tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82681110208291849322024-02-08T04:07:24.120+03:00Random Tech StuffMohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-92190144675526927022011-02-23T22:28:00.000+03:002011-02-23T22:28:58.228+03:00What NFC means to you?Well with the new incremental upgrade 2.3.3 of gingerbread released for the Google nexus one and nexus S. It had more to offer to the latter with better support for NFC (Near Field Communication) allowing for peer to peer data exchange. I thought I should take this moment to describe what is NFC and what it means for you.
So what is NFC?
NFC is this new communication technology which allows for Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-72659586120123889352009-03-24T12:23:00.001+03:002009-03-24T12:32:52.642+03:00iPhone 3.0 to come with video camera, claims insiderThe iPhone 3.0, iPhone 4G, or whatever Apple decides to call it, will finally make the leap into that select group of mobile phones (i.e. about 90% of the decent ones) that can record moving pictures with its very own video camera, says an anonymous source.
The iPhone’s lack of video recording was one of the more serious let-downs when Apple launched the device, and one that Apple stubbornly Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-8772664848244343662009-03-24T12:14:00.000+03:002009-03-24T12:14:23.706+03:00Apple silently discontinues iPhone Bluetooth HeadsetAlong with the introduction of the iPhone in January 2007, Apple also announced the iPhone Bluetooth Headset, a small, sleek-looking wireless earpiece that cost $129 and featured automatic paring with the iPhone. It originally shipped with a travel cable and dual dock, both of which allowed it to be simultaneously charged along with your iPhone.
In July last year, Apple stopped bundling the dualMohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-45059935516709454572009-03-23T15:18:00.000+03:002009-03-23T15:18:51.707+03:00Microsoft Preps Open-Source Apps MarketplaceMicrosoft is in the process of building out a marketplace for open-source applications that could work like an equivalent to an app store for applications, services and support for open-source technology that runs on the Windows platform. At MIX09, Microsoft released several components of the Microsoft Web Platform, an integrated set of tools, servers and frameworks that work seamlessly together Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-63669460301911591582009-03-23T15:15:00.001+03:002009-03-23T15:15:54.279+03:00Microsoft IE8 explorer has some cool new featuresSEATTLE — Can Microsoft's (MSFT) Internet Explorer Web browser reclaim chunks of market share swiped by upstart Firefox?The arrival last week of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), just two years after Microsoft's last major browser upgrade, IE7, should help answer that question.
IE8, which can be downloaded free, has cool new features: "Web slices" let you quickly call up selected content from a Web pageMohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-2702275302661572412009-03-18T14:34:00.001+03:002009-03-18T14:56:37.686+03:00Apple Shows Off Next Version of iPhone SoftwareCUPERTINO, Calif. — In a shot across the bow of other mobile phone makers that are rushing to emulate aspects of its popular iPhone, Apple on Tuesday previewed some features that are due out in the next version of the phone’s software.
IPhone OS 3.0, as Apple calls it, will allow developers to create multiplayer games that work over a local wireless connection, better integrate the maps that Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-65923077624138308972009-03-18T14:31:00.000+03:002009-03-18T14:31:02.313+03:00Apple previews iPhone OS 3.0, adds copy and paste, Spotlight search, plenty more
As promised, Apple just debuted its upcoming iPhone OS 3.0. Much of the news seemed developer-centric, but there are certainly plenty of consumer implications down the road, along with long-awaited functions like copy and paste, A2DP, MMS and universal Spotlight search. Improvements include:
App and developer functionality
Peer-to-peer connectivity over Bluetooth for gaming and other Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-38605817652971799762009-03-16T20:37:00.001+03:002009-03-16T20:38:45.931+03:00Windows 7 Release Candidate Changes Increase Productivity and WorkflowDid you know Microsoft trimmed down sound files so your computer can boot up faster in the Windows 7 release candidate? Here are a few changes we found amongst the over 70+ obvious UI changes.
Desktop and User Interface:
• Gadget view options
In the Windows 7 beta it was impossible to separate desktop icons from gadgets under the View setting available by right-clicking on the desktop. Now Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-47090464169301957082009-03-16T20:33:00.000+03:002009-03-16T20:33:06.485+03:00Apple Faces Lawsuit Over 'Explosive' IPodA mother has legally alleged 'Apple' after her son sustained a second degree burns when the company's iPod touch music player exploded in his pocket. Lynette Antrobus, from Cincinnati has accused the multinational corporation for "gross negligence and recklessness" and behaving "maliciously and fraudulently". She has also claimed dollars 75,000 for the damage caused.
The Legal papers, filed Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-78841771320014656682009-03-09T20:46:00.000+03:002009-03-09T20:46:13.082+03:00Microsoft won't fix Excel bug on Patch TuesdayMicrosoft Corp. last week said that three Windows security updates, including one rated "critical," will be released tomorrow.
The company acknowledged, however, that it will not deliver a fix for an Excel flaw that attackers are now exploiting.
Microsoft didn't disclose details of the patches, other than to say which versions of Windows will be affected.
"It's pretty nebulous," said Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-65063024665586331712009-03-09T20:43:00.001+03:002009-03-09T20:43:44.434+03:00Microsoft considers new name for search: KumoMicrosoft Corp. has said marketing teams were hard at work fixing the company's Web search image. As a brand, Live Search wasn't working.
But Kumo? What?
Microsoft's search team posted a screen shot of a redesigned search site, called Kumo, on its blog last week. A leaked memo from the team's technical leader, Satya Nadella, described Kumo.com as a test program that can only be accessed from Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-82467475177370884012009-03-09T20:40:00.003+03:002009-03-09T20:42:06.282+03:00Rogue iPhone App Store on the cardsThe controversy about Apple's sometimes-odd decisions to exclude certain iPhone programs from its App Store is likely to get a renewed airing soon, as it has emerged that disgruntled programmers are setting up their own unofficial App Store in response to being shut out.
US developer Jay Freeman plans to build on his existing Cydia installer program by opening an alternative iPhone software Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-34071617430614375542009-03-08T16:45:00.000+03:002009-03-08T16:45:17.411+03:00Vista-downgrade lawsuit revised; Microsoft now accused of price-gougingThe California woman suing Microsoft Corp. over Windows Vista's downgrade rights revised her lawsuit yesterday to focus her charges on the requirement that users buy the most expensive versions of Vista if they want to replace that operating system with Windows XP.
Originally filed Feb. 11 in a Seattle federal court by Los Angeles resident Emma Alvarado, the lawsuit was re-submitted Thursday. InMohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-13968849755226660542009-03-08T06:57:00.000+03:002009-03-08T06:57:14.393+03:00Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft urged not to censor searchRights groups called on Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft on Friday not to censor their Web search engines one day next week to help protest cyber censorship.
"World Day Against Cyber Censorship is a day to advance and celebrate a free Internet as an open window to the world and denounce the attacks made on the free flow of information online," Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International saidMohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-40838786960669210772009-03-08T06:55:00.000+03:002009-03-08T06:55:22.362+03:00Yahoo Wins Approval of Accord Over Microsoft OffersYahoo Inc. won a judge’s approval of a settlement mandating changes to the company’s severance plan that investors contend will make it easier for Microsoft Corp. or other potential suitors to buy the owner of the second most- popular U.S. Internet search engine.
Delaware Chancery Court Judge William B. Chandler III today said he would approve the accord, which resolves investor lawsuits over Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-55938378646694535072009-03-07T20:19:00.000+03:002009-03-07T20:19:26.324+03:00Apple denies second round of layoff rumorsFor the second time in a week, Apple has denied rumors that it has laid off workers.
On Friday, Valleywag reported that a tipster informed it of layoffs in the Mac Hardware and Pro Applications group, describing Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters as having "lots of security around" and saying "it seems like a lot" of employees were affected. Earlier in the week Valleywag published a Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-12934070044160589482009-03-07T20:18:00.000+03:002009-03-07T20:18:19.087+03:00Nokia and Verizon readying a secret 4G device?Rumor has it that Nokia is working on a new touch-screen device for Verizon Wireless's new 4G wireless network set to go live in 2010.
TheStreet.com reported this week that the two companies are working together to create a touch-screen device that will operate on Verizon's soon-to-be-built superfast wireless network. Verizon Wireless, which is jointly owned by European carrier Vodafone and Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-40465441597798429592009-03-06T17:30:00.004+03:002009-03-06T17:35:00.136+03:00Get $10,000 from your iPhoneThe new mobile iphone has created all new opportunities and new streams of incomes for developers. One way is to make applications for the iphone and sell it on the app store so if you have the skills, you are in demand. this is really working well for many people.
But if you don’t want to make an application there are other ways to get money including the PWN2OWN competition sponsored by Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-19682662188576987122009-03-06T17:05:00.000+03:002009-03-06T17:05:10.282+03:00Apple's Safari will fall first at hacker contest, past winner predicts Apple Inc.'s Safari is the juiciest target in the upcoming PWN2OWN hacking contest, last year's winner predicted today.
"It's an easy target," said Charlie Miller, the vulnerability researcher who last year walked off with a $10,000 cash prize for breaking into an Apple laptop just a few minutes into the contest. PWN2OWN is slated for its third appearance at the CanSecWest security Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-42237009715482523582009-03-06T12:11:00.000+03:002009-03-06T12:11:21.517+03:00Android could overtake iPhone by 2012 say analystsAnalysts at Informa are predicting that sales of phones using Google’s Android operating system will outpace Apple by 2012.
In a review of the state of the mobile phone operating system market the company predicts that open source will be key to the growth of mobile platforms, both in terms of opening up users to new applications but also keeping costs down for manufacturers.
“The smartphone Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-38398586957055925812009-03-05T19:21:00.001+03:002009-03-05T19:22:56.472+03:00Internet Explorer 8 removal possible in latest Windows 7 versionJust today we heard that the European Union is easing up on Microsoft a little but, but don't forget that there's still one big battle going on. The EU is still concerned that Microsoft's inclusion of its Internet Explorer web browser as an integral part of the Windows operating system isn't fair to consumers who want other options or the companies that are cooking those options up.
After years Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-31105185185287433082009-03-05T19:14:00.000+03:002009-03-05T19:14:49.056+03:00Facebook Hit by Five Security Problems in One WeekFacebook has been the victim of five different security problems in the past week, says Trend Micro.
According to the security firm, four hoax applications have become available on the social network along with a new variation of the Koobface virus, which was first detected at the end of last year, and directs users to a fake YouTube page where they are encouraged to install malware.
Two of theMohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-33111610569326484442009-03-05T09:01:00.000+03:002009-03-05T09:01:30.909+03:0010 reasons why Linux isn't triumphing over WindowsIn the last few years, there has been a surge of renewed interest in using Linux, in both the server and desktop spaces. Several factors are contributing to this surge, all happening at once. First, there is the trend from powerful desktops to smaller, but less powerful, notebooks — and now, netbooks. In addition, more user (and media) friendly Linux
distributions, such as Ubuntu, have hit the Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-66731450039226874762009-03-05T08:56:00.002+03:002009-03-05T08:56:54.431+03:00Small PC maker plans free Windows 7 upgrade dealWho could blame you for not wanting to buy a new PC right now? With Windows 7 mere months away (some rumors even claim it will ship as early as September 2009), why would you want to get stuck with Windows Vista, then have to shell out hundreds again for a Win7 upgrade later in the year?
Unless you buy a system within weeks of Windows 7's arrival (one source says the planned cutoff date isMohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8268111020829184932.post-33043106142074787692009-03-04T20:51:00.000+03:002009-03-04T20:51:14.376+03:00Apple and Psystar agree on trade secret confidentialityIn what may be the second-most ridiculous current tech-related intellectual property case—after, of course, The Pirate Bay trial in Stockholm—Apple and clone-maker Psystar continue to battle it out. A trial has been set for November, and there's already been more than enough legal maneuvering to make Solomon call for his sword.
Cupertino argues that making clones is in violation Mohamed Ashrafhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03347678111555913134noreply@blogger.com0