TechTalk: Exploring the Latest Technology News, Updates, Reviews, and Gossip

Skyfire, the makers of the samename browser for mobile devices, has announced the launch of its 1.0 version now available for free download at get.skyfire.com. Skyfire allows uses to use their phones to watch web videos and live events, stay connected with friends, share web pages instantly, and use the full-featured PC versions of their favorite websites. It also supports popular web standards and plug-ins such as Flash 10, Silverlight 2, Ajax, Javascript and more. Skyfire users can customize the start page with RSS feeds from their favorite websites, integrate their Facebook and Twitter accounts to import status updates and tweets, and publish their status to these networks. Improvements specific to the Skyfire 1.0 release include enhanced navigation, zooming and interaction as well as faster launch, power optimization, and new search functionality. As the new version starts-up, users can type a search or URL in the Superbar even while Skyfire is connecting in the network. "We

Asus today released its new M4A78-HTPC series motherboards developed specifically for use in Home Theater Personal Computers (HTPCs). The motherboards are based on the AMD 780G chipset, which fully integrates HDMI/DVI support to display HD videos smoothly. "The Asus M4A78-HTPC Series motherboards are especially designed keeping in mind the requirements of a good HTPC and hence have built in features to provide an unparalleled user experience", said Vinay Shetty - Country Head - Component Products, Asus (India) about the launch of these motherboards in India.

Samsung’s on a roll with this, the Ultra Touch being the third mobile handset bearing an 8 megapixel camera lens. They’ve gone with an amalgamation of form factors with this one – it has a touchscreen like the Pixon and it’s also a slider like the INNOV8. But enough talk let’s get on with the review. Form Factor What I love about the handset is that it’s extremely slim and sleek even though it comes as a slide down keypad that’s totally unnecessary, and it also has an 8 megapixel camera with an LED flash. It’s well designed for most part but there are few things that I was not too happy with. The 2.6-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen features a 240 x 400 pixel resolution with 16 million colors and a built in accelerometer and sensor. The display is also scratch resistant and very responsive. What I didn’t like was the fact that the handset didn’t have a hot swap slot for the microSD card. Worse still you’ll have to remove the battery if you need to access it. Another problem I had was

Warner Bros. Digital Distribution has announced the availability of the division's first digital comic book "Terminator Salvation" for the iPhone and iPod touch. Published by IDW, written by Dara Naraghi ("Lifelike") and art by Alan Robinson, this multi-part graphic novel details a series of events that have transpired since Judgment Day and culminates with the story found in "Terminator Salvation" from Warner Bros. Pictures. The digital graphic novel is now available on the Apple App Store for $0.99 for each of five episodes or $3.99 for the full collection. Created by developer Genus, the "Terminator Salvation" prequel uses the powerful Kamikaze: Le Edition engine. This technology allows comic book images to be scaled down without loss of resolution or fidelity. It also provides comic book fans with the ability to easily flip through pages by shaking their wrist and zoom in and out by "pinching" the screen. "We see digital co

Every mobile handset is a communication tool for more just conversation. Emailing has become THE most important service to mankind since sliced bread and for Nokia and Google Fans, things just got more interesting with the announcement of the Google Sync service for the Series 60 Operating System. With a Google account and a Mail for Exchange service and apps handy on the handset, you’re good to go. Users will now be able to synchronize their Google Contacts and Calendars with their handsets over the air. This means changes can be made to their contacts and calendar on the phone or desktop Google account and they would be updated immediately.

About a month ago we reported that certain Nokia 1100 handsets, one of the company’s most basic handsets that was seemingly designed for emerging markets , was hacked by criminals to steal bank account passwords and other such valuable data. The reason authorities picked up on the system was because of the sudden rise in cost of the handset among the criminal underworld. We had also mentioned that investigations were on going at the time to try and figure out how this was being done. A small hack in the handset’s programming would allow criminals to use someone else's phone number and receive their SMS. Thus, in certain countries where banks would send a one-time password called an mTAN (mobile Transaction Authentication Number) to a person's phone in order to allow the transfer of money to another account etc. the hacked cell phone users would gain access to accounts. The company in charge of the investigation, Ultrascan, managed to acquire a handset from the specified factory

Intex has launched a new handset into the Indian market – the Intex Hero. A robust mobile phone with what the company claims can offer users up to 45 days of stand-by battery life. Nokia’s 1100 with its torch feature may have been one of the handiest handsets for the lower end market segment in areas with frequent power cuts, but the Intex Hero is going to beat that feature silly with its not one but 5 LED lights, count ‘em, FIVE LEDs. Announcing the launch, Sanjay Kumar, DGM-Telecom, Intex Technologies, said, “Out of the total subscriber base for mobile phones, more than a quarter comes from rural India. INTEX Hero promises to address their basic needs of convenience and communication and signifies a focused brand line expansion to offer more value to our customers." The Hero has 1800mAh rating battery that should provide more than adequate battery back up. The company is actually claiming that it will be able to offer users, on a full charge, a talk time of up to 9 hours. This

The next wave of technology spending is expected to flow toward gadgets and software that help people access the Internet from any location, and interact online in more innovative ways. While the global economic downturn has forced companies to cut back on spending and favor technology like "cloud computing" that helps save costs, executives at the Reuters Global Technology Summit forecast growth in new wireless and online arenas. Ralph de la Vega, head of mobility and consumer business at AT&T Inc, said he expects a wider range of devices, from digital cameras to automobiles, to offer direct Internet access and smarter social networking capabilities. "Just about everything you touch will have the capability to be connected and to talk to other machines and other devices, in the next generation of wireless growth that is in front of us," he said. Well-known venture capitalist Tim Draper said he was enthusiastic about companies like ShareThis, which have develope

It's been about 8 months since Google Chrome was launched and Google has now increased their focus on speed and added some of the most-requested features. While some of the improvements made it into the Beta version that was released in March, Google is moving the Beta version to the stable channel for all users to enjoy. Some improvements are - - Improved New Tab Page: The most requested feature from users was the ability to remove thumbnails from the New Tab page. Now you can finally hide that embarrassing gossip blog from the Most Visited section. - Full Screen Mode: If you've ever given a presentation or watched a large video using Google Chrome, you might have wished you could use every last pixel on your screen for the content. Now you can hide the title bar and the rest of the browser window by hitting F11 or selecting the option in the Tools menu. - Form Autofill: Filling out your information in forms over and over again can be tedious. Form autofill helps by showing

"Five-dimensional" discs with a capacity 10,000 times greater than current DVDs could be on the market within 10 years, researchers reported on Wednesday. A team from Swinburne University of Technology in Australia said that by harnessing nanoparticles and a "polarisation" dimension to existing technology, storage can be massively boosted without changing the size of a current disc. The researchers, who have signed a deal with Samsung Electronics, said the technique had allowed them to store 1.6 terabytes of data on a disc with the potential to one day store upto 10 terabytes. One terabyte would be enough to hold 300 feature length films or 250,000 songs. "We were able to show how nanostructured material can be incorporated onto a disc in order to increase data capacity, without increasing the physical size of the disc," Min Gu, who worked on the research, said in a statement. "These extra dimensions are the key to creating ultra-high capacity discs.&

Word of the new iPhone Third Generation, has been floating around for a long time now and we had mentioned that a possible due date could be July of this year i.e. two months from now. Reports are coming in now that a date has apparently been set (not yet confirmed though) that the next gen iPhone will make its debut on 17th July. A few images are also making rounds showing off the new handsets latest rear panel material. From steel to glossy black and now apparently matt black is the new look. Other rumors are talking about the Apple logo being able to light up like the laptops. Stay Tuned for more on the new iPhone.

Muslim clerics are seeking ways to regulate online behavior in Indonesia, saying the exploding popularity of social networking sites like Facebook could encourage illicit sex. Around 700 clerics, or imams, gathering in the world's most populous Muslim nation on Thursday were considering guidelines forbidding their followers from going online to flirt or engage in practices they believe could encourage extramarital affairs. Inside Facebook, an independent Palo Alto, Calif.-based blog dedicated to tracking the site, says Indonesia, a nation of 235 million, was the fastest-growing country in Southeast Asia for the site in 2008, with a 645 percent increase to 831,000 users. It is already the most visited site in Indonesia, and with less than 0.5 percent of Indonesia's citizens wired, there is a huge potential for growth. "The clerics think it is necessary to set an edict on virtual networking, because this online relationship could lead to lust, which is forbidden in Islam,&qu

Social networking and photo-sharing websites retain photographs deleted by users, reveals research by Cambridge University. Researchers uploaded photos on 16 popular websites - including Facebook, Yahoo's Flickr and Google's Picasa - noting the web addresses where the images were stored and then deleted them. The team said 30 days later, it was able to find them on seven sites, including Facebook, using the direct addresses even after the photos appeared to have gone, BBC reported Thursday. Facebook, however, says deleted photos are removed from its servers "immediately". Joseph Bonneau, one of the PhD students who carried out the study, said, "This demonstrates how social networking sites often take a lazy approach to user privacy, doing what's simpler rather than what is correct. "It's imperative to view privacy as a design constraint, not a legal add-on." The Cambridge University researchers said sites such as Flickr, Picasa did better and M

Yahoo is looking to buy companies that will allow it to become a bigger player in social networking and revamp its family of products, Chief Technology Officer Ari Balogh said on Wednesday. Yahoo has had conversations with companies about partnerships and "more interesting" possibilities, said Balogh, who is executive vice president of products at Yahoo. "I can guarantee you there will be some acquisitions, and we will do some stuff in house," said Balogh, speaking by videolink to the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York. Yahoo will introduce new products this fall that will make its network of websites easier to use and showcase the company's strategy to grow again, he said. The company is striving to revive its fortunes as sales decline because of the recession and competition from other Internet heavyweights, including Google Inc. In January, Carol Bartz took the reins as Yahoo CEO, succeeding co-founder Jerry Yang.

Intel and Nokia have jointly announce the oFono project, an open source project for developing an open source telephony solution. oFono.org will bring developers together around designing an infrastructure for building mobile telephony (GSM/UMTS) applications. oFono includes a high-level D-Bus API for use by telephony applications of any license and also includes a low-level plug-in API for integrating with Open Source as well as third party telephony stacks, cellular modems and storage back-ends.

The mobile phone is possibly one of the greatest inventions of our time, maybe not greater than ‘Sliced Bread’ but definitely one of the top five on the list. It’s literally brought people closer than ever before. Sure Mr. Alexander G Bell made it all possible, but the technology has certainly come a long way since then. The basic technology may remain the same, but the forms they come in with the kind of features provided in that form is a whole other story. The mobile handset has been toned down, built up, reduced considerably in size and built to be an office and a playground. I don’t want to give you a history lesson, but this is just a reminiscence of the good old days of the mobile handset and as cheesy as it may sound, the ones we left behind. So here are some of those mobile handsets that really turned things around for the industry. First Mobile Handset The world’s first cellular call was made from this handset. Even waaay back in the 1970’s, even though the technology was bra

Acer has extended its line of netbooks with two new models optimized for mobile customers – the 11.6-inch Acer Aspire One AO751h and the 10.1-inch Acer Aspire One AOD250. The new Acer Aspire One models measure only one inch thin and come in four color chassis choices (Diamond Black, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Seashell White). Both models weigh less than three pounds (2.75 pounds for the AO751h and 2.44 pounds for the AO250) and feature a soft-touch palm rest to increase typing comfort. The new Acer Aspire Ones models provide access to the Internet via Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and come with the option for 3G broadband wireless connectivity. The extended 6-cell battery for the AO751h can provide uptime of up to eight hours, while the 3-cell battery can provide four hours of uptime. The AO250's standard 3-cell battery can provide up to three hours and 15 minutes of battery life, while the 6-cell battery can provide up to six hours. The new devices use the latest Intel Atom processors (N270 on

Walt Disney has launched a new website offering merchandise from its theme parks and resorts as the entertainment group seeks new revenue sources during a slump in business at Disneyland and other parks. Shoppers can go to http://www.disneystore.com/ to buy more than 100 top-selling products like customized Mickey Mouse ears or other items that were previously only available at the parks and resorts, the company said. The new venture into online sales comes at a difficult time for Disney's parks, often seen as a bellwether for the company and the U.S. economy. Earlier this month, the company reported that revenue for its theme parks fell 12 percent while segment operating income fell 50 percent from declines at its domestic parks, Disney Vacation Club and Paris resort.

If you're looking for a slim ultra compact, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90 certainly fits the bill. If you're looking for a feature rich camera however, you might be disappointed. Weighing in at just 148 grams, and with stats like these - 94 x 57 x 15 millimeter, the DSC-T90 is undoubtedly scrawny. The camera features a silver brush metal slider that moves top to bottom to sheath and unsheath its lens. The rest of the body is made of silver color plastic which feels and looks slightly cheap. The top part of this anorexic camera features the zoom toggle to the extreme right. The toggle's extremely small and really annoying to use since its range of motion is very small, making it rather painful for those with big, clumsy fingers. The shutter and power buttons sit besides it. On the top most part of the camera's facing side sits a preview button. Below it is a 3-inch LCD touch-screen with a rather thin plastic coating. Every time you touch the touchscreen, you get pretty hug

LG’s latest touchscreen handset that’s been making waves with their new S-Class User Interface since February of 2009 made its way to our labs before hitting the stores . Yours truly got a crack at the prototype and instead of waiting for a review, when it launches perhaps sometime in June (not confirmed yet), I thought I’d give you a quick preview of the handset. Please understand that this is only a prototype and while I did have a few issues with the handset, it’s very possible that the actual review piece may be perfect. With that in mind I’ll update the preview with a Review when I do get a proper handset so you’ll have to be a little patient guys. Until then here’s what I can tell you about the Arena and its features. Form Factor The design is quite typical for a touchscreen handset. Unlike the iPhone its front is designed to be a full touchscreen with the Call Take and end keys and a shortcut option all being touch sensitive. This is quite like the HTC HD’s functionality; the di

Nokia brings the Internet in emerging markets closer to reality with the announcement of three new mobile phones that open the door to information, entertainment, family and friends. The Nokia 2730 classic, Nokia 2720 fold and Nokia 7020 each come Internet-ready, and work with Nokia's range of emerging market services such as Nokia Life Tools and Ovi Mail. "The power of the Internet is undeniable," says Alex Lambeek, Vice President at Nokia. "We've seen mobile technologies catalyze the growth of the informal sector across the world, empowering local entrepreneurs and having an immediate and lasting impact on people's lives. Services like Nokia Life Tools and Ovi Mail, combined with the mobile phones we're launching today, bring powerful solutions that can be the gateway to knowledge, entertainment and people, without the need for a PC." Nokia 2730 classic The Nokia 2730 classic is Nokia's most affordable 3G phone offering faster access to the Int

Singapore rewarded 10 young dating couples on Saturday for being the most popular "Beautifully Imperfect" pairs online, the latest bid by the city-state to get its citizens married at a younger age. But the government-sponsored campaign made a last-minute change to the prizes, awarding a S$400 ($270) cash voucher for each winning unmarried couple instead of a stay at a beach resort suite - a gesture to avoid accusations it was promoting pre-marital sex. "Get married for heaven sake! Don't have sex before you get married," Malaysian film director Yasmin Ahmad, whose television commercial for the campaign has become a hit in Singapore media, said on a stage. "Get married and have children!" The island state of less than 5 million people has launched various incentives to encourage Singaporeans to start families as it is quickly becoming an ageing society, where people marry at a much older age and married couples tend to have few children. The latest sta

BenQ has announced a limited period offer on its netbooks - Joybook Lite U101 and U101C. The offer entitles every customer to a free BenQ ultra slim external portable DVD writer with every purchase of its Joybook Lite. In addition BenQ has further announced a new version of the Joybook Lite U101C. The new Joybook Lite U101C comes in a stylish coffee color and costs Rs. Rs. 22,990. With this offer, BenQ is aiming at first time PC buyers, who are looking for a complete entertainment package at an accessible cost. Bundled with Windows XP home edition, BenQ Joybook Lite U101 is equipped with SRS surround sound feature and Bluetooth 2.0, which can be connected to all Bluetooth supported devices. The BenQ netbooks have a 10.1-inch, 16:9 wide LED backlight screen, weigh approximately 1.3 kg, possess 160GB onwards storage capacity and have a keyboard that is 90% the size of generic notebooks, built-in speakers and a 1.3 mega pixel webcam. The Joybook U101C costs Rs. 20,990.

Google said Wednesday it will reshoot all photos in Japan for its Street View service after residents complained the 360-degree panoramic images provided a view over the fences around their homes. The Internet giant's service has triggered privacy complaints around the world, including most recently in Greece, where it was banned Tuesday. The photos currently on the Web site were taken by cameras mounted on a stick attached to a car roof. Google Japan said it would lower the cameras after many residents said they were high enough to look over fences around their homes, company product manager Keiichi Kawai said in a statement. Others have previously complained that images on the service recorded vehicle license plates and laundry hanging in backyards. Rights groups have also demanded Google suspend the service. Kawai said Google's decision to lower the cameras is designed to address concerns in Japan, where many neighborhoods are crowded and privacy is tightly guarded. Google a

The European Commission imposed a record 1.06 billion euros ($1.45 billion) fine on chipmaker Intel Corp on Wednesday and ordered it halt illegal rebates and other practices to squeeze out rival AMD. "Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years," European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement. The EU executive said Intel paid computer makers to postpone or cancel plans to launch products that used AMD chips, paid illegal, secret rebates so computer makers would use mostly or entirely Intel chips, and paid a major retailer to stock only computers with its chips. It ordered Intel "cease the illegal practices immediately to the extent that they are still ongoing." Intel may continue to offer rebates, so long as they are legal, the Commission said. The EU antitrust fine is the biggest imposed on an individual company, exceeding an 896-million e

Militants and hate groups increasingly use social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube as propaganda tools to recruit new members, according to a report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The report released on Wednesday noted a 25 percent rise in the past year in the number of "problematic" social networking groups on the Internet. The report was based on "over 10,000 problematic web sites, social networking groups, portals, blogs, chat rooms, videos and hate games on the Internet which promote racial violence, anti-semitism, homophobia, hate music and terrorism." "Every aspect of the Internet is being used by extremists of every ilk to repackage old hatred, demean the 'Enemy,' to raise funds and since 9/11, recruit and train Jihadist terrorists," the Simon Wiesenthal Center said in a statement. The Jewish human rights group named after the renowned Nazi hunter has been monitoring the use of the Internet by extremists for over a dec

Spice Mobiles has just announced the launch of an all new slim flip phone – the Spice S-5330. Spice has incorporated into the device an Indian calendar that should help Indian users keep touch with their Indian roots and religion. The phone also comes packed with exciting features like an MP3 player, FM recording, 3D style display menu, 2 GB expandable memory, mobile tracker and GPRS. The Hindu calendar, being launched in Spice S-5330 will give users a sneak peek at upcoming festivals, tithi details, lunar positions, weekly and monthly information et al as per the traditional Hindu calendar. That’s not all, using the Hindu calendar feature users can also send festival/ tithi information to others via SMS. The phone's MP3 feature has a shuffle, repeat option and music equalizer with 8 EQ presets. There’s also an FM Alarm option for the radio. Some of the other features include an SMS Scheduler, Black and White list Number setting, Panic Button and Contacts Backup. The phone also com

Google Inc's Android operating system is gaining support in the mobile industry, with 8 million Android phones to be sold in 2009, up 10-fold from a year ago, research firm Strategy Analytics said on Monday. With the overall handset market shrinking as economies slow globally, the mobile industry is focusing investment on more advanced smartphones and their software. Google's Android was introduced in the United States in the second half of 2008, and now all top cellphone vendors except Nokia have said they would use Android. "Android is now in a good position to become a top-tier player in smartphones over the next two to three years," said Neil Mawston, a director at Strategy Analytics. Mawston said handset vendors and operators like T-Mobile and Vodafone are attracted to Android's relatively low-cost licensing model, its semi-open-source structure and Google's support for services. Despite the 10-fold growth forecast for 2009, with 8 million phones sold A

The third generation iPod shuffle (4 GB, Rs. 4,900) has arrived in our labs after a strangely quiet global launch that involved absolutely none of the usual hype and hoopla that Apple usually generates around its products. Nevertheless, it’s one of the most outrageously designed products we’ve come across in a long time. We’re surprised that there’s a new shuffle, partly because the previous generation wasn’t that old, and partly because we didn’t expect there’d be much to change or improve. So what’s the new one got to offer? The answer is still minimalism, with not much capacity and no screen or menu-based navigation for those who just want a cheap, simple music player. But while that core identity is the same with this new model, a lot of the rules have been rewritten! Looks and Features : If you thought the shuffle was already small, think again! The new one is a bit longer but a lot slimmer, making it about the size of a pencil eraser or a small Bluetooth headset. Its weight is n

BlackBerry is gearing up to launch their next handset being called the Onyx. Nothing is official about it yet, however reports are in with a few leaked images of the handset. The handset seems to be following the BlackBerry’s Traditional design with a QWERTY keypad and a trackball navigation system. According to the reports, so far the only information about the handset, in terms of features are saying that the handset would come equipped with a 3.2 megapixel AF camera with an LED flash, internal GPS, 3G capabilities, Wi-Fi capabilities and Bluetooth presumably with an A2DP profile. Although screen size isn’t mentioned, the resolution is expected to be 480 x 360 pixels . The handset will also apparently have a Carbon Fiber back battery cover. Some of the reports are also stressing on the handset having an Optical Trackpad. The images however showcase what seems to be BlackBerry’s Pearl Trackball. We’ll have to wait till RIM decides to inform us of the specs. It’s also possible that th

Personally, I’m not a fan of Google's first Android handset, the G1. However, it seems like others had the same opinion and reports are in that the G1 is heading for a rework . An image of this revised edition of the Android powered smartphone, being called Bigfoot, has been making rounds. The new handset is built on the original design of a touchscreen headset with a slide-out QWERTY keypad. The handset’s lower portion or the “chin’ as it was called has been done away with (thank goodness). I was beginning to think of it as the Jay Leno of the mobile world. Since the image seems to portray a slimmer, sleeker device we’ll have to wait a bit to find out if the handset will still incorporate all the features like the 5 megapixel camera etc. so stay tuned. But to get a better idea of the handset, Tech65 has recently uploaded a hands-on video onto YouTube that gives us a clearer view of the handset and its capabilities so far. Take a look.

Samsung’s i7500 was officially unveiled just a week or so ago and it’s making waves. Just to reiterate the handset's features - a 3.2-inch AMOLED full touch screen EDGE/GPRS, 7.2Mbps HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, giving users access to Google Mobile the full suite of Google services, including Google Search, Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Calendar, and Google Talk integrated GPS with Google Maps that will include My Location, Google Latitude, Street View, local search and detailed route description Internal memory - 8GB and support for up to 32GB via memory cards 5-megapixel camera Support for various multimedia codec formats 11.9mm thick

Nokia’s E-Series of business class handsets has always been a fore-runner when it comes to this particular segment. The company has made sure that their handsets are more than aNokia E75 Mobile Phonedequately loaded with goodies for both work and play. I won’t mind admitting that the E71 impressed me quite a lot with regard to functionality and I was quite eager to get my hands on the latest in the range of the E75 and see what the improvements in the system were, from OS and UI to the design. After working with it for a week, here’s the story. Form Factor : Nokia has gone with a slide out QWERTY for the first time with this the last in their popular business class E-Series range. Sadly, their folly lies in the design of this particular feature. The E75 is essentially a variant of the E51. This model is however, equipped with a much larger 2.4-inch screen (240 x 320 pixel, 16 million color resolution). A secondary VGA camera and light senor are located on either side of the speaker. Th

In conjunction with the release candidate of Windows 7, Nvidia has announced that it is the first hardware vendor to release a new Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL)-certified graphics driver for PC desktops and notebooks, offering all of the latest Nvidia exclusive performance, features, and technology for its ION, GeForce and Quadro products. By taking advantage of the GPU for both graphics rendering and parallel computing, Windows 7 with DirectX Compute will not only ensure that greater clarity and focus are important in the look, feel, and functionality of the desktop experience, but it will also provide the speed and responsiveness to delight customers. "Windows 7 users now have the absolute latest in performance and support for features including SLI, PhysX, 3D Vision, and DirectX Compute," said Dwight Diercks, vice president of software engineering at Nvidia. "For gaming, video transcoding, and an overall better computing experience on Windows 7, users now have