Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts

Monday, April 1, 2013

How top Techies celebrated April Fool's Day


April 1st is celebrated as April Fool’s Day or All Fools Day in many countries. People usually play prank on others and celebrate it. Tech companies also have celebrated April fools Day and, here is a list how the have done it this year.
bmw-royal-baby-carriage
BMW: ROYAL BABY CARRIAGE
BMW said today that “we are proud to announce the launch of our limited edition BMW P.R.A.M. (Postnatal Royal Auto Mobile)” to coincide with the birth of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s first child
guardian-goggles
THE GUARDIAN: GUARDIAN GOGGLES
Playing on Google Goggles, The Guardian newspaper released its own set of smart frames.
google-maps-treasure-map
Google: Closing of YouTube, Treasure layer in Google Maps, Google Nose, Gmail Blue, Add emotions to Google+ pictures, Levity algorithm
Google is the master of humorous tech pranks for April Fools’ Day. We clearly don’t believe anything Google tells us on March 31 and April 1, but here’s a roundup of Google’s pranks:
Closing of YouTube
Treasure layer in Google Maps
Google Nose
Gmail Blue
Levity algorithm
Google+ emotions
Finally, the Google+ team added the ability to add “emotions” to pictures.
ikea-grassax
IKEA: FLAT-PACK LAWNMOWER
IKEA launched a “brand new, fully flat-pack GRÄSSAX lawnmower.”
nokia_microwave
NOKIA: TOUCHSCREEN LUMIA MICROWAVES
If you can’t win the people with Lumia Windows Phones, maybe it’s time to try pitching them onsmart microwaves?
RUNKEEPER FOR IPAD
Runkeeper brings its iPhone app for tracking your exercise to the iPad.
SPHERO: PEACEKEEPER EDITION
The Sphero robotic ball that can be controlled from your phone has been modified to help crush objects and trip runners. It costs $10,000.
SONY: PET TECHNOLOGY INCLUDING CAT HEADPHONES AND TVS FOR DOGS
Sony launched a set of technology for pets including Cat Cans, speakers for your hamster, andTVs for dogs.
sony-pet-tech
THINKGEEK: PLAY-DOH 3D PRINTER AND EYE OF SAURON DESK LAMP
3D printing is super hot. Why not a 3D printer that works with Play-Doh? Oh, and how about a sweet “Eye of Sauron Desk Lamp” while you’re already ordering?
play-doh-3d-printer
TWITTER: CHARGING TO USE VOWELS
It’s now going to cost to use vowels on Twitter, no more “LOL” for you freeloaders. You’ll just have to use smiley faces.
VIRGIN ATLANTIC: GLASS-BOTTOMED PLANE
Maybe the most scary sounding prank we’ve heard today is Virgin Atlantic’s proposed glass-bottom plane.
virgin-atlantic-glass-bottom-plane
LET US KNOW WHAT WE MISSED
Other companies will surely have their own April Fools’ pranks today. Let us know in the comments what we missed or what you found particularly funny.
Blowfish12@2013 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R
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Wish to have Android apps On Windows or Mac

“Android is not just for Android devices any more. Thanks to the BlueStacks App Player, you can run your favorite Android apps on PCs running Windows XP, Vista or 7. You can run them on a PC or even a tablet running Windows 8. If you've got a Mac, BlueStacks will let you run Android apps on it as well. This nifty player won Best of CES last year -- and it's free.”
Have you got some favorite smartphone apps? Not convinced by Microsoft's new Windows app selection? Itching to see some Android action on your MacBook Pro? Don't worry, just install an Android emulator on your Windows or Mac machine and run all of the Android apps that you've grown to love.
A version is even available for Windows 8 Surface tablets. Load up to 750,000 Android apps, including games, SMS text messaging, and media apps.
The free product that lets you do this is BlueStacks App Player, and it claims more than 5 million downloads.
Here's how to go about loading and running the BlueStacks emulator:
Installation and Use
Step 1: Browse to the BlueStacks Web page on a desktop computer or laptop and click on the download button for your operating system. Choose between XP, Vista and Windows 7; Windows 8; or Mac.
Follow the usual steps for installing software, opening the .exe file. Follow the prompts to allow installation and then accept the terms of the license agreement by clicking on the Welcome to BlueStacks' Continue button.
Step 2: Verify that App Store Access and App Notification check boxes are enabled on the following screen and then click Install. Allow the BlueStacks application to load.
Step 3: Click on the My Apps tile and then on the App Search button.
Search for an app that you use regularly on your smartphone or tablet. For example, I searched for Falcon Pro, a robust, paid-for Twitter client I like. Allow the in-Bluestacks search to complete and then click on the Install button adjacent to the search result.

Tip: The app doesn't install from this search. This search just tells you which store has the app you want.
Step 4: Choose an app store from the selection. I chose the Google native Play store, but there will be others listed, including Amazon.
Tip: Choose the store that you normally use on your device. It will be cheaper to migrate an app that you've already paid for.
Step 5: Add your account details if prompted. If you already have a Google account, add it here. Allow any sync to take place and then select Finish Setup. Click on any terms and conditions check boxes and then press Continue.
Step 6: Perform a second search for the app that you want to install. Allow the search to take place and then choose Accept and Download. Allow the app to install and then open the app. This search is from within the store that you may be familiar with, like Play.
Tip: Use the on-screen keyboard that pops up rather than the PC's physical keyboard if you run into keyboard mapping issues when communicating with the app.
Blowfish12@2013 Blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Top 5 best selling phones in the U. S.




























RankBrand
1iPhone 5
2Samsung Galaxy S III
3iPhone 4
4iPhone 4S
5Samsung Galaxy S II

The iPhone 5 was the top-selling smartphone in the last quarter of 2012, according to that NPD Group report.



Blowfish12@2013 blowfish13.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R. Source: npd.com
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Thursday, January 24, 2013

Cheaper iPhone is iPod, Tim Cook

Tim Cook is pretty happy with Apple’s first quarter numbers for 2013, saying that “no technology company has ever reported results like these.” And with record quarterly revenue of $54.5 billion and record quarterly profit of $13.1 billion, you can understand why.


But yesterday is less interesting to investors than tomorrow, which is why Apple’s stock price is down, and one of the analysts on the call asked the Apple chief exec about market share and cheaper iPhones. That’s been a big concern lately, as most of the growth in mobile phones is in markets like Asia and Africa, which are much more price-sensitive than the U.S. or Europe.


“The most important thing for Apple is to make products that impact people’s lives,” Cook answered. “We don’t seek revenue for revenue’s sake.”


Those would not have been comforting words to investors who are looking for Apple to expand its market share by offering products that appear to a wider range of customers. But Cook did offer a ray of hope.


“We’ve had a great track record on iPod of offering different products at different price points,” Cook added.


That might be a hint that Apple will offer iPhones at differing price points, beyond the current strategy of offering old models at reduced rates. The iPod, of course, is available in the top-of-the-line iPod Touch, the still-existing Classic, and the cheap Nano and cheaper Shuffle.


But don’t hope for too much. Then Cook added, for emphasis:


“But our top priority is making a great product that enriches people’s lives.”





Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.



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Friday, December 28, 2012

Santa gets technical: Over 17M iOS and Android devices activated Christmas Day

Christmas Day marked the most iOS and Android device activations than “any other day in history,” according to a report from mobile analytics company Flurry – with over 17 million new smartphones and tablets booting up for the first time.

Compared to the rest of December, new iOS and Android activations soared 332 percent on Christmas Day. Every other day in December only averaged around four million activated devices. It also squarely beat out last Christmas, which only hit 6.8 million devices activated.

Smartphones and tablets are undeniably mainstream and parents, friends, and significant others are seemingly happy to shell out for the technology everyone wants. It helps that a number of new products entered the market in the recent months, including Apple’s iPad Mini, iPhone 5, Kindle Fire HD, Nexus 4, and Nexus 10. The hype and marketing from these releases surely contributed to people’s holiday wish lists.

Interestingly, however, it seems like people think of tablets as a present, as opposed to an every day expense. Throughout December, 80 percent of activated iOS and Android devices were smartphones, whereas on Christmas Day, tablets rushed up and claimed 51 percent of activated devices.

Apps also saw an expected spike on what has now come to be known as Download Day. Compared with the rest of December, app downloads increased by 112 percent on Christmas Day with 328 million apps downloaded overall. Only 155 million apps were downloaded each day in December prior to Christmas.



Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.
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Monday, July 23, 2012

iPhone 5 will launch with 19-pin Dock connector


The company's current iPhones has a 30-pin port. The smaller connector will make room for the headphone jack on the bottom of the device.



Apple's next iPhonewill come with a smaller Dock connector port, according to a new report.


Although Apple's current mobile devices, including the iPhone and iPad, come with a 30-pin port, the new iPhone will sport a 19-pin connector, Reuters is reporting today, citing sources. The switch will help Apple make room on the bottom of the handset for a headphone jack. The headphone jack currently sits at the top of Apple's iPhones.


Reuters' report on Apple's Dock connector is just the latest in a string of rumors surrounding Apple's plans for that port. Over the last few months, an increasing number of reports have cropped up, saying that Apple will be ditching the 30-pin connector for a smaller, 19-pin option.


Back in May, for example, Apple site iLounge reported, citing sources, that the new connector is "closer to a pill shape." In addition, the site said that the connector will be available on all future mobile devices Apple launches.


For its part, Apple hasn't commented on its plans for a new Dock connector, but blowfish12 has contacted the company for comment on the Reuters report and will update this story when we have more information.


If Apple does, in fact, decide to launch a new Dock connector in the iPhone 5, its latest handset would, out of the box, seemingly be incompatible with the many accessories that connect to its devices with a 30-pin connector. Whether Apple will offer up an adapter to ensure legacy products still work with its products remains to be seen.





Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R,



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Google acquires hot iOS & Mac e-mail app Sparrow (updated)

Google has just acquired Sparrow, a company that has gained notoriety for its innovative iOS and Mac e-mail clients.


“We care a lot about how people communicate, and we did our best to provide you with the most intuitive and pleasurable mailing experience,” Sparrow CEO Dom Leca wrote on the company’s blog this morning. “Now we’re joining the Gmail team to accomplish a bigger vision — one that we think we can better achieve with Google.”


Sparrow’s apps have gained a devoted and vocal fan base, thanks to their clean design and elegant functionality. The apps integrate particularly well with Gmail, so it’s not too surprising that Google was interested in snapping up Sparrow. On iOS, Sparrow filled the gap for a truly powerful Gmail client (Google released its own Gmail iOS client in November, but it had a very rough start).


When it comes to Sparrow’s existing apps, we’re hearing that Google will support them with critical updates, but don’t expect any new features.


Sparrow is based in Paris and has received seed funding from Kima Ventures. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.


Update: Sources tell the Verge that Sparrow was acquired for under $25 million.












Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R. Source: TheVerge



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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

5 ways Apple is shoring up Mac security

By now most people that keep themselves updated with regards to the tech happenings would all be aware of Apple’s retraction of their claim that a Mac is the daddy of all computer monitoring software. In other words Apple claimed that a Mac is not susceptible to the viruses that wreck havoc with the Windows-based computers. That stance has been changed to a rather modest – and ambiguous – built-in safety claim.


The presence of Malware on Apple products has become a reality. Just ask any knowledgeable iPhone buff what their biggest concern with regards to the impending iPhone 5 release is and their answer would be: its security mechanism to counter iPhone spyware. So with the security concerns surfacing regularly Apple is upping the ante on security. Here are six ways that Apple has fortified its defense.


Mac Security


1. Lessons Learnt From Flashback


It goes without saying that it was the Flashback debacle that highlighted Apple’s procrastination in covering quite a few security bases. Obviously when 600,000 Macs were affected, it was the proverbial hand gesture towards the Apple hierarchy, and they had to do something about it – something that intriguingly took months to conjure up.


Apple’s lethargy with regards to acknowledging the presence – and the means to counter them – of malware like computer monitoring software became the butt of global ridicule. And now the company is ensuring that it learns its lesson and realize that Macs are under the malware gun relentlessly. Hence, the need to strengthen the security has become all the more important.


2. Gate Keeper Has Been Hired


Apple has been constantly revamping its security mechanism of late, which gives the hackers something new to think about. The OS X feature which has been dubbed the ‘Gate Keeper’ is being touted as the best thing that has ever stood next to the Apple door.


3. Sandboxing


Gate Keeper protects Mac devices owing to the fact that it channels the iOS aspects on Mac OS X. Apple has been hiring developers to sandbox their applications, which restricts the actions that a program can perform on a Mac device. It also keeps an eye on the files that can be accessed, and monitors the programs that can be launched. In simple words sandboxing reduces the area that is available for the spyware to strike a blow, which in turn increases the overall security.


4. Background Checks


A mechanism to restrict the execution of apps has also been formulated courtesy Gate Keeper. Users can ensure that their settings determine whether or not OS X should allow the applications in, which have been obtained via Mac.  And for this purpose Apple has decided to build a developer ID codes database, and a related system of tracking.


5. Encryption


FireVault 2, the latest Apple maneuver introduced with Apple OS X 10.7 (aka Lion) offers full-disk encryption, to further hike up the security. And this when compared to the previous version of FireVault also confirms that Apple is taking Mac security rather seriously now. And who knows maybe they might have something similar to counter iPhone spyware on iPhone 5.





Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.



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Thursday, July 12, 2012

Fact for the day: 12-07-2012

fat Mac application is an application program for the Macintosh computer that works on a Mac running on a Motorola 68000 series chip.

Intel's Flying Pentium Ads and the 'Intel Inside' logo were made on an Apple Macintosh.

Intel,s code name for its effort to make the one GHz microprocessor was codenamed Project Foster.

Ted Hoff, Stan Mazor and Federico Faggin designed the Pentium Chip that was launched on March 22, 1993.



Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Chrome to drop Mac OS X 10.5 support


Those with the 2007-era version of Apple's operating system won't be able to use a new version of Chrome due in three months. Also coming to the browser: support for Webcams and gamepads.



Just as Apple finished up OS X 10.8, aka Mountain Lion, Google said yesterday that its Web browser will stop supporting OS X 10.5, aka Leopard.


Leopard debuted in 2007 after a long gestation period. Apple's OS updates arrive more frequently these days -- roughly annually -- and Chrome comes even more frequently with a six-week update cycle.


"Please note, on Mac we now require 10.6 or higher, and this release will not be available if you are on 10.5 or lower," said Chrome team member Jason Kersey in a blog post yesterdayabout Chrome 22, which just entered testing on the developer channel. That version should become the mainstream, stable version of Chrome in about three months.


Chrome has become an "exceptionally profitable" product for Google, driving search traffic and thereby generating ad revenue for the company. It got its start on personal computers, but Google has just released Chrome for iOS alongside the Android version of the browser.


Google also announced yesterday the beta version of Chrome 21 with two significant featuresfor letting Web apps better match what native apps can do.


First is support for the getUserMedia interface, which lets programmers tap into a computer's camera and microphone. That's useful for creating Web apps that use videoconferencing and audio chat, or for signing up with a new online service that can take a snapshot for a profile picture.


Second is support for the Gamepad interface, which lets programmers write Web-based games that use videogame controllers.


Opera Software and Mozilla also have been pushing for development and adoption of these interfaces to device hardware. Such tasks typically have been available to programmers before who used Adobe Systems' Flash Player or who wrote native software that use the underlying operating system.


The browser developers, though, want Web apps to match what native apps can accomplish. That's important for programmers who want to move beyond the Flash era, but it's essential for Google's Chrome OS and Mozilla's Firefox OS, two projects that use a browser-based operating system that runs only Web apps.






Blow

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Fact for the day: 10-07-2012

David Bradley wrote the code for the [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] key sequence.


The worlds most widely used operating system, Windows, was originally named interface manager.


Consider this carefully: The Macintosh Business Unit, a division of Microsoft, is the largest software developer for long term rivals Apple. It's latest release is Office 2011 for Mac.


The stair-step effect that can be seen in diagonal lines of some computer graphics is called 'the jaggies'.


The first patent for the bar code - US Patent #2,612,994 was issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver on October 7,1952.






Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.
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Monday, July 9, 2012

Fact for the day: 9-07-2012

Before Microsoft, Bill Gates was apparently counting cars. His first business was Traf-o-data, a company that read raw data from roadway traffic counters to create meaningful reports for traffic controllers.


Contrary to popular belief Apple wasn't started in a garage, it was started in a bedroom at 11161 Crist Drive in Los Altos.


In the 1950s computers were commonly referred to as "electronic brains".


Lenovo stands for "new legend" . It's an amalgamation of the words "Le" for Legend and "novo" for new.






Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.
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Sunday, July 8, 2012

Apple withdraws from green gadget certification program

Apple products will no longer bear the EPEATseal of approval that adorns environmentally friendly tech products.


The iDevice maker has backed away from EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) because Apple products such as the new Retina display MacBook Pro are no longer designed to be recyclable or otherwise environmentally friendly by EPEAT standards and would be ineligible for certification.


“Apple has notified EPEAT that it is withdrawing its products from the EPEAT registry and will no longer be submitting its products to EPEAT for environmental rating,” reads an official statement from the environmental organization.


“EPEAT is more than simply a product rating – it is also a community effort by all interested stakeholders to define and maintain best practice in environmental sustainability for electronics. We regret that Apple will no longer be registering its products in EPEAT. We hope that they will decide to do so again at some point in future.”


While Apple does offer its own recycling programs, the Environmental Protection Agency-funded EPEAT requires that products be easy to disassemble so recyclable components can be recycled and toxic components can be properly disposed of.


Since Apple products are increasingly difficult to tear down, due to glued-in batteries and glass displays, EPEAT certification was at odds with how the products are designed — and how Apple is designed to turn a profit.


“If the battery is glued to the case, it means you can’t recycle the case and you can’t recycle the battery,” EPEAT CEO Robert Frisbee told the Wall Street Journal.


“They said their design direction was no longer consistent with the EPEAT requirements. … They were important supporters and we are disappointed that they don’t want their products measured by this standard anymore.”


To give an idea of how important EPEAT certification is, in 2009, President Obama signed an executive order mandating that the EPEAT seal appear on at least 95 percent of the electronics in federal and contractor purchases.


Also, many other major computer and smartphone manufacturers, including Asus, Dell, Samsung, LG, HP, and many others, are well on board with EPEAT and support the organization’s mission.


Still, Apple’s environmentally focused company pagestates it is the only company that can claim “every single… product not only meets but exceeds the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s strict ENERGY STAR guidelines for efficiency.”


And as for recycling, the company states, “Apple’s approach to recycling begins in the design stage, where we create compact, efficient products that require less material to produce… Apple has instituted recycling programs in cities and college campuses in 95 percent of the countries where our products are sold, diverting more than 115,504 metric tons of equipment from landfills since 1994. Our goal in 2010 was to achieve a worldwide recycling rate of 70 percent.”





Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun .P R.



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Fact for the day: 8-07-2012

Grace Hopper, a woman Admiral in the navy, was the inventor of COBOL. Admiral Hopper wrote COBOL to be a programming language for general business use. It was supposed to be easier to understand than either Fortran or assembly language.


The name 'worm' appeared in the 1970 movie 'Shockwave Rider' to describe a program that propagates itself through a computer network.


Apple based their Lisa (later Macintosh) operating system on work done on graphical user interface at PARC which was run by Xerox. It was here that idea of the desktop and the mouse as we have it today was created.


Estimates suggest as much as 50 percent of the power used in desktop PCs is wasted as heat and expelled through fans on the power supply.


All the three founders of Apple Inc - Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne - worked at Atari before creating Apple.






Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.
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