REDMOND, Wash.--Qi Lu knows as well as anyone just how difficult it is to take on Google.
For nearly a decade, Lu played a leading role in building Yahoo's Internet search and advertising technologies. The effort was so important that Yahoo backed it with billions of dollars to acquire companies, hire armies of engineers and develop and run its own systems. Yet Yahoo fell further and further behind and many analysts said the company was simply outgunned by Google.
Lu, who is 47, left Yahoo 14 months ago but now finds himself once again leading the charge against Google. This time, he is backed by a patron that vows to spend even more than Yahoo did on the mission: Microsoft.
"It's an unfinished mission that I would like to work on," he said.
The challenge for Lu and his team remains enormous, and success appears improbable. But since Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, tapped him to become president of the company's online services division in December, Lu, a self-effacing engineer who is one of the most private and atypical executives in the upper ranks of the Internet industry, has earned the confidence of Microsoft's troops and helped to bring a dose of optimism to a beaten-down team.
Possessing unusual stamina and a maniacal work ethic, he has pushed his team hard to give Microsoft an important victory. In nightly 9:30 meetings over several weeks, he leaned on his managers to find creative ways to structure a sweeping and complex partnership with Yahoo. The deal, signed in July, will give Microsoft something it has coveted for years: a vastly larger audience that will make Bing, its search engine, the runner-up to Google.
By Miguel Helft [VIA:The New York Times ]
Also Read On :http://news.cnet.com/
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Apple retail news: three new stores opened this weekend
While all of the attention this weekend was around the launch of Snow Leopard, Apple opened up three new retail stores; two new stores in the US and one in Germany.
First, the company opened a new store in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday, which is now Apple's second store in Germany, after the store in Munich opened last December.
Second, there's a new store in Dedham, Massachusetts at the Legacy Place shopping center. This store will be the ninth store in the state of Massachusetts.
Finally, Apple also opened up a new store at the Stonebriar shopping complex in Frisco, Texas. This store makes it the sixth store in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
If you live in or are near one of these areas, be sure to check out your new Apple Store. As always, we would love to hear your stories of your first visit or see your photos!
Story: http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/30/apple-retail-news-three-new-stores-opened-this-weekend/
First, the company opened a new store in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday, which is now Apple's second store in Germany, after the store in Munich opened last December.
Second, there's a new store in Dedham, Massachusetts at the Legacy Place shopping center. This store will be the ninth store in the state of Massachusetts.
Finally, Apple also opened up a new store at the Stonebriar shopping complex in Frisco, Texas. This store makes it the sixth store in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
If you live in or are near one of these areas, be sure to check out your new Apple Store. As always, we would love to hear your stories of your first visit or see your photos!
Story: http://www.tuaw.com/2009/08/30/apple-retail-news-three-new-stores-opened-this-weekend/
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Translate documents: sharing across languages and generations
My cousin is in first grade and sometimes she writes short stories for class. I try to share the stories with her grandparents, but because Japanese is their first language and they don't speak English very well, it's been tough. Today we're releasing a feature for Google Docs to make this kind of multi-lingual sharing easier — you can now automatically translate documents into 42 different languages.
So for my cousin's latest story, I helped her type it up in Google Docs and then clicked "Translate document" from the "Tools" menu. In a matter of seconds, Google Docs has translated the whole story into Japanese using Google Translate's technology.
You can replace the original document with the translation or make a new translated version. I like keeping an English version for friends here and creating a separate Japanese version for her grandparents. All the formatting and layout is preserved no matter what language it's in — translations aren't perfect, but we are continuously working on improving translation quality over time. We hope this new feature helps you more easily share information without worrying about language barriers.
Official Google Blog: Translate documents: sharing across languages and generations
So for my cousin's latest story, I helped her type it up in Google Docs and then clicked "Translate document" from the "Tools" menu. In a matter of seconds, Google Docs has translated the whole story into Japanese using Google Translate's technology.
You can replace the original document with the translation or make a new translated version. I like keeping an English version for friends here and creating a separate Japanese version for her grandparents. All the formatting and layout is preserved no matter what language it's in — translations aren't perfect, but we are continuously working on improving translation quality over time. We hope this new feature helps you more easily share information without worrying about language barriers.
Official Google Blog: Translate documents: sharing across languages and generations
Friday, August 28, 2009
Apple, Amazon offering Snow Leopard discounts
Mac OS X Snow Leopard arrives Friday and will cost $29 for those who already use Mac OS X Leopard. However, there are some deals out there.
The best of the deals comes from Apple. With its Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Program, users can get the new operating system for $9.95. To qualify for that price, they must have purchased a qualifying Mac on or after June 8.
Apple is pretty open with the number of computers that qualify for this offer. Everything from iMacs to its MacBook notebooks is included. Specific model numbers are listed on Apple's Web site.
Apple's deal ends December 26.
For those who don't qualify for that deal, Amazon.com has an alternative one. Amazon is selling Snow Leopard for $25 for upgrades from Leopard. Apple said that Amazon also has reduced pricing--$149--on the Snow Leopard Box Set, which includes iLife '09 and iWork '09, for those upgrading from Mac OS X Tiger. (Amazon specifies that the box set is for those upgrading from Leopard. But Apple's site and an Apple rep said only Tiger users need the box set.)
More Review At : http://news.cnet.com
The best of the deals comes from Apple. With its Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Program, users can get the new operating system for $9.95. To qualify for that price, they must have purchased a qualifying Mac on or after June 8.
Apple is pretty open with the number of computers that qualify for this offer. Everything from iMacs to its MacBook notebooks is included. Specific model numbers are listed on Apple's Web site.
Apple's deal ends December 26.
For those who don't qualify for that deal, Amazon.com has an alternative one. Amazon is selling Snow Leopard for $25 for upgrades from Leopard. Apple said that Amazon also has reduced pricing--$149--on the Snow Leopard Box Set, which includes iLife '09 and iWork '09, for those upgrading from Mac OS X Tiger. (Amazon specifies that the box set is for those upgrading from Leopard. But Apple's site and an Apple rep said only Tiger users need the box set.)
More Review At : http://news.cnet.com
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Download Over a Million Public Domain Books from Google Books in the Open EPUB Format
Over the years, we've heard a lot from people who've unearthed hidden treasures in Google Books: a crafter who uncovered a forgotten knitting technique, a family historian who discovered her ancestor once traveled the country with a dancing, roller-skating bear. The books they found were out of copyright and in the public domain, which meant they could read the full text and even download a PDF version of the book.
I'm excited to announce that starting today, Google Books will offer free downloads of these and more than one million more public domain books in an additional format, EPUB. By adding support for EPUB downloads, we're hoping to make these books more accessible by helping people around the world to find and read them in more places.
More people are turning to new reading devices to access digital books, and many such phones, netbooks, and e-ink readers have smaller screens that don't readily render image-based PDF versions of the books we've scanned.
EPUB is a lightweight text-based digital book format that allows the text to automatically conform (or "reflow") to these smaller screens. And because EPUB is a free, open standard supported by a growing ecosystem of digital reading devices, works you download from Google Books as EPUBs won't be tied to or locked into a particular device.
We'll also continue to make available these books in the popular PDF format so you can see images of the pages just as they appear in the printed book.
To get started, just find any public domain book on Google Books and click on the Download button in the toolbar.
Inside Google Books: Download Over a Million Public Domain Books from Google Books in the Open EPUB Format
I'm excited to announce that starting today, Google Books will offer free downloads of these and more than one million more public domain books in an additional format, EPUB. By adding support for EPUB downloads, we're hoping to make these books more accessible by helping people around the world to find and read them in more places.
More people are turning to new reading devices to access digital books, and many such phones, netbooks, and e-ink readers have smaller screens that don't readily render image-based PDF versions of the books we've scanned.
EPUB is a lightweight text-based digital book format that allows the text to automatically conform (or "reflow") to these smaller screens. And because EPUB is a free, open standard supported by a growing ecosystem of digital reading devices, works you download from Google Books as EPUBs won't be tied to or locked into a particular device.
We'll also continue to make available these books in the popular PDF format so you can see images of the pages just as they appear in the printed book.
To get started, just find any public domain book on Google Books and click on the Download button in the toolbar.
Inside Google Books: Download Over a Million Public Domain Books from Google Books in the Open EPUB Format
Introducing Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) lets you create your own logically isolated set of Amazon EC2 instances and connect it to your existing network using an IPsec VPN connection. This new offering lets you take advantage of the low cost and flexibility of AWS while leveraging the investment you have already made in your IT infrastructure.
Here’s all you need to do to get started:
Once you have done this, all Internet-bound traffic generated by your Amazon EC2 instances within your VPC routes across the VPN connection, where it wends its way through your outbound firewall and any other network security devices under your control before exiting from your network.
Source For Images and News :http://aws.typepad.com/
Here’s all you need to do to get started:
- 1. Create a VPC. You define your VPC’s private IP address space, which can range from a /28 (16 IPs) up to a /18 (16,384 IPs). You can use any IPv4 address range, including Private Address Spaces identified in RFC 1918 and any other routable IP address block.
2. Partition your VPC’s IP address space into one or more subnets. Multiple subnets in a VPC are arranged in a star topology and enable you to create logically isolated collections of instances. You can create up to 20 Subnets per VPC (you can request more using this form). You can also use this form to request a VPC larger than a /18 or additional EC2 instances for use within your VPC.
3. Create a customer gateway to represent the device (typically a router or a software VPN appliance) anchoring the VPN connection from your network.
4. Create a VPN gateway to represent the AWS end of the VPN connection.
5. Attach the VPN gateway to your VPC.
6. Create a VPN connection between the VPN gateway and the customer gateway.
7. Launch EC2 instances within your VPC using an enhanced form of the Amazon EC2 RunInstances API call or the ec2-run-instances command to specify the VPC and the desired subnet.
Once you have done this, all Internet-bound traffic generated by your Amazon EC2 instances within your VPC routes across the VPN connection, where it wends its way through your outbound firewall and any other network security devices under your control before exiting from your network.
Source For Images and News :http://aws.typepad.com/
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Composing a message? Try the contact chooser
When composing messages, you probably rely pretty heavily on auto-complete to add recipients. Auto-complete is convenient and fast, and usually does the trick. But sometimes seeing your list of contacts can help you remember all the people you want to include on your email. So, we've added a contact chooser to Gmail. Click the "To:" link (or Cc:/Bcc:) when composing a message and you'll see something like this:
You can click on the contacts you want to add or search for others.
If you use contact groups, your groups will appear in a drop-down menu in the contact chooser, so you can select contacts from the groups you've already created. And if you happen to use Gmail in Chinese, Japanese or Korean, being able to pick from your list of contacts should be particularly useful since auto-complete doesn't offer the same search as you type experience that it does in other languages.
Official Gmail Blog: Composing a message? Try the contact chooser
You can click on the contacts you want to add or search for others.
If you use contact groups, your groups will appear in a drop-down menu in the contact chooser, so you can select contacts from the groups you've already created. And if you happen to use Gmail in Chinese, Japanese or Korean, being able to pick from your list of contacts should be particularly useful since auto-complete doesn't offer the same search as you type experience that it does in other languages.
Official Gmail Blog: Composing a message? Try the contact chooser
Motorola to Spotlight Android Phones On September 10
Motorola a smart phone handset maker,it looks like ready to spotlight its Android phones to the world.Motorola is organizing an Android event in next month on September 10 in San Francisco.
While its is not confirmed yet,and there are no details from Motorola,what moto will showcase.As we see invitation sent to several websites and publications with Android logo,potentially we guess it will debut the Morrison, Verizon’s Sholes Android-based Motorola handsets.
Definatly this event will help Motorola to yield better prospects and results for their handsets .
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
IMPACT OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY & MARKETING
Mobile technology is touching heights these days and the small device is offering a lot to the users other than making and receiving calls. With a new platform of smartphones in the market, this technology is giving a tough time to the other fields of advertising. The mobile advertising is an effective and more result-driven form of marketing. At times you are away from your computers but still have mobiles in your hands and it remains with you most of the time. So, your mobile is the ultimate platform for various companies to advertise their products & services. This phenomenon has given rise to a new form of marketing popularly known as mobile marketing.
Mobile marketing is blooming at a much faster rate as compared to the other forms of marketing. Though Internet marketing is on rise, mobile marketing is considered as a more cost effective, personalized, and immediate form of marketing. It is estimated that the world market for mobile marketing and advertising revenues will reach nearly $50 billion by 2014, up from about $29 billion today, growing at a five-year CAGR rate of nearly 12%. Europe and North America will grow at the fastest rates, about 16% through the period, to reach $16.3 billion and $12.4 billion, respectively. Many companies are using this new form of marketing to enhance brand awareness and increasing sales effectiveness. It has changed the ways of many users as they use their phones to search and sometimes, even, buy the products & services.
People often receive some kind of advertisements on their mobiles. These advertisements come in the form of SMS, MMS and Calls. You might be anywhere but you would keep on receiving such form of advertisements. SMS and messaging continue to dominate as the vehicles able to interact with the largest portion of the installed base for mobile phones. Mobile games used to represent the total sum of in-application advertising, but not any more. The surge in smartphone applications broadens the appeal for marketing messages inserted during program run time. Location is the mobile marketer’s best friend as it quickly becomes an integral component for precision audience targeting.
Most of the companies around the world are turning their marketing objectives towards the widespread mobile marketing. Companies are using all manner of lucrative methods to attract the buyers from various segments. If they are targeting kids, they can place their advertisements in mobile games or sponsored videos. One of the important things about mobile marketing is that it is the cheapest means of advertisements. Companies need not to invest huge amount of money for advertisements through mobile marketing.
2009 is expected to be a decisive year for mobile marketing spending as marketers worldwide move from disillusionment over their expected return from this platform to the realization that they can indeed enhance consumer brand equity via the targeted precision and customized experience that mobile affords over other media placements.
Mobile marketing is blooming at a much faster rate as compared to the other forms of marketing. Though Internet marketing is on rise, mobile marketing is considered as a more cost effective, personalized, and immediate form of marketing. It is estimated that the world market for mobile marketing and advertising revenues will reach nearly $50 billion by 2014, up from about $29 billion today, growing at a five-year CAGR rate of nearly 12%. Europe and North America will grow at the fastest rates, about 16% through the period, to reach $16.3 billion and $12.4 billion, respectively. Many companies are using this new form of marketing to enhance brand awareness and increasing sales effectiveness. It has changed the ways of many users as they use their phones to search and sometimes, even, buy the products & services.
People often receive some kind of advertisements on their mobiles. These advertisements come in the form of SMS, MMS and Calls. You might be anywhere but you would keep on receiving such form of advertisements. SMS and messaging continue to dominate as the vehicles able to interact with the largest portion of the installed base for mobile phones. Mobile games used to represent the total sum of in-application advertising, but not any more. The surge in smartphone applications broadens the appeal for marketing messages inserted during program run time. Location is the mobile marketer’s best friend as it quickly becomes an integral component for precision audience targeting.
Most of the companies around the world are turning their marketing objectives towards the widespread mobile marketing. Companies are using all manner of lucrative methods to attract the buyers from various segments. If they are targeting kids, they can place their advertisements in mobile games or sponsored videos. One of the important things about mobile marketing is that it is the cheapest means of advertisements. Companies need not to invest huge amount of money for advertisements through mobile marketing.
2009 is expected to be a decisive year for mobile marketing spending as marketers worldwide move from disillusionment over their expected return from this platform to the realization that they can indeed enhance consumer brand equity via the targeted precision and customized experience that mobile affords over other media placements.
Apple May Be Highest Grossing Fifth Avenue Retailer
As vacancies increase and retail sales throughout the U.S. remain a shadow of the decade’s boom, Apple Inc.’s stores are defying the recession.
At Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Ninth Street, the noon-day line on Aug. 11 snaked out the front door. More than a dozen people waited to buy an iPhone, which runs from $99 to $299, plus at least another $70 a month for a service plan. Every computer, seat and station was occupied by a visitor to midtown Manhattan.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, increased revenue at its stores by 2.5 percent in the first six months of the year to $3 billion as the rest of the retail industry suffered. During the same period, sales at all U.S. retailers fell 9.2 percent compared with the first half of 2008, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Retail sales in New York City have fallen 8 percent to 10 percent from comparable 2008 levels, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book business survey published July 29.
“Even if they are not spending money elsewhere, people are still spending money on technology gadgets,” said Patricia Edwards, a retail analyst and founder of Storehouse Partners LLC in Bellevue, Washington. “It’s both a need and a want. It fulfills that retail-therapy component.”
Apple’s store performance in the last year has been driven by the iPhone, according to Charlie Wolf, an analyst who covers Apple at Needham & Co. in New York. The retail operation saw a 22 percent increase in traffic during the quarter ended June 27, hosting a total of 38.6 million visitors, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said on a conference call in July.
By:Allison Abell Schwartz and Oshrat Carmiel
Read Full Story On :http://www.bloomberg.com/apps
At Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Ninth Street, the noon-day line on Aug. 11 snaked out the front door. More than a dozen people waited to buy an iPhone, which runs from $99 to $299, plus at least another $70 a month for a service plan. Every computer, seat and station was occupied by a visitor to midtown Manhattan.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, increased revenue at its stores by 2.5 percent in the first six months of the year to $3 billion as the rest of the retail industry suffered. During the same period, sales at all U.S. retailers fell 9.2 percent compared with the first half of 2008, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Retail sales in New York City have fallen 8 percent to 10 percent from comparable 2008 levels, according to the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book business survey published July 29.
“Even if they are not spending money elsewhere, people are still spending money on technology gadgets,” said Patricia Edwards, a retail analyst and founder of Storehouse Partners LLC in Bellevue, Washington. “It’s both a need and a want. It fulfills that retail-therapy component.”
Apple’s store performance in the last year has been driven by the iPhone, according to Charlie Wolf, an analyst who covers Apple at Needham & Co. in New York. The retail operation saw a 22 percent increase in traffic during the quarter ended June 27, hosting a total of 38.6 million visitors, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said on a conference call in July.
By:Allison Abell Schwartz and Oshrat Carmiel
Read Full Story On :http://www.bloomberg.com/apps
Microsoft OneApp for feature phones
Microsoft OneApp brings some of the most popular applications all together in one place: Windows Live Messenger, Facebook, Twitter, and many more. Designed for feature phones, OneApp puts a great new mobile experience easily within the reach of hundreds of millions of new users.
A great mobile application experience
OneApp appears on a phone as a single application that allows users to easily access all of their mobile apps. It dynamically launches just the parts of an app that a person wants to use, eliminating additional installation time and the need to store all of their mobile apps on their phone. OneApp enables users to easily customize their mobile experience.
The most popular apps—and more coming all the time
OneApp removes the need for people to visit several sites searching for the apps they want and hoping they work on their phone. With OneApp it’s all right there, and apps are automatically updated with no extra effort by the user.
Designed for feature phones
OneApp was designed from the ground up to make it easy for people to access mobile apps on feature phones with limited memory and processing capability. Its lightweight on-phone footprint of just 150 KB makes the installation easy and fast. OneApp also includes cloud services that help offload processing and storage from the phone to the Internet, improving overall performance. OneApp runs on a wide range of phones with more being tested all the time.
[Via:http://www.microsoft.com/]
A great mobile application experience
OneApp appears on a phone as a single application that allows users to easily access all of their mobile apps. It dynamically launches just the parts of an app that a person wants to use, eliminating additional installation time and the need to store all of their mobile apps on their phone. OneApp enables users to easily customize their mobile experience.
The most popular apps—and more coming all the time
OneApp removes the need for people to visit several sites searching for the apps they want and hoping they work on their phone. With OneApp it’s all right there, and apps are automatically updated with no extra effort by the user.
Designed for feature phones
OneApp was designed from the ground up to make it easy for people to access mobile apps on feature phones with limited memory and processing capability. Its lightweight on-phone footprint of just 150 KB makes the installation easy and fast. OneApp also includes cloud services that help offload processing and storage from the phone to the Internet, improving overall performance. OneApp runs on a wide range of phones with more being tested all the time.
[Via:http://www.microsoft.com/]
Monday, August 24, 2009
Video Chat Comes to Your iGoogle Homepage
iGoogle is a start page for number of users to access customized information like: news, emails, blog posts and much more. It also allows you to chat with iGoogle friends. Now you can extend this chatting experience by doing video chat with iGoogle friends. Video chat was introduced for Gmail users while back and now it is also available for iGoogle users.
Start video chat on iGoogle page
1. Download Video chat plugin (not need to download, if it is already installed for Gmail video chat)
2. To start video chat, goto menu option Actions > Start video chat
3. Green icon next to friend name lists video chat ready friends.
4. Start the chat in popup window & make it bigger or fullscreen mode.
Video chat on iGoogle is ideal for Gmail users without going into Gmail. It is also useful for non-Gmail users and can be used by any user with Google account. iGoogle start page just became more interactive and chatty with video chat feature. This feature is not available to all users, it will be rolled out to all the users in the next few days according to Google.
Start video chat on iGoogle page
1. Download Video chat plugin (not need to download, if it is already installed for Gmail video chat)
2. To start video chat, goto menu option Actions > Start video chat
3. Green icon next to friend name lists video chat ready friends.
4. Start the chat in popup window & make it bigger or fullscreen mode.
Video chat on iGoogle is ideal for Gmail users without going into Gmail. It is also useful for non-Gmail users and can be used by any user with Google account. iGoogle start page just became more interactive and chatty with video chat feature. This feature is not available to all users, it will be rolled out to all the users in the next few days according to Google.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Enhanced Google Mail Plug-in Now Available For BlackBerry!!!
IM has announced via their BlackBerry Support Forums that the Enhanced Google Mail Plug-in for BlackBerry is now available!
The Enhanced Google Mail™ plug-in for BlackBerry® smartphones introduces an advanced level of email service integration for BlackBerry smartphones. It supports additional Google Mail™ features that provide BlackBerry® Internet Service subscribers with broader access to their Google Mail accounts while on the go. The Enhanced Google Mail plug-in is optional. Existing and new Google Mail integrations will continue to function without it.
Features:
Synchronization only happens from your BlackBerry to your Google Mail account, meaning some changes made through your Google Mail account won’t sync to your BlackBerry. Your BlackBerry must be running at least OS 4.5 (get your latest OS here) in order to download the Enhanced Google Mail plug-in, and your Google Mail account must be associated with BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) through your carrier.
Once you associate your Google Mail account you will receive a PIN with instructions on how to download the plug-in. If you already have your Google Mail accounts associated with your BIS you will need to re-associate them. In addition, your Google Mail account must have IMAP enabled, not POP.
Read More Here:http://blackberryrocks.com/2009/08/22/enhanced-google-mail-plug-in-blackberry/
The Enhanced Google Mail™ plug-in for BlackBerry® smartphones introduces an advanced level of email service integration for BlackBerry smartphones. It supports additional Google Mail™ features that provide BlackBerry® Internet Service subscribers with broader access to their Google Mail accounts while on the go. The Enhanced Google Mail plug-in is optional. Existing and new Google Mail integrations will continue to function without it.
Features:
- Add and remove labels and stars on email messages
- Report spam email messages
- Perform local and remote searches
- Archive email messages
- View related email messages as a single conversation (threaded view)
Synchronization only happens from your BlackBerry to your Google Mail account, meaning some changes made through your Google Mail account won’t sync to your BlackBerry. Your BlackBerry must be running at least OS 4.5 (get your latest OS here) in order to download the Enhanced Google Mail plug-in, and your Google Mail account must be associated with BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) through your carrier.
Once you associate your Google Mail account you will receive a PIN with instructions on how to download the plug-in. If you already have your Google Mail accounts associated with your BIS you will need to re-associate them. In addition, your Google Mail account must have IMAP enabled, not POP.
Read More Here:http://blackberryrocks.com/2009/08/22/enhanced-google-mail-plug-in-blackberry/
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Google Yahoo or Bing: Apps
Google Yahoo and Bing fight for the top three spots for search engines. Apps are very important features for many users. Each of these three giants have focused differently on the subject at hand…apps.
Google, Yahoo, and Bing are the three most used search engines on the internet. Each one has apps which we use to make our (online) life more enjoyable and more productive. The apps which we enjoy so much are developed in order to appease the appetites of the internet world for more techno-advancements.
Google, Yahoo, and Bing all use their apps to attract new users in order to garner higher usage, thus getting higher ranking and pay for their services and goods. Let’s take a look at some of the individual apps that Google, Yahoo, and Bing have in their portfolios.
Google’s apps are very useful, indeed. For starters, Google calendars is a great way to keep track of the events in your life. You can also use the calendar to update your friends as to what is going on in your life.
This is can be very beneficial for someone who is on the go! When people have a difficult time following what you are up to in your busy world, they can receive updates via the web! You won’t have to answer so many questions like, “where have you been?” A simple, bur rewarding feature to Google’s apps list.
Yahoo has an app called Daily activities planner, which is similar to Google’s calendar, yet more customizable as it has many templates one can use to make their daily grind more enjoyable to update. Bing’s apps are pretty much limited as of yet. I believe this an attempt to streamline in order to produce a more useful search engine.
Cutting the fat may have allowed for more focus on the search engine’s capabilities for search. Of course MSN has apps as well, but this is a discussion of the top three search engines apps, so we’ll stick with the discussion.
Next up is email platforms.Google’s email platform is used by more advertisers (spammers) because it seems to get passed the spam guards more easily. It also seems that there are more options for those with slow connections or weak computers. One can load only in basic HTML if the connection seems to have trouble loading.
This is great for someone such as myself with lack of computing power. Yahoo’s mail services, both plus and classic seem to load very slowly and take quite a bit of resources for the slow computer.Multitasking can be a pain while trying to utilize Yahoo mail at the same time.
The features offered are well put together, though. It is a more navigable environment than Gmail once inside. Bing uses Windows live or hotmail as their platform for email service. There are several extensions which makes this engine a great place to setup throwaway accounts and I for one just found passwords for a mail account that I have not opened for at least four years.
There were over 8, 500 emails in the inbox, but the account was still functioning! I was amazed. I guess reliability is not a problem with Microsoft’s email platform.
[Via:http://webupon.com/search-engines/google-yahoo-or-bing-apps/]
Friday, August 21, 2009
Internet Media "Android Tablet" On September 15
Archos has announced that a 5-inch Internet media tablet loaded with Android will be unveiled on September 15th, According to The Inquirer. The tablet will have an HDMI out and comes with natively embedded OpenGL libraries. Archos has also announced its AppsLib application store for advanced Android devices targeted at super high-end non-smartphone devices. Archos has clearly framed its objectives by stating that :
However, the development guidelines describe just a single, 5-inch 800x480 pixel device with accelerometer, OpenGL 3D graphics support, and HDMI output pushing an oddball 1160x652 pixel resolution to your TV. Still there is room for other speculations like ; 500GB storage, 10-mm thickness, 7-hours of battery when playing video, voice and HSUPA data radio, and OMAP3440 processor -- unexpectedly announced (by TI!) for the tablet way back in February to be in place. The device has all the makings of a successful piece of hardware.
With this challenging endeavor, it would be worth watching whether or not the ARCHOS Android Internet Tablet and AppsLib will be successful in the already hot smartphone market. It will be interesting to watch the developing part with completely different implications.
- By High-End devices, we mean devices that are not only smartphones, but all kind of tablets, PDA, PNDs or picture-frames. Devices that will tomorrow provide the same kind of experience than a PC, mobility added.
AppsLib is a co-venture with ARCHOS. Our target is to be available on a large variety of device, from a lot of manufacturer. But we believe ARCHOS has got what it takes to become the future of Android devices.
However, the development guidelines describe just a single, 5-inch 800x480 pixel device with accelerometer, OpenGL 3D graphics support, and HDMI output pushing an oddball 1160x652 pixel resolution to your TV. Still there is room for other speculations like ; 500GB storage, 10-mm thickness, 7-hours of battery when playing video, voice and HSUPA data radio, and OMAP3440 processor -- unexpectedly announced (by TI!) for the tablet way back in February to be in place. The device has all the makings of a successful piece of hardware.
With this challenging endeavor, it would be worth watching whether or not the ARCHOS Android Internet Tablet and AppsLib will be successful in the already hot smartphone market. It will be interesting to watch the developing part with completely different implications.
Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens
Today we're pleased to announce a new Google Labs application for Android-powered devices in the US called, Listen. Listen quickly finds podcasts and web audio relevant to your searches, lets you stream over-the-air or download for later, and subscribe to fresh content from your favorite feeds and searches. In short, Listen helps organize the world of audio information and makes it easily accessible anytime, anywhere. And if you agree with the Jimi Hendrix quote that is the title of this post, then Listen may actually make you wiser, too.
Listen lets you stay informed even while engaged in other activities. Our colleagues use Listen as a personal audio-magazine while exercising, commuting, gardening, cleaning, dressing, cooking, and more*.
Source Images:googlemobile.blogspot.com
Official Google Mobile Blog: "Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens."
Listen lets you stay informed even while engaged in other activities. Our colleagues use Listen as a personal audio-magazine while exercising, commuting, gardening, cleaning, dressing, cooking, and more*.
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Source Images:googlemobile.blogspot.com
Official Google Mobile Blog: "Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens."
Thursday, August 20, 2009
RIM Plans for Flash & Silverlight Support for BlackBerry
According to the Boys Genius Report, Research In Motion has plans to update its browser and future BlackBerry devices by adding Adobe Flash and Microsoft Sliverlight support. 
The future versions of the Blackberry browser (based on the same Webkit framework as Mobile Safari, and Android's Chrome browser) will have FULL Flash support and Full Silverlight capabilities.
With Flash being one of the most sought after features this can only be taken as extremely good news for BlackBerry owners, as at present there are no workarounds or even third party apps that will allow Flash video content on BlackBerry devices.
We all know that when RIM proposes something or plans something, it probably means it’s a while away. According to a BGR's source this won’t happen until next summer as RIM needs to add some time due some to technical restrictions on the current handset offering from the company. RIM than will have access to higher data speeds for this to work effectively (HSPA and LTE). RIM has already achieved over 10Mbps downloads on next generation BlackBerrys in the test labs with test LTE equipment so it’s looking good, folks.
Fierce competition is expected ahead with the presence of other smartphones in the market. As earlier BlackBerry gets a lot of criticism for not producing a browser experience on par with the likes of iPhone. The introduction of this full-blown version, along with Silverlight support can act as a differentiating factor with the iPhone.
The news is likely to scare operators around the world into how they will deliver the possible millions of video and high data streams that flash integration will allow.
The future versions of the Blackberry browser (based on the same Webkit framework as Mobile Safari, and Android's Chrome browser) will have FULL Flash support and Full Silverlight capabilities. With Flash being one of the most sought after features this can only be taken as extremely good news for BlackBerry owners, as at present there are no workarounds or even third party apps that will allow Flash video content on BlackBerry devices.
We all know that when RIM proposes something or plans something, it probably means it’s a while away. According to a BGR's source this won’t happen until next summer as RIM needs to add some time due some to technical restrictions on the current handset offering from the company. RIM than will have access to higher data speeds for this to work effectively (HSPA and LTE). RIM has already achieved over 10Mbps downloads on next generation BlackBerrys in the test labs with test LTE equipment so it’s looking good, folks.
Fierce competition is expected ahead with the presence of other smartphones in the market. As earlier BlackBerry gets a lot of criticism for not producing a browser experience on par with the likes of iPhone. The introduction of this full-blown version, along with Silverlight support can act as a differentiating factor with the iPhone.
The news is likely to scare operators around the world into how they will deliver the possible millions of video and high data streams that flash integration will allow.
Survey : App dev budgets increasing
Despite current economic uncertainty across the globe, senior-level executives and software development professionals are seeing an increase in development budgets, according to a recent survey by software development outsourcer.
Conducted from April to June of this year, the survey of more than 6,000 executives and development professionals conducted by SoftServe revealed that 60 percent of respondents reported increases in software development budgets for 2009. Results of the survey were announced Wednesday. Twenty-six percent indicated budgets had increased in excess of 10 percent over 2008 expenditures.
Read More Of this Survey : http://www.infoworld.com
Conducted from April to June of this year, the survey of more than 6,000 executives and development professionals conducted by SoftServe revealed that 60 percent of respondents reported increases in software development budgets for 2009. Results of the survey were announced Wednesday. Twenty-six percent indicated budgets had increased in excess of 10 percent over 2008 expenditures.
- "Even amidst reports of global economic uncertainty and confusion, many companies are choosing to steel themselves for recovery by investing more, not less, in business-critical software development initiatives," said Taras Kytsmey, president of SoftServe, in a statement released by the company."Though overall findings of this survey point to project management and design of such initiatives as ongoing challenges, the most important thing is that these organizations recognize the need for improvement in the people, processes, tools and communication employed in these efforts.
This data gives companies a starting point for streamlining development efforts onward into 2010 and ensuring that development initiatives translate into greater return on software investments."
Read More Of this Survey : http://www.infoworld.com
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Get ready for Premium Palm App by Mid-September
Palm is now ready to accept the apps for consideration in the Palm App Catalog e-commerce beta program. The program has been launched to test the experience for webOS app developers and users. The program will be open to all developers later this year. Presently its app catalogue contains roughly 30 applications.
Starting today you can submit your apps via email for consideration. Palm will take 30 percent of any revenues earned from sales in the online store, through which apps can be purchased by webOS users via credit card. Palm will accept apps into the beta test program based on the following criteria:
In its blog post announcing the beta, Palm offers details of the program:
Starting today you can submit your apps via email for consideration. Palm will take 30 percent of any revenues earned from sales in the online store, through which apps can be purchased by webOS users via credit card. Palm will accept apps into the beta test program based on the following criteria:
- Apps should be useful and engaging to users.
- They need to have an appealing design and user interface aligned with Palm UI guidelines.
- They are written specifically for webOS and not delivered through the browser.
- They leverage webOS platform and device capabilities, for example, notifications, multitasking/background processing, location services, accelerometer.
- They have acceptable performance and response time on the device; apps with slow UI response or sluggish performance will be rejected. Applications that consume excessive power on the device will also be rejected.
In its blog post announcing the beta, Palm offers details of the program:
- Developers can submit both free and paid applications for evaluation.
- You can charge a one-time fee for the download of your application.
- Initially, the user base for e-commerce will be limited to the United States.
- Developers will receive 70 percent of revenues generated through application sales (less applicable sales taxes).
- webOS users will pay for their application purchases using credit cards and will download apps directly to their webOS device.
Wikipedia Lauches Official iPhone App
The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the popular Wikipedia, just released its first official iPhone application for Wikipedia. Wikipedia Mobile, which is available for free in the App Store now (iTunes link), gives users access to iPhone-formatted Wikipedia articles. The truth, however, is that this isn't a very good application and doesn't really go beyond anything the regular mobile Wikipedia website doesn't already do. Indeed, the app is basically just a wrapper for the mobile Wikipedia site.
There are already a number of very good Wikipedia apps out there, including Taptu's Wapedia (iTunes link), Wikiamo (iTunes link) and Wikipanion (iTunes link). The official Wikipedia app doesn't add anything new here. While other apps at least include features like the ability to easily browse tables of content for apps and include in-page searching or the ability to save posts for offline reading, the official Wikipedia app doesn't feature any of these functions. The only 'advanced' feature in the app is its ability to track your browsing history.
Of course, this is only a first attempt and we laud the Wikipedia Mobile team for releasing this app as an open-source application. However, the fact that the search field is populated with "::Home" when you first open up the app shows that the app still needs a lot of polish before it can compete with the 'unofficial' apps. For now, if you just want a lightweight way of accessing Wikipedia articles from your phone and you don't want to install an app, just use the official mobile site
Source for this:http://www.readwriteweb.com
There are already a number of very good Wikipedia apps out there, including Taptu's Wapedia (iTunes link), Wikiamo (iTunes link) and Wikipanion (iTunes link). The official Wikipedia app doesn't add anything new here. While other apps at least include features like the ability to easily browse tables of content for apps and include in-page searching or the ability to save posts for offline reading, the official Wikipedia app doesn't feature any of these functions. The only 'advanced' feature in the app is its ability to track your browsing history.
Of course, this is only a first attempt and we laud the Wikipedia Mobile team for releasing this app as an open-source application. However, the fact that the search field is populated with "::Home" when you first open up the app shows that the app still needs a lot of polish before it can compete with the 'unofficial' apps. For now, if you just want a lightweight way of accessing Wikipedia articles from your phone and you don't want to install an app, just use the official mobile site
Source for this:http://www.readwriteweb.com
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Google Chrome with bookmark syncing for users
Google has come up with bookmark syncing for users of its Chrome web browser.Wit this you can sync your chrome browser bookmarks on different machines either home office or any other machine.Xmarks, the well known Bookmark syncing utility is also letting users register for a beta to test out its Chrome support.
On its blog Google (Google) explained the new addition:-
As of today’s dev channel build, we’re adding a brand new feature to Google Chrome: bookmark sync. Many users have several machines,one at home and one at work for example.This new feature makes it easy to keep the same set of bookmarks on all your machines,and stores them alongside your Google Docs for easy web access.
To activate this feature,launch Google Chrome(Google Chrome)with the –enable-sync command-line flag. Once you set up sync from the Tools menu, Chrome will then upload and store your bookmarks in your Google Account.Anytime you add or change a bookmark, your changes will be sent to the cloud and immediately broadcast to all other computers for which you’ve activated bookmark sync (using the same XMPP technology as Google Talk).
Dell Mini 3i smartphone gets official outing in China
At last, the much rumored Dell cellphone has made its first official appearance. The 3.5-inch 360 x 640 pixel device with capacitive touchscreen was on display in China running the Android-based Open Mobile System (OMS).
The Mini 3i was on-hand as part of the launch of China Mobile's new Application Platform that offers music, video, and app downloads to mobile phones from Nokia, Samsung, LG, and apparently, Dell.
The candybar device lacks WiFi (or Chinese WAPI) and is strictly 2G GSM (no 3G) but does come with a 3 megapixel camera, microSD slot, Bluetooth, and 950mAh battery. Guess now we know why the early prototypes were met by a collective meh by mobile carriers earlier this year.
No idea when this will ship but it looks China-bound for at least the near future. A few more pics after the break.
[ Via : Engadgetmobile ]
The Mini 3i was on-hand as part of the launch of China Mobile's new Application Platform that offers music, video, and app downloads to mobile phones from Nokia, Samsung, LG, and apparently, Dell.
The candybar device lacks WiFi (or Chinese WAPI) and is strictly 2G GSM (no 3G) but does come with a 3 megapixel camera, microSD slot, Bluetooth, and 950mAh battery. Guess now we know why the early prototypes were met by a collective meh by mobile carriers earlier this year.
No idea when this will ship but it looks China-bound for at least the near future. A few more pics after the break.
[ Via : Engadgetmobile ]
Monday, August 17, 2009
I scream, you scream, we all scream for iGoogle social!
We launched iGoogle in 2005 as a way for people to quickly and easily personalize their Google experience with all the information on the web that was most useful to them. Now tens of millions of people choose to use their iGoogle homepage to check email, track the news, watch videos, chat with friends and much more. Today, we're pleased to tell you about the new social features that we're introducing to iGoogle.
First, we're excited to introduce social gadgets for iGoogle. Social gadgets let you share, collaborate and play games with your friends on top of all the things you can already do on your homepage. The 19 social gadgets we're debuting today offer many new ways to make your homepage more useful and fun. If you're a gaming fanatic, compete with others in Who has the biggest brain? or challenge your fellow Chess or Scrabble enthusiasts to a quick match. Stay tuned in to the latest buzz with media-sharing gadgets from NPR, The Huffington Post, and YouTube. To manage your day-to-day more efficiently, check things off alongside your friends with the social To-Do list gadget.
Source: Official Google Blog: I scream, you scream, we all scream for iGoogle social!
First, we're excited to introduce social gadgets for iGoogle. Social gadgets let you share, collaborate and play games with your friends on top of all the things you can already do on your homepage. The 19 social gadgets we're debuting today offer many new ways to make your homepage more useful and fun. If you're a gaming fanatic, compete with others in Who has the biggest brain? or challenge your fellow Chess or Scrabble enthusiasts to a quick match. Stay tuned in to the latest buzz with media-sharing gadgets from NPR, The Huffington Post, and YouTube. To manage your day-to-day more efficiently, check things off alongside your friends with the social To-Do list gadget.
Source: Official Google Blog: I scream, you scream, we all scream for iGoogle social!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Twitter for Business
Have you heard about Twitter and wondering how you can use it. Twitter has a guide for businesses on how to leverage Twitter. This should probably be the first stop for you on how to leverage Twitter for your business.
"Tip: Twitter can be "ground-breaking” for businesses—a big claim. We truly believe it because we’ve seen lots of examples, many of which we share here. But if you’re new to Twitter and still wondering what all the fuss is about, hang around the site (or a good third-party client) for a week or two and give it a few minutes a day. Twitter almost always delivers “Aha!” moments for people, but it can take some getting used to before you have your moment of enlightenment."
http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/
"Tip: Twitter can be "ground-breaking” for businesses—a big claim. We truly believe it because we’ve seen lots of examples, many of which we share here. But if you’re new to Twitter and still wondering what all the fuss is about, hang around the site (or a good third-party client) for a week or two and give it a few minutes a day. Twitter almost always delivers “Aha!” moments for people, but it can take some getting used to before you have your moment of enlightenment."
http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/
Android This Week - Over 1 Million Served - NYTimes.com
Android seem to be doing much better than Palm Pre. Crossing the million dollar mark so far seems like an important indicator of the traction that Android has.Android This Week - Over 1 Million Served - NYTimes.com
And according to HTC CEO Peter Chou, the number of HTC magic handsets sold has topped the one million-mark.
Qik Goes Official, Comes to the App Store
Qik's self-named video application for the iPhone 3GS finally appeared on Apple's App Store on Thursday, laying claim to the title of first third party app to support all-in-one video capture and sharing. The app was previously available only as an unapproved application to iPhone owners that took the time to "jailbreak" their combination iPod and smartphone.
Qik requires an iPhone 3GS and supports video with audio capture, along with uploading and sharing videos to an online Qik account. The app can tag videos with your current location, supports landscape and portrait orientation when recording, and sharing content to blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and more. Videos, however, can only be uploaded over Wi-Fi networks.
Qik has submitted a version of the app that supports the iPhone 3G and is awaiting Apple's approval. Qik for the iPhone 3GS is free and available for download at Apple's iTunes-based App Store.
Qik requires an iPhone 3GS and supports video with audio capture, along with uploading and sharing videos to an online Qik account. The app can tag videos with your current location, supports landscape and portrait orientation when recording, and sharing content to blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and more. Videos, however, can only be uploaded over Wi-Fi networks.
Qik has submitted a version of the app that supports the iPhone 3G and is awaiting Apple's approval. Qik for the iPhone 3GS is free and available for download at Apple's iTunes-based App Store.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Microsoft releasing Outlook for Mac goodbye to Entourage
With the Microsoft's announcement of releasing Outlook for Mac, Mac users will get to enjoy a version of Outlook finally. Microsoft will replace Entourage available in Office 2008 to Outlook for Mac in 2010.
The interim version of Entourage will be included in the newly announced Business Edition of Office 08, which will be available for pre-order starting August 18th and will launch on September 15th. Pricing will run $399.95 for a new copy of Business Edition, $239.95 for a Business Edition upgrade. Few of the features included in the new Outlook includes ;
i) Cocoa: Built from the ground up using Cocoa providing users with improved integration with the Mac OS.
ii) New database: A high-speed file-based database with support for backing up files with Time Machine and Spotlight searching.
iii) Information Rights Management: Helps prevent sensitive information from being distributed to or read by people who do not have permission to access the content.
The release comes as part of a new business edition of Mac Office designed to provide Mac users with better connection to Microsoft Exchange Server and improved compatibility across platforms. Microsoft’s Mac unit is also building the Outlook software from the ground up to ensure compatibility with Mac’s backup and hard-drive search features.
The interim version of Entourage will be included in the newly announced Business Edition of Office 08, which will be available for pre-order starting August 18th and will launch on September 15th. Pricing will run $399.95 for a new copy of Business Edition, $239.95 for a Business Edition upgrade. Few of the features included in the new Outlook includes ;
i) Cocoa: Built from the ground up using Cocoa providing users with improved integration with the Mac OS.
ii) New database: A high-speed file-based database with support for backing up files with Time Machine and Spotlight searching.
iii) Information Rights Management: Helps prevent sensitive information from being distributed to or read by people who do not have permission to access the content.
The release comes as part of a new business edition of Mac Office designed to provide Mac users with better connection to Microsoft Exchange Server and improved compatibility across platforms. Microsoft’s Mac unit is also building the Outlook software from the ground up to ensure compatibility with Mac’s backup and hard-drive search features.
Weaker World Mobile Phone Sales but Smartphone 27% Higher in Q2, Says Gartner
Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 286.1 million units in the second quarter of 2009, a 6.1 per cent decrease from the second quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphone sales surpassed 40 million units, a 27 per cent increase from the same period last year, representing the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market. The iPhone market share grew a staggering 375%.
"Despite the challenging market, some devices sold well as consumers who would usually have purchased standard midrange devices either cut back to less expensive handsets or moved up the range to get more features for their money," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner.
"Touchscreen and QWERTY devices remained a major driver for replacement sales and benefited manufacturers with strong, touch-focused midtier devices. However, the decline in average selling price (ASP) accelerated in the first half of the year and particularly affected manufacturers that focus on midtier and low-end devices, where margins are already slim."
The recession continued to suppress replacement sales in both mature and emerging markets. The distribution channel has dealt with lower demand and financial pressure by using up 13.9 million units of existing stock before ordering more. Gartner expects the gap between sell-in to the channel and sell-through to customers will reduce in the second half of 2009 as the channel starts to restock.
Source for images: Gartner (August 2009)
Via:http://www.wirelessandmobilenews.com
Main Story:http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=1124912&subref=simplesearch.
"Despite the challenging market, some devices sold well as consumers who would usually have purchased standard midrange devices either cut back to less expensive handsets or moved up the range to get more features for their money," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner.
"Touchscreen and QWERTY devices remained a major driver for replacement sales and benefited manufacturers with strong, touch-focused midtier devices. However, the decline in average selling price (ASP) accelerated in the first half of the year and particularly affected manufacturers that focus on midtier and low-end devices, where margins are already slim."The recession continued to suppress replacement sales in both mature and emerging markets. The distribution channel has dealt with lower demand and financial pressure by using up 13.9 million units of existing stock before ordering more. Gartner expects the gap between sell-in to the channel and sell-through to customers will reduce in the second half of 2009 as the channel starts to restock.
Source for images: Gartner (August 2009)
Via:http://www.wirelessandmobilenews.com
Main Story:http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?ref=g_search&id=1124912&subref=simplesearch.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
A flurry of features for feed readers
Since our last big launch, we've been thinking about ways to help our users better share, discover, and consume content in Reader. Today, I'm happy to announce several new features that we hope will further improve the way you use Reader.
Send to...
Send to menuWe've made it easier to share posts you like to Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, and more, with our new "Send to" feature. (Incidentally, Blogger is celebrating its tenth birthday this month, and we're hoping our friends there will like this little birthday present.)
Just head over to the settings page, and enable the services you want to use. If your favorite service isn't listed (and you're feeling extra geeky), you can create your own "Send to" link with a URL template.
Official Google Reader Blog: A flurry of features for feed readers
Send to...
Send to menuWe've made it easier to share posts you like to Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, and more, with our new "Send to" feature. (Incidentally, Blogger is celebrating its tenth birthday this month, and we're hoping our friends there will like this little birthday present.)
Just head over to the settings page, and enable the services you want to use. If your favorite service isn't listed (and you're feeling extra geeky), you can create your own "Send to" link with a URL template.
Official Google Reader Blog: A flurry of features for feed readers
Microsoft alliance Nokia to bring Microsoft Office On Phones
Microsoft and Nokia are forming an alliance to bring Microsoft Office and other productivity software to a Nokia smart phones.They both plans to make Office widely accessible via Nokia mobile phones.
The agreement marks “the first time Microsoft will make Office for non windows mobile phones,” says Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop.
There are 200 million Nokia smart phones out there, and Microsoft wants its software on all of them eventually.Available for the company's Nokia Eseries to begin with starting from 2010, Microsoft expects the software to roll out to other handsets in due time.
The deal will expand the reach of Office Mobile beyond Microsoft’s own Windows Mobile platform.With this users will be able to use the new software to view, edit, create and share Office documents via Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft applications.
"This is much more than putting Microsoft products on Nokia smartphones,".It is way beyond just email, way beyond just Office. It is really reshaping the industry, really creating future solutions, said Kai Oistamo, executive vice president for Nokia's devices unit.
The move is a smart one,and it will give competition to the major,mobile office arena by Android,Google,RIM and iphoneApps.
Nokia is also working on improved Exchange ActiveSync support, and expects to roll out support for other features including mobile accessto intranet portals build on Microsoft SharePoint Server.
The agreement marks “the first time Microsoft will make Office for non windows mobile phones,” says Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop.
There are 200 million Nokia smart phones out there, and Microsoft wants its software on all of them eventually.Available for the company's Nokia Eseries to begin with starting from 2010, Microsoft expects the software to roll out to other handsets in due time.
The deal will expand the reach of Office Mobile beyond Microsoft’s own Windows Mobile platform.With this users will be able to use the new software to view, edit, create and share Office documents via Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft applications.
"This is much more than putting Microsoft products on Nokia smartphones,".It is way beyond just email, way beyond just Office. It is really reshaping the industry, really creating future solutions, said Kai Oistamo, executive vice president for Nokia's devices unit.
The move is a smart one,and it will give competition to the major,mobile office arena by Android,Google,RIM and iphoneApps.
Nokia is also working on improved Exchange ActiveSync support, and expects to roll out support for other features including mobile accessto intranet portals build on Microsoft SharePoint Server.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Bank Will Allow Customers to Deposit Checks by iPhone
The Internet has taken a lot of the paperwork out of banking, but there is no avoiding paper when someone gives you a check. Now one bank wants to let customers deposit checks immediately — through their phones.
USAA, a privately held bank and insurance company, plans to update its iPhone application this week to introduce the check deposit feature, which requires a customer to photograph both sides of the check with the phone’s camera.
“We’re essentially taking an image of the check, and once you hit the send button, that image is going into our deposit-taking system as any other check would,” said Wayne Peacock, a USAA executive vice president.
Customers will not have to mail the check to the bank later; the deposit will be handled entirely electronically, and the bank suggests voiding the check and filing or discarding it. But to reduce the potential for fraud, only customers who are eligible for credit and have some type of insurance through USAA will be permitted to use the deposit feature.
Story Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10check.html
USAA, a privately held bank and insurance company, plans to update its iPhone application this week to introduce the check deposit feature, which requires a customer to photograph both sides of the check with the phone’s camera.
“We’re essentially taking an image of the check, and once you hit the send button, that image is going into our deposit-taking system as any other check would,” said Wayne Peacock, a USAA executive vice president.
Customers will not have to mail the check to the bank later; the deposit will be handled entirely electronically, and the bank suggests voiding the check and filing or discarding it. But to reduce the potential for fraud, only customers who are eligible for credit and have some type of insurance through USAA will be permitted to use the deposit feature.
Story Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10check.html
Palm's Pre Is Trying to Live Up to the Hype
Palm's road to a comeback is hitting a few speed bumps.
When Palm (PALM) launched its Pre smartphone on June 6, expectations were high that the long-troubled company could have a hit with the device, the biggest launch by the new management team led by a former Apple (AAPL) executive. Now analysts estimate that Palm likely will sell just 300,000 to 500,000 Pres in their first three months on the market. That's not bad, but it's short of the outsize expectations ramped up by the phone's advanced technology and splashy debut.
The modest sales performance for the Pre, which sells for $199 with a two-year contract from Sprint Nextel (S), is raising questions about Palm's ability to land other wireless carriers to offer the phone, and how large the carriers' subsidy payments and marketing support for the Pre might be. "Some carriers will be looking through less rose-tinted spectacles than before, [and] expectations will be pushed back" for the Pre, says Neil Mawston, a director with tech consulting company Strategy Analytics. "If Sprint can't prove that the Pre is an iPhone killer, it'll really affect the level of subsidies" carriers pay to make the Pre cheaper in stores.
[ Via:http://www.businessweek.com/ ]
When Palm (PALM) launched its Pre smartphone on June 6, expectations were high that the long-troubled company could have a hit with the device, the biggest launch by the new management team led by a former Apple (AAPL) executive. Now analysts estimate that Palm likely will sell just 300,000 to 500,000 Pres in their first three months on the market. That's not bad, but it's short of the outsize expectations ramped up by the phone's advanced technology and splashy debut.
The modest sales performance for the Pre, which sells for $199 with a two-year contract from Sprint Nextel (S), is raising questions about Palm's ability to land other wireless carriers to offer the phone, and how large the carriers' subsidy payments and marketing support for the Pre might be. "Some carriers will be looking through less rose-tinted spectacles than before, [and] expectations will be pushed back" for the Pre, says Neil Mawston, a director with tech consulting company Strategy Analytics. "If Sprint can't prove that the Pre is an iPhone killer, it'll really affect the level of subsidies" carriers pay to make the Pre cheaper in stores.
[ Via:http://www.businessweek.com/ ]
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Battle of the Apps: Google vs. Apple
When it comes to Apple and the iPhone, it was a weekend of fear and loathing. From loving Google Voice to Apple’s pending doom, we read it all. While I agree with some of the points that were raised, I see little to no evidence that Apple and its iPhone platform are going to melt down anytime soon. Sure, Google’s Android is going to be a worthy competitor, but it’s likely to wound other mobile ecosystems, such as Symbian and Palm’s Pre, before derailing the speeding freight train being driven by Apple.
Many have already already made a case that Apple isn’t doomed, so I won’t bother. Instead, I would like to let the data from Flurry, a San Francisco-based mobile analytics startup, speak for itself. The data in this report is computed from a sample size of more than 1,600 live applications and 60 million consumers across four platforms: Apple (iPhone and iPod Touch),Google Android, BlackBerry and JavaME.
According to the data collected by Flurry, developer momentum for the iPhone platform shows no sign of abating. The number of iPhone apps is growing 14 percent every month, to stand at roughly 65,000 applications in July. At that rate, Apple’s App Store will have some 100,000 applications by the end of 2009.
Source:http://gigaom.com/2009/08/10/the-battle-of-the-apps-google-vs-apple/
Watch Out Twitter! Facebook Launches Realtime Search
Facebook’s on a roll today. Earlier today, Facebook acquired FriendFeed, one of the largest and most-discussed social media acquisitions we’ve seen in a long time. The deal is partly seen as a move by the world’s largest social network to boost their social technology, specifically realtime streams, conversations, social media aggregation, and search.
That’s what makes Facebook’s latest move so intriguing. In June, Facebook announced it was building a new real-time search to rival Twitter Search. It not only would search status updates, but photos, notes, images, videos, and links. Facebook has also made changes that will allow users to post their status updates publicly in anticipation of the new search.
Fast forward to today: Facebook just announced that it is rolling out the new Facebook search. With realtime search and FriendFeed (FriendFeed) in its pocket, Facebook is gunning directly for Twitter .
More story on:http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/facebook-launches-realtime-search/
Monday, August 10, 2009
Android Smartphones to grow 900% this year says a report
These numbers look so big that I thought I need to publish them.
Source: http://www.mobile-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=66544&full_skip=1
Smartphones using the Google-backed Android operating system are expected to move up the market fast with 900 percent growth this year, Strategy Analytics predicts. While Android is starting from a low base, Apple, Inc.'s iPhone is expected to grow 70 percent from a 40 million base. Strategy Analytics cited Android's low cost and Google support.
Source: http://www.mobile-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=66544&full_skip=1
Towards better transcription. Period.
Voicemail transcription is a popular feature of Google Voice. Having the ability to receive a transcript of a new voicemail by email or SMS and get a quick idea of what a voicemail is about, saves you time in deciding which voicemails are worth listening to.
Since transcription is fully automated and most people often don't talk in the same organized manner that they write, it is tricky to insert punctuation into a message. And reading long messages without punctuation can feel weird.
Today we made some more progress on transcript readability and launched an improved transcription engine with punctuation. Don't expect it to insert question marks for your callers' questions, but it should help make your message transcripts easier to read by breaking them into sentences separated by periods.
We hope you will like the improvement...
Google Voice Blog: Towards better transcription. Period.
Since transcription is fully automated and most people often don't talk in the same organized manner that they write, it is tricky to insert punctuation into a message. And reading long messages without punctuation can feel weird.
Today we made some more progress on transcript readability and launched an improved transcription engine with punctuation. Don't expect it to insert question marks for your callers' questions, but it should help make your message transcripts easier to read by breaking them into sentences separated by periods.
We hope you will like the improvement...
Google Voice Blog: Towards better transcription. Period.
Battle of the e-book readers: Sony vs. Kindle
Sony's e-book readers are hanging in there, continuing to give Amazon's Kindle some competition. Sony has announced that it will market two new e-book readers at the end of this month, PC World reports.
One is a direct competitor, a touch-screen Sony reader with a 6-inch screen to sell for $299, the same price as the Kindle. Sony is calling the other one a pocket e-book reader. It's got a 5-inch screen and is bargain-priced at $199.
[Via: http://www.popgadget.net]
One is a direct competitor, a touch-screen Sony reader with a 6-inch screen to sell for $299, the same price as the Kindle. Sony is calling the other one a pocket e-book reader. It's got a 5-inch screen and is bargain-priced at $199.
[Via: http://www.popgadget.net]
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Top Mobile Phones
I was checking the list of top smartphone in Q2 2009 and there was only 1 android phone and over 4 blackberry. The list is as follows
1. BlackBerry Curve (83xx series and 8900)
2. Apple iPhone 3GS (both 16GB and 32GB versions)
3. BlackBerry Pearl (81xx series not including the Pearl Flip)
4. Apple iPhone 3G (8GB and 16GB versions)
5. BlackBerry Bold
6. BlackBerry Storm
7. T-Mobile G1
8. Palm Pre
9. HTC Touch Pro
10. HTC Touch Diamond
From what we can gather this is going to change a lot as a ton of Androids are expected to come out in the 2nd half of the year. From some quarters we have heard that there are over 18 Android phones in the pipeline. And the Mytouch which came out last week has had stellar reviews. My analysis is that in 2010 it will be a face off between Android and iPhone for the Consumer market and Blackberry of course has a lock on the Business market. And I am sure that Microsoft is going to come back competitive. They simply cant afford to ignore this market. The Palm Pre is a great OS, it simply needs some decent carrier and nice application and it should give the other smartphones a run for their money.
Let the competition begin!
Source: jkontherun
1. BlackBerry Curve (83xx series and 8900)
2. Apple iPhone 3GS (both 16GB and 32GB versions)
3. BlackBerry Pearl (81xx series not including the Pearl Flip)
4. Apple iPhone 3G (8GB and 16GB versions)
5. BlackBerry Bold
6. BlackBerry Storm
7. T-Mobile G1
8. Palm Pre
9. HTC Touch Pro
10. HTC Touch Diamond
From what we can gather this is going to change a lot as a ton of Androids are expected to come out in the 2nd half of the year. From some quarters we have heard that there are over 18 Android phones in the pipeline. And the Mytouch which came out last week has had stellar reviews. My analysis is that in 2010 it will be a face off between Android and iPhone for the Consumer market and Blackberry of course has a lock on the Business market. And I am sure that Microsoft is going to come back competitive. They simply cant afford to ignore this market. The Palm Pre is a great OS, it simply needs some decent carrier and nice application and it should give the other smartphones a run for their money.
Let the competition begin!
Source: jkontherun
Sharepoint - the new OS
An articles in BITS (Nytimes) talk about the wonder of Sharepoint ......an interesting thought that it bring about is that Sharepoint maybe be MS new OS - even as Windows and office are in danger of becoming extinct.
Nytimes - Microsoft Sharepoint thrives in the recession
Along these lines, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, has talked about SharePoint as the company’s next big operating system.
Nytimes - Microsoft Sharepoint thrives in the recession
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Prepare Yourselves: Augmented Reality Hype on the Rise
Augmented reality -- or the addition of a layer to the world before your eyes (aka the "real world") using technology -- is the next big tech trend. Already making its debut in everything from mobile apps to kids toys, "AR" will clearly soon be talked about by everyone the way they used to talk about "social media" and "Web 2.0" before that.
While augmented reality has its uses -- although many of them just involve oohing and aahing at nifty apps -- this trend is already in danger of being over-hyped, even though it has barely gotten off the ground.
AR Apps We've Seen So Far
We've been fascinated by augmented reality for some time now, especially after we got wind of a new mobile application built for Google's Android platform called Layar. The app, an augmented reality browser, "layers" sets of data on top of your mobile phone's viewfinder as you point the camera at the city around you.
Once our interest was piqued, we began imagining what future apps could be built using this platform, thinking up everything from people search to place data.
Only days later, another mobile AR app made the news: TwittARound, an app which shows you nearby tweets.
[Via : http://www.readwriteweb.com ]
While augmented reality has its uses -- although many of them just involve oohing and aahing at nifty apps -- this trend is already in danger of being over-hyped, even though it has barely gotten off the ground.
AR Apps We've Seen So Far
We've been fascinated by augmented reality for some time now, especially after we got wind of a new mobile application built for Google's Android platform called Layar. The app, an augmented reality browser, "layers" sets of data on top of your mobile phone's viewfinder as you point the camera at the city around you.
Once our interest was piqued, we began imagining what future apps could be built using this platform, thinking up everything from people search to place data.
Only days later, another mobile AR app made the news: TwittARound, an app which shows you nearby tweets.
[Via : http://www.readwriteweb.com ]
Friday, August 07, 2009
Amazon Creates Shopping Application for Android
Amazon.com announced the release of its latest mobile shopping application, “Amazon App for Android”, which is available as a free download to a user’s device in Android Market.
The application includes the experimental Amazon Remembers feature that gives Android users two different ways to use their device camera to find and remember items available for sale on Amazon.com: they can either snap a photo of an item or scan a barcode, and then receive a product match.
Amazon Remembers is available on Amazon’s family of shopping applications, including the Amazon App for iPhone and iPod Touch, the Amazon App for BlackBerry, and now on the Amazon App for Android.
Using the Amazon App for Android, customers can snap a photo of a product or scan a barcode for a fun and easy way to build a list of photographs showing products they want to remember for later, make price comparisons across multiple merchants, and purchase products from Amazon.com and thousands of other retailers on the Amazon.com site.
Source For This: http://www.slashphone.com
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Free Cloud Architecture from Sun
Are you looking to build a cloud based service. Sun has a free quide for you.
Innovation in video on the web
Today, video is an important part of many people's everyday activities on the Internet and a big part of many Google products.
Because we spend a lot of time working to make the overall web experience better for users, we think that video compression technology should be a part of the web platform. To that end, we're happy to announce today that we've signed a deal to acquire On2 Technologies, a leading creator of high-quality video compression technology.
The deal is still subject to approval by On2 Technologies' stockholders and review by relevant regulatory authorities, including the SEC, but we expect it to close in Q4.
Although we're not in a position to discuss specific product plans until after the deal closes, we are committed to innovation in video quality on the web, and we believe that On2 Technologies' team and technology will help us further that goal.
We'll update everybody when we're able to share more information. In the meantime, nothing will change for On2 Technologies' current and prospective customer
Official Google Blog: Innovation in video on the web
Because we spend a lot of time working to make the overall web experience better for users, we think that video compression technology should be a part of the web platform. To that end, we're happy to announce today that we've signed a deal to acquire On2 Technologies, a leading creator of high-quality video compression technology.
The deal is still subject to approval by On2 Technologies' stockholders and review by relevant regulatory authorities, including the SEC, but we expect it to close in Q4.
Although we're not in a position to discuss specific product plans until after the deal closes, we are committed to innovation in video quality on the web, and we believe that On2 Technologies' team and technology will help us further that goal.
We'll update everybody when we're able to share more information. In the meantime, nothing will change for On2 Technologies' current and prospective customer
Official Google Blog: Innovation in video on the web
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
RIM Partners With Airtel for Blackberry
Research In Motion, has partnered up with Bharti Airtel, Asia’s leading integrated telecom services provider, to offer BlackBerry phones to its subscribers. RIM ( Research In Motion) has launched the new BlackBerry 8520 Curve smartphone in India. The new BlackBerry Curve 8520 is offered at the attractive price of Rs.15,990. And will be available nationally from Airtel’s authorized outlets through Bharti Teletech Limited across India on August 7th.
The new Blackberry is enabled with advanced media player for music, pictures and videos. The phone is aimed at youth and consumers looking for messaging / email , social networking , music and entertainment. The 8520 is the first Blackberry device to sport a trackpad instead of the trackball and brings some exciting features like Wi-Fi and EDGE for data connectivity, HTML browser, fast 512MHz CPU with 256MB RAM, 2.46-inch, microSD slot supporting up to 32 GB, 2MP camera, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and a Bluetooth.
The phone features a Full QWERTY Keyboard, Quad-band GSM/EDGE connectivity, 2.46 inch QVGA display, Advanced Email capabilities and a 1150 mAh battery (providing up to 4.5 hours of talk time, or up to 17 days of standby time).
Ready to Port your iPhone App to Windows Mobile?
Hello, my name is Constanze Roman and I’m a Community PM with the Windows Mobile Community Team. If you’ve been curious about porting an iPhone app to the Windows Mobile platform, then I have exciting news for you! We have just published a new technical article on MSDN titled Porting the Amplitude Application from the iPhone to a Windows Mobile Device – a Case Study which outlines the real-world experiences of a developer who ported the popular Amplitude application.
Amplitude picks up any sound in a user’s surroundings through the microphone and then amplifies the sound, rendering it into a rich graphical representation on the device. Amplitude can be used to amplify any sounds, such as human or animal heartbeats, that usually wouldn’t be picked up by the human ear. Amplitude provides a cool user interface featuring an oscilloscope that allows users to view and visually quantify, signal voltages, as you can see the volume of the sound that you are listening to.
Amplitude is well suited for a porting project because it combines a rich user interface with features such as alpha blending and transparency with specific audio and sound requirements, which makes it challenging to port the app but, at the same time, provides a number of helpful learning experiences.
Fro more read here:
(Via : http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs)
Android Enterprise App Support “as Soon as This Year”
You thought Exchange support was as a big deal for Android? Well, enterprise-grade applications are also in the pipes for a future release of Android, according to GoogleVP Andy Rubin. 
Of course, Google’s attitude remains somewhat laissez-faire, riding primarily on the hope that manufacturers will do what they will to the Android source code for their handsets.
If Android wants a reasonable chunk of the enterprise market, manufacturers will have to make exceptionally good use of tose tools, especially if RIM keeps getting special treatment from Google with things like with the BlackBerry Apps Connector. Rubin says we could start seeing enterprise Android apps as soon as this year, although it depends largely on what manufacturers do.
[via : http://www.intomobile.com]
Of course, Google’s attitude remains somewhat laissez-faire, riding primarily on the hope that manufacturers will do what they will to the Android source code for their handsets.
If Android wants a reasonable chunk of the enterprise market, manufacturers will have to make exceptionally good use of tose tools, especially if RIM keeps getting special treatment from Google with things like with the BlackBerry Apps Connector. Rubin says we could start seeing enterprise Android apps as soon as this year, although it depends largely on what manufacturers do.
[via : http://www.intomobile.com]
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Twitter Ensures Safety by Filtering Malicious Links
Security firm F-Secure discovered that Twitter has begun blocking links to malicious sites when users try to post them on this free social networking service. Malicious links spread more quickly on Twitter's lightening fast communications platform.
With numerous incidents having taken place already, Twitter is cracking down by filtering URLs to known malicious sites. Try posting a link to such a site, and you’ll receive the warning: “Your Tweet contained a URL to a known malware site!”
The popular micro-blogging service has quietly started using the Google Safe Browsing API to block links to known malicious Web sites. The blocking of malicious URLs shows that the company is not ignoring security concerns though.
Although, it is odd that they have not addressed this in a blog post or anything as Twitter hasn’t announced this initiative and didn’t respond to a request for comment about it.
With numerous incidents having taken place already, Twitter is cracking down by filtering URLs to known malicious sites. Try posting a link to such a site, and you’ll receive the warning: “Your Tweet contained a URL to a known malware site!”
The popular micro-blogging service has quietly started using the Google Safe Browsing API to block links to known malicious Web sites. The blocking of malicious URLs shows that the company is not ignoring security concerns though.
Although, it is odd that they have not addressed this in a blog post or anything as Twitter hasn’t announced this initiative and didn’t respond to a request for comment about it.
"Going Google" with Google Apps
Every morning, millions of people wake up to a very refreshing experience at work. They don't see "mailbox is full" errors in their email. They don't worry about backing up their data. They can get to any file they need from any computer, anywhere with Internet access and a browser. They can all access and edit the same documents and spreadsheets at the same time as their colleagues. They use Gmail and Google Calendar at work as fluidly and easily as they use their personal Gmail accounts. They video, voice and text chat with their peers globally as naturally as they send email.
The IT people at these companies and organizations don't waste time or money buying, installing or managing email servers. They focus on the smart, innovative stuff they want to work on, because they never have to bother with expensive and painful software upgrades, hardware compatibility issues or managing data centers. They have left many IT frustrations and costs behind and moved on to something better.
Official Google Blog: "Going Google" with Google Apps
The IT people at these companies and organizations don't waste time or money buying, installing or managing email servers. They focus on the smart, innovative stuff they want to work on, because they never have to bother with expensive and painful software upgrades, hardware compatibility issues or managing data centers. They have left many IT frustrations and costs behind and moved on to something better.
Official Google Blog: "Going Google" with Google Apps
Monday, August 03, 2009
The man with the Violin
I am not sure who to attribute this to but I got this via email......but this is something for us to think about...This is Washington DC but it could just as easily be the metro in NYC.
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin valued at $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the price of seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... what else are we missing?
Palm Pre @ Amazon.com
Since August 1st, you've got the option of buying Palm Pre from Amazon.com too. The best thing is, it is available in non contract form and you don’t have to deal with any mail in rebates.
That means that you pay $199.99 when you buy the Pre with a two year contract with Sprint.
If you want to check it out yourself, simply log onto Amazon.com and enter your Zip Code on the right hand side of the site to check availability. The phone costs you $199.99 out the virtual door.
Also of note, you can nab the non-contract version for $499.99, which is a $50 savings over the Sprint pricing, and certainly a value compared to Best Buy's $749.99 price tag. But you'll have to wait for 4 to 6 weeks for the delivery
That means that you pay $199.99 when you buy the Pre with a two year contract with Sprint.
If you want to check it out yourself, simply log onto Amazon.com and enter your Zip Code on the right hand side of the site to check availability. The phone costs you $199.99 out the virtual door.
Also of note, you can nab the non-contract version for $499.99, which is a $50 savings over the Sprint pricing, and certainly a value compared to Best Buy's $749.99 price tag. But you'll have to wait for 4 to 6 weeks for the delivery
BlackBerry App World 1.1 - New Features, More Countries
It seems it was only yesterday that we opened up a world of possibilities with BlackBerry App World™. We’re proud to announce the launch of BlackBerry App World 1.1!
BlackBerry App World 1.1 New Features :
a) You can now view the Top 25 Free and Top 25 Paid applications!
b) When searching for applications, you can now filter by newest, name, price, vendor, popularity and relevance.
With BlackBerry App World 1.1, you’ll now be able to archive your downloaded and purchased applications on a microSD™ Card. Click the “Continue Reading” link to read a brief FAQ and step-by-step guide on how to archive applications on your BlackBerry® smartphone.
Where do my apps go when I install them?
Any app you install on your BlackBerry smartphone (from BlackBerry App World or anywhere else) is installed in flash memory. Each BlackBerry smartphone has a different amount of flash memory – and this is what determines how many apps each device can have installed. With the new archiving feature, you can store the app on the microSD™ card and restore it when you want to use it.
VIA:http://blogs.blackberry.com/2009/07/blackberry-app-world-11.html
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