Windows Phone 7.5 Mango v/s Android v2.3 Gingerbread

2012 promises to be the year of Windows Phone. Since its launch about a year back, the mobile OS from Redmond has seen meteoric rise in the form of acceptance and praises. Then with the new friendship formed between Nokia and Microsoft, the mobile platform has the sky as the limit. Nokia

is expected to launch its first WP7 phones, Lumia, in another week or so, in India. The mobile OS has conveniently positioned itself as the third most popular platform, overtaking Blackberry. So, we decided to take Windows Phone 7.5 Mango (in Samsung Omnia W) and Android 2.3.2 Gingerbread (in Sony Ericsson Arc S) out for showdown against each other, to help you decide which mobile platform to invest on, this holiday season.

The factors that we shall consider in this article are design, ease of use, connectivity options, social media integration, messaging capabilities, navigation and browsing usage, and also a few more points that are critical in an overall smartphone experience.

Messaging

Mango has a very integrated messaging system that can make connecting with people a very pleasurable experience. One very innovative approach is you can take your conversation to any messaging protocol you please. For example, in the messaging app, you can easily switch between SMS, Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger to chat with a friend. It's seamless and the complete conversation is visible in the same thread.

The Android has separate apps for SMS, Facebook chat and Google Talk. Separate protocols mean you shall have to switch between them as and when required.

It is unfortunate that both the platforms have integration with only their own IM services. Of course, you can add additional IM protocols with third party apps.

I like Windows Phone's way of handling emails: just swipe to the right to see lists of unread mails; repeat to see flagged emails. Mango also implements a color highlight on the subject of unread messages in the All message list, but the Unread list is simpler. Additionally, whether you use Exchange emails or free service providers like Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo, one single client handles them all and gives a very unified experience.

On the other hand, I need to use a separate Gmail app to access emails on the email server. Of course, I can also configure Gmail on the regular email client, but then I lose all the important functionalities like accessing labels, archiving, and even email threads.

Both the mobile platforms allow basic functions like forwarding, replying to emails, downloading attachments and viewing them. However, I noticed that Windows Phone uses much less data as compared to Android to download the same emails.

There is no push email on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango unless you are using the exchange server. Similarly, even Android doesn't have push email unless you are using the Gmail app. So, both the platforms stand almost equally on that aspect. However, it is possible to specify in the Android's email app how often would one like to query for emails. Microsoft has given no such flexibility on Mango.

Social Media Integration

I used to always regard Blackberry to be the most socially integrated mobile operating system. Then I picked up a Windows Phone.

Windows Phone's contacts app (called People) is divided into various sections - recent, all, and what's new. The recent tab has a little grid of 8 tiles, depicting the last 8 people contacted - either via a phone call, sms, IM, or even a post on the Facebook Wall. What's most interesting is the "what's new" tab that lists out latest updates from all your contacts, from Windows Live, Twitter & Facebook, at the same place. Don't worry about getting overwhelmed because WP7 also allows you to filter the updates according to social networks.

What more, it is also possible to club a couple of contacts in groups and follow just their updates on the Groups app.

In contrast, Android forces you to open separate social networking apps to follow your contacts' updates and interact with them. Additionally, while Android has an option to 'favorite' the contacts, it doesn't allow you to create multiple groups for different types of contacts, like Best Buddies, Family, Colleagues etc.

Unarguably, the deep social media integration in Windows Phone is its one of the best selling points.

Connectivity

Both Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and Android 2.3 Gingerbread have EDGE, 3G and WiFi connectivity options. They also allow you to create a personal wireless hotspot and use the 3G network to access the Internet. However, Android has the option to be connected as a drive on the computer. Windows Phone doesn't allow that luxury. Windows Phone necessitates the use of the Zune software to 'sync' the content. Personally, I think that's a huge disadvantage.

One simple problem I myself have faced is, while I can sync songs with my Mac because I use iTunes, I can't copy pictures on the phone since I don't use iPhoto. Rather, I use Adobe Bridge to organize my photographs. In contrast, Android allows complete access to the phone's directory structure.

Multitasking

Both Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and Android 2.3 Gingerbread allow multitasking. But here's something interesting I unearthed. Android's multitasking is very dependent on the phone's hardware. For example, if I loaded a web page on Android's browser, and then moved away to reply to an email, the page shall start reloading when I come back to that application. Then again, I faced that phenomenon a lot on the Arc S and HTC Sensation XE, but not on Samsung Galaxy S II.

Multitasking with Windows Phone was a more pleasurable experience. After I opened 6 tabs on the Internet Explorer browser, the pages stayed open and loaded even after being away from that app to reply to a plethora of messages, watching a video and posting updates on Facebook for over 2 hours. Now, that is the kind of multitasking I'd expect out of a smartphone. This is something I really like about the Blackberry OS too.

Home screen & Widgets

As we all know, Android has a great way of notifying live updates to the user with the help of beautiful widgets on the home screen itself. Windows Phone also does something similar, but using live tiles. While both the options give truckloads of information to the user, Android trumps Windows Phone a bit because it's much easier and more aesthetic to swipe left to right for more live information, than having to scroll pages' worth of tiles.

At the end of the day, it just boils down to personal preference.

User Interface

There's not much to compare in terms of the interface. Windows Phone 7.5 Mango looks extremely stylish and sexy. The operating system is very stable and brings smile to the face every time you pick up the phone.

Sadly, I can't say the same for Android. In the last 3 years, the OS has surely matured and grown by leaps and bounds. But when compared to WP7, it looks clunky, old and outright ugly. No matter of customization can make someone drool over Android's interface. Compared to that, WP7 hardly needs to make an effort.

Apps

This is one department Android can knock out Windows Phone hands down. There is practically no competition here. And this could be one major reason for the users to shy away from the beautiful OS Mango.

Maps & Navigation

May I be allowed to say that Bing Maps is a useless piece of software? Period. Forget about turn-by-turn navigation, it doesn't even allow you to search for locations and get directions.

In contrast, Google has recently launched a new version of Maps that even helps you navigate inside a building! Add to that the rich database of locations and business, and free voice guided turn-by-turn navigation and it can't be tough to point out the winner even by the most technologically challenged man.

If you really need navigation, then you must wait for the Nokia Lumia devices being launched later this week. They pack in powerful Nokia Maps which are as good as Google Maps, if not better.

Notification System

Again, you will either like it, or hate it, on the Windows Phone. There is no centralized notification system on WP7. Microsoft expects you to keep an eye on the tiles in the home screen to figure out what kind of notifications you need to attend to.

In Android, the notification system had been beautifully implemented right from Day 1. Even Apple was forced to mimic it in their latest version of iOS 5. It's functional, beautiful and awesome to use.

Other specialties

Windows Phone has out of this world integration with Xbox Live, letting you play games, manage your profile and interact with your friends on-the-go. It also has MS Office available for free, that allows you to create, view and edit Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents. SkyDriveisMicrosoft's alternative for Dropbox that makes storing and sharing files a breeze.

On the other hand, more of our lives get entangled in the world of Google, and no mobile OS shall ever integrate with Google services better than Android. 

Operating Systems on video

                                      Windows 7.5 Mango

                                      

                                       Android 2.3

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Virtual keyboard for iPad

The future products are now here, we thought that writing on desk or any other surface that we watched in the all movies will be the future, but now it is here and everyone can use it. Product called Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard will project your virtual keyboard on any surface and you will be able to write text on your iPad tablet, iPhone or even on your desktop computer with this amazing laser keyboard. You can even choose sound of virtual keys. This really small device comes with built in 700 mAh rechargeable battery which life is about 3 hours. Connecting virtual keyboard to any electronic device with bluetooth receiver is easy. Cube Laser virtual keyboard supports many devices and many operating systems such as Windows XP/Vista/7, iOS, Blackberry Tablet OS, Android 2.0 and higher, and of course Mac OS, only thing you need to have is enabled bluetooth connection on your device. Price of this virtual keyboard is not cheap, but it is not too expensive. For price of $169 you get amazing red virtual keyboard on your desk. You can buy and find more details about Cube Laser Virtual Keyboard here.   

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Samsung to launch Galaxy Tab 11.6 tablet in 2012: Rumor

It's been an interesting year for Samsung, marked by ongoing court battles worldwide with Apple over similarities in its Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets to iPhone and iPad products. The South Korean firm even had to revise its Galaxy Tab 10.1 design in Germany hoping to sidestep a sales ban in that country.

Now, news is beginning to emerge that Samsung might in fact beat Apple at its own game by releasing a retina-display tablet first. According to an exclusive by BGR, trusted sources have revealed Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy Tab 11.6 tablet at the Mobile World Congress in February 2012.

The rumored tablet is said to feature a 11.6-inch retina display with an eye-popping 2560x1600 pixel resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and despite the bigger screen it will reportedly be only "barely larger" than the current Galaxy Tab 10.1 model thanks to a thinner bezel design.

It will be one of the first Samsung devices to utilize the recently announced Exynos 5250 dual core processor clocked at 2.0GHz, and taking full advantage of that hardware prowess will be Android's 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich mobile operating system. Other things like internal storage or connectivity were not detailed, but it is likely the new tablet will continue on from where the Galaxy Tab 10.1 left off in terms of features.

Two particular functions mentioned in the report included Android beam, which will enable easy synchronizing of media with the Galaxy Nexus smartphone through Near Field Communications (NFC), and a wireless docking mode that will compete with Apple TV, AirPlay and more. Samsung declined to comment on the rumors.

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HP webOS now as an open source project

After months of uncertainty HP has finally come to a decision on the future of webOS: the operating system will live on as open source. Suddenly this weekend's final $99 TouchPad fire sale is looking more tempting. In a press release announcing the news, HP said it will continue to be active in the development and support of the mobile platform, and detailed a few operating principles to get the project on track like pursuing "good, transparent and inclusive governance to avoid fragmentation."

"webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable," said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. "By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices."

HP also will contribute ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the open source community. The move could have an interesting effect on the market as smartphone manufacturers look to diversify away from Android. Most will probably take a wait-and-see approach, however, as Windows Phone is currently the more likely candidate to take off as the No. 3 smartphone platform. The good news is that HP has already put enough webOS devices out there to get open source developers interested in tinkering with the platform.

HP has previously said that there's a great deal of interest from manufacturers on the platform. Although it would seem the company couldn't get a reasonable offer for it, at least they are giving it a chance to take off on its own with the help of the open source community. It remains to be seen if developers respond to this last ditch effort to keep webOS alive or if the operating system will continue to fade into irrelevancy.

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Apple store employees earn $278 per hour for the company

New estimates from Asymco’s Horace Dediu indicate that each Apple store employee generates about $278 per hour in revenue for the company. These findings are based off of data that Cupertino publishes about its retail segment and are cataloged at ifoAppleStore.com.

An average Apple store generates over $100,000 per employee per quarter. In 2010, revenue on average was $481,000 per employee. A retailer like JC Penny only generates around $124,000 per employee per year.

Using these metrics and others, Dediu was able to calculate that each visitor to the Apple store generates about $45 in revenue. There are over 250 million visits per year, and already 222 million in the first three quarters of 2011.

Data also shows that there is one employee for every 2,500 visitors per quarter. Assuming that an employee works for 360 hours per quarter, this breaks down to around six visitors per hour or one every 10 minutes.

The statistics are pretty incredible and it seems the sky is the limit for Apple retail stores. The company opened their newest store at Grand Central Terminal in New York City earlier today. In typical fashion, the entire terminal was packed with Apple fans anxious to be part of the experience. The Grand Central Terminal Apple Store is now the fifth Apple store in New York City and will likely become the flagship location.

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Samsung flexible transparent tablet

Samsung has released a concept video showing what the future of mobile phones and tablets could look like. The clip opens with a ringing phone which is then rolled out and turned into a video conferencing tablet as others look on in amazement.

The remainder of the half minute clip shows potential uses for such a device in multiple scenarios using augmented reality. One scene shows the user snapping a photo of text on a restaurant menu which then shows a 3D image of the dish. Another scene demos a translator app where both participants can speak into the tablet on opposite sides of the transparent screen. The tablet correctly translates and displays the conversation in each user's native language.

The technology in the clip is still several years away but it’s interesting to see how tech companies envision the future. Some aspects, like augmented reality, have been around for several years but have yet to make a huge impact on mobile devices.

Samsung has shown us working prototypes of flexible AMOLED displays earlier this year and Nokia demoed a flexible phone prototype in October.

Although, as impressive as these real-life displays are, creating something like we see in the video from Samsung still presents some challenges as the physical hardware like the processor and memory has to reside somewhere.  Additionally one must wonder how the display would be powered if there are no visible batteries inside the transparent panel.

watch the video here 

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Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 and 10.1-inch tablets

Motorola Mobility and Verizon Wireless have announced the addition of two new tablets on the Verizon 4G LTE network. The Droid Xyboard (stylized DROID XYBOARD) tablets will be available in 10.1-inch and 8.2-inch displays later this month.

Both tablets are powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and include a coating of Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the IPS display. There’s also a front-facing 1.3 MP camera and a 5 MP rear shooter as well as an infrared port that works in conjunction with the Dijit app. Dijit allows the tablet to double as a universal remote control complete with programming guide for TVs, Blu-ray players, DVRs and other consumer electronics.

As is the case with their non-LTE counterparts, the Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition, the Xyboard tablets will initially ship with Android 3.2 Honeycomb but will be upgradable to Ice Cream Sandwich when it becomes available.

The Droid Xyboard 10.1 will be available in three different storage capacities: 16 GB for $529.99, 32 GB for $629.99 and 64 GB for $729.99 all with a new two-year service agreement. The 8.2-inch model will be available in 16 GB for $429.99 and 32 GB for $529.99 with the same two-year contract. Customers who purchase a Droid Xyboard will need to subscribe to a mobile broadband data plan starting at $30 monthly for 2 GB of data.

Additionally, customers will receive $100 off a Droid Xyboard tablet and $50 off select accessories for a limited time when purchasing a Droid Razr, including the newly announced white model, with a new two-year service agreement.

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Intel and Micron start producing 20nm NAND chips

Intel and Micron have announced the development of the world's first 128Gbit (16GB) multilevel-cell NAND flash memory chip made using a 20nm manufacturing process technology that incorporates high-K metal gate transistors. Scheduled for mass production in the first half of 2012, the new NAND will enable up to a terabit (128GB) of data storage in a finger-tip size package using eight die, and it meets the high-speed ONFI 3.0 specification to achieve speeds of 333 megatransfers per second (MT/s).

Intel and Micron said that the key to their success with their 20nm process technology is a new planar cell structure, which enables more aggressive cell scaling than conventional architectures, while maintaining performance and reliability on par with previous generation NAND chips.

The joint venture also announced it is moving a 20nm 64Gb NAND flash product into mass production this month. The new 20nm 64Gbit (8GB) chip measures just 118mm2 and enables a 30% to 40% reduction in board space (depending on package type) compared to their existing 25nm 64Gbit (8GB) NAND device.

Designed for use in tablets, smartphones and high-capacity solid-state drives, the smaller 20nm NAND memory will enable manufacturers to either cram more capacity into their gadgets or use the extra space for other end-product improvements such as a bigger battery, larger screen or adding new hardware features. It should also help reduce NAND costs over time as yields reach optimal levels.

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Google implements graphing calculator for search results

Math lovers unite. In recent blog post, Google announced it has rolled out a new graphing feature for plotting your favorite mathematical functions. The company claims the feature can handle an "extensive range of single variable functions including trigonometric, exponential, logarithmic and their compositions."

The graph can be zoomed and panned as you please. Multiple functions can be plotted by simply separating them with commas and are each assigned unique colors. If you are interested in trying it out, you can give this dry example a shot here. If you would like to sample something a little more whimsical (see image to the right), try this on for size.

Google took special care to note this works in "modern" web browsers, so compatibility may be an issue for certain browsers, especially ones that are more than a year old. As always, it is always recommend to keep your browser of choice up to date as possible.

Graphing mathematical functions is nothing new to the web. Mathematical mastermind Stephan Wolfram reminded us of that with WolframAlpha, as have countless others well before him. Even Google itself has had a way to graph functions for some time now, but what makes this unique is you can generate graphs directly in your search results.

The company's new graphing feature naturally extends its already existing capabilities as a web-based scientific calculator. Users have been able to punch in problems, equations and convert units for years now, obtaining results directly from the search engine itself. This merely takes Google one small step further toward reading your mind and providing ultimate convenience.

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Apple iPad loses lawsuit in China

The Intermediate People’s Court in Shenzhen has ruled against Apple in a complaint against a Chinese technology company over the use of the iPad name. Apple has confirmed the lawsuit but has declined further comment, according to a report from Reuters.

In the lawsuit, Proview Technology claims to have registered the iPad trademark as early as 2000 in multiple countries including China, potentially 10 years before Apple released their tablet with the same name. In October, Proview reportedly sued Apple for 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) for copyright infringement.

China is crucial to Apple’s continued growth overseas but the company has been fighting an uphill battle for quite some time. Nearly two dozen fake Apple stores were shut down in the region over the summer after authorities in Kunming saw photos of a phony store online. An American living in the city published a blog post about a visit to one of the stores which eventually prompted Chinese trade officials to take action.

Authorities in Shanghai arrested five people in September for manufacturing and selling counterfeit iPhones. The bust reportedly led police to an organized crime group that was responsible for buying components in Guandong and assembling them in Shanghai apartments.

It’s unclear at this point how Apple will deal with the unfavorable ruling over the iPad name in China. Cupertino could try to work out a licensing deal with Proview that would allow them to use the trademark for their tablet, or potentially even change the name of the device in that region.

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Microsoft Windows 8 app store

Microsoft hosted a special event in San Francisco yesterday to discuss details about its upcoming application store for Windows. The company shared details on everything from registration fees to the approval process, revenue model, as well as advertisements and in-app purchases. It also confirmed that a beta of its app store, named the Windows Store, will launch as part of the Windows 8 beta in late February.

Built using HTML5 and JavaScript, the Windows Store will feature the same touch-friendly UI that’s familiar to Windows Phone 7 users, except it will be full screen and available on your computer. As Microsoft indicated earlier, it's intended to be the single source of Metro-style apps to allow better discoverability and facilitate in-app purchases. The store will offer support for both x86 and ARM-based hardware.

During the initial trial period, the Windows Store will feature free apps only and app submissions will be by invitation. However, once Microsoft opens submissions to the wider developer community, they will be able to price their creations from  between $1.49 to $999.99 or offer them for free. Microsoft will take a 30% cut on sales, but that will drop to 20% as soon an app makes $25,000 from sales and in-app purchases.

That's a better deal than what Apple or Google offer with their respective app stores, which charge a 30% commission indefinitely. Also unlike its rivals, Microsoft will allow time-based and feature-based trial versions of apps in its store, which can be upgraded later to the full version if the developer supports it.

In order to submit apps individual users will need to pay a one-time registration fee of $49 while companies are charged $99. Windows 8 will be a curated platform, at least as far as Metro apps are concerned, so developers will need to go through the approval process. Microsoft has already laid out its criteria for app approval here. There will be status updates throughout the entire process, and developers whose apps are rejected will be given feedback on what changes they'll need to make to get approved.

watch the presentation here 

During the presentation, Microsoft’s VP of Windows Web Services Antoine Leblond emphasized the potential reach of the Windows Store, pointing out that some 400 million x86-based PCs are expected to ship over the next 12 months. That's on top of the 1.25 billion Windows PCs already on the planet.

The software giant will make the Windows Store and the apps in it available in more than 100 languages with availability in 231 markets around the world. To encourage developers to get working, Microsoft will be running a competition for eight winning apps to be featured on the Windows Store when it opens.

It should be noted that traditional desktop applications on Windows 8 will continue to be available through the usual channels, such as the developer's website, a downloads portal, physical media and so on.

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Android 10-cent app sale, 10 billion downloads and counting

The Android Market has hit 10 billion downloads. Google is celebrating this milestone by throwing an unusual sale: each day 10 different apps will be put on sale for 10 cents. The offer will run for 10 days. If you love to buy apps, you now have the chance to buy 100 of them for $10.

Although Google's app store has reached 10 billion downloads, that number continues to grow at an almost exponential pace. The company claims they expect a growth of 1 billion apps per month and predicts continued acceleration in the coming months. By comparison, the Apple App Store is estimated to have reached 18 billion downloads this month, 5 billion of which came in the first two years of offering apps.

While the Android Market continues to catch up to the App Store in a variety of metrics, Google continues to lag behind in revenue. As we reported a couple of weeks ago, Apple rakes in nearly 1200% more in profit than Google through its app market, seemingly the result of Android owners' conservative tendencies toward app purchasing.

Titles listed on on the blog include Minecraft Mobile, Sketchbook mobile, Asphalt 6 HD, Color & Draw for Kids, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Fieldrunners HD, Great Little War Game, Paper Camera, Soundhound Infinity & Swiftkey X. Although these deals were posted Tuesday, they still appear to 10 cents this Wednesday afternoon.

The 10 cent sale is being done in cooperation with developers with whom Google has partnered. So far, we don't know what titles will be available in the days to come, but you can check out the Android Market promotional page to see what has made it into the 10 cent bin.

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HP's $99 TouchPad fire-sale is back

In August, Hewlett Packard made the shocking announcement that it would halt its webOS projects and potentially exit the PC market by selling or spinning off its Personal Systems Group (PSG) division. Along with the news the company began a firesale of the already discounted TouchPad to get rid of excess inventory from component suppliers.

The 16GB model was advertised for a mere $99, while the 32GB model went for $149. Ironically, HP's tablet became such a huge success at this new price point that some vendors were hiking the price a bit in order to profit from the huge overnight demand.

This weekend the TouchPad firesale returns one last time for U.S. customers. Starting Sunday, December 11 at 7pm Eastern time, refurbished 16GB and 32GB versions of the webOS tablet will be available on HP’s ebay store at the same $99 and $149 price points. HP will also offer an accessory bundle for $79, which includes a wireless keyboard, charging dock and case.

Judging by how popular the last sale was, you will likely need to be very quick in order to successfully grab one at these prices. In addition, looking at HP's delivery policy on their eBay account it will only be open to U.S. residents, so those elsewhere in the world will unfortunately miss out yet again.

The TouchPad tablet was pulled after just three months of disappointing sales on the market and as former CEO Leo Apotheker sought to refocus the company on the more lucrative software, systems, and services business. The unpopular decision -- or rather the lackluster way of communicating and executing it -- led to his ouster in September and replacement by former eBay chief Meg Whitman.

Whitman decided shortly after taking the reins that the company would retain their PC business, and is expected to make a decision on webOS' fate next week. The company has already slashed more than 500 jobs at its webOS division and another 600 people remain in limbo while tough decisions are made.

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Tricks for Google Chrome

There are a number of tricks that will help you unleash the most of this browsers potentials.

• Using about:flags

about:flags is quite similar to Firefox about:config. Simply type about:flags in a tab as URL and you would be provided with a list of flags that are actually some of the hidden features of Google Chrome which now you can toggle on or off at your will.For the settings to take place you may need to restart the browser.

• Using multiple Profiles

Multiple profiles allow you to share your computers with others with ease without the fearing that all your past interactions are exposed to him or her. Creating multiple profiles in Google Chrome unlike Firefox is not a one click process to do so follow these steps.

1. Open your Google Chrome installation folder that is available at: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome
2. Now we will create a folder to hold all your profile data. navigate to folder User Data and copy the sub-folder named Default in the same directory and rename it any thing you may want,say,Profile2.
3. Open “Command Prompt”, switch to the Chrome Application folder and run the following command:
   chrome.exe –user-data-dir=”..\User Data\Profile_2” -first-run
4. To run Google Chrome using this profile instead of the default profile, just create a shortcut on your desktop as folllows:
   C:\Users\Aryaman\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe  –user-data-dir=”..\User Data\Profile_2″

Now whenever you want to use this profile simply click on this shortcut to launch this profile.

• Run Greasemonkey scripts

Greasemonkey is an add-on that enables you to take your browsers potentials to an all together new heights by enabling you to run java-scripts. These scripts can run on webpages that can add features that are not available by default. The best part about Greasemonkey is that Greasemonkey scripts are natively supported by Google Chrome without installing any Add-on. To use scripts navigate to www.userscripts.org and navigate to script of your choice and, just click install. Your installed Greasemonkey scripts would be shown as extensions.

• Enable Private Browsing

Private browsing helps users to keep the trace of their web activity a secret. Google Chrome users can use Incognito window to do so.The best part about using the Incognito window is that it automatically disables all the extensions so there is no chance that some your extensions sneaks into your privacy.Opening an Incognito window is quite simple as an option to do so is already available. Alternatively use the keyboard shortcuts [Ctrl]+ [Shift]+ [N]

• Add RSS Support

By default Google Chrome doesn’t support RSS and it may not even detect RSS feeds.But the the chrome team came with a solution to this problem also in the form of RSS Subscription Extension. This extension enables its users to auto-detects RSS feeds on the page and upon finding one will display an RSS icon in the Omnibox, clicking on which will preview the feed content and subscribe.The extension comes with 4 feed readers predefined (Google Reader, iGoogle, Bloglines and My Yahoo) but also allows you to add any web-based feed reader of your choice to the list.

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Demo Windows Phone 7.5 on iPhone and Android handset Check it Out!

Have you ever been curious about a new phone but didn’t want to have a sales associate hanging over your shoulder while you checked it out? If so, you’re in luck as Microsoft has released a Windows Phone 7.5 Mango ‘trial’ that you can access from your iPhone or Android smartphone without leaving the house.

The semi-guided tour can be accessed by visiting http://aka.ms/wpdemo with your phone’s browser. The HTML5-based site mimics the look and feel of Windows Phone on your device. Once started, you can select multiple different demos including People, Family, Pictures, Local Scout, Calendar, Outlook, Messaging and Phone.

While exploring each category, a blue dot will appear that prompts you where to go to reach the next step and ultimately the end of each section. You are free to ignore the prompts and explore at your own leisure but ultimately you will need to follow along to complete the task.

The web app was surprisingly responsive on an iPhone 4 and  it would perform similarly on an Android phone.

At the end of the demo users are prompted to share their experience via social networks like Facebook and Twitter or go directly to a list of available Windows Phone handsets. Those phones include the Samsung Focus S, HTC Titan, Samsung Focus Flash, HTC Radar 4G, HTC Trophy, HTC Arrive, Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 710, HTC HD7 and the Samsung Focus.

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Windows 8 beta may be launched in February

Microsoft may release the first public beta of Windows 8 as early as February 2012, according to sources close to the company cited by The Next Web. An exact date for the completion and shipping of Microsoft's next major operating system release remains unknown for now, but putting Windows 7's release milestones in a Windows 8 context, the site believes the completed RTM version could hit the market around June.

If their estimates are accurate, Windows 8 could arrive late in Q3 or going into Q4, just ahead of the 2012 holiday season, giving partners enough time to ship the OS with their PCs and tablets. By comparison, Microsoft released a public beta of Windows 7 in January of 2009, with the final version hitting in October.

The site says it hasn't been able to confirm exactly what will be included in the beta itself, as the feature set will be decided based on which components are ready for public testing at the time of release.

A developer preview of Windows 8 has been available since mid-September, but Microsoft has been cooking a number of changes and new features that are due for the beta and final versions. The company has detailed a few of them in their official Building Windows 8 blog, including better memory management, changes to the Task Manager and Windows Explorer, search improvements, among others.

One particular feature that has received a fair amount of criticism from users is the new Metro start screen, a touch-optimized interface akin that of Windows Phone . Microsoft says Metro represents a major re-think of how users interact with Windows, and while users can easily switch to the classic desktop environment, many are concerned that having it as the default start screen for non-touch devices would make no sense.

It seems like an easy problem to fix but it remains to be seen if Microsoft is willing to make that concession.

On a related note, rumors are starting to emerge that the traditional Windows desktop will not be included on Windows 8 tablets powered by ARM-based processors. Instead, these devices will rely exclusively on the Metro user interface and software written specifically for it. That sounds like a reasonable thing to do, at least initially, considering the amount of work it would take to tweak 'legacy' x86 software for ARM chipsets -- not to mention these applications are not optimized for touch environments.

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Apple loses to Samsung patent fight in Australia

As we probably know, down under in Australia both Apple and Samsung are battling it out in the courts over patent infringement over the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 looking and feeling like the Apple iPad, or so claims Apple, and the fruity company managed to get an interim ban of sales of the Android slate in Australia.

However, in a bit of a kick in the jaw to Apple, according to an article over on Ubergizmo by way of Reuters, old Sammy can again start selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia as soon as Friday.

The reason for this is Samsung has gained a win over Apple and thus lifting the preliminary ban on the sale of the tablet. Apparently an Australian federal court unanimously decided to life the injunction that was imposed by a lower court.

However, Apple can probably file an appeal against the lifting of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban, but that will of course take time, and thus allows old Sammy to take advantage of the run up to Christmas to shift their Android slate in Australia during the busy shopping season.

But if this new ruling stands firm in Australia it could mean that other countries that have also granted Apple a ban on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to reconsider their ban also, which in turn could lead to more Samsung wins over Apple.

I any case I am sure Samsung is quite happy at being able to offer the Galaxy Tab 10.1 during the holiday season down under, and no doubt Apple is somewhat lacking that festive feeling at hearing the news.

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iPhone 5 & iPad 3 with LTE in 2012

As Apple decided in their infinite wisdom to short-change the iOS faithful when they pushed out their latest smartphone the iPhone 4S those iOS faithful look forward to next year when hopefully Apple will make good on delivering the iPhone 5 and Apple iPad 3, and there is some rumour doing the rounds on both future iDevices.

According to the guys over at Phone Arena by way of Nikkei (translated) the word is Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo will apparently be releasing the iPhone 5 towards the end of 2012 and the Apple iPad 3 sometime in summer of 2012.

Furthermore apparently both the next generation iOS slate and the iPhone 5 will come out to play sporting LTE functionality something Apple has continually passed on previously due to the roll out of 4G LTE networks.

According to the Nikkie report Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO had a meeting with the president and vice president of NTT DoCoMo, Kiyoyuki Tsujimura and Takashi Yamada during last month to talk about the conditions that would enable the carrier to offer both the Apple iPad 3 and iPhone 5, and word is a deal was agreed including the quantities of the iDevices NTT DoCoMo will order.

Of course Apple isn’t coming forth to confirm any of this, so for now at least it remains firmly in the land of speculation and should be treated as such. However it seem fairly obvious to me that Apple has to deliver the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 in 2012 and both should step up their game with 4G LTE aboard if they are to compete against rivals in the same playing field.

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Android 4.0.1(Ice Cream Sandwich) x86 PC-based source code download

The new ICS-x86 PC-based Android 4.0.1 source code is now available to download for PC-based processors; Android users love the fact that this code is open-sourced.

Google have at last made available the new Ice Cream Sandwich x86 source code for developers, this basically means that this operating system can run on many things, especially tablet PCs.

ICS-x86 is still in its early stages, so please remember that this code is not fully stable yet. Redmond Pie points out that it will require more work before it is stable, and that Intel processors as an example offers particular resistance with hardware acceleration and sound, the source also mentions that cameras and Ethernet prove troublesome, let you be the judge of that.

The code is now available to download by visiting the Google Group: Android 4.0.1 is ready; AMD and developers may like this one.

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"DingleBerry" tool to jailbreak BlackBerry Playbook

Three developers have reportedly bypassed Research In Motion's security, gaining root access to the BlackBerry Playbook. The trio -- currently known as xpvqs, neuralic and cmw (Chris Wade) -- demonstrated the feat in a few videos this week. In one of the clips, neuralic fiddles with the backlight and LEDs through a command prompt. In another, cmw shows a PlayBook playing a Hulu show (the streaming service blocked RIM's tablet earlier this year).

The hackers will release their discovery next week in the form of a tool amusingly dubbed "DingleBerry," allowing fellow tinkerers to jailbreak their PlayBook. RIM was quick to respond to the claims, vowing to investigate the exploit. "If it is determined that the claim is accurate, RIM will follow its standard response process to develop and release a software update that is designed to minimize adverse impact to our customers or carrier partners," the company said.

watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgvFHUClRKA&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1

The exploit could dent RIM's reputation because the BlackBerry brand prides itself on security. The company has been two steps behind Apple and Google when it comes to consumer smartphones and tablets, so it has attempted to distinguish itself in the enterprise market by harping on BlackBerry's superior security.

For instance, the PlayBook is the only tablet cleared for use by the US federal government after receiving a FIPS certification earlier this year. On the bright side, "DingleBerry" will not affect the company's mobile phones, which run on a different operating system (the PlayBook is powered by a QNX-based OS).

The fact that RIM must uphold its stern appearance on security seems unfortunate in this situation. When a mobile device flops, it's been common for companies to slash prices and encourage community development. Barnes and Noble's Nook is a great example in recent memory, and so is HP's TouchPad to an extent.

The PlayBook has received multiple price cuts and while we don't have sales figures, that doesn't seem to have helped the device's popularity much. The slate is currently fetching $260 to $380 depending on its internal storage

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Chrome takesoff Firefox market share for the first time

StatCounter and Net Applications have just released their latest report on global web browser usage and, at least according to the former, Google's three-year-old Chrome browser has already surpassed Firefox in terms of usage. Net Applications still has Firefox ahead by 4 percentage points, but either way the trend is crystal clear and it's just a matter of time before Chrome takes in the second spot behind IE.

StatCounter reports that Chrome took 25.7% of the worldwide market last month, up from just 4.66% two years ago, compared to Firefox’s 25.23 percent. It's a marginal win, but a win nonetheless. Meanwhile, Net Applications says Chrome gained 0.7% in November to 18.2%, while Firefox dropped 0.4 percentage points to 22.1% in the same period. By the latter's estimates, Chrome could outpace Firefox by March 2012.

That's a massive achievement for Google in just a little over three years, even more so considering Opera has tried for years with a very capable alternative but currently holds less than 2% market share worldwide.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer maintains a strong lead with somewhere between 40.63% and 52.63% globally, depending on which source you trust the most. Safari holds a mere 5-6% when it comes to desktop browsers, but dominates the mobile space with 55% usage, according to Net Applications latest figures. Also in mobiles, the Android browser had bumped Opera Mini aside in October for the second-place spot, but in November, Opera Mini took some share back. They now hold 20.1% and 16% of that market, respectively.

Mobile browsers still represent a relatively small portion of the market, but with smartphones and tablets use growing exponentially mobile browsing is also on the rise. According to Net Applications' data for November, browser usage on personal computers represented 92% of the market while mobile devices took 6.7%.

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Android 4.0 port for x86 tablets and laptops is released

Google is working with Intel to release a version of Android designed to run on tablets, laptops and other computers with x86 chips. They've made some progress on that front, enabling Android 2.3 to run on embedded systems powered by an Atom E6xx series chip, but it seems the folks over at the Android-x86 project are a step ahead with the first release of Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich for x86.

The port is currently optimized for tablets with AMD Brazos chips inside, including the MSI WindPad 110W or Acer Iconia Tab W500. It's still a little rough around the edges: Wi-Fi, touchscreen input and OpenGL ES hardware acceleration with the Brazos’ Radeon GPU are supported, but drivers for wired Ethernet connections, cameras, sound, and hardware-accelerated graphics output on Intel graphics adapters are still missing.

According to developer Chih-Wei Huang, posting in the android-x86 group, AMD is supporting the project by donating devices and offering technical advise from their engineers. Intel on the other hand appears focused on their own port of Android and so far has refused to give the Android-x86 project any support.

The group is therefore currently only offering one Android 4.0.1 ISO image for the AMD Brazos platform. You can grab the 191MB file from the project download page, where you'll also find links for other versions of Android-x86, including a Honeycomb release optimized for Asus tablets and laptops.

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Asus Transformer Prime arriving December 19 with positive reviews

Reviews are rolling in for the world's first quad-core tablet, the Asus Transformer Prime, and so far the general consensus appears to be that there's a new king of Android tablets. The device cuts no corner when it comes to hardware specifications. Besides packing Nvidia's hot-off-the-presses Tegra 3 SoC, it also sports a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) Super IPS+ panel covered in Gorilla Glass, 1GB of RAM and comes in either 32GB or 64GB sizes -- all wrapped in a 8.3mm-thick bushed metal casing that's a hair slimmer than the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Other specs include an 8-megapixel shooter on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front, as well as microHDMI and microSD ports. Like its predecessor, the Transformer Prime connects to an optional keyboard dock ($150) that adds an extra battery, a trackpad, and full-sized SD and USB ports.

Asus' flagship tablet comes preinstalled with Android Honeycomb 3.2.1 instead of the latest and greatest "Ice Cream Sandwich" release, but the company says an update to 4.0 will be out soon. It's also Wi-Fi only for now and there has been no word yet on 3G-equipped versions for the U.S. market.

Besides these relatively minor details and the ocassional stutter when opening menus or switching apps -- which hopefully will be fixed with the ICS update -- reviewers praised the device's aesthetics, long battery life, beautiful display, and graphics prowess. The Verge also says it packs best camera on any tablet.

Available in either Amethyst Gray or Champagne Gold, the 32GB model starts at $499 while the 64GB is going for $599. Pre-orders are open at several retailers, including Best Buy and Newegg. That said, there's still some confusion as to when exactly the device will start shipping, but several reports indicate it will hit online shelves December 12 followed by availability at retail stores on December 19.

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Microsoft Office suite for iPad

Microsoft is developing a version of their Office suite for use on Apple’s iPad that could rival Cupertino’s own productivity apps. Applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint could sell for as low as $10 each, according to sources that spoke with The Daily.

Microsoft already has multiple offerings in Apple’s App Store including Bing, MSN Onit and MSN OnPoint but Office would almost certainly become their highest grossing app to date. It’s no secret that Microsoft is hard at work on developing Windows 8 and tablets to run it, but there’s also no denying that the iPad currently dominates the tablet landscape. With so many iPads in consumer’s hands and even more people using Office, we can only wonder why Microsoft hasn’t released an Office suite for iOS sooner.

Shortly after the iPad was announced in January 2010, Microsoft senior product manager Mike Tedesco said the company was looking at the possibility of bringing Office to the iPad. Yet just a few months later, Microsoft executive Stephen Elop claimed Redmond had no plans to bring Office to the tablet.

In hindsight, both Microsoft and Apple could have benefitted greatly from having the Office suite available at the iPad’s launch. Microsoft would have likely made a boatload of cash and the iPad would have earned more credibility with enterprise users. Instead, Apple developed iPad versions of their iWorks programs to fill the void and we are still waiting on Office from Microsoft.

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