the new microphone from Razer

Razer­™, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware and software, today announced the addition of the Razer BlackShark Stereo Gaming Headset. Inspired by tactical aviator headsets and armed with total audio immersion, Razer's newest piece of audio hardware comes as a Razer-branded version of the popular Battlefield 3 Razer BlackShark, a headset that the company developed from the ground up for the Battlefield franchise and released earlier this year at E3.
Designed to look and feel like the headsets worn by attack helicopter pilots, the Razer-green accented BlackShark is your battle-ready solution for powerful, immersive PC gaming audio. The Razer BlackShark delivers superior sound isolation, with full circumaural ear cups.  The headset is built with memory foam ear cushions that mold to the shape of your ears for maximum comfort over extended use, making the Razer BlackShark the most vital weapon for your total PC gaming and music enjoyment.
Whether blocking out the loud noise made by a deadly attack helicopter, the construction work just outside the home or any other ambient sounds, gamers will hear nothing but the sweet, immersive sounds of ownage, destruction and victory.
Gamers interested in a versatile headset on-the-go need look no further. Detach the voice changing microphone boom and take the lightweight headphones with you for a stylish audio solution. The BlackShark plugs directly into any device with a 3.5mm audio jack, offering compatibility with nearly every audio device on the market today.
"Soldiers in intense combat situations need to be fully focused with minimal distractions to take the objectives successfully and come out alive.  The same goes for gamers seeking the win – and that's what the Razer BlackShark gaming headset was built to deliver," said Robert "RazerGuy" Krakoff, president of Razer USA. "When you stop gaming to get out and about, detach the boom microphone and you've got the perfect sound-isolating headphones for your audio on-the-go."
ABOUT THE RAZER BLACKSHARK GAMING HEADSET:
With a sleek aluminum design and green accents, the Razer BlackShark brings forth extreme comfort for long, extended missions and top-notch sound isolation. The circumaural design and leatherette sealant of the headset's ear cups, block out all unwanted, ambient noise and allows players to only hear the awesome, intense audio of their games and music. The Razer BlackShark's detachable boom microphone and audio / mic splitter adapter cable make this a highly versatile headset, at home both at a gaming setup and out on the streets for music playback.  Go from immersive gaming audio and smack-talking foes at your desktop to listening to your music out and about in seconds.
Technical Specifications: Drivers: 40mm neodymium magnets with copper-clad aluminum voice coil Frequency response: 20Hz – 20KHz Impedance: 29 ohm Sensitivity @ 1KHz: 105dB +/- 3 dB Input power: 50mW Cable:  1.3m rubber sheathed Connector: 3.5 mm gold-plated audio + mic combined jack
Microphone: Frequency response:  50Hz – 16KHz Signal-to-noise ratio:  50dB Sensitivity @ 1KHz:  -37 dB +/- 4dB Pick-up pattern:  Unidirectional
Audio Usage
Devices with 3.5mm audio jack
Audio + Microphone Usage
Devices with 3.5mm audio + mic combined jack OR separate 3.5mm jacks for audio and line-in. (Works with all portable audio/mobile/computing devices including the iPod, iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Android phones, Razer Blade, Macbook Pro, and today's newer Ultrabooks.)

Sony: PS Vita sales nearly in line with expectations

The PlayStation Vita has sold 2.2 million units worldwide since its launch in February, which--according to Sony CEO Kaz Hirai--is roughly in line with expectations. Speaking to Reuters in an interview published today, the executive said the new portable is performing up to par in most territories."Worldwide, the Vita is pretty much along where we would expect it to be; maybe trending behind in certain territories," Hirai said, declining to specify where sales of the PS Vita were coming up short.
The PS Vita, which went on sale in February at $250, will have to perform better if it wants to draw even with Nintendo's 3DS. That system, which went on sale about a year before the PS Vita, has sold 19 million units worldwide.
One of the criticisms of the PS Vita is that there are simply not enough compelling games available for it. Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto said in May that, "It's obviously a very hi-spec machine, and you can do lots of things with it, but I don't really see the combination of software and hardware that really makes a very strong product." Big-name games that have yet to release for the PS Vita include Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, Little Big Planet, Killzone: Mercenary, Lego Lord of the Rings, and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida said earlier this month that it is "too early" to implement a price cut for the PS Vita this year. Instead, he said he hopes software bundles like those for Little Big Planet and Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified will steer prospective buyers toward purchases.
In my opinion, Nintendo sold so many units of the 3DS, because of the its $169.99 price, not the variety of 3DS video games. 3DS could of cost $199.99, when Nintendo wanted to drop the price of the 3DS or would of been better for them to price it $199.99 at the launch. It is a more fair price for both the 3DS buyer and Nintendo. I see the the $169.99 for the 3DS as a cheap sell from Nintendo, while it is a cheap buy for the 3DS buyers.
"Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified, Little Big Planet, Killzone: Mercenary, Lego Lord of the Rings, and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale."Typical "Western" Styled games, some of which I will get but in my opinion we are missing a lot of games that, so far, have only been released in Japan ... where are the titles like Lord of Apocalypse, Ragnarok Odyssey, Ys, hell even digital psp go cable titles on the Australian PSN are lagging behind even NA and EUR/UK and there are obviously load more that I have not mentioned. Miyamoto is absolutely correct when he said "It's obviously a very hi-spec machine, and you can do lots of things with it, but I don't really see the combination of software and hardware that really makes a very strong product."
The support, as in game releases etc., for the PSV is quite strong in Japan and it seems that they don't really care about the rest of the world or they have a "we'll get to the rest of the world later" attitude which makes me really sad because it is a truely wonderous machine and yet Gravity Rush is probably the only game that takes close to full advantage of what the machine can do ... there are others too but if we only have that game and something like Little Deviants then the machine doesn't have the chance it deserves in "The West".  Still I'm giving the PSV some more time to see what happens and to see if Sony Australia get off their huge butts and fight for better content in Australia and if not then i'll be buying all my games from the NA or UK PSNs or get games in from overseas, a sad reality ...

Microsoft eyes corporate smartphone market for a long time

Researchers estimate that over 2.4 billion employees will be using smartphones by the year 2017.
The above-mentioned projection is based on a growth rate of 17% and represents nearly 3 times more smartphones than used by today's employees.
"'Billions' not 'millions' is the size of the BYOD smartphone market," explained ABI Research analyst Dan Shey.
"Mobility suppliers and enterprises need to think in terms of serving all employees with tools, apps, and services via their smartphones instead of only mobile employees or corporate liable employees."
According to Shey, the most immediate opportunities are in the mobile business customer base which includes employees using their phone for business reasons.
This group comprises corporate liable, individual liable and prosumer acquired devices - with prosumers weighing in as the largest segment in this group. Unsurprisingly, smartphones among the latter sector is expected to increase to approximately 640 million employees by 2017.
Android - which currently boasts the dominant leadership position among the global workforce - is expected to grow to 56% by 2017. However, Google's popular mobile operating system may never reach this level, which may be negatively affected by the potential success of the nascent Windows 8 and Blackberry 10 smartphone platforms.
"The question remains: Will new smartphones from Microsoft and RIM put more power in the hands of the enterprise concerning employee mobile device use, particularly for accessing corporate resources? Such change would directly impact enterprise device market share," said Shey.
In related mobile news, IHS iSuppli recently confirmed that smartphones are projected to account for the majority of global cellphone shipments in 2013 - some two years earlier than previously predicted.
"This represents a major upgrade for the outlook compared to a year ago, when smartphones weren't expected to take the lead until 2015. Over the past 12 months, smartphones have fallen in price, and a wider variety of models have become available, spurring sales of both low-end smartphones in regions like Asia-Pacific, as well as midrange to high-end phones in the United States and Europe," explained IHS iSuppli analyst Wayne Lam.
"The solid expansion in both shipments and market share this year of smartphones will make them the leading type of mobile phone for the first time, and shipment growth in the double digits will continue for the next few years. The rise of smartphones to a plurality share this year means a fall from grace for feature phones, which are a grade above the most basic, low-cost entry-level phones but lack the sophisticated engineering and abundant functionality of 5.3 android phone."
Indeed, feature phones commanded the wireless market as late as last year with 46 percent market share, but their portion will inevitably decrease to 41 percent this year, setting a trend of irreversible decline and progressive weakening in their numbers. And by 2016, feature phones will be confined to a market share of 28 percent.
"A third type of phone, the entry-level and ultra-low-cost handset, will occupy the bottom tier of the market with approximately 14 percent share this year and end up with just 4.2 percent share by 2016," added Lam.

Yes to the Dress: David's Bridal New Romance With Private Equity Firm

Call it a whirlwind romance. The private equity firm of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) just took the hand of David’s Bridal a few months after its owners Leonard Green and TPG Capital put the tight boxer briefs retailer up for grabs. The deal values David’s Bridal at $1.05 billion and is expected to close in the fourth quarter. It could be the push David’s Bridal needs to get to the next level.
It’s not the first time CD&R snapped up a leader in a specialty retail space. The firm took a stake in Sally Beauty Holdings back in 2006. Sally’s boasts the largest U.S. footprint of professional beauty supplies based on store count. Under CD&R’s ownership, revenues and EBITDA increased 49% and 101%, respectively, while margins expanded 430 basis points, according to a company statement. (It just exited its investment this May). CD&R also acquired (and continues to hold) the Hertz Corporation from Ford Motor Company. Hertz the world’s largest general-use car rental brand, operating approximately 8,000 locations in 145 countries worldwide. CD&R’s operating partner and  former Gap Inc. chief executive Paul Pressler is set to become David’s Bridal’s chairman.
Though David’s Bridal leads the wedding apparel space, operating 300 stores in the U.S. and Canada, the New York Times Deal Book reported that, “the retailer has been bogged down by concerns about its ability to compete against new entrants and the increase of consumers looking for higher-priced gowns.”
Nevertheless, an L.A. Times report cited the company as having the most recognized name in the industry according to Standard & Poor’s with “more than half of the market share in the $600-and-under bridal gown market.” David’s Bridal is also a purveyor of all things prom, party and special occasion including invitations, favors and gifts. And tuxedos for the gents.
Rather than competition from more luxe labels, David’s Bridal’s going head-to-head with the likes of Urban Outfitters which recently launched BHLDN collection of unique, affordable gowns and Ann Inc., parent of workplace chic retailer Ann Taylor who also jumped into wedding attire with both feet
David’s Bridal’s major coup, a partnership with bridal design iconoclast Vera Wang back in 2010, boosted the retailer’s profile among brides seeking more luxe offerings than its standard affordable gowns ranging from $99 to $800. But the bulk of its collection is in the middle of the range. White by Vera Wang confections clocked in around $1,200 at full retail price (though bargains could be found as low as $628 on sale).
Still, David’s Bridal may need some nurturing that Leonard Green and TPG Capital don’t have the time or inclination to offer as they have their hands full with ownership of the ever-expanding J. Crew –which has it’s own line of bridal togs for brides, grooms and the wedding party. The two firms took the preppy retailer off the market last year, buying 75% and 25% stakes, respectively.
Now that CD&R is in the driver’s seat, they may take a page from the other firms’ playbook and take the necessary steps to bolster David’s Bridal’s brand cachet –both in bricks and clicks– even further before presenting it to another suitor, or even position it for an IPO.

Airline dress codes: Are the rules too unclear?

DALLAS -  Airlines give many reasons for refusing to let you board, but none stir as much debate as this: How you're dressed.
A woman flying from Las Vegas on Southwest this spring says she was confronted by an airline employee for showing too much cleavage. In another recent case, an American Airlines pilot lectured a passenger because her T-shirt bore a four-letter expletive. She was allowed to keep flying after draping a shawl over the shirt.
Both women told their stories to sympathetic bloggers, and the debate over what you can wear in the air went viral.
It's not always clear what's appropriate. Airlines don't publish swimsuit strip codes. There are no rules that spell out the highest hemline or the lowest neckline allowed. That can leave passengers guessing how far to push fashion boundaries. Every once in a while the airline says: Not that far.
"It's like any service business. If you run a family restaurant and somebody is swearing, you kindly ask them to leave," says Kenneth Quinn, an aviation lawyer and former chief counsel at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
The American Airlines passenger, who declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press, works for an abortion provider. Supporters suggested that she was singled out because her T-shirt had a pro-choice slogan.
A spokesman for American says the passenger was asked to cover up "because of the F-word on the T-shirt." He says that the airline isn't taking sides in the abortion debate.
Last week, Arijit Guha, a graduate student at Arizona State University, was barred from a Delta flight in Buffalo, N.Y., because of a T-shirt that mocked federal security agents and included the words, "Terrists gonna kill us all." He says the misspelled shirt was satirical and he wore it to protest what he considers racial profiling.
"I thought it was a very American idea to speak up and dissent when you think people's rights are being violated," Guha says. The pilot thought it scared other passengers.
American and Delta are within their rights to make the passengers change shirts even if messages are political, says Joe Larsen, a First Amendment lawyer from Houston who has defended many media companies.
The First Amendment prohibits government from limiting a person's free-speech rights, but it doesn't apply to rules set by private companies, Larsen says. He notes that government security screeners didn't challenge Guha; private Delta employees did.
In short, since airlines and their planes are private property and not a public space like the courthouse steps, crews can tell you what to wear.
In the early years of jet travel, passengers dressed up and confrontations over clothing were unimaginable. They're still rare -- there aren't any precise numbers -- but when showdowns happen, they gain more attention as aggrieved passengers complain on the Internet about airline clothing cops. It's unwelcome publicity for airlines, which already rate near the bottom of all industries when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Critics complain that airlines enforce clothing standards inconsistently. The lack of clear rules leaves decisions to the judgment of individual airline employees.
Last year, a passenger was pulled off a US Airways jet and arrested at San Francisco International Airport after airline employees say he refused to pull up his low-hanging pants. The local prosecutor declined to file charges against Deshon Marman, a University of New Mexico football player.
Marman's lawyer complained that the same airline repeatedly allowed a middle-age man to travel wearing women's underwear and not much else.
"You can't let someone repugnant like that (the cross-dresser) on the plane and single out this kid because he's black, wearing dreadlocks, and had two or three inches of his underwear showing," says the lawyer, Joseph D. O'Sullivan. "They can't arrest him for what someone perceives to be inappropriate attire."
US Airways spokesman John McDonald says no passengers complained about the cross-dresser until his photo in women's underwear circulated on the Internet after the Marman incident. He says the airline doesn't have a dress code but that employees may talk to a passenger if other people might be offended by the way he's dressed.
"It's not an issue of a dress code, it's one of disruption," like watching pornography within sight of other passengers, McDonald says.
An informal survey of passengers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport found much support for limits on clothing.
"Curse words on shirts always bother me," says John Gordon, who just graduated from film school in Florida and was dressed in khaki shorts and a T-shirt. "It's an unspoken rule that when you go out in public, you should be respectful."
But Leigh Ann Epperson, a corporate lawyer who had just flown in from Tokyo, says she wouldn't be bothered if another passenger's shirt bore the F-word.
"If people are paying the price for their tickets, they should be able to wear what they want," says Epperson, who wore a black sweater over a low-cut blouse, black slacks and wedge-type heels.
Airlines say they refund the passenger's fare if they deny boarding for inappropriate attire.
Clashes over clothing and other flash points seem to be increasing, says Alexander Anolik, a travel-law attorney in Tiburon, Calif. He blames an unhappy mix of airline employees who feel underpaid and unloved, and passengers who are stressed out and angry over extra fees on everything from checking a bag to scoring an aisle seat.
Anolik says that passengers should obey requests from airline employees. If passengers don't, they could be accused of interfering with a flight crew -- a federal crime. He says passengers should wait until they're off the plane to file complaints with the airline, the U.S. Department of Transportation or in small-claims court.
"They have this omnipotent power," Anolik says of flight crews. "You shouldn't argue your case while you're on the airplane. You're in a no-win scenario -- you will be arrested."

Science Behind new voice changing microhone

Let’s start with some of the basics and talk about waves.  If you throw a stone into a pond, it generates waves on the surface of the water which move out in all directions.  The waves can be described by their height (the amplitude) and the distance between the peaks (the frequency).  As the waves move away from their source they begin to lose coherence and, eventually, fade away.  Try to keep this image of a wave in a pond in your head as I discuss radio waves below.
Radio waves are the name we give to the lower range of the energy spectrum of electromagnetic radiation.
Other energy ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum include infrared radiation, light, ultra-violet radiation, microwaves, X-rays, and gamma radiation.  Electromagnetic waves travel through space in a manner analogous to waves in a pond in that they can be described by their amplitude and frequency and lose strength and coherence at they travel.  (For more detail on electromagnetic radiation.
Radio stations generate radio waves by applying alternating electric current to their broadcasting antennas.  The flow of electricity up and down the antenna generates radio waves which propagate out in all directions. The frequency at which the electric current runs up and down the antenna determines the frequency of the transmitted radio waves.  So for WCHL, which has as frequency of 1360 kilohertz, the electric current flows up and down the antenna 1,360,000 times per second.
To hear what the radio station is broadcasting you need to tune your receiving antenna so that it will resonate at the frequency that the station is transmitting.  Resonance needs a short explanation for which I will use another analogy.  We have all seen video where a singer hits just the right note to cause the molecules in a crystal glass to all vibrate at once, thereby shattering the glass.  To shatter the glass, the sound wave coming from the singer must be at the resonate frequency of the crystal glass.  A radio antenna experiences something similar to the crystal glass when exposed to its resonate frequency of electromagnetic radiation.  When a receiving antenna is exposed to radio waves at its  resonate frequency, an alternating electric current is induced at the same frequency which was transmitted by the radio station.
Here is a summary of the science so far.  The radio station applies alternating electric current to its antenna which generates radio waves.  If these radio waves hit an antenna tuned to resonate at this frequency, an alternating electric current is induced in the receiving antenna.
Now let me move on to the hardest part to explain.  How do the words and music get encoded into the radio wave so that they can be heard by the listener?  First we need to talk about the microphone, either the one the radio host is using or the one the musician used to record a song.  Within the voice changing microphone is a membrane which is located within a magnetic field.  When the membrane is impacted by sound waves it vibrates.  The vibrations of the membrane within the magnetic field generate voltage spikes. [Note: For brevity, I am omitting the physics of why the vibration of the membrane within the magnetic field creates voltage.  Let me request a leap of faith on this (often requested of my friends and family, so don’t feel alone) so we can move along.]

The voltage spikes from the microphone are used to encode the speech or music into the radio waves through a process called modulation.  For an AM radio station, the voltage spikes are used to modulate the amplitude, resulting in a radio wave which has varying peak heights. This modulation in amplitude is then replicated in the receiving antenna and is sent to the speaker of your radio.
Within the speaker, the modulated signal is converted back into the same series of voltage spikes which were originally generated by the microphone.  Then these voltage spikes vibrate a membrane within the speaker which then replicates the original sound.  Cool, huh?
FM stations work in the same basic way as AM stations, with two key differences.  For an FM station, the voltage spikes from the microphone are used to modulate the frequency rather than the amplitude of the radio wave.  (The graphic at the top of the page shows the difference pictorially.)
In addition, FM stations broadcast in a higher-energy portion of the electromagnetic spectrum compared to AM stations.  These two technical differences, as well as some FCC regulations, help to explain why AM and FM stations perform differently.
There are several aspects of AM radio broadcasts which help to explain why they are used for primarily talk rather than music stations.
The FCC restricts the bandwidth allocated to AM radio stations, which limits the number of octaves of sound which can be broadcast.  Since a speaking voice has a much more limited range of pitch compared to a piece of music, the bandwidth of a typical AM station is sufficient to transmit speaking voices.  Due to the energy range of AM radio waves, they are also susceptible to electrical interference.  You may have noticed this at home if your AM antenna is near to an appliance or power cord.  To make this problem a bit worse, most off-the-shelf radios these days have low-quality AM antennas.
The other key limitation of AM radio, likely familiar to WCHL listeners, is the FCC requirement to reduce signal strength after sunset.  During the day when the sun is shining, AM radio waves bounce off the lower portion of the ionosphere in the atmosphere. This allows the AM signal to reach places in a straight line of site as well as locations where the signal can bounce off the ionosphere.  The ability to reflect off the ionosphere helps AM signals reach locations behind obstacles like mountains.  When the sun goes down, the AM radio waves reflect off a higher section of the ionosphere which increases their geographic range. 

what to do if your child swallow magnet mini toys

Dr. Robert Noel, an associate professor of pediatrics in the Gastroenterology Division at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans, offered these tips for parents and caregivers who might have magnet toys in their home or suspect their child has swallowed a magnet.
Because magnet toys have industrial strength magnetic force, they find each other, or anything else made of metal, inside the body just as easily as outside. The tissue is trapped between which can result in:
Holes in the tissue of the esophagus, stomach, intestines
Infection
Fistulas
Bowel Obstructions
Tissue Death
Death
Tips for Parents, Caregivers Who Have Magnet Toys in Their Home:
If you have children and are not using these magnets then dispose of them safely.
If you have them and are still using them then put them away in a safe place preferably in a locked cabinet or locked container but definitely out of the reach of children.
If you have adolescent that use these magnets educate them on safe use and storage of the magnets when not in use. Especially emphasize that younger siblings should not be allowed to touch these magnets.
Educate your older children and teens about the risks of swallowing these magnets. Never permit them to use these magnets as face, body or mouth jewelry (such as to mimic piercings)
If you have these magnet toys in your house, count them when you first use them, and count them each time before you put them away to account for all of them.
Encourage your child to tell you immediately if an accident happens and he or she swallows a magnet or sees another child swallow one.
Regularly check toys like eevee plush and play areas, including carpeting, for dislodged or lost magnets.
Run another magnet or an object made of a ferrous metal around play areas, couches, chair cushions, etc. to pick up lost magnets.
Consider using these magnets in a contained space such as on a tray where loose magnets can be contained to prevent them from dropping on the floor, carpet or into or under furniture.
If you cannot account for all magnets after they have been out and used then evaluate the possibility that a child could have accidentally swallowed them.
If it is possible that a young child could have swallowed them then immediately seek medical attention. Symptoms maybe not present or minimal until there is significant injury.
Do not delay an evaluation if magnet ingestion is possible since substantial injury can occur within hours of ingestion.
Don’t assume a swallowed magnet will pass normally. These magnets are very likely to be attracted to one another and trap intestine between them causing them to become stuck inside your child.
What You Should Do if You Suspect That Your Child Has Swallowed a Magnet:
If you think your teenager, toddler or child has swallowed these magnets, immediately seek medical attention by calling your doctor or go to the emergency department.
Don’t assume a swallowed magnet will pass normally.
If your child has any unexplained stomach symptoms and these magnets are present in your household then consider the possibility that they have swallowed these magnets and take them to the emergency room for a x-ray evaluation.
If the doctor says he sees only a single magnet on the x-ray and it is alright for your child to go home, make sure he has a taken at least two different x-ray views. Two magnets trapping a piece of intestine between them can appear as one magnet when one magnet is behind the other in an x-ray picture.

Tablet adoption could give flip phones new lease on life

commentary Here's a list of people who tell me they want a simple phone: my retired parents who have easy access to a computer and two clunky laptops at home, my nonagenarian grandmother, and the tech-savvy CNET reader who just thanked me for my review of the Samsung t159, a $20 T-Mobile flip phone.
It may sound hard to believe, but basic phones like the t159 and others are poised to see a small uptick among an unexpected demographic. I'm receiving more and more e-mails from CNET readers interested in supplementing their investment in a Wi-Fi-only tablet with a cheap hunk of hardware adept at making calls and little else.
As tablet pc 3g take off, there's a growing number of people who are interested in a tablet's larger screen, but who don't feel the need to duplicate their apps and tools on two separate devices.
For this set, there are a few practical options to save money and cut back on machinery.
The shift from small-screen phones that compute to larger-screen devices that also make calls is behind products like Samsung and LG's supersize smartphones, which hope to straddle the best of both phone and tablet worlds. Samsung and LG, and perhaps HTC soon, designed extra-large screen phones to nudge on-the-fence consumers toward an all-in-one device. (Of course, they'd love for committed tablet buyers to purchase their slates as well.)
The pickle of motivating customers to pay for two devices is also helping to drive AT&T and Verizon's new shared data plans. Both of the top two U.S. carriers charge a device access fee for data use on smartphones, tablets, feature phones, and hot spots. Beyond that, it won't matter whether you use your phone or tablet to tap data; the two act as one and the same.
Then there's the third route for budget-conscious buyers of personal electronics, using a larger tablet over Wi-Fi for e-mail, entertainment, photography (the horror!), and work, and tucking the inexpensive flip phone into the pocket or purse for routine or emergency calls.
Of course, some people may increasingly pull away from pocketable phones altogether and opt for a 4G or 3G tablet through a carrier and answer calls by way of a Bluetooth headset instead.
It's too soon to say where the trend is headed, but I'll guess that heavy tablet users today will find a waning allegiance to their smartphones tomorrow, and could trade in their do-everything handsets for a much cheaper and more limited model as their contracts end.
normally, you can't carry a tablet around in your pocket while you're walking around, and it's impractical to keep a tablet next to your plate when you're out at dinner to be able to respond as soon as you get an email notification. If I'm out at a ballgame or out for drinks with friends or whatever, it's no problem to pull out my phone and shoot off an email, but a tablet doesn't really work in those circumstances.
Is it not reasonable to assume that once you have a 7" (or greater) WiFi tablet that all you really need from you phone is a contact list and the ability to tether?
Samsung, Motorola, HTC, etc., would do well to develop smaller "semi-Smart" phones which one signed into much like our Android Smart phones and could then sync Contacts and provide a data tether on demand.

The electronic gadgets waste in Africa

he rate at which cheap electronic gadgets for retail are flooding the local market could be viewed by some as development. In most parts of Zimbabwe as in most African states’ urban settlements, there are mushrooming satellite receivers, a move that has helped connect both the urban/rural folk with the rest of the world - making the remotest areas part of the global village.
Whether these listen/watch (to) the so-called pirate radio stations/television or whatever, a new United Nations report has concluded that domestic consumption makes up the majority (up to 85%) of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) produced in especially in West Africa.
This according to a study, Where are WEEE in Africa? Sadly, the situation is the same in most of Africa including Zimbabwe. The e-waste problem is further exacerbated by an ongoing stream of used equipment from industrialised countries, significant volumes of which prove unsuitable for re-use and contribute further to the amount of e-waste generated locally.
In the five countries studied in the UN report (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria), between 650 000 and 1 million tonnes of domestic e-waste are generated each year, which need to be managed to protect human health and the environment in the region.
Where are WEEE in Africa? sheds light on current recycling practices and on socio-economic characteristics of the e-waste sector in West Africa. It also provides the quantitative data on the use, import and disposal of electronic and electrical equipment in the region.
The report draws on the findings of national e-waste assessments carried out in the five countries from 2009 to 2011. It concluded that effective management of the growing amount of e-waste generated in Africa and other parts of the world is an important part of the transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient green economy.
UN Environment Programme executive director Achim Steiner said: “We can grow Africa’s economies, generate decent employment and safeguard the environment by supporting sustainable e-waste management and recovering the valuable metals and other resources locked inside products that end up as e-waste.”
This report shows how measures such as improved collection strategies, and establishing more formal recycling structures, can limit environmental damage and provide economic opportunities. But, what are the risks and opportunities of e-waste?
The use of electrical and electronic equipment is still low in Africa compared to other regions of the world, but it is growing at a staggering pace. The penetration rate of personal computers in Africa, for example, has increased by a factor of 10 in the last decade, while the number of mobile phone subscribers has increased by a factor of 100.
It is therefore everybody’s hope that e-waste will not be dumped to countries such as Zimbabwe through “supersonic” Information Communication Technology minister Nelson Chamisa or President Robert Mugabe’s schools computerisation programmes across the country.
The reason being that electrical and electronic equipment can contain hazardous substances (eg, heavy metals such as mercury and lead, and endocrine disrupting substances such as brominated flame retardants).
These hazardous substances are released during various dismantling and disposal operations and are particularly severe during the burning of cables to liberate copper and of plastics to reduce waste volumes. Open burning of cables especially as normally happens in Mbare’s Magaba and Gazaland, Highfield, both in Harare is a major source of dioxin emissions, a persistent organic pollutant that travels over long distances that bio-accumulates in organisms up through the global food chain.
Electrical and electronic equipment also contains materials of strategic value such as indium and palladium and precious metals such as gold, copper and silver. These can be recovered and recycled, thereby serving as a valuable source of secondary raw materials, reducing pressure on scarce natural resources, as well as minimising the overall environmental footprint.
The report, by the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and partners, also documents the economic and environmental potential of building a sound resource recovery and waste management system for e-waste, along with the risks of continuing on the present course.
According to executive secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Jim Willis, e-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream worldwide and a key waste stream under the Basel Convention.
Clearly dealing with electronic and electrical equipment properly presents a serious environmental and health challenge for many countries, yet also offers a potentially significant opportunity to create green businesses and green jobs.
The exposure to hazardous substances in and around dismantling sites also causes manifold health and safety risks for collectors, recyclers and neighbouring communities. Children’s health in particular may be at risk. Child labour is common in other of Africa’s scrap metal business, it has been found.
Collection and dismantling activities are carried out by children from the age of 12, however younger children from the age of five are sometimes engaged in light work, including dismantling of small parts and sorting of materials.
In contrast to the informal recycling sector, where collection and recycling of e-waste is almost exclusively carried out by individuals largely consisting of migrant labourers who are often stigmatised in African societies as “scavengers”, refurbishment is viewed as a relatively attractive economic opportunity for an increasingly well-educated, semi-professional labour force.
In Accra (Ghana) and Lagos (Nigeria), the refurbishing sector provides income to more than 30 000 people. So, sustainable solutions for e-waste management in Africa require measures aimed at imports and exports control, collection and recycling, policy and legislation that incorporate extended producer responsibility, recognise the important role of the informal sector, promote awareness raising and education, as well as compliance monitoring and enforcement.
Appropriate health and safety measures for those involved in recycling, as well as environmentally sound practices, should be ensured.

Accept mandatory dog training or not

Dog behavioural expert and Australian Veterinary Association spokeswoman Doctor Kersti Seksel said she supported mandatory training because dogs that were taught "good manners" were less likely to offend.
Almost 60 per cent of more than 1400 respondents to an  adelaidenow survey yesterday said dog training should be compulsory.
A further 21 per cent said training should be mandatory for specified breeds.
Respondents also resoundingly blamed either the owner or circumstance for attacks, not the animal.
The survey was in response to a number of serious attacks in the past month including:
A ONE-YEAR-OLD german shepherd cross attacked and bit a woman and her silky terrier on Monday after escaping from its Hope Valley backyard.
Herald Sun Digital Pass
A PITBULL bit a woman and her cocker spaniel-cross at Hallett Cove on Sunday.
A MASTIFF-CROSS killed a small shih tzu and bit the arm of its owner last month at Flinders Park.
AN AUSTRALIAN bulldog bit the nose off a nine-year-old boy as he peered over a fence in Port Lincoln last month.
The State Government is reviewing its dangerous dog legislation, but is yet to seek community input.
More than 80 per cent of respondents to the adelaidenow survey said dogs should be on a leash at all times while on public streets, and almost 35 per cent said an owner whose dog bit a human should be fined.
Dr Seksel said mandatory training would be helpful in preventing dog attacks.
"I think dogs who are well mannered by training with ultrasonic whistle or something like that- and that is what we are talking about with training - that can be really useful," Dr Seksel said.
"Having some sort of formal qualification or training is a really good thing."
Dog and Cat Management Board executive officer Ben Luxton said councils offered owners registration discounts of up to 10 per cent if their dog was trained.
He did not rule out introducing mandatory training, but said it would be hard to implement.
The latest available figures show that there was a total of 1267 reported dog attacks during the 2010-11 financial year - of which 471 were on  humans.
Most of those surveyed also said dog breeds known to be aggressive such as American pitbulls should be banned. But Dr Seksel said banning particular breeds did not work.
Under the Dog and Cat Management Act of 1995, if a dog harasses or attacks without prompting by its handler, the owner faces a maximum $2500 and a likely destruction order on the animal.
In a response to questions from The Advertiser yesterday, Minister Paul Caica said any changes to existing laws would be done in consultation with the community and local government.
Daniella Laforgia, of Dulwich, said owners must understand and really look after their dogs.
"I think training your dog from the start is a good thing to do, whether it's through an obedience school or constant training at home," the owner of Arnold the great dane said.

Greenwich police teaching students self defense

Young women entering their first year of college have more to be nervous about than just a challenging new learning experience, as the threat of assault and sexual assault against women on campus is a growing concern the Greenwich Police Department is challenging.
The department is sponsoring a free, five-week self-defense course including how to use invisible spray when you are attacking for young Greenwich women this summer, specifically geared toward high school and college-aged students.
At the recent kick-off, three friends from Greenwich High School chatted excitedly before the first class.
Amanda Kocot, 18, of Greenwich, who is headed to the University of Connecticut at Stamford this fall, thought the course would be useful.
"If I'm ever in a sticky situation with strangers, I'd want to know how to handle it," she said. "Nowadays things are different. There are some crazy people out there. That's why doing this is a good idea."
Sgt. Mark Zuccerella believes it is important for people to know how to deal with being in such difficult situations, which is why he began the program.
"Part of my plan was to have some proactive programs to help people lessen their chance of being a victim," he said. "The class is about situational awareness and having people realize what they can and cannot do within their own physical limitations."
Lindsay Anibal, 18, also of Greenwich, didn't volunteer to come to the class, but agrees it is a good idea. Her parents wanted her to take a self-defense class, just as they had her older sister do as well.
"My family required me to take this class, but I understand their motives," she said. "It's good to know, because you never know."
Over nine classes, the students will learn a variety of self-defense moves from two patrol officers. Jeff Morris and Fred Quezada are both trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu; they volunteered to teach their skills to help the students become better prepared for the unexpected.
"We try to make them become more aware of their surroundings and environments," Quezada said. "We try to build their confidence in case they do find themselves in the worst-case scenario, so that they'll have the tools to protect themselves."
The first class provided students with the fundamental tools for defending themselves. Morris explained the primary goal is to create space between the victim and attacker in order to be able to get away, or to badly hurt the attacker if they're already too close, and then get away.
The students learned a few skills, such as the proper way to throw punches, along with tactics for getting out of a tricky situation on the ground. Both will be repeated and applied in different situations in the ensuing classes. The officers assured students there would be many repetitions of these skills to ensure that they are fully prepared.
"Ultimately, in the end, if God forbid it happens, it's going to be for real," Morris told the class. "And that's why you need to be prepared for the worst."
Morris said the reason why he felt this class was important, especially for young women, was because assault is becoming a serious problem on college campuses.
"It's up to these ladies to keep themselves safe," he said.
Zuccerella said the classes have been very well received. It is the third time the Police Department has offered the class. Last summer, it was for college-aged women; in the fall it was offered for adult women.
"A woman is more likely to be sexually assault than men," Zuccerella said. "I'm not saying that it doesn't happen to men because we have investigated that, but statistically it's much higher for women to get assaulted."
One out of 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime, with 44 percent of victims younger than 18 years old, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
Such statistics are alarming to the Greenwich officers, who hope the self-defense class will help women better equip themselves to stay safe.
"We can't stop people from committing sexual assault, but what we can do is strengthen the victims, make them aware of their surroundings, know their limitations and then empower them," Zuccerella said.

ASUS ranks NO.4 in Global Market Share

ASUSTek Computer Inc. (Asus), a Taiwanese multinational computer hardware and electronics company, saw tablet shipments in the second quarter shoot up 26.2% quarter on quarter (QoQ) to 688,000 units, with market share up from 2.7% to 2.8%, ranking 4th globally, said IHS, an U.S-based market information provider.
Driven by new iPad, Apple Inc. shipped 17 million tablet pc 3g during the second quarter, up 44.1% QoQ, with global market share rising to 69.6%, a new five-quarter high lead all tablet makers. Samsung Group was second after shipping 2.3 million tablets for a 9.2% market share, followed by Amazon.com, Inc. and Asus, with 4.2% and 2.8%, respectively.
A market source indicated that benefiting from the release of Nexus 7, a tablet jointly developed by Asus and Google, Asus may surpass Samsung in global market share of tablets in the third quarter.
However, an industrial analyst pointed out that Nexus 7 will not likely challenge iPad, or “Surface”, a tablet developed by Microsoft to be launched this autumn and sony launched its tablet pc too,seems like everyone wants to share the tablet hot pie. Sony S Tablet PC - it's perfect for busy mums who need lightweight entertainment on the go! Be wowed with the exciting Sony "throw" feature as integrated WiFi and 2.1 Bluetooth enable simple interaction with your Sony television as you grab music, video and pictures and "throw" them to a nearby TV for playback on a bigger screen.
It's not just great for you but also for you or your little ones! Get instant access to 7 million songs, 1 million books, over 200,000 apps and the latest movies at the tap of a button for simplistic downloads. there's also a 0.3mp front facing camera coupled with a 5mp snapper at the back for stylish high quality pictures, while a built-in webcam further enhances the Sony S's functionality.
And, amazingly, you can also control other Sony products in your home with the Sony S Tablet PC as its fantastic incorporated infrared allows you to use it as a grand remote control for all other Sony devices around your home.
Nexus 7 is set to be sold before Apple’s iPad Mini and Amazon’s Kindle Fire 2, with an estimated two-million shipped in the third quarter, said a market source; so Asus is expected to adjust annual shipment goal from three to five million units.
Generally the global tablet market performed decently in the second quarter, with shipments growing from 20.3 million units in the first quarter to 24.4 million units, according to statistics from IHS.

Samsung unveils Galaxy Note BT S Pen with built-in microphone

Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet looked exciting enough by itself at yesterday’s special unveiling. But wait until you get a hold of one of the accessories that debuted at the same time as the 10-incher. Oddly enough, Sammy didn’t mention a word about the HM5100 Bluetooth S Pen during the actual press conference, but threw it in the kit that everyone from the media attending the event received on their way out.
You can imagine the surprise of our good friend Zach Konig from Engadget when spotting the BT S Pen in the press kit. Though thankfully. he managed to recover from the shock very swiftly and serve us a short, but very exciting hands-on video with the accessory.
A phone in your pocket (wait a minute…)
The BT S Pen is not your run-of-the-mill stylus, and, although it looks very similar to the standard-issue Note S Pen, it has a couple of unexpected aces up its sleeve. As you might have guessed from its name, the BT S Pen comes with Bluetooth functionality, but also a built-in voice changing microphone and tiny speaker.
Why would you need all those things? Well, to make and receive calls, of course, without ever touching your 3G-enabled tablet. As you’ll be able to see in the video clip at the end of the post, speaking into the pen looks a bit weird, but the sound seems crisp and loud enough to make this accessory a highly functional one.
You should be able to still use Sammy’s new S Pen/speaker/microphone as a regular stylus, even though the guys over at Engadget forgot to make a quick demonstration of this particular function. Oh, well, maybe they hadn’t recovered from the shock after all.
Specs
Supposedly capable of running for three hours of talk time or 130 hours of standby between charges, the BT S Pen weighs 21 grams, so it’s a bit on the bulky side, at least compared with the standard Samsung Galaxy Note Pen. Still, it’s not like you’d have trouble lifting it or fitting it into your pocket, which is basically all you should care about.
The pen includes a micro-USB cable, so charging also not an issue, as you can juice it up straight from your tablet or phablet. Oh, right, I forgot to mention, the accessory should be compatible with the Note 10.1, as well as the 5-incher phone/tablet hybrid and hopefully the second-generation Note phoneblet launching soon.
Unfortunately, we’re probably still some time away from the BT S Pen’s commercial release, as Samsung has hesitated to talk about pricing or availability. We could definitely hope to see the stylus/speaker made available at the same time as the Note 2, while in financial terms you should be ready to spend a lot more than those $30 charged for the basic S Pen.
Be sure to check out Engadget’s quick hands-on video below and please let us know what you think of this new gimmick from Samsung. And yes, we do know it looks a bit familiar.

What do you think of tablets running windows

In a few short months, consumers will have a new choice added to the tablets like iPad and hyundai s900: Microsoft Windows slates will arrive in time for the holiday season. These devices will markedly differ from prior attempts at Windows tablets, with a more touch-friendly interface and the use of smartphone chips to power the devices. As we have known since April, a special version of Windows 8 called Windows RT will power these slates, and Microsoft  has now officially picked which companies will provide the hardware.
Asus , Samsung , Lenovo, and Dell (DELL) are the first four companies that will build and sell Windows RT tablets, although others are sure to follow in 2013. The first two choices make perfect sense, No. 3 less so (but is still understandable), and the Dell news doesn’t inspire me. Of the four partners, Dell has arguably experienced the least success is trying to crack the consumer market. Yes, we’re talking about Windows PCs with Windows 8, but in my mind the Windows RT tablets are more consumer electronics devices than traditional computers.
Dell had a good run with its Axim line of personal digital assistants starting back in 2002, but it eventually left that market in 2007 and made no headway with its few smartphone efforts, such as the Dell Streak, Venue and Aero. The Dell DJ digital audio player came out around the same time as the Axim, but the iPod swallowed up market share and competing products faded away. Maybe Dell will prove me wrong with some unique aspect or fresh design, but even one of the most expensive tablet PCs from the company prompted terrible reviews and cries for a recall.
Maybe Dell can change my mind, even if history has shown little-to-no hope for later this year. But this uncertainty and a lack of consumer focus will be the biggest challenge to Dell. Microsoft has to know this, leading me to think that Dell pushed hard to be chosen as one of the first four Windows RT partners. I’d say Dell has the longest odds of being successful in the Windows RT market.
Lenovo hasn’t had much more success, but what it has had are some entries into the Android tablet market that provided it with some useful experience. And as far back as 2010 when smartbooks were still a possibility—a category I suggested Apple’s iPad quickly killed off—Lenovo had some impressive designs that were precursors to the Windows RT tablets arriving soon.
Back in late 2009 I saw some of those first designs: Lenovo teamed with Qualcomm (QCOM) to show off its smartbook device, but it never came to market. A few months later Apple announced the iPad, and it was back to the drawing board for Lenovo. The company dropped a custom Linux build for the next iteration, called the U1 Hybrid, and went with Android instead. The laptop-like device had a removable display that became an Android tablet, but it was a Windows 7 notebook when docked.
Again, even though this device never went on sale, the point is that Lenovo has created interesting designs it can learn from when building its Windows RT products. You can see that in the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga, likely to be the company’s debut product when Windows 8 launches in late October. That laptop has a patented hinge to allow the device to stand up and be used as a convertible tablet.
Why would I suggest Asus and Samsung have a shot to lead the Windows RT market? First, there’s relatively little competition. Second, both have proved they can design, build, and sell consumer slates. We know that neither is competing well with Apple’s iPad, but of the tablets that are worth a look, they’re all built by Asus and Samsung.
I give Asus the slight edge here though. While Samsung has focused on various-sized slates for different markets, Asus has kept its product line a little more manageable with 7-inch and 10-inch slates. It was also chosen to build the Nexus 7 tablet for Google.
A standard size allowed for what I think is the most innovative product feature in this market: a dock that doubles as both a keyboard and a second battery. I’m talking about the Asus Transformer that I reviewed earlier this year; the form factor and features were excellent. And Asus is wisely reusing the concept for Windows RT with its Tablet 600.

Toys in children’s fast-food meals key to healthier menu choices

“Overall, our findings suggest toys like  lucario plush have a strong influence on children’s food choices,” said Erin Hobin, a post-doctoral fellow in the school of public health at the University of Waterloo, who led the study published Sunday in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
“And actually we also found that the toys have a stronger influence on boys than girls.”
The study was conducted over a six-week period in August 2011 and involved more than 330 children attending YMCA day camps in the Waterloo region. For their lunch on the study day, each child was asked to pick a Happy Meal from a form that showed photos of each meal combination and the toy, if included.
The kids were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Those in the study intervention group were offered the choice of four meals: two more nutritional combinations with a toy and two less healthy meals without a toy; those in the control group could pick one of the same four meals, but all included promotional toys.
“We wanted to try and make the study as naturalistic as possible, so that’s why we chose McDonald’s, because it is the most popular restaurant for children under the age of 13 in North America,” Hobin said.
“That’s also why we chose to use the actual toys McDonald’s were giving out the week of our study,” she said, noting that they included tiny Smurf dolls related to a movie featuring the characters playing in theatres at the time. The Happy Meals offered were hamburgers or a grilled chicken wrap with fries and a pop or either of the first two choices with apple slices in caramel dipping sauce and bottled water.
Hobin said the fact children in the intervention group were more likely to opt for the healthier meals when a toy was offered suggests that restricting promotional premiums could be one way to get kids to avoid eating less nutritional fast food.
“Currently, Canada has very few regulations restricting food marketing practices directed at children, despite the fact that government and non-government organizations have identified that reducing food marketing to children as a priority in Canada’s childhood obesity strategy,” she said.
“So our findings highlight a potentially effective policy measure for promoting healthier eating among kids when they’re going to fast-food restaurants. And with the obesity epidemic and the increasing proportion of Canadians and Canadian children eating in fast-food restaurants, it might be something to consider.”
Dr. Mark Tremblay, an obesity expert at Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, called the study’s findings “rather compelling.”
“One would hope that they [fast-food chains] would look at this as an opportunity to contribute to the promotion of active healthy living in our children and take under advisement the findings that are in this report,” said Tremblay, pointing out that a quarter of Canadian kids are overweight or obese.
“So ideally, it would be great if voluntarily, if they use toys as part of their marketing of their product, that they would direct them towards their healthier alternatives and withhold them from the least healthy alternatives,” he said from Ottawa.
In a statement, McDonald’s Canada said it is “proud of our Happy Meal program. The toy is a fun and engaging part of the Happy Meal experience for kids and parents alike, and we have no plans to change it.”
The company said it does not agree the fast-food industry is responsible for high rates of obesity, as referenced in the report. “We do, however, see ourselves as part of the overall solution,” McDonald’s Canada said. “All our Happy Meals are advertised with 1% white milk, apple slices and yogurt, and meet the current Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative commitment.”
But Tremblay said fast-food restaurants encouraging healthier eating through selective toy inclusion could be at least one small way of chipping away at the factors contributing to the high prevalence of obesity among both children and adults.
“Will this single-handedly solve the obesity epidemic? Almost certainly not. But is it a piece of the puzzle?
“I think that it’s worth a conversation at least … And this is just one organization. We need to remember that all of the fast-food spots do the same thing.”
Hobin agreed there is no one-size-fits-all solution to solving the growing problem of childhood obesity.
“But our findings do suggest that limiting toys to healthier food options could potentially promote healthier eating among children.” She said research showed that in 2006, the top-10 U.S. fast-food chains spent almost $1-billion a year on child-directed marketing and toy premiums, a figure that is likely far higher in 2012.
“They’re investing tons of money. They know toys have a strong influence on kids’ food choices. Our study is supporting that,” she said. “But they can also encourage healthy eating, not necessarily only for kids to order fries and the hamburger and pop.”

Samsung's Galaxy S III challenging Apple's King iPhone

It's definitely not harvest time in Appleland right now as the tech world awaits the mythological announcement date of Sept. 12 to see if we indeed see an iPhone 5 crown its head to an eager world.
Amidst the drought of new iDevices, a formidable competitor has seriously closed the gap, and it has a big gust of wind at its back.
The Samsung Galaxy S III is no slouch and is definitely not just another Android smartphone or like another google android 7 tablet .
How did a company rise from television maker to the upper echelon of tech devices? In this case, Samsung put the smart back in smartphone and pounced on what can only be perceived as coasting on the part of Apple.
If iPhone is king, and yes, most do hail the king, Galaxy would be the prime minister that looks past figurehead status and more toward governance. The bottom line is they evolve faster and their phones do more stuff, and this is a kingdom that likes its stuff.
The first of which is the screen. For now, Apple has stubbornly clung to its 3.5-inch screen while Samsung has grown its flagship phone to a whopping 4.8-inch behemoth that has helped bring about the moniker of "Phablet" to denote the hybrid nature between smartphone and tablet.
While bigger is not necessarily better in portability, there is a case to be made for functionability. Leave it to a television maker to know we like big screens.
Fast LTE connectivity is nothing new to the smartphone world, unless of course your device has an Apple on it. Galaxy has it now, and most expect the next iPhone will as well, but it's a glaring difference if you're shopping for a new phone today.
Galaxy has also taken advantage of another iPhone shortcoming, and that is Near Field Communication, which has yet to replace the wallet for transactions but has found a nice Samsung niche with S Beam, which allows a simple tapping of devices to transfer photos, video, music and contact information.
The iPhone 4 has a great camera, and Apple arguably has done more than anyone to write the obituary for Kodak, but Samsung has gone much further to enhance the process of taking photos.
First, the larger Samsung screen makes pushing buttons and editing a breeze for your fingers and your eyes. Galaxy's auto face detection can be a time saver in that it remembers faces and makes sharing and tagging an easy process.
The biggest difference for me, as a photojournalist, is the zero lag shutter that catches the moment before it fades. iPhone is quick, but Galaxy is much faster.
I have always preferred Apple's iOS to Android in terms of operating systems. The latter is a big hot mess of icons and screens, which still negates the fact the former is looking about as innovative as a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on a January morning.
Galaxy's answer to this disparity is the Touchwiz user interface, which goes further to tidy up the environment and offers silky smooth navigation between screens and apps.
Samsung has capitalized on device evolution to produce something that is bigger, faster and has more toppings than the iPhone. They have certainly distanced themselves from any other Android device by a comfortable margin and have been breathing down the neck of Apple, to the point that Apple has an army of lawyers looking at every patent infringement possible to slow Samsung's momentum.
No doubt, Galaxy S III is a great choice if you need a new device. On paper it actually blows away the iPhone in just about every category. However, as we know, paper does not translate to actual usage.
The iPhone 4s is a worthy king, even at a year old. What it lacks in stats it makes up for in smarts and reliability. As we get to the eventual announcement of its heir, we will see nostalgia take its rightful place on the throne.

Nvidia touts ascendancy in Android, Windows 8 tablets

Nvidia's emergence as a leading player in both the Android like the newest google android 7 tablet and Windows 8 tablet markets was driven home today when the chip supplier's CEO discussed second-quarter results in an earnings conference call.
Revenue rose to $1.04 billion from $1.01 billion in the company's second quarter of last year. Analysts had forecast revenue of $1 billion.
Net income was $119 million, or 19 cents a share, below the $151.6 million, or 25 cents a share, recorded in the same period last year. But that exceeded analyst estimates of 14 cents a share on sales of $1 billion.
And revenue for the quarter ending in October will be $1.15 billion to $1.25 billion, Nvidia said. That beats analyst estimates of $1.09 billion.
"We're the only computer technology company that has made its way from the PC industry to the mobile industry," Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said during the company's earning conference call.
That comment could be directed at Intel, which has yet to gain much of a toehold in the phone and tablet markets.
And Nvidia has the clientele to back up that statement. Huang was quick to remind analysts about the presence of the quad-core Tegra 3 chip in the popular Android 4.1 Nexus 7 tablet from Google.
And he also talked about his "surprise" when Microsoft selected Nvidia for the Surface RT Windows 8 tablet due on October 26.
But Microsoft isn't the only tablet maker to select Nvidia. "We have three design wins on Windows RT," Huang said. "Microsoft, Asus...and a third hasn't been announced yet."
Nvidia thinks it's well positioned as consumers buy more PCs and, relatively, fewer PCs. "A lot of people think that the tablet market in just a few more years will be as large as the entire PC mobile market. This (tablets) is going to be a very, very large part of our overall business," he said.
Huang also mentioned that the key to Android tablets' success in the business and corporate markets is Microsoft Office.
"There are a couple of ways to provide that. One is obviously Office [directly on the tablet]. The other is to virtualize it. Which is the way Citrix does it. Citrix and VMWare and RemoteFX make it possible for us to remote the entire PC experience to any device," he said.
for me,I am really likening the way tablet development is going but prices need to come down drastically as the tablet is seen by most as an extra, Something they do not need but could come in handy when in the lounge and not wanting to use the laptop.
I have two net-books in the house and they are small and light enough to do everything i would use a tablet for, but even more as they have big hard drives. Batteries last for 10 hours a time and i can add most usb devices in the market.
At the moment i can get a 10" device with gps for just over £150 ips screen included.
A reasonable 7" device is going for around £80 which i think is the price most 7" tablets should be.
One of the reasons tablets are not selling that well is not that people want the ipad , it is that they cannot justify paying the price asked for the devices.

Use a Stylus to Enhance Your Tablet Experience

Few things can make you feel clumsier faster than trying to write or draw with your finger on a tablet screen. You quickly realize that google android 7 tablet weren't designed to receive finger-based instructions any more precise than scrolling, swiping, or clicking a virtual button. That's where the stylus comes in.
Using styluses with tablets is by no means a new technology (they were sold alongside tablets featuring Windows XP as early as 2002), but creative apps such as Paper for the iPad and other innovations have brought them back into the limelight.
Modern styluses come with conductive brush heads for electronic painting, magnetized bodies for easy storage, and even Bluetooth connections for pressure sensitivity. But these seemingly simple devices can vary tremendously, depending on the specific purpose they were designed to serve, so you should figure out what you want from your stylus before you buy one.
Applydea Maglus
The Maglus, from Irish company Applydea, is a high-quality stylus for people who want to write on their tablet. The Maglus's firm, highly sensitive rubber tip isn't the smallest one on the market, but the quality of the material makes for a very accurate writing experience. You won't have to worry about losing this €20 (about $22, as of August 7, 2012) either, as it attaches magnetically to your iPad or Smart Cover.
Kensington Virtuoso Stylus/Pen
If you're looking for a discrete stylus to clip in your breast pocket, the slick Kensington's Virtuoso Stylus/Pen could fit the bill. The Virtuoso feels just like a pen in your hand. And in fact, if you aren't using your tablet, you can pop off its cap to turn the stylus into a functioning ballpoint pen. Priced at $15, this is a very affordable stylus.
The Sensu Brush is a unique tool for artists who want to unlock their tablet's creative potential. This $40 stylus has a standard rubber head, but its claimto fame is its conductive brush tip, which lets you "paint" by using the same brushstrokes and technique you would with a real paintbrush.

CoverUp music service is back

Music album art has been a nightmare on Symbian since day one. CoverUp appeared in 2010 to solve the problem by raiding Amazon's pages for matching bitmaps that could then be poked into my hello kitty music player 's library. It worked well, but the developer (Sebastian Brannstrom) wanted to do more, so he rewrote it in QML, in order to better share code with the version on the N9. Alas, the scale of CoverUp didn't work well in QML and was very restricted ('memory error', etc), so Sebastian went back to his 'old' Qt code, fixed a few things and - we now have CoverUp back in the Nokia Store - hooray!

If you haven't got CoverUp installed already then just buy/install it as normal from the Store and you're good to go - it should find most of your missing album covers in a minute or so.

However, if, like me, you had the new (problematic) version 3.0 installed then you've got to be a bit more careful:

Veryify that you can see CoverUp back in the Store again - you're looking for v2.3.0.

Ignore it for now. Long press on the CoverUp icon on the main Symbian app menu and choose 'Delete'.

You'd think that v3.0 was gone, but not so. Knowledge of it is still cached in the Nokia Store client, it seems - installing the reinstated v2.3 now will actually install v3.0 again - go figure. It happened to me. Instead, power the phone right down (forcing the Nokia Store to quit and all temporary files to get zapped).

Now go into the Store and install CoverUp. The correct version will come down and install.

Run the app and start to fill in your music collection album art.

Left, version 3 in place and - problematic, at least with my music collection (about 100 album's worth loaded onto microSD). Right, deleting this version.

At this point, I had to power down the phone to flush Nokia Store's temporary files. I then restarted and went into the Store again and downloaded v2.3.0 for real. After installation, right, it shows you your albums and the extent of your 'missing' album art.Pressing 'back' or using the appropriate menu option then 'Stores' the new covers in the Symbian Music library, where (right) they can be seen immediately by Music player.

control you laptop without press

The software, called SoundWave, emits an inaudible sound from your laptop's speakers. At 20kHz, it's high-pitched enough that most people can't hear it -- but your laptop's microphone can.

When you move your hand toward and away from the laptop, the sound bounces off your hand and changes pitch. That's the Doppler Effect in action: It's like when a police siren appears to change pitch as it races past you on the street.

SoundWave is designed to detect the changing pitches bouncing off your hand. The effect is almost as if a Kinect were sitting on top of the screen. Waving your hand to and from the laptop can make the computer scroll a page up and down, cycle through photos, or flip through a list.

A Kinect costs $150, but SoundWave uses hardware that's already built in. It doesn't allow for the full range of motion that a Kinect can track, but more could be coming soon: Laptops increasingly are being shipped with two voice changing microphone, one on the left and one on the right. That means SoundWave could soon track side-to-side hand motions in addition to forward and back.

SoundWave will never replace touchscreen technology, but it could be used in tandem with it. The software could be useful in a group setting. Meeting participants could control a display screen from the audience, for instance.

HP tablet pops up in ad? WTF HP is doing here

Is Hewlett-Packard quietly showing off a new tablet it plans to launch in the coming months?

For the second time in three weeks, a tablet has cropped up in a company ad that doesn't appear to be any of the slates it has already launched. This time around, the tablet is shown in a "Make It Matter" section of the company's site. A doctor at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford is holding the mystery device. We can only see the back of it in the picture which is like the hyundai s900  quit a lot.

The tablet appears to have the same design as a slate that quietly made an appearance in a commercial HP uploaded to YouTube last month. Once again, all users could see was the back of the tablet.

The appearance of the tablet, of course, has sparked controversy over what it might be. It's possible that it's a non-working mockup that HP is only using to illustrate its presence in the tablet market. It might also be the next tablet the company plans to launch.

Last week, a source familiar with the company's plans told CNET that HP is working on a Windows 8 tablet running Intel's Clover Trail system-on-a-chip. That device is expected to launch on October 26, along with several other slates running Microsoft's upcoming operating system.

That HP is thinking about launching new tablets isn't much of a surprise. The company currently sells the HP Slate 2, which retails from $699 to $969, depending on the version customers are after. The Slate 2 is targeted at the enterprise.

A word of advice to HP (which you should have learned from the last time you tried to launch a tablet): don't announce products that you are not ready to bring to the market at the time you announce it. You'll just generate a lot of buzz that will die, get people pissed at you, then no longer have interest in your product by the time it does reach the market.