Sunday, November 25, 2012

Protect Your Data With A Personal Cloud


Surpassing earthly boundaries, digital data storage has set up shop in the firmament. “The Cloud” is an increasingly popular term for remote data centers, usually with astronomical storage capacity, which people can access via the Internet using their various devices. 

Attempting to mimic the convenience of cloud computing, new technology allows people to set up a “personal cloud” on their home networks. Let’s backtrack and first take a moment to talk about the “public” cloud.


The Public Cloud



The cloud refers to anything from Dropbox, a storage space for personal files, to Netflix, a reservoir of movies and TV shows people can stream to their computers, tablets and phones. Internet giants like Google, Apple and Facebook all offer various forms of cloud services, which is often referred to as third-party data storage because the company that is hosting the data is separate from the entity that owns the data and the entity accessing it.

Based on private analysis, Gartner Inc., a technology research firm, believes cloud computing will continue to grow precipitously going forward.

“The reign of the personal computer as the sole corporate access device is coming to a close, and by 2014, the personal cloud will replace the personal computer at the center of users’ digital life,” the report concluded.

The popularity of the cloud stems from convenience and reliability. Conveniently, one can access his or her files anywhere the Internet is available. In addition, the cloud is reliable as a way to back up data. With traditional storage methods such as on a home computer or external hard drive, there is a risk of hardware failure, like when your computer breaks or you drop your external hard drive or iPod. As you might imagine, a cloud is significantly more difficult to destroy, and it’s a safe place for your data. 

The Personal Cloud 



Sharing is at the heart of cloud computing. Cloud services provide smart and easy-to-use channels to selectively make files available to friends, family and colleagues.

The personal cloud, like its public counterpart, can be a great tool for families. It is a convenient way to have a centralized location for pictures, videos and songs, stored right in your own home. Also, it allows for the peace of mind of having data automatically backed up in a safe, secure and nearby location, without having to wonder whether or not third parties have access to your private and personal information.

On the downside, security and privacy are serious concerns many have with sending data into the digital stratosphere. What are those companies doing with all that data you are sending to them anyway? Maybe they are using the information to build a marketing profile that they will turn around and sell to advertising companies.

Enter the personal cloud, a piece of hardware that works with your wireless router. When configured, the device automatically saves data from home computers, tablets, phones and game consoles onto a localized cloud. The data can be accessed by any device within the wireless network — like your smartphone, tablet and laptop.

When it comes to digital data storage, unlike weather, a cloudy horizon may not be foreboding. Thanks to the convenience of cloud computing, the days of toting around disks and drives (both floppy and hard) will soon be as out-of-date as yesterday’s iPhone.

Sony's limited edition Golden Xperia P


Sony Mobile has created a Limited 24K Gold Edition Xperia P and is giving one away in a competition.  Sony has given the luxury treatment to its smartphone having 4-inch display and dual-core 1GHz processor. It seems that smartphone giant has decided to make it compete against elite business class phone Vertu. Undoubtedly, it is the first luxury phone having Android ICS. 

15 such models have been made and Sony is also giving away some golden models of Xperia on Facebook. Register as soon as you can because the contest will close shortly. Sony posted on its Facebook page, all that you need to do to enter the contest is answer a single question and email your response to fans.se@sonymobile.com. The golden question is :
“What is a gold Friday for you?”
You can also visit Sony Facebook page here
Here are the brief specs of Gold edition Xperia P
  • 4″ 540 x 960 Display
  • 1GHz dual-core processor
  • 1GB RAM
  • 16GB Internal Storage
  • 8 MP Rear Camera / VGA Front-facing camera
  • WiFi/Bluetooth/NFC/HDMI/USB OTG
  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
[Source : Android Soul]

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Windows Phone 7.8 will hit China in few weeks



China is going to receive Windows Phone 7.8 update. According to Microsoft’s Vice President of Greater China, the company is planning to roll out Windows Phone 7.8 to the region in the coming weeks. They have also promised to release this update before the end of this year. It can be a gift for the Windows Phone users of this holiday season. 

Microsoft's executive told Beijing Newspaper BJD that Windows Phone 8 handsets would hit the market there some time in December with companies like Samsung, Nokia, HTC etc. 

Windows Phone 7.8 is not like Windows Phone 8. WP 8 has a new kernel i.e. it is based on Windows NT. But still it is good and bug free than Windows Phone 7.5.

Gangnam style is the most viewed YouTube video



Time to cheer for Psy and his fans. Because Psy's Gangnam Style is now the most watched viral video on the YouTube. The Korean singer's video scored 803,760,000 views and watched Justin Bieber's Baby by 30,000. The notable point is that video was uploaded in July 2012, it is also the YouTube's most liked video.

The rising Korean star and his team got a bright path with this video. A fact is that every other video in the top six is hosted by content marketing firm Vevo, "Gangnam Style" is hosted on Psy's own "officialpsy" channel, run by YG Entertainment, Psy's own record company.


Apple Store website gets updated for holiday season



Apple has updated its Apple Store webpage, for this holiday season. The special page designed for holiday season prices has a friendly guide which lets users select the products, with minimum page load, making people not move from the page. The products listed are not only Apple's products but also some other such as MS Office for Mac, Bowers & Wilkins A5 airplay speakers etc.

Every year Apple reduces its prices for one day i.e. Black Friday making a lot of revenue in result. And same is done this year. Apple's Black Friday went on live yesterday and prices were reduced upto 20%. 

The reduced prices let you save $41 on an iPad, $31 on iPad 2 and iPod touch, $101 on the new MacBook Pros and MacBook Air. What if you could save 20%, or also get a hundred dollar gift card to spend on something else?

This campaign will take place upto this holiday season, including Christmas' and New Year celebration. Undoubtedly,  Apple Stores are going to show "Out of Stock" boards.

Visit Apple Store's website here


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Microsoft is designing XBOX TV for casual gaming




Rumors are spreading that Microsoft is designing a Set-top box version of XBOX, named as XBOX TV. The Verge has been reported via Microsoft that company plans to introduce a low-cost alternative to its Xbox console, designed to provide access to core entertainment services. 

This new generation Xbox system will be unveiled in 2013, with a release date ahead of the holiday shopping season. It will have core of Windows 8, and again you find the tiles, reminding a branding package of Windows. It will also feature a chipset to enable an "always on" device that boots quickly and resumes to provide near-instant access to TV and entertainment services. The whole hardware specs haven't been disclosed yet.

Microsoft's statement for its Xbox TV plans is:

"Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend the console life cycle by introducing controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships. We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the life cycle convention."

With these new kind of Gaming-Television system, Microsoft is going to compete Apple and others.

[via: The Verge]


Google is encouraging web content in Arabic



Arabic guys enjoy!! A month long awaited initiative has been launched by Google to promote the Arabic Language. The program has the name "Arabic Web Days". The focus of the project is to enhance the use of Arabic language on internet, which is under represented.

On December 2012, Google is organizing offline as well as online events, an infographic making competition, Google+ hangouts and the celebration of Arabic Web Day.

“It’s all about the users,” said Maha Abu Elenein, Google’s head of communications in the Middle East and North Africa. “We want the internet to be relevant for Arabic speaking users.”

A post written on Google's official blog says that: "Arabic content on the web represents just 3 percent of the total digital content online. Yet Arabic speakers make up more than 5 percent of the global population.”

Over the next month, Arabic Web Days will feature several challenges, encouraging creative users to create content and share it via various channels, with the idea that “it’s better in Arabic.” Audio content will be shared on SoundCloud, videos on YouTube, tweets on Twitter, articles on Wikipedia and Wamda, and translations on TED.

Google has also launched a dedicated Arabic blog and a video promoting Arabic Web Days.

Here's the promo video


Saturday, November 17, 2012

Android is on top of the market share

Android is king again. This year's Gartner's report says this. Android‘s overall smartphone market share has jumped to 72.4% in Q3 2012, up from 52.5% in the same period last year.

Apple has got reduction. Its smartphone OS, iOS has fall down from 15% to 13.9%. Microsoft is again struggling at the bottom, its Windows Phone managed to grow from 1.5% to 2.4%. Another player, Samsung’s Bada managed to increase its market share, from 1.5% to 2.4%.


But when talk comes to sales of devices, there is the king: Samsung. Samsung sold 97,956 devices in 3Q 2012 and secured 22.9% market share, while last year it was 18.7% with sales of 82,612 devices. A few time ago, samsung announced that 30 million units of Galaxy SIII have been sold.

Nokia is on the second place holding 19.2% of the market share while Apple is on third with 5.5% of market share. Other figures are as follows.

Apple got the patent for virtual page turn



Apple now holds the patent ownership of the "page turn". This patent was approved by the United States Patent Office for “Display screen or portion thereof with animated graphical user interface.”

This patent was one of the 38 patents that were granted to Apple this week. This patent holding will changing the future as Apple may charge other devices and operating systems if they hold such feature. However, the devices released before this patent were remain unaffected.

The New York Times points out that this isn’t the first “seemingly obvious” patent that Apple has been awarded. The company was also granted a patent for the musical note icon it uses to represent iTunes and the glass staircase it uses it stores.

As you all know, the famous battle for patents between Apple and Samsung, which resulted in Apple walking away with $1 billion, from Samsung.


Apple and HTC have also set an agreement according to which Apple will license its patented technologies for 10 years. HTC will pay Apple $6-$8 per Android phone they have released. 



Friday, November 16, 2012

Which one is better: Blogger v/s WordPress


[We have also written this article on our sister website: Tech How To]




There are many free blogging platforms but only two have won every one’s heart. Yes you got it right: Blogger and Wordpress. These are the best and popular blogging platforms today. Although there are a lot other blog hosting services but these are the choice of most of the people. Freshers who want to start their blog (and sites too) stay confused among these that which platform they should choose and why. So here’s a comparison between two.





Blogger is free blogging platform owned by Google. So Google’s policies are applied to Blogger. It’s totally free. It is very easy to use and maintain. If you are done with setting your blogger account you can start posting immediately. You can also use your own custom domain with it. The blog is hosted on domain blogname.blogspot.com . You can have your own domain name by paying $10 USD per year.

Features of Blogger

  • It is very easy to setup and maintain blogger account.
  • It needs Google ID to sign up and hence you get one more product added in your Google products list. It also connects with Google+ so you can post directly to your Google+ profile or page.
  • It has built in social connectivity features.
  • You can earn money using Blogger. It supports ad programs from Google Ads, Amazon etc. so you can earn money while sitting at home, without spending a single dollar.
  • Because it is a Google product, so it has a special feature which every blogger/ site owner wants i.e. SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Your blog is listed in top of the Google results (not always, but most of the times and you can enhance with Adwords).
  •  It has its own URL set as blogname.blogspot.com. You can buy your own custom domain name or move your blog to a URL which you have bought.
  • It offers gadgets, so you can make your blog look nice and turn into professional website. It has a lot of themes which also help you to organize your blog.
  • You don’t need to be a coding expert. Its interface is too good so you can easily understand every part of it. If you are a developer, then it’s also good, because you can customize your whole blog. Blogger gives you the code of the entire blog.






Now let’s talk about another great platform, Wordpress. Wordpress has two versions:

  1. Wordpress.
  2. Wordpress.com

WordpressWordPress is a free and open source blogging tool and a content management system (CMS). Anyone can download WordPress software from WordPress.org and install on their website for FREE. It provides tool for web development, but does not provide the hosting options, so you have to choose a hosting company to host your blog/site (It’s not difficult).

Wordpress.comWordPress.com is a blog hosting service provider, powered by Wordpress. It provides hosting option so you can have a free hosted blog on web as in blogger. It offers a free version with limited features as well as a paid version with premium features. Wordpress.com is developed by same team who developed Wordpress.

Features of WordPress

  • Wordpress provides you an open source tool for designing your website. It means you can customize your site in any way you want. You own it on your server so you have full control over it. 
  • You can design an offline website using wordpress, and can view in your browser too. If you want to make it available on web, you can upload it to your URL or you can host it you using some hosting company.
  • Wordpress provides a lot of themes from its base. More than thousands of themes are available via third parties.
  • There are tons of themes and plugins available on web for Wordpress which make your blog/ website look beautiful. Installation of plugin requires a single click. It’s that much easy to add and use a plugin and you can uninstall them whenever you want to.
  • You can also integrate adsense account with your wordpress site after activation from Google. If your blog is powered with wordpress then you can customize it in a better way and make it search engine friendly.
  • Wordpress.com does not have as much themes as wordpress has, but it has hosting options. Your site is available at a domain sitename.wordpress.com and you can buy it anytime.

Now it’s your turn to decide best for you. First think about the purpose for which you want to blog and start a website then choose a platform.


If you’re going to make a professional site or blog than we recommend you to use WordPress.org And if you just starting blogging and don’t want to spend money, than Blogger is good choice for you.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Jelly Bean updates are available for Nexus devices to download



A good new for Nexus owners. You are getting the new Jelly Bean flavor. 

The Galaxy Nexus and Google Nexus 7 tablet are scheduled to receive the Android 4.2, JellyBean update by mid-November.This software upgrade will also come pre-installed on many devices included in Google's new Nexus line-up such as the Nexus 4, 7 and 10.

The update brings some new features to Android products including improvements to the gesture keyboard, sphere camera and new notifications style.

If you're a Galaxy Nexus owner and are ready to buy Google's latest flagship phone Nexus 4, no need to worry because you still have the option to upgrade your Galaxy Nexus to Jelly Bean. You can download the necessary file and flash the ROM. However, this update will not bring the new hardware updates present in Nexus 4.




At least 512 MB RAM otherwise no Jelly Bean for your HTC



HTC is going to serve its users with latest Android dessert, Jelly Bean.

HTC has updated their Android FAQ page. Here the manufacturer has mentioned that which devices are going to receive the most awaited taste of Android, i.e.Jelly Bean. They have clearly specified that the devices having less than 512 MB of RAM will not receive the update and they have to stick to their present OS. So it also shows that such devices will not receive any update. For Example, HTC One V and HTC Desire C users have to stick to the ICS version.


However, HTC said it will update its customers on the other devices that won’t receive Jelly Bean in the future.



Here's the updated info from HTC.



What devices will not get Android 4.1?


We work hard to ensure each of our products has the optimal user experience and therefore some products will remain at their current version of Android. In general, devices with 512MB RAM or less will not be upgraded to Android 4.1. At present, these devices include the HTC One V and the HTC Desire C. As we identify other devices that will not be upgraded, we'll provide updated information.
It should be noted that upgrades are not the same thing as ongoing support. Devices not being upgraded to Android 4.1 will still get software improvements, security fixes, and technical support.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Apple iPad mini TV ads


Apple's iPad mini is providing a tough competition to Google Nexus and other 7" tablets. Mini version of iPad has the functionality, ease of access and power of the big bro iPad, but at a lesser price. So undoubtedly it got out of the stock, but its not new thing for Apple. Last week they announced that they have sold 3 million iPad (both mini and iPad) in a single weekend.

Here are some TV advertisements of iPad mini.






Friday, November 9, 2012

Mozilla Firefox's 8th Birthday




Happy Birthday Firefox. Eight years ago, today, on November 9, 2004 The Mozilla foundation launched the first version of Firefox.

When Firefox was launched, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 6 was on the top of the market share but had a lot of security issues. Mozilla’s open source browser was responded very well. The browser that would eventually become Firefox, called Phoenix, was actually launched as a beta in 2002. When the first stable version of the browser was launched in 2004, it was renamed to Firefox.

During these years, Firefox has earned reputation in web market. In the last couple of years it has gotten given a serious competition to Google’s Chrome, Opera, Apple’s Safari and others. Currently, Firefox is the world’s third most popular browser, behind Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.

Courtesy: Mashable

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Save Email attachments to Google Drive



Now you do not need to worry about your email attachments if your system gets crashed. Because a Google Chrome extension "Attachments.me" helps you to save it to your Google Drive directly. The most cool thing is that it works automatically, so there's no need to manually move every attachment there. 

It is easy to set up the app. When you're done, the attachments from the upcoming E-mails will move to your Google Drive. Keep in mind that it will also fill your Google Drive storage. 

Download app here


Do you like it? Put your views in comments. 

Screenshots



Create music with JAM with Chrome



Do you want to create your own music with your friends? Now, Google has given a solution to it by releasing the new "Jam with Chrome".  Chrome users can invite up to three friends to join in a practice session, controlling synthesized instruments straight from the browser. You don't need to rely on Garageband to create music with friends.

Go to: Jam with Chrome

On opening Jam with Chrome website, users can pick from 19 music instruments, including acoustic and electric guitars, drum kits, drum machines and keyboards, and then they click again to start playing. Interface is not much easy as other Google services, but there is always Help feature there to help you.

With this step Google is developing a new wave of music composers, without need to buy instruments.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Google Chrome has now Do Not Track feature



If you use Google Chrome and don’t want your online behavior tracked by marketers, today’s your lucky day. Chrome, currently the world’s most popular browser, just got an update with the much-requested “Do Not Track” feature — which Google promised it would release earlier this year.
Do Not Track is an increasingly widespread option. Its goal is to block cookies that give marketers some idea of how you live your life on the Internet. It’s generally used in aggregated data about consumer behavior, although many advertisers — including Google itself — use cookies to target ads to individual users.
The update will be applied automatically for most Chrome users over the next few days.

Courtesy: Mashable

Galaxy Cam will be released on 8 Nov in UK



Galaxy Camera will be available across the UK from November 8th. The Galaxy Camera runs Android 4.1 and has a similar interface to Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones. 

This camera doesn't make phone calls, but it can access Google Play and apps like Skype. It's a camera first and foremost, then, and has a 16-megapixel 1/2.3" sensor and an f/2.8 21x optical zoom lens to prove it.

Like some of the newest smartphones on the block, the Galaxy Camera will come running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest version of Android. That means better Instagram photos — and more importantly the ability to share the pictures you take with your camera instantly with friends on web.



“Wirelessly enabling Samsung’s Galaxy Camera will create a significant shift in how consumers share and communicate with photos and videos,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, AT&T Emerging Devices in a statement.
The camera also borrows some features from Samsung’s popular Galaxy S III smartphone such as AllShare Play, which allows you to transfer photos between other Samsung devices connected to the same Wi-Fi network, and Buddy Photo Share which automatically tags faces of existing device contact in photos.
Courtesy: The Verge, Mashable

Facebook for iOS has now batch upload


After Facebook’s acquisition of photo-sharing service Instagram, released Facebook Camera was released: a standalone iPhone app that replicated Instagram’s trademark photo filters. Reports say that the camera function in Facebook iOS app is adding the filters as well. 

Just like the standalone app, selecting photos using the checkbox then tapping to enlarge them lets you select from 13 filters, including Emerald, Golden, and Boost, and you can also crop and rotate your pictures before uploading them to Facebook. 

Version 5.1 adds multi-photo uploads as well, which makes for a nicely streamlined interface — select your photos, do your adjustments and tag your friends, then upload them with a single caption. Facebook chats are now easier to access, too, using a leftward swipe on the Facebook home screen.

Courtesy: The verge

Apple may remove Intel support from macs



Apple may drop Intel chips from Mac computers, in favor of chips similar to the ones used in the iPad and iPhone, sources say.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple’s engineers think its own chips will one day be powerful enough to run laptop and desktop computers, but this change likely won’t happen in the next few years.
Apple’s 2005 switch from PowerPC processors to Intel x86 processors was one of the most surprising moves that year, as the Cupertino, Calif. company has long maintained that PowerPC processors are better than Intel’s.
But it’s currently tablets and smartphones, which use tiny, low-power chips, that are dictating where the industry is heading. Apple is known for releasing very thin, light laptops — such as the MacBook Air and the latest Retina-equipped 13” MacBook Pro — which would benefit from such chips.
Courtesy: Mashable

Monday, November 5, 2012

Apple Sold 3 Million New iPads in a Weekend




Demand for the iPad mini have succeeded the initial supplies, but that's not a new figure for Apple. Its again, the same as that with iPhone and iPad, all gen.  

Apple announced Monday that it sold three million iPad minis and fourth-generation iPads in the first three days that the two new iPads were available.

The company says that this is double the previous record of 1.5 million Wi-Fi-only iPads that were sold in March when the the third-generation iPad initially went on sale. Unfortunately, Apple does not delineate how many iPad minis and fourth-generation iPads it sold, but lumps them all together in the three million figure.

The iPad mini was announced on October 23rd with pre-orders going live on the 26th. Pre-orders for the highly anticipated device quickly sold out, with wait times stretching out to two weeks or more. 

“Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

Courtesy: The Verge, Mashable

Apple's tablet market falls to 50.4%



The old Silicon Valley joke, which claimed that “there is no tablet market, only an iPad market,” is obviously no longer true. 
Apple‘s tablet market share has dropped to 50.4% in Q3 2012, down from 59.7% in the same period last year, IDC’s latest report reveals.
Samsung, on the other hand, has experienced huge growth, jumping from 6.5% to 18.4% in that same period. Amazon holds the third place with 9%, followed by Asus with 8.6% and Lenovo with 1.4%.
According to IDC’s numbers, Samsung shipped 5.1 million tablets worldwide in 3Q12, up 115% from 2Q12 and 325% from 3Q11.
Amazon is in good position because rapidly expanding Kindle Fire lineup has helped it double its market share quarter-over-quarter.


Sunday, November 4, 2012

30 million units of Galaxy S3 are sold



Samsung has released the sales figures and according to them, the company has sold, 30 million Samsung Galaxy S III devices worldwide. That’s quite the impressive figure, and shows a substantial growth of 10 million units in just two months. Samsung’s announcement comes on the heels of news in which the company said 3 million Galaxy Note II units have been sold across the world.
It’s fantastic news for Samsung, and Android as a whole, as we head into the busy holiday season. Samsung revealed just how much time and effort went into the making of its S III, and the numerous rave reviews — and now, sales — show it was all time well spent. With Jelly Bean rolling out to the device all over the world, the sales are expected to only increase during the final stretch of 2012.
Courtesy: The Verge

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Android growth chart: Nov 2012

Google has released the growth chart of Android Versions, with new Jelly Bean.




At merely 2.7%, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean usage has jumped just 0.9% compared to September, 2012. The OS debuted exactly 6 months ago, in Jun 2012, and despite Samsung and HTC's best efforts to update their high-end devices, Jelly Bean still needs help.
Ice Cream Sandwich distribution is also on the rise clocking in at 25.8%, almost 2 points up from last month. With most manufacturers having completed their scheduled ICS updates, we don't expect this number to continue to climb. Especially with the majority shifting their attention to Jelly Bean.
Finally, Gingerbread is continuing to drop from 55.8% in September to 53.9% in October. With most devices comprising this number being low-end droids that would never see an update in their life, this number isn't likely to plummet anytime soon.
Courtesy: GSMArena