Before Windows 8, Microsoft Unveils New Logo

In advance of the Windows 8 launch on Oct. 26, Microsoft today unveiled a new logo that's 25 years in the making.

For almost three decades, Microsoft's logo has simply been the company's slightly italicized name in thick letters (below). Going forward, however, the new Microsoft logo (left) will feature the logo on the right and a block of four, colored squares on the left.

"From Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 to Xbox services to the next version of Office, you will see a common look and feel across these products providing a familiar and seamless experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs," Microsoft said in a blog post. "This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning."

Microsoft opted to use the Segoe font for the new logo, which is also used in its marketing communications and on Microsoft products. For the symbol to its left, Microsoft said the colors - red, green, blue, and orange - "are intended to express the company's diverse portfolio of products."

Redmond will start rolling out its new logo today. It will be displayed prominently on Microsoft.com, as well as in Boston, Seattle, and Bellevue, Wash. retail stores, and will appear at other retail locations and on global TV ads in the coming months.

"Fully implementing a change like this takes time, so there may be other instances where you will see the old logo being used for some time," Microsoft said.

In recent months, Twitter also rolled out a new version of its blue bird logo, which some thought looked a lot like Batman.

Microsoft Unveils Its Own Surface Tablets Running Windows 8

Source
http://www.pcmag.com

Microsoft Windows 8 Tablet

LOS ANGELES—Microsoft launched a family of Surface tablets on Monday that will be the showcase platform for the company's next-generation Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft executives said at an event here.
The Surface tablet comes in two flavors. There are consumer-targeted slates powered by an Nvidia Tegra processor and running Windows RT, Microsoft's first OS designed for devices using ARM-based chips, and there's also a "professional" version of the tablet for content creators that uses an Intel Core i5 chip and runs the x86-optimized flavor of Windows 8 for mobile devices.
The new tablets include a "kickstand" for viewing content, as well as a cover that also doubles as a keyboard and touchpad for content creation. A version of the tablet will include a "TypeCover" designed to replicate a full-size keyboard.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said that the company had set out to work with OEMs, but also has a history of designing its own hardware to showcase the best designs. Ballmer cited the Microsoft Mouse, the company's own keyboard, and the Xbox game console and Xbox Kinect sensor accessory as examples.
Rumors that Microsoft was planning something along these lines were rife ahead of the event.
The Surface tablet incorporates the brand of Microsoft's Surface, a tabletop UI that is regarded as more curiosity than must-have product. But this Surface will compete in a thriving tablet market against the best-selling Apple iPad and numerous Google Android tablets, many of which vary greatly in quality, capabilities, and price.
"With Windows 8, we did not want to leave any scene uncovered," Ballmer said. "Much like Windows 1.0 we wanted to give Windows 8 our own companion hardware."
Surface for Windows RT will be available in a 32GB and 64GB models and priced in the range of "comparable" tablets, Microsoft said. The professional version will be available in 64GB and 128GB configurations, with prices in the range of Windows-based ultrabooks

Microsoft Windows 8 Tablets

Additional details will be announced at the unnamed launch date, executives said, which will be timed for Windows 8 general availability. Microsoft is expected to officially launch Windows 8 and Windows RT this fall.

The professional version of the Surface will be launched three months after the Windows RT tablet, Microsoft said.

The Surface tablet was designed organically like a book, executives said. The tablets are slim—just 9.3 mm thin on the Windows RT model, and just thick enough for a full-sized USB 2.0 port. The display is large, an optically bonded 10.6 inches wide. According to Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky, who led the design of the device, the edges are beveled 22 degrees away. The Windows RT tablet weighs in at just 676 grams, or under 1.5 pounds, and is formed from a magnesium composite that Microsoft calls "VaporMg."

The professional model will be slightly thicker at 13.5 mm, Microsoft said. It will weigh 903 grams. The heftier dimensions are to accommodate the more powerful Core i5 processor which will be cooled through an array of peripheral vents that Sinofsky promised would not vent hot air onto the user. "You won't even feel it," he promised.

The professional Surface will also include a large battery providing 42 Watt-hours in total capacity. The Windows RT tablet's battery capacity is 31.5 W-h.

Surface for Windows 8 Pro will also support digital inking, Sinofsky said, which will allow professional users to add high-resolution markup to Windows 8 software from Autodesk and other vendors, he said.

Both versions of the tablet will include an external HDMI port.

One of Microsoft's innovations is the TouchCover, which somehow turns blue when connected. The TouchCover, which snaps on with a carefully engineered sound like a car door, is thin at just 3 mm, executives said. A thicker, 5mm TouchCover will also be available for a more natural typing feel.

Behind the tablet is a kickstand, which "magicallly" fades into the tablet when not in use, executives said.

Opinion about the wisdom of Microsoft launching its own Windows 8 tablet has been mixed, with PCMag lead mobile analyst Sascha Segan last week casting a skeptical eye on such a product's prospects in the market.

B2B portal keeps you UPDATE with LATEST HAPPENING

Paciat.com B2B Marketplace

http://www.paciat.com

There has always been need of a website that keeps you informed of the latest happening across globe. No matter how many website there might be but the one that provides latest yet related information to its viewers always wins the game.

There has been a number of websites that provides information about events and happening of their alliances only, so Paciat identified the fact that their own website should provide global news with-out biasness.

For this purpose an event slide has been added to the website that will make the viewers have the quick look on the latest events happening by just landing on the website. So no matter where you live, you can have a website that tells you all about the world in a single glance.

At this moment the news slide includes multiple events happening in Expo Center Karachi and Expo center Lahore. It includes series of events held at different dates on diverse topics, but in near future it will have events from across the globe.

This new addition according to a reliable source will also enable good organic traffic generation on the website, as ultimately it’s about the maximization of accessibility of the competitive products that are offered. And this step will be the first transformation to make the website the hub of all business need satisfaction.

Hence it can be said that the B2B website Paciat, is trying its best to be a one stop solution for all the business needs, and this new slide is the starting point for this change.

To know more about Paciat, its products and the latest news visit http://www.paciat.com/ now.

Introduction to App Development with APIs for Nokia Maps and Location Services for Series 40 Phones

Source http://www.developer.nokia.com   Consumers around the world are actively looking for location-based apps to make their Series 40 phones smarter, easier to use, and more relevant to their lives while on the move. The good news is that you can develop great location-based mobile applications using the Maps API for Java ME. With this API you can easily integrate Nokia Maps and location-based services into your apps aimed at a range of Series 40 phones. This webinar will introduce you to the basic skills of displaying and interacting with a map, including zooming and panning. The session also will show you how to add your own content, icons, and markers to take advantage of the API’s versatile event-handling system, enabling users to interact with the displayed content. You’ll also be introduced to the use of related geographic services, such as searching, routing, and sharing locations. The features of the Maps API for Java ME include: Multiple map types optimised for mobile displays – street map, satellite,  transit and terrain views. Reduced latency and less network traffic though built-in intelligent map caching and tiling. Touch support for map panning and zooming. Customisable markers for settingcolour, labels, and images.  Polygons and polylines – set colours and transparency levels. Map components are open to extension to customise and override standard functionality. Standard “out-of-the box” support for KML parsing and for adding custom overlays. Register now for the session most convenient to you: 9 May 8 a.m. London; 10 a.m. Helsinki; 12:30 p.m. Bangalore 10 May 11 a.m. New York; 4 p.m. London; 6 p.m. Helsinki

Build a Series 40 Web App in One Hour Series 40 web apps are easy to build, and they make great information and entertainment apps that use frequently-updated content from the Internet. Using web development skills and tools, templates and information available from Nokia Developer, you can create an app in as little as one hour, start to finish. In this webinar, Michael from Futurice will show you how. Michael suggests that you download and install Nokia Web Tools 1.5 before the webinar to get the most out of the session. That's the toolset he will be using in the presentation. You don't need to have it installed to learn a lot, but you'll learn more if you have it handy. * Some attendees will become eligible for a free Nokia Asha 303 by publishing a Series 40 web app. We'll provide all the details during the session. Register now for the session most convenient to you: 3 May 8 a.m. Helsinki; 10:30 a.m. Bangalore, India; 1 p.m. Singapore 8 May 7 p.m. Helsinki; 9:30 p.m. Bangalore, India; midnight Singapore

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S III Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy S lll Smartphone

Source

http://www.pcmag.com

As expected, Samsung today unveiled the next device in its Galaxy lineup, the Galaxy S III.

The smartphone will make its debut in Europe on May 29 and a 4G LTE-optimized version will hit the U.S. market during the summer.

The Galaxy S III boasts a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED 1,280-by-720 display, and runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It features an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.9-megapixel front-facing one.

Samsung said you can take up to 20 shots on a burst mode, while a new feature known as Best Photo will automatically select the best photo out of a burst of eight.

Samsung acknowledged that 4.8 inches is a large screen, but the company said it significantly narrowed the bezel, so even though the S III is 22 percent larger than the S II, the unit itself did not get much bigger, Samsung said.

Samsung GALAXY S III Smartphone

The smartphone will come in 16GB and 32GB flavors, with a 64GB version expected soon. A microSD slot can expand the Galaxy S III up to 64GB.

The Galaxy S III comes in at 5.3 by 2.7 by 0.3 inches and weighs about 0.3 pounds.

Press materials do not mention the processor, but some reports said the Galaxy S III will run Samsung's new Exynos chip. As explained last month, the ARM Cortex A9-based, 1.4-GHz processor provides double the processing power of its predecessor, the 45nm process-based Exynos 4 Dual, while consuming 20 percent less power.

"Smart" Software Features
During a launch event in London, Loesje De Vriese, head of marketing for Samsung Belgium, talked up some of the Galaxy S III's software features, including "Smart stay," which prevents the device from going to sleep.

"We want to linger on a page without touching it when reading an ebook or long email," De Vriese said. It's "annoying" to have to keep touching the screen or re-enter a password when the screen goes dark.

With Smart stay, the Galaxy S III's front-facing camera "sees us," he said, "and knows whether we are looking or not. It keeps the screen awake for us when we are awake and it sleeps when we sleep."

The smartphone also includes voice-control features, dubbed S Voice. Tell your alarm clock to "snooze," for example, respond to a text message, or launch the camera.

Smart alert, meanwhile, will keep you abreast of who's trying to contact you. If you missed calls or texts while your phone was idle, it will vibrate the next time you touch it.

The device also includes a facial-recognition component that will recognize friends' faces. If you take a photo, for example, and the Galaxy S III recognizes the person in the pic, it will ask you if you want to send a copy of the photo to that friend.

Building on Android Beam, an ICS feature that allows for file-sharing, S Beam will allow for the sharing of a 1GB movie file within three minutes and a 10MB music file within 2 seconds, Samsung said, by touching another Galaxy S III - even without a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

Sebastian Anthony with PCMag's sister sites Geek.com and ExtremeTech was on hand at today's event in London to snap some photos (above) and get hands-on time with the new smartphone. For more, check out the live blog.

Samsung first tipped its next Galaxy device last month, when it sent out invites for today's event that offered attendees the chance to "come and meet the next Galaxy." Several days later, it released a teaser video for the device that took a shot at its top rival, Apple.

Back in February, Samsung decided not to unveil the Galaxy S III at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, opting to instead show off the Galaxy Beam smartphone plus projector, the Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2. The company also raised eyebrows by admitting to "not doing very well" in the tablet space.

Samsung first announced the Galaxy S II at MWC 2011, where PCMag got some hands-on time. It didn't hit the U.S. until September for Sprint and October for AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon did not sign on for the Galaxy S II, opting instead of the Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

By February, Samsung announced that it had sold 20 million Galaxy S II devices. Overall, the Galaxy lineup helped Samsung best Apple as the No. 1 smartphone maker in 2011, even with the launch of the iPhone 4S. It continued that trend this quarter, it seems, with several analysts saying that Samsung beat Apple in the smartphone race during the first few months of 2012.

Samsung Galaxy Note Won't Get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Until Q2

Source

http://www.pcmag.com

Another round of devices will be upgraded to Android 4.0 soon. Samsung on Thursday announced that the Galaxy Note will get Ice Cream Sandwich in the second quarter of the year.

Though Samsung previously said ICS would come to the device in the first quarter, it has pushed back the update to an unspecified time in Q2. In the meantime, Samsung is offering a Premium Suite upgrade for Galaxy Note users, which includes a handful of apps compatible with the Note's S Pen.

One of these apps is S Note, a writing app that offers various templates to format notes, scribbles, and digital content into neat packages.

Another pen-optimized app included is Shape Match, which automatically corrects shape. There's also Formula Match, which solves hand-drawn numeric formulas. Additionally, Samsung is dropping My Story, an app that lets users create personalized digital cards using their videos, photos, text, and hand-drawn notes.

Sony has also announced that the Sony Tablet S and the Sony Tablet P will be upgraded to Ice Cream Sandwich in April. However, at this point, it only applies to Japan, and it's unclear if and when other countries will get the ICS update.

Samsung started rolling out ICS to its Galaxy S II smartphone in several European countries last week. IT said the update will reach other markets "gradually."

HTC also confirmed ICS updates for 16 of its phones last week, though it did not offer specific dates. However, the first of these, for the HTC Vivid, occurred Thursday. The update also includes Beats by Dr. Dre Audio, an optimized audio experience; an updated HTC Sense Experience; and Face Unlock. Users can visit AT&T's Web site to enable the update. It will be followed by these additional phones over the coming months, AT&T said:

• LG Nitro 

• Motorola ATRIX 2 

• Motorola ATRIX 4G 

• Pantech Burst 

• Pantech Element 

• Samsung Captivate Glide 

• Samsung Galaxy Note 

• Samsung Galaxy S II 

• Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket 

• Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

Pink Samsung Galaxy Note on the way, will miss Valentine's day

Source
http://www.gsmarena.com

We have always thought of the Samsung Galaxy Note as a male-oriented device, but it turns out we have underestimated it. The phoneblet obviously generates enough interest with the ladies to warrant its own feminine version, colored in Berry Pink.

We got a tip from an industry insider, containing a photo of the upcoming pink version of the Samsung Galaxy Note. Both the front and the back of the device will obviously be repainted, but we aren't sure if the S Pen (which is white in the white version) will get a similar treatment.

Unfortunately, the pink Samsung Galaxy Note won't make it in time for Valentine's day. The first samples of the device will arrive in the 8th week of the year, while public availability is scheduled for Week 9. That's exactly three weeks away now, so the wait won't be long.

World's first mid-call transfer between Voice over LTE and 3G completed by Qualcomm and Ericsson

Engineers at Qualcomm and Ericsson have managed to achieve the world's first mid-call switch between Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and a WCDMA 3G network. The ability to switch between networks seamlessly during a call is a requirement of standards regulator 3GPP, making this an important milestone on the way to making VoLTE available to consumers. The use of VoLTE could significantly lighten the load on 3G networks, and enable carriers to begin using the system even where their LTE coverage isn't widespread — something we heard that Verizon may already be trialing.

The in-call switching relies on two advances, single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) and circuit-switched fallback technology (CSFB). CSFB is currently already in use in handsets, and is responsible for switching to the 3G modem when a user needs to make a call. The combination of SRVCC and CSFB mean that one radio is capable of handling both 3G and LTE connections, which could also be a major step in overcoming the battery life issues that currently plague many LTE handsets.

Qualcomm will demo the technology — based on its Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 chipset — at Mobile World Congress later this month.

Toshiba Qosmio G35 Most tricked-out multimedia laptop

Laptops toshiba was founded by merging two very popular companies namely Hakunetsusha and Shibaura Engineering Works. These both companies were established in Japan and Shibaura Engineering Works was the one that handled electronics while Japan was transforming into a hi-tech country.

Further Toshiba became the number one electronics manufacturing company not only in Japan but in the entire world and the reason to that was simple, reliability and durability. These two qualities can make any company the most wanted and trustworthy one just like Toshiba. Toshiba started expanding its product when it saw the great response from its customers and market and started manufacturing laptops as well which obviously made them more popular and showed their products are here to stay.

One of the fine laptops Toshiba has ever manufactured is the Toshiba Qosmio G35which is titled to be the best multimedia laptop. Although surprisingly Qosmio lacks a good configuration having a Centrino M740 1.73 GHz which makes it a Pentium 4 with a RAM of 512 MB only and up to 120 GB Hard Drive. The machine still managed to take the spotlight and won the title for best multimedia notebook available in the market. Due to its lacking processor speed Toshiba Qosmio G35 is cheaper than the other laptops with a Core 2 Duo processor ranging from $1000 only.

If You Need to Stay Updated, Find the Best Apps for You

If you need to receive alerts about certain aspects related to your work or your personal life, then finding the best apps that accomplish this for you is one of the most convenient benefits of having a Smartphone. This way, you're not tied to your computer. Since there can be a multitude of apps available, it's good to make your own top top 10 app list to choose from. This you can do by looking at other such lists that experts have published. Cross-referencing a few of them is a good way to narrow down what apps seem to stand out. Still, since these apps need to suit your purposes, if you don't see something that seems best for you, keep looking. I know I actually wasn't completely convinced about a very popular app, and when I looked a little further, I was so pleased to find something just right for me. Nonetheless, I find that it's always good to start with published lists to get an idea of what's out there, what's the latest, and what stands the test of time. It may take a bit of doing, but in the end, the convenience of having just the right apps on your Smartphone will be worth the research.

PTA Sets Base Prices for 3G, 4G, Cellular Licenses

Source
By M Yasir
http://propakistani.pk

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued information memorandum for the auction of three 3G and one cellular license for 1900/2100 MHz (3G/4G/LTE) band and 800 MHz Band.

Base price for 3G license would be $ 210 million for duration of 15 years, while the auction will be held in multiple rounds through open outcry method.

Base price for Mobile Cellular (defunct) License is set at $155 million for duration of around 8 years.

The authority has set at $ 23.25 million as bid earnest money for auction of Cellular Phone defunct License for frequency spectrum of 800MHz whereas it set $31.5 million bid earnest money for auction of new Cellular Phone for spectrum of 1900/2100 MHz.

New License(s) for 3G/4G/LTE

Spectrum for Mobile Cellular (3G/4G/LTE etc.) licenses has been made available in blocks of 9.8 MHz given below. The winner of auction will have choice to select any block of 9.8+9.8 MHz from the available spectrum in 1900/2100 MHz:

Block Frequency

• Block A: 1920-1929.8/2110-2119.8 MHz (9.8+9.8MHz)
• Block B: 1929.8-1939.6/2119.8-2129.6 MHz (9.8+9.8 MHz)
• Block C: 1939.6-1949.4/2129.6-2139.4 MHz (9.8+9.8 MHZ)

Base Price for a block of 9.8+9.8 MHz is US $ 210 Million

Operator(s) can start their services by 2013 after completing all mandatory legal and financial requirements.

Defunct License For Technology Neutral services

PTA will award one technology-neutral nationwide license to Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) and including existing and new players, which was earlier held by Instaphone before termination of its services and operation.

The license awarded will be inclusive of radio frequency spectrum between 824.265 – 831.645 MHz (7.38) MHz and 869.265 – 876.645 MHz (7.38) MHz. The winning operator may launch any technology including 2.5G, 3G or 4G technology for rendering services.

The operator may start its services in 2012 after meeting all financial, network rolls out and operational requirements.

Bidding Process:

PTA in its Memorandum of Information (IM) 2012 stated that the Bidding Committee will be announced prior to start of the auction and shall continue the auction until there are no further bids. The time duration between two bids shall be five minutes. Each bidder shall be granted a timeout of fifteen minutes each, on request, only twice during the entire auction process.

Each successive bid(s) shall have to be more than the already quoted bid. Therefore, the subsequent bid increment shall be in multiple of $2 million with a minimum bid limit of 2 million and maximum bid limit of $10 million.

The successful bidder shall deposit 50 percent of the auction winning price, that is, Initial License/Spectrum fee after adjustment of the bid earnest money within thirty (30) working days in PTA designated bank account.

The remaining 50 percent of the auction winning price shall be deposited in 5 equal annual installments payable in US$ or equivalent in rupees. If the successful bidder fails to make the payment of first 50 percent of auction winning price (Initial License/Spectrum fee) within the stipulated time, the next highest bidder(s) in order of their bid(s) will be offered the license on the same auction winning price.

If no bidder is found ready to match the auction winning price, the Bidding session will be closed without awarding any license, PTA stated.

PTA shall forfeit the bid earnest money and all other amounts received from the defaulting bidders.

The defunct license shall only be issued after payment of first 50 percent of the initial spectrum fee within thirty (30) working days from the auction date. Whereas the new license shall only be awarded after payment of 100 percent of the auction winning price within sixty (60) working days from the date it is offered to the bidder.

PTA reserves the right, on the recommendation of the Bidding Committee, to disqualify any bidder and forfeit its money for different reasons such as failure of payment, misrepresentation and inaccuracy of facts in applications and corrupt practice, meaning the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting of anything of value to influence a public official in relation to auction process.

You can download Information Memorandum for licenses from following links

• Information Memorandum Mobile cellular (defunct) license (3.74 MB – PDF)
• Information Memorandum 3G/4G/LTW license (3.71 MB – PDF)

Nokia Announced Symbian Anna Smartphone - Nokia 500

Nokia announced its latest Symbian Anna smartphone which is Nokia 500. Nokia 500 is based on the specifications of Nokia C5-03. Like Nokia C5-03 it has 5MP rear camera built in facility which gives a sharper and clear images. Nokia 500 Pakistan has 3.2 inches TFT capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors which shows your text and images more clearly than Nokia C5-03. Its 1 GHz processor gives better and more powerful performance than Nokia C5-03. Nokia 500 has loaded with 2GB internal and up to 32GB extensible memory allows you to store your documents like music, videos, games and pictures in this single device for lifetime. Durable battery fitted in this smartphone provides talk time of up to7 h (2G) / up to 5 h (3G). Compare Nokia 500 Price in Pakistan with Nokia C5-03 which is bit higher.

Samsung Galaxy S III’s MWC debut reportedly canceled

Source
By: Dan Graziano

http://www.bgr.com

The highly anticipated follow up to Samsung’s Galaxy S II will not be unveiled at next month’s Mobile World Congress, according to The Verge. The Galaxy S III was rumored to be debuting in Barcelona next month, however it has reportedly now been delayed. The reason for delay was not disclosed, although it is still slated to be released “before summer” according to the report. The Galaxy S II was announced at last year’s Mobile Wold Congress, but Samsung is said to have been uncomfortable with the long delay between the global launch and availability in the U.S., where it is the most popular Android vendor. The company will still feature “interesting stuff” in place of the Galaxy S III, perhaps an updated Galaxy Tab or even a new Windows Phone handset.

Study: Multitasking hinders youth social skills

(CNN) -- FaceTime, the Apple video-chat application, is not a replacement for real human interaction, especially for children, according to a new study.

Tween girls who spend much of their waking hours switching frantically between YouTube, Facebook, television and text messaging are more likely to develop social problems, says a Stanford University study published in a scientific journal on Wednesday.

Young girls who spend the most time multitasking between various digital devices, communicating online or watching video are the least likely to develop normal social tendencies, according to the survey of 3,461 American girls aged 8 to 12 who volunteered responses.

The study only included girls who responded to a survey in Discovery Girls magazine, but results should apply to boys, too, Clifford Nass, a Stanford professor of communications who worked on the study, said in a phone interview. Boys' emotional development is more difficult to analyze because male social development varies widely and over a longer time period, he said.

"No one had ever looked at this, which really shocked us," Nass said. "Kids have to learn about emotion, and the way they do that, really, is by paying attention to other people. They have to really look them in the eye."
The antidote for this hyper-digital phenomenon is for children to spend plenty of time interacting face-to-face with people, the study found. Tweens in the study who regularly talked in person with friends and family were less likely to display social problems, according to the findings in the publication Developmental Psychology.

"If you eschew face-to-face communication, you don't learn critical things that you have to learn," Nass said. "You have to learn social skills. You have to learn about emotion."

The Stanford researchers were not able to determine a magic number of hours that children should spend conversing per week, Nass said. Social skills are typically only learned when children are engaged and making eye contact, rather than fiddling with an iPod during a conversation, he said.

FaceTime and Skype are not replacements for actual face time because other studies have found that people tend to multitask while on video calls, Nass said.

Nass is a self-described technologist of 25 years, who has worked as a consultant with many major electronics firms, including Google and Microsoft. He said the findings disturbed him.

A few years ago, Nass worked on a study about how multitasking affects adults. He found that heavy multitaskers experience cognitive issues, such as difficulty focusing and remembering things. They were actually worse at juggling various activities, a skill crucial to many people's work lives, than those who spent less time multitasking, Nass said.

Source
By Mark Milian, CNNhttp://edition.cnn.com/

3G Telecom Technology – Pakistan Can Earn Billions of USD by Just Selling Air

Pakistan passed the 100 million subscriber milestone in Oct 2010, with five operators fighting for the market share day in & day out, but  still waiting for the introduction of 3G WCDMA technology (High Internet Speed Mobile Access with International Roaming),  to take the telecoms market to the much needed next level.

The 3G Licenses auctioned last year in our neighboring country fetched multi billion dollars, in license fee in addition to a similar amount of foreign direct investments, creating a spree of jobs for not only the highly educated, but also for the less educated  skilled hands, working on things like tower construction.

The question remains why we are shying away from this golden opportunity, to give the much needed life saving shot to our economy?

May be the reason lies in the situation, where the current operators are shying away from the investments that they would have to make, when the licenses are made available and are just keeping a few individuals at the right places “happy”, so that it is deferred, as long as they wish.

With the 3G services available in most of the countries of South Asia and even Africa, why  we are being deprived of the technological and economical benefits and playing the catch up game?

The 3G License or Spectrum auction, which is just like selling “air” is the easiest way to slightly mitigate the ever increasing unemployment rate in the country. Our peoples representatives in the both the houses should take this up seriously, to expedite the ever delayed process.

source 

By A. Muiz Khan
http://www.snayyar.com

Android to overtake iOS and become the top mobile platform for developers

Google's Android will become the preeminent platform for developers over the next 12 months, edging ahead of Apple's iOS, according to a study by research firm Ovum. Nearly all developers, however, will support both platforms.

Ovum's call comes as Android continues to suck up market share, with more companies using the platform to crank out a wave of mobile devices. While iOS has seen its market share growth slow in the recent years, it has always been seen as a more lucrative location for developers to make money. As a result, most apps came to iOS first, and the other platforms second.

That, however, could all change in the coming months, Ovum said. Android's prevalence is getting hard to ignore, and developers have incorporated new business models such as advertising and in-app purchases to spur revenue.

Ovum also said there is growing developer interest in Windows Phone and BlackBerry OS. The results come as both Microsoft and Research in Motion attempt to woo developers over to their respective camps.

"The growing momentum behind Windows Phone indicates that Microsoft has managed to convince developers that its platform is worthy of investment; its challenge now is to persuade consumers," said Ovum analyst Adam Leach.

The study also said developers are abandoning mobile-centric development tools such as Java, Flash and WAP, and moving to HTML5, a Web-based standard that can run across multiple devices and platforms.

by Roger Cheng
source 

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes from Greek τεχνολογία (technología); from τέχνη (téchnē), meaning "art, skill, craft", and -λογία (-logía), meaning "study of-".^[1] The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include construction technology, medical technology, and information technology.
Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. However, not all technology has been used for peaceful purposes; the development of weapons of ever-increasing destructive power has progressed throughout history, from clubs to nuclear weapons.
Technology has affected society and its surroundings in a number of ways. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including today's global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Earth and its environment. Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and new technology often raises new ethical questions. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity, a term originally applied only to machines, and the challenge of traditional norms.
Philosophical debates have arisen over the present and future use of technology in society, with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it. Neo-Luddism, anarcho-primitivism, and similar movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, opining that it harms the environment and alienates people; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition. Indeed, until recently, it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings, but recent scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and learned to pass their knowledge to other generations.

Google+ Users Estimated at 62 Million

An enthusiastic Paul Allen (not the Paul Allen of Microsoft fame, but founder of Ancestry.com) predicts continued adoption of Google+, the social network which launched earlier this year, saying that it is on track to reach 100 million users by the end of February 2012. Allen penned this forecast as part of a post on Google+, where he also released an independent estimate that the site now has 62 million users worldwide.

Allen, whose verified name on Google+ lists him as founder of Ancestry.com and "unofficial Google+ statistician," has reportedly been tracking the number of new users who sign up for Google+ and adjusting how he and his team count when Google releases official statements on the number of members. On October 1, Allen says his estimates pointed to about 38 million users; not two weeks later on October 13, Google pronounced the figure at more than 40 million.

Google+, which first appeared as a beta social network in late June of this year and finally opened up to the public in September, garnered a lot of early attention for its potential to become an alternative to Facebook. However, despite the numbers, activity on the social network hasn't lived up to expectations. While a small number of users seem to be use the site fervently, Google+ doesn't have as much social activity or connectivity as its primary rival—so far.

Another one of Allen's predictions for Google+ in the year ahead is that the Network Effect will take hold, meaning the more people use Google+, the more valuable the site will become for everyone on it. However, there's a big difference between using the site and joining, which has been the primary reason for lackluster response to date.

source : www.pcmag.com
By Jill Duffy