Introducing phon.es - our new URL shortener for Android Central and Mobile Nations!

We've talked a bit in the past about URL shorteners and how they can save space -- or wreak havoc. It's really all about trust, right? We've used third-party shorteners like bit.ly before, and since then we've been using Google's own shortener, goo.gl. Now we've got our own.

From here on out, if you see a link to phon.es (it's phones, get it?), you can rest assured that it's from us. Actually, it's from any one of the Mobile Nations sites, which comprises Android Central, CrackBerry, WPCentral, iMore and webOS Nation.

So when will you see a phon.es link? Most likely it'll be on a service like Twitter or App.net, where characters are at a premium. So instead of http://www.androidcentral.com/lg-nexus-4-review, you'll see http://phon.es/n4review -- or something even shorter.

Nobody knows phones better the members of Mobile Nations, and phon.es is just one more way we're continuing to improve Android Central, the Mobile Nations network, and life on Earth in general. Enjoy!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/docXcG8-Cv0/story01.htm

Techsol Designs Wordpress Website Design Dubai Techsol Designs Wordpress web web design Dubai

Color vulnerable to simple GPS hack, lets you spy on anyone, anywhere

Color, the $41-million-in-funding location-oriented photo sharing startup, is susceptible to simple GPS spoofing. With nothing more than a jailbroken iPad or iPhone, you can use FakeLocation to trick Color into thinking you're somewhere else. Within seconds you can be browsing photos that were snapped thousands of miles away. With a little digging, you can pore through photos not intended for your eyes.

Of course, such a hack isn't illegal as such -- every photo you take with Color is public. With FakeLocation you are simply circumventing Color's very limited location-oriented security mechanism. It does undermine Color's usefulness (and uniqueness), though -- if nefarious types can sit in their bedroom or basement and eavesdrop on classy dinner parties and wild night club soirees, people might be less inclined to share personal photos with those around them.

Fortunately, both for Color and its users, this is an easy security hole to plug -- at least in the short term. The app (or server-side) code simply checks to see if the user has 'teleported' an impossibly large distance, without any intermediate steps in between. In the long term, though, Color's users must be aware that its social graph is completely public. Color's users must realize that every photo they upload is visible by anyone, from any place.

After the break, just to elucidate a little on Color's actual business model and ultimate intention, we have two amazing quotes from Bill Nguyen, Color's founder.

Continue reading Color vulnerable to simple GPS hack, lets you spy on anyone, anywhere

Color vulnerable to simple GPS hack, lets you spy on anyone, anywhere originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/29/color-vulnerable-to-simple-gps-hack-lets-you-spy-on-anyone-any/

Affordable Web Design Website Designer

How would you change the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display?

Many will bristle at the implication, but as the MacBook Air inspired the Ultrabook, mainstream laptops will likely seek to ape the Retina Display MacBook Pro, sorry, MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The clunky name aside, it seems that the next generation of devices will ditch disc drives and Ethernet ports in favor of pixel-dense displays and reduced weight. But did Jonathan Ive's trash can get too full? If you've been using one, do you still ache for those phantom limbs, or is it peaceful on that side of the river? Folks, for the last time this year, we're inviting you to share your thoughts and feelings on how you'd change the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and from all of us, have a Happy New Year.

Filed under: Laptops, Apple

Comments

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/9Wc9SBWg5Tw/

Techsol Designs Wordpress Website Techsol Designs Low Cost Web Designer

Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster

One click; just one single well-aimed click. That's all you get in Boomshine.

That single click triggers a chain reaction; circles start exploding, and other circles colliding with the shockwaves explode as well, creating their own shockwaves, which then catch other circles.

It's been done before, yes, but this one is a great iteration. The soundtrack is mellow, with lots of piano and some nice percussion (not electronic - it sounds like drums).

At each level you need to make a certain number of circles explode to go on to the next level. I got up to level 12, where you get 60 circles and need to make 55 of them explode. And then I kept trying and trying, but simply couldn't get it. I did get to 54 circles a couple of times, but as they say, you don't get points for trying.

There's no time limit, so you can carefully study the pattern of motion and place your click at the exact right place to create the best chain reaction. I've found that clicking near the middle of the screen works quite well, especially if the balls are slowly moving in that direction. By the time the first shockwave dies off, the oncoming balls usually hit it and the chain reaction continues.

What level did you reach? Screenshots please!

Boomshine is a soothing-yet-frustrating time waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/02/16/boomshine-is-a-soothing-yet-frustrating-time-waster/

Techsol Designs Search Engine Optimization Dubai Techsol Designs Web Marketing Dubai

Google Music Self-Censoring Naughty Lyrics for Some Users

Some albums are known for their less-than-grandma-friendly lyrics. Sure it's got a good beat and you can dance to it, but playing the explicit version of the song during the holidays could be embarrassing. That's okay, because some Google Music ...

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/google-music-censoring-swears-for-some-users/

Website Design Dubai Web Designer Dubai

Why You Shouldn?t Buy a TV This Year. Again

At January?s Consumer Electronics Show, the annual industry orgy in Las Vegas, manufacturers are going to introduce about a zillion new television sets. They?ll come armed with a bevy of specs: Full HD 3-D. 4K. OLED. Wi-Fi. Moth Eye. (Yes, ...

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/watch-and-wait-ts_column/

Techsol Designs SEO Dubai Techsol Designs Wordpress Dubai

Amazon's Kindle daily book deals are a great way to build your library

If you got a Kindle device this year for the holidays, don't forget about the Kindle Store Daily Deals. There are always plenty of books for just $1.99, and they change daily. It's a great way to build your library on the cheap.

You need a Kindle or Kindle Fire to buy them, but once purchased they are in your Amazon account and can be read on any device with a Kindle app. With WhisperSync taking care of your bookmarks, you'll be hard pressed to find a better reading solution anywhere. To find them, just open the Kindle store from your tablet and look for the Daily Deals link on the right. 

You'll always find deals and specials in the music and video store as well, but the Kindle deals are a solid perk for having one of Amazon's tablets. Take advantage of it if you like to read and have a Kindle device. I just picked up William Alexander's "The $64 Tomato" and plan on spending the evening enjoying the warm indoors with it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/EtoCk40bASA/story01.htm

Techsol Designs Website Designer Dubai Techsol Designs Wordpress Website Design Dubai

CrunchWeek: The Year-End Wrap Up

It?s CrunchWeek time, wherein a few of us writers turn on the TechCrunch TV cameras and shoot the breeze about some of the past week?s most interesting stories. This week, we decided to reflect on some of the year's biggest stories in tech.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/zRhI-OFWqxw/

Video Production Dubai Backlink Building Dubai

Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality

Version 5.3 of Skype for Windows has just been released, with the main emphasis of the new release being improved call quality, and the quality of video received by mobile Skype users. Presumably one party of the video call must be using Skype for Windows 5.3, though.

Beyond improved call quality, not much has changed. You can now see your friends' presence icons when contact cards are collapsed, and the topic editing button is now always visible on the conversation header. For a complete list of changes, hit up the Skype Garage blog.

Download Skype 5.3 for Windows

Skype 5.3 for Windows released, improves mobile video call quality originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 12:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/skype-5-3-for-windows-released-improves-mobile-video-call-quali/

Affordable Web Design Website Designer

iSites overhauled, now lets you publish cloud-based HTML5 iPhone apps in minutes

iSites -- a zero-code cloud-based 'app creator' -- can now generate HTML5 apps that work on iOS devices. With this new feature, dubbed 'InstantApp', you can now design a single app in your browser and publish it natively on Android and iOS, and as an HTML5 iPhone app.

We haven't looked at iSites before, but it shot to fame last year when it launched with native iOS and Android support. Self-publishing Android apps wasn't a problem because Google does very little moderation of the Market, but iSites ran into trouble with its iOS apps. Thousands of people signed up for the service after it was featured on Mashable and TechCrunch, and you can imagine Apple's chagrin as thousands of cookie cutter apps flooded its approval queue.

Genwi, the developer behind iSites, realized something had to be done -- it had to circumvent the App Store approval process. Genwi, of course, turned to HTML5 Web apps -- which can be pinned to the iPhone home screen and which can be shoehorned into almost behaving like native apps.

Read on for our experiences with iSites' new InstantApp HTML5 iOS app creator.

Gallery: iSites InstantApp HTML5 iPhone app creation

Continue reading iSites overhauled, now lets you publish cloud-based HTML5 iPhone apps in minutes

iSites overhauled, now lets you publish cloud-based HTML5 iPhone apps in minutes originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/30/isites-overhauled-now-lets-you-publish-cloud-based-html5-iphone/

SEO Services Dubai Search Engine Optimization Dubai

Those Spicy Snapchat Vids Don't Self-Destruct

So you thought those photos and videos you sent using Snapchat or Poke -- you know, the embarrassing ones -- were supposed to self-destruct after being viewed by the intended recipient? Not so fast. It turns out that there's a way to save them that doesn't require a lot of skill or expense.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/2705eacf/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C769770Bhtml/story01.htm

Low Cost Website Designer Web Design Dubai

DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR review

We're very happy that 2012 ended up being the year of whole-home DVRs. We reviewed Dish Network's Hopper earlier this year and now we've spent some quality time with DirecTV's Genie -- can't say we expected the cute names. Capable of serving up to eight rooms in your house (but only four at once), the Genie system works with a variety of setups, including being built into some newer Samsung TVs. Only available as part of DirecTV service, the Genie can be had for free by some new DirecTV customers who are willing to sign a term agreement and select the right package, and available to existing customers as an upgrade for $300 depending on the circumstances. If DirecTV didn't already have you at five tuners, 1TB and up to eight rooms, then click through for a full rundown on the latest the original direct satellite broadcast TV provider has to offer.

Gallery: DirecTV Genie whole-shome DVR

Continue reading DirecTV Genie whole-home DVR review

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/29/directv-genie-whole-home-dvr-review/

Techsol Designs Backlink Building Dubai Techsol Designs SEO Dubai

Intel rumored to launch set-top box, 'virtual cable TV service' at CES

With CES 2013 just days away, TechCrunch has posted a juicy rumor that chipmaker Intel will announce a major plunge into TV, choosing to go it alone after several failed partnerships in an effort to "do it right" this time. Claiming an unnamed source in the video distribution industry, the rumor suggests a plan to deliver a set-top box with DVR, rolled out on a city-by-city basis as it negotiates channel agreements. Despite a number of demos through the years, the Intel-powered TV boxes that have landed in our living rooms so far have been the first gen Google TV and Boxee Box units. Both struggled to make a significant impact and switched to ARM CPUs for the second generation of their products.

Based on some of the tech demos we've seen and earlier rumors, Intel's plans could include using facial recognition to personalize the experience for (and target advertising towards) different viewers, and offering smaller, cheaper bundles of channels than traditional providers. Another element from the TechCrunch post indicates a plan to provide a Catch Up TV-style service that lets users view anything that has aired in the last month on the channels they're subscribed to, although there's no word on what will power this technology.

Intel's participation in Comcast's Reference Design Kit program is also referenced, although given Big Cable's traditional reluctance regarding alternative delivery models, any sort of tie-in here seems like a long shot to us. A combo package of pay-TV channels and internet VOD has been tried before, although Sezmi's antenna-connected solution failed to catch on and fizzled late last year. Like recently rekindled Apple HDTV rumors, the potential of Intel's service may rely just as much on its success negotiating with content providers as any technology it's cooked up. Check out the rest of the rumor at the source link and a video from Intel's 2009 IDF demo after the break, we'll have any official announcements as they happen from the press conference January 7th.

Continue reading Intel rumored to launch set-top box, 'virtual cable TV service' at CES

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Intel

Comments

Source: TechCrunch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/31/intel-set-top-box-virtual-cable-tv-rumor/

Backlink Building Dubai SEO Dubai

Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple

In news that will no doubt shake the very bedrock of your belief system, Apple has asked Toyota to remove its Scion theme and its advertising from ModMyi, a Cydia repository. The Scion theme has been available for weeks, but after it received a ton of press in the last couple of days, Apple finally lashed out.

It's not like we should be surprised, considering Apple has claimed in the past that jailbreaking is illegal -- but at the same time, did the Cupertino cronies hear about the ruling that made circumventing DRM, and thus jailbreaking, legal? Anyway, whether Toyota was supporting illegal, legal, or deliciously gray and ambiguous, activity, it doesn't matter: Apple asked Toyota to remove the theme, and Toyota graciously bent over and capitulated.

This story raises a much more interesting topic, though: this is the first time a multinational company has publicly acknowledged and embraced the jailbreak community. Considering jailbreaking is technically legal, and Cydia's creator, Jay Freeman, estimates that up to 9% of OS devices are jailbroken, it simply makes good, commercial sense to target jailbreakers with ads. Toyota was simply trying to make some money, for shame!

As long as Apple continues to throw around its increasingly-expansive mass, the legality of jailbreaking will continue to be inconsequential. It will be interesting to see if another big company dares embrace the jailbreak community after this, too.

Toyota pulls Cydia theme and ads to appease Apple originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 05:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/toyota-pulls-ios-jailbreak-theme-and-ads-to-appease-apple/

Wordpress Website Design Dubai Wordpress web web design Dubai

Christmas Day customer activity showing Apple is crushing it, Android strong, Microsoft toast.

Christmas Day is a huge day for mobile device activations, obviously. Once we finish unwrapping our gifts and scarfing down a big breakfast, we all become children and want to immediately play with our gifts. For smartphones and tablets, that means activating your device on a network, and downloading a slew of apps. Once we install these apps (like Twitter), we start telling followers about our new device. Two pieces of research hit my radar today. They?re both quite fascinating and paint a picture of Apple dominating the scene.

The first is from analytics firm Flurry, who posted a little something on their blog revealing just how big these activations were this year.

Flurry estimates that iOS and Android sales were more than 2.5x larger on Christmas Day in 2012 compared to last year?s equivalent. A whopping 17.4 million devices were activated this year versus only 6.8 million last year.

Tablets are also growing in popularity big time. Perhaps because many of them don?t come with cellular connectivity (and therefore don?t have data plans), they are easier gifts. But 51% of device activations on the 25th (among iOS and Android devices tracked) were tablets. Compare this with 20% tablets for the days leading up to Christmas. I think these data points tell us the tablet market is on fire, and not slowing down anytime soon.

Interestingly, the Flurry study makes no mention of Windows Surface or the heavily discounted BlackBerry Playbook.I?m not surprised on the Playbook side of things - it?s now an old tablet, and will be obviously updated in 2013 when BlackBerry 10 comes out. But the Surface is brand new. If it was going to make a move, you?d think Christmas would show some results for team Microsoft, eh?

Another data point, if I can call it that, aggregated tweets from people writing ?first tweet from (device name)?. The image showing the results (below) comes from Andy Biao and @axian, and it looks like a completely unscientific (but very interesting) graphic detailing the search results.

For whatever these results are worth, iPad crushed everybody else. And to check if these results could be trusted I did an informal search of my own, looking at similar tweets over the last few hours. I got comparable results (just looking at the rough split). Maybe iPad users like Twitter more than everyone else, or people who like Twitter gravitate to iPads, and the fact that almost nobody tweeted from a Microsoft Surface could be driven by the lack of an official Twitter app. But it?s not like the web version sucks. It uses HTML5 and works pretty well. I have to think it?s just not selling very well.

Image to use: http://i.imgur.com/cg6O5.jpg

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/1ELzJ5aMyjs/story01.htm

Techsol Designs Search Engine Optimization Dubai Techsol Designs Web Marketing Dubai

Lace Up Your Shoes, RunKeeper 3.0 Hits In Time For New Years With A New Interface And Improved Social Features

The world needs more people in skin tight lululemon and short shorts that would make even the UPS man blush. Our culture's healthy obsession with running in large circles helps combat our other national pastime of gorging fists full of toxically concentrated "food." Popular running social app, RunKeeper, just released version 3.0 to exploit the post-New Years health frenzy, with improved end-of-activity functionality for sharing pictures, especially over Twitter. Bolstered by a $10 million Series B, RunKeeper has ambitious aims to be the "facebook for health" for its growing community which now numbers over 14 million users.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Jp9tNBaQt84/

Techsol Designs SEO Dubai Techsol Designs Wordpress Dubai