Enclave

Paypal changes rules to follow RBI guidelines

2011-01-31T07:38:00.000-08:00

Paypal has decided to change its rules w.e.f. 1 March 2011, and very generously has granted a month long prior notice to its Indian users to act fast accordingly. This changes are purely made up to follow the RBI guidelines. A blogger at IGoogledit explains why these changes have been made and what do they actually mean.
Following is a snapshot of what actually Paypal posted to let this news out :

Also this announcement was accompanied with a list of FAQ's to make things more clear to few dumb heads :

Considering this scenario, if you are an Indian Paypal user, don't just hop into your seat with tension but start shaping your actions accordingly. Not so long when one can expect Indian eCurrency users to be smashed with another blow by the RBI.

Back again !!

2010-12-29T14:09:00.001-08:00

Hey,
Warm Hello to all who have been watching this space...
I was away from Tech blogging for a while... I am back and would be up with some new posts now !
Bookmarking this blog would be something you won't ever regret !
Thanks

Gmail Phishing page : Beware

2010-06-19T01:18:00.000-07:00

Guys, this afternoon i came across an email on my Gmail inbox. It told me that my account was under severe threat and might be hacked even. Then the service wanted me to login into my Gmail account through some other page and VOILA!! it was a Phishing page.

It said the following quote:

"Dear Gmail User

Your Gmail Account Is Another Terms Of Found In Use With Difference IP In This Case Your Account Is Facing Some Problems Please Provide Us If You Have The Real Owner Of This Email Please Provide Us With Your Registration Information Log In Your Account Or Copy And Past The Link In Your Browser http://www.gmail.com.vci.uni.cc/?id=111775&lc=us

And Be Secure

Thanks,

The Gmail! Mail Team"

Now i visited the link even though i had a doubt regarding this mail.
The problems here are : in the recipient's field there were more than 20 email addresses. If its a service mail, the Automatic Email delivery system will send it to individual users. There were also some minor grammatical mistakes like "Difference IP" which should have been "different IP"
and Google won't make such a sill mistake. But this is just not one of those problems.
The second thing is the sender's mail id : supportserviceg@gmail.com
LOL over this, as even here the attacker has tried to overshadow the real mail account of Google service.

Now i visited the site and came across some issues, first is the content you see on Gmail Login page : " Lots of space
Over 2757.272164 megabytes (and counting) of free storage so you'll never need to delete another message."
This value changes dynamically each and every second on Gmail.com but this doesn't happen on the Phishing page.
Also the login address for Google uses HTTPS(Secured) protocol and sad;y, the phishing page can't do this so they use HTTP protocol.
Phishing pages need you to login or put in your confidential information and as soon as you do so, your information is sent over to the attacker and then your account is Doomed.
Heres the phishing link but please don't enter your login information:

http://www.gmail.com.vci.uni.cc/?id=111775&lc=us

So whenever you get such emails or notifications, just checkout the login page and be alert.

Google censors swear words on Nexus One

2010-01-25T06:09:00.000-08:00

Google has confirmed it's censoring bad words on the Nexus One as part of the voice/text input feature.

The search engine made a big deal about the fact you can now speak your text and emails rather than tapping them out (which sounds to us suspiciously like phone calls) but it's also now confirmed that it will be hash-ing out them cuss-words.

We had a good go at swearing our b*llcks off when we played with the phone, but only the less offensive words managed to get through, with the S- and F-bombs being coded out.

Do no evil, say no evil

"We filter potentially offensive or inappropriate results because we want to avoid situations whereby we might misrecognise a spoken query and return profanity when, in fact, the user said something completely innocent," said Google, according to Reuters.

It's actually a pretty good reason from Google - it's a bit easier to accidentally say something that sounds like a profanity than to accidentally type it - but we'd at least like the brand to be a bit hip and let you turn it off.

Or at the very least - instead of using #### to hide the offending article, get creative like spell-checkers in the '90s, thus creating messages like 'fact this, it's a load of shot and crop yeah?'.

Chinese Human Rights Sites Hit by DDoS Attack

2010-01-25T06:08:00.000-08:00

Five Web sites run by Chinese human rights activists were attacked by hackers over the weekend, as a separate row continued between Google and China over political cyberattacks.

The Web site of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, an advocacy group, was hit by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that lasted 16 hours starting Saturday afternoon, the group said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. A DDoS attack involves the attacker ordering a legion of compromised computers all to visit a certain Web site at once, overwhelming its server with requests for communication and leaving the site inaccessible to normal visitors. The group said it could not confirm the origin of the attackers but called the Chinese government the most likely suspect.

Google this month said it had been hit by cyberattacks from China partly aimed at accessing the Gmail accounts of human rights activists. The company cited the attacks, which also resulted in the theft of Google intellectual property, as one reason it plans to stop censoring its Chinese search engine, even if that means closing down its China offices.

The latest hacking attack also targeted another Chinese rights group named Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch; two news sites run by Chinese activists, Canyu and New Century News; and the Independent Chinese Pen Center, which posts essays by dissident writers, according to the e-mailed statement. Public records show the Web sites all share two neighboring IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, suggesting the sites were all affected by the DDoS attack.

The bandwidth consumed by the attack hit 2GB per second at its peak, the statement said, citing the Internet service provider for the Web sites.

The targeted IP addresses belong to The Planet, a server hosting provider based in Texas. No one at The Planet was immediately available to comment.

Hackers also placed malware on two of the Web sites before the attack, but that is now being removed, the statement said. The group that sent out the statement has often been hit by cyberattacks, sometimes leaving its Web site down for days, it said.

An advocacy group for foreign journalists in China last week said the Gmail accounts of at least two reporters there had been recently hijacked.

Service Pack 1 by Youtube???

2010-01-25T06:01:00.000-08:00

Youtube has rolled out a series of upgrades to their video player, including HTML5 support, improved video resolution controls, an opt-in feature for a new streamlined “Watch” page, a music discovery service and a movie rental service.

The upgrades, which further expand the utility of the site, come on the back of the announcement that Youtube would begin streaming live sports, starting with the Indian Premier League Cricket season.

The improved video resolution controls have been integrated into the player, replacing the old HQ or HD button. Depending on the video, resolutions up to 1080p are selectable options, although much of the HD content has a maximum resolution of 720p. Most content, however, is still only available at a maximum resolution of 480p; if you’re looking for an HD Pants on the Ground fix, you’ll still have a hard time finding it.

Youtube is also rolling out a beta version of their site that uses HTML5.

The advantage of having Youtube use HTML5 is, as Youtube put it, “HTML5 includes support for video and audio playback. This means that users with an HTML5 compatible browser, and support for the proper audio and video codecs can watch a video without needing to download a browser plugin.”

It’s painfully obvious, however, that the HTML5 site is a beta, and an early one at that. Video playback is slow and stutters every few seconds. Hopefully, though, the site will continue to develop and quality will improve.

More intriguing to most users (and to studios) is the new video rental feature. At the moment, only a few titles are available, but the company is expected to slowly increase their available offerings. Given the reports last year that Youtube was in talks with major studios, this isn’t a huge shock. Now that video rentals have been introduced, it will be interesting to see if Youtube becomes the “Netflix-killer” that some analysts thought it could be.

The music discovery service takes advantage of Youtube’s extensive music label connections to deliver music videos of artists similar to the searched artist. It also allows you to create, save and share video playlists with your friends (via email).

The biggest part of this update, however, is the sleek new theme. It cuts out all of the very un-Google clutter present in the current Youtube “Watch” page, trimming out the rating system, consolidating the clumsy sharing tools into sleeker buttons and removing lots of extraneous text. It’s definitely a step forward, and although it feels slightly different, everything seems to fall immediately to hand. It’s new, and yet somehow feels familiar.

Taken individually, these site upgrades are all useful tweaks. However, when you look at them in conjunction with each other, these upgrades constitute a major refocusing and broadening of the site.

By introducing live sports, improving the availability of HD content, adding music playlist generators and introducing movie rentals, Youtube’s clearly trying to move into markets traditionally dominated by cable and satellite-based content. In short, Youtube’s trying to make the case that you don’t need cable anymore. In conjunction with the new theme and the use of HTML5, both supposed to make the site lighter and easier to use, these developments are aimed at making Youtube more big-screen friendly. It’s almost as if Youtube sees this upgrade as a sort of Service Pack for the site, upgrading functionality without becoming unfamiliar.

8-Foot drop during weird stunt, and still iPhone survives

2010-01-21T05:58:00.000-08:00

Now we all know the hell lot of list of iPhone features. But it seems we surely did come across this one recently which was actually not included in the list.
David Fermin, a pro MMA fighter who apparently forgets that he has an iPhone in his pocket when he swings from his exercise pipes, eight feet off the ground. Right guess, yeah, his iPhone takes a fall and survives it.

Now people around the web, do claim that their iPhone certainly has a fall many a times, and with a cover around it, surely survives. Now Apple doesn't actually make an advertisement out of the toughness of iPhone, nor do the iPhone cover companies. So its better to rate this video in the section of : "PLEASE DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME !!"

Watch the device and its fall :

Siemens magic, hits 500Mbps with white LED lights

2010-01-21T05:49:00.000-08:00

What can be more better than wireless power? Frankly, Nothing. This is the age of wicked fast transmission just through thin air. The recent breaking news is such that, Researchers from Siemens have broken their own record for wireless data transfer using white LED light, by hitting an enormous speed of about 500Mbps while working in collaboration with the Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin.

The record that stood earlier was "just" 200Mbps which was recently shattered by Siemens. But surely this is going to take the Visible light communication from a hopeful technology to a real contender in the future. These same researchers were also able to show that a system using up to five LEDs is capable of beaming out data over long distances at up to 100Mbps. We're told that the IEEE has been toiling tirelessly since 2007 to standardize activities in this field, and while a late 2010 completion date is currently being penciled in, we're not holding our breath. Anyone remember how long it took 802.11n to escape "draft?"

No facebook and twitter for Manchester United players

2010-01-21T05:39:00.000-08:00

Rival British football clubs Manchester United and Manchester City have recently banned their players from using Twitter. The players were banned from using social media services after many number of fake accounts were unceoverd recently, reports The Manchester Evening News.

Manchester United issued a statement yesterday confirming that none of its players had accounts, while the club’s rivals Manchester City confirmed to the Manchester Evening News that they had the same policy.

Let’s face it, the ‘unofficial accounts’ problem is easily fixed by applying for a ‘Verified Account’ from Twitter, so surely the real issue here is that football clubs want to keep players away from unsupervised public exposure.

Football players are hardly the brightest bunch and are well known for making PR blunders. Players have previously vented their frustration and enraged their bosses after making comments via Twitter. It’s not good for the team’s image if players are breaking rank in public. It generates bad publicity, and that’s nothing compared to the controversy that could be caused if Facebook photos from a players’ drunken nights out went public.

That said, football clubs shouldn’t be blocking their players from social media. In the 21st Century, it’s getting close to being an essential part of your personal freedom to express yourself online if you wish. By excluding their players from participating in what everyone else is doing they’re ignoring the possibilities.

Sure sportspeople make mistakes online, we all do, but if the clubs invested in giving their players training in how to handle the online world they could actually do a lot of positive marketing. Allowing a glimpse into the ‘personal world’ of players via social media could be an effective way to increase fans’ devotion, love and investment in the club – all things that could lead to them spending more on tickets and merchandise.

Darius Vassell, an English player currently with a Turkish club, recently launched his own blog and while hardly cutting edge stuff (his latest post is a picture of a chicken korma he was eating), fans comment on his posts and build up a dialogue with their idol.

Vassell’s example is proof that clubs really should be giving players some rules (no criticising the club, no posting drunk pictures etc) and letting them loose.

Bill Gates' Blog on the web

2010-01-21T05:32:00.000-08:00

After his arrival on twitter and almost a mayhem about it, Bill Gates has officially announced his next step into the social media world, his brand new blog, The Gates Notes.

Gates tells the motivation for his site:

“Since leaving my full time job at Microsoft to dedicate more time to our foundation, a lot of people have asked me what I’m working on. It often feels like I’m back in school, as I spend a lot of my time learning about issues I’m passionate about,” he says in an introductory note. “I’m fortunate because the people I’m working with and learning from are true experts in their fields. I take a lot of notes, and often share them and my own thoughts on the subject with others through email, so I can learn from them and expand the conversation.”

Gates continues, “I thought it would be interesting to share these conversations more widely with a website, in the hope of getting more people thinking and learning about the issues I think are interesting and important.”

As of now the blog includes articles on education reform and the immediate need for help in Haiti. There’s also a podcast series with Gates speaking on climate change and related subjects. Other parts of the blog also include sections on his travels, books he’s reading, “What I’m Thinking About” , “What I’m Learning”, and “Infrequently Asked Questions”.

Do i need to mention that as other bloggers, he has a direct link to his twitter account and his latest Tweet. I guess "Tweet tweet....tweet tweet", is all now what people will start hearing outside his office.

For Pornography Crackdown, China to Scan Text Messages

2010-01-20T06:09:00.000-08:00

Chinese mobile providers are up with a new way to keep China free from unhealthy content. They will now monitor all the text messages in the nation for "illegal or unhealthy content" and will immediately suspend service when any customer sets up such a red flag, according to a report in The New York Times.

Leading companies like China Mobile will turn the potentially offending messages over to the authorities to be reviewed. If the customer is cleared of any wrongdoing, his or her service will be restored, but it doesn’t look like the mobile providers or authorities are going out of their way to clearly define what constitutes an offense.

Police will provide words to scan to catch potential criminals in the name of fighting pornography. We reported a couple of weeks ago that more than 5,000 arrests were made on pornography charges in 2009 to prevent the scourge from “overwhelming the country’s Internet and threatening the emotional health of children.”

We’re not sure which words are on the list, but the Times quotes Beijing University telecommunications professor Kan Kaili who claims that “they are doing wide-ranging checks, checking anything and everything, even if it is between a husband and wife.”

Married couples? That could be a problem for the pornography flags, people. Google has threatened to leave the country if China doesn’t make an effort to improve freedom of speech.

All that you should know about Windows Mobile 7

2010-01-19T06:55:00.000-08:00

Mobile World Congress is now just a few weeks away as it starts on Feb 15. Enthusiasts around the world are expecting newer version of Windows Mobile, version 7 to be launched. Rumors have been heard about the potential improvement over the current version 6.x codebase. A developer has recently commented that the new version is far distant from its earlier version and all the current WinMo apps are about go extinct.

First, WinMo 7 is essentially a copy of the Zune HD’s kernel. It comes in one screen size and will work best on OLED devices. Microsoft will give official specs to hardware makers and force them to comply or else refuse them access to the OS. This includes a regimented screen and RAM size as well as a minimum processor speed.

If you haven’t guessed, Microsoft is about to get all Apple up in this piece.

The UI looks just like the Zune HD’s with some phone controls built-in. The HD has defined the interface and the use case here, so expect a capacitive multi-touch screen with plenty of media controls.

Now for the nuts and bolts: WinMo 7 has no background processing and will use an Apple-like notification service. There is no system resource access and no threaded processes. In fact, there is no customization at all.

WinMo 7 will not run 6.x code. End of story. It is based on Silverlight and .Net. Everything save a few basic programs will not work under WinMo 7. There is no expectation that this will be a “business device” and the focus is currently on games including some XBox Live functionality for gaming and messaging. There will be a Microsoft App store with an easy approval process.

There is no visual voicemail, probably for patent reasons. As for developers, they’re kind of pissed. As far as we can tell they’re not quite sure they want to take the steps necessary to move over to the new platform. This is a Hail Mary pass and could mean huge changes in the WinMo ecosystem. This could also mean Zune sync software for the Mac, something that we expected when pigs flew.

Disputes lead to Android launch postpone by Google in China

2010-01-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

No clash of titans may go farther than the recent major world issues - Google vs China. The problems between Google and Chinese Government are not on a downfall but will rise even more with the Google's latest announcement regarding the Android phones. After deciding to stop censoring its Google.cn results, Google has stepped up its offensive with the announcement that two Android phones -- one from Samsung and one from Motorola -- which were to make their arrival on China Unicom on Wednesday have now been postponed. Google says if China plays it good then the launch will just be postponed and if not, then its "never gonna happen".

China has the world's most-populous mobile phone market, with more than 700 million accounts and increasingly prosperous customers who readily pay for the latest technology and services.

Beijing referred to Google by name Tuesday for the first time since its Jan. 12 announcement that it would no longer censor search results in China and might shut down Google.cn. The government said the search giant must obey China's laws and traditions, suggesting it was giving no ground in talks with the company.
"Foreign enterprises in China need to adhere to China's laws and regulations, respect the interests of the general public and cultural traditions and shoulder corresponding responsibilities. Google is no exception," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu at a regular news briefing.

Beijing promotes Internet use for business and education but blocks access to material deemed subversive or pornographic, including Web sites abroad run by dissidents and human rights groups.

Google said last week that an attack in December from China targeted the Mountain View, California-based company's infrastructure and at least 20 other major companies from the Internet, financial services, technology, media and chemical industries.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China sent an e-mail Monday to its members warning that reporters in at least two news bureaus in Beijing had said their Gmail accounts had been broken into, with their e-mails surreptitiously forwarded to unfamiliar accounts. One of the accounts belonged to an Associated Press journalist.
Ma, the foreign ministry spokesman, said China strictly prohibits computer hacking in any form.

Courtesy : Yahoo

Microsoft Threatens, Switch from IE and risks will increase

2010-01-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

Head of Security and Privacy for Microsoft UK has recently commented that users who did wander away from Internet Explorer, after the recent headline actually land up on a browser which is definitely less secure than IE.

France and Germany both started advising their users to leave IE and find a better option, which created a problem for Microsoft. But Micrisoft has not still ruled out the possibility that the vulnerability might be used out against the later versions.

The situation now is that Microsoft still has no announcements on how soon a fix will be released, but is just appealing people to dump IE6 and move over to its successor - IE8. Cliff Evans, Microsoft's UK Security Chief, insists that non-Microsoft browser is the worst option for everyone around.

"The net effect of switching [from IE] is that you will end up on less secure browser," insisted Evans.

"The risk [over this specific] exploit is minimal compared to Firefox or other competing browsers… you will be opening yourself up to security issues.

"There are broader risks and issues with other browsers."

"If you were to ask me 'what's the most secure browser?' I would say Internet Explorer 8 – we're talking about a single vulnerability," he added.

"The reality of the risk is minimal, even if you have IE6; you would have to go to a website running the exploit."

Just wondering how many people still use IE, and not to mention, after the recent headline against the browser.

Sony Memory Sticks now with Wireless TransferJet Technology

2010-01-19T06:14:00.000-08:00

TransferJet Technology, many of us might be familiar with this and many may be not. But there are very less things more epic than this technology of recent times. Maybe thats the only reason why Sony is eager to adapt it into their memory sticks.

Sony's 8GB Memory Stick, now getting ready for its debut in Japan works just like our old friend, overpriced Memory Stick. Its not just that, even when 3cm away from a supported device, RF-based TransferJet can transfer the data at an amazing speed of 560mbps (It can be 375 mbps in real world use).

Speaking technically, TransferJet has been around in the technology world since around 2008, but seems that finally Sony is going to lay a hand on it to endorse it into its products. Just wondering, the features of the devices that will be launched, and I lost into imagination. When its Sony, anything is possible.

As of now, we don't have a single clue about the price ranges of this Memory Stick.

Internal Sabotag involved in Google attack - Rumour or Truth?

2010-01-18T06:21:00.000-08:00

Google is investigating whether one or more employees may have helped facilitate a cyber-attack from China that the U.S search giant said it was a victim of in mid-December.

Google, the world's most popular search engine, said last week it may pull out of the world's biggest Internet market by users after reporting it had been hit by a "sophisticated" cyber-attack on its network that resulted in theft of its intellectual property.

The sources, who are familiar with the situation, told that the attack, which targeted people who have access to specific parts of Google networks, may have been facilitated by people working in Google China's office.

"We're not commenting on rumour and speculation. This is an ongoing investigation, and we simply cannot comment on the details," a Google spokeswoman said.

Security analysts told that the malicious software (malware) used in the Google attack was a modification of a trojan called Hydraq. A trojan is malware that, once inside a computer, allows someone unauthorised access. The sophistication in the attack was in knowing whom to attack, not the malware itself, the analysts said.

Local media, citing unnamed sources, reported that some Google China employees were denied access to internal networks after Jan. 13, while some staff were put on leave and others transferred to different offices in Google's Asia Pacific operations. Google said it would not comment on its business operations.

TALKS SOON :

Google, which has denied rumours that it has already decided to shut down its China offices, said on Monday it contacted the Chinese government last week after the announcement.

"We are going to have talks with them in the coming few days," Google said.

Google is also still in the process of scanning its internal networks since the cyber-attack in mid-December.

China has tried to play down Google's threat to leave, saying there are many ways to resolve the issue, but insisting all foreign companies, Google included, must abide by Chinese laws.

Washington said it was issuing a diplomatic note to China formally requesting an explanation for the attacks.

The Google issue risks becoming another irritant in China's relationship with the United States. Ties are already strained by arguments over the yuan currency's exchange rate, which U.S. critics say is unfairly low, trade protectionism and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Washington has long been worried about Beijing's cyber-spying programme. A congressional advisory panel said in November the Chinese government appeared increasingly to be penetrating U.S. computers to gather useful data for its military.

HP TouchSmart tm2 tablet released, upgraded dv6t and dv7t with Core i5

2010-01-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

HP has released the much awaited and soon to be apple of everyone's eye - the TouchSmart TM2, its ready for shipping in for near about $950, and will be empowered with a 12-inch capacitive multitouch display, a somewhat senescent SU7300 1.3GHz ULV processor, and 3GB of DDR3 memory.

Oh yes, do you dare to stp into higher price ranges, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4550 discrete graphics and an SU9600 CPU are also available. Alternatively, you can splash $929 on the 15.6-inch dv6t, which now comes with a 2.4GHz Core i5-520M as standard, as well as free upgrades to 3GB of RAM and 320GB in storage. Graphics options here range up to an NVIDIA GeForce GT 320M with 1GB of onboard memory. Finally, the dv7t matches its smaller sibling's upgrades but asks for $999 for the base spec, which includes a 17.3-inch display with a 1600 x 900 resolution. So there it is, HP has something for each and everyone.

"Square" payment dongle for iPhone

2010-01-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

Wonder what it would be like after a Digg and Twitter copulation?? Ok, dont stress your minds as we already got the first result of it, The iPhone payment dongle. Square is Jack Dorsey's (Twitter co-founder) new startup that now has Kevin Rose (Digg founder) on board as an investor and YouTube pitch man for the prototype payment device that plugs directly into the iPhone's headphone jack.

Now Square has been discussed a lot of time earlier, but this is the first video that clearly demonstrates the full capability of the credit card swipe system on a live device. A compelling proposition for receiving cashless payments if you're a small business owner looking to exploit irresponsible credit card debt or just the average Joe hocking goods at a garage sale, farmers market, or Craigslist. Assuming of course, Square's cut of the transaction isn't too egregious. The day when you will pay your coffee bills just by swiping your card into the dongle. The world really is moving fast..
Demo after the break.

Steady Hand is what required by N 97's Brain Maze

2010-01-18T05:44:00.000-08:00

Now its obviously understood that not everyone in world has NeuroSky's Mindset brainwave interface headset, but if u do, and also got Nokia N 97 -- this could finally be your ticket to a sharper wit, improved hand-eye coordination, better-smelling breath, and frankly, a whole new you.

Forum Nokia regular Paul Coulton has recently added the brand new Brain Maze for Nokia's flagship S60 5th Edition set, by modifying the Labyrinth game for accelerometer-equipped handsets by adding in checkpoints controlled by the MindSet's input -- in other words, you got to force upon your brain to advance forth. It looks like it couid be a blast, we admit -- but considering how talented we are at completely disabling and unplugging our brains when we sit down in front of a video game, we could be spending months making it past level one. Follow the break for a little video of Brain Maze in thought-controlled action.

'Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' Released in US

2010-01-18T05:09:00.000-08:00

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was finally released into the Apple App Store yesterday evening. As far as the graphical quality is concerned this game for iPhone lies somewhere between the DS and PSP versions but if u take pure GTA gameplay into concern, everything seems to be intact.

Much like other versions of the game, screenshots barely do it justice. Liberty City in motion on the iPhone is amazing, and all the jagged edges in the screenshots quickly fade away when you're racing down a street, under elevated train tracks, and through alleys as you escape the police. The realtime clock in-game also changes the lighting of the city, shifting from the orange glow of a sunset to the street lights turning on at night. It really looks awesome.

The main plot of the game involves a man named Huang Lee, the son of a Triad gang boss who was recently sent to sleep with the fishes. He flies in to Liberty City with a heirloom sword his father won in a poker game, deciding to deliver it to his uncle. Of course things never go as planned, and not long after landing Huang finds himself in the middle of a gunfight and winds up getting kidnapped. After stealing the sword, the assailants assume Huang is dead, and looking to dispose of the body drive the car he's in off the side of a pier. In the same vein of other GTA games, story isn't really anything revolutionary, but it gets the job done.

Chinatown Wars is controlled very similar to Gameloft's Gangstar, with virtual buttons and a joystick that handle all the driving, running, shooting, and other activities in game. The iPhone port of Chinatown Wars retains the stylus minigames that filled the DS version, appearing in a little popups where you do things like tap to smash the window of the car you were trapped in at the beginning of the game, slide your finger around to turn a screwdriver to start a car you're stealing, etc.

Chinatown Wars seems to be a complete GTA experience. You have your apartment that serves as your character's hub with a "Fruit" computer you can check emails on, a garage you can stash a car in, and when you're on the road there is a full GPS system with a map of Liberty City that you can plot your destination on to easily get from one side of the city to the other. There's all kinds of stat tracking that will tell you everything from how many bullets you've fired to how many fish you've fed and in-game options that offer all kinds of different tweaks to the interface and gameplay.

App Store Link: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, $9.99

Apple blocking VoIP, but WHY????

2010-01-17T12:33:00.000-08:00

Here are few questions to be wondered about :
Why Skype hadn't enabled Push Notifications in their latest iPhone update, and more importantly, why we couldn't use Skype, or any voice over IP service, over 3G?

Peter Parkes, a Skype blogger, wrote in to clarify that they are working on the Push notifications and its surely coming. Also, the reason they can't enable VoIP over 3G isn't a limitation by AT&T.

Many of you have also been asking when we'll release a version which allows you to make calls over 3G - the holy grail of Skype on the mobile, if you like. So your answer is "APPLE". When Apple blocks a capability on the iPhone, it tells us that they are into cooking up somthing really similar or even quite unique way of doing it. They've already proven it once by blocking video on iPhone and iPhone 3G and then introducing it with a revolutionary breakaway feature on the iPhone 3GS. Maybe, Apple has something amazing to do with the VoIP stuff too. Patience is the key to all.

Motorola Shadow = Nexus Two + sliding QWERTY keyboard?

2010-01-17T12:26:00.000-08:00

The gang at Mobile01 have laid out two more photos of what is being called the Motorola Shadow, which in short looks like Droid / Milestone with a white keyboard and wrist strap. Even more interesting is the assumption that this could be Google's next flagship device, lovingly called as the Nexus Two.

Now there is no point to assume at this point as we can feasibly buy it later on after release. After all, what better way to complement the Nexus One slate than with one with physical QWERTY? And who better than the company whose Android 2.0 device increased the platform's mindshare at supersonic speeds.

Other countries are getting faster internet, but not WE

2010-01-17T12:18:00.000-08:00

Akamai released their quarterly State of the Internet report this week, with the chart showing the nations across the globe with the fastest networks. Between 2009 and 2009 on an average, the world's internet got 13% faster with a bitter end that America's got 2.4% slower.

This particular chart shows the 10 countries with the fastest internet in the world. It also shows that they're not slowing down. South Korea, already pumping at 14.6 Mbps, managed to improve 16% over last year. Ireland improved most dramatically of the top ten, improving their infrastructure to increase year over year speeds 73%.

But America, who has the 18th fastest internet in the world, slowed down ever so slightly to 3.9 Mbps in 2009. Though our nation as a whole didn't get any faster, some individual areas showed significant improvement, including a 20% bump in Massachusettes and a 17% jump in D.C. and Utah.

Nasdaq-listed Akamai (NSDQ: AKAM) Technologies, Inc., ranks India at 115 among the 223 countries measured in terms of average connection speeds. India’s average connection speed is 772Kbps while the global average is 1.5Mbps. South Korea, which ranks No.1, had average speeds of 15 Mbps.

The number of unique IPs from India grew 42.91% year-on-year, to 2.63 million, a figure that puts India at No. 20 globally. Globally, the number of unique IPs grew 20%. The US is ranked No. 1, with 114.1 million unique IPs.

Akamai also measures attack traffic, a measure of rogue activity on the Internet, such as DNS attacks, bots, spam activity and hackers. In terms of countries originating such activity, India is ranked at no. 17 globally, with 1.16% of observed attack traffic. US is ranked No. 1 on this parameter, with 22.85% of such traffic.

"Texting While Walking" - A considerable Epidemic

2010-01-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

Now we all are familiar with the effects of texting while driving, but get ready for a new epidemic, that is Texting while Walking. Yeah, it seems sillier but equally dangerous.

Now the current situation worldwide is very bitter, as studies have started on this related topic. There are many a reports of concussions, sprained ankles and broken appendages, not to mention the countless number of people who hurt nothing but their pride by walking into a parked car.

Of course, its a very large trend, of which walking while texting is but a small part. It goes by many names: multitasking, information overload, a Gizmodo weekday writer's normal schedule. Whatever you call it, neuroscientists, cognitive researchers and other professionals are now actively studying its impact on our gray matter. So far, it's bad. Basically, talking on a cellphone takes up so much of our attention it's overwhelming ever-important things like, say, our survival instincts. Yes, say researchers, that conversation with your bro about the next Android OS is higher on the pecking order than keeping an eye out for that oncoming train or approaching light pole.

Number of people were interviewed about this topic and not happy to tell you that while walking, they were flirting or talking with their significant other at the time they got into an accident. So better start thinking, whether this texting thing is really a boon to us. Or no.

Fa.il: Bing’s URL Shortener Is Longer Than Bing’s Own Domain

2010-01-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a trend of shortening the URL these days. Some established names in this industry are bit.ly and adf.ly. But Facebook, Google and Youtube have recently joined the race. Microsoft tried to hop in too, but something is really weird about it.

As the UK blog My Microsoft Life noticed, some employees of Microsoft’s Bing have recently started publicly tweeting with the binged.it URL. Seattle PI confirmed with Microsoft that it has been used internally and is likely to be made public soon. But what actually is odd about binged.it is that it’s actually one character longer than Bing’s own domain, complete with the .com part. Sure, many Bing search query URLs are going to be much longer, but then why not just shorten them using the Bing.com domain or something smaller? I don’t know how much Microsoft paid for the Bing domain, but I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. And wasn’t part of the point to be shorter than Google? Why not spring for bin.gd or something?

Now summarizing the whole story we can surely conclude that Google’s shortener, goo.gl, is just 5 characters. Facebook’s is merely 4 characters. The recent entrants in URL shortner, Bing’s is 8 characters. Bing.com is 7 characters. So we better call this attempt of Microsoft as Fa.il.

Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition Trailer Illuminates New Missions (Video)

2010-01-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

The latest trailer Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition trailer has a look at Lost in Nightmares and Desperate Escape, two extra missions where you get to play as a Jill Valentine.
I suppose the trailer also explains how Lost in Nightmares, which appears as a flashback also fits in the story too. Other added elements in Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition include a four costumes for Chris and Sheva, extra characters for the Mercenaries Reunion, and versus figures to collect.
Watch the video here.

Palm Pre Plus & Palm Pixi Plus – Pricing Leaked

2010-01-16T05:24:00.000-08:00

While we’re learning more about the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus in terms of their hardware and specs, according to an anonymous tipster at PhoneArena, Verizon’s pricing for its first two WebOS smartphones has been leaked. The Pre Plus will be purchasable for $150 (after $100 rebate, with a cellular contract) and the Pixi Plus for $100 (again probably after a rebate).

These prices sound fairly reasonable, (and equally match Sprint’s pricing, but these are the faster models) but note that this information is by no means completely comfirmed. If things go according to plan for Verizon, we’ll get to know exactly how much both smartphones will cost on January 25th.

Verizon and AT&T Cut Price on Unlimited Mobile-Calling Plans

2010-01-16T05:22:00.000-08:00

Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc. cut the price of calling plans with unlimited talk time as competition heats up between the two largest U.S. mobile-phone services.

Beginning Jan. 18, both companies will charge $69.99 a month for unlimited talk or $89.99 for a plan with unlimited calls and texts, the carriers said in separate statements today.

Verizon moved first to cut the prices earlier today, part of a plan to simplify pricing and encourage more customers to buy data plans that let smartphones access the Internet and download programs. The cheaper, unrestricted plans may persuade subscribers to upgrade, said Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC in Chicago.

“We could see a move upwards rather than downwards,” said Fritzsche, who recommends buying shares of AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. “Any kind of voice pricing is very much a commodity. Data is the future.”

Verizon’s unlimited voice plan for individuals was $99.99, with unlimited text and video messages costing $119.99, according to the carrier’s Web site. AT&T is cutting the price of its unlimited voice plans from $99.99 a month, according to the Dallas-based company’s Web site.

Sprint sells a package of unlimited calls, data and messaging for $99.99. While the company didn’t announce a price change today, it said customers who buy unlimited messaging and data plans will save almost $240 a year over Verizon’s new offering.

Reviewing Prices

“We’re always looking at our pricing and evaluating whether changes are needed,” said Emmy Anderson, a spokeswoman for Overland Park, Kansas-based Sprint. “The plans that we offer right now, we really feel are giving customers the best value in wireless.”

Verizon subscribers with phones capable of downloading video and other multimedia content will be required to sign up for a $9.99-per-month data plan.

Verizon Communications, which co-owns Basking Ridge, New Jersey-based Verizon Wireless, declined 64 cents to $30.58 today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. AT&T dropped 40 cents to $25.79, while Sprint rose 13 cents to $3.82.

Verizon Communications had revenue of $15.8 billion from its 89 million mobile customers in the third quarter, a 24 percent increase from a year earlier. The wireless unit made up more than half of sales as land-line customers defected.

Much of the growth came from data plans, which customers use to access the Internet and download media. Customers’ average monthly bills fell 2.2 percent to $51.04, even as payments for data services rose 17 percent, Verizon said in its October report. The company will report fourth-quarter results on Jan. 26.

McDonald's starts dishing out free WiFi at most of its U.S. restaurants

2010-01-16T05:19:00.000-08:00

McDonald's promised that it would be make its in-restaurant WiFi service available for free in "mid-January" and, right on cue, it's now kicked things open to everyone with a laptop and a fast food craving starting today, January 15th. That service previously cost customers $2.95 for two hours of use, and it's already available at 11,500 of the company's 14,000 locations. Incidentally, that also makes McDonald's one of the largest providers of WiFi hotspots (free or otherwise) in the United States, with the company itself claiming that no less than 16% of reported WiFi hotspots in the U.S. are located at McDonald's.

Korean Airline Uses PSPgo For In Flight Entertainment

2010-01-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

Most airlines lend, sometimes for a price, headphones to watch in-flight movies. Jin Air, a no-frills subsidiary of Korean Air, lends PSPgos.
The South Korean based airline announced a PSPgo rental service for flights out of Incheon. Passengers can borrow a 16GB PSPgo for 4,000 won ($3.50). What’s loaded on it? The press release mentions games and Minis, but doesn’t specify titles. Sony Computer Entertainment Korea publishes a bunch of stuff they could put on it like Patapon, LocoRoco: Midnight Carnival, and Persona 3 Portable which is fully translated with hangul.

Apple retaliates: requests US import ban on Nokia phones

2010-01-16T05:12:00.000-08:00

Apple Inc. filed a new patent- infringement complaint against Nokia Oyj, seeking to block U.S. imports of mobile phones and increasing the legal battle between the two over smartphone technology.

Notice of the complaint was posted yesterday on the Web site of the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. Nokia, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, filed its own complaint last month at the ITC, seeking to ban imports of Apple’s iPhone, iPod and MacBook products.

The patent fights are part of a larger battle over the smartphone market, the industry’s fastest-growing sector. Nokia’s share of the market fell to 39.3 percent in the third quarter from 42.3 percent a year earlier, while Cupertino, California-based Apple and Research In Motion Ltd., the Waterloo, Ontario-based maker of the BlackBerry, gained, according to research firm Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut.

“Nokia will study the complaint when it is received and continue to defend itself vigorously,” Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant said by text message today. “However this does not alter the fact that Apple has failed to agree appropriate terms for using Nokia technology and has been seeking a free ride on Nokia’s innovation since it shipped the first iPhone in 2007.”

The ITC is a government agency whose job is to protect the U.S. market from unfair trade practices, including patent infringement. If it agrees to consider Apple’s complaint, it could complete the investigation in about 15 months. A copy of the Apple complaint wasn’t immediately available.

The agency hasn’t yet agreed to investigate the complaint filed Dec. 29 by Espoo, Finland-based Nokia, although the ITC typically grants such requests.

The new complaint is In the Matter of Mobile Communications and Computer Devices, 2707, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington).

HTC Bravo tipped for March 2010 launch by 3 Sweden

2010-01-15T04:53:00.000-08:00

Star device on HTC’s leaked 2010 roadmap, the HTC Bravo – a 1GHz Snapdragon based handset with a 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen, running Android – has seemingly been prematurely confirmed by the Swedish arm of carrier 3. In a comment – since removed – on the company’s Facebook page, they announced that they would be offering the HTC Bravo in March 2010.

That’s despite the fact that the handset hasn’t actually been officially announced by HTC as yet, though we’re expecting that to happen at Mobile World Congress this coming February. 3 Sweden describe the Bravo as basically the same as the Nexus One, though the assumption – going by the renders we’ve seen of the smartphone – is that it will run HTC Sense rather than the basic Android UI.

That could give it an edge over Google’s Nexus One for those who prefer HTC’s home-grown interface. Other specifications are tipped to include HSPA, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, along with GPS, a 5-megapixel autofocus camera and a digital compass.

Apple MobileMe Gallery app for iPhone launched

2010-01-15T04:35:00.000-08:00

Apple have released a MobileMe gallery app for the iPhone and iPod touch, that gives subscribers to their cloud storage and backup service easier access to their online galleries. The app – which is a free download from the App Store, but which obviously requires a MobileMe subscription in order to use – supports the usual pinch-zooming and swipe navigation on the iPhone, as well as basic offline browsing functionality.

Basically, as long as you’ve looked at the gallery once, you can subsequently view it even without a data connection (whether WiFi or cellular); presumably Apple keeps the local caches once they’ve been downloaded the first time, which should also speed up later slideshows. It’s also possible to share photos and galleries via email, together with browse other MobileMe users’ galleries.

The MobileMe app for iPhone allows access to password protected and hidden galleries, as well as public ones, and supports landscape and portrait orientation. So far there’s nothing in the way of social network integration – we’d like to see any easy way to upload images to Facebook or share them on Twitter – but it’s early days yet, we suppose. The app is available to download now [iTunes link]; MobileMe currently costs $99 per user per year.

Puyocon mouse reacts to being squeezed, thrown, gyrated

2010-01-15T04:33:00.000-08:00

The Puyocon isn't about to swoop in and replace your trusty old two-dimensional laser pointing mousie just yet, but we're always suckers for bizarre input peripherals. Demonstrated by Tsukuba University at Siggraph Asia 2009 last month, it is a soft and squeezable ball that offers a quirky new spin on the old airborne controller idea. Differing from the Wii Remote in the fact that it won't break your HDTV (or itself) if it slips out of your hand, the spongy ball operates on the basis of a three-way accelerometer and 14 pressure sensors in order to give detailed multidimensional information to the system it's controlling. That's probably overkill for the humble computer desktop, but there might be hope for the Puyocon becoming a commercial reality through games that make use of all its input points -- after all, if there's room for the Wiiwaa, why not the Puyocon too? See it in action after the break.

Symbian provides early glimpse at 2011 Nokia smartphone experience

2010-01-15T04:18:00.001-08:00

We've been pretty hard on Nokia with regard to its miserable S60 5th (aka, Symbian^1) user experience as compared to the competition. Fortunately, Nokia's bound and determined to freshen things up in 2010 with two major updates scheduled for the first and second halves of the year. At the moment, Symbian^3 (that's Symbian three) is expected first with Symbian^4 coming before the end of the year (functionally complete in Q3 with S^4 devices shipping in early 2011 according to the symbian.org wiki page). What we've got above then, is a UI Concept proposal for the latter.

As you can tell from the pics, Symbian^4 promises to deliver an entirely new user interface: navigation is streamlined and platform apps will be reorganized and redesigned to leverage next gen graphics meant to deliver visually appealing transparencies and transitions on Symbian devices. The experience is based on Direct UI and built upon Qt and Orbit -- a strategy that Nokia hopes will lure developers to the table by making apps easy to build and update with broad scalability across Nokia's entire lineup of handsets. Note that the concept is open for discussion (and thus change) so voice your opinion now. And no, responding "N900 FTW" doesn't count. One more image after the break.

3G GSM encryption cracked in less than two hours

2010-01-15T04:15:00.000-08:00

Looks like all that GSM code-cracking is progressing faster than we thought. Soon after the discovery of the 64-bit A5/1 GSM encryption flaw last month, the geniuses at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science went ahead and cracked the KASUMI system -- a 128-bit A5/3 algorithm implemented across 3G networks -- in less than two hours.

If you must know, the method applied is dubbed 'related-key sandwich attack' where multiple values of known differentials are processed through the first seven rounds of KASUMI, then using resulting quartets that are identified sharing key differences, subkey materials can be obtained in round eight to build up the 128-bit key. Sure, it's hardly snooping-on-the-go at this speed, but worryingly this was only an 'unoptimized implementation... on a single PC.' At the same time, the paper condemns the presumably red-faced GSM Association for moving from MISTY -- a more computationally-expensive but much stronger predecessor algorithm -- to KASUMI. Guess we'll just have to stick with Skype.

Google lowers Nexus One upgrade price to $279, issues $100 refund to early upgraders

2010-01-15T04:12:00.000-08:00

Good news, earthlings! Apparently Google's taken all the complaints about Nexus One upgrade pricing to heart, because it's giving $100 rebates to current T-Mobile subscribers who paid $379 for the HTC-built handset -- and it says it'll be widening the net and offering upgrades to even more current T-Mo subs, although we still don't know how that's determined.

That means the new Nexus One pricing tiers break down like this: $529 unlocked, $279 upgrade for (some) current T-Mo subs, and $179 on a new 2-year contract. Handshakes all around. Now, let's fix up family plan activations and that crazy double ETF, shall we?

The 53 Best iPhone Games

2010-01-14T06:26:00.000-08:00

Scouring the App Store for the best games is a full time job. Luckily, it's a job held by the guys over at Touch Arcade. Here are their picks for the best games—and only games—available on the iPhone.

While the App Store had clearly been a huge success in 2008, the continued growth and explosion of iPhone game releases in 2009 was beyond everyone's expectations. The number of apps in the App Store soared past 100,000 with hundreds of new games being released every day.

We sat down trying to figure out the best iPhone games of 2009 and found the task of narrowing down the list to a select few to be near impossible. Instead, we've organized our year in review into categories with what we feel is an excellent cross section of games from 2009. If you just got an iPhone or iPod Touch for Christmas, this list is an excellent starting place to catch you up.

2009 iPhone Game of the Year
Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor

Classics
Doodle Jump
Flight Control
iDracula

Only on iPhone
Zen Bound
Eliss
Sway
Space Ninja

Arcade
Meteor Blitz
Space Invaders Infinity Gene
Pac Man CE
I Dig It / I Dig It Expeditions

Platformer
Rolando 2
Soosiz
Hook Champ

Retro Games
Saucelifter
Rogue Touch
Sword of Fargoal
Beneath a Steel Sky

Racing
Real Racing
Need for Speed Shift
2XL ATV Offroad
Jet Car Stunts

Puzzle
Toki Tori
Bobby Carrot Forever

Casual
Canabalt
Boost 3D
Harbor Master
Labyrinth 2

First Person Shooters
Eliminate Pro
N.O.V.A.
Word
Bookworm
Words with Friends

Weird/Funny Games
Enviro-Bear 2010
Must Eat Birds
Hi, How Are You
Battle Bears

Cult Classics
Minigore
Pocket God

Strategy
geoDefense / geoDefense Swarm
Defender Chronicles
Chess with Friends

Role Playing
Zenonia
Underworlds
Inotia: A Wanderer of Luone
Ravensword

Physics
Peggle
Ragdoll Blaster
iBlast Moki

Sports
Baseball Superstars 2010
Homerun Battle 3D
Backbreaker Football
Let's Golf

If you want to read description of each game, click here

Samsung announces 64GB moviNAND flash, 32GB microSD card

2010-01-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since Samsung announced the first actual memory device to result from its 30nm manufacturing process, but it's now back with an announcement for another pair of memory products that should both be hitting the market relatively soon. And trust me, this announcement is really gonna make u jump into your chair.

The larger of those is a new 64GB moviNAND embedded memory device, which joins the company's existing 32GB, 16GB, 8GB and 4GB options, and measures just 1.4mm thick while still packing 16 30nm-class 32Gb MLC NAND chips and a controller. That's joined by a new 32GB microSD card, which fully doubles the capacity of the highest capacity microSD cards currently on the market, and is apparently now being sampled by OEMs with mass production slated to begin sometime next month.

Nokia N900 gets its second firmware update this week

2010-01-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

Enabling the Ovi Store was a pretty sweet add-on in the last update -- but the second N900 push in just a single week features a list of fixes and changes that should put smiles on a few owners' faces, too (and a few devs' faces, for that matter, while they wait for this payment bug to get patched up).

This time around they 've got full support for Swiss keyboard layouts, better compatibility with 3-branded SIM cards, support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 in the handset's Mail for Exchange service, and a handful of performance and usability tweaks for Ovi Maps. It'll be available both over-the-air and via PC download in a phased global rollout over the next day, so keep checking; no need to get all crazy about it if you've already installed the first update, though -- you'll be automatically alerted when this one's ready for you.

Incoming: Asteroid Zooms by Earth, No Injuries Reported

2010-01-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Today at about 7:45 AM EST, a small asteroid called 2010 AL30 flew by Earth at a distance of 80,000 miles--just one third of the way from here to the Moon, reports Discovery News.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed that 2010 AL30 is in fact an "Apollo" class near-Earth asteroid (NEA) and not man-made space junk. Earlier theories revolved around the latter since the object's orbital period is almost exactly one year. That made it a candidate for all the spent rocket boosters and spacecraft pieces floating in orbit.

Even if 2010 AL30 had struck the planet, it wouldn't have done any damage. Instead, it would have vaporized in the upper atmosphere, which is something that happens about once per year for objects of this size. The report said that if anything, planetary scientists now know we get a two-day warning for 10-meter-wide asteroids before they hit us.

Sony Tech Could Boost Blu-ray Capacity By 33 Percent

2010-01-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

Sony appears to be readying technology that would increase the capacity of Blu-ray discs from 25GB to 33.4 GB, an increase in capacity of just over 33 percent.

Nikkei Electronics Asia quotes a source at Sony that says the partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) signal processing would continue to use the blue-violet laser (at 405nm) currently used by the existing Blu-ray technology.

The problem, according to the story, was determining the error rate of the Blu-ray media, which currently is assessed using jitter. The new technique uses a method called i-MLSE (Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation), which both Sony and Panasonic jointly developed in a paper presented in October.

Sony plans to propose that the Blu-ray Disc Association adopt i-MLSE, which would open the technology up for widespread adoption. The story doesn't speculate on how this might affect Blu-ray media prices, or how quickly the technology could be implemented into Blu-ray readers that don't appear to be the hot sellers that DVD burners once were. However, the additional capacity could easily be used by additional featurettes and other content accompanying Blu-ray movies.

Video of Desktop Super Computer: FASTRA II

2010-01-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

Researchers or I would say geeks at the Antwerp University have created a desktop supercomputer FASTRA II utilizing six NVIDIA GTX295 dual-GPU cards and one GTX 275 single GPU card to create a machine that most of the gamers haven’t even dreamt of yet. FASTRA II churns out 12Teraflops and uses ASUS motherboard with 7 PCI express slots having custom BIOS provided by Asus, 12GB DDR3 memory, multiple power supplies, Core i7, 1TB Samsung HDD and a little modified Lian-Li PC case. In case you are wondering, they have built this machine for their research in 3D imaging using high resolution scanner images, watch the video after the jump for more details.

Part of the Vision Lab of the University of Antwerp, the research group ASTRA focuses on the development of new computational methods for tomography. Tomography is a technique used in medical scanners to create three-dimensional images of the internal organs of patients, based on a large number of X-ray photos that are acquired over a range of angles. ASTRA develops new reconstruction techniques that lead to better reconstruction quality than classical methods.

One of the applications is 3D imaging of bone tissue in mice, which is commonly required in medicine research for osteoporosis. The structures of interest are at the resolution limits of current micro-CT scanners. The downside: computation time, which was already a major issue, increases even further.

Fortunately, these computations can be carried out in parallel on graphics hardware, much faster than when using normal CPUs. Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) are becoming more and more common now for all kinds of scientific computing. For suitable applications, a single GPU already has the computing power equivalent to a moderate CPU cluster. In collaboration with Tones.be and ASUS, so they have developed a PC design that incorporates 13 GPUs, resulting in a massive 12TFLOPS of computing power.

Watch this nicely made video of FASTRA II

HP Unveils Windows 7 Tablet : HP Slate

2010-01-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft revealed a new mini HP tablet at the CES 2010 that aims to fill the void between mobiles and netbooks and at the same time can function as a eBook reader, the device is fully touch capable and features Windows 7. Its a perfect fit for those who want touch based web browsing, ebook reader and a little gaming.

The specifications are not yet completely revealed.

HP Laptop on the go with USB 3.0

2010-01-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

Hewlett-Packard has begun shipping some Envy 15 laptop configurations with USB 3.0 technology, becoming one of the first PC makers to do so.
The new "SuperSpeed USB" 3.0 standard is touted as achieving up to 10X the data transfer rate of USB 2.0, the standard that has been shipping on laptops for the last eight years or so.

HP spokeswoman Sheila Watson said Tuesday that the company is shipping certain Envy 15 configurations with the USB 3.0 ports. "HP Direct (our online store) does now sell the Envy 15 with the USB 3.0 along with the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 Graphics (DX11)," she said in response to an e-mail query Tuesday, referring to the mobile Radeon graphics chip from Advanced Micro Devices' ATI unit.
Watson said consumers can get an Envy with USB 3.0 "if you configure it with the new ATI 5830 graphics and quad-core i7 processor."
And USB 3.0 will be available on EliteBook--HP's high-end business laptop line--8540p and 8540w models "in a couple of weeks," according to Watson.
The HP Envy 15 with USB 3.0 ports debuted last week at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show. That news left some CNET readers questioning whether the USB 3.0-equipped Envy models were actually shipping, as some HP salespeople, readers said, weren't yet aware of the USB 3.0 ports on new models.
Asus will begin shipping laptops with USB 3.0 at the end of this month, including the N61Jq model, an Asus spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Facebook to get secured with McAfee

2010-01-13T04:07:00.000-08:00

In a move to show its 350 million members that it's serious about their safety, Facebook has launched a partnership with security firm McAfee: six months of McAfee's Internet Security Suite software, a discount subscription after that, and custom security software and education materials on Facebook.

"Facebook is applying all financial incentives from this partnership to the benefit of its users and will not be taking a share of any revenue from user subscriptions," a release explained. McAfee has also developed a free tool for Facebook users to clean their hard drives in the event that their Facebook accounts are compromised through a malicious attack.
McAfee will also be providing content for Facebook's security home page.
Right now, Facebook users in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the U.K., Australia, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and France are eligible for the free McAfee software promotion, and the release explained that more countries will be eligible over the next few months. The downloadable software "protects users' PCs from online threats, viruses, spyware, hackers, online scammers, identity thieves and other cybercriminals" and currently retails for about $35 per year through a discount on McAfee's Web site.
The partnership comes at a time when viruses and scams on Facebook have drummed up pages' worth of bad press for the social network; while it's been relatively vigilant about disarming viruses as they spread through "wall" posts and messages, they continue to plague Facebook as they do the Web at large. The company's in need of some image repair in addition to legitimate battle plans.
Facebook, the release explained, had been actively searching for a partner in this security initiative before choosing McAfee.

Upload and store your files in the cloud with Google Docs

2010-01-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

Google has announced that over the next few weeks they will provide the ability to upload, store and organize any type of file in Google Docs. With this change, you'll be able to upload and access your files from any computer -- all you need is an Internet connection.

Instead of emailing files to yourself, which is particularly difficult with large files, you can upload to Google Docs any file up to 250 MB. You'll have 1 GB of free storage for files you don't convert into one of the Google Docs formats (i.e. Google documents, spreadsheets, and presentations), and if you need more space, you can buy additional storage for $0.25 per GB per year. This makes it easy to backup more of your key files online, from large graphics and raw photos to unedited home videos taken on your smartphone. You might even be able to replace the USB drive you reserved for those files that are too big to send over email.

Combined with shared folders, you can store, organize, and collaborate on files more easily using Google Docs. For example, if you are in a club or PTA working on large graphic files for posters or a newsletter, you can upload them to a shared folder for collaborators to view, download, and print.

You can also search for document files you've uploaded or that have been shared with you just like you do with your Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and PDFs. And you'll be able to view many common document file types with the Google Docs viewer.This feature will be enabled for your account over the next couple of weeks — look for the bubble notification when you sign in to Google Docs.

China shuts down, blocks 15,000 porn websites

2010-01-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

China shut down or blocked more than 15,000 pornographic websites last year as part of a campaign to crack down on sexual content online, state media reported Tuesday. It seems that China is on something like a major cleanup with many tasks undertaken to rub out pornography from China.

More than 1.5 million items of lewd content have been deleted from the Internet" in 2009, said Mao Xiaomao, vice director of the banned publications bureau of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), according to Xinhua.

Chinese courts tried 1,273 porn-related criminal cases involving a total of 1,580 people in the first ten months of last year, the news agency said, citing a Supreme People's Court spokesman.

Beijing has vowed tougher online policing in 2010 as a key element of "state security."

A Xinhua report on December 31 said China arrested more than 5,000 people in a crackdown on Internet pornography in 2009.

It maintains strict censorship of the Internet to curb what the government deems to be unhealthy content including porn and violence -- an effort that has become known as the "Great Firewall of China."

A college student who said his studies suffered after he discovered Internet porn was awarded 10,000 yuan (1,466 dollars) as part of a government scheme to reward Internet users for reporting porn websites, Xinhua reported earlier this month.

Sony And Imax Announcement

2010-01-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sony, Discovery and Imax have announced that their new 24 hour 3D TV channel would bring in some of the best “take aways” through CES 2010 process. This keeps expanding the idea of media through launching new 3D TV with some of the very announcements about bringing in a whole new way of interacting with new age media.

The 3D Sports Channel is going to be released this summer with the very great coincidence with the World Cup going to be held in South Africa. Sony is bringing up new announcements with up to date 2011 sports events that will be available through 3D. There are going to be high class sports, entertainment as well as history along with rather great program planning.

Sony Corporation chairman, Howard Stringer, has been working to break away through new ventures with the brand and fresh consumer migration that are going to break through in new ways. There are going to be new and better as well as richer entertainment resources. These have been bringing determination in the new leading ways through which the world can be provided in the best ways around the world.

Dell With Their New Announcement

2010-01-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Dell has been bringing out their new deal with US Smart Phone and AT & T. This is a joint growth list where the two companies are mutually supporting each other to promote one another and also expand business.

The leading smart phone carriers system is now collaborating to bring in some of the basic Android based smart phone choices for a more expansive consumer range. Dell would continue to focus on developing small mobile devices through their Mini 3 reflections.

Dell has brought out their next mobile based campaign to be something very Android oriented and lined up to produce something great. The last two months saw Dell focusing on advancing their smart phone arrangement and bring some of the largest mobile operating system in the world. AT & T has had the fastest 3 G network in the world with their extent going to China and Brazil.

Mini 3 smart phones have been really easy to bring in the Internet facilities and usages, better than ever before. The Android based platforms have been creating better use of users as well as operators. There have been greater styles and even programs to bring about wider network. There will also be social media interaction provided through the rapid facilities provided through AT & T.

Nexus One - The Google Phone, a sneak peek

2009-12-13T19:48:00.000-08:00

Now how many of us realy know about Nexus One ?? I will tell you some, The phone is set to release in January 2010. Now it being accessible for Googlers, they are not allowed to let out the details of the phone, but they can't stop themselves from telling about the virtues of the phone. This is the reason why the pictures have hit the web and obviously got attention of many of the enthusiasts. Blogs and forums have been flooded since then with verious comments and questions.

Cory O’Brien, a San Francisco-based blogger, got his hands over one the models of the stated phone and notified a very interesting equation,

Google Phone = "iPhone" + increased screen size, a scroll wheel, amazing touch screen and Android

Now that increases the excitement level of all those who are awaiting the release of this revolitionary phone. Now the looks of the phone resemble HTC Passion but the difference to be noted here is that Nexus One isnot at all HTC-branded.

Surely that will serve as the ice between both of these models.

The Nexus One will launch in early January, 2010. It won’t be sold by any one carrier, but instead will be an unlocked GSM phone. In the U.S., that means T-Mobile and possibly AT&T, whose exclusivity deal with the iPhone is about to run out. It will be running Android 2.1

The phone runs on a Snapdragon chip, has a super high-resolution OLED touchscreen, is thinner than the iPhone, has no keyboard, and two mics. The mic on the back of the phone helps eliminate background noise, and it also has a “weirdly” large camera for a phone. And if you don’t like the touchscreen keyboard, a voice-to-text feature is supposed to let you dictate emails and notes by speaking directly into the phone.

Pictures of the phone have been dug up by Engadget and many others, they are as follows :

2009-12-12T02:55:00.000-08:00

Some more of the sites for earning :

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Ignore the errors by google if u r using Chrome.

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This particular site gives a payout at $5 , but wait also gives you a $0.25 signup bonus...

Get Ipods, PSP, XBOX, Smartphones FREE

2009-12-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

What if I tell you, that you can get gifts like Ipod, PSP, Mac books, Smartphones for free..

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4. After you signup you get to play 1-time only simple PTZ Catching game where in you can earn upto 100 PTZ at a time.

5. After you become a Z-List Member, you get a Free T-shirt shipped directly to your house.

Now Lockerz is an Invitation based website, so all you need to do is type your working Email ID into the below provided Chat Box in the message secion and i will send you an Invitation mail within the next 24 hrs.

$$$ Earn Money Online Free on your Paypal id or Cheque just by surfing your net $$$

2009-12-05T02:22:00.000-08:00

Want to earn real money just by some internet surfing??

Seems interesting rite, and its easy too. Just complete some of the following registration and start earning right away. All you need to have is an Email id in working condition, a PayPal id [required for some sites], a Blog or your website [ if you are looking forward to get advertisements on your space]. Thats it !

Now the main question how do you actually earn ? The answer is, you just get some ads, you click on them and visit them for a maximum time of 30 seconds and Ching!!! your account gets credited with the assured payment. Now each of the sites have their own minimum payout limit.

This is now for bloggers or those who own their own site, all you need to do is signup on following links and submit your site URL. Your site will be verified and if approved, you will see ads on your site. Whenever any unique visitor clicks those ads your account gets credited. Now that seems easy as all you need to do is Draw traffic to your site and get unique clicks.. The more you post, the more people visit your site and you keep earning cash $$$. Thats all for introduction, here you go with the links of various sites.

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What are you waiting for now?? Christmas??

Google Chrome OS still awaited

2009-12-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

It's not every brand new operating system that gets open sourced a year before it hits the retail shelves. Then again, Chrome OS isn't just any OS, and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) isn't just any company.

Indeed, that's just what Google did last week, making its brand new Chrome OS freely available for download by developers far and wide. Devices running the new operating system, on the other hand, are not expected until the fourth quarter of next year.

"We are doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because we are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers," wrote Caesar Sengupta, Google's group product manager, and Matt Papakipos, engineering director, on the Official Google Blog.

"As with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on," they explained. "This means the code is free, accessible to anyone and open for contributions."
Optimized Hardware

It may seem counterintuitive to release the free code first and then expect to sell it running on actual devices a year later, when -- theoretically, at least -- it could have been run on existing hardware in the meantime.

Yet the hardware that's developed between now and then will make all the difference, Eitan Bencuya, a Google spokesperson, told LinuxInsider.

"The usage case where Chrome OS really shines is when it's combined with hardware that takes advantage of it," Bencuya explained.

Fast Hardware

Speed, for example, is one of the operating system's defining characteristics, he pointed out.

Accordingly, unnecessary processes are being removed, operations are being optimized, and as many things will run in parallel as possible in the new operating system.

Those changes will also dig down into the hardware level.

"Our obsession with speed goes all the way down to the metal," Sengupta and Papakipos explained. "We are specifying reference hardware components to create the fastest experience for Google Chrome OS."

A Security Sandbox

Similarly, many of the operating system's enhanced security features will rest on optimized hardware as well, Bencuya added.

Using Chrome OS, each application is contained within a security sandbox, making it harder for malware and viruses to infect a computer.

In addition, if a computer does get compromised, it is designed to fix itself with a reboot. Users' files are kept on a separate partition of the hard drive, meaning that they won't get lost in such a case, Bencuya explained.

Waiting for ARM

Most likely, the operating system is waiting for ARM-based hardware to come out, Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist with In-Stat, told LinuxInsider.

Currently, "all the solutions are x86-based, for the most part," McGregor explained. "There are OEMs that have announced netbooks with ARM (Nasdaq: ARMHY) processors, but there are no products yet."

As a result, "we're kind of at this void in the market now where we're waiting for everything to go towards the Internet," but the pieces aren't all in place yet, he noted. "We're kind of playing catch-up and waiting for this ubiquitous environment to take hold."

Jailbroken Iphones beware of the dangerous new malware

2009-12-01T05:46:00.000-08:00

For the third time in a matter of weeks, jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches have come under attack, this time by a worm that could set up botnets and steal banking information.

Security researchers, already on alert as a result of the two previous attacks on jailbroken iPhones, jumped on the worm right away.

"This is one of the first, if not the first, mobile botnets ever," Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, told MacNewsWorld. "It clearly shows that the more criminal elements are entering the mobile space and targeting mobile phones."

More attacks targeting jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches may surface soon. "The problem of poorly secured jailbroken iPhones is so well-known now that it would be a surprise if we didn't see any more malware targeting the platform," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

While some attacks could be launched with criminal intent -- like the latest worm, dubbed the "Duh" worm by Sophos researcher Paul Ducklin -- others might be created by hobbyist hackers and "script kiddies" -- novices who want to play with code for less nefarious purposes, Cluley told MacNewsWorld.

There's no way to prevent these attacks because Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) won't work with antivirus vendors, F-Secure's Hypponen said. "We can't build an antivirus product for the iPhone without Apple's help and, so far, Apple hasn't seen security as a problem because there are no Apple viruses," he explained.

"Even this worm is not seen as a problem because it only affects jailbroken iPhones."

Explanation by Google about offensive image

2009-12-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

Search Engine Land noted that last week, Google had removed the image after claiming the site hosting it was spreading malware, but it's back with the ad featured prominently above the image results. "Sometimes our search results can be offensive," Google said in the ad copy. "We agree. Read more."
Clicking on the ad takes you to a special page on Google's site where the company explains "sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries. We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google." Google said its policy in matters like this is to only remove content from its site if that content is illegal, violates Google's Webmaster guidelines in some way, or if the site owner requests the content be removed.
What's not clear, however, is what triggers the company to take out an ad explaining the search results: after all, there's no shortage of things on the Internet that would offend the average person. Google did not immediately respond to a request for more information about how those decisions are made.
Search Engine Land notes Google has also taken out explanation ads against search queries such as "jew" and "miserable failure," the search query that introduced much of the world to the concept of the Google bomb when searches for those keywords were orchestrated to point to the official Web site of former President George W. Bush by taking advantage of Google's PageRank formula.
Even now the offensive image can be viewed by a specific search string at Google Images.

AT&T offers prepaid wireless broadband

2009-12-01T05:39:00.000-08:00

AT&T launched a prepaid wireless broadband service on Monday, following the lead of competitor Verizon Wireless.
Pricing for the new AT&T DataConnect Pass plans are the same as what Verizon Wireless is charging. Customers can pay $15 for a daily pass with a data usage cap of 75 megabytes. A weekly plan costs $30 and allows for 250MB of data usage. And the monthly plan is $50 and offers 500MB of usage.
While AT&T and Verizon Wireless have offered prepaid cell phone service for years, up until now the companies have required customers sign a contract for their wireless broadband services. Wireless broadband services allow users to connect their laptops to the Internet via the carriers 3G wireless network. These services have mostly been targeted at business users.
As these big phone companies move mobile broadband services into the mainstream, they are expanding their payment options to attract more consumers. But for many consumers in this tough economic environment, taking on a new contract and monthly service fee is simply too much. As such, the prepaid model is now moving to these services as well.
Prepaid niche players, such as Leap Wireless and Virgin Mobile, have recognized the demand for prepaid wireless broadband services, and they are already selling services to address the market. Leap Wireless offers an unlimited usage plan for $40 a month. And Virgin Mobile, which is now owned by Sprint, offers a $60 plan that has a usage cap of 1 gigabyte for a month.
Will these new prepaid offerings be enough to entice consumers to sign up for 3G wireless broadband service? That's a question yet to be answered. But AT&T, especially, should be careful what it wishes for. The company's 3G wireless network is already overburdened with iPhone users' heavy wireless data usage.

AMD to launch eight new consumer-oriented processors

2009-11-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Chip designer Advanced Micro Devices is announcing eight new additions to its consumer-focused Athlon II desktop microprocessors today.

The new desktop chips include chips with two, three and four computing brains on a single chip. They’re targeted at mainstream computer users looking for bargains on new PCs during the holiday season. Since the new chips are more power efficient, they’re aimed at desktop computers in the smallest cases.

Web sites and system builders will begin selling the processors today, while big computer makers will launch products in the coming weeks. Big customers include HP, Dell, Acer and Lenovo.

The new line-up is AMD’s bid to revive computer chip sales, which may see a boost because of the Oct. 22 launch of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. Brent Kerby, senior product marketing manager at Sunnyvale, Calif.,-based AMD, said the chips are likely to be used in all-in-one computers with 20-inch displays or more (all-in-one computers combine a desktop computer and display in a compact design).

The new products are a necessary part of AMD’s own recovery. The company reported a non-GAAP profit of $2 million in the third quarter after a couple of years’ worth of losses. It also reported a lift in sales from the second to the third quarter as bargains drew PC buyers back into the market.

The new chips are made with AMD’s 45-nanometer production process which has been used to make most of the company’s chips this year. The chips consume either 45 watts or 65 watts of power. They will carry the Athlon II brand, a consumer-focused brand that isn’t as pricey or fast as AMD’s Phenom II brand. Prices range from $69 to $143.