Friday 21 October 2011

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BlackBerry blackout:Media should be fair

Research In Motion's private network has disrupted BlackBerry service to millions of customers across four continents upto this moment and situation seem to continue.Delays hit Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India on Monday and the problems spread to Brazil, Chile and Argentina on Yesterday. RIM said it was now working to clear a large backlog of data and restore service as quickly as possible.The company had released a message yesterday saying the messaging and browsing delays being experienced were caused by a core switch failure within RIM's infrastructure.RIM added that although the system is designed to failover to a backup switch, the failover did not function as previously tested.Failover refers to the automatic switching of service to a standby server in the case of a failure of a main system.

However,I do have my own description that I can say it's a process by which IT systems should automatically fall back to a back-up system in the event of a failure in the primary system that include using back-up generators for power, using secondary hard disks which are synchronized with the primary hard disks, using other methods to route electronic communications and so on.RIM's BlackBerry service has long been prized by executives and politicians who rely on its security and reliability to deliver e-mail and other messaging to mobile workers.The Canadian company manages this service via servers parked within enterprises and hooked up to a proprietary network carried by wireless operators.

Blackberry Bold 9900

RIM hosts a number of network operating centres, including one at its headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, and another in southern England, which manage the massive amounts of data that flow through its system.RIM had earlier said it had resolved problems disrupting its services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.I talked to a proud owner of a Blackberry bold and he told me the current situation with the BlackBerry outages couldn't come at a worse time for RIM, following some harsh criticism in recent months.In fact,a senior mobile network operator told me that some businesses may see this as a good reason to re-evaluate their reliance on centralised servers and instead look to investing in more corporately controlled servers.

Network operators and users in EMEA complained that e-mail and BlackBerry Messenger services were not working. Many have been unable to browse the web or use BBM, a popular instant messenging service that offers a free alternative to text messaging and is a major selling point for BlackBerry devices.In my opinion,all technology fails sometime and there is no need for mainstream media to sensationalize this problem and even some bloggers have gone overboard.I hate monopoly and should RIM succumb we are going to play into big boys tones.One gave me a reason that people so animated because what is for some people a handy tool for light browsing is probably a vital and an important necessary tool that help them do jobs in a timely fashion.I find it unjustified because a service that has no problems history for close to a decade has been hanged by a one or two days of problems.

BlackBerry breakdown spreads to United States

Blackberry users in the United States, Japan and Singapore have reported similar difficulties getting online as their counterparts in Africa,Latin America and Europe.RIM, which makes BlackBerry devices, released a statement saying that BlackBerry subscribers in the Americas may be experiencing intermittent service delays this morning.The firm faced growing calls for compensation from users all over the world. European, Middle Eastern and African BlackBerry owners have now endured three working days without mobile internet access, including email and instant messaging. RIM made no comment on the whether it would offer any money back as it battled to restore services. Users bombarded its Twitter accounts with demands for compensation on Wednesday afternoon.

Etisalat, a mobile operator in the United Arab Emirates', became the first network to announce its customers will be compensated. Both contract and pay-as-you-go customers in the Gulf state wil receive free service equivalent to three days' BlackBerry usage. Africa and Asia operators have made no comment on compensation, but it is understood they do not expect to offer any and blame RIM for the outage. After the service was briefly restored and then collapsed again on Tuesday morning and RIM later said a broken switch in its core infrastructure was to blame for the renewed failure.

BlackBerry Bold 9860

The system is designed to failover to a back-up switch, the failover did not function as previously tested according to RIM. As a result, a large backlog of data was generated and we are now working to clear that backlog and restore normal service as quickly as possible," it said. But by yesterday late in the evening users were still cut off from the internet because my friend Ville Makinnen told me the problem is on.Bloggers and mainstream media have been critical of RIM's communication strategy continued, with many condemning its public handling of the crisis.

The timing is particularly unfortunate for RIM in my opinion, as Apple launches the iPhone 4S and competing internet services this week, including iMessage, a rival to BBM. I feel sorry for this lovely brand that set the pace for smartphone market because they are in a jam and users are panning it. The biggest problem is that no one at RIM seem to know the source of the problems and they are getting themselves into a right pickle. It seems that matters are coming to the boil and this is leaving a very bad taste in the mouth of the millions of middle class customers to whom this service is their every daily bread and butter..

What Telcos could learn from Steve Jobs to survive

The passing of Apple co-founder and saviour Steve Jobs there has been a great deal of commentary about how he operated in business.Most of obituaries focused on his second incarnation at Apple where he oversaw the waves of innovation from iPod, iTunes, iPhone and iPad.In my evaluation,Steve Jobs wasn't a technologist but he was a smart marketing guy.Steve Jobs was driven by the vision and passion of what he wanted to deliver to customers and ensured that his teams deliver the outcomes as well as suppliers deliver input costs that he could afford unlike many economies and companies who have been operating above their means.There are a couple of lessons many economies and copmanies can learn from Steve Jobs and msot important telecoms operators.

Jobs made a lot of money by focusing on how to make a lot of money; he did it by focusing on what would make customers use his products.The first Apple computer and the Apple II built by his friend Steve Wozniak were built because the two Steves wanted their friends to be able to enjoy having their own personal computer as much as they did.The other innovations starting at the Macintosh all the way through to the iPad had a focus on ease of use, not being first.Jobs understood the WIMP which stands for 'windows, icons, mouse, pull-down menus' interface he saw at Xerox could make the computer itself intuitive.He was determined to deliver Postscript in his printers to be able to render on paper what users could see on the screen.The iPod wasn't the first MP3 player, nor was it the first with a hard drive. It was the first that was easy to use to play music.

The iPhone, too, became the first smartphone with an intuitive interface.These weren't things customers could tell Jobs about through customer research but they were things anyone could know.Customers want things that are simple to use.Telcos talk about the need to generate shareholder value might be doing a great job of pitching to investment analysts, but it is those whose mission is to help people fulfil their need to communicate that will win.Delivering the outcome which are products that are easy to use and has to infuse every aspect of your operations.Telcos operators have failed to address confusing prices and confusing bills and acknowldge their customer service problems and not even Finland has been spared.A real commitment to customers in everything they do and demanding the best from themselves would identify the need to fix brand "telco" before investing in their own brands like has been the case in almost all European and African counteries.

Customers really do think the best service is no service. Their number one value in customer service is never having to use it.That outcome is the goal in a Jobs-like customer-centric organisation. The customer service manager cannot deliver that goal, the IT manager can't deliver that goal, marketing can't deliver that goal.It takes the whole company to deliver that goal.Jobs was renowned for telling people they were "brain dead". Being "brain alive" requires original thought about old problems; not old thought about new problems.Jobs was as hard on his suppliers as he was on his staff. Steve Jobs demanded quality goods at efficient prices.Telcos must take that task to hand when it comes to the "bill shock".

The time it takes to get some charges compiled especially roaming charges onto monthly bills must be sorted out soonest and am speaking this because of being a victim.And that means changing the operator response to calls for better information away from telling us companies have problems receiving billing data.The alternative is to fix the system globally and that's what Jobs would do.Telephone is easy to use because they all use the same kind of dialling sequence while SMS was facilitated by a consistent layout of letters on the numbers of standard mobiles.Standardisation makes the product easy to use and that is why I do identify the importance of seeing the competitors as people you need to co-operate with and standards is one way of doing that.Despite huge successes, telco operators have remained determined to differentiate on things that have no value to consumers.

I wonder if there is really a benefit in having different operators charge by the second, half-minute or minute.As a an interested partry in the industry,i know consistent definition of call types across operators aid consumer understanding.However,Telcos have made a habit of telling us that they aren't each others' main competitors and that the "real competition" is Google,Skype,Twitter etc.That is nonsense in my opinion.Time has come where Telcos need to take this opportunity to act like they believe that their real competition are the application providers. Telcos also need to acknowledge that years of competing on service leaves us customers frustrated and bitterly dissapointed. In order to stem the losses many telcos are suffering, they would have to innovate rather than "slash and burn".That advice must be taken by the telco industry as a whole or else they will suffer heavily in the years ahead.

http://contadorwanarua.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/ipv6-migration-must-allow-ipv4-devices/

Beaware of Android applications

I have personally written more than twenty android applications for clients and none has ever received a complain.However,most developer have been writing android applications that have now become a cinch for many, with the myriad of books and websites offering guidance and advice.This is the reason am worried that millions of Android operating system users are putting themselves at risk when installing and using applications from the Android Market because the problem with consumers writing application for consumers is that they are not security experts and they lack skills.Before you download an application,Ask yourself, what does your app really 'need' to know to function.

In some cases,i have seen developers just ask for the full gamut of access when it is really not necessary and could compromise your phone.While developing application,i have always ensured there is security validation before such programs are made available in the marketplace but for others same is not applied and this has led to a rising number of vulnerabilities and threats that have proved catastrophic.Two days ago,a Dane female friend called me seeking assistance after she downloaded an application that was one of those that lack security features.In my own investigations,one such threat is "app phishing," which allows a hacker to intercept the usernames and passwords supplied to popular applications.

This type of attacks,i expect them to increase in the coming months due to the ubiquity of Android phones that are now flooding the market.I told my Dane friend that the catch-up game the platform is currently playing to match the Apple App Store as my thoughts on why a security validation process remains absent from the Android Market.However,as a developer i do not know the reason why Google has failed to address this issue because it's not a question of why they can't do it, they can. However there could be an underlying issue, business-related or otherwise, that is hindering the implementation of security validation processes.Over 20 developers have been asking me this question many times and with majority of them being in Europe.

In some of my replies,i have said that compromising a single Google service is sometimes all it takes for an attacker to push malware to the service account owner's Android phone.Consumers should also be aware of the types and level of permission granted to apps when using them, as the responsibility and burden of security decisions currently lies with the user.I have no problem with Android store buy if you are a consumers, extra precaution should be exercised when installing new applications on your phone.Please ensure that the app should first come from a trusted vendor, and should be older than 90 days in the marketplace.

Ratings and comments from other users are also good indicators of whether an application is trustworthy but be aware that the ratings could also be faked.As a rule of thumb, malware does not last long in the marketplace. While chosing the application and you see an application that is just five days old and from an unknown vendor with little downloads and a five star rating you better think twice.In the event your phone becomes infected by malware or other threats,the best option is to reset your phone and reinstall everything afresh.I do advise users to treat mobile application the same way they would treat an e-mail attachment.

N9 - நோக்கியாவின் அதி நவீன சூப்பர் ஸ்மார்ட்போன்

மொபைல் போனில் செயல்படும் அதி நவீன தொழில் நுட்பங்கள் பலவற்றைக் கொண்ட மிகச் சிறந்த போனாக, நோக்கியா தன் என்9 (N9) ஸ்மார்ட் போனை வடிவமைத்துள்ளது. மீகோ (Meego) என அழைக்கப்படும் ஆப்பரேட்டிங் சிஸ்டத்தில் இயங்கும் இந்த போனை, நோக்கியா நிறுவனம் பன்னாட்டளவில் விரைவில் அறிமுகம் செய்திட இருக்கிறது. இந்தியாவில் வரும் தீபாவளியை ஒட்டி இது வாடிக்கையாளர்களுக்குக் கிடைக்கும்.

இன்டெல் நிறுவனத்தின் துணையுடன் வடிவமைக்கப்பட்ட என்9 ஸ்மார்ட் போன் மட்டுமே, மீகோ சிஸ்டத்தில் இயங்கும் போனாகும். இதில் 16ஜிபி மற்றும் 64 ஜிபி என இருவகை போன்கள், முறையே ரூ. 31,800 மற்றும் ரூ.37,200 என விலையிட்டு கிடைக்க இருக்கின்றன.

இந்த போனில் பட்டன்கள் இருக்காது. ஒரே பகுதியாக இதன் வடிவமைப்பு இருக்கும். இதன் பேட்டரியைக் கழட்ட முடியாது. இதில் மூன்று வகை இடைமுகம் இருக்கும். ஒவ்வொன்றும் ஒருவகை செயல்பாட்டுக்கு வழி தரும். இதன் மூலம் வேகமான இணைப்பு மற்றும் செயல்வேகம் கிடைக்கும்.

இதில் 3.9 அங்குல அகலத்திலான திரை தரப்பட்டுள்ளது. இத்திரை கீறல் விழ முடியாத, வளைவான கண்ணாடியால் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதன் மேல் புறம் பாலி கார்பனேட்டினால் தயாரிக்கப் பட்டுள்ளதால், இதன் ஆன்டென்னா இயக்கம், அழைப்புகளை ஏற்றுக் கொண்டு செயல்படும் திறன் சிறப்பாக இயங்கும் என நோக்கியா அறிவித்துள்ளது.

இதன் கேமரா 8 மெகா பிக்ஸெல் கார்ல் ஸெய்ஸ் ஆட்டோ போகஸ் சென்சார் திறன் உள்ள அகலவகை லென்ஸ் கொண்டு அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதன் விரிதன்மை அகலமாகக் கிடைப்பதனால், மிகக் குறைந்த வெளிச்சத்திலும் இதனால் சிறப்பான போட்டோக்களை எடுக்க இயலும்.

இதில் இணைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள மேப் அப்ளிகேஷன் மூலம் வாகனத்தில் செல்கையிலும், நடக்கும் போதும், குரல் வழியாகவும், மேப் வழியாகவும் வழி நடத்தப்படுவோம்.

இதில் டோல்பி டிஜிட்டல் ப்ளஸ் தொழில் நுட்பம் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதன் மூலம் எந்த ஹெட்செட் போட்டுக் கேட்டாலும், சரவுண்ட் ஸ்டீரியோ சவுண்ட் கிடைக்கும். உலக அளவில் இத்தகைய தொழில் நுட்பம் கொண்ட ஒரே ஸ்மார்ட் போன் இது என்று நோக்கியா அறிவித்துள்ளது.

அண்மையில் பிரபலமாகி வரும் அண்மைக் களத் தொடர்பு Near Field Communication தொழில் நுட்பமும், அதனுடன் இணைந்து செயல்படும் வயர்லெஸ் தொழில் நுட்பமும் இதில் தரப்படுகிறது. இதனால் இந்த தொழில் நுட்ப வசதி கொண்ட இரு சாதனங்களை அருகருகே வைப்பதன் மூலம் வீடியோ, படங்கள், பைல்கள் ஆகியவற்றை இரண்டிற்கும் இடையே பரிமாறிக் கொள்ளலாம்.

இணையவழி வர்த்தகம் மேற் கொண்டுள்ள இணைய வர்த்தக தளம், ஏற்கனவே இதற்கான ஆர்டர்களைச் சென்ற ஆகஸ்ட் முதல் பெற்று வந்தது. அப்போது இந்த ஸ்மார்ட் போனின் விலை ரூ.32,368 என அதில் அறிவிக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது. தற்போது அந்த அறிவிப்பு அத்தளத்தில் இல்லை.

------------------- நன்றி -------------------

இந்த பதிவிற்கு ஓட்டு போட்டுவிட்டிர்களா? உங்கள் ஓட்டால் இந்த தகவல் அனைவருக்கும் சென்றடையும் ! ! !

LG's 3D smartphone is a not big deal

In my entire life,I have across almost 70% of smart phones that are released but 3D smartphones have never been part of preference in one or the other.Many who have been fanatics of movies knows very well that 3D is taking root in the industry and sometimes back last year,I realized it was inevitable that 3D displays would eventually trickle down to our mobile phones.This is because there has been a pattern that has been taking shape over the last one year or so where TV makers are also producing Android phones.As a result,when a friend showed me his LG 3D phone called LG Optimus 3D, which is currently one of the 3D capable smartphones available in the mainstream market I was not surprised.

I was able to see the display in 3D without wearing glasses when I turned the phone sideways in landscape mode and look at it straight on.This is a phone that is pretty generously sized, thanks to the 4.3in screen and itself is pretty large but the resolution is only 480 x 800-pixels that dominates the front of the device.In terms of buttons, the phone is pretty minimalist and on the right side there's a volume rocker switch and a tiny button which launches the 3D applications.One thing realized was the left side houses the ports for HDMI and micro USB and on the top I got the standard 3.5mm stereo port and the power button.

On the back, I got a speaker grille, and the twin lenses with a single LED flash to snap photos and videos in 3D.The entire interface is not in 3D ,it's a standard 2D display which was awful.As I tried 3D functionality,I launched it by pressing the shortcut key on the side or via a shortcut in the menus and only worked in landscape orientation after launching 3D and viewing it in any other orientation that gave me a blurry of 2D view.Optimus 3D is currently only running on Android Froyo which is outdated as compared to the current Android 2.3.LG Optimus 3D has tri-dual technology, which essentially means that the device is running on a dual-channel, dual-core processor and dual memory.Optimus 3D is supposed to be fast and in use,but while testing it the performance was snappy, and there was very little slowdown even when running multiple applications.

I feel that this is a phone which with a few customizations from LG such as a slightly different custom keyboard as well as an unlock screen similar to Windows Phone 7 devices where you swipe upwards from bottom to top to unlock the device.The phone screen is bright and the colors are very punchy although it would have been nice to have a much higher resolution screen to take advantage of such a large screen.Battery life is not particularly outstanding. Even with moderate use, you're going to have to plug it in to power before the day is over according to my friend and even more likely even before that, if you are a heavy user.

Using the 3D mode to watch videos and play games will, of course, suck up power even faster. He told me that video playback in 3D mode deplete the battery in about three hours. Although LG says that the Optimus 3D will be upgradeable to Android 2.3 sometime in October when LG has finished customizing it for the phone,I feel this phone is not better than other 3D phones available in the market.The Optimus 3D allows one to shoot photos in 3D, capturing the images using the twin lens array on the back of the device.Videos are also possible, and when shooting in 3D, the smartphone shoots at 720p, and when shooting in 2D mode, it's capable of recording in full HD 1080p which is outstanding.LG also has a number of 3D games available for download for free and includes the excellent NOVA first person shooter as well as 3D books.

It doesn't really add anything to the smartphone and there is no need of buying it if your're looking for something different because even core Android features aren't in 3D.However, if you are interested in shooting videos in 3D and have the means to display it on, say, a 3D-capable HDTV and can also convert 2D photos into 3D as well just like modern 3D HDTVs .Apart from a useless large screen which is bright and the responsive display there is nothing much worth the investment coupled with embarrassing short battery life of a 1500mAh lithium-ion battery .

www.wanarua.com

Nokia's Meego phone to be available next month

Nokia's latest Meego smartphone, the N9, will be available next month. The phone will run on the MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan operating system which will allow the phone to multitask between different applications without much fuss.According to a friend who works at Nokia,the phone can run up to more than 10 different applications simultaneously without showing any significant slow down.

Also, there will be over 1,000 applications available for the OS when the phone is launched, the company said.The smartphone is made from a single piece of polycarbonate and weighs 135g. It has a 3.9in AMOLED screen and an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus camera with dual LED flashes.

The camera can also record 720p HD videos.The N9 features Near Field Communication technology for pairing with external devices like the Nokia Play 360° wireless speaker.The N9 will be available in two capacities - the 16GB model and the 64GB version.

http://contadorwanarua.wordpress.com/2011/09/24/cybercrimes-continues-to-rise-in-africa/

www.wanarua.com

Why I welcome Tizen platform

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It was an announcement that caught me off guard has given me hope that finally "Big Boys" are ready to listen and accommodate developers in their development of an operating system. The news was what I can call best ever since Android launch.The tow Linux software groups which have joined forces to develop a new operating system for mobile phones and other devices like Tablets . Intel, which also has its own MeeGo Linux system, and Samsung Electronics,one of the key contributors to LiMo, will head the technical steering committee developing Tizen.

Collaboration include Intel and Samsung Electronics as well.As a mobile developer,I do not buy into analysts argument that Tizen platform is likely to struggle to attract wider developer and manufacturer support to compete with the dozen or so other mobile operating systems in a market dominated by Apple and Google's Linux-based Android.When I look at industry major players like Nokia and Hewlett-Packard ditching their mobile platforms earlier this year,it means the competition is getting tighter and tighter and only the best OS will survive the cut throat battle in mobile industry.

My reason for supporting Tizen Platform is because it's the best hope for developers who want to switch our allegiances to rival platforms to restrict Google's huge influence over the mobile market that has made the company arrogant and ignorant to mobile developers.Even most operators who get worried by Android's increasing smart phone dominance will welcome a third force.LiMo Foundation and the Linux Foundation revealed that the new Tizen platform is an open-source, standards-based software platform that supports multiple devices including smartphones, Tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle 'infotainment' systems.The initial release is planned for the first quarter of 2012, enabling the first devices using Tizen to come to market in mid-2012.

In my opinion,Tizen aims to unify a number of marginalized Linux based platforms.There is also a willingness to create an independent alternative to Android but history tells us that willingness doesn't necessarily equate to success.In case of Samsung,it might be further tempted to try a new system as Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility raised uncertainty over the future of Android.Recently,a Samsung insider told me via mail that thy have been a core Linux partner and this is in line with their strategy of supporting many platforms.Linux is the most popular type of free, or open-source, computer operating system which allows the public to use, revise and share. Linux suppliers earn money selling improvements and technical services.

http://contadorwanarua.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/amazons-android-fire-my-reaction/

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Nexus Prime phone launch cancelled

In the last two hours,Samsung and Google have announced the postponement of eagerly awaited Nexus Prime.According to the press release,the two companies agreed that it is just not the right time to announce a new product and new date and venue will be shortly announced.This event was due to take place this coming Tuesday.Rumor is that this may just be because of Steve Jobs, but there is no concrete information about the reason as to why the two have canceled the launch.

The launch was for their much-anticipated new phone, which is expected to be called the Nexus Prime, and will have the new version of Android operating system, known as Ice Cream Sandwich. In a hastily worded statement, Samsung said "Samsung and Google decide to postpone the new product announcement at CTIA Fall. We agree that it is just not the right time to announce a new product. The event, which was to take place in San Diego was dubbed as "Samsung Unpacked: Google Edition".

Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest version of the Android operating system that will be the first to unite mobile phone and tablet interfaces. Google and Samsung had announced that they would reveal "what's new from Android" during the event. The release is set to be rescheduled, although a Samsung spokesman could not say when. I think this is about media coverage because next week will likely be Steve Jobs funeral because no matter what,I cannot imagine any news that will compete with the funeral.This is Samsung and Google being at their best and is a smart move. The two haven't mentioned the new launch dates that ensures they will not clash with funeral which makes them seem more respectful.

Dr Dre Sensation XL phone

HTC Corporation, a global designer of mobile devices, on early August announced a strategic partnership and investment with Beats team Electronics LLC, the company redefining the audio market with its iconic Beats by Dr. Dre audio experience. The two fast-growing brands have been working endlessly to bring high performance sound to HTC phones. When I heard it first,my conclusion was that the partnership was timely opportunity for the two companies to redefine the smart phone industry and define the future. There is no doubt it represented a critical step to reengineer how sound is delivered so that the consumer feels the music the way that the artist intend to.

Now,HTC has launched the new flagship mobile phone that includes hip-hop producer Dr Dre's 'Beats Audio' technology called HTC Sensation XL which is the second on since they announced the partnership with first one being HTC S XE.Now this one has improved headphones, along with an 8MP camera.This ends the days when camera was the only thing that could make the phone sell and have a feeling this will appeal to the young market. The Sensation XL model, also features a 4.7" screen which has been specifically optimized for its audio performance in a bid to capitalize on the increasing number of users who play music through their mobile phones.

Google has integrated music services with its voice recognition technology and that means users can search for the relevant artist or track.The HTC Sensation XE also integrated the technology. Great audio is no longer an experience that consumers are willing to sacrifice when purchasing a phone," said Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Beats by Dr Dre. "The digital revolution has been great for everything but music," he added, referring to the quality of the sound typically recorded and played through mobile phones. It looks like soon I will listen to my fellow aborigine Jessica Mauboy music on my phone.

HTC unveils Mango

HTC Corp unveiled its first smartphone that runs on Windows Phone 7.5, also codenamed Mango.Called the Radar, the sleek smartphone is just 10.9mm thick and weighs 137g. It is powered by a 1GHz processor, and has a 3.8in touchscreen and 8GB of internal storage.The Radar features a 5-megapixel camera with a dedicated button to capture images easily.The camera also has an LED flash, f/2.2 aperture lens and back-illuminated sensor for capturing images in low-light conditions.It also has a mode that can combine up to five images into a single panorama-like shot. The Radar supports the Digital Living Network Alliance protocol for wirelessly streaming media from the phone to a compatible HDTV or computer.

HTC Radar

At the launch in Singapore, HTC also unveiled the Rhyme and Sensation XE with Beats Audio. The Rhyme, which is powered by a 1GHz processor, runs on Android 2.3 with the Sense user interface. It comes with 3.7in touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera. A photo enhancer app will allow users to quickly touch up pictures and upload them to Facebook.The camera is also capable of recording 720p HD videos.Users will also be able to watch movies on the go with the Radar. Its Watch application will allow users to buy movies starting next year.The Rhyme comes with a number of cool accessories like a docking station and Charm.The docking station recharges the phone and turns the phone into an alarm clock as well as music centre so you can wake to your favourite songs played from the built-in speakers.The Charm is a small light-emitting cube that is meant to discretely alert the user to incoming calls and messages.It's particularly handy for ladies because it attaches to the phone via a cord which can be left dangling from a handbag.The Rhyme also comes with other optional accessories such as a sports armband, and Bluetooth headset.

HTC Sensation with XE

The Sensation XE, on the other hand, is the first smartphone to offer a Beats Audio experience as will come with a custom made Beats earphonesHTC said the Beats Audio experience is a combination of software and hardware that allows the users to hear music the way the artiste intended.The Android 2.3 smartphone is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and has a 4.3in touchscreen and 8-megapixel camera that records HD videos of 1080p.HTC also unveiled two phones that will be available next month and they are called the Explorer and Sensation XL with Beats Audio smartphones.The Explorer is designed for first-time smartphone users. It comes with a 3.2in touchscreen and 3-megapixel camera.It has a 600MHz processor and runs on Android 2.3 OS with the Sense user interface.The Sensation XL comes with a huge 4.7in touchscreen, 8-megapixel camera, 1.5GHz processor and Beats headsets.

HTC Rhyme

iOS 5 review

So I now have installed iOS5 and am distinctly underwhelmed and feels like a new device.You're kidding, right? It feels exactly the same to me because iOS seems to work fine on my 3GS,iPhone 4 and even iPad.Like in 3GS, you can't find an option to turn the camera on via the lock screen though.Apple has also updated a number of apps, including Pages, Keynote and Numbers to support iCloud.This means whenever you create a document on any of these applications, a copy is also uploaded to iCloud. Apart from pure iCloud support, Apple has also just updated iMovie on the iPad and iPhone to not only support 1080p video from the iPhone 4S, but also from a variety of other cameras as well.As a developer who has worked on both iOS and Android I find that Apple helps developers with its solid set of tools and rigid control on compatibility while Google helps Android by its flexibility and customization options but suffers from fragmented OS due to lots of devices.

Android users will rightly point out that Apple's implementation here is very similar to the way notifications work on Android. However,in my opinion,iOS ability to 'unlock' a notification itself and go straight to the relevant application instead of unlocking the screen and then opening the app is a plus. If I get a notification on my Galaxy Tab, I have to drag the screen down, click on the notification and if it's an email then the relevant application will open.iOS 5 also brings major speed improvements to the built-in Safari browser on supported devices, along with tabbed browsing. Yes, instead of the old thumbnail style, Safari on iOS 5 now opens up various webpages in individual tabs.I can open up to nine tabs at a time and can tap to quickly switch between them without the long loading times of the previous browser.

Some supported webpages also have a "Reader" icon, which when tapped, will reformat your pages and take away all the ads and various distractions.While reviewing it,I was able to add pages to a "Reading List" which saves the link and syncs it across all my devices so that i can read it later on another device.However, unlike my initial impression,adding a page into Reading List does not save the page for offline reading. It only saves the link and you will still need a internet connection to read the page.Reading List does however remember where you stopped on the page so you can continue where you left off when you start reading on another device.When it comes to Camera,I managed to launch it's application faster right from the lock screen by double-clicking on the Home button when my iPhone is in sleep mode.

iOS 5 Logo

I was happy that now am also allowed to snap a photo by pressing the volume up button on the iPhone, which is certainly more convenient than tapping the screen most of the time.Photo stream is another one of Apple's new iCloud-enabled features, and appears as another folder in your Photos app. The idea is simple and entails to take a photo on one device and have it appear on all iOS devices using the same iCloud account.In practice it works really well.Pictures that appear in the Photo stream on all devices cannot be deleted.For some weird reason Apple does not allow you to delete any photos from the Photo Stream, which isn't great if you have an embarrassing photo that you don't want anyone else to see.

By default, pictures will be automatically deleted from Photo stream after 30 days, but there is a way to clear out the cache immediately by logging in to iCloud.com with your username and password and then choose "Reset the Photo Stream" from the settings page.However, even at icloud.com, there is no way to delete individual photos. iTunes WiFi SyncOne of the new features that iOS 5 brings is the ability to sync your device with iTunes wirelessly over your local WiFi network.iTunes WiFi sync needs to be enabled by first connecting the device to iTunes via the sync cable and then choosing "Sync with this iPhone/iPad/iPod touch over WiFi," after which the device's icon will appear permanently in iTunes.WiFi sync works automatically whenever i connected my device is in sleep mode and connected to power and it also does the same when you manually initiate it from either the device or iTunes.Tabbed browsing is a step backwards in my view because it ends up taking more screen real estate up and now I have to remember what each tab is instead of being able to see, if I have too many open.

Apple should be ashamed because someone like me who have an iPad 2 and use Ubuntu on my Desktop there is nothing much to celebrate. As far as I can tell most of the features of iOS 5 are not going to be relevant to me. I only use notifications for diary and don't want them to change. I don't do twitter oftenly. People who I occasionally skype don't have Apple products so iMessage is a waste of time. iMessage is Apple's answer to the popular BlackBerry Messenger service, which takes advantage to send messages to other iOS users for free.In iOS 5, the implementation of iMessage is pretty seamless on the iPhone and it's completely integrated into the existing Messages application of the iPhone.When I tried to send my boss Ville Makinnen a message via the Messages app, it went well because iMessages is colour-coded in blue and has a blue "Send" button.While testing,I tried sending a text message to my father who does not without iOS 5 and is not using an iOS device, the app defaulted to SMS and was colour-coded in green, so am now able to always know when am being charged by the carrier or when am using my data package.

iOS Features

iCloud does not work with Linux. Better Safari with tabbed browsing seems like one of the few things I will benefit from. When it comes this part,it seems like much excitement about nothing.By all accounts, the update to Apple iOS 5 has been far from a smooth upgrade experience for most users because it's a combination of high demand straining Apple servers to various problems with the update on some PCs meant that many users failed in their first attempt at updating their iOS device.I can say without shadow of doubt that the users were rewarded with a spanking new operating system on their devices, which in many ways, brings a lot of subtle but very important changes to the iOS experience. In use, this is an extremely fast and convenient way to get back to the Home screen and will at least save on a lot of wear and tear on the physical Home button.

Android users will find Apple's Notification Center in iOS 5 very familiar and it's basically almost an exact copy of the implementation in Android devices.Notification Center attempts to solve the clunky single pop-up notifications from older versions of iOS and is the new repository for all your incoming SMS, e-mail and other notifications.Now, instead of an annoying pop-up in the middle of the screen when you get a new text message or Facebook notification, you get a less obtrusive banner on the top edge of the screen and can ignore it and it will just disappear from there after a few seconds as I observed.If i want to read all my notifications,I just swiped downwards from the top edge of the screen down to open the Notifications Center.The Notifications Center also has a couple of widgets running a weather widget and a Stocks ticker will be running by default.Some users may find this annoying, but luckily I was able to remove these widgets by going into settings and the notifications to turn them off.

How Twitter Looks on iOS 5

In the Settings page,I was also able to customize every application that has notifications, choosing for example, whether to receive notifications, and if accept,will it appear as a pop-up or as a banner.Overall,to me the biggest new feature of iOS 5 has to be the iCloud that brings online sync and backup to every iOS device.iCloud is actually a collection of several different cloud services and at its most basic, it can backup your contacts list, calendar events, reminders, browser bookmarks and notes online and keep it in sync across all your devices.Apple also offers 5GB of storage online for "Storage and Backup" which allows you to back up data from all other apps, including third-party apps - such as the Camera Roll, game saves and other similar types of data.iCloud doesn't actually back up an app and it saves the unique data for that app and in a restore situation, it will download this data, then re-download the whole app from Apple servers again for you, which saves you a lot of storage space because it's only backing up the save data and not the app itself.In conclusion,this is such a significant overhaul that users who have installed like me,are feeling like they have a new device.Verdict:Go for it.

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

What a lovely phone that made me feel like ditching the plans for other brands since iPhone 4S offers the same old stuff.I was inside the computer room when a friend came in asking for help on how launch applications in her new phone called Sony Ericsson Live that has a walkman.Oh,the phone is awesome.There was no doubt that Sony Ericsson designed an Android smartphone for music lovers with its latest Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman music phone with an eye in trendy and tech savvy youth.

The smartphone features an attractive curved design with a glossy finnish and 3.2in screen of 480 x 320 pixels.It is powered by a 1GHz processor and runs Android Gingerbread 2.3. It also comes with 320MB of built-in storage that can be expanded by up to 32GB with a microSD card.The phone has a front facing VGA camera for Skype video calling and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera that can capture 720p HD videos.To enhance the phone's audio output through its built-in speakers, it comes with Sony's xLoud technology that allows music to be turned up loud without distortion.

Additionally, the Live with Walkman phone has deep Facebook integration that allows users to share, like and recommend content from the music player and photo gallery.As the lady explained to me,the phone has a dedicated Walkman hardware button that gives users instant access to the music player to choose a track, make a playlist and start listening to tunes. The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman comes bundled with a Sony MDR-ZX100 headset while stocks last.It also boast Sony's proprietary xLOUD technology which enhances audio output and deliver a unique social music experience unlike any other.

How to be successful in mobile application development

After being in the game for nearly a decade, I have gained worthy experience about the industry and can now differentiate a successful and non-successful mobile developer.Mobile applications developers must be aware that successful applications are not one-off projects. They are long term labours that require much thoughts.Therefore,in my opinion it is critical that programmers are involved in the project from the beginning because afterthoughts are expensive and need to have everyone on the same page from the get go.

As a developer,I have invested in talent acquisition and retention and can work with a timeline that puts 60% of the budget into development and 40% into iterative refinement of the eventual product. Mobile apps are a game changer and now with app downloads exceeding music download developers lives can only get better and have no regret because it is now a very lucrative industry.However,we all know success is not a bed of roses and application developers must produce higher quality content with a view to generating more revenue.Unfortunately,not all countries have market place for this major application market place.

How we developers download our tools.This was an image i captured while downloading Windows dev tools

Last week,while going through the latest report and trend in the industry, I learned that only 5% of apps launched in the marketplace are successful and staggering 95% have failed to meet the projected take up rates.I can simply say that Ideas are limitless but what lacks is unique selling point.Not all is rosy though because increasing competition in value-added services from application stores and other telecommunications brands, has led to an industry shift to a prosumer model, which embraces open collaboration and user-generated content.

Developers must try to be part of telecom's developer programme in order to be able to fully leverage on the telecom companie's resources to market their application otherwise they will keep being frustrated.In conclusion,there is need to conduct virtual load testing on backend systems before any public rollout of an application so that developers can gauge themselves. I can point to the recent issues experienced by users worldwide in downloading and installing Apple's iOS5 operating system as a case in point.

We cannot do much without having variety of smartphones...

New Motorola Razr phone

New Motorola Razr

Early this week,Motorola unveiled a new version of its top-selling handset, the Razr which runs Android and is just 7.1mm thin.The device features a Kevlar body, a top-of-the range 4.3" display and a 1.2GHz processor. The 2004 Razr was launched as a high-fashion designer phone and after the price was lowered made it extremely popular and sold over 130m pieces worldwide which was record numbers. Statistics shows that it is still the world's best-selling clamshell phone,and featured in popular TV shows such a Jeremy Clarkson's Top Gear.

I have to admit,it looks good and it sounds good, but my guess is Motorola will inevitably drop any support and firmware updates after the first 8 months, like they have done before but the avoid that then I can predict a bright future for this iconic brand. I have had six Motorola phones all together like dext, rokr, razr, and one thing that gives me hope as consumer is that off all those phones I have only ever encountered problems with Dext not Razr.I would like to say that android Razr features Motorola's Webtop software and is compatible with the company's Lapdock accessories which is a welcome and timely move by the Motorola team.

New Motorola Razr in different angles

The new Razr will have an 8megapixel camera that can record in full 1080p HD video. A feature called "Smart Actions" will also automate certain settings, so that, for instance, the phone can automatically put itself on silent when the GPS registers that it has entered its owner's workplace. The Razr will also be sold with a range of accessories including the laptop-style lapdock made popular by the Motorola Atrix smartphone. Running Android 2.3.5, the new device also includes a new app called MotoCast, which allows the device to stream or download content such as music, films or files from any computer in the world, so long as it is also using MotoCast.

Motorola Razr from a different angle

No doubt that Motorola Razr is an iconic brand, and one that originally revolutionized the mobile device industry by turning a functional necessity into an object of desire.Unlike the original Razr, this phone does not interest me all that much because it also doesn't run the newest android,"ice cream sandwich".However,it's a couple centimeters thinner than other smart phones and that is not a big deal to me.The features offered on it are not special in any way and the price they charge you could get a slightly thicker phone with better features.