Yandex, a Russian search engine, is the most visited website in Russia. It has come up with two of its own products: Yandex Browser and a Yandex Mobile App Store.
Yandex Browser
The browser is currently available for desktops and laptops only. We might get a tablet and mobile version in the future but no news on that for now. Built on the Chromium interface, the browser is based on cloud browsing, which according to the CEO Arkady Volozh, is the next generation answer to modern Internet challenges.
Yandex Mobile Application Store
Yandex is also releasing a mobile app store that will be available to all devices running Google's Android. The store will have 40,000 apps at launch and is expected to become available in a month's time. Devices from texet, 3Q and Pocketbook will come preloaded with the Yandex app store. The app will initially be available in Russia only, but the company intents to expand its market to the neighbouring former USSR territory, the countries where Yandex already operates.
Yandex is also negotiating with Apple to get its search engine as default in the Russian territory replacing Google. We can feel the heat and competition with Google.
Microsoft has announced its very first Windows 8 tablet with the name "Surface", it's actually the very first "Exclusive Windows" hardware if you will. No it's not an Asus nor a Samsung it's built and sold by Microsoft itself. So let's jump into the specs right away.
Surface is a 10.6 inch tablet which comes in two flavours, has an ARM chip version and an Intel chip version which will be announced later. The ARM chip version has an Nvidia ARM chip running Windows RT, it's 9.3mm thick and weighs about 1.3lbs. The display is a 10.6" 16:9 aspect ratio, Clear Type Full HD (1080p) screen protected by Gorilla Glass technology. The Windows RT version will be available in 32GB and 64GB capacities. For connectivity you have USB2.0 and a 2x2 MIMO antenna for WiFi, it also has a micro SD slot. The tablet has a nice kick stand and also a magnetically attachable keyboard. Microsoft claim that the keyboard is twice more sensitive than the screen itself, amazing! The case is made out of a new composite Magnesium material called "VaporMg" and feels quite sturdy in the hands.
The powerful Intel chip version will be running Windows 8 Pro, using a new Ivy Bridge Intel Core i5 processor. That model will be 13.5mm thick and it'll weigh about 2lbs. It'll be available in 64GB and 128GB models and will have USB 3.0 on board with the rest pretty much the same as the RT version. The nice thing about Surface is that the keyboard itself will act as a cover for the tablet as well, a solid idea too. Both the tablets will be having a front facing camera and a rear camera the details of which have not come yet.
The tablet will be released around the release of Windows 8 this winter hopefully. The device is really a strong step in making Windows a real competitor of other tablet OSes (Android and iOS). Only time will tell whether Surface can become the next king of tablet world replacing iPad, I think it is quite likely to happen. There was no word on the pricing but they say it'll cost pretty much the same as any other high end tablet. Now that people are fast switching to more compatible light weight forms of computer, Microsoft has turned its attention toward the more popular technology form factors by introducing Windows Phone and making coming Windows, that is, Windows 8 more like a tablet Operating system. A strong sign of Microsoft's prosperous future.
There was a time when people kept portable CD players and MP3 players to carry their music with them. Today most people would say that they don't need such a thing because their smartphone has it all. But those people either don't have huge collections or don't know the advantages of a dedicated media player. And not everyone who wants a portable device needs to make phone calls with it. iPod is the undisputed champion in the world of PMP's, but Android lovers never got a device that's as great as the Apple's iPod touch. Many companies came up with their Android versions of iPod touch but they were either of too low specifications or had a too much sluggish interface.
Galaxy Player 5.0 and Galaxy Player 4.0
The South Korean giants Samsung know the art of making loveable Android gadgets, and this time again with Galaxy Player they've given iPod touch a real run for its money. Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 are the gadgets that every Android lover is going to like and some people may even want to throw their iPod away. The difference between the two Galaxys is the screen size, one has a 4.0" and the other has a 5.0" screen. Let's have a look at the specification table for Galaxy Player 5.0:
Display Type
LCD
Display Size
5 inch, 800x480 pixels (187ppi pixel density)
Memory
8/16GB internal, 512MB RAM, Expandable upto 32GB
CPU
1 GHz Cortex A8
Operating System
Android 2.3.5 Gingrebread with TouchWiz UI
Camera
3.2MP, LED flash, autofocus, smile-detection, geo-tagging
Front Facing Camera
VGA
Body
141.3 x 78.2 x 11.9 mm, Plastic body, weighs 182g
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v3.0, Micro USB v2.0
Sensors
Accelerometer, GPS, Compass, FM Tuner
Battery
3700mAh, 8 hrs. of video
Galaxy Player 4.0 has the same specifications as 5.0 save the screen size that is 4 inch and the battery that is 1200mAh. They both have the same screen resolutions so the images are sharper on the smaller screen of 4.0. I think Galaxy Player 5.0 is a better device of the two, so I'll not talk much about the 4inch version. In appearance the device looks much like Samsung Galaxy S smartphone or like a large version of Samsung Vibrant. It is a large device and won't be particularly comfortable in a jeans pocket, but that's forgiveable since the large screen is a pleasure to watch. It has a plastic body but feels nice in the hands, it's well built. On the front there's a large glossy screen with a Samsung logo at the top. On the top right corner there's a front facing VGA camera and the speaker is right above the Samsung logo. At the bottom there are three touch sensitive buttons for menu, home and back functions. The European version of the device, called Galaxy S WiFi has a hardware home button. The device comes in two colours, black and white, so the colour of the back will depend on what you've chosen. At the back, there's a 3.2MP camera with a flash and two speaker grills. The edges are curved and the device is easy to hold in one hand. One could have trouble reaching the capacitive buttons while holding the device with the same hand.
It has a 800 x 480 pixel resolution, so the screen doesn't look as sharp as that of iPod touch's. The pictures will occasionally look grainy due to the large screen, but overall the display is all right. The main reason why people would prefer Galaxy Player 5.0 over iPod touch is its large screen that is great to watch movies. It has a single core 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor with a 512MB RAM. It runs every Android app smoothly without a lag, no complains in this regard. It performs just as good as Google Nexus One. The 2500mAh battery lasts about 8 hours of video. On a normal use with a few hours of video playing, some hours of online radio and web surfing, and some music the battery can last for nearly two days.
It has a front camera so you can video chat on Skype. The back camera is a 3.2MP with flash, something that iPod touch doesn't have. The camera results are decent enough. It runs Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, the latest Android version for mobile devices prior to Ice cream Sandwich. Android means that you have the freedom of drag-dropping your content unlike iOS. The device is ideal for watching movies, reading e-books and surfing the internet. The speakers are loud enough but the pre-installed music app produces static in the background so you might want to install a third party app as a solution. It comes with a nice pair of ear buds and the 3.5mm jack allows you to plug in any of your headphones. In my opinion this is the best portable media player in the market, highly recommended for anyone looking for a PMP.
This year Samsung has announced Galaxy Player 70 that will come with a dual core processor and other hardware improvements but the device seems to be a Korea only product.
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are used for the sole purpose of knowledge and entertainment.
This is for all those who want to try a tablet but either can't afford an iPad or just don't want to invest a good amount to get a taste of a different technology form factor. Chinese brands are difficult to trust because most of them don't build reliable products, but I think brands like Huawei and Ainol are going to change this.
Ainol was in the headlines last year when it became the first brand to offer a device running Android 4.0 Ice-cream Sandwich, the device was called Novo 7 Paladin. Although the company sold many units, it wasn't particularly successful because it ran on a MIPS architecture processor that is not compatible with a number of Android apps. MIPS processors offer a snappier performance and efficient battery life, but Ainol realised that supporting more apps is more important than having a slightly better processor. After gaining some popularity the brand released a number of tablets improving the specifications with every new device.
Ainol 7 Aurora White
For anyone who wants to buy an Android tablet that's budget friendly, powerful and looks great, Ainol's Novo 7 Aurora is probably the best choice. The device has a 1GHz processor, 1GB DDRIII memory, IPS display, a 2MP front camera and the latest version of Android, that is, 4.0 Ice-cream Sandwich.
Here's a short specification table for Aurora:
Display Type
IPS Display (by LG)
Display Size
7 inch, 1024x600 pixels
Memory
8GB internal, 1GB RAM, Expandable upto 16GB
CPU,GPU
CPU: 1.2 GHz All-winner A10, GPU: Mali 400
Operating System
Android 4.0.3 Ice-cream Sandwich
Front Facing Camera
2MP
Body
189 x 123 x 9mm, Plastic shell, weighs 313g
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G/WCDMA dongle, No built-in 3G support
Sensors
Accelerometer, GPS
Software
Flash 11.1, Android Market, YouTube, Skype
Battery
3700mAh, 6hrs of video
Ainol 7 Aurora Black
The device can handle almost anything you throw at it, it is smooth in performance and you can enjoy all the 3d games that Google Play (Android Market) has to offer, without a lag. The thing that sets Aurora apart from the previous Ainol products is its brilliant display, IPS screen made by LG. The colors are brighter and the viewing angles are literally 178°wide. There is no back camera or built in 3G support but then, it is too much to ask for such a small price. Unlike other cheap tablets, Aurora boards a capacitive touch screen with a 5 point multi-touch support, so you won't have any trouble regarding response. The device arrives with Chinese as the default language but you can easily change it to English, you'll have to perform a quick firmware update to get the regular Android Market and other standard Android apps. The tablet is available for around $170 (around Rs.15000 in Pakistan), comes in black and white colors. You can buy it in Pakistan from ShopnShop, Symbios and MyTabletPC.
The device has been extremely successful all over the world with suppliers running out of the stock several times. This month a new dual-core tablet is to be released with a price of just $199, it will be called Aurora II or Tornado. A similar, cheaper device Elf II priced at $149, will also be released with it but the Elf will come without an IPS display.
Windows does not come with a lot of customization options concerning the look of your desktop. Everyone likes to give a personalized look to their computer, but unfortunately Windows won't help you much in this regard. There is a great third-party application called Rainmeter, after installing which you can get any Rainmeter theme that suits you best. The application won't make changes to your system files so the taskbar and window appearance doesn't change.
The first thing you need to do is download Rainmeter from rainmeter.net. You'll find a stable release and a beta version, download the one you're comfortable with. After installing you can download themes from rainmeter.net or try these sites:
Both of these sites have a huge and great looking collection of themes, wallpapers and other customization stuff. The material at deviantart.com is more polished and the look of the site is great too.
One of the greatest rainmeter themes is Enigma that I'm currently using on my desktop. You can download the theme here. Note that in order to be able to use this theme you must first install rainmeter application. Here's a screenshot of the theme:
The clock that you can see in the middle of the desktop won't come with the Enigma theme. You can download it from here. Here's my customized desktop:
