Windows 7 Launch Party Gift Boxes started arriving...

Previously I told you about Windows 7 launch party and the perks that Microsoft offers you, if you are one of those lucky winners who will host the Windows 7 launch party. Now the packs have started arriving and Gizmodo got its hands on one such gift box and guess what they have shown up those pics that were hosted on one of those lucky guy's website. Here they are.

As the pics are self explanatory, I am not detailing anything. But let me point out what is what. There is the party box which includes the contents of the box, a Windows 7 poster, a bag that is tattooed with Windows 7 logo, four streamers, some balloons, Win 7 cocktail napkins and of course the best part is here. You will also get a Windows 7 Ultimate signature edition - signed by Steve Ballmer himself. That's a catch isn't it???

HTC HD2(Leo) specs leak out from Spain...

Engadget Spanish has got its hands on the yet to be released HTC HD2 also known as the LEO and they have shared the specifications to the core. If you visit their website you will see how they got it reviewed on a video as well. Below are the specs for the phone.

Display - 4.3-inch WVGA capacitive display(800X480 pixels)

Processor - 1GHz MSM8250 Snapdragon processor

Operating System - Windows Mobile 6.5

FM - Integrated FM radio

Cam - 5-megapixel camera with autofocus

Bluetooth Support - Bluetooth 2.1

Audio Output - 3.5mm headphone jack

GPS - Yes (Garmin)

Via engadget

Window's 7 retail boxes - A glimpse...

Pictured above are the retail boxes of the next God-sent version of Operating System from Microsoft and it is none other than Windows 7. This picture is taken in one of those electronics stores in Chicago and the photographer was gracious enough to share this pic with us through engadget. With the D-day around the corner (Oct 22), for the release of this latest edition of Windows, these photographs will definitely pop-up once in a while. Will keep you posted on these latest updates as and when I get my hands-on them.

Mean while you can check out if your computer is capable of handling Windows 7 by clicking here and checking out if your hardware is hard enough.

What if one day Google goes down??? Any alternatives !!!

What would happen if Google goes down for some time, may be a few days or a few weeks or months? What would you do? Don't panic, there are a lot other options even if Google dies out permanently. Here is a list of few of the apps which are a substitute to google's apps.

Gmail - Hotmail, Thunderbird, Yahoomail

Blogger - Wordpress

Reader and Pages - Netvibes, Bloglines

Docs & Spreadsheets - Zoho Office Suite

Picasa - flickr

Orkut - Facebook, MySpace.....and the list goes on...

YouTube - Yahoo Video, Metacafe

Calendar - Yahoo Calendar, MobileMe

FeedBurner - Feedo

Adsense - Adbrite, Clicksor

Knol - Wikipedia

News - BBC, Yahoo News

Talk - Messenger, AIM, MSN, Skype

Maps - Live Search Maps

Checkout - Paypal

Chrome - IE, FireFox, Opera, Safari, Maxthon

Search - Yahoo Search, Bing Search

But let me tell you something, before you migrate to any of these services, just backup whatever work you have in the Google apps, so you don't have to be sorry later to urself...

Facts about Bill Gates - U barely know...

Bill Gates as you all know is the richest man in this world and is accredited with the foundation of World's largest software company, Microsoft. How much do you think you know about him. Here is what Times of India has dug out about him.

Gates is a college drop out and scored an almost 95% in his SAT. He scored 1590 on his SAT.
He started writing his own computer programs at the age of 13.
He sold his first computer program for a cool $4,200 at the age of 17, which is a time-tabling system for his high school.
Gates and three other high school students were banned from using computers by CCC, after they were caught exploiting its operating system bugs to steal computer time.

Bill Gates is a Harvard University dropout. However, in 2007 he got a honorary degree from the same institute.
In 1975, Bill started Microsoft with friend Paul Allen from a rented accommodation in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In 1992, Bill Gates was declared as the richest man in USA and in 1995, he became the World's richest man.
In 1977, he was arrested in New Mexico for jumping a red signal and driving without a license.
Bill loves reading and enjoys playing golf and bridge.
Bill is now into charity work after he bid Microsoft adieu in 2008.


Via TOI

Why should we blog???

Why should anyone blog? Is blogging a fashion, is this a trend, is blogging done just to impress your girlfriend or to make others around you look stupid. None of the above is my answer. Why I started blogging? I clearly don't remember but I surely can say that it was my evergrowing curiosity to know what's new. This curiosity of mine has pushed me, rather dragged me into this trade.

Firstly, it was like a hobby for me to write some stupid things in my blog, then entered the new softwares that I used. I even blogged about politics, sports and stuff like that. But in the initial days, I did not take it seriously. But once my audience increased I started blogging on different issues and most of the time the words in the blog came from my heart rather than my mind. But I never thought this to be a fashion, trend or something like that. That's the main reason that I did not tell to anyone about my blog unless asked by them. A very few people know about my blog till date. But let me tell you, who ever knew my blog, they know one thing that there is no unrelevant hatred, questionable voilence, unreasonable use of filthy language.

But these days when I visit some blogs, they are either solely maintained for money or just as a fashion statement. I rarely find genuine blogs except for a few, where the blogger keeps his heart out when he writes something and you can very rarely find an objection in the blogs. But actually why should we blog?

Blogging brings out the inner self in you. You might want to show your anger on some issue, you might want to write what you like about a movie, or you might want to show your feelings on some issue but can't say that publicly. Here is a solution, the blogs help you vent out your anger, spread your love and show your feelings to the entire world. One final word, blog more not to hog the limelight but to flag off your inner feelings and race towards the eternal truth "Living Life King-Size"...

Apple Tablet - New Details emerge amidst rumors of non-existence....

There were so many rumors regarding the ipod Touch with a cam in it but it turned out that they all are just rumors. And now there are rumors that are going around about the Tablet from Apple. Previously mentioned that it will be coming out in the first quarter of 2010 and the rumors are now pretty confident that it is going to be at least announced in that time frame. These rumors come into light just days after details emerge about the Tablet PC "Courier" from Microsoft.

New details about the Tablet from Apple say that::

* Apple has created 3 different variants of the Tablet PC.
* It runs on Apple Iphone OS
* They have given out details that it looks exactly like Iphone 3G and it sure does have a curvy back, just like the Iphone 3G.
* It will come in two models, one with the 3G enabled and the other without the 3g technology in it, which means there will be a difference in price as well.
* Screen resolution will be something close to 5X or 6X compared to the screen resolution of the present iphones and ipod touchs'.
* It is a direct competition to netbooks.
* It will most probably be announced by Apple on or before January 19, 2010.

Hope you like these rumors. Stay cool, will update you with more rumors until Apple makes an official statement about this cute little thing.

Pic Giz

Microsoft Security Essentials - Ready for your PC...

Previously I discussed here in my blog about the beta version of Microsoft Security Essentials, the new, free version of anti-virus from Microsoft. Today it has left its beta tag behind and is now ready for download and its free.

The key features of this release include a previously known bug fix in the beta version and it is bundled with comprehensive malware protection, simple download, automatic updates and they claim that it is easy to use. Microsoft claims that this anti-virus runs silently in the background and doesn't eat up much of your resources.

The download size measures 8.61 MB and it is supposedly easy to install. If you are content with your anti-virus that you are using now, then stay cool with it, don't even think about migrating to Security Essentials but if you wanna try this new toy, then you can go ahead. But I warn you, it is still in its baby steps so be careful.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Now an android phone tablet from Archos....

Archos has been one of the bigger players in the touch screen gadgets arena from long but never did they play their game big enough to beat the arch rivals. Now they are up against the android market as well with a new android phone tablet that is recently demoed on video by Archos team. I was a lot fascinated by their PMPs but now this comes along.

This new android phone is one of its kind with 4.3" touch screen measuring 854X480 pixels, equipped with a 1GHx cortex processor in 10 mm thin titanium casing. It is branded as the 3.5 g phone which definitely is gonna beat the apple Iphone 3Gs. Look out for this.

Via Giz

Want to pump up the volume of your MP3 files???

Here is a quick and easy way to increase the volume of your MP3 files. This is a software named MP3Gain, where-in you can increase the volume of your Mp3s or normalize your Mp3s. You can do changes to a single file or if you wish you can batch normalize the files in a single click. What you need to do is just download this free to all software and install in your computer and select some MP3 file and normalize it. A test file would be hugely recommended.


Here is a catch. Whenever you are normalizing something there will be lot of issues with the quality aspect but if you really want to gain some extra volume from your MP3s you definitely need to lose something. As some elderly said, "To gain something, you need to lose something". This is how the world stays in balance. It is always better to chose your settings rather than the auto normalize button as it gives you more control. Download the software from the below link.

MP3Gain

What's cloud computing? Trying to throw some light on it...

Ever wondered what the heck is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing refers to the use of Internet ("cloud") based computer technology for a variety of services. It is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.

The concept incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. Often-quoted examples are Salesforce.com and Google Apps which provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.

The cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, based on how it is depicted in computer network diagrams, and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it conceals. Right now not many regular users of internet are aware about this cloud computing but as early as the second half of 2010 will see tremendous growth of public involvement in cloud computing.

Google and Microsoft are right now involved in an head-on collision based on cloud computing but the clear leader in this market as of now is surprisingly Amazon with its heavy user base and innovative strategies. Should wait and see what's cooking between these guys and how we are gonna benefit by these cloud wars.

Pic labnol

Source :: WIKIPEDIA

Picasa 3.5 released, now supports facial recognition and name tags....

I am one of those power users of Picasa and love its simple yet robust technology. I have been using it over years now and have become a slave of it. Of course I don't want you to become a slave but just wanted to throw some light on the newest version of Picasa 3.5 from Google.

Picasa is a Google's free desktop photo organizer/editor/uploader/viewer and everything else. It is easy to install and once configured will be the best photo organizing software. They have released this new 3.5 version of Picasa and guess what it supports facial recognition and you can give name tags to the persons in photos.




Here's the video that demonstrates what's new in Picasa 3.5 from official google blog. Also now, you can directly upload photos to the Picasa web albums directly from a camera card and a tool to use integrated Google map's pickers to geo-tag photos. what are you waiting for? Get your copy of Google picasa from the link below.

Picasa

Firefox 4 theme - looks like glossy look is gonna take over the world!!!

Firefox 4 theme is out and its more like a glass bottle sticker rolled out for our viewing. There are lots of changes to the User Interface as well. Of course this is just a mock up which might be rolled out as early as Firefox 3.7 as well but this definitely is looking cool. There is a tools button on the top right corner and the home button and a gmail quick launch button are added to the tab bar which is now the top most bar in Firefox.

Several major additions and changes are being discussed to the UI for 4.0. Keep in mind these changes are farther out and therefore more in flux than ideas for 3.7.

• Merging the LocationBar and SearchBar
• Merging stop/refresh/go into one button
  
• Adding a Tab-on-Top Option
• Introduction of App Tabs
• Expanded Home Tab Functionality
• Hiding Bookmarks Bar
• Profile Stuff
• Removal of Status Bar

These are a few changes to list out. Head over to the mozilla site below for a clear crisp understanding of what you are gonna taste pretty soon and in the future from your dearest browser Mozilla Firefox 3.7 and 4.

Mozilla Wiki

Microsoft Tablet PC - "Courier" comes up stealthily...

Courier is the new tablet PC that is cooking in Microsoft compound. It was hidden under wraps until yesterday but not anymore. Till now there are rumors about the Apple tablet and now Microsoft's Courier takes over from here on.


Courier is a dual screen tablet PC from Microsoft with multi-touch interface. I am very much thrilled watching the video of this tablet in action. But definitely it has got a tough user interface which will take some time to get into our minds. The dual 7-inch screens are designed for writing, flicking and doing what not. It also sports a camera for those lens hungry guys.

Via Giz

Microsoft Security Essentials Final coming your way in coming weeks...

Rarely does you get anything for free from the big giant, Microsoft and now is your chance of some free stuff from Microsoft. Microsoft is releasing the antivirus program called Security Essentials which is a free to all software. Right now it is in its beta stage and several users are using it from different parts of the world.

Now Microsoft has sent messages to all those beta testers that the final version is coming up in the coming weeks and since windows 7 is around the corner with an expected date of Oct 22, 2010, we can hope a similar release date for Security Essentials as well. If you still want to try the beta version, you can follow the link above and you can get your hands on it only if you are lucky enough.

Is your computer ready for Windows 7??? Check it out...

Microsoft is gonna release its next Operating system named Windows 7 in a month. If you are one of those Vista users or the lovers of age old XP, then get ready for the ultimate ride. Windows 7 is one cool system and it will definitely sweep your feet off the ground. Trust me on this one.


Are you Wondering if your computer is good enough for the newer version of OS from Microsoft, leave your worries aside and here is a quick solution for all your worries. Just download this cool software from Microsoft named "Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor". Install it in your computer and allow it to check your computer for hardware and software issues. Here is a pictorial representation of what you should do to find out if your computer is worthy of Windows 7.


You just need to accept the license terms here and click next.


The default folder in which this software will be installed is in the drive which contains your OS, but if you want to change the destination folder this is where you do it.


Then the software will install itself and it will definitely not ask for any help from the end user.

After you have successfully installed this software allow it to launch and check your computer to see if the hardware and the software components on your computer are worthy enough to handle the monster called Windows 7.



I tried it out on my computer and it give out some cool results which made me think that I am almost capable of installing Windows 7 except a few updates here and there. Check it out on your computers and see if there are any issues with upgrading your present OS. Download the "Windows 7 upgrade Advisor" from the link below.

Windows 7 upgrade advisor

Operating Systems - The truth for the actual users...

The graph above shows what exactly the three major operating systems are catering to the general public or actually the end users. Windows is customizable and user friendly but not stable and Mac OS is other way round with lot of stability but not customizable and a bit low on the customizable side. Linux which I personally love, is good with stability and customizability and definitely is being made user friendly with its version of Ubuntu OS. The graph above is true to the core and definitely will not hurt anyone's feelings for good.


Via Giz

Students can grab a copy of Windows 7 for $30...

In a bid to get closer to students and mean while increase their sales, Microsoft is offering a new heavy discount on Windows 7 HOme Premium for students. The regular price of Windows 7 is $119.99, but with the discount students can get it for as low as $30.


You just need to have a .EDU email id and they ask you to be an enrolled student of any college. The price they are offering is a sweet $29.99, which is less than most of your textbooks. There is this site Win741, where you can access this deal. First you have to click on the link that show the price and then you will be taken to a page where you will be asked for your college email id, that ends with .EDU.


When you enter your college email id, and if you are an eligible student, then you will receive a confirmation email in your email id from microsoft. In that email id you have the link to purchase the Home Premium Upgrade of Windows 7. You just need to pay the $30 for getting your hands-on this new OS.

PS: This offer ends on January 03, 2010 at 12:00 am CST. Get going guys.

Win741

Google Chrome 3, all that you need to know about....

Tabs List View in New Tab Page:

The first major change to the Google Chrome 3.0 as apparent in the above pics is with the "New Tab" page. Now the tabs support you to view either in thumbnail format or in a list view. Now this page is made more customizable than ever and the list view looks cool.


Rearranging and Pinning Tabs:

Also in the "New Tab" page every tab has a pin on the top left side of the tab and you can use this pin to make sure that the tab stays in its place. The tabs that you regularly use will never be lost again. You can now use your mouse to rearrange the tabs which was absent in the previous version and a pretty cool feature now.


The Improved "OmniBox":

One of the best features of Google Chrome is its search box aka address bar named the "OmniBox". Here you can directly type your webpage address or your search query and very quickly google shows your recently used web addresses, search results from Google, bookmarks, suggested sites and sites from your browsing history.

25% improved Javascript Performance:

As usually, with every new release of the Chrome version, Google has topped itself in the browsing speed category and Chrome 3.0 is no exception. The above chart shows what V8 engine does in the new Chrome 3.0. This helps in quick start up of the browser and faster loading of webpages.


New Themes for Chrome:

Last but not the least, the themes option. These Chrome themes were available to the beta users but now with Chrome 3.0, they are made available to general users of stable versions. There are some cool themes for all those variety lovers. You can try them out by going to the personal stuff page and click "Get themes". Once you click get themes you will be directed to a page where these themes are located and when you click "Apply theme", it will be downloaded and loaded into your Chrome browser.

Googleblog

Use IE8 to increase your laptop battery life!!!

Yes you heard it right. You should use IE8 in order to save your precious battery life from draining out fast. this is what the guys at AnandTech are saying. They have tested the battery life of an AMD Athlon processor using different browsers and the results spoke out for themselves. IE8 could manage to produce a total battery life of 175 minutes and the worst performance was from Safari 4 which could only manage a mere 131 minutes.

IE8 performing so well amazed me. What is more interesting is that, IE8 overtook Firefox that was equipped with Adblock add-on that stops ads from showing up. What this means, just nothing a pure competition for Firefox. Guys at microsoft can rejoice this new find. IE8 is gonna rule the roost for a while. For complete test data follow the link below.

Anandtech