Download GTGraphics 2 Theme for Windows 7 and Windows 8

GTGraphics 2 is one of the latest customization options that Microsoft has made available for download to its Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, as a continuation of the GTGraphics theme that was released over one year ago.

Featuring artwork by the talented duo Tobias Roetsch and Jeff Michelmann, the new theme proposes amazing spacescapes through a set of 16 high-resolution images. “Experience other planets and other worlds through these stunning, imaginative new spacescapes from GTGraphics. We loved the first ones so much we came back for more,” Microsoft’s Jennifer Shepherd notes in a blog post.

Just as all other themes for Windows computers, the new one was made available for download for free to all users. It can be found here, compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows RT devices

GTGraphics 2 Theme
Image credits to Microsoft

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Windows Phone 7.8 Update Rolling Out Now for Nokia Lumia Devices

Right on schedule Nokia has just announced it has kicked off the rollout of the hotly-anticipated Windows Phone 7.8 update.

However, only those who own a Nokia Lumia smartphone powered by an older version of Windows Phone will be able to upgrade. Microsoft is expected to make a similar announcement in the next few hours (days), but there are no confirmations yet. According to Nokia, “following extensive software testing, update notifications will begin to appear for Nokia Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800 and 900 owners with an unlocked phone or operator approved software during February.” This doesn't mean the update will be pushed OTA (over the air), so those who are notified on the update should connect their phone to their computer via Zune for PC, or the Windows Phone app for Mac, and follow the onscreen instructions. Keep in mind that Windows Phone 7.8 update is rolling out for Nokia Lumia smartphones, in stages, through February.

Make sure you have the “notifications” option enabled by going to Settings / Phone Update / “Notify me when new updates are found”. One Windows Phone 7.8 is installed users will notice lots of changes, including a range of new features: Internet sharing, Bluetooth sharing, imaging enhancements (Camera Extras). Additional applications will be available on the Lumia phones, such as Contact Share, Play To and Nokia City Lens. Furthermore, the “Start screen” has been redux and now offers users the possibility to re-size their tiles: small, medium and large.

New options are available on the lock screen as well, such as “having a daily background image from Bing; plus there’s improved pocket and child lock screen security.” It is also worth mentioning language support has been increased. Check out the video below for more details on how to download and install Windows Phone 7.8 on Lumia phones.

Nokia Lumia 900
Image credits to Nokia

Windows Phone 7.8 is here! Update your Lumia via Zune and enjoy the great features like new start screen.
Find more info here: http://nokia.ly/14vUUxJ
Video credits to Nokia

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BlackBerry Q10 Video Introduction

Today, Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion announced a rebranding of the company, called BlackBerry from now on, as well as two handsets running under the BlackBerry 10 operating system, namely the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10.

The latter will arrive on shelves with a physical QWERTY keyboard, just as the company’s legacy devices did, though it will sport a new, modern design. Furthermore, the BlackBerry Q10 will bring along all the features and enhancements that the new mobile operating system packs inside. To provide users with a better understanding of what the new device can offer to them, the company has published an introductory video for it. “Even though I love the keyboard, perhaps my favorite feature is the stunning touchscreen display – the largest ever on a BlackBerry QWERTY device,” BlackBerry’s Donny H. notes in a blog post.  “If you’re a fan of a physical QWERTY device experience, you’re going to love the BlackBerry Q10. All your information is displayed beautifully on the screen, and you can take action and respond to it as you choose thanks to the powerful and elegant BlackBerry 10 software.”

The handset will land on shelves with a battery capable of providing users with at least one day of usage time, so that they can go about their usual activities efficiently. Furthermore, it will offer fast web browsing and a rich media experience, courtesy of the built-in power of the BlackBerry 10 OS. “Additionally, meticulous detail has been put into the design. The BlackBerry Q10 features a unique glass-weave material that is meant to be not only thinner and lighter, but stronger than plastic,” the mobile phone maker also notes.  The new device is meant to provide users with a great, new mobile experience while on the go, regardless of whether they have a full-touch or a QWERTY-enabled device in their hands.

BlackBerry Q10
Image credits to RIM

Meet the newest member of the BlackBerry 10 family. The BlackBerry Q10 device features the best of both worlds: touch screen and a physical keyboard.
To get the full scoop on the BlackBerry Q10 and Z10 devices, visit http://blackberry.com/blackberry10
Video credits to BlackBerry

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RIM BlackBerry 10 Launch Event

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry 10 launch event is about to begin and we expect the Canadian company to also unveil two new smartphones powered by its new platform, the Z10 and the N10.

So, we’re certain that RIM will put the BlackBerry Z10 on sale immediately after the announcement, but we don’t have any details on N10’s release. Quite a slew of operators around the world have already confirmed that they will carry one or more BlackBerry 10 devices, and some authorized retailers let it slip that they would sell the Z10 starting later today. RIM’s new flagship BlackBerry smartphone, the Z10, is expected to come with a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. The device is also said to sport a 4.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (768 x 1280 pixels) resolution, as well as an enhanced 8-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording.

It will be interesting to see how much of the leaked info is accurate, so stay tuned for our live coverage of RIM’s BlackBerry 10 launch event. It's happening! Alec Saunders, VP of Developer Relations is now on the stage and offers his insight on RIM's developer campaign over the past couple of months.

Thorsten Heins, President and CEO takes the stage. BlackBerry 10 is here! According to him, BlackBerry 10 will keep moving; this is just the beginning.

He says the company had a difficult choice to make two years ago: either go with an existing platform or build a brand new one from the ground up. Even though it was risky, RIM decided to create BlackBerry 10.

 "From this day forward RIM becomes Blackberry!" (That was unexpected). It looks like the Canadian company will be known as BlackBerry everywhere in the world.

 There you go, it's the BlackBerry Z10 and Q10!

BlackBerry Z10 is the first full-touch Blackberry 10 smartphone. It features a textured back hood to feel more comfortable in hand.

The Q10 is the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone to feature a physical keyboard. This is the best QWERTY keyboard embedded onto a mobile phone, Heins claims.

Vivek Bhardwaj, RIM's head of software is now on the stage and is showing BlackBerry 10's hub.

At first glance, it looks amazing. True multi-tasking and one-thumb handling.

Check out RIM's new BlackBerry virtual keyboard. It can learn words as you type so you only need to use one thumb. You can also use gestures to delete one or more words. gestures can also be used to change between languages while typing!

BlackBerry 10 allows users to change from Personal to Enterprise mode with a single touch. However, that is integrated in a way that offers a single user experience, which is called "BlackBerry Balance." Basically, applications coexist in both modes.

Next up is BlackBerry Messenger for 10 OS. Blackberry introduces BBM Screen Share! It works like the share feature between two computers!

Demo time! Vivek demos an application called BlackBerry Remember. It integrates Outlook, Evernote, and more into a single platform. It lets you flag important emails, photos, notes, memos by accessing a single hub.

Vivek is now showing some of BlackBerry Z10's camera capabilities. It can do Time Shift and users will be able to edit newly captured pictures with the embedded photo editor. Did I mention it can be entirely controlled with gestures?

Heins says Blackberry managed to secure agreements with eight major music labels and studios to provide content in the BlackBerry World at launch.

 Martin Mallick, VP of Business Development is now speaking on the stage. He says BlackBerry World has more than 70,000 apps available for download (no news here).

Skype, Amazon Kindle, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, ooVoo, Twitter, WhatsApp, TuneIn, JetPack Joyride, Angry Birds are among the most important apps and games for BlackBerry 10.

Heins announces BlackBerry Z10's availability. Sadly, nothing on the Q10 for now. According to him, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile will announce availability starting today. The Z10 is expected to hit shelves in the US in March. Canada will get BlackBerry Z10 on February 5 from various carriers and major retailers.

In the UAE, the Z10 will arrive on February 10, while in the UK the smartphone will go on sale tomorrow, January 31, at O2, Orange, Vodafone, Three UK, Phones4U, Carphone Warehouse and other retailers.  Price may vary depending on location and carrier. Heins says it will be available for a subsidized price of $150/€110, or $650/€480 on no-term.

BOOM! Alicia Keys is a new member of BlackBerry's board of directors! Yes, that super-hot Alicia Keys will be the Canadian's company Global Creative Director!

Thorsten Heins leaves the stage and thanks everyone attending the event. That's about it, folks! 

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AV-TEST Awards Bitdefender for “Best Repair” 2012 Title

AV-Comparatives is not the only independent antivirus testing organization to acknowledge the efficiency of Bitdefender products. German institute AV-TEST has awarded Bitdefender’s Internet Security with the Best Repair 2012 title in the home-user products category.

AV-TEST praises the ability of Bitdefender solutions to efficiently detect, repair and clean malware from an infected system, particularly when it comes to identifying hidden rootkits and removing malicious elements that cause damage to an infected computer. “In some of our most exhaustive testing ever, Bitdefender proved to be the reigning antidote to infection. The company has done great things with its repair technologies. When your computer is infected, Bitdefender is the one to go to,” explained Andreas Marx, the CEO of AV-TEST. “Here in the Bitdefender Labs, we’re always looking out to develop daredevil technologies – the potentially disruptive innovations that keep us at the top of our industry,” said Viorel Canja, head of Bitdefender Labs.

He added, “This creative approach, and our emphasis on going the extra mile, has served us very well in recent years. So we're always pleased to hear of new awards, especially when they come from one of the most respected testing organizations in the industry.” F-Secure, Symantec and Kaspersky are also winners of the AV-TEST AWARD for 2012. F-Secure Internet Security was named the best in terms of protection, while Symantec Norton Internet Security received the award for best usability. When it comes to corporate products, Kaspersky’s Endpoint Security won both “best protection” and the “best repair” titles. Symantec Endpoint Protection has been awarded for “best usability” in the corporate products category.

AV-TEST names best products for 2012
Image credits to AV-TEST

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White Nexus 4 Hands-on Photos

Google and LG had been working on the launch of a white flavor of the Nexus 4 smartphone, and the move appears to have been confirmed now, as hands-on photos with the device made it online.

The new images arrived on the web courtesy of Vietnamese website Tinhte, but no additional info on the handset was provided. However, it seems that these photos were taken at a press event, which might suggest that a formal announcement on the device might be very close.

Nexus 4, the latest Google phone out there, was made available back in November, but it has been constantly running out of stock globally ever since. Starting today, however, the black version of the device should be up for purchase in countries such as the US, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Australia and the UK.

White Nexus 4
Images credits to Tinhte

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Oppo Find 5 Now Available in China

Today, Chinese mobile phone maker Oppo made its Find 5 smartphone available for purchase in its homeland market, after announcing its availability several weeks back.

The handset lands on shelves in two different flavors, one featuring 16GB of internal storage, and another one packing 32GB of memory. The 16GB flavor of the smartphone was put up for sale with a price tag of 2,998 Yuan ($481 / €358) attached to it, while the 32GB version of the phone costs 3,298 Yuan ($530 / €394). For those out of the loop, we should note that the Oppo Find 5 was made available for purchase with a large 5-inch touchscreen display on the front, capable of delivering a full HD 1080p resolution, along with a 441ppi pixel density. The device also comes with a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 quad-core processor inside, complemented by 2GB of RAM, which should result in great performance capabilities. The specifications list of Oppo Find 5 also includes a 13-megapixel photo snapper on the back, capable of recording videos in full HD resolution.

Furthermore, the handset was launched with support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a built-in GPS receiver, and the usual set of sensors inside. The smartphone was also packed with a special Car mode, which enables users to enjoy the phone’s capabilities even when behind the wheel, so that they could drive safely while still having access to messages, phone functions and other capabilities of the device. Oppo has loaded Google’s Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system on this mobile phone, but also added its own set of customizations on top of the platform.

Those of you living in China and interested in the purchase of the new smartphone should head over to Oppo website to learn more on it and place an order. What remains to be seen is how quickly the smartphone will arrive on shelves in other countries around the world.

Oppo Find 5
Image credits to Oppo

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Nokia Lumia 920 Service Manual Emerges Online

Nokia Lumia 920 is a highly appealing device on the outside, but its internal circuitry too can prove as fascinating for enthusiasts.

All those interested in learning more on what the device packs on the inside can now have a look at the service manual that has leaked online, in the form of an 81-page PDF file. As WPCentral notes, it will offer schematics, instructions on how to disassemble the Windows Phone 8 device, part numbers, and the like. It also offers info on the value of each part inside the device, and whether they’re worth repairing or replaced.

The service manual will certainly come in handy to all those who are fond of making repairs to devices on their own, though it is highly recommended that the device is brought to a service center if issues appear.

Nokia Lumia 920 disassembled
Image credits to WPCentral

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XFX FX 7750 Monster Graphics Card

While Christians have Christmas holidays to spend their cash on, the Chinese have their traditional Lunar New Year, which happens in February.

Spending sprees are common during that week, which is why XFX has launched a new graphics card in the Greater China region. Called FX 7750 Monster, it has a GPU clock speed of 800 MHz, a memory speed of 4.5 GHz (1 GB of GDDr5 is used), a memory interface of 128 bits and a cooler with a single fan and a deep black shroud. Speaking of the fan, it has a diameter of 90 mm and chills a well-concealed heatsink.

Other specs include dual-link DVI, HDMI and D-Sub video outputs and a 4-phase VRM. No PCI Express power connector inputs are used, as the XFX FX 7750 Monster can live off what is provided by the PCI Express slot. The price is of 799 RMB / $128 / 95-128 Euro.

XFX FX 7750 Monster
Image credits to Expreview

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This is How to Removing Ubuntu and Reinstall Android on Nexus 7

The following tutorial will teach Nexus 7 users, who installed the Ubuntu Linux operating system on their tablet, how to re-install Android and remove Ubuntu from Nexus 7.

This guide was designed as a continuation of our previous tutorial, about how to install Ubuntu on a Nexus 7 tablet, offering users a way to return to the stock Android OS for this powerful tablet from Google and ASUS. We remind everyone that Ubuntu for Nexus 7 was officially announced by Mark Shuttleworth in October 2012, and it will see an official release in April 2013, accompanying the highly anticipated Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) operating system. To begin, you will need to have a healthy and running Nexus 7 tablet (8GB, 16GB or 32GB) with Ubuntu OS installed on it, the Android SDK, a standard micro USB cable (the one that came with the Nexus 7 tablet).

WARNING: This step will ERASE ALL THE DATA ON YOUR TABLET. Make sure you've correctly backed up your device before proceeding. You have been warned!

Step 1 – Downloading Android for Nexus 7

Depending on the Nexus 7 model you have, you'll need to download the respective Android image for your device. There are only two models, one with Wi-Fi and another one with GSM/HSPA+. However, for the Wi-Fi model, Google provides both Android 4.1.2 and Android 4.2.1 images, so it's your choice to select the one you want to install. Just open this page: https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#nakasi in a web browser and download the desired Android archive for your Nexus 7 model. Please the archive on your home directory.

Step 2 – Installing Android on Nexus 7

After downloading the above archive, paste the following commands in terminal to uncompress it (one by one, hitting Enter after each one):

cd ~/

tar zxvf nakasi-jro03d-factory-e102ba72.tgz

Then, connect your Nexus 7 via the USB cable, disconnecting any other mobile device, and run the following commands in terminal (one by one, hitting Enter after each one):

cd nakasi-jro03d/

sudo ./flash-all.sh

Enter your password when asked. You may get the following warnings, which you can ignore. The restoration process will continue anyway...

archive does not contain 'boot.sig'

archive does not contain 'recovery.sig'

archive does not contain 'system.sig'

Step 3 – Locking the Nexus 7 bootloader

Once the Android image has been restored on your Nexus 7 device, you can lock it again. Go to the extracted Android SDK directory with the "cd" command and enter the sdk/platform-tools folder. Reboot the device into fastboot mode with the following command...

sudo adb reboot bootloader

...and lock the Nexus 7 bootloader with the following command...

sudo fastboot oem lock

That's it!

Google Nexus 7
Image credits to Google

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