Tech Check

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

2011-02-25T02:55:00.000-08:00

The much-awaited, much-baited, PlayStation Phone aka Xperia Play was finally revealed in all its hardware keypad glory, bringing gaming to the entire Android platform with a whole PlayStation Suite ecosystem in tow, with third-party games and other manufactuer's devices requiring just a 'PlayStation Certified' accreditation.

This, together with the Next Generation Portable (NGP) or PSP2, ensures that Sony has held its mobile gaming future firmly by the reins.

The joint venture between the two giants also revealed two other devices, the Neo and Pro, further expanding the new-age Xperia line with the latest operating system, Android Gingerbread, onboard.

Video: First Windows Phone 7 Series Partner Device Unveiled

2010-02-27T23:49:00.000-08:00

Microsoft recently unveiled LG's Windows Phone 7 Series pre-production prototype. The QWERTY slider is the first branded Windows Phone 7 Series device the world's ever seen. While there is not much information on the device, there are a few things that are know. It's just a hair thicker than an iPhone or Nexus One, there are dedicated hardware power, camera, and volume buttons in addition to the home, search, and back buttons dictated by Windows Phone 7 Series. A five megapixel camera with a flash is also noticeable on the back, along with a headphone jack.

Bluetooth 4.0 to have low energy requirements

2009-12-18T02:36:00.000-08:00

Bluetooth 4.0 takes things down a notch by certifying single-mode low energy devices in addition to dual-mode devices that incorporate both the low energy side of the spec plus either 2.1+EDR or 3.0. In a nutshell, the technology should bring a number of new categories and form factors of wireless devices into the fold since 1Mbps Bluetooth low energy can operate on coin cells -- the kinds you find in wristwatches, calculators, and remote controls -- and the SIG's pulling no punches by saying that "with today's announcement the race is on for product designers to be the first to market."

Samsung unveils it's Android based Galaxy Spica i5700

2009-11-17T02:15:00.000-08:00

The long-rumored little brother to the Galaxy, the i5700, has finally been made official by Samsung. Samsung's latest Android-powered set clocks in at 13.2mm thick and comes equipped with a 3.5mm jack, an 800MHz core, and an Android first: built-in DivX support.

Samsung's says it's already out in Europe and the CIS and will be coming to the Middle East and Asia shortly.

Invisible Shield

2009-09-19T03:56:00.000-07:00

Most electronic devices get scratches and dings within the first few months of usage. One of the reasons that people forego protecting their device is that the covers offered are too bulky and interfere with the look of the gadget. Well now there is a product that will protect your device and leave it looking exactly the same. It is called the Invisible Shield. The shield is made for over 2,000 different electronic devices including cell phones, lap tops, iPods, GPS systems, gaming systems, and watches. The protective shield is made of polyurethane, which is a tough clear material that was originally used by the military to protect helicopter blades.

InvisibleSkinz.com is a leading online dealer of the Invisible Shield. They offer a 30 day money back guarantee and a lifetime replacement warranty.

Spotify launches on Android Market and iTunes App Store

2009-09-07T02:29:00.000-07:00

Apple has blessed Spotify's streaming subscription music application with a home in its iTunes App Store. Additionally, the app is also making a first, less ballyhooed appearance on the Android Market. The free app allows you to to stream any of its nearly 4 million tracks over WiFi or 3G and syncs playlists for playback while disconnected. It's available exclusively to Spotify Premium members in the UK, Sweden, Spain, France and Norway -- only the iPhone app is available in Finland.

Nokia 5230 Preview

2009-08-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

The new Nokia 5230 candybar brings a 3.2-inch touchscreen riding HSDPA data, A-GPS, 2 megapixel camera, microSD expansion, and Bluetooth 2.0 with the promise of 33 hours of music pumped over its 3.5-mm audio jack.

It will launch in two flavors in Q4: a €149 model and €259 Comes with Music version.

LG XF1 500GB Multimedia HDD

2009-07-19T04:52:00.000-07:00

The LG XF1 is a 500 GB "Multimedia HDD" that packs a HDMI-out for quick media playback, and has a slick looking design to boot.

However, the XF1 looks geared towards the mainstream consumer crowd, as it only plays back video at 1080i, and fails to support the h.264 or MKV standards. It does, however, support the AVI, Xvid and MPEG family of codecs, along with all the major audio ones. Price and availability are yet to be announced.

Laptop Monitors

2009-06-11T21:41:00.000-07:00

With heavy hitters like Dell, IBM, and Toshiba making laptop computers for less and less these days, is it any wonder that more and more of the populous is making the switch to computers that move just as fast as their users?

The perks of finding a good deal on a laptop are especially evident in these down trodden economic times, but like so many things… all good things must come to an end.

Not in the way of good deals, but rather sooner or later computers begin to wear down, especially with the creation of LCD monitors.

Users that find themselves particularly lucky can sometimes get as long as eight years out of their monitors before requiring repair, however those that aren’t as fortunate sometimes get as little as two years out of their machines before needing maintenance.

In steps the replacement LCD screen.

Starting at just $149.99, replacements can be a far better economic value for consumers than buying a new computer outright, and this can extend the life of a users machine, to maximize utility.

Using part number: B154EW01 as your reference you can access nearly three dozen top name replacement screens for most major brands including Toshiba, Compaq, Gateway, and Samsung.

Visit any major maker of laptops and compare the savings to that of new computer Sony, HP, or Dell.

Even on low end models the money saved can easily extend into the $300-400 range, making consumers all the smarter for making a thrifty buy.

Most availability is limited to 15.4 inch screens, but that is also one of the most commonly produced sizes for laptop monitors.

So unless you’ve made it a point to buy an especially large screen, or an especially small one, the fit and the savings should work perfectly.

Things to consider before making a purchase: it is ideal, and in many cases necessary to buy the replacement that is specific to your computer, so make sure you have the right make i.e. Dell, Samsung, Compaq, etc… and then the model number such as NX4000, M35, C1300D, and the screen size.

There is a good likelihood that the screen you need will fit many models, and this helps keep your replacement costs down. Many of the aforementioned Web sites can help you select your make and model if you don’t already know it.

In addition each of the replacements you can get here are new and come with their own one year warranty, so there is no need to worry about the very thing that made you buy a replacement in the first place.

About The Author

Jack Edmund is a blogger for the laptop battery and accessories retailer PriorityElectronics.com. His interests include kayaking, bird watching, and technology.

Zune HD Official!

2009-05-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true - Zune HD is coming this fall! Microsoft has officially announced the next iteration in their Zune line.

The specs go like this: 3.3-inch, 480 x 272 OLED capacitive touchscreen display, built-in HD Radio receiver, HD output (utilizing a new dock -- not on-board), and... not much more right now. Microsoft is doing away with the famed squircle in favor a full multitouch device, and they seemed to indicate that some new touch-friendly apps and games would be headed our way, though they were fairly mum when it came to details. The device will boast an IE-based, customized browser, but little else was said in the way of software.

We'll have to wait and watch wether this one is an iPod killer or not.

Nokia's E52 brings 8 hours of talktime

2009-05-06T03:42:00.000-07:00

Nokia just gave details about another E-series device. The E52 comes with great battery specs: 8 hours of talk or 23 days of standby. Otherwise it's an A-GPS, HSUPA data, and 3.2 megapixel candybar with generous support for your IT environments via built-in mobile VPN, Call Connect, and choice of corporate email options including Nokia Messaging, Exchange, and yes, Lotus Notes too for all you accountants. It will ship in the second half of the year for €245, pre-subsidy and pre-tax.

ViewSonic launches 24-inch VG2427 1080p LCD display

2009-04-08T02:42:00.000-07:00

ViewSonic has come out with it's VG2427 LCD monitor. The display packs a 24-inch panel, 1,920 x 1,080 native resolution, 20,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 300 nits of brightness, hidden stereo speaker, and a height adjustable stand. Further, you will find a 2-port USB hub, an ECO mode for sucking down less energy and a seductively slim bezel to boot. You can get yourself one for around $499.

Prevent Applications From Running

2009-04-05T01:30:00.000-07:00

If you need to prevent an application from running accidentally or would like to disable an application you can't uninstall, AppLocker provides a simple interface to do so.

Whether you'd like to prevent Internet Explorer from running because you can't uninstall it to get rid of it or because you'd like to disable web browsing on a computer used by a young child, AppLocker allows you to create a black list of applications that cannot be launched. The program isn't as robust as making a separate user account and setting security policies but for a simple fix to keep a group of applications from being launched it's more than adequate. AppLocker is a freeware and is available only on the Windows platform.

Download AppLocker ..

TV Stands: More than Just a Piece of Furniture

2009-03-28T02:53:00.000-07:00

Television consoles have traditionally been designed based on appearances, with only a secondary focus on functionality. As a result, you would some stands that were great to look at and could support a television but wouldn’t include a wire management system or would lack room for speaker components. In some cases, the central shelving would even be too small to fit a standard cable box or DVD Player.

Fortunately, over the past few years a lot of tv stand manufacturers have become more attuned to the needs of the consumers, so we’ve seen features like speaker cloth inserts and media storage drawers become more and more common. And lately, we’ve seen some models by Parker House that include all of the features mentioned above plus an iPod docking station on the top shelf of the stand. This is a really great feature, basically the port, which is recessed, gives you the ability to run an A/V cable from the out port to your entertainment system while a separate dock gives you the ability to connect your iPod to a power block (which comes included along with the necessary USB cables and converter).

What this basically means is that once you connect the iPod to the dock (using the universal well adapter included with the iPod) you are able to charge it while simultaneously uploading videos and music onto your home entertainment system, giving you the ability to play some tunes on your surround sound system. Or you could watch your favorite downloaded shows on a much bigger screen than what your iPod provides!

This is by far the best feature we’ve seen yet on a television stand. Obviously, docking stations have been around for some time, but its great to see a manufacturer actually incorporate it into a stand design, and do so in a way that is not obtrusive. It seems that finally the manufacturers are catching up with the times and are realizing that tv stands more than a piece of furniture, they’re now about seamlessly integrated the many components that make up a home entertainment system. And now that they have seen the light, expect to some more features down the road that will further meet the needs of a changing technologies of the home electronics industry.

HD video purchases now available on the iTunes Store

2009-03-20T02:30:00.000-07:00

Apple has recently added high-def movie purchases to the iTunes Store. Although HD TV shows were previously available to buy, HD movies were rental-only until now. HD flicks will cost you $19.99, and we're guessing they're the same H.264 compressed 720p quality as usual, so videophiles will probably want to stick to Blu-ray. Purchases will come with both an HD file and an iPod / iPhone-ready SD file, which is a nice touch, and Apple's also promising that HD rentals will now be on the store within 30 days of retail release -- better, but not perfect. It's all going live today with exclusive pre-orders of Quantum of Solace and Twilight, but honestly, we're still wondering when Apple will implement subscription video and really take it to Netflix.

Voice recording now possible on iPhone / iPods

2009-02-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

Not that this is the very first microphone designed to function with Apple's iPhone or anything, but it's certainly amongst the cheapest and most universal that we've seen. The Mini Microphone reportedly plays nice with the iPhone 3G, iPod touch and iPod nano, giving 'em all that extra special voice recording oomph that's so badly needed. What about pricing? It's only $14.99.

Check it out ..

Nokia 5630 XpressMusic

2009-02-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

The Nokia 5630 is an N-Gage ready, 12-mm slimster with a 4GB microSD card dropped in the box along side a standard 3.5-mm headphone jack to rock whatever buds, plugs, or cans you have an itch for. It's also packing a 3.2 megapixel, "4x zoom" camera with dual-LED flash and HSDPA/HSUPA data to move your pics and videos up to your favorite photo sharing site on a rocket. Dedicated audio keys and Nokia's "say and play" feature makes the 5630 a media all-rounder. Expected in Q2 for around €200 pre-tax, pre-subsidy.

Jolicloud: The OS for your netbook

2009-01-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

Jolicloud is an OS designed specifically for those miniaturized laptops that rely on underpowered CPUs and less RAM than any PC should be booted up with. In essence, Jolicloud is a modified flavor of Linux that promises faster boot times than other alternatives, and judging by the shot above, it's pretty heavily reliant on icon-based navigation.

Read more about the OS ..

How to Keep Malware Off From Your Computer for Good

2009-01-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

Every single day, when your surf the internet, your personal computer is at risk of being invaded by malicious software like viruses (Trojans and its battalions), spyware, and adware programs. Collectively, these unwanted programs are what you call malware. They have the capacity to destroy your computer applications and files as well as track your personal information like credit card numbers, passwords, bank account, etc. These information might be sold to or given to people or entities with malicious intent.

You have the power to control and keep these malware programs from intruding into your personal files and infecting your personal computer. Here are some of the more relevant things that you can do:

If you are using the Microsoft Windows Operating System, you will see one important built-in tool that can prevent these malware programs to invade your computer, that is, the automatic update. It is essential that you keep your system updated especially with the important and recommended updates. When you install these updates, security bugs and lapses are resolved right away that prevents the malware programs from taking advantage and attacking your computer. There are three options to install these updates:
(1) you can automatically turn on the built-in windows update from your computer by clicking start>run sysdm.cpl, go to automatic updates tab, and tick automatic option;
(2) start>control panel>security>check for updates>install updates;
(3) go to the update website of Windows and download the necessary updates.

Aside from installing the necessary updates, it is also crucial that you have a firewall installed and running in your computer. Again, Microsoft Windows Operating System has a built-in firewall that you can automatically turn-on: start>control panel>security>check this computer's security status>firewall>on. The firewall filters what goes in and out of your computer and blocks programs that are deemed harmful to your system.

In addition to enabling your firewall, it is also crucial that you run the latest and updated anti-malware software programs such as anti-virus and anti-spyware. When you browse the internet, several if not all good anti-malware programs will continuously scan your computer with their real time protection and be able to detect and prevent malware attacks. It is important that you keep these programs up to date.

Another recommended protection is to regularly scan your registry as there are malware programs that are capable of intruding into your computer's registry. As registry are a bit more complicated when manually done, it is advisable that you install a good registry cleaner that will simplify the process for you and effectively remove any malware that may have invaded your system and keep them from coming back.

With all these tools that will protect your computer from malware attacks, it is fundamental that you also do your part by being a responsible PC user and internet surfer. You must exercise caution when visiting websites and more especially when downloading programs particularly the freeware. Most of the spyware and adware enters your computer through these freeware programs. As much as possible refrain from downloading freeware programs especially from unknown publishers. Take care of your computer. After all, your computer and the internet has become an integral part of your life.

Tired of PC Errors? Here's What You Can Do

2008-12-13T05:22:00.000-08:00

Computer errors are not only time consuming and frustrating for computer users, but at times they may cost you a large amount of money for maintenance and repair. So, if you are tired of PC errors and are looking for a solution, you may consider following some simple steps:

1. Check your system configuration.

Quite often, errors occur due to incorrect system configuration and are resolved when you resolve the issue. For instance, Windows Messenger may generate error code 0x81000370 when you try to sign in to it, if the system clock of your system is not set correctly. This issue can be resolved by resetting your clock to the correct configuration.

2. Keep your Operating System and Applications Updated

When you purchase a computer, your computer performs efficiently as all the applications, operating system and device drivers are the latest versions and are updated. However, if these are not updated on a regular basis, they not only slow down your computer, but also cause a lot of critical errors. Therefore, it is recommended that you update your Windows OS as well as other applications installed on your computer. New updates make your operating system and software equipped with the latest service packs and plugs any loopholes thereby, minimizing the chances of an update error.

Note: In order to ensure that your Windows OS is up-to-date please select the Automatic Updates option in your Control Panel. While some of the software manufacturers provide free updates of their products, others are available only on a subscription basis.

3. Keep your Hard Disk uncluttered and defragmented

Another simple way of ensuring that your system remains free of errors is to take care of your computer’s hard disk. This involves using two important system tools that come with your Windows Operating System. These are:

1. Disk Cleanup: This tool helps you get rid of the clutter on your hard disk by deleting any redundant, outdated and unnecessary files that may have accumulated over a period of time.

2. Disk Defragmenter: The purpose of this tool is to make more space available by consolidating the files present on the hard drive and by making clusters of files contiguous.

4. Keep your Windows Registry Clean

The Windows Registry is a very busy component of your operating system. Each time a software or hardware device is installed, relevant entries are made in the registry. These entries are deleted whenever this software or hardware is uninstalled from your computer. However, many times this does not happen as planned and many unnecessary files are left over even after the related software or hardware is removed. This leads to a corrupt and bloated Windows registry, which causes many errors and interferes with the smooth functioning of your system. A reliable registry scanner tool will not only eliminate such useless entries and make it error-free, but will also make a complete backup of registry entries that is useful in case you have a system crash.

5. Use three important protection tools

The three tools that your system should have are:

1. Anti-virus: A reliable anti-virus which is always ON and updated with the latest definitions offers a great protection from virus threats. You must also run a thorough scan at regular intervals for best results.

2. Anti-spyware: A good anti-spyware will protect vital information from malicious software manufacturers who create spyware, adware and other illegal software.

3. Firewall: A firewall is a must for computers connected to the internet and other external networks. It acts as security personnel that shields your system against hackers trying to gain unauthorized access to your computer.

USB 3.0 vs FireWire 3200

2008-12-06T05:45:00.000-08:00

This is a guest article from laptopical.com a site dedicated to laptop reviews. Check out their special section about cheap laptops next time you’re thinking of making a laptop purchase.

The first update to the USB specification in eight years has arrived in the form of USB 3.0, and it’s all everyone is talking about. And given that it boasts a tenfold transfer speed increase, why shouldn’t they? Unfortunately, many of those reporting are quick to call it the death of FireWire 800, but don’t mention that the FireWire people have an update of their own to brag about in the form of FireWire 3200. Both standards have already been ratified and both have a lot going for them. So which specification should you choose?

With a possible transfer rate of 4.8Gbps (gigabits per second), USB 3.0 is theoretically the much faster specification. The designers have also gone to lengths to improve the power efficiency as well as power output, meaning you will be able to plug it into your computers with less of a power draw (especially important for laptops) as well as be able to charge devices faster and power more devices solely through USB. They have also ensured that USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with old version of USB. Although your USB 2.0 hardware will never achieve USB 3.0 speeds, you can still at least use the same cables and devices without changing anything.

FireWire 3200 promises a lower transfer rate of 3.2 Gbps, but boats that its P2P architecture will deliver 97% of the theoretical rate, a number that is much higher that the master/slave architecture of USB is expected to produce. As a result, it’s possible that in real world usage FireWire may actually be faster, regardless of the fact that it isn’t on paper. As far as power output, despite the improvements made by USB, FireWire still maintains an edge. It can produce more power and will therefore be more capable when it comes to charging items or running them directly. The designers have also made FireWire 3200 backwards compatible with FireWire 800, and as an added bonus you can plug a FireWire 3200 cable/device into your old FireWire 800 port and still get the full transfer rate of 3.2 Gbps.

To be honest, the jump from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 is impressive. But it’s important to remember that if it’s more impressive than the jump from FireWire 800 to FireWire 3200, it’s only because USB had that much more ground to make up. Despite all the gains of the new USB, FireWire still maintains a technical edge in power management, hardware compatibility, and potentially even the actual transfer rate. With all this going for it, why would anyone choose USB? The answer reminds me a lot of the difference between Apple, which has long endorsed FireWire, and Microsoft, whose machines have long supported USB. And the reason is that USB is less expensive, more available, and perfectly functional. USB 3.0 will make things easier for the vast majority of the computing world which relies on it to transfer data, but it is important to note that FireWire 3200 is impressive too. Even though Apple may have seemed to take a step away when it failed to include FireWire in the new MacBook, for the right people and the right tasks, FireWire can and should still be the specification of choice.

Review: Infiniti II 95mW Green Laser Pointer

2008-11-27T03:49:00.000-08:00

This is one of the coolest gadgets I've used in recent times. The gadget I'm talking about is an Infiniti II 95mW green laser pointer. Do not confuse it with the ordinary red laser children have in their hands, this thing is really powerful and way too different.

Before using the product I was wondering how far the laser would go but now I must say that it was beyond my expectations. The laser is damn good and can literally be seen for miles. The green laser looks really cool and can point out far off things quite easily.

The guys over at Tech Lasers say that it's a great tool for backyard astronomers. I have some interest in astronomy and thus took the laser on to the terrace at night time so as to try it for some star pointing. I was able to point out stars easily and it seemed as if the laser was reaching the stars.

Besides astronomy, this laser can even pop up balloons according to Tech Lasers. I didn't get time to pop a balloon but most probably this 95 mW laser will do it. Anyways not many of us would use it to burst balloons.

One caution you need to take while using the Infiniti II is that you must not point the laser into anyone's eyes. It can cause temporary or even permanent blindness.

After using the product I can say that this is something really cool and is better than many lasers present in the market.

Price: $299.99

Buy now | Visit Tech Lasers

First Steps To Fixing PC Errors

2008-11-24T03:44:00.000-08:00

If your PC is having problems, you may consider calling a computer technician right away. But if you will follow the first steps to fixing PC errors, you may be able to save more time and money. Hiring of technicians may be the safer way to keep a computer problem solved. However, if you have the capability to fix the computer, then it would be better to do it yourself. If you will read more articles about computers, you will learn about them more and you may be able to get additional tips on how you will be able to fix your computer and these steps are actually what your technician would do.

The first steps to fixing PC error would be done by eliminating the unwanted files in your hard disk. If you have unused, files, folders, data, and other programs, you should delete them so that they would not add up to the many things that are kept in the computer. When the computer load is lower, it will result to better performance. The junk in your PC will slow down your computer and you should avoid this. You may remove the unused programs through the Control Panel of your computer. You may uninstall the programs that you don’t want. After which, you may still have the option to do disk cleanup options. This will compress the files in your computer thus adding more space. Third step in keeping a faster computer would be to defragment the system. Although this may take some time, you can be assured that this maintenance action would be a big help in cleaning up for free spaces and in keeping your PC’s performance at its best.

Following these first steps to fixing PC error would be your way to have a computer that can meet your speed needs and avoid any problems in the future. Most of the problems in the computer systems are caused by virus and spyware. Thus, you should not let them go inside your computer system and stay in there for more time. When the virus stay in your computer, it may be able to infiltrate more of the files in your computer and damage may even be worse. To avoid this, you should be careful in downloading different files, opening folders, and other possible means of the virus. You should keep them out of the system and you can be protected through the use of anti-virus programs.

Added to this, would be the need to be updated with the possible upgrades of the anti-virus of your computer. Upgrades will keep you better knowledgeable about the different harmful materials in your computer. The viruses may also change over time so your computer must be able to meet with these changes. The anti-virus software that you use should still know the different new viruses so that you computer will be fully protected. This will help you in avoiding system errors. You must also prepare for scans in the windows registry as it is a big help in making the performance of your computer be faster. There may be many unnecessary files in your computer and you should then be able to do the cleaning regularly. The steps that you would need to do are simple and easy to follow. Also the tools can be easily available. Thus, you should know that there may be ways in fixing your computer problems but there are ways to solve it on your own.

Causes of DLL Errors

2008-11-10T03:01:00.000-08:00

Overview
Before discussing the causes of DLL errors, first we need to know what DLL files are and their purpose. Dynamic Link Library (DLL) files are executable files compiled in different libraries. These libraries are used by the Windows operating systems to perform different functions that can be important for the system entire functionality. DLL files are associated to a specific application that can have static or dynamic link. A dynamic DLL link is used by the program only when required while static link is used all through out the operation of the program. The DLL files have a .dll file extension, but there are also cases when they are given .exe extensions.

The great thing about DLL files is that it can be used by different programs simultaneously. Windows include DLL files that can be used by applications installed in the computer. All programs have DLL files included which is executed or used when the program is in use.

What is a DLL Hell?
The term DLL Hell is a collective term for the errors that occurred which is related to DLL files.

The causes of DLL errors are:
If an application is newly installed in the computer and then the DLL files already in the system is overwritten with old version. Replacing DLL files can cause errors because as mentioned DLL files are in use by several applications installed in the computer.

To avoid DLL errors, developers must also make sure that the DLL files already installed in the computer must match the DLL files included in the installation file. If in case a message prompts you that DLL files are about to be overwritten make sure that you maintain the newer version of the DLL files.

The error message could appear when deleting files in the Recycle Bin:â€œThis program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor. Specifically, this error message occurs when the Msvcrt40.dll file encountered a problem or it is corrupted. The Msvcrt40.dll file is stored in the Windows System folder.If a DLL file is deleted and it is used by several applications can cause DLL errors. DLL errors can be deleted when an application using it is uninstalled.

Another cause of DLL errors is malfunctioned hardware, damaged registry entry, and problems encountered by an application.

An example of an error message that can be encountered when there is a missing DLL file: could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: C:\system32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of the above file.

This error usually happens when in a multi-boot operating system. One of the common causes of DLL errors is when the computer is infected with a virus or malware programs. Malware programs can interfere with the normal operation of the system. Like for instance, when the Internet Explorer is upgraded to version 7 the following error might occur: for res://ieframe.dll/dnserror.htm.

A simple way to resolve this error is to install antivirus software in the computer. Then constantly scan your computer and update the antivirus software when needed. When the error message appeared when you are browsing a suspicious site through Internet Explorer7, disable the protected mode options of the browser.

Lastly, the error can also be caused by Kerio and Zone Alarm firewall so if needed uninstall the applications causing the error.

5 Reasons to Invest in a Registry Cleaner

2008-11-09T02:58:00.000-08:00

Are you having many problems with your computer? You should then assure that your registry is clean as it may be affecting the way that your computer operates. You should consider learning the 5 reasons to invest in a registry cleaner since the use of the registry cleaner may be the solution for you to have a better time using your computer.

One of the 5 reasons to invest in a registry cleaner would be the importance of the registry in keeping your computer free of errors. The registry cleaner is a program that would help you keep a healthy registry. As the registry is an important aspect in each activity that is done by your computer, you should keep it clean and well taken care of. Also, the registry is always used which results to times when the registry would keep many irrelevant files in your computer. These unused files may cause damage to the other files. However, this event may be avoided through the use of a registry cleaner. You will be able to eliminate these clutters and fix other computer errors when you are able to use a good cleaner and then the computer will be able to keep your files safe.

Additionally, you will also be able to make your computer speedy if you have a better registry. If there are many irrelevant files in your registry, this will slow down the way that the registry operates and it also affects the computer speed in some degrees. With the use of the registry cleaner, you will be able to compress the files that you have and once defragmented, the registry, along with your computer, would also speed up.

Third out of the 5 reasons to invest in a registry cleaner would be the benefit of removing malicious files in your computer. The viruses, Trojans, worms and other malicious entries in your registry would affect the processing of your system commands. Thus, with a registry cleaner, you can avoid more system defects as they are already cleaned out. You just have to find a good registry cleaner that can give you a deeper scan of your computer registry to experience more benefits. After which you can enjoy a better functioning computer.

Additionally, the registry cleaners can help you fully uninstall your unwanted programs. When you uninstall a program, there are some instances that bits of information may not be fully deleted. Thus, this still occupies some space in your disk and you would want to avoid this. When you invest in a good registry cleaner, you will have a faster computer that only contains that files that you would need. Lastly, your computer needs maintenance. With the registrys function important in the way that your computer operates, then it should be just right that you will give enough time for keeping this clean.

If you want to have a computer that can function the right way, then you should know how to keep it clean. You should remove those unwanted files and you should also remember that this should be done regularly. By following these registry fixes in keeping a clean registry, you can experience a decrease in your computer troubles.

Meizu's M8 iPhone Clone Hitting US Stores by Christmas Eve

2008-11-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

It was earlier announced that Meizu's M8 iPhone clonephone was really coming to the shops in China at the end of the year, but according to the head of the company, things'll be happening a bit sooner than that.

J.Wong himself has suggested that it'll be on sale in China no later than the 30th of this month, with Wi-Fi disabled as per China's legal requirements. A fully-enabled Indian version will follow... and then Europe, Hong Kong and the US should be happening by December 24th. The price has been fleshed out a little as well: the 8GB one should go for about $350, and the 16GB for $420. So it's not long until Apple's lawyers can get their mitts on one, and see how much cloning has gone on. [Via Gizmodo]

Nintendo DSi in action

2008-10-27T11:19:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the upcoming Nintendo DSi in the video above.

USB charger for Nokia phones

2008-10-23T04:03:00.001-07:00

This handy USB charger with travel light lets you charge your compatible Nokia phones via USB port on your laptop or pc and to get it to work you just need to have the 2mm power plug into the phone. In case your (Nokia) cellphone battery is always dying and you don’t want to have the trouble of carrying the normal cellphone charger with you, this small and handy gadget disguises as a cell phone strap（you can attach one to your keychain too）will waken your inspiration! Such Nokia CA 100 costs Only $1.49.

Wrap-Around Screen Phone Concept

2008-10-19T05:56:00.001-07:00

This concept from Mac Funamizu is designed to show how truly badass a phone with an OLED-wrap display could look. The most important advance? No more bezels or borders of any kind. A concept like this makes even the iPhone look cluttered, with that primitive silver border. It's a great little design, inspired by the Nokia Aeon concept, and we'd love to see the wrap-around screen idea on a real phone someday. [Via Gizmodo]

CityWall Interactive Multitouch Display gets a glorious 3D Interface

2008-10-11T01:11:00.001-07:00

CityWall has been around for a little bit now, offering a giant multitouch display of maps and other service-oriented features. But now the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology just launched their new 3D UI for the interactive display, which makes it look super futuristic and awesome. While not actually 3D in the physical sense, the UI is fully rendered in 3D. As the video below shows, groups of files are represented as spheres, which can be manipulated in every which way. You can even look at the photo thumbnails inside the sphere "from behind." Though the demo is thin, it shows some really interesting ideas at play.

Read More ..

Inmate Search

2008-10-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

Do you want to access the details of an inmate? Well don't worry as you can look for your inmates at freeinmaterecords.org. This site helps you find your inmates through the various options available at their site. You can search for inmates at their site using the indiana inmate search or more state searches available at their site. You just need to fill up the person's particulars and you will be shown the results. It's simple, quick and cheap.

Online Death Certificate Search

2008-10-11T00:52:00.000-07:00

If you are searching for the death record of someone, try out deathcertificatesearch.org. This site helps you search for death records easily and quickly. You just need to log on to their site and search the person's first name, middle name or last name or state or city and more such things and you will be presented with the death records. It's that simple!

Their database contains a huge number of death certificates. You can find them quickly, cheaply and accurately. Try it out!

Detects Wireless Networks with InSSIDer

2008-10-10T23:44:00.000-07:00

inSSIDer scans networks within reach of your computer's Wi-Fi antenna, tracks signal strength over time, and determines their security settings (included whether or not they're password-protected). inSSIDer works like a charm on both Vista and 64-bit XP and is open-source to boot. This tool is a must-have for hunting down Wi-Fi networks on the road.

inSSIDer is available as a freeware only for the Windows platform and requires .NET 2.0.

Rename Internet Explorer Title

2008-10-09T01:32:00.000-07:00

You can change the title in the Internet Explorer toolbar to whatever you like. To do so, go to the Registry and look for this string:

HKEY_USERS\Default\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Look for the 'WindowTitle' String value in the right pane, right-click on it and select 'Modify'. Type in whatever you want to go into the Toolbar. If the String value does not exist, create it by right-clicking in the right pane and selecting 'New->String Value' and naming it 'WindowTitle'. Double click on it and type in the text you want.

Now you'll have your own title being displayed in the Internet Explorer.

FCC clears Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

2008-10-05T03:30:00.000-07:00

Sony Ericsson's highly-anticipated Xperia X1 smartphone has been approved by the FCC. The specific model vetted by the fatcats in Washington probably isn't the one we'll be seeing in North America: it's referred to as the X1i, which in Sony terms means Europe, and it's not yet equipped with 3G. Still, this is a good indication that American's will be getting the X1 before 2009, though it'll still be after those shifty Europeans

Build your website in minutes

2008-10-05T03:21:00.000-07:00

Nowadays a lot of people have started to blog. Hundreds and thousands of new blogs and websites are added to the world wide web everyday. Apart from these bloggers, there are people who do not have any information on how a website is created. They think that it's a pretty difficult job and is only meant for professionals.

So how to build a website ? If you also want to have a website but can't think of how to go ahead with it, then do not worry as Buildyoursite.com is there to help you out.

Buildyoursite.com provides you with one of the easiest ways of owning a website. It's simple, affordable and includes everything to get you started.

I took a test drive of their service so as to see how it works and believe me I was able to create a website in minutes. When I say 'minutes', it means minutes. The website looked professional and it seemed that I had shed a lot of $$ on a real designer. That's why these guys say Create Your Own Website in minutes.

They also provide you with domain names, hosting, email-boxes, submission tools and much more. Giving your website a design is pretty easy as they provide you with loads of templates which match your site's content.

So if you are looking for an easy and quick method to have an online presence, then give their service a try. Build your own website today!

Superwarehouse.com Review

2008-10-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

The internet has come a long way and it's growth has been tremendous over the past few years. With internet you can chat, listen to music, download stuff and even shop while sitting at your place. Shopping over the internet is pretty easy and time saving. You do not need to physically go to a store and select your products.

If you are looking for a tech and computer related store on the web, let me suggest you Superwarehouse.com.

Superwarehouse.com is a one stop shop for all your computer and gadget needs. They have thousands of branded products at their site. You can find laptops, desktops, monitors, printers, mp3 players like apple ipod and much more. They have different categories of products which makes it easier to search for a specific type of gadget. You can also see different products offered by a specific brand like Sony or HP.

These guys have a whole range of multimedia products which include audio/video devices like mp3 players, ipod shuffle, speakers, displays and many more such products. Nowadays, everyone prefers to have a good music player. There are loads of mp3 players available in the market. The most popular seems to be the Apple iPod. Apple keeps bringing out quality products like the ipod touch which is one of the best multimedia devices available. Superwarehouse.com also deals in music players such as the ipod and offer exciting prices on these products.

Superwarehouse.com believes in the customer's satisfaction and offers pretty good services. So if you are looking forward to buying some gadget for yourself, just give this site a try. You'll love it!

Google Toolbar 5 for Firefox released

2008-09-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

Google has recently updated it's toolbar for Firefox, and it integrates Google services with your browser chrome better than ever. If you're a dedicated Google Apps, Gmail, YouTube, Maps, Bookmarks, and Notebook user, the Google Toolbar can be really useful to you. Probably the most impressive feature is the ability to set up profiles—like "Personal" and "Professional"—and associate web form auto-fill information with them, like addresses, credit card numbers, and phone numbers. If you're willing to give the big G that info in your toolbar, filling in web forms becomes a one-click affair. You can also add Google Gadgets to your toolbar, like Wikipedia and YouTube.

Download it here.

Wireless high-definition video coming soon

2008-09-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

Backers of the top two wireless video standards, WirelessHD and WHDI, say the first quarter of 2009 will see actual consumer electronics products using wireless high-definition video.

After years of talking about different standards, there's been more movement in this industry of late, but we're still waiting for the floodgates to open where all the top-tier manufacturers have TVs with a wireless HD connectivity option.

Recently Mitsubishi said it would be using WHDI, which sends uncompressed, high-definition video signals over the unlicensed 5-Gigahertz band throughout an entire home, in a wireless TV it's making for the Japanese market this fall.

Sharp already has a wireless TV in Japan using WHDI, but in the U.S., there are several products that have been previously promised to us this fall: wireless dongles from Belkin, Gefen, and Sony, and embedded wireless capability for HD video in an IDX camcorder. TVs from Mitsubishi, Sharp, and Sony should be next.

Competing standard WirelessHD transmits an HDMI signal over the air using the 60-Gigahertz spectrum up to 20 meters away, or basically within one room of a house. Samsung, Panasonic and Toshiba have promised products using WirelessHD. Expect to hear more about this at CES in January.

IP Hider - Stay invisible while online

2008-09-19T03:46:00.000-07:00

AllAnonymity's IP Hider is a software that keeps your internet IP address hidden while you're surfing the net. Since each user online has a unique IP address, there is this possibility of being tracked. Harmful websites can put tracking code on your PC through cookies which can reveal your online activity to others without you knowing about it. Thus, a software like IP Hider can prove to be very beneficial.

Basically, IP Hider secures the protocols on your PC by redirecting traffic through anonymous proxies. So all data traffic that you request comes to the proxy first, and only then it reaches you. As a result, the websites get the IP address of the proxy server instead of your own IP address. Besides that, it helps you clean all online traces that may harm or use inadvertently information on your computer.

IP Hider is also useful if you live in a country which has blocked access to certain internet resources. With IP Hider, you'll be visiting that website from a different IP address, so you'll be able to access that resource. Moreover, you can also use it if you want to post to a forum or blog from which you have been banned.

Thus IP Hider is a great tool to mantain your online privacy and cut other's chance of peeping into your work.

Try out IP Hider ..

HP Touchsmart IQ816 brings Bigger Screen, Blu-ray drive

2008-09-18T04:19:00.001-07:00

HP's Touchsmart all-in-one, was a pretty good PC, and now it got a few more additions that sweeten the deal. The new features that the Touchsmart IQ816 will come with are a 25.5-inch LCD, Blu-ray drive and VESA wall mount capability.

Among other features, there's a drive bay for HP's Pocket Drive line of portable hard drives, an NVIDIA GeForce 9600M video card. There's also this multi-color light that illuminates the space under the computer for the keyboard. Apart from that, the technical specifications and the touchscreen technology remain the same.

The Touchsmart IQ804 will also be available. The only difference between the two will be that the IQ804 will not come with the Blu-ray drive and NVIDIA 9600M.

The Touchsmart IQ816 will cost around $2100 and will ship on October 12, while the IQ804 will weigh at $1900 and will be available on September 21.

Change Timeout For Hanged Programs

2008-09-12T04:41:00.000-07:00

When an application hangs and no longer responds, Windows XP displays a dialog box that prompts you to kill the application or wait a while longer. By default, the dialog box appears after the application hasn't responded for half of a second. You can increase or decrease the amount of
time it takes before Windows reports that the program has hung.

To do so, simply follow these steps:

1. Click Start and select Run.
2. Type in 'regedit' and press OK.
3. Look for the following string:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

4. In the right pane, right-click on the 'HungAppTimeout' string and select 'Modify'.
5. Change the 'Value Data' to any time you want but in milliseconds (10000 milliseconds = one second).
6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Now you can set the time Windows takes to report that an application is not responding.

Microsoft wants to create a one-stop Mobile Apps Market

2008-09-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is preparing to launch in the next few months a Web site called Skymarket to sell Windows Mobile OS applications, a job advertisement suggests.

The clue to the launch is a job advertisement spotted by blogger Long Zheng. Microsoft is looking for a senior product manager who would oversee the marketing and development for the service, intended to complement the eventual release of the next mobile OS, Windows Mobile 7.

Third-party developers have built more than 15,000 applications for Windows Mobile, but the applications are sold through a multitude of vendors on different Web sites.

The advertisement would suggest that Microsoft is aiming for something closer to Apple's one-stop shop approach with its iTunes Store, which also sells applications for the iPhone. Those applications, which now number more than 1,000, are vetted by Apple and are not sold elsewhere.

One of the goals listed in Microsoft's ad for the position is making "the Windows Mobile marketplace 'the place to be' for developers wishing to distribute and monetize their Windows Mobile applications."

Microsoft has already taken a shot at loosely roping its applications under one online roof with its Windows Mobile Catalog.

But the site is a facade, with links leading to vendors such as Pocketland, Handango and MobiHand which handle the transaction and downloads. By contrast, Apple's applications can be purchased and downloaded on its iPhone wirelessly.

Read more ..

Photosynth lets you create your own 3D images

2008-08-22T06:44:00.000-07:00

Photosynth, a Microsoft Live Labs project previously available as a view-only tech preview, now lets those signed up with Windows Live to upload and create their own multi-photo walk-through panoramas. The webapp, which requires an 8MB software installation on the user's side, can stitch together dozens or hundreds of photos and then let viewers "walk" through them, altering perspective and creating entirely new views from the details of all those shots. That means you not only can show off your new workshop shed in your backyard garden, you can let viewers actually step into it and look around. Pretty cool stuff, although those uploads, and the software itself, can take up a bit of bandwidth and memory. Photosynth requires a free download and a Windows Live ID to use.

Photosynth .. [via Lifehacker]

Quickly Abort A Shutdown Command

2008-08-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

Some worms, such as the Blaster worm, use known bugs in Microsoft Operating Systems to force the computer to shut down itself. you may also get the shutdown command by inadvertently ending a system program in the Task Manager. You can create a shortcut on the Desktop for a command that will allow you to quickly abort any un-wanted shutdown commands you might get.

Simply right-click on an empty space on the Desktop and select 'New->Shortcut'. In the Location box type in 'shutdown.exe -a' and click on the 'Next' button. In the Title box enter any name you want for the shortcut then click on the 'Finish' button.

Whenever you see the shutdown command appear on your screen, simply double-click on the shortcut to abort the forced shutdown.

Make Shift Turn Off Caps Lock

2008-08-14T00:55:00.000-07:00

Some people find it a lot more convenient to have the Shift key release the Caps Lock function, as typewriters do. With windows XP, this feature is available from the Control Panel, but only when you install another keyboard layout during the Windows installation. You can also change this feature in the Registry.
Simply folow these steps:

1. Click on the Start button and select Run.
2. Type in regedit and press OK
3. Look for the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Keyboard Layout

4. In the right pane, right-click and select 'New->DWORD Value'
5. Name the new value 'Attributes'
6. Double-click on the new Attributes value
7. In the Value box enter '00010000' and press OK
8. Exit the Registry and reboot your computer

After you make this change, the Caps Lock key will always turn Caps Lock on but you must press one of the Shift keys to turn it off. This tip reduces the chances of you looking up at your screen only to find that you've typed a whole paragraph in uppercase letters.

ooVoo: Freeware Video Conferencing Tool

2008-08-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

ooVoo is an iChat-like video conferencing and chat tool for Windows, loaded with useful, powerful tools that make it a viable alternative for small work groups using conference calls and screen-sharing applications. A recording feature lets users tape video chats with other participants. Since the video and audio are being recorded to the hard drive, the only time limit is how much free space the computer's hard drive has. In testing, a nearly 15-minute, four-way video conversation only took up 95MB, which ooVoo can convert into a workable FLV file.

A conference calling tool gives host and participants a phone number to call. Other ooVoo users who call this conference line get plugged right into the audio that's a part of the video chat, and just like the video recordings, this audio gets archived, too. Call-in lines support up to six people, meaning users can have up to a dozen participants--including those on the video side. Note that this service isn't free. An optional companion for ooVoo's video player can be used for screen sharing or file sharing, and fun facial overlay tool that applies digital masks either to users faces or to backgrounds.

One of the best features is support for high-quality video streams, but two qualms users have had with the service are the compressed-sounding audio quality and datastream delays. More than annoying, one or more seconds of lag can force a heated debate to grinding halt. Still, ooVoo makes for a strong alternative to other VoIP and conferencing software.

Download ..

Remove Items from the Add/Remove list

2008-08-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

If you share your computer with other people in your house and they have a habit of uninstalling programs from the Add/Remove list, or you don't want them seeing what is installed on your computer, you can take out any program from the list without actually uninstalling it.
Just follow these steps.

1. Click on your Start button, select Run and type in regedit.
2. Look for this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Uninstall
3. Look for the program you want to hide under the Uninstall subkey and highlight it (If you see all numbers and letters, highlight that key and look in the right pane for the programs name)
4. Select Export from the File menu and select a name and location for the .reg file that will be created
5. Now delete the program under the Uninstall subkey

If you ever decide to uninstall a program, simply double-click on the .reg file to restore the uninstall data then launch the Add/Remove Programs.

Secure/hide folders without any software

2008-07-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

This tip is very helpful to hide and secure your personal data from other users, particularly on your home computer. You can use third party softwares but at times they can be costly. There is a way to hide your folders using the built-in Windows (XP, 2003, Vista) Attrib commands option. With the Attrib command, you can change the attributes of a folder (Read only, Hidden and System attributes) and safeguard your data.

Follow the given steps to edit the folders attributes to secure your data:
Note: To enable this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.

1. Create a folder that you want to hide on any computer drive. (For example, you have created a folder on D drive with the name 'Data'.
2. Click on Start button and type CMD in the Run box then press O.K. button to display the Windows Command Prompt
3. Now type the command "attrib +s +h D:\Data" (without quotation marks) and press Enter button to execute it

This command will hide your "Data" folder from D drive and now you can verify it.

Any one cannot unhide this folder using the Windows' "Show hidden files and folders" option also.

When you want to unhide this folder, open command prompt and type the command "attrib -s -h D:\Data" and press Enter button. If you want to hide some files, then simply move them to this 'Data' folder.

Shortcut keys for Internet Explorer

2008-07-22T03:47:00.000-07:00

In Internet Explorer, you can use the combination of different keys to access many of it's functions. Shortcut keys help you speed up your surfing without lifting your hands from the keys. You do not need your mouse to select menus and buttons options. Basically keyboard shortcuts keys help you save time and perform tasks without leaving the keyboard.

Useful Internet Explorer shortcuts keys:

CTRL+A - Selects the all items on active page

CTRL+B - Display the "Organize Favorites" dialog box

CTRL+D - Add the active page to your favorites list

CTRL+F - Display "Find" dialog box to search text on active page

CTRL+I - Display the Favorites pane

CTRL+H - Display the History pane

CTRL+N - Use to open new Internet Explorer page

CTRL+W - Closes the active explorer window

CTRL+Tab - Go to address bar of current explorer page

ALT+Home - Use to open the home page of internet explorer

ALT+Left - Arrow Go to previous page of active page

ALT+Right - Arrow Go to next page of active page

ALT+A - Go to Internet Explorer Favorites Menu

ALT+D - Go to address bar of current explorer page

ALT+E - Go to Internet Explorer Edit Menu

ALT+F - Go to Internet Explorer File Menu

ALT+T - Go to Internet Explorer Tools Menu

ALT+V - Go to Internet Explorer View Menu

Tab - Move forward between all items on active web page

F5 - Refresh the active web page

CTRL+P - Use to print the active web page

F11 - Press F11 key to view any webpage in full-screen view and then again press for normal view.

Ctrl+Enter - Windows will automatically add both "www" and ".com" to a domain name. For example, if you type cooltechcheck.blogspot in your address bar and press Ctrl+Enter, then it will automatically become www.cooltechcheck.blogspot.com.

These shortcuts certainly speed up your browsing and save time. Once you get used to them, you'll see the difference.

Intel's Quad-core Mobile Chip to hit the market next month

2008-07-19T04:37:00.000-07:00

Intel will release it's first quad-core processor for laptops next month, rounding out a broad update to its mobile computing platform.

"We're bringing quad-core to mobile in August," said Sujan Kamran, regional marketing manager for client platforms at Intel in Singapore. Kamran declined to disclose specifics of the quad-core chip, which will carry Intel's Core 2 Extreme moniker.

Getting a quad-core processor into a laptop is more about bragging rights than a genuine boost in performance. Very little PC software is designed to take advantage of multiple cores and it's unclear what performance benefits a quad-core chip would offer over a dual-core chip, such as the 3.06GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9100.

While official details of the upcoming quad-core chip are scarce, Australian PC maker Pioneer Computers is taking preorders for laptops based on an unreleased quad-core mobile chip, the 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9300.

The chip is advertised as a A$1,449 (US$1,390) upgrade to Pioneer Computers' DreamBook Style 9008 laptop. But adding a quad-core processor to the laptop doesn't come cheap: the cost of the upgrade is more than the laptop's A$1,399 basic price.

Read More ..

Inyopocket.com - Buy Back Guarantee Website

2008-07-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

Is your 5-6 month old camcorder outdated now? Well it may happen with any gadget you spent your hard-earned money on.

Technology advance everyday and the result is the market getting flooded with new products each day. The newer gadgets are usually more attractive and functional than their old counterparts and tend to replace them gradually. No one wants an old device when there is a better one available. But everytime you cannot replace your older one as it need to be used for some time and there's a big possibility that your new gadget will also be outdated pretty soon.

How about a solution to this problem? Well, there is this website Inyopocket.com. These guys let you take any product available on their site and use it till the time you get bored or annoyed with it and wish to buy a new gadget. They give you buy back guarantee on their products. It means that once you're over with the device, just send it back to them and they'll refund the money you agreed at while buying the product. It's a pretty good deal and you get a good amount of money back. The amount of money you receive also depends on the condition in which you return the product. If it's bad, then some reduction in the amount may happen and if it's excellent, you get a+10%. Buy back guarantees can even be acquired for products up to 60 days after the initial purchase.

It's a really good way to get the latest gadgets, use them until you hate them and then get something new from the money earned by returning that product.

Take a look at what's it all about ..

Uninstall Windows XP using command prompt

2008-07-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

This tip will help you uninstall your upgraded version of Windows XP using the command prompt. This will only work if you have upgraded your operating system from a previous versions of Windows like Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and now want to revert to the operating system that was previously installed on your computer.

Follow these steps to revert to the operating system that was previously installed on your computer:

Note: To perform this trick, you need to have administrative rights.

1. First boot your system in Safe mode by pressing the F8 button as soon as the BIOS screen appears.
2. Once you get into the Windows XP Safe mode, click on Start button and type 'cmd' in Run option then press OK.
3. At the command prompt, type 'cd/' command and press enter.
4. Now again type the command 'cd\windows\system32' and press enter.
5. Now type 'osuninst.exe' to start the uninstall process.

Once you give the above command, you can begin with the OS uninstall procedure. Follow the instructions on the screen to restore your previous operating system.

Vista Firewall Control 1.3

2008-07-03T03:21:00.000-07:00

Vista Firewall Control protects your applications from undesirable network incoming and outgoing activity, controls applications internet access. Allows you to control personal information leakage via controlling application network traffic.

Manages and synchronizes port forwarding provided by external network connection (firewall/router) box with applications requirements and activity.

Features:

Designed for Windows Vista
Zone based network permissions management
Integration with Window Explorer for direct access permission management
Integration with Windows Security Center
Instant notifications of blocked activity
Free versions available
Special editions for portable devices (USB flash/HDD drives, iPod etc)
Special editions for U3 smart devices
Protection from incoming and outgoing threats
External network connection (firewall/router) box support
Automatic network connection box detection/management
External/worldwide access to selected local application
Port Forwarding management
Automatic Port Forwarding-to-applications synchronization
Simplicity of operation
Per-application security settings

Download Vista Firewall Control 1.3 ..

Linksys WRT610N Dual N-Band Wireless Router

2008-07-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

Linksys' Dual-N Band Wireless Router just became official, giving users simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands so 802.11N users and 802.11G users can coexist without N users having to use the crowded 2.4GHz space. Also, since it's dual N-band, two N users can connect (one to each frequency) without interfering with the other. It's styled in Linksys' new form factor, which helps emphasize that Linksys is more for consumers (especially compared to their parent company Cisco).

The Price: $199 MSRP.

How to remove Windows XP's Messenger

2008-06-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

Theoretically, you can get rid of it (as well as a few other things). Windows 2000 power users should already be familiar with this tweak.

Fire up the Windows Explorer and navigate your way to the %SYSTEM ROOT% \ INF folder. What the heck is that thingy with the percentage signs? It's a variable. For most people, %SYSTEM ROOT% is C:\Windows. For others, it may be E:\WinXP. Get it ??

Okay, on with the hack! In the INF folder, open 'sysoc.inf' (but not before making a BACKUP copy first). Before your eyes glaze over, look for the line containing "msmsgs" in it. Near the end of that particular line, you'll notice that the word "hide" is not so hidden. Go ahead and delete "hide". Save the file and close it. Now, open the Add and Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. Click the Add / Remove Windows Components icon. You should see "Windows Messenger" in that list. Remove the checkmark from its box, and you should be set.

NOTE: there are other hidden system components in that 'sysoc.inf' file, too. Remove 'Hide' and the subsequent programs at your own risk.

Speed up acrobat reader

2008-06-15T23:27:00.000-07:00

Do u get irritated when acrobat reader takes 5/10 seconds to load once you open a PDF document? There is a way to speed up the loading.

Follow these steps:

1. Make sure Adobe Reader is not running. If it's opened, then it will lock the files and not allow you to move them. So close it first.
2. Go to the installation folder of acrobat reader
(C:\program files\adobe\acrobat\reader\..... whatever)
3. Move all the files and folders from the 'Plugins' directory to the 'Optional' directory. (Do not copy the files, cut and paste them)

After you follow these steps, your acrobat reader will open up quickly.

Detect and Repair Disk Errors

2008-06-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should try to run this utility weekly to help prevent data loss.

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.

To run the Error Checking utility:

1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
3. In the Properties dialog box, click the 'Tools' tab.
4. Click the 'Check Now' button.
5. The 'Check Disk dialog box will pop-up. In that dialog box, check the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" box, and then click on Start.
6. If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.

Twin sided LCD display converts into a large LCD TV on demand

2008-06-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

Brilliantly Awesome! Nothing else could be a better compliment for this spectacular LCD wonder. A double sided transforming LCD screen could be the future displays.

This concept display can be divided into two back to back monitors allowing two persons to indulge in their own worldly pleasures. With this you can be working on your next project on one screen and your room mate can be busy with the sci-fi movie on the other. If you want to watch the same stuff together, fold it back to recreate a big LCD TV. Isnt that a cool concept?

Unfortunately it is still in the concept phase and may take some more time to get finer details revealed. And so about pricing. Lets wait for that golden moment when this one finally gets launched in our part of the world.

A guide to Digital Cameras

2008-05-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

Basically a digital camera is a device use to capture pictures without the use of film. The increased weight is because these cameras often use heavy batteries even though they have fewer moving parts. The storage used is similar to other computer based products so they are compatible with may other types of media we use to view images. This computer language is called pixels, tiny colored dots represented by ones and zeros that make up the picture that you just captured.

These cameras still use lenses in much the same way that conventional cameras do. Instead of film the digital camera captures the light with the aid of a system which records the light rays digitally. A feature of the better quality versions is they have a sensor that converts light into electrical charges using a different system to their less expensive cousins. Some people believe the device used to capture an image in cheaper cameras the CMOS will eventually be the replacement for the better CCD but this is highly doubtful.

You may have noticed the price of some models has dropped, making them much more affordable to many people; the CMOS image capture device is the reason for this. Whilst both the CMOS and CCD systems both capture an image using millions of solar cells to make up the whole picture, they perform this in slightly different ways Information to help you choose a suitable model of camera is mention in this review. From the point of view on having good quality photos, search for a high megapixel version as it will be worth it for the image you will capture with it; if you are lucky you may find a model that is discounted because a new version is about to be introduced.

Where you have a choice, optical zooms on digital cameras are better than digital ones - always; perhaps you can remember how grainy and blurred images become when you used your camcorder’s digital zoom function? Today’s nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries are very powerful and last for around a 1,000 charges so always use these if you want to save money. Although most are supplied with a number of photo functions, try for as many as you can because you will appreciate the effects that can be achieved; just a few examples of functions to look for are shown here:

* Video capture * Time lapse (i.e. one shot every 5 minutes for example) * Self-timer
High resolution cameras require more space to store images so you will probably need an additional storage card. Although larger storage cards have plummeted in price, a 1GB card should be enough for most peoples needs; some cameras won’t accept very high capacity cards anyway.

Cameras are now very tiny compared to a few years ago so you can actually carry around a high specification variant in your pocket and still be able to take fantastic pictures. Professional photographers may need heavy, bulky equipment but there is no requirement for a keen amateur to do so! Hopefully, these few tips will be enough to steer you in the right direction when you come to buy your camera. With all its technology, versatility and portability, the digital camera is the future of photography.

AUO Curved Displays, Ultra Thin LCDs coming soon

2008-05-21T00:23:00.000-07:00

AUO recently announced the launch of curved displays, LCD panels that are just over a half millimeter thick and TFT multi-touch panels. The curved displays are said to be the first built on glass substrate. Because the display has a curve radius of 100mm, it needs a special thinning technology.

AUO will also release a superthin, 1.9" TFT display that is .63 mm thick, while the 8" multi-touch TFT panels that veer away from the trend of multi-touch glass panels.

Benefits of Backing Up Your Windows Vista Registry

2008-05-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

The Windows Vista registry is an important core Windows Vista operating system component because it comprises all information that is required to keep your PC functional. The registry is basically a tree-like database in which all software and hardware configuration information, user preferences and system setup information is stored. You can view the Windows Vista registry by running the “regedit” command from Start > Run. When the Registry Editor window is displayed, you will see a tree-like folder structure—quite similar to Windows Explorer.

The registry comprises five root keys—HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, HKEY_USERS, and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG—which you will see in the right-pane of the Registry Editor. These root keys are further divided into subkeys and sub-subkeys with each key comprising zero or more values in which configuration data is stored.

When your PC is first installed, this registry tree is quite small and contains only the information that is required for the functioning of your Vista PC. However, as you start working on your system and start performing activities such as, adding new applications, changing system configuration, creating new files and folders, and even browsing the Web, information is accessed, added or removed from the registry. This builds up the registry and it gradually grows in size. The problem starts when, in the process, a large amount of invalid, outdated, and corrupt information strays into the registry and unnecessarily contributes toward its growing size. Many things happen, when you your Windows Vista registry grows to a very large size:

The registry becomes unstable and easily gets damaged and fragmented.
Data access speed slows down, and PC performance deteriorates leading to frequent system freezes and crashes.
Accumulation of a large number of invalid and incorrect entries in the registry generates frequents system errors.

When the situation gets out of hand your registry may fail and leave your PC unbootable. This is the reason why it is important to regularly backup your Vista registry. Because if you have a backup, if your registry fails, you can easily restore it from the backup, get rid of Vista registry problems, and have your PC up and running again.

You must also backup Vista registry before you:

Make any major system configuration change.
Install or uninstall a large application.
Make direct edits to the registry using the Registry Editor.
Perform registry scan and repair using a registry cleaner tool.

Methods to Perform Registry Backups

There are many different methods that you can use to perform registry backups. Some of the most commonly used methods are discussed here.

Methods # 1: Registry Editor: To backup the registry from Registry Editor, open the File menu in the Registry Editor window and select Export. Specify the name of the backup file in the File name box, in the Export range section, select All to backup the entire registry tree, or select Selected branch and specify the name of the branch in the text box provided and then select Save.

Note: To restore just double-click the backup file and select Yes to confirm your decision.

Methods # 2: System Restore: System Restore is a utility that automatically creates snapshots—or restore points—of your PC system files, including the registry, on daily basis or before you make any major change to the PC. You can also create manual restore points by opening the tool from, Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. When you restore your system using this tool, all your system configuration information and registry is reverted to the time when the snapshot was taken.

Methods # 3: Registry Tool: One of the easiest methods to backup the registry is by using a registry tool. There many different tools available in the market, you must select the one that suffices your needs and is compatible with Vista. These tools are primarily GUI-based, and you can easily use their backup and restore feature to take regular registry backups and restore them if your registry fails. Many advanced registry cleaner tools also enable you to undo registry edits, which make them more useful to the user, in comparison to the other tools.

Check out if your anti-virus works or not

2008-05-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

How to be sure if your anti-virus program is working properly or not ? Using this simple method you can figure out if it's functioning correctly or not.

Copy the below line on a notepad. Then save it with the name of 'fakevirus.exe' or any other name you wish. Just make sure that you add .exe at the end of the file name. After you save it, give it a scan and you'll know it all.

Here's the line -

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H*

If your anti-virus is working, it will alert you. Otherwise you need to pay attention to your program.

Dell XPS 730 H2C

2008-05-05T04:03:00.000-07:00

The Dell XPS 730 H2C is Dell's highest-performing consumer PC ever. It comes with the usual gaming rig accoutrements: lighted windowed case, hulking chassis, overclocked quad-core processor, latest technology, and dual-card graphics. Since each ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 card has two GPUs on it, this is really a quad-GPU gaming leviathan. At this price level, however, only high-end gamers with deep pockets need apply. It yielded some of the better gaming performance I've seen lately, but for the time being you're really buying a system with future-proofing built in. You can get this thing for $6,629 direct.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0

2008-04-29T02:27:00.000-07:00

Exceedingly popular, AVG Free offers rock-solid protection, but only the bare necessities. The security features include a real-time shield to prevent infections, antivirus and antimalware wrapped up in one engine, and a link scanner for Web surfing with care.

By default, AVG is set to search for new virus definitions daily, but you can always use the scheduling tool to change this. Should a virus create serious system problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode. The program doesn't tax your system when scanning or when running in the background, and it always proved effective in our tests. The new interface is much easier to navigate than in previous version, with tabbed navigation on the left assisting users in drilling down to the tools they need.

Download AVG Free 8.0 ..

Compose Text Messages with your Voice

2008-04-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

Some people hate text messaging simply because of the hassle to compose a message using the cell-phone keypad. You could always upgrade to a keyboard-equipped phone like the LG Voyager, AT&T Tilt, or RIM BlackBerry Curve, but even those models require you to use your thumbs when it comes to text input. Plus, it probably seems excessive to spend hundreds of dollars on a new phone just for the sake of easier text messaging.

How about your voice doing the fingerwork for you? A free service called Jott will transcribe your spoken message into text and deliver it via SMS to anyone in your contact list (which you have to set up in advance on the Jott site). Just speed-dial Jott from your cell phone, say the name of the person you want to contact, and then start talking.

The world's smallest 8GB USB drive

2008-04-09T04:31:00.000-07:00

USB Drives are a necessity for most people today. New models appear in the market everyday. The latest is an 8GB drive with "the world's smallest 8GB drive" tag. This thing weighs less than a nickel and is just a little bigger than a quarter.

What may happen with this drive is that it may get accidentally washed in someone's pocket. So to deal with this problem, they've made it water-resistant. Hope that we get to see more such 'small stuff'.

Download YouTube videos with a 'kiss'

2008-03-26T01:20:00.000-07:00

Watching videos over YouTube is great fun. You get to see loads of videos everyday. Seeing them is pretty easy but when it comes to saving these videos to your hard drive, then it might be a bit difficult.

What about downloading these videos with just a 'kiss' ? You might be wondering what this 'kiss' is. Well this relates to a new method of downloading YouTube videos. What you actually have to do is to just add the word 'kiss' at the begining of a YouTube video URL. For example you want to download this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX8L1QYwZ7c.
To get it using the method described above, modify the URL like this - 'http://www.kissyoutube.com/watch?v=AX8L1QYwZ7c'. Hope you got hold of it now.

You must be thinking how all this happens. It's pretty simple. There's a website called kissyoutube.com which is doing all this work for you. This method is quite simple and easy and requires you to install no other software.

Try out the Orkut applications

2008-03-20T23:08:00.000-07:00

Google has started a new project named OpenSocial. OpenSocial is a set of common APIs for developers to create applications that work on websites like Orkut, Facebook etc. that have chosen to participate.

The much awaited Orkut applications are now live. For now, these applications are available only to Ethiopian Orkut members. But don't worry, you can still get them.
Follow the steps below:
* Change the country in your profile to Estonia.
* Now, you'll will get an option to 'add apps' in the left hand side menu.
* Click on the option. Now you'll be in the application directory. Choose the application you want to try.

For now, these are some of the available apps -
1. PhotoAttack
2. Horoscopes
3. Emote!
4. Music iLike
5. JogaTV by Nike
6. Top Friends by Slide.com

There are not much apps on Orkut at the present moment but you will see many more in the time to come. So just wait and watch.

Speed Up Windows Explorer

2008-03-18T00:40:00.000-07:00

Are you having trouble with your Windows Explorer ? Does it take a lot of time to open up, even if your hardware configuration is good ?

If yes, then you can resolve this issue. One thing for sure is that you're on a network, and XP is always monitoring shared resources-a printer, for instance, or a networked folder-so as to establish a connection to those resources easily. But you can correct this thing and turn off the monitoring-and still access shared stuff.

To do so, follow the steps:
1. Open Windows Explorer, go to Tools, Folder Options.
2. Click on the View tab and uncheck 'Automatically search for network folders and printers'.

After doing this, you'll definitely feel some change. Your Explorer would speed up.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18

2008-03-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 brings with it a wide array of features plus an 18X zoom lens and all this into a relatively compact body. This 8.3-megapixel camera provides above-average image quality. At $399.95, it's a good bargain. A worthy follow-up to Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, the FZ18 puts in some important features like a longer zoom and wider angle, higher sensitivity and resolution, and Intelligent Auto Mode, which includes face detection, automatic scene selection, intelligent ISO, and continuous autofocus.

The best part of the FZ18 is its 18X wide-angle Leica lens, which has a range of 4.6mm to 82.8mm. The wide angle is a welcome upgrade from the FZ8, allowing you to capture more in group portraits and landscapes. The zoom operates at two speeds, depending on how far you push the zoom lever, and operation is smooth and seamless.

It's ISO ranges from 100 to 1,600. The camera has an Intelligent ISO mode that detects moving subjects and automatically increases the ISO to decrease blur. Panasonic has added a high-sensitivity mode that enables you to capture photos at an ISO as high as 6,400, although the resolution drops to 3MP. The FZ18 offers not only raw mode, it also provides a raw-plus-JPEG option, which isn't usually found on inexpensive superzooms.

The FZ18's design showcases Panasonic's thoughtful attention to ergonomics. Weighing around 14.4 ounces, the camera is lightweight for a superzoom yet feels solid and well constructed. The mode dial lets you select one of 14 top-level settings, including the primary mode selections and most popular scenes. Panasonic has added discrete manual focus and macro buttons, allowing for direct operation.

The back of the camera has a 2.5-inch, 207,000-pixel display. The screen is very bright. The LCD is sometimes slow to refresh. If that's a problem, you can frame shots with the electronic viewfinder, which has a 188,000-pixel display and includes an adjustable diopter.

The buttons on the FZ18's back are well positioned for ergonomic use. The two that you'll use most are the main menu cursor buttons and the joystick. The center button of the menu cursor puts you into the menu system; the four surrounding directional buttons let you control exposure, flash settings, the self-timer, and image playback. If you prefer, you can navigate the menu using the small joystick. It's convenient for accessing commonly changed settings, such as ISO and white balance.

Image stabilization works well. Panasonic gives you two stabilization settings: In mode 1, the image stabilizer is constantly working; in mode 2, the stabilizer is activated only when the shutter button is pressed. The face detection function, new to the Panasonic's superzoom line, automatically sets exposures and focus. It can recognize up to 15 faces, and it worked well under normal lighting conditions, although sometimes not as well in low light. The FZ18 has 17 scene modes, plus an advanced mode that lets you fine-tune the settings in popular scenes. In portrait mode, for instance, you can choose among normal, soft skin, outdoor, indoor, and creative settings.

For video, you can record motion JPEGs at 30 frames per second (up to 2GB in size) at resolutions of 640 by 480 and 320 by 240 pixels at the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, and 848 by 480 pixels in 16:9 aspect ratio. The camera adjusted well to various lighting conditions and color was impressive, but you can't zoom during video capture.

The Panasonic Lumix FZ18 is at the top of its class in features, and its performance was marred only slightly by noisy images under low lighting conditions, which is typical of cameras in this category. It's a perfect option for the photographer who wants more than a point-and-shoot but doesn't need the advanced features of D-SLR models.

Pay Less Domain Registration

2008-03-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

Are you setting up a domain? Then make sure you buy your domain name from a reputed domain seller. Pay Less Domains is one such domain registration website. It makes your work easy and sells domain names at cheap and affordable rates.

Sometimes domain resellers do charge high rates but getting your domain through Pay Less Domains is affordable. It's an amazing reseller and even provides users with web hosting service. They sell out .com and .net domains for 11.95 AUD per annum. That comes out to be less than 1 AUD a month! You can even get yourself a .com.au domain for 34.98 AUD for 2 years. You can check out more on their pricing here.

That's not all. With every domain name you register through them, you get 24/7 Customer Support, FREE Email Hosting, FREE URL Forwarding, FREE Domain Name Parking, FREE Renewal Reminders and much more. You can even get some discount if you register a domain for two years or more or on bulk domain registration.

Seems interesting, ain't it? So, for your next domain registration, try Pay Less Domains.

Stop Google from Tracking your Searches

2008-02-26T00:38:00.000-08:00

There is a way to remain somewhat anonymous on the most popular of all search engines, Google. Remember that if you have a username log-in with any of the Internet search engines, their systems can build a profile of you. If you're truly paranoid you may want to delete or cancel any free e-mail accounts that are associated with Web search engines and scrub their cookies from your hard drive. If you use any of the services provided by Google, such as Groups, Wallet, AdSense or Gmail, then you have an account that points back to your identity. This means that everything you do within the search can now point back to you as a unique user. To stop this from happening, follow these steps:

1. Go to www.google.com/psearch to sign in to your account.
2. Click on the Search History page and pick some days on the calendar to see every search made since you created your Google account.
3. Select the Clear Search History button, check off items that you wish to remove, and then click the Clear History button.
4. To prevent Google from collecting this data in the future, select items such as Web, Images, and News that you don't want to collect data, then press the Pause button.

This way you'll remain totally anonymous while you search anything on the Google search engine.

Microsoft to no longer make HD DVD players for Xbox

2008-02-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Corp. will stop making HD DVD video players for its Xbox 360 game system, a move that comes days after Toshiba Corp. backed off the HD DVD business.

The move, announced on Saturday, follows recent decisions by Hollywood studios such as Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros and retailer Wal-Mart to exclusively support Sony Corp's Blu-ray, a high-definition video technology rival to HD DVD.

Microsoft had been one of the biggest backers of HD DVD along with Intel Corp, but the tide turned against HD DVD after Warner Bros, which had supported both, defected to Blu-ray last month.

Microsoft said it does not see the decision having any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or its position in the market. It pledged to continue product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD players that it has already sold.

Microsoft, in a statement on its GamerScoreBlog, said that it did not "believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace."

The bundling of movie players is a key added feature in the battle for dominance in the next-generation video game console market, where players like Microsoft and Sony see their devices as hubs for delivering games, movies and Web content to living room television.

Sony's PlayStation 3 has a Blu-ray player built in.

"HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room...," Microsoft's statement said.

Microsoft, which earlier said that it would consider supporting Blu-ray technology should consumers want it, did not say if it would make Blu-Ray players.

Turn your Webcam into a Surveillance Cam

2008-02-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

Let your Webcam be your eyes and ears while you're away from home or the office. A simple Webcam costs about $20, and a good surveillance-software package can be downloaded for free or cheap.

I recommend NovoSun's free SurveillizCam Lite. This program can monitor your home and office by stably detecting motion and logging the surveillance video into an AVI file with MPEG1 or MPEG4 codecs. In SurveillizCam, you can define multiple regions in any channel for motion detection. By doing this, you can mask some unstabe areas on a video. Moreover, SurveillizCam uses an adaptive algorithm, which makes the detection more stable and reliable.

Everytime it will detects some abnormal motion in your place of monitoring, it will be notify you via sound alarm or live video. You can even configure the system to record the motion video into AVI on it's own. You can view all the logged videos with Windows Media Player or SurveillizCam's video management and playback system. Version 1.16.1 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

You can try it and then upgrade to one of their paid packages which include sound recording, remote connection, scheduled recordings, and recording up to 16 channels (webcams) simultaneously.

Download SurveillizCam Lite here.

Dell XPS M1530: Newcomer in the XPS series

2008-02-09T05:24:00.001-08:00

After the XPS M1330 and XPS M1730, Dell has brought out the XPS M1530 to expand it's XPS range. The Dell XPS M1530 maintains the same metallic finish and stylish chassis that made the M1330 so adorable. The system is optimal for workaholics who bind themselves to their work place and for home theater fanatics who fancy things like luxury hardware.

The M1530 can be considered as a desktop replacement while still being light enough for short trips at 6.2 pounds—and that's with a nine-cell, 85-Wh battery. With a standard six-cell battery reducing the system's weight to 5.9 pounds, it becomes less of a burden. The XPS M1530 is sleek and is available in three colors: Tuxedo Black, Alpine White, and Crimson Red.

Unlike the XPS M1330, the M1530 doesn't provide you with an option for an LED screen. (LED options will be available early this year). The benefits of LEDs include slimmer profiles and long-lived battery life. The fluorescent lighting in the M1530's screen adds to the overall thickness of the system; it doesn't, however, take anything away from its brightness or quality of the viewing experience. It offers you a resolution of 1,440-by-900.

The M1530 is one of the first notebooks ever to sport a slot-loading (not a tray-ejecting) Blu-ray burner. With all the Blu-ray movies popping up lately, the 15.4-inch widescreen is more than capable of accommodating a decent high-definition experience. This system has three USB ports and a single Firewire post. There's also an HDMI-out port that'll let you run a cable over to a larger display, so you can view your Blu-ray content n your big-screen HDTV. You'll need to purchase a separate HDMI cable, though. The 2-megapixel webcam grants you good face time with friends and family.

The M1530's energy swallowing levels won't earn it an Energy Star sticker in the near time, but the system's raw horsepower seems to be quite notable. This notebook comes with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 (2.2 GHz) processor and 2GB of RAM. The XPS M1530 loads Windows Vista Home Premium.

Undifferentiated from the M1330, the M1530 loads discrete graphics for high-definition enthusiasts who are also part-time gamers. The bundled nVidia GeForce 8600M GT is a tier higher than the nVidia GeForce 8400M GS found on the XPS M1330. Both sets have nVidia's PureVideo engine, which offers hardware decoding for high-definition playback and cranks up frame rates when playing the latest 3D games.

Priced at $2,174, the Dell XPS M1530 is the newcomer in the XPS series, featuring a 15.4-inch widescreen, awesome performance scores, and one of the first ever slot-loading Blu-ray burners. It's design elements and raw horsepower make it a great choice for guys who are seeking to replace their desktops.

Storage Capacity of iPhone, iPod Touch doubled

2008-02-06T00:06:00.000-08:00

Apple has introduced iPhone and iPod Touch with double the previous storage capacity permitting it's new customers to spend $100 more and secure twice the storage for more music, movies, pictures, and podcasts than available with previous models. The price tag on both the 32GB iPod Touch the 16GB iPhone is $499.

Pricing on the existing iPod and iPhone models stays the same. But if you're going ahead for a new iPhone or iPod Touch, then spending $100 more to double your capacity accounts for a pretty good deal.

Certainly the larger capacities may enrage some existing iPhone and iPod Touch users as was the case when Apple slew the price of the iPhone.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of iPod and iPhone product marketing commented in the release, "For some users, there's never enough memory." This is without doubt true, especially with music collections shifting completely digital, but Greg, it still stabs those of us who picked up a 16GB iPod Touch barely months ago to have a new bigger and better model become accessible.

It's sort of funny to think over it. Isn't it a bit absurd to get upset over a product enhancement? After all, this is what companies as expected to be doing.

Get your Laptop Repaired Online

2008-02-03T05:40:00.000-08:00

Laptops are replacing desktops fast. With the mobility, features and design they offer, laptops are becoming an ideal choice for many. But handling laptops is not that easy. Moreover, getting your notebook repaired may be a bit of a problem. To ease out things, FixLaptop.com makes laptop repairing a pretty easy task.

As an introduction, FixLaptop.com is a website which repairs and upgrades all laptop brands. Whether it be hard drive replacement, data recovery, memory upgrade, broken screen repair or keyboard repair, they fix it all. Getting your laptop repaired online with FixLaptop.com is really easy. You just have to send them your notebook and they'll do the rest of the work. After they receive your laptop, they do a free diagnostic test and email you with the details about the service charge. After fixing all the glitches present in your notebook, they'll ship it back to you. Seems so easy!

If you are looking around to buy a second hand notebook, then you ought to check out their used laptops section as they have a good variety of used notebooks with a low price tag. Toshiba, HP, Compaq are among some of the Laptop brands they sell.

So, if you are looking forward to getting your notebook repaired or want to a buy laptop hard drive, laptop memory or even a used Toshiba laptop, then this is the right place for you.

Fill out the Fix Laptop form now and get your notebook repaired or upgraded today.

Create GIF's without any Software

2008-01-29T01:47:00.001-08:00

Gickr is a simple tool that lets you upload up to 10 files from Flickr or your PC and turn them into an animated GIF with variable speed control. The service is aimed mostly at social networking users who want to pack the most into their profile picture or photo galleries, but if you've ever been curious about making an animated GIF but have been put off either by some of the obscure special software required or complex how-to guides, then this is the tool for you.

Once you've uploaded your images to the service you can tweak things like how big you want the end image to be, and how fast it cycles through each picture. Gickr hosts the GIF for you, and gives you an embed code and the option to add tags to make it a part of the user gallery. The one limitation is that the service adds a little Gickr watermark to your image in the top left corner, even if you want to host the image yourself. That, and the fast transition speed is truly nauseating unless you're attempting to make a cartoon. I like its simplicity when compared with admittedly more powerful, but complicated standalone software tools.

Create GIF's now!

HP LP3065 - the 30-inch LCD

2008-01-25T02:19:00.001-08:00

HP's 30-inch LCD monitor, the LP3065, shows impressive image quality. It sports a nice design and unique features that set it apart. Like other 30-inch displays, it's pricey, but it might be worth it if your work demands lots of screen real estate.

The LP3065 performed well in text and graphics tests, showing extremely sharp text in both a Microsoft Word document and an Excel spreadsheet. Black text on a white background was quite easy to read, even at very small font sizes. However, because of the display's high resolution of 2560 by 1600, icons and text can appear rather small. You can remedy this by increasing the font display size in Windows.

Colors on the LP3065 look bright and lively, both in photographs and on a screen of a Web site. Again, its high resolution helps the display excel at showing fine detail.

With three DVI ports, the LP3065 is more versatile than other displays--it can be hooked up to several PCs at once using a digital connection, which is a nice extra. All of the ports are dual-link DVI, so they all require a dual-graphics card setup. If you don't already have such a graphics card, you'll have to shell out for one to accommodate this monitor.

The LP3065 lacks an on-screen display (OSD) for adjusting the image--because no components yet exist that support its high resolution. HP states that future versions of the LP3065 will include an OSD. The only adjustment you can make is to brightness--several buttons on the front of the unit dial brightness up or down.

The monitor has a nice streamlined design, with a thin black bezel and a silver stand. It can tilt and swivel, but not pivot. It's also height-adjustable and wall-mountable.

But the LP3065 costs $1699, which is quite a bit for a display. Granted, you do get excellent image quality and lots of room to spread out in, and if you crave viewing detail in your photos and documents, the LP3065 might be worth the splurge.

Free Picture Resizer for Windows Vista

2008-01-20T03:29:00.000-08:00

Nowadays, digital cameras are at your service and can capture beautiful multi-megapixel photos. The problem with the images is that they are a bit large in size. E-mailing such large photo files can clog up your recipient’s Inbox and even become impossible sometimes.

You can quickly resize photos before you e-mail them or transfer them to your Mobile devices with the free Image Resizer, which is one of the many handy tools that make up the Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP. Unfortunately, this PowerToys utility is no longer supported in Windows Vista and there is no easy way to do this task under Vista. Luckily, there exists a free utility from VSO Software called VSO Image Resizer that does exactly what the Microsoft's PowerToys Resizer does for you in XP.

Once installed, you can browse to the folder containing the photos; highlight one or several of them using standard Windows Shift, Ctrl; right mouse click and select resize. A copy of the newly resized will be created in the same folder.

Download the VSO Image Resizer ..

Recover a Corrupted Windows File

2008-01-18T22:53:00.000-08:00

If an essential Windows file gets whacked by a virus or otherwise gets corrupted, you can restore it from the Windows CD. Search the CD for the filename, replacing the last character with an underscore; for example, Notepad.ex_. If it's found, open a command prompt and enter the command 'EXPAND', followed by the full pathname of the file and of the desired destination. Example:

EXPAND D:\SETUP\NOTEPAD.EX_ C:\Windows\NOTEPAD.EXE

If either pathname contains any spaces, surround it with double quotes. If the file isn't found, search on the unmodified filename. It will probably be inside a CAB file, which Windows XP treats as a folder. Simply right-drag and copy the file to the desired location. When the search is done, open a command prompt and enter 'EXTRACT /L' followed by the desired location, the full pathname of the CAB file, and the desired filename. Example:

EXTRACT /L C:\Windows D:\I386\Driver.cab Notepad.exe

Increase the Number of Simultaneous Downloads in IE 7

2008-01-18T02:40:00.000-08:00

Internet Explorer 7 doesn’t allow you to download more than 2 files simultaneously. In case you want to download more than two files at a time, then here’s a way:

1. Go to Start and select Run and then type regedit and press Enter.

2. Now you’ll be in the registry editor, navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

3. Right click in the empty space, and create a new DWord (32-bit) value by choosing
New > DWord Value . Name it as follows:

MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server
(Note: The 0 beside Server is a zero)

4. Double click this entry and modify the value to 3.
(Substitute 3 for the preferred maximum number of downloads)

5. Create another DWord:

MaxConnectionsPerServer

6. Once again, double click this entry and modify the value to 3.

Now restart your browser. You’ll be able to download more than two files.

Cowon A3

2008-01-16T00:59:00.000-08:00

Cowon's latest A3 portable video player, I have to say is pretty impressing. Being a high-capacity portable video player, the A3 offers spectacular video resolution (800x480) and supports just about every file format out there. Along with its built-in video recording capability and a high-quality video output, the Cowon A3 is something nice out there in the market.

It's disappointing to see that the A3 aside from a dramatic jump in format support and screen resolution, is almost indistinguishable from the Cowon A2. The A2's frustrating miniature joystick navigation and lack of support for DRM-protected WMV and WMA files were some of the issues with the previous player but even now, the new A3 still hasn't addressed these drawbacks. Competitors to the A3 such as the Archos 605 WiFi and Creative Zen Vision W, might not have the support for a large number of file formats, but they are ahead of the A3 on navigation and support for video and music download services.

Despite all the wizardry packed into the A3, it seems that it's going to be a hard time for Cowon to sell the A3's. Archos is selling their 160GB Wi-Fi-enabled PVP, the 605 WiFi, for the same $399 price as Cowon's 60GB, non-Wi-Fi, A3. Maybe the A3 is technically superior to the Archos in many ways, but the allure of the 605's increased storage, touch-screen interface, and Wi-Fi capabilities, is hard to resist.

Edit PDF files online for free

2008-01-14T03:54:00.000-08:00

Most of us don't own a copy of Acrobat Professional to edit our PDF files. But still, editing PDF's might be the need of many. If you want to edit your PDF's the freeware way, then here is something for you.

PDF Hammer is a website that allows you to edit your PDF files online for free. You don't need to install any additional software, you can edit PDF documents right now inside your browser. Once you start, you will be able to upload one or more PDF files into your project, arrange the pages in any order you wish, and delete any pages you don't want.

PDF Hammer is in beta and currently has the following features:
* Reorder pages
* Delete pages
* Append PDF to another PDF

Edit your PDF's now ..

Burmester's $50,000 CD Player

2008-01-14T03:35:00.001-08:00

Burmester Audiosysteme, Germany's legendary manufacturer of ultra high-performance electronics and speakers, is exhibiting its 069 Reference Line CD Player in Las Vegas. This amazing machine draws oohs and aahs even before it makes a sound, it's that gorgeous.

The 069 CD Player is a cutting-edge digital playback system, created for well heeled connoisseurs of music and German industrial design. Its audiophile credentials come in the form of its proprietary belt drive motor system that spins the CDs (instead of the off-the-shelf direct-drive mechanisms other manufacturers use).

The 069 CD Player's spiked feet may be set directly on the its proprietary aluminum base (supplied as standard with the unit), and it uses special carbon-fiber spring pucks to isolate the sensitive electronics from external interference. The player also boasts newly developed and 96 and 192-kHz oscillators with minimal phase noise and high thermal stability. Burmester's 069 Reference Line CD Player is available with a silver housing with a chrome front panel at a suggested price of, whoa, $49,995!

Fastest-Ever Mac Pro launched by Apple

2008-01-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

Apple has launched its fastest-ever professional Macs, introducing re-vamped versions of the Mac Pro and Xserve.

Available immediately, the new Mac Pro's offer eight processor cores and a new system architecture that the company claims offers "up to twice the performance of its predecessor". The new professional desktop Macs use two of Intel's brand-new 45-nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running at up to 3.2GHz.

These new Macs also offer much-improved graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage for creative professionals, with listed price starting at just £1,749 (including VAT).

"The new Mac Pro is the fastest Mac we've ever made," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. "With 3.2GHz 8-core Xeon processing, a 1,600MHz front side bus and 800MHz memory, the new Mac Pro uses the fastest Intel Xeon architecture on the market."

The new Mac Pro features the latest Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 series processors based on state-of-the-art 45nm Intel Core microarchitecture running up to 3.2GHz, each with 12MB of L2 cache per processor. These systems host a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, dual-independent 1,600MHz front side buses and up to a whopping 32GB of 800MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory. All told, Apple promises the new Mac Pro's achieves a 61 per cent increase in memory throughput.

Graphics processing power has been optimized by Apple's choice to deploy the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256MB of video memory. The Mac Pro also includes a new PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot that delivers up to double the bandwidth compared to the previous generation, and supports the latest generation of graphics cards from NVIDIA, such as the GeForce 8800 GT with 512MB of video memory, or Quadro FX 5600 with 1.5GB of video memory and a 3D stereo port for stereo-in-a-window applications.

With an eye to the needs of the most advanced video, 3D and scientific markets, these new Macs can support up to four graphics cards, meaning they can drive up to eight 30in displays at once.

Expandability options include four internal hard drive bays with direct-attach, cable-free installation of four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives, (4TB in total of internal storage) and support for two SuperDrives.

As an option, users can select 15,000rpm SAS drives that can deliver up to 250MB/s of RAID 5 disk I/O performance. Combined with SATA or SAS drives, using an optional Mac Pro RAID card offers excellent data protection and disk I/O performance on the Mac Pro. These Macs are equipped with five USB 2.0, two FireWire 400, two FireWire 800, optical and analogue audio in and out, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports and a headphone jack. Naturally, all new Mac Pro's ship with Apple's latest Leopard OS and the Apple Keyboard. The standard 8-core Mac Pro costs $2,799.

Features:

* Two 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors with dual-independent 1,600MHz front side buses;
* 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
* ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory;
* 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7,200rpm;
* 16X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW);
* two PCI Express 2.0 slots and two PCI Express slots;
* Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse.

In addition to the standard configuration, the Mac Pro offers numerous build-to-order options including: one 2.8GHz, two 3.0GHz, or two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors; up to 32GB of 800MHz DDR2 fully-buffered ECC memory; up to four 1TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7,200rpm or up to four 300GB SAS drives running at 15,000rpm; Mac Pro RAID card; up to two 16x SuperDrives with double-layer support; NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT or NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 graphics cards; AirPort Extreme 802.11n; Apple USB Modem; Apple wireless Aluminum Keyboard; Apple wireless Mighty Mouse; and Mac OS X Server Leopard.

Make Yahoo Messenger ads-free

2008-01-04T02:19:00.000-08:00

Tired of the irritating pop up ads each time you login to Yahoo! Messenger ? If yes, then no need to tolerate these ads. Get rid of them now.

While trying to figure out how to remove these ads, I came across a way to get rid of these. The way we are going to do this is through registry editing.

Follow these steps:
1. Click Start>Run. Type 'regedit'.
2. Goto HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Yahoo -> Pager -> Locale
3. Right click "Enable Messenger Ad" and click on 'Modify'.
4. Enter the value as '0'.

Note: I tried this trick on Yahoo! Messenger 9. Don't know if this would work on the previous versions or not but I think it should. If you want to enable that ad windows again, edit that Binary value as '1' again.

If you don't want to mess up with your registry, then no need to worry.
Download this patch. Not will it just make the messenger ads-free but will also make it a multi messenger ie. you will be able to open 2 or 3 accounts of yours simultaneously and chat.

There you go. Now open the messenger and login. You won't see the pop up ad this time.

Firefox 3 beta 2 Out

2008-01-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

Mozilla fans can now download Firefox 3 beta 2 for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.

The new version comes with a wide range of improvements over the first test version, most notably plugs for memory leaks, security fixes, and a download manager that includes improvements previously available only through plug-ins.

The security enhancements get fairly technical, but the Firefox developer's Web page states that the new version offers "protection from cross-site JSON data leaks, tighter restrictions on site-specific content using effective TLD service, better presentation of Web site identity and security, malware protection, stricter SSL error pages, antivirus integration in the download manager, (and) version checking for insecure plug-ins."

The updates made to the download manager are pretty good, and they're far easier to parse. The new download manager lets you resume stopped downloads, and it has the much needed built-in virus checker.

You can also zoom in on parts of a Web page, and the integration between bookmarks, the location bar, and bookmark folders has become tighter. There's now one-click bookmarking, smart folders for bookmarks, and the location bar checks against your bookmarks and history for page titles and URLs.

The Firefox developers also claim that Web site rendering is now faster than it was in Firefox 3 beta 1, but empirically, there is not much difference. Either way, it's definitely faster than it is in Firefox 2.

If you want to be in the safe run and don't want to accidentally damage your current installation of Firefox 2 by installing the beta, I recommend you to try out the the portable version. With the portable version, you can try both the versions simultaneously without affecting your current settings.

Download the version you need ..

AG Neovo E-W19 19-Inch Wide-Screen LCD Monitor

2007-12-31T21:59:00.000-08:00

The E-W19 comes with glossy NeoV Optical Glass, AG Neovo's specially hardened glass that resists cracks and scratches. It's also why the monitor costs $399 (as of December 10, 2007), substantially more than most other models on our 19-inch wide-screen monitor chart. For the price, you get impressive image quality but few physical adjustments.

The company touts NeoV Optical Glass as ideal for those who want to use the display in a public area, such as libraries and public kiosks. The E-W19's even more expensive sibling, the X-19, has the same optical glass but offers a few more connectivity options (such as S-Video) and a slick metal casing.

The E-W19 demonstrates a flair for both text and graphics. The monitor is nothing if not consistent, collecting impressive scores on many tests. Wonderfully readable text on office documents and Web pages should make for a happy office worker or surfer (or both). A good balance of colors and brightness meant that skin tones looked natural and objects such as fruit slices exhibited an enticing ripeness.

The E-W19 deliveres true-to-life colors with fairly natural skin tones and background shrubbery pleasingly saturated with green. The monitor revealed beautiful coppers, yellows, and oranges in a fall sunset scene. Velvet costumes were invitingly textured and overall suffused with a balanced color, particularly reds and dark blues.

Well-integrated speakers located at the bottom of the monitor have very fine vents that are hard to see except up close, making them look like part of the monitor rather than stuck-on parts. The speakers are adequate except for low-volume instances, e.g., whispered dialogue or classical music. In those cases, you'll have to strain to hear emanating sounds. These speakers would be useful for common office tasks, such as beeps and warnings from your PC, or e-mail alerts, but not for robust multimedia applications.

Those who need to physically adjust the monitor a lot would do well to look at other options. The E-W19 only offers a tilt adjustment, a feature that allows you to move the display back to a respectable 25 degrees. AG Neovo's on-screen display (OSD) is a little difficult to use. Buttons aren't labeled clearly and they serve different functions within different menu contexts. The E-W19 offers presets for game, movie, graphic, and text.

Still, the AG Neovo E-W19 is a good-looking monitor with durable glass, and it offers top-notch display performance.

Samsung BlackJack II

2007-12-26T07:29:00.000-08:00

Why spoil a good thing? Samsung kept this idea in mind when designing the BlackJack II, an evolutionary update to the original and well-received BlackJack smartphone. The new version adds a number of useful enhancements: the built-in camera now has 2-megapixel resolution; there's a built-in GPS radio with optional TeleNav GPS Navigator; and it's compatible with AT&T's (expensive) Video Share service. My review unit was made of glossy black plastic instead of a rubberized casing like the original; there's also a burgundy version available. Thankfully, Samsung has replaced the odd split-numeric keys with a tighter, more conventional arrangement. You also get a slightly increased processor speed and double the RAM—always a good thing with a Windows Mobile handset. There's also a higher-capacity battery. At just $149, the BlackJack II isn't perfect, but it's a worthy upgrade and a compelling high-speed alternative to the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8310.

The BlackJack II is a bit larger than the original, weighing 4.1 ounces—about half an ounce more—and measuring 4.4 by 2.3 by 0.5 inches (HWD), which is a little thicker as well. Screen size is up to 2.4 inches, though it retains the same 320-by-240-pixel resolution, brightness, and 65K color support. The BlackJack II features a jog/shuttle wheel that also acts as a control pad. The wheel scrolled a bit slowly, but it's a nice enhancement and makes quick work of thumbing through menus, Web pages, and option lists.

The BlackJack II's keyboard is a little cramped and clicky, but it's fairly comfortable to type on, though not as comfy as the keyboard on the Motorola Q9h, which costs $50 more. The BlackJack II's keys are oval as before, but wider than on the original model and closer to being square. The device's proprietary connectors aren't all that practical. The box includes a charger and a USB cable, but you're on your own for wired earbuds, and finding emergency replacements will be difficult, since the device doesn't have a standard headphone jack.

Voice quality was bright and crisp over 3G and somewhat less so over GSM, but still not bad. Despite its proximity to Manhattan, my Queens neighborhood has spotty 3G coverage, so I experienced the problematic high-speed hand-off fairly often—as did my callers, who pointed out static and a volume drop whenever it occurred. The BlackJack II exhibited good reception otherwise. Calls made outdoors on the street were intelligible except when an overhead train rolled by. The handset sounded fine when paired with a Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth headset, and the speakerphone was loud enough to use outdoors in a pinch.

The BlackJack II features 256MB of ROM and 128MB of RAM, with 87MB of free memory and 131MB of free storage available, both of which are welcome improvements over the original. The new 260-MHz CPU and extra RAM definitely help when running multiple programs at once: "Out of Memory" error messages are rarely seen. However, the handset still felt a little sticky in operation. Screen redraws were occasionally sluggish, and some key presses took a beat or two before registering, but that's endemic to most Windows Mobile 6 handsets.

Since the BlackJack II runs Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard, you can edit but not create Microsoft Office documents. AT&T also bundles an RSS reader and an IM client that supports AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger. (The Q9h goes the BlackJack II one better, though, with its built-in DataViz Documents To Go office suite and excellent Opera Mobile browser.) Using the BlackJack II's built-in HSDPA 3.6 radio, consistent data speeds in the 1,000-Kbps range are seen —an impressive showing. AT&T packs in its clumsy XpressMail client, but you also get Outlook Mobile, which supports POP/IMAP, Yahoo! Mail, and Windows Live support, along with Microsoft Direct Push E-Mail. There are also icons for AT&T Video Share, which lets you stream live video to other callers; TeleNav GPS; and MobiTV; all of which cost extra to activate. Video Share, in particular, is too expensive at 35 cents per minute. AT&T offers a few Video Share–related plans to offset the cost, but none are unlimited, and none reduce the additional cost below 25 cents per minute.

With MobiTV, you get dozens of streaming television channels. Live MSNBC and CNBC look okay, but transmission sometimes stutters and takes a while to begin streaming. MP3 and WMA music files sounded clear over a set of Bluetooth Etymotic Ety8. Inconveniently, the music stopped every time the BlackJack II's volume was adjusted. To resume playback, the Done soft key in Windows Mobile had to be pressed and then press Play again, which was pretty lame. Standalone video files played smoothly, even in full screen mode, though there was no way to skip forward or backward while watching files.

The 2-megapixel camera took disappointingly soft and blurry photos. The BlackJack II lacks auto-focus and an LED flash. You are able to record smooth 320-by-240-pixel videos—a usable size—but some of my test files were plagued by intermittent stutters. The phone's microSD slot supports up to 4GB microSD cards, but not higher-capacity microSDHC media.

HSDPA data radios are notoriously hard on cell-phone batteries. Fortunately, the BlackJack II was a welcome exception, lasting 6 hours 14 minutes on a talk-time rundown test. That's more than 2 hours longer than the original BlackJack's score of 3:51. This alone might be enough to sway BlackJack owners to upgrade.

Anyone tethered to Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Outlook can make a solid bet on the BlackJack II on AT&T, especially if they can't afford the HTC Tilt or aren't a fan of its larger size. The Motorola Q9h's comfortable keyboard and Documents To Go suite makes it a better choice for Microsoft Office mavens on the go, but that device doesn't match the BlackJack II's sheer broadband speed. The BlackBerry Curve wins out on e-mail handling and overall OS responsiveness, although its pokey EDGE radio pales in comparison to the BlackJack II's HSDPA chipset. Overall, the BlackJack II plays a strong, winning hand, just like the original BlackJack did back in 2006.

WindowPC releases Sting 517D2 Gaming Laptop

2007-12-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

WindowPC, a leader in cutting-edge PC hardware, has announced the availability of its new gaming notebook PC, dubbed the Sting 517D2. It is based on Nvidia 8800M GTX DirectX.

Compatible with 10 video cards by NVIDIA, this latest gaming laptop is a first-of-its kind to feature NVIDIA’s GeForce 8800M GTX graphics processor. It is equipped with 512MB of DDR3 video memory, 96 stream processors and supports unsurpassed HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc picture clarity.

“The new GeForce 8800M GPUs allow gamers to have the ultimate gaming experience on a mobile platform,” maintained Joshua McClure, General Manager at WidowPC. “These new 8800M video cards are exactly what the doctor ordered to play Crysis at advanced levels of visual realism. We’re proud to be the first in North America to ship this incredible performance enhancer.”

NVIDIA’s new PowerMizer battery extending technology offers a best-in-class gaming experience. Sting 517D2 runs on Intel Core2 Duo CPU’s and sports a 17-inch WUXGA high definition display with Camera of 1920×1200 pixel resolution, up to 4GB of 667MHz DDR memory + 1GB of Intel Turbo Memory and up to 200GB of 7200RPM hard drive storage.

It also bundles Bluetooth, fingerprint reader and carry case.

Pricing starts at $2,799, the NVIDIA 8800M GTX Laptop - the Sting 517D2 is available for order and shipment now.

Automate your Windows Disk Checking

2007-12-23T01:25:00.000-08:00

Don't have time to run Disk Check ? No need to worry. You can automate this task and schedule it as and when you like.

Scheduling a task to handle this chore automatically at regular intervals takes only a few minutes. First, to check your disk manually, click Start, Run (or press Windows-R) to open the command line, type cmd.exe /c echo y|chkdsk c: /f /x, and press Enter. 'Cmd.exe' is the command processor, which opens a command-prompt window in Windows. The '/c' switch tells the command prompt to run the commands that follow, including the all-important chkdsk utility, which examines your drive for errors. (Change '/c' to /k if you want the command-prompt window to remain open so you can see any screen messages that might appear.) In this example, we are checking the C: drive with the fix (/f) function and telling it to lock out the disk (/x) if necessary while the scan takes place. If you're checking the Windows drive, the command won't work while Windows is running but will schedule a check for the next time you restart your system. That's where the 'echo y|' portion comes in: It sends a "yes" answer to approve this option.

To automate disk checking in XP, choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled Tasks. Double-click Add Scheduled Task to start the Scheduled Task Wizard, and click Next. In the Application list, select Command Prompt and click Next. If you don't see an entry for Command Prompt in the list, click Browse, find and select the file 'cmd.exe' in Windows' System32 folder, and click Open. Choose a time interval (Monthly is a good choice) and click Next. Specify the time, day, and months, and click Next again. Enter the account name and password that you use for logging in, and click Next once more. Check Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish, and then click Finish. With the Task tab selected, edit the text in the Run box so that it reads c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe /c echo y|chkdsk c: /f /x (your path and options may differ). Click OK, and enter your account name and password again. Finally, click OK one more time (you may be asked to confirm your log-in ID and password once more).

To automate disk checking in Vista, choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Task Scheduler. In the Actions pane on the right, click Create Task. Use the appropriate boxes to type a name for the task and, if you want, a description. Check Run with highest privileges and any other settings you wish. Select the Triggers tab and click the New button. Set the interval for checking your drive: For example, choose Monthly, Select all months in the Months drop-down menu, click On, and select First in the first drop-down to the right of the button and Monday in the second drop-down. Specify the time and other settings if you wish, and click OK. Select the Actions tab and click the New button. For 'Program/script', type cmd.exe. For 'Add arguments (optional)', type /c echo y|chkdsk c: /f /x (your options may differ). Click OK. Finally, click the Conditions and Settings tabs to see if either of those dialog boxes has any other circumstances you want to specify. When you've completed these steps, click OK. If you need to edit the settings later, select Task Scheduler Library in the left pane of the Task Scheduler to see your tasks in the top center pane. Either edit the settings in the bottom center pane, or double-click the task name to reopen the dialog box.

Download Torrents without any external Torrent Client

2007-12-22T02:24:00.000-08:00

FireTorrent is a Firefox Extension for all the Torrent Lovers! While there are few similar extensions already out there but what makes this cool is its easy interface!

Can you imagine that you don’t need any external application like µTorrent or bittorrent to download your torrents ??

Just click on a torrent link and the downloading will start immediately.

#Features:

* Nice Integration: This extension adds a separate Torrent tab to the Firefox’s built-in download manager.

* Options: Provides option for selecting port nos, download/upload limit, location to save files, security & encryption configuration, etc! you can configure parameters like no. of connection, port no. to accept incoming connection, proxy settings, default folder, download/upload limit, etc! Everything like a standalone torrent client!

* Need More Info: If you like to see more info like no. of peers you are downloading from just click on more info link!

* Easy Access: Just click on folder name next to Downloaded to as highlighted in above screenshot and it will open the folder where downloaded files are saved!

The FireTorrent extension strives to offer the most user-friendly BitTorrent experience. The torrents manager has been integrated as a separate tab in your browser’s download manager, and torrents can be downloaded from any website with a single click.

This results in a great user experience and should be attractive to both people that are new to downloading torrents and advanced users.

Download FireTorrent ..

Add an Image to a Contact in Gmail

2007-12-21T05:17:00.000-08:00

Viewing hundreds of email addresses in your contact list can be quite boring. Wouldn't it be much better to see pictures of your contacts instead.

Here's how you can see familiar faces in your contact list each time you wish to send mails to your contacts. Once you've assigned a picture to a contact, you can see it whenever you position your mouse over an e-mail address or name.

To add an image to a contact in Gmail, just follow these simple steps :
1. Click on the 'Contacts link' that appears on the left pane of your Gmail account.
2. Click on the contact's name to which you want to add an image.
3. You are then brought to the contact's profile where an image selected by the contact already appears alongside the contact's name. Click on 'Edit' to edit the contact information and make changes.
4. Move your mouse on the picture shown on the right side, then click on the 'Change Picture' link.
5. Select 'My Computer' from the window that comes up next.
6. Click on the 'Browse' button to select an image of your choice.
7. Click on the 'Upload picture' button.
8. To crop the image, highlight the required frame and click on the 'Apply Changes' button.
9. Click on the 'Save' button.

And you are done. Now, you will be able to see your contact's image alongside his name.

Microsoft makes Windows XP SP3 available for testing to all

2007-12-20T01:52:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Corp. has said that it would post the release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 to its download site tonight.

The move marks the first opportunity for all users of the six-year-old operating system to try out its final upgrade. Previously, several thousand users were given access to test builds of SP3 only by Microsoft's invitation.

According to a company spokeswoman, the version that debuts today, dubbed a "release candidate" to note progress from earlier betas, will be available from the Microsoft Download Center. She was unable, however, to say when the service pack would post to Windows Update so users can download and install it with the company's update service.

The final version of Windows XP SP3 remains slated for delivery sometime in the first half of 2008, the spokeswoman said. She also warned off casual users from trying the preview. "As this is a release candidate, we strongly encourage only those who are comfortable installing prerelease code to download Windows XP SP3," she said.

The Significance of SP3:

Recently, Microsoft has been downplaying the significance of Windows XP SP3. In a white paper posted to its Web site last week, and also Tuesday, the company praised Windows Vista at XP's expense, reminding users that "Vista provides the most advanced security and management capabilities of any Windows operating system."

"Windows XP SP3 does not bring significant portions of Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP," the spokeswoman said.

According to the white paper, the Download Center version of XP SP3 will weigh in at about 580MB; the version downloaded and installed via Windows Update, however, will be much smaller, typically around 70MB.

Windows XP debuted in October 2001 and was last updated as SP2 in August 2004; SP3 will be the final major upgrade of the operating system.

Put Some Sizzle in Your Startups

2007-12-17T01:33:00.000-08:00

Does your Windows never seems to start fast enough ? Then here some possible reasons and fixes that might help you overcome this problem.

Fast Fix 1: Your computer could be loading device drivers for hardware you no longer use. To save on system resources, uninstall those drivers. Since a careless choice can cause your machine to lose an important function, however, create a restore point in System Restore before proceeding.

By default, Device Manager doesn't show devices that aren't currently connected to your system. To make them visible, press Windows-R to open the Run box, type cmd, and press Enter. At the command prompt, type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 and press Enter. Leave the command-prompt window open.

Now press Windows-R again, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter. In the Device Manager window, choose View, Show Hidden Devices. Click the plus sign (+) next to each of the branches to examine all of the drivers on your system. Devices that are not currently connected appear with a pale version of the icon. If you come across a device that you're sure you no longer use, right-click it and choose Uninstall. Then follow the prompts shown on screen to complete the process. When you're done, close the command-prompt window to rehide your unconnected devices.

Fast Fix 2: Once you have mapped a network drive to a letter on your computer, Windows will automatically restore that connection by default whenever you log on. Since resuming network connections takes time, you can speed your startups by dropping the connections you aren't using.

Press Windows-E to launch Windows Explorer, and type Alt-T, D to open the Disconnect Network Drives dialog box. Pick the drives to disconnect, and click OK.

In the future, if you connect a drive only for the current session, simply enter its UNC path (this appears in the address bar when you select the drive in Explorer, and in the Run box). Or, if you use the Tools, Map Network Drive command in Explorer, make sure Reconnect at logon is unchecked before you click Finish.

Fast Fix 3: You'll free your system's memory and recover processor cycles by clearing out the clutter that starts each time you log in to Windows--and you may even discover some malware in the process. Check out the free Autoruns program from Microsoft-owned Sysinternals.

How do you distinguish the useful startup programs from the useless ones? You can consult Autoruns' built-in research tools, or you can check out the Startup Applications List. This searchable and downloadable list of common startup items provides a description and rating for each one, indicating how likely the item is to be required on a typical system.

Konami to release PES 2008 Handheld Versions

2007-12-16T05:26:00.000-08:00

Konami Digital Entertainment has announced to release two new handheld versions of Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, namely the PSP and Nintendo DS.

PSP and Nintendo DS handheld offer all the realism and intuitive controls that are associated with the series. However, the company said that it is within bespoke versions tailored for their host format. Both the handheld versions are developed by Konami’s football Studio based in Tokyo.

Featuring a lot of common features of the existing PlayStation 2 game, the PSP handheld version of PES 2008 comes with a variety of tournaments and leagues on offer. Moreover, it also provides an all-new World Tour mode that enables the user to set a series of challenges as he/she tour the globe.

When the player completes each task successfully, his/her chosen quad is unlocked and has to face further tests. PES 2008 also integrates Full Edit mode, allowing consumers to continue building their team, when they are away from the home system. For this specs, you need to thank the data sharing aspect that has been reworked. The PES 2008 also gives the opportunity to the user to exchange Master League information, League, World Tour and Cup Mode data between PSP and PlayStation 2 versions.

Coming to the Nintendo DS version of PES 2008, it contains Exhibition, Penalty Shoot-Out and Konami Cup elements. Furthermore, it also carries a variant on the World Tour system for the consumer to face elite teams from every continent.

Konami has utilized the wireless elements of the Nintendo DS along with a Network Mode, making it possible to enjoy multi-player games of up to four users with copies of game. It also allows consumers to play one-against-one matches with just one copy of PES 2008. Surprisingly, this game permits the players to trade other players with friends. The collected coins are then used to add the world’s best players to their team.

PES 2008 is currently available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PC-DVD. However, the handheld version of PES 2008 on PSP and Nintendo DS are expected to release by early 2008.

Google to bring out Wikipedia Rival

2007-12-15T02:34:00.000-08:00

Google is developing an online publishing platform where people can write entries on subjects they know, an idea that's close to Wikipedia's user-contributed encyclopedia but with key differences.

The project, which is in an invitation-only beta stage, lets users create clean-looking Web pages with their photo and write entries on, for example, insomnia. Those entries are called "knols" for "unit of knowledge," Google said.

Google wants the knols to develop into a deep repository of knowledge, covering topics such as geography, history and entertainment.

Google's project will have to catch up with Wikipedia, which includes more than 7 million articles in 200 languages. Anonymous users constantly update Wikipedia entries in an ever-growing online encyclopedia that's edited by a network of vetted editors.

But Google asserts that the Web's development so far has neglected the importance of the bylined author.

"We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content," wrote Udi Manber, vice president of engineering, on the official Google blog.

Google said anyone can write about any topic, and repetition of entries on the same subjects is beneficial. Google will provide the Web hosting space, as well as editing tools.

Contributors can choose whether to let Google place ads on the knols. Google said it will give the contributors a "substantial" portion of the revenue generated by those ads. While Wikipedia lacks ads, keyword advertising has underpinned Google's growth.

Entries can't be edited or revised by other people, in contrast to Wikipedia. However, other readers will be able to rank and review others' entries, which will then be interpreted by Google's search engine when displaying results.

The concept of peer-reviewed information is nothing new and is implemented in different ways on various Web sites. Yahoo, for example, has an "Answers" feature where users can ask questions, and the response is ranked on quality. Also, most blogs have forms where readers can comment on the author's entry.

Despite those other formats, Google probably feels that "a service like Knol might be necessary to stay competitive," wrote Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land, in a review.

Splitting Files using WinRar

2007-12-13T22:39:00.000-08:00

Winrar is a powerful compressing software on the market. I prefer Winrar than Winzip (of course because it supports .rar files, lol).

If you compress your file(s), you can enter the volume size in "Split to volumes" field in the "archive name and parameters dialog" in general tab to create volumes (multi part archives).

By default it is entered in bytes. But if you add a lowercase letter 'k' at the end of the volume size, the entered value will be considered as kilobytes (multiplied by 1024). Use an uppercase 'K' to denote thousand of bytes (multiply by 1000), ' m' means megabytes and 'M' - million of bytes.

It is also possible to select the volume size from the list associated with this item. Note that if you are archiving to a removable disk, you may select "Autodetect" from the list and WinRAR will choose the volume size automatically for each new volume.

For multiple CD's you can enter for example "700m" for 700MB CD's. WinRAR creates a multi-volume archive (volname.part001.rar, volname.part002.rar, etc. ) The volumes are 700MB and the last volume may be smaller.

So, if you want to compress and split a file into several parts, follow this procedure -
1. Make sure you have WinRar installed. If you don't have it, get it from here.
2. Right click the file you want to split and select 'Add to archive' from the right click menu.
3. There you will see 'Split to Volumes, Bytes' option. Just select the split size or add your own value as explained above.
4. Click OK.

So, you've just split your file into smaller parts. This can be really helpful for transferring content or uploading files on sites like Rapidshare or Megaupload which have a maximum upload limit.
Happy Splitting!!