Skype Teases iPad App, Voice Calling, Verizon iPhone

VoIP provider Skype published and then quickly removed support documents suggesting voice calling onApple's iPhone akin to FaceTime, the native iPad app, and even a mythical Verizon iPhone.

An updated Skype for iOS software will add video calling between i-devices and desktop Skype users, while it looks like an iPad version is in the pipeline, too, a help document published Friday on the company's official site revealed.

Skype took down the help file a few hours later, leaving Apple fans puzzled. Don't worry -- someone in the company's marketing probably messed up by hitting the "launch" button prematurely, as the new release isn't ready for prime time yet.

The blogosphere, of course, cached the prematurely leaked resources revealing a few interesting tidbits. Before you check out the features, know that Skype can kill any number of advertised capabilities when the app launches. Also bear in mind this isn't the first time for Skype to ditch features or pull an imminent software update at the last minute.

And now, the features: 

• Video calling works on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, and iPad.
• Video chatting will be possible between the people running Skype on their iPhones/iPod touches and desktop Skype users.
• Naturally, your contacts will only be able to see you if your device has a camera.
• Video calling is supported over both Wi-Fi and 3G.
• The contacts you are calling must be using Skype for Windows version 4.2 and above, Skype for Max OS X version 2.8 and above, or Skype for iPhone 3.0 and above.
• You'll be able to switch between front and rear cameras during a Skype video call.
• Video feed automatically rotates if you turn your device upside down.
• Double-tapping anywhere will switch between full-screen and normal size.
• In-call features: Tap anywhere to access the camera and microphone controls, like putting the call on hold, turning off video during a Skype video call, and more.
• You'll be able to receive screen shares from people using Skype for Windows or Mac OS X.
• Sharing the screen of your i-device and receiving a screen share from another i-device user isn't supported.
• When invited to a group video call, Skype for iPhone will switch to audio-only mode.

The company said nothing about optimizations to reduce Skype's abnormal battery drain, even on the iPhone 4. In fact, here's what the company wrote in the help document:

When your iPhone is processing a lot of video its CPU (Central Processing Unit) has to work very hard and makes the iPhone become warm to the touch. You will experience the same thing if you stream videos through applications like Netflix or YouTube."

Another support document confirmed that Skype plans on releasing a version of the mobile client written specifically for the iPad:

Even though the iPhone application is fully compatible with the iPad, we're still always striving to bring the best to our Skype users, which is why we're developing a Skype application designed specifically for the iPad. Watch the website for further updates. The Skype application will work fine with your iPad's in-built speakers and mic, but we still recommend plugging in some headphones for best sound quality.

Finally, 9 to 5 Mac noted that the help document covering the iPhone video chatting capability had the Verizon logo, leading the publication to conclude that we're up for a Jan. 6 Verizon iPhone announcement at CES 2011.

Source:http://www.msnbc.msn.com

Apple Iphone 4 - Upcoming Latest Mobile Phones

by Ruby Jones

The UK mobile market is full of mobile phones at most economical price which has now been epicenter of all users. The development in the field of mobile communication has largely affected the price range of the gadgets. Some of the leading names are Apple Inc and RIM which has come in the mobile market with advanced technology in very least price. There has been a growing competition among the mobile manufacturer agencies. The RIM has launched the Blackberry product with many of versions like Blackberry bold, Blackberry pearl,Blackberry curve 8520 and many more. The gadgets are easier to handle. Peoples always think regarding the price of the gadgets. Now due to the competition the price has fallen down.

A survey done in 2007 shows those four out of five households owned a mobile phone which has risen now. The third generation technology has been appearing in the UK market. Now the first generation technology 2G has taken one step ahead which is now 3G. Most of the gadgets are equipped with 2G and 3G facility and is well supported by GPRS and EDGE. The blue tooth helps in data transfer. The Apple Inc is one among the mobile manufacturers which has put its charm all over. It has come in the market with Apple iPhone4 through you can talk and see the person on the other side.

The Sony Ericsson is not behind all and has plunged in the market to compete with other brand name by launching Xperia X10, Vivaz, Yendo, Cedar, for all users. There is little difference in price but all are affordable. The HTC has also plunged in the market with a bang. The HTC desire, HTC HD2, HTC desire HD, HTC wildfire are wonderful options for the mobile users.
Source:http://www.officialwire.com

A Google TV Refresher: What We Know So Far

Google TV's planned fall launch is not news, but given that Google hasn't said much about its television plans since May, it's time for a refresher. Here's a quick rundown of everything to know about Google TV as anticipation grows for the imminent launch of the service:

What is Google TV?

It's a platform that joins the Internet with traditional television. Google TV shares some traits with TiVo Premiere -- search by name for a movie or show, and you'll find ways to watch on cable or the Web -- but Google's approach to the Internet is more open. Google TV can act as a full Web browser for Flash videos, e-mail and reading, and users can set up home screens for their favorite channels, shows and Web sites.

So it's not actually a television?

Not necessarily. Just as Android is a platform for smartphones, with hardware partners like Motorola and HTC, Google TV will run televisions and set-top boxes from other manufacturers. So far, Logitech has announced a set-top box called the Revue, and Sony plans to launch a television that integrates Google TV. Any cable box should be able to connect with Google TV devices at launch, but Dish Network HD DVR receivers will be "optimized" for the service, extending universal search to the Dish TV Guide, DVR recordings and on-demand movies.

How will subscription Web TV services work?

They'll be available through the browser like any other Web site, but whether there will be special treatment for services like Netflix and Hulu Plus remains unclear. Google has at least demonstrated embedding of Amazon and Netflix content within the main Google TV interface.

Will there be apps?

Google TV will start supporting the Android Market next year, bringing smartphone apps to the television, but it's still not clear how touchscreen apps will translate to the remote control. Separately, Google is encouraging Website developers to create Web apps for the television, optimized for viewing from the couch and controllable with buttons.

Do you need a mouse and keyboard?

It's a possibility, but Logitech's set-top box will include a remote that combines a mini-keyboard, remote control and touch screen. Logitech also has free remote apps for iPhone and Android, and this image shows the different kinds of controls that can be used. Sony's remote control plans are not as clear-cut.

Any other phone integration?

Android phone owners will be able to control the TV with voice searches and push videos that they're watching on the phone onto the television.

Can I watch movies and shows stored on other local media?

At the very least, I hope Google TV's future support for Android apps will allow streaming from networked computers and media centers, but I can't find any remarks from Google, Logitech or Sony on this topic.

How much will Google TV cost?

Pricing is still a mystery. For context, consider that Apple TV costs $99, and the upcoming Boxee Box, another Internet TV device that uses its own interface to pull in Web content, will cost $200 when it arrives in November.

Source:http://www.pcworld.com

Google Debuts ‘Instant’ Search (Updated)

Because nine seconds is an eternity on the internet, now you can conduct a search in a “Google Instant.”

The iconic search site Wednesday unveiled the new feature on Google.com and to a packed auditorium of tech writers in San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art — no doubt doing vanity searches to see how quickly their names came up.

And they do come up fast. Google Instant is like the familiar ’suggested search’ type-ahead, but on Javascript steroids: Typing even a single letter will fill the screen with results based on popular queries that begin with just that character. For example, starting a search on ‘S’ loads yield a top hit of Skype (Sears and sfgate.com for others). As usual, you can see other suggestions below the search query box, and now additionally you see the word Google guessed for you in gray type ahead of what you’ve typed so far.

You can then accept that word by tabbing, or you can choose another suggestion by using the up or down. When you scroll through those, the results load, without you ever having to hit the return key.

“There is a psychic element because we can predict what you are about to search on in real time,” Google vice president Marissa Mayer told the press conference. The enhancement may comically provide fodder to the crowd which actually believes Google already knows what you think, but Mayer reminded the assembled that the idea of Google being able to guess what you want before you finish typing was so far out 10 years ago that it was the company’s April Fool’s joke.

Search remains a core function on the web, and with a 70+ percent market share the amount of time people spend searching might actually be a productivity issue — or so Google argues.  It takes about 9 seconds to enter a search into Google, Mayer explained. With Google Instant, each search could take 2 to 5 seconds less time. If everyone on the planet used Google Instant for their searches, she said, it would save about 3.5 billion seconds a day, or 11 hours saved every second.

As the FAQ page explains: “Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.”

Starting Wednesday, users running Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE8 in the U.S. will begin seeing the new results. Google is also rolling out the service to users in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Russia so long as they are signed-in. U.S. users do not need to be signed in.

A version of the streaming results will be available on mobile devices this fall, the company said. Google also will bring the service to its Chrome browser, where users can search directly from the address bar.

Suggestions will not include words associated with pornography, violence or hate speech, and results can be filtered as previously using Google’s Safe Search settings. It can also be turned off entirely, but it is is ‘on’ by default.

The update is a big change for the search giant, which used to pride itself on how little time it took its lightweight homepage to load.

While the new update adds little in the way of words or clutter, it’s reliance on JavaScript (which also has to load with the home page) shows the search giant thinks that there’s more to a great search engine than relevant results and initial page load speed. The company also says that it will automatically turn off the instant search when a user is on a slow connection.

As an engineering feat, it’s pretty remarkable. If a typical query is 20 characters long, Google would have to do 20 searches instead of just one. Google said it was able to reduce that load significantly using some smart caching and some prioritization of queries.
Source:http://www.wired.com

Oracle to Pay Mark Hurd $950,000 a Year

Oracle Corp. said it will pay Mark Hurd, its new co-president, an annual base salary of $950,000 and be eligible for up to a $10 million bonus in the current fiscal year.
The software company hired the former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive in recent days following his August departure from the computer giant in the wake of a probe that turned up violations of H-P's code-of-business conduct. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison came out as one of Hurd's biggest backers after his breakup with H-P.
The company has responded by suing to block the 53-year-old from joining Oracle, whose focus is business software but which has been increasingly moving into hardware, saying the move breaches an exit agreement with H-P and will lead to a transfer of its trade secrets to a competitor. Ellison called the suit "vindictive."
Oracle said in a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Hurd will also be granted a stock option to purchase 10 million shares soon after he begins his job and will be able to get options to buy 5 million more each year for the next five, so long as Hurd remains employed by Oracle.
Mr. Hurd will also stand for election to Oracle's board next month.
The compensation package from Oracle comes as Hurd could receive a potential $35 million severance from H-P as part of his departure. His total compensation at H-P last fiscal year was $30.3 million.
Meanwhile, Oracle disclosed Tuesday that Mr. Ellison's compensation fell 17% for the year ended May 31 to $70.1 million.
Oracle's shares closed at $24.27 Tuesday and didn't trade premarket. The stock rose 6% Tuesday on word of Mr. Hurd's hiring.
Source:http://online.wsj.com

Apple Releases iOS 4.1 for iPhone, iPod touch

Brandon Hill
IOS 4.1 fixes proximity sensor issue on iPhone 4

When Apple announced its latest lineup of iPod music players last week, Apple noted that iOS 4.1 would be released within the coming week. Staying true to its word, Apple today released the update which addresses a number of problems afflicting iPhone 4 and iPhone 3G users.
First up, iOS 4.1 fixes the proximity sensor on the iPhone 4. For those unfamiliar with the problem, numerous iPhone 4 users would find themselves muting or ending calls due to the phone's screen turning back on when held up to his or her ear. The proximity sensor issue appears to have been even more widespread that the infamous antenna problem.
A second issue corrected with the iOS 4.1 update for iPhone 4 users includes improved Bluetooth connectivity. Some users were being prematurely disconnected from their Bluetooth headsets due to a conflict with Wi-Fi resources.
Finally, iPhone 3G users will find some relief with speed improvements courtesy of iOS 4.1. AnandTech performed ran benchmarks comparing iOS 4.1 to iOS 4.0.2 and iOS 3.1.3 -- thankfully, the update appears to solve many of the performance-related problems.
IOS 4.1 also brings an number of new features including HDR photo capture (iPhone 4 only), Game Center, HD videouploads via Wi-FI, TV show rentals, AVRCP Bluetooth playback, and Ping support in iTunes.
Source:http://www.dailytech.com

Latest Makeup Tips

Cream or Powder Blush

by Ella

Blush on brings happiness on ones dreary face and gives it glow. Blushers are obtainable in cream, powder or liquid. Choose a color of a blush that is nearer to the color of your cheeks. Most women favor to use a powder blush since it is less expensive and easier to apply or to reapply for touch ups. Blusher is the last makeup after you are done applying your foundation and eye shadow on your face. Be sure you just put a right amount of blush on your cheeks, as this will make for a more professional and softer look. When you are applying blush on you must follow this tip in order to achieve what you want to have.

Source:http://latestmakeuptips.com

Will Last Century’s Styles Open Today’s Wallets?

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD

For some clothing brands, the summer of 2010 looks a lot like the summer of 1910, and 1949, and 1957 — basically, any time but now.

Eddie Bauer is reintroducing jackets that the company supplied to World War II pilots and 1950s mountaineers. Jantzen’s ruffled halter bikini is modeled on a pin-up-girl style it sold in the 1940s. Sperry Top-Siders is selling white buck shoes based on archival pieces. And L. L. Bean has revised a hunting shoe that a 1914 catalog sold with the warning “You cannot expect success hunting big game if your feet are not properly dressed.”

A Jantzen bikini for 2010 is similar to a “pinup girl” swimsuit from the 1940s.

Brands are combing their archives in the hope that old clothing styles with a classic feel will assuage consumer anxiety in shaky times. With some Americans feeling as if they can’t trust government, Wall Street or big business, the brands are betting their heritage lines will evoke memories of better times — and help pry open shoppers’ wallets.

Eddie Bauer’s 2010 parka.

“We’ve been through a very unsettling time, and it’s when people are discontent with the present that they really start appreciating or having a nostalgia for the past,” said Nigel Hollis, chief global analyst for the market research firm Millward Brown. “Marketers are seeking to tap into that.”

The public has little confidence in most American institutions, particularly Congress and big business, according to Gallup polls taken over the last several years. And consumers are not spending: after months of sales growth, for example, the Census Bureau reported on Friday that May retail sales declined 1.2 percent, much further than analysts expected and the first decline since the fall.

That environment has made items that might draw consumer interest all the more important to the bottom line. Though the companies do not break out sales of heritage products, most say the lines are selling well above projections. And prices tend to be higher than the standard products — L. L. Bean, for instance, charges about 25 percent more for its “Signature” pieces.

A Jantzen swimsuit for 2010, right, and its predecessor from the 1970s.

“There’s something major going on right now in the American consumer market and mind-set which is leading people to embrace heritage brands,” said Neil S. Fiske, chief executive of Eddie Bauer, which introduced heritage items last fall. “People want to believe in things that are American and want to be part of things that have longevity.”

Reviving yesterday’s long-forgotten products can be both fun and daunting. While it has been tried here and there in the past, it hasn’t been done to this degree, the brands say.

At L. L. Bean, a clothing maker for almost 100 years, the task has fallen to Alex Carleton, the creative director for L. L. Bean’s “Signature” collection. Housed behind Mr. Bean’s old Victorian house off of Main Street in Freeport, Me., the company’s archives include rooms full of clothes, lockers stuffed with boots, every catalog ever printed, letters from people like Babe Ruth, and Mr. Bean’s hunting journals.

Clothes are hung or folded, encased in polypropylene containers, and have little tags explaining their provenance. The archivist insists that visitors put on white cotton gloves when they touch anything, and Mr. Carleton complies.

Some clothes he found were inspirational.

He redesigned a women’s wrap skirt, promoted in the spring 1957 catalog as “suitable for sport and camping wear,” as a casual chambray wrap skirt, with a slimmer fit and shorter length. For a restyling of a 1940s hunting jacket, he removed the plastic lining of the “kill pocket” in the back of the coat, originally meant to hold freshly shot bloody ducks.

An Eddie Bauer parka from the 1960s.

Other pieces, Mr. Carleton said, did not make the cut.

He uncovered especially odd items from the 1970s, an era he plans to draw from for the fall 2011 collection. Some of those oddities: an angora colic band that wrapped around the torso was meant to warm the lower back and a men’s Labrador parka that is “a pull-over-the-head piece that practically goes down to your knees,” he said. There is also a women’s Tundra sweater made of thick white wool with a tiny hood and odd black-and-yellow trim at the cuffs, and a face mask made of deer skin that “completely covers the face, including nose, chin, ears and throat.”

“We want to make sure we’re not producing garments that are going to make people walking around look like they just stepped out of an ice storm,” he said.

Mr. Fiske, of Eddie Bauer, also turned to an archivist to assemble old items for inspiration. The company recently introduced clothes like the B-9 parka, which Mr. Bauer supplied to the Army Air Forces during World War II, and the Skyliner jacket, a quilted coat that Mr. Bauer designed after a freezing winter fishing expedition.

At the swimwear company Jantzen, which introduced a heritage collection this spring, more updating was necessary. Take a maillot bathing suit, inspired by a swimsuit from the Twenties. Now, the bathing suit is a red one-piece number with a crystal band and a hint of a skirt. Then, it was knit from wool, weighed more than eight pounds when wet, and was meant for both women and men, said Lorraine Medici, vice president of marketing at Jantzen.

Other brands glancing backward include Halston, which reworked designs from the Seventies to create its heritage line. Sperry Top-Siders is selling limited-edition shoes with old-school styling, like brick-colored soles. Keds is issuing two shoe designs for each decade from the last century (a 1920s sneaker looks almost like a dress shoe, with black and white details).

The trend extends to other industries, too. Earlier this year, General Mills sold some Lucky Charms and Cheerios in limited-edition vintage boxes. Pepsi-Cola brought back limited-edition Pepsi and Mountain Dew with retro labels late last year. And Carl’s Jr. brought back a vintage menu item — chili dogs, which Carl Karcher sold from a cart in the 1940s — last year.

The popularity of nostalgic items is not entirely because of the bad economy, said Lands’ End’s president, Nick Coe, who said he expected that the company’s historically inspired Canvas line would sell well even if the economy improved. And it is not always about good memories, either; the economy for much of the Seventies, for example, was a disaster.

“Buying habits have pretty seriously changed from the crazy consumption of the previous decade,” Mr. Coe said. “It’s not necessarily about cheap — it’s about real value.”

“The days of frivolous spending or buying stuff that’s disposable have gone away,” he said.

Source:http://www.nytimes.com