Facebook adds drag-and-drop photos, trials simplified Timeline and delivers new privacy controls

Facebook adds drag-and-drop photos, trials simplified Timeline and delivers new privacy controls

Anyone who's returned from an event with a virtual armful of photos may have been frustrated with Facebook's upload interface, which until now has involved a less-than-intuitive file browser. The company is quietly solving that problem: an update pushing out to individual users lets them drag-and-drop photos into a new post, like we've seen on other social networks, and to a newly streamlined Messages format that's rolling out at the same time. A much smaller circle is seeing a second update. Facebook has confirmed to ABC News that it's conducting limited trials of an updated Timeline that moves the news feed to a single column, replaces the thumbnail navigation with simpler-looking tabs and makes all profile page information available through scrolling. A spokesperson wouldn't say if or when the new Timeline would reach the wider public, but history points to "when" being more likely. They did however mention that the new privacy shortcuts, activity log and untagging tool would be going live for all users starting tonight, and we've already seen them pop up on some of our accounts.

Google is Working on a 'X Phone' to Rival Apple and Samsung

Google is Working on a 'X Phone' to Rival Apple and Samsung

Google's engineers at Motorola are working on a 'X Phone' to rival the high end offerings of Apple and Samsung but the team has run into difficulties, reports the WSJ.

Motorola wants the marquee handset to have features that make it stand apart from existing phones when it is released next year. However, hurdles with manufacturing and supply-chain management have forced the company to rethink some of its ideas such as a bendable screen, better color saturation, and panoramic shots.

Some of the features were found to drain battery life or already have been incorporated into popular new devices, such as the iPhone 5 that launched earlier this year, they added. Motorola also ran into difficulties when it looked into using a bendable screen and materials such as ceramics that would allow the company to make the X Phone more stress resistant, use more colors and mold into different shapes, these people said.

One source told the Journal that Motorola will enhance the phone with its recent acquisition of Viewdle, a developer makes image and gesture recognition software.

The handset is expected some time next year.

New Apple iPad set to grace India on April 27

The new Apple iPad, launched on March 16 this year, is ready to arrive in India. Apple Inc has announced that the much awaited gadget will officially have an Indian launch on April 27.


The gadget, which will runs on the much faster A5X processor, will come with a new display with 2048x1536p resolution. Moreover, the iPad 2 successor will have a 5 megapixel rear camera, a back-illuminated sensor, a 5 element lens called iSight and a front camera named Facetime camera. In addition to the alluring camera, the device will come along with Apple’s image editing and multi-touch processing application- iPhoto.

The brand new Apple launch can also shoot videos in high definition (HD) and has a new key at the bottom that activates the microphone on just a tap.

Price of the new Apple iPad in India:

The minimum cost of the new Apple iPad will be Rs 30,500. It will be available in a choice of black or white, with the Wi-Fi models being sold for Rs 30,500 (16GB), Rs 36,500 (32GB), and Rs 42,500 (64GB), while the Wi-Fi+4G models will be sold for Rs 38,900 (16GB), Rs 44,900 (32GB), and Rs 50,900 (64GB).


In addition to India, countries like Colombia, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand will also witness the launch of the new iPad on April 27.

On the other hand Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, South Korea, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela will receive the new iPad a week earlier, on April 20.

Portable Flash Memory

Often referred to as a jumpdrive, the pen drive is a portable flash memory solution, designed to transport data files from one computer to another. The product can carry audio, video and data files, and is brilliantly simple; all the user has to do is plug the pen drive into a computer`s USB port, drag and drop the necessary files from the hard drive, remove it and plug it into another machine.

Durable, portable and scratch-resistant, the pen drive is a marked improvement on previous data transportation devices, such as the CD and floppy disk, and a source of constant relief and graduate for millions of people the world over.

The history
At the dawn of the new Millennium, it became clear that traditional storage solutions were no longer up to the job. People now needed to move large files between computers in the blink of eye, using intermediary technology which was quick to set up, easy to carry and hard to damage. A clutch of software companies, including SanDisk (then known as M-Systems), Lexar, Trek and IBM began working on a solution that would meet these needs.


Their solution was the revolutionary USB flash drive, which was gradually developed in the last years of the 20th century. In 2000 Trek rolled out the first-ever flash drive, named Thumb Drive, in Singapore, with IBM introducing a similar model to the North American market. Just a few months later Lexar introduced a Compact Flash (CF) card with a USB connection, and a companion card read/writer and USB cable; this eliminated the need for a USB hub, and allowed the pen/flash drive to enjoy meteoric growth over the next decade.

How it works
Each pen drive comprises a tiny Printed Circuit Board (or PCB) to store data, a USB connector, and a NAND flash memory chip using multicell level technology; this groundbreaking solution was first developed by SanDisk and Toshiba in 2005. The constituent technologies are encased within a tough outer shell, manufactured in metal, rubber or plastic, and the USB connector may be sheathed in an outer cap or protected by a retractable strip, which allows the user to withdraw the connector when not in use

The name pen drive is actually an anachronism; drives typically rely on mechanical systems, but this little gem does not. The term drive remains as a vestigial nod to the past because computers read and write flash-drive data using the same system commands as for a mechanical disk drive, with the storage appearing to the computer operating system and user interface as just another drive.

Meteoric growth
In less than 10 years the pen drive has evolved from an optional extra for the technologically savvy into an indispensable staple for all computer users. People have found more and more reasons to use a pen drive, and they have been encouraged by rapid increases in storage capacity; the early pen drives had room for just 8MB, but this soon increased as the technology improved - today you can pick up a pen drive with capacity of 128GB, provided you are willing to pay top dollar for the privilege.

The growth of the pen drive has rendered the good-old floppy disk almost obsolete. Until 2005 most PCs were fitted with floppy disk drives as standard. Now, faced with the ubiquity of the pen drive, designers are leaving out the old drives and fitting USB ports instead. The revolution is nearly complete!

Apple mulls settling patent fights with Samsung

 Top executives at Apple and Samsung have met recently about a potential patent settlement, a media report said Thursday.

"Apple CEO Tim Cook does not seem to share his predecessor's passion about laying all foes to waste. Cook appears to view litigation as a necessary evil, not a vehicle of cosmic revenge," Xinhua reported quoting the Bloomberg Businessweek.

Last April, Apple sued Samsung in a US court, alleging that the Korean maker's smartphones and Galaxy line of tablet computers violated Apple's patent and trademark. Samsung later countersued Apple, pitting against the rival in courts around the world.

Besides Samsung, Apple has also been filing suits against other manufacturers like HTC and Motorola Mobility, which are actually proxies for Apple products' major competitor Android, the operating system Google gives away to device makers.

In the official biography of Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder told author Walter Isaacson that "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to and I will spend every penny of Apple's USD 40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," according to the biography.

As Bloomberg points out in the cover story titled "Steve Jobs' last war", the tech giant could save themselves considerable legal fees and distraction in the short run. The process may resolve similar litigation in the desktop computer field.

In 1997, Microsoft announced an investment of USD 150 million in Apple, saying the two companies had reached settlement to a long-standing dispute over whether Microsoft's Windows operating system infringes on Apple's patents.

In the long run, the competition between Apple and Google is nowhere near resolution, said the Bloomberg report. While fighting for dominance in mobile devices, the two tech giants, along with Microsoft are all gearing up for a future battle over the market for smart TV.

Adobe Releases Photoshop CS6 Beta

Adobe has released a beta of Photoshop CS6.


Explore Photoshop CS6 beta for a sneak preview of some of the incredible performance enhancements, imaging magic, and creativity tools we are working on. Discover for yourself why Photoshop CS6 software will be a whole new experience in digital image editing.


Photoshop CS6 Highlights:
● Content-Aware Patch -- Patch images with greater control using the newest member of the Content-Aware family of technologies. Choose the sample area you want to use to create your patch, and then watch Content-Aware Patch magically blend pixels for a stunning result.
● Blazingly fast performance and a modern UI -- Experience unprecedented performance with the Mercury Graphics Engine, which gives you near-instant results when you edit with key tools such as Liquify, Puppet Warp, and Crop.* Plus, a refined, fresh, and elegant Photoshop interface features dark background options that make your images pop.
● New and re-engineered design tools -- Create superior designs fast. Get consistent formatting with type styles, create and apply custom strokes and dashed lines to shapes, quickly search layers, and much more.


Important Notes:
● Photoshop CS6 beta includes all the features in Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended. Take this opportunity to try out the 3D image editing and quantitative image analysis capabilities of Photoshop Extended*, but note that-while these features will be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 Extended-they will not be included in the shipping version of Photoshop CS6.
● Adobe ID login and online activation are required either at installation or within seven days after your first launch of the Photoshop CS6 beta. The same requirements will be in place for the shipping version of Photoshop CS6 when it is released. Your Adobe ID provides multiple benefits, including an easy way to access your serial numbers, the Adobe.com community, and the upcoming Adobe Creative Cloud membership.
● Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended will be part of the Adobe Creative Suite, and Photoshop CS6 Extended will be part of Adobe Creative Cloud membership. Both Photoshop editions will also be available separately.

New Nokia Asha

Nokia has expanded its Asha portfolio in the country with the launch of Asha 303 smartphone. QWERTY-based Asha 303 runs on Symbian Series 40 OS and has been priced at Rs 8990.

First announced at Nokia World 2011 in October, Asha 303 comes with 1GHz processor and a 2.6 inch capacitive display. Other features of the phone include full QWERTY 170 MB of internal memory with support for memory card, 3.2 megapixel camera, built-in FM radio, Bluetooth and internet radio.

Nokia Asha 303 comes pre-loaded with applications such as Angry Birds Lite, Mobile TV with Zenga TV, Whatsapp, NokiaMaps and Nokia Music Unlimited. The phone is available in red and graphite colours.

Nokia has partnered with Vodafone India to provide attractive data offers for the smartphon

Aakash II to be launched in April

A faster, upgraded version of Aakash tablet -- touted to be the world's cheapest -- would be launched in April without hike in price, Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal said today.

Sibal said during Question Hour in Lok Sabha that Datawind will supply one lakh high speed tablets with a longer battery life and better screen.

"These higher specifications which include 700 MHz Cortex A8 processor, 3200mAH battery with three-hour usage time and a capacitative touch screen have been necessitated to overcome the initial difficulties observed in the devices," he said.

The first phase of one lakh tablets were targeted for students in higher technical education institutions so as to further ascertain technical feedback on its operation and usability, the minister said.

To demands from members for extending the distribution of tablets to school students, Sibal said the same would be made available when the proposed National Mission of Education through ICT for Schools got necessary funds.

He said once the production capacities are built up, norms for distribution with an aim to prioritise empowerment of students, especially from disadvantaged and marginalized sections of society, through this low cost access-cum computing device would get developed.

Panasonic set for $10.2 billion loss

Japan's Panasonic on Friday warned it would see its worst-ever net loss of 780 billion yen ($10.2 billion) for the year to March, blaming the strong yen, flooding in Thailand, and acquisition costs. The electronics giant said the huge net loss - which would be one of the worst everrecorded by any non-financial Japanese company - was due to one-off costs it incurred to acquire rival Sanyo, among other factors.
"We expect a sizable decline in sales due to the impact of massive flooding in Thailand last October on broad supply chains, together with a global economic slowdown triggered by the European debt crisis," the firm said.

It made a net profit of 74 billion yen in the year to March 2011, and its first forecast for the current year had been a 30 billion yen profit.

Osaka-based Panasonic revised downward its annual sales forecast to 8.0 trillion yen, from 8.3 trillion yen earlier. Operating profit for the year is now seen at 30 billion yen, compared with 130 billion yen projected earlier.

The company separately said it posted a net loss of 333.82 billion yen for the nine months to December, reversing a 114.70 billion yen profit in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Operating profit for the period plunged 85.0 percent to 39.54 billion yen on sales of 5.97 trillion yen, down 10.3 percent. On top of the impact of the Thai floods and the eurozone crisis, Panasonic blamed the strong yen and the impact of the March earthquake and tsunami, as well as severe price competition.

Heart Attacks And Hot Water

A very good article which takes two minutes to read. Heart Attacks And Drinking Warm Water

This is a very good article. Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about .Heart Attacks. The Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals, not cold water, maybe it is time we adopt theirdrinking habit while eating.

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by theintestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.
Common Symptoms Of Heart Attack...
A serious note about heart attacks - You! should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be theleft arm hurting . Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.
You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack. Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms. 60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.

A cardiologist says if everyone who reads this message sends it to 10 people, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life. Read this & Send to a friend. It could save a life... So, please be a true friend and send this article to all your friends you care about.