Finally Windows Phone 7.8 update starts to roll out !!

Another reason to be happy for Windows Phone users.. Microsoft has finally released the long awaited Windows Phone 7.8 Update. The Update features

1. A whole new Windows Phone 8 like start screen.

2. The lock screen will be customizable - users can pick an app to update the lock screen periodically, something that sounds a lot like WP8's Live Apps service.

3. Internet Explorer will be updated with enhanced security, but it seems like Windows Phone 7.8 will keep using IE9 and won't get IE10.

4. MP3 editor that can be used to create ring tones out of songs.

5. There will be more system colors available too, for a total of 20.

Here is a post regarding the update release :

Reports have been flooding in detailing an update for Windows Phone 7.5, which can only mean one thing - Microsoft has begun rolling out Windows Phone 7.8 for those who own previous generation hardware. Windows Phone Central readers, as well as WP7.nl have received notification of an available release on the Lumia 800.

  

Windows Phone 7.8 is a major update that Microsoft announced alongside Windows Phone 8. The release is to implement new features on legacy hardware, including the new start screen Live Tile layout and other goodies. Those who have managed to receive and apply the 7.8 update have noticed a new splash screen and Xbox Live Tile that are present on Windows Phone 8.

According to WP7.nl, the update process for the Lumia 800 includes a number of builds as well as a Nokia update. Reported OS version 7.10.8773 is bumped to 7.10.8779.8, and is then proceeded with the update to 7.10.8783. This then prepares the device for the final update to 7.10. 8858.136. Welcome to almost-Windows Phone 8.

We're yet to get our Windows Phones to register the update, so be sure to let us know if you've received the one in the comments, along with which Windows Phone you're using and carrier (if applicable) you're with.

[Note: This could be a staggered rollout, dependent on carriers and OEMs, so don't get your hopes too high just yet. Microsoft has yet to announce anything official about this occurring, meaning this is still limited to just a few users and phones.]

Empty Folder Nuker - A very usefull freeware

Here is a very small and usefull tool from Simon Wai.. It finds and deletes all empty folders starting from a base folder of your choice.

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Features

• Finds folders that contain only empty subfolders too
• Allows you to choose which empty folders to delete
• Uses the Recycle Bin where available
• Shell integration: right click on any folder in Windows Explorer and find empty folders within it
• No setup.exe: allows simple XCOPY-style deployment
• Free!

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Warning & Disclaimer

Some programs require certain folders to exist, even when they are empty. Deleting those folders may cause these programs to stop working properly. Only delete folders that you are sure you do not need.
This program comes with no warranty and is supplied as is.

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System Requirements

Empty Folder Nuker runs on the following operating systems:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Windows 2000
• Windows Server 2003

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Download

Download Empty Folder Nuker Version 1.3.0 (340 KB)




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Screenshots

Main window of Empty Folder Nuker.



Results window. Double click on a folder in the list to further examine it in Windows Explorer.



Press the "Shell Integration..." button to install right-click menu entry on folders.



Empty Folder Nuker integrated into the Windows shell.

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Found this program useful?

Donate to the developer from here : http://simonwai.com/developments/empty_folder_nuker/

Nokia Lumia 800 Review : My new mobile

     Being tired of using my HTC Desire HD for last 6 months, I badly wanted a change from Android OS. The only two option I has was IOS and Windows. Considering the price factor, UI Design, Mobile Design and service availability I decided to go for a Windows phone. I found HTC Titan 2 was the best in market. But it isn't available in India yet. The only high end mobile available in local market was  Nokia Lumia 800. The price was much lower than many other smart phones. The design was attractive, UI was sleek and stylish and something different from regular Android and IOS screens. Considering all these I bought my new Nokia Lumia 800 from Univercell for Rs.23,800. Its exactly 2 weeks since I have got this new mobile in my hands and it time for me to share my views about this mobile.

Design and UI:Nokia Lumia 800 is equipped with a beautiful 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive multi touch screen (16M colors) that produces a resolution of 480 X 800 pixels with (252 ppi pixel density). The combination of both Clear-black OLED screen and AMLOED technology gives excellent visual experience and also the pictures in the phone look so sharp and crispy. The brightness and sharpness of display is outstanding and user can read and see the text matter clearly even under broad daylight. It also has Gorilla Screen which is unbreakable and scratch proof.

Having used a huge 4.7 inch  HTC Desire HD screen before, I seriously dint feel a big shift to this smaller screen. The sleek and stylish design of the mobile makes it looks rich while its stunning colors in menu and UI will surely make you love using your mobile. 

Operating System:Nokia Lumia 800 has Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS. Mango is the latest stable update for wp7 which brings major improvements on Multitasking, Sync the contacts and inbox emails, battery backup extend, Bing search also working great without any bugs, inbuilt browser quite seems fast, touch and GUI responds more faster. 

I personally feel the music, PC Sync, Memory management, Response, Camera software, settings and marketplace are all better and simpler than Android. 

A big drawback of this mobile and Windows OS is the lack of apps and games.

Having using Android apps for almost all my daily needs from booking tickets to planning my schedule, Unavailability of similar apps in Windows OS is really disappointing.

Processor RAM and Memory Storage

The phone is packed with a 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon single core processor which is enough to handle more applications running on simultaneously background without any lagging. It has 512 MB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with no card slot to increase the memory using micro SD cards. Seems to be more number of windows phone available in the market is not equipped with expandable memory.

Camera:

For those people who are fond of clicking pictures, it has a rear camera with 8 MP camera with a maximum resolution of 3264X2448 pixels. It is equipped with a Carl Zeiss optical lens, auto focus and has dual LED flash which will be helpful to take pictures in low light conditions. It’s too bad to say the phone doesn’t have front facing camera for video calling. The phone has basic camera enhancements like geotagging, image stabilization, night mode and smile detection.

 

It can make HD videos in 720p resolution with 30 frames per second.  The photos taken in daylight are extraordinary without any noise, contrast, white balance, saturation levels are managed very well. Nokia has especially concentrated on camera section to make the phone into Digital camera level. Finally one word to say the camera of Nokia Lumia 800 is on par with Iphone 4s and HTC One X. 


Music

The music experience in Nokia Lumia 800 windows phone 7 is too good. There is manual option to change the equalizer settings according to your music interest. You can manage your library and playlist only with the help of Zune Software installed in your PC. The phone comes with decent quality headphone with mic but it is not earbud model, you need to buy separate earphones to enjoy the nonstop music.

 

Gaming Experience

Xbox live is the excellent feature that makes windows phone 7 very big successful in the mobile market. The phone have equipped with powerful Aderno 205 Graphics which is sufficient to play all kind of games. In Xbox live is a gaming place where users can play games in online and you can also connect with other friends but they need to have Xbox live account in order to access and play games with other members. Games other than Xbox live games aren't entertaining enough.

Preloaded Applications

This phone has some preinstalled apps which gives you more entertainment without downloading them. In People Hub you can able to connect to other friends with the help of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Here some other apps which you use it on phone itself Document viewer/editor, video photo editor, voice memo/command/dial and Predictive text input.

Internet

The mobile comes with a preinstalled Internet Explorer 9 which is comparatively less user friendly and does not stream videos from sites.  Nokia Lumia 800 gives you better download speeds than Android mobiles with same data connection.

Battery

Nokia Lumia 800 has a strong 1450mAh Li-ion battery that provides you decent battery life (backup) with talk time of 13hours on 2G and up to 9 h 30 min on 3G.You can also play the music up to 55 hours.


Summary

Wish stunning Design, User Interface, Messaging and Social networking, You will love your experience with the new Nokia Lumia 800. It integrates with Facebook, Twitter and Mail better than other OS. When the music experience is made very well, the small screen doesn't gives you much from the videos. Lack of apps in Windows market place is a big issue. Still it is a great buy for those who are tired of the  Android and Iphone screens.

By Yash Sachein

HTC One X : My dream mobile !!

      Extraordinary quad-core power gives you lightning-fast web browsing, remarkable picture quality and hyper-realistic gaming effects --all on a giant, 4.7-inch HD screen. Then there's the amazing camera that captures every moment with crisp, vivid, beautiful photos.

Powered by Android 4.0 with HTC Sense 4.0

Tech Specs

CPU 1.5Ghz Quad Core

Storage 32 GB

RAM 1 GB

Main Camera 8MP

Front Camera 1.2MP

Amazing camera

With this camera you never miss a shot. Capture every moment with a camera that starts-up in less than a second, and has rapid-fire continuous shooting. You’ll never again have to choose between capturing a video or a picture—with Video Pic you can get both at the same time. And you’ll get the best images even under the worst conditions: low light, no light and back light… None are a problem.

Authentic sound

Sound on your HTC phone is worth bragging about. With Beats Audio™, listening is truly different. Whether playing music or games, watching movies or videos, or your in-car experience, you get rich, authentic sound. Plus with our integrated music experience, easily access all your music libraries, favorite audio apps and internet radio simultaneously from one convenient location.

Minimalist design

We’ve paid close attention to every detail, ensuring this phone is as durable as it is beautiful. Minimalist design meets a 4.7-inch infinity screen with smoothly rounded piano-gloss sidewalls, a curved back so it’s easy to hold, and a unified shell for increased durability.

The Mobile : 

Source : www.htc.com

The Official Windows 8 Logo: It’s a Window, Not a Flag

Microsoft said Friday that it dramatically redesigned the Windows 8 logo to make it more like, well, a window.

 

When the Windows 8 team was working to create a logo that would sum up the Windows 8 product and the Metro design experience, designer Paula Scher of the Pentagram design firm turned to the Windows executives in the room and asked them: 

"Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?" 

And thus the new logo was born.

 

 

 

 

"'Windows' really is a beautiful metaphor for computing and with the new logo we wanted to celebrate the idea of a window, in perspective," Moreau wrote. "Microsoft and Windows are all about putting technology in people's hands to empower them to find their own perspectives. And that is what the new logo was meant to be. We did less of a re-design and more to return it to its original meaning and bringing Windows back to its roots – reimagining the Windows logo as just that – a window."

 

It really is a dramatic redesign. What do you think of it? Let us know in the comments.

 

Microsoft is expected to unveil a consumer preview of Windows 8 at Mobile World Congress later this month. 

Source: Thinkdigit and Gizmodo.

10 Tips to Protect Your Personal Information and Identity

When you go online for emailing, instant messaging (IM), shopping, and banking, you often communicate personal information such as addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, usernames, and passwords. Unfortunately, you risk having this personal information and possibly even your identity stolen, or having your PC used as a launching pad for hackers to attack others.

                       

Follow these top ten tips to protect yourself and your computer:

1. Invest in trusted, multi-faceted security software. Look for comprehensive, multi-faceted PC security software that protects you from viruses, spyware, adware, hackers, unwanted emails, phishing scams, and identity theft.
2. Always access the Internet from behind a firewall. A firewall adds a security layer between your PC and the Internet, and helps stop hackers from stealing your identity, destroying your files, or using your PC to attack others.
3. Use a PC you know is secure. Hackers can easily retrieve sensitive data that is sent over an unsecured Internet connection. If you need to send sensitive information or make an online transaction, use a PC that you know is secure and remember that there are many flavors of security.
4. Watch out for phishing scams. Phishing scams use fraudulent emails and web sites, masquerading as legitimate businesses, to lure unsuspecting consumers into revealing private account or login information. Even if you have PC security, you still might visit a malicious web site without knowing it. Legitimate businesses will never ask you to update your personal information via email. Always verify web addresses before submitting your personal information.
5. Secure your wireless network. You are at risk if you access the Internet from a Wi-Fi network. Since your wireless network’s radio waves travel through walls, a hacker with a simple antenna could attack you from miles away to steal your information and use your wireless network for their own communication. Always use additional Wi-Fi security protection.
6. Never install potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) like spyware or adware on your PC. Many free programs that you download via the Internet, while appearing to be harmless, are specifically designed to be malicious and monitor your keystrokes, track your Internet logins, transmit your confidential information, or redirect your browser to fake sites. Some of these programs can also be installed on your machine simply by clicking on an advertisement link on the Internet.
   With security software, you can stop these programs from installing. Never willingly install programs unless you are familiar with the web site and program and have read the end-user license agreement thoroughly.
7. Do not answer chain email. Even with PC security, some chain email forwarded by your friends might ask for personal information. Do not download files from friends and family unless you know the content of the file and know that it is secure.
8. Monitor your credit reports and be aware. At least once a year, check your credit history. This is one of the best ways to find out if someone is using your personal finance information without your knowledge.
9. Monitor your children’s online activity. Limit your children’s time spent online. Install and use parental controls software that allows you to monitor your children’s online activity as well as prevent them from accessing undesirable web sites and sharing personal information via online communications.
10. Make regular backups of critical data. Keep a copy of important files on removable media such as Zip disks or recordable CD-ROM disks (CD-R or CD-RW disks). Use software backup tools if available, and store the backup disks in case of an emergency.

Source : McAfee 

2011- A quick review

Wonder how I missed it so long being a fan of Sarcasan !!

Source : http://sarcasan.tumblr.com

Follow Sarcasan @ https://twitter.com/#!/Sarcasan

Politics and world news:

There was man who refused to eat mum-mum. And the prime minister who, as always, kept mum. 

So many Dalits continue to starve. Rahul Gandhi ate their food.

Too many people went to jail for the 2G scam. Only influential people get a jail admission these days(harder than PSBB admissions).

Jayalalitha reverts everything. Converts  males to females, libraries into markets, markets into hospitals and hospitals to flyovers. Chumma. Just for fun.

Karunanidhi turned 88. Just 1923 years younger than Jesus.

Osama dies in  Abbottabad. Pakistan claims they had no idea Abbottabad was in Pakistan.

Cricket:

Cricket kept winning.

Dhoni lifted the world cup and Pritam lifted songs from Korea.

Harbhajan Singh did not lift Mrs.Ambani this year(That Harbhajan got lifted out of the team by selectors is something else).

Sachin scored his 99th hundred and according to Ravi Shastri the stage has been set in every game after that for his 100th.

Hockey:

No idea what happened to our national bird Hockey.

Entertainment:

Shahrukh Khan promoted Ra.One all through the year and forgot to make the movie.

The year ended with a 3D version of Don.Priyanka Chopra’s lips was the only 3D effect.

Aishwarya Rai gave birth to a baby girl.  Birth control methods now apparently include 3G SIM cards with an unlimited data plan. Although some people aren’t sure where the SIM card goes.

Technology:

RIP Steve jobs and Dennis Ritchie.

Iphone 4S got released and people are calling Siri a bitch. On her face.

Google+ came out. I have an account there.So do you. Neither of us go there.Apparently its on the internet.Still.

Facebook plans to issue IPO. Finally from issuing Livestock on Farmville to issuing real life stocks.

Kapil Sibal plans to control the internet. Apparently his orders to his men were “Internet ki Talashi lo. Jaldi”.

Business:

Mallya’s airline receded. Only alcohol can save him now. 

Sensex went up a few points and then came down a few points. Not sure what it meant. Just nodded my head looking at the hot news anchor lady wearing a formal shirt.

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Happy mathematics year- 2012(Might have to face this year twice. Arrear subject no?)