Adobe launches Creative Suite 6 in India

Creativity is in everyone and everywhere. Now it is on the cloud too. The Adobe Creative Suite 6 lets users bring their creativity to life anywhere, anytime. It allows them to create content for any platform/device and publish it from anywhere. This is cloud at its best, though India will have to wait a while for this feature.

The new CS6 gives users 13 new versions of Adobe products, all supporting 64 bits. Among the products are the new Speedgrade and Prelude. The suite also conforms to HTML5, CSS3 standards. The new Photoshop Extended also gets about 600 new features while ushering in the Mercury graphics engine as well as 3D support. Meanwhile, InDesign can now work on multiple formats.

Adobe sees India as a big growth engine, especially since it is one of the few countries where the print segment is growing. So to tap into a segment where Adobe was not available for long, InDesign will now support 10 Indian languages.

"This is the single biggest offering from Adobe with 10 million hours of work going into the product. The new Photoshop alone will have 600 new features," explains Umang Bedi, MD South Asia at Adobe Systems.

Adobe Creative Suite will be available for sale within 30 days through authorised resellers as well as their new online store. The CS6 Master Collection will cost Rs 1.56 lakh, the CS6 Design and Web Premium Rs 1.14 lakh, while the CS6 Design Standard will cost Rs 78,288.

However, the Creative Cloud, which lets users make use of all features in the suite from anywhere, will be launched in India only later. Interestingly, the CS6 has been launched in India a couple of days after the global launch, highlighting the importance of the market to Adobe.

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04:33 | 0 comments

Top 3 Latest Gadgets to Download

This post discusses about some of the best latest gadgets to download for your desktop like the ones used on Windows 7 sidebar or Vista; such gadgets help in making your online life easier.

Speed Test

This cool software gadget helps you in monitoring your CPU and RAM usage; it can even test maximum bandwidth speed, Wi-Fi signal strength, ping response times, battery charge status, single process memory usage, etc.
All these details are indicated in a graph. If there is any problem with your computer, you can just place the cursor at the specific point in the graph to get the details of the issue. This gadget is available in 73 backgrounds and 13 skins with a very easy interface.

MP3 Finder

This is a search engine for MP3 that runs directly from the sidebar. It facilitates in easy searching of any MP3 song or artist. This is the first version released, and little got few glitches; perhaps you may have to wait a little longer for an extremely stable version to come out!

Cinematic Wallpaper Gadget

This Windows Vista gadget allows you to quick add new wallpaper for your desktop; you have options for different category images to be displayed each time you switch on your computer with this gadget.

So there you have top 3 latest gadgets to download – try them out today!

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08:24 | 0 comments

Should Chrome OS and Chromebooks Stay or Go Now?

There’s a heated debate whether Chrome OS should really stay anymore, or its days are pretty much over. The basic idea behind this was Google, which is behind the Chief Executive Officer, Larry Page has removed quite a few dark-matter projects. In this aspect, they may not want to invest more money on Chromebooks.

Reason behind the Issue

People are not interested in buying them just because they are not insistently marketed as the preceding Google products; nevertheless frequently they lacked the complete flavored competence of Macs and Windows PCs. You may also require an internet connection for using them.

It is not possible to run the on-premise software related services on the Chromebooks. They can boot in eight seconds; however, they have very less flash storage since they are all related to web applications. Great thing on the subject of the Macs and PCs is people can perform both Web apps and local software.

Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung made its debut in the month of May, but Digitimes deems that all these major personnel computer sellers may have sold not more than 30,000 units ever since that point of time. This can be one of the reasons that Acer and Samsung have slashed the prices of Chromebooks to $299 from $349 and $429 respectively.

You can blame Google and their OEM partners for weakening in marketing of the notebooks in sufficient manner. Google is trying to invite prospective customers to examine Samsung Chromebooks in NY City. Recently, they have got new log-in UI; therefore the search engine is exploiting its part; this might not be enough, as a lot of stuff is remaining.

The new Cr-48 is not worthy when compared to the other tablet PCs like Dell Latitude Windows –seven- notebook and Samsung Galaxy Tab -10.1 for performing blogging or web surfing.

On the Whole

The bottom-line is that in the current hybrid world runs on web apps and on-premise apps, Macs and Windows both support acceptably, but Chromebooks are good for only web applications.

In view of the fact that on-premise apps outnumber the Web apps comparatively a bit, Chrome books encompass a huge drawback, weighed down while they are frivolous OS.

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08:23 | 0 comments

C Spire offers Sonim XP 3400 Armor

C Spire has something for folks, whose butterfingers are bad bout. It is in the form of Sonim XP3400 Armor, an ultra-rugged mobile phone. Yes, it is an all-weather, all action handset having the ability to hang out even in the toughest environments.

Sonim XP 3400 Armor will work as usual even when you wilt from the hard labor and heat. Apart from being tough, it also comes with the speed and reliability of broadband to offer highly reliable lifeline for the one who ply their trade in the harshest environments like farmers, construction, and utility workers. It also suits well for law enforcement, fire protection, and other service-related people.



After receiving feedback from 500,000 people, who perform difficult jobs under some challenging conditions, Sonim engineers came up with XP 3400 Armor that has been designed to exceed military standards for toughness.

How Tough Is This To Crack?

It is completely dust-proof and water submersible up to 6.5 ft. for almost one hour. It has been tested by dropping on a concrete floor from a height of 6.5 ft. after which it did not go through any crack at display as well.

Its screen is designed using a 1.5mm thick, shock and scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla lens that protect the 2-inch high resolution display. The body also boasts of a combination of hardened rubber being molded to form a reinforced fiberglass casing. It is also tested against salt, humidity, fog, transport, thermal shock at temperatures in the range 5° F to 130° F.


The other hardware specs include 2-MP camera with extra bright LED, video recording, noise cancelling microphone, an integrated FM radio, a memory card slot for microSD, media player, and widely spaced keys.

You can expect this tough cookie for just $49.99.

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08:22 | 0 comments

Microsoft splits Windows 8 into Windows 8 (x86) and Windows RT (ARM)

In a blessed moment of clarity, Microsoft has announced that there will be just three flavors of Windows 8 for consumers: Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows RT. This is in stark contrast to Windows 7 and Vista, which were split into more SKUs than there are days in the week.
The default version — 32- and 64-bit Windows 8 for x86 PCs and tablets — replaces Windows 7 Home Basic and Home Premium. Windows 8 Pro, with features like BitLocker and Remote Desktop, replaces Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate (for a full breakdown of the features in each SKU, see the table at the end of this story). There will also be an Enterprise edition of Windows 8, for enterprise customers.
But let’s talk about the black sheep: Windows RT. It’s not Windows 8 RT, or Windows 8 for ARM, or Windows on ARM — it’s Windows RT. Microsoft doesn’t state what the “RT” moniker means, but it’s almost certainly short for WinRT, the new runtime library that underpins the new tile-based Metro interface. Windows RT has a feature set similar to normal Windows 8, but it lacks Storage Spaces, Windows Media Player, and it can’t install x86/64 software (obviously). Windows RT comes with a free copy of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, while Windows 8 and Pro do not.
There are a few possible reasons for the name change. First, because it isn’t a direct upgrade from Windows 7, it probably prevents Microsoft Volume Licensing partners from gaining free access to Windows RT. More importantly, though, Windows RT will only be available as a pre-installed OS. You will not see a Windows RT box on a shelf at Best Buy — there won’t be any confusion about whether the version of Windows 8 you are buying will work on your PC or not.
This also means that you won’t be installing Windows 8 on your ARM Android/iOS/Palm tablet — at least not legitimately. I would be surprised if there isn’t an enterprise version of Windows RT that IT admins can use to bulk provision ARM tablets.
It will be very interesting to see if tablets are advertised as running Windows 8 or Windows RT. Windows 8 has a huge amount of cachet attached to its name, while Windows RT means virtually nothing to consumers. Will Microsoft water down its impending advertising blitz by drawing a line between its x86 and ARM ecosystems, and with repeated mentions of Windows RT? In my opinion, Microsoft’s success on the tablet hinges almost entirely on leveraging the success of Windows 7 — though, who knows, maybe Windows RT will have enough third-party app support that it can stand on its own. Irrespective of nomenclature, Microsoft will have a unified UI across smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and game consoles — and that alone should be enough to drive a lot of consumer interest in all five platforms.

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04:54 | 0 comments

Mozilla tests out opt-in system for plug-ins in latest Firefox nightly build

Plug-ins bogging down your web browsing? Then it looks like you could soon have another option to cut through the clutter right in Firefox. The latest nightly build of the browser includes a new feature that lets users turn off all plug-ins by default and then click on each to enable them (something that, we should note, can already be done through third-party add-ons). While that functionality is still in the early stages, Mozilla's Jared Wein says that they're now working on adding the ability to remember plug-in settings on a per-site basis, and hope to have the feature ready for the release version of Firefox 14 (currently due out in July). In the meantime, you can get an early look at the feature in the latest nightly build available at the source link below.

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05:47 | 0 comments

Exploring App Stores: Five alternatives to WhatsApp

With everything going mobile, instant messaging applications have more or less replaced IM services like Yahoo talk, AIM, AOL and MSN Messenger. At present, WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging applications, but what if you have a smartphone that still doesn’t have WhatsApp? For example, a Bada OS handset or even a Java phone. Or, what if you want to keep the conversation going on, even if you are on your laptop or desktop and don’t want to switch over to your smartphone. All of this and more, can be found in our five alternatives to WhatsApp messenger below.

GroupMe - Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, WP7
This application is quick to install and takes very little of system resources. It’s got a refreshing blue user interface as well. Though it’s not available over all existing mobile platforms, this app is one of the easiest ones to use, if you want to stay in touch with your friends. One interesting feature that comes with this application is Open Groups – you can talk about what you want by simply finding open goups using the Discover tab.

Group Me

Here are a few of the features of this particular App:

• Start groups with the people already in your contacts - no need to remember usernames or PINs.
• The conversation starts instantly. The app uses your data connection, so even tablets can join in on the fun.
• When you have a poor connection, the app can switch to receiving messages via SMS. You'll never miss a message!
• Share photos online—take them on-the-go or choose from ones you've already taken.
• Add your location to any message you send.
• See all group members on a map.

JaxtrSMS - Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Java, Symbian
This application has the widest support for platforms at the moment, including both Symbian and Java phones. It’s got a simplistic feel to it, but is an extremely powerful application on its own. What more, the makers also have a scheme that lets users SMS for free to Zone A Countries - (including USA and India). It works even if one of the users has JaxtrSMS installed.

Jaxtr SMS

Here are a few of the features of JaxtrSMS:

• Automatically integrated with your address book
• Works with WiFi and network coverage
• If the receiver doesn't have JaxtrSMS, messages appear as a normal SMS/text message in their inbox
• If the receiver does have JaxtrSMS, messages appear as a threaded conversation with special notifications
• ChatON - Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Bada, Web
  This is not a copy of Apple’s iMessage. This is Samsung’s effort at making a powerful cross platform messaging app, because it supports iPhones as well! Samsung ChatOn is particularly helpful if you are wanting to chat from your desktop browser without having to switch over to your smartphone. Also, it’s one of the few apps that support the Bada operating system, so incase your buddy has Bada, you know you’ll need this app. ChatOn also allows users to draw and send doodles along with their messages from the app itself.
  
  
  Chat ON
  
  
  
  Here are a few of ChatOn’s features:
  
• Using ChatON, create your own unique animated message by drawing.
• ChatON provides group management features for easy group chats.
• ChatON provides an interaction rank which tells you how often you chat with your buddies
• In every chat room, you can easily see all sent images and videos in a trunk
• Got something to say to your buddies? Use Buddies to broadcast your message

eBuddyXMS - Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, WP7, Web
The original eBuddy was (and to many, it still is) one of the most popular apps in the recent past as it linked together multiple email accounts to present to multiple chat accounts in a single window. Following the success of that app, its makers announced eBuddy XMS that takes instant messaging a step ahead. At the moment it does have a few advantages over WhatsApp with Facebook login that allows users to chat from a web interface with their buddies. Another must have chat app.

eBuddy XMS

Here are a few of the features of this app:

• Flexible – XMS how you want. From quick hellos to casual conversations… using texts, pictures, emoticons and more. It’s up to you. And because it’s always on, it’s always ready for you.
• Reports - Messaging you can count on. eBuddy XMS shows you when messages are sent and read. And you’ll enjoy stable performance, with minimal strain on system resources. 
• Share your story – With over 100+ emoticons, you can get inspired with your messages
• Access eBuddy XMS from any computer. Web XMS allows you to send and receive all your XMS's from the comfort of your keyboard. 

Viber – Android, iPhone
This application is somewhat similar to Skype as it supports both instant messaging as well as free VOIP calls over Wi-Fi and your data network. A neat purple interface, with very little system resources when running in the background, Viber is a must have if you are an Android or an iPhone user. True, it’s still not widely available over platforms, but that’s in the pipeline as well.

Viber

Here’s what Viber has on offer:

• Simple to use: Viber just works, and lets you connect with your friends whose numbers you already have. It syncs with your mobile phone number and contact list to instantly show who already has Viber. Never again must you seek out your own contacts, create new usernames, or build new lists.
• Always On: Viber runs in the background without draining your battery, so you always receive incoming calls and message notification.
• AD Free: Viber doesn’t accept advertising and promises mobile text and calls will always be free, and ad free. 
• In the pipeline:. More ringtones (even custom ones), wallpapers and support for more devices.

So, these are our five most popular chat applications besides WhatsApp. Naturally, there are tons and tons of them in the various marketplaces, so let us know which is your preferred way of staying in touch, in the comments section below.

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07:47 | 0 comments

IBM's OS/2 celebrates its 25th birthday

 
When Biggish Blue's next-generation operating system OS/2 appeared everything was supposed to change. While it failed, it has been darnn difficult to completely kill it off. .
OS/2 was first shown off in April 1987 and the poster boy peddling it was none other than the soon to be software King of the World, Bill Gates. The operating system had been co-developed by IBM and Microsoft and it was intended to replace DOS.
The launch was a technology triumph. IBM bought out its PS/2 line, including an $11,000 model which was seven times faster than current models. These were computers with 32-bit processors, fancy graphics, 3.5″ hardshell floppy-disk drives and optical storage.
But sadly it didn't do much. Gates went back to DOS and used it to end IBM's control of the PC standard. By the 1990s, IBM had given up on OS/2 and by 2005 had given up on PC hardware too.
The whole thing was a tragedy from a technology perspective. OS/2 had multitasking, and was much better at handling memory. It was a lot more stable than DOS, which managed to confirm Microsoft's always crashing reputation.
But OS/2 was a slow, drip drip release. It also needed  four megabytes of memory to run and that was in the days when it was hard to find a PC that had even one megabyte.
Vole countered it with Windows 3.0 in 1990 which looked the same as OS/2 but required a lesser spec. It was not as good but it was good enough to have the industry standardise around it.
Microsoft then pulled the plug on its IBM relationship. Steve Ballmer declared that OS/2 was a dead end and his word was law. OS/2 3.0 was adapted so that it became Windows NT and the rest was history.
IBM showed that it really did not understand what was happening. It carried on with OS/2 at a snail's space. Five years after the original OS/2 announcement, it released a fully-realised commercial product.
While it was pretty good, by then Windows was entrenched. Even with the big names of software such as Lotus, WordPerfect, Borland and Novell agreeing to back OS/2, it was not really going anywhere.
This was mostly because OS/2 really still needed a fast 386 computer with 6MB of memory and 15MB to 30MB of hard-disk space. It did not not do so badly. IBM shipped 1.7 million copies and by May, 1993, IBM released OS/2 2.1 and it was believed that it would give Windows a good kicking. It didnt.
By 1994 OS/2 3.0 was released and it was called OS/2 Warp. The Warp was a cunning plan by IBM suits to give the OS consumer credentials. It did not work and by then Microsoft's Windows 95 was nearly ready.
OS/2 was also having difficulties installing and reviews of the software indicated that it was too difficult to operate. Compared to Windows 95, OS/2 was looking and feeling clunky. I managed to install it and was using it right up until the day I ran Windows 95. While OS/2 never crashed on me it was difficult to use. Like many OS/2 users I switched to Windows 95 and never looked back.
But OS/2 did not exactly go away either. It found a niche within the manufacturing industry. Although IBM knew it was on its way out, in September 1996, it introduced OS/2 Warp 4, formerly code-named "Merlin." It improved Warp 3′s interface and added features such as built-in voice recognition. I remember the launch at the planetarium in London. It was fairly clear, despite what we were told, that IBM did not think OS/2 had legs. Already IBM pulled the software from the thriving consumer market and concentrated on its business and manufacturing clients. IBM should have given it away
Strangely, the operating system did not die, even after IBM said it would not support it. It still powers New York City's subway system. While OS/2 is not running any visible part of the system, there are hundreds of OS/2 computers being used. Checkout systems at Safeway supermarkets still run OS/2 and some ATMs. There is a fanclub called Warpstock which holds OS/2 conferences in the US and Europe.
While OS/2 is well past its sell by date and is unsupported by IBM, it has proven difficult to kill and 25 years after it was announced, there are still computers running it. Some of which have never been turned off since it was installed. A bit like the DEC Alpha chip... 

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01:20 | 0 comments

IBM speeds up big databases

DB2 10 and InfoSphere Warehouse 10 is ten times faster 

IBM has just released its latest incarnations of DB2 10 and InfoSphere Warehouse 10 which it claims will give users data access which is ten times faster.
The software has been sped up thanks to ideas that have come from the boffins in IBM's labs. The idea is that the software continuously accesses, compresses, and analyses data. This allows IT staff to work on higher value tasks such as big data and business analytics.
It has taken four years to develop the software which was tested on more than 100 clients who did not die.
IBM said that with all this talk about big data, organisations were finding it difficult to get ideas from all the data they have stored. Social networks, sensors, and mobile devices, along with data growing inside business software, and this is making it even harder to find useful information.
Using the new software, clients managed data warehouse queries up to 10 times faster to speed up decision making, and freed up storage space up to 90 percent to dramatically reduce storage needs. They could migrate data from expensive Oracle Database to IBM DB2 software with 98 percent code compatibility.
But really the advantage is supposed to be how ideas are easily integrated with real-time analysis of structured data in the warehouse, to enable better and faster business decisions.
IBM claims that some of the database functions make it possible to look into the past and future to improve decision making, using a function called Time Travel Query. This enables easier access to data at any point in time, provided that Quantum cats don't get in the way.
For example, an online travel agency can automatically detect inconsistencies in itineraries such as a hotel booked in Rome for eight days while a car is reserved in New York City for three of those days. Previously, database administrators and application developers had to write complex code to work this out. 

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01:20 | 0 comments

EA beats Bank of America to most hated company in the USA

 
EA games has been voted "worst company" in America by the readers of Consumerist Magazine and collected the Golden Poo medal of dishonour.
The Consumerist watchdog magazine named EA above the Bank of America which, given the current economic crisis in the US, is a feat.
John Reseburg in EA Corporate Communications pointed out that he was sure that bank presidents, oil, tobacco and weapons companies are all relieved they weren't on the list this year.
The Consumerist commented that readers ultimately decided that the type of greed exhibited by EA, which is supposed to be making the world a more fun place, is worse than Bank of America's avarice. You expect Bankers to be evil, er, bankers, but a games company is supposed to be fun.
Forbes said that The Consumerist's readers had got it all out of proportion.
The problems of the gaming industry simply don't compare with BofA's actions resulting in people literally losing their homes and savings.
Forbes said that while it made sense that EA was widely loathed, it has brought that reputation down on its own head.
But the reasons EA is loathed pale in comparison to basically any of the big mortgage companies and banks involved in the housing crisis and financial collapse, Forbes commented.

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00:59 | 0 comments