What is NFC and How it Can Create a Revolution in Changing Our Daily Lives

You all might have listened about NFC and might be you would be curious to know more about it.NFC or Near Field Communication is a new short range tool that works on wireless frequencies.It connects by any NFC antennae enabled phone to a reciever usually a feet away.By using this technology a consumer can just wave his smartphone for paying at retail locations.Still there are many challenges to safeguard the payment procedure or we can say that this technology is not fully baked.

It makes your life easier and more convenient as it can make transactions,exchange digital content and connect electronic devices with just a tap.
A standards-based connectivity technology, NFC harmonizes today’s diverse contactless technologies, enabling current and future solutions in areas such as:

• Access control
• Consumer electronics
• Healthcare
• Information collection and exchange
• Loyalty and coupons
• Payments
• Transport

Developers can learn more about NFC in the section on interoperability.

Key Benefits of NFC

NFC provides a range of benefits to consumers and businesses, such as:

• Intuitive: NFC interactions require no more than a simple touch
• Versatile: NFC is ideally suited to the broadest range of industries, environments, and uses
• Open and standards-based: The underlying layers of NFC technology follow universally implemented ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards
• Technology-enabling: NFC facilitates fast and simple setup of wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)
• Inherently secure: NFC transmissions are short range (from a touch to a few centimeters)
• Interoperable: NFC works with existing contactless card technologies
• Security-ready: NFC has built-in capabilities to support secure applications

NFC uses loosely coupled inductive circuits to exchange power and/or data over a short distance (usually about four cms.

7 Things You Should Know About Google Music | Google News

Google just made its music cloud service, Google Music, available to all, and it’s mostly self-explanatory. You can just Go to the Google Music and and start uploading or purchasing music that you can then listen to on your computer, or on your Android phone, Google TV, or iPhone. Just like iTunes, right? Well, not really. Maybe it’s not so straightforward after all its a Google Venture, don’t expect it to be so simple.
If you went online today, you might have Come across this image, see its footer, it states, NEW – Introducing Google Music..

Here are a few pointers that may help clear out some of the possible sources of confusion:

1. It can automatically back up iTunes and most other music flies. When you set up the service, you can tell it to upload your iTunes library, your Windows Media Player library, or any file folders you designate. The service supports more file types than competitors iTunes and Amazon Cloud Player. This includes not just the MP3 and AAC formats those support, but also WMA, OGG, and FLAC. The latter are saved as 320 Kbps, even if your originals are of higher quality.

2. It’s two separate sites. Google Music is the player and library, but you buy music on the Android Market site—whether or not you ever use any Android device. From the Google Music site, you can also download an app, Music Manager, that scans your PC or Mac for music files and upload it to your cloud-based music locker. The Android Market is where you browse, preview, and purchase new music, which then appears on your Google Music pages or in your Android Music app.

3. You can’t download songs to another computer unless you bought them on Google Music. iTunes Match and Amazon Cloud Player let you download stored music to any computer or compatible mobile device.

4. Some Android devices fully support it, some don’t. There is, of course, an Android app, but that hasn’t yet been updated with all the new features, and some phones and tablets still don’t see music in the Android Market app yet. The whole point of Google Music is to finally give Android mobile users an equivalent to the iTunes services enjoyed by iPhone and iPad users. Google states that this will be updated within days, but it’s unclear which phones and tablets’ Android versions will be updated on what schedule. Some Android phones and plans, starting with T-Mobile, will even let you pay for music through your phone bill.

5. There’s no official iPhone app, but music.google.com works on iOS devices. The Google Music site is even formatted well for iPhone screens. You can listen to any music in your Google Music cloud locker and even buy music from the separate Android Store, but you can’t back up music on the iOS device to Google Music. Nor can you download music bought in the Android Music store to the iPhone directly (see #1 for how to do it indirectly).

6. There’s tons of free music. But you need to give Google your credit card information even for the free stuff. This could be a concern to those who worry about Google profiling them.

7. You can only share purchased songs to Google+. If you do so, anyone following your Google+ profile will be able to stream the full song once. A Buy button is prominently displayed.
source-http://getreview.in/7-things-you-should-know-about-google-music-google-news/

Symbian Carla and Donna, the two new versions of Symbian:

Nokia on the developer’s day at mexico announced the next two Symbian versions – Carla and Donna plus further information on the Symbian Belle update rollout.
Symbian Carla will be released in late 2012 or early 2013 and is intended for smartphones with a 1GHz processor or higher. It will offer a whole new web browser, widgets, NFC capabilities and Dolby Surround audio.

Symbian Donna will be released at the end of 2013 or the early 2014 and is exclusively made for the dual-core processors. We wonder how many cores the mobile processors will offer by then, but now we know Nokia’s Symbian smartphones three years from now will have two cores and Nokia has always been good at optimizing the Symbian OS for far less capable hardware.

The processor minimum requirement means all the Symbian^3 and Symbian Anna handsets (N8, C6-01, C7, E7, E6, X7-00) are not going to get this version
As far as the current Symbian Belle is concerned – Nokia X7-00, E6 and 500 are going to get the update until the end of this year, while the Symbian^3 (already updated to Anna) devices will receive it in Q1 2012. It seems Belle will be the last update for the Symbian^3 and Anna generation.
Nokia is also planning to abandon Symbian in 2016. But the platform has at least four years to live, the new handsets and Symbian versions all have got a warm welcome.

Inside Mandriva Linux

New features

Mandriva 2011 have a host of notable new features. It uses the KDE desktop, but has revamped the UI of most of its components and also added some new tools. Based on experience, Komissarov says that while KDE is a great desktop environment, its broad range of settings may confuse inexperienced users. He cites the example of an experiment wherein a KDE-based distribution was used to teach in Russian schools. The project had to be abandoned because students and teachers were confused by its various settings. Mandriva’s main challenge while designing the new interface was to keep things simple for new users, and expose just the right amount of settings.

Komissarov says the team spent a considerable amount of time investigating the behavior of an average desktop user in a bid to create a distro with virtually no learning curve. It found that users are more productive and prefer running applications in full-screen mode.

Simple Welcome is the main element, which will be developed further- it's not only a program launcher but also a universal container for other original components that are in the pipeline.

TimeFrame - a new utility added to Nepomuk- visualizes files in your home directory based on the time they were created or modified. This saves you the trouble of having to look for files buried deep within multiple folders.

RocketBar implements a software oriented interface that is more convenient and easier for users to understand. Research by Mandriva suggests that a typical user works with an average of about 12 apps. The most used are on the panel and those used less often are stored in the history of Last Used apps, which lets users access the apps in one or two mouse clicks.

StackFolders resembles the stacks feature in Mac OS X and Komissarov believes that users who work with a large number of documents will find this particularly useful. Mandriva 2011's new installer has simplified the installation process by implementing the concept of 'pure choice: While it won't please some advanced users. Komissarov believes that most people are only confused by the many installation options in Linux distro installers.

There have been changes to various other parts of the desktop as well, and many are still under active development. The absence of the option to switch between multiple desktops is just one of the changes to the system tray, which will be further tweaked in upcoming releases.
source-http://www.techquark.com/2011/11/inside-mandriva-linux.html

Read eBook on PC / MAC / Linux

If you are still using a Laptop or desktop for reading eBooks it is time to change. You may be one of those who are very conservative, who refuses to change or reluctant to explore when better things arrives. In other words you may like to ignore engineers’ role in improving our short life in this planet.

Once you use an eBook reader or eBook apps in a Tablet you will realize that reading a book in a desktop is like driving an Ambassador car. When an Audi or BMW is offered to you within your budget, who wants to drive a M800.

But there can be some occasions where you are forced to read a book using a desktop or a laptop. There are many apps available to help. Adobe Digital edition can be used for ePub format or better use Calibre which supports all the formats.

Calibre

Calibre is a free cross platform eBook Management tool, convertor and an eBook reader bundled in to one. It supports all popular eBook formats and can be used as an eBook reader for all of them. It is available in Windows, MAC and Linux, and comes with a good interface with lots of features and it is free too. So there is no need to look elsewhere if you need an eBook reader in a desktop or a convertor to convert from one format to another.
source-http://www.techquark.com/2011/11/read-ebook-on-pc-mac-linux.html
or more details visit the following link

http://calibre-ebook.com

AMD 8-Core CPUs to Boost Laptop Speed

AMD is promising faster performance for laptop and desktop PCs with eight-core processors that feature its Bulldozer architecture.

The FX-8150 and FX-8120 are the first Bulldozer processors to hit the market, and offer a speed boost of more than 50 percent compared to previous AMD chips. Both belong to the re-launched FX chip family, which is aimed at gaming and high-end systems.

The FX-8150 has a base speed of 3.6GHz, which rockets to 4.2GHz in turbo mode. The FX-8120, meanwhile, runs at 3.1GHz as standard and 4GHz under load. Built using the 32-nanometre manufacturing process, AMD said the chips are un-clocked and customizable.

"AMD has historically been about total performance and not thought to be competitive in terms of power efficiency," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. "Bulldozer is a redesign from the ground up. It aims to put AMD back in the race for power efficiency, specifically with laptop computers."

AMDs chips will rival Intel's high-end Core i7-990X Extreme Edition processor, which is based on the firm's Westmere architecture. However, Intel will soon launch an even faster Extreme Edition chip that's based on its Sandy Bridge architecture.

Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, said the power boost and extra cores have a lot to offer high-end computer users. With a retail price of E199, these eight core chips can also offer consumers more cores per pound than anything on the market today.

But while AMD's new processors stand to put the company back in the game, Olds said they aren't "Sandy Bridge killers". AMD still has a lot of catching up to do, he noted.

ARM Processors to Increase Smartphone Efficiency

Smartphones will no longer have to compromise between performance and battery life. ARM's A7 microprocessor uses the company's most energy efficient chip design to date, and will bring improved performance to entry-level smart phones.

Used alongside the forthcoming Cortex A15 in the 'big.Little' power-saving architecture, the A7 will also feature in high-end smart phones.

By combining two types of core on the same chip, and assigning different applications to each depending on their requirements, ARM said it can resolve the conflict between the need for both higher performance and longer battery life.

big.Little can reduce power consumption by 70 percent, according to ARM. Gaming and video playback is performed on the more powerful A15 chip, while tasks that require less power, such as making a phone call, are assigned to the A7 to conserve power.

The A7 will be manufactured using a 28-nanometre process; combined with architectural improvements, this will make the processor one-fifth the size, with one-fifth the power consumption, compared with today's Cortex AS processor. But the A7 will still give a 50 percent performance boost compared to the A8. according to the company.

The big.Little architecture will have a die size of less than 0.5 square millimeters and draw less than 500 mill watts of power, said Nandan Nayampally, director of marketing for the ARM processor division. Furthermore, the A7 and the A15 will have identical feature sets, so software applications will run on both cores without modification.

ARM's designs are licensed and manufactured by companies such as Texas Instruments, Broadcom and Freescale. The chip makers are expected to produce the first A7 parts next year, and smartphone makers will begin fit ting them to devices soon after that. It may take chip makers a little longer to implement the combined A7-A15 design, but ARM said this could also appear in smartphones by 2013.

LAPTOP+TABLET=ASUS’S Eee Pad Transformer

ASUS, one of the biggest manufacturer of motherboards , revolutionaries the Laptop and Tablet industry, producing its one of the best available products in the market called Eee Pad Transformer.

Lets have a look at its Specifications:

10.1″ LED Backlight WXGA (1280×800) Screen*1
10 finger multi-touch support
Scratch resistant glass
680 g
Android 3.2
NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 CPU
1GB RAM
16GB/32GB Storage,
Unlimited ASUS Webstorage also available
1.2 M Pixel Front Camera
5 M Pixel Rear Camera
Stereo Speakers
SRS Premium Sound
High Quality Mic
1 x Mini HDMI
2 x Audio Jack (Headphone/Mic-In)
1 x Card Reader : Micro SD
G-Sensor
Light Sensor
Gyroscope
E-Compass
GPS
Multi-Task Support : Yes
Flash Support : Yes *3
Software :
- ASUS Launcher
- MyLibrary
- MyNet
- MyCloud*4
- File manager
- PC Sync
9.5 hours; 24.4Wh Li-Polymer Battery
16 hours with dock
Keyboard
Touch Pad
2 x USB 2.0
2 x Docking port (Host + Client)
1 x Card Reader (MMC/SD/SDHC)
1 x 24.4Wh Battery

Skype Gets Direct Link To Facebook

Social networking addicts who run the Windows or Mac clients for Microsoft's Skype VoIP platform can now launch a calling session without ever having to leave Facebook.

The new Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac and Skype 5.7 Beta for Windows clients, released Friday, allow Facebook-to-Facebook video calling over Skype from within the social network.
"This new development in the Skype-to-Facebook partnership is the latest example of how Skype is removing communications barriers and making it easier to connect with friends, family, and business colleagues," said Rick Osterloh, VP for products at Microsoft's Skype unit.
"Our approach to social is about personal connections with people. We are on a mission to connect over one billion people and our continued partnership with Facebook brings us one step closer to this goal," said Osterloh, in a blog post.

Facebook and Skype first began working together earlier this year, before Microsoft closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of the video calling specialist, to develop integrated services.

To make Skype calls from within Facebook, users need to link their account to Skype. Then they can select any Friend and contact them by hitting the video call button in Skype. The recipient can also answer the call from within Facebook.

"This new feature lets you maintain social connections with your Facebook friends and complements previously announced features such as being able to see when your Facebook friends are online, read their status updates, and IM them all from Skype," said Osterloh.

The updated Skype clients for Mac and Windows also add a number of other new features. The Mac version includes video rendering technology that's designed to provide a clearer picture, while Windows users with a premium subscription get a new group screen sharing feature that allows several users to appear on screen at once.

Integration with Skype is just one of many ways in which Microsoft plans to extend Skype's reach and functionality.

Company officials have said Skype, or parts of it, will show up in everything from Office applications to the Xbox 360 platform. Microsoft also plans to integrate Skype into its Lync business collaboration suite.

The beta clients can be downloaded for free from the Skype Web site.
source-http://informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/231903402

Intel’s Newest Chip Has 50 Cores and Will Eat Your Family

Yes. Fifty cores. Five zero. All on a single, tiny chip. It's real.

Intel beamed over their 50-core "Knights Ferry" processor yesterday at a supercomputing conference in Seattle, Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times reports. And they have good reason. The tiny chip is capable of 1 teraflop of processing power—an esoteric way of calculating how fast a chip is at crunching numbers. By comparison, the fastest Core i7 can only crank out 109 gigaflops. Stuffing this many cores onto one processor has pushed Intel to the point of just labeling it a "many" core chip—at a certain point, the number of cores becomes an abstraction.

Knights Ferry isn't meant to be a computer's main brain, but rather a programmable co-processor that'll do hugely heavy lifting handed to it by a CPU. But there's no doubt that core count is the future, and the race to push the "many" in man cores is on. This tech will be in your tablet, eventually.
source-http://gizmodo.com/5860038/intels-newest-chip-has-50-cores-and-will-eat-your-family

Want To Buy Aakash Tablet?

Aakash tablet is really a tablet pc that is specially designed to be utilized by students in India. The Indian government wanted all of the Indian student community to have pc for their educational needs. So they took an initiative by paying half of the price and they wanted a computing device for students around the price $35. As numerous were not in a position to do in this rate Datawind Ltd accepted for this rate and they had been also in a position to do this at around $50. As the government pays half the quantity the students can anticipate the device around $25. Akash Tablet has been launched on October, 2011 and so will be soon available towards the students.

As every student in India will get Aakash Tablet PC very quickly every student will turn out to be a pc literate. India can sure feel proud for this achievement. Public individuals who wish to purchase this and use can purchase for the complete rate. They are able to get it with some extra functions and so this quantity is also really worth purchasing to them. For them it may take 1 or 2 months for the device to be available in the outside markets. Because it is compact and transportable everyone desires to purchase and use the device.

This has been designed and produced keeping all of the students requirements in mind and so the configuration of Aakash tablet is ideal to any student. If one student in a family members becomes a pc literate he might teach his parents or neighbours or relatives about what he has discovered. They may have to know for some of their private use or simply might have interest to learn about pc. In any case there is an opportunity for much more and much more individuals coming to know about pc usage. If not now soon India will turn out to be 100% pc literate which will be the greatest achievement to India like large nation.

Windows 8 pre-beta includes option to change Start Screen background image

Further screenshots of a pre-beta build of Windows 8 leaked on Saturday.

The screenshots appear to show the customization features of what will become Windows 8 beta. Users will be able to activate a color slider, allowing them to pick a custom background color for the Start Screen. The Windows 8 Developer Preview does not allow this and it’s a highly requested feature for Windows 8. The colour slider is a simple and quick picker that appears to provide a number of darker colors for the Start Screen.

Windows 8 users will also be able to modify the background image of the Windows 8 Start Screen. Microsoft appears to be building in sample sets of images to use as a companion to the color options. It’s not yet clear whether these images will include the ability for a user to pick their own image. Winunleaked, who published the screenshots, notes that the Start Screen personlization is a feature under construction so aspects could change at beta. Images of the Windows 8 Start Screen color customization leaked earlier this month.

Microsoft is expected to deliver a beta copy of Windows 8 at CES 2012 with a Release Candidate at the unannounced MIX 2012 conference. The big OEMs, including HP, Dell and ASUS are all reportedly preparing Windows 8 tablets for Q3 2012. Microsoft is expected to unveil the final version of Windows 8 during the Summer months of 2012 in preparation for a holiday push of new tablets and form factors.source-http://www.winrumors.com

Microsoft planning technical preview of Windows 8 Embedded in Q1 2012

Microsoft revealed on Monday that it’s planning to release a technical preview of its Windows 8 Embedded operating system early next year.

The software giant unveiled its product road map for Windows 8 Embedded. “Windows 8 represents the potential to reimagine not only the PC experience, but also the specialized device experience,” said Kevin Dallas, general manager of Windows Embedded. “Our road map builds on Windows Embedded’s history of aligning the platform with Windows to support an integrated experience across devices, phones, PCs and the cloud.”

The next edition of Embedded, currently named “v.Next”, will provide full Windows application compatibility and the power of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system on embedded devices. The enterprise version of the software will be made available for use in devices such as ATMs and Kiosks a quarter after Windows 8 is generally available for traditional PCs. Windows Embedded Standard v.Next will be made available as a community technology preview for developers during the first quarter of 2012 according to Microsoft. The final release of Standard will be made available three quarters after Windows 8 is available.

“Windows Embedded Compact and Windows Embedded Standard represent Microsoft’s platforms for intelligent systems.” Dallas says. “We need Windows Embedded Standard v.Next to take the lead around application-rich devices, and Windows Embedded Compact v.Next to take the lead around real-time, small form-factor devices. Both are critical to the success of our partners and enterprise customers building intelligent systems.”

Microsoft is expected to be readying a Windows 8 beta for early 2012, around the same time as its Embedded plans. Recent pre-release beta builds indicate that the company has made it possible to fully customize the Start Screen experience in Windows 8.

Microsoft Live@edu now in use by over 22 million people

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that its Live@edu service is now in use by over 22 million people.

The Live@edu service provides communication tools and web-based applications as a hosted service for education institutions. The suite includes access to office Live Workspace, Windows Live SkyDrive, Microsoft Outlook Live, Windows Live Messenger and more. Demand for Microsoft’s Live@edu service has grown by 100% year-on-year. Around 27,000 people sign up for the service each day.

“Academia is often an early adopter of new technologies,” explained Micorsoft’s Anthony Salcito in a blog post on Wednesday. “I’m seeing schools around the globe lead the way in the transition to the cloud and digital learning environments.” Microsoft has signed a number of new schools over the past year, including:

Southern State Community College in Ohio
New Mexico State
Florida State
University of Colorado at Boulder
Kings College London
Royal National College for the Blind
Bahrain Ministry of Education
United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education

A number of schools have also started to adopt Microsoft’s Office 365 for education. Georgia State University, Dundee University in Scotland, East Norfolk Sixth College in England, the Inzai City Board of Education and Wakayama City Board of Education in Japan are all using Office 365. The cloud based service provides access to Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online.

“There’s no question the cloud has become an important asset for schools and universities,” says Salcito. “It enhances the educational experience and fosters 24/7 learning across multiple devices, while enabling skills development to help students prepare for their futures.”

Nokia Lumia 800 breaks preorder records for Nokia devices at Orange UK

British carrier Orange announced on Wednesday that the Nokia Lumia 800 had broken all previous preorder records for Nokia devices.

The Lumia 800, which went on sale in the UK on Wednesday, has seen a phenomenal amount of interest from Orange UK customers. Preorders of the device have been higher than any other Nokia handset. 50% of preorders are from existing customers who are eligible for Nokia’s free Xbox 360 promotion. “As a result of the level of interest we’ve had in preorders, we’re really positive about the launch of the Nokia Lumia 800 which we believe will be really popular with our customers,” said an Orange spokesperson. “This is the largest interest we’ve had in a Nokia handset, including the huge-selling N95 and 5800 handsets, and our marketing campaign hasn’t kicked in yet.”

Orange plans to make the free Xbox 360 offer available to new customers soon too. Referring to Orange’s marketing campaign, an Orange spokesperson confirmed that the firm plans to “further promote the Xbox 360 offer to new customers signing up to the device.”

The Nokia Lumia 800 went on sale across the UK and some European markets. A number of stores in the UK opened early on Wednesday for potential customers. Nokia representatives handed out free chocolate and coffee to potential customers on London’s Oxford Street on Wednesday. Nokia’s Lumia 800 will be available on a range of contracts and carriers in the UK, starting at £26 per month.
source-http://www.winrumors.com

Samsung Galaxy W to arrive soon

Featuring 3.7-inch LCD display, Samsung Galaxy W will have a single-core 1.4 GHz processor and 5-megapixel camera with LED Flash.

Samsung had announced the Galaxy W GT-I8250 handset in August and promised its arrival later.

The same Galaxy W handset is now being sold online in Russia as Samsung Galaxy Wonder GT-I8250.

The Mobile Indian reported in August about Samsung's new Galaxy series naming strategy - Super Smart (S), Royal/Refined (R), Wonder (W), Magical (M) and Young (Y).

The new Galaxy W GT-I8250 comes with 3.7 inch LCD display technology with a density 252 pixel per inch and WVGA (800x480) pixel resolution.

So despite being an under 4 inch screen, it will still show you crisp images and text.

Samsung Galaxy W is powered with a single core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm processor and comes with only 4 GB on-board storage. Of course one can add up to 32 GB memory card to beef up the storage.

Galaxy W comes with a nice 5 megapixel camera with LED Flash - something Samsung missed thrice with Galaxy S, Galaxy S LCD and Galaxy S Plus.

Running Android OS, this handset is meant for the consumers seeking high quality strategic models that appear bit stylish and also can perform well. However, we believe that the 1500 mAh battery might not be just enough for it.

Russian online retailer has listed the Galaxy W for 14,990 Roubles which comes to Rs 24, 657 approximately.

That would really be a steep price for the Galaxy W handset since several high end smartphones with dual-core processors and 4 inch touchscreen displays are available for that price.

Apple iPad 3 to come with Retina display: Reports

The Retina display includes LED backlighting and an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen for the best viewing and battery life possible.

The next generation of iPad, the iPad 3, will have improved LED backlight solutions so the device's screen may have a better screen resolution. According to Digitimes, the new resolution is likely to be higher than 2048X1536 pixels.

Currently, iPad2's screen provides 1024x768 resolution.

The Retina display includes LED backlighting and an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen for the best viewing and battery life possible.

It also means the LED light bar in the current iPad2 needs to be improved otherwise the brightness levels required in the retina display would not be sustainable.

Some Taiwan based manufacturers have suggested that the light bar be kept in single bar form factor. There would be two LED chips inside though Apple is likely to go in favour of dual light bars. The problem surrounding mass production of retina display, as suggested by earlier reports, seems to have cleared up by now as well.

When the Retina Display arrived in iPhone 4, it was billed as a great way of viewing photos for the users but the similar pixel density for iPad 3 would likely turn out extremely useful for professionals, such as pilots who would be watching their electronic charts on the tablet and the doctors would watch the medical imaging on iPad 3.

In fact, many airlines have already started replacing their flight bags with the iPad, though the pilots still cannot use iPads for in route charts because of the complexity involved in them. Even in medical imaging, doctors are already using iPads to view the images. The larger screen devices arrived on Android first but Apple was the first to bring high resolution, Retina Display, on its screens. The iOS already has the necessary ground work done to support Retina Dislay for iPad, so users may not expect any problems on that part.
source-http://www.themobileindian.com/news/3719_Apple-iPad-3-to-come-with-Retina-display:-Reports

Thunderbird 8 arrives--with Lightning 1.0 calendar

The Lightning calendar add-on, now released in version 1.0, brings a lot of new abilities to Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail software.
(Credit: Mozilla)

Thunderbird 8 arrived today, a new version of Mozilla's e-mail software that now is linked with the Firefox rapid-release program.

Thunderbird 8 is built using the same Gecko 8 browser engine that's used in Firefox 8, also released today. Notably, the new version is accompanied by Lightning 1.0, an add-on under development for years that gives Thunderbird a calendar module, too.

Thunderbird 8 also includes "improvements to attachment handling and accessibility, updated Search and Find shortcuts, and several security, and stability fixes," according to a blog post by Mozilla's Rafael Ebron.

The Lightning add-on makes Thunderbird a more capable replacement for Outlook for those opting for an open-source approach to sending, receiving, searching, and archiving e-mail. It's built to work with Thunderbird 8, but also supports older versions.

The Lightning add-on lets people add calendar entries, subscribe to online calendars, manage a to-do list, and more

Ubuntu 11.10 released officially

It's a good news for all Ubuntu geeks that the final release of Ubuntu 11.10 has been released and available for download. This is the 15th release of UBUNTU OS.
Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot) brings lots of improvements to the Unity launcher and panel, all on top of the new GNOME 3.2 desktop environment.

The Ubuntu 11.10 features:


· Improved desktop experience - yes, still powered by the Unity launcher and panel, now ported to GTK3 and offering advance filtering options and multiple sources;
· Two login methods - 3D interface or 2D interface, both powered by Unity;
· Breathtaking new login screen - powered by LightDM;
· A new Alt+Tab switcher - looks awesome and offers window preview;
· 14 new wallpapers - from various photographers around the world;
· Improved default theme - the default Ambiance theme has been once again improved;
· Totally new Ubuntu Software Center - with a redesigned and professional interface, it now includes lots of enhancements;
· Next-gen web browser - Mozilla Firefox 7.0 is once again the default web browser, doing a very good job;
· Next-gen email and calendar client - Mozilla Thunderbird 7.0 is now the default mail client;
· New default backup tool - powered by Deja Dup, storing secure copies of your important documents;
· Hybrid CD/USB ISO images - allows to write the ISO images directly on USB disks;
· Multiarch support - 32-bit compatibility on 64-bit systems;
· Support for the ARM architecture - available on the Server edition;
· Introducing Juju - the modern approach to cloud service orchestration and deployment;
· New music lens - linked to Banshee, to easily search local and online music;
· Support for scripting languages - including Japanese, Chinese and Korean;
· DVD image - with all the powerful apps you need;
· and many more other small features for you to discover!




Download it from Here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download

Fedora 16 Alpha Has Been Released

Some moments ago, fedora projects have announced the Alpha version of Fedora 16. Its available downloading and testing. Fedora 16 Alpha is powered by Linux kernel 3.0. fedora projects gropu announced, "We need your help to make Fedora 16 the best release yet, so please take a moment of your time to download and try out the Alpha and make sure the things that are important to you are working."
group requests,"If you find a bug, please report it -- every bug you uncover is a chance to improve the experience for millions of Fedora users worldwide. Together, we can make Fedora a rock-solid distribution."


Some main Feaures are given below

Linux kernel 3.0
The GNOME 3.1 desktop environment
KDE Software Compilation 4.7
GRUB2
Systemd services management
SELinux improvements
1000 System accounts
Added Chrony NTP client
Removed HAL
Removed ConsoleKit
Automatic Multi-seat support
Support for cloud computing
libvirt networking support improvements
New mkdumprd for kdump
Perl 5.14
Static analysis of CPython extensions
Sugar 0.94
TigerVNC 1.1
USB Network Redirection.
Restored support for Xen
Enhanced Spice 0.10 app to manage virtual machines
Many improvements for developers
Aeolus Conductor
Blender 2.5
Boost 1.47
Glasgow Haskell Compiler 7.0.4
Haskell Platform 2011.2.0.1
GNOME Input integration


You can download this release but not use it on commercial production machine because it is alpha testing version and may have many bugs.
source-http://www.techlomedia.in/2011/08/fedora-16-alpha-has-been-released.html

Aakash, cheapest tablet of world, feature list

After a huge success of the world’s cheapest car manufactured by India, the country is all set to step into the tech-world with the same strategy of offering good quality product at the best possible price. After a wait of about one year since a prototype was shown to the reporters, the Indian officials have finally launched the world’s cheapest tablet i.e. Aakash Tablet (also known as Akash Tab or $35 Tablet) is available at a price of just $60 (Rs 3000) in retail stores and probably much cheaper for students. The commercial version of Aakash Tablet is Ubislate which will be available from November with a few more features than the Government’s version.

The makers of Akash Tab are IIT Rajasthan in partnership with DataWind, a leading manufacturer of wireless web access products and services which is based in Montreal and is owned by Suneet Singh Tuli who is a Canadian of Indian descent.
Features and Specifications of Aakash Tablet

Display- Aakash Tablet has a 7 inch resistive touch screen with 800 x 480 pixel resolution.

Operating System- Akash Tab runs Android 2.2 (Froyo).

Processor- It has got a single core 366 MHz processor plus a HD video co-processor, 256 MB RAM and 2GB internal flash memory.

Supported Multimedia Formats- Aakash Tablet supports Image formats like .png, .jpg, .gif, .bmp. Supported Video Formats include MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI and FLV. The Tablet also supports audio formats such as MP3, AAC, AC3, WAV and WMA.

External Connectors- Aakash Tablet supports Mini and Full USB, has got two SD card slots (memory expandable up-to 32GB), a SIM card slot, Video Out, a 3.5 mm headphone jack support and HDMI port.

Internet Connectivity- Aakash is a Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g enabled Tablet with a Web Browser having Standards Compliance, xHTML 1.1 compliant, JavaScript 1.8 compliant and safety compliance. It also offers separate software for online YouTube videos.

App Store- Akash Tab supports more than 150000 apps to keep you entertained throughout the day.

Battery- The 50 gram Tablet has a 2100mAh battery with a standby time of 3-4 hours.

Supported Document Formats- The supported document formats include DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, ODT and ODP. The Tablet has also got PDF Viewer and Text Editor.

Aakash in Hindi Language means ‘Sky’ and probably the device is ready to reach the same height. The main target of this tablet is students who always admired Tablets but had to murder their feelings due to lack of money. Aakash has all the basic features which are frequently used by everyone and can be easily bought by the students just by saving their pocket money for a few days. Though it is disappointing that the Tablet does not have a camera and will not have access to Android Market, we cannot expect so much at such a price. Overall the Tablet is a very good deal for everyone.

Nokia Lumia 800

Also known as Nokia Sea Ray
General 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
Announced 2011, October
Status Coming soon. Exp. release 2011, November
Size Dimensions 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm, 76.1 cc
Weight 142 g
Display Type AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 480 x 800 pixels, 3.7 inches (~252 ppi pixel density)
- Gorilla Glass display
- Nokia ClearBlack display
- Multi-touch input method
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
- Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
- Touch-sensitive controls
Sound Alert types Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
Memory Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records Yes
Internal 16 GB storage, 512 MB RAM
Card slot No
Data GPRS Class 33
EDGE Class 33
3G HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
Infrared port No
USB Yes, microUSB v2.0
Camera Primary 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash
Features Geo-tagging
Video Yes, 720p@30fps
Secondary No
Features OS Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
CPU 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 205 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon chipset, 3D Graphics HW Acce
Messaging SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML5, RSS feeds
Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games Yes + downloadable
Colors Black, Cyan, Magenta
GPS Yes, with A-GPS support
Java No
- MicroSIM card support only
- SNS integration
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- Digital compass
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player
- MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player
- Document viewer
- Video/photo editor
- Voice memo/command/dial
- Predictive text input
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion 1450 mAh (BV-5JW)
Stand-by Up to 265 h (2G) / Up to 335 h (3G)
Talk time Up to 13 h (2G) / Up to 9 h 30 min (3G)
Misc Price group [About 420 EUR]

Disclaimer. We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. Read more

.Net vs. Java: Five Factors to Consider

The following are some points that IT managers should consider when weighing the choice of .Net vs. Java:

Weigh the importance of application portability to your company. Java may not have entirely lived up to its "write once, run anywhere" promise. But Heffner says J2EE portability tends to be good for core components such as business rules, Java Server Pages and Enterprise JavaBeans.

That, in turn, gives corporate users the negotiating leverage to present "a credible threat" that they'll move an application to another vendor's platform, something they can't do with Microsoft, because the .Net framework runs only on Windows, he says.

Microsoft submitted a portion of its .Net framework to a standards body, but Heffner estimates it amounts to only 10%, or "just enough for an application on some other platform to connect to a Microsoft server environment." Although there are open-source efforts to get .Net to run on other platforms, none are credible yet, he adds.

Portability has never been a concern for Microsoft, which advocates writing applications optimized to run on Windows for higher performance. Claiming that interoperability is more important than portability, Microsoft now tells users that .Net-based applications can share information with applications running on other platforms through Web services, in which XML-based messages are sent via the Simple Object Access Protocol.

Bob Dutile, a senior vice president of enterprise architecture at Cleveland-based KeyCorp, says he's interested in Microsoft's approach, but he wants the option of selecting a best-of-breed server. "One of the reasons we are a Java shop is because Microsoft was too proprietary," he says. "We like to have the opportunity not to be locked into one vendor all the time."

Take stock of your existing developer skills and infrastructure.Training developers and ripping out existing infrastructure can be costly, so an IT shop may favor sticking with the development environment that best fits its current situation.

Pacific Life Insurance Co., for instance, didn't hesitate to adopt .Net technology. Brad Sewell, an assistant vice president in IT at Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pacific Life, says his life insurance division didn't consider Java because the division is "pretty heavily invested in Microsoft infrastructure."

The Home Depot Inc. in Atlanta, in contrast, is primarily a Unix shop and made a significant commitment to Java early on. But the decision wasn't based solely on its Unix focus. "Java ran equally well on all of our hardware," says senior IT manager Curtis Chambers, noting that his company also uses Windows, MVS and z/OS. "The end goal was a common development platform for all of our developers."

Because of .Net's Windows-only limitation, Thomas Murphy, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Meta Group Inc., says that for Unix shops, "the decision's made for you."

"If you're a mixed shop, you have to look at how you are mixed," he adds.

Murphy says IT managers should ask questions such as: Is Unix just the database platform, or does it have a role beyond that? How are you going to attach to legacy resources? Or are you going to try to develop new business logic on the legacy platform?

Microsoft's .Net environment allows developers to program in more than 20 languages, including Cobol, which could appeal to programmers who have worked in legacy environments. But since their .Net applications would need to run on Microsoft's Common Language Runtime, they must weigh the infrastructure consequences.

Developers skilled in using Microsoft's Visual Basic tools for building less complex applications will find a similar learning curve whether they shift to Visual Studio .Net or J2EE, if they're taking on full distributed computing and object-oriented programming, warns Frank Gillett, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.

Whatever switch is made, it costs money. Gartner analyst Joseph Feiman says a Cobol-to-Java move, for instance, can cost an average of $57,000 per developer, once training costs, time, initial lost productivity and risk are factored into the equation. But he notes the costs can vary significantly, depending on programmers' skills and the type of change they're making.


Assess the complexity of the applications you will be building.Microsoft tools have an edge over Java for building applications that require rich graphical user interfaces and that deliver content to Web browsers, analysts say. Although Java tools are improving, Microsoft's tools are generally considered easier to use.

Heffner says there are "more knobs to turn" in a J2EE environment. But for complex, high-volume applications with lots of business rules, "that's just the sort of knob-turning you need available," he says. Those types of applications need to be more highly architected, and J2EE has more features to offer for session management, fail-over and load balancing than the Microsoft architecture does, Heffner says.

For now, analysts say, J2EE may continue to be the preferred choice for highly scalable, mission-critical applications, and .Net may make more sense for applications that need a low-cost, quick turnaround. Natis says Gartner is advising clients to wait for .Net's next release before they consider using it to build an application that will go beyond 1,000 concurrent users.


Investigate outside vendor support. Murphy says that users who buy major packaged applications will probably be driven to gain some Java skills, since enterprise software vendors such as SAP AG and Oracle Corp. lean toward Java.

Another consideration may be the tendencies of the independent software vendors that develop applications for a particular vertical industry. Heffner says one insurance company chose J2EE because five of its six peers did.

Analysts also note that tools and components may be more readily available for Java now, since .Net is so new. However, Microsoft, has already put out a thick binder entitled ".Net in the Real World," featuring early adopters.


Compute costs with care. On a straight cost basis, Microsoft presents an appealing option. Its Windows server operating system ships with a built-in application server, while pricing for the most popular Java-based application servers starts at $8,000 to $10,000 per CPU.

There are other options. Hewlett-Packard Co., for instance, ships a free application server with its operating system, and JBoss is an open-source alternative, analysts say. But the top two choices, by far, have been San Jose-based BEA Systems Inc.'s WebLogic or IBM's WebSphere.

Rather than simply looking at the costs of application servers, Heffner advises clients to use a total economic impact model that takes into account costs, benefits and flexibility for future options. "In this case, you're making a strategic platform decision that will affect not only this one application; it will affect the stream of application delivery that you're going to pursue as a company over the coming years," he says.
source:-http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/71221/.Net_vs._Java

Modern Warfare 3 launches, ready for war with Battlefield 3

Each year around this time, a new Call of Duty game hits store shelves. But this year, the stakes are even higher with expectations of sales breaking all entertainment-industry records.

Today, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was made available to gamers who want to play the title on all major consoles or the PC. As with previous iterations of the famed franchise, Modern Warfare 3, which was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, puts gamers into the role of a soldier fighting through battles in the first-person. The game is available for $60.

Even before Modern Warfare 3 launched, there was rampant speculation that the game would be a top-seller. In fact, just last week, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that he believes Modern Warfare 3 will generate over $1.1 billion in its first six weeks on store shelves, making it the biggest launch the entertainment industry--including games, movies, and music--has ever seen. It's expected to take that crown from last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops.

If Modern Warfare 3 does reach that milestone, it might just be an even sweeter victory for Activision than previous sales records have been, due to the bitter battle it finds itself in with Electronic Arts' Battlefield 3.

Battlefield 3, which provides the same first-person, highly realistic military shooter experience as Modern Warfare 3, launched last month. Prior to its launch, the game was being called, by some, the Call of Duty killer. But it has perhaps been EA's own executives that have been most outspoken about their desire to annihilate Call of Duty.

"If I had to pick the story I'd like to play out next year, we [would] ship a [game with] a 90 [score on Metacritic] and [Activision] ship[s] an 85," EA CEO John Riccitiello told Kotaku in an interview last year, adding that "the way you unseat a market leader is you make a better game a couple of times in a row."

Riccitiello went on to say in an interview with Industry Gamers earlier this year that "all I want to do, if you will, is to have [Call of Duty] rot from the core."

At least on the Metacritic (which, like CNET, is owned by CBS) front, Riccitiello didn't get his wish. The Xbox 360 version of Battlefield 3 has a score of 84 on Metacritic; Modern Warfare 3's Xbox 360 version has received a score of 90.

But as the holiday-shopping season fast approaches, both Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 will be pitted against each other on store shelves. And it will be up to gamers to vote with their wallets on which title beats the other.

That said, should they be judged in that way? Like in war, must one side win and another lose? Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg certainly doesn't think so.

"This isn't politics. In order for one to win, the other doesn't have to lose," Hirshberg said before attendees at the Gamescom Conference in Germany earlier this year. "This is an entertainment industry, it's an innovation industry and, at best, it's an art form. But we're still a young art form. If we were the movie industry, the movies wouldn't even be talking yet."
source-http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57320391-1/modern-warfare-3-launches-ready-for-war-with-battlefield-3/

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.