5 really useful iPad tips and tricks

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 31, 2011

Apple’s next generation device, the iPad 2, is easy to use, since it is designed that way. But there are certain features which you can’t know automatically. Also no one is going to tell you either and you don’t have the time to read the owner’s manual. iPadfanzz.blogspot.com gives you some quick and neat tips and tricks that can help you get the most out of your slate.

1.Control iPad notifications

Notifications can get annoying, most importantly at a time when you are enjoying some YouTube video or playing your favourite game. In order to go control these messages, go to Settings, Notifications, and configure which alerts (and accompanying sounds) you want to appear.

2. Password protect your Apps

Just like the computer password, the iPad allows users to password protect specific apps apart from general log-in password. It is of great help as you prevent other common users (family members) from purchasing unwarranted songs and apps with your credit card. Simply go to “Settings”, select “General” followed by “Restrictions.” A list of apps as well as a checkbox will appear that says "Enable Restrictions." Check this box to activate the password prompt. Now “Set Passcode" and enter a four-digit password. Keep in mind this password will control access to specific apps and is a different password than the device code. Now select the apps you want to password protect and then press “Done.”

3. AirPlay to stream movies, photos and music

Apple's upgraded wireless media streaming feature, called AirPlay, lets you stream, video and photo streaming to Apple TV directly from iOS 4.2 devices, and allows users to send music and album art to third-party hardware. AirPlay also lets you simultaneously stream music to multiple devices in different rooms throughout the house. Using it is simple; just tap the AirPlay icon and it turns on.

4. How to create App folders on iPad

To create a folder on the device, just tap an app icon and hold until the App icons start to jiggle. After doing so, drag one app over the top of another App and release in order to create a new folder that will contain both these Apps. A new folder icon will appear which you can name according to the category of apps, or can rename it.

5. Use AirPrint

AirPrint is a great option for users of iPad – one of the latest features in the latest version of iOS 4.2. It lets you take prints directly to certain wireless printers from your iPad. This feature doesn’t require any setup on the user’s part. All you need is AirPrint capable device and a wireless printer that supports it. AirPrint is on by default, and nothing to adjust in your Settings app. iPad automatically locates and connects to AirPrint-enabled printers on your Wi-Fi network. Simply choose Print from the Share menu for virtually any open document, select the printer, and decide on a quantity, and you're set.

Steve Jobs to deliver keynote speech at WWDC

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 31, 2011

Apple says chief executive Steve Jobs will deliver the keynote speech at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday.

Jobs, who is on a medical leave since January will unveil Apple's new Mac software, Lion and the next version of Apple's iPhone and iPad software, Apple said in a press release.

The keynote will also feature its iCloud service, Apple’s upcoming cloud service offering. The company hasn’t explained what the service will do.

Though Jobs is on medical leave, he is involved in larger decisions at the company, as in March he demonstrated the newer version of iPad. (See the press release)

Why Toshiba Laptops Are So Good

Toshiba, a company of Japanese origin, is well known for its premium quality electronic goods and laptop computers. This computer Moghul has held its position on the cutting edge of technology for more than three decades now. Majorly known for their audio/video equipments and computers, Toshiba has perplexed its competitors since their first laptop was produced in 1985. Toshiba laptops have a well-deserved reputation for being amongst in the world. Owners of this brand swear by its worth and encourage others to use then. The obvious question would be "why are Toshiba laptops so good?"

Toshiba laptops, first of all, are built very sturdily. One won't usually break in cases of slips and drops. These laptops will not break through normal wear and tear unlike some cheap competitors in the market. The keys do not come off in times of the fall and nor do their cases crack. In the worst case scenario, if damage does occur, the excellent customer service from Toshiba would fix it as soon as possible. Business executives who travel around a lot need to carry their laptops along in flights as luggage. The high build quality ensures people continue to use their laptops for a long time. This provides greater value for money.

Toshiba laptops, secondly, are very light in weight. Again, this feature is important for travelers. It is also essential for people who need to use the laptop normally, carry it from home to office and back or simply keeping it on their lap during times of use at home. Heavy laptops can be really unsettling; it may often feel like an effort to pick the heavy ones for small purposes. An option that weighs less is way handier.

Also, Toshiba laptops provide several features as part of standard equipment which often need to ordered separately with other brands. With these features, Toshiba justifies its motto of "Leading Innovation."

These extra-robust, feature-rich, ultra-light weight features come with a cost. Toshiba laptops can be certainly more expensive than the other cheap models on the shelves. Computing tends to be a basic need for every one now. Even with the cheapest computers gaining momentum, Toshiba still remains dear to the computer savvy buyers who seek and understand the value for money offered by the brand. Loyal customers really understand the service Toshiba offers for their high-quality work.

Money spent on buying a Toshiba laptop may tend to wrinkle the pocket initially, but the expenditure will seem like a valuable investment once it is used for a while.

View more at www.systemactive.com

Twitter to launch own photo sharing: Reports

By: iPadfanzz.blogspot.com on May 31, 2011

Tech blogsphere is abuzz with talks about Twitter close to launch its own photo-sharing service. Experts say the move by the company will help the microblogging site in becoming a rich social networking medium as it sets its eyes on profitable business models.

A report by Techcrunch said: "According to multiple sources, Twitter is on the verge on announcing its own built in Twitpic competitor."

Although Twitpic and Yfrog enable Twitter users to share photos on their Twitter streams, the report mentioned that a built-in service would place it ahead of the competition.

Despite immense popularity and over 200 million users, advertising is still elusive. Its recent acquisition of TweetDeck for $40 million is a fight-back by the company that quickly needs to monetise its network.

The launch of the service would also mean that Twitter will get into the core of Facebook's advantages, and thus the competiton between 'likes' and 'tweets' can assume another dimension.

Silent Film Director 2.0: An app to turn your videos into retro movies

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 30, 2011

Now you can add vintage flavour to your iPhone photos and videos by applying high-quality effects ranging from standard Black & White, '20s movie, '60s home video, sepia, sepia vintage, and '70s home video.

The app, called Silent Film Director ($0.99), lets you add several different color filters to your videos so that they appear in the style of silent films from the Twenties or home videos from the Sixties or Seventies.

It’s not that the finished videos will be completely silent as the users have the option of three soundtracks including two 20s-sounding piano scores, a movie projector and the option to choose a video from the device’s music collection.

Image courtesy: iTunes

The app was earlier known as the Vintage Video Maker, but the developer has now added some performance and stability upgrades, user interface enhancements, faster rendering, and new video effects.

You can turn your videos into silent Charlie Chaplin-style movies, by choosing either Standard or Pro mode. Standard Mode is easy to use as all you have to do is select a video clip, choose your effect, the quality output, a soundtrack, and the time scale of the clip (from .3x regular speed through 3x regular speed). The Pro version (99 cents) lets you trim the video and add separate title cards and transitions - which is basically for more complex movies.

You can upload the finished movies/videos directly from the app through YouTube, Facebook or via email.

Overall, the app is an entertaining application where you can explore creativity and entertain your family and friends. It is one such app that will most definitely get your Facebook friends asking “How did you make that video?”

Hound for iPhone, Android and iPad: Search for music with your voice

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 30, 2011

SoundHound Inc, makers of the SoundHound, has launched a new voice recognition app, called ‘Hound’ for iOS and Android devices.

The app is simple to use, as all you have to do is to say the name of a song, artist or band and let the application fetch you results with artist info, previews of top songs, a YouTube snippet, lyrics, an iTunes link, a Pandora station link, ringtones, similar artists and sharing options.

Image courtesy: iTunes

It may not seem ideal for searching out what’s playing on the radio, but the app is quite handy when you are looking for a specific song that you want to buy on the go.

So if you want to watch Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ song, you can fire up Hound and simply say “Born This Way”, and there’ll be YouTube links to click on at the bottom of the screen.

Image courtesy: iTunes

In simple words, it’s a good tool to voice search for MP3s on Amazon and videos on YouTube.

Moreover, the app can also quickly recognize songs either played or sung at close range, and will offer information about how and where to buy that song.

Apart from voice search, the app allows you to a hum, whistle or sing a tune into your phone’s mic and it will fetch the track for you. The application is great and works most of the time.

“We want to focus on what will be a revolution in user habits over the next decade. We forecasts voice-based commands will replace touchscreens as the primary way to utilize mobile media devices in the not-too-distant future,” said SoundHound vice president Katie McMahon.

The best part about this app is that it displays all the relevant information for music lovers.

How to master your iPad's keyboard

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 30, 2011

The first generation iPad and the newer version of the device have been in the market for quite some time now. Though many owners may have become familiar with the tablet’s ins and outs, there are few functions like keyboard that may take a little longer to master it. It is because not all of us have the same typing speed. However, the ultimate goal is to type a letter or URLs correctly. The below video will help you in increasing your typing speed and master the keyboard of the device – and you’ll soon be able to impress everyone with your iPad skills.

Alaska Airlines replaces pilot manuals with Apple iPads

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 29, 2011

Alaska Airlines has announced that it is dumping paper flight charts and maps for its pilots in favor of electronic documents stored on company-issued iPads. With this the Seattle-based carrier has become the first major US airline to join the paperless bandwagon.

The carrier said it is making the switch "as part of an ongoing effort to use technology to enhance flight safety, improve efficiency and protect the environment."

Clearly, the highly popular slate by Apple was the first choice of the carrier’s top bosses as it decided to go digital.

Image courtesy: Alaska Airlines

The iPads will be distributed by mid-June to pilots and the move is follows a trial by 100 line pilots, instructor pilots and Air Line Pilots Association representatives who evaluated the plan over the past winter and spring. The device weighs only 1.5 pounds as against the traditional manual’s 25 pounds.

"We've been exploring the idea of an electronic flight bag for several years, but never found a device we really liked," said Gary Beck, Alaska Airlines' vice president of flight operations. "When the iPad hit the market, we took one look at it and said this is the perfect fit."

The carrier will provide the pilots an iPad with GoodReader installed with PDF versions of flight, system, and performance manuals in addition to reference cards and other materials. It says that it will now be a lot easier for pilots to find information than the traditional paper documents as the electronic manuals include hyperlinks and color graphics.

The US Federal Aviation Administration considers the iPad a Class 1 electronic device, which means it must be stowed during takeoff and landing.

However, it is still not clear whether pilots will receive first-generation iPads or iPad 2s – but the carrier said the move will save 2.4 million pieces of paper. "The cost of the project is expected to be offset by lower paper, printing and distribution expenses and reduced fuel consumption as some weight is removed from the aircraft. Further savings are expected from fewer back and muscle injuries caused by pilots carrying flight bags that can tip the scales at 50 pounds or more fully loaded," says Alaska Airlines.

It is not just airlines even medical firms have issued thousands of iPads to their sales staff to spruce up pitches to doctors. Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Medtronic Inc. (MDT) and Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) are among the drug and medical-device firms making the move.

Hulk Hogan's Main Event game coming to Xbox 360 Kinect this fall

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 28, 2011

Hulk Hogan's Main Event, a Kinect-controlled wrestling title, will soon come exclusively to Xbox 360 this Autumn.

Hulk Hogan's Main Event, developed by Panic Button and published by Majesco, allows players to "learn the ropes from the man himself," build a wrestling persona and learn how to strike poses like Hogan and perform more than 30 punishing combos.

“Hulk Hogan is much more than a wrestling star; he’s a sports entertainment icon with a huge personality, a massive following on Spike’s impact wrestling, and immediate recognition across generations of fans. Partnering with the Hulkster for Hulk Hogan’s Main Event is a dream come true and we’re looking forward to releasing a no holds barred motion-based experience that offers a full suite of over-the-top moves,” said said Jesse Sutton, CEO of Majesco Entertainment.

Players can create their own unique wrestler, using options like choices for face, hair, tattoos, outfit, ethnicity, body type, and entrance music. Players can use the wrestlers in both single-player mode and tag-team mode. Moreover, they can perform in nine different venues including the backyard brawl, local gym and giant stadium in front of a massive audience.

Gamers can even use objects like metal chairs, ladders to beat up their opponents.

"Listen up, people! You will feel the power of Hulkamania when you step into this game. Whether you are taking the damage or selling the pain, this game will let you unleash your inner wrestler as you hype up the crowd while putting the hurt on anyone that stands in your way," said Hogan.

Hulk Hogan's Main Event is an Xbox 360 Kinect exclusive and it will be available sometime this fall.

Number Guru provides free reverse lookups on iOS and Android

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 28, 2011

Do you sometime get annoyed with some annoying calls and wondered who’s behind such pesky calls? BeenVerified.com has released an iPhone, iPod Touch and Android app called Number Guru – which performs reverse phone number lookups – using a phone number to identify its source / owner.

It is one of the smartest callerID and reverse phone services you've ever seen. You can find out instantly who’s calling you!

Image courtesy: iTunes

It is available for free on the App Store and you can see unlimited number of lookups.

The app covers about 90 per cent of landlines and more than 50 per cent of cell phone numbers. (Here Verizon Wireless numbers are not included, because that information is not available to anyone.) It covers all of of telemarketers, debt collectors, or 800# numbers.

The app can become quite handy as users can leave comments on the numbers they were searching, thus, flagging off spammers. However, it doesn't take into account porting numbers to new carriers.

Moreover, you can also use the web version of the service at www.numberguru.com.

PlayStation Network to reopen in Asia again, including Japan

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 28, 2011

Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Network will finally be back in Japan and other parts of Asia on May 28. The company has offered a “thank you and apology package” to go with it.

Earlier Japan, the PlayStation's native country, had blocked the restoration the service because of its dissatisfaction with Sony’s plans for higher security precautions and identity protection.

Except South Korea and Hong Kong, the service will resume in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The company is still in talks with authorities in these two countries but hasn’t revealed a date.

The service returned for users in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand on May 14 and 15, but gamers in Asia had to wait long.

It has been more than five weeks since the PSN was taken offline following a cyber attack. Hackers stole data on all 77 million registered accounts including user names, e-mail addresses, login IDs and passwords.

As per the new security precautions, PlayStation users need to download a firmware update for the console. Users then have to change their password upon login.

WatchESPN app now optimized for the iPad

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 27, 2011

The popular iPhone and iPod touch app, WatchESPN, is now a universal app. This means that it’ll run natively on all iOS devices, including the iPad.

Image courtesy: iTunes

This is great news for all the fans of the app as earlier, only iPhone and iPod touch owners could tune-in to the popular sports channel via WatchESPN. Now, the free app is available for all of Apple’s mobile devices.

Image courtesy: iTunes

The app gives user gives access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPNU – given that they are subscribed to ESPN on their regular TV subscriptions (Bright House Networks, Time Warner Cable & Verizon FiOS TV). Besides regular programming like SportsCenter, SportsNation etc, users can catch live streams of the NBA Regular Season and Playoffs, Major League Baseball, All 4 Grand Slam tennis events and more.

Newer Technology's GripBase and GripStand: Multipurpose protection for iPad

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 27, 2011

Newer Technology has launched a multipurpose tool for your precious iPad, called NuGuard GripStand. The case is made of hard plastic shell having a shock-absorbing inner rubber liner and serves as a protective case and desktop stand for your iPad. It is available at a cost of $30.

The case comes with a good set of features and allows users to have access to all ports and controls. It features a removable, skid-resistant desktop stand that allows you to have both landscape and portrait viewing modes.

Moreover, if you want to transform the stand into a solid desktop workstation base or iPad kiosk, you have to purchase the NuGuard GripBase ($19.99). This is a companion product to NuGuard GripStand.

Another interesting feature of the desktop stand is that it allows carrying your slate as a briefcase by giving you one hand grip. Moreover, it also comes handy in cases where you want your device to work as a wall hook for presentations.

Google to release People Widget for Gmail

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 27, 2011

Google is soon going to release a new “people widget” that will display information about people involved in a Gmail conversation, including Buzz posts, shared documents, photo, links to recent messages from them and calendar events.

"Email is just as much about the people you communicate with as it is what you communicate about. We think it can be helpful to view relevant information in context, which is why over the next two weeks we’re rolling out a new people widget located on the right hand side of your messages. The people widget surfaces content from friends, family and colleagues that is already available to you but may be hard to find and makes it easier to connect with them," Google said in its blog.

"Next to every email message you can now see contextual information about the people in that conversation including recent emails you received from them, relevant Buzz posts, shared documents and calendar events. You also have quick access to a variety of ways to communicate with individuals, start a group chat or schedule a meeting with groups of people."

"We hope the people widget will improve your Gmail experience and we’re eager for you to try it out".

The feature will prove extremely handy for those users who receive hundreds of emails everyday and are in constant touch with others via Gmail. The feature doesn’t require a browser plugin.

Amazon offers 99-cent Lady Gaga album again, promises no problems

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 26, 2011


Amazon is once again offering 99-cent offer for Lady Gaga’s latest album, “Born This Way.”

The online retailer put the digital MP3 version of Lady Gaga's new album up for sale on Monday for a heavily discounted 99 cents, but to their surprise the offering became so popular that it stalled the company’s servers. But this time Amazon promises that they are well prepared.

“Clearly customers are really excited for Lady Gaga’s new album – we saw extraordinary response to Monday’s promotion – far above what we expected – she definitely melted some servers. So we're doing it again, and this time we're ready,” said said Craig Pape, director of Music for Amazon.

Experts believe the promotional offer will boost the opening-week sales of ‘Born This Way’ well above 850,000 or possibly more than a million, much higher than its early estimates of about 750,000 copies.

The company said those who couldn’t download their purchase on Monday, Amazon will get them covered. Also those who saved the album to the Amazon Cloud Drive should be able to play it now.

Amazon’s promotional deal is seen by many as a tool to promote its Cloud Drive service, which allows customers to store their music on Amazon’s servers and stream it over the Internet.  Amazon introduced its Cloud Drive service in March.

Skype suffers mysterious global crash, investigation underway

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 26, 2011

Voice Over IP (VoIP) and chat service Skype has suffered an inexplicable crash throughout the world and continues to crash on login.

Users are reporting on Twitter that they have been booted of the system and are could not able to login or even start up the Skype program.

Skype has become victim of unspecified problems just after the company has announced a major deal with Microsoft, with some reports of the programme shutting down with a Windows error message.

“Major worldwide Skype crash, thanks Microsoft!” one user twitted.

Skype is investigating the case and will have more details for us "soon."

Now an iPhone app tells you if Sony's PSN is up or down

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 26, 2011

When one of the most popular online gaming services remains suspended due to a series of attacks by hackers, it sometimes becomes annoying because you just could not able to log on. And now after the US, Sony’s battle with computer hackers is now spreading to its other business units globally.

Don’t you want an app that keeps you updated about the current status of PSN network? PSN Status, is one such iPhone app that solves this problem: it checks if the PSN network is offline or online.

Though the app might not appear useful at this time since the network is up and running but it will come extremely handy at those times when the PSN again goes offline.

Do let iPadfanzz.blogspot.com know what you think about it.

G2, Sidekick 4G available for free with contract at T-Mobile

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 26, 2011

Washington based T-Mobile USA, Inc. is offering the T-Mobile G2 and the Sidekick 4G smartphones during its After Hours special night, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. for free. The offer is valid for today only.

But to make use of this offer, you have to sign a new two year contract. T-Mobile announced about the “Insomnia Sale” on Twitter.

If you were reluctant to join T-Mobile due to the looming acquisition by AT&T, the current offers may be a good reason to sway you.

The T-Mobile G2 is an Android 2.2 Froyo-powered smartphone sporting a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a 5-megapixel camera. It captures videos in 720p, and a 800 x 480p 3.7-inch display. The Sidekick has a spring-loaded QWERTY keyboard, a rear and front-facing camera, and runs Android 2.2 Froyo.

Otherwise, G2 is available at $150 through T-Mobile while’s Samsung’s Sidekick 4G retails for $100 through the Magenta carrier.

iLog: An eco-friendly iPad docking station

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 26, 2011

iLog by Twistedtwee is a great iPad stand and charger for those who want something close to nature. The stand makes your iPad feel at log cabin.

Carefully crafted from reclaimed London wood, this charging station can hold your iPad vertically or horizontally. The dock looks pretty cool and much better when you run a fireplace app on your iPad.

This classy accessory is sure to make many heads turn in a truly charming way. The iLog stand is $58 and ships from the UK.

Sony gets hacked in three more countries; personal data stolen

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 25, 2011

Hackers have targeted Sony Corporation, yet again! This time they have breached a database at Sony Ericsson’s Eshop online store for mobile phones in Canada, extracting personal information of more than 2,000 customers. Records including names, email addresses and encrypted passwords were stolen but no additional personal or credit card details have been compromised, the company said.

The company has also suspended sites in Indonesia and Thailand because of a suspected attack.

The latest series of attack follows a breach of PlayStation Network (PSN) database and the Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) database, exposing personal data from more than 100 million accounts. Not surprisingly, the Sony PSN hacking and outage saga, took a hefty toll on Sony’s financial outlook. In a revised earnings report, the company said it expects outage costs to total $171 million.

"Sony is investigating whether the attacks discovered in the past week are related to each other. Sony hasn't found evidence to link those attacks to last month's intrusion into the Playstation Network," Sony spokesman Atsuo Omagari said.

Just a few days back, Sony said hackers breached its Greece servers, exposing the usernames, passwords, e-mails and phone numbers of 8,500 people. Following Greece, hackers attacked Sony Music Entertainment Japan and stolen information from thousands of accounts. Security firm Sophos said hackers used SQL injection attack on the Sony Music Japan website.

It seems like that despite such major security leaks, which has become an embarrassment for the company, it is still not able to get its acts right. It is high time that Sony should do something to control the damage or its reputation and make up for its losses from the continuous attacks. I think Sony definitely needs some sort of miracle to prevent more attacks.

Apple Macbooks score highest in all Consumer Reports categories

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 25, 2011

A report by The Loop says that Consumer Reports has Apple’s line of MacBooks are currently the top laptop computers in almost every category. What is means is that MacBooks are the highest quality notebooks that money can buy.

In its survey of the current crop of notebook computers, the 11-inch MacBook Air scored highest among the small laptops, getting 62 out of 100. Gateway came at second with a score of 52 while HP occupied the third spot with a score of 49.

In the 13-inch category, Apple took an impressive five of the top seven spots. The 13-inch MacBook Air was ranked highest with 76 points, while Sony and Asus took the other two places.

Apple's 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros also scored highest in their categories. In the 17- to 18-inch categories, the MacBook Pro took first and second place with scores of 81 and 80.

In the month of February, Apple released the latest batch of MacBook Pros, by adding Sandy Bridge processors and the new high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology.

"So far, Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced," said Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor at Consumer Reports. "However, it's likely we'll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market."

However, it is not that Consumer Reports always love Apple's (AAPL) products. It still doesn't recommend the iPhone 4 because of problems its testing lab had with the external antenna.

Amazon unveils Kindle 3G with special offers in US

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 25, 2011

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. has just launched a 3G version of its ad-supported Kindle for $164, which has wireless service for downloading books.

The new device is almost similar to the $114 ad-supported Wi-Fi Kindle except for the addition of 3G feature.

Amazon’s earlier launch, the $114 priced, Wi-Fi only Kindle with special offers, has already turned out to be the bestselling member of the Kindle family till date.

The 3G version of the e-reader comes with pearl electronic ink display- that makes it easy to read even in bright sunlight and offers access to over 950,000 books. The 3G Kindle offers free 3G wireless without any annual contract. At $114, I guess, it is one of the cheapest 3G e-reader available in the market.

The devices weigh 8.7 ounce and it gives an hour of comfortable reading and up to 2 months of battery life. It has a 526MHz Freescale processor, and 3GB of internal memory (which translates to a lot of eBooks).

 “It’s been just six weeks since we introduced the new $114 Kindle with Special Offers, and already customers have made it the bestselling member of the Kindle family,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle.

“In response to customer requests, we’re now making these money-saving special offers available for Kindle 3G.”

Amazon has consistently lowered the Kindle's cost since first releasing it at $399 in 2007.

Special offers that will be available in the coming weeks include:

• $10 for a $20 Amazon.com Gift Card - customers loved this offer, so we're making it available again in time for Father's Day
• Save up to $500 off Amazon's already low prices on HDTVs with a unique 20% discount on 200 HDTVs from brands including Sony, Panasonic, LG, and VIZIO
• $1 for a Kindle book, choose from thousands of books including Water for Elephants and the Hunger Games trilogy
• Spend $10 on Kindle books and get a free $10 Amazon.com Gift Card.

HP TouchSmart IQ522 PC - NC044AA Review

HP TouchSmart IQ522uk Desktop PC: Core 2 Duo T6400 (P) 2.0 GHz (35W)), 800 MHz front side bus, Intel Mobile GM965 Express, 4 GB DDR2 SO-DIMM, 500 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec)7200 rpm,SuperMulti 8X SATA Slimslot DVD drive, 22" LCD panel display with touchscreen with Resolution 1680 x 1050 @ 60Hz, Web camera, GeForce 9600M GS, PCI Express mini-card TV tuner card,AVerMedia DVB-T/PAL PCI Express mini-card TV tuner card, Integrated High Definition audio, Bluetooth wireless USB module with 802.11 b/g/n PCI Express Wireless Mini Card, Infrared remote control and receiver, Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Media Center (64-bit) with Vista Service Pack 1.

Product Features

• 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo T6400
• 4GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
• 500GB 7200 rpm
• Supermulti Slimslot DVD drive
• Vista Home Premium
• GeForce 9600M GS
• Bluetooth

Specification

• Processor:2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo T6400
• System Memory:4GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
• Hard Drive:500GB SATA
• Optical Drive:Supermulti Slimslot DVD drive
• Operating System:Vista Home Premium
• Graphics:GeForce 9600M GS
• Bluetooth

More at www.systemactive.com

Today’s free iPhone apps: Nike+ GPS and iFood Finder

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 24, 2011

Nike+ GPS app

Nike+ will soon turn five and to celebrate this occasion, the company is giving away their popular Nike+ GPS app for iPhone free for a limited period. The app uses the GPS in your iPhone to track where you are and how fast you’re going. After you’ve finished the track, it gives you a color-coded map line so that you can see the parts of your run where you were faster or slower. It is a great app for runners/joggers/walkers as while you’re running, it turns motivational messages from Nike's top athletes and offers personalized PowerSongs to speed up your running. Just like every other app, you can share your accomplishments with your friends via Facebook and Twitter. And remember, Nike+ GPS uses the iPhone's built-in GPS, so you don’t require the separate Nike+ shoe insert. Nike+ GPS is worth the download while it's free (it's usually $1.99).

iFood Finder by Creativity Corp.

iFood Finder helps you locate fast food restaurants(like McDonald and KFC )in United States. The app will tell your current location and displays the fast food restaurants around you. Apart from detailed information about the restaurants, it shows you the distance of the near restaurant. A nice app for those who are feeling hungry and quickly want to search a fast food restaurant nearby.

Kogeto Dot lets you capture 360-degree videos from iPhone

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 24, 2011

iPhone and iPod Touch owners can now take a 360-degree videos without having to move or even rotate their phones, thanks to a new device called Dot.

Manufactured by New York-based company Kogeto, Dot lets the iPhone capture immersive, fully navigable, panoramic video in real-time. The portable lens attaches to the iPhone to snap 360-degree panoramic video.

                                                                      Image courtesy: Kogeto

To capture the video, you can place the iPhone on any surface or carry with you on street to capture a continuous panorama.

The Dot comes with a dedicated iOS app, Looker, which captures the footage and combines the individual clips into a fully navigable panoramic video. Looker is available at free of cost on Apple's App Store; however, some advanced features, will be provided on a subscription-basis.

It weighs just 15-grams and doesn’t require any additional battery power or memory beyond standard camera use. Made out of lightweight polycarbonate plastic, the device allows the custom optic to automatically align with the built-in iPhone 4 camera without adding significant bulk to the iPhone's sleek design. The gadget can stay attached to the phone without obstructing its normal functions.

                                                                  Image courtesy: Kogeto


"We wanted to give users a way to capture their environment that simply isn't possible with an ordinary camera," said Jeff Glasse, CEO of Kogeto. "Dot is not only sleek and easy to use, it puts a whole new kind of video capture into the hands of everyday people."

Needless to mention that the gadget will be of great use in case of an event like party or any other function where you want to capture the environment in all its vigour.

Dot is available for presale on Kickstarter for $99.

Verizon to offer 4G LTE connection to 21 US cities this June 16

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 24, 2011

In an attempt to fulfill public’s rapidly growing appetite for speedier connections, Verizon Wireles said it will launch its super high-speed 4G LTE network in 21 more markets on June 16.

Launched in December, Verizon claims that its LTE network is ten times faster than its 3G network. It says it can reach speeds of 5-12 Mbps downstream and 2-5 Mbps upstream.

                                                             Image courtesy: Verizon Wireless

The citieis which have reeceived Verizon's faster data coverage are: Spokane, Washington; Fresno, Sacramento, and San Francisco Bay, California; Boise, Idaho; Salt Lake City, Utah; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Flint, Great Rapids, Lansing, and more of metro Detroit, Michigan; Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Wisconson Dells in Wisconson; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Springfield, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; Hartford, Connecticut; Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; State College, Pennsylvania.

Overall, the LTE network by the company will have 76 markets in its reach by June 16 and it will roll out the LTE network to its entire 3G market by the end of 2013.

Sprint, which uses Clearwire Corp.'s (CLWR) network as its 4G service, has coverage in 77 markets.

With such rapid expansion of market coverage, do we expect a flurry of 4G handsets being sold in the marketplace?

Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' available for 99 cents at Amazon

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 24, 2011

Lady Gaga is back with some intoxicating beats to please.  "Born This Way," her second full-length studio album is just out and Amazon.com is using the release to bolster its own music offerings.

Amazon is selling digital downloads of the 14-song album and digital booklet for a mere 99 cents. That’s a saving of amazing $12.87.

The attempt by Amazon is seen by many as a way to draw more people to their Cloud Player, as with the download, customers will receive 20 GB of Cloud Drive storage from Amazon.

This could be a win-win situation for both the singer as well as Amazon, since such an offering at low price could also attract those users who were earlier wavering over a purchase.

Reviewers are giving good ratings to the album as they say that every track is unique and listeners will not get bored after a few plays.

How to connect your iPad to Wi-Fi networks

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 23, 2011

It is quite easy to connect your iPad to a Wi-Fi network so that you can enjoy the Internet facility. iPadfanzz.blogspot.com shows you how you connect your next generation iPad to a Wi-Fi network in few simple steps. You can connect to Wi-Fi, a high-speed wireless networking connection, in your office, home or restaurants.

Step 1. Start you iPad and go to homescreen. Now tap the Settings app.

Step 2. Tapping the app will open the General Settings page. On the top left hand corner of the page you can view the Wi-Fi section.

Step 3. To get your iPad to begin scanning the available wireless networks, tap the Wi-Fi button and then slide the slider to "on". Immediately you will see a list of all the networks near you, whether they're public or private. In case it does not find anything, it will pause for about a minute and then again start the search.

Step 4. Once you see the list of all the Wi-Fi networks available near you, it is upto you to connect to any network you like, which can be done with just a tap. Keep in mind that private networks have a lock icon next to them but Public don’t. Just next to the lock icon there are bars which indicates the strength of the connection – the greater the number of bars means a faster connection. Connecting through a public connection means you’re online.

Step 5. To access private connections, you’ll need a password. And if you’ve got the right password, I hope you’ll get it right the first time, enter it in the required network and then tap the join button. After your iPad gets connected to a wireless network, you will see the word iPad with the Wi-Fi symbol next to it. Now you can use any app that required Wi-Fi connectivity.

Also, you can click on this link to learn about troubleshooting Wi-Fi networks and connections.

What Makes Toshiba Laptops So Good?

Do you know What Makes Toshiba Laptops So Good?

There are several reasons,But let me tell you the truth!

Toshiba laptop computers have a well-deserved reputation for getting some of the very best laptops in the world. But what makes these so good?

Well, first off, Toshiba Laptops are quite sturdily built. If you actually drop one, it would not usually break, nor will they break through normal damage like cheap Dells can - Toshiba Laptops don't get dinged cases and have recommendations fall off the pc style keyboard, and if they at any time did then Toshiba would likely fix it very immediately. This high build good quality is important to folks who will have their notebook for a long time frame, as well as people that travel around a lot with their laptops and thus need to take these people as luggage on planes.

Secondly, Toshiba laptops have become light. Again, this is important to travellers, but it's also important to people who sadly are just using their notebook normally, carrying it from home to their office or just perching it on their lap at home. Serious laptops can be a genuine pain, making it think that an effort to pick up the computer and easily check or alter some thing, while light ones are generally far more practical.

Even so, as with other Japan-made laptops, this excess sturdiness and ultra-gentle weight comes with an expense.Toshiba Laptops can be up to 50% more expensive versus cheapest models on this marketplace with the same processor chip, RAM and so in, simply due to the money necessary for the better build level of quality and having to fork out Japanese workers' salaries. Processing tends to be some sort of race to the bottom part, with the cheapest pc's gaining the largest business, which leaves Toshiba Laptops wooing the more computer-savvy buyers who need a high-quality notebook computer for their work. If you undertake rely on your laptop computer for anything, though, you will do well to see the extra cost as a smart investment and consider getting a new Toshiba, or a very similar high-quality laptop.

View more at www.systemactive.com .

Pizza Hut launches iPad, Android apps

By: Aseem Gaurav on May 23, 2011

Pizza Hut has finally released its new iPad and Android apps for ordering up pizzas.

The best part about these apps is that they let you order from the full menu on the go, right from the comfort of your phone or iPad.

The app makes it easy for you to select your pizza and toppings with the help of a graphical user interface, so you can see what your order will look like virtually before you confirm it. For your convenience all orders are saved to your account for easy re-ordering.

In the Most Popular items section, you can quickly access all of your Pizza Hut favorites. Moreover, you can also easily check out, as you can add credit card options without having to create an account. The app is free to download from the Android Market, but as of now, it is for US customers.

“The functionality of the app is similar to the iPhone, with tilting, dragging and dropping, and ease of use,” the company said in a statement. “With such wide range of digital platforms like the iPad, iPhone and Android, we now have  more points of access than our peers and it makes us one of the most accessible brands."

Pizza Hut sees the mobile space fueling its growth within the coming period due to the fact that the rate at which people are adopting the devices are phenomenal.