Facebook Timeline is Now Available for Everyone

Thursday, December 15, 2011 0 comments

Facebook-timeline-001To get Timeline on your profile, you'll have to head over to Facebook's official Timeline page and click the "Get It Now" button at the bottom of the page.

After you've enabled it on your account, you'll need to set everything up and have a seven day review period to play around with the design before anyone else can see it, and then you can hit the publish button and let everyone look at it.

What do you need to do when you're reviewing it? You're allowed to hide or delete status updates, and you can also highlight the updates you want to feature on your Timeline by clicking on the star to the right of the update.

A new tool called Activity Log also makes its debut and you can review every single thing you've ever done on Facebook since you opened your account.

Privacy settings look like they are intact for now, but its best to check it again less you accidentally share information with some circle of friends you don't want to.

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Sarah Jane Dias Hot Photoshoot For 'Maxim' India

Friday, November 11, 2011 0 comments

Sarah Jane Dias Hot Photoshoot For 'Maxim' India

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Microsoft launches Windows Phone in India

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 0 comments

Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. has launched the Windows Phone in India.
With an all new rich and dynamic user interface of Live Tiles and Hubs, Windows Phone enables people to quickly find, connect and consume the things that they care about the most.

The new OS sports a smooth transitional user interface called ‘Metro’, a visually appealing modern design language based on a set of principles which are modern, clean, alive in motion, and authentically digital.windows-phone-7

Announcing the launch of Windows Phone in India, Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India said, “We are incredibly excited about today’s unveiling of Windows Phone.

"With Windows Phone, we have looked at the consumer experience in an absolutely fresh way, and the end result is an operating system that is stylish, innovative, and one that seamlessly integrates the most sought after user experiences such as search, gaming, email and social networks across Bing, Office, Xbox LIVE, Facebook, Twitter and more.”

The conventional application icons have been replaced by Live Tiles on the Windows Phone start screen, thus boldly displaying critical information at a glance.

The Live Tiles come to life with real-time updates from the Web such as news, appointments or the status of friends. New Live Tiles can be easily created from whatever content a consumer wants, for applications, websites and music.

The integrated experiences are achieved through ‘hubs’ which bring together related content into a single view to simplify common tasks. These include:

• People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Windows Live in one step.

• Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone also brings together a user’s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person’s entire picture and video collection

• Games. This hub delivers the Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer’s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile

• Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience. The overall experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.

• Marketplace. With over 30,000 apps and games, this hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.

• Office. Windows Phone Office hub has mobile versions of Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint for working on the go. These can synchronised back to SkyDrive, Office 365 or SharePoint sites

Every Windows Phone device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon™ mobile processor and comes with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone.

Speaking at the launch, Vikas Arora, Group Director - Operator Channel, Microsoft, said, “Windows Phone is for people who are ready for a new phone experience, one that brings together the things you care about in a way that uniquely represents who you really are –whether at work or play.”

Microsoft revealed a range of Windows Phone devices that will be available in India soon, the first being the HTC Radar. This will be followed by devices from Samsung and Acer, and subsequently Nokia.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing.
--IBNS

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Google to shut Google Buzz

Sunday, October 16, 2011 0 comments

google_buzz_icon_extralargeGoogle announced to shut down the highly-controversial social networking product Google Buzz, along with several other services in the coming weeks, Xinhua reported.
Google on its official blog, Google announced the death penalty to its code search engine, Buzz, Jaiku which let users send updates to friends, the Google personalised homepage feature iGoogle, and the University Research Program for Google Search.
The shut-downs came as part of Google's housecleaning effort announced in early September, in which the company said it will shut down a number of products and merging others into existing products as features.
"Changing the world takes focus on the future, and honesty about the past. We learned a lot from products like Buzz, and are putting that learning to work every day in our vision for products like Google+. Our users expect great things from us; today's announcements let us focus even more on giving them something truly awesome," said Google in the blog post.
Google Buzz, a social networking and messaging tool integrated into Gmail service, has been widely criticised for privacy concerns and held back the search giant from expanding its businesses to the social networking space.
After Buzz, Google launched Google+ in June, which has been receiving a good response and passed the 40 million user mark, the company's chief executive officer Larry Page said.

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Acer launches thinnest Ultrabook

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 0 comments

Acer India, the second largest PC vendor in India, on Friday claimed to have launched the world;s thinnest Ultrabook-Aspire S3-in India.Acer-Debuts-First-Ultrabook-Aspire-S3-Combining-Best-of-Tablet-PC-and-Smartphone

The Recent Q2’2011 market research reports from both Gartner and IDC position Acer as the No. 2 PC vendor in the country. Industry watchers believe that with the launch of the world’s thinnest Ultrabook (new class of mobile computers), the ‘Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook’, Acer is all set to grow exponentially in the Indian market.
The Ultrabook will be shaped by Moore’s Law and silicon technology in the same way they have shaped the traditional PC for the past 40 years.
W S Mukund, Managing Director, Acer India said, “We have redefined our position in the marketplace by making India’s first Ultrabook commercially available at a mainstream price."
The Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook claims to integrate the best features of notebooks and tablets, offering users powerful performance for digital creation, in addition to ultra-fast responsiveness and interaction for content consumption, enhancing the freedom and overall computing experiences of users on the go.
The Aspire S3 Ultrabook, available at Rs. 49,999 onwards, measures 1.3 cm thin and weighs less than 1.4 kg (3 lbs.).5 It's also equipped with a full-size Acer FineTip chiclet keyboard, designed for comfortable use and maximum productivity.

--IBNS

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Honda Brio launched at price of Rs 3.95 lakh in india

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 0 comments

With a starting price of Rs 3.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), Brio is Honda's cheapest offering and is being launched in the middle of a trying period for the Japanese carmaker.wallpaper1280x960-1

Specifications
Engine    Type    SOHCi-VTEC
     No. of Cylinders
No. of Valves
Displacement (cc)
Max Power ps(kw) @ rpm
Max Torque (Nm @ rpm)
Fuel Supply System
Fuel Efficiency*    4
16
1198
88(65) @ 6000
109 @ 4600
PGM - Fi
18.4 km/litre
Transmission    Manual    5 Forward & 1
Reverse
Steering    Type
Collapsible Electric Power Steering
     Turning Radius (m)    4.5
Brake
System    Front    Disc
     Rear    Drum

Suspension
System    Front    Mcpherson Strut
     Rear    Torsion Beam Axle
Dimensions & Weight    Overall Length (mm)
Overall Width (mm)
Overall Height (mm)
Wheelbase (mm)
Front Track (mm)
Rear Track (mm)
Ground Clearance (mm)
Kerb Weight (kg)
Tyre Size
Fuel Capacity (litres)
Seating Capacity    3610
1680
1500
2345
1480
1465
165
920-940
175/65 R14 82T
35
5

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Twitter launches Hindi version

Friday, September 16, 2011 0 comments

Twitter has launched a Hindi language version today on the occasion of Hindi Diwas. Twitter launches Hindi version

In a tweet, Conrad Oldcorn, localisation and community manager, Twitter, wrote, "We just launched Twitter in Hindi on Hindi day! Woop!"

Twitter, which came into existence five years ago, now boasts of 100 million active users worldwide.

Both Twitter and social networking site Facebook have huge following in India. Among others, Facebook already offers its services in Hindi and five other Indian languages -- Tamil, Malayalam, Punjabi, Telugu and Bengali.

Going by estimates, Twitter has around 200 million registered users. The microblogging site allows users to send messages, with a maximum of 140 characters.

Global leaders, film personalities, journalists and sports people, including Indian cricketers, are among the diverse Twitter users.

"After launching Hindi, Filipino, Malay and Simplified and Traditional Chinese in the coming weeks, Twitter will support 17 different languages," said a company blog dated September 8.

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Suzuki GSX-R1000 suzuki gsx r1000 price in india

Monday, September 12, 2011 0 comments

The GSX-R1000 was not just an enlarged version of the GSX-R750, although it shared many features with its little brother. The main frame is the same in both models, but the material used on the big brother was .5 mm (0.020 in) thicker. Suzuki claimed the torsional rigidity of the frame had increased 10% in comparison with the GSX-R750.Suzuki_GSX-R_1000_2005_07_1024x768
The GSX-R1000 engine was a redesigned GSX-R750 engine. The R1000 had a 1 mm (0.039 in) bigger bore and 13 mm (0.51 in) longer stroke, newly designed pistons with lower crown, and gear-driven counter balancer. The engine weighed 130 lb (59 kg) which was slightly heavier than the 750 engine but 31 lb (14 kg) lighter than the engine of the GSX1300R. The performance of the engine is a peak of 160 bhp (120 kW) at 9,500 rpm, as measured on the crank and 143 hp (107 kW),[2] when measured on the rear wheel with small variations between different instances of the same model. The redline is set at 12,000 rpm. The maximum torque of the engine is 80 ft·lbf (110 N·m) at 8,000 rpm. Combined with a total (dry) weight of 374 lb (170 kg) this gives the GSX-R1000 a top speed of 179 mph (288 km/h), a 1/4 mile time of 10.1 seconds at 141.7 mph (228.0 km/h), and a 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) time of 3 seconds.
Using titanium for the exhaust down pipe(K1 model link pipe is black, K2 model link pipe is polished titanium) and the inside of the silencer, enabled the 1000s exhaust system to become 4 lb (1.8 kg) lighter than that of the 750[citation needed]. Titanium was also used in the front fork(Titanium-nitride) to coat the stanchions. An exhaust tuning valve had been mounted inside the exhaust pipe. Using a servo the system dynamically adjusted the exhaust back pressure, according to engine speed, throttle position, and gear selection for increased torque, lower emissions, and decreased noise—the (stock) exhaust noise of the GSX-R1000 is notably lower than that of the GSX-R600.
With the 2001 model of the GSX-R1000, the 1998 Yamaha YZF-R1 was finally surpassed with the GSX-R being lighter and more powerful.[3]
The 2001 model carried over to 2002 with minimal changes. 2002 introduced i.a. modifications to the fuel pump, clutch, front axle, torque link, mirrors, and luggage hooks. The manual fast-idle was replaced with a computer operated implementation (the "STV servo"). New colors, and new GSXR stickers.

Specifications

All specifications are manufacturer claimed and estimated.[5]
2001–2002    2003–2004    2005–2006    2007–2008    2009–2011
Engine    988 cc (60.3 cu in), 4-stroke, four-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC 16-valve, TSCC    998.6 cc (60.94 cu in), 4-stroke, four-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16-valve, TSCC    999 cc (61.0 cu in), 4-stroke, four-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 16-valve, TSCC
Bore Stroke:    73.0 mm (2.87 in) x 59.0 mm (2.32 in)    73.0 mm (2.87 in) x 59.0 mm (2.32 in)    73.4 mm (2.89 in) x 59.0 mm (2.32 in)    74.5 mm (2.93 in) x 57.3 mm (2.26 in)[6]
Compression Ratio:    12.0:1    12.0:1    12.5:1    12.8:1[6]
Power (crank)    160 hp (120 kW) @ 10,800 rpm    162 hp (121 kW) @ 10,800 rpm    178 hp (133 kW) @ 11,000 rpm    185 hp (138 kW) @ 12,000 rpm    191 hp (142 kW) @ 12000 rpm
Fuel System:    Fuel Injection
Lubrication:    Wet Sump
Ignition:    Digital/transistorized
Transmission:    6-speed, constant mesh    6-speed, constant mesh, Back-torque limiting clutch
Final Drive:    #530 chain(110 links) 17T / 42T
Overall Length:    2,045 mm (80.5 in)    2,070 mm (81 in)    2,030 mm (80 in)    2,045 mm (80.5 in)
Overall Width:    715 mm (28.1 in)    715 mm (28.1 in)    710 mm (28 in)    720 mm (28 in)    710 mm (28 in)
Overall Height:    1,135 mm (44.7 in)    1,145 mm (45.1 in)    1,130 mm (44 in)   
Seat Height:    830 mm (33 in)    820 mm (32 in)    810 mm (32 in)
Ground Clearance:    130 mm (5.1 in)    125 mm (4.9 in)    120 mm (4.7 in)
Wheelbase:    1,410 mm (56 in)    1,405 mm (55.3 in)    1,415 mm (55.7 in)    1,405 mm (55.3 in)
Dry Weight:    374 lb (170 kg)    370.4 lb (168.0 kg)    365 lb (166 kg)    379 lb (172 kg)   
Wet Weight:        443 lb (201 kg)[citation needed]    444 lb (201 kg)[citation needed]    446 lb (202 kg)    448 lb (203 kg)
Suspension Front:    Kayaba 43 mm (1.7 in) Inverted telescopic, coil spring, oil damped, spring pre-load fully adjustable, rebound compression damping force adjustable.    Kayaba 43 mm (1.7 in) Inverted telescopic forks with DLC coating, spring preload, rebound and compression adjustment    Inverted telescopic, coil spring, fully adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping    Inverted telescopic, coil spring, fully adjustable spring preload, high & low speed compression and rebound damping    Showa Inverted telescopic, coil spring, fully adjustable spring preload, high & low speed compression and rebound damping/New electronically controlled steering damper uses a solenoid valve to move a tapered needle reducing or increasing oil flow to adjust damping force.
Suspension Rear:    Link type, gas/oil damped, coil spring, spring pre-load fully adjustable, rebound damping force and compression damping force adjustable    Link type, coil spring, oil damped, adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping    Link-type, gas/oil-damped, fully adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping    Link-type, gas/oil-damped, fully adjustable spring preload, high & low speed compression and rebound damping
Brakes Front:    Twin semi floating stainless disks 300 mm (12 in) and Tokico 6 piston calipers    Twin 300 mm (12 in) semi floating stainless disks and Tokico 4 piston radial mounted calipers    Dual hydraulic disc
Brakes Rear:    Single disk 220 mm (8.7 in) and Tokico dual piston caliper    Single 220 mm (8.7 in) disk and a dual piston caliper    Single hydraulic disc
Tires Front:    120/70-ZR-17
Tires Rear:    190/50-ZR-17
Fuel Tank Capacity:    18 L (4.0 imp gal; 4.8 US gal)

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Twitter introduces User Galleries feature

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 0 comments
Twitter has added a new User Galleries feature, which brings together all of the photos you have uploaded using the site.Capture
The service will not only feature images you've added using Twitter's own photo-sharing functionality, but those uploaded through third party apps like Twitpic and yfrog.

User Galleries will be the closest thing yet to an official photo album for Twitter users.
The feature is currently being rolled-out and will appear on the right hand side of the Twitter profile page. Once you've opened the user gallery, it can be viewed in the Grid (pictured) or Detailed format.
100 images
A guide to the new functionality on the Twitter help centre site explains that your 100 most recent images will be included in the feed, but video posts will miss out.
Any images uploaded before January 1st 2010 will also not appear in your personal gallery.
__________________
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Anita Hassanandani Hot In Swimsuit Spicy Pictures

Saturday, August 20, 2011 0 comments

Anita Hassanandani Hot In Swimsuit Spicy Pictures

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Maruti Swift relaunched at a starting price of Rs 4.22 lakh

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 0 comments

Maruti Suzuki India on Wednesday launched the new version of its premium hatchback 'Swift' at an introductory price ranging from Rs 4.22 lakh to Rs 6.38 lakh. New-Maruti-Suzuki-Swift-Small-Car-3

Built on an all-new platform, the company and its suppliers have invested over Rs 500 crore on the new car.

"We have launched the new Swift at a time when there was a significant demand for the outgoing model. I am confident that the new Swift will create new benchmarks with its improved fuel efficiency, stylish and sportier looks and high performance," Maruti Suzuki India Managing Director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi told reporters here.

Launched six years back, the Swift has been a runaway success for the company, with over six lakh units sold so far. MSI is hoping that the new version will further strengthen its position.

The company is likely to launch the DZiRE on the new Swift's platform in the next 6-8 months.

The new Swift retains the round look; however elements like the headlights and tail lights have a stretched look.

The only department where the difference isn't drastic between the older model and the new Swift lies under the hood. The engines from the outgoing Swift have been carried over to the new car, essentially the K-Series 1.2-litre petrol and the 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engines.

The 1197cc petrol engine generates 87PS @ 6000rpm and a torque of 114Nm at 4000rpm whereas the 1248cc DDiS diesel engine remains the same and offers 75PS @ 4000rpm and a torque of 190Nm @ 2000rpm.

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Google+ users with bogus names to be booted out

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 0 comments

google-plus-logoGoogle+ has announced a new rule that requires users to use their real names, otherwise their profile would be deleted.

Saurabh Sharma, product manager of the social networking team, announced the new rule in a video shared on YouTube and on Google+, which tells that if a person is not using his/her real name, the profile will be removed after four days given to clean up the act.

The company said it tried to make connecting with people on the Web more like connecting with people in the real world, so those signing up for the service are need to use the name they go by in the real world, the Daily Mail reports.

"If we find that your profile name does not adhere to our policy, we'll give you a 4-day grace period to fix your profile name before we take further action," the newspaper quoted Sharma, as saying.

"Taking action means your account is closed although you will be allowed to 'take all your content with you, even after your profile is suspended. Visit Google+ Takeout for more details," he added.

The new regulations were billed as an 'update to how the company handles potential violations of its common name policy.'

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BlackBerry Bold 9900 launched in India

Thursday, August 11, 2011 0 comments

blackberry-bold-9900Canada's BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) Thursday launched its touch and type smartphone -- BlackBerry Bold 9900 with BlackBerry 7 operating system -- in India.
"The smartphone is built on a new performance driven platform powered by the latest BlackBerry software and hardware," said the company in a statement.

"In addition to supporting the new BlackBerry 7 operating system, the phone features a range of powerful hardware enhancements, including HD (hi-definition) video recording and advanced sensors enabling new augmented reality applications such as Wikitude that can be integrated with BlackBerry messenger 6," it added.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone yet at only 10.5 mm.

BlackBerry 7 introduces a next generation BlackBerry browser with a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience with enhancements including optimized zooming and panning for smoother web navigation, the statement said.
--IANS

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Google+ set to beat Twitter, LinkedIn

Saturday, August 6, 2011 0 comments

Google+ Inc's new social-networking service may grow to claim 22 per cent of online US adults in a year, passing Twitter Inc and LinkedIn Corp. to be the second- most-used social site after Facebook Inc, a survey found. Capture

Google+ has signed up 13 per cent of US adults and will add 9 percent over the next year, according to the survey from Bloomberg/YouGov. In the same period, Facebook will lose about 2 percentage points of US adults to keep 69 per cent of that population, while Twitter and LinkedIn continue to grow their portion of users.

Started in late June, Google+ is growing faster than Facebook and MySpace Inc. did in their early days. The service, which lets people connect with and manage groups of friends on a website, gained about 25 million users worldwide in less than a month, estimates market researcher ComScore Inc Facebook has more than 750 million active users.

"Google+ is tracing a path similar to Facebook's initial growth -- building excitement in a core group of early adopters," said Michael Nardis, head of YouGov investment products, in a statement about the survey.

Katie Watson, a spokeswoman for Mountain View, California- based Google, declined to comment. Jonathan Thaw, a spokesman for Facebook, and Matt Graves, a spokesman for Twitter, also declined to comment.

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Nissan India unveils 'Sunny' sedan, is planning small car

Wednesday, August 3, 2011 0 comments
Nissan Micra

Image via Wikipedia

Nissan Motor Co today unveiled its premium offering for the mid-size segment in India - the new Nissan `Sunny' - and also said it is studying the opportunity to launch a small car in the Indian market.

"We are launching the new saloon Sunny in October to coincide with the festive season. The petrol and diesel variant of the Nissan Sunny will be manufactured at the Renault Nissan alliance Orgadam facility in Chennai," Nissan Motor India's Managing Director and Chief Executive, Kiminobu Tokuyama, told reporters here.

Nissan Sunny was designed at Nissan Design and Nissan Motor Co Ltd headquarters in Japan along with inputs from 170 countries, and it would be sold worldwide. It made its global debut at the 8th China (Guangzhou)International Automobile Exhibition last December.

The unveiling of the car reinstates company's seriousness on business operations in India and "reiterates that we are as per schedule on our Indian plans", Tokuyama said.

The 10th Generation Nissan Sunny is based on the popular V- (Versatile) platform, the one used in the Nissan Micra.

Sunny will help the company triple its local sales to 40,000 units in the current financial year, Tokuyama said.

However, he did not reveal the price of the new car. The company sold 13,030 vehicles last fiscal, of which 12,000 were Micra models.

The Chennai unit is expected to expand production capacity to 400,000 vehicles a year by the middle of 2012 and the company plans to export half of them by the end of 2012, Tokuyama said.

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The Smurf' and 'Cowboys and Aliens' tie at box office with 36.2m dollars

Monday, August 1, 2011 0 comments

Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford’s science-fiction ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ and family adventure ‘The Smurfs’ finished their first weekend grossing the same amount of money, an estimated 36.2 million dollars, after going neck-to-neck all weekend.
“In all my years, I’ve never really seen a race this close,” the Daily Mail quoted Paul Dergarbedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com as saying.cowboys-nad-aliens-1680x1024-1

“Generally, in the world of movie box office, 1 million dollars is a close call, so to have two films in a dollar-to-dollar tie is somewhat unprecedented,” he said.

The determination of the No.1 movie can be done only after Monday as most of the studios often round off their Sunday numbers, which include Friday and Saturday, including an estimate based on how similar movies have fared in the past.

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows : Part 2’ and last week’s No.1 ‘Captain America : The First Avenger’ have slipped down to No. 4 and 3 with the release new movies this weekend.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

1 (tie). ''Cowboys & Aliens,'' $36.2 million

1 (tie). ''The Smurfs,'' $36.2 million

3. ''Captain America: The First Avenger,'' $24.9 million ($48.5 million international)

4. ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,'' $21.9 million

5. ''Crazy, Stupid, Love,'' $19.3 million

6. ''Friends with Benefits,'' $9.3 million

7. ''Horrible Bosses,'' $7.1 million

8. ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon,'' $6 million ($42 million international)

9. ''Zookeeper,'' $4.2 million.

10. ''Cars 2,'' $2.3 million ($30 million international).
--ANI

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Google buys more than 1,000 IBM patents

Sunday, July 31, 2011 0 comments
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - FEBRUARY 02:  Google's Pro...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Google, which last month failed to grab a huge portfolio of Nortel patents, has bought more than 1,000 patents from IBM.

The new purchase boosts Google's intellectual property portfolio which currently has just 700 patents.

The loss of Nortel patents was a big blow to Google as the search engine was willing to pay anyprice to beef up its bank of patents - which is the smallest among major wireless players.

Since Nortel-patented technology is also used in Google Android smart phones, the Apple-led consortium have not only got the rights to licence this technology to secure royalties but also gain market influence vis-a-vis Google in the multi-trillion-dollar technology field.

As Google is involved in more than 45 patent lawsuits - the biggest against any major player -it is consolidating its patent bank to avoid future litigations.

Google has refused to confirm the price it has paid for IBM patents.

"Like many tech companies, at times we'll acquire patents that are relevant to our business needs. Bad software patent litigation is a wasteful war that no one will win," a Google spokesperson was quoted as saying by the LA Times Friday.

Google' popular Android smart phone operating system is the target of legal challenges. Oracle is seeking billions in damages from Google claiming that Android infringes its Java patents.

Facing so many patent-related lawsuits, Google has urged the US Federal Trade Commission to curb this practice.

"Like many tech companies, at times we'll acquire patents that are relevant to our business needs. Bad software patent litigation is a wasteful war that no one will win," the Google spokesperson was quoted a saying.

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Twitter to display ads with 'Promoted Tweets'

Saturday, July 30, 2011 0 comments
Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Twitter said that it will begin placing advertisements known as "Promoted Tweets" in the timelines of users who follow a particular brand or company.

Twitter said it will begin testing the new advertising offering with a number of companies including Dell, Gatorade, Groupon, JetBlue, LivingSocial, Microsoft, Red Bull, Starbucks and Virgin America.

Promoted Tweets from non-profits such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Red Cross will also be shown, the San Francisco-based Twitter said in a blog post.

"When we decide to follow a favorite brand, business or charitable organization, we expect to be among the first to get a special announcement, access to exclusive content or a great offer," Twitter said.

"That's why starting today, we're introducing a way to ensure that the most important tweets from the organizations you follow reach you directly," it said.

Twitter has enjoyed explosive growth since it was founded in 2006 but it is unclear how successful it has been in translating its popularity into profit.

Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo, speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado, last week declined to reveal whether the privately held company is profitable.

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Hotmail to block 'easy-to-guess' passwords like '123456,' 'ilovecats'

Friday, July 29, 2011 0 comments
Image representing Microsoft as depicted in Cr...

Image via CrunchBase

Microsoft will ask Hotmail users, who have chosen common passwords, to change them as part of an effort to increase the security of its popular webmail service.
The firm will ban the use of passwords such as "123456" and "ilovecats", which can be easily cracked by malicious hackers using trial-and-error techniques.

"This new feature will be rolling out soon, and will prevent you from choosing a very common password when you sign up for an account or when you change your password," the Telegraph quoted Dick Craddock, Microsoft's group program manager for Hotmail, as saying.

"If you're already using a common password, you may, at some point in the future, be asked to change it to a stronger password," he stated.

Apart from tightening its rules on passwords, Microsoft has implemented a feature in Hotmail to allow users to report when a friend's account appears to have been hacked by spammers.

Incoming emails can now be flagged as "My friend's been hacked!" which alerts Hotmail's security systems to a potential breach.

The user whose account sent the email is also asked to change their password so the spammers cannot gain access again.

The firm said alerts would also be shared with Google and Yahoo! when a Hotmail user receives spam from a friend's Gmail or Yahoo! Mail account.
--ANI

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Google Chrome gets update for Apple Mac OS X Lion

Google Chrome Icon

Image via Wikipedia

Google has updated its popular browser Google Chrome to work better on recently announced Apple's Mac OS X Lion.

The new Chrome 14.0.835.0 version will support Lion's multitouch gestures. With the new Chrome, users can avail two-finger swipe gestures for forward and backward navigation on OS X Lion.

The new version also adds support for a new communication protocol for Web Sockets, a high-speed communication mechanism between browsers and Web servers.

In the new version for Mac, Native Client has been disabled for official releases of OS X 10.6.7 and earlier using a 64-bit kernel.

Google said that PDF viewing has been broken in this release, but a fix will be release for this later in the week. The existing copies of the Chrome's dev build will be updated automatically, others have to download dev edition from Google's website.

Labels:

Twitter to display ads with 'Promoted Tweets'

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Twitter said that it will begin placing advertisements known as "Promoted Tweets" in the timelines of users who follow a particular brand or company.

Twitter said it will begin testing the new advertising offering with a number of companies including Dell, Gatorade, Groupon, JetBlue, LivingSocial, Microsoft, Red Bull, Starbucks and Virgin America.

Promoted Tweets from non-profits such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Red Cross will also be shown, the San Francisco-based Twitter said in a blog post.

"When we decide to follow a favorite brand, business or charitable organization, we expect to be among the first to get a special announcement, access to exclusive content or a great offer," Twitter said.

"That's why starting today, we're introducing a way to ensure that the most important tweets from the organizations you follow reach you directly," it said.

Twitter has enjoyed explosive growth since it was founded in 2006 but it is unclear how successful it has been in translating its popularity into profit.

Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo, speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado, last week declined to reveal whether the privately held company is profitable.

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Wal-Mart offers video streaming on website

Thursday, July 28, 2011 0 comments
Back of a Blu-ray Disc. I took this.

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The world's largest retailer started streaming many movies the same day they come out on DVD, in a second bid for a share of popular movie rental and streaming website Netflix Inc's business and just two weeks after Netflix announced new price increases.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. bought video-streaming service Vudu.com 18 months ago and now offers 20,000 titles that can be viewed on almost any device with Internet access, from computers to televisions to Sony's PlayStation3 and other Blu-Ray disc players.

Movies are available at Walmart.com to rent for $1 to $5.99 or to purchase for $4.99 and up. Wal-Mart is not offering subscriptions, making its service more similar to Apple Inc.'s iTunes, which charges $3.99 to rent newly released movies and $14.99 to buy a movie.

In addition to Netflix, another competitor streaming movies and TV shows by subscription is Hulu.com, which now offers a premium service for $7.99 a month with more back-season shows and more movies. Without a subscription, Hulu viewers can watch shows and movies free in exchange for watching advertising.

The movie offering fits with the Wal-Mart website's strategy of offering a "seamless continuous shopping service," said Steve Nave, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart.com.

Wal-Mart's announcement comes on the heels of Netflix saying it will raise rates and charge separately for streaming and rental DVDs. Its second price hike in eight months, Netflix's planned increases could amount to 60 percent for existing customers, starting September 1. New subscribers have to pay the new prices immediately.

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Amazon set to launch services in India next year

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 0 comments
Image representing Amazon as depicted in Crunc...

Image via CrunchBase

Amazon.com is set to enter India, riding on the second wave of ecommerce boom in India. Amazon is in discussions with leading Indian e-commerce players like Flipkart.com, LetsBuy.com and Exclusively.in, among others and may enter the market as early as the first quarter of next year.

Acquiring Indian players has been the dominant theme for foreign majors looking to enter Indian market with eBay acquiring Baazee.com and Groupon picking up SoSasta.com to enter the market. But sources say that Amazon is looking to set up operations on its own as its discussions with many players on acquisition front haven't seemed to work out. "Indian players see the huge potential in the e-commerce segment here and so have so far been resistant to being bought out easily," said another source. Amazon is likely to ramp up through inorganic ways later, depending on market growth and their performance relative to competition.

Hiring is currently on in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai to fill up the various positions in this team, say sources. "A team of over 200 people is being built, though all of them might not end up in the core retail arm," said another source.

The earliest indications came from the hiring of Madhu M, a senior executive at Landmark (retail chain), by Amazon to head its India operations. Madhu is an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus and is currently holding the position of SVM at Amazon. He is based out of Chennai where Amazon's Kindle development team is also based.

Amazon is also establishing a warehouse in Mumbai, a standard step before entering the e-commerce space going by what Amazon has been doing globally. Another interesting development has been the buying of 80,000 sq ft by Amazon at SP Infocity, promoted by Shapoorji Pallonji & Co Ltd, in Perungudi in Chennai. The company already has a development centre in Chennai.

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iPhone app helps kids do virtual drives

Saturday, July 23, 2011 0 comments
Image representing iPhone as depicted in Crunc...

Image via CrunchBase

A new iPhone app called Backseat Driver permits kids to enjoy a virtual drive linked to the real journey via GPS.
Players chase the 'Papa Car', the real driver, in their own vehicle along a route similar to that which they are really moving along.

The app uses satellite positioning and creates a road layout with a similar number of twists and turns. Children steer to the left or the right by tilting their phone and earn extra points for driving well.

The game could prove a valuable tool for parents with children who are bored on long journeys with nothing to do, the Daily Mail reports.

But it could also be handy for relatives who insist on driving from the backseat even when it annoys the person behind the wheel.

In Backseat Driver, the Papa Car drops various objects which are linked to landmarks and shops taken from real life buildings which are driven past.

Players collect the objects and save them to view information about the locations later. Points collected can be used to modify the car with a different colour or better engine.

The game allows users to share their routes via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and compete in an online league table of how far they have travelled.

A promotional video for the app shows a family driving around Tokyo with their daughter in the back seat - turning her iPhone at the same time her father turns the steering wheel.

The voiceover says it is 'the world's first application that you can enjoy driving from the back seat of your car'.

Backseat Driver is free to download from the iTunes store from ToyToyota, an offshoot of the car manufacturer Toyota.
--IANS

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Google adds virus alert to search

Friday, July 22, 2011 0 comments
Current example of Google's (and web search en...

Image by lambo via Flickr

Google has begun warning some users of its popular Internet search service that their computers may be infected with a virus.

Routine maintenance on one of the technology giant's data centers revealed unusual traffic from computers infected with a form of malicious software, according to Google security engineer Damian Menscher.

The traffic was sent to Google through intermediary computer servers referred to as "proxies," Menscher said.

Google began delivering warning notices along with search results to computers that appear infected with the virus.

"We hope that by taking steps to notify users whose traffic is coming through these proxies, we can help them update their antivirus software and remove the infections," Menscher said in a blog post.

"We hope to use the knowledge we've gathered to assist as many people as possible."
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