Monthly Archives: August 2009

URL shortener tr.im shuts down

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The Nambu network; owners of tr.im, a URL shortener, has announced that the service will be shut down as from today.

Recently, the service has gone through many outages and the ‘fail banana’(yes, a banana) has been seen frequently.

The reasons stated are that it’s impossible to monetize it and bit.ly has won the URL shortener ‘war’ since it was announced as the default shortener for links on Twitter. They say that “We made our best efforts to sell tr.im before this announcement.”. Personally, I think that it’s really unfair that they didn’t allow users to export their statistics before closing the service. The links will work until at least December 31 2009.

I agree with the first statement as it’s really difficult, if not impossible, to monetize it. For example, if they decide to insert ads on redirected  pages, people will flock to the plethora of ad-free URL shorteners. However, I don’t agree with the second as I believe that as long as people are using a service, it has a chance of becoming popular: Two years ago, TinyURL was the ‘king’ of URL shorteners, today it’s bit.ly, next year it could be another, who knows?

The service had many advantages, namely:

  • A killer domain name.
  • Good and beautifully-presented statistics.
  • A Firefox add-on.

If you were a frequent user and are looking for an alternative service or you just want to try something new, please checkout the Etiole Network’s very own URL shortener Hop.im.

P.S. I’m Saajid Vawda(sjdvda), one of the new writers on Etiole, you can visit my blog or you can follow me on Twitter.

Samsung goes Eco-Friendly with it’s Bio Phone Reclaim

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Here’s what your going to love about Samsung. Samsung has launched it’s latest bio-phone called reclaim.

So what’s Special About it?

Well, this is a Cellphone in which 80% of it’s components are made from recycled substances. The Text + Images on the box are completely eco-friendly. They are ink used is Soya Ink. The Charger gets a very high rating from Energy Star, but thats not it but It is 12 times less than the consumption limits set by Energy Star.

Features?

  • 3G connectivity
  • Qwerty Keyboard
  • GPS
  • 2 Mp Camera
  • Bluetooth 2.0
  • Expandable Memory upto 32 Gb!
  • Social Media Features which include integration with Twitter and FaceBook

Looks?

Device will be available in Green and Blue colors and the device originates it’s looks from Palm’s Pre.

Pricing?

It will be available at $50 from Sprint with a 2 year contract from 16th August. Also a small amount from the money earnt from each handset will go to the Nature Conservancy’s Adopt Program.

Thanks OnlyGizmos.

iTunes 9 : Most likely to have Blu-Ray Support

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Apple’s Mysteries are all what Bloggers around the Blogosphere are solving. But in Midst of this their is another Rumor popping in and it’s not about iPhone or the Web Tablet. It’s about iTunes 9.

Itunes 9 is supposed to have many new features.

  • Blu-Ray Support
  • Users will get the ability to visually manage their applications on their iPhone and iPod touch
  • Along with that, some social media integrations to take place too. Twitter and FaceBook are more likely to be added.  We are not sure about this feature in particular as to what it might be, something like broadcast your playlist, or perhaps twitter what your listening too.

iTunes is more likely to be out in the september time when apple has many iPod events and it is also being said that Apple may refresh it’s iMac lineup. Let’s Get ready for it!

Windows XP SP3 Browser Performance Beats Windows 7 RTM

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Windows 7 Seems to be called as the best OS in the Windows line. Is that so? Reports don’t suggest so. Well the picture above shows the difference between the OS Browser Speed difference.

Windows Vista beats Windows 7 by 17.1%. Well it is very surprising, as it has been claimed that Windows 7 is supposed to be the fastest operating system among Windows, Windows Xp beats it. 

Chrome and Safari tend to work the best and fastest on the windows OS and even more faster on Windows XP SP3.

Thanks BetaNews.

Apple’s 1 Billion Dollar Tablet Computer : Will Compete with netbooks without being a netbook

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Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster just released a reports to his clients regarding the Apple’s Much Rumored Netbook. It had some calculations along with some Representations of what the actual device would be. He Said

Last week we spoke with an Asian component supplier that has received orders from Apple for a touch-screen device to be fulfilled by late [calendar year] 09,” he writes. “This data point underscores our thesis that a tablet will likely launch in early [2010].

apple_tablet

It seems like the Rumor might be true, but we can’t say with 100% confidence, but whatever it may be i am excited. Anyways the features which might be there are -

 

  • Applications meant for iPhone will work on it + some new apps for the tablet.
  • It will be used for Internet Surfing, Digital Media and serve uses just like what iPhone did.
  • It may include a Cellular 3g modem.
  • Pricing might be between $500-$600
  • If Apple is able to sell 2 Million units for $600 each, it will easily generate $1.2 Billion which is a huge amount.

Thanks CNN.

Youtube, New Mobile Versions out : Now enjoy on your small screen!

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I access youtube from my iPod and Cell Phone even more than i do it from my Computer. It’s obvious that Google does notice it. 

Now if more people are using it, it will surely want to improve the current Interface and make it more easy for people to access, share and watch videos online on youtube. So recently when i checked out the YouTube homepage i found it  as

Picture 2Well later i learnt from the Youtube blog that they had launched a new version of their website for Mobile devices which will make our job a hell lot easier. I like it. It will be available for iPhone, G1, Palm Pre and many more. Just check it out from your mobile device and enjoy!

Google Voice coming to iPhone but with a Web User Interface!

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There’s a hell lot of things that have happened since the Google-Apple war has began. Eric Schidmt, Google’s Ceo had to resign from Apple’s Board of Directors. Then FCC looked into the matter why Google Voice App had been banned by Apple. None of the users are happy from this, atleast i am not.

Inorder to replace the App which had been banned from the App Store Google has decided to launch a web app of Google Voice on iPhone. It will have all the features that were to be present in the Earlier app, but this time it would be just a browser version. Apart from the you can  also add a icon to your home screen too.

According to the New York Times

Google says it is readying a replacement for the Google Voice app that will offer exactly the same features as the rejected app—except that it will take the form of a specialized, iPhone-shaped Web page. For all intents and purposes, it will behave exactly the same as the app would have; you can even install it as an icon on your Home screen.

Its more similar to the iPhone version of iPhone where the User Interface has been specially built for iPhone users. Seems pretty cool to me and i am very excited for this! Go-ogle-GO!

Read : Why did Apple Reject Google Voice Application for iPhone? : FCC asks

How much ever you try Microsoft, you’ll fail : Hackers win against software giant

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It’s not long time since Windows 7 RTM had been announced. But now if you check out popular torrent websites, you will already find the Cracked Version of Windows 7 Ultimate RTM there!

The Hackers somehow managed to steal OEM disc of Windows 7 which was originally meant for Lenovo. Easy Task. Now came the cracking part. It was the same as it was while cracking up Windows Vista. Activation key was murmured from the Disc itself.

But there’s a twist there. The hackers had to change some Hardware settings to make the crack work on their PC. This is the first time something like this has happened. And i think it’s good, Microsoft is working towards stopping piracy but better luck next time, you loose Microsoft!

iPhone Killa : You know a iPhone Killer? This ones for you! [ROFL Video]

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Whenever i read the newspaper, all i see is this – “Is **** going to be the iPhone Killer?” and **** is not what your thinking it to be but any phones name like Nokia N97 or Google’s G1 or Palm Pre.

In midst of all this Erik Johnson had time to make a video, which is a mashup of all these things going on. 

He Writes

I recently produced a video parody of iPhone “Killers” that have become a buzzword lately. This pokes fun at these phones that offer little competition to the iPhone, even though they are hyped up from other mobile phone manufacturers and the media.

Well it’s true, worst of the phones are getting termed as iPhone killer. Anyways check out the video after break!

iPhone Killaa… Killaaa. iPhone killaaa… Yeah!