Tuesday, July 31, 2007

YouTube promises copyright filters by September.

Since last year, Youtube has received hundreds of thousands of take down requests from content providers and royalty groups. The largest of those is the 100,000 video take down request from Viacom that later evolved into a $1bn lawsuit. So they are now showing their seriousness to built up copyright filters on the world's largest video sharing website.

According to the Associated Press, Youtube attorney Philip S. Beck told a New York court that the system would be in place "hopefully in September".

The system would reportedly use digital fingerprinting technology to compare user-submitted videos to copyrighted materials and filter out violations.

The giant Youtube competitor Soapbox on MSN by Microsoft has already put finger-printing on their website.


Links :

www.youtube.com
soapbox.msn.com

Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Imagine cup 2007 heat is on! someone is also there from Pakistan!

The most awaited and my favorite event is finally to be held in Korea. Thats Microsoft Imagine Cup 2007 South Korea that will be commenced from August 5-11 2007. 111 teams and 372 finalists from all over the world are expected to travel to Seoul to compete.

This year Pakistan is also participating in the Software development category and the team thats participating is "AVRiL"(That sounds like Avril Lavigne :p), it stands for Automatic Video Recording for Lectures, and this team is from LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences). AVRiL are winners of Imagine cup Pakistan 2007, Lets see what they can do at world level.

They say about their project:


"Do you believe that quality education is a privilege of only a few at the top universities? What do you do when you miss classes? Do you value the power of instruction? Do you think distance learning programs are over-priced? What about being able to review only a particular topic right before the exam without having to replay the whole lecture. --- Ever thought of the most effective and ready method to reproduce the classroom experience for the masses? Are you sick of boring static lecture videos? Or do you get distracted when they hire a professional crew instead? ...The aim of the project is to fully automate the video recording of lectures so there is no need to hire special camera men or a direction crew. Due to its extremely low day-to-day costs it finds many applications in the area of video archiving, lecture review, and in distance learning programmes."

Wish you Best of luck AVRiL!

Watch their project promo:


Links:
Microsoft Imagine cup
Team AVRiL on Imagine Cup

AVRiL Homepage






A Poll on Facebook about Instant Messaging.

Just surfing on facebook, I came to this pole about "what is your primary instant messaging client?" voted by 1000 facebook users all over world(i know its not a big...). Facebook is a network started for universities that is now used as a place for socializing all over world (Most users are from USA). The poll is interesting because it is conducted on a network that is , kind of, educational and decent , and represents an image that may be found same all over USA if this survey is done country wide with more people answering the poll.

American Online Messenger stands first with a very little difference from Windows Live/ MSN messenger and all others are so far away, yes AOL and Windows Live are hottest in USA.

check the full report on Facebook

Friday, July 27, 2007

Jazz Ladies First : call as low as Rs 5 per hour! but not for ever!


Mobilink-Jazz is famous for being among the first GSM mobile services provider in Pakistan. Mobilink Jazz is favorite connection for those who want maximum coverage all over Pakistan as it covers
5000+ cities, towns, and villages across country
but many don't prefer it because of considering their rates for prepaid packages unsuitable for them. But they are offering something special for women now. Its Jazz- Ladies First connection. the coolest thing in it is the lowest call rates ever offered! yes its as low as Rs 5/- per hour! (0.083$ per hour). (The package is for ladies but men can also get it! )

They say
"Women around the globe love to talk for hours on end, and Jazz understands this need to the fullest, thus introducing its brand new revolutionary offer, where you can talk for as low as Rs. 5 / hour! This enticing new offer is surely every woman's dream come true, bringing forth a product that will now satiate their desire to talk more and more for hours."


They are attracting women to talk more and more, without worrying of call rates, and its their market strategy to temporarily fulfill the women's desire to talk more on phone and stick to phone for long hours. It must not be forgotten its a limited time offer. So we can say that its an attraction to grab users and most advertisement readers are skimmers; they don't notice the detail of this offer as it is not clearly mentioned in advertisements and remained unaware its a limited time offer. But its good in a sense that the new Jazz-ladies First SIM's cost is very little, so very much affordable and one afford to throw away the SIM after taking advantage of this limited time offer.

Mobilink Pakistan revenue for the last year was
250.2 million USD. The company has lost revenue in past few years as the competition has increased in the telecom market.

For details of package visit:
Jazz Ladies first homepage

Jazz Ladies first TV advertisement:



Samsung develops world’s first LCD panel using DisplayPort


Samsung has developed the world’s first LCD panel using the next-generation video interface – DisplayPort. Sanctioned by VESA (the Video Electronics Standards Association), DisplayPort will serve as a replacement for DVI, LVDS and eventually VGA. By using a transmission speed more than double that of today’s interfaces, Samsung’s new LCD only requires a single DisplayPort interface, instead of the two DVI (Digital Visual Interface) ports now used. For Samsung’s new 30-inch LCD, the DisplayPort interface transmits graphics data at a total data rate of 10.8Gbps. This speed enables 2560x1600 resolution without any color smear. In a joint undertaking with Genesis Microchip Inc. Samsung developed its 30” panel using a new four-lane, 2.7Gbps/lane interface chip.

The interface technology processes 2560x1600 pixels of graphics data at up to 10 bits of color depth or 1.07 billion colors, a feat that would normally require at least three DVI or four LVDS interface chips.Samsung’s new 30” LCD also offers the company’s proprietary Super Patterned Vertical Alignment (S-PVA) liquid crystal technology for 180° viewing angle, and 300nits brightness. Mass production of the Samsung 30-inch panel is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2008.

Source: Samsung Press Center

Friday, July 20, 2007

Harry Potter appears leaked at Bittorrent

Pictures of every single page of JK Rowling's latest book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," appear to be available on BitTorrent days before the book goes on sale. According to the Web site TorrentFreak.com (which is down right now) the book is available as two files from BitTorrent.

PC World confirmed a book that appears to be "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is available. I looked at the first ten pages of the apparent book and if it is a fraud it's a very convincing one.
The posting comes days before the book goes on sale 12:01 A.M. July 21.

The download of the apparent pirated version of the book is made up of 759 poor-quality JPEG images. The pages are pictures (not pages scanned with a flatbed scanner) of the book lying open on rug with a hand holding the spine of the book open.

Source: PCWorld

Thursday, July 19, 2007

@live.com address registration

[Note: the @live.com registration hack is't available now. Windows Live has fixed the flaw, the following article was posted when hack was available.]

@live.com address registration is not officialy launched to public by Windows Live. There was once when some java script code was entered on addressbar of hotmail registration page and we were able to make @live.com ids. But the bug was later fixed my Windows Live team.


I found a way on liveside.com to make @live.com thats working right now. If you want @live.com id then try it before its fixed by Windows Live team.

Go to
www.hotmail.com, click on Sign up, and choose a free account, as before.
Now, you will be taken to a signup page that shows an @hotmail.com domain for your email address.
Go to the address bar, make hmnewuser.aspx read newuser.aspx and look along until you see &hm=1, after removing that hit enter.
Your @hotmail magically becomes @live.



So, for example,
https://signup.live.com/hmnewuser.aspx?mkt=en-us&revipc=US&ts=3967950&sh=62Zm&hm=1&ru=http%3a%2f%2fmail.live.com%2f%3fnewuser%3dyes&rx=http%3a%2f%2fget.live.com%2fmail%2foverview&rollrs=04&lic=1

becomes
https://signup.live.com/newuser.aspx?mkt=en-us&revipc=US&ts=3967973&sh=P1iS&ru=http%3a%2f%2fmail.live.com%2f%3fnewuser%3dyes&rx=http%3a%2f%2fget.live.com%2fmail%2foverview&rollrs=04&lic=1

source/credit : Liveside

Monday, July 16, 2007

Snack Silverlight and Blend tutorials for hungry designers

nibbles are short tutorials to teach you about a specific thing at a time. They claim that its for those who need a snack of a tutorial to grab it and that are often frustrated by hard tutorials. Nibbles present easy tutorials for Microsoft Silverlight and Expression Blend designers. nibbles is itself made on Microsoft Silverlight and is currently in beta stage.

Check it! out you will love it!
:

http://www.nibblestutorials.net/



50 Silverlight Applications

As Microsoft Silverlight is making its way to open new levels of creativity for designers and developers. It is great to see many Silverlight applications in the world wide web. Following is the links to many cool Silverlight applications of the world wide web.

If you have Silverlight installed in you computer then try and view the links below to watch out what Microsoft has got in its new flash competitor the Microsoft Silverlight.

or Install it now:
Windows install / Mac install


50 Silverlight applications:

2D Physics Simulation Grand Piano Silverlight Mind Map
3D Teapot Demo Infragistics Controls Demo Silverlight Pad
Amazon Search Visualization JavaScript / .NET Chess Silverlight Playground
AOL Social Mail Gadget Laugh-o-Sphere Silverlight Rocks
Binary Clock LiveStation SilverNibbles
Browser Poker Matrix Digital Rain Smalltalk on Silverlight
Bubble Factory Michael's Journal Sprawl
Bubblemark Office Ribbon Surface Prototype
Comic Book Viewer Photopoints Gallery SVG to Silverlight Converter
Destroy All Invaders Popfly Telerik RadControls 3D Cube
Digger Python Console Verlet Integration Algorithm
Disco Dance Floor Reflecting Graph Windows Journal-to-Silverlight Converter
Dr Greenthumb Reflector for Silverlight Windows Vista Simulator
Dr Popper Roxio Buzz XamlWebPad
GlyphMap Sierpinski Triangle XPS Viewer
GOA WinForms Demo Silverlight Airlines Demo Zero Gravity
Gradient Animations Silverlight Chess Game Replay

Note: Links may be broken anytime because they are hosted on number of places so no gurantee

Source: MSDN blogs

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Ashkay Kumar featuring XBOX 360!

Well this is a thrilling and funny advertisement that was made for India on the launch of XBOX 360 in India. I love this add. Watch it out, I bet You will love it too


Video: XBOX 360 India Launch Commercial


Friday, July 13, 2007

PS3 Grill

"When the final case design of the Playstation 3 was released, it was widely critsised as looking exactly like a George Foreman Grill ... we decided this would be a great project and challenge to actually build the Real PS3 Grill."
I don't know why but somehow somewhere few people have managed to grill sausages and steaks with Sony's $500 toy!

They are still working on the complete product and also accepting donations from people who eager to help them out. They explain the reason as:

"After much support and advice from the X-S forums we decided to dedicate a site to update everyone about The Real PS3 grill. The main reason of building this grill, apart from the fame and glory (Id like to think so lol :) is to make everyone laugh and make those damn Sony fanboys angry!! "

Well these people must have enough money and time to mess with $500 thing! but not everyone. They're also accepting paypal donations on their website and expecting people to donate them for their project who hate PS3!

Visit the PS3Grill site: http://www.therealps3grill.com

Sony Rolls Out Bigger PS3, Cuts Price of Existing Model

Starting Monday, the current 60-gigabyte PlayStation3 model will cost $499, down from $599.

The Japanese electronics maker said it is introducing a new version of the PlayStation 3 with a bigger hard drive for storing downloaded content such as video games and high-definition movies.

The new PS3 increases the system's storage capacity to 80 gigabytes from 60 gigabytes and also includes a retail copy of the online racing title "MotorStorm," a company spokesman said. It will be priced at $599.

The larger capacity machine won't be available in the United States and Canada until August.

It plays into the company's upcoming strategy of eventually offering downloaded high-definition movies, video games, movie trailers and demos, Sony spokesman David Karraker said.

Nintendo, meanwhile, claims it has sold nearly 6 million Wiis worldwide as of March 31, and more than 40 million Nintendo DS handhelds. The company has predicted it will sell another 14 million Wiis and 22 million additional DS systems by the end of the current fiscal year.

The Wii and PS3 were released within days of each other late last year. Microsoft had a head start in the current generation of consoles, having launched its Xbox 360 in 2005.

Last week, the software company announced an extension of the warranty due to the high number of systems suffering from hardware failure, also called the "red ring of death."

In April, Microsoft began selling a version of its Xbox 360 with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and a souped-up high-definition video connection. Called the Xbox 360 Elite, the black-colored system sells for $479.99.

Xbox gamers who already own the $399.99 20-gigabyte model can buy a snap-on 120-gigabyte hard drive for $179.99.

Source: FoxNews

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Website of President of Pakistan - Useless for me!


Note: This Article is a report on a website, it doesn't mean to attempt criticism on Government of Pakistan or any other respective higher Authorities.

I had something to tell the President of Pakistan. Really!

I had problem with Admission policy of a well known semi-government university of Pakistan thats also under Pakistan Navy, the university staff was bringing rules in front of me and were saying the application was inconsiderable because they just follow the rules already made, so the last thing remaining was if a higher authority , that was Government of Pakistan and Pakistan Navy, recommends the application then it can get approved. I forwarded my application to a higher authority that is Naval Headquarters of Pakistan Navy (NHQ) that is situated in Islamabad (under which is that university). The Naval headquarters recommended my Application and forwarded it to university headquarters.

I was in Karachi and the university headquarter was in Islamabad, so I had lack of communication for knowing the status of my application. There is no proper system to check the status of application processing except making phone calls to the office whole day. My dad went to Islamabad to check the status of application because I was busy with the studies and can't miss the university classes. He stayed there and tried his best to make it finalize but they were making it late because the director had went out of city for a tour. My dad had business waiting in Karachi so he had to come back and gave the responsibility to a friend of him in Karachi.

The university didn't responded! as I never sent them an application! yes the application wasn't ordinary after it was recommended by Naval Headquarters so it was very important to be processed.

So the last hope was to tell my problem to government. I remembered the new report about this website (http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/) that claimed easiest way to interact with President of Pakistan! So had no choice, I had thought in mind what if the president doesn't responds? but then what made me up was when I thought about the Modern Vision of President Gen Musharaf that he claims all the time. So i submitted my whole details and worry to president thorough this website with great hopes. And I got the auto generated message immediately in my mail box that said "ur application has been submitted" and I was happy.

The truth is the President never replied! so all hopes were lost when the time was over for processing the application. I lost my admission as well as the idea that government listens online!.

So this website did nothing for me, try yourself, check if something happens!

President of Pakistan Website:
http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/



The Strangest Sights in Google Earth

With its detailed satellite photos, Google's interactive map lets everyone be a virtual globetrotter. And some of the things we've found in our travels are downright bizarre.

PCWorld presents an interesting artwork by capturing the strangest sights in Google Earth.


(One of the strangest sight)



Conan - iPhone Commercial

A fun about Apple iPhone frm NBC...check it out!

It's much more than just a phone! Check out some of its additional functions.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

E3'07- The gaming conference

Gamespot presents the big three games conferences live.

Microsoft - Tuesday, July 10, 8:30 p.m PT
Nintendo - Wednesday, July 11, 9:00 a.m. P.T
Sony - Wednesday, July 11, 11:30 a.m. PT

Click here

Monday, July 9, 2007

The Top 10 Products of the Past 40 Years

On its 40th Anniversary , ComputerWorld makes a special report on 10 IT products that changed everything. So here are they

IBM System/370: In 1964, with its System/360 mainframe, IBM promised that customers wouldn’t have to rewrite their software when they bought the next version of the machine — it would be compatible. That was a revolutionary concept. In 1971, the S/370 kept that promise and, in the process, sealed the doom of IBM’s mainframe competitors. Of course, that never-have-to-rewrite compatibility also created the Y2k problem


Ethernet: It bubbled up out of Xerox PARC, became a standard in 1980 and soon overran proprietary protocols to become the overwhelmingly dominant networking connection for PCs and servers.

IBM Personal Computer: In 1981, the PC transformed the desktop computer from something users smuggled in (the Apple II running VisiCalc) to a corporate IT standard. It also gave users control over their computing that they would never give up.



Apple Mac­intosh: In 1984, the Mac transformed users’ expectations of how friend computers should be. The result: mice, graphical interfaces, plug-and-play peripherals and aly knockoff from Microsoft called Windows.




SAP R/3: Remember when data processing departments built their own financial accounting software? Starting in 1992, SAP AG wiped out the need to maintain all that code — and it was Y2k-compliant, too.

Salesforce.com: Software as a service proved out. If SAP offered “buy instead of build,” in 1999 Salesforce.com offered “rent.”

Linux: And if Salesforce.com is “rent,” Linux is “get it free.” More important, since first appearing in 1991, Linux has shown that major pieces of IT infrastructure can be developed by large groups of loosely organized programmers.


Netscape Navigator: It wasn’t the first popular Web browser — that was NCSA Mosaic. But when Mosaic creator Marc Andreessen added cookies in 1994, Netscape turned the Web into a worldwide marketplace.

Dynamic RAM: IBM invented it, but Intel Corp. sold the first commercial DRAM in 1970. Within two years, it was outselling the magnetic core memory that had been the standard since the 1950s. And unlike core memory, DRAM was subject to Moore’s Law: Over time, it just got cheaper and more plentiful.

BlackBerry: The cell phone meant users could always be connected, but starting in 1999 with Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, users would always be connected to their e-mail — and the era of the 24/7 knowledge worker truly arrived.



Source : ComputerWorld

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Users Blast iPhone Battery Policy

A U.S. consumer rights group is attacking Apple and AT&T over the fee consumers must pay for battery replacement.

A U.S. consumer rights group is attacking Apple and AT&T over the fee consumers must pay for battery replacement.

The Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights is taking the two firms to task over the fact that the fees and methodology for the battery replacement scheme wasn't announced in advance of the product launch.

Apple published information about its battery replacement plan on its Web site on Friday after the product went on sale. Replacement costs owners of the $499 or $599 device $79 plus $6.95 shipping charges. The process takes three business days, and Apple will offer a loan unit to tide users over during this period for an additional $29 charge.

The group complains that this left consumers in the dark before they purchased the device. The iPhone battery is soldered to the inside of the device and cannot be swapped by users.

The consumer advocates argue that because the replacement scheme wasn't fully disclosed before the device went on sale, some consumers who have purchased it may not have done so, had full information been available.

In a letter the group observes: "News reports quote Apple as stating that the iPhone's battery will eventually deplete itself after 300-400 charges." This means some customers will need to pay the battery tax within ten months of purchasing the product, the advocates warn.

Source: MacWorld

Windows Vista SP1 Beta to launch in mid-July

Mary Jo Foely (who says herself "An unblinking eye on Microsoft") has posted some interesting information. She says Windows Vista SP-1 Beta is going to launch in mid July.

She says "It’s official: We are now in the under-promise and over-deliver era at Microsoft." and

"Just when Microsoft had customers, partners and competitors all believing that it was going to delay the first service pack for Vista - not releasing a first beta of it until just before year-end - the company is set to deliver Beta 1 of Vista SP1 in mid-July.

Word (from various sources who asked not to be named) is Microsoft is gearing up to drop Vista SP1 some time the week of July 16. And despite what Microsoft seemingly led Google, the U.S. Department of Justice and other company watchers to believe, the final version of Vista SP1 is sounding like November 2007."


See more: zdnet blogs

Guidelines for Apple iPhone developers

Apple has released its developer’s guide for its remarkable product, iPhone. Users or developers can refer to the Apple’s Developer guideline (called “Apple Developer Connection”) to create their optimal website or application that can be used on Apple’s extraordinary product, the Apple iPhone.
Apple's Guidelines says
Safari on iPhone uses the same Web Kit engine as Safari on the computer desktop. With the Safari Web Kit engine, you can develop sophisticated Web 2.0 sites and applications that will impress and delight iPhone users. To design a web application that shines on iPhone and ensures a great user experience, you’ll want to:
  • Understand the capabilities of iPhone.
  • Follow established design practices for the web.
  • Adopt iPhone-specific design principles.
The guidelines will help to prepare web content and design a website or web-based application for iPhone

What happened to my Live Hotmail on Internet Explorer 7?


This happened when I tried to adjust the message list plane frame and my mouse accidentally slipped and the plane went to corner. An now I am not able to bring it back to the normal position. I tried everything but cant get rid of it. Although when I reopened it in Mozilla Firefox 2 it was normal again but still isn't working on Windows Internet Explorer 7. I am using Windows Vista Ultimate

Saturday, July 7, 2007

iPhone Torture Tests -- Will it Survive?

Can you scratch it? What happens when you drop it? PC World's Eric Butterfield takes the iPhone through a grueling set of tests to check how the device handles abuse.

USB to SATA/IDE Magic Bridge

Tired of connecting and disconnecting Hard disk with ur PC? or you want to connect ur PC Hard disk to Laptop? Here is solution for those who have habit, need or profession of connecting/disconnecting hard disks to their systems without hassle of system restart and plugging/unpluggng SATA/IDE cable.

Magic bridge supports most types of ATA/ATAPI /SATA interface devices such as 2.5” HDD, 3.5” HDD and CD-ROM, CD R/W, DVD ROM and DVD R/W devices. and its plug and play


Price : Rs 1800/-

Availability in Pakistan:
Karachi : Galaxy Computers Technocity GC-07 09 Techno City Altaf Hussain Road
Lahore : Galaxy Computers 29, 2/F Hafeez Centre Main Blvrd Gulberg III

Asustek Released Mainboard with Built-In DDR3 Memory Modules

Even though DDR3 memory technology offers some promises for higher performance, it is still not available widely, which is why Asustek Computer, the world’s largest producer of computer mainboards, decided to offer its customers a motherboard with pre-installed DDR3 modules and specifically tailored heat-spreaders.

The P5K3 Premium/WiFi-AP mainboard itself is based on Intel P35 chipset and supports a variety of LGA775 form-factor processors, including Intel Core 2 Extreme, Intel Core 2 Quad, Intel Core 2 Duo as well as future chips with 1333MHz processor system bus. The board support ATI CrossFire multi-GPU technology, sports a number of modern technologies for tweaking and overclocking as well as built-in wireless network controller that can function both as access point or wireless client mode.

The manufacturer suggested retail price of the novelty has not yet been announced.

source: neowin

Friday, July 6, 2007

USB fridge

This USB Fridge is the only way to keep your drink cold while you're at your computer and it looks cool on any desktop. You can keep your beverage chilled and stay at your computer longer. Just minutes after plugging in the USB Fridge the cold plater chills to the perfect temperature for helping keep your beverage cool. It takes 5 minutes to bring the fridge down to 8 degrees centigrade (47 degrees Fahrenheit). Its installed easily, plug and play, no driver required.

It is ideal for free roamers with laptops that want their drinks to be kept cool every time they need it

Dimensions: 19.5 x 9 x 8cm

Weight :365gm

Buynow and source: USBGeek

3D T-Qualiser - Display of yourself!


Making display of your self in a party has never been easier, now its more fun to standout in the crowd with this equalizer display T-shirt.

The black t-shirts sport a slim, bright, electro-luminescent design in the shape of a 3D graphic equaliser display. Just like the T-Qualizer they have a built in controller box which incorporates a wide sensitivity sensor - so when the music plays, the lights start to dance - and so will you presumably. Whether you're in a club, a bar, at a festival, or just leaping around the living room, the lights will flash up and down your shirt as the music pumps away. It's kind of crazy, a little bit funky, and dare we say it, achingly cool. The T's come in small, medium, largeand extra-large sizes and the battery pack is detachable, so after a night of sweaty leaping about looking like the most interesting person in the room, you can hand-wash the beer and sweat of adoring fans from your shirt.
Features:
>Black cotton t-shirt with a sound activated 3D illuminating panel.
>Lights flash in time to surrounding beats.

>An advanced controller box with a wide sound sensitivity sensor.

>The 3D illuminating panel is powered by a detachable battery pack.

>The battery pack has an on/off switch so you can choose when you do and
don't want to flash (as it were).
>The battery pack can be unplugged for washing the t-shirt.
The t-shirt is hand wash only.
The T-Qualizer is available in small, medium, largeand extra large.

Requires 4 x AAA Batteries (not included).


Buynow and source: iwantoneofthose.com

Microsoft Extends Xbox 360 Warranty

Great news for all you Xbox 360 owners. Microsoft has decided to extend the general hardware failure coverage for all X360 consoles to 3 years:

"As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console. This applies to new and previously-sold consoles. While we will still have a general one year console warranty (two years in some countries), we are announcing today a three-year warranty that covers any console that displays a three flashing red lights error message. If a customer has an issue indicated by the three flashing red lights, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge—including shipping—for three years from the console’s purchase date.

We will also retroactively reimburse any of you who paid for repairs related to problems indicated by this error message in the past. In doing so, Microsoft stands behind its products and takes responsibility to ensure that every Xbox 360 console owner continues to have a fantastic gaming experience".

Source : Neowin

Surface Computing has arrived!

Microsoft invents computer with no keyboard and mouse, its literately a 30 inch table like display that can be used for computing and serving drinks too. Also when you put your drink on it says "getting thirsty?". And when you put your camera on it it spreads out all the images in it on table that you can view with your both hands. Put you zune on it to spread out your music albums on screen and put your credit card on it to buy something...plus you can do allot more! (Watch videos demonstrating surface computing)


According to fact sheet published by Microsoft in May 2007 following are the features of the product

Overview:
Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft Corp. It turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. In essence, it’s a surface that comes to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Soon to be available in restaurants, hotels, retail establishments and public entertainment venues, this experience will transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live.

Description:
Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday content, from photos to maps to menus. The intuitive user interface works without a traditional mouse or keyboard, allowing people to interact with content and information by using their hands and natural movements. Users are able to access information either on their own or collaboratively with their friends and families, unlike any experience available today. Surface computing features four key attributes:

Surface computing breaks down traditional barriers between people and technology, changing the way people interact with all kinds of everyday content, from photos to maps to menus. The intuitive user interface works without a traditional mouse or keyboard, allowing people to interact with content and information by using their hands and natural movements. Users are able to access information either on their own or collaboratively with their friends and families, unlike any experience available today. Surface computing features four key attributes:

Direct interaction. Users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands and interact with content through touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.

Multi-touch contact. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.

Multi-user experience. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.


System
:
The Surface custom software platform runs on Windows Vista™ and has wired Ethernet 10/100 and wireless 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity.
...........................................
Microsoft says in winter, users will be able to use this product in hotels, restaurants, retail establishments and public entertainment areas

Watch the videos of power of surface computing:
www.surface.com

Apple gets rid of irreplaceable iPhone battery.


Apple iPhone gets rid of its irreplaceable battery criticism by announcing battery replacement program for $79 plus $6.95 of shipping. Apple says repair will take three business days not counting the days of shipping and from the repair center.

Apple isn't taking responsibility of dat so when you want to replace your battery, make backup of all the data of your iPhone because all the data on your phone will be erased when u send it off.
For those who cant live without their iPhone and cant wait for a week(including shipment time) to get their iPhone repaired, Apple will renbt you another iPhone for 29$ as your iPhone is getting repaired.

So if you wanna get your iPhone battery replaced and you also cant live without your iPhone, so the total amount you need to spend is

$79 + $6.95 + $29 = $114.95

In the end it seems to be a big hassle but the good thing is possibility.

Apple iPhone

As Apple like to put the letter 'i' while naming almost their every product, so they invented a phone and named it 'iPhone'. The most awaited Apple iPhone came up to the phone market with profit margin of 56% on every device as calculated by El Segundo, California-based iSuppli Corporation. Apple's most cool and revolutionary hand held device is finally here but the thing is is it really revolutionary and cool? Including its cool multi touch technology screen it has many cool features but one of lack behind is irreplaceable battery.
Though the device is cool but it doesn't has all features offered by Microsoft Windows Mobile. So I think at starting, profit margin of about 56% on every device is not a good idea.
My friend Taimur Asad writes a perfect comparision of Apple iPhone with Microsoft Windows Mobile in his blog, he proved that Apple iPhone isnt better than Microsoft Windows Mobile as he says "Apple iPhone is body beautiful minus soul"...check out your self
http://microsoftwow.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!28962096F48747EA!426.entry?owner=1

Price of Apple iPhone:
$499 for a 4 GB
$599 for an 8 GB

Basic Specifications of Apple iPhone:
Screen size: 8.9 cm (3.5 in)
Screen resolution: 320×480 pixels at 160 ppi
Input method: Multi-touch screen interface (the "Home" button is the iPhone's only physical front panel button)
Operating System: OS X Storage: 4 or 8 GB Flash memory
Quad band GSM (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900)
Wi-Fi (802.11b/802.11g), EDGE and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
2 megapixel camera
Built-in rechargeable, non-removable battery with up to 8 hours of talk, 6 hours of internet use, 7 hours of video playback and up to 24 hours of audio playback, lasting over 250 hours on standby.
Size: 115×61×11.6 mm (4.5×2.4×0.46 in)
Weight: 135 g (4.8 oz)
Digital SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) of 0.974 watts per kilogram

Links:
Apple iPhone
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