Google Cloud Connect

Google Cloud Connect is a free cloud computing plug-in for Windows Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 that can automatically store and synchronize any Microsoft Word document, PowerPoint presentation, or Excel spreadsheet to Google Docs in Google Docs or Microsoft Office formats. The Google Doc copy is automatically updated each time the Microsoft Office document is saved. Microsoft Office documents can be edited offline and synchronized later when online. Google Cloud Sync maintains previous Microsoft Office document versions and allows multiple users to collaborate, working on the same document at the same time.

Features

Google Cloud Connect can automatically or manually synchronize changes made to a Microsoft Office 2003, 2007, or 2010 document with Google Docs. Documents can be secured for private access by one user, shared with specific people for collaboration, or made public to anyone. Documents can be rolled back to previous revisions.
    Backup: Microsoft Office documents can be manually or automatically backed up to Google Docs each time they are saved locally.Video
    Synchronize: Changes made to an Office document on one computer can sync when the file is opened on another computer.[6] Video
    Protect: Microsoft Office documents synced to Google Docs can be made accessible to one person.
    Share: Microsoft Office documents synced to Google Docs can be made accessible only to selected people.
    Edit: A shared document can be set to only be viewed by others or edited as well.
    Publish: Documents synced to Google Docs can effectively be published by making them accessible to anyone.
    Collaborate: Multiple users can work on the same document at the same time.
    Notify: When one person edits a document, others sharing the document receive an email letting them know.
    Print: Use Google Cloud Print to print to local or remote network connected printers.
    Compare: Previous version are maintained allowing users to compare to older versions.
    Roll back: Users can go back to a previous version of the document.
    Green: Green computing allows documents to be shared without printing or sending large files. Only links need be sent.
    Mobilize: Google Sync allows synced documents to be viewed and edited with most internet connected mobile devices.
    Free: 1GB of storage is included for free. Currently additional storage costs per year are: 20GB-$5, 80GB-$20, etc. up to 16TB.

History of Google Docs

This article covers the history of Google Docs, a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, form, and data storage service offered by Google. Google Docs originated from two separate products, Writely and Google Spreadsheets. Writely was a web-based word processor created by the software company Upstartle and launched in August 2005. Spreadsheets, launched as Google Labs Spreadsheets on June 6, 2006,] originated from the acquisition of the XL2Web product by 2Web Technologies. Writely's original features included a collaborative text editing suite and access controls. Menus, keyboard shortcuts, and dialog boxes are similar to what users may expect in a desktop word processor such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org Writer.

On March 9, 2006, Google announced that it had acquired Upstartle.] At the time of acquisition, Upstartle had four employees.Writely closed registration to its service until the move to Google servers was completeIn August 2006, Writely sent account invitations to everyone who had requested to be placed on a waiting list, and then became publicly available on August 23. Writely continued to maintain its own user system until September 19, 2006, when it was integrated with Google Accounts.[

Writely originally ran on Microsoft ASP.NET technology which uses Microsoft Windows. Since July 2006, Writely servers appear to be running a Linux-based operating system.

Meanwhile, Google developed Google Spreadsheets using the technology it had acquired from 2Web Technologies in 2005 and launched Google Labs Spreadsheets on June 6, 2006 as the first public component of what would eventually become Google Docs. It was initially made available to only a limited number of users, on a first-come, first-served basis. The limited test was later replaced with a beta version available to all Google Account holders, around the same time as a press release was issued.[

    In February 2007, Google Docs was made available to Google Apps users.

    In June 2007, Google changed the front page to include folders instead of labels, organized in a side bar.

    On September 17, 2007, Google released their presentation program product for Google Docs.

    On July 6, 2009, Google announced on their official blog that Google Docs along with other Google Apps would be taken out of beta.

    On January 13, 2010, Google announced on their official blog that Google Docs would allow any file type, including 1GB of free space and $0.25/GB for additional storage.

    On January 29, 2010, Google announced that support for IE6 would end on March 

    On January 31, 2011, Google began to test a new homepage for docs.google.com. This shows users all of the files, documents or not without having to go to multiple places.

Google Dictionary

Google Dictionary was an online dictionary service of Google, originating in its Google Translate service.  The Google Dictionary website was terminated on August 5, 2011 after part of its functionality was integrated into Google Search using the define: operator.  It was believed that, until August 2010, Google used definitions from Collins COBUILD. COBUILD entries were easy to recognize by their characteristic full-sentence definitions as well as rather cryptic grammar codes such as [N-VAR], which in Google Dictionary went unexplained. In August 2010 a blog site reported that Google Dictionary switched from the Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary to the Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English as its English definitions provider.This report, although close, was not quite accurate, as in fact the content now came from another Oxford dictionary, the Oxford American College Dictionary. As of August 5, 2011 Google Dictionary was discontinued as a separate service, although similar results have been incorporated into the Google search sidebar. However, this has resulted in a controversy over the way in which Google shut down the service without any warning. Moreover, the "Starred Words" feature became unavailable at the same time

Google Data Liberation Front

Google's Data Liberation Front is an engineering team at Google whose "goal is to make it easier for users to move their data in and out of Google products." The team, which consults with other engineering teams within Google on how to "liberate" Google products, currently supports 27 products.] The purpose of the Data Liberation Front is to ensure that data can be migrated from Google once an individual or company stops using their services.

Google Takeout  On June 28, 2011, Google's Data Liberation Front engineering team released their first product, after 4 years in development, called Google Takeout, which allowed you to export data from supported services.  Google Takeout has been criticized for failing to include many Google services.

 

 

Smartphone Ruling May Be Good News For Users

   Apple's legal victory may be bad for Samsung but it could be good news for consumers by forcing other technology manufacturers to innovate, an industry expert has told Sky News.  Samsung has been ordered to pay Apple $1.05bn (£665m) in damages after a jury in California found it guilty of copying aspects of the iPhone and iPad in its Galaxy products.  Luke Westaway, a technology editor at CNET UK, says Apple might now pursue other manufacturers who use Google's Android system through the courts, including HTC and LG.  But the ruling, he said, could also lead to new designs and features on other phones and tablets.  "People designing for other companies are going to be thinking do I want to get into trouble with Apple, do I want the hassle of the lawsuit?  "But I think that could be a positive thing. Already we see companies like Samsung trying things which actually Apple hasn't done.  "For example its most recent smartphone the Galaxy S III has a really big screen and a design that's actually quite different to the iPhone so we are seeing more and more variation already."  Apple launched its lawsuit in 2011. Samsung later fired back demanding $339m from Apple for allegedly copying some of Samsung's 3G technology.  But a jury in San Jose - 10 miles from Apple's headquarters - found entirely in Apple's favour and the company is now expected to seek injunctions forcing Samsung to withdraw the offending products.  If the ruling stands then Samsung and other manufacturers using Google's Android operating system will have to pay Apple extra royalties.

Before his death Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs told his biographer he intended to spend his "last dying breath" and Apple's $40bn bank balance to launch "thermonuclear war" on Android, branding it a "stolen product".

Apple has launched a litany of lawsuits around the world in the past few years over what it alleges are patent infringements.

But some experts believe the Californian firm's dominance is actually bad for consumers.

"In this instance they (Apple) could be classed as patent bullies because they're using patents to block competition," said Nikki Moore, a technology journalist.

"They're now a huge market player whereas they used to be a small, tech, independent company . They've become something they said they never would - this dominant market leader.

"Ultimately this could lead to less choice for consumers which is never going to be good thing for technology."

Samsung, which is appealing against the court's decision, has overtaken Apple as the world's biggest smartphone and tablet maker, selling over 22 million.

The two companies have filed similar lawsuits in eight other countries including Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Australia, South Korea and Japan.

HBO announces standalone streaming service abroad

The world's largest Internet retailer, which says its nine-month old Kindle Fire now accounts for one in five U.S. tablet sales, has teamed up with Nokia on mapping, the two people told Reuters.  Amazon will release at least one new version of the Kindle Fire next Thursday.  Amazon will also add location capabilities to the new Kindle Fire, which requires either a GPS chip or a process known as WiFi triangulation, the people said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak ahead of Thursday's launch event.  Mapping services, which are popular features on tablets, typically include street maps, information about local businesses and sometimes traffic status. They can also support navigation instructions and third-party applications that depend on location information, such as travel services.  Location capabilities mark the location of tablet and smart phone users.  Google Inc's Nexus 7 tablet, which competes directly with the Kindle Fire, comes with GPS receiver chips to support location and mapping functions.  The first Kindle Fire launched last year and at $199 costs half the price of the entry-level Apple Inc iPad, helping it rapidly gain consumer acceptance. On Thursday, Amazon said its Kindle Fires had completely sold out.  Analysts say the 7-inch device helps drive sales of digital media such as ebooks and music, which in turn propels core retail growth for the company.  Amazon may unveil larger versions of the Fire on Thursday in Los Angeles, analysts and media say, which will compete more directly with the iPad.  Although the Kindle now runs on an early version of Google's Android, which Amazon developed into its own operating system, it does not integrate Google Maps into the device. That means users had to access Google Maps via a Web browser, or download map apps from third-party developers.  A Nokia spokesman declined to comment and an Amazon spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.  GOING NATIVE  Shares of the Internet retailer closed down 0.4 percent at $246.22 on Thursday, after hitting a record high of $250 earlier following the announcement that it had run out of Kindle Fires.  Cooperating with Nokia may help Amazon develop integrated, or "native," mapping functionality for the Kindle Fire without relying on Google Maps. Nokia is one of the world's largest mapping companies, through its 2007 acquisition of Navteq.  Apple took a similar step earlier this year, when it dropped Google Maps in favor of its own mapping features for its next mobile operating system, known as iOS 6. As part of the switch, Apple signed a global licensing deal with TomTom NV, another leading mapping company, for its map content and related information.  In July, Amazon agreed to buy mapping startup UpNext, which specializes in detailed 3D maps of cities and some sporting stadiums.

Google serving up Android ‘Key Lime Pie’

There's nothing we like better here at tbreak then some good old fashioned Android news, so today's tip certainly had us interested.

Google is reportedly working on a 'Key Lime Pie' version of its popular Android system, which as of yet has no known release date.

Although the company's latest iteration, Ice Cream Sandwich has just started hitting phones and tablets, Google already has another update in the works called 'Jellybean', which will apparently be optimized for tablets and be released later this year as version 5.0. The update will apparently also allow vendors to add Android 5.0 to Windows 8-enabled tablets or notebooks, allowing users to choose which OS they want to use without rebooting the device.

Nokia and Blackberry thriving in SA

Nokia and BlackBerry are alive and well – and thriving – in South Africa, despite both brands facing worldwide decline in market share.

Nokia remains far and away the most popular cellphone brand among South Africans aged 16 and over, living in cities and towns, according to The Mobile Consumer in SA 2012 report, released this week as part of the recently unveiled Mobility 2012 research project.  The study, conducted by World Wide Worx with the backing of First National Bank, shows that Nokia maintained its market share over the past 18 months. In mid-2012, it held precisely 50% of this market; at the end of 2010, the figure was 51%. Nokia is expected to remain the number one cellphone brand in South Africa through to the end of 2013, but with a slightly diminished market share.  BlackBerry has flourished over this period, with its market share rising from 4% to 18%. It has drawn level with Samsung, which has fallen from 28% to 18% in the last 18 months.  'As in other developing markets, the demise of BlackBerry in this country remains a myth,' says Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx. 'BlackBerry’s continued strength lies in its appeal to the younger market, with the Curve models maintaining a ‘cool’ image. In the 16-25 age group, the brand has 28% market share.'  A further 16% of cellphone users say they intend to buy a BlackBerry next. Actual behaviour tends to fall short of intentions, but this still suggests strong brand momentum. Despite the wealthy top end of the market abandoning BlackBerry for the iPhone and the new Samsung Galaxy S3, this does not translate into significant market share for Apple or Samsung, as BlackBerry remains dominant in the smartphone segment.  Industry data compiled by World Wide Worx shows that, of a total of around 10-million smartphones sold in South Africa, about 4,8-million are BlackBerry devices. Nokia is a close second, with around 4-million smartphones sold. These are mostly devices using Nokia's Symbian operating system, while its new Lumia phones using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile have not yet made a significant impact.  Smartphones running Google’s Android operating system – mostly from Samsung and HTC – amount to about 800 000 devices, while the iPhone has moved fewer than 400 000 units in South Africa.  The Mobility 2012 data confirms that the iPhone remains a toy of the elite in South Africa, maintaining only its 1% market share of 18 months ago. Respondents to the survey gave the iPhone the greatest future brand momentum, with purchase intentions suggesting a sixfold increase in market share, to 6%, in the next 18 months.  'This is double the brand momentum indicated for the iPhone at the end of 2010, but the intended purchasing activity at the time, which should have given Apple 3% market share, simply did not materialise,' says Goldstuck. 'This shows the extent to which the iPhone remains an aspirational phone, but one that is out of reach, while the BlackBerry represents a reachable aspiration.'  Another dramatic shift was seen in Motorola’s market share: it fell from 11% to 2% in 18 months, and dropped from number 3 rank to number 5. LG slipped one position in rank to number 4, but maintained its 5% market share.  A surprise newcomer, the Chinese ZTE brand, also claimed 2% market share, thanks to low-cost devices that offer a powerful range of features. Sony-Ericsson, now carrying only the Sony brand, dropped from 2% to 1% market share, while HTC remained steady at 1%.  'HTC market share is expected to double in the next 18 months, although off a low base,' says Goldstuck. 'But the prospects for Motorola, LG and Sony are bleak: all three are expected to drop below 1%, unless something drastic happens to revitalise the brands.'  The Mobility 2012 project comprises two reports, namely The Mobile Consumer in SA 2012, comprising cellphone usage and banking trends, and The Mobile Internet in SA 2012, exploring online and data trends. It is based on face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of South African adult cellphone users living in cities and towns, conducted in June 2012.

Google to release ‘Nexus’ branded tablet soon?

In a recent interview with the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sea, Google's CEO Eric Schmidt hinted at the possibility of a new tablet that maybe Nexus branded.

Talking about the late Apple co-founder, Eric said that, 'Steve Jobs was the Michelangelo of our time. A friend of mine and a unique character, able to combine creativity and visionary genius with an extraordinary engineering ability.' He further went on to talk about how Steve realized the potential of tablet computers outside of organizations, and creating a product with mass market appeal. 

Despite the goodwill between these two, the companies still compete. 'In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality,' said Eric. However, he made no further mention of whether this will be a Nexus tablet, or a 3rd party tablet that Google will push as much as the Motorola XOOM earlier this year when it became the first tablet to come with Android Honeycomb.

This new tablet is sure to come with the recently released Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, but it remains to be seen what's so amazing about it, apart from having the new OS, that Google will be marketing it so hard.

Google unveils Android 4.0

Google announced their latest Android operating system, Android 4.0 (which has also been called Ice-Cream Sandwich) at a lavish launch in Hong Kong. While the launch was also focused on Samsung’s Nexus Prime, the attention was squarely focussed on the OS.

'With Ice Cream Sandwich, our mission was to build a mobile OS that works on both phones and tablets, and to make the power of Android enticing and intuitive. We created a new font that’s optimized for HD displays and eliminated all hardware buttons in favor of adaptable software buttons. We also dramatically improved the keyboard, made notifications more interactive and created resizable widgets,' Google said in a statement.  Google also mentioned that the desktop-class browser is significantly faster.  'The desktop-class browser features a refined tab manager and the ability to sync your bookmarks with Google Chrome. Ice Cream Sandwich also features the best mobile Gmail experience to date, with a new design that lets you quickly swipe through your inbox and search messages even when you’re offline.'  The OS will also allow people to update their contact list from a wide variety of sources. 'We rethought how you browse your contacts with the new People app, which combines high-resolution photos and updates from Google+ and other social services. It’s also easier to capture and share your life with family and friends,' they added.

Sony Xperia Tegra 3 tablet leaked, launches in September

Images have been leaked of a Sony Xperia Tablet with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor on board. The images show a slimmer form-factor, what looks to be Ice Cream Sandwich on board and a new design for the tablet.  The leak has come from XDA-Developers and shows not only images but also some apparent specs with the leak stating that the tablet will come with an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera while a 1MP front-facing camera will be in place for video-calling.  A Tegra 3 quad-core processor will power this as yet unannounced tablet while the leak suggests that the Xperia Tablet will feature a new Magnesium Allow body rather than the plastic offering that can be found on the S Tablet.  It's not yet known just how thin this device will be but to keep up with the likes of the New iPad and the Microsoft Surface it's likely to be below 10mm.  The Xperia Tablet will apparently come in three sizes of 16,32 and 64GB while there's no news on whether there will be a 3G or 4G LTE version available as well.

Microsoft Logo: New Look For Tech Giant

  US tech giant Microsoft has unveiled a new corporate logo, setting the stage for a wave of products designed to cast the world's largest software maker in a new light.

The redesign is the first time Microsoft has revamped its logo since February 1987.

The new logo features a symbol made up of four separate coloured squares - reminiscent of the old Windows logo featuring wavy squares - next to the name of the company.

"Today's new Microsoft logo is the first time the company has accompanied its logo with a symbol," a spokeswoman said.

The move comes as Microsoft ramps up the buzz for its Windows 8 operating platform and its first tablet computer, called Surface.

The company is also making an aggressive effort to gain ground in the smartphone market.

"It's been 25 years since we've updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change," said Microsoft brand strategy manager Jeff Hansen.

"This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products.

"From Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 to Xbox services to the next version of Office, you will see a common look and feel across these products providing a familiar and seamless experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs.

"This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning."

The logo also includes the name Microsoft in the Segoe font that is used in products and marketing communications, along with the new squares.

It started being used on Thursday on the Microsoft.com website and in three Microsoft retail stores.

This is Microsoft's fifth logo since Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the company 37 years ago.

When it last changed its logo in 1987, Microsoft had been a publicly traded company for less than a year and boasted a market value of about $2bn (£1.3bn).

It peaked at more than $600m (£379m) in 1999. Now, Microsoft's market value stands at $254bn (£160bn) - less than half of Apple's market value of $623bn (£393bn).

In October Microsoft is set to release its Windows 8 next-generation operating system tailored for a world shifting from personal computers to smartphones and tablets.

Apple v Samsung: Smartphone Makers In Court

Apple is due to open its case against Samsung by claiming its rival's smartphones and tablets are illegal knock-offs of the iPhone and iPad.

Lawyers for both sides are expected to deliver their opening arguments in a federal courtroom in San Jose in California.

The witness lists of both sides feature plenty of experts, engineers and designers, but have few familiar names. Apple CEO Tim Cook, for example, is not scheduled to testify.

Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung last year alleging its products were illegal coopies of its own leading smartphone and computer tablet.

The California-based company is demanding $2.5bn (£1.6bn) in damages, an award that would dwarf the largest patent-related verdict to date.

South Korean company Samsung countered that Apple is the one doing the stealing and some of the technology at issue, such as the rounded rectangular design of smartphones and tablets, has been an industry standard for years.

A jury of seven men and three women has already been selected to hear the case, which is just the latest skirmish between the two companies over product designs.

A similar trial began last week, and the two companies have been fighting in courts in the United Kingdom and Germany.

Industrywide, some 50 lawsuits have been filed by several telecommunications companies jockeying for position in the burgeoning $219bn (£140bn) market for smartphones and computer tablets.

The San Jose trial judge, Lucy Koh, last month ordered Samsung to pull its Galaxy 10.1 computer tablet from the American market pending the outcome of the trial, although she barred Apple lawyers from telling the jurors about the ban.

"That's a pretty strong statement from the judge and shows you what she thinks about some of Apple's claims," said Brian Love, a Santa Clara University law professor and patent expert.

Even though the case will be decided by 10 jurors, he pointed out that the judge has the authority to overrule their decision if she thinks they got it wrong.

"In some sense the big part of the case is not Apple's demands for damages, but whether Samsung gets to sell its products," said Mark A Lemley, a Stanford Law School professor.

He said a verdict in Apple's favour could send a message to consumers that Android-based products such as Samsung's are in legal jeopardy.

And a verdict in Samsung's favour, especially if it succeeds in its demands that Apple pay its asking price for certain transmission technology it controls, could lead to higher-priced Apple products.

Apple Vs Samsung: South Korean Court Rules

A South Korean court has ruled that Samsung did not copy Apple's iPhone - but awarded damages to both technology companies for infringing patents.

The judgement, which only affects the South Korean market, is part of a bitter global battle over patents and innovation between the two rivals.

The court denied Apple's claim that its competitor had illegally copied its design, ruling that rectangular screens with corners existed before the iPhone and iPad.

There was "no possibility" that consumers would confuse smartphones made by the companies, the judges in Seoul said.

Samsung was ordered to pay compensation of 25m won (£13,909) to its competitor for infringing Apple's so-called bounce-back technology, used when scrolling on touch screens.

While Apple must pay its rival 40m won (£22,255) for breaching two of the Korean company's technology patents

The amounts awarded were significantly less than the 100m won (£55,638) sought by each side.

The court also imposed a partial ban on some product sales in South Korea, although the ruling did not affect either company's latest generation phones: the Apple iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S3.

Samsung launched the case after Apple filed a lawsuit in a US court in April 2011, kicking off the legal tussle.

Apple accuses Samsung of copying designs and infringing other patents, and Samsung says Apple breached its patent for wireless communication.

Jurors began deliberating on Wednesday in the US, following a three week federal trial in San Jose, California.

Samsung Unveils Galaxy Note II 'Phablet'

 Samsung unveiled the second generation of its popular Galaxy Note "phablet" at Europe's biggest electronics show in Berlin on Wednesday.  The South Korean firm is under heavy pressure to innovate after losing a US patent battle with Apple Inc last week.  A US federal jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and awarded Apple $1.05bn in damages.  The new Galaxy Note - the company's second most popular smartphone after its flagship Galaxy S - is not included in a potential list of eight Samsung phones that could face sales bans in the US.  JK Shin, Samsung's chief of mobile business, said at the company's Mobile Unpacked event at the IFA: "I am pretty confident it will even outsell its predecessor."  Simon Stanford, vice president of telecommunications and networks at Samsung UK and Ireland, said: "With an unbeatable viewing experience and unique features, our customers can capture their ideas faster, express thoughts freely and manage tasks more efficiently.

 "This device provides creativity for all, with an extraordinary experience."  The new Note features a thinner and slightly bigger 5.5-inch screen, quad-core processor, the latest version of Google's Android operating system called Jellybean and an improved stylus function.  It comes just three months after Samsung released the third generation of the Galaxy S smartphone - 10 million of which have already been sold.  The original 5.3-inch Note was a surprise hit, selling more than 10 million within nine months.  Shares in the company rose 2.9% in Seoul on Wednesday, leaving them just 3.5% down on their level before last Friday's legal ruling.  The shares slumped 7.5% on Monday, wiping $12bn off the company's market value.  On Tuesday, a US judge set a December 6 date to hear Apple's request for a permanent injunction against Samsung smartphones.  Apple identified eight devices it will seek preliminary injunctions against and said it would file for a permanent sales ban.

Motorola's Intel phone set for September launch

Google's Motorola unit has confirmed plans to release its first smartphone powered by an Intel chip.

The firm will unveil the device in London on 18 September.

Intel chips are already used in phones made by Lava, Lenovo and Gigabyte. But the news marks a significant step in efforts by Google, which also makes the bestselling Android system, to crack the smartphone market.

The unveiling follows a string of announcements from other tech firms.

Earlier this week LG announced its new top-end model, the Optimus G.

The South Korean firm was the first company to show off a prototype handset powered by an Intel chip, but it never released the model.
Continue reading the main story   
Tech diary

29 Aug: Samsung(Berlin)

Expected to unveil the Galaxy Note 2 tablet/phone-hybrid

5 Sept: Nokia/Microsoft (New York)

Likely to reveal first Windows 8 handset

5 Sept: Motorola/Verizon (New York)

Android device for the US market

6 Sept: Amazon (Santa Monica)

Possibly the Kindle Fire 2 tablet and new e-book readers

12 Sept: Apple? (San Francisco)

Rumoured unveiling of a new iPhone

13 Sept: Nintendo (New York)

May reveal release date and price of the Wii U games console

18 Sept: Motorola (London)

Details of firm's first Intel-powered smartphone

Its latest device is instead the first to feature Qualcomm's new Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, which promises improved performance and better battery life over previous versions.

LG's new handset also features a 13-megapixel camera, but is only being released in South Korea and Japan at this time.

Looking ahead, the coming month includes a separate US launch by Motorola as well as separate announcements by Amazon, Apple, Nokia, Samsung and Nintendo.

Chip wars

Intel first announced its partnership with Google at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

Analysts said the effort could prove critical to the chip-maker's prospects because of the fast growth of the smartphone and tablet markets compared with the PC sector.

Intel itself has described smartphone chips as "a big part of the company's future".

But it told the BBC its efforts would not be solely focused on trying to offer faster processors.

"Faster speeds only get you so far," Mike Bell, Intel's vice president for mobile, told the BBC.

"It's really all about user experience and the responsiveness of the device and less about speeds and feeds.

"What we are trying to do is work out what the next user experience should be on these hand-held devices and then work backwards to build into the silicon the hooks we need to create that experience, because it's software and hardware that do it, not just one or the other."

One tech analyst said the move could have significant ramifications for the wider market in Android devices.

"This is still new territory for Intel, but is a natural progression given that PC sales are slowing and it needs to find new outlets for its semiconductor technology," said Chris Green, principal technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group.

"The advances it has made at trying to get power consumption down means that for the first time its products are viable in mobile phones.

"But the potential risk for Android is that you could see some developers release apps that run on Intel chips but not other ones which could lead to further fragmentation of the platform."

Samsung Wins Japan Court Battle Over Apple

Samsung has won the latest stage of its patent saga with rival technology giant Apple after a Tokyo court ruled in favour of the South Korean company.  The Japanese court case addressed only the synchronising technology that allows media players to share data with personal computers.  The victory was therefore not comparable in scope to the much larger case won by Apple in the US last week.  In the California trial, the court ruled that Samsung had illegally used Apple creations such as the 'bounce-back' feature when a user scrolls to an end image, and the ability to zoom text with a tap of a finger, in its products.  The jury awarded Apple $1bn (£630m) in damages, and a judge is now evaluating Apple's request to have eight Samsung products pulled from shelves and banned from the US market, including popular Galaxy model smartphones.  Samsung's latest model, the Galaxy S3, was not part of the US ruling.  Judge Tamotsu Shoji took just a few minutes to reach his decision on Friday in Japan. He said he did not think Samsung's technology that allows media players and personal computers to share music files and other content infringed on Apple patents.  The South Korean firm welcomed the ruling, saying it confirmed their "long-held position".  The Apple lawyer present in the court declined to comment. Later on the company also said it had no comment, including on whether or not it intended to appeal.  It is the latest of several lawsuits filed around the world involving the two tech giants battling it out over whether Samsung smartphones, which rely on Google Android technology, illegally used Apple designs, ideas or technology.  Seo Won-seok, an analyst at Seoul-based Korea Investment & Securities, said the Tokyo verdict showed that the various cases may not be affected by Apple's major victory in California.

Tokyo court gives win to Samsung after US loss

A court in Tokyo has ruled that Samsung Electronics did not infringe on patents held by Apple, a victory for the South Korean company.  The patent was related to transferring media content between devices.  It comes after Samsung lost a key patent case in the US last week and was ordered to pay more than $1bn (£664m) in damages.  This is one of many cases brought to courts around the world by the two smartphone market leaders.  "We welcome the court's decision, which confirmed our long-held position that our products do not infringe Apple's intellectual property," said Samsung in a statement to the BBC.  Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji dismissed the case filed by Apple in August, finding that Samsung was not in violation of Apple patents related to synchronising music and video data between devices and servers. Sales ban  On 24 August, a US court ruled Samsung had infringed Apple patents for mobile devices, including the iPhone and iPad.  The company has vowed to continue to fight against Apple saying it will appeal against the US ruling.  Apple is now seeking a ban on sales of eight Samsung phones in the US market.  On 6 December, US District Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the initial trial, will hear Apple's plea for an injunction against the Samsung phones, although it does not include the most recent Samsung phone to hit the market, the Galaxy S3.

Google's audacious bet on fiber -- and why it could work

Google announced its Google Fiber initiative promising 1 gigabit of Internet speed for $70 a month and throwing in dozens of high-definition television channels for another $50 a month. The announcement was greeted with equal parts enthusiasm and skepticism.  The news elicited a lot of excitement and envy from geeks outside of Kansas City, where Google (GOOG) had chosen to do a pilot run of the project. Not only would Google waive the $300 installation fee for early subscribers, it would give them online access that's 500 times faster than the 2-megabits-per-second access most Americans have lived with for much of the past decade.  But that wasn't all. Google Fiber also offered the ability to record eight TV programs at a time. And to download a single high-def movie in seven seconds (versus 22 minutes for a 5mbps connection). And a free Nexus 7 tablet as a remote control. And a free terabyte of data storage on Google Drive. And, on top of all this, no data caps.  MORE: The information economy is reaching maximum overload  A week after the announcement, Google had signed up more than 7,000 homes in Kansas City, 4,900 in Missouri and 2,100 in Kansas. That's about 5% of the cities' total homes. Residents are halfway through the six-week rally to get others in their designated "fiberhoods" to sign up. As of this week, some neighborhoods have as much as 39% of their homes plugged in.  It's a promising start, but the debate is far from settled over whether Google Fiber will be disruptive in the way its search engine or Gmail was, or whether it will be an interesting -- but costly -- experiment like the company's plan to sell the Nexus one through its own online store.  That debate is likely to continue for several years, because it's going to take that long for Google Fiber to have anything more than an incremental impact on the way people access a high-bandwidth Internet. What's clear is that Google Fiber, as conceived at launch, has a lot going for it. But it also has a lot going against it -- notably the entrenched power of the giant ISPs Google is taking on.  MORE: Netflix has an identity problem  Verizon (VZ), for example, has offered its FiOS fiber-optic plan in select cities for years. The company says it has 4.2 million subscribers receiving 530 channels and broadband speeds up to 150 mpbs for the price of $205 a month. Verizon also claims to have spent $23 billion on the network, although some observers have questioned its numbers.  AT&T (T), Time-Warner (TWX) and Comcast (CMCSA) also offer Internet/TV plans at lower speeds. Unlike Google, they have longstanding relationships with their ISP customers and a stronger brand recognition in the broadband game. If Google expands its Fiber program to other cities, it will need to spend more on customer support -- which can be a quarter of an ISP's costs -- and compete for a broad array of cable channels.  In its favor, however, Google has launched Fiber with a thought-out plan aimed at the biggest frustration surrounding current ISP plans: relatively slow speeds at high prices. As video chat, streaming media and photo sharing have increased, people are finding their broadband isn't broad enough anymore. The U.S. is 15th on Akamai's list of the countries with fast broadband. Google Fiber offers faster speeds at lower prices than most ISP's offer today.  MORE: The trend that terrifies Big Tech  Google is also using the power of old-fashioned social networking to draw subscribers. The fiberhoods in Kansas City have incentives to get neighbors to sign up -- higher subscription rates bump you to the front of the line, and ensure that schools and emergency responders have access to fiber connections.  There is also a risky cost-versus-return bet that Google is taking. The Kansas City project will cost $500 million. Scaling that up to many cities would quickly burn through Google's $43 billion in cash. But the surge in broadband content could bring Google new revenue from web and TV advertising. And by becoming an ISP, Google could win a strong presence in many U.S. living rooms.  Google Fiber is one of the most ambitious undertakings in the company's history, up there with the push to redesign all Google sites around the social structure of Google+ and the surprising move to pay $12.5 billion for Motorola.  MORE: Hulu's network drama  Right now, Google's chances at disrupting the major ISPs looks like a long shot. But this is a gambit that will take years to play out, and it's way too early to count Google out if it's serious about offering one-gigabit access to millions of people at a rate competitive with much slower connections today. It's dramatically improved the business case for high-bandwidth access, in a way that incumbents will have to work hard to avoid.  As Ben Schacter, an analyst at Macquarie Securities, said in a recent report, "this initiative is less about a long-term revenue opportunity for Google and more about pushing current Internet providers to increase speeds and innovate (which could benefit Google in the long run)."  And that may be the real goal for Google. Not to take business from ISPs, but to get them to get their act together – improving service for consumers, and increasing revenue for many companies.

Apple changed the color of cars, says BMW designer

 In a piece about how brown has become the "red-hot" color for cars and trucks, Motoramic's Brett Berk offers this insight into Apple's (AAPL) influence on the automobile market:      Silver was the most popular exterior car color in America for nearly a decade. But while it remains beloved by automotive designers for best showing off a car's styling, its unstinting argent reign was finally overthrown this year. By white. According to Sandy McGill, BMW Designworks' lead designer in color, materials, and finish, this is Steve Jobs' doing. "Prior to Apple, white was associated with things like refrigerators or the tiles in your bathroom. Apple made white valuable."

Rare Apple I computer put up for auction

The Apple gadget that will fetch the highest sales price this fall won't be an iPhone 5, an iPad Mini or even a new Macintosh, but a 36-year-old circuit board called the Apple I.  Christie's is set to put the 1976 computer up for auction on Oct. 9 in London, at which it is expected to sell for anywhere between $79,000 to $126,500.  The Apple I was the company's first product, designed and built by Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) co-founder Steve Wozniak and marketed and sold by his partner, Steve Jobs.  "This is the computer that started Apple, now recognized as the most valuable company in the world," said James Hyslop, a specialist at Christie's. "Its significance in making computer technology accessible for all cannot be undervalued."  Apple may never have existed had the Apple I not attracted the attention of a Silicon Valley store called the Byte Shop. Store owner Paul Terrell ordered 50 of the computers for $500 each, which the late Jobs and Wozniak put together in just 30 days. Terrell sold them for $666.66 each, and the Apple duo made 150 more to sell to friends and other stores.  Only about 50 Apple I computers still exist today, according to Christie's. The one up for sale by the auction house was the 22nd to be made. It currently belongs to the estate of Joe Copson, a former Apple employee.  The Apple I was just a circuit board -- it did not come with casing, power supply, a keyboard or monitor. By April 1977, the price dropped to $475 to make way for the company's first commercial success: the much more feature-rich Apple II.  Even for such a simple computer, it was selling for a bargain three decades ago, considering what they're worth today. Another Apple I was auctioned off by Sotheby's in June, fetching $374,500. That final price tag was double the amount the auctioneer had estimated.  Christie's also sold off an Apple 1 for $212,267 in November 2010. That particular computer came with the original box, instruction manuals and a signed letter from Jobs. Wozniak made an appearance at that auction. He didn't comment on whether he would show up to see another one of his early creations get sold off in October. To top of page

Google Current

Google Current is a brief, once every half hour, television program on the channel Current TV . Selected episodes are also available on the Internet. The series tracks not necessarily what the news is, but what people are searching for on Google.  Each episode has a one or two word title, based on one of the websites or search terms highlighted. The top-of-the-hour segments use live hosts, while the middle-of-the-hour segments are presented with text, graphics and music. The hosted segments focus on searches (which may or may not be related) that have recently seen increased popularity. Meanwhile, the segments at half past the hour look at the top five searches featuring a certain word; for example, the top five "twins" searches included the Olsen twins and the Minnesota Twins.  The show was hosted by Conor Knighton and Kinga Philipps and featured Brett Erlich, Dave Hill, Eric Ledgin, and Stephen Schneider. Guest hosts included Johnny Bell, Nzinga Blake, and Kendis Gibson. On the UK version of Current TV the main host is Graeme Smith.  As of July 10 2007 the hosted segments of Google Current in the US no longer air. The same staff now produces infoMania on Current TV. The UK continued to run its own version which was filmed daily in London until the end of 2008.  Now Google Current updates are presenter free rundowns of the most searched for items on Google.

Google Custom Search

Custom Search Engine  Released on October 24, 2006, Google Custom Search allows anyone to create their own search engine by themselves. Search engines can be created to search for information on particular topics chosen by the creator. Google Custom Search Engine allows creators to select what websites will be used to search for information which helps to eliminate any unwanted websites or information. Creators can also attach their custom search engine to any blog or webpage. Google AdSense results can also be triggered from certain search queries, which would generate revenue for the site owner. This service is currently being beta tested, with bugs, enhancements and feedback from developers being recorded at the "Google Custom Search Engine Enhancement Page".[citation needed]

Google Code Search

Google Code Search was a free beta product from Google which debuted in Google Labs on October 5, 2006 allowing web users to search for open-source code on the Internet. Code Search was officially shut down along with the Code Search API on January 15, 2012[] but remains available as of July 2012.  Features included the ability to search using operators. These are lang:, package:, license: and file:.  The code available for searching was in various formats including tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .tar, and .zip, CVS, Subversion, git and mercurial repositories

Regular expression engine  The site allowed the use of regular expressions in queries, which is not offered by any other search engine for code.[citation needed] This makes it resemble grep, but over the world's public code. The methodology employed combines a trigram index with a custom-built, denial-of-service resistant regular expression engine.  Google Code Search supported POSIX extended regular expression syntax, excluding back-references, collating elements, and collation classes.

Google Calendar

Google Checkout is an online payment processing service provided by Google aimed at simplifying the process of paying for online purchases. Users store their credit or debit card and shipping information in their Google Account, so that they can purchase at participating stores by clicking an on-screen button. Google Checkout provides fraud protection and a unified page for tracking purchases and their status.  Google Checkout service became available in the United States on June 28, 2006, and in the UK on April 13, 2007 It was free for merchants until February 1, 2008. From then until May 5, 2009 Google charged US merchants 2.0% plus $0.20 per transaction, and UK merchants 1.4% + £0.20. Google since moved to a tiered cost structure, identical to that of PayPal.[] Also since this date, Google has discontinued its offer whereby merchants who advertised with an AdWords account were not charged fees on monthly transactions totaling less than ten times their monthly AdWords expenditure.  Google Checkout used to have a program which allowed US IRS Certified 501(c)3 Non-Profit organizations to collect donations online without being charged the standard fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction under $3,000 monthly income, with lower rates for larger volumes.  Google Checkout supports customers through multiple channels like Help Center, Help Forums, and email support. Google Checkout Buyers can find help at Google Checkout Buyer Help Center and Merchants can find help at Google Checkout Merchant Help Center and Google Checkout Merchant forum.]). This is now only available for Google Grants recipients, and only through March 31, 2012.  In 2010 eBay, which owns PayPal, added Google Checkout to its banned payment methods list, forbidding the use of Google Checkout to pay for eBay transactions

Google Calendar

Interface

The interface of Google Calendar, designed by Kevin Fox (who also designed Gmail and the second version of Google Reader), is similar to desktop calendar applications such as Microsoft Outlook or iCal on Mac OS X. The Ajax-driven interface enables users to view, add, and drag-and-drop events from one date to another without reloading the page. It supports view modes such as weekly, monthly, and agenda. Users can "quick add" calendar events by typing standard English phrases, such as "Dinner with Michael 7 p.m. tomorrow". Users can also set the number of days to show in their custom view mode.

Content access

Events are stored online; consequently, the calendar can be viewed from any location that has Internet access. For users who might experience a hard drive failure, it also means that no data is lost. The application can import Microsoft Outlook calendar files (.csv) and iCalendar files (.ics, the de facto open calendaring file format). Multiple calendars can be added and shared, allowing various levels of permissions for the users. This enables collaboration and sharing of schedules amongst groups. General calendars available for importing into one's account include those containing national holidays of various countries. Users can also add "live" iCalendar URLs that update regularly

Sharing calendars

Google Calendar allows multiple calendars to be created and shown in the same view. Each can be shared, either read-only or with full edit control, and either with specified people or with everyone (public calendars). In February 2009, Google discontinued the option of searching for public calendars from the search field by removing the "Search Public Events" button. It also disabled its public calendar gallery, citing maintenance and usability issues. The company suggests adding calendars via the "Interesting Calendars" feature, known calendar URLs, or via email requests to friends. Daily "To Do" tasks cannot currently be shared between users.

Google Business Solutions

Google Business Solutions are a collection of services offered by Google specifically directed at webmasters and businesses

Google Building Maker

Google Building Maker is a web application that allows users to build three-dimensional buildings for inclusion in Google Earth. Buildings are created using simple three-dimensional shapes combined with aerial photos. Google reviews new building submissions and includes them in Google Earth's three-dimensional buildings layer when they are of sufficient quality and a better model doesn't already exist. Building models can be exported for editing in SketchUp.

Google Bookmarks

Google Bookmarks is a free online bookmark storage service, available to Google Account holders.[] It is completely separate from browser-based bookmarking and should not be confused with the Bookmarks function on any popular browser, Google Chrome included. Google Bookmarks was launched on October 10, 2005.[] It is a cloud-based service that allows users to bookmark favorite websites and add labels, tags, or notes.  Users can access their bookmarks from any computer by signing in to their Gmail account. The bookmarks are searchable, and searches are performed on the full text of the bookmarked pages, not just the labels and notes.[citation needed]  Google toolbar has tools enabling a user to easily create bookmarks and quickly access them. Bookmarks can also be created manually from the web interface, or by use of third-party tools such as Firefox extensions created for the purpose of managing the user's Google Bookmarks account[ and keeping them synchronized to the browser's bookmarks.  A simple javascript function labeled Google Bookmark is created on the Firefox Bookmarks Toolbar, which opens a window to save the bookmark to the Google Bookmarks. This same function can be imported into other browsers as a bookmarklet.[Many websites will encourage bookmarking to Google Bookmarks through third party buttons on their sites, knowing that Google's search engine tracks these bookmarks and considers them significant when ranking public search results.[

Google Books

Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search and Google Print) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database.[1] The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2004. Google's Library Project, also now known as Google Book Search, was announced in December 2004.  Results from Google Books show up in both Google Web Search and the dedicated Google Books site (books.google.com). Up to three results from the Google Books index may be displayed, if relevant, above other search results in Google Web Search.  A click on a result from Google Books opens an interface in which the user may view pages from the book, if out of copyright or if the copyright owner has given permission. Books in the public domain are available in "full view" and free for download. For in-print books where permission has been granted, the number of viewable pages is limited to a "preview" set by a variety of access restrictions and security measures, some based on user-tracking.] For books where permission for a "preview" has been refused, only permission for "snippets" (two to three lines of text) may be permitted, but the full text of the book is searchable on this limited basis. Where the owner of a book cannot be identified, a "snippet" view may be implemented. For other books that have neither a "full view", nor "preview", nor a "snippet" view, the text is not searchable at all, and Google Books provides no identification of content beyond the book title. For this reason, Google-Books searches are an unreliable indicator of the prevalence of specific usages or terms, because many authoritative works fall into the unsearchable category.  Most scanned works are no longer in print or commercially available.[] For those which are, the site provides links to the website of the publisher and booksellers.  The Google Books database continues to grow. For users outside the United States, though, Google must be sure that the work in question is indeed out of copyright under local laws. According to a member of the Google Books Support Team, "Since whether a book is in the public domain can often be a tricky legal question, we err on the side of caution and display at most a few snippets until we have determined that the book has entered the public domain." Users outside the United States can however access a large number of public domain books scanned by Google using copies stored on the Internet Archive.  Many of the books are scanned using the Elphel 323 camera[6][7] at a rate of 1,000 pages per hour.[] The scanning process is subject to errors. For example, some pages are unreadable, or upside down, or in the wrong order. It happens that some pages of one book appear interleaved with those of another, or an entire book may be attributed to the wrong title altogether.[citation needed] Book information such as authors, publishers, dates and so on, may be incorrect or abbreviated incoherently.[citation needed] Although at one time Google provided feedback links to report these problems, the mechanisms for readers to provide this feedback have become more and more curtailed as time goes on.[citation needed]  The initiative has been hailed for its potential to offer unprecedented access to what may become the largest online body of human knowledge[] and promoting the democratization of knowledge,[] but it has also been criticized for potential copyright violations.[  As of March 2012, the number of scanned books was over 20 million, but the scanning process has slowed down.[] Google estimated in 2010 that there were about 130 million unique books in the world,] and stated that it intended to scan all of them by the end of the decade.

Blogger: Available languages

Blogger (service)

 Blogger is available in these languages: Arabic, Bengali, Indonesia, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Norwegian, Oriya, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.

Google Blog Search

Google Blog Search is a specialized service of Google which is used to search blogsThe Blog Search became "the first major search engine to offer full-blown blog and feed search capabilities" It was released in 2005. The bots seem to be faster than the standard Googlebot, because updates to blogs often become available within hours instead of weeks taken by Googlebot default. The Blog Search searches are done identically to the Google Search by typing your search terms in the search field and seeing the most relevant results related to the topic. The Blog Search looks out various services in the world of blogs like Blogger, Live Journal, Weblog

Preparing a Computer to use Windows to Go

reate a portable Windows 8 installation (also known as a Windows to Go Workspace) on a USB 3.0 Flash Drive that you can take with you and use on almost “any” Windows PC without changing the installed software configuration of the hardware device you “borrowing”. In this blog post I will outline the simple but essential process for preparing a computer so it will boot into your Windows to Go workspace rather than the default “C://” drive.

Basically, in order to get Windows to Go to work on a “host” computer, you have to change the boot priority in the computer BIOS settings so that it will attempt to boot from a USB hard drive before booting from the internal hard drive.  There are some subtleties to this process that took me a few tries to figure out. Since I have done this now in a number of workshop-type settings, I can speak with some confidence about what has worked for 99% of the workshop attendees.

Step One: Open the BIOS settings menu

On most computers, you open the BIOS menu by interrupting normal startup by hitting an “F” key right after you hit the hardware power button.  Which F-key you press depends on the motherboard chipset.  F2, F10 and F12 are common, and I’ve seen F9 as well. Most hardware manufacturers tend to use the same F-key across different models, so there is some consistency within the brand. Here are the ones I know about.  Please share yours in the comments to add to the list.

Dell Latitude E6400 and Dimension E521 use F12. Lenovo W500 press the blue “ThinkVantage” button, then press F1
Acer Aspire 5750-6677 press F2
Asus ePC netbook press F2

Some computers will flash a brief message for a half-second or so telling you which key to press to get to the BIOS menu. If you have a laptop computer that is docked to an external monitor, you might have to undock your computer to see the message because it will have passed before the video port drivers get loaded.

This is what I see on my Dell Latitude e6400 after clicking F12 upon start up:

This is the screen on my Lenovo W500 that appear after pressing the “ThinkVantage” key and then pressing F1:

Step Two: Navigate to the Boot Options Menu and Change the Boot Priority

Once you hit the appropriate F-key and open the BIOS Setup menu, you’ll need to select the “Startup” or “Boot” options link and open the boot options submenu. Those menus will typically contain a list of start up devices including your computer’s hard drive, CD/DVD drive, network drive, and (hopefully) one or more USB devices.

On my Dell there is a “Boot Sequence” option under the general settings. The actual menu for changing the boot sequence is on the right side of the screen.

On my Dell, there are instructions on how to change the setting. Notice here that the menu is somewhat confusing. The list on the right is how you enable devices that can potentially be booted. The list of the left contains the actual boot order. The block of text describes how to select the item on the right-hand list and change the priority. In this case, USB Storage Device is the only USB option, so I have moved it to the top of the list.

On my Lenovo, you select the “Boot” option first…

Then you can change the boot order by selecting the device with an arrow up/down key and by then pressing F5/F6 to move the device up or down on the list.

Once the USB FDD is first on the list, you typically click F10 to save and exit the BIOS settings menu.

Different BIOS menus use different terms for the correct boot option. For example, the on the Lenovo the correct device for Windows to Go is “USB FDD”, not –USB HDD.  On the Dell, there is only one option and that is USB Storage Device.  You may need to experiment to find the one that works for your computer.

Step Three: Restart using Windows to Go Drive and Run Initial Set up Tasks

Power Down the computer completely (do not hibernate or sleep). Wait a few more seconds just to be sure and insert the Windows to Go drive into your fastest port.  If you computer has a USB 3.0 port (look for the blue insulator in the USB port), then use that one. If all you have are USB 2.0 ports, then use the port that is your primary, full-power (500ma) port.  If you don’t know which is your primary port, try the others if the first port fails to start the drive. 

Turn on the power to the computer. You should see the Windows 8 Logo appear after a few seconds, then a message saying the computer is setting up drivers, etc. This step may take 3-5 minutes. If this is the first time running the drive, you will be prompted to go through several startup tasks including picking a background theme, log-on ID and password, and wireless Internet connection if available. Eventually you’ll land on the Windows 8 Modern UI screen with the tiles.

One thing that you won’t notice is that you will not be prompted to install some kind of anti-virus/anti-malware software. That is because Windows 8 comes with Forefront Client Security software built in. If you want to use another brand, just go ahead and install it; Forefront will turn itself off but you can’t delete it.

Step Four: Run Windows Update

Run Windows Update to get the latest drivers and security updates. You may have to do this every time you use a different type of computer with your drive since the peripherals won’t be the same and you might need to download a few additional drivers.

Step Five: Install Other Software

Next install Visual Studio, Microsoft Office, Zune, or any other applications you want to use with your Windows to Go workspace. You may need to get additional licenses if the software is already installed on another computer. You can also add any project files, document files, music, etc. .

At this point your drive is ready to go. If you are attending a Microsoft training workshop where Windows to Go drives will be provided, you need only complete Steps One and Two prior to arriving at the workshop. Steps Three through Five will already have been done by your workshop hosts.

Τα Windows Azure Mobile Services υποστηρίζουν τα Win8 Apps σας

Την Τρίτη ανακοινώθηκε η διαθεσιμότητα του preview των Windows Azure Mobile Services με τα οποία ένας developer μπορεί να τα χρησιμοποιήσει προκειμένου να δημιουργήσει υπηρεσίες που να υποστηρίζουν τα apps τα οποία φτιάχνουμε. Τα WA Mobile Services διευκολύνουν τη διαδικασία ανάπτυξης back-end υπηρεσιών, push notifications, storage και authentication με Live Id.

BizTalk Server 2010 R2 CTP in der Windows Azure Virtual Machine Gallery verfügbar

Auf Windows Azure steht jetzt im Kontext der Virtual Machines auch BizTalk Server 2010 R2 CTP zur Verfügung. Über Quick Create kann BizTalk jetzt als eine von mehreren Umgebungen ausgewählt werden. Nutzer müssen dann nur noch das Administratorpasswort, die VM-Größe und die Region auswählen und Create Virtual Machine klicken. Schon steht eine BizTalk-Umgebung in der Cloud zur Verfügung.

Alternativ kann BizTalk auch über die Virtual Machine Gallery angelegt werden. Über diesen Weg kann neben Administrator-Kennwort, VM Größe und Standort noch bestimmt werden, ob die erstellt VM noch in einen VM-Verbund aufgenommen werden soll. Hier entsprechende Screenshots.

Nach dem Anlegen kann eine Remote Desktop-Verbindung zur angelegten Virtual Machine aufgebaut werden, um darüber noch weitere Einstellungen im BizTalk Server vorzunehmen.

Das BizTalk Server Team hat einen Blog veröffentlicht, der Schritt für Schritt durch die Provisionierung und Konfiguration eine BizTalk Servers in Windows Azure führt. Alle Schritte können auch mit einem kostenlosen Demo-Account für Windows Azure durchgeführt werden.

Очередное обновление Windows Azure Training Kit, материалы для разработчиков мобильных приложений

В очередной раз был обновлен пакет обучения Windows Azure Training Kit, в новом выпуске Windows Azure Training Kit - August 2012 REFRESH добавлен целый набор полезных материалов:

• материалы для подготовки и проведения мероприятия на тему Windows Azure Device + Services
• материалы для подготовки и проведения мероприятия на тему IT Pro Camp
• две презентации рассказывающие про новые сервисы Windows Azure Mobile Services
• 15 новых демонстрацией в секции демо.

Загрузить обновленный обучающий пакет можно по следующей ссылке.

Update has been cancelled because of an error

We have come across an issue where users are getting the following error message when trying to do any posting(Sales Order, Purchase Order, Journal) in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

F.e This error message is produced when doing a Sales Order invoicing posting

 Microsoft.Dynamics.Ax.Xpp.ErrorException: Exception of type 'Microsoft.Dynamics.Ax.Xpp.ErrorException' was thrown.

    at Dynamics.Ax.Application.FormletterService.Run() in FormletterService.run.xpp:line 174

    at Dynamics.Ax.Application.FormletterService.Postsalesorderinvoice(SalesFormLetterInvoiceContract _contract) in FormletterService.postSalesOrderInvoice.xpp:line 14

    at FormletterService::postSalesOrderInvoice(Object , Object[] )

Or from a journal posting(Where the Development option ‘Execute business operation in CIL’ has been unchecked)

“Error message: Update has been canceled because of an error

Posting has been canceled”

The error only occurs in certain legal entities, in other legal entities the postings goes through with no problem

What we found is that we could resolve this error by opening up the table ‘DimensionAttributeValueCombinationStatus’ in the AOT and ensure that the field ‘Is Valid’ is checked.

If unchecked, try to check it and see if you are able to post. We have seen a certain scenario when renaming a dimension the 'IsValid' field in ‘DimensionAttributeValueCombinationStatus’ is incorrectly cleared for the current company when disabling it for another company

【もれなく特典!】Windows 8 向け Windows ストア アプリ開発支援キャンペーン実施中

みなさま、こんばんは。Windows 8 向けアプリの開発支援を担当している藤山です。

ブログでのご連絡は遅くなってしまいましたが、先週22日に 「Windows 8 オンライン スタンプ ラリー」を使って、Windows 8 向けのアプリ開発の流れを体験いただけるキャンペーンを開始しました。

ビデオやセミナーでの開発方法の学習から 実際の開発を体験するハンズオントレーニング、そして Window ストアの審査通過のコツをつかむアドバイスの利用まで、順に誘導しています。また、9 月末までに、開発したアプリを Windows ストアに登録完了した方には特典をご用意しております!

※キャンペーンへのお申し込みは、9 月 20 日までにいつまでにアプリを登録するのかを宣言する「開発宣言」をした方に限ります。

告知を開始してからまだ 4 日間ほどですが、たくさんの方に「開発宣言」をいただきました!

独学と比較して効率的にアプリ開発がすすめられるこの機会をお見逃しなく、Windows 8 向けのアプリ開発にチャレンジしてください。2012 年 10 月 26 日の Windows 8 リリース時に、皆様が開発したアプリに注目を集めるチャンスです!

RSS Ticker Puts Latest News On Your Ubuntu Linux And Windows Desktop

We all know that RSS feeds are used to publish frequently updated content from the internet. News – RSS Ticker is an open source RSS feed ticker for Windows and Linux that delivers the latest news headlines from around the world to your desktop. By default, it comes with feed from the BBC website only.

To begin, hit the “?” icon before the beginning of the feed ticker. This will bring up File, Edit, Control and Help menus. Add feed subscriptions from File menu, configure preferences from Edit menu, and play, pause, reload, speed up and slow down the speed of feed ticker from Control menu.

To customize News – RSS Ticker, head over to “?” –> Edit –> Preferences. Options include, changing the ticker scrolling speed (dimension delay), font change, feed refresh time, clock appearance, opacity, font color selection, etc. To manually refresh the feed, click Get Current Feed button (in Preferences).

To change the default feed subscription, go to “?” –> File -> Open RSS feed and enter the feed title or URL. Once done, you can position it just below the taskbar and keep tab on latest news.

News – RSS Ticker is native to Linux based operating systems and has been ported for the Windows platform with MinGW. Hence, it works with both OS formats. We would recommend also having a look at Snackr which is a similar application but with more eye candy. It must be noted that since Snackr is an Adobe Air app, it will take more RAM than News- RSS Ticker which is developed natively for Linux.

SMSConfirmation: Get Push Notifications For SMS Delivery Report On iPhone

Don’t you just hate it when you send a text and forget all about it, only to return back to your iPhone’s Messaging app to find out that message sending failed due to a network error? Even if you don’t hate it, apparently the jailbreak community does, and that’s why SMSConfirmation has been made, which is a Cydia tweak to let you know if your text message was sent or not. The cool part? You don’t have to check the status of the text yourself; the tweak displays a push notification which is impossible to miss.

After you have installed it to your iDevice, the tweak will start displaying push notifications a lot like the one iOS used before iOS 5 (pop-ups). The tweak does not make use of the new Notification Center and banner notifications of iOS 5.

After sending an SMS, you don’t have to wait for the status of the text message to update. You can navigate away from the Messages app to any other area of the device; SMSConfirmation will display a delivery report for your sent message.

There tweak does not have any customizable settings. The only way to disable it is to uninstall it from within Cydia. Being a heavy texter myself, I personally appreciate this tweak a lot. The tweak is available for free at the ModMyi repo in the Cydia store.

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StatusBulletin Turns iPhone Status Bar Into A News Ticker For Notifications

Apparently, a lot of developers over at the Cydia store aren’t big fans of the way notification banners are displayed in iOS. The main purpose of a banner is to notify users of a new change in an app, but without proving to be too much of a distraction. The stock banners in iOS are a bit too much in height for some people’s liking, and that’s why there are many jailbreak tweaks that focus on making the banners thinner and more pleasing to the eye. The latest to join the ranks of such tweaks is StatusBulletin. This Cydia tweak does make iOS notification banners thinner than before, but that’s not all it does. The best feature of StatusBulletin is that it gives your notifications the appearance of a news ticker. The banners will adhere to the status bar of your iPhone, and rather than ending the preview with the usual dots for long notifications, you will be shown the entire message thanks to the auto-scroll feature of StatusBulletin.

Unlike most tweaks dealing with notification banners, StatusBulletin does have a few customizable settings, letting its users change any visual aspect of the banner they want. Within the StatusBulletin menu in the stock Settings app, you can choose between smart titles and custom title settings. The second option is there to let users choose the apps for which they want the banner to display the app name. In smart titles mode, the tweak chooses those apps itself and notifications are shown based on the type of notification and the app to which it belongs. If you want to control the color of banners, go to the Banner Style option of the tweak’s menu and select the color scheme you like the most. It is possible to make the banner adhere to the current color of the status bar, or there is the option to make it black or silver permanently. For users of BiteSMS, there is the option to toggle on the Hide BiteSMS Button.

Once you have configured StatusBulletin in the perfect way, just exit the Settings app and wait for a notification to show up. If the content of the banner is longer than the width of your iPhone’s screen, you will see the reason behind putting “bulletin” in the tweak’s name. Long notifications don’t disappear until the complete message in them has been shown via the automatic scrolling functionality offered by StatusBulletin. Most of the times, the tweak gives the illusion that it is using the status bar to display the banners, and that really looks awesome.

StatusBulletin is a free tweak, and you can give it a try by heading to the ModMyi repo of the Cydia store.

Dell Inspiron M101z price in India, Dell Inspiron M101z notebook price

Dell is bout to launch its notebook 11.6-inch Inspiron M101z which is really handy because it is ultra portable in India t about a 20k range. Previously we have seen that Dell has given its target audience some good laptops and Notebook of which they can be proud of.

The launch of Dell 11.6-inch Inspiron M101z is very soon to happen as the announcement has been made and the date just needs to be decided. The Dell 11.6-inch Inspiron M101z is bigger then Dell’s previous notebooks as they it is expected that the audience will like it.

The features of Dell  Inspiron M101z is quite interesting and it is expected that it would sell in India once it is launched. This Inspiron M101z laptop which is really portable has a forward hinge design in keeping with the tradition of the Dell line which began with the Dell Inspiron 14R. It has a six full battery yet the laptop is so handy that it weighs just 1.6 kg.

Priced at 20,900 Dell  Inspiron M101z is quite a keeper as it has all the essential features of a good notebook and it is bound to fulfill all the customers needs.

Dell  Inspiron M101z has specifications like it has a dual core processor with K125, K325 which speeds up the laptop and makes it more comfortable. The AMD processor is integrated with ATI Mobility Radeon 4225 graphics and this device supports up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM and 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive. The laptop looks really good with its sleek looks and it comes in four colors which are red, purple, black and blue with 11.6-inch LED-backlit display screen with 1366x768 pixel resolution.

As far as Dell Inspiron M101z connectivity is concerned then it has 3 USB ports, HDMI port, VGA, ethernet, and a multicard reader slot. The wireless connectivity standards are pretty high with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. the operating system with Dell  Inspiron M101z Laptop is Windows 7.

Dell Venue price in India, Dell Venue price, Features Android Froyo 2.2 OS

Dell Venue price in India is Rs. 22,399 and Dell Venue Pro price in India is Rs. 23,999 is you wish to buy from online store. But if you wish to buy from official Dell India site, Dell Venue price in India is yet to be listed there. Dell Venue price in India is among the high end smartphones in Indian market.

Dell Venue smartphone has Google Android Froyo 2.2 operating system. The Dell phone announcement and the introduction was really all hush hush and not much attention was given to the introduction of the phone.

The Dell venue which is one of four Android phones promised by Dell to its target audience would be launched in December of this year. It would be a busy year ending for Dell as they also have a laptop lined up to launch now this phone.

The interesting Dell Venue features has Android Froyo 2.2 phone and a Windows 7 Operating System and that Dell Venue seemed to be inspired from Dell Venue Dell Venue Pro running Microsoft Windows Phone 7. Apart from this Dell Venue has a advanced camera of 8 megapixel and a 4.1-inch 24-bit AMOLED display.

The other Dell Venue features are that it has a display with the Gorilla Glass technology and has an 800x800 screen resolution. The phone Dell Venue soon to be launched phone has 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 microprocessor which would run this phone at a much faster speed.

All Dell Venue features would help the Android phone to run at a much faster rate and it would be loved by the users. The Dell Venue offers only 1 GB memory but it can be improved to 32 GB by inserting a MiCro SD card. Dell Venue smartphone is almost a laptop with very interesting features like it has 512MB RAM and 1GB ROM.

Watching videos in this phone named Dell Venue would definitely be fun as the phone supports H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and WMV video codecs. Email services would also be of the high order the phone supports ActiveSync, Push Email, POP3, IMAP and Microsoft Exchange and has a decent browser. The phone is a real miracle worker as it has the correct things and features and is very hot phone.

Dell Streak 4G table launch at CES 2011 features, specifications and price

introduced at the ongoing Consumer Electronic Show at Las Vegas by the technology giant Dell. The latest 7-inch touchscreen tablet by Dell is one more to join the tablet bandwagon at this year’s CES which is largely seen as the tablet show by experts. Dell Streak touchscreen tablet features Google’s Android software v 2.2 Froyo and runs on T-Mobile’s high speed 4G network.

The launch of Dell Streak touchscreen tablet is seen as Dell’s aggressive move to make it big at the tablet market this year and to launch its product amongst the tough rivalry posed by the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Droid Xoom that also got launched at the CES 2011.

The Streak tablet from Dell features a dual-core processor by Nvidia Tegra 2 and offers support for Adobe’s Flash multimedia software. T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG which is USA’s no. 4 carrier will run Dell Streak on its 4G network and according to the company the tablet will be available in coming weeks.

Dell ventured into the tablet market in 2010 by introducing a 5-inch Streak model and still has long way to go to make a splash in the tablet market already dominated by Apple’s iPad and other tablet players that have proved their mettle recently to become iPad’s biggest rivals such as the Tab or Xoom Droid.

Dell Streak tablet is the first 4G product by both Del and T-Mobile. Dell Streak tablet also called Streak 7 is a true successor of the 5-inch Streak launched by Dell last year. The other specifications of Dell Streak 4G include 7-inch WVGA TFT multi-touch display with Gorilla Glass technology with 800 x 480 pixel resolution. Powered by Android v 2.2 the tablet has Dell Stage 1.0 UI layered over it. We can expect the Dell Streak 4G tablet to get an update to the other Android versions such as Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

Dell Streak features also include a 5 MP camera at the rear with 720p HD recording, a 1.3 MP camera with video call facility, full HTML supporting webkit based browser and 16 GB of internal memory that can be expanded further to up to 32GB via microSD card. The connectivity features of Dell Streak 7 4G are Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and built-in support for 4G network. The tablet also supports Microsoft Exchange e-mail, calendar and contacts. The price of Dell Streak 4G tablet is yet to be announced by Dell.

At the CES 2011 Dell also introduced Dell Venue, its latest smartphone that runs on Android but without a wireless carrier and gave a sneak peak into another 10-inch tablet that the company is still working on.

Dell Vostro 131 features, Dell Vostro 131 Price in India

Dell Vostro 131 price in India is 30,000 INR and the user is free to choose their own configuration for the laptop as well as between the available colors of Aberdeen Silver and Lucerne Red. Dell Vostro 131 features also include DigitalPersona finger print reader, Chiclet keyboard that has backlighting as an option and Express Chipset of Mobile Intel HM 67.

Dell Vostro 131 features

To meet the specific needs of small scale businesses, the new Dell Vostro 131 features an extremely portable and sleek design allowing users to carry it anywhere with ease. Weighing a little over 3.6 pounds, the Dell Vostro 131 features are improved from the previous model of Vostro V130 adding many significant features mainly the battery strength needed for working long hours without power to charge the machine.

The most important Dell Vostro 131 features include the 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (also available in 4-cell) which can last for approximately 9.5 hours. The machine runs on a 2nd Generation core i5 processor and features a 13.3 inch LED display with Intel HD 2000 graphics and HDD 320 GB. The Dell Vostro 131 features also include operating system of genuine Windows 7 Professional SP1 32 bit.

Other smartphone Dell Vostro 131 features designed for business professionals include HD webcam, Bluetooth 3.0 + HS Support, two USB 3.0 ports and HDMI for sharing files and information. You can also access the Windows Mobility Center and Dell Support Center with three separate Quick Launch buttons. The Dell Vostro 131 features also include hard drive storage of 500 GB and 6 GB RAM with DDR3 memory.