DAILY TECH- 10 August 2012

DAILY TECH- 10 AUGUST 2012

Today’s Latest News

Latest addition to Google search results: Your emails from Gmail

BlackBerry10 and Samsung? RIM shares rise after rumours of licensing deal

This is a first: A Google Hangout with Modi on 24 Aug

The price of Nokia Corp.'s NOK -2.13% flagship Lumia 900 Windows phone has been cut in half in the critical U.S. market, a little more than three months after the launch of the smartphone at AT&T Inc. T +1.38% stores.

Facebook gambling app evokes public outcry

London: The first Facebook app to allow players to gamble with real money has provoked an outcry from Christian groups, the Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Aston Martin Vanquish at Mumbai Performance Cars at a price of Rs Rs.3.85 crores

Video of the Day:

Red Hat Linux 5.0 Step By Step Installation.

Must See Tricks 4 Computer(Click on Image)

Latest addition to Google search results: Your emails from Gmail

San Fransisco: Google is creating an information bridge between its influential Internet search engine and its widely used Gmail service in its latest attempt to deliver more personal responses more quickly.

The experimental feature unveiled Wednesday will enable Google’s search engine to mine the correspondence stored within a user’s Gmail account for any data tied to a search request. For example, a query containing the word “Amazon” would pull emails with shipping information sent by the online retailer.

Such Gmail results will typically be shown to the right of the main results, though in some instances, the top of the search page will highlight an answer extracted directly from an email. For example, the request “my flight” will show specific airline information imported from Gmail. Something similar could eventually happen when searching for a restaurant reservation or tickets to a concert.

Although Google has a commanding lead in Internet search, it remains worried about the threat posed by social networking services such as Facebook Inc. As social networks have made it easier to share information online, the Web is starting to revolve more around people than the keywords and links that Google’s search engine.

Google has been trying to adapt by building more personal services and plugging them into its search engine.

Blending email information into general search results could raise privacy worries. Google is trying to mitigate that by showing Gmail results in a collapsed format that users must open to see the details. For now, users must sign up to participate.

Featured Technology Talk

Cleartrip launches travel app for iPhone

NEW DELHI: After its mobile-site app for smartphones, Indian online travel portal Cleartrip has launched yet another app for the iPhone. With the new app, Cleartrip highlights the split-screen search feature, integrating it into the mobile platform. This feature is designed to facilitate easy flight selection and checking ticket prices, all on one screen simultaneously.

The new search platform boasts of the geo-location feature to select the airport for departure from the current location, recently searched airports and the ability to easily swap the "from" and "to" cities with a tap. Also on offer is the special round-trip flight discounts, wherever applicable. Other features like the sort option can be used to reorder the results to check the cheapest, fastest or the earliest flight.

You can pay using credit cards, debit cards, a net banking account or by signing into the Cleartrip account. Payments can also be made using Expressway, a one-click checkout convenience. If not already enabled, a fresh Expressway account can be activated by saving card details through the app. The app also allows you to redeem coupon codes.

While the current version comes with flight bookings within India only, we can expect an update to the app soon the company says.

BlackBerry10 and Samsung? RIM shares rise after rumours of licensing deal

Toronto: Shares of Research In Motion rose more than 5 percent early on Wednesday after an influential analyst said the embattled BlackBerry maker may look to license its new operating system to Samsung Electronics Co.

Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek said RIM’s strategic review process, begun earlier this year, would likely result in the Canadian company concluding that it needs to license BlackBerry 10, the operating system it is now developing.

“Given recent management comments in the press, it now appears that RIM is realising what Wall Street has been saying for some time: they are a subscale manufacturer and desperately need a partner,” Misek wrote in a research note on Tuesday.

“We believe RIM is attempting to revive discussions with Samsung regarding a BB10 licensing deal.”

The system, known as BB10, will run a next-generation line of BlackBerrys expected to launch early next year.

It is considered RIM’s last hope of reversing BlackBerry’s steady decline in market share to Apple Inc’s iPhone and devices running on Google Inc’s Android operating system.

South Korea’s Samsung – the world’s largest smartphone maker – is one the largest sellers of phones that run on Android.

FEELING VULNERABLE

Misek wrote that Samsung may feel vulnerable even with handset business thriving, concerned that companies that build operating systems for its phones, including Google and Microsoft Corp, might begin to produce devices of their own.

“Among other options, we believe Samsung is considering ramping up its internal operating system development efforts, licensing BB10, or buying RIM,” said Misek adding that any bid for RIM was unlikely until after the BB10 launch.

“While Samsung is currently riding high and dominating smartphones along with Apple, we believe Samsung recognises its vulnerability in coming years,” said Misek. “RIM, Nokia, and Motorola provide stern warnings that any high-flying mobile phone company can crash in a two-year period.”

Speculation about a licensing deal with Samsung helped boost RIM shares 5.1 percent to $7.68 at midday on the Nasdaq, and its Toronto-listed shares were up 4.5 percent at C$7.65.

The stock has tumbled more than 80 percent since the beginning of 2011, when Apple and other smartphone makers started to widen their lead on RIM, which once dominated the business.

Such speculation had surfaced early this year but it cooled after the Korean company insisted it had no plans to license RIM’s operating system.

This is a first: A Google Hangout with Modi on 24 Aug

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, known for his penchant for the Internet, will have a live ‘video chat’ with netizens on 24 August.

Modi is all set to speak face-to-face on Google+ Hangout on 24 August, which will be broadcast live on YouTube, an official statement said.

Google+ hangout is an application on Google that facilitates group video chat with up to a maximum of 10 people.

International political figures like US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard have in the past have used the platform to interact with people.

A release said: “One can speak to Modi on topics like ‘Strong and Glorious India’ cherished by Swami Vivekananda, ‘Be the youth of Swami Vivekananda’s dreams!”, adding the last date for posting a question either through video or text is 13 August.

The questions posted here will be shortlisted and the selected questioners will be invited to join the chief minister on the platform.

Modi already has a huge fan following on the social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

With around eight lakh followers on Twitter and more than five lakh fans on Facebook, the BJP leader figures amongst the prominent Indian politicians having a large following on the web.

According to the release, Modi’s Google+ account, which was created only two months back, already has a followers base of more than 80,000.

TECHNOLOGY

"A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked."

Kinect for Windows and SDK now out in India

Microsoft has announced that Kinect for Windows is now available in India, along with the SDK. Using the SDK people can develop new apps for the sensor and create unique new things since Kinect allows for a lot of features including improved skeletal tracking, face tracking, enhanced speech, seated mode tracking.

It’s a bit pricey in India due to customs and other charges and will set you back by Rs. 19,990. The Xbox 360 version is comparatively cheaper but you cannot develop new apps for it using the official SDK.

“The incredible amount of innovation on Kinect for Xbox 360 this past year shows the potential for Kinect as a platform for developers and businesses to experiment, explore and create new offerings. Furthermore, this is just the beginning,” said Anshu Mor, Business Group Lead – Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft.

“This proliferation of great new content for Kinect, which we call the Kinect Effect, will expand even further with our commercial release of Kinect for Windows. We are excited around the new possibilities that Kinect will enable on the Windows platform, and the many different ways each Kinect for Windows based scenario could enrich lives and make using technology more natural for everyone.”

Famous Scientist

Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz

Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz (also August Kekulé; German pronunciation: [ˈfriːdrɪç ˈaʊɡʊst ˈkekuːle fɔn ʃtraˈdoːnɪts]) (7 September 1829–13 July 1896) was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekule was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially in theoretical chemistry. He was the principal founder of the theory of chemical structure.

Kekulé never used his first given name; he was known throughout his life as August Kekulé. After he was ennobled by the Kaiser in 1895, he adopted the name August Kekule von Stradonitz, without the French acute accent over the second "e". The French accent had apparently been added to the name by Kekulé's father during the Napoleonic occupation of Hesse by France, in order to ensure that French speakers pronounced the third syllable.

Kekulé was born in Darmstadt, the son of a civil servant. After graduating from secondary school, in 1847 he entered the University of Giessen, with the intention of studying architecture. After hearing the lectures of Justus von Liebig he decided to study chemistry. Following his education in Giessen, he took postdoctoral fellowships in Paris (1851–52), in Chur, Switzerland (1852–53), and in London (1853–55), where he was decisively influenced by Alexander Williamson.

In 1895 Kekulé was ennobled by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, giving him the right to add "von Stradonitz" to his name, referring to a possession of his patrilineal ancestors in Stradonice, Bohemia. Of the first five Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, his students won three: van 't Hoff in 1901, Fischer in 1902 and Baeyer in 1905.

A larger-than-life size monument of Kekulé is situated in front of the former Chemical Institute at the University of Bonn. His monument is often decorated in by students, e.g. for Valentine's Day.

In 1856 Kekulé became Privatdozent at the University of Heidelberg. In 1858 he was hired as full professor at the University of Ghent, then in 1867 he was called to Bonn, where he remained for the rest of his career. Basing his ideas on those of predecessors such as Williamson, Edward Frankland, William Odling, Auguste Laurent, Charles Adolphe Wurtz and others, Kekulé was the principal formulator of the theory of chemical structure (1857–58).

This theory proceeds from the idea of atomic valence, especially the tetravalence of carbon (which Kekulé announced late in 1857) and the ability of carbon atoms to link to each other (announced in a paper published in May 1858), to the determination of the bonding order of all of the atoms in a molecule. Archibald Scott Couper independently arrived at the idea of self-linking of carbon atoms (his paper appeared in June 1858), and provided the first molecular formulas where lines symbolize bonds connecting the atoms.

Facebook gambling app evokes public outcry

London: The first Facebook app to allow players to gamble with real money has provoked an outcry from Christian groups, the Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Bingo Friendzy, developed by the British online gambling company Gamesys, was introduced on Facebook Tuesday. It allows players to stake cash in 90 bingo and slot machine games.

The app is marketed with cartoon graphics featuring characters that have been compared to those on Moshi Monsters, the popular children's social network.

It has evoked anger from Christian groups, who called on the Advertising Standards Authority to act, according to the newspaper.

"Gambling is age-restricted for a reason: children are excluded because they are vulnerable," said Toby Scott, director of communications for the Methodist Church.

His concerns were echoed by the Mother's Union, a Christian charity.

"With the appealing fluffy animal imagery, the site is clearly designed to appeal to a young audience," a spokesman said.

Facebook said Bingo Friendzy players would be subject to "strict account acceptance controls verifying their identity, and that they are over 18 and located in the UK".

Aston Martin Vanquish at Mumbai Performance Cars at a price of Rs Rs.3.85 crores

Performance Cars is Aston Martin's dealer based in Mumbai, India. It is from here that the company unveiled their luxury sports car called Vanquish. This new luxury sports car is priced at Rs.3.85 crores and is the fifth model to be offered in India and will compete with the likes of Lamborghini Aventador and Ferrari FF.

Aston Martin Vanquish is the most expensive car as on date. This is if one does not take into account One-77 which till date has seen sale of only one unit in the country which is not surprising considering it comes with a price tag of Rs.25 crores. Vanquish on the other hand is more within means. It is powered by a 6.0 liter V12 petrol engine and produces 565 bhp while being mated to a six speed automatic gearbox. Vanquish can sprint from 0 to 100 kmph in 4.1 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 295 kmph. It is its light weight carbon body that gives it a more sports like appeal and contributes to its enhanced performance.

Price and performance apart, a car that costs Rs.3.85 crores must attract a fair amount on attention because of its looks. Here the company has ensured that no leaf is left unturned. The elegant and attractive looking Vanquish possesses a new Aero Duct on its rear boot lid. Besides other record breaking features, vanquish is crafted out of carbon fiber which balances both strength and weight while rigidity sees a 25% improvement with additional boot space making it suitable for long distance travel.

Sitting proudly at the pinnacle of the luxury British car maker's sports car line-up, this breath-taking new super grand tourer represents the zenith of current Aston Martin design and engineering. Vanquish points to an exciting and confident future for the historic brand.

Vanquish is a new Aston Martin featuring the next generation of the renowned VH architecture as well as a significantly upgraded 6.0-litre V12 engine that is considerably more potent than before.

The design represents the latest take on Aston Martin's iconic visual language. Vanquish unquestionably sees the brand continue its enviable tradition of producing some of the most beautiful sports cars in the world. Styling cues such as the elegant new waist, elongated side strakes and LED rear light blades are derived from the One-77 supercar.

Unmistakably an Aston Martin, the design shows a clear and coherent lineage from its heritage while providing an equally clear pointer to the luxury car brand's vibrant future. Closer inspection reveals details such as the stunning new Aero Duct on the rear boot lid. This elegantly devised passive engineering feature, which counteracts lift at the car's rear when travelling at speed, is a triumph of both design and technical ability.

Performance, presence, style and great British craftsmanship, the new Vanquish has all these traits in abundance.

Aston Martin Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez said: "Vanquish is the ultimate expression of Aston Martin design ethos, engineering innovation and technical ability. It offers luxurious, continent-crossing capability and pure driving excitement without compromise.

"Bearing the same name as the iconic AM V12 Vanquish that did so much to cement Aston Martin's reputation as a maker of great GT cars in the modern era, I believe the car unveiled today once again puts this great British brand at the top of its class.

As happy on the streets of a bustling city as it is carving through the countryside or long distance motorway touring, the Vanquish offers a thoroughbred British luxury sports car that's also suited to everyday use.

Tips to make your browser secure

MUNICH: Web browsers are the key to the internet. Without them the internet is an impenetrable black box.

Browsers may be among the most commonly used applications, but they also offer the greatest number of attack options for dangerous content on the net.To keep viruses, worms and other malware away from your computer when surfing,it's crucial to configure your browser for security.

The firewall on a DSL router is a good first step for protecting the computer during surfing, says Marco Rinne from the computer portal chip.de. But that doesn't hold true if your browser is out of date: “Internet Explorer 6 and 7 or Firefox 2 no longer satisfy current security standards,” he says. For optimal protection, he therefore urgesusers to keep theirbrowsers updated.

There are numeroussecurity tools already present in Firefox and Internet Explorer. The pop-up blocker,for example, prevents more than justannoying ads. It alsothrottles other windows that can be used to sneak malicious software onto PCs. Phishing filters protect personal dataagainst theft.

Firefox offers additional configurationoptions underthe Settings item in the Security tab of the Options dialog box: thisincludes the ability to block risky or forgedwebsites.It's also a good idea to prohibit websites from installing add-ons on their own. Similar settings are possible under Internet Explorer in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box, accessible from the Tools menu.

Computer owners should also activate all options for warning against attacks, advises Markus Linnemann, managing director of the Institute for Internet Security (ifis) at the Polytechnic University of Gelsenkirchen in Germany. This applies in particular to warnings about suspicious content to be displayed using ActiveX, Flash, or JavaScript.

Yet the warning mechanism on most browsers alone isn't usually enough, Linnemann says. Those who wish to be especially careful can, for example, use the Firefox add-on 'No Script,' which blocks all active content of a website by default and allows the user to decide which should be permitted. The problem is that most users are unable to determine which content represents a threat to their computer, Rinne msays.

the first rugby club was formed in 1843

Cartoon of Technology

Sony Xperia Mint to feature 13 MP camera

Sony Mobile is working on yet another smartphone with 720p HD display and dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile processor. Codenamed as Xperia Mint, the smartphone will feature a 13 megapixel camera and may be branded as Xperia T.

Sony Mobile is working on yet another high-end Xperia NXT series smartphone to be branded as Xperia T. This Sony Mobile smartphone has been codenamed as Xperia Mint and is touted to arrive with a 13 megapixel camera. This smartphone will feature 4.6-inch HD touchscreen display and will house a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 family mobile processor.

Sony will offer 16 GB onboard storage for this smartphone and also offer a microSD memory card slot. Sony Mobile indeed is rolling out great bunch of devices but it needs to up its game in terms of mobile operating system.

“Life is a learning experience, only if you learn."