Android and iOS Gets Updated, Comes to the UK

Barnes & Noble has updated its Android and iOS Nook app and made it available for download in the UK, the company has announced.

The new features on both platforms include support for British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

The iOS app has been optimized for the iPhone 5; it now also supports Apple’s screen magnification and VoiceOver features. The only new feature of note in the Android app is a name change, which will now be “NOOK” instead of (“B&N NOOK”) in your app tray.

Of course, the most important change for both apps is their availability in the UK, which comes weeks after B&N launched its Nook devices in that country.

You can get the iOS version of the app here and the Android one is available here.

-Mashable

Update Galaxy S3 to Android 4.2

Google release the latest system, android 4.2. Do you think it's a good news for many android users? In fact, to get android 4.2 on your android phone, lots of samsung galaxy s3 user are looking for the way to update galaxy s3 to android 4.2, if you're using galaxy s3, do you know how to upgrade galaxy s3 to jelly bean 4.2? Don't worry at all, here is provide you an instruction to the quick way to update galaxy s3 with android 4.2 just using Thunderbolt Custom ROM Firmware. Keeping reading this guide, you'll learn more from here.

Before Updating Galxy S3 to Android 4.2, you should do these:

Galaxy-S3-Jelly-Bean.jpg

Step 1: Backup your galaxy s3 data, because you have to wipe the system.

Step 2: Start to save the contacts, messages and call logs, and then backup the EFS.

Step 3: Download Thunderbolt Custom ROM, this is a beta android 4.1.2 update. To install this firmware on your phone, you need to root your galaxy s3.

Step 4: Restore the warranty but only update with an official firmware released by samsung,or downgrade galaxy s3 to the stock ROM, then the bootloader will be relocked and the rootaccess revoked.

Step 5: Install a custom recovery image for your galaxy s3.

Step 6: Make sure that you can access a computer using usb cable.

Step 7: Uninstall both galaxy s3 and pc.

Step 8: Check the battery status of your galaxy s3, if there is less than 50% power left go and charge it. The CM10 and AOKP jelly bean software will be stopped.

Step 9: Enable the usb debugging option on your handset.

Android 4.2: More Powerful Android Phone

Google release the latest system, android 4.2. Do you think it's a good news for many android users? In fact, to get android 4.2 on your android phone, lots of samsung galaxy s3 user are looking for the way to update galaxy s3 to android 4.2, if you're using galaxy s3, do you know how to upgrade galaxy s3 to jelly bean 4.2? Don't worry at all, here is provide you an instruction to the quick way to update galaxy s3 with android 4.2 just using Thunderbolt Custom ROM Firmware. Keeping reading this guide, you'll learn more from here.

Step 1: Backup your galaxy s3 data, because you have to wipe the system.
Step 2: Start to save the contacts, messages and call logs, and then backup the EFS.
Step 3: Download Thunderbolt Custom ROM, this is a beta android 4.1.2 update. To install this firmware on your phone, you need to root your galaxy s3.
Step 4: Restore the warranty but only update with an official firmware released by samsung,or downgrade galaxy s3 to the stock ROM, then the bootloader will be relocked and the rootaccess revoked.
Step 5: Install a custom recovery image for your galaxy s3.
Step 6: Make sure that you can access a computer using usb cable.
Step 7: Uninstall both galaxy s3 and pc.
Step 8: Check the battery status of your galaxy s3, if there is less than 50% power left go and charge it. The CM10 and AOKP jelly bean software will be stopped.
Step 9: Enable the usb debugging option on your handset.

Update Galaxy S3 with Android 4.2 Thunderbolt Custom ROM Firmware

Step 1: Download the update file.
Step 2: Save the file on your pc.
Step 3: Connect the device with pc using usb cable.
Step 4: Select ROM from your computer and copy, paste it, or drag and drop to the phone'ssd card.
Step 5: Disconnect the galaxy s3 from the computer.
Step 6: Turn off galaxy s3 and reboot into recovery mode.
Step 7: Enter into recovery mode by pressing volume up and the home key and power button simultaneously.
Step 8: Once you enter into recovery mode, start the update operation.
Step 9: Select"wipe data factory reset" and "wipe cache partition". You have to backup galaxy s3 first to avoid losing your personal info.
Step 10: Select "+++go back+++" and return to the main menu.
Step 11: Select "install zip from sd card" and "choose zip from sd card"
Step 12: You can get and apply the ROM, just pick the downloaded file and start the flashing procedure.
Step 13: This installation process will cost a few minutes, don't press anyting.
Step 14: Select "+++go back+++" from the recovery menu follow by "reboot system".

-downloadatoz.com

How to make Windows 8 bootable DVD

Microsoft has released the Windows 8 Pro recently. Moreover， Windows 8 Consumer Preview is available for free download. The new features of Windows 8 are available here:

1. With faster boot time and better system optimization.
2. Memory Usage efficiency has been optimized.
3. Use the USB 3.0, greatly increased the transmission speed.
4. With more powerful Anti-Malware to ensure the security of the computer.
5. Taking advantage of touch input requires a screen that supports multi-touch.

Before you installing Windows 8, you should know the system requirements:

1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Here we will show you how to create Windows 8 bootable DVD with WinISO step by step.

1. Firstly, Free Download WinISO. Install and run it.

2. There are three ways to open Windows 8 ISO image file.

I. Please run WinISO. Click the "Open File" button on the menu


II. Click "File" menu, and choose “open file…” or you can directly use the shortcut “ctrl+o”.

III. You can also drag the Windows 8 ISO file into WinISO.

3. Select the “Burn Image..."option. Or you can click “Burn” on the toolbar. After that, the “Burn” dialogue will be pop-up. Press the “…” then choos the Windows 8 ISO file to burn it into your DVD. After the progress is finished, you will get the Windows 8 bootable DVD.

4. Insert the Windows 8 bootable DVD into your DVD driver and don't forget to change the startup sequence of your computer. Following the instructions on the Startup menu in the BIOS Setup Utility, set the CD-ROM drive to start first.

All of the preparation is OK. The last step is: restart your computer.

How to Manage Your Internet Reputation

The best way to gain and preserve a positive Internet reputation is to offer exceptional product and service. However, this still is not enough to protect your business from false accusations or angry complaints online. You need to know what is being said about your company name, work on damage control and fight negative views with positive content.

Get a Snapshot

It’s easy to discover what is being said about your brand name. Enter your name into your favorite search engine to see what information pops up. Set up email alerts with Google Bing, Yahoo or any other search engines that your customers use so you can quickly discover any future praises or complaints about your business.

Utilize an online company snapshot tool or dashboard to keep track of your brand’s online reputation. Snapshots are word cloud charts where the bigger the word, the more often it’s being used to describe your company. If you decide to hire an online reputation management service, opt for snapshots to be made up on a regular basis, such as once a week.

Participate in Social Networks

It’s not enough to just have accounts on the most popular social networking sites like Twittter, Facebook and LinkedIn. You have to participate in these sites, too. Double check your privacy settings on these public sites to avoid future problems. Regularly post valuable content on these sites relating not just to your business but any information your customers may want.

For example, if your business is selling pet care products, you could ask customers to post pictures of their pets, post news about the pet industry or any medical studies that show a link between owning pets and living a healthier, happier life. You can also hold contests or special offers just for customers who use a particular social network website.

Invest in Your Domain Name

Look at your website’s domain name. Does it include your company’s name or highlights what product or service your company provides? If not, you should change the domain name so that somebody else doesn’t take it. Consider buying a few domain names in order to best protect your online reputation. -bytechip.com

Google to challenge Apple with 'open' AirPlay

Google is working on an open alternative to Apple's AirPlay wireless streaming technology, which the company wants to use to link Android devices to Google TV devices.

One of the strengths of Apple's iOS devices is AirPlay, a technology that enables the wireless streaming of audio, video, and photos between devices. Now Google has its eyes on this market, and is working on an open alternative to Apple's proprietary protocol.

Speaking to GigaOM, Google product manager Timbo Drayson admitted that Google has its sights set on the space and plans to pursue it aggressively.

"We really want to move the whole industry forward," said Drayson, before going on to say that Google is "actively working with other companies" to make this into an open standard that could be used on a number of platforms.

Google's primary motivation for developing this protocol is likely to be to enable content sharing between Android smartphones, tablets and Google TV devices.

But Google's plans go beyond simply streaming content. According to Drayson, the protocol that Google is working on allows for data to flow in both directions, which would "enable developers to build second-screen experiences that correspond to what’s happening on live TV" and for the "beaming content from your laptop to your TV screen".

While Apple's AirPlay is the best-known wireless streaming technology, it wasn't the first. The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a collaborative established by Sony in 2003 that enable the sharing of media such as music, photos and videos between devices such as computers, TVs, printers, cameras, and cell phones.

-Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (zdnet)

Firefox and Facebook Messenger can now be BFFs

If you're a Facebook addict with a Firefox craving, or the other way around, a new feature in Firefox will have you salivating. We show you how to use the new Facebook Messenger integration in Firefox.

With Facebook, that means that your Messenger sidebar -- the status updates and friends online -- will be persistent across any site you visit. It's easy to set up and if you know how to use Facebook, you practically know how to use the sidebar, too.

First, make sure you're running at least Firefox 17, log in to Facebook, then go to Facebook's Messenger for Firefox site.

Click the green "turn on" button in the middle of the page, and you'll instantly see the Facebook Messenger sidebar appear. It looks like you're in Facebook, with friends' status updates at the top and friends online below it, but the feature also introduces four buttons to the right of your navigation bar. These let you control the Facebook Messenger integration, including removing it.

The first button links to your profile, as well as letting you hide the sidebar and desktop notifications. This lets you hide either one, or both, to keep distractions to a minimum. You can also disconnect the integration entirely by clicking Remove from Firefox.

The next three buttons will be familiar to Facebook users, and perform the same functions as they do there. The silhouette button lets you accept Friend requests without having to go to your Facebook page, while the dialogue box icon pulls up a list of your recent messages and the globe shows recent notifications.

If you're thinking that this looks a lot like socially-focused alternative browsers like Rockmelt, you'd be right. But that doesn't make it a bad feature for browsers to include by default, especially since so much of what we do in the browser is tied to social networking. -Cnet

Axialis Icon Workshop

Windows lets you customize its look in lots of ways, and one of the coolest is the ability to change almost any icon to suit your style or to create themes. While there's no shortage of icons available online, why not make your own? It's much easier than you might think, especially with the help of Axialis IconWorkshop. True to its name, it handles just about every aspect of the job, from creating, extracting, and converting icons to managing whole libraries of them.

The full-featured IconWorkshop is free to use for 30 days. The latest release has tons of updates and new features, tops among them the ability to create Android and iPhone icons. But it also has many new Object packs, more image formats, bitmap editing, enhanced batch processing, and Windows 8, Mac OS X, and Photoshop plug-in compatibility.

Setting up IconWorkshop includes choosing icon file associations, with an option to automatically repair incorrect associations (something we'd like to see in other programs, too). We could also choose a Mac OS option. IconWorkshop lets you open, modify, and save Mac OS-compatible icons as well as convert them to BinHex and Windows ICO. Clearly, this is a program that takes icons seriously! That impression was strengthened by well-configured user interface that follows the popular Explorer-style layout, with a Web-style toolbar, a tree view/navigation sidebar to the left of the main window, and palettes and tools on the right.

We clicked Windows Icon under Create New Projects on IconWorkshop's comprehensive Start Screen. A detailed wizard screen started us off on what proved a remarkably easy process, considering the dizzying array of choices. Anyone who has used photo or graphics editors, drawing programs, and similar tools won't have any trouble with IconWorkshop's layout or features, but a top-quality Help file and manual is a click away.

Google’s Android is eating Apple’s lunch

Smartphones and tablets powered by Google’s Android software are devouring the mobile gadget market, eating into Apple’s turf by feeding appetites for innovation and low prices, analysts say.

The Android operating system powered nearly three out of four smartphones shipped worldwide in the recently ended quarter as the mobile platform dominated the market, according to industry trackers at IDC.

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 smartphone is powered by Android.
“Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008,” said IDC’s mobile phones research manager Ramon Llamas.

“In every year since then, Android has effectively outpaced the market and taken market share from the competition.”

In tablets, Apple’s market share has fallen to just over 50 per cent from 65 per cent in the second quarter as Android devices gain ground, according to IDC figures.

“Having a lot of people building a lot of things covering a lot of price points with multiple brands in multiple places makes a big difference,” said NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker.

“Variety is strength when it comes to moving units.”

Android smartphones shipments surged to 136 million, topping those in the same three-month period last year by slightly more than 90 per cent, IDC reported.

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 overtook Apple’s iPhone 4S in the third quarter to give the South Korean firm the world’s best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

“The pace of innovation in Android is faster than Apple,” said Gartner vice-president of mobile computing Ken Dulaney. “They are just trying harder; Apple is way behind in that area.”

Android is benefiting from being an “open-source” platform that gadget makers use free of charge and improve as they deem fit, providing Google with insights along the way.

Apple tightly controls its products from the software to the hardware and even the online shop for music, books, games or other content.

“What you get with Android is this incredible feedback loop with developers, equipment makers, customers, and designers,” Dulaney said.

“At Apple, as long as they have a great vision internally it is fine but they don’t have the feedback Android does.”

Having thousands of different Android devices vying for consumers’ cash is a strength when it comes to market share but puts hardware makers into a fiercely competitive arena, Baker noted.

“Other than Samsung, I don’t know if other Android guys are making money,” the analyst said.

Google gives Android away free, but the platform is crafted to make it easy for people to use the California Internet titan’s money-making services such as search and maps, and get content at its online Google Play shop.

Forrester analyst Charles Golvin said that forces powering Android momentum include changing demographics of smartphone buyers.

Early adopters of smartphones focused more on new technology than on price, but the devices have gone mainstream with cost increasingly important to shoppers, according to Golvin.

“People are more inclined towards the Android platform because there is more choice and most of that choice is low price,” Golvin said.

The open nature of Android and the myriad models offered by gadget makers serve as a “double-edged sword,” warned the analyst.

Apple pushes annual updates of iOS mobile operating system out to its devices, while new versions of Android hit more often but must get through hardware makers and telecom services to get onto people’s handsets.

“You have this lengthy chain of intermediaries who are delaying the delivery of that new software and its innovations to existing devices in the market,” Golvin said.

He backed his point by noting that many Android devices in use still run on generations-old versions of the operating system.

Android gadget variety can also make it tough to design accessories or even “apps” that can be used across the array of devices.

For its part, Google has done an excellent job of improving the “ecosystem” of music, films, apps, books and more available for Android-powered devices, according to analysts.

In the red-hot tablet market effectively created by the iPad, strong growth is being seen by Android rivals including Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire and Nook devices from Barnes & Noble, which run custom versions of the software.

Analysts believe that the Google-backed operating system is likely to spread to typically “dumb” gizmos like appliances.

“These platforms are becoming the molecule elements for building all kinds of hybrid devices,” Dulaney said. — AFP-Relaxnews

Amazon : The Unlocked Galaxy S III Mini

The Galaxy S Mini didn’t make a splash hitting U.S. shelves, but the teacup version of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III has in fact arrived stateside.

Right now, we’ve noticed that Amazon is selling the handset for 409.95 unlocked. That’s actually relatively cheap for an unlocked device, meaning you aren’t tied down to any contracts.

The handset will be compatible with both AT&T and T-Mobile’s network, though don’t expect any LTE in your life. A SIM card from either carrier will work just fine, but you’ll be limited to 3G on AT&T’s network and even more limited 3G from T-Mobile, considering they’ve only rolled out HSPA+ on the 1900MHz band recently.

If you recall, the Galaxy S III mini has a 4-inch Super AMOLED 480×800 display, a 1GHz dual-core chip, 1GB of RAM, 8 or 16GB of internal memory, NFC, and a 1,500mAh battery. You’ll also find a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front-facing camera, along with microSD support for expandable memory.

And best of all, you’ll enjoy Android 4.1 Jelly Bean from day one, which could be the phone’s biggest selling point.

Incidentally, if you choose to go with Amazon, move quick. There are only ten left in stock at the time of publishing. -techcrunch

Top Black Friday apps for iOS

Get the best deals on Black Friday with these iOS apps that are perfect for braving the biggest shopping day of the year.

Black Friday Survival Guide

This simple app shows you the latest deals from major stores so you can map out your shopping attack plan. Rather than flipping through circulars, this app has all the deals listed out for you, and you can save the best deals to a favorites list so you can refer back to it when you're out in the trenches on Black Friday.

The app has just four buttons across the bottom for navigation. The News button gives you up-to-the-minute deal announcements. The Stores button lists out all the stores with deals, and touching a store breaks down the discounted items into Doorbusters (deals that people will physically line up for) and online (deals you can get simply by shopping at the store's Web site). A Categories button breaks down the deals into common categories -- great if you know the item you want and don't want to sift through all the deals. Finally, a Shopping List button shows your favorite deals you have already selected, so you can use this list as your main page if you decide to hit the stores.

Zappos Mobile

The online store that got famous for shoes (and fantastic service) is not just for shoes anymore. So if you want to avoid the crowds and inevitable traffic, Zappos has one of the most intuitive shopping apps available.

The easy-to-understand interface lets you drill down through categories, like shoes, clothing, housewares and more. Then you can swipe to scroll through items to narrow your search.

When you touch an item, you get a product page where you can choose colors and sizes, read the details, and read reviews. But the best part is the way Zappos handles previewing the item, with a swipeable image at the top that shows all sides of the product to help you decide if you want it.

Shop Savvy

Though there are many bar code scanners in the App Store, Shop Savvy offers fast scanning and unique added features to make it a handy shopping companion on Black Friday. Shop Savvy lets you use your iPhone camera to "scan" a bar code, then view the item and prices from various locations, and you can scan QR codes at the touch of a button. The interface is set up to be as simple as possible, but it offers nice touches such as the ability to initiate a scan by swiping upward on the product display screen.

After a bar code scan, you're presented with an image of the item and given places to shop for it online or at nearby stores (Shop Savvy uses your GPS location), online reviews of the product, and the ability to share your findings via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook. You also can categorize your items in lists that are neatly arranged in folders you create. -Cnet

60-day trial version of Office 2013

People who want to take Office 2013 for a spin can download a 60-day evaluation edition.

The version available is the full Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 suite, which includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, and Lync. The software contains all the features in the paid edition, so you won't miss out on anything.

You will need a Microsoft account in order to access the download page, but otherwise there are no strings attached.

Here's how you can grab the free trial version:

Head over to the Office Professional Plus 2013 download page on TechNet. Click on the Get Started Now button. Log in with your Microsoft account. Fill in the online form with your name, e-mail address, and other details, if it's not already filled in. Make sure to choose either the 64-bit or 32-bit version of Office. Click Continue.

Another online form pops up asking for more information. Again, click Continue. The next page displays the product key, which you'll want to write down or save. Choose your language and click the Download button. Office is downloaded as a 785MB file.

Alternatively, Windows 8 users can set up the file as a virtual drive by right-clicking on it and selecting the Mount command. Windows 7 users would need to use a product such as Virtual CloneDrive to do the same thing.

Once the file is mounted, you can simply double-click on the virtual drive or run the Office setup file to install the program.

Office 2013's hardware and software requirements aren't especially taxing. But those of you still stuck on Windows XP or Vista are out of luck. The new suite runs only under Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2012. -Mashable

Google Updates Blogger Mobile Apps

Google has launched updated versions of its Blogger mobile apps for Android and iOS, bringing the version number on both platforms to 2.0.

The biggest new feature in the iOS app is iPad support, and other notable improvements include an improved user experience, landscape support, additional language support, sharing posts with Google+ and the usual array of bug fixes.

Android users also get an improved user experience and additional language support. Other new goodies include the ability to view a scheduled post time and automatic sign in when you view a blog on the web.

You can get the Android app over at Google Play, while the iOS app is available at Apple’s App Store

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2013

The 2013 updates to the Kaspersky protection suites bring to consumers some of the most advanced security technology currently available. It involves introducing an exploit prevention engine as part of the security suite, but also a Safe Money banking protection tool that you can interact directly with. The suite's scans aren't the fastest, but it definitely will protect you.

Installation

Installing Kaspersky has been dramatically simplified over the past two years. Following on 2012's fuss-free install, the installer for 2013 will remove conflicting security programs and any detected malware automatically.

You're still on the hook for a reboot, but not when running only the trial. The install procedure was only three screens long, and it took under 2 minutes to complete. You can also register and purchase a license key from the program itself, no need to jump to your browser. Overall, this is one of the best installation processes for a security suite, if by best you mean, "short, fast, and painless."

Interface

Kaspersky's followed up last year's overhauled interface with only minor tweaks this year to accommodate new features. The number of windows you must go through to initiate a scan, or to solve a problem warning, has been reduced.

Based on a mobile app-drawer design, the interface presents your security status at the top and stashes the four major security features of scanning, updating, the new Safe Money, and parental controls, at the bottom. The app drawer layout puts key security status information up front, and keeps your tools organized yet easily accessible below. You can slide the features sideways to see more options, or click the arrow at the bottom to pull up, drawer-style, the full list of options. Settings and Reports live in the upper right corner, and both use terminology repeated throughout the interface. This creates a solid level of consistency, and ought to appeal to basic security consumers and power users alike.

Features and support

Kaspersky 2013's newest and best features come in the form of some very forward-thinking security improvements.

The most important of them is the exploit blocking engine called Automatic Exploit Prevention. It's a response to the increase in the number of phishing attacks and includes an antiphishing engine -- similar to the antivirus and anti-malware engines -- that updates daily.

It's hard to overstate how critical stopping exploits can be to stopping large-quantity cash thefts from online banks. Experts have estimated recent successful banking breaches at scoring from $3 million to more than $220 million, and Kaspersky says that the exploit prevention engine stops the vast majority of exploit kits. -Cnet

Play with Firefox OS in your desktop

You can now get a taste of Firefox OS straight from your desktop browser, thanks to a new Firefox add-on called r2d2b2g that bakes a Firefox OS simulator right into your desktop browser.

Mozilla wrote in its blog post announcing the simulator add-on that the tool has two complementary goals for helping developers. Currently at version 0.7, the company hopes that by version 1.0 the add-on will be stable enough to let developers easily create apps for the new OS.

The second goal for the add-on is that it frees developers from having a device to install a pre-release build of Firefox OS. Given that the Mozilla has said that the initial target audience of Firefox OS will be emerging markets, this could be a boon for developers who may have limited access to multiple mobile devices. It works via the B2G desktop client, which can't emulate device hardware but does have several non-desktop APIs enabled.

Although Mozilla says that it's not having problems getting developers interested, it's hard to imagine that it's not an uphill struggle as Firefox OS joins a crowded field of mobile operating systems. While Symbian is on its way out, and iOS and Android get the most attention from developers, the new Windows Phone 8 and the upcoming BlackBerry 10 will also be clamoring for developer attentions. -Cnet

Google Maps Coming to the iPhone

Google is prepping Google Maps for the iPhone, offering a fix for customers dissatisfied with Apple’s poorly received Maps app, according to a report.

Citing “a person with direct knowledge of the matter,” The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is distributing a test version of its mapping app to people outside the company. Google is “putting finishing touches” on the app before it hits the App Store. However, it’s unclear exactly when that will happen. If and when that comes to pass, consumers will have an alternative to Apple’s Maps app, which comes preinstalled with iPhones.

Apple declined to comment on the matter. A Google rep told The WSJ: “We believe Google Maps are the most comprehensive, accurate and easy-to-use maps in the world. Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.”

The introduction of Google Maps comes after Apple faced a pr crisis over its Maps app in September. The app, which came preinstalled on the iPhone 5 got poor reviews as users pointed out many inaccuracies. The outcry, exacerbated by the fact that Google Maps was not available on iOS6 or the iPhone 5, led to a rare public apology by CEO Tim Cook, an incident that was said to have prompted the resignation of mobile chief Scott Forstall.

Google’s acquiescence would signal the company’s calculation that promoting its app is more important than hurting its primary competitor in mobile phones. The complicated relationship between Apple and Google has already led to YouTube being withdrawn as a standard app on iOS 6. -Mashable

Angry Birds Star Wars

Finland's biggest game studio is heading back into the coop, pulling out its Angry Birds franchise for yet another go on a whole mess of platforms -- this time, even Windows 8 and its mobile counterpart get some attention. Moreover, Rovio's teamed with the folks at LucasArts (now part of the Disney family) to craft an entirely thematic experience: enter Angry Birds Star Wars. But fret not -- just because Angry Birds Star Wars seems like a shameless tie-in doesn't mean it's a bad game (it is, however, a shameless tie-in, no matter which way you cut it).

In fact, it's quite good, melding pieces of Angry Birds Space -- arguably the best and most creative entry in the Angry Birds franchise -- with new gameplay elements. Rather than birds which explode or other such modifiers, post-fling, Angry Birds Star Wars equips each of several themed birds with one weapon apiece. An Obi-Wan Kenobi-themed bird uses The Force to push enemies or blocks, while a Han Solo-themed bird fires three blasts from a space pistol, just to name a few.

That Angry Birds Space component is little more than gravity effects, but it helps to mix up the often redundant level design -- if you've played more than one Angry Birds game, you've seen most of what's on offer here. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, per se, but be forewarned if you're expecting the kind of innovation we saw from Rovio's last Angry Birds spinoff, Bad Piggies. Angry Birds Star Wars launches today on iOS ($0.99 / iPhone, $2.99 / iPad), Android (Free SD version, HD is $2.99), Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac ($4.99), PC, Windows Phone ($0.99), and Windows 8. Go after the break to check out the cinematic and gameplay trailers, along with the PR.

Excel Password Recovery Instructions

Often when an employee departs, they take important Excel passwords with them. This guide outlines how to use a simple Excel password recovery application to crack lost or forgotten passwords, allowing you to unlock password-encrypted Microsoft Excel documents quickly as possible.

Step 1: Download and Install the Office Password Recovery Utility

To perform the following recovery steps, you'll need to grab the download of Office Password Recovery Pro ,available directly here. (2.1Mb)

Step 2: Navigate to the Protected File and Begin the Recovery Process

Click the Open button on the top left, navigate to the protected spreadsheet file:

The Wizard gives you the option of simply decrypting the spreadsheet (aka. removing the password protection entirely) or displaying the original document password:

Recovery Option 1: 100% Instant Document Decryption

This option is the quickest way to access your file, but strips all password protection from the document, so you'll need to setup password protection on the file again if you want to lock it down in the future.

With this option, the application securely pings the Password Solutions' server to determine the type of encryption used on the file and determines the best decryption method for removing the password from the Excel workbook:

When prompted, choose where you’d like to save the unlocked, decrypted version and hit OK.

Success! The program now offers to automatically open your unlocked document.

Recovery Option 2: 'Recover the Password to Open'

If the document is password-protected and you’d like to recover the original password (perhaps for use in opening other Office documents) select Recover the Password to Open.

You’ll then be asked a couple questions to aid in determining the password schema. These are geared at narrowing the applications search for possible matches, but are not required.

If you don’t have any idea, simply leave all default selections, press the Next button twice and then click Finish.

Office Password Recovery then starts attempting to crack the password using a number of built-in 'attack schemes' and millions of unique password combinations.

Once your password has been recovered, the program clearly notifies you of the results:

Note: Even the passwords on individual sheets within your Excel workbook are recovered, giving you complete access across the entire workbook.

If you’re stuck and just can’t find that password, we highly recommend downloading Office Password Recovery Pro and running through these steps. -Petri.co

Samsung Chromebook review

Samsung's Chromebooks have been priced in the $500 range with a build quality a step above what most netbooks have to offer. As you might expect, now that the price has been slashed to $249, it feels slightly cheaper than the last-generation Series 5 550 -- but only slightly. With the exception of the palm rest, which used to be made of inlaid metal, this has the same look and feel as the Chromebook we reviewed earlier this year.

Once again, you're looking at a lightweight machine built from matte gray plastic. The whole thing feels compact, at 2.5 pounds, and because it has a smaller display (11.6 inches versus 12.1) it's significantly lighter than the last Chromebook, which weighed 3.3 pounds. The island-style keyboard is just as comfortable, and the trackpad is similarly large. It was a nice package when it cost $500, but it's really nice now that the MSRP has been lowered to $249. You simply won't find a netbook this nice for that little money.

The new Chromebook is thinner, too, at 0.8 inch thick, but that thinness means Samsung's Chromebook has gone back to not having an Ethernet port. (It was missing from the OG model, but was added in the one that went on sale earlier this year.) The inability to use a wired internet connection could be a problem in computer labs, where Chrome OS devices have proven popular, though we suspect mainstream consumers won't care. Look closely at the edges and you'll also find an SD card reader, 3.5mm headphone jack, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, HDMI output and a 3G SIM slot. As ever, the bottom of the device is sealed, so that you can't easily mess with the battery, storage or RAM.

Given what the Chromebook is -- an inexpensive, ultra-mobile device for people who prefer physical keyboards -- Samsung really can't get away with offering a shoddy typing experience. After all, back when Chromebooks cost $500, they were priced in line with both netbooks and tablets. If the keyboard were uncomfortable, there'd be little reason not to get a cheap PC instead, or use a tablet with either a touchscreen or keyboard case. The typing experience mattered then, and it matters today, even now that the Chromebook is priced less than most netbooks and tablets.

Fortunately, the keyboard is as good here as it ever was, despite the fact that this smaller model has a little less room to fit all those buttons. The individual keys have a pleasantly soft finish, and all of the major buttons (Enter, Backspace, et cetera) are amply sized. As on other Samsung PCs, the keyboard is a bit shallow, but the learning curve shouldn't be too steep: we were typing at a brisk clip minutes after setting it up. Additionally, we appreciate the shortcut keys in the top row, which allow you to refresh pages, switch tabs and page forward or backward with the press of a button.

The best thing about the Chromebook's 11.6-inch, 1,366 x 768 display is the matte finish, which means screen glare won't get in your way the next time you're watching a "Modern Family" marathon on Hulu. Still, a matte finish doesn't necessarily equate to wide viewing angles. Push the display forward and the screen will wash out, making it very difficult to read text or follow along with a movie. The brightness is also lower than it was on earlier Chromebooks: 200 nits compared with 300. Neither of these things should be deal-breakers; you'll just want to futz with the angle before settling in to work with the Chromebook on your lap.

With steep price cuts come trade-offs, and we're not just talking about the build materials. Whereas Samsung's first two Chromebooks ran dual-core Atom and Celeron processors, respectively, this third-gen model moves to a fanless design with an ARM chip -- specifically, a dual-core A15-based Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (5250) SoC. Paired with it are 2GB of RAM, 16GB of built-in flash storage, 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth. In the absence of any quantitative benchmark scores, this is the best way we can describe the performance: it falls somewhere between the original Atom-based Chromebooks and the current Celeron-equipped Series 5 model.

The system didn't have any issues playing back 1080p content in YouTube and Hulu. Still, use it long enough and you'll notice some slight delays in response time, even when you're doing things like opening new tabs. Another problem: Netflix streaming isn't yet supported for this device. A Google spokesperson issued the following statement: "We're working closely with Netflix and support will be coming soon. Once ready, your new Chromebook will be auto-updated with Netflix support." While we don't have any reason to doubt Google is working on it, this will nevertheless be a disappointment to many folks unboxing an early unit. -engadget.com

How To High Speed Your Internet?

When you connect to the Internet at home, you’re almost certainly using a form of broadband. Broadband is defined by various standards as being capable of transmitting data at 1.5 or 2 Megabits (Mbits) per second. This type of speed is necessary for streaming high definition video, playing online games and sending and receiving large amounts of data.

So how do you connect to the Internet at home? Let’s take a look at the most common residential broadband Internet technologies.

Cable

In the United States, cable Internet is one of the most common forms of residential Internet access. Similar to Fiber and DSL (which we’ll discuss below), cable works by providing what’s called “last mile access” from the ISP to an end user.

The last mile refers to the final leg of a telecommunications network. It’s the part that actually reaches customers.

Cable Internet requires a cable modem on the user’s end and a cable modem termination system at the cable operator’s facility. These two systems are connected using coaxial cable — the same stuff you use to get cable TV. The distance between the modem and the facility can be up to 100 miles for larger facilities and most nationwide cable providers operate out of several different hub.

Cable speeds are shared across users and the system is designed to distribute access evenly. If too many users use too much data, the backend can slow down for everyone.

DSL

Cable’s primary competition in the United States is DSL, otherwise known as digital subscriber line.

Just as cable Internet uses the cable television system for its backend, DSL uses existing telephone networks. DSL is delivered simultaneously over a regular wired telephone line.

Most residential DSL is actually asymmetric DSL (or ADSL). This means download speeds can be faster than upload speeds. With the less common symmetric DSL (SDSL), download and upload speeds are equal.

Like cable, DSL works by connecting an ISP to the last mile for the user. In this case, it means connecting to a user’s copper phone line and a telephone exchange. The connection between a user’s phone line and the telephone exchange is limited to about 2 miles. The further away one gets from the exchange, the slower the speeds. As a result, DSL is best used in areas that are located within close proximity to a telephone exchange.

Fiber

In recent years, cable and DSL have seen increasing competition from optical fiber systems. The benefit of optical fiber over coax or copper phone lines is that it can offer much higher data speeds over longer distances.

In fact, most Internet and cable backbones already use fiber for their backend infrastructure. These systems then switch to other technologies for the final delivery.

Speeds of 100 Mbits per second in both directions aren’t unheard of with fiber. In fact, Google Fiber hopes to bring 1000 Mbit connections in both directions directly to user homes.

Right now, the biggest hold-up with fiber is deployment. Homes and buildings need to be wired for fiber and retrofitting residential locations can take a lot of time.

-http://mashable.com

Apple iPad Mini is Not the Best

Imagine an alternate universe where it’s the summer of 2011 and Apple has introduced a $199 iPad mini. Apple Fan boys explode. Non Apple-fans start lining up to get their hands on the first truly affordable and obviously awesome tablet. And it’s game-over for the 7-inch Android tablet competition.

This however, is not that universe and the iPad mini, for all its charms, is not a game-changing device. Instead, it’s a tinier iPad 2 that is facing a world of more powerful, higher-resolution 7-inch tablet competitors that all cost at least $100 less than the $329 7.9-inch iPad mini.

Design

The iPad mini is beautiful. At 10.68 ounces, the Wi-Fi version of the iPad mini (which I tested) is light, lighter even than the Barnes and Noble Nook HD (which is just over 11 ounces and Kindle Fire HD (13 ounces). It’s thinner, too, and by a wide margin. It simply looks and feels nothing like any other 7-inch tablet on the market. Instead, the iPad mini is a visual mash-up of the iPad (Retina, iPad 2, take your pick) and the fourth-gen iPod (with a little iPhone 5 thrown in for good measure). It’s thinner than the iPad Retina and a bit thicker than the fourth Generation iPod and has a smooth aluminum unibody that makes the back virtual seamless and affords the entire frame a comforting rigidity.

This is the first iPad I can fit in my back pocket. Mind you, I have man-sized pockets and when we tried the same experiment with Senior Tech Analyst Christina Warren, she couldn’t fit it in her skinny jeans. Even so, we all agreed the tablet feels almost paper light and when someone handed me an iPad Retina, it felt brick-like by comparison.

Aside from the unibody construction, the iPad mini chassis is unremarkable. It has a 5 MP camera on the back and a 1.2 MP FaceTime camera on the face. There’s a tiny slot on top for the microphone and a pair of grills in the base for powerful speakers. Where the iPad has a volume rocker switch on the edge, the iPad mini features two discrete metal buttons. Similarly, the mute and power buttons are, while in spots similar to their iPad counterparts, also made of aluminum.

As you may have guessed, the iPad mini jettisons its larger brother’s 30-pin connector for a tiny Lighting port. Apple handed me a bunch of adapters, including the precious, though pricey ($29.99!) lightning-to-30-pin adapter, an SD-Card reader and a USB-in cable adapter. Having them afforded me a level of flexibility I might not have had otherwise. I especially enjoyed using the SD-card reader to add media to the iPad mini.

Because Apple chose to essentially shrink down the iPad 2 screen, the iPad mini is unique among 7-inch tablets. First of all, it’s not a 7-inch screen, it’s a 7.9-inch one in a 4:3 aspect ratio. This makes the screen (if held in portrait mode) slightly wider and roughly an inch deeper than the Barnes & Noble Nook HD and Amazon Kindle Fire HD screens.

The Bigger Picture

For as similar as the iPad mini and full-size iPad 2 screens are, the faces of the two devices are not exactly the same. Apple trimmed the side borders so the screen is a mere quarter of the inch from the edge. Doing so obviously helped Apple keep the iPad mini’s size and weight down, but it also means that when you hold it in reading mode, your thumb may overlap on the touch screen. Apple, however, accounted for this and when you read with your thumb sitting on the virtual page, the page won’t turn unless you flick your thumb to the left or right. This worked perfectly for me and I appreciate that extra bit of programming and engineering effort.

The 1024×768 screen looks good, but doesn’t fare so well if you hold it side-by side with an iPad Retina or even one of the competing 7-inch devices like the 1440×800 7-inch display on the Barnes and Noble Nook HD.

It’s worth noting, however, that because the iPad mini pixels are squeezed into smaller screen, the iPad mini’s display is somewhat crisper than the iPad 2, and makes some of the text, like labels under app icons and the time, super tiny. While that may bothersome with weaker eyesight, I didn’t mind because most of your time is spent within apps, where text and visuals are usually larger or, as in the case, of iBooks customizable.

As you would expect, movies, games, taking pictures and editing them all worked well. Every app that works on the iPad 2, works here and looks just as good. The virtual keyboard is almost as comfortable to use as the one on the full-sized iPad. Also, you look a little less silly holding up the iPad mini to take photos or videos (720p).

Web browsing is one area where I prefer the iPad mini over other 7-inch devices. Even though the iPad mini is squeezing fewer pixels on the screen, the 4.6-inch-wide screen offers more screen real estate for the web pages (Apple says the display is 35% larger than 7-inch tablets). By contrast, if you view a web page in landscape mode on the 7-inch Nook HD, browser chrome (menus, tabs, etc.) eats up too much of the screen.

-http://mashable.com

Android 4.2's four best new features

Some of the Android 4.2 upgrades are minor. Sure, it might be nice to use the Photo Sphere feature to stitch together photos to from Google Street View style panoramic images, but you're not going to do that more than once every blue moon. It's also nice that the 4.2 Play Store app includes a personalized music-shopping function, Music Explorer. Thanks to personalized music services such as Pandora, I really don't need more help in finding new music.

Other new features, however, will want you to make the jump. From least to most important in my book these are:

4) Smart Screen-Savers

Android 4.2's Daydream is actually a smart screen-saver. It lets you display photo slideshows, news headlines, and the like. While you're not likely to use this on a smartphone I know I'll set up a news feed screen-saver on my Nexus 7 tablet and I know my day-trader friends will be setting up market wires on their devices as well.

3) Gesture Typing

Do you use Swype, the popular third-party on-screen keyboard replacement? If you do, then you'll find the same basic functionality to make on-screen keyboards more useful in Gesture Typing. This probably won't be enough to sway hard-core Swype users away from their favorite virrtual keyboard, but it will show screen-typers that there is a better way than using a display keyboard than just as a QWERTY glass keyboard.

2) Miracast: From Tablet and Smartphone to TV

Apple recently introduced AirPlay Mirroring in iOS 5 and Mac OS X, Mountain Lion. With it, you can throw your screen to any Apple TV-equipped television. Android 4.2 will let you do the same thing with any TV, DVD-player, or other media device that supports Miracast.

Miracast is the trade name for Wi-Fi Direct or WiDi. This is an 802.11n compatible network protocol for display-sharing. With a compatible device or a Miracast adapter, you'll be able to stream Internet TV shows and movies from your smartphone or tablet to your TV. Miracast adapters will be available this quarter.

1) Multi-user support

On Android 4.2-powered tablets, but not on smartphones, you'll be able to have multiple users. Each user will get his or her own setup. That means, for example, you can have your own home-screen, background, widgets, apps and games, while your spouse or office partner can have their own unique tablet experience. You can set this up so a new user must login to the tablet or they'll be able to simply hit a button and away they'll go with their own tablet take. -zdnet.com

Google Wallet’s Help Site Mentions The “Google Wallet Card”

Just in case you needed more proof that the leaked news revealing a forthcoming physical Google Wallet Card is indeed legit, you can just visit Google’s own Help section on its Google Wallet website to catch a reference to the yet-to-be announced addition. On the page entitled “Eligible Devices,” Google mentions that all Android devices with an operating system of Android 2.3.3 or higher are able to download the Google Wallet app for use with the “Google Wallet card.”

Of course, “Google Wallet card” is precisely how the new, physical Google card was referred to when the leak was detailed last week.

In case you missed it, an anonymous tipster sent the Android Police blog screenshots obtained from an unreleased version of the Google Wallet Android application, which contained details of a “Google Wallet card” which is designed to be used where Google Wallet’s tap-and-pay feature isn’t an option. That feature, based on NFC, only works with specific NFC-enabled Android handsets at select NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminals.
The “Google Wallet card,” according to the leaked screenshots, will be a universal card of sorts that can take the place of any credit or debit cards in your wallet. Instead of carrying around all your plastic cards, you’ll be able to load them up into the Google Wallet online service, then use the physical Google Wallet card to make purchases with a swipe. The accompanying Wallet mobile application allows you to configure which credit or debit card the Google Wallet card will replace – and you can do this on the fly, too, from the sounds of it.

Although the leak was substantive – the tipster said he even received a confirmation email when requesting a card to be sent to him – it’s hard to know when exactly Google will officially announce the news. Hopefully, the mention spotted here on the Help page of the Wallet website is a good indication that the card is almost ready for primetime.

To be clear, the mention of the “Google Wallet card” is different from the “Google Wallet Virtual Card” (another Wallet feature also designed to be a universal card  for making payments), because the Virtual Card only works with contactless payments.

-Sarah Perez (techcrunch.com)

Car Made by cigarettes box

Car that appear in a show of Chinese. Made with more than 10 thousand packets of cigarettes. This car aattracted a lot of attension of visitor.

Hideously ugly The 'Hotel of Doom'

The 105-storey pyramid-shaped hotel that has dominated the skyline of North Korea's capital city for more than 20 years may finally be on the verge of opening for the first time.

It is hoped Pyongyang's Ryugyong Hotel will partially open in the middle of next year - 26 years after construction began.

It is the 47th tallest building in the world, standing at 1,100ft, and has the fifth highest number of floors.

The enormous structure dubbed the 'Hotel of Doom' has been a source of fascination and ridicule around the world and an oversized embarrassment for North Korea's authoritarian regime led by the Korean Workers' Party.




North Korea began building the Ryugyong in the 1980s but stopped when North Korea suffered an economic crisis and funding ran out in the 1990s.

It was voted 'Worst Building in the History of Mankind' by Esquire magazine in 2008, which described the Ryugyong as 'hideously ugly, even by communist standards'.

But exterior construction resumed in 2009 when Egyptian company, Orascom Telecom, took over and various reports in recent years said the hotel was preparing to finally open.

Orascom Telecom launched a mobile network in North Korea in 2008 and has reportedly spent £112m completing the hotel's facade.

In September, a Beijing-based tour agency was allowed to peek inside and released pictures of the bare concrete lobby.

Mr Wittwer said he first saw a picture of the hotel many years ago and thought then that it could eventually make a lot of money.

-MailOnline

The Network Effect Isn’t Good Enough

If there is one altar at which Silicon Valley worships, it is the shrine of the holy network effect. Its mystical powers pluck lone startups from obscurity and elevate them to fame and fortune. The list of anointed ones includes nearly every technology success story of the past 15 years. Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, eBay, and PayPal, have each soared to multi-billion-dollar valuations on the supreme power of the network effect.

But today, the power of the network effect is fading, at least in its current incarnation. Traditionally defined as a system where each new user on the network increases the value of the service for all others, a network effect often creates a winner-takes-all dynamic, ordaining one dominant company above the rest. Moreover, these companies often wield monopoly-like powers over their industries.

In The Beginning

Once, all a company needed to do to leverage the network effect was facilitate communication between a critical number of customers. If enough people used a particular system to exchange information, a leader would emerge and become the de facto platform. Companies who could either form a marketplace or facilitate the flow of information between parties became tremendously powerful as central hubs of data transfer.

In fact, the first network effects platform was Bell Telephone, which established a government-sanctioned monopoly nearly 100 years ago. Since then, successful network effects businesses have sung from essentially the same hymnal.

First, establish a medium of communication by building the required infrastructure or inventing a new technology. For example, lay down telephone wires from coast to coast. Then, provide access to the network to improve the ease of information transfer — say, by selling fax machines. Finally, race to grow the user base before competing services do. If you get bigger faster than your competitors, voilà! You’re inside the pearly gates.

Rapture

That’s the plan at least. But today, things are not quite so simple. For one, in the old days, consumers paid to access the network through their upfront investment in hardware. These upfront costs locked users into the network and once they were in, they were in for good, thus erecting barriers to entry for would-be competitors.

However, the cost of providing access to the network has fallen precipitously. The days of customers buying expensive hardware to use a network are gone as is the correlating lock-in effect.

Converts

In addition to access costs falling to zero, another key component of what once kept users locked into a network has vanished. Once, porting contacts onto a new network, like switching instant messaging services from Yahoo! to AIM, was a non-trivial task.

Today however, customers use their Facebook, Twitter or Google profiles to join a new service in seconds. A burgeoning network, take Instagram or Pinterest, can leverage the single sign-on enabled by the social graph to reach critical mass faster than ever before. Users not only port their personal information but bring their connections as well. In the age of the social web, the convenience of the social graph has largely toppled the lock-in that once kept users bound to one network over another.

Tending The Flock

Without the upfront investment in physical hardware and users’ newfound ability to port personal information and contacts, how is a company to retain its users? Is the network effect’s ability to lock-in users dead? Hardly.

The power to leverage the network effect now resides in “stored value.” Unlike network access costs, stored value is investment that comes in small increments with repeated use, increasing the importance of the service the more a user engages with it.

-http://techcrunch.com/

Microsoft posts Build 2012 session videos for eager Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 coders

Not every developer had the luxury of putting a flight to Redmond on the corporate tab so that they could attend Microsoft's Build 2012 conference in person. Much to their delight, they won't have to. The company has posted streaming video for every session addressing Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and beyond, ranging from the two keynotes through to nuts-and-bolts framework talks.

Be warned: most programmers will want to know Visual Studio and similar tools like the back of their hand before tackling some of these sessions. If they emerge unscathed, though, they'll be well-equipped to live in Microsoft's Windows Store world. -engadget

Oprah: Microsoft's Surface is like a Mercedes

As Mashable reports it, Oprah likened the Surface to a Toyota Prius, because it is such a perfect hybrid of tablet and PC.

No, wait, she actually said: "The Surface, Microsoft's first tablet, feels like a Mercedes-Benz to me, people!

Would this be because it comes in many colors? Not at all.

Instead she continued: "The full-size keyboard built right into the cover makes work easy, the very smart kickstand makes watching a movie or Skyping a friend a delight, the less than a pound-and-a-half weight makes a great alternative to a laptop, and the many other features make it fun for work and play."

Perhaps some of you might be concerned about the Mercedes comparison. Is she suggesting that the Mercedes is an alternative to, well, a car? Or is it merely because a Mercedes is "fun for work and play"?

I have a different concern. It's that Oprah's influence might not be quite what it used to be.

It is undoubtedly excellent that the Surface is placed here alongside the Tom Ford Beauty Lipstick, the Bonded Teak Series Knife Set and, especially, the Wagging Tail Custom Portrait Cards.

But, ever since Oprah decided to create her own TV network, somehow she has begun to disappear from view. Indeed, presidential candidates seem keener to appear on "The View," rather than curry favor with La Winfrey.

This reflects nothing more than the fickleness of humankind.

Which is one reason why I feel sure that the Surface will do very well. Microsoft has made something that doesn't immediately look like something else -- say, an iPad.

The Surface appeals to those who want something new, so that they can be seen with it.

And, personally, I'm rather fond of those little tiles. Even though these might actually have been copied -- at least if you believe the plaintiffs at SurfCast who are now suing Microsoft.

It's nice that Oprah has given it her regal nod.

But just wait till Miley Cyrus puts it in the next video she makes with porn star Jessie Andrews. That's when you'll really know that Surface is cool. -Cnet

iPad mini with 4G on the way

I have been on the Verizon Share Everything plan since it first became available. The ability to share a big bucket of data accessible by multiple devices fits my gadget-flush lifestyle. I currently have a mobile hotspot, iPhone 4S, and an iPad 3 on the plan.

The plan lets me add new devices to the account for a simple monthly fee. All devices on the plan share a big bucket of data I pay for separately. I can add and subtract devices from the plan at will, which fits my revolving-door gadget lifestyle.

The ability to add the iPad mini to my data plan for just $10/month pushed me to order the cellular-capable tablet. I like using my bigger iPad everywhere without worrying about Wi-Fi, so the inexpensive monthly fee pushed me to buy the more expensive iPad mini. It's exactly as I predicted when shared data plans first appeared on the scene.

It may actually end up saving me money in the long run. The tiny form of the iPad mini means I can throw it in a pocket on any bag I carry. That means it will always be with me, and available to use as a hotspot for other devices. That will let me drop the Verizon mobile hotspot device from the plan, saving me $20 per month. I'll bet the iPad mini will serve as a hotspot via tethering for over 12 hours on a charge, too. Good thing the Share Everything plan includes tethering on all devices at no charge. -zdnet.com

Celebrate Online Halloween Party

Time to celebrate happy Halloween! TO operation team has announced their Halloween in-game & off-game events for this funny festival.

• Event I - Costume Ball

When it comes to Halloween, the first thing that may come upon your mind be Costume Ball. In Talisman Online, players also have the chances to enjoy TO Costume Ball!

During event time, GMs will come online and give out meta-wands to random players. There are various kinds of meta-wands in TO. Players can also get the wands from Charm Shop by using Charm Points.

Enjoy the transforming fun!

• Event II - [Forum] Halloween Sentence-making

Just make a sentence with "Halloween" "Pumpkin" and "Talisman Online" to win rewards. Excellent sentence can bring you 100 CPs reward!

Event Time: 20:00 Oct.29 ~ 20:00 Oct.31 (PST / Server time) / 04:00 Oct.30 ~ 04:00 Nov.1 (GMT)

 
Event III –Halloween 48hrs DR Boost

Enjoy drop rate boost for 48 hours: 180% Golden item drop rate; 200% Green, Blue item drop rate and Energy rate.

Event Time: 20:00 Tue - 20:00 Thu (PST) | 4:00 Wed - 4:00 Fir (GMT)
Event Date: 2012/10/30~2012/11/01(PST) | 2012/10/31~2012/11/02 (GMT)

Have a nice Halloween!

Google Nexus 10 review

With the launch of the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, Google's flagship Android brand is fully equipped for the consumer battle — but still not enterprise-friendly. It may have arrived the week after the iPad 4, Apple's most advanced iPad, and buck the trend for smaller devices, but the Nexus 10 Google/Samsung co-production is already getting more attention. The Android tablet has more memory, higher resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio in its favour, and with the latest 4.2 version of the OS on-board it has every claim to be as usable as Apple's device.

One main design cue that differentiates the Nexus 10 from the competition is the relatively large radius of its rounded corners, which together with the wide 2cm bezel gives the tablet a faint hint of a 1950s Bakelite television. Unlike those, however, the tablet is light enough to hold in one hand for extended periods, due to its use of plastic throughout the casework, while the back has a rubberised finish that secures even a light grasp.

This lack of weight makes the tablet feel slightly cheap and insubstantial on first contact, an impression amplified by the emphatic haptic buzz that accompanies use of the virtual keyboard. That gives a curiously hollow feel to the device for a few minutes, until one is sucked in to the sheer quality of how it actually behaves.

It will be a rare animal who isn't seduced by the combination of the stupidly high-quality screen (2560 by 1600 pixels, 300ppi), the lucidity of the Jelly Bean interface, and the fluidity of its actions. It's taken a while for Android devices to get the raw graphics firepower and enough iterations of the interface code to make the UI vanish during use, but it's got there now. Experienced Android users will soon learn the few changes in 4.2 — basically, a reassignment of how the setup and status areas are presented in the swipe-down bar at the top — and lose themselves in the familiarity of the rest. New users will appreciate how the commonest tasks in configuring the tablet and responding to events are presented in a logical and easily discovered hierarchy.


This lack of weight makes the tablet feel slightly cheap and insubstantial on first contact, an impression amplified by the emphatic haptic buzz that accompanies use of the virtual keyboard. That gives a curiously hollow feel to the device for a few minutes, until one is sucked in to the sheer quality of how it actually behaves.

It will be a rare animal who isn't seduced by the combination of the stupidly high-quality screen (2560 by 1600 pixels, 300ppi), the lucidity of the Jelly Bean interface, and the fluidity of its actions. It's taken a while for Android devices to get the raw graphics firepower and enough iterations of the interface code to make the UI vanish during use, but it's got there now. Experienced Android users will soon learn the few changes in 4.2 — basically, a reassignment of how the setup and status areas are presented in the swipe-down bar at the top — and lose themselves in the familiarity of the rest. New users will appreciate how the commonest tasks in configuring the tablet and responding to events are presented in a logical and easily discovered hierarchy.
nexus-10-settingsAndroid 4.2 provides convenient new access to common configuration settings.

It's the mark of a mature and well-designed interface that it gets out of the way as much as possible, but no further. In 4.2, and especially in the Nexus 10, Google is approaching this balance. Once a few functions are learned — how to pull up the gallery of running apps and tap to switch, how to pin apps to the desktop — there's little in the way of configuring the tablet to work as you wish.

Again, the screen is the star. With its cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio and 10-inch diagonal size, there's more room to set things up than on the (4:3, 9.7in.) iPad, That fat bezel vanishes from perception and the device is hard to put down. Whether you're flicking through photo galleries or rummaging through the Google Play app store, browsing around the web or binging in YouTube, the combination of the Nexus 10's lightness (603g), its eye-filling display area and the simplicity of switching between tasks make it a compelling toy.

The Nexus 10 deserves its place as the premier native Google tablet. In almost every respect it equals or outperforms the latest iPad 4, with Android 4.2 a worthy contender against iOS 6 — and substantially superior in the case of Google Maps, following Apple's self-inflicted mapping catastrophe. All this at a much lower price, reflecting Google's focus on advertising revenue over hardware margins. As with the other recent Nexus devices, it sets the standard for other manufacturers. If Google can persuade developers to fill in the gaps in the app market — and heavy sales are the only thing that will do that — then the Nexus 10 will deserve to be wildly popular.

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iPad Mini & Facebook Scam

You may want Apple’s new 7-inch iPad mini tablet, but don’t click on that offer for a free one making the rounds on Facebook.

The latest scam circulating the social network comes from the Facebook accounts of friends you know and includes Apple’s signature logo. The message promises a free iPad mini for Apple developers:

“Are you a Apple fan ? The Free iPad mini offer is on. Go here – [LINK] to get Free iPad mini,” the message says.

After clicking on the link, the user is directed to a rogue Facebook application and automatically posts a message to their wall, urging friends to participate in the offer.

“Rogue applications like the one shown above can be used to scoop up your personal information, or spread spam and scams rapidly across the social network,” security site Sophos said. “Despite the use of Apple’s world famous logo, the messages have nothing to do with the Cupertino-based firm.”

The scam comes as the launch date of the iPad mini nears (Friday, Nov. 2). Pre-orders for the device sold out quickly online, so the demand to get your hands on the new device is high.

“If you mistakenly installed a rogue app, remove the messages from your timeline, revoke the app’s publishing rights and report it as spam to Facebook, and ensure that you have revoked its access to your account,” Sophos said.

Have you seen this scam on Facebook? Let us know in the comments below.

-http://mashable.com

PayPal delivers for Windows 8

The PayPal API lets developers tie in-app purchases to PayPal, which claims more than 100 million active accounts. Microsoft pointed to the free Crowdstar game Fish With Attitude as an example of a Windows Store app that uses PayPal for in-app purchases of game characters.

The API lets people pay from a more familiar, better-established system than Microsoft's neophyte in-house one. This isn't Microsoft's first Windows 8 connection to PayPal, as the service is available to use when purchasing the Windows 8 upgrade.

Other new apps announced as in the works by Microsoft include a full PayPal app, ESPN, Dropbox, Lego, Disney, NASA, and the Unity gaming platform. Meanwhile, Twitter just announced that it is also developing a Windows 8 app, part of a post-Windows 8 release move by many to start adapting to the new operating system. No doubt, though, Microsoft would've preferred to have those apps ready from day one, since the lack of a Windows 8 app was a broadly noted weakness.

One thing that isn't clear yet is how many developers are building Windows Store apps that will work on Windows 8 and Windows RT, or just Windows 8. Google's search app, for example, is currently restricted to the full x86 version of Windows 8.

-http://reviews.cnet.com

Microsoft getting its apps together

Although Microsoft failed to hit its own target of 10,000 apps (by a total of 971) in its Windows apps store for launch day, since the first Surfaces were dispatched on Friday, the number of apps available has risen by 500 every day.

Microsoft’s new Surface tablet. The apps are now coming. — AFP pic

Even better news is that of the newest apps to roll out many of them are not just good, but what owners of other tablets have taken for granted such as Kindle, Netflix and Evernote apps. However, there’s still no news as to if and when Facebook and Twitter apps will be joining them.

In the weeks leading up to the launch of its first tablet, Microsoft was criticised for not making it clear to potential customers that the Surface RT’s operating system — Windows RT — would not support existing Windows software and would rely 100 per cent on apps to function. Microsoft made a bold announcement that by February 2013, there would be over 100,000 apps available in its store and though it is starting to slowly edge towards that number, many experts and analysts were very doubtful that Microsoft would be able to attract developers to its platform.

WinAppUpdate.com has been tracking the development of available apps for Windows users and is starting to see a real surge in both numbers and quality, although there is still some way to go before the Windows offer can match Apple (750,000 apps, including 275,000 optimised for the iPad). But crucially it already has more apps than either HP or RIM had when they launched their doomed tablets — both of which failed due to a lack of third-party applications.

In terms of apps, it’s still not clear if the Surface can compete in the long term. However, in terms of hardware, reviewers have been unified in their praise of Surface’s physical quality and of its look and feel. In those terms it is already going head to head with the iPad. — AFP-Relaxnews

People Weird in New York City

Like all major cities, the Big Apple has its own share of unique and iconic places: the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge and many more.

But also iconic to New York are the people who live here. Maybe it’s the large, diverse population of different cultures packed so tightly together — or maybe it’s just something in the water. Whatever the case, there’s nothing quite like walking through the streets of Gotham.

(Really, where else can you take a casual stroll with a family of brightly colored rats on your shoulders and barely get a second glance?)

We’ve compiled a list of some of the people exclusive enough to only be seen here.