Features Of The New Facebook Groups

Group Notifications
One of the most significant features that Facebook groups used to have was the ability for administrators to message members of the group directly. Now Facebook has made it so that all messages (or any other objects) posted to the wall in within groups will generate notifications. These notifications drive users back to the group, however users can also opt-out of these notifications by clicking on the “Edit Notifications”.
Group Chat
Group chat is probably one of the most significant features of the new Facebook Groups product. All members of a group have the ability to engage in a single chat window. The one downside of this is that it group chat rooms can become pretty noisy. This is a major upgrade however in that Facebook now has “chat rooms”, something that the classic AOL was infamous more. Don’t call it that though! The primary difference between a traditional chat system and the Facebook group chat system is that unless your group is “Secret” (and undiscoverable in search), your real identity is being used.
In AOL Chat, IRC, and other open chat platforms, users would use their aliases as a way to mask their real identity.
Docs
One other feature of Facebook’s new groups product is the ability to post “Docs”: basic text documents with a minor amount of markup available (bold, italics, and lists). Documents also have a revision history which users can navigate back through. While this is no Google Docs product in terms of robustness, it’s definitely a useful feature.
Groups Have Become An Integral Component Of Facebook
Facebook groups are now an integral component of the entire Facebook experience. Between group chat, docs, and an eventual groups developer platform, Facebook is aiming to become a more significant communications and collaboration platform.

Facebook announcement

Facebook announced three new features that the company says will give its users more control over the information they share and receive on the social networking site.
Now,The 500 million users of Facebook will be able to group their friends so they can share specific information with specific groups, be it work friends, college friends, family, etc.

Under the new feature called Groups, users can create sets of friends and share information solely with that social circle. He said the solution stems from what Facebook has done with Photos, where 95% of users on Facebook are tagged in Photos as a result of friends tagging them
This same "social solution" principle will apply to Groups,where a small proportion of users would create a group, allowing all their friends to benefit from their work.
There will be another feature called "Download Your Information" where users (after their identity is verified) will be able to download a log of all their activity of Facebook, including recent wall posts, photos shared, comments made and messages sent.

"Philosophically, that's a core thing that people want from Facebook. "People want to be able to easily take their information to another service and do that in safe way."

And lastly, a new dashboard that allows users to see all of the apps that they use on one page was unveiled. It will also allow users to monitor and manage all their Facebook tools, like privacy settings and deleting unwanted apps.

Cisco unveils Umi consumer video conferencing system

Cisco's announced the consumer-level HD video conferencing system that's been rumored for a while now. Called Umi, (you me) the system consists of a 1080p camera module, remote, and a separate set-top box. Cisco says Umi will allow for full 1080p video calls with 720p/30 recording, with a fallback to 720p / 480p if bandwidth is constrained. The camera itself has a glass lens with an optical zoom, autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance, as well as motorized pan, tilt, and zoom. There's also a motorized privacy shutter, which is a nice touch. The service is compatible with Google Voice and Video Chat, and Cisco says it's looking into FaceTime integration as well

Cisco says it'll be demoing Umi on Oprah and launching an ad campaign with Ellen Page in the runup to a holiday launch, but none of that will distract from the required $24.99 monthly / $275 annually Umi service plan and $599 MSRP

How To Hide Your Phone Number On Facebook

There are two options: remove it from your profile or use Facebook’s privacy settings. The problem with not entering your phone number is that Facebook actually uses the number to verify that it’s your actual account. As such, I don’t recommend using this model. Instead, go to the privacy settings area and click on the custom tab on the left, and then on the “Customize Settings” link, as pictured below.

After you’ve landed on the custom privacy settings page, scroll down to the “Contact Information” area. In that area you’ll see settings for each of your contact items including your phone, address, IM screen name, and any email addresses you have added to your account. You can customize who can view each piece of information by clicking on the drop down box next to “Mobile phone” or “Other phone” and then select “Custom”. Once you do that, you should see the following dialog box:

Ultimately it’s up to you how you set your phone number visibility, however I have limited my number to friends only. If you want to get really specific with the people who can view your phone number you can select the option “Specific People…” and then manually type in the name of each person who can have access to your phone number. Alternatively, you can block anybody on the site (including your friends) from seeing your phone number by selecting the option “Only Me”.

Google Goggles now available on iPhone in Google Mobile App

Today google announced that Google Goggles is now a feature of Google Mobile App for iPhone Google Mobile App already lets you speak your queries, and it can also use your phone’s location to give you more relevant search results.

In the new version of Google Mobile App just tap on the camera button to search using Goggles. Goggles will analyze the image and highlight the objects it recognizes


Computer vision is a hard problem and Google Goggles is still a Labs product. It works well for things such as landmarks, logos and the covers of books, DVDs and games. However, it doesn’t yet work for some things you might want to try like animals, plants or food.


Google Mobile App with Google Goggles is now available in the Apple App Store. Just search for “Google Mobile App” and download the latest version - it’s free. It will gradually be appearing in all App Stores around the world starting from today.


Goggles is enabled only for English-speaking users, and since it requires an auto-focusing camera it is supported only on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 running iOS 4 or above. Visit google Help Center to learn more or send us your feedback and questions in google Help Forum


So step away from your computer, get your Goggles on, and search the world around you.

HOW TO: Get Google TV

Google TV is a software platform for set-top boxes and HDTVs based on the Android OS. It is co-developed by Google, Intel, Sony and Logitech. This project was officially announced by Google and its partners on May 20, 2010.
Google TV will also have Google Chrome web-browser (along with Adobe Flash). People can access the web and online video content, similar to Desktop and other devices. It also has support for services such as YouTube, Twitter, Netflix, and Hulu. You can use your Android phone or iPhone to control your Google TV instead of using a remote control. You can also use your voice to search, and even use multiple phones to control the same TV.

There are only two possible ways to get this Google TV, you need to get a standalone smart TV [Sony Internet TV] or get a separate box to use with your current TV [Logitech Revue]. Mostly probably they both will be on sale this fall.

The Sony Internet TV provides richer internet access so you can browse the web just like you would from a computer. Seamlessly navigate between websites and TV channels or enjoy both at the same time. On the same screen.

The Sony Internet TV makes searching for content faster and simpler than ever before. Whether you’re looking for a channel, show, or website, it’s never been easier to find what you want.
After months of collaboration between Logitech and Google, the Google TV project was announced at Google I/O 2010. Logitech Revue will act as a separate box through which you can access Google TV.

If you want to know when this products will be launched or if you need further information about them,here is the Link

Google Acquires BlindType

Google has recently acquired mobile typing company BlindType.

The company blog for BlindType has recently announced that it has just been acquired by Google. The main reason for the acquisition may be yet be known, but Google may be in the process of further improving their Android OS for smart phones. Better virtual typing features may be just one of them.

BlindType is a start-up company known to be developing a more improved mobile-device typing. Since most smart phones today are increasingly relying on virtual keyboards featured on touchscreen displays for typing, acquiring BlindType may be a way for Google to further improve this feature on its Android OS for mobile devices. Who knows if Google may also be developing a new smart phone or a similar device that would be using a feature that will come out of this new partnership.

Google Insight For Search

Google introduced Google Insight For Search . it is a Search Tool is still in the beta phase, you can take a look at it.

It will give you a LOT more information than is available from the older Google Trends tool. It will tell you whether interest is growing or decaying for your keywords and keyword phrases -- plus tell you the words and phrases that are really hot for your topic.

Play with the tool and its many features for a few minutes and you'll be amazed at what you can learn about your topic.

Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the Google Insights page and take a look at the list of Top Searches words and phrases and the list of Rising Searches. This will give you a direction to follow for future posts.

7 Reasons Why Google Should Not Buy Twitter

Twitter would require an obnoxiously large amount

Twitter has a ridiculous valuation right now without really having the revenue to show for it. In order to purchase Twitter, Google would probably need to write a check for $5 Billion at the minimum. If you think about the idea of the purchase price being 10X revenue, that you mean that Twitter would need $500 Million in revenue. I don’t think anyone has heard of any revenue estimates for 2010 anywhere near that number.

Twitter has not proven to be stable

Twitter continues to be unstable over the long term. Does Google really want to deal with those problems? If Twitter could be more reliable over the long term, they would not need Google’s help. So stability is more of a catch-22.

Twitter’s revenue plans are not in line with Google’s

Twitter revenue has been in promoted trends and promoted tweets so far. This is basically just fancy advertising so it would seem to be in the same arena as Google’s revenue. However, Google’s properties make a point of the advertising not being in the content.

Twitter’s infrastructure is nothing like Google’s

Supposedly, Google likes their acquisitions to port their code to the Google infrastructure. I am not sure how much of this is true, but Twitter has been known to use Java, Ruby, Scala, and almost anything else that will work at the time.

Just because they have the cash

I have seen the reason that Google should buy Twitter because Google has enough cash to do it. That is like saying I should buy a new car because I have the cash to do it. Do I need the car? Why would I buy something, just because I have the money to do it.

Just to compete with Facebook

The other reason that seems to be popular is that Google needs to compete with Facebook somehow, so buying Twitter is the best option. How does Twitter help you fight Facebook? Twitter does not know how to fight Facebook, and even tries to avoid comparisons to Facebook.

Buying Facebook is a better idea

If you are really looking to make a big purchase, why not buy what really makes sense. Buy Facebook for $30 billion. You really do not want to compete with Facebook, but their revenue, estimated to be over $1 Billion in 2010, would be a great addition. You can leave Facebook completely alone to run their business, and just reap the long term benefits.

Author: Louis Gray

Google TV Updates

Google TV is a new way to think about TV: it’s a platform that combines your current TV programming and the open web into a single, seamless entertainment experience.

One of our goals with Google TV is to finally open up the living room and enable new innovation from content creators, programmers, developers and advertisers. By bringing Google Chrome and access to the entire Internet, you can easily navigate to thousands of websites to watch your favorite web videos, play Flash games, view photos, read movie reviews or chat with friends—all on the big screen.

Turner Broadcasting has been hard at work optimizing some of their most popular websites for viewing on Google TV, including TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, available anytime through Google TV.

NBC Universal has collaborated with Google TV to bring CNBC Real-Time, an application that allows you to track your favorite stocks and access news feeds while enjoying the best financial news from CNBC directly on the TV screen.

HBO will bring access to hundreds of hours of programming to Google TV with HBO GO. Authenticated subscribers will soon be able to access all of their favorite HBO content on-demand in an enhanced website for Google TV.

NBA has built NBA Game Time, an application that lets you follow game scores in real-time and catch up on the latest highlights from your favorite team in HD.
In addition, google partnered with some of the leading premium content providers to bring thousands of movie and TV titles, on-demand, directly to your television. Amazon Video on Demand offers access to over 75,000 titles for rental or purchase, and Netflix will offer the ability to instantly watch unlimited movies and TV shows, anytime, streaming directly to the TV.







Google is also working with some leading technology and media companies to optimize their content for Google TV, including news sites like The New York Times and USA Today; music sites like VEVO, Pandora and Napster; information networks like Twitter; and online networks like blip.tv. And with YouTube Leanback, we can offer the best experience for you to watch your favorite viral videos and personalized channels on the television.


Today Google also launched a new website that provides more information about these apps and all of the other great features of Google TV. And if you want to stay up to speed on the latest developments from the Google TV team, check out our new blog.

Facebook Allows High Resolution Photos, Bulk Tagging, and Makes More Improvements to Photos

On october 1st Facebook begins rolling out multiple improvements to its photos product. Users will be able to upload and download high resolution photos, quickly view photos in a pop-up light box view without leaving the page they are currently viewing, utilize two bulk tagging features to tag one person in multiple photos simultaneously, and use a streamlined and more reliable Flash uploading tool. Despite the monetary cost, Facebook has made the changes to keep the world’s most popular photos product technologically competitive.

Five months ago Facebook acquired photo sharing startup Divvyshot, who’s founder Sam Odio product managed these changes. Odio tells us “We took a fresh look at the photos product, built a new vision, and this is first step towards that vision. Facebook is building out a larger photos team, photos are becoming a priority within the company, and it’s something we felt like we should be doing for our users.” The new changes will only go live for a small random subset of users later today because of the 100 million photos Facebook takes in a day. However, barring any significant problems, the changes will be rolled out to 100% of the user base over the next few weeks.

High Resolution Photos

Users will now have the option to upload photos at 2048 pixels along the largest side as well as Facebook’s standard 720 pixels. This 8 times improvement in quality will cover the resolution of photos taken by most consumer cameras. Larger photos, such as those shot with DSLRs, will be re-sized down to 2048 pixels, or roughly 6000 kilobytes, on the user’s side just before the upload occurs. This means that if you try to upload a 6 megabyte photo, you won’t have to wait for that large file to be sent to Facebook. Users will still have to be patient, however, as the uploader notes high resolution photos take up to 10 times longer to upload.

Anyone will be able to view the print quality, high resolution photos on Facebook’s web interface, and there will be a link below them to initiate a download of a .jpg of the photo. The high resolution will allows users to print 5×7 inch photos at 300 DPI, or perhaps even 8x10s, without any degradation of the image. High resolution photos will also be available through the API, opening opportunities for print products, and high resolution photo experiences on HD televisions. Odio says he’s excited to see what the API partners come up with.

Facebook will still be using its Haystack storage infrastructure for high resolution photos. The significant drop in storage costs over the last five years makes the high resolution feasible, but it will still cost millions of dollars. Odio says, “Zuckberg made the decision. He though users would appreciate high resolution. He looked at the tab and said ‘Let’s do it.’” Odio explained that all the other major photo sharing sites offer high resolution, including Divvyshot, and while Facebook had previously been focused on sharing memories, not pixels, Facebook is ready to “get with the times”.

Light Box View Of Photos

Soon, you will be able to click a photo anywhere on site, on the news feed or within albums, and the photo will load over a darkened background of the content you were viewing. You can then browse to adjacent photos, or click out or hit escape to close the light box and resume viewing the page you were previously looking at. The view will also include comments and Likes below the photo, only one advertisement instead of two, and the total amount of other text and distracting graphics will be minimal.

Light box view will also help photos load faster. Instead of sending a get http request for a whole new page which would have to be generated by the server and sent back, now Facebook will just construct the light box over your current page and immediately start downloading the image. The image may appear first, followed by the comments and Likes a tiny fraction of a second later.

The change should help users keep their desktops tidy. Previously when users wanted to retain their place in Facebook but view a photo, they would typically load the photo in a new tab. Odio say, “This seemed like a clumsy experience. The funny thing is that everyone is tracking page views. This change will probably cause a significant hit to page views, but we but we think it’s better. It loads much faster and you don’t lose your context in the content you were interested in.”

Bulk Tagging

When you go to any album page, you’ll be able to click “Tag photo”, enter a friend’s name, click the face of that friend in multiple photo thumbnails, and hit save to simultaneously tag that person in all of those photos. “People were doing an incredible amount of tagging, but it seemed like a terrible user experience to have to tag each individual photo separately”. Odio says it might sound difficult to pinpoint faces in thumbnails, but it’s actually quite easy.

The original uploader of photos will have access to an express bulk tagging system. Facebook will recognize the same face being present in multiple photos, and temporarily the group photos with the same face together making it easy to tag that person in all those photos simultaneously. This should alleviate uploader tagging fatigue, which frequently resulted in users leaving their friends to tag themselves.

Flash Uploader and Streamlined Flow

Facebook is implementing a new Flash uploader which increases reliability and takes advantage of the greater market penetration of Flash. Facebook has experimented with Java clients and browser plugins over the years, but rewrote the uploader in Flash for its ability to select multiple photos at once. The upload flow has also been streamlined. When you hit “upload photos” you’ll immediately begin selecting photos, and not be first asked to create and name an album as you were before.

Reliability is measured by how many users who at first click “upload” actually end up with new photos appearing on the site. Facebook expects at 5-10% increase in reliability thanks to the Flash uploader and streamlined flow. While users in the US with modern computers and fast connections might not see much difference, users in countries like Indonesia with older computers and worse connections will have a much improved upload experience.

Free Entertainment Apps for iPhone

Now get your favorite Comcast® services on your iPhone and iPod touch with this free Comcast mobile application.
Category: Entertainment
Updated:Jul 26, 2010
Current Version:2.2
Language:English
Seller:Comcast Cable Communications
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later.

Avaya A175 Business-oriented Tablet

Avaya has introduced new business-oriented tablet that is recognized as Avaya A175,expected to cost between $1,500 and $2,000, this 11.5-inch enterprise tablet is designed primarily to be used at a cubicle, doubling as a SIP phone and tripling as an office collaboration tool. Dubbed a “Polycom killer” more than an iPad killer, this unit relies on Aura 6.0 and the newly designed Flare user interface (detailed in the video past the break), which enables touchscreen operation and supports multi-user video calling, email, web browsing and support for Android applications. Specs wise, it’s “slightly thicker than an iPad,” has a trio of USB 2.0 ports, inbuilt WiFi, 3G / 4G WWAN support and an integrated battery for those days when you simply have to clock in from the comfort of Venice Beach. Hit that More Coverage link for a live report at the device’s unveiling, and feel free to start hassling your manager to order up a few dozen of these. Or use that money for office-wide raises — whatever floats your boat.

UEFI -A replacement to BIOS

New PCs could start in just seconds, thanks to an update to one of the oldest parts of desktop computers.

The upgrade will spell the end for the 25-year-old PC start-up software known as Bios that initialises a machine so its operating system can get going.

ios' replacement, known as UEFI, will predominate in new PCs by 2011.

The acronym stands for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface and is designed to be more flexible than its venerable predecessor.

UEFI frees any computer from being based around the blueprint and specifications of the original PCs. For instance, it does not specify that a keyboard will only connect via a specific port.

The first to see the benefits of swapping old-fashioned Bios for UEFI have been system administrators who have to oversee hundreds or thousands of PCs in data centres or in offices around the world.

"Conventional Bios is up there with some of the physical pieces of the chip set that have been kicking around the PC since 1979," said Mark Doran, head of the UEFI Forum, which is overseeing development of the technology.

Before now, said Mr Doran, getting those machines working has been "pretty painful" because of the limited capabilities of Bios.

By contrast, he said, UEFI has much better support for basic net protocols - which should mean that remote management is easier from the "bare metal" upwards.

For consumers, said Mr Doran, the biggest obvious benefit of a machine running UEFI will be the speed with which it starts up.

Source: On This Page

Tweetbeat -The Best of Twitter in RealTime

-Tweetbeat scans more than 90 million Twitter updates each day, using semantic technology to pick out the most interesting people discussing the most interesting topics, in real time. The Mountain View start-up bills the service as "the end of hashtags" because its users would no longer have to tag an update.

Tweetbeat is a real-time source for what people are saying about any major event.

• LiveFollow event streams to see up-to-the-minute reactions from fans, experts and celebs.
• Replay tweets from earlier events.
• Watch Firsthand commentary from key people and players at the event.
• Read Headlines about the event from top news sources.
• Get Recommendations for people to follow who share your event interests.
• Search for events happening right now.

Kosmix, which officially released its Tweetbeat product Wednesday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco.

TweetBeat Website http://tweetbeat.com/about

Google Street View Hits All Seven Continents

Today google announce that you can now explore Street View imagery on all seven continents, with the addition today of Brazil, Ireland and Antarctica.

The original idea behind Google Street View was a good one: give everyone in the world a view from any street in the world. Of course, when it launched in May 2007, Street View was only available in five cities in the U.S. But the update today — over three years later — completes an impressive feat for the product: it’s now available on every continent. Yes, all seven. Yes, that includes Antarctica. Yes, a place with no real streets.


You can now see images from around the world spanning from the beaches of Brazil, to the moors of Ireland, to the icy terrain in Antarctica.
visit visit the Street View gallery


More info On this google blog

Google Phone Gallery

Today google rolled out Google Phone Gallery -- a showcase of Android-powered devices that deliver the best Google experience today. Check it out at http://www.google.com/phone
All the phones in the gallery include Android Market, Google Search, and other Google Mobile services such as Gmail, Maps, and YouTube. There are tools that make it easy to compare phones side by side: you can filter phones by country, manufacturer, and carrier; view and compare technical specifications and features; and find where each phone is available for sale.
Source : On This Page

Predictions for the Future of Display Ads by google

1. Google announced two new kinds of video ads for YouTube and predicted that half of display ads would include cost-per-view videos that viewers choose to watch. On YouTube, people will be able to skip video ads they don’t like after five seconds (and the advertiser won’t pay for those views) or choose which of three ads to watch.

2. Half of the audience will be viewing ads in real-time, Google predicted. That means changing elements of ads on the fly based on things like location, the viewer’s interests and the weather. Google demonstrated technology from Teracent, an advertising company it acquired, that changes a car ad depending on whether the viewer is in a sunny or rainy place, is a woman or a man, and prefers shopping or sports. The technology would allow “millions of possible permutations,” Mr. Salzman said.

3. Google has been talking for a while about mobile being a priority and predicted that cellphone screens would be the No. 1 screen for viewing the Web by 2015. In display advertising, that means using phones to bridge the gap between a magazine ad and an online ad. An app called Google Goggles already lets people take photos of things like a landmark to search for them on Google. Eventually, people will be able to take a cellphone photo of a print automobile ad, for instance, and see the car in 3-D, zoom in and visit the company’s Web site.

4. There are metrics more important than clicks. “Whatever the marketing goal is, you should be able to measure it,” Mr. Salzman said. In addition to measuring engagement with rich media ads and video views, other examples of new forms of advertising measurement include “sentiment analysis” that examines “the tone of consumer comments about a brand” and geo-based metrics will allow marketers to measure the increase in foot traffic or to their stores.

5. Three quarters of all ads will be socially enabled. “All users will be able to share an ad, comment on an ad and give feedback on an ad,” said Mr. Mohan. Instead of advertisers talking to consumers directly, Mr. Mohan envisioned “a two-way communication channel between a brand and its consumers.”

6. Rich media ads will comprise 50 percent of all campaigns. According to Mr. Salzman, “Static banner ads will become a thing of the past.” To illustrate his point, Mr. Salzman showed the audience the live video stream of the presentation as it was streamed to ad units on the Advertising Age Web site. He described it as a “meta media phenomenon.”

7. Display advertising will grow to be a $50 billion market.

Source : On This nytimes Page

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 IE9 Q and A

Q: What’s so special about IE9?

A: IE9 shows that Microsoft has been learning from its competitors — most notably, Google’s Chrome. Microsoft has also clearly been listening to the complaints of the legions who have made rival browsers Firefox and Chrome serious threats to IE’s dominance in the browser market.

The first thing you’ll notice about IE9 is its interface, which is immediately reminiscent of Google’s Chrome. Like Chrome, IE9 is stripped of most screen elements by default. The title bar, menu bar, and most toolbar buttons are hidden by default. Instead, along the top of the browser window, you’ll see only the Back and Forward buttons, an Address bar which doubles as a search field, tabs for your open websites, and View Favourites and Tools icons, reminiscent of similar icons along Chrome’s top edge. The effect of this lack of clutter is that web pages start to feel more like applications rather than pages running inside of another program.

Happily, all keyboard shortcuts for accessing hidden menus and other features still work. Press Alt-A, for instance, and your Favourites menu appears. The interface is also thoroughly customisable and reacts to changes the way you imagine it would. For instance, if the Address bar seems too narrow to you, just grab it by the right—hand side and extend it as far as you’d like.

Also reminiscent of Chrome is the way IE9 shows your “most popular” (favourite) sites whenever you create a new tab. You can change what appears on new tabs, as you can with Chrome, but the default behaviour of the two browsers is now identical in this respect.

Microsoft’s headline feature for IE9 is hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics. What this means is that IE9 takes advantage of the hardware in your PC in ways that previous versions did not. The result: faster pages loads and faster display of graphics. Most unofficial tests since the beta release of IE9 show the browser’s speed to be at least on a par now with Firefox, with some tests showing IE9 pulling ahead.

Also out in front on the feature list is tight integration with Windows 7. The most notable evidence of this is the Pinned Sites feature, which refers to the ability to drag a tab from the browser and drop it onto the Windows 7 taskbar, where the site then becomes available with one click in the future. In testing, this feature worked only when the taskbar was located at the bottom of the screen, however — not when it had been moved to the left or right edge.

There are assorted other changes in IE9, as well, and most of them again bring IE up to the performance and usability standards set by other browsers. There are beefed-up security features, for instance, to help protect you against phishing attacks or stumbling upon malware-infested websites. There’s a new download manager that arguably makes downloads easier to organise and find. Also to help with the safety of downloads is a new “download reputation rating” system, which will help you know whether you’re downloading a file from a trusted source. Noteworthy, too, is a new “no add ons” option for launching the browser, which should aid in troubleshooting issues caused by browser plug-ins.

Q: Is IE9 compatible with all version of Windows?

A: Unfortunately, no. The IE9 beta is not compatible with Windows XP. And according to Microsoft insiders, the company has no intention of making the final release of IE9 compatible with Windows XP, either.

IE9 is compatible with Windows Vista and, of course, Windows 7. It is also compatible with Windows Server 2008. Its memory and disk space requirements are unremarkable. Essentially any computer running Vista, Windows 7, or Server 2008 should work fine with IE9.

Q: Is IE9 stable enough for me to use now?

A: IE9 is still beta software. That means that it has too many bugs to be considered ready for widespread release. When the final version is available, it will show up in Windows Update as an upgrade option for users of Windows Vista and Windows 7. You’ll also be able to download the final version separately.

That said, however, the current beta of IE9 will work without issue on the majority of websites. Some sites that don’t display properly will be automatically switched to “compatibility view” by the browser, which takes just a few seconds. Some have also reported browser crashes with IE9 that they did not experience before.

The bottom line is that IE9 will run fine on your computer now, but you should be prepared for the occasional glitch. If that idea bothers you, stick with IE8 or whatever browser you’re currently using. It’s important to note that you cannot run IE9 simultaneously with an earlier version of IE. Once you upgrade, IE9 is the only version of Internet Explorer that you’ll have.

Q: Where can I download IE9?

A: Microsoft has set up a Test Drive site (http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive). Click Get the Beta button to begin the process. Note that if you’re using Windows XP, you won’t see the Get the Beta button, since IE9 will not install on XP.

Tips to create better personal twitter handle

Keep it as short as possible. That way you have a handle that looks good and fits into RTs very easily and the brand association is also better when it is easier to remember . So when you have aa choice between @MyFirstandlastname and @Myname, go for the latter and chuck the former.


Avoid funny characters when possible. Try to stick to a non-complicated sequence of aplhabets , it is better to have @GeorgeB rather than @_I_am_George_B when it is available . Moreover the underscores and numbers are a clear giveaway that there are many folks with the same name and you missed the first stop of the bus


Do not over-use numbers. While it is sometimes unavoidable to use numbers in your handle , try not to go over the moon with them . What I mean is , no one is going to follow a @13_12_2010 , not in their wildest dreams , although the idea of a date is cool , in this context , it is a no-no . You will probably get very few non-bot followers with that kind of handle .


Do not add funny adjectives. I have encountered a very troubled breed of tweeps who cannot resist the temptation to add an adjective like “hot” , “cool” , “sizzling” etc to their handles . Let me assure you that with an adjective like that in your handle , that is what people think you are not and not the other way round . I have even seen blind blocking of such handles.


Be yourself and go for the gut. When you haven’t got a lot of choices and feel like your handle is limiting your brand , remember that ultimately it is what comes through from you that matters more than the handle . Try your best and when your gut says something , go for it . It might just be a matter of time when the handle you wanted becomes available and you can jump on it.

OneTrueFan Is The Foursquare For Websites

OneTrueFan is launching a service for web publishers that allows visitors to earn badges for interacting and sharing content on the site.

OneTrueFan is the brainchild of MyBlogLog’s founders Eric Marcoullier and Todd Sampson. MyBlogLog was acquired by Yahoo in 2007. Unsurprisingly, some of OneTrueFan’s interface is similar to MyBlogLog. OneTrueFan has raised $1.2 million in seed funding from Dave McClure, Jeff Clavier, David Cohen and Bob Pasker

OneTrueFan, which will be available as a browser add-on or as a javascript code that publishers embed on their site, aims to help engage visitors while they are on a website interacting with content. The startup revolves around a game-format that allows you to see who is reading content in the site, compete for the most engagement and encourages you to share content within the service and on social networks.

As users share more content within OneTrueFan, and on social networks like Twitter and Facebook, they can earn points, and special badges from publishers. You’ll be able to see a leaderboard of users who have been sharing content and can mouse over fellow contributors to see more information about how they’ve been interacting with a site. All of this info can be seen on the bottom of a publisher’s website.

OneTrueFan will eventually launch a dashboard that allows web sites get a multi-dimensional view of their readers based upon frequency of visits, amount of content read, regularity of shares and traffic sent. Web site owners can use existing channels, such as Twitter and Facebook, to communicate with readers.


In the future, OneTrueFan will be releasing an API so that publishers can customize the experience for their visitors. In the end, the aim of OneTrueFan is to help publishers increase engagement amongst everyday users and time spent on their sites.

Website:http://onetruefan.com/

BlackBerry PlayBook - Preview

Research In Motion® (RIM) introduced the new professional-grade BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet and BlackBerry® Tablet OS – check out the below video for more details on the new BlackBerry PlayBook!

iphone blackberry android shopping apps

Barcode readers

    RedLaser (free for iPhone): Think "red laser" as in the laser in the scanner at the cash register. By tapping the lightning bolt on the screen and steadying the phone's camera over a barcode, you can get details in a flash. If the camera isn't picking up the barcode, you can tap in the digits in the code. You can create wish lists of your scans and e-mail your list.

It's a great tool for comparison shopping online -- and offline. There's a "local" feature that looks for your products at nearby locations using the location services of your phone.  On many food items, RedLaser calls up nutritional information. Of course, it doesn't always find what you're looking for, but we've had more hits than misses.

Google Shopper (free for Android): This Google app lets you do a voice search and image or barcode search. Same concept, tap and zap. You can share results through many avenues including Bluetooth, e-mail and Twitter. Like RedLaser, this app lets you do comparison shopping online and offline. It also provides reviews when available.

You can also use your Android phone to snap the cover of a book, DVD or video game to get details (available in SnapTell for iPhone).

The voice-searching works fine, too. But it can be a little less specific. For instance, if you just say "The Lucky Ones," you're likely to get a bunch of results to weed through until you find the one you're really looking for. 

ShopSavvy (free for Android, iPhone, Nokia and $1.99 for iPhone 2G): It also offers barcode scanning and wish lists like the other two. ShopSavvy also recognizes QR codes, those codes you may see popping up in stores and magazines that look like some kind of inkblot or obscurist black and white box art. 

Another helpful feature is the price alert for items you're interested in. It lists prices for stores built on clicks and bricks.

Lists

Shopper (free for Android, BlackBerry, 99 cents for iPhone or the free "Lite" version): This is one of the apps that includes RedLaser barcode scanning. There's also a Web interface you can access from your computer of choice. The lists you create are sharable via e-mail or through the app. Shared lists will update with any changes. You can customize your stores lists with those you frequent and get a list of weekly deals. 

You can also use the app to track your grocery budget and spending. It'll calculate what's on your list versus what's in your cart, add in tax and the discount for any coupons you have.

Remember we mentioned scanning? Well, for those of us who are more impulse buyers than planners, you can scan items into your shopping list. And if it's something you plan to buy again, you can make it a favorite to save the information you've already entered.

It'll also send "carts," so you can let your other half know what's already been bought.

Evernote (free for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm Pre/Pixi, Windows Mobile): This app is one of those gems that you probably have sitting on your phone and never use. But make a note to yourself to use it. Not only is it accessible on multiple smartphone platforms, you can use it on your Mac or PC, making it quite the MVP. You can create text lists, photo and audio notes. We recently used it for both a honey-do list and for mattress shopping, complete with geolocated photos.

Source:On This latimes Page

How Facebook Can Conquer Mobile

• Open its own app store. Facebook already has a massive developer community, a payment system and tremendous traffic — three components that are key for any distributor of mobile apps. While it obviously couldn’t deliver applications to iPhone users, Facebook could certainly tap into the booming Android space, not to mention the huge Symbian market.
• Leverage its vast library of contact information. While Android automatically syncs contact information for Facebook users, the company’s iPhone app does little more than add profile pictures to the address book. Facebook has a chance here to expand that integration and add features like presence and location.
• Compete with Google Voice. Improving the sync of contact information paves the way for a user’s Facebook ID to become more important than the phone number itself. Opening up a mobile address book — which is essentially a user’s network of Facebook friends — would allow one to call, IM, text message or email anyone in their network with just a couple of clicks and would be a competitor for Google’s voice service.
• Allow users to share information with specific groups. Facebook has a few hard-to-find settings that users can tweak to give friends varying levels of access to their information, but the company should enable users to create customized groups of friends (like colleagues, family members and college buddies) that would see different kinds of information. Once those settings are established online, they should be easy to find and use on the phone, making it simple to send the right content to the right people without exposing others to it.

How to prevent new orkut virus BomSabado

Today Orkut has been attacked by a new worm named Bom Sabado.(Bom Sabado means "Good Saturday" in Portuguese).It is actually a new script indeed.
This script is believed to be generated from Brazil where Orkut is most popular social networking website. Earlier mysterious links were spreading on Orkut and creating huge problems, that almost made Orkut users quite Orkut!
This new worm spreads on Orkut which sends a scrap with words “Bom Sabado” in it. There are some HTML content also there.
If you open your scrapbook, same scrap will be sent to all your friends from your account.

How it works?
When any one opens a orkut page that is infected by this worm,a javascript will run automatically on that page. Your browser will be hanged for some minutes or seconds. That script will automatically join you some communities.

For Preventive measures you can do the following:
Change your password .
Delete all of your cookies .
If you want to use Orkut then follow these steps :
Open your Host file with notepad :
Windows 95/98/Me C:windowshosts
Windows NT/2000/XP Pro C:winntsystem32driversetchosts
Windows XP Home C:windowssystem32driversetchosts
Windows 7 – C:windowssystem32driversetchosts
Add this code at the end
127.0.0.1 tptools.org
127.0.0.1 www.tptools.org
127.0.0.1 convites.001webs.com
Orkut has disabled creation on new topics on communities for the time being