Apple for Autocracy, Google for Democracy

Indeed, Apple revolutionized the telecommunication industry with its ground breaking technology by introducing iPhone and iPad. However, it doesn’t mean that Apple is an angel. Apple’s comment on Google’s Android for being fragmented reveals the sense of terror in giant for fading away of its autocracy in the smartphone world. This is not the first time Apple has embroiled in the war of words. Apple sued Samsung, Motorola, and HTC many a times for patent infringement of designs. It also sued Amazon.com and Microsoft over the use of the term ‘App Store’ to describe its new Android digital app portal. Apple’s desire of establishing monopoly in the market for its smartphones and the related terms has kept in the lawsuit limelight.

Apple use patent as an armor for establishing complete autocracy in the mobility ground. It keeps on decimating competitors through a design patent suit. Its business model seeks monopoly and is feared of those offering openness. Therefore, it says Google’s Android is fragmented as Google allows different manufacturers to use its operating system on their phones and tablets. People love style. With Google’s openness they can get the blessing of superior software packed in a device they want. Apple is looser when it comes to style. Its look is similar whether it is an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4S. Therefore, Google’s Android is capturing the market exponentially and on the other hand Apple has to see downfall in its market share.

Increasing popularity of Google’s Android is both threatening and annoying Apple. Its frustration is fairly reflected in its language – fragmented Android. Gone are the days of autocracy, people are lover of democracy. When Apple is creating a small habitat, within which users are restricted to fly, Android gives its users a broad ecosystem, where they can explore a wide range of possibilities. The availability of small budget phones with Android OS has helped Google acquire significant share of the market. Along with price, giving a choice of hardware, screen size, brand etc, would definitely help  Google to expand its ecosystem worldwide. Google’s strategy based on openness and coexistence is definitely aa threat to Apple.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) – And the Debate Goes On!

Digital Rights Management (DRM) has become a controversial issue amongst content providers and the users. For some, DRM is the method to control piracy while others believe there’s a major difference between piracy and content sharing that content providers should understand.

DRM is an access control technology that is being used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, and copyright holders in order to limit the use of digital content. Companies like AOL, Apple Inc., BBC, Microsoft, Amazon, and Sony are using this access control technology. It restricts the consumer from using a specific hardware with the device, run other software on the device, or even copy or convert the digital content to other formats.

Examples of DRM:

• A company can set its servers to block sensitive email from being forwarded by employees.
• There might be a restricted access to copying and printing of digital content on an e-book server because of the constraints set by the copyright holders of the content.
• You might get a DVD with software that restricts you from copying the content or have number of copies restrictions.
• A DRM enabled mobile handset or tablet will restrict you from transferring files to & from other devices.

With the rapid advancement in digital technology, digital content is now readily available to everyone. But, content owners are facing difficulties to protect their intellect property & commercial rights. It is believed that DRM not only helps copyright owners fight the copyright infringement online but also ensures continue revenue streaming in.

It is majorly the distribution of digital content over the Internet & through file-sharing websites that has made content owners opt for DRM technology. For instant, if somebody downloads an MP3 file of a copyright song from a free website instead of buying the CD, the music company that owns the copyright of song does not get rewarded. If we talk about movie industry only, it is estimated that it suffers from an annual revenue loss of $5billion because of illegal distribution of DVD content. Since it is impractical for the copyright owners to sue every individual downloading the copyright content illegally, they are opting for DRM to have control over digital content.

• The first generation DRM software merely had control over content copying. It focused on the security and encryption of content so that the content is distributed among people who pay for it.
• Second generation DRM has control over content viewing, copying, printing, altering, and other things that could hamper the privacy of the digital content.

The main purpose of introducing DRM was to stop copyright infringement. However, the technology has proven to be not-so-effective for this purpose. If you want to distribute a DRM free file, all you need to do is use software that can remove the DRM from the file. Or if somebody has acquired the DRM free version of that file, he/she can upload it on the Internet for sharing with everybody.

At many places, all DRM does is, cause inconvenience for the consumer. There are number of reasons that make DRM an annoying technology for users. Let’s take the example of e-books:

If you are an e-book reader, DRM can lock the book to a particular device. Supposedly, you have bought a book for your Nook from Barnes&Noble and then purchased a Kindle, you will not be able to read that e-book on Kindle. You will be again required to purchase the e-book for Kindle.

There have been cases where an e-book store or a DRM provider has shut-down his business. It means, you will not be able to read those e-books as the files cannot be authorized against the DRM server. A similar thing happened in music industry, when Yahoo! Music was shut down.

Common DRM Techniques Followed:

Restrictive Licensing Agreement – The agreement controls the access to digital material, copyright material, and public domain. You can also find some restrictive licensed agreement when you enter a particular website or download software.

Encryption, scrambling of expressive material, or embedding a tag – The technology is meant to control the access as well as reproduction of online information.

So, do you think that DRM should be employed at all? Does it help content owners fight against piracy? Well! Piracy is treated as the practice of making a copyrighted material available to anybody who comes along, that too for free. It is very different from casual sharing of content between people who know each other. DRM does very little to prevent piracy because it can be broken.

For many consumers, DRM methods are overly restrictive. If you buy an e-book, you end up spending around $10 and what if you switch to a new device? Will you again spend $10 to have the same e-book in your collection? There are a lot many areas where DRM architecture needs to be worked upon. At present, the technology seems to be in favor of content owners but what about the people who buy the digital content but find themselves surrounded by lot many obligations & restrictions? It is necessary to introduce a few amendments in order to make DRM technology successful and universally acceptable.

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SkyDrive Application from Microsoft

The SkyDrive app from Microsoft is a step towards meeting on-the-go file access demands of people. For those who have not heard of SkyDrive, it’s a cloud service similar to Google Docs that lets you store files in the cloud and you can access them from anywhere, even from your mobile device.

Microsoft has also introduced the SkyDrive app version in 32 languages for Apple with a few stylistic changes. So, if you are using a Windows Phone, this application could be one of the quickest ways to get files to your iPhone.

What Can You Do With SkyDrive?

• The online file hosting service enables you to share links to folders or file, create folders, or delete files with ease.
• Users can also create Microsoft documents because SkyDrive has support for web app versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.
• Uploading a file onto SkyDrive is no hassle. Since the app is developed using HTML5, you just have to drag and drop files to the place where you want to get them stored.
• If you want to share photos stored in your phone or PC, all you have to do is select the photos, tap mail and put email id of the person to whom the photos are to be sent. Rather than sending as attachment, these photos are directly uploaded to SkyDrive, so you don’t need to worry about attaching heavy files. 

How is SkyDrive Different from Other Cloud Services?

What gives SkyDrive an edge over other cloud services like Dropbox and Amazon Cloud Drive is the 25GB free storage capacity it offers, while the later two offer 2GB and 5GB free storage, respectively. In addition to this, users get the option to keep their files private, public, and shared.

Unlike iCloud, the cloud service developed by Apple, SkyDrive gives much flexibility when it comes to content synchronization. When content stored in iCloud is accessible only through Apple devices, content stored in SkyDrive is accessible though any Apple device with iOS4 or advanced platforms and phones with Windows Mobile OS. All you need to do to enjoy seamless storage service is install this app in these devices.

What is Missing in SkyDrive?

What is lacking in SkyDrive is the inability to transfer entire folder directly to the storage place. Be it documents, images, or music files, you will have to drag these files onto the folder where you want to get them stored. Moreover, there’s no option to select a bunch of files and move them to a specific folder. For this, you will have to move the individual file that makes the whole process frustrating & time consuming.

SkyDrive is great if you want to store your files or share them with everyone. But, when it comes to doing minor editing or tweaks in the images or documents saved, you are left with no option. You cannot open these files in a different application. For example – You can store, view or even share an image on SkyDrive but you cannot open the image in Photoshop installed in your mobile or PC for a little editing.

There’s one more limitation - You cannot create a file in an application installed in the device and then upload it to SkyDrive.

Though SkyDrive gives you a maximum storage space of 25GB, it has limited the maximum file size which can be uploaded to 50MB. So for files larger than 50MB, this creates an issue.

There is no SkyDrive app created for Android platform, which is restricting its usage to a very small community of users of devices on Windows Phone and iOS platforms.

Hopefully, these limitations will be addressed by Microsoft in future versions.

How to Register for the Application?

You must have a Windows Live id to login to SkyDrive. In case, you already have a Windows Live, Hotmail, or Xbox LIVE account, you will automatically have a SkyDrive account. The login process is quick and once you have entered the username & password, you will be directed to the SkyDrive page.

You can download and install the SkyDrive app on your Windows mobile from Windows Marketplace and Apple App Store. This will enable you to access all the files stored in SkyDrive and even the files that other users have shared with your over SkyDrive.

Conclusion

What makes SkyDrive a useful application is the ease of creating, deleting, and managing the content online. If you have more than a dozen of folders lurking around and you want to put them at a single yet always accessible place or feel the need of sharing them with others, SkyDrive is the app for you.

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Is your cellphone an addiction? Beware!

Are you afraid of living a day without your cellphone? Does your cellphone accompany you from bathroom to bedroom? If yes, then you need to reassess your relationship with it and create a space. Kindly put away your phone and consider a break.

A research revealed cellphone obsessed people get depressed and they suffer from anxiety when they do not receive any message or updates.  The research was interesting and true as well. UK researchers conducted a survey and found “People often feel their phone is ringing even when it is not”. People check their phones more often when they are stressed or they do not receive updates for long. I found the research to be very practical when I compared to my situation. You might be surprised to know that I often wake up at midnight to check if my phone is ringing! This is not only my story. I shared my phone-obsession with few of my friends and I found they are also hooked very closely to their cellphones in the same way.

A vast number of people are addicted to their cellphones and they deny the fact that their cellphones are causing restlessness, insomnia, anxiety and even depression. There are so many people who can't sleep without their cellphones next to them. They are so anxious to keep checking their phones for messages or alerts that they end up sleeping very late or losing sleep. A space is needed to maintain a smooth relation. A healthy relation is one which allows both partners to have their own space otherwise the relation would be in a stressed state. It is a fact that stress associated with cellphone usage will grow rapidly if remain unchecked. At times, let your partner-the phone- stay numb.

Check if you are a cellphone addict or not…

1.    You miss your phone when you are in bathroom (initial level)

2.    You tweet, punch message, and call somebody while you are on pot (extreme level).

3.    You keep checking update of your phone in midst of a face-to-face conversation with someone.

4.    Your heart beats go unusually up when you step out and realize that you have left your phone behind.

5.    You remain glued to phone when your spouse, child, friend or parents are at home.

6.    You charge your phone more than once in a day even when the battery condition of your phone is good.

7.    You get tensed when you are in no network area.

8.    You check your phone after every ten-twelve minute for updates.

9.    You want your phone on your bed.

10. You don’t want to visit a place where carrying phone is not permissible.

If you find 3 similar habits above mentioned, you are at initial phone-stress level. You can manage your cellphone life easily. If you have 5 habits similar, you are addicted to your phone and need to work to rectify it. Your passiveness to your phone can strain up your life and you may face the consequences. If you find all above mentioned points as a part of your usual lifestyle, you need an anti-cellphone therapy to regain a healthy lifestyle.

Here are some re-hab tips that can let you balance your strained relation-

1.    Switch off your phone before sleeping. If possible make a habit of not answering call after 10 in night, unless it is too urgent.

2.    Try to avoid picking phone when you are with your family or busy in some urgent tasks.

3.    Follow no-phone rule at the dining table and bathroom.

4.    Stop your phone browsing habit. If possible take off the mobile data plan.

5.    Consider keeping the phone away during weekends.

Friends! I am neither anti phone nor anti-social. I also have a mobile phone, as you all do and I love my phone. But I hate all types of addiction and stressed relation. I want my friends and readers of this article to think and decide… whether you want a successful social and family life with the support of a smart electronic gadget or you want to let the smart electronic gadget to crash your social and family life…

Four best custom homescreen launchers for Android

So you own an Android handset and harp the level of customisation you can achieve with the device among your iPhone owning friends. But, there is a catch. Neither you are comfortable rooting your device or installing custom ROMs, nor have the required expertise. No need to feel disappointed though as there are tons of apps available on Android market, which let you customise almost everything in your device. Custom diallers, SMS clients, homescreen launchers, lock menu, you just name it and it’s there in the market. Installation is pretty easy too. You just need to download the app and customise it after automatic installation and that’s it! However, today we are going to talk about four best homescreen replacements you can get for your phone. Here is our list of the best.

1. GO Launcher EX

 

 

Price: Free

Requirement: Android v2.0 minimum

Developer: GO Dev Team

GO Launcher EX is a recently developed launcher by Go dev team and if you go by the sheer number of customisation options available, it’s the best we have seen so far. The GO dev team is already famous for their Go dialler, Go keyboard and Go SMS client and addition of a homescreen replacement actually completes the customisation scene. 

The Go launcher nearly levels on extremes of customisation so much that you can actually spend hours over it to get right mix of everything according to your taste without getting bored. There are so many preference selections available ranging from Display, Screen, Dock, App Drawer, Operation, Advanced, Theme settings etc that the developers have scored one fan in us already! 

Download

Task killer has been provided inbuilt with the launcher, available in some 5 sizes, you can use according to your screen real estate. Hence, no need to drain your battery by keeping a taskmanager running all the time when GO taskmanager can do the same with just one tap, any time.

2. SPB Shell 3D

 

 

Price: Rs. 768.47

Requirement: Android v2.1 minimum

Developer: SPB software

Download

If you are a 3D FX fan, then you can also check out SPB Shell 3D homescreen replacement. Touted as next gen UI, the application shell relies on a 3D homescreen engine to generate amazing effects, along with smart folders, 3D widgets and plethora of other customisation options. 

The 3D engine runs like a charm and live screen animation creates a truly wowing experience. However, this customization option will set you back by Rs. 768 as this app is available in paid version only.

3. LauncherPro

 

 

Price: Free (Rs. 179.39 for Plus version)

Requires: Android v2.0 minimum

Developer: Federico Carnales

With more than 5 million downloads, this app easily counts among the most downloaded from the Android Market. Boasting of a slick interface and tons of features, the app is available in both paid as well as slightly stripped down lite version.

Download

Launcher Pro comes armed with features like screen panel management, scrollable widgets with third party app support, transition effects and so on. Scrolling between screens is a breeze, even with lots of apps on screen panels. The app is tried and tested by millions of users now, who swore by its stability and ease of use. Still, as a precaution, you can also backup all your settings to SD card if something does awry.

The LauncherPro is a free app but you'll have to shell out Rs. 179 if you want to go for the Plus version.

4. ADWLauncher

 

 

Price: Free (Rs 149.80 for EX version)

Requires: Android v2.0 minimum

Developer: AnderWeb

If LauncherPro doesn't excite you enough, you may check out ADW launcher, which has established itself as a worthy alternative. ADW launcher heavily stresses on the wow factor to attract the users who are more into enjoying the aesthetics of UI.

Download

Hence, if you want some UI which does your bidding with snap of a button, then ADW launcher isn't for you. ADW comes across as somewhat more customisable than LauncherPro but the biggest advantage of ADW launcher is the huge amount of themes available for it. It's more configurable than LauncherPro -- but having said that, most of the preferences make no sense at all unless you first read the guide. ADW also has gestures; as in you can swipe up or down on the home screen to launch apps or make calls. You can't swipe icons like LauncherPro, though.

The ADW Launcher is available for free from Android Market for free. There is an EX version available too, which goes for Rs 149.80 and adds more transition effects and more app drawer styles.

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Buying a Tablet? – Here Are a Few Things to Consider

The tablet fever is taking a toll as the device is becoming popular amongst users of different age groups, across the globe. The recent survey by Accenture shows that there were only 4% tablet users in the year 2010, when Apple introduced the revolutionary iPad in market and the number grew to 7% next year. 2012 is expected to see a significant rise in the demand of tablets and the percentage might rise to 17%. 

So, what is it that makes tablet preferred over smartphone or PC or laptop?

 

·         58% think that tablet is more portable than laptop, while for 34% it's the latest innovation in consumer electronics devices.

·         For 15% people, a tablet is more fun to use than laptop or desktop because it's portable, sleek, and have almost the same features that are present in Pcs.

·         It's the lower cost of tablets like Spice Mi-720 that makes it desirable amongst 9% people, while 7% say that owning a tablet creates a style statement.

Are you one of those who have included this flat & keyboard less device in their 2012 wishlist?

Well! Navigating the tablet market is a tricky affair. With so many options out there in market, you might end up getting confused and taking a wrong buying decision. So, here's a quick rundown of features you should consider before shelling out a hefty amount:

Screen

Screen is considered as the most important factor while buying a tablet. If the screen size of the device is small, you will find difficulty in typing and tapping but a bigger screen will make the tablet heavy. So, settle down for a mid-sized screen, for example a 7-inch one. Remember that even a half-inch bigger screen can make significant difference. If your main objective is to watch movies or play HD games, 10.1 inch tablet is an ideal buy.

Opt for a tablet with higher screen resolution because more the pixels per square inch, sharper will be the display of the device. Plus, check the responsiveness of the screen because you will always have to use the touch interface to operate the tablet.

If possible, take the device out under the sun for the visibility test. When you will compare each tablet under sunlight, you will be able to do actual comparison on the basis of screen.

Operating System

Android and iOS are two consumer favorite tablet OS. If you are considering an Apple device, remember that iOS has massive application store plus solid hardware & software configuration, but doesn't support Adobe Flash. This might end-up limiting your web experience to some extent.

Next is Android, which is an open source OS. What Android offers is plenty of great applications with most of them being free. Market is captured by Android devices because the OS is free and is the first choice for tablet manufacturers.

It's a good idea to go for OS that is specifically made for tablets for example BlackBerry Tablet OS (QNX), Honeycomb etc.

Processor

The performance of your device majorly depends on the processor as well as the OS it comes with. Gone are the days of single core processors. We want our devices to be really powerful. And when we talk about powerfulness, processor is the word that clicks us. This is the era of dual-core processors that have up to 2.5GHz speed. Well! It is expected that tablets with quad-core processor will hit the market soon. You better extract the information about the processor present in the tablet before buying it.

RAM

Most of the tablets come with 256MB or 512mb RAM, but higher the number, better will be the device performance. RAM is the memory for storing temporary data in the device and once the device is turned off, the data stored in RAM automatically gets deleted. If the RAM in your tablet is higher, you will be able to perform multiple apps at the same time. It’s recommend to at least settle for a 512MB RAM device, if you don’t want to buy a 1GB tablet.

Data Connectivity

Go for a tablet with 3G connectivity, so that you stay connected even when you are out of the hotspot range.

One more thing to consider while buying a tablet is the Wi-Fi version it supports. Some tablets only support Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, which is not ideal if you are planning of doing heavy downloads and media-streaming. It is always better to buy a device with Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n support.

Bluetooth is useful because if offers easy wireless data transfer without shelling extra few bucks for staying connected. Moreover, you can connect your Bluetooth headset or headphone to the tablet for chatting or even listening to music. The option to connect to Bluetooth keyboard is useful to many who are not very comfortable to use the touch-screen keyboard.

Storage

The more you get, the more you crave. Storage is one thing you can never have enough of and its demand increases if you are planning to use tablet as more of an entertainment device. Look for a tablet with microSD slot, so that you can upgrade the storage if the device has less memory. Remember that storage memory is different from RAM.

Input/Output

Tablets are thinner in comparison to laptops, therefore you will find various connection restrictions in the device. Most of the tablets only have a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB port. Apple's iPad don't even have a USB port, so you have to use gadgets that work with the iPod connector. Some tablets do come with HDMI out port, so that you can connect your TV to watch videos or photos.

Camera

There are a very few tablets with amazing camera quality. Yes, when we have a high-end phone with 8MP or 12MP camera or a DSLR, why should we bother about the camera present in the tablet. But, you should give it a thought because an additional camera is always handy. Moreover, editing images on bigger screen of tablet will make things easier & better.

A tablet with front and back camera should be preferred as it enables you to do video chat.

At the End

Tablets undoubtedly are future of portable computing, but the way we interact with them is different than we do with our laptop, PC, or smartphone. It is true that these devices are less powerful than laptops. Right now, a tablet is perfect for web-surfing, reading e-books, or watching a movie, but not for performing powerful tasks like working on Adobe Photoshop.

There's no harm in adapting yourself to the changing technology trends, but don't expect that the new, flashy, sleek tablet you have recently bought will serve as your PC with powerful desktop software.