Facebook adds "Subscribe" button to comments

After the Timeline, Facebook has added a "subscribe" button to its comments box plugin, allowing users to follow comments made by users who have enabled Subscribers.

The new link allows users to subscribe to commenters with one click, and gives commenters another way to grow their subscriber base, Facebook said. In some cases, it will also show a subscriber count next to the button.

The link will only appear on public comments made by Facebook users who have allowed other users to subscribe their updates.

The move is an evolution of the subscribe button the social-networking giant added last month to user profiles, which gives users the option of subscribing to all, most, or only important updates the other person posts to the site. Those updates show up in the user's news feed.

Facebook is also letting people subscribe to news feeds of users they're not friends with. Upon doing so, they will see the public updates the person has shared on their profile. And like with friends, users will be able to determine how many of those updates they will see in their news feed.

Source: CNET

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Google celebrates Halloween with the Fashionable Doodle

After the launch of Android 4.0, Google has got into the Halloween spirit with the search giant creating a real world Google Doodle, carving six monstrously sized pumpkins into a festive themed rendition of the company’s infamous logo.

Renowned for its eye catching doodles, Google’s latest take on the brand logo is currently on the Google homepage in the form of a sub one minute time capture video showing the pumpkins being carved to read a eerie version of the name.

The six giant pumpkins, each of which weigh over 1,000 pounds (454KG) were snapped up in the Half Moon Bay area of California before being shipped to Google’s nearby Mountain View complex. We love their Doodles. 

Check out the most memorable Google Doodles HERE. Let us know which one you likes the most?

Source: t3, oddee

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Samsung wins the Smartphone Crown from Apple

Samsung Electronics surged past Apple in smartphone shipments in the third quarter, helped by the wide availability of its flagship Galaxy S II handset.

Samsung controlled 27.8 percent of the global market for smartphones, according to a recent study released by Strategy Analytics. Apple, meanwhile, had 17.1 percent of the market.

Samsung has seen a rapid rise in the smartphone world thanks to its aggressive embrace of Google's Android smartphone platform. The company built upon the early success of its flagship Galaxy S smartphones with the Galaxy S II this year, which has seen even wider consumer adoption. In the U.S., Samsung customized versions for AT&T, T-Mobile USA, and Sprint Nextel.

Samsung's share nearly quadruped from its year-earlier market share of 7.5 percent. Apple, meanwhile, saw only a slight uptick from 14.1 percent a year ago. Its share could rise again with the introduction of the iPhone 4S earlier this month.

"We believe Apple's growth during the third quarter was affected by consumers and operators awaiting the launch of the new iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter, volatile economic conditions in several key countries, and tougher competition from Samsung's popular Galaxy S II model," Neil Mawston, an analyst at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.

In total, the global smartphone shipments grew 44 percent to hit a record 117 million units, Strategy Analytics said.

Nokia, meanwhile, saw its market share retreat to 16.8 percent from 26.5 percent a year ago, as consumers opted for Android or iOS devices over Symbian. Nokia earlier this week unveiled its first Windows Phone handsets.

Source: cnet

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Sony buys out Sony Ericsson for €1.05 billion

We heard the rumors circulating for awhile now and it looks like the inevitable has happened — Sony has just bought Sony Ericsson for €1.05 billion. I’m sure some of you are confused with the news thinking, “Wait. Sony bought Sony?” Not quite. Sony Ericsson was actually its own separate company (Ericsson) that turned into a joint venture when Sony essentially bought half of the company back in 2001. This buyout now gives Sony full ownership of the company and allows them to expand their portfolio beyond audio, tablets, laptops and gaming and allows Sony to make a big splash in the smartphone market as well. The agreement also gives Sony a leg up thanks to “five essential patent families” that come with the deal. The separation won't be finalized, however, until January 2012, pending regulatory approval. 




Source: Phandroid

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Apple wins the patent for slide-to-unlock feature

If you have a smartphone, you've probably used the slide-to-unlock feature to make a call or check your mail. This week, Apple won the patent for that feature.

Apple first applied for the patent in 2005, long before the first iPhone was unveiled. The idea is simple: A device with a touch-sensitive display may be unlocked via gestures performed on the touch-sensitive display.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had a little more fun describing it in 2007: "To unlock the phone, I just take my finger and slide it across," he said in a presentation. "Wanna see that again? We wanted something you couldn't do by accident in your pocket. Just slide it across -- BOOM!"

Slide-to-unlock is an elegant, useful feature, and it's been used by many other companies. The Android software by Google uses it, as does the new Windows 8 lock screen from Microsoft.


So what will happen now that Apple owns the feature? Well, it's pretty clear that any devices using it could be sued for patent infringement. Time Magazine thinks we'll see a substantial drop in the number of devices offering it from now on.

Apple isn't saying anything about this publicly. But we might look to Jobs himself for clues about the company's legal strategy here.

In the new biography of Jobs out this week, he says he was "willing to go thermonuclear war" on Android. Google's copying of Apple's features amounted to "grand theft," he added.

He also said he would "spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong."

So I'm guessing Apple's lawyers are getting ready for a big fight.






Source: MSN

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Nokia Lumia 800 launched: The First real Windows Phone

The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Nokia mobile running the Windows Phone operating system rather than Nokia's own Symbian. Will Nokia survive after this is the real question to ask here considering there profits facing a downfall!

A 3.7inch ClearBlack AMOLED screen and the same polycarbonate shell that's found on the N9 the Lumia 800 is operating by a huge 1.4GHz processor and comes with 16GB of internal memory and 25GB of cloud storage free via SkyDrive. The back is occupied by a 8MP Carl Zeiss lens with 720p HD-recording at 30fps, while on the side the same volume and camera shutter keys you'd expect on a Windows Phone 7 handset. It has a easy to use UI.

Nokia also announced a Nokia Music App (Spotify supported) and finally the much awaited ESPN spots app which Nokia claims to be the best app for sports news for a Windows Phone. 

This is fresh new start for Nokia. All in all it's a good windows phone offering a good camera, decent performance and a tasty helping of Windows Phone Mango. But the real question is who would buy a windows phone considering the limited choice of apps in its market? The phone will certainly not be cheap. There's still a long way for windows phones to become as powerful as Android and Apple.

Review of Nokia Lumia 800: cnet

Live Blog fro Nokia' launch event: engadget

Visit Nokia's Official Video channel on YouTube to know more.

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Hyundai Eon – Game on!

Finally in the thick of action in the small car space, Hyundai has launched its eagerly-awaited hatchback – the Eon. Hailing from Korea, Hyundai is one of the leading names when it comes to small cars here in India. It all started with the tall-boyish though iconic Santro, the car which kick-started Hyundai’s dream innings in India back then in 1997. Today, the picture is no different; the i10 and i20 continue to be the top players in their own class. Now with its latest offering, the Eon; Hyundai aims to take the game away from Maruti Suzuki and Tata.

Hyundai Eon

Eon is based on the decade-old Santro platform and uses quite a few bits from the i10 as well. Hyundai has aimed at the budget-end of the market with this car. However, all of the efforts put in by the Design team seem to have paid off as the Eon looks anything but cheap. It manages to look modern and bold when compared to the rivals though the fluidic Design treatment on this hatch may not go down well with the Indian buyers. The styling is clearly overdone; there is simply way too much going on in the front and side profile.

Now on the inside is where this car really shines. Hop in and you will be greeted with the typical Hyundai interior flavor. There is a real sense of quality to the interior design with a smart fascia and neat plastics around the center console housing most of the controls. All in all, the cabin is quite impressive. The overall space and comfort is not an issue either; there’s enough room for four adults, however, adding a fifth one would be a squeeze.

Under the hood sits a tiny 814cc, 3-cylinder iRDE Engine derived from the Santro. Mated to a 5-speed manual, it puts out 56bhp @ 5600rpm and 7.65kgm of Torque arriving at 4000rpm. Hyundai claims that it’s the most fuel efficient hatch in its segment with an ARAI tested mileage of 21.1kmpl.

Launched at a mouth-watering price tag of Rs 2.69lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the base D-lite trim, going up to Rs 3.71 lakh for the top-end Sportz version (with all the bells and whistles) The Eon, with its fludic Design language and well build cabin, hopes to lure buyers away from the Alto and the like. 

Maruti... are you listening?

What’s hot- Design language, Quality interiors, Price.

What’s not- Tight on Space (for Five adults, that is)

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Ra.One: India's Most Expensive Film, Hit or Flop?

Ra.One, Shahrukh Khan's most ambitious project till date is set to release on 26th October. Previously scheduled to release on 3rd June, the film got postponed due to extensive post-production for Visual Effects and 3D conversion. 


Ra.One is India' most expensive film till date and it's going to be released over 5000 screen's worldwide with 550 3D theaters. 


SRK's dream to make this Superhero film which will raise the bar for Hindi Cinema's Visual effects has been evident in trailers. Taran Adarsh from bollywood hungama gave the film a thumbs up and said, "RA.ONE is the most ambitious, most expensive and the most technologically complex Hindi film ever made. It pushes the envelope further. It's not merely a film, but an experience, an event. It's a film that will rewrite the textbook of computer graphics in Hindi cinema. At the same time, it is very Indian at heart." The reviewer gave the film a 4.5/5 star rating.


Following up to its release, Ra.One is expected to set several records among Indian films. Nationally, the film will release in 3,500 screens, breaking the record of Bodyguard (2011), which released in 2,700 screens. The film will also be released as dubbed versions in Tamil, Telugu and Germany.


Director & Writer Anubhav Sinha had got the idea for this film 6 years back. The film's crew consisted of more than 5,000 members from India, Italy and the US, and was pieced together by more than 1,000 people, working in shifts, in around 15 studios across the world. 


Apart from Shahrukh Khan, the film also stars Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, Shahana Goswami, Dalip tahil and Chinese-American actor Tom Wu. Guest appearances include the Superstar Rajnikanth, Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra. 


With extensive promotion for the film including video games, merchandise, comics and collaboration with every company and reality show for promotion, the film with such high expenses will require an opening box office earning of 100 crore to earn profits.


The film is reported to have close to 3,500 VFX shots (occupying about 135 minutes of footage), with 800 of them being solely dedicated to G.One's suit alone, thus exceeding the total amount of shots that was used in the 2009 Hollywood film Avatar. The film's visual effects have generated massive curiosity among moviegoers, film distributors and critics. 


Keeping these things in mind, what do you think will Ra.One be a Hit or a Flop? Will it set the records? Comment your opinions. 

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Facebook facing $130,000 fine for keeping deleted user data

Facebook‘s Ireland offices are being audited, as the company is facing a possible €100,000 ($138,000) fine for retaining data deleted by users, The Guardian reports.

The case began when a 24-year-old Austrian law student, Max Schrems, asked Facebook for a copy of all his personal data in June. Facebook complied, sending him a CD containing 1,200 pages of data, including his likes, “friend” and “defriend” history, and chat logs.

The problem? Schrems had deleted some of the data returned to him from his profile, yet Facebook retained his information.

Schrems proceeded to start an initiative called Europe vs. Facebook, and filed 22 individual claims about the social network’s practices.

The complaints include some of the ways Facebook keeps deleted user data, and highlight some of Facebook’s Terms of Service and business shortcomings.

“Postings that have been deleted showed up in the set of data that was received from Facebook,” says one complaint. “The privacy settings only regulate who can see the link to a picture. The picture itself is “public” on the internet. This makes it easy to circumvent the settings,” says another.

According to ZDNet, the complaints have already yielded results: Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has called for an audit of Facebook’s offices, which will take place before Christmas.

Should the DPC find Facebook has breached Irish data protection law, it can ask the company to change the way it handles personal data. Should Facebook fail to comply, it could face a fine of up to €100,000 ($138,000). Of course, for Facebook, the negative publicity could be more damaging than the amount of the fine.

In February 2009, Facebook changed its Terms of Service, giving itself the right to use or modify user data in any way it wants, even if a user quits the service.

This subtle change in Facebook’s TOS prompted a huge public backlash, ultimately forcing Facebook to backpedal a little. In an elaborate blog post, Mark Zuckerberg explained why the company feels it needs to retain a copy of user’s data.

While some of his arguments are valid — for example, it’s very tricky to permanently delete a message you’ve sent another user, as the other user also has the right to keep his/her copy — this latest incident might once again spark complaints from users feeling Facebook has granted itself too many liberties with their data.

With the public roll-out of Timeline on the horizon, many users are bound to have a slew of new privacy concerns. If you are already using Timeline, have you found any of your data you thought was hidden or deleted appearing publicly? Please share your experiences below.

Soucre: mashable

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10 reasons for not buying the iPhone 4S!

Every year a new iPhone raises the bar for other mobile makers to work even harder. The iPhone 4 was one such example. A completely new design on the outside while the iPhone 4S has just changed it's inside. It's harder to tag the iPhone 4S as a game-changer for the mobile industry. A new A5 Dual-Core Processor with better graphics and the 8MP snapper with Full HD recording are the major changes. Wait, before you think I forgot to mention about 'Siri' let me tell you that it's still a Beta App and location services are not supported outside of US.

Talking about Siri, it can spill all the beans out about you if your friend tries to use your locked iPhone 4S. The security flaw in Siri is that any third person can access your personal details without the need to enter the lock password. The option of enabling Siri right at the passcode lock is set ON by default in the iPhone 4S. Although it can be disabled but a lot of users are unaware about this and it can lead to leaking out of the user's information. It's inappropriate for Apple to leave this ON by default if they have an option to let the user decide whether he needs it or not. 

There's no doubt that new amazing services like iCloud, iMessage and the Best App Store are included with the 4S, but Apple is late on getting par with other phones. We have been seeing Dual-Core smartphone's and 8MP camera phones capable of Full HD recording right from the beginning of this year like Samsung Galaxy S2, Nokia N8, etc. So, the iPhone 4S is pretty late to enter the market. A new look would have made it worthier for old iPhone users to upgrade to the new iPhone 4S.

Main Disadvantages

• No Flash support for the browser
• Siri still beta, location services not supported out of US
• Security flaw in Siri
• No true multitasking for all applications
• iPhone's support only a MicroSIM card
• No microSD card slot
• File transfer over Bluetooth or USB Mass Storage Mode not possible
• No FM radio and Stereo speakers
• Too dependent on iTunes for loading content
• FaceTime video calling will work only over Wi-Fi.

With the launch of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Samsung Google Nexus and other powerful phones like Motorola Razr the iPhone 4S faces a lot of pressure to regain its position as the Best Smartphone in World. At the end of the day its all about love for your brand. And Apple has huge followers for that. So, it depends on you to decide whether iPhone 4S is worth your penny for an upgrade or not. Our job was to keep you informed about its shortcomings. 

Tell us what you think about these flaws?

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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich: Classy, Simply Smart

With every update Google has offered for Android, it has contributed towards making Android a better OS. But this one can't be just tagged as a regular update as it radically changes Android from it's core design. The OS got it's first companion in the Google Nexus phone launched today in Hong Kong.

Ice Cream Sandwich combines Honeycomb and Gingerbread into one unique OS. This means that all Apps that developers will design would be compatible with both Android Tablets and Smartphone's. The new font Roboto, new UI, new animations, new apps all combine together and make this Android Update the best till date. Now one can call it a "Classy OS" or in other words a sophisticated OS. The new OS makes the user experience richer, smoother and faster. 

New Features: 

·         Made for both Smartphone and Tablet use

·         New user interface, with updated animations, transition effects, multi-touch gestures and live wallpapers

·         Smoother multitasking

·         Intuitive Homescreen folders and favorites tray

·         Real cool lock screen with facial unlock

·         Improved Notification menu

·         Resizable widgets, viewable through the application menu

·         Built-in screenshot capture

·         Smart text input and spell-checking

·         Improved voice input

·         Data Usage center

·         New Peoples app

·         Improved Gmail and Calendar app

·         New Web browser with ability to save web pages, incognito mode and Request Desktop Site option.

·         Visual Voice-mail

·         Well designed camera app with face detection and panorama mode

·         Video recorder with continuous auto-focus, zooming while recording, snapshot while recording and time lapse mode

·         New Gallery app with photo editor

·         Android Beam for transferring data using NFC

·         Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth HDP support

Official Commercial: 

What do you think now? Is it worth an upgrade? Does it prove to be better than iPhone 4S?

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Samsung Google Nexus event LIVE

And that's it. Thank you for joining us.

It's available for Developers right now at android.com

You can use it to share contact information, webpages or any other thing. Just touch the two and bam! here you have it on your phone. It can also be Market App you want to share.

A brand new way of sharing. ANDROID BEAM.

Oh wait there's also a new Phone App. Swipe to the left for your favorites and swipe more for your Visual Voicemail. All, right into the top of your dial. Neat.

Divided into three icons, you can swipe to the side to get photo grid of your contacts. 

Welcome an all new People App.

All the Camera features. Woahh! wait did I just read Time Lapse? 

A new Gallery layout with sorting by album, geo-tagging and by person. Looks clean and nice.

Photo editing is built in with a new feature name hypster filters for different color effects.

Android claims it's camera has zero-shutter lag, even faster than the iPhone 4S

There's a digital zoom slider, you can tap anywhere to set focus and exposure.

Ample variety of sharing to other websites is available.

Time for the new Camera App. From the homescreen you scroll to the left and it immediately brings up the camera app.

Now you can view your Data Usage right from your settings.

Yeah the Calendar is also getting a new look. 

A new Gmail with a two line preview, new icons, new font.

A new option called Request Desktop Site is loaded in, enabling you to watch how a full site looks. Also, browser sync your desktop Chrome bookmarks.

Hugo barra is up on stage to talk about the new Browser UI

The new keyboard layout will have improved correction and inline spell checker. Also now with better Cut,Copy,Paste functionality.

You can also see the notifications right from your lock screen.

The notification bar will slide down the same way from top but now to you simply drag out a notification to the right to remove it.

Capturing a Screen Shot is built in. You can hold down the power and volume button to do that. 

A recent app icon just like the one in Honeycomb.

Introducing Folders which aren't just simple but with ability to even add a contact in it.

New Widgets for the Homescreen.

New Roboto font with more animations including the lock screen just like in Honeycomb. The no button experience with only 3 important of them. 

"Meet Robato. It's a totally new typeface for Android -- modern yet approachable. It was built from scratch for high-definition paper density displays." 

All the four lovely Android versions with Ice Cream Sandwich released today

Martias Duarte is on stage. Now time to talk about what's new in Ice Cream Sandwich.

As expected, the 1.2Ghz processor will be able to shoot FULL HD Videos.

Now that's awesome. A button less experience with a Hidden LED for notifications.

The back is called "hyperskin" -- a soft grip texture. It looks like the backing on the T-Mo GS II.

A Contour Display just like the one in old Nexus 

The phone is as slim as 8.94mm with a curved design

A 1280x720 Resolution HD Super AMOLED Display. (WOW)

Source : Engadget

The rumors where true. It's a whopping 4.65 inch Screen.

Source : Engadget

Now he's talking about the Display.

Source : Engadget


The phone will be featuring LTE and HSPA+ meaning no need to wait for buffering. That's 4G.

Source : Engadget

Andy Rubin and JK Shin reveal the Galaxy Nexus

Source : Engadget

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