Yahoo Mail Integrated Facebook and Social Media Service

Social Networking is now become one of the effective way to connect with any website in easy way. So Now Yahoo! made this for their users to get connect with their favorite Social Network website within their Yahoo Mail service. Yahoo! has launched a new version of its free email service with better social media connectivity.

Users who elect to try Yahoo Mail Beta can view and share updates from Facebook and Twitter without leaving their Yahoo! in-box, according to WebProNews. There’s also an automatic slideshow feature that allows people to see photos and videos from sites like Flickr, Picasa, and YouTube from within their email messages. Other improvements include unlimited storage and better search functionality.

It’s interesting to watch Yahoo!’s strategy in social media as the company has always been much more a media than a technology company, unlike Google. Yahoo! had many social features of its own but has made the call to partner with others. While Yahoo! owns Flickr, YouTube belongs to rival Google, Facebook has ties with Microsoft and Bing, and Twitter is its own entity. Yahoo! is being smart by realizing that it needs to work with the leading applications, regardless of whether the company is a competitor in other ways.

It will be interesting to see whether Yahoo! users find the new email functionality helpful or whether it ends up being clutter. I use Gmail and I turned Buzz off after only a few days because I found it stressful having so many unread messages. I’ve also tried using Flock – like Firefox but with social media integration – as my web browser but I abandoned it because it was distracting.

Facebook Vs. Orkut Battle

As we know facebook is now become one of the most popular social networking websites amongst people and now every social network wants to connect like facebook and accept the existence of facebook in Social Network arena. So now Facebook wants to get more success in Brazil and India where Orkut is still popular amongst users.

Facebook is now allowing Orkut users only to link their account to Facebook. Some reports suggest that this is available only for Orkut users in Brazil and India but that’s not evident from the “Link Your Facebook Profile With Orkut” page. This means they can use Facebook to update Orkut, allowing them to keep in touch with their friends on Orkut but giving Facebook the bulk of their time and attention. As Ryan Kim at GigaOm puts it, “it’s basically an invitation to jump ship”.

Google launched Orkut, named for one of its engineers, in 2004. It was the dominant social networking site in India for a long time, until it was overtaken by Facebook earlier this year, and it remains number-one in Brazil. However, Facebook is growing faster than Orkut in both countries.

Reportedly, Facebook started offering the integration tool without any cooperation from Orkut or Google. I think the assessment that it benefits Facebook more than Orkut is probably correct, though it also potentially means the users left behind on Orkut have less reason to move. I’ve never used Orkut but I understand it offers a slightly different set of features to Facebook.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 RC Leak On Web

It’s well known that Microsoft is prepping a service pack for Windows 7, and now it appears an RC version has leaked to the web. The current build weighs in at a hefty 353 MB and is currently making its rounds on your favorite torrent site. Microsoft is expected to release a SP1 build this week at PDC 2010 on October 28th. Just with any service pack, Windows 7 SP1 will contain all previous fixes and patches rolled up into one update, as well as bug and security fixes that are still currently being tested.

According to Wzor, the leaked Windows 7 service pack comes in at Build 6.1.7601.17105.100929-1730, which indicates that the release was blessed by Microsoft on September 29th, almost a month ago. This age could also indicate that there are possible revisions to the release that is currently circulating.

Wzor has an incredible track record for these types of things, its probably safe to say that this is the real deal. However, as with any leak, install at your own risk as this is not an official release by Microsoft and depending on who you download it from, the file could have been altered.

Samsung I8700 Omnia 7 Smartphone Review

After the huge success of Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000, Samsung is again introducing its yet another Windows Phone 7 based Smartphone Samsung I8700 Omnia 7, Which experts think is Samsung one of the finest made Smartphone ever.

With the Galaxy smart phone doing great business and the Galaxy Tab tablet out later this year, Samsung's invasion of the touch screen market is well and truly underway. But it's not only the Android operating system that's tickling the South Korean tech giant's toes; the Omnia 7 GT-i8700 is the company's first handset to run Microsoft's shiny new Windows Phone 7 operating system.

Blockhead
The Omnia 7 sports a pleasing square design. The edges are rounded, though, so the phone won't slice through any major arteries as it sits in your pocket. It feels quite large, but that's to be expected with the 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen this bad boy boasts. Samsung has done a good job of bringing the edge of the screen right up to the edge of the device, so there's no wasted space.

The phone feels pleasingly light. While that's often a sign of compromised build quality, it doesn't seem to be the case with the Omnia 7.

Super screen
That display has a resolution of 800x480 pixels, and it's rather spiffy. Super AMOLED displays are always divisive -- some people think they look too garish and bright. That's something you'll have to make up your own mind about.

One of the Omnia 7's most interesting features is a 1GHz Qualcomm QSD8250 processor. It should give the phone plenty of speed, and, indeed, we noticed the Windows Phone 7 interface moving extremely swiftly and fluidly. This processor will also come in handy when playing games, for example.

Around the back, you'll find a 5-megapixel camera, which, as well as handling your snaps, is capable of shooting 720p video footage. These kinds of specs are par for the course when it comes to high-end smart phones these days.

Outlook
The Windows Phone 7 operating system looks really cool, and the Samsung Omnia 7 GT-i8700 looks like a tasty piece of kit. If we have any early complaints, it's that there doesn't seem to be much that distinguishes the Omnia 7 from the rest of the pack.

Check this Video for Samsung I8700 Omnia 7 UI Demo

Beware of Google TV Hackers

Users Should aware of Google TV Hackers because like Apple TV, Google's new TV platform is getting the attention of hackers: AndroidForums user Apeman made an attempt to root his Google-powered Sony Blu-ray player.

The video above shows how Apeman managed to get into the player's Recovery Menu by holding down the Power button. Note the System Update with USB there. This might allow hackers to gain root access to the Android-based Google TV OS, and potentially install apps onto it before Google launches the Android Market for Google TV next year.

Members on various Android and developer forums are currently debating all the cool apps and other custom hacks that could come into being if this hack works--imagine playing Angry Birds on your TV screen.

MySpace Leak User Data With Advertisers

As we know MySpace is one of the promising Social Networking website like facebook. But it has been observed and reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday that sister News Corp. property MySpace has been giving advertising companies data that could identify members of the social networking service.

MySpace and some third-party applications popular at the online community transmitted unique ID numbers that could be used to find profile pages that could contain names, pictures, gender, and more about a person, the Journal reported.

"Knowledge of a public user ID does not give anyone access to private user data," a MySpace spokesman said in response to an AFP inquiry.

"We share non-personally identifiable information with advertising companies as part of our ad serving process."

MySpace maintained that its terms of service prohibit third-party developers from sharing any user data, including public ID numbers.

"It has recently come to our attention that several third party app developers may have violated these terms and we are taking appropriate action against those developers," the spokesman said.
Actions taken "regularly" to enforce terms of use at the online community include suspending or removing offending applications, according to MySpace.

Social networking king Facebook on Thursday said it planned to start encrypting user identification data that had been inadvertently leaking out through games and other outside applications synched to profile pages.

The move came just days after a Wall Street Journal article exposed the problem, making no mention of the situation at MySpace.

Internet Usage Hits 2 Billion Users

According to a report out Tuesday, there will be 2 billion Web dwellers by the end of this year.
The number of internet users worldwide has doubled in the past five years according to the report, from the International Telecommunication Union.

Much of the big number can be attributed to internet growth in developing countries. The report said 162 million of the 226 million new Internet users in 2010 will live in those countries, where Web access is still growing.

But the gap between access in high-tech countries and those still developing remains big.
About 65 percent of Europeans are on the internet, the report said, compared to less than 10 percent of Africans.

The report also focuses on the growing availability of, and demand for, faster broadband service, which allows users to easily download or share larger files, such as photos and videos.
The ITU, an agency of the United Nations that monitors communication technology issues, said these high-speed internet connections, which are increasingly needed to view modern Web content efficiently, are the key to continued growth.

"Broadband is the next tipping point, the next truly transformational technology," Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure said in a written statement. "It can generate jobs, drive growth and productivity, and underpin long-term economic competitiveness."

Only about 8 percent of the world will have broadband access this year, according to the report.

Google Block 188 Million Emails Spam

You may have seen slightly less spam coming into your email inbox recently, but those messages were more likely than usual to contain a virus, according to a report by Google.

The amount of spam being transmitted dipped slightly in August and September, the study found. Spam in the third quarter of the year was down 24 percent compared to the same period last year, the report said.

In August viruses in emails processed by Google increased by 111 percent, compared to the same month last year, the company said in its statement. Google's system blocked a record-setting 188 million emails containing viruses in just one day.

This malware is increasingly being housed in messages purporting to break news about a celebrity's death. The virus can unleash itself when the recipient clicks on a file attached to an email.
For the study, Google analyzed more than 3 billion messages processed by its system each day during a three-month period.

Hacker Hits Kaspersky Website

Scammers who try to trick victims into downloading fake antivirus software can strike almost anywhere. On Sunday they hit the website of Kaspersky Lab, a well-known antivirus vendor.

Someone took advantage of a bug in a Web program used by the Kasperskyusa.com website and reprogrammed it to try and trick visitors into downloading a fake product, Kaspersky confirmed Tuesday. Kaspersky didn't identify the flaw, but said it was in a "third-party application" used by the website.

"As a result of the attack, users trying to download Kaspersky Lab's consumer products were redirected to a malicious website," the antivirus vendor said. The website caused a pop-up window to appear that simulated a virus scan of the user's PC, and offered to install an antivirus program that was in fact bogus.

This is a typical trick for fake-antivirus scammers, who are constantly looking for new ways to trick victims into buying their products. In the past they've been known to pose as legitimate online advertisers and then suddenly switch their ad inventory from legitimate-looking ads to these fake pop-up messages.

Security experts say the safest thing to do when one of these fake antivirus messages pops up is to simply kill the Web browser. On Windows, this can be done by hitting ctrl-alt-delete and ending the browser process in the Task Manager.

According to Kaspersky, its website was redirecting users to the rogue antivirus site for about three-and-a-half hours Sunday. The company did a complete audit of its websites afterwards "to ensure they're running fully updated code."

In discussion forums, users complained that the site was trying to download fake antivirus software called Security Tools.

This isn't the first time Kaspersky has had to audit its websites after an incident. In February 2009 a hacker was able to break into the company's U.S. support site after discovering a Web programming flaw. That flaw could have given the hacker access to customer e-mail addresses and product activation codes via a common attack technique called SQL injection.

Nobody's information was compromised in Sunday's attack, Kaspersky said. "However, Kaspersky Lab takes any attempt to compromise its security seriously," the company said. "Our researchers are currently working on identifying any possible consequences of the attack for affected users, and are available to provide help to remove the fake antivirus software."

Microsoft Launches "Cloud" Version of Office

Microsoft Corp launched a fully online version of its popular Office suite of applications on Tuesday as it looks to extend its customer base and beat back rival Google Inc.

The new service, called Office 365, is available as a limited test from Tuesday, and will be on sale on a subscription basis worldwide next year.

Combining some of Microsoft's existing cloud-based services, it will be available through most browsers and on mobile devices.

That means customers can get access to Office programs like Outlook e-mail and SharePoint websites without installing software, from virtually anywhere.

The move strikes a blow against rival Google, which has had some success with its Google Apps service, which provides a low-cost, Web-based alternative to Microsoft's traditional Office software.

Shares of Microsoft were down 2.7 percent at $25.12 in morning trading, while Google fell 1.1 percent to $610.95.

Microsoft is doubling down on its commitment to the cloud with the launch of Office 365, a service that combines Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online with the cloud.

Announced at a press event in San Francisco by Kurt DelBane, president of Microsoft's office division, Office 365 is a subscription service that integrates cloud-based syncing, collaboration, and accessibility to businesses and organizations worldwide. So long as a device supports ActiveSync, customers can access their e-mail, calendars, team websites and office web apps from anywhere. The inclusion of Lync also means that Office 365 has videoconferencing capabilities.

There are two editions of Office 365. Office 365 for Small Businesses is designed for organizations of one to 25 people. It's a pre-built package that includes Office Web Apps, Lync, e-mail sync, and more. It doesn't require IT support on the user's end and will cost $6 per user per month.

The second version is Office 365 for Enterprises. Unlike the small business version, the enterprise edition can be customized based on an organization's needs. It can be customized so different teams have different access levels to Office 365's features. The enterprise edition comes with everything in the small business version, plus single sign-in, Office Pro Plus (via subscription), internal social networking tools, voicemail in the inbox, and more. It costs anywhere between $2 to $27 per user per month, depending on which features the company chooses to utilize.

The beta will be available to a few thousand organizations starting today; its full launch will occur sometime next year in 40 countries. Sometime in late 2011, Office 365 will add Microsoft Dynamics CRM to its suite of products.

Microsoft is extraordinarily bullish on the cloud. DelBane said that the company believes the cloud is as radical of an innovation as the graphical user interface. Office 365 just makes sense though; the rising demand for enterprise-level cloud apps like Dropbox and Box.net is due to its ability to help teams collaborate and coordinate their efforts.

YouTube Rolls Out of Google TV's Launch

YouTube is preparing itself for this weekend's big rollout of Google TV with a launch of its own: the full release of YouTube Leanback, its made-for-TV experience.

Leanback, revealed in May at the Google I/O conference, is a core component of Google's strategy to bring online video to the living room screen. It provides for a simplified YouTube experience and interface, offering simple keyboard commands, an advanced search interface, and a visual UI for browsing through YouTube clips and shows.

YouTube's television experience has been in beta as part of TestTube, the video site's version of Google Labs, but tonight the site will be available to the entire YouTube community. YouTube Product Manager Lead Kuan Yong told me earlier today that users will have access to the full catalog of YouTube videos. Kuan also told me that the team has been working on improving the user experience, search capabilities and adding other changes users requested during the beta.

YouTube Leanback is all about Google TV; it is the way the company wants users to experience YouTube while they are surfing the web on their TVs. When you select the YouTube bookmark in Google TV for the first time, you will be presented the option to make Leanback your default YouTube experience. This doesn't surprise us; Leanback was made for TV. It's less cluttered and easy to personalize. And now that Sony's Google TV-powered devices and the Logitech Revue go on sale this weekend, it's time for Leanback to roll out.

We're about to find out if consumers want the Internet on their TVs. Google hopes that people will do things such as favorite TED videos at work so they can watch them later at home. The company says that users of Leanback watch twice as much video as users of the regular YouTube interface. The company is hoping that statistic stays true as Google TV becomes available nationwide.

Windows Phone 7 Is Real Facebook Phone

When Microsoft and Facebook announced that they were partnering to integrate Facebook and Bing for social network-powered search, it confirmed something I thought Monday: Windows Phone 7 is the real Facebook phone.

I don't know whether Facebook has a secret team working on a phone where they control the OS. But the company don't need one. It's already deeply integrated into Android and iOS. Now with the Microsoft partnership, it's tied to the most socially optimized smartphone ever brought to the market.

"This is, I think, one of the most exciting partnerships we've done on the platform so far," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the Bing announcement Wednesday. "Our view is that over the next five years we expect that almost every industry is going to be disrupted by someone building a great product that's deep in whatever area that industry is, plus is extremely socially integrated."

The first Windows Phone 7 handsets are due in stores November. The OS is Microsoft's complete do-over on mobile, after its predecessor Windows Mobile tanked in popularity and market share in the wake of more consumer-savvy handsets such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android-powered smartphones.

Every aspect of Windows Phone 7 is geared to social networks: phone, contacts, gaming, photos, even Office. Focusing the phone around Hubs doesn't just mean that local client apps and cloud apps are grouped next to each other. It means that the local client and cloud work together.

Microsoft tried to explicitly build a social networking phone featuring Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and MySpace with the Kin. The Kin failed and was killed by Microsoft, mostly because it wasn't a full-featured smartphone (it was a fork of Windows Phone 7), but required a smartphone's data plan.

United States World's Top Spammers

The United States is now the top source of spam, accounting for almost 19 percent of all junk e-mail sent throughout the world, according to a new report out today from Sophos.

The security firm's "Dirty Dozen" report highlighted the top 12 countries responsible for the world's supply of spam during the third quarter. With the United States generating almost 2.5 times more spam than second-place India, the country now accounts for almost one in five junk messages. The United States' 18.6 percent share of all global spam also showed a significant jump from its 15.2 percent share in the second quarter.

Click To Enlarge Image!

Among the other top sources of spam, according to Sophos, are India with 7.6 percent of all global junk mail, Brazil with 5.7 percent, France with 5.4 percent, and the U.K. with 5 percent.

The report also highlighted the growth in spam from social-networking sites over the third quarter. Last month, Twitter users were hit by a "MouseOver" exploit that redirected them to third-party spam sites if they simply hovered over a link in a tweet. And over the summer, Facebook users faced their own scams, ones that attempted to trick them into filling out bogus surveys, with the information then used to spam their friends.

Much of the spam now being generated around the world isn't coming from the spammers themselves but from botnets, networks of infected computers directed to send junk mail to other unsuspecting users.

"You should never even be tempted to open a spam message out of curiosity, as it can only take a second to effectively hand over control of your computer to the spammers," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, explained in a statement. "If your computer does become part of a botnet, you're also inviting further malware infections, which may compromise your personal or banking information."

Bing To Integrate Facebook Features in Search Engine Soon

You may start seeing some familiar faces in Bing search results soon.

Microsoft deepened its corporate friendship with Facebook Wednesday, announcing tighter integration with the social network into Bing's search results.

Bing will display data from Facebook, such as user profiles and pages your friends have "Liked," to complement Web searches.

For example, if you search Bing for Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's 26-year-old chief executive, you might find a link to his personal profile, with buttons for sending him a message or adding him as a friend. That's in addition to the standard links to Wikipedia articles and news stories.

A link on that same results page to the website for "The Social Network" could show pictures of your friends who have inidicated on Facebook that they "Like" that movie.

The new Bing features will also show up in searches made from Facebook's website.

Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi was unambiguous about his excitement for the Facebook partnership.
"This is going to profoundly change how we search," Mehdi, the company's senior vice president for its online audience business, said at the news conference.

Last week Yahoo added new features to its search results pages, which are powered by Bing. In addition to slideshow enhancements and a new shortcuts feature, Yahoo began pulling in some photo albums from Facebook.

Despite advancements by rival search engines, market leader Google continues to gain.

Google was used for 66 percent of internet searches in September, according to market research firm comScore. During that period Yahoo had 17 percent and Bing had 11 percent, the report said.

But Google has struggled to form partnerships with Facebook. The search giant says it wants to tap into the social network's 500 million users.

Opera Mobile for Android Release Within A Month

Opera Software will release the mobile version of its browser for Android-based smartphones within a month, the Norwegian company said in a blog post on Thursday.

Opera Mobile for Android will offer a faster browsing experience by using hardware acceleration and a new pinch-to-zoom feature. The existing versions of Opera Mobile and its Mini browser have two levels of zoom; one for the full page width and one for zooming in to read the text. The new feature will zoom from page-width down to the text you want to focus on in one fluid motion, according to Opera.

Opera Mobile will be available on all versions of Android.

For Android-based smartphones, Opera already offers the Mini version, which sends Web traffic via Opera's servers, compresses it and then forwards the content to the phone. The result is that less data is sent to the phone, but it also means that the browser can't show streaming video. The Mobile version works like a traditional browser and does all the processing on the phone, which, for example, results in better JavaScript performance, according to an Opera spokesman.

The browser battle on Android is starting to heat up. Last week, Mozilla released a beta version of Firefox 4 for Android-based smartphones, but it isn't saying when the final version will arrive. Opera Mobile and Firefox join the likes of Skyfire and Dolphin HD.

Windows Phone 7 and Android Platform Competition

Encroaching competition
Microsoft (MSFT) has finally unveiled its Windows Phone 7 operating system, bringing another mobile platform to compete with Android. With a powerful 1GHz Snapdragon processor and hi-rez screens, the initial Windows Phone 7 devices will be fairly well equipped to match many features on Android devices. For gaming and entertainment especially, it’s clear that certain standards have been established for smartphones.

Android Market keeping pace
Hardly fazed by Microsoft’s launch today, Android rolled out a Market update for non-Froyo users. You now get tabbed app browsing, bulk updates for apps and auto-updates for apps you select. The changes are important towards improving navigation around the Android Market, making it easier to manage what some deem are the most important features on your device. With the likes of AppBrain making searchable apps for managing your marketplace, Android itself needs to keep pace.

Another entity that is interested in its own front for the Android Market is Best Buy (BBY). The electronics retailer mentioned interest in experimenting with an app store for Android, which would be a great way to interface and market to their customers. Coming off the heels of Amazon’s (AMZN) delve into Android Market storefronts, we’re sure to see a deep and ongoing evolution for Android’s economy.

Superheroes on-the-go
DC Comics is likely to reap the benefits of this marketplace maturation, with plans to release an Android app in the coming weeks. The publishing company has managed to remain relevant throughout the generations, and having a strong mobile front is just another wave of the future. A number of print media publishers have turned to the mobile industry lately, as it’s reached a point of reasonable distribution and montization.

Facebook Dominates Social Network in World Map

A lot changes in three years, especially in the social networking space. The mind behind xkcd comics – “a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language” that has garnered a large following of the geeky sort – has updated his original 2007 Map of Online Communities to show what happens to social networks over time. The most significant change? The mountainous region of Facebook has experienced massive geological growth, expanding from a small nook hanging off MySpace to become the uber-continent dwarfing the other social network islands, bays and territories. Check out the full 2010 Map of Online Communities below.

While the 2007 Map of Online Communities measured a network’s size by the sheer number of users, xkcd has refined his measurements for 2010 – the size on this map represents the volume of daily social activity on the site, like messages, status updates and games played. Take a look at the Map of Online Communities 2010 below and notice the dominance of Facebook, the Great Firewall of China blocking QQ and Happy Farm off from the rest of the land masses, and the perseverance of MMO Isle.

If you have some spare time, it’s worth heading over to the larger image of the 2010 Map and looking at some of the detailed landmarks that populate this world of social networks. For instance, take a gander at Twitter island – notice the Bieber Bay making inroads into the land? And how about the Sea of Protocol Confusion that separates Twitter from Skype?

It’s probably no mistake that the large chunk of Facebook carved out in the name of Farmville is just underneath the Northern Wasteland of Unread Updates. Since the 2007 map, lots more Facebook-specific land masses have cropped up – take a stroll over to the Plains of Awkwardly Public Family Interactions for some entertainment, or try to see if you can locate the Privacy Controls outpost in the pit of lava behind Duckface Mountains.

This map follows on the heels of a Flowtown map that also paid homage to the original xkcd 2007 Map of Online Communities. Both 2010 versions show the dominance of Facebook, but it’s interesting to compare them to see how different measurements, perspectives and imaginations can create different social network landscapes.

Microsoft To Open Big Store Like Apple

Microsoft is planning on opening up a mega-sized store in Mall of America later this year, and not only will this be their biggest store yet, they plan on opening it directly across from an Apple store. For Microsoft to compete against Apple’s 300+ stores across the world, they need to pull out the big guns for this head-to-head battle.

This will be the fifth Microsoft Store to launch in America, with two already in California, one in Colorado and another in Arizona. Apple already has five stores in Minnesota alone, so this surreal showdown directly across from one another at Mall of America will be interesting.

Twincities.com managed to get some images from within Mall of America, showing where the new Microsoft Store locations will be, and just the scale of how large it will be. Just the sheer size of the
Microsoft Store in Mall of America dwarfs the competition.
It looks as if Microsoft plans on putting their best foot forward with this new store location, showing off their new electronics like the Xbox 360 slim, Kinect and Windows Phone 7. The Microsoft Stores carry all their electronics and hardware, including the Zune HD, Windows 7, Office 2010, and many, more products.

One user has posted a video of the new Microsoft Store location on YouTube:

Walking About With A Talking Android

1 Walking About With a Talking Android

I have long relied on spoken directions from Google Maps on the desktop. As I access more and more of my online world through my Android phone, Google's recent announcement of GMM4.5 enhanced with walking directions means that I now have superior functionality to what I have enjoyed at my desk --- but now with the added benefit of having it all in my pocket!

Inclusion of step-by-step walking directions on Android now allows me to specify a destination on my TalkBack enabledeyes-free Android device, and have these spoken to me as I walk. But wait, there's more!

We're launching a new member of our Eyes-Free family of programs for Android --- WalkyTalky that goes hand-in-hand with spoken walking directions from Google Maps to better navigate the physical world. In addition,application Intersection Explorer allows me to explore the layout of streets using touch before venturing out with WalkyTalky.

1.1 WalkyTalky

WalkyTalky is an Android application that speaks the address of nearby locations as you pass them. It also provides more direct access to the walking directions component of Google Maps. With WalkyTalky installed, you can:

• Launch WalkyTalky to specify a destination,
• Either specify the destination by address, or pick from favorites or recently visited locations,
• And in addition to spoken walking directions,
• Hear street addresses as you walk by.

These spoken updates, in conjunction with the walking directions that are spoken by Google Maps help me navigate the physical world as efficiently as I navigate the Internet.

1.2 Intersection Explorer

Often, I like exploring a neighborhood to learn the layout of the streets before actually venturing out with my trusty companion,Hubbell Labrador, and this is where Intersection Explorer comes into its own. Using this application, I can explore any neighborhood on Google Maps via touch exploration.

1.2.1 How It Works

• Intersection Explorer starts off at the user's current location.
• One can change the start position by entering an address, to do this, press menu and click on new location.
• Once the map has loaded, touching the screen speaks the streets at the nearest intersection.
• Moving one's finger along a compass direction, and then tracing a circle speaks each street at that intersection along with the associated compass direction.
• Presence of streets is cued by a slight vibration as one traces the circle.
• Lifting up the finger when on a street moves in that direction to the next intersection, speaks the distance moved, and finally speaks the newly arrived-at intersection.

1.3 Summary

Together, Intersection Explorer and WalkyTalky, in conjunction with Walking Directions from Google Maps brings a new level ofaccess to my physical world. I use these tools in conjunction with other Maps-based applications such as the Places Directory on Android --- this is another application from the Google Maps team that works fluently with TalkBack on Android to help me find nearby attractions or other locations of interest.

So next time you take your trusty Android out for a walk, make sure to give these new tools a spin --- you can report back on your experience via our Eyes-Free Group.

Applications WalkyTalky and Intersection Explorer can be downloaded from the Android Market.Share And Enjoy, and as usual, remember, The Best Is Yet To Come!

Author: T.V Raman

Date: 2010-09-09 Thu

HTML generated by org-mode 7.01 in emacs 24

QR Code for WalkyTalky:



QR Code for Intersection Explorer:

Microsoft Sues Motorola Over Android Phones

Microsoft filed patent infringement complaints against Motorola and its Android phones in the International Trade Commission and U.S. federal court Friday, indicating that the software giant may hope to use its strong patent position as one way to set its mobile software apart from the competition.

Microsoft said that Motorola's Android phones infringe nine patents, including some that would appear to threaten most smartphone platforms. Android is the open source OS built by Microsoft rival Google.

The patents appear to include some related to Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, which syncs e-mail, calendar and contacts between a mobile phone and a software-based computer program, according to a blog post written by Horacio Gutierrez, general counsel at Microsoft.

Other patents involve technology that displays signal strength and battery power on phones.

iPhone Losing Market Share To Android

A new poll says that during the last 90 days, as many consumers have decided they want Google’s Android phone as want Apple’s iPhone. And this trend may just be an appetizer.

DailyTech reported that research company ChangeWave conducted a pair of surveys, one in June 2010 and the other last month in September, and compared the results. In the June survey, 50 percent of people who said they were in the market for a smartphone said they preferred an iPhone, with 30 percent opting for Android.

Just three months later – a period which included the June 24 launch of the iPhone 4 – Apple’s serious lead was seriously diminished. The September survey has only 38 percent of consumers looking to iPhone, a substantial 12-percentage-point drop. Meanwhile, Google (GOOG) has surged up seven points and now is nearly tied with the iPhone at 37 percent.

Windows Live Essentials 2011 Released - Download Now

Microsoft has released the final version of Windows Live Essentials 2011.

As we exclusively revealed earlier today, the software giant has released the final edition to the web.
The complete package comes just over a month after a beta refresh was issued on August 17. Microsoft originally released a Windows Live Essentials beta on June 24. Essentials includes the popular programs Windows Live Movie Maker, Mail, Messenger, Writer, Sync, and Family Safety. The Windows Live team has aimed to ensure that the next version of Windows Live Essentials takes advantage of Windows 7 fully. All applications now use the new ribbon UI and integrate further into Windows 7 by using Jumplists. Windows Live Sync is also included which keeps your files synchronized on the web and across multiple PCs.

Microsoft also introduced several new features for Windows Live Photo Gallery, including photo fusing to blend photos together and improved facial recognition.

Download: Windows Live Essentials 2011
Download: Windows Live Essentials 2011 Offline installer