Firefox 14 For Android Graduates From Beta, We Go Hands-On

When Mozilla first pushed their latest beta version of Firefox into the Google Play Store last month, it raised a few eyebrows thanks to its dramatic redesign and its claims of “significant” performance enhancements. Now that new version of Firefox (version 14, if you’re keeping track) has cast off its beta trappings, but is it worth your time? Read on to find out.

The name of Mozilla’s game with their latest mobile version of Firefox is performance. Users who took the plunge with Firefox for Android in the early days (and even the not-so-early days) were left with a novel browsing experience that could often be marred by downright slow performance.

“It was a solid product if you were on a high end phone but it was a problem for anything less than that,” said Johnathan Nightingale, Director of Firefox Engineering. “We decided to rebuild it with performance as the focus, and rip apart anything that was slow.” The Android version of Firefox 14 actually went to beta before the desktop version did because the team was concerned about nailing down performance on as many Android devices as they could.

Their effort is certainly apparent in the final product — unlike the previous version (which would temporarily black out the screen on my Galaxy Nexus for a few seconds before displaying the homepage), Firefox 14 springs to life nearly instantaneously after tapping its icon. Loading pages is generally quicker to boot (though still not as downright quick as Chrome), and swiping down through long pages of content is perceptibly smoother than the version that preceded it.

But Firefox’s performance on new devices is only part of the equation. I took the new build for a spin on something decidedly less robust — the Gingerbread-powered Samsung Galaxy Player 3.6, which sports a single-core 1GHz processor. As you would expect, the experience is decidedly less buttery thanks to some pokey hardware, but FF14 still managed to outperform the device’s stock browser in terms of page loading speed and general usability. It’s bound to be a welcome change for users with older or less powerful devices looking for a way to cruise the web with a bit more panache

Firefox 14 is also notable for its inclusion of Flash support, a move that may seem a bit puzzling considering the group’s focus on open web standards like HTML5. Still, it’s hard to deny that there’s still gobs of Flash content peppering the web, and a member of Mozilla’s mobile team mentioned that it took “a bunch of engineering work” to get things working properly across the multiple versions of Android that Firefox 14 plays well with. It goes without saying that running Flash content on an Android device has never really been the most pleasant experience, but it’s here and it works if you somehow feel as though your life is somehow less meaningful without it.

To sweeten the pot for existing Firefox users, the bookmark syncing Firefox Sync feature still allows users to access bookmarks, browser histories, saved passwords, and tabs stored on different devices.

Mozilla has also completely revamped their original mobile UI in favor of one that places much more emphasis on the address bar. It took a ton of getting used to but I was fan of Mozilla’s original concept, one that had users swiping to the left and right to access a list view of their other browser tabs and a control panel for bookmarking and back and forward through webpages. Now all that functionality is crammed into a smaller area, and naturally some changes had to be made.

Perhaps most frustrating is the fact that the reload button has been relegated to a life hidden away from plain sight. In order to reload a page, users now have to tap the menu button first in order to find the option, something that seems terribly odd since it used to live right inside the address bar. Not all of the design tweaks are questionable, as the tab view button nestled next to the address bar displays a running total of how many tabs are open — tapping that button also displays those tabs as real-time thumbnails.

At this point though, Firefox for Android also lacks a few features that have become widely used in rival browsers. The ability to request the desktop version of a page (as seen in the stock ICS browser and the Chrome’s Android beta) immediately comes to mind because of how often I need to use it, though Mozilla’s mobile team confirmed that the feature would appear in a new release sometime this summer. As such, it becomes clear that Firefox isn’t going to be for everyone — fans of sheer performance have Chrome (though Nightingale says that he’d put Firefox 14 against Chrome anyday), and browsers like Dolphin offer features like gesture-based navigation and voice control to wow their users.

But in the end, Mozilla doesn’t view this as a contest. Rivals like Chrome and Dolphin bring different browsing experiences to the table, and Nightingale noted that the cross-pollination of features and ideas will only strengthen the choices users have when it comes to exploring the web. That’s what Mozilla is really after here, and with Firefox 14 they’re doing their part to contribute to a better web.

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Chevrolet The Heartbeat Of America

History Of Chevrolet

The Chevrolet cars began with the auto designs of Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss race car driver. The original founder of General Motors was forced from his position in management, and due to his determined effort to restore his reputation he started to use Louis deigns and creating his own models in 1911. His car models were really successful that he was able to buy a major share of the GM’s stock. In 1916 he became the president of the General Motors Company. Although Chevrolet began as an independent company, it became a part of the General Motors Company.

At first, the Chevrolet cars were being identified and determined by model numbers. However, after the occurrence of World War II, the company finally decided that it will be great for their interest to begin giving their cars real names. Chevrolet was able to develop wide range of car models from two door copes to four-door sedans, mini vans, SUVs, station wagons, sports cars and crossovers. These were the original models, however at the present, station wagons and mini vans were dropped to give way to more popular types.

From the start of the Chevy models, the cars were able to significantly grow both in size and power. The engines that started with four cylinders were upgraded to six cylinders and then the V8 was implemented in 1950s. The early models of the car are very big and are not really fuel efficient.

Then again, as time passes by, fuel has become expensive, finances grew tighter and the company realized the necessity to make something that will not consume too much fuel. They started to downsize and create cars that are smaller and more fuel efficient, which attracted many customers. This was a really smart move.

At the present, the company pays more attention on creating crossover vehicles that can replace the minivan as the modern family car. Crossovers are made to be more fuel efficient, more innovative and modern hence representing the ideology of the dreams of the people. The Travers is an example of one of the popular Chevy models.

Chevy has been capable of creating a reputable and trusted brand that many Americans have trusted for years. They have been through hard times as they need to compete against foreign brands and hike in material prices yet they were able to market their brand effectively and remain on top. Some of the most popular models of Chevrolet that has been in the production for ages are Camaro and Corvette.

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7 Strange Robots the Pentagon is Developing

With a budget in excess of $600 billion, the pentagon is hard at work researching technology that is sometimes bizarre and out of this world. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA is busy bringing in robotic creations to the pentagon that are craziest at the least. Here is a list of some of the strange robots the pentagon has in mind.

No 7. BigDog

BigDog is a dynamically stable quadruped robot created by Boston Dynamics with Foster-Miller, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Harvard University Concord Field Station. It was made in 2005 and can haul, climb, and carry its way over rough terrain. Capable of traversing difficult terrains, running at 4 miles per hour, carrying 340 pounds, and climbing a 35 degree incline, BigDog is intended to one day be able to serve as a robotic pack mule to accompany soldiers in terrain too rough for conventional vehicles.
This strange-looking robot is powered by a two-stroke, one-cylinder and 15-HP go-kart engine operating at over 9,000 RPM.

No 6. Nano Hummingbird Drone

Developed by AeroVironmen, the Nano hummingbird drone is built to look like a bird for potential use in spy missions. It is capable of flying at speeds of up to 11 miles per hour, hovering and flying sideways, backward and forward, as well as going clockwise and counterclockwise, by remote control for about eight minutes of sustained flight.

No 5. LittleDog

A quadruped robot designed for research on learning locomotion, the LittleDog’s four legs are each powered by three electric motors and are strong enough for climbing and “dynamic locomotion gaits.”

No 4. RiSE Climbing Robot

RiSE is a robot capable of climbing vertical terrain such as walls, trees and fences. It has “feet with micro-claws” to climb on textured surfaces. It weighs at 4.4 punds and is able to travel at 0.68 miles per hour.
It has six legs, an on-board computer that manages the coordination of these legs and a variety of sensors.

No 3. PetMan

This is a bipedal device constructed for testing chemical protection suits. The technology is basically derived from BigDog with advanced features such as sweating; simulating both human movement mechanics and human physiology to a much realistic extent.
PetMan is capable of walking on a treadmill i.e. walking, doing squats and pumping out push-ups. It also has a phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.
And as Boston Dynamics President Marc Raibert said:
“Places like the Fukushima reactors could be accessed by Petman-like robots (or AlphaDogs), without requiring any human exposure to hazardous materials. Perhaps firefighting inside of buildings or facilities designed for human access, like on board ships designed for human crews.”

No 2. Crusher

This 13,200-pound monster was developed by researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center for DARPA. Its technical name is Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle and Perceptor Integration System.
It can travel over walls as much as 4 feet high, wooded slopes and can even turn 180 degrees. It can also lower or raise its suspension by as much as 30 inches. Capable of seeing enemy troops from over 2 miles with its cameras, while carrying a maximum of 8,000 pounds of payload and armor combined, it is capable of moving at 26 miles per hour. The downside being, it can sustain that speed for 7 seconds only.

No 1. BigDog with Horns

And those horns would act as weapons, right? Of course, how long would a mechanized donkey last in a battlefield without weapons anyway? Then again, I don’t think horns are going to deflect bullets or something.

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Top 10 Most Powerful Tanks of the World

A tank is a tracked, armored fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities. Firepower is normally provided by a large-caliber main gun in a rotating turret and secondary machine guns, while heavy Armour and all-terrain mobility provide protection for the tank and its crew, allowing it to perform all primary tasks of the armored troops on the battlefield. These tanks serves as the key medium of transportation in the country's army. Here we have listed the top 10 most powerful tanks from all over the world. Take a look at it one by one...

10. M1A1 Abrams (USA) :

The main battle tank of American military sits in the top with its 120mm smooth-bore cannon, classified Chatham armor and a 1500hp engine giving it a top speed of 40mph. Equipped with advanced fire-control computer and damage control systems; it is surely the most hi-tech. Never defeated in a conventional tank battle but it has suffered in the hit-and-run tactics in Iraq. This tank is an American third-generation main battle tank. The tank is named after Gen. Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972.

9. Challenger 2 (UK) :

Challenger 2 is a British main battle tank (MBT) currently in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. It was designed and built by the British company Vickers Defense .The current British main battle tank has seen in action in Iraq. One Challenger was hit by eight RPG’s and a MILAN anti-tank missile, but its crew survived unharmed though shaken. It also uses the same Chatham armor as the Abrams. It can survive 14 hits from rocket propelled grenades and from one MILAN anti tank missile.

8. Al-Khalid (Pakistan) :

In 1990 Pakistan embarked on this project to develop its own tank and within 10 years it has designed manufactured and tested the product which is now in production. This compared to an average time of 13 to 15 years to mature a tank development programmed for most of the western Countries with substantial experience in tank design and manufacture. It is worth mentioning here that it took India 25 years to develop her project of Arjun tank and cost her considerably more. The 125mm smooth gun of the tank is also produced locally. The tank is equipped with night vision equipment and explosive reactive armor for higher level of battlefield survivability. After the field trials with Pak Army, the tank was officially handed over to Pakistan Army on 23 September 2004.

7. T-90 (Russia) :

The T-90S is the latest development in the T-series of Russian tanks and represents an increase in firepower, mobility and protection. It is manufactured by the Uralvagonzavod Plant in Nizhniy Tagil (Potkin’s bureau) of the Russian Federation. The T-90 is a Russian main battle tank and presently the most advance tank in service with the Russian Ground Forces and Indian Army. It entered service in 1992.

6. Leclerc (France) :

The Leclerc main battle tank (MBT) built by Giat Industries is operational with the French Army and the armed forces of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates. The Leclerc was first operational with the French Army in 1992 and with UAE in 1995. Leclerc mk2 tanks with improved software and engine control system entered production in 1998. The French Army has 354 Leclerc MBTs in service and in September 2001 ordered the final tranche of 52, concluding a total order of 406 (plus 20 armoured recovery vehicles). Deliveries completed in October 2007.The Leclerc is the main battle tank of France created by Nexter. It was named for Gen. Philippe Leclerc of WW II. It entered service in 1992 and is also operated by UAE – United Arab Emirates. The French Army has a total of 406 Leclercs and the UAE has 388. A unit of Leclerc is worth ₣ 29,000,000 in 1993.

5. Leopard 2 (Germany) :

The Leopard 2, was first produced in 1979 and is in service with the armies of Austria, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain and Turkey, with over 3,200 produced. The Leopard 2 is the main battle tank of Germany. It entered service in 1979. It first saw combat in Kosovo with the German Army and has also seen action in Afghanistan with the Danish and Canadian ISAF forces. The Leopard 2 is one of the most expensive tanks in the world where a single unit is worth US$4.5 million (Leopard 2A6).

4. Merkava ( Israel) :

First introduced in 1977, the Merkava was design with crew safety and protection in mind. Though low in mobility, it has adapted well to the urban nature of warfare faced by the Israeli forces. But its complex design lowers its production rate. The Merkava, which is means Chariot in Hebrew, is the main battle tank of Israel Defense Forces. A Merkava tank is worth $4.5-$5 million in 2006. The turret assembly is located nearer the rear that gives the crew additional protection against a frontal attack. The rear entrance’s clamshell-style doors provide overhead protection when off- and on-loading cargo and personnel.

3. CI Ariete (Italy) :

The Ariete CI is currently being brought into service and studies are being carried out for an advanced second or third-generation battle tank. The Italian Army took delivery of its first Ariete main battle tank in December 1995. This tank carries the latest optical and digital-imaging and fire-control systems, enabling it to fight day and night and to fire on the move. The first deliveries were in 1995, and the last occurred 7 years later in August 2002.

2. T-84 (Ukraine) :

The T-84, the main battle tank of Ukraine, is one of the fastest existing MBTs in the world, It entered service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 1999.This tank was developed from Soviet T-80. The T-84 Oplot is an advanced version incorporating an armored ammunition compartment in a new turret bustle. The T-84-120 Yatagan is a prototype model intended for export, mounting a 120 mm gun capable of firing standard NATO ammunition and guided missiles.

1. Type 99 ( China) :

Type 99, a 3rd generation main battle tank operated by the Peoples Liberation Army of China, is the fastest tank in the world. The ZTZ99 MBT is considered one of the 12 best tanks in the world. A unit of Type 99 is worth ¥ 17,417,659 Renminbi, approximately US$2.5 million. It is also known as ZTZ-99 and WZ-123. The newest and much improve variant is the Type 99KM It is currently the most advanced MBT in the People’s Liberation Army. It entered the PLA service in 2001.

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World's First Quad SIM Card Cellphone - Flying F160

This Flying F160 is the world's first Quad SIM card, quad standby mobile phone. But why you'd need four SIM cards in your phone is another matter, although I suppose for permanent travelers this could save a bunch of time swapping out cards when you cross a border. The rest of the spec is pretty too, with a 2 inch touchscreen, TV & FM radio, 0.3 mp camera and a choice of colors. Priced, however, at a very reasonable $75.00 . The F160 phone has tons of other great functions, including Bluetooth hands free calling, dual picture and video cameras, and a multimedia player to watch videos and listen to music. Well! then what are you wait for? Get your hands on this cool Quad SIM Phone!

Feature Overview :
4 SIM, 4 Standby
Quad Band GSM
Full QWERTY Keyboard
FM Radio
Dual Cameras
Bluetooth
MP3, Video Player

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Amazing Flying Alarm Clock

It's not that we've gotten lazy as a species, far from it! We're more productive now than we've ever been, but with more and more work to do, we have to create time by cutting down on late night raids on Molten Core, ordering fast-food, talking on the phone while driving… The only time we have left is spent sleeping. Now you have to stay up late and get up early in an effort to get more done.

Waking up after a pitiful five hours of sleep has its own challenges, though. At ThinkGeek, we're always looking for new ways to haul your lazy butt out of bed. Normal alarm clocks wake you up with loud noises to jar you into wakefulness, however we've become accustomed to the snooze-bar… Now, it's become muscular instinct to flail your hands roughly in the direction of the noise, and smack! Nine more minutes of blissful unconsciousness. No more.

The Flying Alarm Clock wakes you up with a loud shrieking alarm coupled with a little propeller-driven key that leaps off your nightstand. To turn off the horrible racket, you have to get out of bed and retrieve the key. The propeller flies the key high into the air and off into some dusty corner. You have to force your sleep addled brain into wakefulness, move your stiff legs and retrieve the key before the alarm goes off. By the time you've done so, you're awake enough at least to go make a pot of coffee.

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Motorola Connected Home Gateway home automation all-in-one hits the FCC with Verizon tags

We first got our eyes on Motorola's Connected Home Gateway home automation box during CES 2012, and now that it's passed through the FCC it should be ready to do its all-in-one magic in real consumer's homes sometime soon. What makes this device special is its ability to speak more than one of the various wireless home control protocols currently in use, easily connecting to, controlling and spitting out macros to make multiple things happen with a minimum of user interference or setup. Want to dim the lights, lower the temperature and turn on security cams as soon as you step outside your door? It can do that. This will all be a part of Verizon's Z-wave based Home Monitoring and Control system at some point, if you're still wondering what possibilities are out there, check out our CES demo video embedded after the break.

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NVIDIA CEO suggests Kepler GPUs could be headed to future 'superphones'

NVIDIA looking for a piece of next-generation smartphones shouldn't come as much of a surprise to anyone, but CEO Jen-Hsun Huang dropped a few details in a recent email to staffers that's sure to spur at least a little excitement. As AnandTech reports, in addition to marking the launch of the company's new Kepler-based GeForce GTX 680 graphics card, he also looked towards future possibilities for the GPU, noting that "today is just the beginning of Kepler," and that "because of its super energy-efficient architecture, we will extend GPUs into datacenters, to super thin notebooks, to superphones." Not surprisingly, that's about as specific as things got as far as mobile devices are concerned, with no mention whatsoever as to when we might see such Kepler-based "superphones."

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Huawei Fusion arrives at AT&T, lets you Go prepaid with Gingerbread for $125

Hey, not everyone needs a bunch-of-core superphone tied down to a two-year contract, so it's always nice to have some solid prepaid options, right? If you shook your head yes to that, you'll be pleased to know that AT&T's just added the Android Gingerbread-loaded Huawei Fusion to its GoPhone lineup. The device features a 3.5-inch (320 x 480) display up front, while on back there's a 3.2-megapixel shooter. Other goodies include Bluetooth 2.1, FM radio functionality and support for up to 32GB of storage via MicroSD. If your still nodding your noggin, the Fusion and its (essentially) utilitarian specs can be yours for the keeping, sans contractual commitment, for just $125. You'll find more info at the links below.

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Minecraft heads to the Xbox 360 on May 9th, do not adjust your TV sets

It may not yet be quite the massive cultural phenomenon that Angry Birds is, but Minecraft is certainly no slouch in the ranks of little-games-that-could, and it's now set to expand its reach even further. Microsoft confirmed today that Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will be available for download on May 9th, with it setting you back 1600 Microsoft Points (or $20). That will apparently buy you a fairly full-featured version of the game, including a revamped crafting interface, "natural controller movements," a tutorial mode, and split-screen multiplayer in addition to multiplayer over Xbox Live. Hit the links below for a closer look at it and the rest of the games in Microsoft's "Arcade NEXT" promotion.

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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Released For Samsung Galaxy S II In Europe

The Android 4.0 ICS software update was presented half a year ago at Samsung + Google “Unwrapping Ice Cream Sandwich” event in Hong Kong along with search giant’s developers smartphone, Galaxy Nexus, world’s first smartphone to come pre-loaded with Android 4.0.

Previous rumors were saying that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update will arrive on Samsung Galaxy S II on March 10th, but the South Korea-based company have dismissed the rumors via Twitter.

Finally the big day have arrived and the rumors have been confirmed, as Samsung announced on Twitter that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich firmware update for Samsung Galaxy S II will be rolled out starting today. The first wave will hit Poland, Hungary, Sweden and South Korea. Other countries will follow shortly and soon the Android 4.0 ICS update for Samsung Galaxy S2 will become global.

We expect the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich software update to hit most European countries by the end of the week. No word yet about the US arrival of the Android ICS 4.0 update.

But the Samsung Galaxy S2 owners aren’t the only ones with reasons to celebrate. Samsung announced that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich software update will soon arrive Samsung Galaxy Note, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9 and 10.1. On the other hand Samsung Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab 7, Galaxy S Plus, Galaxy S SCL and Galaxy W will Android 2.3 Gingerbread firmware upgrades by the end of the month.

Usually the owners of the unlocked terminals are the first to receive the firmware updates, as the carriers are free to roll out the update whenever they want.

If you are one of the lucky Samsung Galaxy S2 owners that received the Android 4.0 ICS update we would highly appreciate to share your opinions and tell us how the OS runs on your device. Remember that the close by swiping and face unlock features come packed with the Android 4.0 update, thus we’d love to know how they work on your Samsung Galaxy S2. We are also curious to see whether the update brings improvements for the camera or for the battery life.

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Nokia 10-inch Windows 8 Tablet To Debut In Q4 2012

After their attempt to return in the battle for the smartphone market supremacy, rumor has it  that Nokia is preparing to launch their first tablet. Nokia’s partnership deal with Microsoft is going to give birth to an interesting tablet that will be running Windows 8. Windows 8 consumer preview was launched on February 29th and is already available for download, so anyone curious to see how Microsoft’s new operating system works can grab it from here.

According to Digitimes, unofficial sources inside the Finland-base phone maker have confirmed that Nokia will launch a tablet running on Microsoft’s Windows 8 by the end of the year. Rumor has it that the Windows 8-powered Nokia tablet will feature a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdraogon S4 processor and 10-inch display, aiming directly towards Apple’s new iPad.

It seems that the Nokia Windows 8 tablet will be launched in Q4 2012, and the Finns could become the world’s first company to build an Windows 8 tablet. After the Finland-based company teamed-up with Microsoft, it managed to become world’s biggest Windows Phone-powered smartphones vendor, which basically helped grow up on the smartphone market, a segment where the Finns were loosing ground lately.

As about the Nokia Windows 8 tablet’s technical specs, rumors say that it will come with a dual-core Qualcomm chipset and 10-inch capacitive touchscreen, but the display resolution is yet a mystery.

By teaming-up with Nokia, Microsoft tries to bite from Apple’s and Google’s market share (both on the tablet and smartphone market), while Nokia attacks the tablet segment, where a lot of manufacturers are fighting for supremacy. Anyway, Apple is no longer the incontestable leader of the tablet market as the Cupertino-based company’s market share dropped from 94.3% to 57.6% over the past one and a half years.

Digitimes reports Nokia’s 10-inch Windows 8 tablet will be manufactured by ODM Compal Electronics, based in Taiwan, with the first batch of shipments to top 200,000 units.

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Instagram Android App in the Works, Network Reached 27 Million Users

If this is the first time you’ve ever heard about Instagram, you should know that this software it’s a photo-sharing application that has become very popular for any iOS device owner in the past few years. How popular this application is? Well, according to its developers it seems that at the SXSW Interactive conference, held yesterday in Austin (Texas) it had more than 27 million registered users.

During the conference, the TechCrunch editor Alexia Tsotsis managed to have a small chat directly with the Instagram co-founder named Kevin Systrom, where she found out that 67% of the registered users who have been active in the last few days, used the Instagram application yesterday.

The well trained editor tried to squeeze more information from Kevin Systrom about those rumors that the company value has raised from $40 million to $500, but the only thing she got was this statement:

“Good companies are always fundraising, but we’re trying to create a long-term, viable company that doesn’t come and go with fads. It should be something that lasts and creates meaningful value.”

One of the most interesting moments of the SXSW Interactive conference was the one when Systrom started to quickly wave on-stage the upcoming Android application, but, unfortunately, he refused to give as a full demo. Their excuse was that the application wasn’t quite ready for a full walkthrough yet, but they assured us that our good friends from Android were really surprised when they’ve seen how it works on their platforms.

Even if they focused on scaling the Instagram application only for iOS devices at the beginning, the co-founder Mike Krieger said that the Android version will much more better, giving the fact that they have much more experience now.

Instagram was first launched in the fall of 2010 and even if it had its ups and downs it turned out to be a very successful application after all. At first the application was a location sharing experiment, but after a while Systrom and Krieger realized that they really can’t compete with other similar applications like Foursquare or Facebook Places, so when the iPhone 4 arrived they decided to borrow some features of the paid camera application (Hipstamatic) and create a similar one but with social features. The new Instagram corroborated with the iOS ability to produce network effects became the perfect combination.

After this drastic change the application shortly became one of the best photography applications available on the market and giving the fact that it was free it managed to raise more than 25.000 users just in one day. A few months after that Systrom and Krieger were the happy owners of a $7 million A Series company.

Lately there are a lot of good things happening to Android users. The Android market is now Google Play and it features books, games and music too. Also some great titles are coming to Android, like the Angry Birds Space.

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iPad Pre-Order Units Already Sold Out Causing Shipment Delays

A few days ago at a press conference in San Francisco, Apple have unveiled the third-generation of their iOS tablet, dubbed iPad. The new iPad is thicker than its successor and it comes with sharper edges and new features.

Only a couple of days after the new iPad was officially unveiled, Apple issued a official press statement quoted by USA Today, saying that the all the iPad units available for the pre-order session have been sold out. Moreover, the officials of Cupertino-based giant admits that the demand for the new iPad has exceeded their expectation, but they haven’t disclosed whether it exceeded last year’s pre-orders.

The new iPad comes with a 9.7-inch Retina Display with an amazing resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, 16/32/64 GB of internal storage, dual-core Apple A5X Cortex-A9 chipset (likely 1GHz) helped by PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU (quad-core graphics), 5MP camera with autofocus, 1080p@30fps video recording support and video stabilization and 4G LTE support. As you probably know, the new iPad comes pre-loaded with Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 5.1.

The price of the entry-level iPad Wi-Fi Only 16GB version of the tablet is of $499, while the 4G LTE-compatible version has a price tag that starts at $629.

For the time being, Apple’s US website says that all the iPad units pre-ordered from US will be shipped on March 19th, while in some European countries the customers will have to wait between 2 and 3 weeks if they post a pre-order for the new iPad now.

Everyone expected Apple to run out of iPads sooner or later, but the production of the new iOS tablet begun more than one month ago, thus millions of tablets must have been shipped out for the pre-orders session that started on Wednesday.

Probably tomorrow we will find out how many iPad units Apple prepared for the shipping process that will begin on Friday and we hope that the launch event scheduled for March 16th will not be affected by the high demand registered for the Cupertino-based company’s new tablet.

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Nokia Lumia 900 To Arrive At AT&T On April 22nd for $99

Less than half a year ago at Nokia World 2011 event in London, the Finland-based company introduced the first fruits of their partnership with Microsoft, two smartphones running on Redmond giant’s mobile operating system, Windows Phone. I am talking about Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 710.

But the fans weren’t satisfied as the rumors were speaking about a more powerful device, with bigger display and high-end specifiactions. This smartphone never failed to appear and several months later, at CES 2012 in Las Vegas, Stephen Elop, CEO at Nokia, introduced the Lumia 900, a 4G LTE terminal that became the flagship of the Finns’ Windows Phone-powered line-up. Anyway, the 4G LTE Nokia Lumia 900 was designed for the North American market and the Europeans wanted one, too.

The global version of the Nokia Lumia 900 was introduced one month later at Mobile World Congress 2012 and it was basically the same device with the exception of the 4G LTE chip.

A week ago we told you that the 4G LTE version of Nokia Lumia 900 will soon arrive at AT&T and it seems the rumors were pretty accurate, only it’s not as soon as we expected.

Early rumors were saying that Nokia’s Windows Phone flagship will arrive at the US-based carrier on March 18th for $99, but now it seems that the Lumia 900 launch have been delayed. Reports show that the 4G LTE smartphone might join AT&T’s line-up on April 22nd. The good news is that the price will remain the same: $99 on a two-year contract.

Those not aware of Nokia Lumia 900′s techincal specifications should know that the flagship smartphone comes packed with a single core 1.4GHz Qualcomm APQ8055 Snapdragon chipset and Adreno 205 GPU, 512MB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, front facing 1.3 megapixel camera, 8 megapixel camera on the back with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash and HD video recording capabilities, WiFi, Bluetooth, microUSB, NFC and 4G LTE chip.

As you probably guessed, Nokia Lumia 900 leaves the factory gates pre-loaded with Microsoft’s latest mobile OS, Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. AT&T gave this rumor the “no comment” treatment, so it will be wiser to wait for an official confirmation before getting too enthusiastic about Lumia 900′s debut, which in my opinion can’t be too far away.

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Samsung Market Share Triples, While iPhone Fails To Grow In China

All the smartphone manufacturers are interested in the Chinese market, as the Asian country has a huge potential when it comes to buying the new handset releases. Thus, the battle on the smartphone segment is fierce in China and, for the time being, it looks like Samsung is winning. The experts forecast that in 2012 the Chinese market will witness a growth of 52%.

If studies are right it means that 137 million smartphone units would be sold in China and the Asian country’s smartphone market would overtake the US market for the first time in history.

Apple’s strategy to sign a partnership deal with only carrier on the Chinese market seems to be a massive fail, as their main rivals, Samsung has a huge share on the smartphone market in the Asian country.

Reports are indicating that Apple is only the 5th smartphone vendor in China, while Samsung holds the supremacy on the Chinese market.

7.5% of the smartphones sold in world’s second largest economy were iPhones, while their South Korean rivals have a market share of 24.3%.

Samsung’s supremacy on the Chinese market is the result of the partnership deals the South Korea-based company signed with the country’s three most important carriers in 2009: China Unicom (200 million users), China Telecom (129 million users) and China Mobile (655 million users). On the other hand Apple is only selling the iPhone via China Unicom.

Last week the Cupertino-based company have signed a deal with China Telecom  which should help Apple improve their market share. Anyway we don’t believe that Apple will be able to get closer to Samsung in the near future as China Telecom is the smallest carrier from the three that already signed deals with the South Korean company.

Anyway we’ll see how Apple will handle the situation as their South Korea-based control 24.3% of the smartphone market. Gartner analyst Sandy Shen said that he doesn’t expect Apple to replace Samsung as biggest smartphone vendor in China any time soon.

Source

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Best Pocket Camcorder – Sony Bloggie Touch Review & Unboxing

If you are a Blogger who loves taking product reviews and unboxing videos then for sure you would be trying out different camcorders but most of them would fail in the quality aspect because either some of the Camera’s are bulky while some of them are good enough but costly which can go above your budget. Here is one very creative and useful camera from Sony which is called as the ‘Bloggie’ and is available in different models based on the consumer requirements and budgets. In this article we are going to review the Sony Bloggie Touch MHS-TS20/S 8GB Model which is currently the best in the series.

Camcorder Design

If you are interesting in taking a video of some small meetup, get together or a funny act going around your blog, would you opt for using a Costly Professional Camera with a Large Lens and a Tripod or would you opt for a Budget Camcorder with awesome recording facility and the size of a mobile Phone? The Sony Bloggie Touch is one of the best in this series because its small, compact, costs $199 and can shoot amazingly great videos.

The overall size of this camera is 2.1-by-4.3-by-0.6-inch (HWD) which is almost around the size of the Apple iPhone 4. The front has a large 3″ Touch Screen using which you can perform different actions with a large RED Button which is useful for capturing videos. One the back you have the camera and the SONY logo.

On the sides of the Camera you the ON / OFF button, one button for taking still photos and on the other side there is a mini-HDMI port for connecting the Bloggie to a HDTV. There is a push-to-pop out USB port in it, that can be used to connect the camcorder directly to the computer to transfer the captured videos or images. Just adjacent to the USB port, there is the socket to fix the camera on a tripod stand for still capturing.

There are no more such buttons, and most of the things can be done using the display screen, where flipping through photos, videos, setting the options for camcorder and capturing pictures etc. can be done. One of the good features of the Bloggie is that it works both in Portrait and Landscape mode, and rotates by itself. Not just the display but the options in it too rotate and arrange themselves when the Bloggie is rotated to switch the viewing mode.
The viewing of the photos and videos is similar to what we see in the Apple gadgets, slide through them with your finger. There are different levels of recording videos and capturing pictures, i.e. the video recording can be done at 1080p, 720p, 640p quality and the still images can be captured at 12MP, 8MP or 2MP quality.

Camcorder Performance

One of the best camcorders that we always have seen was the Flip Mino HD, and Flip UltraHD but they were limited to just a few options, and seemed to have been made to record videos. Nothing extra. But the Sony Bloggie Touch is power packed with features and extras that the pocket-sized camcorders never had. Of course the DSLR cameras can beat it, but we are not comparing the video quality with the professional ones. For a camcorder for this small size and purpose, the video quality is excellent. The videos recorded at both 1080p quality and 720p quality were clear, bright and the colors were beautifully displayed.

One small problem with the audio here is that the recording is too clear and that’s the reason why all the background sounds are noted too. It makes the audio quality a little low, though it is good enough to hear what we actually want to hear.

Autofocus – One of the best features with the Bloggie Touch. With some other camcorders you need to do that yourself by maintaining a distance from the object while recording the videos but the Bloggie adjusts the focus by itself depending on the video quality you preferred, and so you don’t need to keep adjusting the distance for clarity.

Starting up and recording – I liked the speed of starting up of the Bloggie camcorder. Just a few seconds and the Bloggie starts, ready to record the video. When we press the record button, it instantly starts the video recording. This is a lot faster than the other similar-sized camcorders and the professional cameras too, all of which take some time to start up and record the videos.

Orientation – Here we need to remember that for a full screen video quality, the camcorder needs to be used in a landscape mode. Because, when you would hold it vertically the video recording and playback too is done vertically, reducing the quality when we rotate the video purposefully.

Picture quality – Similar to any other cameras, the image quality reduces with zooming in, but I loved the quality of the images produced when capturing in 12MP quality. The pictures are in JPEG quality. I would suggest not to consider this as a digital camera quality provider, as there is no proper image stabilization and no flash too.

Connectivity – The Bloggie camcorder provides an easy connectivity options to the HDTV and to computers, where the flip-out USB arm can help easily connect the device to the computers and a simple software for Windows computer helps in exploring the videos and image files organized in folders. For Mac, the things are far easier although there is no software, the camcorder acts as an external storage. While the connection with the computer is on, the Camcorder has the options to upload the videos to Facebook and YouTube directly.

Final Words

The Bloggie Touch camcorder is one of the perfect pocket-sized camcorders for recording HD videos, and occasionally captures pictures too. The large touchscreen LCD is well responsive, and the design is very sleek with a small size. Though there is no more option to extra accessories and connectivity, the given features can be pretty enough to get things done. The video is captured at various frame rates, and I would limit the capturing to videos due to the lack of flash, and indoor photography is not markedly well.

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Concept of Rotor 360 Camera by Charlie Nghiem

Designer Charlie Nghiem suggested that the concept of the camera called Rotor 360 Camera specially designed for those who like high-tech stuffing technique, but does not like to bother the user guide. Menus and submenus light enough to get lost in them. The design consists of a column that combines all the key functions in one place for optimal use. The column consists of several cylinders stacked on each other. To obtain access to functions and menus to scroll through the cylinder with your finger to the desired function.

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BlackBerry PlayBook

After experiencing both the ups and downs in the smartphone market, Research In Motion (RIM) is now trying to make its way in the tablet industry as well. The new Blackberry PlayBook tablet is the company’s first effort in this regard. Released in April 2011, this tablet is working really hard to make some productive revenue for its developers, if nothing else. We’ll now take a look at the goods and bads of this device in detail. So jump in!

Blackberry PlayBook Specs and Features
The tablet features 1 GHz dual core processor and 1 GB of Random-Access Memory (RAM). It has a distinctive 7-inch LCD screen with WSVGA 1024 x 600 pixel resolution,and acapacitive panel with multi-touch capabilities. The compact screenmakes this tabletreally handy by reducing its total weight to 0.9 lbs, which is much lighter as compared to the iPad.

PlayBook is backed by the new Blackberry Tablet OS with QNX technology, an operating system that also supports symmetric multiprocessing. The device also flaunts twin 1080p HD cameras ideal for making high-quality videos and video conferencing. The rear camera is 5 mega-pixels and the front-facing camera is 3 mega-pixels, definitely better than the low-quality iPad cameras in every way.Not just that, this Blackberry Tablet also have 1080p HDMI output; GPS; accelerometer; stereo speakers and microphones; digital compass; micro USB port; and 6-axis motion sensor (gyroscope). In terms of connectivity, the device can be connected through Bluetooth (2.1+ EDR) or Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n).Later, it will be updated to support WiMax, LTE, and HSPA+ as well, probably by the end of this year.

The Blackberry PlayBook release took place on April 19, 2011 with Best Buy being its preferred retailer in the USA. The device is available in three models, differentiating each other on the basis of external storage and also prices. Therefore, the 16 GB PlayBook is priced at $499, 32 GB at $599, and the 64 GB version is available at $699 in North America.

BlackberryPlayBook Review
Even after having such amazing features and smart technology, the Blackberry PlayBook couldn’t manage to attract users like the iPad. Why? There are a number of reasons for that. Let’s find out!

First, the PlayBookapps are pretty limited, especially when we compare them with Apple or Android applications. This majordrawback automatically reduces its usability and makes the device less enjoyable. There’s no doubt that applications play a great role in maintaining the reputation of devices. That’s why the continuously growing app stores of Apple and Android do not let their devices fade out from the market so easily.

Secondly, the Blackberry PlayBook price is pretty much similar to the iPad 2, which makes it a lot easier for buyers to make their choice between the two. Of course, no sane person would want to spend their money on an unstable new device, when a highly rated device is available at the same price.

And lastly, the false promise! The Blackberry tablet claims to give a battery life of up to 10 hours, but it actually gives much lesser time when compared with other tablets.According to a test done by Engadget, the PlayBook displayed an average battery life of 7:01 hours, which was fairly less than the iPads, Motorola Xoom and even Archos 101.

Overall, the Blackberry PlayBook is purty, smart and unique but it is also true that the industry is already dominated by a name-brand tablet. Therefore, the new tablet developers should consider all of the various aspects including features, competitors, prices, and of course timing before releasing their final products in the market.

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HTC EVO 4G – Sensational Reveiw

HTC EVO 4G is Sprint’s wonder phone revealing stunning specs and great looks.It’s the first 4G phone in the United States packed with the absolute android awesomeness. We’ll now see in detail if this CDMA is really a showstopper or just another bragger.

HTC EVO4G specs and features

The phone features 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD 8650 processor, which is currently supported by Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. Its 4.3”capacitive display vaunts WVGA resolution and multi-touch capabilities. The 8 mega pixel camera is another dynamic addition to the phone, complemented with 2x LED flash and Auto-focus skills. It is also capable of making 720p HD videos, which you can enjoy on your TV screens with the help of EVO’s HDMI port.There’s also a front 1.3 mega pixel camera with fixed focus, typically ideal for video chat and self-portrait.

The value added features like HTC Sense, Friend stream, WiMax mobile Wi-Fi router, HTC Sync, Amazon MP3 adds a lot of entertaining possibilities to the HTC EVO 4G. Battery is rechargeable 1500 mAh Li-ion, which is also compatible with the batteries of HTC Incredible, Hero, and Touch Pro 2. The device claims to give a talk time of around 5 hours and stand-by time of 146 hours.

The internal memory of this phone is composed of 1 GB ROM and 512 MB RAM. An eight GB microSD card is also included in the handset, which gives you a nice room for storage. One of the most amazing HTC EVO 4G specs is the Mobile Hotspot, which lets up to 8 Wi-Fi enabled devices, use the phone’s internet concurrently. Cool, isn’t it?

Other than that, there’s 802.11 b/g WLAN, 2.1 Bluetooth, and GPS navigation for your ease. Total weight of the device is just 6 ounces with battery.EVO’s unique kickstand completely satisfies its users by upholding the large screen for viewing entertaining HD stuff. In other words, it’s definitely a kickass stand.

HTC EVO 4G price
The phone is sold exclusively by Sprint, which provides different prices for different plans. With a 2 year contract, you have to choose from three different mobile plans that range from $69.99 a month (for 450 minutes) to $99.99 a month (for unlimited talktime).If you pick the unlimited plan with premium data (worth $10/month), then your total HTC EVO 4G price becomes $109.99 per month.Similarly, if you pick the cheapest 450 minutes plan, then your total becomes $79.99 a month. Either way, Sprint charges you mainly for the plan and services you choose, as the device itself is priced as $0.01 only.

HTC EVO4G reviews
Although the phone claims to give such a fair battery time, many people still complain about its quick and frustrating drainage in no time. Otherwise, the phone is still and will always remain one of the best Android devices ever. Its success is also proven by the release ofits successor HTC EVO 3D, which has taken the whole EVO charisma to a new dimension.

In all the good ways, this phone has definitely worked out for Sprint, which is exactly why we call it the Sprint’s darling!

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