» Microsoft to add Nokia’s name within Bing Maps on every device

Microsoft has been using data from Navteq for their Bing Maps since the beginning, a subsidiary owned by Nokia and has also allowed the use of Nokia Maps on Nokia’s Lumia phones. Now, they will be making this partnership more visible to the user.

Microsoft will now be displaying Nokia’s name within Bing Maps. And this applies to every device that runs Bing Maps and not just Nokia’s. This includes all the other Windows Phone 7 devices as well as recent BlackBerry phones that will soon start using Bing Maps for navigation.
Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop, has also mentioned that Nokia will be working closer with Microsoft to work on Microsoft’s other properties as well.
I wonder what the other Windows Phone OEMs feel about Nokia and Microsoft working so close with each other.
Source

Why Do I Choose Ubuntu? (A Personal Opinion)

So many people always complain about why do Ubuntu has so many bugs. As a long-time Ubuntu user, in one side, I agree with those, but in overall, my standpoint is still unchanged and maybe will never be : I always satisfied enough by using Ubuntu Linux.

These are the reasons why do I still and always choose Ubuntu :

1. I Don't Have Good Internet Connection, And I Don't Connect To The Internet Everyday

I'm an Indonesian, and for now, “good Internet connection”, in Indonesia is still expensive. Yes, many GSM providers offers “unlimited” broadband connection, but they're volume based. That mean, you will only get full speed of broadband access in the limit of your data quota. There are various offers of broadband access by GSM or CDMA provider, depend on their specific price offering. Cheaper price, littler data quota; and more expensive, bigger data quota. They're started with 256 MB into 5 GB data quota/month.

And the most miserable thing of that, after you use all your quota end, you will only get shared speed 64 Kb/s of Internet access. Shared speed here means 64 Kb/s for users in your connection coverage of the provider that you're using. In actual, you will only get speed under 4 Kb/s (that is horrible, isn't that?).

So, the cheaper and easier way to get Internet connection is by wi-fi hotspot, or by Internet cafe (in Indonesian, it's called Warnet).

2. I Love Debian Package Management

For long ago I'd sought an easiest package management in Linux, and finally, I've found dpkg. With apt and synaptic, Debian based Linux system, for me, is perfect. Gdebi is also great for me and very-very usable.

3. I Love Ubuntu Regular Release

Ubuntu has 6 months regular release cycle. I do love this way. Debian stable release with no certainty in the cycle, but Ubuntu has its own every 6 months release cycle. This way make me easier to download packages in Ubuntu repository manually and particularly, by just select the Ubuntu version I'm using. In Debian, it is more complicated. We must choose and find, which is the most appropriate version of the dependencies for the package we are searching, because there are stable, testing, unstable (sid) Debian version.

Critics and Hopes :

1. Ubuntu Software Center

Since 11.04, Ubuntu has decided to use Unity instead of “Pure Gnome”. For me, it is doesn't matter. I was discomfort with Unity, but it is okay. I still could choose another choices like Lubuntu or Xubuntu, or Fallback-Mode. But, one big thing that I've been really disappointed is the removing and replacing of synaptic and gdebi with Ubuntu Software Center.

For me, Ubuntu Software Center is heavy and extremely rigid. I couldn't install third parties apps like I did with gdebi. Yes I agree that Ubuntu Software Center is good looking and modern, but it is so heavy and not flexible. In gdebi, I could install any third party software, or install a particular package easily and safe. I also use gdebi to know which packages I have to download manually to complete the dependency chain. I know, Ubuntu Software Center is a part of the Ubuntu future, but we must consider that major Ubuntu users is PC/laptop/netbook users and abandon the “traditional” aspect of this is not good :)

I hope, in the next release, gdebi and synaptic will be brought back, and Ubuntu Software Center will be just a “Software Center” for newbie users, not the default package manager to open and manage deb files. Bring back synaptic and gdebi. Those are really precious :)

2. Banshee

Since I knew Banshee in openSUSE long time ago, I didn't like this app. Banshee is more heavy than Rhythmbox and its association to video files is absolutely useless. Banshee is not a video player, and so play video by this app is a worst thing. Then, banshee is a mono-based app and this app didn't run well in Ubuntu. When I close this app, this app still ran as a background task.

In 11.04 and 11.10, I can say, Ubuntu decision to use Banshee is a mistake, and I hope, in the next release, Ubuntu will never again, use this app. Just bring back rhythmbox, or give us a fresh, pretty and sophisticated useful music manager Clementine. It is a great Qt based music manager, a modern fork of the very popular Amarok 1.4 music player, but doesn't need kderuntime. Since 11.10 Ubuntu used Qt based unity-2d, I think put this app as defualt is make sense. Personally, I do love this app so much. For very long time I used Amarok 1.4 and now I use Clementine as my default music player.

Conclusion :

Because of those, I always feel comfort to use Ubuntu as my default and “official” operating system in my computer. Of course, because of its bugs, I have to Google, Google and Google. I use Ubuntu for all my needs. I use GIMP and Kolourpaint to edit images. I use SMplayer to play videos. I use Libreoffice to edit documents. I use Clementine to play and manage music files. I use Openshot to edit videos, and so many other big works I've done with Ubuntu. Wish Ubuntu will be more big, mature and stable :)

Solved : Desktop Freeze When Editing Documents Using Libreoffice in Lubuntu (LXDE)

Lubuntu 11.10 using lxpanel and tint2

LXDE is a new but suddenly being popular desktop environment in Linux world. It uses openbox as the window manager, so it is lightweight and runs fast in any low hardware PCs or laptops. Not long time later, born Lubuntu, an Ubuntu based distro that uses LXDE as the desktop environment. Then Lubuntu 10.10, 11.10 and 11.10 regularly released and since 11.04, Lubuntu has been recognized as a new Ubuntu derivative.

Overall, Lubuntu has no important notice about bugs, except one bug in Lubuntu 11.10. If we edit documents by Libreoffice and then save it, the desktop will be frozen. After google about this bug, I found the solving. This bug caused by Task Bar (Window List) applet of lxpanel (LXDE panel). To solve this problem is very easy, these are the steps :

1. Remove Task Bar (Window List) applet in lxpanel by right clicking at the lxpanel>Panel Settings>Panel Applets and remove that applet.

2. Install tint2 as a Task Bar replacement. Tint2 is a very small and very lightweight panel that provides Task Bar, System Tray, Clock etc. Tint2 is available in Ubuntu repository and we could install it easily by typing : sudo apt-get install tint2

3. Configure the tint2. Remove the system tray applet because its applet will crash with lxpanel's system tray applet. Also, if you feel discomfort, we could remove clock applet of tint2. To configure, we need to do this manually by edit its configuration file :

leafpad /home/user/.config/tint2/tint2rc

At the tint2 configuration file, find the string #System Tray and #Clock, and remove them (all column). The default size of tint2 is 30 pixels and the length is just 80%. If we prefer 24 pix panel with full length, find the string called #Panel and edit panel_size string into this :

panel_size = 100% 24

4. Add tint2 to the autostarted daemon of Lubuntu session. We can do this by editing this :

sudo leafpad /etc/xdg/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart and add this line :

@tint2

5. Logout and login back, and now we could edit any documents using Libreoffice with no any crashes again :)

Winff : An Audio Video Multimedia Converter in Linux

While converting, a command-line ffmpeg dialog process appears

Modern personal computing is about multimedia. We play DVDs, blue-rays, listen to music, recording, play game etc by our PC. And how about multimedia computing in Linux desktop? We have almost all we need in Linux, and amazingly, they are absolutely free ! (not like in windows, they are proprietary, or “shared” app with limited features).

Now, I'm talking about multimedia converter in Linux desktop. As we've known, now, there are so many multimedia formats to perform digital multimedia entertainment. And so we need an application to convert from one to another multimedia format, and I've found a great multimedia converter called Winff. It is a GUI front-end for the mature and popular multimedia converter in Linux ffmpeg. The UI of this app is very simple, but don't doubt about its capability. This app supports maybe all modern multimedia formats that exist. We could convert from to adobe flv into and from DVD, VCD, 3gp phone, nokia, iPod, avi, mwv, and also, ogg audio, ogg video, mp3, etc etc.

It is very easy to install Winff. This app is popular and already included in the software repository of many major Linux distributions. For Ubuntu, we can easily install it by typing :

sudo apt-get install winff

One thing to be known, we need to install libavcodec-extra-53 to make the app could convert medias into mp3 audio (in Ubuntu 11.04 and below, its called libavcodec-extra-52).

Let's try it and always be glad to use Linux desktop. Long live Linux desktop :)

New Belle update for S^3 devices coming on February 8?

A while back, Nokia's Twitter account jumped the gun when announcing the release of the Belle update for older Nokia smartphones. Let's hope this time it's for real - Nokia's Vietnamese site announced that Belle is coming on February 8 for the following models: N8, E7, X7, E6, C6-01. Nokia Vietnam's Facebook page confirmed it.


However the page on Nokia's site is now gone, while the Facebook post is still up.
We know the Belle update is coming in February, that's the latest info from Nokia. The exact date is not clear though, their UK page just says "soon" and adds the Nokia 500 to the list of updateable phones.
Nokia is already shipping new units of those devices with Nokia Belle out of the box, so the update is clearly ready. We're not sure what's the hold up or which regions will get it first.
We can't find a mention of the update coming on February 8 on any other regional Nokia web site either. If you spot it anywhere, post a link in the comments.

Nokia now shipping Symbian^3 devices with Belle out the box

Nokia have now confirmed via their official Twitter feed that major updates have already begun rolling out to a number of devices currently running Symbian Anna, bumping them up to Symbian Belle, news that a lot of Nokia fans will no doubt welcome with open arms.
Devices including the N8, as well as the likes of Nokia's E7, C7, E6, X7, C6-01 and 500 will all now ship with Symbian Belle pre-installed. The latest iteration of the Symbian OS brings functionality and a general user experience more inline with that of Android and iOS.


Nokia have confirmed that devices will be available in a number of markets including Turkey and India, but they recommend that you check with your local retailer to see whether or not you'll be able to pick up a device running Belle.


If you want an idea of what Belle brings to the table, why not check out our review of the Nokia 701. Does the inclusion of Symbian Belle make buying a Nokia a more appealing prospect? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Source

Nokia Q4 results are out, Lumia sold well over 1 million units

It's Nokia's turn to sum up its financial Q4 and we finally got to learn more about the market performance of the Lumia smartphones. As it turns out the sales aren't too bad, but the company still lost a huge amount of money in the holiday quarter.
In what Nokia described as very solid performance, the Lumia duo sold "well over 1 million" units, which is less than the 2 million targets, but better than the half million predictions of some analysts. You should keep in mind, though, that this number includes Lumia sales until today and not just in Q4.
A million sales is hardly enough to justify everything that the company went through after it announced its major change of strategy in February, but it's still a start and hopefully things will only get better from now on.
Also, Nokia finally started receiving the subsidy that was put in its contract with Microsoft when it started making WP smartphones. The company got $250 million this quarter and will be looking for much more in the future, if reports of a deal worth north of $2 billion are to be believed.
Still, according to the IFRS numbers (IFRS is the international standard for such reports), Nokia lost €954 million (about $1,260 million) this quarter alone or a total of €1,073 million ($1,413 million) for the whole 2011.
The company experienced year-on-year decreases in almost every one of its businesses, including the total number of phones sold. Average selling price also went down, so we can hardly attribute to the transition to smartphones alone.
Things are looking a little brighter if you compare them to Q3 of 2010, but the holiday season is bound to lead to some increase in sales.
So, Nokia obviously got their start in the WP game, but the verdict is quite clear - they need to step up their game. Of course, it would be nice if Microsoft did its part, too and brought the platform up to speed (multi-core support, FullHD video and higher display resolutions immediately spring to mind).
If you can't get enough of those numbers, you might want to follow the source link for the complete Nokia Q4 and full 2011 report.
Source

Nokia Lumia 900 hits AT&T on March 18 for $99.99

So here's a date for the WP fans in the US to look forward to and a new savings target. According to the latest bit of online rumors, the Nokia Lumia 900 will hit the AT&T shelves on March 18 (as previously reported) and will cost $99.99.
The information was provided by Boy genius report, who claims to have received it from a well informed source, close to the carrier. The $99.99 price tag on a two-year contract does look cheap so if it's true, Nokia will obviously market the Lumia 900 quite aggressively.
For that kind of cash you'll be getting 4.3 inches of non-PenTile AMOLED goodness of the WVGA variety and a 1.4 GHz Scorpion CPU, which is about as fast as it gets on the Microsoft platform. Given that WP is still in no position to challenge the big guys just yet, pricing the Nokia flagship lower than the Android and iOS top-dogs seems like a reasonable move on the AT&T side.
You should keep in mind though that the March 18 release date is subject to the phone passing technical acceptance in time. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Nokia and AT&T will finish with the i-dotting and t-crossing and there won't be any delays.
If you are still unsure whether the Nokia Lumia 900 is worth your money, you may check our hands-on from CES to learn more about the smartphone.
Source

Nokia Lumia 910 shows up on Dutch retailer's website

A yet to be announced Nokia Lumia 910 has appeared at a Dutch online retailer. The device sports a spec sheet, quite similar to the U.S. exclusive Lumia 900, save for the lack of LTE radio and the presence of a massive 12MP camera sensor on board - a first from Nokia since the highly revered N8 came into being.

There is no launch date available for the device on the retailer's webpage. A sign-up form though is present - just like in the case of Lumia 900's short lived, alleged UK availability from earlier this week.
While having a global version of the Lumia 900 sans the LTE radio makes quite a bit of sense, given the low availability of LTE networks outside the United States, keep in mind that we might be witnessing yet another round of speculation on the subject. The AT&T Lumia 900's picture used by the retailer certainly points in this direction. A pinch of salt therefore, is highly recommended.
Source(in Dutch) | Via

Tricks n Tips on How To Upgrade Your Android Phone

The biggest problem with the Android platform has been how slowly many phone makers release the latest version of the OS for their older models. It's also not unusual for them to never do so. (A company may not want to spend resources on phones they no longer sell; or, they and the carrier for a particular model may not agree on when to provide an update.)

If you own such a neglected phone, and don't want to buy a new one, then your best shot is installing unofficial Android firmware on it.

The following is a primer on what you should know about the process of installing unauthorized Android firmware. Each phone can have its own unique steps for doing this, so you should follow instructions for your specific model.

1. INSTALL AT YOUR OWN RISK

Installing unofficial OS firmware on your phone will likely render whatever warranty from its maker you have on it null and void.

Thoroughly read the installation instructions for your specific phone model and then follow them carefully, taking time and patience. Though the odds of bricking your phone -- rendering it inoperable because of something going wrong during the install process -- is fairly low, it can happen and especially so if you rush through things.

Be aware that some features on your phone running its current version of Android may no longer be available after you successfully install a custom Android firmware. Other features could be buggy or have quirks.

2. TWO CHOICES: CYANOGENMOD OR MIUI

In the unofficial Android firmware development community, there are two major choices: CyanogenMod and MIUI. Both are built on the Android source code officially released by Google, and their latest versions are based on Android 2.3 (codenamed Gingerbread). As of this writing, the volunteer development teams of both projects are working to get new versions built on Android 4.0 ("Ice Cream Sandwich").

What's the difference between the two? CyanogenMod sticks with the basic, default components of Android that come with its source code release; its UI is "clean," devoid of unnecessary extras. MIUI completely overhauls the stock Android UI with one that resembles that of Apple's iOS.

If your Android phone is (or was) a popular model, it is probably supported by either the CyanogenMod or MIUI community.

If not, there is still a chance that somebody may be working on a port for your specific phone; search its model name in the official community forums for CyanogenMod or MIUI to see if there is such an on-going effort. (An excellent source to check is Android Forums.) But know that some or several features of your phone may not work if you install such an experimental, work-in-progress build of CyanogenMod or MIUI that is not officially sanctioned by that OS's community.

3. ROOT YOUR PHONE

Before you can start to do anything to your phone, you'll need to root it, which means basically to unlock the security settings put in place in the OS to prevent it from being altered. Check out GingerBreak to help you conveniently root your phone.

Unfortunately, this app tool might not work on more recent Android phones. This guide provides a list of instructions for rooting several specific phone models.

4. BACK UP YOUR CURRENT FIRMWARE AND PHONE DATA

You really want to do this if you need to re-install your phone's original firmware and data later (e.g., something goes wrong when you install the unofficial Android firmware; you decide you don't like CyanogenMod or MIUI; or, you need to reactivate your phone with its carrier, something which you cannot do when running either of these unofficial OSs on it).

The easiest way to do a back-up is to install ClockworkMod ROM Manager on your phone. Run this app, and select "Reboot into Recovery" from its menu. This downloads and installs a recovery image profile for your phone, restarts it, and loads a plain-looking text menu, where you can select the back-up process.

After the copy of your phone's firmware and data is made, you can move it to a computer for safekeeping. Connect your phone by USB cable to your computer, then simply drag-and-drop the backup's folder (it's on your phone's SD card under the folder "clockworkmod") from your phone's SD card to the latter device.

5. PREPARE GOOGLE'S DEFAULT ANDROID APPS FOR INSTALLATION

If you're installing CyanogenMod: Unless you want to keep your to-be-upgraded phone clean of Google apps, you'll need to install them separately. CyanogenMod does not include the standard Google apps that typically come pre-installed on an Android phone. So you'll have to download a ZIP file that contains the installation packages for apps such as Google Search and, most importantly, the Android Market. Put this ZIP in the main root directory of your phone's SD card.


6. INSTALL THE CUSTOM ANDROID FIRMWARE

This is the big deal. Download the CyanogenMod or MIUI firmware designed specifically for your phone model, which comes in the form of a ZIP package, and save it in the root directory of your phone's SD card.

Once again, run the ClockworkMod ROM Manager app, and select "Reboot into Recovery." After your phone restarts into the ClockworkMod Recovery tool, you may need to wipe out its data and cache, and format its "/system" directory -- this depends on whether you are installing CyanogenMod or MIUI, so you should refer to the instructions that specifically are for your phone.

Next, you select the ZIP file of the custom Android firmware you placed in the root directory of your phone's SD card, and start the upgrade process. It normally takes less than two minutes. If you're upgrading to CyanogenMod: Don't reboot your phone just yet... repeat the above step for the ZIP file containing the Google Android apps.

You return to the main menu of the ClockworkMod Recovery tool and select to reboot your phone. After about 2 minutes, it should boot and then run on the custom Android firmware.

7. ENJOY YOUR NEW ANDROID PHONE!

Besides updating your phone to a more recent version of Android, CyanogenMod and MIUI can also give it new features and tools, which include better power management, Wi-Fi tethering, stronger security settings, and broader personal customization of the UI. Many users report their phones run faster with one of these unofficial OSs than with the version of Android that came originally installed on it.

UFC President Hacked After Going toe-to-toe with Anonymous

Summary: Anonymous took control of UFC's Web site briefly and that led to UFC President Dana White calling them 'terrorists.'

In a recent interview, mixed-martial arts chief Dana White suggested that members of the hacktivist group Anonymous were "cowards" and "terrorists."

White, who helped found the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which nation's largest promoter of mixed-martial arts fights, then engaged alleged members of Anonymous in a debate via Twitter about his support for the controversial and now dead Stop Online Piracy Act and the morality of hacking sites as a political statement.

According to a report, Anonymous got the final word. Shortly after the debate, someone posted to the Internet White's social security number, mobile phone number, address and for a brief period his wife's name.

White is only the latest copyright owner or public figure to see their personal information posted to the Web as part of hack attacks launched by Anonymous. The group is accused of circulating personal information belonging to Jeff Bewkes, CEO of media conglomerate Time Warner, and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

The attacks began when Anonymous hacked into UFC's Web site a week ago and briefly redirected traffic to a site associated with the group. That's when White made his comments about cowards and terrorists. On Thursday evening a Twitter debate ensued between White and @YourAnonNews, a Twitter account closely associated with Anonymous.

The debate was heated for a while but then both sides seemed to agree to disagree and that was it. Or at least that was it until White's personal information was published.

This is what White told MMA Fighting which seemed to draw the ire of Anonymous: "The way this whole thing has gone down, them hacking our site is the best thing they ever could have done for us. Because what that does is, now, you look like terrorists and now a lot of people who were afraid of you now hate you. Is this bill (SOPA) perfect? No. No bill is perfect. I think this thing started off with the right idea. Stealing is stealing.

You can read the entire Twitter debate here.

Android Malware Now Exploits Steganography

Summary: Malware makers are turning to quite sophisticated tricks to disguise the true purpose of rogue applications.

Security firm F-Secure have released details on how Android malware makes use of steganography to hide the control parameters for rogue code.

First, what is steganography? It’s the technique of hiding messages within something else, in this case, an icon file.

F-Secure first suspected that Android malware was making use of steganography when researchers came across this line of code:

Further digging revealed more code, and it soon became clear that the image file being referenced here was the icon file bundled with the rogue application:

So what’s this hidden information used for? It’s used to control how and when premium rate SMS messages are sent from the victim’s handset, which, as far as the bad guys are concerned, is the primary purpose of the rogue application.

You’ve got to admit, that’s a pretty clever use of steganography.

Ntoskrnl.exe corrupt Permanent Solution

ntoskrnl.exe (and ntkrnlpa.exe on systems with Physical Address Extension support) is the kernel image for the family of Microsoft Windows NT operating systems. It provides the kernel and executive layers of the Windows NT kernel space, and is responsible for various system services such as hardware virtualization, process and memory management, etc., thus making it a fundamental part of the system. It contains the cache manager, the executive, the kernel, the security reference monitor, the memory manager, and the scheduler, among other things.

Remedy

Boot to the installation CD.
When offered the choice to Install, Repair, or Quit, select repair.
When prompted select the installation you want to repair (usually "1" ).
When prompted enter the administrator password (if any).
The screen will show:

C:\Windows

Find the drive letter of your CD by typing:

cd D:\

If that finds the CD, it will show

D:\

on the screen.

Then type

copy ntoskrnl.exe C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32

and press the enter key.

The next line should show it was successfully copied.

Power-off.
Power-on.
The computer should now POST and boot into xp64.

Gnome-Session-Fallback Review : How To Resize Panel Size in Gnome Session Fallback

Click at the picture to enlarge

Since released, Gnome 3 has made so many controversies. Major of unsatisfied users said that gnome-shell is too complicated and less in functionality and overall user productivity. Also, for them, the “Classic” mode of Gnome 3 (that called Gnome Fallback) was less satisfying, and although resembles the old Gnome 2 desktop, it is not actually Gnome 2 in UI design.

So later, born a fork of Gnome 2 called Mate. But, after tried, I can say that, even though it is the real Gnome 2 I've been so familiar, Mate is still far from stable and mature (yeah, it is a reborn from death). I've found enough bugs and incomplete features in Mate, and I just can say, I can't use Mate yet as an “operational” desktop. But, can't be forgotten, we must give very big appreciation to Mate developer and its team, for bringing back Gnome 2 alive from the death.

As a gnome user, I always feel incomplete when use another DE like LXDE and XFCE. Maybe KDE could give me an answer, but sadly, this DE is still too resource hungry and slow in my old P4 PC. Then I tried to use “Classic” mode of Gnome 3 (or called Fallback Session) and overall, I must say, that I've enough satisfied ! Even though this is not Gnome 2, but in the functionality, it has given me all I need to work in PC.

The most first thing we must do is install the desktop. In Ubuntu, we just can install it by terminal :

sudo apt-get install gnome-session-fallback.

Overall, I didn't found any notable bugs in Gnome 3 Fallback, except one bug in appearance. The default top panel, couldn't be resized to gorgeous 24 pixels panel as Gnome 2 had. The panel size is big and looks so ugly and horrible. But, after Googled, I found a solving from THIS PAGE :

1. Create a configuration file

Go to Home, and show hidden files (Ctrl+H)

Create a directory inside .config directory named gtk-3.0 (/home/.config/gtk3-0

Inside gtk-3.0, create a file settings.ini and write these strings :

[Settings]

gtk-icon-sizes = panel-menu=16,16:gtk-large-toolbar=16,16

2. To fix the panel background, I use solid color option, by clicking Alt+Right Click on panel and select properties (same as Gnome 2 panel properties).

3. To change the themes (gtk themes and icon themes), I use Gnome Tweak Tool, and available in Ubuntu repository, so I can easily install it by : sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool.

This is my experience using Gnome Fallback in Ubuntu 11.10, and my conclusion is :

Although it is not perfectly our Great & Gorgeous Gnome 2 desktop, it is NOT BAD. It runs fast enough in my old P4 PC :)

Technical comparison :

OS : Ubuntu 11.10

CPU : Intel Pentium4 2,4 GHz

Memory : 2 GB

Nokia seeds a new MeeGo PR1.2 beta, detailed changelog included

Little over a week ago Nokia released N9 PR1.2 beta version to the Nokia N950 developer device but at the time we didn't have the full changelog at the time.


Well now we do - it includes 5 new languages, app folders, extended copy-and-paste support (finally!), lockscreen music controls, front camera support, etc. Also there are many bug fixes and tweaks. We can't wait to take it for a spin on the N9.
Here are the most noteworthy improvements in the N9 PR1.2 beta version.
• Software update notifications for content in Nokia Store
• Face recognition for gallery and face tags for Facebook
• Support for folders in the application view
• Mail thread support in the Email client
• Extended copy-paste support
• Media sharing with DLNA compatible devices
• Compass support in Maps
• New font taken into use
• Front camera support
• Video editing support in the Gallery application
• Separate switch for controlling mobile background connections while roaming
• Camera: self timer, grid on/off control
• Clock alarm becomes silent by flipping the device face down instead of snoozing
• People view added to the grid toolbar in the gallery
• Audiobook and podcast support in the music player
• Ability to create playlists in the music player
• Ability to delete music files from music player library views via object menu
Users who own the N950 and are eager to test out the new beta should know that upon updating there's no going back to version 1.1. MeeGo doesn't allow moving down beta versions.

Download uTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client

µTorrent (or uTorrent; commonly abbreviated as "µT" or "uT") is a freeware, closed source BitTorrent client now owned by BitTorrent, Inc. It is the most widely used BitTorrent client outside China (where Xunlei is more popular). It gets the "µ" in its name from the SI prefix "micro-", referring to the program's small memory footprint: the program was designed to use minimal computer resources while offering functionality comparable to larger BitTorrent clients such as Vuze or BitComet. The program has received consistently good reviews for its feature set, performance, stability, and support for older hardware and versions of Windows.

The program has been in active development since its first release in 2005. Although originally developed by Ludvig Strigeus, since December 7, 2006, the code is owned and maintained by BitTorrent, Inc. The code has also been employed by BitTorrent, Inc. as the basis for version 6.0 and above of the BitTorrent client, a re-branded version of uTorrent.

uTorrent is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. A uTorrent Server is also available for Linux. All versions are written in C++.

Download uTorrent

Windows  //  Mac  //  Linux

One-on-One with Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich and I go a long way back to the beginning of the Reagan supply-side revival of free market capitalism. I thought we shared that philosophy. But his attacks on Bain Capital using the class envy language of the left against capitalist success is a great disappointment to me. Newt resumed that Bain attack when he said in Florida that Mitt “lives in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatic $20 million income for no work.”

Romney’s success earned his income. And his successful investments all represent market opportunities. However, once again I fear that Newt is all too willing to sacrifice his principles for political expediency in the heat of the campaign. Here is the interview with my criticisms and Newt’s responses (in two parts):

Popularity Doesn't Pay The Rent.

There's liked and then there's popular. Marketers must be alert to the difference and remember that awareness is only part of the battle.

If they had been genuinely popular, they wouldn't be closing down.

Obama's Tax Hike 'Designed to Come at Me': Romney

President Obama's proposal to increase taxes on the rich is "designed to come at me," GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney told me in an exclusive interview yesterday.

In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, Obama proposed a minimum 30 percent tax rate on Americans earning more than $1 million a year.

The proposal—known as the "Buffett Tax" after Warren Buffett famously said his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does— was a key part of the president's populist push for "fairness" in his speech to the nation.

The plan is "designed to come at me if I'm the nominee," Romney said in a taped interview. "If I happen not to be the nominee, he'll still take the 99-versus-one attack. He's really trying to divide America."

Romney, who gave a glimpse inside his personal fortune on Tuesday by releasing his U.S. tax returns, paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010 and expects to pay a 15.4 percent effective rate when he files his return for 2011.

Those rates are far below the top income tax rate on wages, which is 35 percent, because the U.S. tax code favors capital gains and other investment income by taxing them at 15 percent.

"The question is whether we're going to eliminate the capital gains tax break," Romney said. "So if you say we're going to raise that dramatically, you're going to choke off a lot of the capital that goes into creating new enterprises and creating jobs. It's the wrong way to go."

Romney said Republicans are not all about the rich. "I'm fighting to help middle class Americans get better jobs and better incomes. People who have been successful understand the path to success — we want everyone to enjoy success in America."

Drivers

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Make Marketing Customer-Centric.

My apologies for the poor photograph, but it's very lack of detail actually serves to back up one of the points I'm going to make. It features one of a series of advertisements that have appeared in train carriages in recent months and illustrates some dangerous business thinking. It's technology-centric, marketing-focussed and customer-indifferent.

It's technology-centric because it's promoting some dubious technology-enabled utilities. In this case, "travel alerts"; in another, "personalised timetables" and; in all of them, services that are cheap add-ons derived from the train company's ability to manipulate data rather than from any genuine customer need or request.

It's marketing-focussed because it's promoting these services by intruding on the eyeballs of paying customers who might prefer the inside of their carriages to be more aesthetically pleasing.

And it's customer-indifferent because of both its technology-centrism and its marketing focus and also because of its remarkable use of a QR code. No, this is not yet another post about the industry's fixation with this questionable technology. Just look again at that photo and note the angle of the poster. Now consider how that relates to me the passenger - something that the marketers clearly hadn't done.

Are they really thinking I will stand up in the middle of a train carriage - that hive of self-consciousness and timidity - just so I can aim my phone at an ad? Unsurprisingly, I didn't - hence the poor photo, but even if I had chosen to draw attention to myself, what chance would I have of contorting my phone to the right alignment as the train moved along?

Veritably, a multi-layered example of marketing because you can rather than marketing because you should; of marketing to the client and the industry rather than marketing to the customer; and of marketing to the future rather than marketing to the here and now.

Marketing Data Granularity.

This week Nike launched its FuelBand accelerometer. It’s the latest extension of their Nike+ ecosystem and is predicated on the conclusion (derived no doubt from all the data Nike+ has allowed them to collect) that goal-setting is the key to successful exercise campaigns.

The FuelBand represents this through a single number that users can use as a measure of their progress. Its simple and elegant, but I was struck by their suggestion that people don’t need extreme granularity.

I can see why they might conclude this. Most people are looking for an easy life and tend to characterise extra detail as complexity and when I first started hearing the term (a couple of years ago) I had no idea what it meant. But the time I’ve spent around “self-quantifiers” has shown me that “amateurs” will go to extraordinary lengths to acquire granularity once they know what it is.

This and the time I’ve spent with the VRM movement convinces me there's a big group of people who would be thrilled with extreme granularity if there were third party intermediaries to interpret it for them. To interpret it in a way that stretches beyond a single number.

Now, FuelBand does seem to offer some degree of extra parameters but it's not clear that they won't also be similarly condensed. Maybe true user access to all their data will be the next stage. It needs to be because further engagement of already engaged people has to come from intrinsic motivation, rather than extrinsic gamification. It’s not just about how much they improved, but how they improved. That way lies even greater branded utility.

Anonymous Attacks RIAA, MPAA, Department of Justice Websites

Although we haven’t heard much from them lately, the hacktivist group Anonymous is claiming credit on Twitter that it has attacked the websites belonging to government agencies as well as the entertainment industry on Thursday.

So far, Anonymous has successfully shuttered the websites belonging to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America, and Universal Music.

On Thursday afternoon, the sites of the former three organizations were completely down, while Universal Music’s page only read “The Site is under maintenance. Please expect it to be back shortly.”

The security breaches come after several arrests this morning concerning Megaupload, a file sharing service company.

They can also be summed down to the sentiments in this AnonDaily tweet:

#StarveTheBeast Trend this. The entertainment industries will see that they can not simply censor us for the basis of profit.

These events also come one day after many websites, including Wikipedia and Reddit, went dark to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).

The group is reportedly also going after WhiteHouse.gov, but that portal was still up and running normally at the time this post was published.

Anonymous also threatened (and successfully thus far) launched mass DDoS attacks against music royalties firm BMI and the U.S. Copyright Office.

Previously responsible for many other notable attacks and inciting protests across the globe last year, Anonymous boasted today’s events as its “the largest on scale attack ever” at a record of 10 sites in 20 minutes.

Based on Anonymous’ Twitter feed, we can also expect attacks the sites of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Viacom, The Regents of the University of California, former U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (also chairman and CEO of the MPAA), and any organization that has publicly voiced support for SOPA.

PR1.2 update spotted on Nokia N9, to bring video calls and folders

Sometimes you're just lucky - like this guy who found out his Nokia N9 is already running the upcoming PR1.2 update. The changelog for the update promises video calling support, app folders, improvements for the camera and gallery (we've already gotten a taste of the refreshed interface for the camera and the face recognition in the gallery).
Tamerbatar, a Talk Maemo forum member was kind enough to share some screenshots with the rest of us who are still running PR1.1 and here they are.

Screenshots of PR1.2 update for Nokia N9
The copy/paste functionality in the browser is new too, although it wasn’t mentioned in the changelog.

Nokia expected to sell 37 million Windows Phones in 2012

According to analyst company Morgan Stanley, this year is going to be a very successful one for Nokia and its WP smartphones. The Finns made a rapid change an effort changing their focus and direction and now is the fruits of their hard work are going to pay off.

Atleast that's what analysts think. In 2012, Morgan Stanley expects Nokia's Windows Phone shipments to hit 37 million units and double to 64 million in 2013. This means that in the next two years Nokia's Windows Phone devices will overtake their Symbian smartphones' sales.
Just for comparison, Morgan Stanley says that HTC will ship 6 million Windows Phone smartphones this year and 10 million in 2013.
Those numbers sound pretty well considering that Windows Phone 7 OS hasn't been around for as long as its iOS and Android rivals. Maybe 2012 will be the year when Windows Phone finally makes an impact. We know the forecasts don't sound right given the current state of the platform, but things develop at great speed in this business, so they might turn out true.

LTE-packing Nokia Lumia 900 is finally official, exclusive to AT&T

Just as expected, Nokia used their CES 2012 press conference to announce their latest Windows Phone smartphone – the Nokia Lumia 900. Coming with LTE connectivity and a 4.3” ClearBlack AMOLED, the Lumia 900 is going to be an AT&T exclusive at launch.

Nokia Lumia 900 official photos
Despite earlier rumors, the Nokia Lumia 900 comes with a polycarbonate unibody just like the Lumia 800. The two more expensive Lumia smartphones also share the same 8 megapixel camera with 28mm wide-angle F/2.2 lens and 1.4GHz Scorpion CPU.

Nokia Lumia 900 announcement event
However, the Nokia Lumia 900 packs a front-facing camera, unlike its sibling. The Lumia 900 also runs on a larger 1830 mAh battery.

Nokia Lumia 900 announcement event
According to Nokia, the Lumia 900 is the first real WP smartphone designed for the US market. Unfortunately, the Finns didn't say when it will hit the shelves or how much it will cost.

Why People Hate Marketing.

 

It's not marketing of course. It's an amalgamation of ideas that have been knocking around for the past few years bundled together with nonsensical jargon and a ripped-off presentation style.

The thinking isn't bad, but the most impressive thing is being able to say "Liquid linkage to big fat fertile spaces" with a straight face.

Sony website defaced by second hacker

A defacer affiliated with Anonymous vandalised Sony's online front door this week over the corporate behemoth's support of SOPA, a hated anti-piracy law proposed in the US.

The Sony Picture's website was defaced and clearly unauthorised comments were posted on the media giant's Facebook page. The digital graffiti was scribbled by a hacker who uses the Twitter handle s3rver_exe. Both acts of vandalism were rapidly purged, while the YouTube video illustrating the hack was quickly pulled.

Neither cyber-assault was significant as the perp readily concedes. Even so, the latest security breach doesn't reflect well on Sony's much vaunted efforts to bolster its electronic defences following last year's PlayStation Network hack, which forced Sony to take down its gaming platform for weeks.

In an ironic twist, the Twitter account of @s3rver_exe was hacked on Friday in the wake of the #OpSony pawnage.

"Sony was hacked because the admin panel was not encrypted ROFL. And I have got my account back," s3rver_exe said. "I don't know why the hacker hacked me. I think he did it for the lulz."

"The hack wasn't big but still the servers were vulnerable and I got access to the admin too," he later added.

List of Facebook Keyboard Shortcuts

Facebook has a small, but useful set of keyboard shortcuts you can use to navigate the social networking site.

The shortcuts work best with Chrome in Windows and Firefox on Mac OS X, because they only need one modifier key, plus the shortcut key. Also keep in mind that the number shortcuts must be pressed from the number row; they don't work with the number pad.

Here are the keyboard shortcuts for Facebook:

Windows
Firefox modifier: Shift + Alt + #
Chrome modifier: Alt + #

Mac
Firefox modifier: Control + #
Chrome modifier: Control + Option + #
Safari modifier: Control + Option + #

Shortcuts
1 : home
2 : timeline/profile
3 : friends
4 : messages
5 : notifications
6 : general account settings
7 : privacy settings
8 : Facebook's Facebook page
9 : legal terms
0 : help center
m : new message
? : search

That's it. If you're wondering why Internet Explorer 9 was left out, it's because only the home and timeline shortcuts seem to work. If you want to use IE9 anyway, the modifier is Alt + #, then Enter.

Worm compromises 45,000+ Facebook logins

A nasty bit of malware making the rounds on Facebook has reportedly made off with the usernames and passwords of more than 45,000 users.

Most of those affected by the worm--called Ramnit--are from France and the United Kingdom, according to a bulletin issued by security researchers at Securlet. It is capable of infecting Windows executables, Microsoft Office, and HTML files, according to McAfee.

"We suspect that the attackers behind Ramnit are using the stolen credentials to log-in to victims' Facebook accounts and to transmit malicious links to their friends, thereby magnifying the malware's spread even further," Securlet said in its bulletin. "In addition, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the fact that users tend to use the same password in various web-based services (Facebook, Gmail, Corporate SSL VPN, Outlook Web Access, etc.) to gain remote access to corporate networks."

The worm was first discovered in April 2010 stealing sensitive information such as stored FTP credentials and browser cookies. In August 2011, after malware developers borrowed source code from the Zeus botnet, Ramnit "went financial." With that added strength, Ramnit was able to "gain remote access to financial institutions, compromise online banking sessions and penetrate several corporate networks." Approximately 800,000 machines were infected between September 2011 and the end of the year.

The security researcher has notified Facebook and provided the social-networking giant with all the stolen credentials found on Ramnit's server.

Researchers discovers keylogging threats in Mozilla

Security researcher Mario Heiderich reported to the maker of Firefox last year that he had found an unusual vulnerability in the browser and two other Mozilla products that run on the Gecko engine, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey. Based in the relatively new technology that allows for animated complex vector graphics in the browser, called SVG animation, the vulnerability allowed for a malware writer to detect key strokes even when JavaScript was disabled.

Basically, he found a way to turn innocuous Web pages into keyloggers. Mozilla patched the vulnerability in Firefox 9, Thunderbird 9, and SeaMonkey 2.6. Then, as is standard operating procedure, they announced to the public what the threat was and that it had been fixed. But the real threat may lie in what the threat wasn't: it wasn't based in JavaScript.

"The basic premise of my research currently is scriptless attacks, meaning attack vectors working in a post-XSS world," Heiderich said in an e-mail. He defined a "post-XSS" world as one where the cross-site scripting attack had been more or less minimized by technologies like sandboxed iFrames, Mozilla's e-mail client Thunderbird and Firefox's Content Security Policy, the JavaScript blocking browser add-on NoScript, and Windows 8.

"The desired goal was to do keystroke logging in the browser, doing so without necessitating JavaScript, so even if you turned off JavaScript it would work," said Jeremiah Grossman, Chief Technical Officer at computer security research firm White Hat Security. "All the browser developers are fixing cross-site scripting. What half a dozen researchers are exploring is what you can do attack-wise in a browser without JavaScript. They're discovering that there's still quite a lot you can do in the browser."

This particular SVG keylogging attack was quite nasty, said Chris Eng, vice president of research at Veracode, a computer security research firm. "The way [it] works is that [the bad guy] binds the letter "a" to an action that causes the browser to sliently issue a request for http://evil.com/?a. Pressing "b" would trigger the browser to silently issue a request for http://evil.com/?b. By "silently" I mean that there's no visual cues to the user that anything is happening--if you were monitoring the network you would see the requests. As long as the attacker controls evil.com and can access the web server logs, he can piece together what the victim is typing, one character at a time."

Eng noted that this kind of problem always erupts whenever new standards are rolled out, especially with "extremely detailed and sometimes difficult to understand" attributes. You don't have to go far to find evidence of this, either. Both Mozilla and Google offer hefty bounties for bug-hunters. Eng both cautioned against screaming that the sky was falling and said that this kind of attack was inherently more interesting to researchers.

As unlikely as Eng said it is for an average browser user to fall victim to these atypical but hard to implement attacks, Heiderich warned that it's not anomalous. "The SVG keylogger is just one example of many, and by far not the most impact ridden one," said Heiderich.

Another factor is that the major browser makers, including Google, Mozilla, Microsoft, Apple, and Opera, are all fairly responsive to fixing these threat vectors when discovered, said Grossman. But that doesn't mean that there aren't steps for the home user to take.

One way to minimize the risk from this kind of modern threat is to compartmentalize your risk, he said. "The best way [to protect yourself] is behavior, not product. Whether in Firefox, IE, or Chrome, I would use any one of the major browsers for secure browsing, such as banking or Facebook. For promiscuous browsing, such as news surfing, I use a different browser.

Eng concurred and said that there aren't many defenses against attacks that don't rely on JavaScript. "You usually have to just wait for the browser bugs to be fixed. So my options are more limited--either don't use that browser at all, use a completely separate browser for trusted sites versus untrusted ones, [or] stay off the Internet."