more years - or watch most any 90s sitcom like Seinfeld - and you’ll be reminded of how things used to be. Rewind back to the beginning and behold the behemoths: how did we ever walk around with those things?

(image via: Oak Tree Vintage )

The first working commercial cellular phone made its appearance in the early 1970s and these so-called “brick” phones were portable in the sense that they were wireless. You can still buy brick-style cellphones though their technical limitations make them more impractical than ever.

(image via: Tomorrow’s Technology )

What does the future hold for cellphones? We may not need to hold them at all. As phones shrink (and our hands stay the same size), features and novelty will play larger roles - in other words, they’ll get geekier, like the two-finger phone above.

2) The Evolution of Music Playing Technology

(images via: Pappmaskin and Herculodge )

Prefer to listen instead of talk? Options were few and far-between in days of yore. Before the SONY Walkman changed portable music forever, music lovers on the move had to take their music with them: it was the era of the sonic boombox!

(image via: TechFresh )

Fast-forward a few decades and we find the bombastic boombox has been cut down to size. The Mini Boombox GSM Cell Phone displays boombox style while packing advanced features those subway serenaders of our youth never even dreamed of, like a built in MP3 player, a 1.3 megapixel digital camera and SMS/MMS text messaging. And forget those mix tapes, this mighty mite has 256MB of memory and a microSD card slot that adds another 4GB if needed.

(image via: Spiritofstlouis )

The original boombox hasn’t quite faded away, however, and the sheer audacity of the concept has a certain appeal for rebellious geeks. A few products exploit the boombox look to the max and beyond - like the Spirit of St Louis iPod Boombox above.

3) The Evolution of Vehicular Music Players

(image via: Roe-Deo )

Driving has become a much more aurally satisfying experience as well. If you had a Highway Hi-Fi in 1956 would one be considered a geek by the standards of the day? That’s “champagne music” king Lawrence Welk in the large image above, trying out one of the special 16 2/3 rpm vinyl records specially made for the Highway Hi-Fi.

(image via: GetUSBinfo )

Wonder what ol’ LW would think of the Blaupunkt Melbourne SD27 MP3 tuner? The SD27 doesn’t play from records, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes or even CDs - instead, listeners either plug in their personal music players or pop an SD card into the waiting SD/MMC card slot. Champagne optional (but not recommended).

4) The Evolution of Cars and Vehicles

(images via: American Parts and Net Car Show)

As for cars themselves, geeky wheels have a long history. Above are just a few: The 1950 Studebaker that was Stanley Ipkiss’s loaner car in The Mask, a BMW Isetta belonging to uber-geek Steve Urkel, and a mid-1970s AMC Pacer - the Mirthmobile from Wayne’s World. Party on, dudes!

(image via: Der5er)

Urkel may have the ultimate Revenge of the Nerds - BMW is considering a very cool update of the Isetta for 2010!

(image via: 1Emulation)

Until that happens, today’s cool geeks will have to get around in the Toyota Prius and the VW Beetle, shown above in Geek Squad livery. The Prius is driven by not one but TWO notable geeks: Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Weird Al Yankovic in his video for White and Nerdy. Here’s that video:

Weird Al Yankovic, \”White & Nerdy\” via alyankovic

5) The Evolution of Refrigerators and Freezers

(image via: Winston Mortimor)

Gettin’ hungry? Then it’s time to raid the fridge. Time was, each house had a single refrigerator in the kitchen and maybe a smaller, older beer fridge downstairs. Preferred colors were Electric Blue, Harvest Gold, Avocado Green and Frigid Pink (OK, I made that last one up).

(image via: Datakits)

These days, who has time to walk to the kitchen? And who needs to, with a USB refrigerator on your desktop? It may look retro but the USB fridge is a thirsty geek’s dream come true. Typical models hold just one soda can… chill the next while drinking the first. As for the need to store other essential foodstuffs, there IS no need: Doritos are cool to begin with.

6) The Evolution of Computers

(images via: The Noisettes and Frobenius)

Miniaturization is a common theme in the evolution of geek technology, and computers have been the greatest beneficiaries. Thousands of archaic vacuum tubes powered early electronic digital computers like the 1940s ENIAC (which needed 17,468) and the slightly later UNIVAC, the great-grand-daddies of today’s slim, trim desktops and laptops.

(image via: Extrahardware)

These days, desktop computer designers are, to use an old but apt cliche, thinking outside the box. Take Antec’s Skeleton case: the spidery, open-air style gives it a unique look more like the base of the Eiffel Tower than a computer case! The Skeleton is topped by a 250mm-wide, 3-speed multi-color LED fan whose tint and speed can be adjusted to the owner’s taste.

7) The Evolution of Calculators

(image via: Hall of Precision Astrometry)

Electronic calculators are close cousins to computers; ENIAC was basically an overgrown calculator used by the the U.S. Army’s Ballistic Research Laboratory to work out artillery firing tables. For everyday geeks who were inseparable from the slide rules, however, calculators like the Marchant-1 above were a revelation. Best of all, they used Nixie tubes to display the numbers. Nixies are beloved today by steampunk designers for their ancient electrical aesthetic.

(image via: Gearlive)

Today electronic calculators are typically solar powered and can be so small, they’re built into wristwatches and imitate credit cards. That’s no fun - but the USB Hub Calculator is! On the one hand it’s a functional calculator with a swiveling LCD screen, on the other it’s a nifty USB hub that has 3 slots for USB 2.0 flash drives.

8) The Evolution of Watches

(image via: Trendhunter)

Speaking of wristwatches, these wearable timepieces (no, not you Flavor Flav) have been a showcase for geek obsessions since the first Casio digital watch hit the market. While the trend has been to shrink the size while adding more functions, the clunky, Soviet-style Zihotch telephone dial watch above goes against the grain while adding a hefty (literally) dose of geek chic.

(image via: Fosfor)

Retro is fine but futuristic is finer - like the Tokyoflash watches above. So you think you’re a geek? If you can tell time with one of these, you pass muster.

9) The Evolution of Televisions

(image via: TV Worth Watching)

TV is sacred to true geeks - it gave us Star Trek, after all. Long before Kirk, Spock & the gang were a twinkle in Gene Roddenberry’s eye, however, television had the power to entrance and inspire. Remarkable considering how primitive early TV sets were compared to today’s modern marvels.

(images via: Geeky Gadgets and Turbosquid)

10) The Evolution of Videos Games

The latest generation of televisions make Star Trek: The Next Generation even more real - well, LOOK more real. That’s what Turbosquid’s virtual high-tech futuristic TV studio set or an 82-inch LCD screen can do. What else can one say but “Make it so!”

(image via: Not All Who Wander Are Lost)

Last but certainly not least, gaming - the paragon of geekiness. Games & gaming have come a long, long way since Atari gave us Pong, which was a revelation at the time of its introduction in the early 1970s. Today we have Beer Pong. Let’s all drink to progress!

(images via: X-Boxer and Tomorrow’s Technology Never Ending)

Games are getting better and better as technology improves, driven by the demands of gamers and geeks. What will the future of gaming hold? The “if you build it, they will come” factor is the main driver here. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft etc will build them and we will play. And we all will win!

Adobe Chief: Flash for iPhone is a Tough Nut to Crack

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:43:00 +0000

It’s a tough job to build Flash for the iPhone and Adobe’s CEO, Shantanu Narayen, acknowledged it. In an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr. Narayer said the complicated two-way process of developing Flash for iPhone remains a tough nut to crack. The CEO put it nicely, underlining that this is why Apple and Adobe are collaborating, because it is “a hard technical challenge.” "The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver," the Adobe chief told Bloomberg Television. Mr. Narayen did not elaborate on the hurdles the two companies are making efforts to jump over, but his words suggested that Apple is involved in the process more than ever. Narayen did say, however, that he was "pleased with progress."Nevertheless, the real obstacle might be - as Apple CEO Steve Jobs said - the nature of Flash itself. The desktop Flash requires too many resources and a small processor of a smartphone and the device’s low memory wouldn’t cope with the situation. On the other hand, a Flash Lite would most likely be too feature-limited, as Steve Jobs put it. So a Flash version made especially for Apple would be the solution. Adobe said in September, 2008, that a custom version would be released in a very short period if Apple agreed with it. It is not known what happened - either Apple didn’t like it or Flash didn’t - but the custom Flash version didn’t come. In the meantime, Apple has been collaborating with browser developers Mozilla and Opera to perform the same functions of Flash, but in an environment with far less resources.

Nokia threatens to quit Finland 'unless law changed'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 18:08:00 +0000

HELSINKI: Mobile phone giant Nokia threatened to leave its native Finland if a change to laws blocking companies from monitoring employee emails was not introduced, a Finnish newspaper said on Sunday. Nokia spokeswoman Arja Suominen subsequently rejected the accusation, telling the STT news agency that "Nokia has in no way threatened to move," claiming the "Helsingin Sanomat article is quite polemic. It contains many mistakes and misunderstandings." Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen also denied that politicians had been pressured by the company to change the law. "I have not heard about such an ultimatum. I have discussed (the law) with many companies including Nokia, and I have never heard that they have made such a threat," he told national broadcaster Yle. The daily quoted an unnamed civil servant as telling the paper that "Nokia lobbied very hard for the proposed law to be unanimously approved... (The message) was very clear: if the law was not approved, Nokia would leave Finland." The company generates around 1.3 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars) worth of tax revenues and employs 16,000 people in Finland, Helsingin Sanomat said. The Nordic country is currently considering loosening a law on the surveillance of electronic information that today bans companies from reading their employees' emails. According to Helsingin Sanomat, Nokia began lobbying politicians for a new electronic information surveillance law after it became suspicious that that one of its employees had emailed classified information on new network equipment to its Chinese competitor Huawei. The company filed a police complaint and began poring over its staff email correspondence to try to find proof of the corporate espionage. In doing so, Nokia was breaking the current law which aims to protect workers' right to confidential communication, but charges against the company were never filed due to lack of evidence. The new data retention law proposal, called Lex Nokia, would meanwhile allow employers to monitor their workers' electronic correspondence for information including the sender and recipient of the email, the time it was sent and the size of attachments. Law experts in Finland have insisted that the new law, expected to be voted through parliament later this month, would be a blow to employee privacy rights. - AFP/de

Tracks your dog via the web. Is your dog drooling on your pillow?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 07:42:00 +0000

Did the dog do the "scoot" across your rug while you were away? Which one knocked over the garbage and ate the contents?

We wonder what the critters are doing while we we're away. Mostly out of envy for their comfortable lifestyle as we brave traffic and office politics.

So what are the dogs doing? With a new device called SNIF Tag, dog owners have an opportunity to learn more about their dog’s behavior in real-time and track it over a period of time. Also, be a part of an online dog community. Just put the collar on the dog and hook up the remote device to your modem.

SNIF was founded in 2005 by four MIT Media Lab graduates.

“SNIF Tag not only gives dog owners peace of mind, it also offers a non-threatening way to meet new friends and companions via their dogs’ encounters," says Noah Paessel, CEO and co-founder of SNIF Labs."

Find out how long the dog walker was with Fido and what the dog is doing at doggy day camp.

The SNIF Tag allows dog owners to do the following:• Monitor, review, compare and track activity levels.• Meet new people while dog is out and about through wireless technology built in the stylish tag which is collecting data of other dogs wearing SNIF Tags.AND Much More
The SNIF Tag Starter Kit costs $299.00 and includes one year’s PREMIUM subscription.
More details can be found at SNIF Tag

Here comes the Dell phone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:59:00 +0000

Just as many analysts see a sharp contraction in smartphone sales, world number two PC maker Dell is cooking up a plan to enter the market, reports The Wall Street Journal.

A Dell phone could be released as soon as next month, running Windows Mobile or Google Android.

While most online pundits are questioning the wisdom of Michael Dell’s latest move, pointing to the immediate problems of the slump, NBR’s take is that the move makes good sense in the medium and long term.

The success of the iPhone and AppStore – and, to a lesser degree, the G1 and Google Android – have busted the mobile phone market wide open. The balance of power is shifting from telcos to phone makers, software writers and customers. And more and more people are spending less and less time connecting to the net via their PC, and more surfing or emailing via their smartphone.

Dell is already well-positioned in the fast-growing netbook market, where ultra-mobile, videocassette-sized laptops are shaping up as a major threat to both PC and smartphone (and which IDC has recently tracked as the fastest growing segment in a contracting New Zealand PC market).

With a Dell cellphone, it would be covering every base.

Smartphones good, PCs bad
While some have pointed to a very slow current quarter for net-capable cellphones, IDC sees a unstoppable macro trend in action. The market tracker says 157 million smartphones were sold during 2008 up 26.9% from 2007.

By 2012, IDC expects smartphone sales to hit 301 million.

In contrast, IDC is already recording a slight year-on-year decline in PC shipments, and Dell’s revenue and profit contracted during its last quarter.

Dell phone details
Getting down to specifics, the Journal says Dell has been trialling different phone designs for more than a year in a project driven by two employees poached from ailing Motorola. One design features an iPhone-style touchscreen, the other a slider keyboard. In terms of the OS, the company is said to have experimented with both Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Google’s open-source Android.

A spokesperson for Dell says the company has not committed to any smartphone release.

Internet TV's - high growth track

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:50:00 +0000

It seems that every few days new research comes out to suggest that online television is bringing to an end TV viewing as we know it, and the latest came last week from Solutions Research Group.

Among its findings: 50 percent of people now watch at least some TV online, more than double the figure from two years ago.

But what's getting a lot of press coverage is the consulting outfit's finding that online TV viewing is having a greater impact on traditional TV viewing than DVRs like TiVo.

It reports that 70 percent of adults 18-34 have watched TV on the internet, whether on a site like ABC.com or an illegal peer-to-peer site, as compared to only 36 percent who said they’ve watched programs recorded on DVRs. SRG conducted its survey online with 1,200 people 12 years or older.

“There are 71 million broadband households, but only 28 million DVR households,” says Kaan Yigit, study director at SRG.

“If we stop right there and project four or five years out, from an evolutionary standpoint, the online TV piece has a lot more potential impact than the DVR piece.”

But top media researchers are calling that simply hogwash.

“It’s a ridiculous, ridiculous finding that bears no resemblance to reality,” says Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst at Leichtman Research Group in Durham, N.H.

“It’s dead wrong. It’s doesn’t deserve the light of day, but it’s been getting a lot of attention.”

Leichtman disputes the data that conclusion was based on. He says his research findings are in line with Nielsen data that the average person spent 142 hours per month watching TV in third-quarter 2008 and that the average person spent six and a half hours watching programs recorded on a DVR, compared to only two and a half hours of TV online.

“And by the way, only a small percentage of online video is television [programming],” says Leichtman. He estimates that nearly half the viewing is of viewer-created videos on sites like YouTube. “You have to put this in perspective.”

SRG says its research isn’t incorrect but simply a different way of measuring the DVR’s impact on TV viewing than Nielsen’s measure.

Yigit notes that Nielsen measures the amount of time people spend watching TV and using DVRs while SRG measures the number of people with access to DVRs and the internet.

“The key finding is that the notion we had for a while, concerning TV viewing, is that the one key time-shifting device is the DVR, somewhere around 25 percent of homes have one,” says Yigit. “But the implication is that 75 percent of households don’t have one.”

SRG also found in its research that 48 percent of respondents to its survey say they find the internet more entertaining than TV, up from 37 percent two years ago.

Moreover, 69 percent of respondents said they expect that every TV show will soon be available online.

“For the younger generation, in particular, we’re finding that the broadband platform is being used more and more as the primary vehicle for television,” says Yigit.

Apple's Next iPhone - Highend Gaming

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:43:00 +0000

The next upgrade to Apple's iPhone will have a strong focus on gaming, analysts and developers agree.

That's because the gaming market is an increasingly juicy segment of the mobile multimedia space — and it's one that Apple's phenomenally successful iPhone is well-positioned to dominate.

"The iPhone and iPod Touch are becoming a major new handheld gaming platform, and if you look at the App Store and look at what's doing well, that's reflecting," said Bart Decrem, CEO of Tapulous, developer of the popular Tap Tap Revenge iPhone game. "I would look forward to improvements in the device as a gaming platform both for the phone and iPod Touch."

Apple made clear its plans to seize the gaming market in November 2008 when Apple marketing executive Greg Joswiak called the iPhone and iPod Touch "the future of gameplay," posing a serious threat to dedicated gaming consoles such as the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. The reasons? A few things: The quick, electronic distribution method of games and apps via the iPhone's App Store; the accelerometer and multitouch display, which are introducing new approaches to gameplay; and the iPhone's lighter, more portable form factor compared to its rivals.

Numbers say the iPhone is indeed in a position to assault the gaming market. Analysts predict Apple is on track to sell 40 million iPhones or more per year. By way of comparison, Nintendo sold 42 million DS consoles from January 2007 to June 2008.

Add to that the fact that the iPhone App Store has already got the DS and PSP beat in terms of game titles available: When the App Store was just three months old, it had 1,500 games; the PSP and DS had about 600 and 300 titles, respectively.

There are just a few weaknesses the iPhone needs to address before it's truly acknowledged as a serious game device, said Steve Demeter, developer of the Trism iPhone game: Processing limitations, graphic capabilities and memory management. For example, the PSP's advantage as a dedicated gaming device is that its application programming interface (API) is geared toward loading complex textures — a task the iPhone falls short on.

If Apple is serious about making the iPhone a gaming platform, it's a good bet that the next upgrade to the iPhone will address those limitations.

Tero Kuittinen, a Global Crown Capital analyst, agrees that the next iPhone will have enhanced graphics and more powerful processing capabilities. And those improvements will likely be incorporated in a new ARM chip that Apple is developing in-house. In April 2008, Apple acquired semiconductor company PA Semi to manufacture ARM chips for future iPhones.

Other than introducing graphical improvements it's unlikely the iPhone will see dramatic changes. Kuittinen noted that Apple enjoys keeping its interfaces consistent to ensure software is backward-compatible — so forget about a slide-out keyboard or a screen that's either much smaller or much larger than the current iPhone. Developers Decrem and Demeter agreed that Apple will likely be conservative with changes so as not to require software coders to rewrite applications to be compatible with the next iPhone.

One minor change Apple will likely introduce in the third-generation iPhone is an improved web camera with video-recording capability and a flash. Kuittinen said the camera will have to sport at least a 3.5-megapixel resolution in order to compete with Research In Motion, Samsung, HTC and LG, which are already selling handsets with superior cameras to the iPhone.

When can we expect the next iPhone? Considering the first iPhone launched June 2007 and the second iPhone shipped July 2008, the third-generation iPhone should land no later than summer 2009.

At less than 1cm thick it's the thinnest TV in the world and it has just gone on sale

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:39:00 +0000

At slightly less than 1cm thick it is the world's thinnest TV and it has just become available in Britain.

But it will cost you: £3,489 to be precise. And it's only 11 inches across.

However, plasma and LCD televisions will soon be a thing of the past as a result of OLED (organic light-emitting diode) - technology that harnesses organic molecules to produce light.

Imagine a TV screen that is almost as thin as a piece of paper, which weighs no more than a few ounces, that is so flexible it could be worn around your wrist and is virtually indestructible.

Previous LCD TVs have been backlit, often with a fluorescent tube behind the screen.

But the Bravia XEL-1 is lit purely by light-emitting diodes which are much smaller.

So the TV is thinner, but the viewer sees the picture in the same way.

Adrian Northover-Smith, of Sony, said: ‘It is incredibly thin – the thinnest on the market.

This telly has a wow factor.’ And for those who’d like to hang the screen on the wall, like a picture frame, trailing wires needn’t spoilt the look.

The model comes in two parts, the screen and a wireless transmitter which can be moved out of sight, with all the cables.

Sony’s next project will be the 'Contrast Flex' OLED Vaio laptop.

The Japaneses firm appears to be assuming OLED will be the preferable choice of display for future laptop devices.

The Contrast Vaio laptop uses a foldable seamless OLED for the display and the keyboard.

The concept has no restrictions on layout and size, and is extremely durable and shock resistant.

Like the other Contrast product concepts, it is made of high performance flexible bioplastic.

Windows 7: Upgraded version of Vista

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:32:00 +0000

A year ago, I wouldn't have predicted that I'd be reviewing a public beta test of Windows Vista's replacement this week. And yet here I am, assessing Windows 7 in today's column.

Microsoft deserves some congratulations for moving forward this quickly on Vista's successor. But the speed with which the company has brought Windows 7 to beta status itself constitutes the strongest evidence that 7 won't provide any drastic break from Windows as we've known it.
(Bear in mind that while I don't love Vista, I don't hate it or prefer XP over it; I think all of these Windows releases have serious problems, some more serious than others.) The interface improvements that Microsoft has been showing off since last fall represent welcome changes. The new taskbar tiles both leave more room to display open applications and eliminate the redundant "Quick Launch" toolbar. 7's practice of providing access to recently-opened files via pop-up menus from those taskbar buttons and Start menu items looks likely to be the Windows 7 feature that I'll miss most when I'm not using this operating system. And the new gesture-based windows management tricks sure do make for an impressive demo.

Plus, I will never complain too much about an operating-system update that uses less memory than its predecessor. But other changes in Windows 7 look like they'll only complicate matters. I don't get the "Libraries" concept, for instance; hasn't Windows provided specifically-named "documents," "pictures," "music" and "videos" folders for most of the past decade precisely to group your files by type? Why do we need yet another set of folders to sort our documents, pictures, music and videos? Windows 7's "homegroup" feature seems even more impractical. The idea of declaring a new "standard" that only works in the very latest version of Windows exhibits the sort of kooky arrogance that I thought Microsoft had left behind after its antitrust settlement. Put another way, can't this company do better than to provide a (sort of) zero-configuration home-file-sharing scheme with such restrictive system requirements when an open standard allowing about the same thing has existed for over a decade and has been supported in a competing operating system since 2002?

Microsoft's decision to remove most of Vista's accessory programs also puzzles me. Why yank the e-mail (e-mail!), photo-album, instant-messaging, calendar and address-book applications, but keep the usual folder's worth of games and both WordPad and Notepad (which is itself joined by a Sticky Notes applet)? It's less than clear what kind of rationale Microsoft used before voting some of these programs off the island. Also unclear: how many inexperienced or nervous users will bother downloading the replacements Microsoft offers at its Windows Live site.
And many of the things I didn't like in Vista when I first reviewed it and when I took a second look at it a year later--not to mention the items many of you have complained about here--show no signs of departing Windows 7.

To fix those deeper-seated ailments, however, Microsoft would have had to put in a lot more than two years of work. We might not be able to try out Vista's replacement for another year or two--but at that point, we might see a dramatically improved operating system that could never be mistaken for a Service Pack update to Vista. That's the question I want to put to you: Are you happy to get 7's bundle of evolutionary upgrades to Vista this soon, or would you rather wait longer for a revolutionary improvement to Windows?

Coming soon to a home screen: Pop-out TV

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:25:00 +0000

TV makers show off high-definition 3-D screens at Vegas show

IMAGINE TV and even video game characters that are so vivid that you can almost reach out and touch them.

NOW SHOWING: Samsung's PDP 450 TV 3D.
High-definition (HD) TV manufacturers like Samsung, LG and Panasonic showcased new 3-D (three-dimensional) television systems at the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. These screens display images with depth, for that 'eye-popping' effect.
Stereoscopic, or 3-D, imaging works by allowing the human brain to combine two separate images into one with the help of special glasses.
So you can 'see' bullets coming out of the TV and heading straight for you.
At the Vegas event, Panasonic unveiled its 3-D Full HD Plasma Home Theater System. It consisted of a 103-inch plasma screen, a dedicated Blu-ray player that can process two full HD images at the same time and a pair of special glasses.
But it wasn't just HDTVs doing the 3-D tricks at CES, which closed on 10Jan.
Viewsonic, for example, showed off its FuHzion PJD6220-3D DLP projector, which costs US$1,499 ($2,260).

Panasonic's 3-D Full HD Plasma Home Theater System, complete with special glasses and a 103-inch screen.
Gamers eager to transform existing PC games and even photos into 3-D showcases can do so with the Nvidia 3D Vision for GeForce (US$199) - as long as you already own a compatible GeForce graphics card and a compatible LCD monitor like Viewsonic's new FuHzion VX2265wm (US$399).
On the game console front, Sony's PlayStation3 demonstrated video footage of games like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in 3-D - but it was more to show that the console has 3-D capability.
But TV buffs expecting 3-D content to flood the market soon shouldn't get their hopes up. Forget about The Little Nyonya in 3-D, for example.
Japan is the only country right now that has an existing 3-D TV broadcast satellite channel. Sky TV in the UK may launch a similar service this year.
3-D fix now
Still, if you need your fix of 3-D content right now, there are ways to do so.
You can use the Samsung Series4 plasma screens (from $2,599) to play selected PC games in 3-D - as long as you have the right computer hardware and game to start with.
Or hunt down DVDs or Blu-ray titles like Journey To The Centre Of The Earth that conjure traditional 3-D visuals - using old-fashioned red and blue glasses - on existing HDTVs.
But by 2010, you can expect more advanced 3-D content, coupled with special glasses that won't induce a headache.
The Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory Advanced Authoring Center in Hollywood will be working with studios to develop and produce Blu-ray 3-D movies under a new format labelled as 3D Full HD (3D FHD).
So hopefully it won't be too long before there are more 3-D movies in Full-HD quality, coming right at you in the living room.

Talk to the hand! Wristwatch phones have arrived, Australia gets them first

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:24:00 +0000

Mention a wristwatch phone and the first thing most people do is make Dick Tracy jokes. It’s no joke however, wristwatch mobile phones are now a reality in Australia and they’re so new, they’re not in retail stores yet. “Dick Tracy had a watch phone 40 to 50 years ago,” said NV Mobile CEO, Anthony Cooke. “Now it’s a reality.”

NV Mobile is an Adelaide-based company that designed wristwatch mobile phones and smart phones in collaboration with Chinese manufacturers. It has been 18 months in the planning and Australia is the test market because the company also has plans to sell the phones internationally. And while the company is currently selling these fully functional mobile phone wristwatches on their website, www.nvmobile.com.au, NV Mobile is also looking to appoint retailers to sell the product. Cooke is convinced that this is the best thing in phones since they went mobile. “In 10 to 20 years this will take over the large screen phones,” Cooke said. “If we didn’t think it would take off we wouldn’t do it.” He could be onto something, LG Electronics recently announced a wristwatch mobile phone at the CES show in the USA. And the two-way wrist radio ‘phone’ was launched in to the Dick Tracy comic way back in 1946, but people are still talking about it today. It clearly made a huge impression.

The Dick Tracy two-way radio eventually evolved into a two-way TV and while two-way TV is not available yet, these wristwatch phones do have TV tuners with global roaming. While the current generation of these phones have analogue TV tuners, a digital tuner is on the way.
“We’re 12 months ahead of what you’re seeing here today,” said Cooke, who also said that he wasn’t concerned that other massive consumer electronics manufacturers might launch wristwatch mobile phones themselves and carve up the market. “Our benefit is that we’re fluid,” said Cooke. “We can change a model in four weeks if required.” Cooke was referring to the fact that large companies often typically introduce one or two models to test a market and will often require months or a year or more to react to the market with new product because of their sheer size and accountabilities. While Cooke said he was not targeting a specific demographic, he quoted sales statistics that 10 million mobile phones are purchased in Australia every year and that the average phone turnover is nine to 10 months. Cooke is aiming for a modest market share, at first. “We’re aiming for 100,000-plus in the first year and then increasing 10-fold after that,” he said. Cooke said that the company’s website will have a retail store locater within 20 weeks, once retail partners come on board to sell the product. He says that the company is also set up to deal with wholesalers, resellers, distributors and retailers.

In terms of future products, Cooke said his company has a water-resistant model but not in this first release. This release does have a model that allows you to unclip the watch unit from the watch band so you can keep it safe on land if you’re going swimming.
Some models in this current range of smart watch phones and smart phones feature handwriting recognition so you can write text messages. Cooke also demonstrated the LCD screen and multimedia capabilities by playing a Matrix movie. The phones are available with a 12 month warranty and a 30-day replacement warranty. The company’s smart phones also have twin sim capability so they can run two sim cards, even from two different phone networks, on the one phone. Cooke also said that the company’s next generation products are 100 per cent Australian designed and he said the company is hoping to manufacture them in Australia as well.

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