Mansoor Ahmed
I am a Software Engineer, Software Developer and a Blogger as well.
Homepage: http://www.geekword.net/
Posts by Mansoor Ahmed
Samsung Omnia 2 coming August 23
Aug 10th
It has been reported that the 23rd of August is going to be quite a day for mobile phone lovers as a snapshot of Best Buy’s computers shows that several handsets will hit the market.
The snapshot suggests that on August the 23rd we will see number of mobile phones inlcuding the LG BL40 Chocolate Touch, the Samsung Rogue, Samsung Omnia 2, Samsung u450 Intensity, and Global AirCard.
On the same day the LG Xenon in red and Samsung Solstice will be hitting AT&T, the Samsung Gravity 2 hits T-Mobile, and the BlackBerry Tour, a new shipment hits Sprint. It is not confirmed but the it has been stated that there is a chance of the M330 to hit on the 8th of September, moreover there is not much information about that phone.
For the time being it’s a Samsung handset headed for Sprint, along with the Samsung Reclaim can be seen just off screen at the very top. Date can not be predicted but it will be out sometime in August.
Google Chrome dev build adds support for Windows 7 jumplists
Aug 10th
Google Chrome’s latest dev build is embedded with the Windows 7 jumplists.
The screenshot below suggests the latest Google Chrome’s jumplist works just like any other in Windows 7. Recently browsed sites are listed below those you have included to the list.
Space is also reserved for quick access to recently closed tabs and opening new windows.
Sure, you could set up it yourself by adding a command line argument to your Chrome shortcut, but this is a much more elegant solution. That’s assuming, of course, you’re on Windows 7 and can take advantage of the feature.
tr.im shuts down, as there is no point of continuing it
Aug 10th
tr.im is now in the process of discontinuing service, effective immediately. Nambu have decided to shutdown tr.im, and yes this is the first step in shutting down all of the products and services within brand.
According to Nambu, they just cannot find a way to justify continuing to work on it, or pay its network costs, which are not inconsequential.
Tr.im pushes a lot of redirects and URL creations per day, and this required significant development investment and server expansion to accommodate.
As it is well known that tr.im has thousands and thousands of users, creating millions of URLs per day. But, it is again true that no one is willing to take it over.
People at Nambu contacted many companies like Twitter development world, and no one wants to take it over. No one perceived any value in it, or they wanted to operate a shortener under a differently branded domain name.
And, the data that tr.im generates — the hottest links that people are sharing right now — is all well and good, but everyone has this data. tr.im gets hit by countless bots every day farming this data to create and operate websites such as tweetmeme.com.
tr.im stated:
There is no way for us to monetize URL shortening — users won’t pay for it — and we just can’t, justify further development since Twitter has all but annointed bit.ly the market winner. There is simply no point for us to continue operating tr.im, and pay for its upkeep
An update is also there that tr.im will be working till 31st December 2009. It is stated that:
All tr.im links will continue to redirect until at least December 31, 2009. We will not be turning tr.im off for redirections.
Demonstration of Windows Phone mobile OS
Aug 3rd
Most recently Microsoft has given an exclusive demo of the final version of the new Windows Phone operating system, by running it on a touch screen HTC Touch Diamond2.
A video of that demonstration of the final version of the Windows Phone OS, previously known as Windows Mobile 6.5.
In this demo complete redesign of OS user interface is shown, and its Zune-esque look and feel. It has been seen fir the first time that Microsoft’s new 24-bit menu icons for accessing all of the Windows Phone applications.
These icons replace the standard folder view seen after pressing the Start button on the current version of the Windows Mobile OS.
Microsoft also demonstrated the Market Place for Windows Phone. This is the online software application repository for the Windows Phone, and is much much much like Apple’s Itunes App Store.
And yes once again it appeared for the first time are the new My Phone synchronization features of the Windows Phone OS, with which the mobile’s contents can all be backed-up to the cloud via a Windows Live account.
The My Phone PC client software can also remotely wipe the handset if it is lost or stolen and can download all the SMS, emails and contacts to a replacement mobile.
One thing is still missing from Windows Phone is the multi-touch ability of the iPhone.
It has been told that the Windows Phone OS will arrive before Christmas, most probably around the same time as the Vole’s public release of the Windows 7 operating system which is on October 22.
Microsoft’s Project Natal to ship late next year
Jul 30th
It is well known that Microsoft‘s Project Natal was announced earlier this year, and there was a lot of excitement as well.
Many companies have tried to take motion capture to gaming. This was such a big and impressive deal; it really showed off some great performance, and when people actually got to try it, it worked accordingly.
The approximated released date is not finalized yet. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer officially declared that a new Xbox would be released late 2010. This caused even more excitement, but then Microsoft’s PR team came out and corrected Ballmer, noting that it would not be a new Xbox, but in fact Project Natal.
More confirmations on this have been heard from the CEO of THQ, Brian Farrell.
A question posed to Farrell was about different price cuts for hardware, and the like, in response to this question he said:
With respect to the cycle itself, if you look at what’s happening in the industry, the fact that we have for example, Natal from Microsoft, a platform addition coming late next year.
He also believes that hardware price cuts are coming this fall:
We did anticipate price cuts coming this fall. Obviously we’ll let the hardware guys announce both the magnitude and the timing, but again, just look at the hardware numbers and it would seem that a price cut would be in order by at least two of the three manufacturers.
Apple plans to boost album sales
Jul 27th
Apple Inc and four record labels are planning to increase digital sales of albums, as the Apple is also separately developing a tablet-sized device, FT reported.
The four record labels are: EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, and the project is “Cocktail,” which is hoped to be in September, the paper reported.
The project with the record companies aims to offer interactive features with music downloads, the paper said.
FT further reported that, Apple is hoping to offer the tablet-sized computer in time for Christmas shopping. The computer will connect to the Internet like Apple’s iPod Touch and its screen may be up to 10 inches diagonally.
The paper said book publishers have also been in talks with the computer maker about offering their services on the new device, which could compete with Amazon’s Kindle.
To me Apple’s step is pretty good in boosting album sales as well as Apple’s own rank among other companies.
Nokia N86 is finally coming to United States
Jul 17th
The award winning Nokia N86 8MP, which is considered to be the most advanced Nokia imaging device, is coming to the United States. It is packed with eight megapixel camera, dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss Optics, Nokia N86 8MP will allow US consumers to carry a true replacement for single purpose point-and-shoot camera. With a beautiful 2.6-inch AMOLED screen, viewing images and video has never been more pleasurable.
Sharing images and video with your social network is much much easier with the ‘Share Online’ client that is installed by default on the Nokia N86 8MP and its one-click upload. Media can be seen within seconds from Ovi Share and other media sharing sites.
The Nokia N86 8MP also comes with Ovi services including Ovi Maps, N-Gage and Ovi Files. With exceptional build quality and loaded with features, the Nokia N86 8MP continues the reputation that people expect from the Nokia Nseries.
The Nokia N86 8MP will be available for $558.00 through Nokia Flagship Stores and www.NokiaUSA.com in the coming weeks.
The N86 rocks the same two-way slide of its N85 predecessor, and packs Nokia’s first 8 megapixel camera, which places it squarely against Sony Ericsson’s C905, the LG Renoir and Samsung Memoir, all of which have a significant head start.
The Nokia N86 will probably fare better – a solid camera and a familiar form factor will go a long way, especially once carriers pick it up and subsidize the beefy price point.
Microsoft is shutting down Popfly
Jul 17th
Popfly was originally launched as a beta service in October 2007. The web service was originally introduced for users to create both Windows Vista Sidebar gadgets and Windows Live gadgets. Microsoft has confirmed it will be shutting down its’ Popfly tool on August 24, 2009. On Popfly blog company official John Montgomery said:
unfortunately, on August 24, 2009 the Popfly service will be discontinued and all sites, references, and resources will be taken down. At that time, your access to your Popfly account, including any games and mashups that you have created, will be discontinued.
The tool was designed to help non-programmers in creating, sharing, and embedding mashups of content, feeds, web pages and gadgets. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that the tool was being discontinued due to the current economic climate,
like many companies, the economic situation has caused us refocus and to reevaluate our priorities; while successful and popular, Popfly is not part of our refocused strategy.
If you guys are interested in refining your skills in Web applications, you can visit Microsoft Web Platform Installer. And for those interested in programming on the Xbox, visit Microsoft XNA or Microsoft Kodu. For those who are interested in Windows programming, visit Microsoft Express
Manage your health documents with Google Health
Jul 17th
Google stores your information securely and privately, but you always control how it’s used. Google will never sell your data. Google Health allows you to store and manage all of your health information in one central place.
It’s safe, secure and free, through Google Health you can:
- Organize your health information all in one place
- Gather your medical records from doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies
- Share your information securely with a family member, doctors or caregivers
Google Health recently added a feature which allows patients to upload scanned paper documents to their Google Health profile for safe storage and easy sharing.
Google stated:
One of the most important documents you may want to store and share in Google Health is an “advance directive.” An advance directive allows you to determine your end-of-life wishes so that your family and doctor can honor them if you get sick and are unable to communicate.
The decision to sign an advance directive is an important and personal one, and Google Health makes it and a little bit easier. Google Health is now working with a leading advance directive provider, Caring Connections, that provides a free, downloadable form customized for all 50 states.
Just follow these easy steps:
- Download and complete an advance directive form.
- Scan the completed form and save the file on your computer.
- Upload the file to your Google Health profile.
- Share your profile with loved ones and caregivers.
If you become sick or injured and can’t speak for yourself, what kind of care do you want to receive? By making healthcare decisions now and completing an advance directive form, you can communicate your wishes for emergency or end-of-life care to those who will act on your behalf.
Google is hoping that someday it will be beyond paper, but until then Google Health can help you store your paper medical records electronically, including an advance directive, in one safe place.
Apple is expected to be dropped from fourth place to fifth
Jul 16th
Apple is expected to be dropped from fourth place in the winter to fifth in the spring as it should have shipped 12.4 percent fewer computers than it did a year earlier, falling to 1.21 million Macs. Macs market share is poised to remain the same at 7.6 percent but will have been eclipsed by Toshiba.
Among the top five firms, the only other firm to lose market share is expected to be Dell. Dell would still have the lead with 26.3 percent of the market but will have shipped 18.9 percent fewer PCs than it did in spring 2008 and would have shipped just 40,000 more computers than HP at 4.17 million.
Acer will have grown the quickest under these estimates, jumping exactly 51 percent to reach nearly 2.01 million PCs shipped and 12.6 percent of the American market.
Sweeping MacBook Pro updates that included lower prices only came in mid-June and were unlikely to have had a significant impact. Companies like Acer, meanwhile, have already focused heavily on budget portables; it specifically is the leader in netbooks, which may represent as much as one quarter of the market by the end of the year.
A Comparison
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HP is likely to have shipped about 13.1 million PCs and earned 19.8 percent of the global industry.
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Dell will have shipped 9.11 million PCs and collected 13.7 percent of the market.
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Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba should all have grown but will maintain their respective third, fourth and fifth places with 12.7 percent, 8.7 percent and 5.3 percent of the wider field.
The world PC market dropped at about the same rate as the US, at 3.1 percent, and was again seen as a positive as it indicated that the public was continuing to buy new computers; few firms could link larger shipments to attempts to clear out excess stock. IDC had originally feared a drop of 6.3 percent.
