WP7 Predicted To Outgrow Android, WebOS MIA

Market researchers from IDC expect Google’s Android to capture more than twice the smartphone platform market share of Apple’s iOS this year. However, it’s growth will slow down and the opportunity will transition to Windows Phone 7 (WP7), which will become a more popular smartphone OS than Apple’s iOS.

IDC believes that Android will hold 39.5% of the smartphone market by the end of the year, which is predicted to be ahead of 20.9% of Nokia’s Symbian, Apple’s iOS with 15.7% and RIM’s 14.9% of Blackberry. Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile are waiting at the back of the field with a share of 5.5%.
However, IDC expects Microsoft to come roaring back and grow WP7 shipments by an average of 67.1% every year, which would give Microsoft the spot behind Android in 2015. IDC expects Android’s growth to slow to 23.8% per year, the iOS compound annual growth rate to 18.8% and Blackberry’s growth to an average of 17.1%. The result for 2015? Android holds 45.4% of the market, followed by WP7 with 20.9%, iOS with 15.3% and Blackberry with 13.7%. Is it just me or is HP’s WebOS missing in this list? Perhaps it is part of “others”, which account for 4.6% of the market, which would mean that HP’s $1.2 billion investment in acquiring Palm won’t be paying off. There was no information how much market share WebOS may hit, but at less than 5%, it would be a fish dead in the water.
IDC’s predictions are largely based on the fact that WP7 will soon be running on Nokia phones (2012), but there is some general doubt whether this alliance will pay off as Nokia and Microsoft expect it to. Nokia recently laid out substantial risks in the adoption of the platform, there are risks of Microsoft alienating its other partners through the Nokia relationship and WP7 is a largely unproven platform with challenges as far as the platform creation, including the Windows Marketplace, is concerned. The stars have to align for Microsoft in order to be able to come close to IDC’s prediction. We would take this forecast with a grain of salt and wait until we are seeing a stronger move toward WP7 and improved shipment numbers.
“Android is poised to take over as the leading smartphone operating system in 2011 after racing into the number 2 position in 2010,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. “For the vendors who made Android the cornerstone of their smartphone strategies, 2010 was the coming-out party. This year will see a coronation party as these same vendors broaden and deepen their portfolios to reach more customers, particularly first-time smartphone users.”

Nokia and Microsoft: 2 Losers = 1 Winner ?

Analysis - The combination of assets between Microsoft and Nokia is a fascinating alliance that has been born out of desperation of two giants that aim to score a portion of the global smartphone goldmine. As powerful as Microsoft and Nokia have been in the past and as many resources and experience they can throw at developing a smartphone, the partnership is merely an opportunity and not a guarantee for success. Nokia will have to learn to swim in hostile waters that are just waiting to eat it alive. And even if it succeeds, it will lose in the end.

Stephen Elop has taken Nokia by the hand and made the jump. Symbian is burning to ashes, MeeGo has been taken along like the unwanted stepchild, but may be left to drown. Steve Ballmer’s Titanic is saving Elop and Nokia from Google’s and Apple’s sharks for now, but Microsoft has been unable to fix the leaks in its own Windows Phone 7 hull and hopes that Nokia may deliver a miracle. If you think about it, the alliance between Nokia and Microsoft was really the only possibility for both companies to keep the hopes for a brighter future alive.

Nokia: Rise and Fall
Nokia was the Apple of the cellphone industry in the past. The company dominated cellphone sales with a market lead since 1998 and drove the industry through phenomenal growth above 1 billion sold units every year. It was the driving force to make text messaging popular and it was a key player behind the adoption of data services, which included, for example, downloadable ringtones and simple games. We should not forget that the smartphone can be traced back to Nokia (if we forget for a moment that Handspring was the company that actually shaped the modern smartphone with the Treo in 2001): Remember the bulky Communicator 9000 from 1996?

In the fourth quarter of 2010, Nokia sold about 124 million phones. However, only 28.3 million of those were smartphones and only 2.6 million were sold in the U.S. Nokia’s smartphone sales climbed by 36% year over year, while the entire market climbed by 72% and the stars of the industry increased their sales by almost 100% (Apple) and almost 900% (Google), according to Gartner. Apple now controls the high-end segment of the smartphone market and Google aims for the mid-range with RIM (which is also growing below the market average), while there are only scraps left for Nokia, Microsoft and HP (Palm).
Nokia’s market share has been declining at an accelerating pace – and has just surrendered its leadership position in smartphones to Android. Having waited for too long already, the company needed to act. Nokia always described Android as a rival and not as a potential partner and Elop’s recent burning platform memo continued on that path. Microsoft was the only option. Elop has detailed knowledge of Microsoft and there may be some unusual synergies that could make the alliance work in a much better way than with two companies whose executives do not speak the same (business) language.

Leaving Symbian Behind, Cutting MeeGo
Symbian is the obvious casualty of this alliance. There are more questions that actually surround MeeGo, a platform Nokia birthed in cooperation with Intel. However, the development has been too slow and we now know that only one device will make it to market in 2011.
Seriously? Why bother?
MeeGo cannot succeed without a platform and an ecosystem. Nokia already said that it plans to pitch Windows Phone 7/Nokia as the “third ecosystem”, which would indicate that MeeGo will not be a (significant) platform.
The netbook UI development has already been abandoned and it appears that Nokia is simply polite and has not told Intel yet that it has no interest in MeeGo anymore. Would you buy a MeeGo phone, if its future is uncertain? In today’s world, probably not. As devices are more connected to an ecosystem of other types of electronics it will be even more unlikely that you buy such a device – even as a backup device or your young children as an emergency communication device.
Let’s be realistic. MeeGo is dead. But Nokia is taking thing slowly as for India Nokia WP7 will be launched after atleast 15 months. So, their is enough time to test out MeeGo.

Microsoft’s Big Advantage and Nokia’s Problem
Nokia must have been extremely desperate, much more than what we have seen in public. In this alliance, Microsoft is taking the lion’s share of the cooperation’s benefit. As much as Microsoft said that it was happy with 2 million Windows Phone 7 units sold in Q4 2010, we know that Windows Mobile 6 still outsold the new platform. You can’t sugarcoat the Windows Phone 7 performance so far: It has been a failure. We have grown tired of Steve Ballmer telling us that user feedback has been fantastic and that the devices just need to get into customer’s hands to see better sales. Sounds a bit like a Saab commercial: “People who testdrive a Saab usually buy one.” How many people do you know who have bought a Saab? And wasn’t Saab nearly shut down not too long ago?
Ballmer can talk about user feedback all day long: The problem is that Windows Phone 7 is not selling. Why? Windows Phone 7 is marketed wrong. It’s a nice-to-have product without a positive lifestyle factor attached. It is not a must-have product. No one would complain if Windows Phone 7 was discontinued today.
With Nokia on board, Microsoft has an opportunity to get about 30 million Windows smartphones out into the world, every quarter. However, it is an opportunity that will need a lot of TLC to grow and make sense for both Nokia and Microsoft. The two companies have laid out a massive ecosystem approach that can work, but Microsoft will have to dramatically change its view of the smartphone market to have a shot at growth. And we will need to see more than just bold words in a presentation.
Microsoft’s problem – and now Nokia’s problem – is Microsoft’s flawed marketing that has created a catastrophic perception of Windows Phone 7. Microsoft tried to be different by telling people that they don’t have to really use their Windows Phone 7 devices and that is just a bad idea to be glued to their phones. The company completely missed the fact that consumers actually like to spend time with their phones. The impression of a device that will not encourage interaction is probably not a great sales driver. We at CTech believe that Microsoft’s marketing has buried the market opportunity of the current generation of Windows Phone 7. The platform needs a complete relaunch.
Microsoft’s opportunity has always been the Xbox 360 in mobile devices. So far, Xbox Live mobile has only been a sideshow. Dear Microsoft, smartphones are entertainment devices. Have you guys ever thought about making Xbox Live content (and not just shared game data) seamlessly available to smartphones? You could get some ideas from Sony and Android Market.

Microsoft’s Problem: Nokia’s Legacy
Nokia is essentially stuck with a smartphone platform that isn’t exactly catering to what smartphone users want today. However, Microsoft’s commitment to Nokia could easily alienate other handset manufacturers that are seeing much more success with Android anyway. Why would they deal with Microsoft and measly sales every quarter? They wouldn’t.
Nokia may be Microsoft’s only hope, but it’s not a done deal as Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 will need amazing hardware to attract attention. Competitive hardware isn’t enough and one more sensor or more pixels on the screen won’t be enough either. There are enough handset manufacturers that are copying the iPhone. Nokia needs to rethink the smartphone in a similar way Apple did in 2006/2007. If you are a frequent CTech reader, the pitch may be getting old already, but I cannot reiterate enough that a next-generation smartphone cannot be anything less than the Seabird concept phone that was shown on Mozilla’s Labs pages.

Nokia and Microsoft have to be realistic and admit that, given the resources the two companies have available, what has been shown so far is embarrassing. There is an opportunity for both to show the innovative power and creativity that has made the companies great. We haven’t seen it yet and now is the time to leverage this potential.
It’s make or break time for both. However, even if the alliance will be successful for both companies, it is already clear that there can only be one winner. Nokia has lost the platform play and will simply be a handset manufacturer with a few additional assets. Microsoft will be the true winner as it has an opportunity to keep Windows relevant in a world that is more and more mobile – and right now does not even recognize Windows as a mobile platform.

Nokia Vs. Apple Patent Battle: It’s All Or Nothing

Nokia has taken off the gloves and now accuses that all Apple products violate Nokia products in one way or the other. It’s surely attention getting move, but will it help Nokia to survive?

Nokia said that it has filed a second patent complaint with the ITC, following the first case in which the ITC determined that Apple did not infringe on Nokia’s patents. With this new filing, Nokia now claims that Apple illegally takes advantage of 46 Nokia patents and has cases pending in The U.S., Germany, U.K., and in the Netherlands.
According to Nokia, Apple infringes patents ”in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, tablets and computers.” Those patents relate to “the areas of multi-tasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories.”
“Nokia is a leading innovator in technologies needed to build great mobile products and Apple must stop building its products using Nokia’s proprietary innovation,” said Paul Melin, Vice President, Intellectual Property at Nokia. Nokia said that it has invested almost $61 billion in research and has about 10,000 patent families. While the company has every right to defend its innovations, there is not enough detail publicly available to determine whether Nokia has a case against Apple or not, or whether Nokia simply uses a stalling strategy against Apple.
This new lawsuit as well as Nokia’s decision to move to the Windows 7 platform could also suggest that other phone manufacturers are a potential target as well. However, such industry-wide lawsuits rarely work and tend to isolate the suing party from the industry and possibly the market as well. Rambus, for example, has experience in that.
Can a lawsuit save Nokia? Probably not, as – even if Nokia has an opportunity to win – it can dragged out by Apple long enough to potentially bring Nokia down to its knees and awarded damages could be used to pay out Nokia investors. Given the current state of the phone industry and Nokia’s “burning platform”, one could also suggest that those $61 billion were not invested in the right areas of research.  Stephen Elop’s letter to Nokia’s employees indicates that the company’s situation is very much based on its own inability to innovate and recognize shifting consumer interests. Only new devices that are more than just copies of Apple’s iPhone and iPad will give Nokia a future.
However, that isn’t just Nokia’s problem. That is a problem the entire phone and PC industry has.

Firefox Mobile 6 To Get Hardware Acceleration in Q2

Mozilla published the first outline of features for the upcoming versions of Firefox 6 and 7.

Firefox 4 Mobile has just been released as the technically most advanced browser for Android and Maemo, but Mozilla is advancing the mobile platform just as fast as the desktop version, which is already available as Firefox 5 preview.
Firefox 4 Mobile is based on the core Firefox 4 technology, which includes the JaegerMonkey JavaScript engine,  but hardware acceleration is missing at this point. The Mozilla roadmap currently has no information about Firefox 5 Mobile, but notes that Firefox 6 (Mobile) should enable layers acceleration using OpenGL ES on “at least a subset of Android hardware.”
We are expecting hardware acceleration to be enabled on the mobile version of IE9 as well, which means that Firefox would ensure the competitiveness of the Android platform as far as web browsers are concerned – even if we believe that Google is preparing a mobile version of Chrome for Android.
Proposed features for the desktop versions of Firefox are WebGL anti-aliasing for version 6 and (cross process) hardware accelerated layers composition on “all supported desktop platforms” in Firefox 7. Firefox 6 is due in early Q4 of this year, while Firefox 7 is targeted at mid-Q1 2012. Interestingly, the mobile version of Firefox 6 is listed under Q2 goals, which may refer to a non-final release only.

HCL ME Android 2.2 Froyo Tablets Launched at Affordable Prices

HCL Technologies have officially announced three new ME tablets that runs on Android 2.2 Froyo. These tablets are expected to be available very soon within the price range of Rs. 14,990 and 32,990. Two of the tablets have a 7 inch display while one of them comes with a 10 inch display.
Let us have a look at all the three models:-

HCL ME AE7 Specs

 

HCL ME AE7 is the cheapest of the lot. The tablet has a 7-inch touchscreen display, with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.  It has a decent 800Mhx processor, 256MB DDR2 RAM, 2GB Flash Memory and up to 8GB expandable memory limit. The device also features a gravity sensor, 3.5mm audio jack, 0.3MP camera, WiFi and Bluetooth.
The tablet is powered by 2400mAh Li-polymer battery capable of providing around 5-6 hours of battery life. The price of HCL ME AE7 tablet is just Rs. 14,990

HCL ME AM7

HCL ME AM7 is similar to AE7 as far as display size is concerned.  It`s resolution is 1024 x 600 pixel, which is better than AE7. The processor speed is again 800 MHz, however, it has a 512MB RAM support, 8GB Flash memory and 16GB expandable memory option.
Other features of this tablet include a 1.3 megapixel camera,  gravity acceleration sensor, AGPS, USB 2.0 port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth  and two powerful high quality speakers. It`s battery life is expected to be better as it is powerd by a 4200mAh battery. The price of HCL ME AM7 is Rs. 25,790.

HCL ME AP10A

This is the big one. Yes, AP10A has a giant 10 inch display screen having a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. The tablet comes with a better 1GHz processor with 1GB RAM, 16GB Flash Memory and expandable memory option of up to 32GB. Other features are quite similar to HCL ME AM7. With overall better specifications, the price of this tablet gets as high as Rs. 32,990.
You can buy these tablets from HCL store.

Download Free Panda Internet Security 2011 and Antivirus Pro Activation Code for 6 Months

Panda Security products are not new to us, I have already shared 90 days Promotional License of all Panda 2011 Products and today, here is another 6 Months (180 days) Legit License from Panda-Allianz Promo.
Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 is an overall effective solution that come with Antivirus, Firewall, Multimedia/Gaming Mode, Home Network Manager and Safe Browser (Sandboxing) feature. Thanks to the Collective Intelligence technology that’s used on Panda Antivirus Pro 2011, the product is able to protect your computer from potential threats in real time and does so very efficiently.

 

 Download Panda Antivirus Pro 2011 with 6 months License.

Panda Internet Security 2011 offers the power of cloud computing. Their unique award-winning cloud-based Collective Intelligence Technology network which is based on millions of Panda Security users, ensures that even unidentified threats are detected and blocked in real time – before they can infect your PC.

Download Panda Internet Security 2011 with 6 Months License. 

Note: This is a Promotional Setup or you can call Special Edition which doesn’t require activation code and continues to run for 6 months full functional with all features.

Firefox 5 Pre Alpha available for Download | Features and Details

When we are busy playing with Firefox 4 Final, Mozilla has already started building foundation for next release Firefox 5. Mozilla officials that roadmap for 2011 is not yet finalized but planed. Firefox 5 Final is expected on June 29th while stable build on April 13.
Reading Conceivably Tech, I found that Firefox 4.2 Pre-Alpha available on Mozilla FTP server for download which is said to be foundation for Firefox 5. May be the time constraints have restricted Mozilla for using version Firefox 4.2 Pre-Alpha instead of Firefox 5.0 Alpha. The date is calculated according to the roadplan of Mozilla.

 Looking inside the Firefox 4.2 alpha, Noticeable change was seen on How Firefox 5 will handle account information on individual websites. The account manager will support multiple accounts through the URL bar and support multiple account sign-ins at the same time.

Firefox 5 is expected to have new interface while the details on the evolution of JavaScript engine will also be announced at a later time.

Firefox 5 Features

• Simple Sharing
• animated user interface
• 50 common tasks flow problem of high priority improvement
• New asynchronous places
• Account management
• Intelligent Bookmarks Manager search function
• Support for Web applications to install / uninstall
• Each process with a label, to reduce crash impact.

Firefox 5 Web Platform Technology

• Hardware acceleration
• 3D transformation of the CSS
• Seamless switching full-screen video
• Increase cameras, video input type
• Low-power mode
• Use IndexedDB technology (IndexedDB allows Web applications on your local system for storing large amounts of data quickly retrieve offline)

Gecko Platform Development in Firefox 5

• To collect performance metrics from the user
• Document: Information on how to design a common platform for running interactive desktop, mobile or web applications without borders
• Integrate new user interface for Mac OS X 10.7
• Integrating new Android 3.0 User Interface
• Ensure that the JIT compiler compatible with the modern ARM CPU family pack.

Norton 360 v5 antivirus Review- All Round Protection without Slowing Down System

Norton 360 version 5 is the latest of 360 series offering all round protection and I think the best suitable for Home user. Not just protection from viruses but also does Backups and TuneUp tasks to optimize computer.

Installation

As promised on screen, the installation took less than a minute without asking any question or settings to be configured. And after 52 seconds of process, my system was completely protected.

 Interface

Interface is categorized in 4 sections: PC Security, Identity Protection, Backup and PC Tuneup. The lower part now incorporates an Activity Map that on clicking shows the highest number of threats in different regions.

Features and Components

PC Security is the core feature to scan for viruses and includes Quick Scan Mode. Another addition is Facebook Wall scan where it can check for malicious links in wall post feed and statuses.

Next is Identity protection which enables you to save Credit card details, Address, etc in your profile. And protects you from phishing sites trying to steal your information.
Also, you can take upto 2GB of online secured backup of important data which is stored in clouds. This data can be retrieved even from smartphones (Android and iPhone) using an app called Norton Connect.
TuneUp features includes Disk optimization, Startup Manager and Temporary Files deleter.
Another beautiful feature included is Norton Insight which lets you decide trustworthiness of any program installed on computer. This uses data collected from other users of Norton 360.

Overall, I was impressed with the product right from its installation which was quite quick and the level of protection and featured offered completely into one suite.
An independent test conducted by Dennis Technology Labs, Norton 360 v5 received a 100 percent protection score from online threat detection and a 100 percent compliance rating from the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO).
Norton 360 with 2GB storage retails for Rs. 1,435 for a single PC license or Rs. 3,085 for 3-PC. For users seeking extra storage, Norton is also offering the suite with 25GB storage that sells for Rs. 3,840.
You can always try Norton 360 v5 Product key valid for 90 days before buying.
And another good news, after conducting Norton 360 v5 giveaway of 1 Year License, Tech2get is planning again giveaway 2 License keys valid for 1 year so be ready!

Change Windows Taskbar to Dynamic Temperature Monitoring Tool

Monitoring temperature of your system is an important aspect. By default windows does not provide any tools to monitor or check system temperature. If you want this feature in windows with an addition to customization then Temp Taskbar is a handy tool. It is similar to RAM CPU Taskbar in functionality.

 Temp Taskbar is a free portable windows application. It allows you to monitor temperature on taskbar with three different colors. Thee colors represent various levels of temperature. Temp Taskbar is customizable and allows you to change colors of indications. You can also set the maximum and critical temperatures on which the monitoring depends.

 Once configured it takes effect immediately, you can either make it right or left aligned on the taskbar. You can also customize it later from the system tray.

Download iPhone Simulator for Windows Desktop

Anytime thought of using and feeling the rich iphone interface without actually buying it. Now, you can do it to some extent.
Do you like the iPhone interface? If you are not owning a iPhone but have plans to get one, it will be better to have a look at its interface before hand right on your windows desktop.

iPhoneBT is a handy and light weight iPhone simulator for this purpose. It is a windows portable application that allows you to simulate the iPhone interface.
Some features of iPhoneBT simulator are:

• All widgets from main menu are fully functional.
• A fully functional iPhone Calculator.
• A fully functional Photo Gallery.
• Full Phone Interface: Contacts, Usable Keypad, Calling Screens etc.
• iPod Widget Interface: Playlist Browsing, Now Playing Screen.

One thing that must be noted is that this is a simulator for viewing the iPhone interface only. You cannot perform tasks or install applications.
Download Mirror

How to Add Extra Emoticons or Smileys to Facebook Chat

Bored with Facebook chat? Well there are many reasons that may give you this feeling. Facebook chat is simple and clean there are no environments and additional smileys as provided by Yahoo Messenger.
If you want more smileys to express yourself with Facebook friends, Emoinstaller will be handy. Using this application is simple and can be done with following steps.

• Download Emoinstaller, It has multi browser support hence before installation you must close the browser you want to integrate with it.
• Once it is installed you can open Facebook from the integrated browser and open chat.

•  The emotion icon can be found at bottom left corner of the chat box.

• Click on the icon to get variety of emotions to select from.

•  To display Emoticons, Emoinstaller must be installed on both sides.

 If you do not like this application and want to remove it, go to Firefox addons and disable the addon.

Android 2.2 on Samsung Wave (BADA OS) , Froyo running on Wave S8500

Samsung Wave is quite a popular ad powerful smartphone released last year. It has everything concerned with hardware specification but only low down point is its operating system – BADA and its restrictive environment.
Though, we tried WaveSpoofer to install cracked apps on BADA but still, Samsung Wave owners always wanted to have Android running on their devices and Polish hackers have successfully ported Android 2.2.1 of Samsung Galaxy S to Wave S8500 equipped with BADA.



This project is named as AndroBADA and it is in Alpha stages, facing problem with RAM and CPU access. It isn’t available for testing purpose for public and still in private Beta.
As this phone was releases along with Samsung Galaxy S and customers always wanted to have Android running on Wave. And, this porting makes somewhat sense instead of porting Ubuntu and Windows to smartphones which is just experimental resulting out of curiosity.
I would be happy if Hackers become successful and release the development ROM for Wave users as the device is fully capable of running it boasting 1GHz CPU and 512MB RAM

Amazon’s Android Appstore, Fat-Fingering Will Cost You — Literally

A couple days ago, in writing up some thoughts on Amazon’s new Android Appstore, I noted that the app buying process may be a little too easy. You see, just scrolling through the feed of apps, I accidentally clicked a buy button. That immediately triggered a transaction. And guess what I found out today? There are no refunds. You might not think this is a big deal because while the Android Market gives you 15 minutes to get a refund (down from 24 hours) Apple’s App Store also technically doesn’t have an app refund process (though you can get one if you jump through some hoops). But there’s a big-little difference between the App Store and the Appstore (besides the tiny name difference, that is): an entire click.
In the App Store, it’s actually two clicks to buy an app. You first click click on the price, and then the button turns into the bright green “Buy Now” button. It’s only after this second click that the transaction happens. This more or less stops mis-clicks. Further, if you haven’t been browsing the store in a while, they’ll prompt you to re-enter your password before you complete a purchase.
In the Appstore (again, Amazon’s version), it is literally one click. If you touch the screen in the wrong place — whoops — you just bought an app. Of course, this is assuming you have one-click purchasing turned on. But if you do on the web, you will in the Appstore. That’s what happened to me. It’s super-convenient when it works. And super-annoying when you make a mistake.
On Amazon’s website, one-click is great because it greatly speeds up the buying process. But since most of the things you buy on the website are tangible things that have to be shipped, it’s relatively easy to cancel a mis-click. Not so in the Appstore where there is nothing to ship.
And it wouldn’t be a huge deal except for the fact that Amazon isn’t offering app refunds. How do I know? Because after some digging on Amazon’s website to figure out how to possibly get a refund, I had to send an email about my erroneous charge. (For the record, they did erase my charge, but indicated that they were making a one-time exception in doing so.)
Long story short, if you’re prone to mis-clicking on touchscreen, make sure one-click purchases are turned off on Amazon. Otherwise it will cost you — literally.

What is Facebook Questions & How to Create Facebook Polls

You may have noticed another button on Wall Status updates called “Question“. Facebook has rolled out this new feature which lets user ask questions to your friends and get answers right there.

This is similar to Yahoo! answers or Quora which are dedicated portals for asking questions and getting answers for them. Good thing about Facebook Questions is your question get instant exposure to all your friends and network which makes faster response possible.

Many have a habit of taking recommendations from friends on facebook and Facebook Questions does solve the purpose by allowing you to provide options or create polls online.
So, just click on Share Question Button, Ask your question and Poll options are optional which can be linked to some Facebook Fanpage too.
It is clear that the service is not intended as a rival to Quora, basically because the areas are quite different. Quran focuses on questions answered by a panel of experts and, therefore, to create a knowledge base, however, Facebook finds the conversation between friends, that is, something more casual, for example, which place will you go for vacation this summer?
Recently Facebook Places became available for India and now about Questions, I would say- Overall, a nice feature introduced by Facebook to add more interaction.

How to order Apple iPad 2 Online in India

iPad 1 was made officially available in India when iPad 2 was about to launch in US. Apple didn’t launch iPad 2 officially in Indian Market and frankly speaking i don't think that apple has any plans to launch it soon in India.But with power of web, its all possible to make it yours here in India.

You can order Apple iPad 2 online in India via ShopYourWorld.
ShopYourWorld is a well known global shopping platform from where you can order products from Buy.com and Amazon which is not possible directly. Same is the case with Apple iPad 2, which can be pre-ordered from SYW now in India.

ShopYourWorld, at the moment has only Wi-Fi versions of iPad 2 for pre order with expected shipping in 6-8 weeks. There is no news about 3G + WiFi models but we will update you as soon as it comes for sale.

• iPad 2 16GB (Wi-Fi) – Rs 36,500.00
• iPad 2 32GB (Wi-Fi) – Rs 42,900.00
• iPad 2 64GB (Wi-Fi) – Rs 49,500.00

Like all other products on SYW, the prices stated above includes Shipping, Custom Duty and other taxes. Moreover, the product gets delivered at your doorstep.

How to make Payments for ordering iPad 2 in India
ShopYourWorld supports all major Credit Cards and Debit Cards from India.

Buy Apple iPad 2 in India from ShopYourWorld

Spice M-9000 Popkorn: Dual SIM phone with Projector and Analog TV

Nowadays we are seeing some sort of innovation by the mobile manufacturers to attract the audience.  Spice Mobiles also happen to do something out of ordinary by announcing a device M-9000 Popkorn, which can also act as a projector.

Moreover, the phone also comes with analog TV chip, which allows you to watch live TV on the move.

 Spice M-9000 Popkorn Hardware Configuration
Spice Popkorn is not the best of the handsets when it comes to looks, but one can certainly call it a decent phone with respect to its features. It is a dual SIM phone, has a 2.4 inch display, bears a dimension of 119.2 x 50.3 x 17.35 mm and weighs 123 grams.

Popcorn seems to be a decent in providing multimedia options. It comes with a good music player, capable of playing nearly all major media files. FM Radio is there with scheduling and recording option. The phone also comes with a good 3.2MP camera as well, which can give quality images at daylight.

In terms of connectivity options, the phone comes with WAP, GPRS and Bluetooth support. Unfortunately, it does not have a support for 3G connectivity and WiFi.

Spice M-9000 is powered by a 1200 mAh Li-ion battery, which is capable of providing up to 3.5 hours of talk-time and around 300 hours of standby time.

Spice M-9000 Popcorn Software/ OS Platform
Spice Popkorn has a Java support, which allows you to download various Java apps and use it on the device. M-9000 also comes with Office tools like a document viewer, allowing you to view Word, Power point, Excel or PDF documents. It also comes with a Laser Pointer, letting you point at a projected data.

Spice M-9000 Popkorn Price and Availability in India
Spice M-9000 will soon be available at a price close to Rs. 6,500 in all major mobile outlets across India.

Spice M-9000 Popkorn Technical Specifications

Dual SIM	Yes
Audio/Video player, FM Radio	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
GPRS	Yes
WiFi	No
Java Support	Yes
Expandable Memory	16GB
Talk Time	3.5 Hours

TECH2GET VERDICT
Overall, Spice M-9000 seems to be a decent handset. Even if the phone comes with a projector, I am not sure if its quality will be up to mark. Nevertheless, the price seems to be apt for the phone.  If you want to have a look at a similar projector cum touchscreen phone, you can have a look at Intex V.Show, which has its price slightly on the higher side.

Jailbreak Apple iPod Touch 4.2.1 with GreenPois0n on Windows

Recently, I got iPod Touch and like any other Apple Device owner wanted to jailbreak it to remove restrictions and install unsigned / cracked apps. So, I selected GreenPois0n to jailbreak my iPod touch 4G with iOS 4.2.1 and here we go with the procedure.
1. Download GreenPois0n – RC 6 is latest at the moment.
2. Power Off iPod and connect it via USB.
3. Launch the GreenPois0n.exe and to put your device into DFU mode, follow procedure with timings.
* Press and hold the sleep button for 2 seconds
* While holding Sleep button, press and hold Home button for 10 seconds
* Release the Sleep button but continue holding Home button for 15 second

 4. Press on Jailbreak as soon as it detects your device in DFU Mode when it is ready to Jailbreak.

 5. GreenPois0n will start jailbreaking your device and Soon, your device will show something like Boot Screen. Wait till the Tool says Jailbreak Completed.

 iPod will restart itself and you’ll notice that boot logo is no more the apple logo. It means Jailbreak successful.

On Homescreen, there will be an icon named Loader from where you can install Cydia.
After installing Cydia, you can opt for adding Sources to get Installous that allows to install cracked apps.

please note .. try this at your your own risk(but this seriously works)

How To Hide Specific Photos and Videos From Android Gallery ( Tried it on Samsung galaxy ace)

Many of us, or I must say, almost all of us have images and videos on our Android devices, we want hidden from other people. By default there is no option to exclude a specific folder from gallery, you can password protect your files using some application from the market but none comes with out a hefty price tag.

Yesterday night I was doing some research on my Samsung Galaxy S and got a superb idea as to how you can hide a folder from Gallery and stock file manager. The application used in this process is free to download from market.
1.As stock File Manager for Android is not adequate to do the trick, download and Install Astro File Manager from market. The application is free to download and use.

2.Now select the Folder you want to hide from the gallery and long press on it. Suggest to create a new folder and later import all your private data in it.
3.On the File Options popup menu, tap on edit and select rename.

4.While renaming just put a period(.) in front of the folder and confirm.

5. From now on that folder will be treated as system folder and will be hidden from your Gallery and stock File manager.

 6.Now just import all your private files and folders into that folder using Astro File Manager and live a tension free life.

Download ASTRO File Manager

Chrome 11 beta with HTML5 speech input api released

In terms of browser activity, this month has simply been a blast. Every major browser has had a release starting with Chrome 9 final, Chrome 10 stable, Internet explorer 9 and Mozilla Firefox 4. The people at Google have probably been the busiest. In addtion to the final release of Chrome 9 and the stable release of Chrome 10, they have now released a beta version of Chrome 11.

This newest beta release of Chrome comes with quite a few new and introductory features. Notable among them are the HTML5 speech to text API, which allows text entry in the text sections of a webpage and  GPU accelerated 3D rendering using CSS(Cascading Style Sheets).
However, the most notable change is the new Chrome logo. Download Chrome 11 beta here.
Source : Official Google Chrome

LG T325: Full Touchscreen 2 MP Camera Social Networking Smartphone

LG has launched an all new full touch screen smartphone LG T325 today. It support 3G and Wi-Fi internet connection with Social Networking Features, Windows Live™ messenger and Opera Mini 5 web browser, it let you enjoy fun and keep contact with your friends at anytime.

LG T325 Hardware Specifications
Beating the trend, the phone does not support Dual SIM Dual standby feature. It’s a full touch smartphone with 2.8” TFT resistive Touchscreen 262K Colors display.The  2 MP Camera can take continues shots at 1600×1200 pixels and can record @15 fps.  The internal memory is just 30Mb but can be expanded upto 16Gb using an external T-flash card.
                  The contact book limit is of 1000 entries but its lenient on SMS. Its powered by Standard battery, Li-Ion 900 mAh with Stand-by Up to 550 hrs (2G) / 530 hrs (3G) and Talk time Up to 340 min (2G) / 250 min (3G).
 
LG T325 Software platform
The phone runs on Java OS and allow the user to install their favorite MIDP 2.0 applications. It also comes with dedicated Social Networking Features, Embedded Windows Live™ messenger, virtual QWERTY keyboard, multimedia Widgets and preloaded Opera Mini 5 browser.

LG T325 Tech Spec

Dual SIM	No
Display	2.8 inches, 320 x 240 pixels
Camera	2MP
Wi-Fi	Yes
3G	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
FM/ MP3/ MP4 Player	Yes
Expandable Memory	Yes Upto 16Gb
Java Support	Yes, MIDP 2.0
Battery	Standard battery, Li-Ion 900 mAh

LG T325 Prices in India
You can grab this phone in India for Rs.6800/- at your nearest LG showroom or any other Mobile Stores.

TECH2GET Verdict
To start with the cons, the phone has a resistive touch screen input and has only single SIM standby. Now talking about the pros the phone has vibrant display, 3G, Wi-Fi, Java application support with social networking preloaded apps at a decent price. Thus is we compare them the phone is worth buying.

Nokia X1-00: Low Cost Music Phone with Powerful Speakers

It`s Orange and it`s loud. This is how the  Nokia defines its new handset -the Nokia X1-00.  The device features a massive speaker on the back to provide you with amazing  music experience.

Apart from this, the phone features a FM Radio, 3.5 mm Audio Jack, GPRS, EDGE connectivity and 16GB expandable memory support.

Nokia X1-00 Technical Specifications
Nokia X1-00 seriously dominates other music handset when it comes to the music quality.  It`s speakers are given a rating of 106 phon, which signifies that the speakers are capable of even rattling the window frames. Moreover, frequency is also taken care of to provide quality music, when played at higher volumes.

 X1-00 comes with a dimension of 112.2 x 47.3 x 16 mm and weighs 91 grams. The handset is targeted towards music lovers and it has not got much to fascinate people beyond it. Though, the device also offers GPRS/ EDGE connectivity, but the phone comes with  no Java support.

It has expandable memory limit of up to 16GB, which I feel is too much as it does not even come with Java support or camera.  Regarding battery options, Nokia X1-00 comes with 1320 mAh battery and provides a standby time of up to 61 days, which is quite alarming.

Nokia X1-00 Price and Availability in India
The device is available in three colours of Orange, Ocean blue, and Dark grey and will have a price close to Rs. 2000. The device is expected to be launched in April.

TECH2GET Verdict
What an entry level music phone by Nokia! I believe that it is going to be pretty popular in market, when it gets launched, just like Nokia Xpress Music. The only feature that  X1-00 is missing is the Java support. Nevertheless,  the price seems to be pretty appropriate for such specifications. The phone has certainly impressed me. What about you? Do let us know your views.

Google Chrome 10 Stable Version Download

After three weeks of beta testing, Google has released the stable version of Chrome 10. This browser which had grabbed headlines for being extremely fast, has reportedly become even faster

It features a new and improved settings manager, encrypted password syncing and a multitude of other features. It makes use of the V8 Javascript engine, thereby making it much faster than other browsers. The settings manager now comes with its own search box, to search for any particular setting as you type.

Also, Chrome’s sandbox has been extended to include the integrated flash player, thus making the browser more secure. The password sync enables retrieval of passwords on any computer, and it can be encrypted either by the google account password or a separate keyword.
If you have not yet tried Chrome,
Also, Chrome’s sandbox has been extended to include the integrated flash player, thus making the browser more secure. The password sync enables retrieval of passwords on any computer, and it can be encrypted either by the google account password or a separate keyword.
If you have not yet tried Chrome, do try it, It is definitely fast, maybe more than the other browsers, but the multitude of features do warrant a looking at.

Source : The Official Google Blog

Add Extra Items in Windows My Computer

Windows provide many tweaks and customizations by default. But to access these settings or perform various other tasks we have to visit a lot of places or locations hence wasting a bit time.

If you want to add useful places and options to My Computer for easy access then Computer Customizer is a small for your convenience.

Computer Customizer is a windows freeware utility to add items to My Computer. It is easy to use with a single window tabbed interface. It provides lots of items categorized under two tabs.

 To add any item of your choice, you have to select the items from the given menu. Multiple items from both the tabs can be selected at once before applying the settings.

 Once the settings are applied, you do not require to log off or restart system to make the changes appear. Just go to My Computer and you will find the additional items beneath the regular items already present.

Best Android App for Anything Related to Indian Railways

Indian Railway has the world’s fourth largest railway network and more than 25 million passengers use it every day. We end up calling the Indian railway inquiry one day or the another knowing very well that the probability of getting a valid response is negligible.

So if you are traveling with an Android master piece in your pocket, Indian Rail Info application is a must install application for you. Here are list of features that will help you in your daily life

PNR STATUS
No matter how well you plan some day or the other you will have a waiting tickets in your hands. PNR status is the most basic information every one searches for in day to day life . This application gives you the detailed PNR status with in seconds. Just enter the 10 digit PNR lookup number and press the search button.

TRAIN SEARCH
 Search for list of all the train running between given station and enquiry about the availability of seats.


SEAT AVAILABILITY 

The only thing that bothers one is the availability of seats between two stations. Now you can check the availability of seats between two stations on a particular train with in a blink of an eye. Just enter all the details necessary and hit the go button. You can also search for availability of Tatkal tickets.

TRAIN RUNNING STATUS

I am a fan of this feature as you all know that not a single train arrives on time. Imagine you need to pick up some one from the railway station but don’t have any idea how much late the train is running. Calling the enquiry is an option but tell me when was the last time some one ever answered a call.

If you have this app installed all you need to do is enter the train number along with the departure date and bang you will have the full train running statues with ETA in front of you.

FARE ENQUIRY

If at all you need to inquiry the amount you need to pay to buy those tickets you can do the needful easily.
Believe me this is a must install application for every one and one day or the other you will thank me for making you a hero in front of your parents or relatives or your friends will all those information at your finger tips.
Download Indian Rail Info