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Monday, September 29, 2008

Post Card Marketing and its Importance

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7 Benefits of Postcard Marketing
by Bob Leduc


Postcards produce even better results for marketers in the 21st century than they did in the past ...especially when you use them to generate website traffic and sales leads.

Here are 7 of the many benefits and advantages you gain by marketing with postcards.

1. Postcards Work for Any Business - Including Yours

Postcards have a proven history of producing just about any kind of sales activity a business wants. Internet marketers have used them to generate profitable website traffic. Direct marketers have used them to generate receptive sales leads. Retail stores have used them to attract "pre-sold" walk in customers. And ...well, you get the idea.

2. Postcards Produce Fast Results

Postcards are small so it doesn't take much time to create a sales message for them. The small size also makes printing, addressing and mailing postcards a quick job. Your postcards can be in the mail a few days after you decide to use them. 2 or 3 days later you'll be getting sales from them.

3. Postcards Get Read

Postcards get delivered ready to read. They can't be ignored like other types of advertising. This guarantees maximum exposure for your sales message. Think about it. Did you ever discard a postcard without first scanning it to find out what it was about? You can't do it.

4. Postcards Make a Good First Impression

People like to get postcards - probably because they get so many of them from friends and relatives. You can make the most of this positive first impression by using a personal approach for your postcards. For example, include the actual name of each person in your message ...as well as anything else you know about the prospects on your mailing list.

5. Postcards Are Inexpensive

Postcards are simple and inexpensive to use. You can print them for just a few cents each. And in the US You can even send postcards by First Class Mail for only 26 cents. That's 37 percent less than the postage for letters.

You get this special reduced postage rate by making the size of your postcards at least 3 1/2 x 5 inches but not over 4 1/4 x 6 inches in size.

6. Postcards are Easy to Test

It's easy to test the profitability of a postcard. Just send it to a small group of prospects to see how many reply. If you're not pleased with the results, revise it and repeat the test. Once you're happy with the results you can send out a larger mailing.

7. Competitors Can't Copy Your Postcard Marketing System

Competitors can't copy your system and use it to compete against you like they can (and always do) with other types of advertising.

One or two competitors may see your marketing postcard ...but that's all they will know about what you're doing. They won't know what lists you're using, how many postcards you mail, how often you send postcards or anything else about your postcard program.


Saturday, September 27, 2008

ADOBE - Security Hole Allows Free Movie Downloads from Amazon


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Friends!

Here is a piece of news for movie lovers that is already causing faces of the Adobe and Amazon bosses to turn red.

Ever since the flaw has been made public it has caused considerable commotion in the movie industries around the world but hackers are surely taking enough advantage to make movie piracy more lucrative as ever. 

After all as much as 40,000 movies can be downloaded for a fee from amazon, but can be viewed for free for two minutes as trial. That's where the defect has been noticed and movie buffs are taking quite a lot of advantage by illegally breaking into the Amazon movie library cum store to download them.  

According to the Reuters they have discovered a serious lacuna in the Adobe Software that allows anyone to hack into Amazon.com and download unlimited number of movies for free, without having to shell out money for watching them. 

The security hole has been detected in the Adobe-Powered Video on Demand Software that Amazon.com uses that provides viewers with free access to any movie for the first two minutes of any TV show or a Movie. 

Similar discrepancy in the security has been noticed in other similar video streaming delivery software too. 

The software from Adobe does not encrypt the video content but simply sends a coded command to the video players to start and stop playing a particular video for a limited duration depending on what it has been paid for i.e. free trial for two minutes, rent a movie for a day or permanent download all which comes with varying price tag. 

What Adobe has done to speed up download time, is that they have totally done away with a very high security portion that protected the connection to the video players. 

The flaw is possibly with the Adobe Flash Video Servers which connects the Adobe's players that are installed in almost all the computers around the globe connected by the Internet

However Amazon has repeatedly insisted that downloading of streaming movies by any  video catcher software is illegal and is subjected to piracy. 

Such flaws is reminiscent of the Napster era when video piracy was widely spread out and gave the movie industries sleepless nights be it Hollywood or Bollywood movies. 

The hole must be plugged immediately and I certainly do not endorse hacking or cracking, although I would keep you informed as usual about the going on in the gadgets and gizmo world as usual. 

So keep following my blog. 


Free GOOGLE Case Study - Curbing Costs with Google Apps





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Friends!

Here is an opportunity to bring efficiency in your office be it of a Corporate House or a Small Business Enterprise. The possibilities are many with excellent Google Applications that are exactly tailor made for your employees to work with them. 

Learn how both new and established companies are using Google Apps to curb costs amid rapid expansion.

 Start-up IT services provider Counterpoint Consulting and office products distributor Indoff, which has been in business for thirty years, operate in very different industries, but the two rapidly growing organizations share the need to provide employees with cost-effective yet continually updated technological capabilities.


Read how both companies have benefited from Google Apps, a suite of applications that includes webmail services, shared calendaring, instant messaging and voice over IP services, with results including:

  • Reduced strain on IT due to streamlined operations and lower costs
  • Greater business scalability through easily-deployed services
  • More productive and efficient employees with best of breed communication tools

Search Marketing and Its Importance for Successful Online Sales

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Friends!

I have earlier explained elsewhere many times in my blog about how important Internet marketing has become in recent times.

However many people seems to grope in the dark not knowing how to reach out to a large audience that would make their products sale on its own without much persuasion. 


People often mix up the two most popular jargon in management but loosely used by the layman wanting to carryout some kind of business, be it tangible or intangible, offline or online, products or services. 


These words are 'Marketing' and 'Sales'. Although both are related but each have two different objectives or at best approach to generate revenue from sales of offers that are brought or purchased by willing buyers. 


Whereas Sales means to persuade buyers anyhow, at times possibly by either temptation or fear, that leaves very little choice for the customer to either use or lose. 


On the other hand Marketing actually tries to unravel the pertinent needs of many different customers and clients belonging to all walks of life or demographic segment from varied habitat ed regions of the world population. 


A large number of companies actually spend millions and millions of dollars only to find out what do customers really expect from a new product sometime in the future if at all it is launched. 


Based on their market survey the Research and Development wing of the large corporate multinationals actually try to create a product that fulfills many of the requirements, needs and taste of those for whom it is being created and is to be sold at a price that fits their purse. 


Well, something similar too is applicable in case of online marketing too. However the medium of the Internet provides lot of advantage that is not possible in the offline world. 


It is now possible to get the statistics of the kind of products or services that are in great demand from the search habits of the surfers as well as of what all are being sold like hot cakes across the Internet. This one could find out from the Google Trends as well as from the eBay who keeps updating the information for sellers and buyers alike. 


Moreover Search Marketing has become very important for online marketing, since one can find out which Key phrases are in great demand that forms the basis of any search engine ranking of websites that cover as many key phrases that are being repeatedly looked up on Google, Yahoo, Ask Me, Cull and many other search engines available on the net.


The economic theory such as of demand and supply is applicable for Internet marketing too.  If a key phrase is suddenly being looked up too frequently and if not many websites are available to provide the information about the niche product or services, then here is a good chance to make inroads and make your presence noticeable on the net. 


Search Marketing has no wonder caught the attention even that of marketing professionals and consultants who work for big corporate giants. Search marketing has made it easier for corporate houses to reach out to as many people across the globe and create greater brand awareness, as more people are visiting the net on a regular basis round the globe than ever before. 


Moreover Search Marketing is highly economically viable since compared to other marketing and advertising methods that has been traditionally applied it is low cost as well as the amount of risk involved is too insignificant. 


What is required for success in Search Marketing strategies is Search Engine Optimization or SEO where websites and products are packaged around important keywords or key phrases that are popularly in demand over the search engines. 


If you wish to make your website interesting and popular then it is vital that the contents of the website must not only contain the popular keywords but must be written in a manner that targets a specific group of people and not in general for the mass. 


Try to get the contents written not by any IT professional or a website designer but by a professional SEO Copywriter who understands search engine marketing and is in a better position to make web pages crawl better by various search engines popularly by Yahoo and Google. 


This would help the search engines to rank your website and its web pages  better depending on keywords and key phrases that are frequently looked up by most surfers and potential buyers related to such products and services. 


As the popular of your website continues to surge better would be the possibility to receive more buyers. 
No wonder all those websites that a search engine lists out in order of its rank on the first two pages of any search by using a particular keyword, can be safely concluded that they are raking in a good mullah for the webmasters. 


It is always better to have the right mix of organic search, the one which I am currently discussing as well as a good dose of Pay Per Click Ads or PPC such as the Google AdWords.


This would hopefully give a good lot of exposure to as many web surfers when they are wanting to look for information, products or services related to the keyword or phrases that they put in the search box on any search engine during any overt search. 


So if you wish to sell and earn good revenue then concentrate on Search Engine Marketing or Search Engine Optimization. 

Friday, September 26, 2008

eBay - How to Source Genuine Products from Reliable Wholesale Supplier and Dropshipper at Lowest Price for Online Sales and Auction

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Friends!

I am sure I need not elaborate the importance of online marketing particularly when you sell products from eBay. 

In fact you could sell on eBay to the highest bidder some of those tit-bits that you had long discarded into the confines of your garage and was so long gathering dust while it still retains much of its utility, which could be priceless to many such as hard to find old antique furniture or motorbikes. 

Maybe you could possibly  source certain products that are in great demand from suppliers who drop ships them and which you could offer on eBay at competitive prices for sale yet make decent profit while you obtain them at wholesale prices from the very source. 

No wonder eBay has established itself as a great global platform, an online mart where peoplecan move from local to global by putting up for sale anything be it handcrafted goods such as quilts or it could possibly many hard to obtain products, such as rare stamp, coins or jewelry at bargain prices. eBay has indeed opened a lot many opportunities to  many families and communities who are actually earning quite a lot of money as a primary or secondary source of income. 

However when you wish to make selling on the eBay a whole time or a serious online business opportunity you have to offer products that are in great demand that are not only genuine but are priced at the lowest so that they are tempting to the bargain hunters who make their rounds frequently on eBay. 

While pricing them low, it is equally important that you make a good income, taking into account the fees and miscellaneous expenses involved from the sale proceeds of such products that commands  good demand from online buyers on eBay. 

No wonder it is important that you obtain your products that you wish to put under the hammer on the eBay or offer it for sale at a fixed price, from  genuine and highly reliable wholesale supplier at down to earth prices. 

Although a good many websites offer you a directory of many wholesale suppliers but most often they are stale and outdated, many of whom long ceased to carry on with the bsuiness. 

It is exactly beacuse of this very reason I have in my mind to recommend the only website that actually meets many of the requirements for becoming a successful eBay power seller. 

SaleHoo has now established as a reliable website for any prospective eBay powerseller to share information and read through the feedbacks of many like minded eBay seller who are already in the eBay business and carrying on with it well. 

SaleHoo offers a platform where members can share information about their experiences with eBay selling as well as with wholesale suppliers of whom you will get a good lot of honest and straight answers, enough to provide a good lot of inkling before you actually approach these suppliers for doing business on the eBay. 

If you wish to have access to many of the free resources that SaleHoo offers then you may follow this link for ready access. 



Moreover at SaleHoo you would find a good lot of peers who are eager to help each other out and is ready to answer any of the queries in case you have any regarding successful selling on the eBay. 

SaleHoo by their own admission as of now provides an upto date directory consisting of as many as 8000 genuine wholesale supplier and dropshipper for all types of goods or items for sale on the eBay. 

According to them each of these wholesale suppliers that find mention in their directory have been thoroughly verified by their own SaleHoo Staff or Members, before they have qualified to be enlisted with the same. 

On top of that the private forum at SaleHoo consists of as many as 50000 strong members who discusses openly on the forum and is moderated by a highly rated eBay Powerseller. 






Thursday, September 25, 2008

Oracle Launches Maiden Hardware Products along with HP - Exadata and Oracle Database Machine


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Oracle Enters Hardware Market for the First Time by Unveiling the HP Oracle Exadata and Database Machine with embedded Oracle Software, jointly Developed by Oracle and HP Together

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison was joined by Hewlett -Packard CEO Mark Hurd via video conferencing on Oracle's OpenWorld Conference to jointly launch the Exadata and the Oracle Database Machine, on Wednesday last. 

Oracle and HP had been for many years working together on the problem of handling and balancing multiple software and large data storage hardware efficiently without fall in performance during operation. 

The purpose of this joint collaboration is to address the growing problem of transferring large volumes of data from hard drives to the database storage servers that caused data bandwidth problem. 

This is much akin to familiar problems of vehicular movement that choke roads and highways in our daily life when we commute or transport goods from factories to warehouse and then distribute them to various stores and malls in different parts of the district or within big metropolitan cities. 

As is evident when the volume of data keeps swelling it eventually cause tremendous slowdown in the transfer rate which at times is frustrating and time consuming. According to Ellison at one terabyte the data bandwidth slippages become noticeable. 

With each year as data continues to be stored in greater volumes the problem aggravates resulting to a snails pace when data storage capacity touches 10 terabytes. 

For three long years Oracle along with Hewlett Packard worked closely to deal with the pertinent issue and finally when it was developed they tested its performance with important clients and customers such as Google. 

The Exadata which is a storage server that can be programmed to suit ones requirements has been embedded with specially developed software by oracle that could work in tandem with the company’s databases as well as distribute the load over a Grid system to improve traffic management for better and faster data storage. 

The Exadata storage server with embedded Oracle software is expected to be marketed as part of a grid system that would be capable of handling various query processing and other vital function in greater volume speedily and efficiently. Moreover the system would be capable of searching drives in parallel too. 

The Exadata has been built based on the Proliant Server technology developed by Hewlett Packard, which is also an open platform. 

Oracle has by entering into the hardware market with its own embedded software is going the Apple way to a great extent. 

Just as Apple produces both software such as the iTunes and manufactures specially designed hardware like the iPods to make them tailor made and compatible to each other that matches each other requirements for a common purpose, which is better performance and customer satisfaction as well as win over their loyalty. 

Thus by customizing database software along with specially designed hardware such as the Exadata would go a long way to improve the various data centers of important clients round the globe.  

The Exadata Server would as of now be available with Linux that runs on Intel. Soon many more platforms too would be accommodated to achieve the same purpose of deriving the advantages that Exadata would offer for storage and transfer of data efficiently. 

For those customers who are not keen to configure and switch from their current system for them too Oracle has along with HP has produced the Oracle Database Machine. The former would have a disk storage capacity of 168 terabytes along with 64 Intel Cores.

The following are the salient points:

  • The Exadata Storage Servers has a data storage capacity to as much as 12 terabytes.
  • It has got Infiniband connectivity at the rate of 1 GB/sec of data bandwidth for each storage server. 
  • It has  64 Intel processor cores, and is embedded with the Oracle Enterprise Linux,
  • The grid system is connected by 14 Exadata Storage Servers that together combines to give a whopping 168 terabytes of data storage volume. 
  • Moreover It would also provide 14 GB/sec data bandwidth to each of the database servers.
  • The Database Machine has been pre-configured and are certified to run Oracle’s business intelligence apps and real application clusters. 
  • The Hardware can be ordered directly from Oracle. 
  • On the other hand HP has been entrusted to provide necessary hardware support. 

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

G1 T- Mobile Phones Launched by Google based on Android Technology









Dimension is 4.60” x 2.16” x 0.62”; Weight: 5.6 ounces.
It is  available in black, brown and white colors.




Friends!

If you are a T-Mobile subscriber, in USA or UK you will be able to order online G1, the latest mobile  that Google along with T-Mobile unveiled  in New York today. 

The cost of the T-Mobile G1 phone has been fixed at $179.99 plus Taxes and Fees. You will also have to sign a two year Data and Voice agreement. 

You can order online at www.T-Mobile.com and if you place your order now then  it will be delivered by 22nd October 2008 in USA. 

The design of the G1 phone is by the Taiwanese based HTC Corp. that has established itself for designing and  manufacturing smart phones which uses the Windows Mobile Software. 

The commercial launch of G1 T-mobile phones has been announced on 22nd October for USA. As for UK it will be in early November this year. Regarding the rest of Europe, the prospective buyers and subscribers of G1 along with the T-Mobile package will have to wait until next year i.e. on 2009. 

The following is the package plan offered for G1, by Google together with T-Mobile the official carrier for G1 phones. 
  • $25 data plan with unlimited web but with limited messaging or  £40 a month. 
  • $35 data plan with unlimited web along with 400 messages that you can send. 
  • There will be no free email and email will be SIM Locked. 
  • You can read Web Documents and Excel but will not be able to use any Exchange facility. 
  • You will be able to download songs from a mind boggling choice of 6 Million songs from Amazon's MP3 store. The cost of downloading is @ 89 cents for each MP3 song. 
In addition the following features are available on the T-Mobile G1 phones by Google and T-Mobile.

  • It has got a Touch Screen with a 480x320 65K color screen with HVGA resolution.

  • With the superb touch screen on G1 T-Mobile phones it is easy to drag and drop a photo on the homescreen as well as swipe and frame them. 

  • The Keyboard is the most important looking feature in T-Moble G1 phones that sets it apart from those in Apple i-Phones. It has a complete QWERTY keyboard that slides out from under the screen. 

  • It also features a trackball for single-handed navigation.

  • It also has got a 3.1 MP camera with 4x6 Print Quality, however you won't be able to take any video using the same. 

  • It supports Wi-Fi but lacks stereo Bluetooth streaming facility. 
  • Any G1 user will be able to use A-GPS and Google Maps. This will be useful for the T-Mobile G1 user cum subscriber to find his way through the labrynths in any urban locality or in the middle of no where. 
  • It has also got an inbuilt digital compass too which along with the above navigation facilities will be a breeze for the G1 user. It also has got a tilt-sensor in it too. 


    You won't ever feel lost, as you can enjoy all these facilities at the touch of the finger using the touch screen much like the i-phones, on G1 T- Mobile cell phones. The Google Maps allow you to view the traffic in all directions. The street view offers you to notice the landmarks to help you find your way, and the scene shifts as you keep moving. 
  • The Music player is excellent and at the touch of a button you can delve deep to retrieve something very special that you wish to listen. It is capable of playing WMA, AAC in addition to MP3 files Moreover the sound quality is really cool. 


  • For search there is a dedicated button to do that which makes it easy for anything that you wish to look for. It is as if having the Microsoft Office as well as the Internet Explorer bundled together on the Desktop. 

  • You can at the touch of your finger have access to many of the Google Aplications such as the YouTube, Google Talk, Search Maps and Calendar.

  • The Battery life in G1 phones also offer Five Hours of talk time or on 130 hours of standby mode.  

  • It also comes preinstalled with a 1 GB of MicroSD Card storage capacity and can support 8 GB of MicroSD as well. 

  • The G1 supports the following range of frequencies  

    GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA
    850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100Mhz


  • If you enjoy shopping well it has also got an inbuilt barcode scanner that will help you to get the comparative pricing to choose your pick at the store. 

  • The G1 phones by Google and T-Mobile is based on the Android technology, which is the open source operating system. So a lot of games and applications will be available for you to download to suit your lifestyle and requirements. The PacMan is the killer application amongst the whole lot. 

  • Moreover the Android technology has made the T-Moble G1 phones an Open Handset Alliance, the first of its kind so far. This will allow folks to write their own applications as well as embrace those of others and thereby make the mobile internet useful and popular. 

  • Other applications available with G1 phones is the Ecorio for those who are concerned about the envronment. It helps to maintain track record that notifies about their carbon footprints during the course of their daily travels. 

  • With the BreadCrumbz application people can create their own routes such as a step-by-step visual map using photos. This they can share with others around the world. 
 
T-Moble G1 is the first mobile to be launched with Android an Open Software cum Operating System for Mobile Devices.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

SpotM - Yahoo India Launches New Social Network for Indian Teenagers

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Friends!

If you are a teenager from India here is some good news for you but certainly not for your Indian parents especially those who are conservative and care for family and social values. 

Anyways, Yahoo India has launched another social network meant to target guys and gals between 16 to 24 years of age wanting to strike friendship with a whole lot of like minded people to share ones emotions, problems as well as discussion on matters such as love, jobs, studies, marriage, finance etc. or may be it could be on cricket, bollywood, tinsel town gossips, politics or simply poetry. 

This teenagers social network has been appropriately named SpotM that would provide a platform for college going students and would allow them to spot one another to form a closely knitted group amongst themselves so as to share a bond and help one another emotionally and socially if need be. 

Although not much details are available as of now regarding the facility, however it is evident that SpotM is providing a growing market of youngsters who form the backbone of today's economy in India, so that they are easy fodders to the Corporate houses wanting to push their products or services to them. 

Advertisers and Marketers will find a good many opportunity to enter into the thinking mode of these growing tribe of Indian teenagers and likewise offer tailor made products and services to fulfill their inborn aspirations. 

Although Yahoo wishes to make the service available strictly in terms of age group, however it is not yet clear how are they going to ensure that those who willingly join SpotM actually belong to this particular teen age group as defined by Yahoo India. As they say "Breaking Horns to Join the Calves".

SpotM will initially offer two highly potential features, they being Secret Friends and Annonymous SMS. 

In other words what SpotM will provide is a platform that will facilitate different users registered with this teenager's social network by Yahoo India to establish contact and make friends with who ever they choose.

Moreover if two users wishes to make their relationship on the net private without letting the other users to get to know about it, they may do so. This will be possible by integrating SMS facility with annonymous chat. This can be done so without having to disclose one's mobile number at all.

Although a brilliant idea by the marketing think tanks of Yahoo India, to herd  the Indian educated teenagers together, but lack of transparency where people with wrong intention can take advantage of the young minds is definitely raises lot of question marks. Its quite possible for wolves joining the herd in sheep's skin and then cause mayhem. 

If Indian parents feel that their own social setup is going to be upset by such hi-tech social networking system might not go down very well and Yahoo might have to give up SpotM at the first signs of trouble from social or parent groups. 

However there is no harm if someone wishes to use this to overcome their shyness or loneliness, but teenager need to be warned that they should not trust anyone whom he or she has never met before or does not belong to the same social plain yet makes a brash of it, that might land them into trouble as is usually  the case most often. 

But you may still go ahead notwithstanding the precautions that your parents and elders keep reminding now and again. So have a nice time by social networking with friends on the net. 

SpotM is currently being offered in beta.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Freeware - Useful Software for Network, Internet & Email

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The growth of home networking has been nothing short of phenomenal and the expansion of the Internet shows no sign of slowing down so we thought it was about time we created a new category of freeware applications. 

As usual, if you find any of these programs useful and want to continue using them then please pay the licence fee or make a donation to the author. Don't forget that you use them entirely at your own risk and we cannot answer any technical questions. 
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Amic Email Backup, XP & Vista, 1.3Mb 
You would be surprised how many emails we get from people who have suddenly and for no good reason lost all of their email messages. Usually they can be recovered but is you use this little program you need never worry because you'll always have a backup. Amic is really versatile, it works with all of the popular clients, including Outlook Express, Outlook, Eudora, Pegasus, Incredimail, The Bat, Netscape and so on and it is really easy to use. 

ETB Email Tracking Blocker, XP & Vista, 370Kb 
A worrying number of emails now contain receipt requests and tracking information that can tell the sender when you opened it and even who you forwarded it to. Many consider this an invasion of privacy, in which case you may be interested ion this little program, which stops the snoopers prying into what you do with your emails. 

LookatLan, XP & Vista, 2.1Mb
How secure is your cable or wireless network and who is using it? If you can't say for certain then you need LookatLan. This tells you exactly who is connected to your network, how much data is flowing through the system and where it is all going so if you have kids in the house, or are worried about someone hacking in to your network this will tell you what you need to know, plus a lot more besides.

MailWasher, XP & Vista, 6.6Mb
If you are being plagued by a deluge of Spam, and who isn't these days, then you are in need of MailWasher. It is a Spam Filter, and one of the most effective ones you can get, at any price. The free version does an excellent job but it is well worth upgrading to the Pro version, which is even more effective and can handle more than one email account 

NetMeter, XP & Vista, 620kb
If for any reason you have a 'capped' broadband account then you will want to keep a very close eye on how much data you download each month, if you want to avoid paying penalties or high rates for excess data. NetMeter does it all for you, logging daily and weekly usage and based on your working patterns, predict if and when you are going to use up your allowance.

NetStumbler, XP & Windows CE, 1.3Mb 
This one has been a firm favourite with wireless laptop users for several years; sadly it is XP only but see this week's Top Tip. NetStumbler is an advanced Wi-Fi monitoring tool that tells you, at a glance, how many public and hidden wireless networks and access points are within range. It also displays their SSID, relative signal strength, which channel they are using, encryption status, MAC address, graphical data flow and much, much more. Invaluable for road warriors and keeping a watch on your home wireless network. A version for pocket PCs is also available.

Outlook Express Mail Alert, XP, 890kb 
Although Outlook Express lets you know when you have incoming email messages, with an audible alert, it's easy to miss. Now there are no excuses, with OE Mail Alert on your PC a young lady announces 'You've got mail', it plays a little tune and a prominent pop-up box appears on your screen. It's easy to configure, you can tell it which mailboxes to respond to, and you can set it to launch automatically with Windows. 

RSS Ticker, XP & Vista, 80kb
If you are one of those people who just can't bear to be out of touch with what is going on in the world then here's a nifty little add-on for Mozilla Firefox. RSS Ticker puts a scrolling news 'ticker' across the bottom of the browser window, or under the toolbar and if you see something that interests you, just click on it for more details. 

NeoTrace Express, XP & Vista, 802kb
Have you ever wondered where a website is based and who owns it? There are ways to find out but simply typing the website address into NeoTrace Express is much easier. Within seconds it displays a map showing the geographical location of the site, and how you are connected to it, it will also do a 'Whois' lookup on the site host and domain name registrant. Just the job for checking dodgy-looking sites that don't tell you where they are. 

SurfCanyon, XP & Vista, 21kb 
This is another browser add-on, for Internet Explorer and Firefox, and it is designed to make your web searches faster and more effective. It works with most of the popular search engines, just enter you keywords as usual but when the results are returned click on the 'bullseye' icon for a list of 'recommendations', which should get you to the site you are looking for even faster, and save you ploughing through hundreds of irrelevant hits.

Vistumbler, Vista, 1.6Mb
This is the turbocharged Vista version of the excellent NetStumbler wireless network monitoring program. It's an invaluable tool for laptop users on the move, displaying all wi-fi connections within range, including networks that have been deliberately hidden.

Keep abreast of the latest issues in computer technology with Rick Maybury.

Don't forget, there's a full archive of previous Boot Camp Top Tips at www.pctoptips.co.uk


Thursday, September 18, 2008

Apple iPhone to be Integrated with AT&T's U-verse for Remote TV and Video Watching

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AT&T to Integrate Apple iPhone with Video cum Internet Broadband Service, the U-verse

Friends

Here is some good news for U-verse subscriber as well as i-Phone users in USA. 

U-verse is a High Speed Broadband Internet cum Video service offered by the US based phone company AT&T Inc. The U-Verse service is available in no other countries except in US. 

The U-verse has a built in wireless networking system too and offers high definition TV service with as many as 300 different television channels. 

Currently U-verse subscribers have to have a set-top-box that could cost somewhere around $60 to $124 on a monthly basis depending on the number and type of channel that customers wish to watch. 

No company in US other than AT&T have the exclusive rights to provide carrier service to iPhones. Such iPhone exclusivity over other providers of mobile services such as that of Vodaphone and Verizon Wireless belonging to Verizon Communications. 

AT&T wishes to improvise the wireless and communication services by integrating them such that it would provide an edge over all other mobile, internet and cable TV providers in the whole of USA. 

By bundling all these services the AT&T hopes that in future subscriber to the U-verse and users of the Apple's iPhones will have a seamless facility to enjoy a wide variety of opportunity to enjoy both facilities of the phone as well as that of the internet and Television Channels into one another including using the iPhone as a kind of Remote Control. 

This means it will be possible for an iPhone user to listen to their voice mails on TV screens as well as download TV shows on their Digital Video Recorders which they can in turn watch over their iPhones while they are on the move far away from home. 

This would enable the iPhone as well as U-verse user to watch their favorite soap, talk show or catch up with the latest news on TV on their favorite channel without having to compromise while they are on transit.  

Moreover while being at home they can use their iPhones to use it as a typical TV remote control and surf through the channels over the TV. 

For this AT&T is working on an application much on the lines of iPhone Remote application developed by Apple to download iTunes for free from their stores.  

With iPhone Remote currently in use it is possible to use Wi-Fi services to have complete control over podcast, video and music on your laptop/computer or an Apple TV. 

The iPhone Remote gives you full control all the music, video, podcasts, and movies stored on your computer or Apple TV


Also there would be quite a lot of applications added on the iPhone which you can use it for entertainment purpose such as games that you can play on TV or maybe perhaps throw virtual Tomatoes if you wish to release their stress after finding someone's program disgusting, using the iPhone and the TV linked by U-verse

As U-verse subscriber and iPhone user you will find a great many opportunity with a wider scope to use the phone, TV and computer all integrated seamlessly. 

However one limitation that AT&T needs to overcome is that the U-verse does not cover a wide area. AT&T has assured that it would look into this shortcoming and provide a wider coverage with large number of subscribers. 

Also such high end technology would also find takers in countries like India and China too. 

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Sony Vaio - VAIO AW and VAIO RT series for the Europe Market.

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Sony presents the VAIO AW series for the Europe market whereas the  VAIO NS and VAIO CS are meant for the US market.

Introducing this selection of new VAIO products, Hidetoshi Takigawa, Marketing Director for VAIO Of Europe said “VAIO is naturally positioned to take full advantage of the shift to High Definition. We have built a reputation on the quality of our displays, and our commitment to ‘audio-visual computing’. This is a rather dry phrase for the most exciting fusion of entertainment and technology yet: here are systems that can double as personal HD theatres and HD video editing platforms, and which all feature integrated Blu-ray drives. People often talk about futuristic technology, but this isn’t talk – this is the real thing.”

VAIO AW-Series

Drawing on its strengths in the field of display design and refining them to a new level, VAIO has created a new class of portable.

It has screen technologies never seen on a notebook, from the massive 18.4-inch diagonal and Full HD resolution to its 3LED backlighting system.

Serious photographers and owners of HD camcorders will instantly appreciate the absolute colour fidelity on offer – full coverage of the Adobe® RGB colour space delivers the total accuracy essential to perfect editing. Quite simply, this is the best – and only – notebook screen of its kind.

3LED backlighting is a technical breakthrough found on high-end BRAVIA™ LCD TVs. It uses the pure red, green and blue light emitted by LEDs to generate a super-wide colour gamut capable of correctly reproducing the full Adobe RGB colour space.

Whether you are editing photographic images or HD video, or simply enjoying an HD movie, this means the best possible picture quality. Put this together with Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution and you have the screen by which others will be judged.

The AW-Series comes with Adobe Photoshop® Lightroom® as well as Adobe Photoshop Elements, providing users with some of the very best photo-editing software tools available.

Sony original software including Image Data Converter, Picture Motion Browser and α setting plug-in for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom further enhance the appeal to serious photographers.

As well as the convenience provided by the settings plug-in, owners of Sony’s α DSLR will experience the quiet pleasure of seeing an echo of the camera’s design aesthetic in the distinctive and beautiful finishes available for the AW-Series. 

The huge Full HD display offers true 16:9 widescreen, so when you play a movie on the integrated Blu-ray Disc™ drive, you are treated to superbly cinematic visuals. Dolby® Home Theatre audio signal processing and 2.1 channel speakers complete the mini-cinema effect, with enhanced bass from the integrated sub-woofer as well as immersive surround sound.

Should you prefer, an HDMI™ output lets you the whole High Definition audiovisual experience to an HD TV or Home Theatre.

From a technical standpoint, the VAIO AW-Series is as impressive behind the scenes as from the front.

Everything you need for outstanding multimedia performance is there, from the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9600 processor, power 3D graphics courtesy of NVIDIA’s® 512MB GeForce® 9600M GT and a very special combination of disk technologies.

In a world first, 128GB of Solid State Disk (SSD) Flash memory works together in a RAID array with the 500GB SATA drive to boost performance when working with large files, which are stored on the SSD for extremely fast access1.

VAIO RT

The VAIO RT is the world’s first All-In-One to harness the power of Intel’s Core 2 Quad processor.

It is designed to bring out the very best in High Definition entertainment and to serve as a performance platform for HD video and still photo editing.

Yet despite its huge versatility it offers the convenience and practicality of a highly compact footprint. 

A single elegantly designed chassis contains an attention-grabbing 25.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1200) widescreen display and an integrated PC component.

The latter offers massive power from its Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, 512MB NVIDIA GeForce9600M graphics and 1 Terabyte (2 x 500GB) of hard disk storage. 

An integrated Blu-ray Disc drive means you can watch movies in eye-popping Full HD, and also save your personal HD video content, photos and music in huge libraries of up to 50GB per disc.

Newly designed speakers and a built-in subwoofer deliver a powerful, bass-rich sound with Dolby Home Theatre signal processing creating enveloping surround effects.

To complete the VAIO RT’s mastery of the role of personal HD theatre, it has a unique HDMI input which lets you connect an external HDMI source like an HD set-top box or PLAYSTATION®3. The user can switch at will between the HDMI signal and the PC itself. 

The VAIO RT comes with some of the best photo editing software available, including the highly regarded Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop Elements, plus Adobe Premiere Elements for HD and SD video editing.

VAIO Movie Story uses built-in intelligence to organise your photo collections into fun musical slideshows in just a few simple stages, and VAIO Click to Disk makes saving your work to Blu-ray Disc so easy it’s a pleasure rather than a chore.

Source

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Sony Vaio Laptop - Sony Vaio CS and Vaio NS Notebooks Introduced


The VAIO CS is available in five colors: Sangria Red, Glossy Black, Dove White, Cosmopolitan Pink and Matte Black

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Friends!

This is to keep you updated about the latest notebook series that Sony is shortly going to  release into the market very soon, possibly next month in the month of October 2008. 

Sony Vaio CS is soon to replace the earlier version the Sony Vaio CR. Similarly the Sony Vaio NS will be an upgraded version and would replace the Sony Vaio NR. 

The Sony Vaio CS and the Sony Vaio NS is to be fitted with the latest Blu-ray Disc technology. The Blue Ray is however optional. 

Blu-ray Disc™ technology

Blu-ray Disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group representing consumer electronics, computer hardware, and motion picture production.

As of August 27, 2008 more than 780 Blu-ray Disc titles have been released in the United States and more than 480 Blu-ray Disc titles have been released in Japan.

By the end of 2008, there is expected to be a total of 1220 Blu-ray Disc titles released in the United States.

A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store 50 GB, almost six times the capacity of a double-dual layer DVD (or more than 10 times if single-layer).

Sony Vaio NS

In addition the latest in the Vaio NS Notebook series brought to you by Sony will incorporate the highly innovative technology in High Definition or HD viewing.

All the notebook in these upcoming series will have the XBRITE-ECO™ LCD (XBRITE is also named as ClearBright in Japan and Asia-Pacific region) that will offer very sharp and lucid pictures with vivid colors for better viewing on a 15.4-inch widescreen display. 

The other features that's being included are the Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T5800 (2GHz, 2MB L2 Cache) processor and Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD and has 250GB hard drive storage. 

It also has the option of upgrading to 4GB RAM from the 3 GB RAM. It has an in-built camera and microphone too. 

Moreover the Sony Vaio NS has an integrated A/V mode, that has  a dedicated menu for quicker access to nine user-selected programs.

A Sony Vaio NS with a Blu-ray drive will sold from  $1000. 

The Sony Vaio NS without the Blu-Ray is being offered for $650.

Sony Vaio CS

The Sony Vaio CS is packed with a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor, 4GB RAM and a 320GB hard drive.

The stylish and high-definition Vaio CS notebook packs in 14.1-inch widescreen display, XBRITE-ECO LCD technology, Intel Centrino 2 processor, optional Blu-ray Disc-ROM drive, instant A/V mode and built-in A/V slide control with one-touch controls.

The built-in A/V slide control lets you control all functions such as the play, pause, rewind, fast-forward, stop, eject etc.

The keyboard is great and is specially designed to offer better typing experience that's comfortable. The keys have been spaced properly on the keyboard for the purpose. 

In addition the Sony Vaio CS notebook has a 12-tone music analyzer that is capable of translating any music, including yours and which are then displayed in a sort of colorful LED light show. 

Price starts at about $920 without the Blu-ray. The one with the Blu-ray Disc will start       at $1,070. 

“With these new units, Sony is now offering consumers a host of multi-media PC options to choose from,” said Mike Abary, senior vice president of VAIO product marketing at Sony Electronics. “And with a starting price of around $1,000 for the NS model, we’re expecting a new audience to experience HD entertainment on their computers.”

Hope you too enjoy the latest technology in entertainment from the Sony Vaio series. 



 



Monday, September 15, 2008

CERN - MANAS The Big Bang Chips Developed by Indian Scientists from Calcutta

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After the CERN scientists in Geneva is able to successfully accelerate two proton beams, approaching each other from opposite directions, to as much as 99.9999% the speed of light through the giant tubular Large Hadron Collider ring, a large mammoth amount of data is expected to be generated following the impact after each collision. 

To help store and process these exceedingly vast volume of data following the collision, highly specialized Chips have been designed by two notable Indian Scientists belonging to the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics or SINP in Calcutta, India. 

Swapan Sen and Sandeep Sarkar have together developed the highly powerful and sophisticated Multiplex Analog Signal Processor (MANAS) chip for the CERN's Big Bang Experimental project. 

It is these MANAS chips which is going to play an extremely important role by recording and storing the data for processing to help find extremely vital clues.

These clues would enable the scientists at CERN to determine the exact nature of the state of matter following the Big Bang to be simulated inside the Large Hadron Collider

These exceedingly important data are to be stored in the Indian made MANAS chips that would help the scientists to unfold the great mystery surrounding the actual origin of both Mass and Matter in the Universe. 

In a matter of micro-seconds, when the mini Big Bang occurs under controlled laboratory conditions , the MANAS chips will immediately begin to record the exact time, duration and the location of data that is to be generated during each of these collisions. 

MANAS will record the time, positional coordinates of the collisions and the quantum of energy produced. These are vital information that will aid the experiment and will be stored in the chip. Scientists will later access the data and analyze them to arrive at conclusions,” explained Sen. 

As many as 80,000 of such MANAS chips are being used and each of these MANAS chips have been mounted on muon detectors. The Muon Detectors too have been designed by the Indian Scientists at the SINP in Calcutta (now Kolkata) as well.

Each MANAS has 16 channels and can store a huge volume of data. 

The duo, Sen and Sarkar who comprised this vital two member team had relentlessly worked very hard to develop this extremely powerful and important microchip, the MANAS, for 11 years. They were able to successfully develop the first prototype of the MANAS chip in 1997.

Though Sen and Sarkar were apprehensive about the outcome of their joint efforts, however the MANAS chip was able to finally pass the rigorous tests carried out at CERN and finally the CERN Scientists gave their approval much to their joy.  

 “The first prototype was successful though we had to improve upon it. It took us about three years to fine-tune the technology and arrive at a perfect model. Eventually, the third prototype was the final one and its was put to test in 2000-01,” said Sen. The tests were supervised by a team from CERN that approved the chip. 

Measuring 4 mm by 7 mm, MANAS is a wonder chip. It can record data at an astronomical speed, quite literally, and even alters the shape of the voltage to facilitate the recording.

“The challenge for us was to make sure that the change in shape didn’t alter the voltage energy. We had to take a series of precautions for that and wrack our brains for months on end. Eventually, we managed to crack the riddle,” said Sen. 

MANAS was accepted for the Big Bang experiment ahead of its competitors from various other countries.

It went into production at the Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Chandigarh in 2003.

“The chip has been conceived and produced entirely in India. Sarkar and Sen have done a wonderful job and we have reason to feel proud of it,” said Dr Bikash Sinha, director of SINP

"The chip will not only aid the experiment. It might also have a role to play in software development. Due to its high-speed and huge recording capacity, it is bound to have a software application. “It could definitely be used in computers. Our experiment will have an even bigger impact once that happens,” said Sen.


Sunday, September 14, 2008

CERN - Grid Computing System the Gen-Y Internet Network Developed by Indian Scientists from Calcutta

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It's a proud moment for the Indian nuclear scientists particularly those from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, of the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, both in Kolkata or formerly Calcutta.

They have jointly played an important role in their contribution to the Big Bang Project that's being currently carried out at CERN, Geneva.

The gigantic 27 Kilometers long tubular Large Hadron Collider or LHC runs through a long circular tunnel, 100 meters below the earth surface, alongside the Jura Mountains close to the Swiss-French border.

This highly sophisticated particle accelerator would enable two high velocity beams of sub atomic particles such as the Hadrons or Protons, to move in opposite direction, both of being able to accelerate to a speed of 99.9999% that of light before they smash into each other. 

This giant accelerator, the LHC has to be positioned very critically such that the protons are guided to follow a predetermined path that does not allow any margin of error lest it cause the experiment to go awry. 

For this the LHC has to be positioned correctly and hence has been placed on a 7080 precision magnet position system or PMPS jacks, all of which have been made by Indian Scientists and engineers. 

Besides the PMPS jacks, India contributed to the CERN's Big Bang Project by making specially designed superconducting magnets, large liquid nitrogen tanks and many sub-systems of the magnet and detector systems.

Grid Computing System

However to those involved with software development particularly that for the internet it would be interesting to note that Indian scientists and software engineers have played a major role by developing the “grid computing” system, installed at CERN. 

This Grid Computing System will enable scientists sitting before their computer console the world over to receive data in real time at their respective laboratories once the actual Big Bang experiment commences on a full scale, following the collision.  

The Indian scientists have provided the most critical software inputs for the next generation data storage handling mechanism that would in the future revolutionize the World Wide Web. 

This computing grid will allow the gigantic amount of data generated during proton beam collisions to flow seamlessly, enable the data to be stored such that it could be later accessed for processing during analysis. 

“The new system, referred to as Grid Computing, is an advanced form of collective computing network spread across the world. Each of the four points of proton beam collisions at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) expected to generate data that will run into PetaBytes (one million times more than GigaBytes), the resources of no single country will be enough to process this huge data. Hence, the concept of Grid Computing that will act like an electricity grid to distribute data load across the world in real time,” VECC and SINP director Bikash Sinha said. 

For a sense of the magnitude of data generation, a million PCs of 80 GB each can accommodate only one month’s data generated from ALICE. The three other points of collision — LHC-B, CMS, ATLAS — will each generate similar quantum of data. One year of LHC data nearly equals 20 km of CD stack. Now imagine the data that will be produced over 10 years, the duration of the experiment at CERN! 

Incidentally, the World Wide Web was also discovered at CERN. But unlike the Web, where data is stored at the back end and can accessed by a user through a browser at the front end to process the information, Grid Computing will allow real-time information flow from the back end to the front for shared computing and analysis by thousands of scientists in different countries. 

“Unlike the Web, we will be sharing computing power and not only viewing files or information,” explained VECC scientific officer Subhashish Chattopadhyay. Three other scientific officers from VECC — Susanta Kumar Pal, Vikas Singhal and Tapas Samanta participated in the Grid Computing project initiated by Y P Viyogi, currently director of Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Physics. 

The middleware or interface that has been developed in Kolkata is to access, store and analyze data generated out of the proton beam collisions at ALICE, one of the four collision points in the 27-km-long tunnel. “In India, two Grid computing centres have been established at VECC and TIFR to process and analyze the data generated from the proton beam collisions,” Chattopadhyay added. While VECC is taking part in the ALICE experiment, TIFR is participating in CMS. 

The challenge was to not just write a huge amount of software and procure hardware for the seamless flow of information across the grid, it was also to write software that would make the network secure. 

The entire LHC Grid comprises a global network of 100,000 central processing units (CPUs) that will analyze what happens when protons are hurled at each other inside LHC. The ultimate quest is to detect evidence of extra dimensions, invisible dark matter and an elusive particle called the Higgs boson. 




Friday, September 12, 2008

CERN -The Beginning of the Mini Big Bang Experiment without Hype or Panic

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Scientists at CERN launched the Big Bang experiment on 10th September 2008, i.e.  last Wednesday this week.

The Scientists at CERN under the guidance of project leader Lyndon Evans, from Aberdare in South Wales, began the first launch at 8.30 am British time.

They were  successful in sending the particle beam that traversed the 27-km long  tunnel. The beam of proton was accelerated by the LHC and sent in both the directions at two different moments.

Once in the clockwise direction before 9.30 a.m. and the second in an anti-clockwise beam after 2 P.M. BST.

During both occasions the beam of proton achieved ‘full beam’, meaning that the stream of sub-atomic particles were able to gain enough energy that enabled it to cover the total length pf LHC’s 27 kilometre-long circular tunnel at just under the speed of light. 

The long tunnel that houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)  runs alongside the Jura Mountains 100 meters below the earth surface  in the border between Switzerland and France. 

This experiment is an attempt under controlled laboratory condition to determine what the universe was like when it was still in a Plasma state at a moment which is suppose to be 23 times less than a second, i.e. billionths of a second after the Big Bang had occured, that supposedly triggered the formation of the Universe.

The whole experiment is being carried out in the biggest and most complex machine ever to be built, which is the £5 billion Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator, at CERN  in Geneva.

With the help of this powerful accelerator two beams of subatomic particles called 'hadrons' which could be either protons or lead ions would be made to travel in opposite directions  inside the circular accelerator, each time gaining energy with every lap.

The two beams of sub-atomic particles would be made to travel in opposite direction in two separate beam pipes or tubes kept in ultrahigh vacuum and guided by strong magnetic fields from Super Conducting Magnetic coils kept in liquid helium at a temperature colder than Space i.e at around ‑271°C. 

For the final collision special magnets would guide the two beams that would put them in a collision course before the actual 'Mini Bang' happens. 

The Hadrons or protons would be made to travel in opposite directions with  respect to each other at almost the speed of light on October 22 and made to collide in a manner that they smash into each other with cataclysmic force thereby causing the quarks that make up the protons to be released  during the process. 

Scientists are interested to study the behaviour and force of these sub-atomic particles created during such a collision and when separated with each other as a result, using special detectors. 

By recreating the universe's Big Bang, particle physicists hope to learn more about the physical universe that would help overcome an anamoly in the Standard Model regarding the presence or absence of mass and matter. 

For example, scientists believe they will learn more about the actual mass of particles, and about the nature of dark matter, and whether there are 26 dimensions, or just 12.

The whole experiment regarding this particular aspect of particle physics has generated lot of interest the world over particualrly amongst  ordinary men and women including in India. 

Instead of hype it was panic which created such a lot of interest amongst the common people who feared that the machine would trigger the Doomsday and create a massive catastrophe as some maverick scientists had earlier warned of. 

It was all because of a calculation that went awry that pointed out if such an experiment is actually created under labrotary condition it would create a mini black hole.

This would begin an uncontrollable chain reaction through time and space and in turn would ultimately not only  swallow the Earth but could also rip apart the whole universe. 

The CERN team are confident that such an experiment does not carry any  threat to either the Earth or the Universe.

In case such a possibility does arise it would at best destroy the laboratory, but certainly not the Earth.

They appeared totally relaxed and joked amongst themselves as they turned on the most sophisticated and highly impressive machine that man ever built. 

VISTO Mobile™ 6 - First Push Mobile Social Networking Solution

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VISTO®, which has established itself as the leading provider of secure and easy-to-use push mobile email, has announced the launch of VISTO Mobile™ 6 based on Push and Synchronization Technology, that makes Social Marketing a breeze while you are in transit or mobile. 

Social Networking has in recent times enabled greater interaction and communication between  consumers belonging to different socio-economic demography or segment within the market as well as all those who are in the business of offering products and services that caters to particular requirements or pertinent needs based on demand within the market.

All those who are always on the move and yet wish to remain in touch with family, colleagues and ofcourse friends in real time not just by speaking to them frequently but by other means too such as the SMS, MMS, email, IM, social networking and ofcourse by sharing photographs.

It is exactly to meet such a requirement that the VISTO Mobile 6 has been so designed.

It is an excellent device that has succeded to offer  expanded push mobile email and mobile social networking services to end users.

VISTO Mobile 6 utilizes VISTO’s patented push and synchronization technology to keep users constantly up to date in real time on their messaging and social networking activities.

In addition, VISTO Mobile 6 provides end users the ability to filter updates from their list of contacts; meaning each user has the control to see only the updates they truly care about.

This eliminates the clutter of unnecessary updates and requests.

According to information available at  www.visto.com   the following are the technical details that you may perhaps be interested in.

 Technical Details of VISTO Mobile™ 6

VISTO Mobile 6 email includes VISTO Mobile Exchange Direct Access (EDA) which provides full synchronization of email, contacts and calendar entries with Microsoft Exchange.

Further, VISTO Mobile EDA uses Outlook Web Access (OWA) interface which requires no software behind the corporate firewall and is easy to set up.

With VISTO EDA, enterprise users, small business users and prosumers who buy their own mobile services can quickly set up secure Exchange access for a seamless user experience.

It offers integrated solution that enables real-time information and notifications across email, social networks and contacts including Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and Photobucket


It also provides an innovative “one view” that enables users with one click access to email, contacts, important social networking events, the web and other on-device applications

“As the capabilities and volumes of smartphones and mid-range mobile phones continue to increase and bundled data plans become the norm, individuals are looking to their mobile device and their mobile operator to provide more functionality and value, including timely and secure delivery of mission critical messaging, applications and content. In parallel, service providers and operators are looking to bring more value to their customers further up the value chain, independent of RIM, Microsoft, Nokia, Apple and others, while providing a consistent user experience across those and other device platform and operating systems, ” said Brian Bogosian, CEO of VISTO. “VISTO Mobile 6 is uniquely positioned to meet these needs.”

For end users, VISTO Mobile 6 provides a seamless, easy–to-use solution that enables them to stay connected with the people they care about in the way they choose.

For mobile operators, VISTO Mobile 6 provides significant opportunities for customer and revenue (ARPU) growth, not only because of its low total cost of ownership and fast time-to-market delivery, but because it enables the operator to harness the power of mobile communications including social networking and email, to provide their customers with exciting new services.

VISTO Mobile 6 is available now to mobile operators worldwide. The flexibility of VISTO Mobile 6 enables mobile operators to deliver targeted solutions that address the unique requirements of their customers. Today VISTO offers mobile email services through many of the world’s largest mobile operators in more than 30 countries.

VISTO is the world’s leading mobile push synchronization platform and service provider, enabling mobile operators to provide easy-to-use communications services from email to social networking to photo sharing across the broadest set of devices.

The Company’s patented VISTO Mobile™ platform with ConstantSync™ technology works in real time with popular email and social networking services for personal and business use, providing maximum control and flexibility for the operator and choice for the customer. VISTO’s customized, brandable solutions are available through mobile operators worldwide including AT&T, Elisa, Rogers Wireless, Qtel, SmarTone, SFR, Softbank Mobile, Sprint, TELUS, T-Mobile, Turkcell and the Vodafone Group. 

For more information please contact:

Europe
CCgroup
Richard Fogg/Alex Sowden  
Phone: +44 (0)118 920 7650
Email: visto@the-cc-group.com

North America
Connect PR
Phone: +1 480 366 6015
Email: visto@connectpr.com 

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Toy Industry is Excess of $86 Billion Market by 2010 World Wide

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Friends!

Are you involved with the Toy Industry? If so then I must really congratulate you for being part of a highly lucrative industry. 

For those who are involved in the business of making and selling of toys for children have an excellent future. 

Even though video and computer games have become popular and the toy industry were initially scared of being edged out, however as they say when things become tough the tough gets going.

The toy industry with their continued innovation and love to amuse the children the world over with all kinds of wonderful and colorful toys have been able to increase their sales volume. 

Parents of children and the children themselves have not lost their love for toys as was so in the past when computers and play stations were not around. 

Sales for toys are simply booming. According to the latest report made available by one of USA's leading Market Research group the NPD, the global market for toys would touch $86.3 billion if not more by 2010. 

The Global Toy Trends and Forecast by NPD provides a detailed pattern of toy sales since 2004, the world over. The report also provides detailed analysis of toy sales in different countries and demographic buying pattern in each region based on gender and age group of the people buying toys. 

According to the latest findings the toy industry have been able to increase the volume of sales for toys to $71.96 billion in 2007. 

This figure is five percent more than the $68.5 billion in sales the previous year i.e. in 2006. 

As per the report the following is the sales pattern in various countries.

  • 33% in North America
  • 30% in Europe
  • 24% in Asia

The report has also observed that as per current trend in toy sales as well as further expansion of the toy market in Asia, the growth rate is expected to reach 18% by 2010 in the largest continent. 

It is expected that Asia would soon be able to catch up with Europe in terms of volume of sales for toys and would shortly be able to outpace them. 

The BRIC countries comprising of future economic giants namely Brazil, Russia, India and China are largely responsible for contributing to the engine of growth for toys. 

These BRIC market is already comprising of 11.2% of the toy market in 2007. Earlier it was only 8.8%. 

Although sales for toys in the USA has been lately disappointing however once the downturn in the world economy ends NPD hopes there would be a revival in the percentage of global sales volume for toys in the United States and there is still greater hope for the Toy Industry to make money while the children the world over continues to play. 

For more detailed information,  visit www.npd.com.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Old Newspapers from the Distant Past Brought to You by Google Search

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Friends!

I have good news for you today. This one is particularly interesting since its about contents from newspapers predating the digital past. 

Now it would be possible for you to read old newspapers online completely as they had then appeared in print many years ago, when you and I were perhaps not born as of yet.

This is yet another gift from Google who have in joint collaboration with an initial hundred newspaper publishers around the world have begun the process of adding yet more contents from the past that is to be made available online shortly. 

Google has taken the initiative to make available old newspapers from  archives of respective newspaper publishers for the convenience of internet surfers with appetite to read and study the past as they unfolded each day on their computer screen. 

The methods and technology adopted for scanning is the same as those undertaken for Google Books. 

I have always been interested in articles that had once appeared in old newspapers and magazines. Such articles lets you get a glimpse of  what all kinds of events and happenings that used to take place in those days, which created news headlines then.

Some of them were burning issues  that gave shape to the world we see presently, such as when man set foot on the moon for the first time in the history of mankind or when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down, raising the iron curtain that ended the Cold War, so on and so forth. 

Moreover advertisements and articles on fashion, food, lifestyle all of these  gives you an idea of the aspirations of the people living then and what all products and gadgets were available that was the envy of those who desired to have them and that gave pride, joy and entertainment to the people who posessed them in those bygone era. 

Reading old newspaper clippings suddenly transforms you to a different place and era, much like old movies or documentary films that lets us know what it was all like, such as when the rich and mighty travelled by air on a Zepplin plane, much different from our present day wide bodied Jet air liners like the Airbus 380. 

The pages of all these newspapers that appeared in print many decades before, have been carefully scanned in completion and digitalized, which are now available on websites for your perusal.

So now it will be possible to browse a complete newspaper as it then appeared in print such as the first edition that came out  in 1764 by one of North America's oldest newspaper such as the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. 

"This effort will enable us to help you find an even greater range of material from newspapers large and small," wrote Google product manager Punit Soni on the company blog. 

"This effort is just the beginning. As we work with more and more publishers, we'll move closer towards our goal of making those billions of pages of newsprint from around the world searchable, discoverable and accessible online."

For making it convenient for those delving deep into history that lay buried in the dusty shelves of Newspaper Offices the world over, Google has come up with a specially designed algorithm that can easily pick up any article that you are looking for. 

As soon as a surfer wishes to know about a particular piece of information say the events that followed the dropping of the first Atom Bomb over Japan in Hiroshima or that of Mahatma Gandhi's brutal  assassination  by a fanatic, the Google Search would take the surfer to the particular article that appeared in any newspaper of ones choice. 

Articles relating to the same subject or event that appeared in other newspapers would be mentioned in the right hand side of the web page containing the particular article for which the surfer is looking for. 

Google would as usual earn revenues that it wishes to share with the newspapers offering the contents in the form of Adsense. 

 

The announcement about this special feature added to the Google Search  that looks out for old newspaper articles, was made by Marissa Mayer who is the vice president for search related products for Google. 

She unveiled and demonstatred this particular Google feature at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. 

The TechCrunch50 is a forum for entrepreneurs with excellent innovative ideas that are by itself revolutionary. This gives them an opportunity to showcase their project to participating Venture Capitalist as well as the Technology Industry that woudld determine the future course of technological progress. 

I am sure you too would find this latest feature from Google useful when you wish to know what all happened in the past. 



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