Wednesday, December 30, 2009

5 Popular Opera Widgets for 2009

The Opera web browser has developed some fantastic widgets over the past few years and has brung with it a list of some of the 5 most popular opera widgets for 2009 that the opera community uses.

1.   touchtheSky 

TouchtheSky is a widget that reports International weather a in detailed, compact format that is automatically updated and powered by a service could AccuWeather. The weather widget reports the high and low temperatures for each day of the week, the sunrise and sunset for the day and also speed of the winds. TouchtheSky is a very useful app for those wanting to know the latest forecast in the days ahead.












2.   SimAquarium

SimAquarium is a simulation game which looks like aquarium where you can buy and sell fish, aquarium sceneries like plants and rocks and lighting effects for your aquarium! There are ways to earn money in this game by which you have to breed and sell fish. There are over 28 different species with different characteristics.










3.   Artist's Sketchbook 

This is an advanced painting widget with tools like pencils, charcoal and paint brushes. This tool reminds me of mspaint in windows but has a lot more artistic flare to it. If you want to draw a favorite masterpiece,then this is a really cool widget to get it done. It has the ability for picture exporting, saving and loading! This widget has also multi-language support.
 








 4.   Analog Clock 
This widget is a simple analog clock that sits on the desktop and displays the current time. If your not a fan of the windows digital clock then this serves a great purpose in showing an analog clock on the users desktop.


 





5.   Torus
Now this is definitely tetris with a twist. If your a big fan of tetris then this is sure to keep you entertained including those high score tables with a customizable appearance.










If you want to know more about widgets then visit a previous blog post about 3 useful opera widgets.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

System specs that Google Chrome might be

Now that everyone is still awaiting the launch of the Google Chrome OS there is talk about what exactly the system specs of the hardware will actually be for the netbook. The Google netbook has been reported to have a chipset that is made from Nvidia that will allow for fast graphical processing on a netbook. The computer will be powered by an ARM processor which is meant to consume less power than Intel's Atom line of CPUs that it makes for common netbooks on the market.

The netbook is said to be a 10.1-inch TFT screen and be HD ready with a 16:9 resolution with a ready multi-touch display that will make it easy for anyone to learn and use the operating system, which is a light-weight version of linux. It will also come with a 64 GB or larger solid state drive which wont make it too expensive for those on a budget, 2 GB of RAM, and also the usual laptop features such as built in WiFi AGN, 3G, and Bluetooth wirless networking. The netbook is also expected to have the standard Ethernet and USB ports, and also a built in webcam and a multi-card reader.

The price for the netbook will probably fall below $300 US, so expect to see a cost in between the range of $200 to $300 and the laptop's price will be subsidized. It will be sold in two ways to the consumer; by directly buying it from Google or bundled with a monthly wireless plan that may be in the range of $30-$40 per month.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Opera Mini 5 features

The Opera mini web browser is one of the most popular browsers for a mobile phone. Opera Mini 5 beta 2 is out now and with it comes a stack load of new features for its users to browse the web. Tabbed Browsing is on the mobile platform now available which allows simultaneous web browsing making it very easy to switch between websites quickly. When opening a new tab it will also bring up a new feature could Speed Dial which is a dashboard page that displays a list of favorite websites that one can easily get to by one click without typing it in the address bar.
speed-dial-feature















The ability to now Synchronize your bookmark and Speed Dial data between your mobile phone and desktop computer if connected to the same network. Also the ability to browse the web in Landscape mode which means you can flip your mobile side on to browse in a wide screen format.
Opera Mini now compresses a web page by up to 90% before being sent it to your phone, which is faster page-load times than in other mobile Web browsers. If you have the desktop version then find out how to speed up the opera browser if you dont know.

On a touchscreen phone panning has become even easier with an adaptive zoom feature. When panning quickly around a zoomed-in page the panning momentum creates a more intuitive and a easier platform to navigate the web. Opera Mini 5 is free and available to download on the Opera website.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Canon EOS 500D - Camera Review

When it comes to choosing a digital camera, image quality is most paramount for that perfect image and also having the quickest shutter speed is what the professional photographer is looking for.
The Canon EOS 500D is second to none when it comes to choosing a digital SLR camera even if your new to photography or have already become an expert in taking the best photos out there. The camera has a lot of packed in features including 1080 Pixel video recording. In this camera there is a spot-metering mode, and the mode dial feature includes a creative auto setting which works like the wizard-style in the Nikon D3000's camera.

The Canon EOS 500D also has an image sensor of 12800 ISO but does have a practical limit of 3200 ISO. The Lens is a 58mm EF-S 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS and with 920,000 pixel resolution screen its one of the best to get on the market. When using this camera in video mode it will only record at 20fps at 1080p resolution, but when it comes to recording at 720p you can get up to the full 30fps. This camera offers big performance, features and value for money when it comes to choosing a great digital SLR camera.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

What to expect in Gnome 3

Gnome 3 is expected to be released in September 2010. From the days of Gnome 2.x.x it was decided amongst the development team that the future was to go to the next level which is Gnome 3. The Gnome development team have three main aspects that they want to focus on, that is, revamping the user experience, streamlining the platform, and the promotion of Gnome.

Changing a users experience is definitely on the minds that will develop Gnome and this brings up 3 important factors to expect: Improving the Gnome Shell, which refers to the way a user interacts with the desktop environment. This doesn't necessarily mean changing the architecture of the window manger that it uses but simply to change the way a user can switch between various applications, viewing incoming information such as chat messages or the way system notifications are displayed on the user-interface (UI).

Expect to see a change in the way a user can access their documents, typically a user had to browse for a file using hierarchy list of the filesystem like / /home, this use to take some time, so a change in speeding up the process of accessing data is definitely something to expect. It will greatly improve the way a user interacts with the filesystem structure.

Streamlining the Platform is a big area for developers to to consider when changing to Gnome 3 because this means most applications built for Gnome will also have to update their source code to cater for a new user-interface (UI). What this means is getting rid of old libraries and API's for developers and upgrading skills to cater for new source code to be developed. Some new exciting technology will emerge like geolocalization (with the use of GeoClue and libchamplain). Also there is a tendency to move the bindings closer to the platform which will attract developers that use different programing languages.

Promoting Gnome is the idea of marketing it, whether it would be for a different operating system or simply a new program that is out, it just highlights the idea of telling other users or developers of why they should use it.


Monday, December 21, 2009

Optus Streaming World Cup for Free









 

For all those that use an Optus 3G Mobile, then get ready, because Optus has announced that it will stream all of the FIFA 2010 World Cup Soccer for free for people that have a 3 Mobile. If you love your soccer and cant make it to South Africa then this is the best choice for you, and best of all its live. This service will be optimized for a mobile phone so it would easy to stream and see on your phone. You'll get to see the latest video updates of different games being played, the current scores and the final score statistics of those matches.

For this service you would expect to see archived video on demand clips, FIFA wallpapers, screensavers and ring-tones to be available. With the games being played in South Africa most Australians will be watching it at night on sbs.

There are 32 countries competing at next years World Cup and each team is divided up into a group of 4. The winners of each game go through to the next round. For more information about what countries are in each group please visit FIFA World Cup website.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Popular Xbox 360 games for Christmas


According to the Guardian Games Blog, the top xbox 360 games for christmas are the following.

1.  Fifa 10

This is a great football game which is slightly more methodical and more realistic then most other football games out there on the games market. It has all the right teams and players and more online options so its easy to play over the net.
  
2.  Dragon Age: Origins

This game is apparently an excellent role-playing game that will appeal to patient gamers who want to sink their teeth into something a little meatier than the normal shooting sport games out there.

3.  Forza Motorsport 3

Forza is a serious motor sim game that lets you tweak the engines and adjust nearly everything an excited petrol-head could ever want. This is a game that looks great too and has an excellent range of online features available to the game player. Simply excellent for all the motor sport lovers out there.

4.  Modern Warfare 2

This is a best selling game of the year and a must have if you play online. If you are just starting out at this game, beginners should prepare for a steep learning curve as better equipped foes with experience constantly take you down.

5.  Gyromancer

This is a game where you dont have to get online to play it. This is one of the best new releases you can download. Like the excellent Puzzle Quest before it, Gyromancer mixes a "match 3" like gameplay like Bejeweled – with a hefty slab of role-playing (RPG) depth. This gives both context – there's a typically hokum story – and strategy to the puzzling. A game that was made by popcat and Square Enix and is sure to take up some of those post Christmas lunch hours.

For a more in-depth analysis of the games that are listed please visit the Guardian Games Blog.






Saturday, December 19, 2009

Windows 7 Mobile coming out late 2010

 





Microsoft’s Phil Moore, the head of mobility in the UK, has stated to technology magazine "Network World"  "that the company’s latest iteration of the Windows Mobile will not be ready for launch until a later part of the year 2010."

With all the hype being around Microsoft's latest operating system Windows 7, they have certainly taken a backward step when it comes to the mobile phone market. Google has just released their Android phone which is set to gain a lot of the market share, it already has 3.5 percent of mobile users converted to the phone while Microsoft is just maintaining a little over 8.5 percent. Windows 7 mobile is expected to be feature rich giving exactly what they want from the package, which will include easier touch-based user interface (UI) and updates to its browser that brings the rendering engine of Internet Explorer 6 onto Windows Mobile. That update is still expected this year, which should pave the way for Windows Mobile phones to display feature-rich web pages with AJAX and Flash.

Microsoft is also making a push to have their own carrier service which has a lot of other carriers worried, this is where they might gain more popularity and offer a better service because they state that Microsoft's business model is friendlier to hardware makers and cell phone carriers than those of rivals, including Google.

What do you think as the reader? Will this phone every gain popularity or are they to late due to fact it wont be released to latter 2010?


The Future of TV's in 2010

In 2010 TV's are going to be bigger and cheaper to buy. The market for energy efficient TV's will become a lot more popular for consumers to buy and for companies to make and design TV's that are ultra thin. Large LCD's and plasmas will use less power and with the climate changing, consumers are getting to grasp an understanding that large TV's consume a lot more power within their house.

During 2010 a TV will easily be able to connect to the homes broadband internet connection combining the very best in broadband and broadcast. Movie watchers will easily be able to browse movies in a "media-center" like environment with the use of the remote control and be played instantly. Maybe the use of a internal hard drives within a TV so that programs can be download to view at a later time will become popular.

Big Brand Companies will include new technology for a TV which will include more LED back-lighting for a lot crisper, brighter visual appeal and a faster refresh rate to keep up with the latest sport and action movies which will reduce motion blur. TV's in 2010 should be expected to rate as low as 120Hz to 240Hz for 3D graphics will become available so console games and live sport will take advantage of this technology.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Microwave Oven with Youtube

Now this is a microwave with a difference, for those that love to be up to date with the latest kickenware then this microwave is sure to keep you entertained while your re-heating some left over rice from the night before.

It's could the CastOven and comes with the following hardware.


  • M-E10B MUJI Microwave Oven
  • M-E10B Microwave Oven Controller
  • 10.4' LCD Display
  • Dedicated Inverter Module
  • Dedicated Display Controller
  • USB Stereo Speaker
  • Personal Computer

 A video presentation of the CastOven.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Red Hat to SPICE up the Desktop

The largest Linux company in the world Red Hat is about to release its source code for the SPICE.
SPICE stands for Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environment and is used for gaining remote access to a desktop computer, somtimes could a thin client. Being like the Remote Desktop Protocol within Winndows, SPICE is optimized to use the desktops graphic card of the client computer to its fullest advantage, normally one would have to set a lower resolution to access the computer.

Within the Red Hat Server, SPICE depends on a Kernel Virtual Machine for its power and this is the virtualization software that Red Hat does focus on.  SPICE will be a major boost to its desktop operating system with this virtualization software and is expected to sell more server licences aswell, but wont be available to ubuntu and windows 7 because of competition.

As the Red Hat CTO Brian Stevens said in a recent inteview "The SPICE protocol is designed to optimize performance by automatically adapting to the graphics and communications environment that it is running in, so vendors have a terrific opportunity to enhance it for their specific applications."

New Music at Vevo is a Hit

Vevo.com is a fresh new and popular music video website to hit the market. It has just come online in the last few days on the 6th of december 2009 and is proving to be very popular amongst its users. Vevo's videos are hosted by youtube, sony, and google for music lovers to view on the internet. Vevo is expected to become the largest music website on the internet and makes sense because some of the content is hosted on youtube.com.

The team at Vevo is currently working on expanding the current hardware infrastructure it has because of a high demand for online video and the amount of users using the website. Not all users can view the website because its only available to certain geograhical places, but you can be notified by email when Vevo becomes available to your area.
The need for Vevo has come about due to the high amount of competition of music videos on youtube. Apprently Warner Music Group removed their content from youtube for this reason, and now thats why this website is becoming more popular.

It should be a great place for online advertising as well and will increase revenue for music artists.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Google Chrome OS on netbooks for 2010

Google has announced on its official Google Chrome OS blog that it will be available on netbooks to use in mid 2010. The Chromium Operating System is a lightweight, open-source Linux distribution with its own windowing system that a user will be able to boot off a usb memory stick to run the operating system. The Architecture that the OS will support will be x86 systems and ARM chips, so it will compatible with most home and office computer users.

The OS has been designed for the internet in mind, with more and more applications going online it makes sense to build a operating system that can host all your files online so there is no need for a hard disk to be available.
With Google already hosting its own office applications online like Google Docs, Calender, and Reader all online it will replace the use of microsoft word, excel, and mail client like outlook.
Cloud Computing is the term used by were all files and software applications are stored online, thus reducing the memory load on the computer clients and more load on the servers.