Windows Phone 7.5

Here is the list of features included in Mango. Each feature contains a link to the most recent information on it. We tried to make the list as comprehensive as possible, but there’s always a possibility that we left something out. If you notice something missing, feel free to leave a comment below.

New

SkyDrive support (including shared folders)
Internet Explorer 9
HTML5
Hardware acceleration
Multitasking
Task-switcher
Twitter integration
Xbox LIVE Avatar accessories
Kinect integration
Skype
Application jump list
Application search
Redesigned Marketplace
Improved Marketplace search results
Streamlined app installation
Over-the-air podcasts
Silverlight + XNA
Improved panorama and pivot controls
TCP/IP sockets
SQL CE database
Live Agents
Deep Links
Multiple live tiles per app
Gyro
Motion Sensor
Instant-resume for apps
Power management (Battery Saver)
Parental controls (including M-rated titles)
Custom ringtones
Background audio
File download service
Alarm notifications
Redesigned Games Hub
Silverlight 4
Beta/private publishing on the Marketplace
Pinnable email folders
Email conversation view
Server search
Lync
Complex (alpha-numeric) passwords
Information Rights Management
Hidden WiFi networks
App Connect (formerly Search Extras)
Quick Cards
Local Scout
Indoor maps
Photo translation
Image search
Improved virtual keyboard
Contact communication history
LinkedIn integration
Notifications
Calendar integration with Facebook Events
Facial recognition
People tags
Updated mobile versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote
Single track repeat
Improved drop-down media controls
Playback controls on the lock screen
Favorite places
Web Marketplace
Multiple file formats on SkyDrive, including PDF
Instant access to Bing under device lock
Emoticons
Photo auto-fix
Improved Marketplace search
Artist imagery on artist card
Related artists
Detailed now playing list
Toggle for full-screen video
Video scrubing
Game history
Achievement comparison
Xbox LIVE friends list
Xbox LIVE messages
Command bar integrated in all hubs, includes search button
Save camera settings
Vibrate-only alarm and new alarm sounds
Snooze options for reminders
Redesigned Pictures Hub
Redesigned Camera
Microsoft Points balance shown in the Games Hub
“Open IE9 tab in new/current tab” setting
Bing Maps auto-navigates to user’s location
Microsoft Office for Mobile updated to v14.5
Camera Roll moved to the main area of the Pictures Hub
Option to enable tap screen to take pictures
Password lock time interval
Zune HD-like shutdown experience
Animated Pictures Hub tile
Recent games list
Improved Avatar animations (changes based on message context)
Improved call screen
Quick Events
Sync Twitter followers to the People Hub
Pictures Hub live tile slideshow
Talking caller ID
Fast Async
Avatar Awardables
Game add-ons
Photo apps included in the Pictures Hub
Pin photo albums to start
Review photos under lock

Confirmed

Location check-ins
Photosynth (possibly as an app)
Windows Live Messenger / Facebook Chat
Bing Vision
Bing Audio
Auditory turn-by-turn navigation
SMS dictation
Threads
Colored tiles for Office documents
Support for additional languages
Visual voicemail
Office 365 support
Groups
Artist imagery on lock screen
Redesigned Music + Videos Hub
Smart DJ
Playlist management
Enable/disable camera sound
Linked Inbox
Multiple calendars for Windows Live and Exchange accounts
Facebook video uploads (SkyDrive too)
Facebook notifications
Task (To-Do) support (Windows Live and Exchange)
Downloadable content
Front-facing camera
Music and video streaming from SkyDrive
Internet sharing (tethering)
NFC Support
Support for Wi-Fi Hotspots

Rumored

Mobile Studio
AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
Multiple calendars for non-Windows Live accounts
Real-time multiplayer
AppChecker
Lunar dates for the calendar
Expanded flag support for emails
Windows Live Messenger nudge
Windows Live Messenger group chat
Share Xbox LIVE profile on Facebook
Xbox LIVE Party and Voice Chat
Advanced options for LAN connection
Multiple keyboard layouts (QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY)
Resizable touch targets for virtual keys
Send customized dictionaries to Microsoft

Debunked

Xbox LIVE multiplayer toggle
Games Marketplace moved out of Zune
In-app transactions

Interestingly, only eighteen confirmed features started off as rumors. Many others were mentioned in passing at MIX 11 and World Mobile Congress before being forgotten and eventually turned into a rumor. This was, for example, the case with on-device podcast support. In the New category, 1-9 were announced at World Mobile Congress, 10-35 were revealed at MIX 11, 36-42 were discussed at Tech·Ed, and 43-63 were unveiled at this week’s Mango event.

So where does this leave us? At this point, Microsoft has discussed 132 features included in Mango. Rumors still surround an additional 15 features, and at least three were proven false. It’s quite a list, but even with the rumored features added in, it’s nowhere near Ballmer’s figure of 500. Obviously, the discrepancy could be explained by two likely scenarios: Microsoft’s method of counting might be different than ours, and there are sure to be many more as-yet-unannounced features still waiting in the wings.

We’ll be updating this list as more features are revealed, confirmed, rumored, and debunked. It will be interesting to see if the list swells to 500 by the time Mango comes out this fall

List of all 200 new features of iOS 5

Notification Center: New Notification System
Improved app notifications at the top
Lock screen notifications. Swipe will open related app.
Notification options to choose for each app.
Notification sorting by app, time etc.
iMessage: Text messaging between iOS devices over Wi-Fi or 3G (Similar to WhatsApp)
Newstand: Similar to iBooks to store, auto-download magazine subscriptions & new issues.
Reminders: A list of reminders with Geo-fence integrated with Calendar app
Twitter Integration: Log in to Twitter from settings once and Tweet anything from Safri, Photos, YouTube etc. Similar to login & sharing used by Mail.app
AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2: Duplicate the iPad screen on television wirelessly
iCloud integration: A new free service with more than 5GB data to be shared between iOS devices
Open Camera.app from lock screen: Double tapping on Home button will open the Camera.app from lock screen
Take pictures from lock screen: Volume up button can be used to take pictures
Camera Grid: For more precise focus and accurate photography. This feature was available on Camera+ app
Camera Zoom: Pinch-to-zoom Gesture like Photos.app on Camera.app
One tap Auto Focus and Auto Exposure
Lock Auto Exposure & Auto Focus for consistency.
Swipe Left to open camera roll
Crop Photos: Not available on 3GS
Enhance Color tones of photos: Not available on 3GS
Rotate Photos:
Red-eye removal: Remove, correct Red-eye within Photos.app
Photo Stream via iCloud over all your iOS devices
Organize photos within Camera Roll
Tabbed Browsing in Safari: For iPad only
Safari Reader: Like RSS reader
Safari Reading List: Save web pages for offline reading
Improved Performance: Like it was enhanced in 4.3.3
Private Browsing: Similar to Firefox / Incognito on Chrome.
Website specific data can be deleted
Cut the cord: Activate and setup iOS device without a Mac or PC
Over-The-Air (OTA) iOS Software Updates: Again, no need of a computer & cord
Delta Software Updates: Upgrade only changed files. No need to download & install entire OS. (Similar to WordPress!)
Wi-Fi Sync: Sync iOS device with PC or Mac over Wi-Fi
Backup and Restore from iCloud account
Sync Exchange tasks
Downloads: See a list of downloaded apps from App Store from any of your iOS device
Rich Text Formatting for Composing Mail (Bold, Italics, Underline, etc.)
Improved offline support for Mail.app
Indentation Control
Drag-able email addresses: Drag, arrange email addresses in To, CC, BCC fields
Improved mail search: Full content search in Mail
Flag Emails
S/MIME Security
Profile picture for Game Center
Friend recommendations for Game Center
Games recommendation
Friends-of-friends list
App Store in Game Center: App store integrated within Game Center to find & buy new Apps / Games
New Achievements like Perks, Points
Play turn-based games within Game Center
Swipe-Up with 4-5 fingers for multitasking bar (iPad only)
Swipe-Left or Swipe-Right with 4-5 fingers to switch between running apps (iPad only)
Pinch with 4-5 fingers for the home screen (iPad only)
New Split keyboard: For easier typing on iPad
New Keyboard Shortcuts (Not sure what it is)
Emoji Emoticons: Emoticons like we see in IMs now for iOS devices. Mostly with iMessage!
LED Flash for incoming calls and notifications for better accessibility
Custom vibration for incoming calls for better accessibility
VoiceOver improvements including custom element labeling
Custom tones for Calendar events
Custom tone for Received Mail
Custom tone for Sent mail
Custom tone for Voice-mail
Year view on Calendar: iPad only
Week view on Calendar: For iPhone & iPod
New Music App: Redesigned only for iPad
Music & Video: Two separate apps for iPhone (Instead of Video inside iPod app)
Scroll for long song titles
Song description: Tap & hold on a song title for description
Smart Playlists: Sync smart playlists from iTunes.
Weather Forecasts updates hourly
On-location Weather: Determines current location. Custom locations can be added/
Alternate routes in Maps
Print Maps: Print location, direction maps
Twitter Pictures: Use Twitter pictures for contacts with integrated Twitter
Auto Download in background: Newstand issues, apps can be downloaded in background once subscribed.
Sync in background: Now possible to use iOS device while it is still syncing in background
Links in background: Safari links, iTunes links can be opened in background
Space usage: Determine space used by each app, supported file types under settings
iCloud usage: Determine space used on iCloud under settings
Change device name: Change iOS device name on-the-go via settings
Some GUI Improvements
Personal Dictionary: Create & store own words for re-use
Built-in Dictionary: Built-in dictionary app
iTunes Tone Store: Choose, Buy, Install custom tones
Improved FaceTime video quality
VoiceOver Item Chooser
Speak Text:Speak text based on selection
Delete recent calls: Delete single or one-by-one recent call list
Delete app data: Delete saved games, saved data for specific apps / games
Time mid-call invitation alerts
Download Multiple Apps: Now its possible to download and install multiple apps instead of one-by-one.
Delete songs: Check to Delete songs / playlists on iOS device (It’s already possible I guess in 4.3.3 or its here on my phone only for me? )
New Keyboard Shortcuts: Type OMG and it will type Oh My God.
Custom Text Tones: Custom SMS tones. (Yeah, I think it’s there)
Auto Sync backup: It takes backup of the file on the device. Hence restoring from scratch is made easy. No need to grab all apps one-by-one. Saves lot of time.
‘Install’ link instead of Price if the app is already bought.
Silent Switch: Shows volume level along with the Bell icon while switching back from Silent to Ringer (Currently it shows only the Bell icon)
Hotmail accounts have new icons & folders
Sync events, contacts, notes with predefined accounts under Mail.app (Like Hotmail, Gmail etc)
Marked Apps: All apps that are downloaded on iOS device for your account are marked as FREE (Free to download if they’re & free to download because you’ve already purchased them)
Arabic language support for VoiceOver
Icon Badges: Option to turn ON or OFF icon badges for apps. (Red circle with update)
Accessible input for mobility
Assistive Touch Gestures: Allows us to use iPhone with adaptive accessories while controlling touch sensitivity.
FaceTime over 3G: Yes, it is now possible. Not yet available for developers though.
Unsecured call notifications: I am not sure why does this prompt for confirmation for calls saying network is not encrypted! (Is this a feature or incomplete program?)
Mid-call Invitation Alert: If the phone is busy, we can still receive a placed conference call (Description is my interpretation)
Free @me.com email address: Yes. With iCloud integration, all iOS 5 users will get @me.com email ID
Custom Gestures: Create and save custom gestures. Mainly for motor-disables persons for use with AssistiveTouch accessories
Swipe-Left can let you browse through day-view one-by-one in Calendar
FaceTime without Sim card: FaceTime can now be activated and used either via a phone number or email address (Apple ID)
Unknown Caller details: When received a call from number that is not on contacts – the display also shows city name associated with the area code. Currently it shows in recent calls list only (I think I have seen this feature before on 4.2.1. Did you? )
Vibrate Alert for sent & received emails (What is they come-and-go the same time? Confusing?)
Real-TIme stock updates
Multiple Mark Read: Can now select & mark multiple emails as read.
Pause Timer: It’s possible to pause the Timer instead of ‘Cancel’
New German Keyboard: Easy access to Germanic umlaut
1080p Playback support for iPad. (Awesome)
Social Networking Integration: Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, MySpace along with Twitter (Options under Settings.app but not sure if integrated throughout the OS like Twitter)
Headphone Balance: Option to choose Left & Right balance for headphones under Accessibility
Mono audio option for headphones under accessibility (except to choose balance as mentioned above)
Cellular Network for App Store: Option to Enable or Disable using Cellular Network (GPRS, 3G) to download apps from the App Store. (This is excellent!)
Disable In-App Purchase: Ability to completely disable In-App purchases
iTunes Password Prompt: It is now possible to set frequency for iTunes Password prompt to appear.
Storage Usage Clean Up: We can not only see what files have taken up the space but we can empty that space with single wipe like Apps, Game’s saved data, Music, Videos etc.
Equalizer Presets: These are now more BASS oriented (Most likely)
Improved Sound Check for music
RSA ID is now available when setting up VPN. (Thanks @jaytrixz for this update). This is for performing two-factor authentication for a user to a network resource.
Folders for Mail: Yes. Possible for any allowed mail account including new Hotmail. (I mentioned about Hotmail above but this is new feature for all accounts & thanks @Karl for this info)
Hide Keyboard: Hide (Dismiss) keyboard button whenever necessary. (This is for iPad only. Not for iPhone. Confirmed)
Find My iPhone: This is available as a part of iCloud integration with an option to disable it. (Thanks Michael for confirmation)
Scrolling Titles for YouTube videos
Double tap the home button on YouTube while watching a video to see who uploaded that video (Thanks @JohnothanVincentCrook for pointing it out)
HD YouTube video if connected to 3G
Option to disable HQ (HD) video playback over 3G
Take pictures using headphone remote: If you have headphone with remote them it is possible to take picture using Volume UP button. (Very useful if you have a tripod. Please confirm if anyone saw this!)
Animated GIF image support for iMessage. Does not animate in Photos.app
Hold and drag events from within different dates or time
Tapping and holding back button in Safari will show-up visited website history (iPad only)
Current time on Calendar if in landscape mode
New voices for Voice-Over
Option to display Stock & Weather widgets in Notification Center
Add family relations to contacts.
Restrictions with password required for purchases if enabled
Enable / Disable option for voice-dial if the phone is set to security with pass-code lock.
Purchase history on app store
Automatically set time for iPod Touches
Auto Correct & Spell Check are independent options.
Broadcast song information on devices (like car stereo) when connected over Bluetooth
New keyboard with prominent #(hash-tag) and @ (mention) buttons for Twitter app like we have a prominent ‘.com’ button for Safari address bar.
iPod app renamed to Music: How could I missed it writing here! It’s there on a screenshot on other post here
Enhanced Mail.app even in offline mode and sync back when online (like for deleted emails)
Help center: Learn more about every option under settings app to explore more about it (like Nokia has?)
New notification alerts within mail app if you forgot to write a subject line (Similar to Gmail!)
Hourly Weather Forecasts: Tap the current day and it will display hour-by-hour weather forecast. (This is separate from hourly weather update mentioned above)
En dash (–): Tap and hold hyphen (-) key to see & insert En dash. Em dash is already there. (Know more here about En & Em Dash)
Third-party Cables: Support for almost all third-party TV-out cables. No need to download Resupported from Cydia. This would be one of the major features if true. (Can someone without jailbroken iPhone confirm this?)
Choose Notification Type: Banner notifications or the classic pop-up notifications (for each app)
Mail Sidebar: Can be swiped in or out
Install Twitter from Settings app (Twitter integration as one feature each? see below points)
Tweet Location: in Maps
Tweet Picture: from the camera roll
Tweet Website URL: from Safari
Tweet Video: from YouTube
Backup homescreen layout on iCloud (Please confirm)
Backup app data on iCloud (Like game saves etc)
Backup purchased music, apps, and books on iCloud
Backup SMS and MMS
Backup ringtone(s)
Backup contacts
Schedule daily OTA (Over the air) iCloud backup
Message / iMessage: Repeat alerts up to 10 times
iOS crash reports to Apple with options: Send automatically or Don’t send.
Nuance Speech to Text: Not available in current beta but the most anticipated feature in final release. See concept here.(Speech Recognition)
Sync bookmarks, highlight from iBooks across devices
iMessages show a blue colored bubble to easily distinguish
Group messaging in iMessage
Delivery Reports
Read receipts for iMessage (enable from Settings)
See if other person is typing in iMessage (like in IMs)
Add Social Media info in to contacts
New rounded toggle switch
New separate Video app & icon
Nitro JavaScript speed improvements for Web Apps
iMessage will be sent as a text message in case iMessage is not available
Custom vibration for each contact so each pattern can let know who’s calling
New ‘Message’ option for iPod Touch under settings to use iMessage using an email ID
Setup AirPort device
Maximum recent email messages limit to 1000 instead of 200
Create & manage photo albums within Photos.app on device itself. (How did I miss this before? Thanks Joaquin for letting me know.)
(Custom) gesture-based lock-screen (Ability to define a custom gesture to unlock iPhone without need of a pass-code. This is not confirmed but rumored to be included in later releases of iOS 5. Do you see any benefit?)
Double tap the home button on lock screen to launch YouTube videos (Received an email about it. It was nice to have double tapping to play music. Why would they change? Someone please confirm if this is correct ) This is not correct. Instead it gives iPod controls and Take picture from camera options. Thanks JohnothanVincentCrook for confirming this.
SMS tones sound like they have been shortened than those were provided on iPhone 4 (Anyone felt it that way?)
While reading an email – swiping right would open a list of messages and swipe left would bring back to the open email message again. (Like if you’re reading an email from Inbox, it will take you to Inbox)
If you have multiple email accounts configured in Mail.app – swipe left or right from one’s mailboxes folder list, it will take you to another account’s mailboxes. (from Google Mail to Hotmail or back)
iTunes App: Support for match & find songs based on previous song purchases.
Free upgrade to 256 kbps bit-rate for purchased songs if backing up on iCloud
Support for multiple audio devices (Could not understand exact meaning of this)
Mirror iPhone 4 on Apple TV (Someone with Apple TV please confirm)
Skip tracks by swiping left – right on album art itself when not on lock screen (iPad only)
The name of the person that respond, appears in small light blue text directly above the response when SMS is sent to a group. (Thanks Melvin Baskin for emailing this)
Drag Keyboard on iPad: Drag keyboard up / down the screen wherever it is needed. It works for split keyboard as well.
(Source:http://techzoom.org/ios-5-complete-list-of-200-new-features/)

Companies Using Linux

A vast number of companies and organizations are deploying Linux for at least some applications. We list here a few of the ones that use Linux for major systems.

Amerada Hess Corporation - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - Amerada Hess Corp is a $7.4 billion petroleum company, but the supercomputers traditionally used to analyze oil exploration data are rather costly even for a company of this size. No longer a problem. Amerada Hess now uses a large Linux cluster for the job.

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) - Light Rail Metropolitan Transit System - This system tracks the flow of electricity from the high voltage DC power lines of Pacific Gas and Electric to the distribution of electricity via the third rail. If an emergency required the evacuation of a train, this system would be used to turn off the electricity to ensure the safety of passengers as they exited the system. -

Boscov's Department Stores - special invoicing, server consolidation, Web site, etc. - Boscov's, America's largest family owned department store chain, has been steadily moving it's back office operations to Linux, and will probably eventually migrate POS (Point of Sale) systems as well.

Burlington Coat Factory - Entire Systems - Burlington Coat Factory is a "Factory Outlet" retailer with 280 stores in 42 states. Initial Linux installations at their new distribution center and a few new stores proved highly successful, so roll-out to existing stores began. An order for 1,250 Dell computers preloaded with Linux was placed to support the effort.

The Linux systems are used to run warehousing and distribution, the gift registry and back office functions such as ordering and general desktop. The chosen office productivity suite is Applixware Office, which allows a very high degree of customization.

Conoco - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - Conoco is one of several major petroleum companies that have chosen to use inexpensive Linux clusters instead of costly supercomputers to analyze oil exploration data.

Cisco - Worldwide Printing System - Cisco, a $21 billion maker of routers that tie the Internet together, signed a major agreement with Microsoft regarding support for Active Directory. As part of that deal, Cisco management declared Cisco an "all Microsoft" company.

Unfortunately, Cisco's IT staff couldn't get network printing services to work right through NT servers (and you can't say Cisco engineers don't understand networking, now, can you?). Cisco's worldwide printing services now run on Linux.

Digital Domain - Visual Effects Supercomputing - Digital Domain is a major visual effects studio. In particular, they did the visual effects for Appolo 13 and Titanic. The effects for Titanic were particularly demanding, too demanding for their SGI Inigos, and would have normally required a supercomputer costing millions. Digital Domain was able to do the job on an inexpensive Linux cluster instead.

Ernie Ball Inc. - Entire Operation - Ernie Ball was one of those unfortunate companies turned over to the BSA (Business Software Aliance) by someone with a grudge. While few "infractions" . There's hardly a small business anywhere that has all the paperwork together for their software, and while few "infractions" were found, that was enough to be very costly. Ernie Ball decided this would never happen again and made a very successful migration to Linux.

Garden Grove California, City of - major operations - The City of Garden Grove began moving operations to Linux in 1995 with central data systems running Samba and the Pick database. The initial deployment was so successful and saved so much money the city has been gradually moving other operations to Linux, including some desktop systems.

Google - Search Engine - The wildly popular Google search engine simply would not be possible without a customized version of Linux fit exactly to its needs.

Just Sports USA - A fast growing chain (now 50 stores) selling sports items - All Stores, Back Office functions, Inventory and eCommerce systems run on Linux. All functions are integrated together using a PostgreSQL database. The eCommerce system runs on Linux / Apache Web servers and is also integrated with the inventory database. Postgre and Apache are also Open Source products.

Kaiser Aluminum - Manufacturing Control - Kaiser, one of the world's largest producer of aluminum, aluminum sheet and foil, has chosen Linux for many applications on the manufacturing floor. It works side by side with Unix, Windows NT and specialty "real time" operating systems.

Largo Florida, City of - City office desktop systems. - Largo has about 400 thin client workstations running the KDE Desktop from a Linux server. Database workloads were migrated from SCO Unix, AIX and Windows NT servers for a multi-million dollar savings. Largo figures its IT budget is about half that of other cities its size. Using thin clients provides a low cost, very low maintenance, uniform and easily administered computing environment for all city users. At peak, there are about 230 simultaneous users.

Lawson Inc. (Japan) - In-Store Consumer Web Ordering System - Lawson, a giant convenience store chain (7,600 stores) in Japan, will be placing two Linux based computers in each store to implement it's new Web ordering system. The over 15,000 computers will be purchased from IBM pre-configured with Linux installed.

Mexico City - government of - Everything! - The government of Mexico City have concluded they can no longer justify the ever rising cost of Microsoft Windows when the cost of Linux software is very low. Linux has already proven itself in the city's motor vehicle licensing agency and in the Mexican school system. Money saved will be used in social welfare programs.

Mobil Travel Guide - Major Consumer Web Site - This Exxon division found Linux ideal both from a cost/performance standpoint and for scalability as the division grows.

Omaha Steaks - On-Line Commerce - Advertisements for this mail order company can be found in the back of most up-scale home oriented magazines. They were running their internal systems on an IBM AS/400 and outsourced their Web site, but they wanted to tie the on-line ordering directly into the AS/400. A cluster of Linux servers now runs the Web site and connects to the AS/400.

Panasonic - Major Electronics Manufacturer - Panasonic's popular DBS business telephone system included a voicemail system based on Windows NT, but it was a bit pricy. To be more competitive in smaller businesses, Panasonic developed a system incorporating 1CTI's Linux based voice mail software. The Linux based system has been so well accepted by the customers the Windows based system is being discontinued.

Raymour & Flanigan - Furniture Chain (50 stores in Northeast) - The store chain has trnsferred most of its servers to Linux, and is replacing Windows 98 PC with Linux based "thin client" workstations in its service centers. Inventory and other databases are now being migrated from Microsoft Access running on Windows servers to Oracle running on Linux.

Royal Dutch/Shell - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - One of the world's largest petroleum companies, Royal Dutch/Shell could certainly afford the supercomputers traditionally used to analyze oil exploration data, but why do that when your competitors are using inexpensive Linux clusters to do the job. Royal Dutch/Shell has decided to set up a bigger Linux cluster than the ones it's competitors have. -

Tommy Hilfiger - Clothing Brand - Note: website designed by idiots won't let you in at all without Flash plug-in. The company is installing three Linux based portals running on IBM xSeries servers. The first provides remote access to data on the company's IBM iSeries (AS/400) datacenter computers. The second provides access for clothing manufacturers to designs and specifications. The third provides B2B eCommerce access to retailers and a company store for employees. Company officials say the Linux systems provide the required performance at a lower cost than any other platform.

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. - Dealer Communications System - Toyota is installing a Linux based system connecting all its car dealers to it's factory. This is a Web based system from the ground up, and will be handling 30 different functions including parts ordering, warranties, sales transactions and repairs.

A 30 dealer pilot roll-out was highly successful, extremely reliable, and easily maintained, so now the system will be rolled out to all 1,200 dealers. - Article -
Travelocity - Travel Agency - Travelocity is the back-end system for the travel services offered by AOL, Yahoo and US Airways. It's Web site gets 11 million page views and 170,000 email transmissions a day. The system is being migrated to Linux and Java.

U.S. Army - major military organization - The U.S. Army's Land Warrior program, the first stage of a far reaching battlefield information and communications system, leads a general move to Linux. The Army says that "Evidence shows that Linux is more stable". Apparently the Army has issues with Microsoft's "blue screen of death".

U.S. Federal Courts - case management, case tracking, finance and accounting, probation and pretrial services - A support contract has been awarded (Nov-03) to PEC Solutions for migration of the Federal Judiciary to a Linux based system.

U.S. Postal Service - OCR Supercomputing - The Postal Service had declared itself an "all Windows NT" house, but you can't use NT for what it simply can't do - so they now sort all the bulk mail on over 900 Linux clusters scattered around the country (at less than half the cost of the next cheapest solution (and that wasn't NT either)).

The OCR (Optical Character Recognition) system uses scanners that were already in place. The Linux system consists of 5 rack mounted PCs, one to handle the scanners and sorting equipment, and 4 to share the computational tasks.
WesternGeco - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - IBM has built a Linux based supercomputer for analysis of seismic data. This machine is built from 256 IBM eServer xSeries. This is the second largest Linux cluster IBM has built for oil exploration, the largest being the 1024 xSeries cluster for Shell.

IPHONE 4S vs GALAXY S2 vs OTHERS

Yesterday was termed as a landmark day for mobile communication as there were wide speculations that the BIG DADDY of smartphones Apple Iphone's latest model will be launched which will change everything again!

Some termed it as IPHONE 5 while others expected 4S..m afraid the latter were right!
The new model launched looks exactly the same as Its predecessor but inside everything has changed!
But Lets see how it compares with other daddies of smartphones which have been in the market for sometime now n may still rule!

So what are your thoughts abt this?
Which is the SUPER-SMARTPHONE?

Steve Jobs Is Dead

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Steve Jobs, who built the world's most valuable technology company by creating devices that changed how people use electronics and revolutionized the computer, music and mobile-phone industries, died. He was 56.

Jobs, who resigned as Apple Inc. chief executive officer on Aug. 24, 2011, passed away today, the Cupertino, California- based company said. He was diagnosed in 2003 with a neuroendocrine tumor, a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and had a liver transplant in 2009.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," Apple said. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."

Jobs embodied the Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He was a long-haired counterculture technophile who dropped out of college and started a computer company in his parents' garage on April Fools' Day, 1976. He had no formal technical training and no real business experience.

What he had instead was an appreciation of technology's elegance and a notion that computers could be more than a hobbyist's toy or a corporation's workhorse. These machines could be indispensable tools. A computer could be, he often said, "a bicycle for our minds." He was right -- owing largely to a revolution he started.

Obama Statement

Jobs's passing was met with an outpouring of grief from consumers who flocked to Apple stores, technology executives who partnered and competed with Jobs over the years and even President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

"Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs," Obama said. "Steve was among the greatest of American innovators -- brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it."

On his watch, Apple came to dominate the digital age, first through the creation of the Macintosh computer and later through the iPod digital music player, the iPhone wireless handset and more recently, the iPad tablet.

With each product, Jobs confronted new adversaries --from International Business Machines Corp. in computers to Microsoft Corp. in operating systems, to Sony Corp. in music players and Google Inc. in mobile software.

Visionary to Virtuoso

And Jobs would prove himself not just a techie visionary, but the virtuoso executive who built the world's second-most valuable company after Exxon Mobil Corp.

The opening act of Jobs's professional ascent stretched from 1976 to 1984. He scored his first hit with the Apple II computer, a device that resonated with schools and some consumers and small businesses, and made Apple an alluring alternative to IBM, then the world's largest computer maker. Apple had its initial public offering in 1980 and the graphical Macintosh was born just over three years later.

During his second act, from 1984 to 1997, Jobs's star dimmed. In 1985, he was fired after a power struggle with Apple's board. He started another computer company, NeXT Computer Inc., and bought a digital animation studio from filmmaker George Lucas. The firm later took the name Pixar.

String of Hits

Apple's purchase of NeXT in 1997 brought Jobs back to the computer maker he helped found and commenced his career's third act. The company was foundering. He ignited a flurry of innovation and growth -- and achieved what may be the greatest comeback in business history.

Whether he was working on the Mac or the iPhone or backing the computer animation that yielded an unbroken string of Pixar hits, Jobs proved that complex technologies could be designed into simple, beautiful products that people would find irresistible.

His meticulous attention to product detail carried over to his public image, which grew inseparable from the Apple brand. In public he wore beltless jeans and a black mock-turtleneck.

Apple iPhone 4S: 5 Key Facts

Leaving months of speculation unanswered, Apple on Tuesday did not introduce iPhone 5, the putative heir to the smartphone throne in a product line that has redefined the mobile and the computer industries.

Instead, the company unveiled iPhone 4S, a thorough revision of last year's model.
Whether or not Apple fans were disappointed, they still managed to overwhelm Apple's Web site. Apple.com was returning "Access Denied" errors after the conclusion of the company's media event on Tuesday.

In addition to showing off its latest iPhone model, Apple also: reviewed some of the highlights in iOS 5, the latest iteration of the company's mobile operating system; lowered the price on its iPod nano and its low-end iPod touch; expanded the available memory on its iPod touch and iPhone models to 64GB; and announced a launch date for its iCloud service.

Apple also lowered the price of its iPhone 3GS to free, which is more than it may seem given the cost of the required two-year contract.

The iPhone 4S costs $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for the 32GB model, and $399 for the 64GB model. It will be available from Apple's Web site and retail stores, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and authorized Apple resellers.

[ Adobe is emerging from the shadow cast over the company by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Find out more in Adobe Takes HTML5 To The Cloud. ]

The iPhone 4S will be available in stores on Friday, October 14, in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., France, Germany and Japan, and on Friday, October 28 in 22 additional countries. Online pre-orders will be accepted starting on Friday, October 7.

iOS 5 will be available for download on Wednesday, October 12.

Apple also introduced a remarkable voice command system, based on the technology it acquired when it bought voice recognition company Siri last year.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, who took over leadership of the company when Steve Jobs resigned in August to become chairman of Apple's Board of Director, presided over the media event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.

Prior to introducing Apple's latest phone, he reviewed the company's continuing growth, noting that company's installed base of Macintosh computers had reached 58 million, about twice what it was in 2008. He said that the Mac platform had grown 23% since last year, compared to 4% growth in the PC market, and in August represented 23% of computers sold.

The litany of positive figures continued, as if Apple has something to prove: 250 million iOS devices sold; 125% year-over-year growth for the iPhone, compared to 74% for other smartphones;over 300 million iPods sold; and 70% user satisfaction for the iPhone in a ChangeWave survey, compared to 49% for the second place finisher, HTC.

Even when Cook handed off to Apple SVP of iPhone software Scott Forstall, the parade of metrics continued: iOS accounts for 43% of the mobile operating system market (comScore figures), compared to 33% for Android, 17% for RIM, and 8% for the remainder of the field. Over 1 billion apps are downloaded every month.

Yes, Apple is a very successful company. But the question is: Do you want an iPhone 4S? Here are five key facts about the device:

1. Faster processor: The iPhone 4S features an Apple-designed dual-core A5 processor, which SVP of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller claims delivers up to 2x faster CPU performance and up to 7x faster graphics performance.

2. Dual networks: The iPhone 4S works on both GSM and CDMA carrier networks; the older model was one or the other, but not both.

3. Download speed:The iPhone 4S promises twice the download speed of the iPhone 4--14.4Mbps compared to 7.2. It supports HSDPA but not LTE.

4. Much-improved camera: The camera on the iPhone 4S is significantly improved--30% sharper, with an aperture of f/2.4, a third quicker to capture images, with an 8 megapixel sensor that takes 3264 by 2448 pixel pictures. It's also capable of HD 1080p video.

5. Voice-powered "assistant": Meet Siri, which plays a starring role on the iPhone 4S. The software describes itself as "a humble personal assistant," if you bother to ask. It allows the user to control phone functions through voice commands and even answers questions. For example, saying "Wake me up tomorrow at 6 AM" to Siri prompts the software to set the iPhone's alarm clock app. This technology looks both impressive and useful.

While many people no doubt are disappointed that there's no iPhone 5 yet, the hardware tends to be the least interesting thing about smartphones. The iPhone 4S works faster, has a better camera, and runs on both GSM and CDMA networks. Coupled with iOS 5, these features make the iPhone 4S compelling.
(source:http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231700257)