Enjoy “Orkut and Google Buzz” Widget on Android Phone Now!!!

Do you want to use orkut on your andriod phone, then Google has announced the release of an Orkut widget for phones that use the platform.

Orkut is a dominant social networking site in Brazil and India where even Facebook finds itself relegated to the second spot. Although Facebook has managed to usurp Orkut's dominance in India to an extent of late, it has not managed to do so in Brazil.

Orkut is all set to roll on mobile phones with Android through a newly released widget aimed at making it easier for users to update their status and share content with others. This is an added advantage for the ardent Orkut users with Android phones.

The widget lets you stay connected to your orkut friends wherever you go -- via scrap notifications, direct photo uploads to your orkut albums, and a phonebook synced to your Orkut friends' phone numbers and status messages. Orkut for Android lets you stay in touch with pals through friends live folders, Scrap notification, and Photo uploads to orkut albums.

Along with the Orkut widget, Google Buzz is also a new Android widget. The Google Buzz widget helps you do what it is intended to do - post Google Buzz updates. You can post buzz about your fun trip to the nearby amusement park and share photos of the same. You can post text, photos and stuff directly from the phone. To save time, your posts will upload in the background. The posts can be tagged as well.

The Google Buzz widget for Android is compatible only with devices that have Android OS 1.6 installed. To add the widget, all you need to do is to go to Menu > Add > Widgets > Google Buzz and that should do the trick. The widget is currently available in English for Android phones. Google says it plans to add support for other languages soon.

So go and get new widgets on your android phone and share your ideas with us on http://www.androidsoftwareprogramming.com.

New Full QWERTY, Touchscreen LG Android Phone Out

LG has announced the launch of its full slide-out QWERTY, Android laden touchscreen handset, the LG GW620 in India.

The phone comes in at a time when the likes of HTC and Samsung had launched quite a few handsets in the mid-range segment -all based on Android. The LG GW620 is expected to compete with the likes of the Samsung i7500 Galaxy and the HTC Tattoo - both of which are priced lower than the former.

Let's now see what the GW620 has in store for you. The handset, as mentioned earlier, happens to come with a physical QWERTY keyboard. This is probably the first handset in its price range to come with a full-fledged hardware QWERTY keyboard in India. The phone has a 3-inch capacitive TFT screen. There is a 5 megapixel camera at the rear capable of recording Videos as well. Video recording isn't impressive at just QVGA resolution. The camera supports geo-tagging, face detection and even has image stabilization features crammed into it. The phone supports playback of Divx files and comes with a document viewer as well. As of now, it runs Android OS, v1.5 (Cupcake). LG has incorporated its custom S-Class UI over Android on this phone."

The GW620 is 3G ready and tips the scales at 139 grams. A 3.5 mm jack is provided for music enthusiasts. The phone comes with 150MB of internal memory and can take microSD cards of up to 32GB. Connectivity options include GPRS, EDGE, WLAN, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, and v2.0 micro USB. FM Radio fans rejoice! Unlike the Samsung Galaxy, this one has FM Radio! It boasts of a powerful 1500 mAh Li-Po battery that endows it with a talk time of 7h 40 minutes. The standby time is 500 hours.

The phone is now on sale in India and is priced at Rs. 18,990.

See Also : Techtree.com

BlackBerry Storm 2 Review

According to a revelation made by Research in Motion (RIM), BlackBerry will make its latest phone the BlackBerry Storm 2 available in Australia from this month. The BlackBerry Storm 2 is seen as a major threat to the iPhone market and is expected to face tough competition from its rivals in the touchscreen category namely, HTC Desire, Samsung, Wave and Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X 10.

The makers of BlackBerry Storm 2 after giving due consideration have made some minor changes in its predecessors, the BlackBerry Storm. The company did not make some of the major renewal adjustment in Storm.

However many minor changers in BlackBerry Storm 2 have led to a major impact due to which the phone offers a little more in comparison to its predecessor and many of its competitors. These changes have surely gone into making the device more user friendly.

Talking about the design, the BlackBerry Storm 2 now comes with a trendy touchscreen buttons with improved button control on the side. The battery lid and joints of the handset and been smoothed away to make the grip more handy and user friendly. It also avoids the annoying light that releases on the side of the screen. Hence these little innovative updates in the device are taken very positively making the Storm a visual delight.

Among the new specifications and features of BlackBerry Storm 2 are the stylish sleek look, touch support and interface with touchscreen. Another add on feature is built-in Wi-Fi and bigger keys set in horizontal mode to make sending email lot more simple, error free and fast.

The touchsreen in Storm 2 is now electronic rather than mechanical with a whole lot of features such as faster web browser, third party apps and another feature that helps select the text using 2 fingers and simultaneously with shift button where you can press to capitalize letters.

BlackBerry Storm 2 with its latest features and specifications is truly that phone which can give competition to iPhone. It has 3.2 MP camera with autofocus, flash and video recording that leaves iPhone far behind. Also the users can enjoy its multi tasking features by holding down the menu key and easily switch between many open apps. So, with a BlackBerry Storm 2 be sure that you have an icon in your pocket.

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Which One is Best for iPhone App Testing – iPhone QA / Web QA?

Testing is a procedure of technical investigation that is intended to reveal quality-related information about the product with respect to the context in which it is ordained to operate. App testing is an essential process that comprises part of the application development life-cycle. Through testing you can analyze how your developed application will perform in a real-world environment by installing and testing it directly on iPhone or iPod touch.

iPhone testing is more or less similar to website testing. Website testing involves various kinds of testing like; functionality testing, GUI testing, security testing etc. Similarly we check the iPhone application for its functionality, display of the various images and content and data protection. In website testing, for detecting security issues, we use the following techniques: -

1) Penetration testing.
2) Password cracking
3) URL Testing
4) Virus Detectors etc.

Whereas the security testing of iPhone app testing is done in a different manner. Following features can be adapted for the security of the iPhone apps: -

1) Encryption
2) Remote Wipe
3) Local wipe

In website testing we check for the scalability of the website that include stress testing and load testing. In this we check the performance of the website when subjected to various kinds of load by the users. On the contrary, iPhone applications are free from such kind of testing modus operandi, as the application has to be uploaded on a single device.


In the iPhone applications we focus more on the memory issues as many of the non-reproducible bugs you come across while testing iPhone apps are related to memory problems. It is quintessential to know and report available free memory before launching an application. Consequently, a crashing defect may vanish when there's plenty of free memory available.

A1 technology's iPhone application Quality Assurance team verify applications in its entirety and test the functionality of each setting related to the application. The team works in close co-ordination with the application developers to identify and resolve all crash points. Our testing experts test the behavior of iPhone app in low connectivity mode and verify proper behavior.


A-1 Technology's quality analysts measure the memory usage of the application to determinate all memory leaks and test the application in the sleep mode. The iPhone Quality Analysts possess the expertise to resolve all the testing issues and ensures that your applications run smoothly.

Tips to stop Google Buzz Replies in your Inbox

Google Buzz seems good innovative way to share what you are thinking, it much more simpler and easier to use and understand but one of the most annoying things people started noticing is the google buzz replies in their gmail inbox. These replies are not only your own buzz getting comments but some one else buzz on which you have commented.

Many people don’t like the large number of replies, Finally google buzz team has added some options in gmail to control the number of buzz replies you see in your inbox.

In order to control what buzz replies you want to see in your gmail inbox, log in to your gmail account and click the settings link at the extreme right top of the browser. Under Settings click the Link Buzz which could be the last link.

Now, You will see the following options which controls which buzz replies will be sent to your inbox.

With some other options below, you can even disable google buzz in gmail, set the privacy options related to google chrome, that’s it.

Here are some points related to Google Buzz:

1) Settings to control what gets sent to your inbox
From the Buzz tab of Gmail Settings, you’ll be able to choose whether the following buzz items get sent to your inbox:

* Comments on your posts
* Comments on posts after you comment on them
* Comments on posts after you are @replied on them

2) Explanations for why posts get sent to your inbox and an easy-to-find "Mute" link
You'll see a new message at the top of each post in your inbox that explains why it’s there: someone commented on your post, you were @replied, etc. Google also added an easy-to-find "mute" link that will stop subsequent comments from bringing the conversation back to your inbox.

Google is Going to Close its Search Engine in China

In view of the hardening of positions on both sides, Google reportedly has chalked out a detailed strategy for closure of its search engine in China, and it is almost final now as the talks over censorship with the Chinese authorities have reached an apparent deadlock since January of this year. The Chinese government on Friday warned the US based search company, that it was not prepared to compromise on internet censorship with Google in China.

To recap on what happened, it was December last year when the Google – China relations took a bad turn. Someone from China targeted human right activists Gmail accounts. These Google human rights activists accounts in China were hacked by hackers who originated from mainland China. As a reaction, the dismayed authorities at Google threatened to withdraw its services from China, saying that it can no longer censor its search results on the Chinese version of Google homepage i.e. Google.cn. Google, in a detailed blog post said that if it is unable to find a way to operate an unfiltered search engine within the Chinese law, which currently requires it to block access to millions of websites, it will have no option but to close its operations in China. Few days later, Google-China debacle took a new turn when Google in a secret counter-offensive encounter managed to hack these Chinese hackers back. It was successful in breaking into the source computer in Taiwan which was involved in these attacks. Google engineers, thus found out some evidence which were pointing fingers towards mainland China. It appeared as if the whole script was orchestrated by the Chinese government. Later in a new development, U.S. authorities were able to track down the man who wrote the code to attack Google in China. The guy in question was a freelance security consultant in China, and his discovery made it even more difficult for the Chinese government to deny their involvement.

In mid last month, some more scary details came to light where linkage of two Chinese Institutions were discovered in hacking Google sites. These schools were also reported having tacit connections with PLA.

Google also delayed the launch of two Android based smartphones from Motorola and Samsung, and didn’t plan to unveil Nexus One in China.

Redmondpie.com

Motorola, Microsoft in Deal to put Bing on phones

Motorola Inc has reached a deal with Microsoft Corp that will put Bing search and mapping services on its phones that use Google's
Android operating system.

Motorola said the partnership with Microsoft means that a Bing bookmark and search widget will be loaded on cell phones, starting in the coming weeks with phones in China.

The move follows shortly after Motorola struck a similar deal to let consumers in China use Baidu Inc, among others, as the default Web search instead of Google on Android based phones.

The partnerships come against a backdrop of Google's dispute with China over censorship, which, if it leads to Google withdrawing from the country, could cause big headaches for Motorola.

That's because Motorola is banking on its ties to Google's Android and its sales in China to help in a big turnaround effort. Having search alternatives on the Android phones should lessen Motorola's dependence on Google, in China or elsewhere, analysts have said.

Economictimes.indiatimes.com

Google Earth Available for Android

Nexus One, which runs Android 2.1 and Motorola Milestone known as Droid, which runs on Android 2.0.1 has become an august platform to illustrate the rich and highly technical features of Google Earth. Nexus One carries a lot of performance in a slender package.

After a lot of touches and experiments, the app is ready with the bouncing features for Android. This is the fastest mobile version of Google Earth yet, with a smooth frame and a beautiful 800 x 480 screen.
With the release of Google Earth for Android, Google has also introduced the Roads layer, a very prominent feature of the desktop version of Google Earth. Thus, giving you a better sense of where you are with road labels drawn on top of the satellite imagery.

In addition, Google has taken advantage of the integrated voice recognition potentialities of the Android platform to support the best Google Earth experience yet -- a pocket globe that responds to your every command. Try speaking "Eiffel tower" or "best burrito Mission district of San Francisco." Maybe you're trying to find some nice lodging for an upcoming getaway to Lake Tahoe. Just say "romantic getaway Lake Tahoe."

With Google Earth for Android, the app has brought together the convenience of Google Search by voice with the power of Google Local Search to make it easier than ever to navigate the globe and find whatever you are looking for.

As with other versions of Google Earth, the users can also browse photos, places, and local businesses, whether it is in your local community or on the far side of the globe. Click on an icon to see photos, videos, and read about prominent places in the world. You can easily customize your version of Google Earth to display the layers that most interest you.

In addition to Nexus One, Google Earth will be available in Android Market on most devices that have Android 2.1 or later versions. So as devices such as Droid get updated to Android 2.1, others will also be able to fly to the far reaches of the globe with a swipe of their finger.

RIM, iPhone & Android market share up

Gartner has released a comprehensive report on the list of smartphone platforms sale of mobile phones worldwide. In its reports, gartner has enlisted the iPhone at number three, right behind Nokia's Symbian OS and the RIM software used in Blackberry devices. More importantly, the report reveals that Apple's unit share has more than doubled in the last year, from 11.4 million units in 2008 to more than 24 million in 2009.

Gartner claims iPhone sales made up 14 percent of the smartphone market last year to WinMo's 9 percent, but that still puts Apple behind the other two leaders in the market: BlackBerry manufacturer RIM in third place with 20 percent, Finnish firm Nokia still ahead with a mighty 47 percent.

It's an influential stat when you consider that iPhone is just one handset confronting to the leagues that run WinMo software, but Apple still has some way to go if it wants to reach the zenith.
Android is also on the list, and while it's not quite competing with iPhone yet, that brand experienced even greater growth, from less than a million phones in 2008 up to almost 7 million in 2009. And perhaps the most interesting takeaway is that while Symbian encountered a nearly 10% drop in market share, both its and RIM's totals actually climbed up. While cellphone sales at large have dropped, smartphone sales have jumped across the board. It clearly shows that more people are doing more things with their cell phones than just the usual calling.

According to Gartner's principal research analyst Roberta Cozza, "Android's fourth-quarter growth should continue, but some suppliers had "expressed growing concern about Google's intentions in the mobile market." If this led them to transform their product strategies, "this might slow-down Android's growth in 2010."

Buzz Around Google Buzz

Google, following the footsteps of social media giants Facebook and Twitter, introduced its new social media feature, Google Buzz on Feb 9, 2010. It is a fully open and distributed platform for conversations. Much like Twitter and Facebook, Google Buzz allows space for the expression of thought. Twitter, however, places a limit on length, allowing a mere 140 characters at most. And while Facebook is wildly popular among all ages groups, its interface is confusing to many new users. It is a fully open and distributed platform for conversations.

Google Buzz has opened a new door in the realm of public relations possibilities. The most preferred advantage of Google Buzz is its ease of access. Moreover, automatically connecting it to the users gmail contacts is the incomparable way to connect the users to their friends. This eliminates the lack-of-network issue that users encounter when they first sign on to a social networking site.

Google has taken social media a step further and created the perfect blend of the two. Buzz is not a Facebook killer as, the latter offers a complete integrated platform to share updates, pictures, videos, games, maps, etc. with a network built on family and friends.

There are speculations that Buzz will not pose a threat for Twitter too. Twitter is a non-symmetric network used to access and broadcast information, to establish new connections, to chat, and to freely blab about anything. Twitter users listen and tweet to an audience that has a very small overlap, if any, with their Gmail address books. Similarly, this audience is mostly disjoint from their Facebook friends. Thus unless one can convince family members, friends, acquaintances, and professional connections to all move to Gmail, Twitter users will keep using Twitter for its very purpose. That is not even considering how users consume tweets. Buzz has nothing like it, at least for now. And Twitter’s lightweight and open API has created one of the richest and most innovative ecosystem in social networks –the best is still to come.

In an interview with eWeek, Google’s Brad Horowitz stated, that Google’s vision was a place where all social services could come together, a place where people would discuss events, trends and engage in real conversation. “It’s not just status-casting. It’s not just checking in. It’s really meaningful interactions around meaningful topics within Buzz and it’s reaching the right audience and people are engaged. That kind of value proposition is I think unique to Buzz,” Horowitz added.

Buzz will fall somewhere in between Facebook and Twitter as it appeals to Gmail users who are unfamiliar to Twitter and find Facebook way too confusing. That is, of course, if Facebook’s future email service does not pick up any momentum, and if Twitter does not bring innovations to its platform. Then you can guess what will be left of Gmail’s Buzz.

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series – Try, Try and Try again

The New York Times says that Microsoft had to start the development of Windows Phone 7 from scratch because the previous previous was beyond redemption. While there are nice features here, the software has failed to excite the audience at Barcelona, though it did win good feedback from Business Users who like the seamless integration with Sharepoint, Outlook and Exchange.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/technology/01soft.html?hpw



Engadget in it editorial on the release of Windows 7 said this was a entire reboot and nothing from Windows Mobile survives. While the OS is very good, the battle is yet to be fought whether it can upend the iPhone and the Droid and carve a space for itself or will it go the way of the Palm Pre. http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/editorial-engadget-on-windows-phone-7-series/

Mary J Foley on Microsoft-Watch says that Windows 7 Phone Series will be delayed until 2011. Will Microsoft launch a branded phone with its own hardware.http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/windows_7/windows_phone_7_series_offers_questions_hint_of_dell_smartphone.html



Gigaom says Window 7 Phone is a impressive try but it wont stick until they come up with a Appstore strategy which takes advantage of the Phone. http://gigaom.com/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7/



The Apple Blog was fulsom in its praise and said “Of all the companies competing in the cellphone industry, it is perhaps more than just a little poetic that Microsoft should be the first to offer a truly compelling product to rival Apple’s iPhone.” http://theappleblog.com/2010/02/16/microsoft-starts-over-announces-credible-iphone-competitor/

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series - Try, Try and Try again

The New York Times says that Microsoft had to start the development of Windows  Phone 7 from scratch because the previous previous was beyond redemption.  While there are nice features here, the software has failed to excite the audience at Barcelona, though it did win good feedback from Business Users who like the seamless integration with Sharepoint, Outlook and Exchange.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/technology/01soft.html?hpw

 

Engadget in it editorial on the release of Windows 7 said this was a entire reboot and nothing from Windows Mobile survives.  While the OS is very good, the battle is yet to be fought whether it can upend the iPhone and the Droid and carve a space for itself or will it go the way of the Palm Pre.   http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/15/editorial-engadget-on-windows-phone-7-series/

Mary J Foley on Microsoft-Watch says that Windows 7 Phone Series will be delayed until 2011.  Will Microsoft launch a branded phone with its own hardware.http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/windows_7/windows_phone_7_series_offers_questions_hint_of_dell_smartphone.html

 

Gigaom says Window 7 Phone is a impressive try but it wont stick until they come up with a Appstore strategy which takes advantage of the Phone.   http://gigaom.com/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7/

 

The Apple Blog was fulsom in its praise and said “Of all the companies competing in the cellphone industry, it is perhaps more than just a little poetic that Microsoft should be the first to offer a truly compelling product to rival Apple’s iPhone.”  http://theappleblog.com/2010/02/16/microsoft-starts-over-announces-credible-iphone-competitor/