Apple has announced an update to the iPhone operating system. The update will be available this summer as a free upgrade for the iPhone 3G, and for $9.95 for the iPod touch. This update is come out with the most awaited enhancement in iPhone, the Cut-Copy & Paste feature.



Apple said that they’ve been working really hard on the UI for cut, copy & paste functions in the new iPhone 3.0 OS and now this is how it works:

1. Double tap on text, and it automatically selects it — then puts grab points at the end of the selection, with a cut/copy/paste bubble above it.

2. To select a whole block, you double tap, slide with your finger or thumb (you get a new magnifying glass), and pull across what you want to grab.

3. Select Cut or Copy. And Paste it anywhere; Mail, Browser, Notes, SMS, or even within 3rd party apps.

4.You can even Shake the iPhone to UNDO.

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IBM has started a consulting service to help government agencies analyze their environmental impact, boost energy efficiency and reduce global warming activities.



As Global warming is the most important issue to look out, IBM has decided to help the government. Hence, IBM has introduced the first consulting service designed to analyze energy and water use, assess waste management, evaluate overall environmental impact and develop improvement strategies. The IBM Public Sector Energy and Environment Diagnostic can help governments better understand their overall performance on environmental issues, identify improvements that can increase energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact including greenhouse gas emissions, and help ensure public institutions meet their own rising environmental standards.

This must be really very helpful for the government to take some preventive measures. This diagnostic is to help US federal agencies comply with current requirements for broad improvements in efficiency and economy for all environmental, energy and transportation management operations. However, it can be adapted to any future requirements for US government agencies or for use with any other federal, state or municipal government in any country.

For more details visit here.

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Its a good news that Microsoft offers discounts on Softwares. Microsoft has cut the price of leasing software by as much as 25 percent. Companies can sign up for discounts on SQL Server, SharePoint, and other Microsoft software, or two bundles of client-access licenses, according to notices posted on the Microsoft Incentives Web site.

One special promotion is "Simplify and Save," which offers savings of 15 percent for those who consolidate at least two existing license agreements into an Open Value agreement. Microsoft said the discount will run for the entire length of a three-year license deal.



Another offer is for between 15 percent and 25 percent off the price of the license and the Software Assurance costs of running Exchange Server, Office Communications Server, SQL Server, Office SharePoint Server, Visual Studio, Office Project, and other Microsoft software.

The cuts are similar to those that Microsoft has made on the cost of licensing specific products. The Microsoft Office Project Assurance Pack's price has been cut by 25 percent, and Microsoft Project Server 2007 has seen a similar price fall.

According to one analyst, Microsoft does not communicate enough people, when it comes about these special offers. "This is good news for users but Microsoft should be shouting about offers like this," said Tony Lock, analyst with Freeform Dynamics. "Software Assurance is not widely recognized and deals like this, which seems pretty much across the board of Microsoft software, should be better known."

Lock said that, while Microsoft has good market share, it is "not nearly as good as it could or should be, given offers like this."

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Do you want to try out all versions of Internet Explorer which are released till date? Then you must surely download the Internet Explorer Collection pack.

This pack is free for download which includes all versions of Internet Explorer from version 1 (4.40.308) to the new Internet Explorer 8 (8.00.6001.18372). All versions of Internet Explorer are standalone and can be installed at the same time on your computer.

This pack also includes the Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar 1.00.2188.0. This Toolbar provides a variety of tools which makes troubleshooting of websites a lot easier and is compatible with Internet Explorer 5.0 and higher when using Windows 2000 or higher.

Internet Explorer Collection 1.2.0.2 includes the following versions of IE:

• Internet Explorer 1.0 (4.40.308)
• Internet Explorer 1.5 (0.1.0.10)
• Internet Explorer 2.01 (2.01.046)
• Internet Explorer 3.0 (3.0.1152)
• Internet Explorer 4.01 (4.72.3110.0)
• Internet Explorer 5.01 (5.00.3314.2100)
• Internet Explorer 5.5 (5.51.4807.2300)
• Internet Explorer 6.0 (6.00.2800.1106)
• Internet Explorer 6.0 (6.00.2900.2180)
• Internet Explorer 7.0 (7.00.5730.13)
• Internet Explorer 8.0 (8.00.6001.18372)

This pack is even compatible with Windows 7 and you can download (54.5Mb) this pack from Final Builds Site.

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Are you a frequent traveler having a laptop, who is concerned that it may get stolen somewhere while traveling? To help you in tracking your laptop, there are many tracking software available in market from long ago.

But, a new software, called Retriever has been designed and developed by a Colorado-based firm, Front Door Software Corporation that offers a unique and new feature that other software don't offer currently.

The new feature that Retriever offers is that it allows laptops to shout for help if they have been stolen, making it the first software to allow owners to activate recorded messages.

It will enable users to set a spoken message such as a shout or a warning and even display alerts on the missing laptop's screen.

It can also collect information about the location of the thief in case it is being used to access Internet so that police can be alerted.

Owners must report their laptop missing by logging on to a website, which sends a message to the computer, triggering on-screen messages to the thief or voice alerts or both.

The cost of Retriever is around 21 pounds or you can try out 90 day free trial version from Front Door Software website.

Wondering, how the laptop will be able to shout if the sound has been muted or there is no sound driver installed. :-)

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The world's biggest phone maker Nokia and the Internet calling company Skype has joined their hands to preload Skype software into some of the Nokia smartphones. Cell phone bills can get expensive, so people try all kinds of things to keep talking without spending too much. With the increase in capabilities in cell phones, VOIP is becoming a viable option.

Putting Skype on handsets will give users low-cost calls to landlines and mobile devices. The N series will feature Skype and it will be built into the phone’s contact manager enabling the users to easily see when their Skype contacts are available online. The first phone to feature Skype pre-installed will be the N97. Nokia uses the Symbian S60 OS in its phones which should allow the application to run in the background so you can get your Skype calls on the go. The app will run on both Wi-Fi and on 3G.

“Making Skype available everywhere through mobile devices is essential to fulfilling our vision of ‘enabling the world’s conversations’,” said Scott Durchslag, Skype’s chief operating officer.

Jose-Luis Martinez, vice president at Nokia's N series division, said in a statement: “With more than 400 million Skype users worldwide, the integration of Skype on Nokia N series mobile computers is a significant step in bringing converged Internet experiences from the desktop to the world’s most advanced mobile computer."

Skype will be rolled out on other devices after the Nokia N97 goes live in the third quarter. New Nokia N97 devices will have it pre-installed, whilst early versions will be able to get it through a software upgrade. Other select N series devices are also likely to come with integrated Skype functionality which includes Skype contacts, Chat, VoIP and Presence.

This is a cool little feature that should distinguish Nokia phones from others. Lets wait till the launch of the first N97 with Skype.

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Google Latitude  is a useful way to track your location on a mobile phone or GPS laptop. But you can get roughly the same sense of fleeting privacy on any old Wi-Fi PC. Latitude is a new feature of Google Maps that lets users see the real-time location of friends and colleagues. Users can also communicate with each other through Latitude, if they wish.

Now before the privacy people get all worked up, Google built in robust privacy settings, allowing users to share their precise location, a general city-level location or no information at all. You can even lie about your whereabouts. So privacy is not an issue here: you decide who knows what and when. Latitude is currently available in 27 countries and it works on a big list of cell and smartphones, with more coming.

You can use your Google account to sign in and easily invite friends to Latitude from your existing list of contacts or by entering their email addresses. Google Talk is integrated with Latitude, so you and your friends can update your status messages and profile photos on the go and see what everyone is up to. You can also call, SMS, IM, or email each other within the app. Check out this video to see Latitude in action.

Mainly there are two primary ways to use Latitude right now:

   1. On your mobile phone: visit google.com/latitude from your phone's mobile browser to download Google Maps for mobile with Latitude. Currently most of the popular smartphone platforms are supported: Android, Blackberry, Symbian S60, and Windows Mobile, and iPhone will be added to the list soon. It will be available through Google Mobile App, and you'll just need to download or update the app from the App store to find Latitude in the Apps tab.

   2. On your computer: go to http://google.com/latitude from your browser and add the Latitude gadget to your iGoogle homepage. If you've installed Google Gears or if you're using Google Chrome, you can choose to automatically share your location from your laptop or desktop computer -- no smartphone required!

Google Latitude and similar services like BrightKite and Loopt are yet more proof that the future of the Web will be all about maps.

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Google Earth is also used to dig the past histroy. This is been proven by the recent news that, using Google Earth, a Los Angeles-based musician named Nathan Smith thinks he's found a lost treasure ship that sank somewhere north of Corpus Christi during a hurricane in 1822. But the owners of the land won't let him dig unless a court permits.

A recent book called "Lost Treasures of American History" got Smith to investigate around on his computer and an intriguing pattern near the small town of Refugio made him to drive nonstop to the Gulf Coast with a metal detector in hand.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Smith told a federal judge that Where he had walked he was able to find gold, silver in his initial visit to the site itself. When he stepped out of that area, he could see nothing.

Adding to Smith's convictions is the fact the creek is named Burgentine or Barkentine Creek. The lost Spanish (or maybe Mexican) ship was said to have been a barquentine, a type of three-masted sailing vessel.

Ron Walker, the attorney representing the family that owns the land, says to ABCNews.com, "It was offensive that somebody could go on Google Earth, look down and see what they think, I guess see, under the ground and see a ship and come in and say, 'I want to dig up your property', also they have no proof anything is there and no experience."

The judge plans to rule next month on whether Smith can ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to dig. But even if he does find something, he might be in for more legal fights. The state of Texas is already preparing to file a claim, and the Spanish government recently sued professional treasure-hunters over another long-lost military shipwreck.

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Adobe has joined its hands with Apple to develop Flash for the iPhone. Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen made this revelation in an interview with Bloomberg at the Davos, Switzerland event. "It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating," he says.

He also added, while no specific details were given as to the parameters of their teamwork, it was mentioned that Flash Lite will not be an acceptable alternative as it’s too feature-limited as opposed to the real thing. However, Flash itself is resource-heavy which is too much for the small processor of the iPhone or any smart phone for that matter to handle which is the real challenge in making the much-awaited feature finally available on Apple’s mobile phone.

As to whether it will be offered as a 3rd party app or plug-in, the chances of that happening is near impossible as the iPhone SDK’s guidelines strictly prohibits 3rd party app from serving as plug-ins. It’ll most likely debut as part of a firmware update, but no information regarding as to when this will all happen.

For more details visit Apple insider site.

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Microsoft has announced that there won't be a second beta of Windows 7, saying that the next test version of the operating system will be a near-final release candidate. Windows engineering head Steven Sinofsky announced the move in a blog posting on Friday, confirming that Microsoft would stick to earlier plans for just a single beta.

Given the estimated release date for Windows 7, we all expected that there would be only one beta before an RC. Microsoft proved the community right. Microsoft says, "With the RC, this process of feedback based on telemetry then repeats itself. However, at this milestone we will be very selective about what changes we make between the Release Candidate and the final product, and very clear in communicating them. We will act on the most critical issues. The point of the Release Candidate is to make sure everyone is ready for the release and that there is time between the Release Candidate and our release to PC makers and manufacturing to validate all the work that has gone on since the pre-Beta. Again, we expect very few changes to the code."

They still have not yet said anything about the release date. Although that is believed to be the goal, Microsoft has told partners that it is still too soon to commit for a 2009 release and it could yet be pushed into early 2010. Officially, Microsoft has said that it will have Windows 7 out within three years of the general availability of Windows Vista, which hit its two-year anniversary on Thursday.

In the meanwhile, for those who have not tried hands on Windows 7, the download availability for the Windows 7 Beta is still active.

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As a result bringing a kind of solution for the content blocking ISPs, Google has introduced Measurement Lab. Measurement Lab (M-Lab) is an open platform for researchers to deploy Internet measurement tools. By enhancing Internet transparency, it aims to help sustain a healthy, innovative Internet. Now Google, the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium, and academic researchers are taking the wraps off of Measurement Lab (M-Lab). The network diagnostic tool, meanwhile, can measure the speed of a user's internet connection.

The open platform is still in its infancy, Google says. But it is providing 36 servers to researchers in 12 locations in Europe in the United States, with the hope that they can come up with new applications to improve internet transparency. An application that allows users to monitor if they are being obstructed online isn't new, but Google says M-lab stands for more than just a throttle test - it provides the infrastructure for developing other tools to measure connectivity.

"M-Lab is intended to be a truly community-based effort, and we welcome the support of other companies, institutions, researchers, and users that want to provide servers, tools, or other resources that can help the platform flourish," Google vice-president Vint Cerf and principal engineer Stephen Stuart said on a Google blog.

For more details visit Google Official Blog.

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After the Mumbai attack, the talk of the town was about theGoogle Earth has helped the terroists who involved in the attack. Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographic information program that was originally called Earth Viewer, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a company acquired by Google in 2004. It maps the earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS 3D globe.

During the month of November, there happened a deadly attacks in Mumbai by the terrorists. Sources says that Google earth was used by the terrorists for the exact map and location and distance etc., Google completely disagrees with this slipshod logic.

Google says, that terrorists can use maps, electronic or otherwise anything, for Evil, which isn’t Google’s fault. The evilness is in the philosophies and the desires of those that want to do evil. They will use the tools at hand to do that, whether it’s throwing a Molotov cocktail, or shooting a rifle or using some piece of technology as part of the process.

Post-Mumbai, Google Earth has been called “the Google threat.” Even the venerable British Army has expressed concern about the program. But we don’t understand how it can. Are we to ban cellphones because, you know, Bad Guy 1 can SMS his location to Bad Guy 2? Or maybe we should shut down Casio for creating the alarm clock that awoke Bad Guy 3 on the day of an attack? It’s silly.

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Windows 7 is still in the public beta process, and will be for some months to come. The purpose of true beta testing is to isolate and identify serious problems (we should know). During this testing, an unbelievable flaw in Windows 7 beta and Microsoft's User Account Control (UAC) feature, allows its protection to be defeated by any malware which happens to infect the system.

The malware needs only to send a series of false keystrokes from a Visual Basic script to activate the UAC dialog, move the slider bar to the disable position, and then save the changes. After that, the program can access protected functions or even reboot the system, thereby gaining full total system access on restart.

This type of security breach has been in use for as long as there have been PCs. In the old DOS days, a terminate and stay resident (TSR) program could invoke the system BIOS functions, wait for the password screen to appear then start issuing interrupt 16h instructions (which send fake keystrokes). Doing so would mimic the effect of a user pressing keys on a keyboard, and old DOS programs like Sidekick used to do this as part of their feature in order to provide DOS with copy-and-paste-like functionality, as well as pop-up abilities like a calendar, calculator, etc. Sidekick would intercept and send its keystrokes in this way.

Windows uses a message-based communication system internally. When a user presses a keystroke on the keyboard, the keyboard controller identifies which key was pressed (or released) and sends a signal to the motherboard, which then issues a hardware interrupt signal to the CPU. The CPU stops what it's doing (processing a spreadsheet, drawing some graphics in a game, whatever it is), and then retrieves the keystroke - sending it to the appropriate software algorithm (an internal keyboard handler). Such a handler allows keys to be remapped, intercepted, and all kinds of other things which allow for abilities macros, etc. But ultimately, the keystroke message, such as "KEY 'X' IS DOWN WHILE THE RIGHT-SHIFT KEY IS PRESSED," are sent to the appropriate program (or, more precisely, the appropriate "window" in Windows).

There is a simple fix to this problem. Microsoft can implement without sacrificing any of the benefits the new UAC model provides, and that is to force a UAC prompt in Secure Desktop mode whenever UAC is changed, regardless of its current state.

The discoverer wrote some simple code and also notes that this is apparently a Microsoft-purposed design feature of Windows 7, as related inquires appearing on Microsoft's beta page are all marked "closed."

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If you had used the Google Toolbar on Firefox, then you might be pretty familiar with many features of Toolbar 5 (beta) has to offer. Now a couple more features to the Firefox Toolbar are added and the same is available for download. You can download this "second beta" to get all the latest and greatest Google Toolbar features.

The most specialized featured about the beta 2 version is that now you can get a personalized page showing thumbnails of your most visited websites in Firefox just like Google Chrome. This feature is included, so that you can access your most visited websites quickly without having to type a word.

When you open up a new tab, instead of the blank white page you see by default in Firefox, you can instead see small thumbnails of your favorite sites (up to 9), as well as recently-closed and bookmarked pages based on your browser history. If for whatever reason you don't like this updated new tab page, you can always change it back to a blank page or to the website of your choice through either your Toolbar or Firefox settings. Another cool feature is that you have the option to choose which thumbnails are displayed, just click on Edit thumbnails link at the bottom.

This personalized new tab page will surely save few seconds that you used to type in few words at address bar. Apart from this more features are added to the beta 2 release which can checked in the official Google Blog.

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A new mobile Gurbani Search engine for the Apple iPhone and  iTouch devices was released. This is considered to be one of the first Sikh related apps for the iPhone. There is MS Pocket PC version of SikhiToTheMax, but this is the only other mobile search software which is released so far.

The Gurbani database on iSikhi is the same as the one from SikhiToTheMax so it includes Bhai Gurdaas Vaars and parts of Sri Dasam Granth. You can download the iSikhi (Version 1) application on your computer from ishiki, or directly from your device by going to the "App Store" icon on your iPhone/iPod Touch. Do a search for "iSikhi" and it will show up.

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We know that it took 38 years for radio to get 50 million users, 13 years for TV to get to that number and 4 years for the Internet to get to 50 million users.

But today Adobe proudly has announced that they have recorded 100 million successful installations of Adobe AIR, the company’s cross-platform runtime environment for Rich Internet Applications (RIA), at the same time boasting that the newest version of Adobe Flash Player (10) was installed on over half of computers(55 percent) worldwide in just the first two months of its release.

This means it will surpass 80 percent by the second quarter of 2009, far outpacing the installation rate of past versions of the software. The numbers associated include only the successful installations, which means that the actual digits can be well over the given figure.

Adobe has reached another milestone by achieving this. The company made this announcement at the Adobe MAX Japan event. For even more details visit Adobe AIR blog.

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Have you ever thought of accessing your mails without internet connection? Yes, you can. If you're a Gmail user, Google has just announced that you can use Gmail while offline by installing Google Gears, which is a Google plug-in for Firefox and IE that allows storage of certain information so it can be accessed offline.

Once you enable offline Gmail, Google Gears downloads a cache of your mail; then, when ever you have a limited or no connectivity, Gmail can switch to offline mode. You can send and receive messages (which will be saved in your outbox and then will be sent when Gmail detects a connection) and also use other Gmail features as if you're online.

Once this option is established throughout, then follow the below steps to activate this feature,

1) Click Settings and click the Labs tab.
2) Select Enable next to Offline Gmail.
3) Click Save Changes.
4) After your browser reloads, you'll see a new "Offline0.1" link in the upper right hand corner of your account, next to your user name. Click this link to start the offline set up process and download Google Gears if you don't already have it.

This feature will be unveiled in couple of days in US or UK. For more details visit Gmail blog.

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The Windows 7 Build 7025 screen shots are said to be leaked by a Chinese website. Microsoft released Windows 7 Beta few weeks ago and the only version that was released during this beta was Windows 7 Ultimate. It is still unclear about the different Windows 7 versions that Microsoft is planning to release.

Here are some of the screen shots that are leaked.

 

But one of the sites claims that the screen shots that got leaked might be fake. The reason for this suspicion is because the original build number at extreme right corner is always covered with PCBETA logo. Is it for hiding the build number? Might be. So lets just wait and watch may be it is a rumor or reality.

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Kaspersky Lab, the developer of popular anti-virus for Windows has released a technical prototype of the latest anti-virus for Windows 7. The technical prototype is a complex solution for securing computers running under Windows 7. The prototype includes not only an antivirus component but an effective and fully functional firewall and anti-spam filter.

The prototype comes with a new user interface developed to meet the needs of both inexperienced and advanced users.The prototype is based on a new Antivirus engine which provides complete antivirus protection from all types of Internet threats.

“We knew the release of the new version of Windows would be a huge event for the IT community, which is why we were prepared for it,” said Alexey Kalgin, Director Product Marketing, Corporate Business Division, Kaspersky Lab. “Our company has always made support for Microsoft’s new operating systems a top priority. For example Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows Vista was released simultaneously with the operating system’s official launch. When Windows Server 2008 was released, Kaspersky Anti-Virus was the only antivirus product on the market certified by Microsoft. Users can now see for themselves how our antivirus protection technologies perform on the new platform.”

Kaspersky Antivirus for Windows 7 includes real time scanner, firewall and anti-spam protection. It is optimized for multi core systems and will be available for both 32bit and 64bit versions of Windows 7.

Download Kaspersky Antivirus Beta For Windows 7.

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Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 2.3 and Photoshop Camera Raw 5.3 which are now available for download from Adobe Labs. Both release candidates provide additional raw file support for the Nikon D3X and Olympus E-30 cameras.

In addition,the Lightroom 2.3 Release Candidate provides a solution to a memory leak that affected some customers of the Lightroom 2.2 release. The ‘release candidate’ label indicates that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automatically to all customers.

The Lightroom and Camera Raw teams would like to hear your inputs to help verify the quality of this update through normal usage as this will ensure that the application is tested on a wide variety of hardware and software configurations not available internally at Adobe.

Adobe also announced the availability of Lightroom in eight new languages, including Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Korean, Chinese (simplified) and Chinese (traditional). The Lightroom 2.3 Release Candidate available on Adobe Labs also includes these additional languages. Feedback regarding this can be provided on the Adobe User forum.

Lightroom 2.3 can be downloaded from here and Camera_Raw_5.3 can be downloaded here.

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