After a loooooong time

Hello there, lets get off with some auto news first.

Aston Martin mobile, designed by Mobiado. It can lock and unlock your car too.

2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera.

Rolls-Royce’s latest (largest) showroom in Abu Dhabi.

Hyundai Veloster Rally Car.

Angry Chinese driver tows Range Rover back to dealer with donkeys 

iPad 2 still can’t stream videos created in iOS devices in 1080p on wireless. It maxes out @ 720p. Star Wars Blu-ray release date set for September 16, 2011.

Google Docs now available on Jolicloud Desktop with Joli OS. First 'Skype booth' opens at Estonian airport as company reaches 30 million simultaneous users.

Android apps can now have their own miniature storefronts for in-app purchases galore. Windows Phone 7 will be getting NFC payments in next update. HTC HD7 finally gets NoDo, WP7 users will be able to copy / paste.

Amazon launches Cloud Drive Player for Android, lets users play media stored on the device, purchase tracks from Amazon, or stream their music from the cloud.

RIM's PlayBook will ship without the core functions that make a BlackBerry a BlackBerry.

Google readies 'better ads' system for Gmail. Angelina Jolie comic book.

Microsoft updating Xbox 360 disc format, company asks for US volunteers to test next system update.

GTA V!!! Music to ears…

Minor character from GTA San Andreas and GTA IV turns up in recent casting call for unnamed voice-over project, further indicating West Coast setting for the game. (GameSpot)

'Cloud Girlfriend' offers dream virtual girlfriends.

The final version of Firefox 4 for Android finally released.

Android-like voice recognition rumored for iOS 5.

Acer Iconia 6120 “touchbook”. The dual-screen tablet is available for preorder now in the US and Canada and it will be $1,199.99 when it releases in April.

If you’ve been looking for an alternative to Paypal, American Express may have just the thing for you. They have just announced a new service called Serve, which offers similar features to Paypal, from receiving and sending money online, to making purchases with a credit card issued by Serve.

Google Talk Guru gives instant search answers via chat.

That’s it for this week, c ya!!!!

Windows Live Writer

I was looking for a blog writing companion to work with Blogger. Unlike WordPress which comes with official application, it was hard for Blogger. But then I found this, Windows Live Writer. (I’m writing this blog post using it.)

This is so easy to work with, just like Word, so much easy to edit and add pictures and graphs and comes with built in spelling checker too. This is a pretty good refreshing experience for me after working with Blogger for 3+ years. Wow, I’m still digging all the features of Live Writer and I already made my mind to use this for my upcoming blog entries.

HTC Flyer + more...

LG’s 3D ready Optimus Pad

LG Optimus 3D's OMAP 4 benchmarked, pulls ahead of Exynos and Tegra 2.

HTC unveils it's first tablet the 7 Flyer with Android 2.4.

Nvidia announces Quad-Core "Kal-El" chipset.

Is Apple finally releasing an iPhone Nano?

Motorola Droid X 2 leaks.

Nokia shareholders and unions fight back against Microkia. : )

Vodafone announces Webbox, gives internet access to the developing world.

Is IE9 a modern browser? According to Mozilla's Paul Rouget it's not. Read more in his blog.

Mozilla plugin check page check and inform whether all the browser plugins are up-to-date.    

More gadgets...

The DreamPlug packs a 1.2GHz Marvell Sheeva CPU, 512MB RAM (and 2MB storage, upgradeable through a microSD slot). You also get a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB-ports, an eSATA port, Bluetooth 2.1 EDR and even Wi-Fi (b and g), 48K/44.1 KHz audio (in and out), a 16-bit DAC, a headphone jack and an S/PDIF optical port. And all this for $150.

Battlefield 3 will be out in fall 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC. And according to BF 3 Limited Edition leaked details it's premium edition to include Back to Karkand expansion (according to prematurely posted ad), content bundles updated weapons, vehicles, and maps from Battlefield 2.

Apple has patented a technique to detect whether a consumer has abused its devices, including methods to shut down the device in question and electronically report it to Apple service technicians. :D

Critics says Nokia shouldn't give up and switch to Windows phone 7. And here's E7.



Sony Ericsson teases gaming phone during Superbowl.



Google says no Honeycomb for smartphones. Android smartphone users should not expect Google to shoehorn Honeycomb into devices smaller than tablets.

Toshiba's first glasses-free TVs selling slowly in Japan.

Motorola Xoom available at best-buy for $800.

Finally HTC Thunderbolt is available for pre-order.

Foobar, from booooring to super exortic slim player

I'm die hard Foobar fan since the death of classic Winamp. I hate new Winamp media player, coz it's simply too much for just to listen music. (I've lot of other software to every other task, so no need a all-in-one player.) But one thing I missed during the conversion is the slick Winamp Bento skin. Saying it simple, default Foobar skin is simply boooooring. (Awful can be the correct word.)

Thanks to ColumnUI (a free plugin for Foobar) I was able to make it little pretty-to-look interface just enough to organize and play music.

But I found a good selection of plugins + some Java script (thank goes out to Br3tt, u rock buddy!!!) which turns simple Fb to a sleek looking amazingly beautiful player.

You can find the all the resources from deviantART link. This is good for first time skinners coz it contains a step by step guide too. If you Google you can find lot more in deviantART and lot of other places. Gonna try some more and will post my favorites here, later.

3D home cinema!!!

Welcome back. Lets start with some good software. 

BitMeterOS - bandwidth meter allows you to visually monitor your internet connection by displaying a scrolling graph that shows your upload and download speed over time.

Driver Magician - offers a professional solution for device drivers backup, restoration, update and removal in Windows operating system.

NK2Edit - every time that you type an email address or name in the message window of MS-Outlook, it automatically offer you a list of users and email address that you can choose. This feature is known as 'AutoComplete' and Outlook automatically build this emails list according to user activity and save it into a file with .NK2 extension. In some circumstances, you may need to repair or modify the values appeared in the AutoComplete list, or you may want to remove unwanted email addresses and/or to add new email addresses. MS-Outlook doesn't provide any ability to edit this AutoComplete list, so this is where NK2Edit software can help you.

Microsoft Mathematics is now free, perfect tool for math, science buffs.



Found out a good hardware tip. We all come across unknown devices, right. Specially after OS upgrades. Here's a solution. Select such a device from the list. The key is in the second column, "PNP Device ID." This will show a long string, such as PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_4229&SUBSYS_11208086&REV_61\4&32FF. What's important is vendor code and model code included in it. Look below.

VEN_8086 = vendor code
DEV_4229 = model code

With that in hand go to PCI Database website. Gotcha. Here you can do a simple search and find the correct device name. Cool isn't it? : )

Nicole Kidman had another child while Natalie Portman is seen at golden globe red carpet, pregnant. Van Damme for The Expendables 2? Wow.

Steve Job is taking his second leave due to health reasons. He must eat more apple i guess. ; )

JVC’s GS-TD1 camcorder shoots 3D in HD. Good news for home movie makers.

 

New trends for 2011? Here are some guesses. 

Flatscreen 3DTVs without glasses.
Dual-core smartphones.
Phones, TVs, tablets, laptops and also cars will have apps.
Home made 3D movies, YouTube 3D ready, home 3D cams like Sony Bloggie 3D.
Laptop Tablet combo, like Asus Eee Pad Slider.
More non-Apple tablets.
Cars will become big gadgets with wheels.
More reallists 3D games. Super cool.

Last year top music of YouTube. Check if you can identify all.

Facebook recently announced that it is making user phone numbers and addresses available to developers. WTF. I've already removed mine. : D

Nokia 'Comes With Music' will stop form this year, not coming with music. : )

Skype acquired Qik. Esquire votes Mark Zuckerberg among worst dressed celebs of last year. 

BlackBerry PlayBook.

 Disney's Android  powered smart phone. Oh yes. This is for real.

HTC 7 

Fujifilm FinePix X100, with the classic retro look.

Vintage gaming collection washed away in aussie floods.

iPad 2 is getting around 4X the graphics performance of the iPad.

BMW 6 series coupe.

Happy New Year 2011!!!

Happy new year everybody!!! skaf's world reaches 60 posts today. Wow, 2010 was a good year, and hoping to do the same this year too.

Nasty Android trojan called "Geinimi" has been discovered in China, which sends sensitive private information back to a central server, also enable the central server to control some functions of the phone. Also the unauthorized SMS issue still exists, while Google is working on for a solution.

Universal phone charger specifications has been finalized. It's based on micro-USB architecture and will be used by all the mainstream manufactureres including Apple, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Nokia, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson worldwide in 2011.

HTC has published a teaser web page that strongly suggests it will be unveiling a Long Term Evolution (LTE/4G) handset on January 6. Verizon executive too confirms Motorola LTE handsets pretty soon.

HTC's 4G Thunderbolt phone could be powered by Dual-Core 1.2GHz MSM8960 processor and will contain an 8MP rear facing camera and 5MP forward facing camera. Also a 4.3 inch screen, the ability to record and playback at 1080p, 16GB of internal storage, and a kickstand that conceals a little speaker. And will run on Android 2.3.

Intel introduces new ultra-compact 310 SSD series, which offers x25 performance at one-eighth the size. Skype may soon join Twitter, Facebook and YouTube on China's internet blacklist. :D

Crucial promises more output with less consumption through its Ballistix 240-pin DIMM PC3-10600 memory sticks.Sony Computer Entertainment chief suggests that the next PSP (PSP2) might have a touchpad, as rumored.

Archos 7 Home Tablet sees revision 2, with Android 2.1 and faster 800MHz CPU.

Kodachrome film is seriously at the end of its life. So hurry up if you still have anything to print.

Black Ops was nomonated most pirated title of 2010 games by IGN. Also a survey released by KickassTorrents and torrentfreak.com reveals 'inception' was the mostly used phrase throughout BT communities. Below is the top 10 list.

BitTorrent Zeitgeist 2010

1. inception
2. iron man 2
3. 2010
4. xxx
5. french
6. avatar
7. dvdrip
8. despicable me
9. porn
10. clash of the titans

And also the most pirated movies of 2010.

Rank                Movie                     Downloads    

1                    Avatar                          16,580,000    
2                    Kick-Ass                       11,400,000    
3                    Inception                       9,720,000    
4                    Shutter Island                9,490,000    
5                    Iron Man 2                     8,810,000    
6                    Clash of the Titans          8,040,000    
7                    Green Zone                    7,730,000    
8                    Sherlock Holmes             7,160,000    
9                    The Hurt Locker              6,850,000    
10                   Salt                             6,700,000     

2.2 million Honda owners' accounts has been hacked, but no financial data has been compromised. If you're a Honda owner and receive emails seems genuine, be little conscious about that, can be fake.

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics spotted in Abu Dhabi signaling it is closer to production.