Google and Samsung confirm Galaxy Nexus volume bugs

Google and Samsung confirmed that there are volume issues with their flagship mobile phone the Galaxy Nexus.

It follows complaints on net forums about alteration in volume.

The handset, the first to feature Google's operating system Android Ice Cream Sandwich, is recently available in the UK and sale will start in USA in coming month.

Samsung said that they know about the problem and this problem will be repair.

"Regarding the Galaxy Nexus, we know about the volume issue and have developed a fix," Samsung said in a statement. "We will repair devices as soon as possible."

Google issued an almost identical statement.

The best tablet alternatives to the iPad 2

Model iPad 2 remains the most famous tablet computer available, people with features interests who can not spend $500 or more to purchase new device, now competitors have compelling alternatives to consider.
Whether you are an avid book reader looking for more interactivity, features and particular on your e-reader, a businessman who desires to securely access a corporate IT system, or an iconoclast who doesn’t like the iPad’s one-size-fits all hardware and operating system, there is no greater time than now to explore tablet alternatives.
Any of these options deserve a place on your holiday shopping list.

Amazon Kindle Fire and B&N NOOK (Price conscious/avid readers)

Samsung Galaxy Tabs (Variety seekers/Android smartphone owners)

 HP Slate (Business users)

Asus EE Pad Transformer Prime (Alternative gamers/multimedia power-users)

Users Should Get More Control Over Facebook Tracking

Now that news of Facebook tracking is officially penetrating just about all area of the media, the "do not track" debate is front and center. Facebook is a company that tracks where users visit after they have left the company's webpage. Some of the main reasons companies want to know where visitors surf is present them more relevant ads and to keep those "like" buttons on all those pages.

Anyone with a basic knowledge of the Internet knows that companies like Facebook, Google, and Yahoo earning lot of money from advertising. Showing more effective ads raise the chance that users will make the all-important "click" to take more information about the product. While it sounds like an easy way to maximize making money, the invasion of privacy does not sit well with many.

Several users want their Internet searches and history confidential, but shouldn't that information be personal business in the first place. If Facebook, and other Internet big companies, are tracking users without consent, that is something of a problem. Sure, inviting them to do so is one thing, but performing the equivalent of Internet stalking just to show good ads seems a little over-the-top. Users required to be given some control over the tracking ability of those companies, which is what "Do Not Track" is all about.

Even burying the tracking information in the "terms of service" would be unsettling; because I'm sure everybody gives the TOS a good read before clicking "I Agree." The bottom line is tracking Internet users off of a particular site is information that could be sold to other parties. Granted, with 800 million members Facebook has a bit more user information that could be marketed than most social networks. There is many information floating around cyberspace, and someone needs to protect the interests of users.

This is a common sense issue that needs to be taken seriously. Imagine if a television station assigned every viewer a monitor to find out where they did most of their shopping. Sure the information will be effective in marketing, but it really is nobody's business who shops at Wal-Mart and who shops at Target.

Australian court to hear Samsung Apple dispute in March

An Australian court has given March date to consider Samsung's claim that Apple infringed its 3G patents.

Samsung is want to ban sales of the iPhone 4S in the country although the court has make decision that the Apple handset can be sold until that time.

Apple's lawyers wanted to hearing this case to be held in August but the judge was agree.

The news comes as Apple agree that there are still flaws in iOS 5, which powers the new iPhone.

Facebook 'virus' shows hardcore porn and violent images

 

Facebook says it is looking into reports that pornographic and violent images have been pasted to its website.

The pictures are  shown up in users' newsfeeds.

According to the technology site, ZDnet, the material is being posted via a "linkspam virus" which tempts members to click on a seemingly innocuous story link.

Officials of Facebook said: "we know of these reports and investigation is in process about this issue".

Lot of site members have passed comments about the breach on Twitter.

One user wrote that "Discovered a new porn site, it's called Facebook,".

Another user wrote "Facebook will protect about the photoshopped porn images, it's offensive,".

Other users complained they had seen pictures of mutilated animals and people, in some cases adding that they had deactivated their accounts as a consequence.

Many people are linking the attack to the Anonymous hacktivist group after a video displayed on YouTube threatening to "kill" the social network.

However, experts have questioned whether the video was authentic.

Can Google+ beat Facebook? That's the wrong question

Currently launch of Google+Pages for brands. Perhaps it's because Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg called Google+ "little version of Facebook" Or perhaps people just enjoy war between tech titans. Whatever the reason, I've been asked at least three times in the past week about whether Google+, Google's social networking service, will compete Facebook.
Wrong question.
Facebook champion of social networking is not disputed, with more than 800 million active users. It's deeply interwoven with the Web -- its social plug-ins are now part of millions of websites, and an entire ecosystem of applications relies on Facebook for social functions. If Google's aim with Google+ was to topple Facebook, that's an audacious goal. Based on the recent growth rates of both companies, it wouldn't look to be a bet you could win.
Toppling Facebook becomes more challenging as that site continues to keep pace -- adding  more features along with users. Friend circles, a distinctive feature of Google+ at launch, were added to Facebook in the following months, removing a major incentive to switch. What's more, Facebook's launch of the "Subscribe" feature -- which lets you follow public updates from a user -- further erodes the benefits of using a service like Google+ or Twitter.
Google was not wanted to promote Google+ as a "Facebook killer," however. Far from it. The search giant instead explained that it was building a "social layer" to bind its services together. That promise is now being delivered upon: A Google+ activity bar now active across the top of Google Docs, Google Search, Gmail and virtually every other Google service.
The real value of Google+ is a very small feature indeed: The +1 button. This little widget -- Google's answer to the Facebook Like button -- is an acknowledgment that links are no longer the only way to rank websites. Instead, people are increasingly discovering content through their friends on social networks. For Google, a company that ranks Web content based on the links between pages, that's a very scary change that undermines the organization's core search-engine service.
So what did Google do? Google started a social service and put these buttons on almost all of its pages to start collecting some of those social signals. Now those little +1 votes being cast around the Web are ready to change the order of Google's search results, helping to keep Google in line with the social trend. If Google's aim was to create its own source of social voting data and avoid a nightmarish outcome -- being forced to rank your search results based solely on your Facebook connections -- then, by its own standards, Google+ is not a failure.
Can Google beat the social war outright? My guess is no. Nonetheless, Google could still make a big move to increase the odds: It could acquire Twitter, gaining ownership of one of the largest databases of social signals on the Internet.
Meanwhile, "social" is not the only battle raging in technology circles. There's also the fight for the mobile Web: Mobile operating systems and app stores are perhaps a great opportunity than the social trend. And while Google is the market king in mobile operating systems, Facebook merely has a some apps (albeit the most popular ones). So Facebook, the big blue social network, may be winning a battle with Google+ but is losing the mobile war with Google at large.
Can Google+ beat Facebook? I think the better question might be "Is Google better off with Google+?"

Warren Buffett buys IBM stake with $10.7bn investment

Warren Buffett - one of the world's wanted investors - has declared building a 5.4% stake in IBM.

Mr Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway fund began buying shares in the firm in March, he invest his funds spending around $10.7bn (£6.7bn).

The billionaire had steered away from technology firms in the past.

He said that he was interested and impressed by IBM's road map for how it planned to attract IT firms outside the US to sign up to its services.

"If you're in some country around the world and you're creating  your IT department you're probably going to feel more easy with IBM than with many companies,".

He said he began buying the stock after he read IBM's 2010 annual report and spoke to technology professionals in the businesses his fund had already invested in.

He said he realised there was a lot of "continuity" in the US-headquartered business.

"It is a great deal for a big company to alter auditors, change law firms, or change IT support," he said.

"There's a fair amount of presumption in many places that if you're with IBM, you stay with them."

Facebook rape joke pages taken down from social network

Facebook has taken back many rape joke pages from its social network.

The group pages, which included "You know she's playing hard to get when you're chasing her down an alleyway" had been criticised by victim support groups.

The network said: "There is no room on Facebook for content that is hateful, threatening, or incites violence."

However, controversial postings may remain if administrators add a tag stating they are humorous or satire.

Facebook has been taken action against rape joke pages from its social network, because the pages broke its terms conditions.

"We take reports of questionable and offensive content very seriously,".

"However, we also want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others.

"Groups or pages that express an opinion on a state, institution, or set of beliefs - even if that opinion is outrageous or offensive to some - do not by themselves violate our policies.

"These online debates are a reflection of those happening offline, where conversations happen freely."

Apple store hit by malicious app

A malicious piece of software designed for iPhones and iPads has been innovated to presents that Apple's app store is not immune to malware.

The code was designed to look like a stock price tracker, but was also able to steal data.

Experts said that the proof-of-concept program was a "significant threat" to the app store.

Apple refused to comment. It also removed the app and barred the developer from its store.

The software was designed by security expert and hacker Charlie Miller to demonstrate Apple's vulnerabilities.

The firm accepted the program to its iTunes app store in September. Two months later Mr Miller revealed that it contained malware that could remotely download pictures and contacts.

"Until now you could be able to download everything from the app store and do not worry about it being malicious. Now you have no idea what an app might do," he said.

The InstaStock app took advantage of a recent update to Apple's mobile operating system which allowed non-approved code to be added to installed apps for the first time.

After some hour Mr Miller disclosed the flaw, he received an email from Apple which said he was barred from the iOS developer program for violating its terms and conditions.

He wrote on Twitter: "First they give researchers access to developer programs, (although I paid for mine) then they kick them out.. for doing research. Me angry."

Mr Miller has made something of a habit of exposing Apple's security flaws.

In 2009 he identified a bug in the iPhone's text-messaging system that allowed attackers to gain remote control over the devices.

He has since exposed other vulnerabilities in Apple's Mac and mobile platforms.

Mr Miller agrees to present his research at a security conference in Taiwan on 17 November 2011.

China prepares for space launch

Chinese officials says that China will launch a unmanned spacecraft on Tuesday that will dock with a capsule already orbiting the Earth.

A rocket carrying Shenzhou 8 will blast off early in the morning from the Gobi Desert and rendezvous with the Tiangong 1.

The space capsule was launched in late September and has already been manoeuvred into position.

China is practising docking in order to build a space station by 2020.

Shenzhou 8 is due to be launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu province at 05:58 (21:58 GMT).

The docking - which will take place 343km above the Earth - will happen within two days of the launch.

There should be two other attempts to dock with the capsule in cumming year, at least one of which will be manned.

Astronauts - called taikonauts in China - are already being trained for that mission, according to the manned space programme's spokeswoman Wu Ping.

China is confident to built and launch a space station by the end of the decade and these docking missions are part of that process.

Minecraft awarded GameCity videogame arts prize

Minecraft is the winner of a new arts award for computer games.

The prize was awarded at the finale of the GameCity videogame culture festival in Nottingham U.K.

The winning title is the work of an independent Swedish company, Mojang. Players have to build objects out of blocks in an open environment.

The game was selected over rivals from big name publishers, including Valve and Electronic Arts' Portal 2 and Microsoft's Ilomilo.

"It's a big honour to be compared to those games," said Markus Persson, Mojang's founder.

"Winning this award provides us to try to make Minecraft the best game it can be."

Four million customers have already bought the title online, despite the fact it is still in beta. It is scheduled for a formal release next month.

"It just wasn't like anything else... it felt like it had an expanding life of its own. It had an organic nature," one of the judges.

Samsung overtakes Apple in smartphone shipments

Samsung beat Apple to become the world's largest shipper of smartphones between July and September.

Analytics report showed that Samsung shipped 27.8 million smartphones in the last quarter as compared with 17.1 million from Apple and 16.8 million from Nokia.

The consultancy said Apple's growth was stopped because customers waiting for the launch of the new iPhone 4S.

Apple's number four slot in total handsets was taken by China's ZTE.

Nokia was the leading handset shipper with a 27.3% market share, followed by Samsung with 22.6% and LG with 5.4%.

ZTE took 4.7%, pushing Apple into fifth place with 4.4%.

This research came shortly after the announcement of Samsung's third-quarter results, which showed profit decreasing 23% as strong growth in its mobile phone business was overshadowed by a poor performance in the memory chip arm.

Handset profits more than doubled to 2.52tn won ($2.3bn; £1.4bn) on strong sales from its Galaxy smartphones.

"Samsung's rise has been driven by a blend of elegant hardware designs, popular Android services, memorable sub-brands and extensive global distribution," said Alex Spektor from Strategy Analytics.

"Samsung has demonstrated that it is possible, at least in the short term, to differentiate and grow by using the Android ecosystem."

A total of 117 million smartphones were shipped in the third quarter, up 44% from the same period last year.

Nokia's market share for smartphones decrease from 33% in the third quarter of 2010 to to 14% this time round.

"The transition from Symbian to Microsoft as Nokia's main smartphone platform has clearly been a very challenging process this year," said Tom Kang from Strategy Analytics.

"The recent launch of the new Microsoft Lumia portfolio has helped to increase Nokia's profile."

Demarco Murray

Rookie DeMarco Murray rushed for a franchise-record 253 yards and one touchdown to lead the Dallas Cowboys over the winless St. Louis Rams 34-7 Sunday afternoon in front of 80,086 at Cowboys Stadium.

Murray, who was playing with Felix Jones sidelined by an ankle injury, make new record record of 237 yards set by Emmitt Smith on October 31, 1993 at Philadelphia.

"When you run well into the 200s, that’s hard to do in the NFL," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "DeMarco had a great day.

"It was certainly reminiscent of some of those Emmitt games."

The Cowboys beginning was to good when Murray ran 91 yards for a touchdown. Although Tashard Choice started the game, it closed was Murray who carrying the load. On the third play of the game after a pair of penalties, Murray broke free for the touchdown and a 7-0 Cowboys win.

Dallas pushed its lead to 14-0 when Tony Romo threw a 1-yard touchdown to a wide-open tight end Jason Witten.

The struggling St. Louis offense finally got in rhythm. The Rams drove 85 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. The big play on the drive was a 40-yard run by Stephen Jackson, who also scored the touchdown on a 6-yard off-tackle run to make it 14-7 at the 7:58 mark.

Dallas countered with the help of a Mike Jenkins interception at the Rams’ 30.

However, the Cowboys stalled after having a first-and-goal at the 9 and had to settle for Dan Bailey’s 30-yard field goal at a 17-7 halftime lead.

A slow-paced third quarter yielded a 51-yard field goal by Dan Bailey that helped the Cowboys lead to 20-7.

In the fourth quarter, Dallas turned the game over to its run game.

Murray continued to gash the lifeless Rams along with third-team back Phillip Tanner, Tanner scored on a 6-yard run.

Tanner’s touchdown was set up by a 43-yard run by Murray, who looked to fall down at the end of the run as two Rams closed in.

"I was a little gassed. I just wanted to protect the ball," Murray said.

His record run came on a 8-yard gain on the next series.

"It’s unbelievable. It’s a humbling experience," Murray said. "It’s a big win. From the tight closed to the fullback and the offensive line," I wasn’t getting touched until the secondary. They definitely deserve the record as well."

Steve Jobs vowed to 'destroy' Android

Steve Jobs said he was willing to destroy Android and would spend all of Apple's money and his dying breath if that is what it took to do so.

His attention towards Google's mobile operating system is revealed in a forthcoming authorised biography.
Mr Jobs told to author Walter Isaacson that according his viewed Android's similarity to iOS as "grand theft".
Apple is suing various smartphone makers, these smartphone makers use the Android software.
According to extracts of Mr Isaacson's book, obtained by the Associated Press, Mr Jobs said: "I want to destroy Android, because android product are stolen product. I'm willing to announce war on this."
He is also quoted as saying: "I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's fund $40 billion [£25bn] in the bank, to right this wrong."

Blackberry services down in Europe, Middle East and Africa

Millions of Blackberry owners unable to avail Blackberry services due to server clash across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Blackberry user were unable to browse the web, send email or instant messages.

Fault has been discovered in a datacentre in Slough which handles Blackberry services for the affected regions.

Blackberry UK said it knew about the fault and was "investigating".

In a tweet sent around 14:42 BST, the company said: "Some users in EMEA are experiencing issues."

A subsequent statement said Blackberry was: "working to solve an issue currently impacting some Blackberry subscribers in Europe Middle East and Africa."

company apologised for the inconvenience that the ongoing problem was causing its customers.

Earlier on 10 October mobile operators in the UK, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar and other nations pointed the finger at Blackberry owner RIM when answering to tweets from customers complaining about the disconnecting of Blackberry services.

The first signs of trouble emerged about 11:00 BST but seemed to have escalated with tags about Blackberry and its BBM service trending on Twitter.

The only functioning service on Blackberry seemed to be text messaging, prompting many users to voice their frustration online.

In an early report, one Twitter user as facing "serious Blackberry outrage".

Others lamented the loss of the free BBM network saying they did not know what to do without Blackberry services.

Samsung issues better-than-expected profit forecast

Samsung Electronics has forecast that company will earn better in third quarter as its handset business helped to offset falling demand for TVs and computer chips.

Samsung expecting to earn operating profit of 4.2tn won ($3.5bn; £2.3bn) a 14% dip from a year earlier, but it is very handsome profit figure than market projections of 3.5tn won.

As compared with the previous quarter, the projected profit would be increased upto 12%.

Samsung is the world's second-largest maker of mobile phones.

"Its telecommunications business is seen very positive as shipments of smartphones and other high-end handsets expanded," said Park Jong-Min of ING Investment Management.

Steve Jobs

King of information technology industry and Apple co-founder Steve Job has been died at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer.He was legend and world famous business leader.

US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said about Mr Jobs, he had changed the world.
Microsoft's Bill Gates said it had been "an insanely great honour" to work with him. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg remembered his "mentor and friend".
The Twitter microblog site struggled to cope with the traffic of tributes.
Mr Jobs had been "the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve quality of life" and had made the world "immeasurably better".
Thousands of celebrities and ordinary people went on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to record their comments,tributes and memories about steve Jobs and his products such as the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad.

The death of Mr Jobs could create a record for Twitter traffic.

Lot of people all over the world have also been attending Apple stores to leave flowers, notes, and apples with a bite taken from them to mimic the company's logo.
Apple's leading rivals such as Microsoft, Google, Sony and Samsung all chipped in with glowing tributes.
GS Choi, chief executive of Samsung, which is embroiled in a major court cases with Apple on patents war, said Mr Jobs was an "innovative spirit" who " make numerous revolutionary changes to the IT industry".
In his statement, Bill Gates said: "The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honour."
Mr Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook: "Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."
His comments were more than 200,000 people within hours.
In his own tweet, Barack Obama wrote: "There may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."
Internet user in China have reportedly posted almost 35 million online tributes.
Tim Cook, who joined as Apple's CEO after Mr Jobs stood down in August, said his predecessor had left behind "a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple".
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Steve Jobs transformed the way we work and play; a creative genius who will be sorely missed."
News Corp's Rupert Murdoch said: "Steve Jobs was simply the greatest CEO of his generation."
People also gathered outside Mr Jobs's home in California's Silicon Valley to lay floral wreaths, while flags were flown at half mast outside the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.

New iPhone

Latest iPhone 4S might not be looked different from its predecessor, but it is Apple's only model with a sort of robot living inside.

Apple's new phone, which was introduced on Tuesday,  iPhone 4Swill be available in stores on October 14, will have a new function called Siri. The program lets people bark commands or ask questions to the phone, and it will provide an answer or ask follow-up questions in order to perform a given task. Phil Schiller, Apple's marketing executive, called Siri "the latest feature of the new iPhone 4S," and the company has decided to advertise Siri heavily in its sales pitches.

Siri's  has ability to interpret requests and respond. "Do I need a raincoat today?" incites a robo-female voice to reply: "It sure looks like rain today," as Scott Forstall, Apple's mobile software executive, demonstrated.

Ask Siri to remind you to take flowers for your wife at a certain time, and Siri may ask you to identify her in the phone's address book. Siri then remembers who she is for future requests, Forstall said. The software integrates with Yelp and WolframAlpha for relevant queries. latest iPhone could be scheduled  your appointments in the phone's calendar and transcribe through e-mails or text messages.

With Google's Android phones, users can dictate messages, too, which are then transcribed by Google's servers. Other cell phones support voice commands, which is handy when operating a phone while driving, but few people take advantage of the option. Even the preceding iPhones had a basic version of this called Voice Control, which could be activated in the same way as Siri, by holding down the phone's home button.

But Apple's ambitions for Siri are much greater.

The big unveiling of the iPhone 4S on Tuesday was the first time most people learned about Siri, but the voice-assistant software is rooted in many years of extensive technical research.

The project was born at SRI International, a nonprofit research organization. It was a part of an ambitious project called CALO, for Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes. The program was funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the government division responsible for Global Position System (GPS) and developments that led to the creation of the Internet.

Work on Siri began in the summer of 2007, and SRI executives decided to spin out the project as a standalone business in 2008. Apple acquired the company in April 2010.

"The team was so happy when Apple did the acquisition," Norman Winarsky, a Siri co-founder who remained at SRI, said in an interview on Monday. "They have a vision."

Before joining Apple, Siri provided a free app for iOS mobile devices. Apple removed it from the App Store on Tuesday, which means only iPhone 4S owners will be able to access the service starting next week.

The version integrated into the 4S is vastly superior to the now-defunct app based on onstage demos. Apple spokespeople did not respond to CNN's requests to try the product at the event on Tuesday.

Siri's engineers were excited for the opportunity to bake their software deeply into the new iPhone and build features that a third-party developer would not be able to do because of Apple-imposed restrictions, Winarsky said.

"We are going to be very proud," he said. "The world of virtual personal assistants is going to be everywhere."

Siri's specialty is in its ability to interpret so-called natural-language requests. It was originally developed to handle typed queries, Winarsky said. For the voice transcription, Siri uses technology from Nuance Communications, Mike Thompson, an exec for Nuance's mobile division, said in an interview on Tuesday. Apple also licenses Nuance's voice transcription for features on the Mac.

Like Siri, Nuance was spun out from SRI.

Apple is expected that Siri's implementation of that will be a major selling point for the new phone. Despite no apparent technical limitations, the software would only be offered on the iPhone 4S at first.

"Siri is compelling," AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega said in an interview after the introduction of new iPhone. He directed that he expected the feature would be a significant enough reason to spur current iPhone users to purchase the iPhone 4S.

Fifth iPhone expected to be launched by Apple

Apple is expected to introduce the fifth version of its best-selling iPhone today.

Apple  have been invited  media to a "Let's talk iPhone" event at its California campus. People have different views how different the iPhone 5 will be to its predecessor though some do expect major changes.

The launch ceremony will be hosted by Tim Cook, now Apple's full time boss following Steve Jobs' retirement in August.

As ever with Apple introduces, exact details of product features will not be known until the event. According to expert opinion, there could be significant changes in fifth version iPhone.

"We're expecting a flagship, high tier product to cement the iPhone's position as the must-have device," said Ben Wood, director of research at analysts CCS Insight.

Others say the low price model will be launched in Asia, smartphone has room for growth in some features.

Rumours are also circulating that Steve Jobs will make a cameo appearance even though Mr Cook is expected to be the launch compere.

The event is the first since Mr Cook became official head of Apple. Before now he was not official head who oversaw day-to-day running of the company when Mr Jobs was on sick leave.

ISPs face broadband ad overhaul

ISPs is going to changes advertisement method through broadband services.

Next year in April, providers will no longer be able to advertise in maximum speeds for net packages unless 10% of customers can actually get them.

The new rules and regulations come from the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body liable for writing advertising codes.

But Which?, one of the main spotter for change, said the new rulings and regulations do not go far enough.