Expanding your mobile world with Windows Phone 7

Would you like to have the latest technology when it comes to smartphones? Windows Phone 7 is turning a lot of heads as its new software has been 2 years in the making and hasn't failed to disappoint.


Right now smartphones make up about 23% of the mobile phone market but this is continuing to grow are the costs are starting to drop and more people want to have internet access, email, facebook, and other apps right in their pocket.

The new software will make it's debut with AT&T on November 9 and then it will become available for the rest of the wireless provides in 2011. The first phones to have the new technology will run about $200 each and so far there are about 3 phones that will be sold with more expected to come soon as 6 additional phones have already been announced. The phones are designed to offer variety based on the users preferences. Some of the phones will be touchscreen while other smartphones will feature keyboards.

Windows Phone 7 is designed to be in competition with every other smartphone out there, notebaly the phones making a big impact like the Blackberry and iPhone. Microsoft has failed to impress mobile users as most of their designs have failed or been pulled off the market. Earlier in 2010 Microsoft sent the Kin to the stores but after dismal sales and embarrassment, it was pulled within a few weeks.

Microsoft is recovering from the embarrassment by placing more attention on the Windows Phone 7, which has seen its ups and downs as the iPhone was launched and caused some serious setbacks for Microsoft. The Windows Phone 7 is designed to be user friendly and made to satisfy the user in every possible way, giving the user full control over the look and feel of the phone. It allows for automatic updates to go on without taking away from the users other applications as they are using the phone.

The smartphone that will see the biggest competition from the windows Phone 7 is the Andriod. So what can you expect when you get the Windows Phone 7 in your hands? When you first turn it on you will see several icons that you can choose from that include music files, pictures, contacts, etc. Touch on the icon you want or you can choose to scroll from top to bottom to view the different apps that are available.

When you click on a program you will be directed to it but a top heading will stay at the top of each screen, telling you where you are at. This sub-menu is really unique and very clever and sure to wow a lot of people.

Like the Blackberry and Andriod it will collect the information provided by your friends on social networking sites. This allows you to gather information from facebook and twitter so you can continue fueling your social media addiction. With multitouch web-browsing and a smooth touch-screen, it is very easy to get around online and it was designed for the web.

The apps work differently on Windows Phone 7 as they are integrated right into the operating system. This makes it so they aren't like having separate programs as you see with so many other smartphones. The screen is also much larger from other smartphones, making it very easy to read and you do have the option of using a keyboard that locks behind the phone if you aren't a fan of touchscreen.

Windows Phone 7 doesn't sport the HotSpot technology like Andriod and other phones on the market but it is very impressive with other programs like Zune along with video content. There is even talk of video games that can be played on the Windows Phone 7 and integrated with your Xbox 360.

Corel MotionStudio 3D

Meet MotionStudio 3D, Corel's inaugural entry into the animation and motion graphics software category. Geared more toward novices and prosumers than professionals, this capable newcomer lets you create 3D text and titles, lathe objects, and a variety of animations with relative ease.

MotionStudio's interface is intuitive, which should be comforting to motion graphics novices. The Edit Window displays your project as you work, and can

reflect changes in near real-time--with virtually no

waiting for rendering. Also, you can drag objects directly within the Edit Window for a more tactile way to customize basic aspects like position, rotation, and size.




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The Timeline Window spans the bottom of the interface, and is relatively simple to navigate. Here is where you set the key frames that guide your animation. And with each property having its own independent timeline, it's easy to choreograph several different animated elements to work in concert.

The EasyPalette contains all of the preset effects available, and can be supplemented by plug-in effects. Here you'll find 3D Models, Text Objects, Lathe Objects, Shapes, and even simple extrusion effects. MotionStudio makes it simple to click around, experiment with these effects, and undo when necessary.

On top of its basic 3D titling and text animation capabilities, MotionStudio also includes a realistic particle effects tool that recreates the appearance and movement of elements like bubbles, fire, smoke, and snow. The tool even lets you make minor adjustments to the particles' properties such as texture, density, color, rotation, and more. Powerful, yet simple features like this are sure to attract casual users who aren't necessarily motion graphics wizards. The program also includes tons of animation presets, and lets you manipulate light sources, mimic motion blur, and adjust depth of field among other aspects.

And for the prosumers out there, MotionStudio 3D also boasts some rather powerful import and export capabilities. It can handle vector and raster graphics, and lets you easily work with files from other 3D applications. Meanwhile, it can output to a wide variety of video and still image formats including GIF and Flash (SWF) for the Web. And as expected, MotionStudio lets you easily output projects as 3D anaglyphs viewable with 3D glasses, or as side-by-side images playable on compatible 3D TVs--all with a single click.

Overall, we think Corel MotionStudio 3D provides a nice, affordable entry into the world of motion graphics. With its array of presets, powerful, yet simple features, and intuitive interface, it's a fantastic choice for newcomers and experienced motion graphics artists alike. But, if you're looking to get extremely granular in your animations, and you need a more professional level of control, then MotionStudio 3D might not be what you're looking for. If that's the case, then be prepared to spend a lot more money on your software.

Read more: Corel MotionStudio 3D - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com http://download.cnet.com/Corel-MotionStudio-3D/3000-2186_4-75572928.html#ixzz1YqsW4bTD

Facebook builds tighter integration with music, TV

Facebook unveiled new ways for users to listen to music and watch TV, offering tie-ups with the likes of Spotify and Hulu, as it attempts to make media an integral part of its social networking service.

The features, which Facebook unveiled at its annual f8 developers' conference in San Francisco on Thursday, will vastly expand the types of activities that users of the social networking service can notify their friends about, from the news articles they read to the title of each song they listen to throughout the day.

 Facebook users will also be able to listen along to whatever song a friend is listening to, provided they both subscribe to the supported third-party streaming music services, such as Spotify.

 The media push comes as Facebook faces fresh competition from Google, which in June launched a rival social networking service, Google+. In recent weeks, Facebook, which counts more than 750 million users, has rolled out a bevy of changes to its service.

 "Facebook is positioning itself as not just your social graph online, but your life online," said Forrester Research analyst Sean Corcoran.

 "These changes not only help trump rival Google but will open up new opportunities," he said. "But concerns around privacy and immaturity in how to do these things effectively will make it a slow go."

 Dressed in a gray T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, Zuckerberg said the music companies partnering with Facebook, including Rhapsody and Turntable.fm, were reinventing the music industry and the business models that underlie the industry.

 "They believe that the key to making the music business work isn't trying to block you from listening to songs you haven't bought," said Zuckerberg.

 "It's trying to help you discover so many songs that you end up buying even more content than you ever would have otherwise," he said.

 Joining Zuckerberg on stage was Netflix Chief Executive and Facebook board member Reed Hastings, who said he was excited to offer tighter integration with Facebook but did not give details.

 The Washington Post Co. unveiled its Social Reader, which lets people read and share stories from the newspaper within Facebook.

 For Facebook, a deeper integration of music, movies and other media into its service makes it more likely that users will spend more time on its site, enabling the company to generate more advertising dollars.

 The company, which generated $1.6 billion in revenue in the first six months of 2011 according to a source familiar with the matter, is being closely watched by investors hoping for an initial public stock offering next year.

 Facebook also introduced an overhaul of users' personal profiles on Thursday which arranges past photos and other information into a rich, magazine-like layout. Dubbed "Timeline," the new profile serves as a sort of diary of a person's life, organized by each year they've been on Facebook.

 With Thursday's new features, Facebook users will have new ways to flag content beyond the now familiar "like" button which people click to endorse various items on the Web, from news articles to running shoes.

 Software developers whose services connect with Facebook will be able to customize the types of notifications that are broadcast to a Facebook user's friends, with terms like "watched" a video, "read" an article or even "ate" a certain dish.

 All that extra information could be a boon for advertisers.

 "With Facebook now able to collect more data in terms of what people are watching, reading, running, doing, that's more metadata which is now going to feed into what brands and marketers target," said Hussein Fazal, the CEO of AdParlor, a firm that runs Facebook advertising campaigns for companies including Groupon.

4 reasons to synchronize your phone with your PC

Think about how much you do—or could do—with your phone: make phone calls and send and receive email, IM, and text messages. You probably download TV shows, movies, and music to your phone. And of course, you take, send, and receive photos. It's truly amazing—anywhere you go, you're connected. So here's the question. If you already have everything on your phone, why sync it with your PC?

Because synchronizing your phone with your PC is the best way to transfer information, settings, and files. You keep all your information up to date. And you have it at home and at work.
Keep appointments

We're all overbooked. If you've entered an appointment or meeting into your PC and haven't synced with your phone, you could miss the appointment. If you’re scheduling appointments away from home on your phone and your phone's not synced with the up-to-date schedule on your computer, you may miss the appointment and have to call the dentist, piano teacher, or doctor to reschedule. Often, you have to pay for those missed appointments. Plus, you go through the hassle of rescheduling.

Intel runs PC on CPU powered by solar cell

Intel shows an experimental chip that can run at under 10 milliwatts


Intel on Thursday showed an experimental low-power processor the size of a postage stamp that could run PCs on solar power.

The concept processor, code-named Claremont, can run light workloads on solar power by dropping energy consumption to under 10 milliwatts, said Justin Rattner, chief technology officer at Intel, during a keynote address at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. That is low enough to keep a chip running on a solar cell the size of a stamp.

This CPU, also called near-threshold voltage processor, may not become a commercial product, but the research could be integrated into future processors and other circuitry, Rattner said. It is part of a project in Intel Labs to reduce energy consumption five-fold on chips and to bring always-on capability to computing devices. It also will help Intel reach goals to drop power consumption when running parallel processing applications.

The chip is an experimental Pentium CPU and ran on a PC with the Linux operating system. The CPU worked in conjunction with concept DDR3 memory developed by Micron called Hybrid Memory Cube, which is seven times more power-efficient than current DDR3 memory.

The postage-stamp chip was also demonstrated on Tuesday at Intel CEO Paul Otellini's keynote at IDF. Otellini said Intel wanted to drive down power consumption of chips, and an Intel engineer demonstrated a computer running a small animation powered by a solar panel. After the solar source -- a lamp -- was blocked from the chip, the computer froze.

Today's CPUs operate several times higher than the threshold, said Shekhar Borkar, an Intel researcher, during the on-stage demonstration. At low thresholds, the CPU dropped not only power consumption, but also performance. On full power, the CPU operated 10 times faster.

The company's goal is to deliver a 300-fold improvement in energy efficiency in high-performance computing over 10 years. To illustrate the point, Borkar said that today's servers need about 200 watts of power for 100 gigaflops of performance. The company wants to drive the power consumption down to 2 watts.

Beyond fine-grained power management and efficient memory, extreme-scale computing will require better software and programming models to achieve the goal, and Intel will continue research in those areas, Borkar said.

Download and Install Windows 8 On a New Partition

So you want to try out Windows 8. Excellent! But you're not foolhardy enough to try using a developer preview build as your main work/play operating system--you just want to dabble. We'll show you how to download and install the Windows 8 developer's preview on to a separate partition (or separate hard drive, if you have a spare). If you don't feel like mucking your hard drive with another partition, read How To Download and Install Windows 8 to a Virtual Machine for a less intrusive way to get Windows 8 up and running on your PC.

If you have a spare hard drive lying around, this process is pretty easy: Download the appropriate Windows 8 ISO from the Microsoft Developer Network site, burn it to a DVD, turn off your PC, slap the hard drive in your case, and connect it up to your motherboard. Then you just turn your system on and either press the key that allows you to access your motherboard's boot menu (or change the boot options in the BIOS so your optical drive is recognized before your main hard drive), and you should boot off your new Windows 8 disk. From there, just fire up the Windows 8 installer, and install the operating system to your new drive.

ELEVATE YOUR EXPERIANCE

Search Amazon.com Computers for The history of the modern computer begins with two separate technologies—automated calculation and programmability—but no single device can be identified as the earliest computer, partly because of the inconsistent application of that term. A few devices are worth mentioning though, like some mechanical aids to computing, which were very successful and survived for centuries until the advent of the electronic calculator, like the Sumerian abacus Read more

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So what is ClickMeeting?! ClickMeeting is a new online conferencing platform. But I’m guessing you’d like to know how it’s different from the “others”, right? Before we dig into the details, let me point out some of the highlights (course, they’re all highlights!) I’m sure you know how meetings usually go in your company. People slowly filing in, documents circulating around the table, lots of mumbling. Should we wait for so-and-so? After some discussion, it finally begins. Things go well for a while, then the “off topic” questions and side chat takes over and, before you know it, everyone has to run to their next meetings! Web conferencing is the ideal solution to the ubiquitous problem of long, unproductive meetings. With ClickMeeting, presenters have complete control of the audience interaction, multimedia, collaboration – even the branding. The platform features two products, ClickMeeting and ClickWebinar, designed to provide the best format for your business needs. Let’s take a quick look at both. Meetings If you want to bring key people together and make decisions faster, use Click Meeting. Host unlimited online meetings of up to 25 people, no matter where they are, right from your desktop. ClickMeeting’s there when you need to collaborate, educate, and promote your business. Or when you need to respond to opportunities and ever-changing market conditions. Save on travel time and costs and make sure you’re not leaving key people behind because they’re hundreds of miles away. Now you can put all that money back into your business. Share your desktop, files and applications with attendees, discuss and brainstorm on the fly. From new product concepts, to Web site planning, to sales training and updates, you’ll make progress because everyone will be on the “same page”. Share a specific part of your screen, use drawing tools to illustrate your ideas, and make annotations as you receive input from the group. It’s interactive, but orderly! Chat with other attendees to exchange thoughts and ideas. There’s also a private chat option, so you can ask questions and discuss the topic with key people to get results straight away. Webinars If you need to present a product demo to a prospect, partner, or customer, organize a training session for the new office, or hold an online event for your employees, ClickWebinar makes it quick and easy. Invite up to 1000 people without the hassle and cost of reserving a room at a hotel or convention center. With ClickWebinar, your secure room is virtual and always available. And did you know that by expanding your reach with the help of web conferencing software you can increase your meeting ROI by about 1623%?* Share your desktop and applications to make sure everyone’s working on the same thing at the same time. No need to prepare printed handouts or waste time struggling with the overhead projector. You just upload your materials before the event and show them to your audience at the right time. Manage audience interactions. You decide who should speak and when, who should present, and who can see what. There’s no shouting, no unexpected questions, no meeting room chaos. You can now focus on pure, orderly communication. That’s when productivity happens. Brand your events I told you ClickMeeting was different… easier to learn and manage. But there’s one more really important differentiator. Both ClickMeeting and ClickWebinar allow you to fully customize your meeting room with your brand. You can change the colors, add your logo and graphics, even customize your meeting URL to make it easy for attendees to remember. There’s also an option to embed your branded meeting room on your website. So your meetings and webinars become part of your brand and differentiate YOU from the competition. How reliable is ClickMeeting? All this comes with secure access to the meetings, so you can be sure you have total control over who attends. And the best (yes, another best) thing is that there’s no software to install. No matter which browser or operating system or computer you’re using, you can instantly access your meeting room or join a meeting in progress. You can also be sure that the transmission is reliable, as ClickMeeting and ClickWebinar are hosted on a cloud of servers (don’t ask me about the technical details, but I’ll get someone who knows about this when we get into this). What I do know is they work together to provide optimal service at all times, no matter how often you hold online events. So that’s the “meat” in this hearty serving of online conferencing services. And don’t worry, we’ll soon get to all the details, but let’s take it step by step (I hope you’re curious by now). If you can’t wait or want to try it for yourself, then I have good news. You can test-drive the platform for 30 days totally free. Just go to www.clickmeeting.com and sign up. Then please let me know in the comments how you like it.

CLICKMEETING

Webinars – What, When and How Long? With today’s multitasking work styles and short attention spans, it’s essential to plan meetings and presentations so you grab and hold your audience’s attention. You need to allow enough time for each section, as well as for the entire event. This is especially important to avoid those “drop outs” who become bored quickly. It’s your job to make your event interesting and interactive, with enough breaks to keep the energy high. Before we give you some proven ClickMeeting tips and tricks, let’s check out… What the Experts Say. We asked Marta Eichstaedt, webinar expert, business coach/consultant, and certified online trainer, how she determined the proper length. This is what she advised us: “The length of a webinar depends on the goal we want to achieve. There are, however, some rules and techniques that apply. In general, when used as marketing tools, webinars should last between 30 and 60 minutes. This length should take into account time for interaction with your audience. Training events can last longer. For example, I organize online workshops for trainers who want to run their own online training series. These workshops take 90 minutes and the whole course includes 7 meetings. The attendee group is really small (maximum 6 people) and there is a lot of interaction and activities performed by the attendees themselves. However, even with highly interactive workshops, I wouldn’t recommend exceeding two hours per session. Another example is an extended conference like the Social Media Success Summit which comprises 4 weeks of training in weekly or biweekly webinars, each lasting about 45 minutes. They hold three webinars a day, with 20-minute breaks. The whole event is about 20 different webinars altogether and this format turns out to work best for this topic and audience.” After hearing from the experts and, based on our own experience, we can conclude that webinars typically last around 60 minutes – about the length of an installment of your favorite TV series. This also makes it easy to fit in most of your attendees’ calendars. What should a webinar include The crucial thing is to plan your content so that it’s interesting and allows enough time to cover the essential topics and activities. And practice! Here are some tips to consider: Polling. This tool provides both feedback and interaction. And the best thing is you can continue speaking while your attendees answer the questions, then quickly sum up and present the results with an animated chart. Alternate tabs. Use tabs to quickly switch between content (just make sure to upload the documents etc. before the webinar). This will keep your audience entertained without wasting your time (and there’s nothing worse than making your attendees wait until your PowerPoint uploads). Pace yourself. Don’t rush, making it difficult for the attendees to follow you. Try to find that perfect balance whereby you cover all the material, capture feedback, and make some decisions. Now this may take some practice. But it’ll be worth it. Hold a Q&A session at the end. Wrap up at least 15 minutes early to let people ask questions. Don’t forget to put this in the meeting agenda as this is a popular item with attendees. Then they’ll be sure to stick around till the end. When to schedule a webinar? There are as many date/time preferences as there are people, so it’s best to use your own judgment and follow a few common-sense rules. And always think about your audience first. Think of when you like to attend webinars – Monday is usually when people are busiest after the weekend and a lot of unexpected projects pop up. The same can be said about Fridays, plus you have the “TGIF” factor. So sometime around the middle of the week is probably best but, as I said, this is not a strict rule. As for time of day, one factor to keep in mind is that if your audience is international, you obviously need to pick a time when the greatest number will be able to attend, regardless of time zone. Of course this, again, depends on your audience so the best thing to do is place yourself in their shoes. If you run a series of webinars, you can always poll your attendees or prepare an online survey and ask your audience what days and times they prefer. This is likely to be true for other people who might join your webinar, too.