Canon 18 Megapixels EOS Rebel T4i DSLR Camera Hands-on Review by ePhotoZine - DSLRphoto.com

Canon announced the highly anticipated EOS Rebel T4i (aka 650D) DSLR camera. This entry-level DSLR is equipped with a new 18 Megapixels CMOS sensor that offers a hybrid of phase and contrast autofocus, DIGIC 5 Image Processor, and 3.0-inch vari-angle LCD touch screen with 1.04 million dots resolution. Borrows from the EOS 60D DSLR, the T4i features a new AF system with a 9-point all cross-type sensor array and Hybrid CMOS AF to achieve fast focus when shooting stills or video in Live View mode. There is also a new Movie Servo AF mode for a continuous AF during HD video recording when using the newly introduced Stepping Motor (STM) lenses. The T4i also comes with stereo microphone, 5fps burst shooting (versus T3i's 3.7fps), ISO range up to 12800 (expandable to 25600), adjustable noise reduction strengths and two new creative filters: art bold and water painting.There are two new STM lenses that's announced along with the T4i - the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens and EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens. Both are Stepping Motor STM lenses which can support smooth and silent focusing to achieve continuous AF while recording video.

The EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens also comes with Dynamic IS (Movie Shooting Mode only) that uses a wide image stabilization correction range to help ensure steady video. The one-inch thick EF 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens boosts an aperture of f/2.8 making it an ideal lens for capturing portrait stills or video. The Canon EOS Rebel T4i is listed for an estimated $849 body-only, or $949 with an 18-55mm kit lens, or $1,199 with the new 18-135mm kit lens. That lens alone is listed for $549, and the new 40mm pancake is listed for $199. Here's the summary of hands-on review by ePhotoZine:"At the Jessops re-launch of the New Oxford Street store in London, we had a hands-on look at the new Canon EOS 650D in the Canon section of the store. Unfortunately it was a pre-production sample so we were unable to put a memory card in it to have a look at the image quality. We were, however, able to use the camera's new touch-screen interface, this lets you touch an area of the screen to select focus and take a photo. It's also possible to use the rear control screen to change settings directly on the screen. There are further benefits in playback with swipe to go from photo to photo, as well as multi-touch zooming - much like the iPhone interface. There are also new creative filters in playback mode. Improved live view and video modes are thanks to a new sensor based 9 cross type hybrid focus system, that is said to be more precise than the focus system on the 600D. Another benefit for anyone recording video is the built in stereo microphones. The 650D now features in-camera HDR creation, combining three exposures into one shot with extended dynamic range. There is also lens aberration correction, that now corrects for chromatic aberration, based on built in lens profiles. Pressing the Q button on the touch-screen activates the rear control screen, letting you change options. Live view focus seemed a little slow with the 18-55mm lens, although it will be interesting to see how a final production version performs, particularly with the new lenses and we will be putting the camera through the full tests when we get the camera in to review."

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Talk of Microsoft tablet resurfaces

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is gearing up to unveil its own tablet to boost its new Windows 8 operating system and counter Apple Inc's hot-selling iPad, according to media reports on Friday.

Such an effort, which the company has not confirmed, would be a departure from its usual focus on software and potentially throw Microsoft into direct competition with its closest hardware partners such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> and Hewlett-Packard Co .

The world's largest software company has invited media to a "major" announcement in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, but has not provided any details.

In the absence of information, talk is swirling that Microsoft will introduce its own tablet, according to anonymously sourced reports in the New York Times and the AllThingsD tech blog. Microsoft declined comment on the subject and those reports.

It is not the first time such talk has surfaced, as Microsoft looks for a way to make an impact with its new tablet-friendly Windows 8 operating system and put the best product it can in the market to counter Apple's iPad.

Apple, which makes both hardware and software for greater control over the performance of the final product, has revolutionized mobile markets with its smooth, seamless phones and tablets. Rival Google Inc may experiment with a similar approach after buying phone maker Motorola Mobility this year.

"Anything is possible if they don't feel their partners are doing it right," said Michael Silver, an analyst at tech research firm Gartner. "But it's hard to compete with companies that sell your stuff and still have a great relationship with them."

Other analysts suggested an own-branded tablet may be chiefly aimed at kick-starting the market for Windows tablets working on ARM Holdings Plc microprocessors - a new venture for Microsoft, which has traditionally relied on Intel Corp chips.

Microsoft charges hardware makers $50 or more to incorporate its software in machines and analysts suggest that hardware makers are struggling to produce tablets at a low enough price to challenge the iPad. By making its own tablets, Microsoft would presumably use its software for free, bringing down the overall price.

"It suggests to me that they've struggled to get OEMs (hardware makers) on board to bring the prices down, so they feel they have to subsidize these products to get them out of the door, at least in the first iteration," said Al Hilwa, an analyst at tech research firm IDC.

Making its own hardware for such an important product would be a departure for Microsoft, which based its success on licensing its software to other manufacturers, stressing the importance of "partners" and the Windows "ecosystem."

When it has ventured into hardware, the Redmond, Washington-based company has a mixed record.

Apart from keyboards and mice, the Xbox game console was its first foray into major manufacturing. That is now a successful business, but only after billions of dollars of investment and overcoming problems with high rates of faulty units - a problem which was nicknamed the "red ring of death" by gamers.

The company's Microsoft-branded Zune music player, a late rival to Apple's iPod, was not a success and its unpopular Kin phone was taken off the market shortly after introduction.

Microsoft has tried hard to generate the type of excitement Apple gets for its secretive product launches, but usually disappoints. Talk was rife at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2010 that Microsoft would pre-empt Apple's iPad with a slate of its own devising, but it never materialized.

The company killed off a two-screen, slate-style prototype called Courier later that year, saying the technology might emerge in another form later on.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; editing by Andre Grenon)

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Time Inc to sell magazine subscriptions on Apple Newsstand

(Reuters) - Time Inc's stable of 20 magazines, including Sports Illustrated and People, are now available for subscription on Apple's Newsstand, the company said on Thursday.

The publishing arm of Time Warner Inc was the last holdout, among large magazine companies, to agree to sell subscriptions through Apple Newsstand.

"It's an important step toward fulfilling our goal of being everywhere consumers want us to be," Laura Lang, Time Inc CEO said in a statement.

Prior to the announcement, consumers have had to go through each magazine's website to get a digital subscription for the iPad.

Existing print subscribers of Time Inc will be able to access the digital editions at no additional cost.

Single-copy editions have always been available through Apple.

A bone of contention for publishers - since Apple launched the iPad in the spring of 2010 and courted content providers - has been the control of subscriber data and the cut of revenue Apple takes from publications. Typically, Apple takes a 30 percent cut from titles sold through its Newsstand.

Apple has wanted to be the primary contact for magazine subscribers, essentially controlling valuable information like addresses and other demographic details. Magazines, too, are keen on this data, which they use to sell advertising.

Subscribers may choose to share their data with the publisher, a process known in the industry as "opting in."

Terms of the deal with Time Inc were not disclosed.

(Reporting by Jennifer Saba. Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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SEC questioned Facebook about Zynga, mobile

NEW YORK (AP) — As Facebook's much-anticipated public stock offering approached, federal regulators wanted to know more about the revenue it gets from mobile devices, its $1 billion deal to buy Instagram and the control CEO Mark Zuckerberg has over the company.

Documents filed Friday show the back-and-forth the social-networking company had with the Securities and Exchange Commission on a variety of issues. As all companies do, Facebook Inc. amended its regulatory documents several times ahead of its initial public offering of stock. But the communications leading to those changes weren't public until now.

Facebook disclosed its letters with the SEC in regulatory filings Friday. The filings are a usual part of the IPO process. The letters are typically confidential until about 30 days following an IPO. Facebook's IPO took place May 17.

The communications in the months leading to Facebook's IPO have received greater scrutiny in part because of investor concerns about the company's ability to make money from its growing mobile audience. Facebook's stock price has lost more than a fifth of its value since the IPO. Many analysts, however, hold positive long-term opinions.

Facebook faces more than 40 lawsuits over the IPO. The lawsuits allege that analysts at the large underwriting investment banks cut their second-quarter and full-year forecasts for Facebook just before the IPO and told only a handful of clients. Facebook has called the lawsuits "without merit."

In a separate filing Friday, the company sought to consolidate the lawsuits in New York and laid the groundwork for its case, arguing that it did not violate any rules and followed "customary practices" throughout the process. They also suggest that trading problems at the Nasdaq Stock Market contributed to the stock price drop.

Much of the SEC's questions asked Facebook to clarify or explain things better. In its first letter in February, the SEC asked Facebook what it would mean if more of its users accessed the site through mobile devices rather than traditional computers. The SEC wanted Facebook to fully address "the potential consequences to your revenue and financial results rather than just stating that they 'may be negatively affected.'"

At first, Facebook said that users "could" decide to access the site on mobile devices. The SEC responded that they already do.

That led Facebook to amend its documents on May 9 — the week before the IPO. There, Facebook disclosed that the number of users logging in on mobile devices was growing faster than revenue, largely because it showed relatively few ads on mobile devices. The company's ability to make money from its mobile users has been one of the main concerns investors have and part of the reason Facebook's stock price has fallen.

In another letter, the SEC wanted to know how much of Facebook's $1 billion price for the photo-sharing app Instagram would be in stock rather than cash. The answer: $300 million in cash plus about 23 million shares. Based on Facebook's current stock price, the deal is now worth about $960 million.

Regulators also wanted to know about Zuckerberg's ability to designate a successor given that the Facebook co-founder has more than half of the company's voting rights. Facebook replied that Zuckerberg had no power to decide who would be the next CEO or get his voting rights when he dies. But, like all other shareholders, he is able to designate people who will receive his stocks in the event of his death.

The SEC asked Facebook about online game company Zynga Inc. because it relies heavily on revenue from the game company. In April, the SEC wanted Facebook to disclose that 7 percent of its revenue last year came from ads shown to users using Zynga apps on Facebook, while another 12 percent came from payments processing fees related to Zynga's sale of virtual goods and direct advertising purchased by Zynga. Facebook added the information to a subsequent filing.

On an upbeat note, Facebook's stock gained value for the week for the first time. The stock climbed $1.72, or 6.1 percent, to close at $30.01 on Friday. That's up nearly 11 percent for the week, though it's still down 21 percent from its IPO price of $38.

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Origin Beta 8.6.0.357

Origin lets you purchase and play EA games - any time and any place you want. With the in-game overlay, you can browse the web while playing select games.

Origin's social features allow you to create a profile, connect and chat with your friends, share your game library, and effortlessly join your friends' games.

Origin streamlines the download process, for quick, easy installation and use. Direct download of PC games requires the Origin client, and once you have it, you'll be able to access your game library from virtually anywhere. You can even play your favorite games on other PCs when you're on the go.

Origin is a replacement for EA Download Manager.

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Some New GTLDs Will Fail as Businesses, Experts Say

Several questions remain after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers unveiled 1,930 applications for new generic top level domains this week, long-time ICANN observers said.

While some of the new gTLDs will evolve into successful businesses, many others will not, ICANN watchers said. As ICANN begins to evaluate the applications, starting July 12, there will be questions about the business plans of some applicants as well as the technical ability of some to operate a new gTLD, they said.

The application process "almost seemed like a gold rush," said Richard Stockton, a lawyer with Banner and Witcoff, an intellectual property law firm. "There's going to be some [gTLDs] that perform and some that just don't."

Some of the new gTLDs will have benefits -- .pharmacy, for example, could help weed out counterfeit drug sales online -- but others don't have obvious business models, added Erin Hennessy, a partner in the technology group at the Bracewell and Giuliani law firm.

On the other hand, .biz and .info, launched in mid-2001 "have never caught on," she said. There are about 2.2 million secondary-level domains on .biz and 6.5 million on .info.

"Now we're adding .inc and .llc," Hennessy said. "I'm not sure they're that different from a .biz and .info. I wonder how they're really going to be used."

Hennessy questioned if companies will do something substantially different with the new gTLDs that they didn't do with their .com websites.

Forrester Research analyst Jeff Ernst, however, expects some innovative business plans. "It'll take awhile for the more innovative [business plans] to come to surface," he said.

Still, Ernst expects that some gTLDs will fail. "They'll probably have the same rate of success as any new business venture will," he said. "A certain number will fail because they misread the market, or didn't get enough support."

A handful of companies applied for dozens of gTLDs, startup Donuts for more than 300, and these gTLD portfolio companies seem to be betting on strength in numbers, he said.

"For them, if three out of 10 can be very successful and another three out of 10 break even, and another four out of 10 are not successful, then they'll probably still come out ahead," Ernst said.

Applicants running an open registry like .food as opposed to a closed, company-focused gTLD like .ibm, will have a lot of business competition, Ernst said. But the new gTLDs may not need "massive volumes" like .com has in order to be successful, he said.

"They just have to have enough of an annuity stream from a niche community around that term," he said.

Ernst downplayed concerns that some applicants won't have the technical ability to run a registry. ICANN should weed out some shaky applicants, and some others will likely withdraw their applications.

Other applicants without registry experience will likely partner established registry operators like VeriSign and Neustar, he said.

"Anyone with any intelligence, I think, is going to be using a third-party registry service provider, to manage all the technology infrastructure," he added.

Buyers of domains on these gTLDs will have to evaluate the operators of the gTLDs and decide whether to invest money in websites on the new gTLDs, Ernst said.

Website operators will be concerned about the "operational experience and financial resources" of new the TLD applicants, said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, an e-commerce trade group.

"Registrants will be ill-served if their TLD fails or fades after adopting a new domain name," he added in an email. "And internet users everywhere will suffer if a TLD operator lacks the experience and resources to detect and deter malware and fraud originating from their domains."

In the shorter term, another issue to watch for is the competition for gTLDs. ICANN announced that there are at least two applicants for 231 terms. For example, .app has 13 applicants, including Amazon.com and Google, .home has 11 applicants, and .art has 10.

There are also multiple applicants for . book, .llc, .inc, .music, .baby, .ltd and several other strings. Google and Amazon are competing on 21 terms, including .game, .movie, .shop and .search.

There will be a lot of "horse trading" among applicants as the ICANN evaluation process plays out over the coming months, Ernst said.

Some applicants may agree to drop out of one competition in exchange for their competitors dropping out of another term they both applied for.

The negotiations will make for "lots of intrigue and maybe some legal fights among competitors," DelBianco said.

Ultimately, ICANN can auction gTLDs if applicants don't reach agreements. It will be in the applicants' interest to stay away from the auctions, Ernst said.

"ICANN would love to have Amazon and Google bidding against each other," Stockton added.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

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Sony Debuts New Android 4.0 Xperia Miro and Tipo via Facebook Campaign

Japanese electronics maker Sony has announced two new smartphones, the Xperia Miro and Xperia Tipo ahead of schedule following a successful social media campaign.

The new smartphones, which will run on Android 4.0, were launched 9 days early after Facebook users brought announcement date and time forward by 20 seconds with each click they made on the Sony page.

The two smartphones will be the first by Sony to run on Ice Cream Sandwich and will feature Facebook integration.

Despite having a low-end 800MHz Qualcomm processor and 512MB of RAM, the Xperia Miro will also feature a 3.5 inch touchscreen, a front-facing 5 megapixel camera, 4GB of internal storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MicroUSB and contactless DLNA connectivity to enable content to be shared and viewed on TVs, tablets and PCs.

The Xperia Miro features Sony's xLoud audio technology and also comes preloaded with the Music Unlimited app which has access to millions of music tracks on the Sony Entertainment Network for a monthly subscription fee.

The Xperia Tipo is targeted at a slightly lower end of the market, featuring a 3.2 inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

Pricing for the two phones has yet to be released.

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Mixcraft version 6.0_b185

Record your music YOUR way with this powerful, but easy to use multi-track recording tool for Windows.

My father had a party band while I was growing up. I got introduced to music early on; and as we listened to some vintage reel-to-reel taped, recordings of those band gig's I began wishing that some of the computing technology we have today would have been available back in the early 1970's. It would have made listening to some of those recordings a much better experience. However, I'm glad there are applications like Mixcraft today. It’s a multi-track recording tool for Windows.

Mixcraft 5 is a powerful and easy-to-use multi-track recording studio that enables you to record audio, arrange loops, remix tracks, and compose original music with virtual instruments. You can also write entire scores, edit video, and add effects to create professional compositions. The basic features are easy enough for everyone.  The more advanced features are powerful enough to satisfy serious and professional musicians alike.

Mixcraft has a polished professional look. Its custom loop library includes over 3000 royalty-free sounds in dozens of musical styles, including 70's Funk, Cool Jazz, Surf Rock, Reggae, and Vegas Rock.  Mixcraft also works with both Acid and Garage Band loops.

Mixcraft's new Master Track allows you to smoothly automate the global effects parameters and master volume of your recorded music, for smooth and easy fade-ins and fade-outs. Send Tracks allows you to route audio from multiple Audio Tracks and Virtual Instruments to a single set of audio effects.  Finally, to make it all come together, Mixcraft's powerful mixer interface provides a convenient and familiar way to complete your project. Its mixer interface also includes a 3-band equalizer on every track, allow for precise mixing control.

Pros: Powerful tools, stunning interface, buying options include a payment plan

Cons: Users must first understand music mixing and composition before they can understand how to use the software.

Conclusions: Mixcraft's publisher really wants to bring music mixing to everyone.  The software provides power tools and multi-track recording to a Windows PC near you.  However, in order to use it, you have to understand how mixed music and MIDI instruments work. Its professional tools provide ease of use and automation, allowing for even those moderately initiated into the process to create sophisticated music compositions.

Mixcraft 6 is a powerful music production and multi-track recording workstation that comes packed with over thousands of music loops and dozens of audio effects and virtual instruments. Mixcraft enables you to record audio, arrange loops, remix tracks, compose with MIDI and virtual instruments, add effects, score and edit video, and mix and master your...

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Mystery galaxy is older and more aggressive than expected

The Hubble Deep Field, with the location of galaxy HDF 805.1 marked. This galaxy, completely invisible in visible light, formed 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang.

In 1996, the Hubble Space Telescope took a set of long-exposure images of a single tiny patch of the sky. This Hubble Deep Field (HDF) survey obtained data on over 1,500 galaxies stretching back to the earliest days of the Universe, in a wide range of wavelengths of light. The HDF has provided riches for astronomers but also an enduring mystery in the form of HDF 805.1—the brightest object in the infrared part of the spectrum. The wavelength in which HDF 805.1 is brightest corresponds to dust surrounding strong star formation, but the object is invisible in other types of light. Without other data, astronomers couldn't determine the size of, or distance to, HDF 805.1.

Now a research team using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) in the French Alps and the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico have detected HDF 805.1 in submillimeter radio light. As Fabian Walter et al. report in Nature, the location of HDF 805.1 corresponds to a bright source about 12.6 billion light years away, meaning the object formed only 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang. The light measured from the HDF and PdBI together suggests a galaxy about 130 billion times the mass of the Sun (comparable in mass to the Milky Way) with a high rate of star formation. This discovery is surprising for two reasons: the star formation rate is higher than predicted for a galaxy that early in the Universe's history, and the amount of dust required to hide it completely in visible light is larger than expected.

HDF 805.1 is one of a class of objects known as submillimeter galaxies (SMGs), not because they are tiny, but because they emit light primarily at submillimeter wavelengths. By the spectrum of light they emit, we know SMGs produce new stars at a rapid rate. But the environment of the star formation is very dusty, blocking almost all the visible light. Without that spectral information, it is difficult to measure their distance, as well as the size of the galaxy. However, SMGs are potentially valuable in mapping the history of galaxies and star formation in the Universe, so astronomers have tried since 1996 to solve the riddle of HDF 805.1.

New techniques, highlighted in the present study, use dedicated submillimeter instruments to measure the spectra of the SMGs. In turn, this reveals their redshift—the amount the wavelength of light is stretched as the Universe expands. Redshift is a proxy for distance and age: a larger redshift indicates the light was emitted earlier in time and traveled farther to reach us. For HDF 805.1, the researchers focused on two carbon monoxide (CO) and ionized carbon (CII) spectral lines, which are easily identifiable signatures in star-forming regions.

Both types of observations agreed: HDF 805.1 is at a high redshift, meaning the wavelength observed at Earth is stretched 6.1 times its emitted value. Using the Hubble relation, this redshift means the galaxy emitted the light only 1.1 billion years after the Big Bang. While this isn't the earliest galaxy ever seen, HDF 805.1 certainly has more active star formation than its peers.

Additionally, dust in galaxies is comprised of atoms like carbon and oxygen, (formed by stars) rather than being present in the very early Universe. The amount of dust present in HDF 805.1 must be sufficient to hide it in visible-light wavelengths, but it's uncertain where it all came from that early in the Universe's history. Finding similar high-redshift SMGs may help resolve that problem. Currently, only a handful of similar star-forming galaxies (that is, submillimeter-bright galaxies with no evident supermassive black hole) are known, and none are as distant.

As is often the case, solving one mystery—the distance and character of HDF 805.1—has led to further questions. However, the advent of new submillimeter telescopes, including the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, should help enlighten us about the history of galaxies and star formation in the early Universe.

Nature, 2012. DOI: 10.1038/nature11073  (About DOIs).

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Super Socks5Cap Portable Version 2.3.4.0

Networktunnel Inc in Internet \ Download Managers

Super Socks5Cap = sockscap + socks finder + socks checker, is a program that allows network applications that do not support working through proxy servers to operate through a HTTPS or SOCKS4/SOCKS5/SSH proxy server and Super Network Tunnel Client/Server proxy and support NTLM identification, and can connect any destination port bypass firewall ) .With Super Socks5Cap you can work with any Internet client (browsers, ftp, P2P, ICQ, IRC, eMule, telnet, ssh, video/audio, games...) through a network that is separated from the Internet by a firewall (only one open port is required).Super Socks5Cap allows you to: Like 'sockscap', can tunnel tcp / udp connection , but it support vista and windows7/ X64 bit. Embed proxy finder and proxy checker function, can automatically search proxy and pick up thousands of free socks proxy every day.Work with super network tunnel , can easy bypass pure http proxy, and connect to any destination port. Use five types of proxy servers: SOCKS v4, SOCKS v5, HTTPS, Super Network Tunnel C/S Proxy, SSH Proxy. "Tunnel" the entire system (force all network connections in the system work through a proxy server). Resolve DNS names through a proxy server (fake mode) and also support real remote DNS resolve. Support flash drive portable version not need install, can be run from removable media such as USB stick, floppy, etc... and not need admin rights in vista

Super Socks5Cap Portable Version 2.3.4.0 Download Managers software developed by Networktunnel Inc. The license of this download managers software is shareware, the price is $29.00, you can free download and get a free trial before you buy a registration or license. Do not use warez version, crack, serial numbers, registration codes, pirate key for this download managers software Super Socks5Cap Portable Version. If you want to get a full and unlimited version of Super Socks5Cap Portable Version, you should buy from original publisher Networktunnel Inc.

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Retailers feast on free Facebook tools, shun ads

In this photo illustration, a Facebook logo on a computer screen is seen through a magnifying glass held by a woman in Bern May 19, 2012. Picture taken May 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Thomas Hodel

By Alistair Barr

CHICAGO | Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:07am EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Krishan Agarwal, president of online luxury watch vendor Melrose.com, told a roomful of attentive Internet retailers last week how Facebook had helped his company generate about 25 percent more sales in two years.

Then he dropped a bombshell: Melrose spent less than $1,500 on Facebook ads during that time. Everything else the company did with Facebook was free.

"Some of the tools that are free are just a lot better than ads on Facebook," the former Dalton Investments hedge fund analyst explained, echoing other attendees at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago.

Agarwal's experience goes to the heart of the issues confronting Facebook Inc as it tries to turn its giant global network into a money machine. Advertisers love the platform but don't necessarily see the benefit in spending money on the ads.

Facebook is hoping to allay some of the doubts with new ad formats that provide better tracking of customer behavior. It's also beginning to insert ads directly into the "newsfeed," the stream of updates that all users receive, which should in turn help the company address the challenge of delivering ads on mobile devices.

Yet analysts increasingly suggest that over the long run, Facebook may have to begin charging for services that are currently free. Concerns about the company's reliance on advertising offerings which, unlike rival Google's, have not proven themselves to be game-changers for customers have helped shave $25 billion from Facebook's market value since it went public last month.

"They're in a huge pickle because most of their business is based on growth in advertising," said Forrester Research's Sucharita Mulpuru. But "why buy that cow when you get the milk for free?"

The experience of online retailers, which comprise a big piece of the online ad market and are thus a crucial sector for Facebook to win over, provides a clear view of Facebook's advertising challenge.

"The retail sector isn't buying it," said Fiona Dias, chief strategy officer at ShopRunner, an e-commerce shipping company part-owned by eBay. "With all Facebook's free stuff, retailers don't have to worry whether it works very well. But the moment they pay a nickel, there has to be accountability."

Katie Ennis, e-commerce head at apparel retailer RCC Western Stores, said she had used Facebook ads until she sat down with the head of finance and analyzed the return on investment compared with other advertising the company uses.

"The conversions were just not there. People would click on the ads sometimes but would not buy," she said. "So we completely stopped doing Facebook ads earlier this year."

After about a month, RCC Western noticed a decline in sales. The retailer resumed running Facebook ads and sales recovered.

"So Facebook ads are having an effect, but we're not sure how and we can't measure it," Ennis said.

Giantnerd was an early adopter of Facebook's Open Graph project, which lets shoppers "love," "want" and "own" products on the website of the outdoor goods retailer. When shoppers click on these buttons, those recommendations are shared with friends through their Facebook Timeline.

Facebook highlighted Giantnerd's success in a June blog, saying website traffic from Facebook more than tripled after the retailer integrated with Open Graph, a free service.

CEO Randall Weidberg was less enthusiastic about traditional paid Facebook display ads.

"It has its place, but won't have amazing results," he said during the conference.

FACEBOOK VS GOOGLE

Tracking the impact of advertising is difficult in any medium, and Google's success is largely due to an unusually direct relationship between ad buys and customer actions. When someone searches for something on Google, and ads for the item being searched appear next to the regular search results, the chances of a customer clicking and buying are pretty good.

Facebook users, by contrast, are not typically looking for something to buy. They may get a product recommendation from a friend, then search for it elsewhere and buy days or weeks later. This makes it hard to attribute sales directly to Facebook ads, because purchases are often influenced by other things along the way.

Four out of five people in a Reuters survey this month said they had never bought a product as a result of advertising on Facebook.

CanvasPop, which turns Facebook and Instagram photos into canvas art, has seen success with fan pages and other free efforts such as contests.

But co-founder Adrian Salamunovic said Facebook's analytics service measures the impact of ads on "everything except revenue."

"We take advantage of all the free things," he said. "Occasionally we spend money on Facebook ads for certain campaigns, with mixed results. If there was an out-of-the-box way of tracking revenue generated from Facebook ads, that would make a huge difference to a lot of people."

Facebook is searching for better ways to track impact. Brad Smallwood, its head of measurements and insights, said on Tuesday that Facebook is launching a competition with the Advertising Research Foundation to encourage new ways of measuring return on ad investment.

Winners will get funding from Facebook to develop the projects, Smallwood said.

"We haven't given marketers a good understanding of how to evaluate these things," he added.

Facebook has also rolled out new types of paid ads recently - such as Sponsored Stories and Ads with Social - that may be easier to measure and track.

"While advertisers to-date have seen mixed results from Facebook ads, 'sponsored stories' and offers are showing signs of improving results," wrote Colin Sebastian, an analyst at RW Baird, in a recent investor note.

Weidberg of Giantnerd agreed that the newer sponsored stories ads have been more successful.

FREE VS PAID

Facebook recommends marketers use free tools to get customers engaged online, then pay for ads such as sponsored stories to spread successful campaigns to a broader audience.

One of its newest ad formats is called Promoted Posts. When companies post updates for fans on their Facebook pages, the messages only reach some followers. They can now pay to get posts into the News Feeds of more of their fans.

Advertisers who only use free marketing tools on Facebook "are leaving a huge opportunity on the table to reach more customers," Facebook spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said.

Still, analysts have begun to speculate on if and when Facebook might begin charging fees for some of the services that are now free.

"They could experiment with charging for Facebook pages if you are a certain sized retailer," said Sebastian. "They have to be very careful though. They are trying to create as big a funnel as possible and over time try to monetize that. They would not want to limit the growth of the funnel at this point."

Facebook spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana declined to comment on the possibility of future fees.

(Editing by Edwin Chan and Jonathan Weber)

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Netbios Share Scanner 1.0

In this day and age, there is the constant risk of information leak and other security issues regarding the Internet and networks. In order to keep sensitive data belonging to your company and customers safe at all times, you should constantly check your systems for security vulnerabilities to ensure that you keep at least one step ahead of any attackers. Netbios Share Scanner is one of the free tools available from SecPoint, a leading producer of IT security software. The homepage contains a new and improved tutorial video which will guide you through the straightforward and quick process of scanning your network for vulnerabilities. The software is available for both Linux- and Windows-based systems. To scan a network, it is simply a matter of starting the command-based program, entering the IP address for the network you want to scan and, if required, the user name and password to log into a secured site. You can then choose a format for the output report and leave the program to scan the server.

Netbios Share Scanner 1.0 Anti-Virus Tools software developed by SecPoint ApS. The license of this anti-virus tools software is freeware, the price is free, you can free download and get a fully functional freeware version of Netbios Share Scanner. Do not use warez version, crack, serial numbers, registration codes, pirate key for this anti-virus tools freeware Netbios Share Scanner. Always use genuine version that is released by original publisher SecPoint ApS.

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Pentax 16 Megapixels Optio WG-2 Waterproof Camera

Pentax announced two cameras to replace last year's WG-1 series - the Pentax WG-2 and WG-2 GPS. Both cameras are pretty-much identical except that one comes with GPS and the other one without. Both cameras are Waterproof up to depths of 40 feet, Shockproof protects camera drop up to 5 feet, Crushproof to withstands weights up to 220 LBF (pound-force), Coldproof to sub-freezing temps of minus 10 degrees C (14 degrees F), and Dustproof design protects the camera from dusty environments.The WG-2 and WG-2 GPS features a new backlit 16 Megpaixels sensor, a wide angle 5x (28-140mm equivalent) internal optical zoom lens, Full HD 1080p movie recording in H.264 format, 3-inch LCD at 460,000 dots with anti-reflective coating, and Pixel Track, Digital, and Movie Shake Reduction to ensure blur-free images and video. It also comes with Fast Face Detection technology including Smile Capture and Blink Detection, and a Handheld Night Snap mode produces a single blur-free image from four images of the same scene. An optional SportMount Chest Harness at $50 allows hands-free Full HD movie capture.

The WG-2 is listed for $349.95 in a choice of Black or Vermillion Red colors, while the WG-2 GPS is listed for $399.95 in Shiny Orange or Gloss White colors. Here's the summary of review by Steve's Digicam:"Our indoor samples show the same high levels of image noise throughout the ISO range, which softens the image. It is incredibly noticeable when looking at the text on the left side as well as in blue areas both from our indoor and outdoor images. By the time you reach ISO 800, all of the sharp lines and details within the image have disappeared. Any settings above that are unacceptable. Assisting with your low-light images is a small, built-in flash unit with a range of up to 18ft. (W) at ISO auto. This range will shrink drastically when the ISO is set to an acceptable level, or if you are shooting underwater. This is something to consider if you will be using the flash often. With the WG-2 in portrait mode, the camera detects and follows any faces within the frame very well. This face detection software also makes it possible for the camera's Smile Capture and Blink Detection modes, helping to make sure your portrait shots are the best possible;  even if you are not ready.

Our sample images came out very nice, with the two faces perfectly in focus and with great exposure. Using the camera's built-in flash for fill, we did not see any redness in the eyes of either of our subjects. If you look closely at the image, you do see the noise again and how it completely takes away the texture from the skin of both subjects.Underwater, the WG-2 offered a very enjoyable experience. Whether you are shooting in a pool or at the beach, the LCD is easy to see most of the time. The camera also handles these situations very well, adjusting for color and light sensitivity when using the preset "underwater" shooting mode. Even face detection worked fairly well, detecting faces underwater; including faces that had goggles on. The only unfortunate issue is the much higher ISO settings, causing a huge increase in noise vs. what the same shot would be out of the water. The Pentax WG-2 allows you to capture full 1080p HD videos at 30fps with sound instead of just still images if the need should arise. It is lacking a dedicated video recording button, meaning you will have to take time to set the camera to movie mode before you can record. Once the camera is in movie mode, you still have a long lag of approx. 1.2 seconds before the camera starts to record after you press the shutter release. Once recording you have a movie limit of up to 25 minutes, no matter what size memory card you are recording to. Our recorded video plays back perfectly on the camera and on an HDTV via HDMI cable. On the computer, the full 1080p movie is a little choppy and the audio is a little off sync.Bottom Line - The Pentax Optio WG-2 is a very hardy digicam, designed to survive anything that you can throw at it - or throw it at. This "lifeproof" camera features a 16-Megapixel imaging sensor, 5x internal optical zoom lens, LED macro ring lights, 3-inch LCD and built-in GPS, giving you a little more than you would find a standard point-n-shoot. While it is stylish and versatile, there is a lot of noise within the images and the battery life is atrocious. With a MSRP of $299.95 USD for the non-GPS model or $349.95 USD, the price falls in line with the other "lifeproof" cameras that we have seen. You might also want to check out the Canon PowerShot D20 or the Panasonic Lumix TS-20 if you're in the market for a lifeproof camera."

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Time Inc. Now Selling Subscriptions Through the App Store

U.S. iPad owners can now subscribe to the iPad editions of all 20 of Time Inc.'s magazines through Apple's Newsstand, including InStyle, People, Sports Illustrated and Time, the company announced Thursday.

Time Inc. has been selling magazines on the iPad for almost as long as the two-year-old device has been on the market. Until now however, users were unable to subscribe to its magazines within the App Store. Instead, they had to subscribe to individual print editions through Time Inc. or a third-party vendor, and then authenticate those subscriptions through their respective apps. Some magazines, such as Sports Illustrated, deviated by offering bundled digital subscriptions on their websites, which permitted users to access content from a variety of connected devices.

[More from Mashable: Apple’s Insanely Great 1986 Clothing Line [PICS]]

Why didn't Time Inc. allow subscriptions to begin with? The company contested Apple's terms for the offering, which forbid the sharing of subscriber information with publishers. That information that is critical to Time Inc., which needs it to sell advertising packages.

Some publishers, including Conde Nast and Hearst, have bystepped this obstacle by asking users to opt-in with their information immediately after purchasing subscriptions in their apps. If users refuse, they may be prompted again to opt-in when they attempt to open certain features, like article bookmarking. A Time Inc. spokesperson told Mashable that the majority of customers have agreed to share their data with publishers via those methods; as such, the company now feels that "Apple understands our needs as publishers and we feel confident we can manage our subscriber base well," the spokesperson said.

[More from Mashable: Twitter’s Expanded Tweets Now Show More Interactive Content]

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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SpaceX founder talks Mars with Caltech grads

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Fresh off SpaceX's historic return from the International Space Station, company founder Elon Musk said Friday that he would like to see humans settle Mars and become a "multi-planet species."

The 40-year-old entrepreneur reiterated his vision to graduates at the California Institute of Technology, a private university 10 miles northeast of Los Angeles known for its science and engineering programs.

Musk said he hoped some of the newly minted graduates would work toward Mars colonization, either at SpaceX or another outfit.

"You guys are the magicians of the 21st century. Don't let anything hold you back," he said. "Imagination is the limit ... go out there and create some magic."

Musk made headlines last month when SpaceX became the first private company to make a roundtrip supply run to the space station — a task that had been dominated by governments. With NASA's space shuttle fleet retired, the space agency is outsourcing the job to private industry.

SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule splashed into the Pacific on May 31 after a virtually flawless nine-day test flight that included docking with the multibillion-dollar orbiting outpost and delivering a load of food, clothing and equipment to the astronauts aboard.

Earlier this week, Musk accompanied NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on a tour of the Dragon capsule that was plucked from the ocean and trucked to SpaceX's factory in Texas. Save for a few scorch marks from the fiery re-entry, the bell-shaped capsule weathered its maiden journey.

Caltech board of trustees chair Kent Kresa called Musk an "inventor, entrepreneur, visionary and relentless dreamer."

Musk jokingly replied: "I'd like to thank you for leaving crazy person out of the description."

The audience cheered when Musk recounted the historic flight, which he called a "white knuckle event."

"It's a huge relief. I still can't quite believe it actually happened," he said.

SpaceX aimed to launch the next supply mission in September under a contract with NASA and has predicted that astronauts could hitch rides to the space station in as little as three or four years. SpaceX planned to test the next version of the Dragon — designed to carry crews — later this year.

The South African-born Musk, who made his fortune at PayPal Inc., founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. a decade ago and has poured millions of his own wealth into the rocket startup. The company suffered three rocket failures before finally succeeding. Besides SpaceX, Musk also runs the electric car company Tesla Motors.

Musk's ultimate goal is beyond Earth orbit. To achieve that, the company needs a reusable spaceship capable of making the long trip to the red planet and complete with life support systems.

Musk called the feat "right on the borderline of impossible" but one that's on SpaceX's to-do list.

___

Online:

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com

Caltech: http://www.caltech.edu

___

AP Science Writer Alicia Chang can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

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Talk of Microsoft tablet resurfaces

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is gearing up to unveil its own tablet to boost its new Windows 8 operating system and counter Apple Inc's hot-selling iPad, according to media reports on Friday.

Such an effort, which the company has not confirmed, would be a departure from its usual focus on software and potentially throw Microsoft into direct competition with its closest hardware partners such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> and Hewlett-Packard Co .

The world's largest software company has invited media to a "major" announcement in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, but has not provided any details.

In the absence of information, talk is swirling that Microsoft will introduce its own tablet, according to anonymously sourced reports in the New York Times and the AllThingsD tech blog. Microsoft declined comment on the subject and those reports.

It is not the first time such talk has surfaced, as Microsoft looks for a way to make an impact with its new tablet-friendly Windows 8 operating system and put the best product it can in the market to counter Apple's iPad.

Apple, which makes both hardware and software for greater control over the performance of the final product, has revolutionized mobile markets with its smooth, seamless phones and tablets. Rival Google Inc may experiment with a similar approach after buying phone maker Motorola Mobility this year.

"Anything is possible if they don't feel their partners are doing it right," said Michael Silver, an analyst at tech research firm Gartner. "But it's hard to compete with companies that sell your stuff and still have a great relationship with them."

Other analysts suggested an own-branded tablet may be chiefly aimed at kick-starting the market for Windows tablets working on ARM Holdings Plc microprocessors - a new venture for Microsoft, which has traditionally relied on Intel Corp chips.

Microsoft charges hardware makers $50 or more to incorporate its software in machines and analysts suggest that hardware makers are struggling to produce tablets at a low enough price to challenge the iPad. By making its own tablets, Microsoft would presumably use its software for free, bringing down the overall price.

"It suggests to me that they've struggled to get OEMs (hardware makers) on board to bring the prices down, so they feel they have to subsidize these products to get them out of the door, at least in the first iteration," said Al Hilwa, an analyst at tech research firm IDC.

Making its own hardware for such an important product would be a departure for Microsoft, which based its success on licensing its software to other manufacturers, stressing the importance of "partners" and the Windows "ecosystem."

When it has ventured into hardware, the Redmond, Washington-based company has a mixed record.

Apart from keyboards and mice, the Xbox game console was its first foray into major manufacturing. That is now a successful business, but only after billions of dollars of investment and overcoming problems with high rates of faulty units - a problem which was nicknamed the "red ring of death" by gamers.

The company's Microsoft-branded Zune music player, a late rival to Apple's iPod, was not a success and its unpopular Kin phone was taken off the market shortly after introduction.

Microsoft has tried hard to generate the type of excitement Apple gets for its secretive product launches, but usually disappoints. Talk was rife at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2010 that Microsoft would pre-empt Apple's iPad with a slate of its own devising, but it never materialized.

The company killed off a two-screen, slate-style prototype called Courier later that year, saying the technology might emerge in another form later on.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; editing by Andre Grenon)

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Skype 5.10.0.114

Skype is software for calling other people on their computers or phones. Download Skype and start calling for free all over the world.

The calls have excellent sound quality and are highly secure with end-to-end encryption. You don't even need to configure your firewall or router or any other networking gear.

Additionally it doesn't just work on Windows. Skype is also for Mac OS X, Linux and PDAs using Pocket PC, with a native look and feel for each platform. Talking, sending instant messages or even file transfers work between different platforms like a charm.

Skype calling - Skype has all the features of an ordinary phone so it's even easier to manage your calls.Video calling - see who you are talking to at the same time as speaking to them.Add Skype and SkypeOut contacts - Add contacts who use Skype and those who use ordinary phones so you can call more people.Organising groups - group contacts under certain names and share them with your contacts so they can talk to them too.Basic chat and emoticons - when it's not convenient to call, chat or Instant Message (IM) your contacts.Group chat - for when it's easier to chat or Instant Message (IM) all your friends at once.Profile settings - change how you appear to the world and let people know a bit about you.Conference calling - talk to more than one friend at a time.Import contacts - search your address book to find friends and family that already have a Skype name and start calling them for free.View Outlook contacts - view and call your Microsoft Outlook® contacts quickly and directly from your Skype contact list.Quickfilter and Speed-Dial - find Skype contacts, recent chats and SkypeOut contacts quickly and easily, then enter their Skype name to call them back quickly.

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State Law Runs Afoul of Protections for Internet Providers, EFF Claims

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is challenging a Washington State law that criminalizes advertising for underage prostitution, claiming it runs afoul of federal protections for websites and ISPs for the actions of their users.

The law, SB 6251, seeks to limit the sexual exploitation of minors by making it a felony to run advertisements for such services. It requires online advertising platforms to attempt to verify in person the age of people whose sexual services are advertised.

The legislation was signed into law by Washington Governor Christine Gregoire on March 29 and was set to take effect last week. Its enforcement has been delayed as the result of a legal challenge from the online classifieds site, Backpage.com, which is owned by Village Voice Media. Backpage.com has sued the state and county attorneys general in federal court.

EFF filed a motion on Thursday seeking to intervene in the case on behalf of Internet Archive, a digital library that archives Web content.

Both Backpage and Internet Archive assert in their filings that they do not condone underage prostitution, but they argue that the law should not punish online service providers.

"At its core, this lawsuit is about the ability of the state of Washington to impose liability on online service providers for hosting and disseminating content created by third parties," the Internet Archive motion reads.

The law "will force, by threat of felony prosecution, websites and others to become the government's censors of users' content," Backpage alleges in its challenge.

Holding online service providers liable runs contrary to the immunity carved out in the federal Communications Decency Act, specifically in Section 230, both suits assert.

"The appropriate way to combat illegal speech online is to prosecute the people who are engaged in bad conduct," said Matt Zimmerman, a senior staff attorney at EFF.

In a joint statement on Backpage's suit, the law's sponsor, Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, a Seattle Democrat, and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn called the classifieds site "an 'accelerant' of the commercial sexual exploitation of children."

"We know, based on the experience of multiple online and print forums for escort services, that the only way to be sure that Backpage.com isn't being used to sell children for sex is to verify the ages of the people advertised on their site," the two said.

Internet Archive is seeking to intervene in the suit because Backpage doesn't adequately represent its interest in the case, Zimmerman said. For example, the website may opt to settle with the state in order to avoid prosecution or may not adequately pursue the aspects of the law that are of most concern to the Internet Archive.

Internet Archive "wants to get the court to fully engage and fully evaluate the legality" of the state's move to hold service providers liable, Zimmerman said.

The next hearing in the case is set for July 20, when the judge will decide whether to turn the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction that would remain in effect while the case is argued.

Tennessee has already passed a law similar to Washington's. New York and New Jersey are considering similar legislation.

Cameron Scott covers search, web services and privacy for The IDG News Service. Follow Cameron on Twitter at CScott_IDG.

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Muvee Photo Creations version 6.6.2

I like photography, and I'm quite sure that any person with photography as a hobby, would like to create a custom calendar with his own photos, or a greeting card, a photo book, a gallery wrap or why not a wedding album?

As mostly you need a specific software for each of the projects mentioned above, but Muvee Photo Creations comes with a complete solution with all the features that you need. Muvee Photo Creations is very easy, and you can create all that you need, even from the first usage of the software! You just select what do you would like create, and the Wizard will take you through all necessary steps to get a splendid result. When the Wizard is done, you can still edit with ease whatever you want in your project, add new photos, new pages, more text, change the fonts, sizes, color, and of course to change the order of photos. Also in the calendar Wizard, you can add specific dates and their description, or you can select the religion and the important holidays will be added in your calendar.

Muvee Photo Creations is free to use, and all the features are working great. But, if you don't buy a license key, you won't be able to print your documents or to export them as PDF's or JPG's...With the free version, you can only print your projects at Muvee.com, and they will deliver the printed albums or calandar or whatever you do, to your home.

App pro's: Easy to use, to manage photos layouts, to insert texts, fully customizable albums and calendars;

App con's: Standard image size cannot be zoomed-out, not so many templates for photo albums;

Conclusion: It's very easy! It has never been easier to create a photo album, a custom calendar with your family photos, or a paper to wrap a box. As I mentioned before, the software is free, but you need a license key to print your work at home.

Why use muvee Photo Creations?

High Quality - Every order placed with muvee Photo Creations is beautifully crafted with the highest quality materials. We know your memories are important and we back it up with our quality assurance guarantee.
Desktop Access - Since our free design software is running directly from your desktop you don't...

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Opera 12 arrives with webcam APIs and experimental WebGL support

Browsing Ars Technica in the new version of Opera

The Opera Web browser got a boost today with the release of version 12. The update brings a number of new features, improved performance, and enhanced support for modern Web standards. It also offers a preview of several experimental features, such as full hardware-accelerated rendering.

Opera 12 has a lot to offer Web developers. The new version includes preliminary support for WebRTC, an emerging standard that is being drafted by the W3C Web Real-Time Communications Working Group. WebRTC will eventually enable standards-based audio and video chat in Web applications. There is also support for the WebRTC media capture APIs, which allow Web content to capture live media streams from the user’s microphone and webcam. As some readers might recall, we first wrote about that functionality last year when it arrived in the Chrome developer channel.

The WebRTC getUserMedia API works out of the box in Opera 12 and can be used by any website. Due to the potential privacy and security implications, the user is automatically prompted by the browser before the feature is allowed to be activated. All we had to do to get it to work with our standard getUserMedia demo (which had previously only been tested in Chrome) was remove the WebKit prefix on the API call.

The new webcam capture API protects privacy by prompting the user for permission.

In addition to the WebRTC features, Opera also added support for CSS3 animations and transitions, and CSS generated content for paged media. The latter introduces features like a footnote value for the float property and other capabilities that are useful for specifying the presentation of printed content.

Another noteworthy addition to Opera 12 is support for the Do Not Track header. When the user enables the Do Not Track feature, the browser will append a flag to every HTTP request to inform servers that the user wants to opt out of behavioral tracking. The efficacy of this feature is predicated on the voluntary compliance of advertisers.

Do Not Track is not yet universally supported, but is steadily gaining momentum. Opera users can enable the header by clicking the “Ask websites not to track me” checkbox in the Security section of the browser’s preference dialog. The feature is a welcome addition for privacy-conscious users.

Opera 12 has added process isolation for plugins, a long overdue improvement that will considerably boost the browser’s stability. According to Opera, plugins like Flash account for approximately one-third of the browser’s crashes. Moving the plugins into a separate process will help address that issue.

The Opera developers are working on bringing hardware-accelerated rendering to the entire browser, including the user interface. This is a major undertaking that will require more time to complete, but experimental support is available today in Opera 12. Users who want to test the feature can enable it by following the instructions that were posted on the Opera desktop blog earlier this year.

Because the hardware-accelerated rendering is still a work in progress, it won’t uniformly increase the browser’s performance at this time. There are some conditions in which it will actually make performance worse than the efficient software rendering mechanism that the browser uses today. Alongside hardware acceleration, Opera 12 has also gained preliminary support for WebGL, allowing it to render 3D graphics in an HTML canvas. The WebGL support requires hardware acceleration, so both features must be enabled in the opera:config panel in order to work.

In version 12, Opera has extended its rich theming system with support for simple wallpaper-like themes. This lightweight theming mechanism, which works alongside traditional Opera themes, is a bit like the Firefox feature that was formerly known as Personas. Opera has a public gallery of browser wallpapers that users can choose from, including simple patterns and textures, nature imagery, and renderings of cartoon characters.

Opera 12's lightweight theming system lets users express their inner brony.

In the interest of keeping the browser svelte, several unpopular legacy features have been removed in the newest version. The biggest casualty is Opera Unite, the browser’s built-in programmable Web server. First introduced in 2009, the aim of Unite was to give users the ability to share content on the Web without having to cede control of their content. Unite was a fascinating concept, but it proved to be too esoteric and impractical to attract a large audience. Another major feature that was removed is support for desktop widgets, miniature HTML applications that float over the user’s desktop.

The accelerated pace of development from leading browser vendors has led to increased competitive pressure in the browser landscape. Opera continues to provide a compelling alternative to its more mainstream rivals.

The browser’s core feature set and standards support have remained strong while its configurability and surprising assortment of built-in tools (including a BitTorrent downloader and IRC client) have helped it retain the devotion of its small but loyal fan base. Users can download Opera 12 and check out the release notes at the company’s website.

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Ticket Booking Script by StiivaSoft 1.4

PHP/ MySQL based ticket reservation/ booking script with a simple front-end interface. Use online ticket booking system on your website to sell tickets for movies, theatre, concerts or other public events. Add interactivity, improve conversion rate, increase online sales with our online ticket booking system.Installing a online ticket booking script on a website will make purchasing tickets easy and fun for users. Ticket Booking Script has an easy-to-use admin panel where administrator can handle just about everything: events, capacity, ticket prices, PDF tickets, sectors, online payment gateways, confirmation emails, booking terms, bookings and clients. Ticket Booking Script is specially developed with a simple back-end interface and can be used by people with no programming skills. Admins can modify default booking settings, such as currency, default booking status, prices, set a custom 'thank you' page after booking or disable payments.You only have to copy/paste a simple line of code and the installation file will set up the ticket booking script for you. After installing the script onto your hosting account you can virtually put interactive ticket reservation system on any valid HTML web page. Free installation support is included in all packages.With a Developer licence you receive full PHP source codes and you are allowed to use our ticket reservation system on all websites that you build for your clients. You are also allowed to make your own amendments to the script. With a User Licence you receive Zend Guard encrypted files and you are not allowed to modify the PHP code. Free installation support is included in all packages.

Ticket Booking Script by StiivaSoft 1.4 Site Administration software developed by StivaSoft Ltd. The license of this site administration software is demo, the price is $59.00, you can free download and get a free trial before you buy a registration or license. Do not use warez version, crack, serial numbers, registration codes, pirate key for this site administration software Ticket Booking Script by StiivaSoft. If you want to get a full and unlimited version of Ticket Booking Script by StiivaSoft, you should buy from original publisher StivaSoft Ltd.

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Talk of Microsoft tablet resurfaces

SEATTLE | Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:42pm EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is gearing up to unveil its own tablet to boost its new Windows 8 operating system and counter Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) hot-selling iPad, according to media reports on Friday.

Such an effort, which the company has not confirmed, would be a departure from its usual focus on software and potentially throw Microsoft into direct competition with its closest hardware partners such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N).

The world's largest software company has invited media to a "major" announcement in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, but has not provided any details.

In the absence of information, talk is swirling that Microsoft will introduce its own tablet, according to anonymously sourced reports in the New York Times and the AllThingsD tech blog. Microsoft declined comment on the subject and those reports.

It is not the first time such talk has surfaced, as Microsoft looks for a way to make an impact with its new tablet-friendly Windows 8 operating system and put the best product it can in the market to counter Apple's iPad.

Apple, which makes both hardware and software for greater control over the performance of the final product, has revolutionized mobile markets with its smooth, seamless phones and tablets. Rival Google Inc (GOOG.O) may experiment with a similar approach after buying phone maker Motorola Mobility this year.

"Anything is possible if they don't feel their partners are doing it right," said Michael Silver, an analyst at tech research firm Gartner. "But it's hard to compete with companies that sell your stuff and still have a great relationship with them."

Other analysts suggested an own-branded tablet may be chiefly aimed at kick-starting the market for Windows tablets working on ARM Holdings Plc (ARM.L) microprocessors - a new venture for Microsoft, which has traditionally relied on Intel Corp (INTC.O) chips.

Microsoft charges hardware makers $50 or more to incorporate its software in machines and analysts suggest that hardware makers are struggling to produce tablets at a low enough price to challenge the iPad. By making its own tablets, Microsoft would presumably use its software for free, bringing down the overall price.

"It suggests to me that they've struggled to get OEMs (hardware makers) on board to bring the prices down, so they feel they have to subsidize these products to get them out of the door, at least in the first iteration," said Al Hilwa, an analyst at tech research firm IDC.

Making its own hardware for such an important product would be a departure for Microsoft, which based its success on licensing its software to other manufacturers, stressing the importance of "partners" and the Windows "ecosystem."

When it has ventured into hardware, the Redmond, Washington-based company has a mixed record.

Apart from keyboards and mice, the Xbox game console was its first foray into major manufacturing. That is now a successful business, but only after billions of dollars of investment and overcoming problems with high rates of faulty units - a problem which was nicknamed the "red ring of death" by gamers.

The company's Microsoft-branded Zune music player, a late rival to Apple's iPod, was not a success and its unpopular Kin phone was taken off the market shortly after introduction.

Microsoft has tried hard to generate the type of excitement Apple gets for its secretive product launches, but usually disappoints. Talk was rife at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2010 that Microsoft would pre-empt Apple's iPad with a slate of its own devising, but it never materialized.

The company killed off a two-screen, slate-style prototype called Courier later that year, saying the technology might emerge in another form later on.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; editing by Andre Grenon)

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Wise Data Recovery 3.11

Freeware Wise Data Recovery does well in recovering lost data, no matter which are images, documents, audios, videos, compressed files or emails. It can quickly and safely search and recover the file you want as long as you specify the drive, the file type, or the file name. Wise Data Recovery will also show you the difficult level of the recovery by indicating the data as "Good", "Poor", "Very Poor", or "Lost" in the scan result.

Wise Data Recovery 3.11 Recovery Tools software developed by WiseCleanercom. The license of this recovery tools software is freeware, the price is free, you can free download and get a fully functional freeware version of Wise Data Recovery. Do not use warez version, crack, serial numbers, registration codes, pirate key for this recovery tools freeware Wise Data Recovery. Always use genuine version that is released by original publisher WiseCleaner.com.

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Pentax 16.28 Megapixels K-01 Mirrorless Review

Pentax announced the K-01 compact system mirrorless camera with a Pentax K lens mount and a 16.28 Megapixels, APS-C sized CMOS sensor. Designed in collaboration with Marc Newson, the Pentax K-01 features sensor-shift shake reduction, a dust removal mechanism, 3-inch LCD with 921,000 dots, continuous shooting at 5fps, 19 digital filters and full HD video capture at either 24, 25 or 30 fps in H.264 compression format.The K-01 also features a new "PRIME M" imaging engine to assure first-rate movie recording performance in a digital interchangeable lens camera. The K-01 offers a sensitivity range from ISO 100 to ISO 12800, or to ISO 25600 when expanded using a custom function. 

The High Dynamic Range mode allows users to select one of three exposure increments as well as the level of effect, while an automatic position adjustment function assures precise alignment of three images. Also introduced is a new K mount "pancake" lens, the smc Pentax-DA 40mm f/2.8 XS, which is billed as the world's thinnest interchangeable lens. Available in black, white and Newson's signature yellow colors, the K-01 features the designer's autograph logo stamp on the bottom of each camera. It is available for $749.95 body only or $899.95 with the DA 40mm f/2.8 XS. Here's the summary of review by DigitalCameraInfo, giving the camera a rating of 8.1 out of 10:"Is it unique...or odd? Futuristic...or toyish? Bold...or blind? Whatever the case, if you find yourself attracted to the K-01 based solely on its forward-thinking exterior design, then you'll be happy to know that underneath it all is a rather excellent camera. Dreamed up by legendary industrial designer Marc Newson, Pentax's latest mirrorless camera bucks nearly every imaging trend. It's thick, heavy, and looks quite unlike every other system camera out there.

We can hardly blame Pentax for refusing to fire conventional weapons in the war of mirrorless cameras, especially as new offerings from Nikon, Sony, and presumably Canon sometime in the future, reach the already-saturated market. The K-01 is therefore a gimmick, in the truest sense of the word. We are neither qualified to, nor interested in commenting on the aesthetic design at any sophisticated level, other than to say the body is bulky and difficult to handle. Beyond this, regarded purely as a device for taking pictures, the K-01 succeeds on almost every level. Resolution of detail is the camera's greatest strength. Thanks to an excellent APS-C image sensor, plus the very high quality kit lens, the K-01 achieved the second-best sharpness scores we've ever recorded. Speaking of the kit lens, it's a marvel of engineering: a 40mm pancake, no wider in entirety than your thumb, and equipped with a smooth mechanical manual focus ring. Remarkably, you'll find a Pentax "K" lens mount on the camera, meaning the K-01 is compatible with just about every lens Pentax has ever produced. The K-01 is also very useful in dim lighting conditions, thanks largely to its low noise levels.

Even with noise reduction turned completely off, image noise did not become distracting until ISO 6400, though artifacting quickly spiked from there. In fact autofocus is likely to be the limiting factor for low light, not noise, though the system rarely misses.Video recording is also pretty respectable. Clips aren't the smoothest we've seen, since the footage maxes out at 30 frames per second, however sharpness is decent and compression artifacts are absent. Best of all, only the tiniest bit of ambient light is required to shoot a properly exposed video, such as during dusk or inside a dim bar. The lack of any viewfinder was disappointing, though the rear 3-inch LCD monitor is responsive enough for accurate framing and focusing. We've already mentioned the handling difficulties that result from this experimental body design, and also found ourselves confused by parts of the button layout as well. The customizable green button, for example, is so far out of reach that it's effectively useless. Continuous shooting speed isn't quite as advertised either. Pentax claims 6 frames per second is possible, but we clocked the K-01 at only 5.2. These issues will all be natural improvements should we ever see a K-02 someday. We met the Pentax K-01 with skepticism, but ultimately stood corrected. Fans of the aesthetic will be more than satisfied with performance under the hood. The capabilities of this camera are on equal footing with Pentax's top consumer DSLR, the K-5, and with a $900 MSRP, we'd actually consider the K-01 a decent deal. If you appreciate this model's design, or can at least put up with it, the K-01 comes highly recommended."

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U.S. military unveils mobile devices strategy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military on Friday released a new strategy aimed at tapping the full potential of smartphones and other mobile devices while maintaining adequate security and reliability.

Details must still be worked out, but the policy lays the groundwork for big battles between Research in Motion, which makes the Pentagon's most commonly used BlackBerry device, and competitors like Apple and Google.

The strategy aims to better coordinate an array of pilot programs and other initiatives already under way across the Department of Defense and the various military services.

Teri Takai, the Pentagon's chief information officer, said the Pentagon hoped to leverage the technology of smartphones and other mobile device technologies to improve information sharing, collaboration and efficiencies across the military services and other Pentagon agencies.

Dennis Moran, a retired Army general and vice president for communications equipment maker Harris Corp, welcomed the new strategy and said it would help clarify the U.S. military's approach to mobile devices.

"People have been calling for this for years," said Moran, who once ran the White House Communications Agency. "It's acknowledging that the world is moving toward mobility and the department's got to move in that same direction," he said.

The U.S. military already uses more than 250,000 BlackBerry devices built by Research In Motion, and has begun piloting the use of several thousand devices made by Apple or powered by Google's Android software.

Takai said the new strategy would take advantage of existing technology, the ability to use or build custom applications, and a workforce increasingly comfortable with using smart phones and other devices.

"This strategy is not simply about embracing the newest technology - it is about keeping the DoD workforce relevant in an era when information and cyberspace play a critical role in mission success," she said.

Most commercial devices do not have the level of security, access protocols and other security features required by the U.S. military.

RIM's BlackBerry has long been the default device where security is key, but its dominance has been eroded in recent years as popular consumer devices such as Apple's iPhone have their security credentials bolstered by third-party software. The Pentagon remains RIM's single biggest customer.

Fixmo Inc, one third party software provider, said the Pentagon had recently announced support for its first Android device - a Dell Streak running a hardened version of Android with Fixmo and Good Technology Inc providing security and ensuring compliance.

At the same time, RIM has moved to counter the threat to its market dominance, unveiling its Mobile Fusion product earlier this year that can manage rival devices as well as BlackBerry products. The Canadian company is planning to extend BlackBerry-like security to those devices later this year.

(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa and Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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The best smartphones to buy right now (that aren't the iPhone)

Looking to purchase a new smartphone, but don’t want to wait around until the fall (at the earliest) for Apple to release a new iPhone? No worries, as there are countless state-of-the-art handheld devices available.

In fact, there are so many smartphone options right now that the biggest challenge is choosing the best device for you amidst all of the clutter. Here are the five best smartphones to buy right now (that aren’t the iPhone).

Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX (Verizon)

Before Apple forever changed how consumers view smartphones, Motorola’s thin and stylish RAZR was the hottest handheld device on the market. The 2007 debut of the iPhone exposed many of the RAZRs shortcomings, including average audio quality and poor battery life. This dulled sales and forced Motorola to discontinue the series for four years. In 2011, Motorola debuted the new Droid RAZR, a slim and sexy Android-running smartphone that still suffered from poor battery life.

Earlier this year, however, Motorola finally cracked the code with the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX. While the RAZR MAXX offers similar form and function to its pioneering predecessor, it packs a much more powerful battery to ensure you get coverage throughout the day. Verizon and Motorola boast that the device, available for $199 with a new two-year contract, offers the longest battery life of any Android smartphone. Yet it’s still surprisingly slim, packs in 4G LTE capabilities, a dual-core processor and the ability to upgrade to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. The RAZR MAXX also offers a Super AMOLED 4.3-inch Advanced display with its 540x960 pixel resolution, making it quite energy efficient. With its rugged construction and Motorola’s exceptional radio quality, the RAZR MAXX is an old classic that is as sharp as ever.

Nokia Lumia 900 (AT&T)
Smartphones that run on the Microsoft Windows operating system may not generate the buzz of their iPhone or Android counterparts. That doesn’t mean they are short on features or quality. The best Windows Phone available today is the Nokia Lumia 900. With an elegant design, 4.3-inch display and superb battery life, the Lumia 900 from a hardware perspective can go head-to-head with any handheld device on the market. There is also no shortage of speed as the phone is carried on AT&T’s 4G LTE network. The Lumia 900 runs on the latest Mango 7.5 Windows software, which has a clean and simple interface. Among the pre-installed Nokia features are a free turn-by-turn navigation system, a photo-editing application, and a music streaming service. The phone can also access more than 100,000 third-party applications. Best of all, the Lumia can be purchased for as little as $99 with a new two-year contract with AT&T.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 (T-Mobile)
Although BlackBerry usage has declined dramatically over the last four years, the phone still has its business benefits. Many corporate IT departments still refuse to accept any other handset for official company business, and the BlackBerry’s email and messaging capabilities are still superior to other options. The best BlackBerry available today – and a great smartphone option for T-Mobile subscribers – is the Bold 9900. The phone offers both a QWERTY keyboard and sharp, 2.8-inch touchscreen display. Battery life is solid (although not spectacular) with more than six hours of talk time. The phone’s powerful 1.2GHz processor will not leave you in the lurch, particularly when you are viewing or sending 720p HD videos. While BlackBerry doesn’t have nearly as many apps as the other mobile platforms, web browsing is fast and efficient. There is also a universal voice-search feature.

HTC One X (AT&T)/HTC EVO 4G LTE (Sprint)
After some financial setbacks, Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC is focusing on creating fewer devices that are of higher quality. The company succeeded earlier this year with the launch of the HTC One series of Android phones. Available through AT&T for $199 (with a new two-year contract), the HTC One X is the big daddy of the range. It offers swift 4G LTE performance with Beats Audio, a 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD HD screen, and an advanced 8-megapixel rear camera. On the inside, the One X sports Android’s latest Ice Cream Sandwich OS with HTC’s Sense 4 UI skin, plus access to hundreds of thousands of apps available in the Google Play store. 

Sprint subscribers who use a lot of data will want to tap into the HTC EVO 4G LTE. While this phone’s specs match those of the One X, it looks very different with red accents. For better and worse, there are some textured finishes that make it stand apart from its peers. The Evo’s kickstand lets users sit back and view content on that big, beautiful 720p Super LCD display hands-free, and its 2000mAh Li-Ion battery should see it last throughout the day. However, what truly sets the EVO apart is Sprint itself. The carrier still allows unlimited data plans on its network, which could be a bonus in these days of tiered data plans on other carriers. Sprint’s 4G LTE network is somewhat limited right now, but is expanding quickly. So the EVO 4G LTE at $199 with a two-year contract is certainly worth a look if you’re in an area served well by Sprint.

Samsung Galaxy S III (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular)
While you can’t technically buy this one yet, if you can hold out for just a couple weeks it will probably be worth your while. Scheduled to be released later this month, the Samsung Galaxy S III will set a new standard for smartphones. It will also be available on five U.S. networks including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular. Samsung’s flagship handset device sports a huge, 4.8-inch 720x1280 HD Super AMOLED display, offers 4G LTE capabilities, microSD storage, and a speedy 1.4GHz quad-core processor. Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz skin on top, the Korean manufacturer is flaunting the Galaxy III’s additional software capabilities. This includes S-voice natural language commands, eye-tracking, Dropbox cloud storage and smart alerts. With more than 500,000 apps available and ready on Google Play, this is one smartphone that should be able to take anything you throw at it.

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Thunderbird 14.0 Beta 2

Thunderbird is a great email client from the same people who brought you the Firefox browser.

Thunderbird gives you IMAP/POP support, a built-in RSS reader, support for HTML mail, powerful quick search, saved search folders, advanced message filtering, message grouping, labels, return receipts, smart address book LDAP address completion, import tools, and the ability to manage multiple e-mail and newsgroup accounts.

Tabbed emailAn Archive feature similar to the one in GMailLightning fast searchSmart folders

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U.S. official seeks industry support to protect Web

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Executives were urged to join the fight to keep the Internet free from centralized control, ahead of a conference later this year where U.S. government officials fear countries will vote to give the United Nations more power over the Web.

"Get your company involved. Work to get likeminded countries involved. What is at stake here is just that important," Assistant Secretary of Commerce Lawrence Strickling told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's telecom committee on Friday.

Delegations from 193 countries will meet in Dubai this December to renegotiate a U.N. telecommunications treaty last revisited in 1988, and debate proposals that would consolidate control over the Internet with the United Nations' International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

U.S. officials have expressed concerns that U.N. involvement could empower efforts by developing nations to tax large technology companies such as Google Inc and Facebook Inc .

They have also warned it could aid Internet censorship by countries like China and Iran.

Private-sector members and other non-government representatives will be added in September to the core U.S. delegation of government officials going to Dubai.

"Our role in the federal government needs to be one of supporting more inclusion and standing firm against the efforts of one faction or another to... tip outcomes in their favor," said Strickling, who also heads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

He stressed the "need to understand that an Internet constrained by an international treaty likely will stifle the innovators and entrepreneurs who are responsible for its awesome growth."

The Internet is currently policed loosely, with technical bodies such as the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the World Wide Web Consortium largely dictating its infrastructure and management.

The global system of computer networks that now reaches billions of people had its origins in U.S. government research in the 1960s.

(Reporting By Jasmin Melvin; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Thunderbolt Finally Reaches PCs With New Acer Ultrabook

Thunderbolt ports have reached Windows PCs with Acer's Aspire S5 ultrabook, expanding the availability of the technology beyond Macs.

The laptop became available in the U.S. on Thursday and is the one of the early Windows laptops with a Thunderbolt port, which was available until now mostly in Apple laptops. Lenovo is putting the Thunderbolt port in its ThinkPad Edge S430 laptop, which enthusiast website Laptop Reviews is reporting has now become available in Germany. Asus has said it will add Thunderbolt to some laptops.

Thunderbolt, much like USB 3.0, is a high-speed interconnect that facilitates data transfer between PCs and peripherals like external storage devices and monitors. However, Thunderbolt is faster than USB 3.0, with data-transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps (gigabits per second). The technology is also attractive as it can daisy-chain up to five peripherals.

Thunderbolt was co-developed by Intel and Apple and after an exclusivity period to certain companies the technology was made widely available to PC makers. But the lack of peripherals available for the technology has been an issue with the PC makers. Intel in late April said only 21 peripherals based on Thunderbolt were available, but that 100 devices would be available by the end of the year.

Intel has said that the use of Thunderbolt in Windows computers could catapult adoption of the technology, which could benefit Macs and PCs alike. Nevertheless, Hewlett-Packard and Dell have shied away from the technology until it goes mainstream, sticking with the widely used USB 3.0 instead because of the wide number of peripherals available. Intel has insisted that USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt can coexist, and Apple has installed USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports in its latest MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptops introduced earlier this week.

But Thunderbolt is considered expensive, with peripherals cables priced at a premium. Data-transfer rates for Thunderbolt, however, are expected to get even faster, with a slow shift from copper to fiber optics inside the cable and the move to PCI-Express 3.0. Intel is eyeing a successor to the current Thunderbolt that can transfer data at 50Gbps.

The Acer Aspire S5 ultrabook was originally announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The thin-and-light laptop is 14.99 millimeters at its thickest point, and has what Acer calls a "MagicFlip I/O Port," which pops out to reveal Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 and HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) ports. The ultrabook comes with Intel's latest Ivy Bridge Core i7 processors and 256GB solid-state drive. The Thunderbolt port supports DisplayPort to attach high-definition monitors, and the laptop supports multiple displays, Acer said in a statement.

The S5 has a 13.3-inch screen and offers 6.5 hours of battery life. It comes in one configuration and is available for US$1,399. Acer did not talk about worldwide availability.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

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Nokia PC Suite version 7.1.180.64

Connect to and manage your Nokia device with this handy Windows based tool.

Connecting your smartphone to your PC is important. Managing content on your phone isn't always as easy as you might think. This is why I like Nokia PC Suite for managing Nokia phones. It’s a synchronization and content management tool for Windows.

Nokia PC Suite is compatible with most Nokia devices. You can view all the supported models on Nokia's PC web site. The software is currently only on Microsoft Window.

To create a connection between your Nokia phone and your PC, you need a data cable, an infrared port, or Bluetooth connection. Some Nokia PC Suite applications manage data between your device and PC programs such as Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes, so you should have the appropriate credentials handy as well.

The application's main window provides you with a starting point for its available functions. From here, you can view and access all of the applications in the suite, provided they are available for your model Nokia phone. Not all suite apps work with every model Nokia phone.

The Suite provides you with an easy way of transferring files such as music, videos, images, and applications to the device, is to drag them on top of the device image displayed in the top left corner. Some of your files may need to be converted to be played on either your device or your PC.

Pros: Manages many Nokia phones, converts content from your phone, synchronizes data and content

Cons: Doesn't work with all Nokia phones

Conclusion: Managing your Nokia phone is easy with the Nokia PC Suite. While it doesn't work with every Nokia model, it should work with most. If you've got a Nokia phone, and you're not using the Nokia PC Suite, then you may be missing out.

Nokia PC Suite is a package of Windows-based PC applications developed especially for use with Nokia phones. Depending on your phone model, it lets you synchronize, edit, and back up many of your phone's files on a compatible PC through a wireless or cable connection.

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