2012 Technology Mainstream - Tech Trends You'll See in 2012

We’re living in an exciting time in technology: From consumer products such as phones and tablets to the way your home computer accesses the Internet, everything is changing, and mostly for the better. We predict that next year the following ten developments will change the way you interact with the digital world.

1. Dual-Core Processors Become the Norm in Smartphones

In 2011, the Motorola Atrix and the Droid Bionic were the first commercially popular smartphones to sport dual-core processors. In the fall, Apple’s iPhone 4S followed suit--and now it seems unlikely that any smartphones unveiled in 2012 will be competitive unless they can offer the same processing power that Apple’s phones do.

Tech Trends You'll See in 2012As a result, you should expect to see a surge in dual-core mobile devices. ARM executive James Bruce, whose company licenses the designs of chips that find their way into almost every mobile device in the world, said in a May interview that dual-core processors would be a huge part of making smartphones not just powerful but also battery-efficient.

“If you look at handsets today, we’ve seen dual-core handsets reduce power consumption,” he says. For example, if you're sending a text message, dual-cores have the potential to effectively streamline the lower-power functions of the phone through one core, while reserving the other core for more power-intensive functions, like gaming or navigation."

And don’t expect chip development to stop at two cores. In December, Nvidia announced its first quad-core processor for tablets and smartphones, the Tegra 3.

2. Optical-Disc Drives Disappear From New Laptops

If you could download a movie in 2 minutes at any airport or coffee shop, or access hundreds of family photos from any network connection, how often would you use your laptop’s optical drive? For most people, the answer is "not often."

Tech Trends You'll See in 2012That’s why, in 2012, you’ll see fewer laptops / laptop batteries with optical drives. And the superlight classes (such as MacBook Airs and Ultrabooks) won't be the only ones abandoning them--larger-screened portables will, as well.

Ali Sadri, president of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance, which is working to propagate 7-gbps wireless on the 60GHz band of the spectrum, says that faster wireless will certainly change the way that laptops look, for good. “Multi-gigabit connectivity gives us all sorts of uses. Suddenly you don't need to have all these bulky devices. A very light laptop doesn't have room for an HDMI cable port, or a docking station.”

In 2012, regular-size laptops will be able to ditch their disc drives--and even many of their ports--without losing too much functionality. MacBook Airs don’t include optical drives, and larger MacBooks will likely follow suit this year. Laptops from other manufacturers, such as Asus, Dell, and Toshiba, will join the trend. Of course, some laptops will retain drives, but in 2012 new laptops with optical-disc drives will become harder to find.

3. Data-Only and Reduced-Voice Cell Phone Plans Proliferate

Tech Trends You'll See in 2012You probably spend way more time sending email and checking Facebook updates than you do making calls on your cell phone these days. And cell phone carriers are taking notice. In 2012, when you’re shopping for a phone plan, you’ll see data plans emphasized and calling minutes marginalized. Already, T-Mobile and Walmart have partnered to create a prepaid plan that offers 5GB of data and a measly 100 voice-calling minutes for just $30 a month.

PCWorld Associate Editor Patrick Miller tested the plan, doing most of his calling via VoIP on Skype’s app. Although his calls sometimes suffered from lag or occasionally cut out, ultimately the voice quality and reliability of his VoIP calls were no worse than on calls he made through a traditional cellular voice plan.
And new carrier Republic Wireless announced a plan that charges just $19 a month for unlimited data, text, and calling. The plan assumes that you’ll spend most of your time using Wi-Fi networks in your home, office, or around town, but provides cellular access for those occasions when you’re not around a hotspot. Use the cellular service too much, and you get kicked out of the Republic Wireless plan.

4. Facebook Accounts Become Necessary to Do More Stuff on the Web

Want a Spotify account? You’ll need to get a Facebook account first. When Facebook announced its partnership with Spotify in September 2011, the big objection that most people had to the partnership was that everyone could see what songs you were listening to, no matter how embarrassing your musical choices were.

Since then, Facebook and Spotify have decided to allow you to make your sharing private. (Or, for some people, secret. There’s a difference.) But one thing that Facebook and Spotify have not backed down on is the requirement that all new Spotify users sign in with Facebook before they can access any free tunes.
Turntable.fm is another new music-sharing service that requires the user to log in with a Facebook account--do so, or take a hike. While many websites aren’t quite so stringent with their login demands, it’s becoming more and more common to see “Sign in with your Twitter or Facebook account!” in big letters across a website’s login area. Only in the small print can you find the option to make an account without linking to your social media pages.

In 2012, it’s safe to assume that you’ll see more of this. The setup is good for small sites--they can largely weed out fake accounts and abusive users with the filter of a Facebook login, all while making sure that genuine customers don’t forget their login information. And the arrangement is good for Facebook--it can keep track of the sites that users visit, and encourage them to share more thoroughly (which is better for Facebook’s ad sales).

5. NFC Facilitates Mobile Payments, Peer-to-Peer Networking

Tech Trends You'll See in 2012Imagine tapping your phone to a receiver at a register, and instantly paying for an item without fumbling for your wallet. Or getting into a movie theater with a similar tap of your phone. Or being able to load your transit card onto your phone, using a simple tap to deduct money for every trip on the subway.

All of that is already possible with the help of near-field communication chips, which transfer small amounts of data through a short-range, low-friction connection.

Currently, you can buy the Google Nexus S phone, which carries an NFC chip and the Google Wallet companion app for syncing your credit cards to your phone and making mobile payments at participating vendors. Meanwhile, RIM is baking NFC chips into newer phones such as the BlackBerry 9900, and recently it introduced Tag, a RIM-specific feature that allows BlackBerry users to transfer contact information and documents.

The latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, is built to let app developers take advantage of the many uses for NFC, such as setting up peer-to peer connections between phones simply by tapping the phones' backs to each other. So without a doubt, in 2012 you’ll see more phones with these chips built into them, as well as more apps that employ the technology.

6. Processing Enters the Cloud

Makers of devices such as smartphones, tablets, and even cameras are pushing the boundaries of mobile computing by thinking outside of the chip. In 2012, “cloud processing,” or the ability to process complex information on remote servers, will make considerable advances.

Tech Trends You'll See in 2012The most evident indicator of this coming trend is every iPhone 4S owner’s new best friend, Siri. This virtual assistant is made possible because your iPhone 4S doesn’t have to analyze your request on its own processors--it sends your voice request to Apple’s data centers, which process the audio, find a response, and then send that response back to your phone.

A year before Siri debuted, Google Goggles did the same thing: You could snap a picture of a book, a logo, or a notable landmark, for instance, and Goggles would analyze the image at one of its Google server centers and return a search page relevant to the image. So apps that take advantage of cloud processing already exist--but you should expect to see a slew of voice recognition and face/object recognition apps appear for mobile devices in 2012. (A Google exec recently revealed that the company is working on a Siri competitor, called Majel.)

7. HTML 5 Takes the Stage

Markup languages rarely make headlines, but the HTML 5 upgrade will change the Internet in 2012 more than any cool new website will. That's because it’s the foundation that all cool new websites will be built upon. By bringing XHTML under the same umbrella as HTML, and by allowing Web programmers to use brand-new video and audio commands to integrate media into sites more gracefully, HTML 5 will become the key tool for making sites act a lot more like native apps on your phone.

And in some cases, HTML 5 websites might even replace apps. All the major mobile operating systems have adopted the new Web standard. HTML 5 promises to make it easier and more affordable for developers to introduce interactivity in browsers because they no longer need to buy and install proprietary plug-ins to create click-responsive graphics or to embed video.

Facebook is one of the major companies that have committed considerable resources to developing their sites for HTML 5. Pandora redesigned its site with HTML 5, too. Then, in November, Adobe announced that it would no longer continue to develop its mobile Flash Player because HTML 5 has been so much better received than its Flash plug-in.

Watch for redesigned sites in 2012, and be prepared to see companies forgo building new apps in favor of creating a unified HTML 5-based site. There’s even an Occupy Flash movement intended to encourage developers to stop using Flash and start using HTML 5.

8. IPv6 Starts Rolling Out

To send and receive data on the Internet, every connected device needs an IP address--and 2011 was the year we finally started running out of IPv4's unique, 32-bit sequences.

Tech Trends You'll See in 2012For the time being, Internet service providers can assign groups of devices a single IP address using network address translation, or NAT, to break down where traffic should travel among the group of devices. We can’t use NAT forever, but for the average consumer, that won’t be a concern for quite a long time.

In 2012, however, the issue will affect websites that are hosting their content on IPv4-only servers, and smart businesses will want to get an IPv6 address in addition to an IPv4 address so that when the transition to IPv6 does come, they’ll be prepared. IPv6 isn’t backward-compatible with IPv4, but companies can “dual stack” their servers to offer content on both “versions of the Internet.”

It will be important for companies to keep their IPv4 addresses for some time, as households might not be equipped for IPv6 (increasingly, however, routers and device operating systems are offering support for both versions). When the time comes for websites to relinquish their old IPv4 addresses, many average consumer devices will be ready.

9. Consumers Borrow More Books, Movies, and Music

The Internet has done wonders for media sharing, and in 2012 it will become easier than ever to borrow media rather than buy it. Spotify and Rdio already let you listen to the music of your choice for free, and Google announced in November that its music-storing service will permit users to share songs with their friends.

E-readers such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader Wi-Fi PRS-T1 let you rent ebooks from public libraries. And you'll find no shortage of movie streaming services that let you watch flicks at a moment’s notice without filling up your hard drive with downloaded copies.

Devices that help you consume multimedia are boosting the trend. Amazon’s Kindle Fire, for instance, ships with only 8GB of storage, less than an entry-level iPhone 4S. That means Fire users will likely be streaming movies rather than downloading them, and listening to music from Rdio rather than keeping thousands of tunes on their tablets.

And Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet is hardly more than an e-reader with media-streaming capabilities, as only 1GB of its storage is available to hold non-Barnes & Noble downloads.

10. Fewer (but Better) Tablets Arrive

Tech Trends You'll See in 2012Clearly, tech companies want to sell tablets. In 2011, however, no tablet could truly compete with the iPad. From the genuinely disappointing (Fusion Garage’s Grid 10 tablet, based on a proprietary version of Android called GridOS) to the mildly dissatisfying (the Kindle Fire), there’s clearly a market for tablets, but someone other than Apple has yet to get it right.

In 2012, you'll almost certainly see some tablet makers dropping out of the game, but the ones that stick around will finally start to understand what tablet consumers want: not a big phone, but a media consumption and creation device that can stand up to heavy use.

New tablets will use the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, the tablet-optimized Windows 8, or the new RIM PlayBook 2.0 operating system. Let’s hope that 2011 was the warm-up, and that 2012 will be the year you’ll see real competitors to the iPad.

Tagcloud : 2012 Technology, Tech Trends , laptop , Hp 2230s battery ,smartphone, Tablets

Holiday Secure: Tips for a safe and healthy holiday

It's the night before Christmas, and if last-minute preparations have you stirring, here are some holiday tips to help take away the stress.

First, some ways to help you set the perfect winter-wonderland atmosphere at your house without having to call the fire department.

Here's how to make sure the Christmas tree stays fresh, the turkey stays moist, and the presents remain danger-free.

As a bonus, I've included this stress-free recipe for my signature roasted Cajun pecans that's sure to please visiting family and friends. Have a safe and happy holiday!

Fireplace safety tips:

• If you hung your stockings with care, you'll need to remove them before you light the hearth, preventing any fire hazard and potentially ruining any stocking stuffers inside.
• Install a screen in front of the fireplace to keep sparks from flying.
• Never use gasoline to start an indoor fire.
• Use seasoned, dried wood in the fireplace.
• Put out the fire before you go to bed.
• Remove ashes regularly, as they are flammable.
• Install a carbon-monoxide detector in your home.
• Don't burn wrapping paper, ribbons or bows as a means of disposing the trash from opening gifts; that can pose a health concern.

Christmas tree safety tips:

• If you buy an artificial tree, choose one with a label that says it is fire-resistant.
• Select the freshest live tree you can find. Its needles should be green and hard to pull from the branches. Needles shouldn't break when you bend them.
• Water your tree every day.
• Place the tree away from heat sources, including the fireplace and heating vents.
• Don't put up the tree too early. If it dries out, it will ignite more easily.
• Resist the temptation to burn your tree in the fireplace after Christmas. Needles and branches can cause a flash fire that's too intense for indoors.
• Replace tree lights often. Don't use any with cracked or frayed wires or damaged lights. String no more than three standard-size sets of lights per extension cord.
• Turn off the holiday lights before you go to bed or leave the house.
• Never put lighted candles on a tree.
• One unusual tip that can keep your Christmas tree fresh is to soak it in your pool overnight. Tie a rope around the trunk so you can retrieve it from the pool more easily. This allows the entire tree to soak up water and stay fresh much longer. Some people have told me this has helped the tree last through January.

Deep-fried turkey tips:

• Deep-fried turkeys had a bad reputation for years, because most deep fryers were gas-powered and safe only for use outdoors. I was reluctant at first to let go of my trusty gas deep fryer, but now I find electric deep fryers make frying a turkey easier, cleaner and much more safe. Most electric deep fryers cost $100 to $200.
• To fry your holiday bird, choose a high smoke-point oil, such as peanut, canola or sunflower, and search the Internet or ask friends for their favorite deep-fried-turkey marinade. Buy a smallish turkey -- eight to 10 pounds -- or you'll have to fry the turkey in parts.

Toy-safety tips:

• Check the minimum age recommendation on the package, and only buy gifts that suit a child's age, ability and interest level.
• Look for the letters "ASTM," which mean the toy meets the American Society for Testing and Materials' safety standards.
• Supervise children while they are using electronic toys. When they're done, put the toys away in a dry area out of smaller kids' reach.
• If the toy plugs in to the wall, teach the child how to safely use electrical outlets. Demonstrate how to "unplug" by pulling on the plug itself, not the cord.
• Avoid buying toys from thrift shops or garage sales; secondhand toys may not adhere to newer safety standards and could be dangerous.

Related articles:

Holiday Travel – 6 Safety Tips for Holiday Travelers

Simple tips to protect your home and valuables safe at holiday

Merry Christmas! Be smart and safe this holiday season

Christmas gift guide: Best Apple accessories for this Christmas

Struggling with making a decision as to what to buy everyone for the festive season this year? Then this news may be enough to help, especially if the person you are buying for is an Apple fan. The Gadget Show has compiled a list of 5 of the best Apple accessories money can buy this Christmas. The list ranges from headphones to keyboard docks and caters for each of the iOS devices which are the iPod, iPhone and iPad as well as the iMac and MacBooks.

First up they recommend the Apple Magic Mouse, a smart little accessory designed for the iMacs or MacBooks which allows users to scroll through pages using the touchscreen interface and without having to actually move the mouse. It is essentially a touchscreen version of a regular mouse, an awesome addition to what are already great machines.

Next up they have suggested the iPad 2 Smart Cover. When the Apple tablet was first launched earlier this year the Smart Cover was one of the defining features of the device and when combined they seem to be the perfect match as if one could not be without the other. It magnetically attaches itself to the iPad and neatly covers it, giving it the protection it needs without being too bulky. It folds up neatly and even doubles up as a stand for comfortable viewing and typing.

Next we have the SoundMagic E10, a high quality pair of headphones designed to bring the best sound without being too expensive. They can be used for listening to music on the whole range of the Apple devices as well as other media players. They cost £35 but reportedly do the same job as a pair three times the cost of them.

Another great accessory that the site recommends is the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air, a high quality iPod or iPhone dock which provides users with great sound as well as being good looking. It even lets you listen to your iTunes Library collection using AirPlay over a Wi-Fi connection.

Last but not least we have the Apple iPad Keyboard dock which is perfect for those who use the iPad for writing a lot or who don’t get on with the touchscreen very well. It docks the tablet upright so it sits in a comfortable viewing position just like on a laptop. It is also a smart looking design with low profile keys and an aluminum finish.

Holiday Shopping: Shoppers treat themselves After years of saving

In the recent holiday shopping frenzy, Doreen Foxwell picked up a Coach handbag, Margie Jordan purchased a laptop, a digital camera and a camcorder, and Samantha Martin bought boots, a cashmere throw blanket and an iPad 2.

Yet those purchases didn't help them cross anyone off their holiday gift-buying lists.

They each splurged on themselves.

After years of scrimping, saving and self-sacrifice, consumers are treating themselves to everything from fragrances to flat-screen TVs this holiday shopping season.

"I'm out there buying for everyone else, so why not reward myself? This is a chance for me to be good to me," says Martin, who wraps her own gifts and adds a To: Samantha, From: Samantha tag. "I work very hard and never take the time during the year, so during the holidays I add myself to my holiday list."

More than a third of consumers — 36% — plan to buy gifts for themselves this year, up from 29% last year, according to an America's Research Group/UBS survey.

Sixty percent of shoppers set aside money to make additional "non-gift" purchases for themselves and their families this year, up from 57% in 2010, according to the National Retail Federation. The average person will spend $130.43 on such purchases, a 16% rise from $112.20 spent last year and an all-time high since the NRF started tracking self-gifting in 2002.

On Black Friday alone, 44% of shoppers bought something for themselves, up from 33% last year, according to retail trend tracker The NPD Group.

"During the holidays, we traditionally think of it as a season for gift-giving," says NPD Group Chief Industry Analyst Marshal Cohen. But self-indulgence is quickly becoming a "new tradition."

After several years of cutting back, people have grown weary of dismissing their own wants and needs, he says.

They're also looking for a reward after dealing with a year that included a roller-coaster stock market, increased work demands and overall economic uncertainty, says Wendy Liebmann, CEO of retail consultants WSL Strategic Retail.

"It's been a damn hard year," she says. "People want to pat themselves on the back for just surviving."
Mix together that waning restraint, that desire for a reward and the plethora of tantalizing purchase options showcased at this time of year, and the result is the "one for you, one for me" shopping attitude.

Temptations are everywhere, Liebmann says. Each day, consumers are bombarded with TV ads, daily-deal e-mails and Facebook promotions that present enticing items.

"There are so many ways to get you distracted from your (christmas gift) list and tempt you to buy something for yourself," she says.

While shoppers are out seeking gifts for friends and family, they often come across items that they want to keep.

Three-fourths of shoppers said they've "loved" a gift so much that they bought the same thing for themselves, according to a customer survey from personal shopping website ShopItToMe.com.

Real estate agent Chantay Bridges has splurged on herself while shopping for others.

While in Southern California's Beverly Center to buy a pair of sparkly Ugg boots for her goddaughter, she snapped up a more subdued pair for herself.

The self-splurging "has happened so many times now, I can just place me in the category of 'totally treating myself to gifts this year,' " she says.

Flusher bank accounts

Many self-indulgent shoppers have economic justifications.

Regular gas prices are down by about 70 cents a gallon since a high of $3.98 a gallon this spring, according to the AAA. And in November, unemployment fell to 8.6% from 9% in October, hitting its lowest point since March 2009.

Diligent cost-cutters have reduced monthly expenses such as cellphone and cable bills, says America's Research Group Chairman Britt Beemer. In turn, their bank accounts are flusher than in the past few years.
"You have people who've made cutbacks and have actually saved money," Beemer says. "If they want to splurge $200 or $300, they have the money in their checking account."

Nearly a fourth of shoppers will spend $100 to $300 on themselves this year, up from 13% who said they planned to spend that much on themselves in 2010, an America's Research Group/UBS survey found.
Given the effort it can take to bolster savings — such as scouring the Internet for coupon codes or skipping that $4 daily latte — many shoppers feel that they've earned the right to treat themselves, says NPD's Cohen.
"The consumer is saying, 'It's OK for me to be rewarded,' " he says. "They are justifying the purchase."
Yet, in getting that well-deserved treat, many are maintaining a frugal mind-set, Cohen says.

They're not impulsively purchasing a full-price laptop  / Laptop Battery or diamond earrings. Instead, they're researching purchases, comparing prices and holding out for a sale before pouncing.

"They've been waiting for the Black Friday specials and the Cyber Monday deals," Cohen says. "This is their chance. This is their moment to take advantage of the opportunities."

Shopper Mike Hogan says that he's tapped into the deals offered this holiday season to buy himself a leather coat, two sweaters and other items.

"It is a great time of the year to find great deals on clothing and other essentials you will use year round," says Hogan, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. "I don't shop much any other time of the year, so I make up for it at Christmas time."

Gifts for you

Sales-seeking businesses are thrilled with the trend, and many are encouraging shoppers to treat themselves.
An e-mail promotion for an American Eagle Outfitter's gift guide has this theme: "Live to Give. Love to Get." It goes on to say: "Great gifts and perfect presents for her, for him or for you."

The website for shoe retailer Zappos says it has "gift ideas for everyone on your list … including you."
And a commercial for retailer HomeGoods shows a woman who picks up a beautifully decorated dish and says, "Oh …Merry Christmas, Aunt Sophie." Once she sees the price, she exclaims, "Merry Christmas, me!"
On Nov. 29, online clothing sale curator ShopItToMe.com launched a Treat Yourself Tuesday promotion that will run through Christmas and may continue into 2012 if reception remains positive, says Tamra Feldman, marketing director.

"Sure, it's nice to stuff other people's stockings, but what about the new Wolford's (hosiery) you need for yourself?" says the site's blog.

Retailers depend on shoppers' wants — such as that high-end hosiery — to bolster revenue.
Most people have the same number of people to buy for each year — and only slightly vary what they spend on each person, Cohen says. So retailers are looking at the "treat yourself" part of the market as a way to grow overall sales.

"The self-purchase isn't the biggest part of holiday, but it is the growth part of holiday," he says.

It's OK

Psychologists and money managers say it's perfectly fine for folks to treat themselves — if they do it in an savvy manner.

"It's quite reasonable to treat oneself to something nice during stressful times — holiday or not," says psychologist Kathleen Vohs. "(It) could be a nice diversion from the stressors of the impending holidays," as long as the purchase isn't excessive for one's budget.

Minneapolis-based certified financial planner Brian Wagenbach, a branch manager for Charles Schwab, advises that people spend cash, rather than credit, on their self-indulgences, to keep spending in check.
"Psychologically, it's harder to hand over a $100 bill rather than just swipe plastic," he says. "That's why Las Vegas has poker chips. If you lost cash, you'd probably shut down a lot faster than if you were just throwing green, red and black (chips) across the table."

His other advice: Small financial sacrifices can offset the price of a larger treat. For instance, if a self-gifter cuts back on restaurant dinners or takes lunch to work (instead of buying expensive deli sandwiches), he or she can bulk up the holiday budget.

And if that wanted item is still too expensive, there are ways to work around that, he says.

"Get creative in your reward," he says. "If your 'it' item isn't in the budget, get the less-expensive option. If you want an iPad, get a less-expensive version of the tablet. If you'd like to get a massage or go to a spa day, look into a massage school where you can get a less-expensive version."

For those don't want to compromise, he advocates "delayed gratification" — even if that means not getting that prized item until 2012. One of the best gifts someone can give themselves is to not just acquire something they crave, but to be able to fully pay for it.

"If you save up and make the sacrifices on the front end and reward yourself on the back end — what an awesome feeling."

Time for Christmas delivery - Making Short Work of Shopping for Tablet Users

Those days of dashing through the mall on Christmas Eve, searching for the perfect book or DVD, may be history. Procrastinators this year can sit at home, alone and unruffled, and send books, music and even video in time for Christmas delivery — on tablets like the Kindle Fire, the Nook and the iPad.
The makers of these devices have added to their software the capability to send personalized gifts, easing the strain on gift-givers and perhaps also ending the era of handing out less thoughtful gift cards. Each system varies, though, in how to give the gift and what can be given. Here is a primer on how to give gifts to your favorite owners of the most popular tablets.

Apple

Since its introduction in 2010, the iPad has become by far the dominant tablet on the market. To send music, videos, audio books and apps as gifts, you need to download iTunes to your computer, or use your iPhone or iPad to gain access to the iTunes store, and register with an account name and password.

When you find the gift you want to buy, click the arrow to the right of the Buy button and choose the Gift option. It will send you to the Give a Gift page, where you can fill in the recipient’s name and e-mail address, and send a message.

You can e-mail the gift as a link or print it out and give it in person. Recipients simply click on the link and the song, album, television show, movie or app will download to their iTunes library, ready to play or sync to an iPod, iPhone, iPad , ipad Accessories , iPad Cases or Apple TV. For more details, see the gift information on the iTunes Web site.

Amazon

The Kindle Fire, just introduced in November, is expected to move Amazon into second place in the global media tablet market this quarter, with a 13.8 percent share of the market, according to IHS iSuppli research. ISuppli predicts that nearly four million Fires will be sold through year-end. The firm predicts that Apple will ship an estimated 18.6 million iPads in the quarter for a commanding 65.6 percent share.

The Kindle line also includes dedicated e-book readers — Kindle, Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G.
To give electronic books for Kindle owners, visit the Kindle Store, and use the Give as a Gift option there. You must have or sign up for an Amazon account to complete the transaction.

For books, you can send your gift through e-mail, and the recipient can read it on his or her Kindle, on a free reading app on a mobile device or on Kindle’s Cloud Reader. If recipients already own the book they received, they can exchange it by using an Amazon gift credit.

To send music through Amazon’s MP3 store, the process is the same. In a few steps, the recipient can download and listen on an MP3 player or on Amazon’s Cloud Player. (The player is a browser-based digital music player that gives a listener access to music stored on his or her own free and secure Amazon Cloud Drive.) At the moment, the only way to designate a gift for apps and video to be played on the Fire is through Amazon’s Gift Cards, which can be bought and delivered by physical mail (if there’s enough time), by e-mail or by Facebook (if you link your Amazon and Facebook accounts), or can be printed out to present in person. A brief personalized message can be added to describe your intended gift.

Barnes & Noble

The book retailer now has three tablets — Nook Simple Touch, Nook Color and its latest Nook Tablet, which competes directly with the Kindle Fire. IHS iSuppli predicts that the company will ship 1.3 million tablets this quarter, coming in fourth place just behind Samsung.

With the new Instant Gifting feature on its Web site, Barnes & Noble allows you to give Nook books and apps, including the time-eating favorites Angry Birds, Scrabble and Solitaire. Gifts can be sent instantly through e-mail.

Your eGift recipient is notified by e-mail and can claim the gift by clicking on the included link. Once the gift is accepted, the recipient can get to the book or app through his or her Nook Library. Books can be read on a Nook, or on a free Nook Reading app for smartphones, computers and mobile devices. Apps can be retrieved only on a Nook Color or Nook Tablet.

Barnes & Noble also offers eGift Cards for other purchases. If you buy the wrong book or app, don’t worry. Recipients can exchange Nook books and apps for an eGift Card.

Kobo

The now-defunct Borders once held a small stake in Kobo, which may be how some people are familiar with the brand. But Kobo, a Canadian e-reading company, has other backers and is continuing to offer new products like the Kobo Vox. The Vox features a multimedia screen optimized for reading outdoors, and gives owners access to the Web, e-mail, music, video and thousands of Android apps.

Kobo has a supporting cast of devices, including Kobo Touch, Kobo Touch with offers and sponsored screens, and Kobo Wi Fi.

Kobo, too, allows you to send electronic books as gifts. Visit the Web site, browse the store, purchase a title and send it electronically with a personalized Kobo holiday e-mail that can be delivered on a specific date.
For other gifts, Kobo offers eGift Cards. Customers can define the amount they would like to give and send the gift electronically. Recipients can read their e-books on all platforms on which Kobo is available, including Apple products, BlackBerry, Android, computers and other devices.

Pick up the best Video Baby Monitor to take care of your baby

Children are unquestionably precious; but ask a bleary-eyed parent who has missed out on his or her sleep because of monitoring an infant child and you might find that for them, sleep is just as valuable.

If you’re one such parent, the Hush Video Baby Monitor is designed to help you. It is a monitoring system that transmits a constant stream of audio and video signals of the baby and its surroundings to a 3.5” TFT display screen that is placed in the parents’ room.

If the parents detect that the child is crying or otherwise awake and restless, they can talk to the child and soothe it. There are even five pre-programmed lullabies. For the child, just a voice is probably not as good as a voice accompanied by a warm cuddle from mummy; but it’s much better than nothing.

The gadget even monitors the temperature in the baby’s room. It also alerts you to low battery. Speaking of batteries, the parent monitor is powered by a Lithium polymer pack, while the baby unit needs 3 AAA batteries.

The baby unit can be wall-mounted or attached to your baby’s crib. It even has an infra-red camera that can monitor the baby in the dark and an LED night light for those times when you do have to go to the baby’s room. This systems has a range of 50 m indoors.

There’s a clip that can be used to fasten the monitor to one’s belt. The monitor has an outdoors range of 300 m, which means you can clip the monitor on to your belt while clearing the snow.

Blogroll:

Baby safty: This Newfangled Baby Monitor Freaks Me Out

Top 5 popular baby monitor to take care of your children

Nanny Camera – Best Security Camear to Protecte Your Children

buying guide: Choose the best Wireless Video Baby Monitor

Use video surveillance at home : New technology to keep your kids safe

A Great Gift for you baby - Motorola Digital Picture Frame with Video Monitor

If you’re looking for a great gift idea, then take a look at this elegant looking Motorola digital picture frame with video monitor (Motorola MFV700). This is apparently the world’s first digital picture frame that has a video-in-picture monitor. So not only can you display a JPEG photo slide show, you can also monitor your baby from wherever you are in your home.

Motorola have a good range of digital picture frames as well as two of the best selling video baby monitors, the Motorola MBP36 and the MBP33.  They have now combined the two to come up with frame that can simultaneously display  a photo slide show and live video monitoring from the  remote camera that uses DECT 6.0 technology up to an impressive range of 650 feet (200 metres).

The photos can be obtained from three sources: USB, memory card and from the frames internal memory. The frame has an SD/MMC/SDHC  memory card slot.

The home wireless cameras has in-built infrared LED’s so that you have automatic black and white night vision. motorola mfv70021 150x150Other features include an indoor temperature monitor, clock, alarm and calendar function. The 7″ TFT color screen has a resolution of 480 x 234px that gives a great picture with vivid colors. This is why it makes a useful product for baby monitoring.

The Motorola MFV700 comes with an infrared remote control that lets you control the slide show and video from across the room which makes it very convenient.

Digital photo frames were invented in 2007 and have become a popular way of displaying photographs. Before that you would have a whole surface of different family photos, but now you can have a digital frame that displays them as a slide show. This is particularly good for people that love the minimalist look and don’t want cluttered surfaces.

Video baby monitors are also a recent invention and are fast becoming the must have baby item especially for new parents. The idea of combing the two is an interesting concept and one which may or may not prove to be popular.  As a picture frame this product is perfect, but as a video baby monitor it lacks certain features such as two-way audio, sound alerts and portability. As this product is so new, there aren’t any customer reviews to find out how parents really feel about it. When there are I’ll do a full review.

Whatever you think, this is a unique, stylish and modern looking digital picture frame on which you can also monitor your baby and would be a great gift idea for any parent.

Related articles:

Nanny Camera – Best Security Camear to Protecte Your Children

Use video surveillance at home : New technology to keep your kids safe

Baby monitors – higher-tech bells and whistles on some baby monitors for New parents

How to Install a Home Surveillance Systems - top-shoppingmall.com

“Home security camera” is a broad term, it includes nanny cameras, hidden cameras, outdoor cameras, Wi-Fi-IP cameras etc… This article covers conventional CCTV (close- circuit television) system. CCTV system consists of cameras, cables (if wired), transmitters & receivers (if wireless), a DVR (digital video recorder) and a monitor. Most of DVRs come with network capability where you can fully control the DVR for remote viewing via internet. These systems are commonly used at commercial places, but if correct components are chosen and installed, you can have the commercial grade quality video security system for your home as well.

The fact is that need for having a security system is on the rise. Vandalism and theft can occur anywhere in and around your house. Having a noticeable camera outside will greatly reduce the chance for a burglary and break-ins. Watch your kids while playing outside, record anyone who knocks on your door, keep an eye on your housekeeper, etc….. Its usages are limitless.

Technology is improving very fast, security cameras have become more user friendly, and you don’t need to be a professional to install the system. When choosing which system is best for you, first you need to establish what your needs are and which way you will be able to install them.

You can choose a pre-set package from a store such as Wal-Mart or Price Club. However the best way is to choose each component separately in order to custom fit for your needs. With DVR being the most important part of the system, most of pre-set packages come with Chinese made DVRs. They lack quality, reliability, are harder to use and navigate. Also some components are proprietary to each other and in case of failure it will be difficult to replace them. We carry wide range of different cameras, quality DVR’s (made in Korea), and everything else that you would need to have a reliable and quality home security system optimized for your specific situations and needs.

DVR

DVRs can handle multiple cameras (4, 8, 9, 16 or 32). Number of channels cannot be expanded later on, so choose one with future expansion in mind. Navigating through the recording is a lot easier with a DVR that comes with GUI (Graphic User Interface) and mouse control features. The reason we recommend either Korean or Japanese made DVR is that a DVR is not just a circuit based product. It must have reliable hardware, software and network capability. Japanese DVR cam may be expensive for its brand name so we recommend a Korean made DVR which has the quality, yet a smaller price tag. DVRs are usually equipped with 500GB memory (expandable) and handling up to 4 cameras will retain up to a month or more worth of video (depending the setting). All DVRs can detect motion (pixel movement) and record upon detection to save memory and time when you playback.  There are many other features such as networking, loop recording, cell phone viewing, e-mail notification, dual video output to TV or VGA monitor, auto-reboot (in case of black out) etc.

Digital wireless signal has no interference at all, and it is fully encrypted. You can connect up to 16 cameras wirelessly and all of them will work fine without interfering with each other. However, the video quality and frame rate will be reduced during the process of converting from analog to digital and back to analog to connect to a DVR. Video will somewhat be pixilated and there will be few seconds of lag in video feed. But in a case where wiring is not possible and you want completely secure wireless connection, this is the way to do it.

MONITOR

All our DVRs can connect to a TV or a VGA monitor. There is no such thing as a special security monitor, and will not provide with any better resolution.

NETWORKING

Most of DVRs come with the feature where you can connect the DVR to a router that way you can watch the camera live via internet. Internet access level differs between models. Some DVRs only may have live view feature where other higher end ones allow playback, change of settings and smart phone access as well. There are no additional monthly fees involved other than what you currently pay for your internet service.

Finally, there must be a hard wire network cable connection between the DVR and your router.
Bottom line, No matter where buy the system, technical support is essential. We are sure you have experienced run around support method that does not go anywhere. For example, if you have a difficulty connecting the DVR to your router, many companies will not help you due to lack of knowledge, or simply turn away by saying they are not allowed to troubleshoot with an item which is not theirs- the router. As a direct supplier and manufacturer, we are well knowledgeable about what we sell, and we will go all the way to make the system work properly.

Related articles:

Underground guard Cameras – Home security protect systems

Home Security Alarm System:The Effective And Powerful DSC Classic Series

Home safety: Top 10 Home Security Tips For the Holiday Season

The holiday season is the time when you enjoy the company of family and friends and may even enjoy a trip away. But if you come back from the trip only to find someone broke into your house. Home security specialist David Fisher has some holiday home security tips to make your holidays safe and happy.



1. Lock up the house. Today a large number of people in southern Utah still leave their doors and windows unlocked when they are not home. Remember, locked doors and windows are harder to break in and also harder to exit for burglars trying to remove objects from your home.

2. Lock up the shed, garage and side gates too. Many people leave these areas unlocked and the burglars get a chance snatch and run away with their loot including the car.

3. Install sensor lights which are activated by movement. This is a prevention measure for burglars.
4. Get a security alarm system . Consult a professional alarm installation company for the proper security in and oustide your home.

Assessments are done Free by reliable home security professionals. Ask for their Utah registration and certification.

5. Don’t advertise that you are out. This is dangerous and gives burglars information about your absence.

6. Don’t provide temptation. Don’t leave valuables or boxes of new purchase in a place that is visible from outside. This may provoke the burglars to break into your house.

7. Fake your presence at home. Install lights in the home which turn on and off while you are gone and have someone pickup you mail and newspaper while keeping an eye on your house.

8. Install a closed circuit camera at home. This will be a great help to identify the burglar in case of burglary.

9. Mark your property and personal items with your name. This makes items more difficult to sell for burglars and easier to identify and recover.

10. Keep your home visible from the road when planning your landscaping. Ease of visability from the road makes burglars think twice before breaking into the house.
Blogroll:

Fake security cameras for the home – a visual deterrent

Home Security Store – Wireless Security Systems Review

Technology for Your Safety: Wireless Home Security Systems

Choose a right home securiy cameras – top-shopingmall.com

New Report: Amazon's Kindle Fire Aiming for Second Place Behind iPad

Amazon's Kindle Fire is lining up for second place in tablets behind Apple's iPad, according to a new survey from ChangeWave Research.
Amazon’s Kindle Fire could become the second-ranked tablet on the market, suggests new data from ChangeWave Research, a division of analyst firm The 451 Group.

In the firm’s November survey of 3,043 North American consumers, some 2 percent claimed they’d already preordered the Kindle Fire tablet . Around 5 percent indicated it was “very likely” they would buy the tablet, and another 12 percent suggested such a purchase was “somewhat likely.”

Based on that data, the firm believes the Kindle Fire could become “the number two product on the tablet market, as long as the Kindle Fire can provide a quality user experience,” according to a Nov. 21 research note accompanying the data.

“The most immediate impact of the Amazon device is on the rest of the competition, where the survey shows it wreaking a devastating blow to a range of second-tier tablet manufacturers,” that note added, “including Motorola, RIM, Dell, HTC, H-P and Toshiba. Importantly, with the exception of the Samsung Galaxy Tab (4 percent), no other manufacturer is garnering more than 1 percent of future tablet demand among consumers.”

However, the iPad remains a formidable competitor, with ChangeWave Research recording a 74 percent satisfaction rating for Apple’s best-selling tablet. By contrast, “other tablet devices” as a lumped group drew a 49 percent satisfaction rating.

Amazon faces competition from not only the iPad and other “conventional” tablets, but also Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Tablet , which the bookseller is pushing as an e-reader and media viewer. However, the Kindle Fire is radically different from many of those marketplace rivals: in place of the others’ grid-like screens of individual applications, for instance, its user interface centers on a set of virtual “shelves” lined with the user’s media and applications. In addition, the Fire boasts a tight integration with Amazon’s online storefronts, essentially rendering it more of a vending machine for streaming media than a full-fledged tablet for both consumers and businesses.

In fact, Amazon is banking on sales of streaming media and e-books to make the Kindle Fire a profitable endeavor. According to a preliminary finding by IHS’ Teardown Analysis Service, the Kindle Fire costs $201.70 to manufacture, including materials and production. Given the Kindle Fire’s price point of $199, if IHS’ analysis holds, that means Amazon sells each unit at a slight but noticeable loss.

“Amazon makes its money not on Kindle hardware, but on the paid content and other products it plans to sell the consumer through the Kindle,” Andrew Rassweiler, senior director of IHS’ teardown services, wrote in a Nov. 18 research note.

“This is a similar business model to wireless companies such as AT&T or Verizon,” he added. “They sell you a phone that costs them $400 to $600 or more to make for a price of only $200. However, they expect to more than make up for that loss with a two-year service contract.”

Related business:

New Report - More shoppers drawn to cheaper, smaller Kindle Fire over iPad

Top Apps: 8 Amazon Kindle Fire Apps for Newbies

Tablet war: Can Amazon Kindle Fire shift tablet market away from Apple’s iPad?

Amazon’s Kindle Fire: Look at What the Critics are Saying

Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire - day one impressions: Can it fight the Fire?

Alarm Monitoring - The best security store protect you home

As alarm systems advanced, companies began to offer alarm monitoring for their clients, a service that has become more common as people begin to understand its benefits. Most major companies now offer alarm monitoring services, and for very good reason.

Alarm monitoring is a basic concept: companies set up central stations from which to monitor the alarms of their clients. Companies utilize computers and special software to monitor their customers’ home security systems and in the event of a fire, burglary or other emergency, will be able to alert the authorities in the fastest manner possible. Operators can also take control and speak through the customer’s alarm, either reassuring the homeowner that help is on the way or possibly frightening away an intruder who now realizes that the police are on the way.

Alarm Monitoring – Avoiding fines and certified companies

Not only does alarm monitoring protect you, but having an operator communicate with you is also a great way to save money. As anyone with an alarm knows, having it go off, even by accident, includes a call to the authorities from your alarm company. In many states, a false alarm will cost the homeowner an expensive bill from the police or firemen who showed up to the “emergency”. With an operator on the line, however, you can reassure them that it was a mistake, saving you the money and explanations you’d need if a police cruiser showed up.

One important point to make about alarm monitoring systems regards the companies central stations mentioned earlier in this article. Any company can set up a room full of technicians and claim to have 24/7 alarm monitoring for their customers, but not every alarm company is certified. Many independent agencies exist to certify alarm companies, so ensure that before purchasing an alarm monitoring system that the company has been recognized and certified. In the United States, Underwriters Laboratories is one of the most well known companies to provide certification, and a certified company will make sure their potential customers know about it. One more point to keep in mind is that certified generally offer higher standards of service because they are required to follow a standard set of guidelines to maintain their certification.

Alarm Monitoring – Prices

Alarm monitoring may seem like an expensive product but it is actually an affordable option for any homeowner. Prices vary greatly for an alarm monitoring system, but many security companies will offer a $0 down plan where you pay a monthly fee, and receive the service and a package which includes free installation, activation, warranty, and live two-way communication. If you think about what you last spent $30 on, it probably wasn’t as valuable as the continued security of your family and house, so these types of plans are definitely a good deal.

The protection provided by a quality alarm monitoring system is priceless, so a small monthly payment is little to worry about in the long run. Try comparing prices online, or even getting a free inspection by a local alarm company. It’s affordable, easy, and will take a huge burden off of your mind.

Blogroll:

House Alarm Systems Tips & Guide – Keep Home Safety

Fake security cameras for the home – a visual deterrent

Home Security Store – Wireless Security Systems Review

Technology for Your Safety: Wireless Home Security Systems

Choose a right home securiy cameras – top-shopingmall.com

Surveillance cameras for home – Get your house and family protected now

HP Laptop Review: "first business Ultrabook"

HP looks to boost PC sales with "first business Ultrabook"

The HP Folio

Fresh off a decision to keep its PC business, HP is joining the Ultrabook crowd with the new HP Folio. It's not the thinnest Ultrabook, but HP is claiming to offer the longest Ultrabook battery life at up to 9 hours, and also makes the ambitious claim of having built the "first business Ultrabook."

We could argue that the whole point of Ultrabooks is to create a business-friendly option for people lusting after ultra-slim laptops. While the MacBook Air is the most popular device in the category, Windows is by and large preferred over Macs in business settings, and any Ultrabook can presumably be outfitted with the Professional version of Windows 7. But HP says it is adding an extra security feature designed for mobile professionals: A "TPM [Trusted Platform Module] Embedded Security Chip that protects data in e-mail as well as information on the hard drive for security-conscious users." There is also an optional USB 2.0 dock for connecting to audio, video, and network equipment, to create a desktop-like experience.

The first HP Folio will be available December 7, starting at $899.99. However, the first Folio with the TPM chip won't come out until January and pricing for that model was not announced. Since we haven't gotten our hands on the Folio, we don't know if it improves upon the awful trackpad in the Asus Zenbook. But we can tell you the basic specs and show you some pictures provided by HP. While the Notebook Review folks took a look at a Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit model, HP said Windows 7 Professional is one of the available options.

The HP Folio, in all its front-facing glory.

The Folio has 4GB of RAM and uses Intel Core i5 processors, as well as Intel's Rapid Start Technology to get things up and running quickly. 18 millimeters thick (that's 0.71 inches) and weighing 3.3 pounds, the Folio will have a 13.3-inch "high-definition (HD) BrightView display," and HP's TrueVision HD webcam along with a backlit keyboard.

Not the thinnest machine ever, but nice and compact in the closed position.

The storage will be all solid-state disk with 128GB the only size option revealed so far. As for the trackpad, or the "imagepad" as HP calls it, gestures using 1, 2, and 3 fingers are supported. Ports include Ethernet, RJ-45 and USB 3.0.

The HP Folio will compete in a increasingly crowded market for Windows-based Ultrabooks, all of which are trying to top Apple's MacBook Air. HP quotes IDC as saying 95 million Ultrabooks will ship annually by 2015, and we recently covered IHS iSuppli research that predicts Ultrabooks will account for 43 percent of worldwide notebook PC shipments by the same year.

HP also announced redesigned HP ENVY notebooks for users who are more interested in raw power than a slim profile. With 15-inch and 17-inch models, the ENVY boasts an option for Intel quad-core chips and AMD Mobility Radeon high-def graphics processors. The ENVYs will hit the market in the US on Dec. 7 with prices ranging from $1,099 to $1,599. Here's a look at the 17-inch machine, which can handle a 128GB SSD along with up to two 1TB hard drives, with battery life up to 9.5 hours.

Guide Smartphone: The Prices Shrink as First-Time Buyer Numbers Increase

Smartphones used to be reserved for those wealthy enough to fork over hundreds of dollars for a handset — and over a grand each year to actually use said handset over a data connection. But the times, they are a-changin’.

Although the iPhone dominated smartphone sales last quarter — with the iPhone 4 and 3GS taking the number one and two spots, respectively — a new trend is taking shape: super-cheap smartphones for the masses.

The average price of smartphones has dropped for four consecutive quarters, down to its current price level of $135. The NPD Group found that for those who intended to buy a smartphone in the $200 to $250 range last quarter, 64 percent ended up getting a sub-$200 handset instead.

A combination of wider budget-friendly offerings and price-reduced older models are key to this trend. And with consumers clutching their pocketbooks ever tighter, it’s a welcome turn of events for those hoping to dive into the smartphone scene. Indeed, 59 percent of mobile phone purchases last quarter were smartphones / ipad Accessories (up from 46 percent of all mobile phone sales during the same quarter in 2010).

“We’re seeing that middle tier of advanced feature phones disappearing,” NPD’s executive director of industry analysis Ross Rubin says. Consumer priorities are changing, particularly for those enlisted in the dumbphone ranks. “Mobile connectivity is becoming so important that they’re making an investment on a better handset with a higher monthly fee,” Rubin says.

And just because these new handsets are labeled as “budget” doesn’t mean they’re completely lacking in the comforts of other smartphones. Models typically bear single-core processors, yes, and also have a smaller screen, but the displays aren’t impossibly small. They’re often 3.2 to 3.7 inches, which is within the iPhone realm of 3.5-inches, though much smaller than 4.3- or 4.5-inch plus Android stunners on the market.

That said, the new entry-level smartphones often include cheaper parts, which can make it more difficult for software upgrades. Other than those caveats, the new smartphones have most of what you need: a capacitive-touch display, a major mobile OS like Android, 4G capability, and even high-end features like 8-megapixel cameras.

AT&T in particular has had a lot of success with budget smartphones, like the dirt-cheap $30 Huawei Impulse 4G and $100 HTC Inspire, Rubin says. And even the iPhone is entering this new mid-range space: Although the iPhone 3GS has been available for cheap since the iPhone 4’s debut, Apple has stepped up its offerings in the budget department by now offering the iPhone 4 at a lowered price — and the iPhone 3GS for free.

Although a phone’s price can be a big hurdle, monthly data fees are really the offenders that continually take bites out of bank accounts. In fact, carriers are keenly aware that less-pricy data plans are important in converting feature phone users to smartphone users, and are wisely making concessions.

“Carriers seem committed to adjusting their pricing to get an even greater number of people using their wireless data,” Rubin says.

Sprint just lowered its pricing plans for non-smartphone mobile devices like tablets and mobile hotspots. Verizon also recently began an offer for double the data for the same price. This tactic seems directly targeted at current smartphone users looking to get a better deal than their current plan offers, but could certainly aid new smartphone owners worried about incurring overage fees. Prepaid smartphone data plans are also available.

Does that mean premium smartphone purchases are on the outs? Absolutely not. Apple has sold record numbers of its shiny new iPhone 4S, and the HTC EVO 3D and Motorola Droid 3 were the third and fourth most popular smartphones sold last quarter.

“In general, the handset market overall is saturated. Gains are coming from people switching smartphones or trading up from feature phones,” Rubin says.

For now, the bigger gain for carriers and handset-makers alike are through first-time smartphone buyers, and we’ll likely see more price-friendly options cropping up alongside premium models over the coming months.

How to Make your smartphones smarter ?

You've got the basic apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps on your smartphone, so what's next?

USEFUL

Out of bread? Just whip out your Android, iPhone or BlackBerry phone, load up the free OurGroceries app and add bread to the shopping list, which will be automatically updated on your partner's phone so they can pick some up on the way home from work (made by HeadCode).

Instapaper ($6.49) for the iPhone lets you clip and save online articles so you can read them when you have time (Marco Arment). There's a free Android version too, EverPaper (Hiroshi Araki).

On holiday in Spain but can't understand the menus? Just point your camera at words and Word Lens uses augmented reality technology to translate for you in real time (Quest Visual).

FunBecome an instant bartender with the Mixology app for iPhone and Android, which lets you put in all the liquor and mixers you have and pulls up cocktails you can make. The app is free and has more than 7900 recipes (Digital Outcrop).

Got a song in your head but can't remember what it's called? It's SoundHound to the rescue. The free app for Android, Apple, Windows Phone 7 and Nokia devices can recognise songs played to it, and if you say the name of an artist or band it will call up song lyrics and YouTube videos (SoundHound).

Emailing is so passe. Bump lets you select a photo, app, song, Laptop Battery , message and so on and share it with your friend (who also has the app, which is free for Android and iPhone) by simply bumping your two phones together (Bump Technologies).

PHOTOS

You've probably seen the retro-looking photos with a circa 1970s feel on friends' Facebook pages and wondered how they did it. The answer is Hipstamatic, a $2.59 iPhone app that lets you swap lenses, films and flashes to create different photo effects (Synthetic Corp).

Photo sharing is simple with Instagram, a free iPhone app that also lets you put retro finishes on photos and then share them through the app's social network or Twitter and Facebook (Burbn). For Android-owners, there's Lightbox, which is much the same as Instagram and also free (Lightbox).

Got a postcard-worthy snap? Postino – free for Android, iPhone and Windows Phone, lets you convert photos into real-life postcards (AnguriaLab).

FoodWith more than 28,000 recipes, Epicurious is one of the most popular cooking apps available, and also lets you create shopping lists and email them and recipes to yourself and friends. Free for iPhones, Windows Phone and Android.

For a foodie app with a local flavour check out Fast, Fresh & Tasty ($6.49, for the iPhone). It's the first app by Wellington firm Click Suite, which teamed up with local food producers such as Silver Fern Farms for seasonal recipes.

Get the kids interested in cooking with iCooking Little Chefs, $1.30 for Android. It has 56 recipes that little ones will find easy to prepare; now you've just got to get them to do the washing up (Apps of All Nations).

TRAVEL

Draw on the collective wisdom of more than 50 million traveller reviews of hotels, restaurants and tours, and find cheap flights with the free TripAdvisor app for iPhone, Android, Nokia and Windows Phone smartphones (TripAdvisor).

Find the nearest petrol station, restaurant or supermarket with AroundMe, free for iPhone and Android (Attorno A Me S.R.L). Like Google Places (also free for iPhone and Android), it uses your phone's GPS to figure out where you are and what's around you.

Keep track of your travel details with TripCase, a free app for iPhone, BlackBerry and Android. The app will store your travel-related information, like flights, hotels and car reservations, and will warn of flight delays, gate changes and let you search for alternate flights .

Apple's battery: 6 Tips to Boost Your iPhone's Battery Life

The iPhone has always been pretty good about battery life, particularly in terms of standby time, but something changed recently—and in a big way. Reports are all over the Web about how iPhone 4S owners in particular have noticed vastly reduced standby time compared to older iPhones, on the order of 10 to 15 percent reductions per hour, although other people are saying they don't see a problem at all.

It turns out there is something to this story, though: Apple has confirmed that a bug in iOS 5, not the iPhone 4S itself, is responsible for the poor battery life many people are seeing, and said that a fix is in the works. It turns out that the iOS 5 bug means you'll also see the problem with an older iPhone, or possibly even an iPad or iPod touch, if you install the new OS on it.

Already have iOS 5? Here are six things you can do right now to boost your iPhone's battery life.
1. Set time zones manually. This time around, by default, iOS 5 tries to auto-adjust your time zone based on repetitive calls to the GPS radio, which is a huge battery drain. For now, turn this off: head to Settings -> Location Services -> System Services (which is located all the way at the bottom) -> Setting Time Zone. Note that this setting isn't in the Date & Time section, which makes it tough for people to find.

2. Disable location services when not needed. You can also disable all Location Services, which is a good rule in general for conserving battery life, but you'll need to re-enable it for GPS navigation and other tasks as necessary.

3. Disable as many notifications as possible. Notifications were a battery drain with earlier versions of the OS; I usually kept them turned off on test handsets, and saw several days of standby time on a charge even with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS enabled. The new iOS 5 has a completely different notification system, with an Android-style pull-down bar at the top that collects multiple notifications and organizes them. In the process of adding this, Apple removed the global notification toggle in the Settings menu, so you can't just disable them all in one shot anymore. You can, however, disable app notifications, while leaving important ones (such as text and voicemail) intact. In other words, you can turn it back into an approximation of the original system, which separated call notifications from app notifications automatically.

To do this, head to Settings -> Notifications, tap a given category (Phone, Messages, Reminders) or app (Walgreens, Zillow, and so on), and toggle Notification Center at the top to Off. The fewer notifications you enable, the more standby time you should see. While you're in there, note that you can change the way they appear; you can return a given notification to an alert window in the center of the screen, the way it used to be, instead of with the new bar on top.

4. Check for e-mail manually. E-mail is another perennial battery drain; normally I set all accounts to receive updates manually (i.e. when I load the app), instead of at a set frequency or via "push." The same goes for Facebook and Twitter updates; if the app is constantly refreshing them in the background, it's hitting the radios and consuming power, and you're not even reading them.

5. Check for software updates. Right now, iOS 5.0 is still current, but be aware that there's a different procedure now: You can check for OS updates right from the phone, instead of using a USB cable and syncing with iTunes. Head to Settings -> General -> Software Update. Apple / ipad Accessories / iPad Cases recently sent iOS 5.0.1 to developers, according to BGR; updates include bug fixes for battery life, among other things. Keep an eye on PCMag for the latest news on iOS updates as well.

6. Some minor things can still help. Finally, you can still do all the usual, old-school things to improve battery life, such as reducing screen brightness, disabling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and so on. The only one that really helps here, in my experience, is screen brightness, but you need it cranked to see the Retina Display in bright sunlight. This was never a big issue with the iPhone, though; the above tips, plus an eventual bug fix from Apple, should resolve the vast majority of battery life issues with iOS 5.

HP introduces Slate 2 tablet for businesses, not consumers

Hewlett-Packard has released its next tablet, the Slate 2, and it's anything but the successor to the pseudo-cult-hit that was the HP TouchPad.

In fact, the Slate 2 is actually a follow-up to HP's Slate 500, which launched more than a year ago at a price of $800, running Windows 7 and marketed to businesses and not consumers.

The Slate 2, again, isn't a consumer tablet, HP says, noting that it envisions the gadget "for business and vertical markets such as education, healthcare, government and retail, where jobs frequently take users away from a traditional desk." So don't go expecting to see this device showing up in you local electronics retailer.

The new HP tablet / Hp Laptop batteries  for businesses will sell for $700, and like the Slate 500, the Slate 2 will weigh in at 1.5 pounds, feature an 8.9-inch touchscreen and make use of an optional stylus. On the Slate 2, a software update will enable users to also use an on-screen swipe keyboard, HP said.

The Slate 2 will run on Intel's 1.5-gigahertz Atom Z670 processor, offer up to six hours of battery life and encrypt data on the device's hard drive. A VGA camera is built into the front of the Slate 2 while a 3-megapixel camera is on the back and the tablet has 2 gigabytes of RAM, a hard drive of up to 64 gigabytes and one USB port -- the same as the Slate 500's setup.

As far as looks, the Slate 2 looks pretty much exactly the same as the Slate 500 and retains the same dimensions, and both tablets run Microsoft Windows 7. This is an update -- not a whole new device. In fact, even the press image HP offered of the Slate 500 last year and the Slate 2 this year look identical, except for the simulated graphic on the screen (see above).

So, when will we see another consumer tablet from HP? It might be a while. The company has said that it will produce Windows 8 tablets next year sometime and that its WebOS plans are still up in the air.

iPhone 4S Battery Woes: What it happen?

The iPhone 4S is just the latest example of a phone's battery life falling short of some users' expectations.
Before this battery drain debacle, iOS 4 users complained of similar issues, as did owners of the iPhone 3GS. And Apple's not the only phone maker to take heat. HTC's Evo 4G got criticized for weak battery life last year. So did the original Droid before that. New phones like the Droid Charge suffer from disappointing battery life as well.

Obviously, there's a bigger problem here, bigger than the iPhone 4S and bigger than Android: smartphone batteries stink. What we need is a breakthrough.



Sure, a decent smartphone can probably make it through the day with moderate use. But I don't know of any smartphone that can endure a full day of heavy use. Did you make a few long phone calls, or watch a movie, or go on a crazy Angry Birds binge? You better keep your phone holstered for the next few hours if you want enough power for the commute home.

And how ridiculous is it that shutting down Wi-Fi, turning off notifications and lowering your screen brightness is considered "sensible battery life management practices," as my colleague Ian Paul put it? I'm sorry, but smartphone users shouldn't have to do those things. Our phones should shine brightly. Let the notifications flow. Users should never have to micromanage Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS. They should be on, all the time, ready to use.

Unfortunately, that kind of use just isn't practical on today's smartphones. If you want to the phone to last a day, you must conserve. And with the rise of battery-draining 4G LTE, the need to curtail your use is only getting worse.

So this is my rallying cry. Smartphone makers: the next big breakthrough shouldn't be about how many processor cores or megapixels you can cram into a handset, or how many millimeters you can shave off the casing. It should about getting through a full day of heavy use, and having enough juice left over to last through the next day if necessary. Let's see a true 24-hour battery.

There's hope in new approaches, like the kinetic charging patented by Nokia, or the "subconscious mode" of idle operation researched at the University of Michigan. (Nvidia's Tegra 3 processors actually have a fifth core that serves a similar purpose, using minimal power for basic tasks.) Some day, photovoltaic cells could replace lithium-ion batteries, and stay charged by converting waste heat into energy. Or, lithium-sulfur batteries, researched by Stanford University, could provide up to four times more power.

Until we get a battery life breakthrough, some people are always going to complain about how long their phones last on a charge. That's the nature of getting a new phone like the iPhone 4S. You want to play with it for hours, but your heart sinks as the battery meter slides toward empty. It's time for a change.

Top-shoppingmall Show you How to Set Up RAID on Your PC

Configuring two or more hard drives in a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) setup can increase performance and/or provide automatic protection against data loss from drive failure. RAID used to be expensive, hard to implement, and limited to businesses with dedicated IT departments. Now, motherboards in most desktop PCs support RAID, and Windows 7 provides software RAID that requires no special hardware at all. The technology is easily within the reach of the wallet and skills of any reasonably tech-savvy PC user.
What type of RAID do I want?

RAID comes in a number of flavors--or levels--that offer data protection, enhanced performance, or both. In addition to the seven core levels (RAID 0 through RAID 6), you'll encounter a number of variants and combinations. Some controllers (and dedicated external storage and NAS boxes) can layer and even abstract RAID levels, allowing you to mix and match different capacity drives and add capacity without any additional configuration.

Here are a few of the RAID levels you'll find on affordable, consumer-level RAID adapters, motherboard chipsets, Alarm Systems , Baby Monitors and Windows software RAID:

JBOD (extend, spill over): JBOD, or Just a Bunch Of Disks simply allows you to extend a volume (drive letter, e.g. C:\) onto other disks. Data is written to the first disk until it's full, then to the second disk, then the third, etc. It offers no boost in performance or redundancy and is a holdover from the days when smaller disks had to be chained to handle large amounts of data. It's largely irrelevant given today's more capacious hard drives.

RAID 0 (Striping): This setup increases hard-drive performance by splitting, or striping, data across two drives. By leveraging two data busses, data can be read and written more quickly. Unfortunately, RAID 0 provides no data protection--in fact, it actually increases the chances of data loss since the failure of either drive in the array results in the loss of the data stored on both drives. RAID 0 setups are standard on high-end gaming PCs and graphic design workstations, and provide a measurable, albeit modest performance boost for hard-disk-intensive programs.

RAID 1 (Mirroring): A RAID 1 setup protects data from drive failure by simultaneously writing the same data to two hard drives. Since each drive is an exact duplicate of the other, you can continue working if one fails. RAID 1 offers no gain in performance and effectively reduces available capacity by half -- two 2TB drives provide only 2TB of storage.

RAID 5 (Distributed Parity): Though you get both faster disk performance and data protection from this setup, it requires a minimum of three hard drives. Instead of using an entire hard drive as a backup, RAID 5 spreads redundancy information--called parity bits--across all of the array's drives. Where RAID 1 requires 50% of available storage for redundancy, RAID 5 requires only 33%.

When one of the drives in a RAID 5 array fails, the data content of that failed drive is reconstructed using the parity bits on the surviving drives and written to a new, replacement drive. The array is still usable in the meantime.

RAID 1+0, 0+1, 10: Some adapters combine (referred to as nesting) RAID 0 and RAID 1 to provide both data redundancy and increased disk performance. This works by either striping data across a pair of drives then mirroring (0+1) them with another pair, or striping data across two mirrored pairs (1+0, aka 10). RAID 0+1, 1+0, and 10 require a minimum of four hard drives.

What do I need to set up RAID?

A Fresh Backup (existing data only): If you're installing and configuring hardware RAID on a fresh system with no OS (your best option), or are adding disks for a separate array, skip this. Otherwise, back up your important data. Best practice is to have three copies of your data: the original, a backup, and a backup of the backup, preferably offsite.

If you have existing data that you want on the array, you'll need to back it up, then restore it from a backup you make before creating your array--a process that writes new data to your hard drives regardless of what's there. This is not necessary with Windows software RAID 0, however, it's far faster than letting Windows re-sync (copy the data to) the mirror in the background.

Transferring an existing operating system is tricky, and with older versions of Windows, sometimes impossible. See "Transferring Existing Windows Installations to RAID" on the next page for instructions.
Windows Software RAID: Starting with Windows XP, Microsoft integrated RAID functionality into its operating systems. What type depends on the flavor of Windows:

    Windows XP allows spanned volumes (one volume over two or more disks), aka JBOD.
    Windows Vista Ultimate allows JBOD and RAID 1 striping.

    Windows 7 Home allows JBOD and RAID 1 while Professional and Ultimate add RAID 0 mirroring. Windows 2000 Professional also has JBOD, 0, and 1.

    Windows Server operating systems from 2000 on have JBOD, 0, 1, plus support for RAID 5 distributed parity.

Windows RAID offers several advantages. You can create arrays from within Window Drive manager so there's no BIOS to configure. It's also more flexible with mirrors, allowing you to create them from existing volumes containing data, as well as delete either half of a mirror with the other remaining intact. You can mirror individual partitions, including partitions from different drives onto a single drive.

Though you'll see a lot of talk about hardware RAID being faster, this discussion predates modern CPUs which can easily handle the overhead. Windows RAID is actually quite fast.

RAID controller: If you don't use software RAID, there's hardware. You probably already have a RAID controller in your PC; many older midrange and high-end motherboards come with secondary RAID controller, and newer motherboard chipsets offer integrated RAID obviating the need for an additional controller. Check your PC or motherboard documentation to find out if your motherboard supports RAID (and if so, which levels), and for specific installation instructions.

If your PC doesn't have integrated RAID, you may use an adapter card. Basic PCI and PCIe adapters supporting RAID levels 0, 1, 10, and sometimes 5 can be found online for $100 or less. Adaptec, Promise and other vendors offer a wide selection of pricier, but more capable RAID adapters with onboard cache and advanced features. If possible, buy a card that supports greater-than-2.2TB disks and 6Gbps SATA III.
Two or more hard drives: If you decide on Windows software RAID, you may use any drives you choose. They need not be the same size if you're mirroring individual volumes, though it's generally a good idea.

Back in the days of parallel ATA, it was a no-no to mix drives from different vendors on a RAID controller. Sometimes it would work--more often it wouldn't. With the advent of SATA, mixing vendors is no longer as problematic.

Also, though there are controllers that allow mixing and matching capacities without losing storage space (using advanced parity techniques), these are still relatively rare. Using drives of different sizes usually results in total storage capacity that's only a multiple of the smallest drive. For example, combining 500GB and 320GB drives in RAID 1 would be 320GB * 2, or 640GB instead of 820GB.

In practice, you'll save yourself a lot of time and sidestep possible issues by building your array with identical hard drives--meaning drives of the same make, model, and size. You need at least two drives for RAID 0 and 1, three drives for RAID 5, and four for RAID 0+1, 1+0, and 10.

Floppy drive (Windows XP-only): If you plan to install Windows XP on your new array, you will need a floppy disk with your RAID adapter's Windows drivers, and a floppy drive to read it--Windows' installation won't install the drivers from an optical drive. Thankfully, this incredibly annoying limitation of Windows XP doesn't apply in Windows Vista and Windows 7 which can read drivers from hard drives, flash drives, or optical media.

Tools: You'll need a small, non-magnetic Phillips screwdriver to remove and replace the fastener screw that secures the adapter card to the PC chassis, as well as to install any new hard drives. You might also want a simple grounding strap that attaches to your wrist; look for one at your local computer store for less than $15. Alternatively, never touch exposed contacts or electronics.

How do I install a RAID adapter?

Here's how to physically install a RAID adapter card in your PC. If your motherboard already supports RAID, skip to "Configuring the Adapter” below.

1. Unplug your PC and position the case so that you can comfortably reach into the interior. If you have a tower case, you'll find installing an expansion card easier if you lay the case on its side.

2. Protect your PC's delicate circuits from static electricity by properly grounding yourself. If you don't have the patience or time to buy a grounding strap, at least make an effort to ground your body by touching your PC's case before touching the inside of your PC or any component.

3. Locate an open PCI or PCI Express expansion slot and remove the cover bracket that blocks the slot's access port on the back of the case. Typically, a single screw secures the bracket.

4. Remove the adapter card from its packaging, handling the card by its edges (not the edge connector on the bottom); avoid touching the chips and circuitry on either face of the card.

5. Align the adapter card's connector with the expansion slot and gently but firmly push down on the top edge until the card is securely seated in the slot. Secure the card to the chassis with the existing screw or other clamping mechanism.

6. Once the card is installed, install and connect the hard drives to be used in the array. See "How to Install a New Hard Drive" for instructions.

7. Reassemble the PC and power it up.

Configuring the Adapter

Each RAID adapter has a firmware configuration program, unique to that make or model, that lets the user select the type of RAID array to install and choose which hard drives to include in the array. Sometimes the RAID functionality is embedded in the motherboard's BIOS. Refer to your adapter or motherboard documentation to guide you through the specific installation steps for your adapter.

    Typically, you launch the setup program for a RAID adapter by pressing Ctrl-R, Ctrl-A, or some other key combination during the PC boot process. Watch the screen for a prompt, or check your adapter's documentation. On some PCs you may have to press the Tab key to see the boot messages and the prompt.
    If RAID is embedded in the BIOS, as with many Intel motherboards, you will need to launch the BIOS setup. This is typically done by pressing F2, Ctrl+S, Del or some other key combination.

    Choose the drives and create the array.

    If asked to select a stripe size or chunk size for a RAID 0 or RAID 5 array, select the default size. Playing with these settings may increase performance for users with plenty of time and energy to experiment.

Installing Windows and the Adapter Drivers

If you are installing Windows XP or 2000 onto your array:

1. Carefully watch the bottom of the screen at the beginning of the setup process for the prompt, and press F6 if you need to install a third-party SCSI or RAID driver. Be quick: You have only a few seconds to press F6 and launch the installation process.

2. Wait for the screen that says 'S=Specify Additional Devices' in the lower-left corner. Press S.

3. When prompted, insert the floppy disk with the adapter's drivers into the floppy drive and complete the driver installation. Once that's done, Windows should continue the Windows installation routine.

If you are installing Windows Vista or Windows 7 onto your array:

1. Choose Custom (Advanced) Installation.

2. When asked where to install Windows, if your RAID volume does not appear (Windows Vista and 7 do have some RAID drivers) click the Load Driver button at the bottom of the dialog.

3. When prompted, insert the floppy disk, CD, or flash drive with the adapter's drivers and complete the driver installation. Once done, you should be able to see the drives attached to the RAID controller. If not, you may have pointed to the wrong driver or the array hasn't been created yet.

Transferring Existing Windows Installations to RAID

It can be difficult, and sometimes impossible to transfer an existing operating system installation to a RAID array. It all depends on the hardware and Windows operating system involved. Follow the steps below for the best chance of success.

Transferring Windows XP

1. Install or enable the RAID controller in your PC. Do NOT create any arrays.

2. Boot to Windows and install the RAID drivers. If your boot drive is attached to the RAID controller (some storage controllers such as Intel's Storage Matrix pull double-duty) you may not be able to boot. If that's the case, you'll either have to attach the boot drive to a non-RAID port or use a secondary RAID controller for the new array. Start over.

3. Create a backup image in a safe, accessible location (external hard drive, flash drive, hard drive not to be included in the array, etc.) of the entire hard drive containing the existing OS installation using Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image or another program. Preferably one with bare metal restore capabilities, i.e. driver support for hardware that wasn't in use when the image was made.

4. Reboot and create your array. Preferably, with new disks while keeping your old disk as a backup.
5. Restore the image using the program you created it with. If your system won't boot, try again using the bare metal restore functions.

Transferring Windows Vista or Windows 7

1. Create an image of the hard drive containing the existing OS installation in a safe, accessible location (external hard drive, flash drive, hard drive not to be included in the array, etc.) using Windows backup.
2. Reboot and enable/install the RAID adapter.

3. Create your array. Preferably, with new disks while keeping your old disk as a backup.

4. Boot using your Windows Vista/7 installation disc, and select Repair your computer.

5. Click on Load drivers and following the prompts, load the RAID drivers and any drivers required for the device you backed up to.

6. Restore your system using the backup image you previously created.

Using Windows software RAID

Windows XP, Vista, and 7 all offer software RAID which is a more than viable alternative to hardware, and easy to implement. Which levels are available with depend on your flavor of Windows

The basic procedure for implementing Windows RAID is as follows:

1. Open the Start Menu, right-click on Computer and select Manage.

2. Scroll down the tree on the right to Disk Management (under Storage) and click on it.

3. Right-click over the large drive icon to the left for operations that will affect the entire disk (extend, stripe, mirror, or RAID 5). Only what's available on your version and possible with your disk setup will be enabled. For some levels, a wizard will pop up. Follow the prompts. If the disk is not dynamic, this will automatically convert it.

4. On dynamic disks, right-click over a volume on the drive and you'll see an option to mirror that individual volume (Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows server OS's only).

Note: Depending on the amount of existing data, it can take an extremely long time for new Windows RAID mirrors to sync up, and disk performance will suffer till the process is completed. It's far faster to back up your files, create new mirrored volumes, then restore the data. If you do opt for letting Windows sync all the data, keeping Drive Manager open and on top will speed up the process.