Are Google’s Wallet Dreams in Danger?

Let’s get something straight: Google’s head will always be in the clouds.
Every major product it’s working on — mobile, social, video, whatever — emphasizes long-term payoffs over short-term gains. For Google, the goal is to create products that revolutionize industries, shaking up established tech-biz hierarchies. Google Wallet, the company’s smartphone-based mobile payments initiative, is perhaps the apex of Google’s lofty thinking. And now Wallet is under fire for security risks, raising serious questions about the product’s long-term viability.
Security research firm Zvelo — which analyzes and sells threat-detection services — discovered a vulnerability in Wallet’s password system on Wednesday. In short, Zvelo found that smartphone thieves could potentially access users’ secret Wallet PIN numbers. Wallet’s saving grace in this situation, however, is that the threat only applies to Android devices that have been “rooted,” a process that provides privileged, superuser access to whoever owns (or steals) the device. Rooting isn’t recommended for amateurs, and is usually only useful to software geeks.
So, to some degree, what Zvelo uncovered wasn’t a huge deal. Rooting your phone always comes with risks. What’s more, Google has consistently warned users about the security risk. “We strongly encourage people to not install Google Wallet on rooted devices,” said Google spokesman Nate Tyler in a statement provided to Wired. “And to always set up a screen lock as an additional layer of security for their phone.”

But not a day following the Zvelo blow-up, another more serious problem came to light. Mobile blog The Smartphone Champ discovered that those who owned non-rooted devices running Google Wallet were also found to be potentially at risk.
Currently, you can only link a Citibank MasterCard to your Google Wallet account for payment. If you don’t have one of those cards, Google provides a pre-paid card that acts as a credit card, to which you can transfer money from any of your existing accounts (Citibank or any other creditor). The problem is, once you link your prepaid account to that phone, the linking data stays inside the phone — even after wiping a phone of all your personal information.
So, ultimately, if you lose or give away your phone, anyone can reinstall Wallet and access your prepaid account with his or her own PIN. The interloper can’t siphon out your credit card account, but he or she can still grab all the credits you’ve put into Wallet.
This is an egregious security risk. And it comes at a bad time. Google is already fighting an uphill battle to convince customers that linking credit cards to smartphones is a safe, preferred alternative to carrying around cash and plastic in beat-up leather.
Google’s response to this latest embarrassment, again, was swift. The company is currently working on an automated fix for the exploit, and it should be ready soon, says spokesman Nate Tyler. Moreover, Google urges anyone who loses a Wallet-carrying smartphone to disable his or her account ASAP.
But there’s still a problem: We aren’t yet capable of seeing our lost phones as lost wallets. Imagine your gut reaction after losing your physical wallet. You get on the phone and immediately cancel all your plastic, replacing your stolen cards with an entire set of new ones. A lost phone, however, usually just spurs a trip to a phone store or kiosk.
And that’s all to be expected for a mobile payments scheme that’s still in its infancy. Google launched Wallet less than half a year ago, and widespread adoption is seriously hindered by the fact that there’s literally only one phone on which Wallet will work: Samsung’s Nexus S 4G, carried by Sprint. That’s one smartphone out of hundreds of options. Even worse, at 9 months old, the Nexus S is positively ancient in mobile hardware years.
Wireless carriers aren’t making things easy for Google, either. Not wanting to miss out on a potentially lucrative new revenue stream, Verizon asked Google to block Wallet from the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone a mere fortnight before the phone’s release. As it stood, Google and the credit card companies were the ones making all the money, while carriers like Verizon were denied any piece of the mobile payments pie. (As a side note, the carriers tried to do their own thing with the ISIS mobile payments initiative, but the credit card companies didn’t want to let that happen.)
And it gets worse for Google still: Even if the company manages to get Wallet’ed phones in the field and convinces carrier partners to play ball, it still must resolve retailer skepticism.
“Few retailers are prepared to support NFC payments, as it requires deployment of additional infrastructure at the checkout,” Gartner analyst Van Baker told Wired in an e-mail. “Even when all these ducks line up, there is little to convince the consumer to use the technology as they are pretty comfortable with their cards.”
Add all this up, toss in the recent security scares, and Google’s Wallet dreams look bleaker by the day. Nonetheless, Wallet looks like yet another project that Google is willing to tackle over the long haul, managing stumbles and flare-ups as they occur. It’s a strategy we openly accept in search development, and merely tolerate when it comes to personal data mining. But with Wallet, we’re entrusting Google with our money.
It’s a territory in which Google may not have unlimited time — and consumer patience — to explore.

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Flygrip: Smartphone attachment keeps your smartphone safe in your hand

There is variety of accessories for your smartphone on the market, but if you’re looking for an accessory that can keep your smartphone safe, you might be interested in this latest accessory called Flygrip.

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Report: Google is Working on a Streaming Music System

As the battle for the living room rages with a proliferation of smart TVs and streaming media devices, Google may be entering the fray with a contender of its own. No, it’s not a third version of Google TV. A new rumor says Google is building a living room device that focuses on music.
The Wall Street Journal reports Google is working on a home entertainment system that would stream music wirelessly through users’ homes.

If true, the effort would mark the first time that Google would delve into hardware, a dramatic development for an outfit that has never produced hardware in any capacity. Unlike Android Nexus products — de facto Google reference designs, but branded as Samsung gear — Google will market the streaming music product under its own brand name, the Journal reports.

Details are scant, but it sounds incredibly similar to Google’s Android @Home initiative, first announced last May at Google’s I/O developer conference. At the time, Google engineering director Joe Britt demoed Android @Home using a Motorola Xoom tablet to control lighting on-stage, in cooperation with a partner company, Lighting Science, which provided the peripheral hardware.

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Chinese Firm Demands $1.6 Billion from Apple in iPad Trademark Dispute

Apple is embroiled in a trademark suit over ownership of the iPad name, and the battle has taken a dark turn for Cook and company. Apple might have to shell out anywhere from $38 million to $1.6 billion if Chinese courts don’t rule in its favor — and it’s looking like they won’t.
In 2006, Taiwanese company Proview Electronics agreed to sell the iPad name (which it had registered in 2000 and 2001 in Taiwan and China) to Apple for $55,000. But Apple only secured the rights to the iPad name from Taiwan and not China, where the name is still owned by a subsidiary called Proview Technology, and is used in several of its products.
Apple used a U.K.-based company called IP Application Development to keep the transaction from receiving public attention. In fact, Proview’s chairman had no idea in 2006 that IP Application Development had any ties to Apple. But once it became clear that Apple was the company that purchased the trademark in Taiwan — and failed to do so in China — things got ugly.
“It is arrogant of Apple to just ignore our rights and go ahead selling the iPad in this market, and we will oppose that,” Proview chairman Yang Rongshan told the Financial Times back in 2010. “Besides that, we are in big financial trouble and the trademarks are a valuable asset that could help us sort out part of that trouble.”
But, hey, at least Proview is honest about its motivations.

Proview began threatening to sue Apple in October 2010, and finally followed through in 2011. Apple counter-sued, arguing it rightfully owned the iPad name, but lost that case. Apple has appealed, and according to the Xicheng district court administration, the case is “still under investigation.” The outlook for Apple winning this one isn’t good, though.
Proview has now filed lawsuits in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Huizhou in order to stop sales of Apple’s tablet.
“We ask the court to stop selling and marketing for Apple’s iPad in China,” Xie Xianghui, Proview Technology’s lawyer, said. The company is demanding compensation totaling between $38 million and $1.6 billion. “We also demand an apology.”
Although this trademark debacle shouldn’t stymie the fortunes of the iPad 3 in the U.S. and most of the world, it will likely hinder Apple’s momentum in China, particularly with the opening of new Apple stores. And that’s going to hurt: At Apple’s most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook said, “China is an extremely important market for us.”
At least Apple has a whopping $96.7 billion in the bank, so it shouldn’t hurt that much.

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Why Telcos Would Be Testing an Apple iTV Prototype

One day, Apple is purportedly sourcing parts suppliers for it rumored HDTV project. The next day, actual HDTV prototypes are in the hands of research labs in Canada. Such is the hurried development cycle of a product that currently lives only in rumorspace.
Indeed, no manufacturing challenge is too difficult for Apple when it’s working on a project that doesn’t officially exist.
According to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, telecom companies Rogers and Bell Canada have in their labs an early prototype of Apple’s rumored television set. Although the possibility of an honest-to-goodness prototype being tested is exciting, the idea that it’s being scrutinized by telco operators is actually the more interesting part of the report.
“Rumors that Apple’s television is in the hands of telcos suggest that they’ve decided to follow the Microsoft model, rather than creating the ‘Apple subscription experience,’” Forrester analyst James McQuivey said. With the Xbox, Microsoft teamed up with Comcast and other providers to push TV and cable services onto its gaming console. If The Globe and Mail‘s report is to be believed, Apple would be taking a similar approach with its TV, rather than providing an a la carte-style subscription service, a tack some have suggested Apple might follow.

“They’re looking for a partner. They’re looking for someone with wireless and broadband capabilities,” The Globe and Mail source said of Apple. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek suggested that in the U.S., the TV would likely arrive on AT&T and Verizon.
“This business model makes the most sense for Apple,” IHS analyst Jordan Selburn told Wired, saying the approach would let Apple completely integrate content from the operator, as well as iTunes. This strategy would also give operators the chance to dip their toes into the set-top box game, Selburn said, giving them “some way to jump on and monetize the video content train” popularized by devices like Roku, Apple TV and Boxee.
Yesterday, a leaked Best Buy survey queried potential buyers about their interest in an Apple-branded TV, fueling further speculation. Last week, a report had Apple reaching out to component suppliers to source the display and other parts for its television set. And these two most recent rumor tidbits follow even deeper speculation regarding the TV’s user experience, size and component suppliers.
As for the prototypes being tested in Canada, Selburn was a bit surprised. “You’d want to go with companies that have the most subscribers,” he said, calling out Comcast as an obvious partner. “Not AT&T and Verizon, or BC and Rogers. Apple doesn’t have a history of doing things in a small fashion.”
Whenever — if ever — Apple’s iTV does come out, it seems poised for success: Wall Street analysts think Apple could snatch up 5 percent of the entire HDTV market.
“The sheer mass of rumors over the past six months seems to indicate this is real,” Selburn said.

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Chrome Web Browser Finally Comes to Android Phones, Tablets

Android is finally getting Chromed out.
Google launched a beta version of Chrome for Android smartphones and tablets Tuesday, delivering a mobile version of the popular desktop web browser after a very long wait. Indeed, both Android and Chrome launched more than three years ago, and users have demanded unification ever since.
Why bemoan the long wait? Much like the company’s other products and services, the new Chrome app hooks wonderfully into the Google universe, giving those immersed in desktop Google apps even more incentive to choose Android as their mobile OS. So, naturally, we would hope — nay, expect — that Chrome would be the default browser for the Android OS.
But this hasn’t been the case. Android users have been forced to use a generic, stock browser (unceremoniously named “Browser”) that’s inferior to not only Chrome, but also other browsers available in the Android Market. Dolphin, anyone?
Google had a reason to take its time: It wanted to do Chrome for Android right.
“We didn’t want to just push out Chrome light,” said Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Google Chrome, in an interview. “Our goal was to get all of Chrome onto Android.”
Which is exactly what Pichai and his team did. It’s a full version of the Chrome browser for Android, still performing as adroitly as ever without losing the features that come in the desktop version.
There are clear perks in using Chrome instead of other Android browsers. If you’re already a desktop Chrome user, your bookmarks will be synced across all your browser versions after signing into your Google account. Even cooler, if you’ve left pages open on your laptop at home, you can access those same open tabs from your mobile Chrome browser. Search terms you’ve entered on your desktop browser also carry over to Chrome for Android, saving precious time and screen tapping.

But most important of all, Chrome is fast. Really freaking fast. When typing in an address into the search bar, for instance, Chrome predicts what page you’re going to visit and starts loading it in the browser background. So by the time you’ve clicked “go,” most of the site has already loaded.
To be sure, the Chrome browser itself is nothing new. It’s been around since 2008, when Google first decided to take on Microsoft, Mozilla and others by casting its lot in the browser wars. The move proved to be a smart one: For nearly the past year and a half, Chrome has slowly increased market share, according to various browser analytics firms’ estimates.
In fact, Chrome actually surpassed Firefox, once the most popular alternative to the dominant Internet Explorer (which still holds about 50 percent of desktop browser share). After Tuesday’s debut for Android devices — of which there are more than 700,000 activations daily — Chrome’s adoption numbers will only escalate.

But the Chrome release raises a number of questions about the new browser app, and the relationship that the Android and Chrome teams have with one another. When the Chrome team first announced it was creating a Chrome-based operating system — later to be known as Chrome OS — it was difficult to resolve how the software wouldn’t come into conflict with Android. After all, Android is the premier operating system for all things mobile (smartphones, tablets). Except, that is, for Google’s version of the netbook: the Chromebook. So the question is, Which OS owns what? Is it Chrome for netbooks, and Android for everything else?
Pichai thinks there’s room enough for both operating systems. The Chrome OS, he says, can be seen “as a different computing paradigm.” It’s one that, “end-to-end, is fully based on the web.”
“Native mobile applications are thriving, but web apps are going to thrive as well,” Pichai said.
While it’s nice to see the two camps playing nicely in Tuesday’s release, it’s not without a caveat. As of Tuesday’s launch, Chrome for Android is only available for smartphones and tablets running Android version 4.0 (a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich). At this point, this includes just a handful of phones and tablets. And of course, it’s Chrome “beta” for Android, so don’t expect everything to work perfectly.
Still, Pichai is confident the Chrome team will drop the “beta” title sooner rather than later. “After announcing Chrome the first time, we took it out of beta in three months,” Pichai said. “I’d expect this to happen here in the near future.” And as it stands, after Chrome moves out of beta, the plan is for Chrome to take the place of Android’s default browser permanently.
If you’ve got Ice Cream Sandwich, head to the Android Market to download the app right now.

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Gadget Lab Podcast: E-Cigarettes, a 3-D Food Printer, the Future of Digital Music

This week, Michaels Isaac and Calore discuss Facebook’s looming public stock offering, take a gander at a 3-D printer that outputs to a unique fried-food format, and dig into high-definition alternatives to MP3 audio. But the show, quite dramatically, opens with a big puff of smoke.
That’s right: Mike Isaac starts the podcast by demoing a disposable electronic cigarette. According to Square, the company that makes the device, the e-cigarette is good for 500 puffs — the number of puffs Square reckons you’d get from two packs of tobacco smokes. Each e-cigarette is a $10 purchase, which is less than the cost of two traditional cigarette packs (a commodity that’s heavily taxed in most markets).
Square also says the e-cigarette is legal to smoke on airplanes, a claim that’s met with skepticism by Mike and Mike. The system works by vaporizing what Square calls “E-juice,” a nicotine-laced mixture that produces water vapor but not any tar.
Next up, Mike Isaac riffs on Facebook’s IPO bid. The stock’s ticker code will simply be FB, Mike says, and shares could debut on the market sometime in May for as much as $30 for share — if Facebook gets its way. The big question mark? How Facebook will monetize its mobile traffic, currently a great untapped source of income.
Our two Mikes then toss to a video shot at the Cornell University Creative Machines Lab. We’re shown the amazing talents of a 3-D printer called Fab@Home. Not only can this open hardware platform print 3-D objects made of silicone and stainless steel epoxy, it can also be loaded with food media like peanut butter, cookie dough and Nutella.
In a vivid demonstration of the printer’s talents, the video shows the device crafting an elaborate 3-D model made entirely of corn batter. It’s dropped in a deep fryer, and comes out looking like a crispy, delectable spyrograph design.
In response, Michael Calore shares that he’d like to print lobster in a nacho-like form factor.
The show ends with Calore providing a primer on high-definition digital audio formats, including Apple Lossless, FLAC and Direct Stream Digital. Apparently, veteran rocker Neil Young is no fan of the MP3 format, and he made this very clear at a recent All Things Digital conference. Ever the helping hand, Calore explains what enraged audiophiles can do about the MP3 scourge.

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RIM Claws Back Against Apple and Google With Free Tablets

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop put it best: “The industry has shifted from a battle of devices, to a war of ecosystems.” In other words, a smartphone or a tablet is only as good as the apps it runs.
This is good news for some — namely, Apple and Google. The two dominant mobile application platforms currently offer the majority of smart-device apps, boasting numbers in the hundreds of thousands. But for underdogs like RIM, it foretells a grim outlook on the future of the company’s mobile platform.
In an effort to claw its way back into the game, RIM has settled on a new strategy. Effective today until Feb. 13, every Android developer who ports an Android application over to the BlackBerry ecosystem will receive a free PlayBook, according to a recent tweet sent by RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders.
It’s part of a broader attempt to seed not only seed the market with devices but also spur further app development. The more hardware on the market, the more likely developers will create code for the tablets. At first blush, this may seem like an effective strategy. But some analysts say RIM is going about this in the wrong way.
“Developers don’t need free devices to develop. They target those platforms that give them the biggest chance to sell their products,” Gartner analyst Phillip Redman told Wired. “Those that have larger market share will attract more developers.”
The app worlds of Apple and Google dwarf RIM’s offering, which stands at approximately 50,000 apps. To be fair, that’s about what you get with Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS, and it’s far more impressive number than, say, the 10,000-odd apps available for HP’s ill-fated webOS. But it’s literally one-tenth the number of apps Apple has in its App Store.
The good news is that RIM is trying. Amid a hostile mobile environment with its own collapsing market share, RIM released its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in April of last year, the supposed comeback device that would leverage RIM’s enterprise strength with enhanced security options, while simultaneously going after the consumer market and, ultimately, taking on the iPad.

Well, that didn’t work. The PlayBook was a complete flop, with shipping estimates in the hundreds of thousands for 2011. Compare that to iPad sales, which reached nearly 15 million in the company’s first fiscal quarter alone. Thus RIM’s new strategy: Give ‘em away.
But this may not work either. What incentive do developers have to create more apps for PlayBooks when it’s other developers — not consumers, the main purveyors of apps — who are getting all the free PlayBooks? Think of it as play for market traction, only backwards. If anything, it makes more sense to seed devices with consumers, a tack RIM has attempted to take in recent months.
Last year, during Black Friday — a veritable holiday celebrating capitalism in the U.S. — RIM slashed prices of existing PlayBook inventory to a fraction of the $500 they initially sold for, causing a rapid sell-out in third-party retailers and a back-log of orders at RIM’s warehouses (immediately inviting comparisons to HP’s TouchPad fire sale earlier in the year). RIM liked the promotion so much the company tried it again in January.
The other side of RIM’s latest effort is also strange. Let’s parse it out: Android developers will get a free BlackBerry tablet if they port an Android app to work in the PlayBook’s virtual Android environment. The idea is to leverage the existing glut of Android apps available by allowing developers to bring them over to RIM’s PlayBook.
The question is: how compelled am I to purchase a BlackBerry device in order to use Android apps? Why not just purchase an Android device?
Rather than leech off of Android’s superior market position, RIM’s best bet at this point is to beef up its handset and tablet portfolio with quality products. Or as IDC analyst Al Hilwa puts it: “There is very little magic RIM can do with consumer ecosystems at this point except deliver killer devices that consumers want to buy.”
RIM was unable to make an executive available for interview before this story’s time of publication.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll see those devices any time soon. RIM announced its latest line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones — the one line to bring the PlayBook’s QNX operating system to smartphones for the first time — will be delayed until late 2012, a release date much further off than the company had originally anticipated.
We have hope. The PlayBook was rushed out the door to make its April 2011 debut last year, and summarily crashed and burned. If the company can take its time with its OS revamp, perhaps it can find its way back to a seat at the mobile ecosystem table.

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Crytek creating social network for gamers, called Gface

It seems that everyone is excited into creating a social network for each other but right now social networking is dominated by Facebook although it is created for a more general audience. However, there is rarely one that is created for a specific type of people but Crytek is doing its best to promote their new social networking website made especially for gamers.

Now it is possible to play games by means of streaming much like what OnLive is offering to its customers. Crytek is currently offering the service through its Gface website. It uses a cloud technology platform called Seed Engine which allows users to play games in single and multi-player platforms. Some of the games are in 2D while others are high-performance games. In addition to that, users can also connect with each other through the website’s interface.

Currently, Gface is available for closed beta only. Those that are interested can definitely drop their email at the Gface website and if you’re lucky, you might be able to join the closed beta community. Gface will definitely change the gaming community for good especially if Crytek applies the website to a bunch of their games such as Crysis and the lot.

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AMD Enters Mobile League

Intel entered the mobile processor race this year with the announcement of deals with Lenovo and Motorola to launch smartphones and tablets based on Intel processors. Its first product, the Lenovo K800 was displayed at CES this year and it will soon be on sale in China. But Intel’s closest rival AMD is not one to be left behind. Now they have also announce their intentions to get in the arena soon enough.

CEO Rory Read revealed AMD’s plans to make processors for tablets in an analyst meeting and that new processors codenamed Hondo would be used in Windows 8 tablets being released later this year. The processors will be made with versions of one, two and four cores. The chip will have both the microprocessor and the graphics processor together in a single unit named as APU(Accelerated Processing Unit).

He also said about the new processors being developed at AMD that will be released over this and the next year. Hondo will be followed by Temash which will feature the new Jaguar processing core. It will be released in 2013. As posted earlier in reference to the next XBOX, AMD will start shipping the Trinity-based APUs later this year. But XBOX will not sport the said processors.

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Best Gadgets For Web Designers

As a web designer you will always want specific system requirements to be fulfilled in order to deliver cutting edge websites to your clients. There are several laptops and PCs which offer software and hardware specs that are actually needed by a web designer. Here we will discuss about some of the tools and gadgets that will simplify and enhance your web designing experience.

Apple MacBook Pro:

 Generally a web designer needs several heavy programs to be installed in the system. For instance Dreamweaver, Flash and Adobe Photoshop are frequently needed to accomplish tasks. Apple MacBook provides you with the required power and speed to run all these programs. Another fact is that when you are buying a laptop make sure the RAM is high so that you can run several programs simultaneously without any problem. Besides all these you get cloud which can be used to share files between two computers so that you are always up to date.

Apple iPad 2:

 A geek’s gadgets list is incomplete without Apple iPad 2. You can carry this tablet wherever you go. It can also be beneficial if you want to pay a visit to your client and show how the work is going on.

Wacom Intuos4 Extra Large Tablet:

Tablets can enhance the workflow of a web designer to a great extent. Specially drawing and annotating images is greatly simplified with a tablet rather than any pointing device. The extra large version of this tablet is best for web designers. You can also find a wireless version of the tablet.

External USB Sata Drive Dock:

This amazing gadget can connect two laptop hard disk drives and can be used to back up your important website files. The data transfer rate is 480 Mbps with USB 2.0. 

Canon PowerShot SD 870:

 When you have this pocket camera, it is possible to capture any image and make appear on the website you are going to build for your client. The image quality is great and it can easily be cropped to fit into your website.

 

Optimus Maximus Keyboard:

 

This is an awesome keyboard which is completely customizable. The best part is that each key is an OLED screen which can be programmed. Depending on what you are doing the keys will change. You can even configure photoshop hotkeys for accessing most frequenly used functions.
We will be updating this page with more interesting gadgets that web designers will find helpful. If you have any suggestions please comment here. Meanwhile you can check out freelance web developer london for some really cool web designing stuff.

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Sharp Aquos Board

ot content with flooding  homes with uber-colorful Quattron TVs,  Sharp turns its attention to high powered executive presentations,  retail and the classroom with a massive new range of touchscreen displays. Available in 60-, 70- and 80- inch models.
The Aquos Board runs on Windows 7 and has Microsoft Office Support . Dual touch capabilities means is you’re called up to answer a question, you can get it wrong via stylus  as well as your hand.

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Techinline Remote Desktop Support Software Review

Gone are the days where those that purchase remote desktop support software are only a little niche in the market today as more and more enterprises discover the necessity of having a remote desktop management team in their IT offices. Now as the name implies, these type of tools allows people miles away to actually control and fix issues locally. This not only decreases any discrepancy between the tech support and the user, but enables to provide quicker solutions as well. On that note, there are many tools out there that provide the same concept, so which one should you choose? Let us help you by highlighting one of these — presenting Techinline’s Remote Access Desktop Support Software.

Most remote desktop tools require the user install one or more software packages that will allow the shared connection between points. There’s the issue of security, connection speed and more among others. Techinline tries to alleviate these hassles by having a browser-based remote desktop support software. You may be thinking, “That’s too easy!”… that’s correct. With this, your company will save a lot in just purchasing and installing a single package instead of multiple ones. What about security then, that’s the main reason why other tools are “bloated.” Techinline reassures that despite having a simpler setup, security isn’t compromised with its SSL and 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) — both of which are commonly used in financial transactions.

Now that we’ve laid down the basics, here’s what Techinline’s software has to offer. For starters, you wouldn’t want a generic-looking tool if you wanted to roll it out within your company. Thus, Techinline gives you lots of options in customizing the look of both the local and remote clients from the colors to the logos among others. If that’s not enough take remote copy and pasting — that’s right, your clipboard is also shared between clients. Not only your clipboard, but files themselves are transferable between users. Of course, remote desktop support is useless if both parties aren’t able to talk to each other, so Techinline included a messaging/chat client for easy communication between users. For evaluation and measurement, there are reports and logs available for administrator use that allows administrators to see how their services fare and some needed metrics measurements.
So there you have it. If you want a highly flexible and easy to use remote desktop support solution, then Techinline may actually have the one you’re looking for. Combine that with their round-the-clock global support, they will assure you that their users and your users will be satisfied either way. Now subscription licenses range from a monthly $30 to an annual charge of $300, but for the amount of money you’ll save due to less user problems, then this tool is worth the price.

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Leaked: SNK Playmore might release new Neo-Geo handheld console

Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita might be the most popular handheld consoles on the market, but if you’re looking for a different handheld console, you’ll be pleased to hear that there might be another handheld console available in the future.

 According to the leaked information, it seems that SNK Playmore is preparing a new Neo-Geo handheld console. According to the leaked information, latest Neo-Geo handheld device will use 4.3-inch display, and 2GB of internal storage space, and if 2GB of storage space isn’t enough for you, you can easily expand it using the SD card slot. This device measures 170x72x15mm, and it comes equipped with 2,200mAh battery, however, no information regarding CPU or RAM is available at the moment. As for available titles, this handheld device will come preloaded with 20 classical Neo-Geo games, so it’s rather possible that this device is powered by an emulator.
This handheld console should be perfect for fans of Neo-Geo games, but sadly, SNK Playmore hasn’t released any official information regarding this console.

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Socl, Microsoft’s New Social Network

Microsoft is developing a Social Network..?  the answer is yes , all those rumors you’ve been hearing for the past few months are true. Microsoft has finally made their move into the social networking with FuseLabs latest and secret project called, So.cl.

Microsoft is now plotting to enter into the Battle of Social Networks with a brand new social network called So.cl and they made the website as in www.so.cl  which pronounces the word Social, when combined.
So.cl is still under development but the site is now open for a limited amount of users as it is currently on a testing period to get feedbacks from the users. luckily thanks to a friend of mine, who has sent me an invite, I have managed to get inside of this social network to get a little peek at it to see what’s this fuss is all about.  Honestly my first impression was like “WOW its Awesome,” because it really is awesome.

Specially The design and the colors they have chosen for the site is simply brilliant, it really liven up the whole website. and in comparison to other social networks, this site has a breathtaking and easy to navigate design which defeats the Pale and Dull looking design  of the Facebook and Google+.  And it also has all the main features of a social Network along with  few new things.
Microsoft describes the So.cl network as a project to deliver new social, real-time, and media-rich experiences for home and work as a search and social networking tool, which aims to combine your search with social and the web to bring you the best personalized search experience ever. It’s like the Google’s new Search Feature which personalize your search with Google+ profiles (it is most certain that Google must have stolen the idea from So.cl)


i have to say content sharing system of So.cl does look a little bit similar to the Google+ and also its really not easy to update your Status Update because you will have to go through few clicks before posting on your Feed. Network still lacks in so many ways but it is only the beginning of a new era. im sure soon we will be seeing a new and improved version of this site entering War against Facebook and Google+.
Microsoft Never starts a Project without a plan, so This site will definitely end up as a top class Social Network in the future and maybe considering the features, facilities and the stunning easy navigating design, this site might overtake Facebook as well.  as far as it seems, the war Between the Social Giants, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ is just going to get better, when the So.cl hits public.
Anyone can try out So.cl, if you could ask a friend to send you an Invite.  Speaking of invite, I got great news for you guys,  as a reward to all my readers  I will send  invites to the First 5 People who Comments in this post. so be sure to include your Facebook Email in your comments,  as currently So.cl can only be accessed through your Facebook profile.

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Ice White HTC Sensation confirmed with Android 4.0

Ahead of MWC 2012 Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC has announced it is to launch an 'Ice White' HTC Sensation with Android 4.0 innards


HTC has revealed it is to follow in the footsteps of Apple and Samsung giving its flagship device a white hued makeover with the newly announced 'Ice White' HTC Sensation to land next month running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.

Making the announcement ahead of MWC 2012 the Ice White HTC Sensation is the first handset to be unveiled by the Taiwanese handset manufacturer since it announced last month that 2012 would see it release fewer handsets in an attempt to curb consumer confusion. The Ice White HTC Sensation release date has been set for March 1st.

Ice White HTC Sensation Specs

Asides from adding the newly released Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich innards the lightly toned edition of the HTC Sensation is to land sporting the same array of high-end specs as its originally released predecessor.

Touting a 4.3-inch SLCD display with a 540 x 960p resolution and a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor the HTC Sensation was originally unveiled last summer as the latest flagship Android device to come from the company responsible for the HTC Desire and Wildfire S.

Lining up at just 11.3 mm thick and 148g in weight the Ice White HTC Sensation is to land boasting an 8-megapixel rear-mounted camera with dual LED flash and Full HD 1080p video recording capabilities.

Is white always the best second option for handset colour? What colour devices would you like to see unveiled? Let us know via the comments box below.
Tempted by the HTC Sensation? Find out all the details in our HTC Sensation video below.

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iWatch 2 concept images – wearable computer

I generally wear iPod nano as a watch, but with Android wrist-top gadgets that offer more features reaching the market, it is feeling a little behind the times these days. Something like Antonio De Rosa’s new iWatch2 idea design is much more in maintaining with what I would expect Apple to offer in the upcoming future of wearable computing products.
Like the iPhone SJ idea before it, De Rosa’s iWatch 2 (which is itself a refresh of an older iWatch design) appears to be something that you could simply imagine gracing the desk of Apple layout guru Jony I have at this very moment: It has the aluminum and glass attraction of the iPhone 4 and 4S, along with an on-screen UI that looks convincingly iOS motivated.

In spite of what Apple really has planned in the way of wearable wrist-top computing, I however want this idea to fly out of my dreams and on to my wrist. What about you?

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HP WebOS Open Source Launch Set for September

The open source resurrection of WebOS is underway, allowing device makers and hackers to install the operating system on tablets or other gadgets as early as September.
WebOS is the platform that HP acquired along with Palm for $1.2 billion in 2010. HP planned to make phones and tablets based on WebOS, with the goal of being an Apple-like company that controlled hardware and software. But being like Apple isn’t easy, and in light of dismal sales, HP scrapped its WebOS hardware plans last fall. Instead of killing WebOS, HP now plans to release it as open source software.

A lot of nitty-gritty technical stuff has to happen between now and September. For starters, HP wants to switch the platform to a standard Linux kernel, which, as The Verge points out, will make loading WebOS onto other devices easier due to the greater availability of drivers. HP is also working on a new version of its application framework, called Enyo, which allows WebOS apps to run through web browsers on other platforms. (Think of being able to run WebOS apps within Chrome, or Internet Explorer, in addition to running on phones and tablets.)

Realistically, device makers aren’t going to put WebOS on a phone or tablet this year. They may end up avoiding the platform entirely. But I can see hackers running wild with the operating system soon after the source code is released. If you’re not afraid to tinker, you might be able to boot WebOS on an Android tablet before the year is through.

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Firefox 10 now available for download, has a disappearing act in-store for you

Firefox 10 is now available for download. Since we already know the UI uplift of the browser will begin with version 12, most things are under the hood this time around. Among other things it adds a disappearing forward button, which only appears once you have used the back button. Now for the less important stuff, you get a code inspector baked into Firefox akin to webkit’s “Inspect Element” and Microsoft’s “Developer Tools”.  Keep reading past the break to see the working of the developers tools.


Firefox 10 also comes with new API’s that provide for full-screen viewing of web apps, anti-aliased WebGL graphics and 3D CSS Transitions. But everything is not hunky-dory, a glitch exists that makes scrolling in GMail slow and videos misbehave in Silverlight plugin on OSX. Mozilla has stated this will be fixed in a later update. Here are the download links.
Download: Windows | Mac | Linux

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BlackBerry London leaks again, with brand new look

London calling -- the long-rumoured BlackBerry London has leaked again, and this time it's sporting a svelte new look.
CrackBerry has acquired what look to be press shots of the upcoming so-called 'superphone', which is going to be the first mobile to arrive running BlackBerry 10 -- the new version of the operating system RIM hopes will put the ailing company back on top.

We got our first peek at the London way back in November, though then it was modelling an angular, chrome finish. The phone above, meanwhile, looks much more like an iPhone, or a Samsung Galaxy S2.
By the looks of things there are no physical buttons along the bottom of the London, and while the specs are all unconfirmed, we're anticipating an 8-megapixel camera and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor.
It's no secret BlackBerry manufacturer RIM is on the ropes. The company has lost shedloads of money thanks to poor sales of its PlayBook tablet, while several new mobiles for this year have reportedly been cancelled.

The London is still on course, it would seem, but we could have a wait on our hands, as now ex-CEO Mike Lazaridis confirmed in December that phones running BlackBerry 10 have been delayed. As a consequence we likely won't see the London until late this year.
Will the BlackBerry London be enough to turn things around for RIM? We've compiled a list of five things the company's new chief needs to crack on with.
Would you hold out for the London? Or would you rather cosy up to a different smart phone? Tell us in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.

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