JustForex
Loading recent posts...

Aug 25, 2011

Dassault Systemes Catia Training Manuals and Exercises

GESAB Books
-Basic Fundamentals Book 1
-Basic Fundamentals Book 2
-Detail Drafting
-Detail drafting Exercise guide
-Detail for Dummies
-Expert Mechanical Book 1
-Expert Mechanical Book 2
-Surfacing
......

Unico Books
-Advanced Surface Design Exercises
-Advanced Surface Design Theory Part_1_2_3
-Complementary Course Surface Design 1-2
-Complimentry Course Solid Design Excersises
-Basics Course General Exercises 1-2
-Basics Course General Exercises 2-2
-Basics design theory

 Exercises

General Course
-Exercises assembly
-Exercises curve and surface
-Exercises drawing
-Exercises dress up features
-Exercises hybrid modeling
-Exercises sketch based features
-Exercises sketcher

Solid Course
-Exercises boolean operations
-Exercises dress up
-Exercises hybrid
-Exercises modifying
-Exercises pattern
-Exercises sketcher

Surface Course
-Exercises curves
-Exercises operations
-Exercises surfaces

Catia Training Manuals & Exercises | 2.56 GB 
Genre: eLearning

FileSonic Uploaded Fileserve links - Single Extraction - InterChangable - No Password


Link of Filesonic.com

Link of Fileserve.com

Links of Uploaded.to

All links are InterChangable. It means you can download any part of the archive from any host, and can extract them without problem!

Nokia Commits to New, High-End Symbian Devices

In February, Espoo, Finland-based mobile phone maker Nokia announced a partnership with Microsoft, the result of which would be the adoption of Windows Phone on new Nokia smartphones. 

Currently, Nokia is the largest handset vendor in the world, and the Symbian operating system it uses on its handsets enjoys the largest market share globally. 

However, the Symbian platform has been losing ground lately in front of newcomers like Google's Android and Apple's iOS, as Nokia was unable to change the OS at the same fast pace that the new platforms changed. 

As announced last month, Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary mobile operating system, but it seems that it won't leave Symbian aside either, at least not for the time being. Contrary, the company plans new, high-end handsets running under the OS. 

Currently, the company is working on the delivery of a major update for the platform, with a new user interface, a faster browser, improved performance in many areas, and the like.

As previously reported, the software update would arrive on the company's latest devices as the PR2.0 firmware, and is expected to be pushed out of Nokia's labs sometime this summer. 

In a recent post, Purnima Kochikar, vice president, Forum Nokia, explains how the company plans on keeping the Symbian OS alive for the next few years, and talks about Nokia's commitment to its users. 

“The first major update will arrive in summer, delivering a new home screen, new flexible widgets, new icons, a faster browser, new Navbar and a fresh look and feel to Ovi Store and Ovi Maps, including integration of social media services in Ovi Maps,” Kochikar says. 

Nokia C7 Astound, the smartphone announced at CTIA Wireless this year, as being on its way to T-Mobile USA, comes with some of these enhancements loaded on it right from the start.

“Those plus the rest of the enhancements will be delivered to all users over the air in a simple update available from the Home Screen, and Nokia Astound users will receive the remaining enhancements not already in their device at the same time,” Kochikar explains.

Moreover, it seems that Nokia is also set to come to the market with a nice range of new, highly appealing devices running under the Symbian OS during the ongoing year, and beyond that.

The transition to Windows Phone would take some time, and the handset vendor plans a great Symbian roadmap for the time frame, namely for 2011 and 2012.

“These devices will take advantage of the strong integration of devices and services as well as our strength in areas such as imaging and location-based services. They will also include improvements in hardware performance such as GHz+ processing capabilities and faster graphics speeds,” Kochikar states.

At the same time, Nokia committed to supporting existing users of its Symbian-based devices for as long as necessary. 

“Our intention is that when users come to the end of the natural lifecycle of their Symbian device they will make the change to a Nokia Windows Phone device and so it would not be in our interests to undermine their Nokia smartphone experience,” Kochikar continued. 

Partner operators would also help during the transition period, he continued. Nokia is working at the moment with 109 operators in 34 countries.

“In many markets, including markets where Symbian is currently the lead smartphone platform with significant market share such as China, India, Russia and Turkey, we will continue to make our Symbian portfolio as competitive as possible while we work with Microsoft to introduce Windows Phone,” Kochikar said.

“For that reason certain markets will play a more significant role in selling the 150 million Symbian devices than others and we will be selling devices long after Windows Phone devices from Nokia have already started to appear in other markets. That is why we cannot give you the date when Symbian will no longer be supported.”

Application developers would also benefit from this, since they can still consider building applications for the OS, using Qt, the development platform for Symbian and future MeeGo technology, Nokia committed to the future development of this platform as well.

Download Nokia Software Updater 3.0.495 for Windows

Along with the release of Symbian Anna for all devices that landed on shelves with the Symbian^3 operating system on board, Nokia also made available upgraded tools that would enable users update their phones to the new platform release. 

One of these is the Nokia Software Updater, available for machines running under Microsoft's Windows platform, which was just released in a stable flavor, 3.0.495. 

Previously available in a beta flavor, the application is now gold, and is up for grabs for all those who would like to give it a try.

“Nokia Software Updater 3.0.495 for Windows has been released to consumers. When you start your NSU client next time, you will get the latest NSU version automatically,” the development team notes in a post on the Nokia Beta Labs. 

The software is expected to taste various other enhancements in the near future, yet it seems that none of them will be a major upgrade, one that might bring along changes to the interface, the development team explains. 

The release notes for the new Nokia Software Updater 3.0.495 for Windows include:
  • Support for Symbian Anna release
  • Application update fixes
  • USB HUB Warning

The application is available for download for all computers running under Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, and offers users the possibility to easily download and install new software on their mobile phones. 

For that, the Nokia device should be connected to the computer, and all data on the phone should be backed up. The NSU will only find new OS flavors for the handset. 

All those who will give the application a try should consider offering feedback on the experience they receive from it, so that more enhancements will be added into the mix via future updates.

Download here

New Nokia N9 Colors Spotted

Nokia N9, the first MeeGo-based smartphone from Nokia, is expected to arrive on shelves in more colors than what the Finnish handset vendor announced. 

When unveiling the new mobile phone, the company said that it will hit shelves in black, cyan, or magenta, but it seems that two more variants of the handset might be released. 

In addition to these three, the Nokia N9 might be launched in orange and green as well, at least this is what a recently spotted photo with the handset shows. 

No official word on these color flavors of the handset has emerged so far, and chances are that they would be exclusive to some markets around the world, rumor has it. 

However, chances are that, the same as with some of the Symbian^3 handsets from the company, the Nokia N9 too might be launched in more than just one color, so as to expand the available options for all users. 

Moreover, there is also the possibility that Nokia would be working on more color options for the N9 cases, though nothing is known on the matter until now. 

One other thing that needs confirmation at the moment is the release date for Nokia's first MeeGo-powered device. 

Some of the previous reports on the handset suggested that it might be released sometime towards the end of September, on September 23rd, to be more precise, but so far nothing official has leaked on this. 

At the same time, it remains to be seen where around the world the Nokia N9 will arrive on shelves. 

Nokia already said that the phone will not be released via its official channels in a series of markets, but various retailers in those countries have already started to pick up the device. 

Chances are that retailers might be set to bring the Nokia N9 to more markets as well, even if Nokia will not.


Aug 24, 2011

Windows 8 Windows Explorer Evolves with New File Management Functionality

Windows Explorer in Windows 8 will evolve with new file management functionality, not just fresh eye candy (through the adoption of the Ribbon / Fluent UI). 

Microsoft has confirmed a new experience for “copy jobs” in Windows 8 via the official blog set up to share details of the operating system’s development process with the world.  

Alex Simons, a director of program management on the Windows engineering team noted that Windows 8 features improvements to the core file management commands associated with Windows Explorer: copying, moving, renaming, and deleting. 

“Our focus is on improving the experience of the person who is doing high-volume copying with Explorer today, who would like more control, more insight into what’s going on while copying, and a cleaner, more streamlined experience,” he stated. 

The video embedded at the bottom of this article is a demo of the new Windows Explorer copy jobs enhancements in Windows 8. 

According to Simons, the evolution of file management in Windows 8 is an adaptation to the changes in user behavior, since older releases of Windows Explorer are not designed to deal with high-volume jobs or to perform multiple copy jobs concurrently.

“In Windows 8, we have three main goals for our improvements to the copy experience:
  • One place to manage all copy jobs: Create one unified experience for managing and monitoring ongoing copy operations.
  • Clear and concise: Remove distractions and give people the key information they need.
  • User in control: Put people in control of their copy operations,” Simons stated. 

Windows 8 will feature a consolidated UI for all management actions, especially for concurrent Windows Explorer copy jobs. A single dialog will present all pending copy jobs, providing users with a new level of control over the ongoing processes. 

In this regard, Windows Explorer will enable Windows 8 users to pause, resume, and stop each one of multiple simultaneous copy operations. 

“To support this new ability to prioritize and decide, we’ve added a detailed view with a real-time throughput graph. Now each copy job shows the speed of data transfer, the transfer rate trend, and how much data in left to transfer. While this is not designed for benchmarking, in many cases it can provide a quick and easy way to assess what is going on for a particular job,” Simons added. 

Next gen Windows Explorer comes with enhanced conflict resolution in relation to name collision during file management jobs. Users will be presented with streamlined and intuitive options to resolve issues that come up when dealing with files sharing the same label during copy or moving jobs. 

“Our new design is much more clear, concise, and efficient, providing a much more visible and actionable approach to conflict resolution. All the files from the source are on the left," Simons explained. 

"All the files in the target location with file name collisions are on the right. The screen layout is easy to understand and shows you the critical information for all the collisions, front and center in one dialog.”







Nokia 600, 700, 701 and Symbian Belle Now Official

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has just made official three new handsets running under the Symbian operating system, namely the Nokia 600, 700, and 701. 

The new mobile phones were unveiled along with the latest version of Nokia's mobile operating system, namely Symbian Belle. 

The new OS flavor brings along a nice range of new features when compared to the previous releases of the platform, such as 6 homescreens, with the possibility to easily set up a new one, or a status bar aimed at offering the information that users are seeking without having to look for it. 

Other features of the new platform would include easy sharing of photos, Live widgets in five different sizes, and single-tap NFC sharing and pairing capability, to easily share contacts, videos and images with compatible devices. 

The Nokia 700 will arrive on the market as the smallest smartphone from the company, at only 110 x 50.7 x 9.7 mm and weighing 96 grams. The handset is said to be the most compact monoblock smartphone in the world. 

The phone's specifications list includes a 3.2 inch AMOLED ClearBlack display, along with a fast 1GHz application processor, and 2GB of internal memory, though a microSD memory card slot enables the expansion of the available storage space by up to 32GB. 

On the back, the new device sports a 5-megapixel photo snapper with LED flash and support for video recording. This should prove the most eco-friendly smartphone from Nokia, it seems. 

Nokia 701 will arrive on shelves with a design and specs that resemble the Nokia C7. It will feature a 1GHz processor, along with an 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back with video recording capabilities. 

It will also come with a front-facing camera for video calling, 8GB of internal memory, and with a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space. 

As for the Nokia 600, it will arrive on shelves as the most affordable handset from the three, while also being the loudest smartphone from Nokia at 106 Phons (a measurement of loudness levels, defined here).

The specs list of this mobile phone includes 1 GHz processor, a 5MP camera with full focus and LED flash, 2GB of internal memory (microSD card slot too), and a powerful external loudspeaker. The mobile phone can offer up to 60 hours of music playback time, the mobile phone maker announced. 

During the launch event, Nokia did not offer specific info on when the new handsets might arrive on the market. Apparently, the prices for these devices will be $260 for the Nokia 600, $390 for the Nokia 700, and $420 for the 701.

The Symbian Belle update will arrive on Symbian^3 smartphones starting with the fourth quarter of the year.





Don’t Hold Your Breath over Windows 8 Copy Jobs Completion Time Estimates Improvements

Microsoft detailed some aspects of the evolution of file management in Windows 8, and Alex Simons, director of program management with the Windows engineering team, revealed that the company has not wasted too much time working to improve one part of the copy jobs. 

Essentially, end users should not hold their breath over any enhancements to the mechanism designed to estimate just how much time it will take copy actions to complete in the next major iteration of Windows. 

Simons noted that the software giant is bracing itself for inquiries related to the work, or lack thereof, done to boost the accuracy at which Windows Explorer in Windows 8 will report just how much time is left for a copy to finalize. 

“Rather than invest a lot of time coming up with a low confidence estimate that would be only slightly improved over the current one, we focused on presenting the information we were confident about in a useful and compelling way. This makes the most reliable information we have available to you so you can make more informed decisions,” he stated. 

As users can see from the two screenshots included with this article, Windows Explorer has evolved to emphasize the source and destination folders of a copy job, the items being copied, as well as the progress in percentages. 

Customers will need to push the More Details button in order to receive additional information about a specific copy job, including the time that Windows estimates it will take for the action to complete. 

“Estimating the time remaining to complete a copy is nearly impossible to do with any precision because there are many unpredictable and uncontrollable variables involved – for instance, how much network bandwidth will be available for the length of the copy job? Will your anti-virus software spin up and start scanning files? Will another application need to access the hard drive? Will the user start another copy job?” Simons explained.




Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn United in Google+ Layout - Gooce+ 0.72.6

Social networking websites are quite the buzz of the Internet nowadays. There are multiple services to choose from, but Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the blooming Google+ have grabbed the attention of the whole planet. Gooce+ is very far from having the number of adepts any of these websites have, but it managed to unite all four of them into a single web page for easier access to the news served through these portals. 

Gooce+ is not a desktop application, but a browser extension designed to cohabitate only with Mozilla Firefox, which can be downloaded from here, and Google Chrome, which can be installed directly from Chrome web store.

If you are a Firefox user you should already know that you have to restart the web browser for the extension to install. At the opposite end, Chrome users benefit from a seamless installation procedure that does not require disrupting Internet navigation.

As soon as you got it into the browser Gooce+ is ready to do its job. There are no true settings to tinker with, but the options for Firefox and Chrome are slightly different, though its main functionality remains the same in both cases.

With Firefox, in which case the button does not show in the interface, you have the possibility to turn on automatic updating of the extension. Also, you are given the possibility to open searches in a new tab (the result of a query in the Firefox’s search bar is opened in a new tab). There is also the choice to set the search engine on browser restart, but we never got to meaning of this function.

In the case of Chrome, the only possibility included by the developer is that of hiding Gooce+ button in Google’s browser. Other than this there are the regular options for any Chrome extension, specifically enabling its use in incognito mode. In Firefox the extension will work regardless if you are in private browsing mode or not.

Uniting the four platforms in a single interface sounds pretty interesting, as most users would think that you have full access to the features and functions of each of the socialization services. However, with Gooce things are a bit different. All the extension does is show the news stream in your accounts.

So the main, and only functionality of this browser plugin is reading the news feed in Facebook or view the Twitter and LinkedIn stream.

Obviously, given the privacy and security measures enforced for each of the platforms you have to grant the extension access to information. As such, upon signing into each service you’ll have to deal with the permission screen.

You will be presented all the nooks and crannies of your account it has access to, which is the standard for any application. Just as an example, in Twitter will be able to read the tweets from your timeline, see who you follow, post tweets for you or update your profile. At the opposite end, direct messages remain private, just like your Twitter password.

In Facebook, the liberties for Gooce are also the standard ones. This means access to basic profile information, posting on your wall, reading news feed posts and access to your friend’s information.

As far as integration in the Google+ layout goes, this is pretty much seamless, since the plugin extends the number of the buttons in the header bar. The only hint that the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pieces are not natural to the environment is the fact that they do not get colored at mouse over, making them look somewhat inert.

On the other hand, accessing the news streams for the additional services is not as seamless as one may think. Whenever we moved to the flow of information of a different service we’d first get a look at Google+’s stream and then get redirected to what we wanted to see.

The set of options as far as the news feeds are concerned is limited and in the case of Twitter inexistent altogether; but Gooce makes for a nice way to view information posted by your friends, people you follow or connections.
Download extension here

Aug 23, 2011

Nokia N9 Coming Soon to UK via Mobile Fun

Nokia N9, the first and only MeeGo-based mobile phone from Nokia, is expected to become available for purchase in the UK in the not-too-distant future, a retailer in the country has just announced. 

The guys over at Mobile Fun have confirmed last week that they were planning on bringing the Nokia N9 smartphone to the UK market, and they said that this should happen in the near future. 

“Here at Mobile Fun, we’re happy to say that we will be offering the handset, unlocked and sim free, in the very near future,” the retailer notes in a blog post. 

The Nokia N9 was unveiled to the world a few months ago with a large 3.9" AMOLED screen and an all touch design, as well as with the MeeGo platform on board, but the UK was not among the countries listed as expected to receive the device. 

However, the retailer already lists the Nokia N9 on its website, and those interested in the device can head over to make pre-orders for it. 

Although the release date for the mobile phone is not known at the moment, we do know the price tag the SIM free Nokia N9 should feature when available, namely £519.95, VAT included. 

“Nokia N9 is so easy to use it doesn't need any menu buttons. In any app, swiping from any edge takes you home – so you can move easily between your activities,” the retailer notes. 

“The hardware and software design complement each other beautifully – the curved edges of the glass help make the swipe motion smooth and effortless.”

Nokia might not be planning the direct marketing of Nokia N9 on the UK market, but it seems that enthusiasts will still be able to purchase the device. 

Those who would like to reserve a MeeGo-based Nokia N9 before it becomes available in the UK should head over to Mobile Fun here today.


Clean the Windows Context Menu - Context Menu Editor 1.0

Dealing with a crowded context menu is unpleasant and the possibilities to solve this problem aren’t that many. The software category aimed at this kind of situation has yet to meet a few outstanding additions, but some of the existing ones are still reliable. This is where Context Menu Editor fits in, a small utility that cleans up your context menu from unwanted items.

A messy context menu is just the worst and anyone who’s held on to their Windows installation for more than a couple of months can subscribe to that. The more software you install on your system, the more the context menu items start piling up, making it harder to even spot a certain shortcut, when there are so many of them claiming a piece of your right-click menu. Now, if you’re an advanced user and you can allow yourself to tackle the Windows registry, the big fuss isn’t even worth mentioning. On the other hand, if you’re in the beginner camp, playing around with the system settings is not advisable and it isn’t as comfortable as a dedicated piece of software that can handle this matter for you. 
Context Menu Editor is the simplest approach I came across while desperately searching for a quick method to get rid of these annoying shortcuts. Not only does it allow you to clean up the file and folder context menus, but it also grants you access to the Internet Explorer right-click menu and allows you to choose whatever it is that you want to show up in them. 

Since it’s free of charge, why not give it a shot? It installs in a few clicks and doesn’t claim any special conditions to be run, so even owners of lesser configurations should be able to use it just fine. 


Simplicity is what the developer had in mind when he designed this app and this is reflected in ease of use and modest looks. The interface of the program is the first evidence of that, claiming your attention in a non-intrusive way, not with visual incentives, but by means of functionality. It’s not cool looking, but it aims for quick understanding of its features and thus, benefits all the user categories in the audience.

The main and only window of Context Menu Editor is divided into several areas, but they’re organized enough so as to not give you the impression of crowdedness. The first field is the one that lets you choose which context menu you wish to tweak: the one belonging to files and folders or the one linked to Internet Explorer. 

Depending on your selection, the application will display all the items belonging to that specific menu and just next to these listings you’ve got a section with a short item description (as provided by the company that issued the software to which it belongs), the location of the shell extension and a few details related to the company, file version and also, product name and version. In some cases, these fields would be empty, but this is most probably due to the companies that hold the copyright for the software applications in question. 

When you decide it’s time to remove a context menu item, all you need to do is select it and press the ‘Delete From Menu’ button, at which point a notification window will be displayed, warning you about the consequences of the deletion. Without a doubt (and we checked), the removal is permanent, at least for the most part of the menu items, so choose really carefully which of them you want out.

Even though it claims to clean all the shortcuts produced by various software, we found that to be somewhat untrue. In some cases, the application fails to even list items present in the context menu. Two quick examples supporting this theory are VLC and Winamp, which were not recognized by the application, but were nonetheless present in the context menu of the system. 

The deletion process it performs appears to be flawed as well, at least in some cases. For the most part of the context menu items, it did its job nicely, but it appeared to encounter some issues while dealing with some important software packs, such as WinRar or 7-zip. The problem with it is that it only cleans the file context menu and fails to do the same with folder items (even though it removes that menu’s listing from its main window). Even though this is not always the case (it performed impeccable when faced with context menu items belonging to antivirus software, for instance), it's nevertheless a downside that doesn't work in anyone's favor.

On the bright side, the effect of the deletion is immediate. It won’t require you to perform a system restart or any other operation for that matter. Items will vanish from the context menu as soon as you hit the ‘Delete button’ and they will be gone forever, which brings us to the issue of a backup feature, one that Context Menu Editor does not provide at this point. 

Bottom line, Context Menu Editor does a great job at tweaking the context menu of files and a lesser job at cleaning the one belonging to folders. As for the IE menu, we encountered no problems during our tests.

Download here

Windows 8 USB 3.0 Support Should Be Backported to Windows 7 via SP2

As Microsoft announced USB 3.0 support in Windows 8, I don’t think I was the only one thinking: “But what about Windows 7?”

The promise from Microsoft is that all over 10 billion USB devices will work with USB 3.0 when connected to Windows 8 computers. 

Backwards compatibility covers compatibility with current full, low, and high speed devices down to the plugs, revealed Dennis Flanagan, the Director of Program Management for the Devices and Networking group. 

“Perhaps the most important aspect of USB 3.0 is the expectation that customers have of USB: it’s just USB3 so it should just work, right? Each and every USB device, low, full, high, and SuperSpeed, has to work in Windows 8. That's our focus while also delivering the most robust and reliable USB stack,” Flanagan stated. 

At the same time, users will undoubtedly want to plug USB 3.0 devices into machines running Windows 7 and earlier, and have the technologies work seamlessly together. 

One simple solution is for the software giant to backport USB 3.0 support to Windows 7 via Service Pack 2 (SP2). Since there are no upcoming service packs expected for Windows XP and Windows Vista, these two platforms might never get to fully play nice with USB 3.0. 

But considering the fact that Windows 7 and Windows 8 are closely related compared to older releases of Windows, backporting USB 2.0 support seems doable. 

This especially since the Redmond company can use the second upgrade for Windows 7 as the delivery method of the evolution of USB support. 

Microsoft is currently hard at work building Windows 7 SP2 in parallel with Windows 8. There have no details shared with the public on Windows 7 SP2, especially as more and more information on Windows 8 is revealed. 

Still, I have no doubt that USB 3.0 support is on the wish lists of many Windows 7 users, even more so now that it’s coming to Windows 8. 

Aug 22, 2011

Retro Illustrations Kit

Retro Illustrations Kit
25 JPG | 190 MB


Download links:
Wupload
FileServe
Filesonic
Uploadstation

Nokia to Launch New Symbian Phones in Two Days

With Symbian Anna already being made available for download for handsets launched on the market with the Symbian^3 OS on board, it was only a matter of time before Nokia made new announcements regarding the platform. 

Of course, Symbian is on its way to the graveyard, but there still are a wide range of enthusiasts who would gladly purchase a new Nokia handset running under the platform, as long as it is usable enough. 

And since Symbian Anna reportedly added some more usability into the mix, the handset vendor is expected to bring to shelves new devices that would run under the new OS flavor in an attempt to slow down its downfall. 

Something new related to Symbian should be unveiled in only a few days, and chances are that new handsets will come to shelves soon. 

The company has posted on its Facebook account a counter that points at something new on Symbian being set to become official in a little over 40 hours. 

This is in line with some of the latest reported on the matter that suggested that Nokia might be set to launch a number of no less than three Symbian-based device before the end of this week.

Nokia 600, 700 and 701 have been recently rumored to be on their way to the market with the Symbian platform on board, and it seems that Nokia might be finally getting ready to make themn official.

However, this is only a supposition, and there are also those who suggest that the handset vendor might go official with the next flavor of Symbian as soon as Wednesday. 

Dubbed Symbian Bell, the new OS version should bring even more enhancements into the mix, when compared to what Symbian Anna packed in over Symbian^3.

It would not come too much as a surprise if Nokia indeed launched a new flavor of the OS, one with more enhancements included for all users. The same as Anna, the next platform release would arrive on shelves on new devices, and we might safely bet on the unveiling of new phones as well, that's for sure.



Windows 8 BUILD Agenda Still Unrevealed 3 Weeks Ahead of the Event

Microsoft will open registration for BUILD, its upcoming Windows 8-centric event, in just three weeks, but so far it’s still impossible for participants to tell what they’ll be registering for. 

The BUILD conference has already been completely sold out on just the promise that Windows 8 will be its star attraction. 

With the event scheduled to start on September 13th, the Redmond company has yet to provide any actual details about what exactly it will provide participants, beyond the first deep insight into Windows 8, and how the next iteration of Windows will change the world. 

The Agenda page of the BUILD Windows site continues to feature only general details, with the opening keynote scheduled for September 13 between 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM, but no additional info beyond that. 

There’s also no telling just when Microsoft plans to share details about BUILD with the public. So far, the only update to BUILD was the fact that the software giant has cut all pre-sessions, citing the need to focus on the sessions instead of spreading resources around. 

There’s a lot of excitement building around BUILD, with users expecting the Redmond company to share not just Windows 8 details but some bits as well. 

While promising that a pre-release development milestone of Windows 8 will be easy to access and not a secret, Microsoft hasn’t revealed whether it will offer early adopters a pre-Beta Build or the full Beta release. 

I don’t expect the company to offer any info in this regard until it will actually announce the availability of Windows 8 bits for testers. 

Still, Microsoft needs to update the BUILD Windows website since I’m sure that participants will want to organize their schedule in accordance to the sessions presented at the conference, even if this will mean that some new Windows 8 details will be revealed to the public.

Windows 7 SP2 to Deal with Intel Core and Xeon CPUs Reliability Issues

The second upgrade for Windows 7 will address reliability problems that customers running the RTM and SP1 versions of the OS have experienced in some scenarios on machines running Intel Core and Xeon CPUs. 

According to Microsoft, the issues are limited to a small number of users, the reason why the company has not released an update to all customers. 

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and RTM as well as Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM and SP1 are affected by reliability glitches, the software giant said, but only when the platforms are paired with older releases of Intel processors, such as the chips belonging to the Core and Xeon families launched in 2006 and 2008. 

“These issues are not common. These issues might affect processors that meet all the following conditions:

Designated as a Intel Xeon or Intel Core family processor that is based on the "Penryn" or "Merom" codenamed processors.

Has the Family, Model, and Stepping of family designations of 6, or a Model designation of 15, of 22, of 23, or of 29,” Microsoft explained. 

The software giant indicates that Windows 7 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP2 will contain a fix for the reliability problems that customers with Intel Core and Xeon CPUs have been experiencing. 

For the time being however, the Redmond company has made available a hotfix designed to deal with the issue. 

KB 2493989 offers what Microsoft refers to as a microcode update for Intel processors. “This update improves the reliability of x64-based versions of Windows that uses certain Intel processors. This update fixes an issue in which the operating system might function incorrectly,” the company noted. 

Despite being referred to as an update, the release is actually a hotfix and is only designed to repair reliability glitches and nothing more. 

Customers running Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 should only deploy the KB 2493989 hotfix if they’re also leveraging Intel Xeon or Intel Core processors and have come across issues impacting reliability. 

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM Build 7601.17514.101119-1850 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) RTM are available for download on below link.

Aug 21, 2011

iPad 3 with Retina Display Confirmed for 2012

Reports are coming in from several reputable sources saying that the company’s third-generation post-PC device is coming in 2012 equipped with a higher resolution display.

People familiar with Apple’s plans have reportedly said that the company’s iPad 3 will feature a high resolution display at 2048 by 1536 pixels.

This compares to 1024 by 768 in the iPad 1 and iPad 2 and it is said that Apple's suppliers have already shipped sampling units.

These people said Apple is keeping the 9.7-inch form factor and is only increasing the pixel density on the screen of the iPad 3.

According to trade publication Digitimes, Chimei Innolux (CMI) is no longer a provider of LCD panels for Apple, at least as far as the iPad 3 is concerned.

Facing what industry sources called “technological hurdles” the Chinese supplier has been successful with Apple’s demands for the iPad 2, but not with those of the next tablet which, according to these people, is “more demanding” in terms of resolution.

Even though the display maker recently invested NT$800 million to NT$1 billion to improve its manufacturing facilities, the CMI still hasn’t been able to meet Apple’s demands.

Sources in China noted that Chimei Innolux still has a shot at being tapped by Apple to become a regular supplier of iPad 3 panels, but only if it can improve the quality of the hardware.

Trying not to cast a bad light onto CMI, the sources added that even Apple’s regular suppliers, including LG Display (LGD) and Samsung Electronics, are having a rough time adjusting their manufacturing processes to achieve the 2,048 x 1,536 specification.

Besides the two Korean partners, Japanese supplier Sharp is said to have been selected for suppling iPad 3 panels as well.


Windows 8 Pre-Release Will Not Be a Secret, Promises Microsoft

The number of testers with access to pre-release copies of Windows 8 is bound to increase as the development process moves forward and approaches the Beta stage.

Microsoft has confirmed that it will deliver the first deep insight into Windows 8 in mid-September 2011 at its BUILD Windows conference, and the software giant is also expected to share a pre-release Build at least with participants, if not with as many testers as possible. 

Piles of interim Builds of Windows 8 have already been complied, with number of releases even served to early adopters outside of Redmond. 

In addition to such testers, Microsoft employees have also been dogfooding early development milestones of Windows 8, per the software giant’s “eating one’s own dog food” tradition. 

The problem thus far is related to the extremely limited access to pre-release Builds of Windows 8. 

With the BUILD event now sold out and just a few weeks away, the Windows 8 communications strategy is moving into its next phase. Case in point: the new Building Windows 8 Blog and @BuildWindows8 Twitter account. 

But the translucency veil lifting from the Windows 8 project is only a prelude of a shift in the Windows 8 testing strategy, with Microsoft gearing up to broaden the pool of early adopters who will be able to take the next generation of the Windows client out for a spin. 

“Folks asking about getting pre-release bits...we promise it will be easy and not a secret,” the company tweeted via @BuildWindows8 yesterday. 

Windows 8 is believed to still be in Milestone 3 (M3) stage at this point in time, with some recently leaked details and screenshots depicting Build 8064. 

And while Windows 8 pre-release will be easy and not a secret, Microsoft continues to keep mum on just what exactly will happen at BUILD, and whether it will release a pre-Beta or the fully fledged Beta to testers.

Fujitsu IS12T Windows Mango Phone Now on Pre-Order, Available on August 25

Officially unveiled last month, the Fujitsu IS12T smartphone is now available for pre-order at Au KDDI store in Biccamera Yurakucho, Tokyo, Japan.

Although the device is expected to be released on the market after September 2011, it appears that the handset manufacturer will be able to deliver the Fujitsu IS12T by the end of August.

According to the latest hearsay, if nothing goes wrong, Fujitsu IS12T should hit shelves around August 25.

Touted as the first smartphone to feature Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 Mango operating system, the IS12T was announced in July by the Toshiba Fujitsu joint-venture and KDDI carrier.

In addition, the IS12T is world's first Windows Phone smartphone to be fully protected against water and dust intrusions.

When it comes to hardware, Fujitsu IS12T is an upgraded Windows Phone 7 device, as the smartphone embeds one of the highest quality camera for a smartphone with 13.2 megapixels.

Furthermore, the phone packs 32 GB of internal memory and is powered by a single core Qualcomm MSM-8655 processor clocked at 1GHz.

It has a large 3.7-inch capacitive display with 16 million colors support and features support for both CDMA and GSM connectivity.

Other highlights of the smartphone include: GPS with A-GPS support, six-axis motion sensing, WiFi b/g/n connectivity and Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR support.

Software-wise, Fujitsu IS12T is bundled with Microsoft Office package that allows users to edit, create and read documents, as well as Internet Explorer 9, which is based on the desktop version.

Fujitsu also mentioned that owners of the smartphone will be able to store and share data through Windows Live SkyDrive, a free-of-charge cloud service operated by Microsoft. 

There is no word on the price, but the phone is said to be pretty expensive, though it appears that there is some excitement in Japan for the Fujitsu IS12T.



Download iOS 5 Beta 6 And Sn0wbreeze 2.8 For iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod touch, iPad

Apple has posted live the latest BETA version download links for it's upcoming iOS 5 mobile operating-system to developers, IPSW download links for the latest dev-release iOS 5 Beta 6 is meant only for Apple iOS Developers and is restricted to registered Apple developer's only via Apple Developer Site. Apart from the usual bug-fixes The latest beta makes video content in applications and websites automatically AirPlay enabled.

To complement the iOS 5 Beta 6 release by Apple, iH8sn0w released Sn0wbreeze 2.8 allowing jailbreaking on previous Apple iOS 5 Beta 5 release.



iOS 5 Beta 6 And Sn0wbreeze 2.8 Download Links: 

Aug 19, 2011

iPhone 5 at AT&T in Early October, VP Confirms

Apple's next iPhone model should arrive on the market in the United States in a little over five weeks, AT&T Vice President has just confirmed. 

The leading wireless carrier expects to have the new mobile device, none other than the long-rumored iPhone 5, it seems, available in about 35-50 days, sources familiar with the matter unveiled. 

The operator's VP reportedly said that the iPhone 5 is set to hit the shelves at AT&T in early October, which is roughly one month and a half away. 

Apparently, the VP announced a group of managers that they should be getting their employees ready for the new launch. 

“Expect things to get really, really busy in the next 35-50 days, so prepare your teams accordingly,” AT&T's Vice President said, BGR reports. 

The availability time frame for the new Apple device is in line with previous reports on the matter, which suggested that Apple might be considering the release of this new handset in late Q3. 

However, it seems that this might not be the previously rumored LTE-capable iPhone device that many enthusiasts might be waiting for to hit the market. 

Apple is set to embrace the fourth-generation wireless technology too, but the device that would include it inside might not be released until early 2012. 

Instead, the Cupertino-based company is expected to launch a HSPA+ iPhone model this fall, one that would include support for CDMA networks as well, making it the first such handset from Apple to sport global connectivity. 

However, the LTE-powered iPhone model will be able to connect to more than just one network in the US, since both AT&T and Verizon will have such services in place in October. Not to mention that Sprint too was considering the adoption of LTE. 

For the time being, however, the one thing that was confirmed was that AT&T will be getting the new iPhone device in the very near future. Verizon too was said not too long ago to be planning a similar move, so things will soon get interesting, that's for sure.


Radical Image Optimization Tool - RIOT 0.4.6

Image optimization may seem for many a matter of size over quality, but as far as RIOT is concerned it is more like an undetectable compromise between the two. Its purpose is to shrink the size of the original images without taking too much of their quality. 

RIOT, or Radical Image Optimization Tool by its full name, is free of charge and does not take much time to install; but you have to be careful during the process unless you want to install third party code that does nothing to help you with image compression.

The interface is simple and straightforward, with all the options in plain view. Also, the application window is filled with details, such as file size, about the original item as well as the processed one.

You have a dual-pane structure comparing the initial image with the optimized result; in the lower part of the screen there are all the knobs you need to adjust the settings in order to achieve the result you want. Each move is immediately reflected in the preview pane and file size information is updated on the spot.

RIOT can export your pictures to web-friendly JPEG, GIF or PNG, but the input formats supported include common bitmap images, Adobe Photoshop’s PSD, some popular HDR types and a few RAW camera images.

Loading up the pictures is an easy task as the program comes with “drag and drop” support. It does not matter if you drop one item or a bunch of them because RIOT can also optimize them in batches. It can detect that multiple elements have been added and it will automatically open the batch optimizer window.

The application will automatically put its compression abilities to work the moment you load a picture. You have control over the quality of the resulting file regardless of the output format chosen.

In all cases things are pretty simple. With JPEG you get to set the quality level as well as select the desired chroma sub-sampling (storing of color information at a lower resolution): none (4:4:4), low (4:2:2), medium (4:2:0) and high (4:2:1). The color information will drastically reduce as you choose a higher level and the file size will decrease.

The best part is that you won’t really notice the effects of the color drop as the changes are too subtle for the human eye. However, all this ultimately translates into a lighter file.

In the case of GIF and PNG output RIOT appeals to color reduction techniques, making available automatic reduction of bit depth as well as manually decreasing the number of colors. It also features two color quantization algorithms (Xiaolin Wu and NeuQuant neural-net), which come with their benefits and drawbacks, depending on the color configuration of the loaded image file.

Apart from using the aforementioned methods to optimize the size of a picture without seriously compromising the quality of the end result, RIOT can also strip the file of metadata, which also drops some bytes. The information you can give up includes EXIF profile, IPTC details, XMP info, comments and ICC profile.

A common set of options is available for all three output formats. These include brightness, contrast and gamma adjusting, with a direct glance at the result.

If you’re set to compress images to specific sizes, RIOT presents this possibility as well. All you have to do is define the size for the end file and it’ll automatically take care of the rest.

For those looking to simply resize the pictures to specific values there is a hefty collection of resample filters to help you obtain the best result. Each of them comes with a brief hint on the quality they offer.

As far as batch processing is concerned, the entire process is carried out according to the settings made in the main application window with regards to compression and conversion. But you can choose to flip, rotate, resize or compress to a specific size. Resource usage is not out of the ordinary but it will take a while to complete the job.

For a professional, RIOT is not a complicated application, but for an average user the terminology might seem like a different language. Fortunately, the developer included with the application an extremely detailed help file that thoroughly explains all the terms and how the algorithms affect the images.

If all you want is to compress the images without visible loss of the quality the default parameters do a bang up job by themselves.

During our tests we managed to trim off about 80% of a picture’s size and the end result showed no visible drop in quality. To make things even clearer, the original file was 3.22MB in size and after compression it shrunk to 605KB, and they looked identical to the naked eye; of course, zooming in to pixel level would reveal the difference.

A free program designed to efficiently optimize images for the Web

The Radical Image Optimization Tool (RIOT for short) was developed to be a free image optimizer that will let you to visually adjust compression parameters while keeping minimum filesize.

It uses with a side by side (dual view) or single view interface to compare the original with the optimized image in real time and instantly see the resulting file size.

It is lightweight, fast and simple to use, yet powerful for advanced users. You will be able to control compression, number of colors, metadata settings and much more, and select image format (JPG, GIF or PNG) for your output file.

Input image types:
 - common bitmap images as well as Adobe Photoshop PSD files
- popular HDR formats and RAW camera images
- rare / scientific types (up to 128 bpp, integer and floating point)

Here are some key features of "RIOT":
 · open many image types including rare/scientific types
 · save and optimize JPEG, GIF and PNG with a simple, clean user interface
 · works in dual view: (original – optimized image) or single view (optimized image).
 · Automatic preview of resulting image
 · in-place compare function (alternativelly display the original image over the optimized image to notice small pixel changes)
 · compress files to desired filesize threshold
 · fast processing (all is done in memory);
 · see instant results including resulting filesize
 · batch support (process multiple files at once)
 · transparency handling options
 · decide if you want to keep metadata (comments, IPTC, Adobe XMP, EXIF profiles, ICC profiles).
 · Unsupported metadata is removed
 · transfer metadata between image formats (destination format must support them)
 · common tools: pan and zoom, rotate, flip
 · basic image adjustments: brightness, contrast, gamma, invert
 · visually reduce number of unique colors for PNG and GIF images in order to reduce filesize
 · (two quantization methods are available: Xiaolin Wu and NeuQuant neural net)
 · resize image by using well known resample filters (ex: Lanczos3, Catmull Rom, Bicubic, and others)
 · out-of-the-box support for external PNG optimizers (optipng, pngout, etc)
 · the compression and the results are comparable to those of commercial products, even higher.
 · Adaptive logarithmic tone mapping algorithm (Drago) used for HDR images

What's New in This Release:
 · added Help file (not yet complete)
 · DLL version: added flags for all JPEG chroma settings
 · DLL version: the default chroma for RIOT_SaveToFile is now "medium" instead of "low"
 · Batch mode: fixed a bug when using a bat file as external PNG optimizer and @echo off is not on the first line.
 · This problem does not occur in normal mode.
 · DLL version: fixed some sliders going nuts when pressed during tooltip display
 · fixed preview executed twice when asked to resample big images
 · Batch settings "Keep original date/time" and "Report file size changes" are now remembered at startup
 · if "Report file size changes" is checked and the selected external optimizer is not installed the reported size
 · is -100% or ~ -99.9%. Fixed !
 · fixed error running same batch twice with external optimizer and "Keep original date/time is checked
 · file is now set as modified only if OptimizePNG is successfully executed
 · fixed related issues reported in the RIOT forum, with the external PNG optimizer implementation

Download here

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | coupon codes
`