Microsoft Launches Mozilla Firefox with Bing Search Engine

Microsoft seems to be trying hard to get more user base to the Bing search engine, which still isn’t competing well enough against the Search engine giant Google, and so the most popular browser Mozilla Firefox is being launched in another version by the Windows maker with the default search engine being Bing in it. The integration of Bing into Firefox would not just help Firefox get some extra revenue, but now Google would get a real big competitor with Internet Explorer and Firefox both having Bing as the default search engine for any keyword searched by users who don’t care about the search engine they are using.

The download site by Microsoft explains:

When you add Bing to Mozilla Firefox, you’re bringing the ability to make informed decisions right to your browsing experience. Whatever you’re looking for, from where to go to what to do, Bing helps make decisions easier.

You won’t need to do anything else, but just visit this site and select “Add Bing to Firefox” and you would be redirected to the next page saying:

Thank You.
Thanks for adding Bing to Firefox. Better decisions
are now yours for the making.

And from there, the default search engine set for your Firefox browser would be Bing. Good try Microsoft, but I would still love the Google search engine with timely updates giving me no suggestions but better results.

Droidcon India – First International Android Conference in India – November 18 & 19, 2011

Droidcon is an International Android Conference that is held at many places around the world, and India is going to one of the venue places for the conference in November, 2011. The other few event venues lined up with Droidcon are London, Bucharest (Romania), Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin.

Citizenmatters reports:

Droidcon India is organised by HasGeek in association with Mobile Seasons GmbH. The event targets the growing android development community and is being organised in close co-operation with the Bangalore Android Group. Droidcon India will take place at the MLR Convention Centre in Whitefield, Bangalore. This is a brand new convention centre with top notch facilities including an 800+ seat auditorium and an overall venue capacity of over 1000.

The conference would be having 500 delegates and there would be several sessions which would run in parallel to one another, and 8 sessions per track would be running on each day. The fee for registration to the event would be Rs. 1800 per registration, and for students who show their valid student ID cards, it would be Rs. 900 per registration. Spot registration would cost Rs. 2200 each.

The event would be held at MLR Convention Center, Whitefield, Bangalore. The keynote speaker would be Diogo Ferreira of CyanogenMod. People can suggest topics for sessions, and they can try to talk at one of them and the selection of the sessions is based on the votes by people.

Lytro – Light Field Camera with Focus on Image Part after Capturing

Lytro, a camera with a concept that beats anyone and everyone in the field of still photography and SLR cameras. It comes with a capability, a conceptual design and the ability to capture light field pictures and it focuses any part of the captured image after it is actually captured. This is something that the creators of the camera says:

The very first light fields were captured at Stanford University over 15 years ago. The most advanced light field research required a roomful of cameras tethered to a supercomputer. Today, Lytro completes the job of taking light fields out of the research lab and making them available for everyone, in the form of the world’s first Lytro Light Field Camera.

The difference between a normal camera and a light field one is that the normal camera tries to use the manual focusing or itself focuses on a particular object or the entire frame, depending on how you set it, but the light field camera of Lytro takes the picture without any focus on any part, but later after the picture is captured the focus can be set on any particular object.
Lytro even comes with some software which records the information of the focus you set, and you can change that later at any time, using that software which makes multiple images from a single capture. The software blurs everything that is not focused, depending on the near and far distance from the object that is focused.

The light field camera of Lytro has a capability to capture the depth in the pictures so that the same picture can be viewed in 3D screens as a 3D picture, and it doesn’t require a dual lens for the same.

Lytro has a design of a rectangular box with the body having a lens and a very simple design, but the function of its is a lot advanced than the other cameras. It would be out in the market in the early 2012 with the price of $399 for the 8GB model, $499 for the 16GB model and these are available for pre-ordering in the Lytro.com website. The 16GB version gives you a choice to select from the 3 colors – Graphite, Red and Blue.

HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One Printer series – C310a

The HP Photosmart Premium c310a is an e-All in one printer which combines the capabilities of what can an All in one printer do along with rich and high quality photo prints as provided by Photosmart printers, it’s the combination of both. Using HP Photosmart Premium C310a e-All-in-One Printer you can perform functions like print, scan and copy from just one printer at your hand.

HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One C310a

HP Photosmart Premium c310 series printers include the models like c310a, c310b and c310c. All the three printers supports wireless internet connectivity using the 802.11 b/g/n and memory cards includes – MMC Plus, Memory Stick Pro Duo, Memory Stick Pro HG Duo, MMC Mobile, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital High capacity, Secure Digital Mini, Secure Digital (SD), Secure Multimedia card and TransFlash MicroSD card with adapter required.

As soon see these printers you would see a drastic change in design when compared with the old HP printers with new streamlined flair and rounded edges. The printer has 4.33 inches touch screen display screen which is the main focal point of the printer. Also it includes a small LCD which shows the notification of connections status which blinks during the operation. Just below that included are the media card reader slots. This particular series misses the PictBridge USB composite port for direct photos imports.

Using the ePrint technology you can print your document wirelessly by sending the documents to the printer email address whether its images, documents or files, pdf and photos. This printer with ePrint technology supports various mail hosting clients like Gmail, Yahoo mail, Hotmail and Microsoft Outlook. Surprisingly we use Google Reader for RSS feeds and this printer was able to print the articles using the ePrint technology as well. But remind you that this printer doesn’t include a Ethernet port for Internet connection and so the wireless Internet is acting the source for ePrint technology to work. The progress of the print jobs que in ePrint can be checkup at HP ePrint Center, which provides job history, browsing and installing apps, cancel prints and lot more.

This printer lacks an auto document feeder (ADF), which means that you should manually load each individual document for scanning. The input paper handling is done using the two separated paper tray one which holds 125 sheets and other which can hold 20 letter size photo papers for photo printing.

The following are the few basic functions specifications of the c310 series printers -

Printing Specifications: According to the printing specifications it provides a maximum resolution of 9600 dpi and uses the Drop on demand thermal inkjet for printing. For all the models the printing speed is up to 33 pages per minute of black and 32 pages per minute of color.

Copying Specifications: It’s quite important to know at what pace your printer copies the document. This series of printer have a copy speed of 33 pages per minute for black and up to 32 pages for the color documents. You can enlarge your documents to up to 200 to 400%.

Scanning Specifications: This c310a series of printer includes an image editor for image editing and the scanning resolution is 4800 x 4800 ppi.

Importantly this series of printer are Energy Star rated to reduce the total energy consumption, it’s covered under the recycling & return program which his accepted by many countries and regions.

HP Photosmart Premium c310a Cartridges

The Hp e All in one C310a being a Photosmart printer uses five individual cartridges namely for black, photo black, cyan, magenta and yellow which are available in two different volumes namely HP 564 cartridge which are supplied with the printer and other is the high yield HP 564 XL cartridges. However XL cartridges are priced somewhat higher than the normal cartridges price.

HP Photosmart Premium c310a Media Size

It supports the printing of letter, legal, executive, envelopes, A4, A3 and A2 papers. The printer supports duplex printing to provide prints on both side of the paper and thus save environment.

HP Photsmart C310a Features

The following are the features of HP Photosmart c310a –

• Whether its maps or calendar or photos or any other documents you can print easily without the need of PC using customizable apps.
• You can quickly print web content, photos and more using the TouchSmart screen.
• Using the HP ePrint you can print from any town or from any room wirelessly.
• This series of printer includes Wi-Fi connectivity.
• Duplex printing to print on both side of the paper
• Wi-Fi connectivity included

HCL Sakshat $35 Android Tablet Device

The HCL Sakshat Tablet device which was announced by the Indian government, at a price tag of $35, now has finally got an official launch date as October 5th, making the month of October busier with the Apple iPhone event being on 4th October and now the very much hyped Sakshat tablet too being launched the next day. At today’s exchange rate of Rs 48.75 for a dollar, it comes out to Rs 1706.25 (via The Tribune).

Kapil Sibal, the HRD Minister said,

The computer will be launched next month, This is not just a dream, it is a reality.
The computer will bring in immense benefits to the students and will be connected to the net and perform all the functions that any other computer can perform. That’s an enormously empowering tool,
While it gives scope to a child to transcend boundaries and acquire knowledge using the net, IT can also be used to root out corruption from the country.

According to Sibal, the things like Bill payment and the level of education and teaching would all change in a few years time, with products like these being brought into the rural areas with an attempt to urbanize them. The HCL Sakshat would be out for sale, after its launch on October 5th, 2011 in New Delhi.

The HCL Sakshat is an Android tablet, which was in controversy recently for being a Chinese product which Indian government might have bought in bulk for a cheap price, rather than the deals with Indian companies to get the spare parts and build the device.

How to: Disable the Facebook Profile News Ticker Sidebar

The News Ticker on the sidebar of Facebook has really changed a lot of things for users, where they get the real-time updates and information about the friends, and this instead for me has been one of the best additions by Facebook in the recent time, apart from the Facebook Timeline. But for many, the News ticker has been an extra feature which they wish they hadn’t seen in their Facebook account, because it wastes time as people keep checking what recently happened in their network. For those who don’t want to have the Facebook Profile News ticker, here is how you can do it.

The trick works only for the Firefox and Google Chrome web browsers, as we are discussing the add-ons for the browsers, rather than something within the Facebook website.

Disable Facebook News Ticker in Firefox Browser -

To disable the news ticker in Facebook on your Firefox browser, you need to use this “Facebook Ticker Removal” add-on which does the simple job of removing the news ticker and the other things are just normal, the chat sidebar moving up in the place where the news ticker was present.

Disable Facebook News Ticker in Google Chrome -

The extension for Google chrome browser too does almost the same job as the one in Firefox, and it removes the ticker from the homepage sidebar and even from the chat sidebar in all the inner pages of the Facebook.

The extensions don’t do anything else that removing the ticker for those who feel that the ticker is annoying and wasting their time, distracting them from being involved into only the important updates that they usually check on the timeline.
It is not just the ticker that is annoying, but even the Facebook ads. You can check how to block Facebook ads too. That would then make Facebook a neat and static kind of social network.

Get the Windows 8 Metro Start Screen in Windows 7

Windows 8 Developer version is out for installation but not everyone would be trying it out already. For those who want to at least have the interface that matches the new and beautiful interface of the Windows 8, they can try it out on their current OS version, i.e. Windows 7. Metro UI is one of the best features that one would be seeing in the Windows 8 OS, and those who have tried the developer version might already have feel in love with it.

The Metro user interface is something that takes content from the web and from the internal content of the PC, supporting the HTML and HTML5 content and keeping the start screen live with rich content always. Windows 7 doesn’t have anything of that kind, so people can experience the same by using a tool named NewGen.

With this Newgen tool, you could install an interface for the start button, where you see those live tiles and windows, with rich content and the apps that you can download and install to appear as one of those tiles on the metro screen. The newgen tool provides support for the HTML widgets and can be customized as you wish. Hit the Start key on your keyboard, and the screen is launched, and from there you can view the videos, play music etc. without having to open them separately.

To download Newgen and get the Windows 8 Metro start screen, go here.

Requirements for the tool:

• Windows 7, Windows Vista
• Microsoft .Net Framework
• Microsoft Zune (* Optional)
• Access to Internet (* Optional)

The 5 Best Gamepads for Gaming Addicts

Gaming addicts would want to have something that keeps them always high on the game, when the gaming pads are in their hands. Here are the 5 best Gamepads for the gaming addicts -

Logitech Wireless Gamepad F710

Link: Wireless (USB port required for receiver)
Programmable: Yes
Vibration: Indeed
The Logitech Cellular Game mat F710 is actually Logitech’s most recent and top quality PC gamepad providing you with support several PC video games. Nearly everything about the Logitech Cellular Gamepad F710 is actually programmable and may be associated with mouse clicks and/or computer keyboard commands. Including the 10 control keys, 2 analog joysticks and also the 8-way directional mat, in addition towards the programmable functions that match your personalized needs the actual F710 Gamepad includes built within vibration with regard to more in-game feedback with no cords in order to interfere or even restrict you throughout a game.

Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 with Vibration Feedback

Link: Wireless
Programmable: Yes
Vibration: Indeed
The Logitech Cord-less Rumblepad two is Logitech’s most widely used gamepads with good cause. The Rumblepad 2 controller offers 10 programmable buttons having a battery life as high as 100 several hours. The Rumblepad 2 can also be fully suitable for Games with regard to Windows games and it has a close to identical configuration towards the Xbox 360 controller.

Saitek P3600 Cyborg Force Rumble Pad

Link: Wired
Programmable: Yes
Vibration: Indeed
This looks as if Saitek gamepads happen to be re-branded below Cyborg, you ought to still have the ability to find among their best gamepads from various online stores. The Saitek Cyborg Pressure Rumble Pad has a reversible directional mat and analogue stick which may be rotated one hundred and eighty degrees to suit any game enthusiasts need. Additionally, it comes using the now regular analog joysticks, a good eight method directional mat and 6 fully programmable control keys. In add-on it includes Saitek’s FRAMES PER SECOND button that instantly applications the gamepad along with keyboard as well as mouse commands utilized in FPS video games.

Logitech Rumble Gamepad F510

Link: Wired
Programmable: Yes
Vibration: Indeed
The 3rd Logitech gamepad during the top 5, the Rumble Gamepad F510 may be the corded/wired version from the F710, but apart from that it is actually identical towards the F710 in most way. If you do not want to pay for a small extra and do not mind the actual cord then you definitely can’t miss using the Rumble Gamepad F510.

Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (Wireless)

Link: Wireless
Programmable: No
Vibration: Indeed
The Xbox 360 console Controller with regard to Windows, since the name indicates, is the cross system gamepad that’s compatible with both PC and Xbox 360 console. It offers both an appropriate feel as well as lightning quick response time that you simply would expect from the console design game controller. Such as the all cellular gamepads, the cellular receiver will need a HARDWARE port. Unlike a few of the other gamepads with this list the Xbox 360 console Controller with regard to Windows doesn’t have programmable buttons that may be tied in order to keyboard instructions.

LG Optimus 2X Not Getting Android Ice Cream Sandwich Update

Much to the disappointment of LG Optimus 2X users, their phones will not be getting the Android Ice Cream Sandwich update. In reply to a question posted by a user on LG’s official Facebook page “IS the lg optimus 2x eligible for a android 4.0 Ice cream sandwich software upgrade?, “Life’s Good” remarked that Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) update will not be introduced on LG Optimus 2X P990.

Going by this statement, it is quite evident that Optimus 2X will not be getting the update now or any time in the future, which is indeed a big blow to all LG Optimus 2X users. Given that the phone has good hardware capabilities – a dual-core processor and 512MB RAM, there’s absolutely no reason why it shouldn’t support the update.
Though this news might be disappointing, it is hardly surprising, especially considering the fact that even Android 2.3 Gingerbread update hasn’t yet been rolled out for Optimus 2X! 
If you are a LG Optimus 2X user and are annoyed by LG’s decision, feel free to express your views using the comment form.

BlackBerry Unveils Porsche Design P’9981 Smartphone

In a bid to capture the lucrative smartphone market in India, Research in Motion (RIM), in collaboration with Porsche Design, has unveiled a stunning new smartphone called Porsche Design P’9981.
Housed in a forged stainless steel frame with a leather back cover & stainless steel sculpted back-lit QWERTY keyboard, this spectacular smartphone now takes its place among a few elite handsets designed by Porsche Design, and guarantees to deliver luxury as well as powerful performance. In a recent press release, Todd Wood, SVP for Industrial Design, RIM said:

“The Porsche Design P’9981 is a truly modern luxury smartphone, where the timeless style of Porsche Design meets the unmatched mobile experience provided by BlackBerry”

Porsche Design P’9981 comes loaded with some excellent features, including exclusive PINs that help easily identify another P’9981 smartphone user. It runs on Blackberry 7 OS and is powered by an impressive 1.2GHz processor with 768MB RAM. Some of the other features include 5 MP camera with 4X Digital zoom (with 720p HD recording), Wi-Fi 802.11 2GHz b/g/n, integrated GPS, bluetooth and preloaded Wikitude world browser app. It comes with 8GB internal memory, which is expandable to 40GB via microSD card.
The price of this stunning smartphone has not officially been announced, a RIM spokesman has confirmed that it is going to be priced as a premium phone.
Though this smartphone is not suited for regular users due to its high price tag, it’ll certainly be embraced by the über wealthy. It’s a limited edition phone, probably that’s one reason why it has been rightly dubbed as a luxury smartphone apart from the hefty price tag.
It will be available at Porsche Design stores all over the world by the end of this year.
What do you think about this phone? Share your views with us.

Samsung to Launch Galaxy Note in India on November 2

Samsung is all set to launch its latest smartphone, Samsung Galaxy Note in India on November 2. The company will live-stream the launch event from Battersea Power Station in London, which can be viewed in India from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm on next Wednesday.

“The GALAXY Note is a device born from our insight and innovation. We examined the fundamental elements of mobile culture, entertainment and communication in order to bring together the best experiences in a single, elegant device”.

—JK Shin
Samsung Mobile President

Samsung Galaxy Note sports a large 5.3 inch Super AMOLED HD display with 1280X800 resolution. It is powered by a powerful 1.4GHz dual core processor with 1GB RAM and runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS, which will most likely be upgraded to Android 4.0 next year. The other features include a 8MP camera with autofocus, LED flash and 1080p video recording, Bluetooth, 3G, Wi-Fi and 16GB internal memory (which can be extended up to 32GB). A front-facing 2MP camera is also included for video calling.
The most interesting aspect of this device is its advanced smart pen called the ‘S Pen” that allows users to scribble messages, annotate, write notes and sketch drawings on the screen. The company claims that the phone has the most advanced pen-input technology, which includes functions like ‘pressure sensitivity, preciseness, speed and more”.
Though there is no official word on the pricing yet, it is expected that the phone will cost somewhere around Rs. 30,000 in India.

Acer, Asus Tablets to Get Updated to Ice Cream Sandwich OS

Asus has released a statement confirming that the EEE tablets will soon be updated with the latest Android operating system, i.e. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) OS. Similarly Acer has also announced that they are going to get the latest OS on their Iconia Tab A100 and A500 tablets by January 2012.

Though unlike Acer, Asus has not set a time frame for the release of the OS update for their tablets, it is expected that Transformer tab will be updated first, followed by Slider and the other tablets.  Their latest tablet, Transformer 2 will also come preloaded with Android 4.0 OS.
In statement released by the company about the update:

“Are you waiting for Ice Cream Sandwich? Good news for ASUS customers. Google recently announced the latest update for Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, which brings some exciting new features and capabilities. At ASUS, we pride ourselves on delivering a great experience with our products, thanks to frequent updates that further enhance our products’ capabilities. We’re delighted to confirm support for Ice Cream Sandwich on the ASUS Eee Pad Family – our aim is to bring the latest Android update to the Eee Pad Series, but at this time we are unable to set a date for its release. Please stay tuned for more news on our Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade plans.”

This might be great news for all Asus and Acer tablet fans and users, since they will be able to get their hands on the latest Android OS very soon indeed.

RIM Delays Playbook Software Update

Research in Motion (RIM) has left customers disappointed with its latest announcement that the software upgrade for its Playbook tablet has been delayed till February next year. Evene worse, the tablet will most probably ship without the Blackberry messenger (BBM) software which means users will have to continue to use Blackbery Bridge messaging service.

According to a blog post by David J. Smith, SVP for BlackBerry PlayBook, “As much as we’d love to have it in your hands today, we’ve made the difficult decision to wait to launch BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 until we are confident we have fully met the expectations of our developers, enterprise customers and end-users”.
RIM had already launched the beta version of its BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, as well as the final version of the native SDK for the tablet last week at BlackBerry DevCon Americas, which allows developers to begin porting their native apps to the Blackberry platform. The company also announced that it “will also be starting a series of closed betas of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 with select enterprise customers from our Early Adopter Program (EAP)” to bring a range of capabilities to their tablets.
Let’s see if Blackberry can stay true to its words this time around and deliver the PlayBook OS 2.0 update in February 2012.

Nokia Announces Asha Series 40 Smartphones

Nokia has announced to launch a range of Symbian 40 Smartphones called Asha in this year’s Nokia World conference. Earlier this year, Nokia had vowed “to capture volume and value growth to connect the “next billion” mobile users”. Keeping its promise, Nokia has unveiled four new handsets – Nokia Asha 303, Asha 300, Asha 201 and Asha 200.

Asha 303 is the costliest among the lot, priced at 115 euros (approx. Rs 8000). This Touch and Type phone is packed with many features, including QWERTY keyboard, 3.2MP camera, 3G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It is powered by a 1GHz processor and comes preinstalled with Nokia Browser and Angry Birds Lite. The phone will be available in two colors - Red and Graphite.
Next up, Asha 300 is an affordably priced Touch and Type phone that is powered by a 1GHz processor. It comes loaded with some nice features – 5-megapixel camera, Music player, FM radio, Blueooth and 3G to name a few. Priced at €85 (approx. Rs. 6000), Asha 300 will be available in the following colors – Graphite, Night Shade, Gold, White Silver, Pink and Red.
Coming on to the next two phones – Asha 201 and Asha 200, which are quite similar in most aspects, with the only difference being that the former supports Dual-SIM connectivity. Both these phones feature a full QWERTY keyboard and look quite vibrant, thanks to their catchy colors. The memory can be expanded up to 32GB, so you can store all your favorite songs & videos. One-click Social networking access, IM and email integration have been provided in both handsets. The other features include Stereo FM radio with recording, 2-megapixel camera with 4x zoom and access to WhatsAPP messaging app. Both these devices are expected to cost around 60 euros (approx. Rs. 4100).

Which one of these phones do you like the most? Share your views with us.

Sony Tablet S launched in Australia, 16 GB model out of stock from Day One

Today, Sony launched the Tablet S powered by Android 3.2 in Australia. The tablet is available in Wifi only version with 16 GB and 32 GB models. You can purchase it from retail stores or Sony Official Website.The brand new Tablet S from Sony runs on 1 GHz processor and 1 GB RAM. Available in 16 GB & 32 GB with expansion slots, the tablet comes with 9.4” LED-lit TruBlack screen and high resolution of 1280 x 800. It also sports a 5 MP HD camera and 0.3 MP rear camera. Here are some more features to look for:

• Ergonomically designed results in less wrist strain
• Pre-installed with games for PlayStation Certified devices
• Stream over 7 million songs from a global catalogue
• USB port, Headphone jack & DC IN port for charging
• Accelerometer, Gyro, Digital Compass and Ambient Light Sensor
• Up to 8 hours of battery

The 16GB WiFi only version has been priced at A$579 and 32GB version at A$689 excluding delivery charges. Surprisingly, 16 GB model is out of stock from day one and at the time of writing. Sony is also providing accessories like keyboard, Cradle, adapter, screen protector & more.
We will also update you on Twitter as soon as 16 GB model is available. You can follow TechBU here.

ViewSonic Launches ViewPad 7e – Android Tablet Under $200

Viewsonic has recently launched its latest tablet PC, Viewpad 7e, an affordably priced 7-inch tablet. Though it might not be as appealing as some of the other big names when it comes to tablet computers, Viewpad 7e will definitely give them a run for their money, thanks to its ultra-low price tag of $199 (though still significantly higher than the Rs. 3k Akaash tablet).

Viewpad 7e runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread OS) and though other top-notch tablets might be using Honeycomb OS, we certainly can’t complain since they are priced way higher as well.
Talking about the specs, which seem to be quite decent for the price, Viewpad 7e is powered by a 1 GHz processor and comes with 512MB RAM and 4 GB of internal storage that can be upgraded up to 32GB. It has a 800 X 600 multi-touch display and also supports RiteTouch, which enables you to write on the screen using a stylus.
The tablet also features a 3-megapixel rear camera and 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video calling. A HDMI port that supports 1080p HD video is also provided. The connectivity options include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Though Viewpad 7e seems to a good package for the price it comes at, you can get your hands on Amazon’s latest Fire tablet for the same price, only if you are willing to wait till November 15.
What do you think about this tablet? Do share your views.

HTC Teams Up With Dropbox to Offer 5GB Free Online Storage

HTC, a leading smartphone maker, has partnered with the popular online storage service Dropbox to offer 5GB free online storage to its smartphone users. But only users of the latest HTC Android phones (HTC Rhyme, Rezound etc.) will get the benefit of additional 3GB storage apart from the free 2GB offered to anyone who downloads the free Dropbox app to their handset.

Dropbox currently provides users with 2GB of free storage, with the opportunity to upgrade that to a maximum of 10GB by convincing their friends and acquaintances to sign up for the service. Now with this additional 3GB offer, reaching the 10GB storage mark becomes even more easy.
This deal was announced yesterday and confirmed in the Official HTC Facebook page where HTC wrote “We’re happy to share the good news with you here, first. We recently partnered with Dropbox! So, now Dropbox will come pre-installed on all Android phones, giving you 5GB of storage.”
HTC’s deal with Dropbox comes in the wake of the 5GB of free online storage offered by Apple through its newly launched iCloud service. The deal will soon expand to all smartphones running HTC Sense 3.5 OS, and will allow customers to sync their phones with any device running the Dropbox software to save their data online directly in the cloud storage.
What do you think about this offer? Come share your views with us.

RIM Giving Away BlackBerry Curve Free with Playbook in India

To make full use of the festive season in India, Research In Motion (RIM) has announced that it will give away a free Blackberry Curve 8520 on every Playbook tablet purchased by the customer.

According to a statement by the company “This festive season on purchase of BlackBerry PlayBook on MRP (max retail price), BlackBerry is offering a free BlackBerry Curve 8520 and a BlackBerry PlayBook accessory“. The offer is valid on all variants of the tablet, including the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions at all BlackBerry outlets across India.
This seems to be an incredible Diwali offer, and if you are thinking of buying a tablet, you probably won’t get a better deal than this. The offer lasts till November 30, 2011 so you have plenty of time to take the decision.
By providing this offer BlackBerry is probably trying to make up for the inconveniences caused to its customers a few days back when there were repeated shutdowns of email and messaging service, which left customers with only SMS and voice calls for four days!
What do you think about this offer? Are you going to buy a Blackberry Playbook this Diwali?

Steve Jobs Biography Now Available On Kindle & iBooks

The eagerly awaited biography of the Apple’s legendary innovator, Steve Jobs is now available on Amazon’s Kindle Store and Apple’s iBookStore. It has been written by the famous biographer Walter Isaacson and costs $16.99.
The biography is based on more than forty interviews conducted with Jobs over a period of two years as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues. It documents Jobs’ roller-coaster ride throughout his life and tries to cover both aspects of his personality – his flaws as well as his genius.
The most interesting fact about it is this biography is that although Jobs cooperated with this book, asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published.
Walter Isaacson, the biographer who has written Jobs’ biography has been much commended for his biographies about Sir Albert Einstein and Sir Benjamin Franklin. If you haven’t already pre-ordered it, you can buy it directly from iTunes or Kindle Store.
Are you going to buy it? Do share your views with us.

Siri: The Smartest Addition to the iPhone Family ?

Technology is constantly evolving; what is one day deemed as the next-generation gadget quickly becomes outdated only in a matter of a few days. All this and much more, thanks to the innovative brains behind what is arguably the world’s most innovative electronics manufacturer, Apple. Notwithstanding the fact that the mastermind behind the incredibly famous products of Apple – Steve Jobs has recently taken to the heavens, Apple has not stopped inventing, which is undoubtedly it’s USP.
Though Apple did not release the much awaited iPhone 5, instead it came out with a much better version of iPhone 4, known as iPhone 4S, with some highly improved features, an updated OS (IOS 5.0) and processor (Apple A5). Though there are a number of marked improvements, the most distinguished feature that struck to us the most is Siri, an app integrated in the iOS5 itself. So what’s so special about this app that people are going gung-ho about it? As most of you would not be aware of the plethora of exciting features Siri brings to iPhone 4S, let me take you on a mind-boggling tour of what Siri has to offer.

What’s So Special About Siri?

Though Siri is essentially a voice recognition software, but it is its unparalleled intelligence that sets it apart from the rest of the lot. Unlike any other voice recognition software, Siri uses a series of services & analysers for speed-to-text and grammar that provide it with amazing capabilities, making it both fun & useful at the same time.
Siri’s speech-to-analyzer easily converts any voice commands into text. Seems quite trivial, right? Well, there’s much more it than just this. Thanks to its amazing smartness, Siri can even understand sentences like “Call Mom when I reach home”. Though this may seem quite unbelievable, the fact is that Siri has such embedded capabilities & cutting-edge technology that make it possible for it to perform such remarkable tasks.

How Siri Works

Whenever a user inputs a voice command into the phone, Siri sends it to Apple servers where it is automatically converted to text using a speech-to-text analyser. The resulting text is then comprehended by the grammar analyser and the subsequent response is sent back by the servers. Let’s see the working behind this; taking the above example where we had input the command “Call Mom when I reach office”, the advanced analyser automatically connects the word “Mom” with a contact in your phonebook and “office” with a specific GPS coordinate. So when you (and your iPhone) reach that coordinate, the app automatically makes a call to your mom. Pretty simple, right?

How Siri Can Benefit You

Now you must be wondering what all tasks can be accomplished using Siri. Can you only make calls to someone? Nope, Siri can perform a variety of functions and can greatly help automate most of your trivial day-to-day tasks. You can use Siri to send text messages, answer emails, make calls to anyone in your contact list, provide information about any location, help you check how your stocks are doing, and much more. Oh God, this is getting too long. Let me just give you a list of it’s uses…

1. Send text messages
2. Provide weather information
3. Set an alarm
4. Get information from reliable sources, including Wikipedia, Yelp etc.
5. Schedule meetings
6. Compose emails
7. Provide info about stocks
8. Set reminders
9. Set the timer
10. Make notes
11. Search the web

Will Siri Understand Indian Accent?

Until recently, Siri was unable to understand Indian accent and hence not of much use to Indians. But thanks to the latest update, Siri can now easily comprehend any voice commands in Indian accent without any apparent hassles.

Any Downsides?

Though Siri definitely provides much fun and brings hitherto explored smartness to voice recognition technology, the only downside to it is that it has to contact apple servers to process the voice input, and thus if you not connected via 3G or Wi-Fi, it is pretty much useless.
In our last post, we mentioned 5 reasons why you should not buy iPhone 4S, and even though Siri tries its best to make up for it, the verdict pretty much remains the same.
So what do you think about it? Do share your thoughts with us.

How to Protect Yourself from Mobile Networks Fraud: An Insight into TRAI

TRAI, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is the independent regulator of the telecommunications business in India. It has laid down various rules and regulations on various subjects like tariff, interconnections and mobile number portability for the protection of consumer interests. But none of the mobile operators educate the users about these rules and guidelines and most subscribers are not aware of a majority of them. Due to unfair practices employed by some of the mobile network providers, even today some people are scared of taking a postpaid connection, fearing that the network provider might impose extra or hidden charges later on. Even prepaid users are afraid of balance deductions as we often hear people saying “Airtel deducted my balance“, “Idea deducted my balance” “Being charged for GPRS“, “VAS activated by default“, “Service renewed automatically” and so on.
Thanks to TRAI, subscribers don’t need to worry about any issues concerning mobile networks, provided they know the appropriate rules and learn how to deal with any issue they face in the future. Let’s take a detailed look at the various measures TRAI has laid down to safeguard consumer interests.

How Users Are Protected

As I said before, TRAI makes sure users don’t face any problems when it comes to issues regarding any mobile network. Here is a comprehensive list of the ways users are protected at all times:

1. A tariff plan once offered by a service provider shall be available to a subscriber for a minimum period of six months from the date of enrollment of the subscriber to that tariff plan.
2. The subscriber shall be free to choose any other tariff plan whenever he/she wants.
3. The network provider cannot activate any chargeable service (including VAS) without the user’s permission.
4. The trail services can not be auto renewed by the mobile network provider.
5. All issues need to be resolved by the network provider within 3 days.
6. No surcharge shall be levied for any of the national roaming services.
7. Receiving SMS is free while roaming.
8. The network provider cannot charge any type of fixed or recurring charges for roaming facility.
9. Maximum permissible per minute charges for roaming calls, irrespective of the terminating networks, and irrespective of tariff plans would be:
   • Rs. 1.40 for outgoing local calls
   • Rs. 2.40 for outgoing NLD calls
   • Rs. 1.75 for incoming calls
10. Services that do not affect “talk time value” such as incoming SMS/voice calls will be available during the validity period even after the talk time value is exhausted.
11. In case a SIM gets lost, the user can get a new one by paying the appropriate charges and any unused amount should be carried over to the renewed SIM, if replacement is done within a specified time period.
12. The title of no tariff plan should be misleading & all monthly fixed recurring charges for a subscribers under a given plan have to be shown under one head (including Value Added Services).
13. Any unused balance has to be carried forward if the recharge is done in the grace period.
14. The billing shall be transparent, and no hidden charges should be levied.
15. All advertisements regarding a particular service or plan need to mention the appropriate pulse rate/ tariff applicable.
16. The websites of the service providers and the tariff brochures shall contain complete details of the tariff plans.
17. Days on which free SMS are not available need to mentioned in the package itself. SMS charges applicable on such days shall be conveyed to the subscribers.
18. The dates corresponding to such days shall not be altered once a pack is subscribed by the customer.
19. No addition should be made to the list of such days after the pack is subscribed.

What Mobile Networks Are Supposed To Provide

Now that we are aware of the various clauses laid down by TRAI that protect consumers from mobile networks, let’s take a look at what all mobile networks are supposed to provide to subscribers:

1. Hard copy of the bill shall be provided to the post-paid subscribers free of cost.
2. The bill shall contain details of the methodology applied for calculations of amount mentioned in the telephone bills, details of pulse rates and charges, STD, ISD and SMS charges and monthly fixed charges.
3. The bill shall also contain details for the mode of payment of the bill, details of grievance mechanism, procedure for change of billing address, details of late payment charges and acknowledge of last payment made.
4. Hard copy of the call logs for prepaid customers need to be provided if requested.
5. All cellular network providers are required to inform the customer in writing, the complete details of his tariff plan within one week of activation of the service.

How to File Complaints

If you have a complaint about your mobile phone service, the first step is to call the call center of your service provider using the appropriate toll-free number and obtain the docket number for the registration of your complaint.
Though most complaints should be resolved within a few days, if you are still not satisfied with the redressal of your complaint, you can contact the Nodal Officer of your service provider.
If your complaint is not redressed by the Nodal Officer within the time limit specified, you can appeal to the appellate authority of the service provider, where the appeal will be decided within 3 months.
For the complete list & subsequent details of the appropriate Appellate authority for each mobile network provider, you can visit this link.

Motorola Xoom with Ice Cream Sandwich OS Soon

Motorola Xoom, a tablet which has been deemed as the best tablet pc time and again by various tech junkies cum experts around the world, is soon going to be updated with the latest Android OS – Ice Cream Sandwich a.k.a. Android v4.0.
Recently there had been a lot of speculations and rumors flying around on whether or not this mighty tablet will get a taste of the latest Android operating system, and everyone was eagerly waiting for the official confirmation from Motorola regarding the update.

Though the exact date for this highly anticipated update has not been announced yet, it is more than likely that the update might take place anytime soon. Matt at Motorola’s support forum, who is a highly reliable source, confirmed that Motorola is all set to roll out the ICS for the Xoom tablet.
This is indeed great news for all Android fans out there, who will then be able to boast that their prized possession – Motorola Xoom is the first Ice Cream Sandwich tablet in the world! Well, let’s just hope the update comes out in time or the fervor might just start declining!

How to Create Word Documents Online for Free

Microsoft Word is the ultimate word processor software that is used by millions of computer users. Though there have hardly been any alternatives that match up to the power, ease of use and advanced editing features of this revolutionary software from Microsoft, sometimes we are left with no choice but to search for the next best alternative to it.
There are lots of people around the world who can’t install Microsoft Office on their computer due to their lack of free space on their hard drives (god knows what they cram their hard drives with!) and thus are unable to create word documents as a result. And whether we admit it or not, some of us are even too lazy to install the software, so when we need to create a .docx file, we start cursing our procrastination and wish we had installed the software in time. Even worse, a large number of people can’t afford Microsoft Word since it is not free and costs a couple of hundred bucks give or take. Also, when we are on the go and urgently need to churn out a document, we are caught in a soup as we are unaware of the tools available to swiftly create a word document online.
No need to worry though; using any one of the several online tools available, you will no longer have trouble in creating a word document in minutes! So let’s take a look at the top 2 free online word processors:

1. Zoho Writer

Zoho Writer is an online word processor that lets you create, share and export documents in a variety of formats. What’s best about it is that it has such a comprehensive list of advanced features that you won’t feel the absence of Microsoft Word for a second.
All you have to do is sign up for Zoho Writer for free using this link, and subsequently verify your mail. Upon verification, you can log in to Zoho and start using their incredibly easy to use word processor and create as many documents as you like.

If you want to save your documents, you will have to use the option of “export” which is available on the left hand corner of your screen. You will be presented with a wide range of options to save your documents in, including .doc, .docx, .rtf, .html, text file and even as a pdf file. Things just can’t become simpler than this!
Even better, if you are a blogger, you can use Zoho Writer to write and publish posts on your blog instantly. So what are you waiting for, get started right away!

2. Google Docs:

Another great tool from Google, and a highly popular one indeed. Google Docs lets you create and share your documents on the web and access them from any computer or smart phone in the world with the click of a button.
Not only is it better and faster than most online document processors, the best part is that it’s free to use as well! Just use your gmail ID to login and you’ll be able to do most of your work online, including making spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, forums and word documents.

The most distinguishing feature offered by Google Docs is the ability to take pictures with your Android phone and insert them into a Google document using the Web Clipboard function in the Google Docs Android App.
Which, according to you, is the best online tool for creating word documents? Do share your views with us.

What Should your New Blog be About?

Bloggers blog for a variety of reasons, whether it is personal blogging or doing it professionally to make money. Whatever your reason, if you plan to start a new blog, chances are that you are overwhelmed by the choice and variety in front of you regarding what your new blog should be about. Here, I will talk about what the most important considerations are when you try to blog professionally, i.e. if you wish to monetize your blog at some point of time.

Tip-1: Write what you Like

Isn’t it obvious? You blog about what you like, right? You would be surprised by how many people don’t follow this simple piece of advice. The main reason is that they look for the very short term. Someone gets wind of “highest paying Adsense keywords” and wants to blog about them, while another hears that the niche XYZ has a lot of potential for making money and wants to blog in this niche irrespective of his knowledge or interest.
So what’s wrong with this? It is unsustainable. You will have the motivation to blog for a couple of weeks, but then you lose the enthusiasm. Plus, if you are truly interested in what you blog about, it certainly shows in your posts. Think about this: if you were to make $0 for the next year and had to blog regularly all through this period, would you be willing to do it?

Tip-2: Write What you Know

This is especially true for all wannabe tech and internet marketing bloggers. Even though you like these niches, breaking into them isn’t too easy. There are a gazillion blogs and sites that do this. You need to provide a unique flavor to your blog through which your readers can benefit. If you just give out the same oft-repeated messages without bringing anything new to the table, your chances of success are slim to nil.
There are many niches where you need a detailed knowledge of the topic you are writing about and it helps to know your niche in addition to being interested in it. If you know a topic inside out, it is a good starting point. If you blog without authority, you are unlikely to get very far. If you are writing about making money online, you better have your own story to share. If you are writing about grooming dogs, you better be a dog breeder or own a dog. People always look for authority and authenticity and if you cannot provide them, it is hard to succeed.

Tip-3: It is all About the Potential

Problogging is a lot to do with the potential that a niche has. Of course, a niche with a lot of potential probably has a ton of very well established blogs in it already, but it is still good to understand the potential of a niche or topic that you want to write about.
When you are looking at potential, you need to look at the following areas:

• The potential for future growth.
• The potential to be a market leader (competition)
• The potential to earn money

This should help you streamline your thought process. The potential to make a decent amount of money is existent in most niches. However, you need to determine if you are motivated enough to write about this topic on a sustained basis and if this is worth your effort.
I hope some of this helps people in deciding their future blog topics and areas.

My 5 Reasons for not buy iPhone 4S

After a long wait for about 15 months Apple has finally launched a new version of its popular smartphone, iPhone 4S.  Like millions of Apple lovers, even I waited desperately for this but in the end it was a total letdown. We expected iPhone 5 with major redesign but the company launched a same phone with few changes in technical specifications and they call it the most amazing iPhone yet. So here I am covering five good reasons why you should not buy the new iPhone 4S.  Please note that I am also an Apple lover but as I said before, this was a total letdown in my opinion and many fans.

1) Design

This is the biggest thing a company can work on a new product to grab a quick attention around the globe. But Apple didn’t care & I really can’t understand what they were actually doing past 15 months. iPhone 4S comes with same design and display size which makes it look old. I mean if you buy a new iPhone, you need to personally tell your friend ‘got a new mobile’. Well he still might not believe this until he a) sees face detection feature, b) Siri comes in, c) plays new infinity blade  or d) may be a bill receipt in the end would finally convenience your friend, yea thats a new iPhone.

2) Siri

Apple says Siri is one of the best reason you should get an iPhone 4S. Well, Siri Assistant is not new & was available as an app back in 2010. Lately, Apple bought the company who developed Siri and now of course App no longer exist. Existing users get a message: “I’ve been replaced! The new Siri is even smarter and better-looking than me, and waiting for you on the iPhone 4S. I’ll be leaving for home Oct 15th.”  The main reason what Apple says to buy new iPhone was already available an year back and moreover people who paid for this app now begging for a refund. That’s sad & shocking as well, isn’t?

3) Outdated Specs

If we compare 4S with other smartphones you can easily notice that expect the 8MP camera, iPhone comes with outdated specs. The phone has 800Mhz processor and 512 MB RAM whereas phones like Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus or Motorola Droid Razr are powered with 1.2Ghz processor and 1 GB RAM. Although Apple has added A5 processor but they are still using it with just 800 Mhz clock speed and just 512 MB RAM.

4) Own iPhone 4

This is certainly the best reason: Why buy an iPhone 4S if you already have an iPhone 4. To play Angry Birds little faster ? To chat with Siri ? All this crap on same 1.5 year old design and 3.5 inch screen which you already have on your iPhone 4. To see an increment in sales of iPhone 4S, Apple has played smart by discontinuing the 16GB and 32GB models of iPhone 4 leaving customers with only 8GB version. Everyone knows who wants a smartphone with just 8 GB memory and no expandable memory option later.

5) iPhone 5 coming

You heard it right. Since there is no major upgrade in iPhone 4S, there are maximum chances you can see iPhone 5 at WWDC 2012 held in June every year. iPhone 5 is certainly expected to be the biggest upgrade in terms of design as it will be two years from June 2010 (Launch of iPhone 4) to June 2012 and people around the globe would be eagerly waiting for all new iPhone with something revolutionary, for which Apple has been always famous.
I am surely not getting the new iPhone & buying Galaxy Nexus instead which was launched just two days ago. What about you ?

Galaxy Nexus announced, runs on Android ICS 4.0

Samsung and Google has just announced the much awaited Galaxy Nexus featuring Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 which runs on 1.2 Ghz Dual Core processor with beautiful 4.65 inch HD Super AMOLED Plus display.
Here are the new features:

• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED Screen with 720p resolution
• 1.2GHz dual-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 5 MP camera with LED flash on the rear with “with zero shutter lag”
• 1.3 MP camera front camera for video calling.
• Bluetooth 3.0, USB 2.0, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi (2.4GHz and 5GHz)
• NFC
• Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope, and light / proximity sensors, and barometer
• Curved Form
• 16/32GB internal storage
• LTE and HSPA+ connectivity
• Dimensions: 135.5 x 67.94 x 8.94
• Weight: 135g

With Galaxy Nexus, Android new version Ice Cream Sandwich has also been announced. Read more about ICS here. Meanwhile, do tell us your views on Galaxy Nexus.

Detailed Comparison: Samsung Nexus v/s iPhone 4S

After the launch of Samsung Galaxy Nexus, this is the best possible comparison everyone is looking for. Both iPhone 4S and Galaxy Nexus have been announced this month & while iPhone comes with same design, Galaxy Nexus is a complete change. Lets have a look into specifications and find which one is better for you.Processor & RAM: Both devices run on dual-core processors. iPhone 4S comes with 800 Mhz & Galaxy Nexus with 1.2 Ghz clock speed. In terms of RAM, iPhone 4S has 512 MB while Galaxy Nexus has 1GB RAM. Although iPhone 4S is nearly as fast as Nexus but technically, Nexus has better specs.
Winner: Galaxy Nexus
Display: Galaxy Nexus has stunning Super AMOLED 4.65 inch display with resolution of 1280 x 720 and it clearly beats awesome retina display on iPhone 4S with 960 x 640 resolution. While iPhone 4S still has slightly more pixel destiny which makes text & images more sharper.
Winner: Galaxy Nexus
Camera: With addition of fifth lens, iPhone 4S is the best camera phone in the market, even better than some point & shoot cameras. It can record full 1080p videos with 8 megapixels and all-new optics. On the other hand, Nexus sports a 5 MP camera & can also record videos in full 1080p.
Winner: iPhone 4S
Operating System: Instead of restrictions which come in iOS, you can’t deny that iOS is the leader for the quality of apps we see on iDevices. Android, no doubt is one of the best open source operating system but at the end of the day what matters is applications you run on your phone. This is my opinion and android fans will totally disagree on this.
Winner: iPhone 4S
User Interface: Well, again iPhone is the leader. If you compare any app like Facebook, Twitter you will definitely see the difference. The icons are not properly aligned and lacks a polished look seen on iOS device. Also, you will not see good games on an android device. There are reasons for same: Android is shipping in hundreds of different manufactures while iOS is only available for iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad which makes it easy for developers to design quality apps.
Winner: iPhone 4S
Storage: Galaxy Nexus is available in 2 models: 16 GB and 32 GB and surprisingly with no option for expandable memory.  While iPhone 4S is available in 3 models: 16 GB, 32 GB & 64 GB. This clearly states iPhone 4S as the winner.
Winner: iPhone 4S
Battery: The biggest disappointment before and after Android ICS announcement remains the same. Battery !! This time again Google didn’t mentioned anything about battery improvements. Whereas Apple has been consistently working on battery from the day one. Even an android fan will agree that iPhone 4S wins.
Winner: iPhone 4S
Price: Pricing for Google Nexus has not been revealed yet but its obvious that you will see Nexus getting a lower price tag when compared to iPhone 4S which is available at $649 for 16GB (Unlocked).
Winner: Galaxy Nexus
This is it. Now it depends on you which phone are you getting this holiday. I already have iPhone 4 so I am not upgrading to 4S and buying Galaxy Nexus instead. Do tell us your choice.