FindPeopleOnPlus: Google Plus User Directory.

Find People on Plus is an online directory of Google Plus users. You can search people by name, location, etc and it will show the link to the Google Plus profile if they have it in their index. It shows people on Google Plus who are near you, and most followed Google Plus users on the right. On the left, it has filters like gender, relationship, number of followers and following, occupation, country, state etc. So, a quick glance over the left sidebar gives you a comprehensive demographic data of Google Plus users.

The site looks good no doubt but isn’t perfect. I tried my name and it popped up the Google Plus profile of a friend of mine. However, the developers were quick to contact me on Twitter mentioning that they’ll release a larger index of Google Plus users soon.

Features

1.> Online directory of people on Google Plus.
2.> Provides demographic data on Google Plus users.
3.> Check out Find People On Plus from here @ www.findpeopleonplus.com

Open ZIP & RAR With GDocs: Send Zipped Files To Google Docs Without Downloading Them

Compressed ZIP and RAR archives help pack multiple files into a smaller sized package which makes sharing them easier. But downloading such archives from unknown sources is not an intelligent move as they can contain viruses. Here to help you view the contents of an archive without downloading it as a tool called Open ZIP and RAR With GDocs.

Open ZIP and RAR With GDocs is a browser extension for Google Chrome that, as its name suggests, lets you open compressed archives with Google Docs. The archives must be of the ZIP or RAR format; additionally they must be stored online with a direct download link. After the extension is installed, simply right-click on the download link of a RAR or ZIP archive and select the “Open with Google Docs” option to send it to Google Docs.

In addition to listing the contained files, a benefit of the tool is that it lets you view and download single files from large archives without actually downloading the archive itself.


Features:

1.> A user-friendly browser extension.
2.> Compatible with Google Chrome.
3.> Lets you send online archives directly to Google Docs.
4.> Supports ZIP and RAR archives.

Check out Open ZIP and RAR With GDocs from here @ http://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bdkpinfdldjdngmgfbifbdbgaoampkan

iPhone 5 'video' pops up on YouTube.

Apple is set to officially announce the next iPhone in a few days. Many people out there are anxious to know what it looks like. Apple has kept up to its tradition, this year, too and has not released any information as to what the iPhone 5 will look like. For those of you who can’t wait to see the next generation handset from Apple, take a look at a video of it below, but don't believe everything you see!



A video that is doing the rounds on YouTube features what is touted to be the next iPhone. This is an elaborately done video of what the person shooting the video claims to be the real deal. The first sign we noticed, which gave it away as a fake was that the person who was handling the handset did not reveal the home button. Another indication was when the ‘touch to start’ option appeared in the game, the game started automatically. Pretty mysterious, right? We presume that the next iPhone is going to have some incredible features with iOS 5, but we don’t think that the ability to read minds is one of them.

Try Out Windows 8 In VirtualBox Right Now For Free.

Are you curious about Windows 8, the upcoming operating system from Microsoft? Try Windows 8 in a virtual machine, right now, for free. All you need to do is download the free ISO file and set up VirtualBox properly.

What can you expect to see in Windows 8? Once thing is clear – it will be very different than any version of Windows before it. The traditional desktop is still there, but most functionality will be replaced with “app” style programs. The main interface is designed with touch screens in mind, replacing the start menu with a tile-driven display of all programs. A lot of people are going to hate this, and I’m sure you’ll read a lot of criticism of Microsoft in the months to come. Instead of taking that to heart though, why not try it out yourself and come to your own conclusion? Thanks to a free download from Microsoft, you can.

Try Windows 8 out in VirtualBox and you won’t have to overwrite your existing system with something unstable. You’ll need a pretty powerful computer to do this well, but if you think your computer can cut it then keep reading.

Download Windows 8:

The first thing you’re going to need to do is download Windows 8. Don’t worry, this is easy. Just head to Microsoft’s free Windows 8 download page to get started. There’s no need to sign up, and the download links are direct. You’ll need to choose between the 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows 8. If you’re not sure which to choose, pick the 32 bit one; it will work on most computers.

Set Up VirtualBox:

You’ll need to install VirtualBox next, which you can download here. It works on Windows, OS X and Linux computers. If you don’t know much about VirtualBox, here’s what you need to know. It allows you to run an entire operating system within the one you already have. Check out the VirtualBox manual for more information.

Once you’ve got VirtualBox set up, you’ll need to create a new virtual machine to install Windows 8 in. When asked which operating system you’re setting up, choose “Windows 7” (making sure to pick “64 bit” if you downloaded the 64 bit version of Windows 8).

Set aside at least 2GB of memory for your virtual machine (if you don’t have 2GB to spare, you should perhaps not try running Windows 8 in a virtual machine).

Create a new virtual hard drive for Windows 8, unless you’ve got an empty virtual drive kicking around:

The default of 2GB is probably a good idea; don’t go any lower than that. Feel free to go higher, but you don’t need to if you don’t intend to install a lot of applications.

You’ve now created your virtual machine, but there are a few more tweaks to make. Select your new virtual machine, then open the settings. Head to “System” and you’ll see these options:

Be sure to Enable IO APIC; this will make things run better. Then head to the Processor tab and enable PAE/NX. Also head to the Acceleration tab and enable VT-X/AMD-V and Nested Paging. These performance tweaks are recommended by How-To Geek and made a big difference for me.

Install Windows 8:

Open the “Storage” section of the preferences, and point your virtual CD drive toward the ISO file you downloaded. Save the changes you made, then start up your virtual machine. If all goes according to plan, you’ll see the Windows installation tool:


Follow its instructions and you should be in Windows 8.

Your mouse will be “stuck” in the virtual machine as you do this. To switch back to your main operating system, press the right control button on your keyboard (assuming you haven’t changed this key from the default).

Why Isn’t Anything Working?

Once you get there you’ll be greeted with an unfamilar scene – the main Windows 8 menu:

You might be frustrated to realize that none of these apps launch, save the traditional Windows desktop. This is because running the new Metro style apps requires a resolution of 1024 X 768 or greater. Head to the Windows Desktop app, then configure your resolution the way you normally would – right-click the desktop, then click “Screen Resolution“. Increase the resolution and you should now be able to run Metro apps.

Have trouble doing this? Installing the VirtualBox Guest additions can help. Click the “Devices” in VirtualBox, then click “Install Guest Additions“. Windows 8 will prompt you to automatically install these additions, but don’t. Head to the Windows Desktop app, then open the Windows Explorer. Head to the CD drive and you’ll find the additions. Right-click the installation file, then set it to run in Windows 7 mode:

Go through the installation, restart, and you should now be able to set your resolution high enough to use Metro apps. I couldn’t get mouse integration working, but I did manage to increase the resolution. Hopefully there will be Windows 8 guest add-ons soon.

Conclusion:

If you’ve got Windows 8 running you can now let us know what you think of Microsoft’s upcoming operating system. Do you like it? Please leave us your thoughts in the comments below.

Also feel free to ask questions if you get stuck setting things up, because I'm here to help.

Amazon Unveils Kindle Fire Tablet

Amazon.com has launched its long awaited Kindle Fire tablet at event held in Manhattan, New York. The device features a 7-inch multi-touch LCD display (based on Gorilla Glass technology for extra protection), 8GB of storage, built in Wi-Fi connectivity, a 1GHz dual-core Texas Instruments' OMAP (Open Multimedia Application Processor), and weighs in at around 413 grams. The Amazon Kindle Fire tablet will also feature the Amazon Silk - a "cloud-accelerated" web browser that will reportedly make browsing faster.

The tablet, which runs on Google's Android OS, will cost $199 (~Rs. 9734), almost $300 cheaper than Apple's cheapest iPad, which starts at $499 (~Rs. 24,408) - However the Amazon Fire tablet doesn't feature 3G connectivity, and an in-built microphone and camera are also absent. The Kindle Fire tablet will ship from November15 onwards and is currently available for pre-order from their site (US only).

While it has been claimed that the Kindle Fire will pose a competitive threat to Apple's iPad, it might be more likely that it will compete with other Android devices such as those from Samsung, Motorola, RIM, and other tablet manufacturers. The Kindle Fire will have a distinct advantage over the other Android tablets , given that Amazon - the world's largest online retailer - unlike most other Android tablet makers, is a content and e-commerce enabler. In other words, with Amazon's ability to provide integrated access to content on it's site such as it's collection of 100,000 movies and TV shows, 17 million songs, apps, millions of books and full-color magazines, other manufacturers will find it very hard to compete with Amazon on services, entertainment and cloud offerings.

In addition to the Kindle Fire, Amazon also launched three new Kindle models - the Kindle Touch, Kindle Touch 3G and Kindle e-reader that retail for $99 (~Rs. 4843), $149 (~Rs. 7289) and $79 (~Rs. 3864) respectively.

HTC announces ‘budget’ Android called Explorer.

so we have good news and bad news. The good news is that HTC has just announced their new ‘budget-friendly’ droid called the Explorer that will hit retail shelves in India sometime next month. The bad news is that, it’s going to be priced at Rs.12,650, which is too high given the specifications. Other than the standard black and navy trims, we’ll also be able to change the back cover for more colours like metallic orange, blue, purple and white.

The explorer is very similar to the Micromax A70 we just reviewed with slight differences for the better. For instance, it has Wi-Fi ‘n’, supports HSUPA and Gingerbread v2.3 with Sense. However, it’s also lacking in many areas such as the omission of a front-facing camera and a smaller battery of just 1230mAh, which means a weaker battery life. The rest of the features are very similar right from the screen size and resolution to the 600Mhz Qualcomm processor onboard. This is the same story as the HTC Wildfire all over again. It was very decent phone, but the high price made everyone ignore it. If HTC had only priced the Explorer around 8K-9K, then we could have recommended it over the A70, due to Gingerbread and Sense, but not at this price. Some of the highlights of the phone include:

1.> 3.2-inch touchscreen with 320 x 480 pixel resolution
2.> 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
3.> GPS with A-GPS support
4.> Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, USB 2.0
5.> 3.1 megapixel camera
6.> Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
7.> 3.5 mm handsfree socket

Are you ready for the $35 tablet?

Remember last year we talked about the $35 (Rs. 1,700) tablet that had everyone asking, "How so cheap?", "When will it come out?" and "How long will one unit even last?". After all the speculation fizzled out, the news is that HRD minister, Kapil Sibal made the announcement that the tablet will be made available to school students on the 5th of October, 2011. The minister wants to improve tech resources for education in the country and plans on organizing workshops for teachers for tech implementation. On a somewhat unrelated note, Sibal also plans on making online bill payment universal. And in playing with the recent PR value the word "corruption" has had, Sibal also made a comment that IT can be used to get rid of corruption.

This tablet is meant for students as an education aid and apparently already has a name, but no details have been divulged yet. The specs of the tablet are just guesses now. Looking at pictures of the device, popular guesstimates of screen sizes include 5-inch, 7-inch and 9-inch. It will have features that students will need such as PDF readers, internet browsers, video chatting ability (so the tablet should have a camera), media player, remote device management capability, and multimedia input-output options. Sibal said last year that in order for the tablet to actually sell for $35, one million devices will initially be distributed. The $35 price tag is also after the government has subsidized 50 percent of the cost of the tablet.

All those features for $35 and yet no one's called this tablet an iPad killer. Yes, it is meant for education, but on paper it has similar capabilities for the average consumer as an iPad does for less than one tenth of the price. We will have to wait and see on the 5th of October, 2011.

Arrows Z ISW11 Surfaces In Japan.

Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications has unveiled a waterproof Android, the Arrows Z ISW11F. This device runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The smartphone is waterproof to IPX5/8 classification. In other words, it can withstand a lot of spills and splashes.

The phone is powered by a 1.2 GHz CPU and a gigabyte of RAM. It features a 4.3" screen with pixel dimensions of 1280x720. Other specs include a 13 MP rear camera capable of recording 1080p videos, 32 GB microSD card support, Wi-Fi, WiMax 4G, Bluetooth, and a 1460 mAh battery. It measures 5" (l) x 2.5 (w) x 0.4" (d) and weighs 131 grammes. According to the manufacturer, the device supports both GSM and CDMA networks.

The phone will be available in blue, white, pink, and black. It is expected to cost around 10,000 yen (Rs 6500) on contract in Japan. If it ever lands in India, it will most likely find many takers, thanks to the pink option.

Xobni releases Smartr Contacts, makes your address book smarter.

Most of the Android smartphone manufacturers already give some sort of contact list enhancements along with their smartphones, but if you are looking for something more – Smartr Contacts is for you.

Xobni has released its Smartr Contacts Android app, which will be your cloud-based address book. Some of its most important features include ranking of contacts based on your interaction with them, social network integration, and smart searching. As it is cloud based, it is supported across platforms, so even if you switch phone or use a PC, your Smartr Contacts are always with you.

For better understanding of the app, watch the video below.

Smartr Contacts for Android from Smartr on Vimeo.

Download Smartr Contacts for Android from here @ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.xobni.contacts

Now, Social Networking Via SMS On Vodafone.

After Tata Indicom and Airtel, it is now Vodafone's turn to enable its subscribers to access Facebook using SMS. This makes it possible to access the social networking service even if you don't own a smartphone.

Vodafone will use Myriad's flagship mobile social networking platform Xumii to deploy Myriad Updates, which is a text-based mobile social networking service. Subscribers will not be required to have a data-enabled handset to be able to access this service.

Vodafone Essar CMO, Kumar Ramanathan said, "Adoption of social networking on mobile devices across India is growing exponentially. In order to keep pace with market demands, our partnership with Myriad will enable us to quickly and seamlessly deliver social networking services on a massive scale across our entire subscriber base using SMS and USSD". Additional services including instant messaging and mobile email will also be introduced soon.

This new service makes use of USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) service, which is a protocol used by GSM to communicate with service provider s computers. Those who have had mobile phones for over a decade, may remember that USSD had been in use in the form of WAP-over-SMS to access mobile internet in phones not supporting any form of internet connectivity. Due to the limitations of the technology, the interactivity is also limited to status updates, "friend" requests and posting text on walls.

The revenue model for this feature has not been specified, although it is likely to be free like the one offered by Airtel.

Reliance announces money back plans for LG Optimus 3D.

Indian telecom operators are increasingly focusing on money-back plans for smartphones and in the same line, Reliance has introduced plans for recently released 3D Android smartphone LG Optimus 3D.

Telco has released two postpaid and two prepaid plans in total for 3G and 2G circles and they give consumers up to a maximum of INR 38,400 depending on your plans. At the first look, these are some decent plans if you are a mid-high level user – as you get a lot of free R2R minutes, 500/600 other minutes and 3GB of free data usage and a few more goodies.

Reliance already has similar plans for other LG Android smartphones like Optimus 2X, Optimus Black,and Optimus Me.

To remind you about LG Optimus 3D, it features 4.3 inch 3D display, 1GHz dual core processor and dual 5MP camera for 3D recording and front facing camera.

You can contact Reliance customer care on more to know about the plans or visit the nearest RCom outlet.

Huawei India bringing flurry of Android smartphones.

Huawei India is planning to bring at least four Android smartphones in the next two months, reported KYM.in. These launches seem to follow the release of company’s first Honeycomb tablet MediaPad in the country, which is schedule to go on sale next month.

According to the publication, Huawei will release Vision, Sonic, Boulder and Gaga smartphones. Apart from Vision, all the other smartphones belong to entry-level segment.

To give a quick intro about these upcoming devices, Huawei Vision features Android 2.3, 3.7 inch display, 1GHz processor and 512 MB RAM. On the other hand, Sonic comes with 3.5 inch display, 600MHz processor, Android 2.3 and 256MB RAM. Both Boulder and Gaga are FroYo smartphones and come with 2.6 and 2.8 inch display respectively.

There is no word on the pricing right now but we expect Vision to be released for a price around 15K and rest below 10K.

Apple: ‘Let’s talk iPhone’ on October 4th.

we have heard rumours and speculations about Apple hosting a media event on the 4th of October 2011. These rumblings have just turned true with Apple officially sending a cryptic invite to select media houses with a tag line that reads ‘Let’s talk iPhone.’ This is the first indication dropped by Apple about an iPhone being announced. The media invite is a mash-up of popular iPhone widgets showing the day, time, location as well as a call icon.

There is no word on whether Apple will be releasing two new iPhones this year or just the next generation iPhone 5. A report by CNET indicates that in all probability Apple would stick to their tradition and release just a single handset as the call icon just displays a single missed call. However, we may be in for a surprise next Tuesday with Apple announcing two iPhones. The report goes on to mention that a Vietnamese website Tinhte has shown a screenshot of a white plastic iPhone 4. Apple are rumoured to be releasing two phones this year, one being the iPhone 5 that features an all new design and an iPhone 4S which is said to be a base model that is similar looking to the iPhone 4 but with better specifications.

In related Apple iPhone 5 news, the next handset will feature a voice controlled system called Assistant. This new feature will allow people to use their voice to enable the phone to do various tasks. These voice controlled tasks are said to include telling the phone to make calls, send text messages, etc. This ability makes the iPhone quite interactive. However, all these as of now are just speculations and rumours.We'll have to just wait and watch to see what new CEO Tim Cook announces this coming Tuesday.

Google Docs Templates: Thousands Of Templates To Increase Productivity.

Google Docs serves as one of the best alternatives to Microsoft Office and now they are making it even better by offering thousands of templates that users can use to cut down their time and efforts. The templates are uploaded by other users and cover a massive variety of areas including resumes, presentations, invoices, billing documents, budgets and financial models, agreements and contracts, labels, business cards and many more.

You can preview each template and start using it right away. The templates can be browsed by category, languages, template type and even by popularity and rating. You can also rate each template or embed it anywhere on the web. The gallery also lets you view the templates you have used or the ones you have submitted to the gallery.

Features:

1.> Thousands of templates for various Google Docs.
2.> Cover presentations, spreadsheets, forms and even drawings.
3.> Include materials from over a dozen categories.
4.> Rate each template it or embed it elsewhere.

Visit GoogleDocstemplates from here @ www.docs.google.com/templates?view=public

Dial 1909 and block all pesky telemarketing calls, sms

The government Tuesday brought into force a regulation barring commercial calls and messages, giving relief to millions of mobile subscribers nagged by telemarketing companies.

To avail the service:

You can to register with the National Customer Preference Registry, earlier known as the 'National Do Not Call' registry, by dialing toll free number 1909.
You can also send an SMS -- "start 0" -- to the same number to get registered.
The registration will become effective within seven days.
You can also choose to partially block the calls or fully block them.
Unlike the previous regulation that asked customers to register their numbers under a "Do Not Call" list, the new regulations allows subscribers to choose from different categories like "fully blocked" or "partially blocked". For list of code visit

Under the partially blocked category, users can choose to receive communication from a desired sector such as education, real estate or health and will have to accordingly send a message with the serial number of the sector.

"The first step has been taken but the more important challenge will be that we are able to implement it as well," Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal said here while announcing that the new guidelines had come into effect.

The regulation also limits an individual customer from sending more than 100 messages in a day.

However the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has relaxed this restriction for some categories of users such dealers of telecom operators, e-ticketing service providers and social networking sites from this obligation.

"The authority received representations from the customers, telecom service providers and their associations stating that in view of the restriction imposed, the customers who need to send non-commercial messages to their employees, agents etc. for their genuine day to day operational requirement are not able to send such messages," TRAI said in a statement.

"The authority has duly considered the representations and is of the view that non-commercial communication under certain categories need to be excluded from the limit of one hundred SMS per day per SIM," it added.

Besides, this restriction will not be applicable on festival days.

The guidelines regulating commercial calls will levy hefty penalties on offenders including fines ranging from Rs25,000 to Rs250,000 depending on the number of times the violation is detected. On the sixth violation, the telemarketer's connection will be terminated and get blacklisted for two years.

"Its not the severity but surety of penalties will lead to customer receiving a sigh of relief," said Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot. According to reports, while the number of pesky calls has fallen lately, messages are still a menace. On an average, as many as 47,454 complaints a month are registered.

All telemarketing firms' will also be easily identifiable as their phone numbers will hence forth begin with '140'. Even seven days after registering, if a consumer receives any unwanted commercial communication, he can file a complaint either by messaging or dialing the toll free number 1909.

Sharp dip in rupee; dollar exchange value to swell PC prices

In the backdrop of falling value in currencies of other Asian countries, the exchange value of the rupee against the dollar took a beating. The effects of a lower exchange value is already being witnessed now. According to a report that appeared in The Times of India, prices of the personal computer are set to increase, since manufacturers are finding it difficult to withstand rising input costs.

The PC market in India relies heavily on the imports of hardware components like hard drives, displays, among others. With the value of the Indian currency steadily falling, costlier imports are gripping the PC business. In such a situation, the most likely next move would be to increase the costs of personal computers altogether. However, according to the report, the IT hardware industry body MAIT President Alok Bharadwaj stated, "the decision to absorb the cost or pass it to the cosumers depends entirely on the companies." Reportedly, one of the computer manufacturers, HCL Infosystems, as per the report, agreed to the decision of increasing the rates of the PC.

Facebook launching official iPad app at iPhone 5 event.

Apple's slated to have their iPhone 5 revealing event on the 4th of October, this year and Facebook's jumping on the launcher bandwagon. The long anticipated official iPad app from the social network is reported to be made available then, too. In addition to the iPad app, Facebook might also update its iPhone app and release an HTML5-based mobile app marketplace. News of the Facebook iPad app has made the rounds since June of this year. However, according to one blog post by a former Facebook engineer, Jeff Verkoeyen the app has been completed, since May.

Facebook and Apple haven't had the best relationship till date. Facebook has already gone into attack mode on Apple with Project Spartan. When Apple initially came out with Ping, Facebook Connect was supposed to be integrated into the music social network, but Facebook pulled the plug when they realized how much of their own bandwidth that would involve. Apple has also been in talks with Facebook for years to integrate the social network to its mobile operating system, however, iOS 5 is bringing Twitter integration.

However, now it seems the two companies may just have resolved their differences, if Facebook's finally releasing the iPad app on Apple's own turf. Apple's even being said to have been helping Facebook perfect their HTML5-based app market. If you want Facebook for iPad now and can't wait till October 4th, the app is available via Cydia, which means, you have to jailbreak your iPad.

Scientists Find Particles That Break the Speed of Light.

For years, Einstein’s theories have held true through countless scientific discoveries and trials. Some scientists have been determined to disprove a fundamental law stating that the speed of light couldn’t be broken, but recent discoveries by an international team of scientists appear to have done just that(CERN Team). Subatomic particles have been measured traveling at a greater speed than that of light, and the results appear consistent and reliable enough to take to the greater scientific community for confirmation.

During a three-year study, scientists shot 15,000 beams of neutrinos across a distance of 500 miles, which arrived in 60 billionths of a second after being fired. If it were a beam of light, the distance would have been closed in 2.4 thousandths of a second. This means the neutrinos didn’t only beat the speed of light, but they beat it by a significant amount.

Einstein’s theory of special relativity states that the speed of light is a constant, and no physical matter could break this barrier. If confirmed, these findings could change the very basis of scientific knowledge on the Universe and how it works. For over a century, Einstein’s theory has held up against countless scientific studies and attempts of disproval. Because of its steadfast nature, the idea of achieving breakthroughs including time travel and distant galactic travel within a human lifespan seems impossible. Earlier this year, a group of scientists announced that time travel was scientifically impossible, based on the belief that the light barrier could never be broken.

If these findings are confirmed, it could rekindle interest in those areas of research that may eventually lead to the creation of technologies previously believed to be impossible. Could the very technologies that form today’s science fiction — including Star Trek’s warp drive and time travel — someday be possible? Above all, it could encourage the entire scientific community to rethink the principles on which so many other theories are founded, including many surrounding the creation of the Universe.

Outloud: Share Music With Friends In Real Time.

Lots of tools let you share music with friends via emails, links, drop boxes and what not. Outloud takes it to a level further by letting you share music in real time, which means that your friends will listen to exactly what you are listening to at the same time.

To start, sign in with Twitter or Facebook and create a temporary room for your session. You will get a URL like http://outloud.fm/abc that you can give out to anybody you want. Then just drag and drop music files to start playing them. You can also chat with your friends at the same time, put your music files in a queue and see a history of what played when.

Features:

1.> Share music in real time.
2.> Chat with friends while listening to the same music.
3.> Add music to queue or see a history of playlist.
4.> No registration required, sign in with Twitter or Facebook.

Visit Outloud from here @ www.outloud.fm

Micromax A85 press shots leaked.

Micromax A85 leaks have started increasing. Today we have the press shots of this anticipated dual core Android beauty from Micromax. A85 is expected to be launched sometime next month in time for festive shopping season for a price around INR 20000.

According to all the available information till now, Micromax A85 will come with Android 2.2 “FroYo”, nVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor, 3.8 inch display, 5MP rear camera, VGA front camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, FM tuner, and microSD card slot.

As it feature Tegra 2, Micromax is also find Tegra Zone pre-installed to give you all the compatible games with the smartphone. We are eagerly waiting for this one, how many of you are? Let us know in comments.

The Nokia NFC experience: To NFC and beyond!

Nokia may not currently be amongst the frontrunners in the smartphone race; however, their new Symbian Belle platform does have a promising future. At the recently concluded Nokia NFC event, we had a chance to play around with a few NFC devices, and it’ll be fair to say that with NFC, Nokia could be having a potential ace up its sleeve this fall.

We had a hands-on preview of Nokia’s new 600, 700 and 701 range of Symbian Belle devices that had NFC chips inbuilt in the devices. There were a few NFC client devices as well, with an NFC-enabled speaker, a few NFC tags and an NFC-enabled Bluetooth handsfree. Whatever the peripheral you’re connecting to, you need to simply tap your smartphone and the connection will be complete. We tried it with the above mentioned client devices and connection was seamless. Playback on the speaker was lag-free and the Bluetooth handsfree performed flawlessly as well. An interesting thing to note is that in case the NFC option is switched ON but the device is locked, NFC access will not be granted. We reckon this to be more of a security feature, as it will prevent unauthorized connections or accessibility.


Nokia also demonstrated a few more uses of the NFC technology. For example, the NFC phones had the Angry Birds game pre-installed and unlocking new levels required users to connect to NFC tags. That can’t be counted as something ground-breakingly innovative but now that the idea is there, Nokia just needs to find the right way to implement it. The company also gave a brief overview of how they plan to get NFC to the masses and they’ve mentioned that they’re concentrating on giving it a more personal flavour, which is definitely a step in the right direction.

As a personal opinion, simply labelling the NFC phones as payment or validation devices will get Nokia just thus far, and if they indeed want to usher in a new era in wireless connectivity, then the phones need to be much more than just that. For example, NFC can totally eliminate the need for users to require passes for public transport. But, the options for Nokia shouldn’t stop there. Featuring it with a log chart application that computes your monthly travel based on your NFC swipes, and eventually giving you your average monthly expenditure sounds more useful and customer oriented. Obviously, this is a far-fetched thought, but helping the user with personal needs definitely helps build consumer satisfaction.

In terms of hardware offerings Nokia is right up there with its competitors, and with the company swiftly improving its software with the incorporation of a range of new features, competition in the smartphone arena is only going to get stronger.

Here’s Nokia’s representation of how they intend to bring NFC onto their latest smartphones.

BSNL Launches 100 Mbps Internet.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the state-run telecom, has announced its fastest ever internet offering to the general public with speeds rated at an astounding 100 Mbps! Based on "fibre to the home" or FTTH, this service has been rolled out in Pune, and will be made available to around 100 customers in the city in the next three months. As you may know, Pune has always been the city where pilots of such projects have been launched, and it is only after a good deal of testing that they are launched elsewhere.

BSNL Pune Principal General Manager, VK Mahendra said,"A couple of connections were activated in the city in the last few months on a pilot basis. After studying its performance, the BSNL has decided to float the services on a commercial basis. The FTTH service will be provided through optical fibre cables using the 'gigabit-capable passive optical network' (GPON). This will enable high speed downloading and uploading. Hence, customers will get speed in addition to the existing broadband. The BSNL is looking at high-end customers who require high-speed internet".

BSNL has identified the locations of areas and buildings with an optical fibre network already in place in Pune, where this new service will be introduced. The telecom operator will also hold talks with city builders to make provisions to easily introduce this service in their new building projects by laying an optical fibre network right at the inception. Additionally, BSNL telephone exchanges will be upgraded to be able to provide FTTH service.

Being one of the least expensive broadband service providers with an unmatched reach and a very low downtime, BSNL claims to control around 80% share in the broadband service. Introduction of such high speed networks will no doubt increase its popularity further.

Huawei announces new Android smartphone, the Honor.

Huawei has officially announced the launch of its new Android smartphone named Honor, according to a report on AndroidOS. The new phone will run on Google’s Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread operating system. The Huawei Honor will have a 1.4 GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM and a 4.0 inch FWVGA capacitive touch screen. It will feature an 8 megapixel auto focus camera with support for HDR, along with a 2 megapixel front camera for video calling. The phone will be available in the Asia Pacific region in the Q4 of 2011. It will, however be available in a single colour, black.

It will have a G-sensor, proximity sensor, as well as a light sensor. All this will be accompanied by a 1900 mAh battery, bringing the total weight to around 140 grams. Pricing will be a key factor for Huawei, because although the phone has most of the specs one would require from a smartphone, Huawei is currently a level lower than the major front-running brands. Hence, pricing it at a cheaper rate than phones with similar specs will definitely work in their favour.

Following are the specifications of the Huawei Honor:

1.> 4.0-inch capacitive touchscreen
2.> 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi
3.> GPS with A-GPS support
4.> Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
5.> 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front camera
6.> Huawei user-interface
7.> Memory expandable up to 32GB via microSD card

Now, know who defriended you on Facebook

Facebook, at its f8 conference, which recently concluded, unveiled a slew of features. Among those unveiled, the Timeline feature did manage to grab a lot of eyeballs, and understandably so. Facebook had just decided to change the way Facebook would appear to its 750 million users. However, what did manage to conceal itself well, till now is an application on Facebook that would subtly tell you who just removed you from their friend list. This new feature will largely be a part of Facebook’s existing Timeline feature. The Timeline feature, as mentioned in our previous reports present the user with a chronological, picturesque representation of the activities of those on their friends list, and themselves.

While much has already been spoken about this new feature on Facebook, the feature itself will not go live until September 29. While this new feature promises some shocking moments when you see that your 'sweet talker' friend, defriended you!, if you're finding the September 29th, 2011 date difficult to wait for to check this new feature out, you can, like many others test drive the update. According to a Fox News report, users can enter the developer website, and create an app. On gaining entry, you will be able to check your friends list, and your 'not-on-your-friend-list-anymore' contacts, too.

Five Ways to Avoid Online Scams

Online scams are epidemic and we consumers need to protect ourselves from rogue Web sites that make promises that are not kept. Below are some of the ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim by practicing safe surfing habits.

Use Web site advisers:

I use two Web site advisers to steer clear from rogue Web sites. I use the built-in Web site adviser that avast! provides with its anti-virus protection. I also use Web Of Trust to help weed out bad Web sites. This software relies on input from consumers to identify sites that have an unsavory reputation and will prompt you with warnings for bad Web sites.

Protect your personal information:

Reputable Web sites will not ask you for personal information. You should also avoid providing your credit card information until you are absolutely sure that the Web site is legitimate. Check the Web site’s privacy policy and determine if the company has a phone number to call in case you need additional information concerning the site and what it is offering.

Avoid those unsolicited advertisements:

When you receive an advertisement from someone you are not familiar with or an advertisement you did not request to receive, take extra precautions before clicking on any links. I personally avoid checking the box on any site that wants to send me additional information from one of its partners. I also do a search of the Web site and determine the site’s reputation from independent reviewers and see what other consumers have to say about the site.

You are already a winner:

Many Months ago I received an unsolicited phone call and I was told I had won a new Iphone. After confirming the type of Iphone I won. I went along with the scam until they asked for my credit card number to purchase vitamins. Avoid these type of scams and remember that none of us receive anything for nothing without involving some type of con.

Avoid sweepstakes fees:

If a fee is required to pay for taxes or for shipping a prize, do not give these people your credit card or banking account information. Honest companies do not require you to pay anything to get a prize or other gift. In addition, you are not required to pay taxes upfront in order to collect your winnings before receiving the prize you have won.

Though these seems like common sense approaches to avoid being scammed, it is still surprising how many people fall for these scams every year. Do not become a victim and protect yourself from being conned out of your hard earned money.

How Much RAM Do You Need to Make a Good Computer?

"How many gigs of RAM do you need to make a good computer?" This is a good question, but the answer is determined by a number of factors. What are you using the system for? How many processes do you plan on running simultaneously?

Let’s take a look at a few factors that can help determine whether or not your system needs a RAM upgrade.

The Gamer:

Modern games take a lot of power to deliver ultra-realistic graphics to the screen. These games often require a significant amount of RAM and processing power to calculate many different aspects of the game environment, but the most important component is the video card. Without a decent video card, all the RAM and processing power in the world will do little to improve the look and feel of the game itself. You should always consider upgrades on a case-by-case basis, and make each upgrade with the idea in mind of handling anything you could throw at it for the next one or two years.

So, if your game has poor frame rates, or seems unresponsive from time to time, switch out of the game’s window and take a quick look at the system monitor. Is the processor running at 80% capacity or above? If so, this is a sign that your CPU could be having difficulty keeping up with the game, itself. The same goes for RAM. See how much RAM is being utilized by the program, and gauge whether or not an upgrade will really help. If both of these levels look fine to you, the GPU (graphics processing unit) may be the source of your bottleneck.

Most gamers can get along fine running on 4-8 GB of RAM. Anything more could be overkill, unless you’re running multiple background processes that are RAM intensive, such as a virtual machine. Again, this optimal number varies from game to game and gamer to gamer.

The Video Editor:

Video editing, especially in high definition, requires a lot more RAM than most operations. While editing, large amounts of video data is stored in the system’s memory, making it easily accessible while you scan through the video and make various changes. During video editing, take a close look at the system monitor and how much RAM is being utilized. Does it look like you’re coming close to reaching capacity? If so, a RAM upgrade might be in order.

When it comes to video editing, the best rule of thumb when building a system is to just get as much as you can afford at the time. While 8-12 GB of RAM seems like a lot, the video you edit today will probably pale in comparison to the size and resolution of the projects you’ll be editing a year from now.

Video editing can require a lot from your system, especially during encoding processes. With the right CPU, a video editor should shoot for as much RAM as they can purchase, but generally anywhere from 6-12 GB of RAM is usually sufficient, depending on the length, compression ratio, and resolution of your largest video project, in addition to the software you intend to edit and encode with. Larger video projects like feature-length films can require multiple computers encoding in a cluster, with the primary video editing station handling just the editing tasks. This is an advanced setup, and if you’re at this level, you’re probably not reading this post.

The Workstation:

Depending on your job, you probably have a few office documents open at any given time, and perhaps a browser or some proprietary software that access your company’s main database. Chances are, you can accomplish most of your tasks with a minimal amount of RAM. Still, during the busiest part of your day, take a moment and check the system monitor to see how much CPU and RAM is being used. If you’re coming close to capacity, an upgrade could be in order. It’s best to do this when you notice some sluggishness. If everything is running just fine, it can be difficult to justify an upgrade to IT.

Many companies have an IT department that is tasked with providing workers with exactly what they need to get their job done, and not much else. If your workstation is running sluggishly due to a lack of RAM, everyone in your department doing the same tasks is probably experiencing the same situation. In this case, an upgrade request to IT is probably warranted.

In general, workstations running office software rarely have any problems running off of anywhere from 2-4 GB of RAM. That isn’t true in all cases, especially when proprietary software comes into play.

The Average User:

The average user uses their system to browse the Web, watch YouTube videos, and play Angry Birds. For these usage cases, the RAM that comes included with your system is usually enough. Building a custom computer for this person? Here is an equation that has worked for me in the past, and could work for you when determining how much RAM to recommend for their system:

R = O + G + 1

R = GB of RAM
O = Operating system recommended RAM.
G = Recommended amount of RAM listed by the application used with the highest system resource requirements.


If you meet or beat that equation, you’re probably doing pretty well. One example of this would be a Windows 7 system running Adobe Photoshop. Windows 7 recommends 1 GB of RAM, as does Adobe Photoshop. Plugging these figures into the equation, you get 3 GB of RAM, so installing 4 GB should do everything that person needs, unless they take up video editing or play Command and Conquer.

What About RAM Limits?

Windows, and several derivatives of Mac OS X and Linux, have what’s considered to be a maximum amount of RAM that they support. In the case of Windows, a 32-bit installation can only support 4 GB of RAM. In reality, it may only recognize 3 GB. Installing 8 GB of RAM in a system running a 32-bit version of Windows XP, Vista, or 7 won’t do much to improve the performance at all.

In a 64-bit system, this RAM ceiling is raised to 192 GB for Ultimate, Enterprise, and Professional users. Home Premium is capped at 16 GB with Home Basic at 8 GB.

JumiOne: Control Computer Through iPad, iPhone or iPod

Controlling your computer through your smartphone can have a number of advantages. You could control your torrent downloads, manage files, and stream media to your phone. Here to help iOS device owners control their PCs with their phone is an app called JumiOne.

JumiOne is an iOS application sized at 5.6MB and compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad running iOS 3.0 or later. The app works over Wi-Fi, 3G, or Edge and supports various types of remote control tasks. In addition to remote desktop, the app can be used to stream webcam feeds from your computer to your phone. Multiple computers can be connected with JumiOne and you can view multiple webcam feeds.

Other than these features, JumiOne offers games and the ability to control your desktop iTunes and WinAmp through your iPhone.

Features:

A user-friendly phone app.
Compatible with iOS devices.
Lets you remotely control your computer.
Streams webcam feeds from your computer.
Lets you play games.
Lets you remotely control your desktop music player.
Supports connections to multiple computers.


Visit JumiOne from here @ Apple iTunes

Share Files With Your Friends On Facebook With Filefly

Do you ever share files with your friends? What’s your preferred method to get the job done? The answer is probably “whatever’s easiest”. If the file you’re looking to share is a document of some kind or something with a small file size, maybe you can just email it to them, whereas if it’s a little bigger you might “direct connect” and instant message it over to them. Larger files tend to be a pain, but there are a lot of services online that specialize in helping you share them easily as well.

This is all fine and good, but what if your friends aren’t as tech savvy as you and I? Furthermore, if you want to share a wide range of different file types with multiple friends, you could be there all day explaining to each of them where and how to get them. Even Dropbox can take a bit of time in this situation because you have to walk all of your friends through the process of creating an account, as well as explain to them what cloud computing is.

Is there an easier solution? There certainly is, and it involves a universal platform – Facebook.

What Is Filefly?

Filefly is the easiest way to share anything, privately, with your friends on Facebook.

As I stated in the introduction, utilizing Facebook as a file sharing platform can go a long way in simplifying an otherwise tedious process. The great thing about Facebook, aside from all the other great things about Facebook, is that it is a web based platform, meaning it does not matter whether you have a Mac, PC, are running any version of Linux, or have created your own operating system of any kind. If you can access the Internet, you can access Facebook. The browser you’re using doesn’t make much of a difference either.


How Do I Share Files With Filefly?

To get started sharing files with your friends, just head over to the Facebook app’s homepage.

Click the Use Filefly button and grant Filefly permission to continue. It doesn’t ask for much, at least in comparison to many other apps out there.

Once you’re on the main screen, the directions will indicate that you can click the New Folder button to create a folder, add files, and invite your friends to share.

When you add a new folder, you can set the title of it to whatever you want. If you click Add Files, a box will pop up prompting you to select files from your computer.

Then click the Invite Friends button to select the friends you would like to share your folder/files with. You can also opt to publish the fact that you just shared a folder on your wall, although you can turn this feature off by simply unchecking the box.

Your friends will receive a notification indicating that you would like to share files with them on Filefly. After they click the notification they will be taken to the same start page you visited to use Filefly.

Once on the main screen, your friends will see the folder you have shared with them in their list. They need only click on the folder to view its contents, and click on the individual files they want to automatically download them in their browser. And that’s all there is to it – I told you it was easy! Once you’ve been using the service for a while, you will be able to search your folders and files from within the app using the built-in search box.

Let us know what you think of Filefly and if you know of any other good alternatives to the file sending problem.

Vignature: Get Important Documents Electronically Signed

Electronic signatures are very useful when you have multiple people who need to approve a document but are far away. But by sending them your electronic document and receiving their electronic signature, you can make the approval process much quicker. Here to help you get electronic signatures for your documents is a web service called Vignature.

After creating an account you can start uploading your documents. The documents must be in PDF format. Next you type in the names and email addresses of the people you want to electronically sign the document. A block of their signatures is created; these blocks need to be dragged to your documents wherever you want the e-signatures to appear. The document link is then emailed to the people whose signatures are required.

When people visit the link emailed to them, they are able to view the document and leave an electronic signature. They can even add a picture through their webcam to their e-signature. The signature notifications are then sent to all parties.

For more info watch video below:

Vignature for Business from Matt Spradley on Vimeo.

Features:

1.> A user-friendly web service to get documents signed online.
2.> Lets you add multiple people whose signatures are required.
3.? Supports PDF documents.

Check out VIgnature from here @ www.vignature.com

How to Use Facebook as a Blogging Platform

Everyone has a blog these days, so it seems. Unfortunately, blogs are segmented across several platforms and it’s difficult to read several of your favorite blogs without using an RSS reader or scrolling through a long list of bookmarks. It’s equally as difficult to discover new bloggers or topics without clicking from blog to blog, or using Google search. Now, Facebook seems to be paving ground to make it an ideal blogging network with the addition of several new features.

Previously, blogging on Facebook was futile due to both character limits of posts and the inherent private nature of Facebook. Facebook has now increased the limit for each “status update” from 500 to 5,000 characters, which is about 1000 words. This is more than enough room to write a blog post, even for those who tend to ramble. (For context, this blog post is just under 400 words.) Google+ does not set a character or word limit for updates, and some have begun using Google+ as a blogging platform for this very reason. A 5,000 character count should be sufficient, however, for writing most blog-type posts.

In addition to the new character limit for status updates, the new asymmetrical subscribe feature makes it easy for other Facebook users to find you and read your blog on Facebook without requiring a reciprocal friendship. These blog posts will appear in the news feed of your subscribers, and users can also add you to a list to more quickly access only your blog posts without the noise of the News Feed. For example, users can create a list of only Facebook users who post blog-type updates, and use this list in the same way someone might use RSS — but all within Facebook.

If you want to use Facebook as a blogging platform, be sure that your blog-type updates are public, or else your subscribers will not be able to see the post. You may also want to adjust other privacy features so that all other content on your Facebook wall is more private. This way, only your blog updates on Facebook are publicly visible to anyone who is not your friend on Facebook. You may also want to edit your personal information so it is publicly accessible as well as more informative for your readers and subscribers.

Would you use Facebook as a blogging platform? Let us know in the comments.

Google Nexus One Android 2.3.6 update rolling out now – Guide

Google has started rolling out Android 2.3.6 update for Nexus One. You need to be on Android 2.3.4 GRJ22 right now to get this update. The current update will take you to GRK39F. Google has not released the official change-log but a one live statement about it – this update contains “important bug fixes and security patches.”

If you do not want to wait for the official OTA update, you can manually apple the update using the instruction given below.

Download the update file or (Mirror) (5.28 MB)

1.> Rename the downloaded file to update.zip
2.> Move the file to your SD card’s root
3.> Switch off your Nexus One
4.> Reboot by pressing the Power and Volume Down buttons.
5.> Select Bootloader
6.> Select Recovery.
7.> The phone will reboot into recovery but first it’ll show an exclamation point and a triangle. Press the Power and Volume Up buttons at once until the recovery screen shows up.
Select Apply sdcard update.zip, which should start the update process.
8.> Reboot

iPad 3 to be bigger and faster

If you thought that the iPad 3 was going to replace the iPad 2, you may, like many others, be mistaken. X-bit Labs believes that the iPad 3 will be a more superior model than the iPad 2. It’s bound to sell a price higher than the existing iPad 2. The 9.7-inch screen for one is very likely to use a 2048 x 1536 resolution panel, which will definitely be denser than the ones used, so far. Power consumption will take a hit, as well, so a larger battery will have to be used on the iPad 3. There has been a lot of talk about the iPad 3 being powered by a new processor.

While the details known aren’t confirmed, the iPad 3 maybe powered by an Apple A6 processor, to be produced by TSMC. Apple might also choose to go with the existing A5 processor, but with a speed increment of roughly 200MHz and also a memory upgrade to 1GB from the existing 512 MB. If the A6 is chosen, then this could be yet another reason for battery capacity to be bumped up. This might cause the iPad 3 to be thicker than the existing iPad 2. If all goes well, the iPad 3 should be released sometime in the first quarter of 2012.

Samsung to launch Galaxy Skin with foldable AMOLED screen in 2012

We’ve seen dual-core processors in phones, massive screen sizes that are too big to fit in your pocket and we’ve even explored the third dimension with phones like the Optimus 3D and Evo 3D. Where do we go from here? How about flexible displays then. Samsung showed off their concept phone, called the ‘Skin’ in South Korea in June and earlier, at CES 2011. The phone uses a special flexible AMOLED screen instead of glass that uses a plastic polyimide substrate. Due to this, the display is flexible enough to bend around a cylinder measuring just an inch in diameter.

The Skin is also pretty well-equipped. The screen measures 4.0 inches with a resolution of 480x800. It’s 3G ready with full HSDPA and HSUPA bandwidth support. Powered by a 1GHz processor, the Skin uses a different variant of Android called ‘Flexy’, since the conventional OS wouldn’t really work on this type of screen layout. Other features include an 8MP camera plus a front-facing VGA camera, 720p video recording with MKV and AVI support out-of-the-box.

According to various sources, Samsung has confirmed that they will be putting this into production as the large scale manufacturing of these flexible AMOLED displays will begin in Q2 of 2012. If all goes as planned, we can expect the phone to hit the shelves by the end of 2012. The final product may not look exactly like the one in the picture, but at least it will be the next step in mobile evolution.

Future of Tablet

Self-Charging Tablet:

The EcoPad concept Android tablet case is made out of a wood-like material, but the most interesting thing about it is that it has no charging port.

Instead, the designers imagined that this tablet-and-case set would use a nano piezoelectricity film, which would create energy to keep the tablet going every time the user touched or pressed the screen.

Photo: Jun-se Kim, Yonggu Do, and Eunha Seo via Yanko Design visit:

TubGet: Save Video Off YouTube & Almost 100 Other Sites

When it comes to video downloading tools, they work for some websites but fail for others. TubGet aims to resolve that by letting you download videos from almost 100 different websites including YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, Youku, Flickr and more. Simply enter the URL of the video you want to download and the video will start saving to the server.

Once done, choose the desired specifications including video resolution, video quality and audio quality. Then select the desired output format such as AVI, MOV, MP4, 3GP, FLV, MP3 and M4R. Your video will then convert and be ready for download in 60 seconds. The 60 seconds waiting time is a bit annoying but totally worth it due to the large number of websites and formats supported by TubGet.

Features:

1.> Download video from around 100 different websites.
2.> Select video resolution, video quality and audio quality.
3.> Choose from 7 different output formats.
4.> No registration required.


Visit TubGet from here @ http://tubget.com

How to Custom Modify your Wi-Fi Router

Are you constantly frustrated while surfing over a wireless network because your Wi-Fi range is simply too low, Signals are weak, and connections either constantly break off or can’t be established in the first place? If you have tried tweaking all possible settings and changing the router’s position, but it just won’t satisfy your needs. What do you do? Get a new router with longer antennae, or add multiple access points, which would burn holes into your wallet. Right?????

You can choose to replace the router’s firmware (its operating system and configuration options) with a third-party, unsupported version. One open source option is called DD-WRT. It’s free and you can use it to increase transmission power and thus, the range of certain Wi-Fi routers over and above their default available values. DD WRT can help increase your router’s capabilities and revive an old failing router by infusing it with additional uses.

Apart from the option of boosting the transmission power, the extendable DD-WRT Linux firmware system offers a host of cool functions, such as running servers and clients for various functions, control via SSH commands, file transfer protocols (FTP) and SMB hosting, and also the option of switching on your home PC using its Wake-on-LAN feature (WoL) from the Internet and then accessing files on it from wherever you are. Moreover, you have a server and client for OpenVPN on board, which you can use to configure a virtual, encrypted link between multiple computers on the Internet.

In this workshop, the router we'll be using is a Linksys WRT54GL with hardware revision 1.1. The WRT54GL is an 802.11 b/g router and cannot match up to the high range of modern routers, which use the new N standard. The radio network barely manages a 30-meter range when used indoors. Its default signal strength amounts to roughly -74 dBm. At times, the Wi-Fi signal is still detectable at 40 meters with -80 dBm, but surfing becomes impossible. Although the embedded (original) firmware from Linksys offers numerous setting options, the transmission power cannot be increased.


Important note:

If you download an inappropriate firmware version or make a mistake during the installation, the router may quickly and irreparably be damaged. It is very important that you look precisely for your router’s model number on the ‘www.dd-wrt.com’ website in the ‘Router Database’ section, inclusive of the correct hardware revision. There are precise installation instructions for every supported model on the ‘www.dd-wrt.com/wiki’ website, which you'll need to follow without errors. Even if the firmware upgrade works, the increase in transmission power will increase operating temperatures, which can affect the life of the router. Added tweaking of the router might be required to help cool it. Also note that the firmware replacement procedure is irreversible and will certainly void any warranty. Do this at your own risk.

Step 1: The firmware:

Go to the website ‘www.dd-wrt.com’, click on the ‘Router Database’ and look for ‘WRT54GL’ (in your case, look for the model number of your router). Download the file ‘dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic.bin’ and save it on the desktop.

Step 2: Disconnecting:

Before installing the new firmware, detach all LAN cables from the router, except for the LAN cable of the PC that has the firmware file that you have just downloaded. Also disconnect any devices connected via Wi-Fi.

Step 3: Hard reset:

You will now need to hard-reset the router using the physical reset button located on its rear panel. You might require a pin as the reset switch is usually hidden inside the chassis and only a tiny hole is provided to reach it. Check your instruction manual if you cannot locate the reset button. You will need to keep the reset button pressed for at least 90 seconds for the complete hard-reset. Now carefully read these instructions before actually starting the procedure: pull out the power connector after the first 30 seconds, wait for another 30 seconds and re-connect the power again. After another 30 seconds, release the reset button. If you have made any mistakes during this procedure, repeat the whole step.

Step 4: Flashing:

Now that you have completely reset the router, it is time to start configuring the router. To do this, you will need to open your web browser and enter the address ‘http://192.168.1.1’ and press [Enter]. Note: Certain routers have a different default IP address. Make sure you have your user manual at your disposal. Once inside, go to the firmware section and select ‘Upgrade’. Browse and select the downloaded firmware file from your desktop (in our case it is the ‘dd-wrt.v24_mini_generic.bin’ file). Click on the upgrade button. Once the process completes, restart the router.

Step 5: Configuring:

You are almost there. Before you start the DD-WRT configuration, you will need to repeat the hard-reset procedure described in Step 4. Once completely done, enter the configuration page of the router using the above IP address in the web browser. Firstly, assign a username and a strong secure password for the router before you proceed into any other configuration steps. Then safeguard your network with a WPA2 key under ‘Wireless’ so nobody can intrude into your router at this time as your network is presently in an open state and can be easily hacked.

Step 6: Tweaking:

Now you can connect all the LAN cables again. Configure your router as per your requirements. You can increase the specified value in the ‘TX Power’ field under ‘Wireless | Advanced Settings’ from around 71 mW to a higher value in small steps. Up to 100 mW is allowed by default, even though you can boost it to more than 200 mW with further tweaking. But be careful; increasing this value will force your router’s components to run at higher power levels, thus producing more heat, which could damage them permanently. Hence, increase these values gradually and stop when they are just about enough to serve your needs. If you increase the power more than you need, you also run the risk of boosting the Wi-Fi range enough for others in the vicinity to hook on to it. Trust us; you don’t want that to happen.

Now that you have successfully upgraded your router with the DD WRT firmware, you have opened up a treasure chest of settings and features that were previously hidden. Browse through the features and enable any that you might want.

How To Enable Facebook’s New “Timeline” Profile Right Now Before Anyone Else Gets It

Announced today at the f8 conference is a completely new redesign of Facebook; this new design is more customizable to your needs and filters out a lot of the trash that can build up over time and ruin the quality of your Facebook experience. If you’re an impatient person like me and you want to access the new Facebook Timeline layout, follow these simple steps to activate it.

Once you’ve logged into your Facebook account, enable Developer mode.

To do this, go to the search bar and type Developer. You’re looking for an application made by Facebook — it should be the first result that appears. Once you click on it, give it permission for your account.

If it doesn’t automatically get you to a screen, head over to the Developer section of Facebook and create a new application.

This application will not be seen by anybody, but it is needed to activate Facebook Timeline. Once you name your application, you must agree to the platform privacy agreement.

Once your application has been created, head to the Settings page in the Developer application. Under the settings for your application, look for where it says Open Graph and click on the Get Started Using Open Graph link.

Once you click that link, there will be a form where you may enter test actions. In these two fields you may enter whatever you wish, as long as it goes along the lines with the statement.

Once you press the Get Started button, you should be thrown into a configuration prompt and you may change data and save it again.

Now it’s time to wait (not long — only five minutes or so) and head back to your main Facebook profile.

On the top you should see your invitation to the Facebook Timeline beta. You’re in!

Have fun with the new Timeline and tell us what you think about it in comments.

Google planning to become telecom operator in Spain?

If a series of rumors and leaked images are to be believed, Google is giving out starter packs with self-branded SIMs along with Nexus S to its employees mostly engineers in Spain. Each of these SIMs is said to be affiliated to different telecom operators in the country and engineers have been told to test out infrastructure and efficiency of these telcos.

Google seems to be planning to become a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), which is a company that provides mobile phone services but does not have its own licensed frequency allocation of radio spectrum, nor does it necessarily have the entire infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service.

While there hasn’t been any confirmation about Google’s ulterior motives here, but if it goes down this road, it will be a very significant move.

Will the next iPhone have BlackBerry Messenger?

The BlackBerry Messenger or BBM has been a BlackBerry-only messaging service, since its inception. The big wigs at Research in Motion have always insisted that this service will be solely for BlackBerry devices. However, according to a report by GSMArena, sources have revealed that the upcoming iPhone will have the BlackBerry Messenger Service. The source has revealed that Research in Motion will receive a lot of money for offering their messaging service to Apple.


With the announcement of the next Apple iPhone getting closer, rumours are coming thick and fast. Apple has not revealed any information about any of the specifications of the upcoming iPhone, however several rumours are floating around that Apple is set to release two iPhones, this year. The tech giant has always released just a single iPhone per year since the iPhone was launched in 2007. The two iPhones are rumoured to be called the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4S. Technical details are very limited, but word is going around that the iPhone 5 will have an all new physical design and the iPhone 4S will be an amped up version of the iPhone 4. Both handsets are said to feature a dual-core 1GHz A5 processor and an 8 MP camera with 1080p video recording capabilities.

These are only rumours as of now, we may see just a single iPhone, come October. But, what is really interesting is the fact that Al Gore, Apple board member and former Vice President of the United States, letting it slip that ‘the new iPhones would be out next month.’ As of now we have to just wait and watch to see what Apple showcases at the event, which is slated for the first week of October, this year.

If Apple acquires the BBM service, how many of you will jump on to iOS? Or would you stick to BlackBerry? Let us know in the comments below.

Cheap Android Tablets: Fooling You Since 2011

Chinese Android Tablet Woes

So, you have about Rs. 5,000 to spare and have decided to buy that neat Chinese Android tablet that you saw the other day? Let me tell you exactly why that's a pretty bad decision.

1. Seriously underpowered hardware.

Google has been very liberal with laying down the minimum system requirements for the devices running Android 2.2 (Froyo) or lower, and just because a tablet's hardware meets the minimum requirements, doesn't mean it's ready to leave the stables running. Have you ever been frustrated by not being able to run a game or an application properly on your PC although it meets the minimum system requirements? This is very similar to that.

If the Chinese tablet has a 7 to 10-inch display and offers you a resolution of 800x480 pixels or higher, then to get any semblance of good usability, it will require at the very least a 1GHz processor, which most of these tablets do not offer. Also, you probably won't be able to get a good experience playing games that are any more taxing than your regular 'Angry Birds' equivalent.

2. Touchscreen? Okay, if you say so.

I'm not getting into the entire capacitive vs. resistive touchscreen debate here. While I agree a resistive screen is best if you like using a stylus, the Android OS is designed to be used with a capacitive display that supports swipe gestures and multi-touch. Having an Android tablet with a 7 (or higher) inch display that's not the easiest to use with fingers and doesn't support multi-touch is pretty pointless.

3. No Support.

Everyone has horror stories to do with customer support so I guess in a strange way having no guaranteed after-sales support for a Chinese tablet may be just what you wanted. However, if you are one of those people that unfairly want sales support for a device you just spent your hard-earned money for then you are out of luck.

4. Do you really need a tablet?

Most of the time when I ask someone why they want to buy a tablet, it mostly devolves down to the fact that it runs Android and so it's like getting a huge-screened Android phone. The fact is that you probably won't be using the device as a phone anyways mainly because of its bulk and to avoid looking stupid. A lot of people also want it to browse the Web or to watch videos on. Sure it'll play your regular videos but don't expect it to play 720p or 1080p ones. Also, an average Chinese tablet will offer a terrible browsing experience on account of the aforementioned faulty touch input and hardware limitations when it comes to relatively heavy websites.

The tablet is also not a laptop replacement because it's just not built to be able to do all the things that you regularly use a laptop for. So before you actually go ahead and shell out money for a tablet, ask yourself first: do you really need a tablet?

5. Okay, so there are exceptions.

Right, after having said all of that, I will admit that there are certain things that a tablet (even a cheap Chinese Android tablet) may be good for. If you're really interested in the Android OS and want to play around with different custom ROMs without worrying about bricking your device then a cheap tablet may be a good investment for you (of course, such people would have called me an idiot and stopped reading this article a while back). Also, the large display means that the tablet is useful in reading eBooks. However, you may have to suffer through inconsistent battery performance and a display that's not conducive to long stretches of reading.