Software Theft in Pakistan Totals $217million in 2010

From 2009 to 2010, installations of unlicensed software on personal computers (PC) in Pakistan remained constant at 84%, putting Pakistan in 15th place among the countries with the highest piracy rates.

However, the commercial value of this illegal software amounted to $217 million, its highest level since 2006.

This was said in an annual report published by Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international association representing the global software industry.

The study is conducted in cooperation with market research firm, IDC, and incorporates 182 discrete data inputs for 116 countries and regions around the world.

This year, it also includes a new dimension: a public-opinion survey of PC users on key social attitudes and behaviors related to software piracy, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs. The opinion survey found strong support for intellectual property rights, with seven in 10 respondents expressing support for paying inventors for their creations to promote more technology advances. Strikingly, support for intellectual property rights was strongest in markets with high piracy rates.

The usage of pirated software in Pakistan is blocking the progress of the country and preventing it from benefitting from a huge investment opportunity in software development arena. Curtailing the piracy would encourage entrepreneurship in IT sectors, resulting in higher software exports as well as a greater market share in the business process outsourcing industry.

Emphasizing on the need for close coordination between the government and private sector to avoid software piracy Mr. Kamal Ahmed, Country General Manager, Microsoft, Pakistan said

“Software piracy has been an impediment in the way of foreign investment in the sector. Although the government has taken some initiatives to raise awareness in regard with elimination of software piracy and the protection of intellectual property, but clearly it is not enough.

Perhaps, the government and private sector need to enhance level of cooperation on this particular front so that a shared vision may be achieved and to educate the people about the benefits of using genuine software.”

Globally, the value of software theft grew to a record $59 billion which is nearly double that when the study began in 2003. Half of the 116 geographies studied in 2010 had piracy rates of 62 percent or higher, with the global average piracy rate at 42 percent. Emerging economies have become a driving force behind PC software piracy.

Piracy rates in the developing world are 2.5 times higher than those in the developed world, and the commercial value of pirated software ($31.9 billion) accounts for more than half of the world total. The most cited advantages of licensed software globally are access to technical assistance (88 percent) and protection from hackers and malware (81percent).

Among the common ways people to engage in piracy is to buy a single copy of software and install it on multiple computers. Strong majorities of PC users around the world believe intellectual property rights and protections produce tangible economic benefits: 59 percent globally say IP rights benefit local economies, while 61 percent globally say IP rights create jobs.

“Today’s study shows that while piracy continues to threaten the global economy, people clearly understand and appreciate the value of intellectual property, especially its role in driving economic growth,” said Robert Holleyman, BSA president and CEO. “Software theft continues to stifle IT innovation, job creation, and economic growth around the world. This report clearly shows the importance of educating businesses, government officials, and end users about the risks of software theft — and what they can do to stop it.”

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How To Get Rid Of Your Chatting Addiction?

World is progressing at a very rapid pace. Every sector, may it be technology, business or culture is evolving very fast. This evolution has resulted in intense competition in every field. Like our local cellular companies, they bring new packages each forth day to stay in the market at large. All these low SMS and call packages enable us to communicate with others quite effectively.

Another quite popular way of communication is online chatting. As chatting is cost-effective and very user-friendly, many people prefer it most of the time. There are also many chat rooms online, some are free and others are paid. On these chat room you can talk to many people from diverse demographics. It is well said that nothing itself is bad, but the use of it decides whether we are going to get benefit from it or it is going to ruin our lives by becoming a curse. It is a bitter fact that chatting has become such a curse, these days.

Following is a brief overview on drawbacks of so much chatting addiction and at the end we may be able to have some key points on how to get rid of it, even not getting complete rid, but still we may have enough control over it to decide when and what is correct.

Most of us are living in an e-life, where we have lost our real relations, values and most importantly, family members. Try spending maximum time with your real mates, like your family members, plan an outing with your friends, or even go on a walk alone. Try to have a topic to be discussed on, discuss it with your siblings, or discuss your problems with your parents. This will make you realize the importance of real relations and you may get an inner feeling that you are wasting time over there.

Most important step in this regard, to get rid of chatting addiction is that, try to place your computer in some common place, like where one can easily have a look at what you are doing. I prefer to place it in your parents’ room that would be really effective, even more than you can think or may be your lounge. Placing computer in a common place will put an automated check on you that will not let you talk to those, about whom you don’t want to tell your family members.
Try defining a list of tasks that you have to do daily and do this by keeping in mind that you have to spend as much less time on computer as you can. Try to strictly follow your own made rules. At start, fix a hour or two for chatting, that you will be available only in those specific timings. With the passage of time, try reducing this span and eventually you will reduce it to zero.

This is not just about getting rid of chating, this will really have a great impact on our life in every regard. We see students chatting around in colleges and adults in offices. This has its effects, everywhere.

This is the need of hour to say good bye to this hitch, and this is only possible if one agrees to do so. No one can be your best well wisher unless you are your own. Be wise, understand the facts and try to spend less time on it.

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Upload Photos Straight From iPhone Camera Roll To Facebook Using FBuploader

Ever thought of uploading pictures directly from the Camera Roll on iOS to Facebook? Well that thought is now a reality thanks to a new Cydia app called FBuploader. As described, FBuploader lets you upload photos straight to Facebook without having to leave the Camera Roll.

Undoubtedly the best thing about FBuploader is that it blends beautifully within the Camera Roll itself. All you get is a new option in the Export menu of the iOS Camera Roll. It looks like FBuploader has always existed within this menu as the only addition you will notice after installing FBuploader is a new FaceBook button.

Normally, for uploading pictures to Facebook via your iOS device, you first have to launch the Facebook app, choose the album you want to upload pictures to, touch the Camera button to import the photo from the Camera Roll and then wait for it to upload after you have added the description. FBuploader changes all of that.

Jailbreak tweaks/apps do whatever is left behind by iOS and that is why it is essential for most users to jailbreak their devices. Similarly, in this case, for FBuploader to work on your device, you first have to jailbreak it. Don’t worry, iPhoneism has all the information you need to jailbreak your iOS devices.

Here’s how to jailbreak iOS 4.3.3 untethered using sn0wbreeze 2.7 (windows), pwnagetool 4.3.3 (mac) and redsn0w 0.9.6rc15 (mac/windows). If you’re on iOS 4.3.2, here’s how you can untether 4.3.2 jailbreak using sn0wbreeze 2.6(windows), pwnagetool 4.3.2 (mac) and redsnow 0.9.6rc14 (mac/windows).

And oh, FBuploader costs $1.99.

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Cellular Users in Pakistan Cross 105 Million Mark

Cellular users in the country have crossed 105 million mark in February 2011 to reach a total of 105,151,871 mobile subscription, according to the data released by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

PTA said that cellular teledensity in February 2011 reached 63.2 percent showing 0.8 percent growth rate in February 2011 alone.

Stats said that all five cellular companies showed consistency in adding 1,145,103 mobile phone users in February 2011, as compared to 1,229,381 cell users in January 2011.

During January and February 2011 Mobilink remained at top in terms of new sales with 705,203 new subscriptions, followed by Zong, which managed to add 703,322 mobile phone users to its network to surpass 9 million subscribers mark.

Telenor added 696,060 users in reported two months. Warid could add 176,150 new users while Ufone added only 93,750 users due to clean-up of records.

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Technology Triangle and Need to Get Rid of it

In this era of technology our way of living has changed altogether. We are much advanced, more sophisticated and quicker to do our work.

Every other day we get to know some new invention or some new products launched in tech world. This is not going to get over as the competition and our demands are growing.

Life has become robotic. We think about technology, we work on technology and we live on technology. In fact its hard to live a life without technological products.

Though technology has made certain good impacts on our lives but as it has been said by someone wise: Excess of every thing is bad

Using something in limit is always good but when one uses it beyond the limits then it may start creating issues and that’s what is happening with us right now.

We are moving in a technological triangle most of the time especially the young generation. Our mornings start with updating “Good Morning” status on Facebook and sending text messages to bulk of friends. Our evenings are spent in front of televisions and our nights in front of laptop and internet.

In schools, colleges, universities most of us are busy talking or texting on phones and even during the lectures. Same is going on in offices. If one gets a chance to use internet anywhere the first thing he/she will be doing is to log-in on Facebook.

All these things not only hurt our productivity but also put a question mark on our social values. If one gets free from texting or talking from cell phone then he/she switches on television and after that may come the laptop.

On average we spend 80% of our time with these technology oriented gadgets. Our socialization is becoming less. We don’t have knowledge about our neighbors and colleagues. We like to ask how one is feeling through Facebook or through texting but don’t like to walk to that person for a single minute.

We don’t have time to spend with our family but we do have time to talk with our girl friends. We don’t have time to offer prayer but we do have time to watch television. We don’t have time read a book but we do have time to use Facebook. As a result of all this we are getting away from our core social values, in fact we are becoming robots.

The need of the hour is to bring a balance in our life. We should use all these things but we should take time out to get to do our socializing, sports and spend time with family and friends. We should give ample time to all the things. In this way we will be able to get more positive results and we will be more successful in our lives.

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White iPhone 4 Best Buy Release Slated For April 27

According to a previous report, we know that the white iPhone 4 is launching on April 27th in Europe, particularly Netherlands if not somewhere else. What about the folks in the States? Well, it has been learnt that the white iPhone 4 will be coming to Best Buy on April 27th.

As 9to5mac reports, their source claims that Best Buy will start selling the white iPhone 4 from April 27th. The Best Buy inventory screenshot shows the AT&T GSM rendition of the white iPhone 4 and it is believed that Best Buy will also be selling the CDMA Verizon white iPhone 4.

It is also being said that Best Buy has received both 16 and 32GB models on all locations across the United States and will begin selling them on Wednesday. It is also being said that majority of the Best Buy stores have around ten 16 GB units on order on the day of launch while one can hope that more units come soon. There is no word as yet as to how many 32 GB units will be available on order on the day of the white iPhone 4 launch.

Stay tuned as we’ll let you know more about the white iPhone 4, as it comes in.

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iPhone 4S: Next Generation iPhone Name Confirmed?

Everyone anxiously awaits the iPhone 5 release, and while there’s no news on that, a report claims that the next generation iPhone will actually be called iPhone 4S and not the iPhone 5.While we’re probably months away from the next generation iPhone release, this claim comes from Jefferies analyst Peter Misek who makes this claim after running industry checks.

He also said that the iPhone 4S releaase will not bring any substantial differences or complete redesign to the next generation iPhone. iPhone 4S changes were listed to be minor cosmetic changes, the previously confirmed A5 dual-core processor, possibly an 8 megapixel camera and HSPA+ support.

The reason given for iPhone 4S release is that Apple wanted to incorporate 4G chipsets which support high speed networks in the next generation iPhone and because those chipsets are not available on time, Apple is just pushing out a minor refresh of the iPhone 4.

Earlier reports have suggested that the iPhone 5 will be completely redesigned with a larger screen. That yet remains to be seen.

Keep checking back on Sizlopedia as we’ll definitely report once we hear more about the next generation iPhone

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IMEI iPhone Unlock Services Discontinued For Good

A couple of weeks earlier, literally every blog and site covering iPhone unlocks in particular and Apple in general blew up with posts on remote IMEI based iPhone unlocking solutions that were being offered by a company called CutYourSIM. We however chose a different path and chose to ignore that. Now, as it turns out, that very remote iPhone unlock service has been discontinued for good. Reason, after the break.

It turns out, CutYourSIM wasn’t itself aware of how the remote unlocking was done. Basically the company asked users seeking for a permanent GSM iPhone unlock to provide them with the IMEI which later when to their source, which did the remote iPhone unlocking. The service came at a price tag of $169.99.

Actually when you get your iPhone unlocked from the carrier, the carrier adds the IMEI of your iPhone to its ‘whitelist’ making the iPhone useable on any GSM network worldwide. So this source of CutYourSIM might have had access to the ‘whitelist’ of carriers in the UK. Is it possible that this source of CutYourSIM is an Apple employee?

CutYourSIM has done over 400 remote iPhone unlocks already, but due to the stoppage of service from its ‘supplier’ the company has stopped taking further orders and has also refunded the full amount to those customers whose unlocks were still queued up. Their source says that the service may return soon, but honestly, we think otherwise.

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Ufone Announces 3rd Incredible S Winner from Ufone/HTC Bloggers Meetup

Ufone in collaboration with HTC, hosted a blogger’s meet-up at Marriot – Islamabad, last month.

Meetup was to introduce its recently launched HTC Incredible S.

Representatives of Ufone, Brightex (Sole Distributors of HTC in Pakistan) and Google were also present at the ceremony.

More than 35 bloggers from Islamabad and Lahore attended the event and 2 out of them won HTC Incredible S smartphones through lucky draw at the occasion.

Ufone had promised another HTC Incredible S for participant bloggers who will get most likes and comments made on Ufone Android Facebook page.

Mr. Hammad was recently declared winner of the third HTC Incredible S as he got most likes and comments made on Ufone Android Facebook page.

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T-Mobile USA iPhone 4 Internal Testing Underway

Currently, only two carriers in the United States officially offer the Apple iPhone 4. That’s AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Every since AT&T acquired T-Mobile USA, the number one question on the minds of hundreds of people was that is T-Mobile USA going to get the iPhone as well? According to reports, internal testing of the iPhone 4 by T-Mobile USA is well underway.


BGR claims to have received a generous amount of pictures that show a white T-Mobile iPhone 4 test unit. The fact that this is a test unit is further solidified by the test settings and applications included, which are not found in the retail units. Physically, the device itself is the same iPhone 4 unit we’ve had for about an year now and it runs a version of iOS 4. So no drastic changes there.

Also by looking at the prototype markings on the back of the device, it is evident that this is indeed a prototype/test unit rather than an actual retail unit. No word as yet on when T-Mobile USA will officially be getting the iPhone 4 or when Apple plans to bring the iPhone 4 on T-Mobile USA.

Who knows, maybe at the iPhone 5 release we might get to know that Apple had added a third carrier, T-Mobile USA, to the list of carriers that offer the iPhone in the US.

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Anonymous to target Iran with DoS attack

The hacker group Anonymous has its next denial-of-service (DoS) target in sight: Iran, CNET has learned.
Members of the loosely organized group are planning "Operation Iran," an attack designed to shut down Iranian Web sites beginning Sunday, according to their latest online proclamation. May 1 is International Worker's Day.

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BlackBerry Bold Touch gets featured ahead of announcement

BlackBerry World Conference is only a day away but RIM simply couldn't wait. A couple of pictures of the highly anticipated BlackBerry Bold Touch surfaced on the company's website and all but confirmed its official announcement in the coming days.

While the device and its new OS have leaked before, this is the first time when the source is RIM itself. We know for sure now, that the upcoming BlackBerry Bold Touch will be running BlackBerry 7 OS (not the rumored 6.1), and that, unfortunately, it won't be QNX based. All that we are left with now, is to stay tuned for the official announcement at the BlackBerry World Conference.
P.S. The PlayBook in the back of the picture is running a yet unannounced Facebook app. Interesting, isn't it?

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App Dominance Nearing Decay for Apple

In the war of the smartphones, the manufacturers have been always ready to scathe the lack of features or redundancies of competitors. Apple has pointed to security flaws in Android; the latter has scorned the lack of standard features in iOS. RIM, Nokia and Microsoft have whispered a thing or two as well. However, at the end of it all, Apple has been happy to tout the applications available to iPhone users, which are around the 350,000 mark as of March 2011.

And that has been a punch strong enough to silence many. After all, the true usability of any smartphone is the things that it can do. With the social mesh being formed across national borders, the application industry has been the boom story of the past few years, with a worth of several billion already as it crosses from infancy to the juvenile age. For Apple, the iPhone was not a hardware device to help people communicate, but a solution that would open up new frontiers for many.

But a recent report on all App Stores by market research firm Distmo has revealed a stronger growth rate for two of Apple’s competitors: Google and Microsoft.

The study found that if the current growth pace was maintained for the next 5 months, Android Market would become the largest app store in terms of number of applications, followed by Apple.

As interestingly, Microsoft Phone 7 Marketplace was steal 3rd spot from Blackberry App World and Nokia Ovi Store

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Jazz Jazba now introduces daily unlimited internet service with no limits on internet usage.

Now you can use daily unlimited internet on you Jazz Jazba connection with no data limit in Rs. 9.99 per day.

How to activate?
Send an SMS to 6006 to activate Mobile Internet.
Mobile Internet will be activated after 24 hours.
No activation required for existing Mobile Internet subscribers.
Charges:

The activation is free.
Subscribers will be charged Rs. 9.99 on the day they use the Mobile Internet.
Terms and Conditions:
Unlimited usage with no time limits.
Internet charges will be deducted at day end.
This offer is only valid for JAZZ & Jazba customers.
No taxes apply.

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Ask Maggie: IPhone 5 rumors and IPhone-tracking woes

The summer is quickly approaching and Apple fans are asking when the new iPhone 5 will be out and what new features it will support.

Since 2007, when the first iPhone hit stores, fans of the device have come to expect a new version every year in June or July. But some reports are suggesting that the device may be delayed until the fall. In this week's Ask Maggie, I look at some of the recent rumors surrounding the iPhone 5 to help readers plan and plot their purchasing strategies for the latest iPhone.

I also offer my perspective on how concerned smartphone users should be on the recent news that Apple iPhones and iPads have been tracking users' locations. And finally, I answer another reader's question about when Verizon will offer tiered pricing for its mobile data service.
Ask Maggie is a weekly advice column that answers readers' wireless and broadband questions. If you've got a question, please send me an e-mail at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put "Ask Maggie" in the subject header.

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HP Veer Rescheduled, says O2 Germany - Gsmarena

Contrary to what you might have been expecting, the HP Veer won't be showing up in stores quite as soon as was promised.



Lifted from O2 Germany's Twitter feed


As the history books show, O2 Germany's Twitter feed, 'o2inside', has been a steady source of all things Veer and one of their latest posts eludes to a June release, rather than May as was previously thought. This doesn't sit with the tiny handset's big launch party in the US which is still scheduled to take place on the 2nd of May and so we can only assume this rescheduling is primarily going to affect its European release.


If you simply can't wait for the diminutive WebOS device, O2 have kindly setup a site (in German) which will notify you at the very first sign of availability. The site also lets you reserve your handset up to a chosen number of days if you don't have time to pick yours up at launch. Any takers? Let us know.

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Spy shots of Nokia C2-06 Touch and Type slider emerge - Gsmarena

A new member of the Touch and Type family showed up in several spy shots – the dual-SIM Nokia C2-06. It’s a fairly low-end slider, with a resistive touchscreen and a slide-out phone keypad, 2 SIM cards (2G only).

The Nokia C2-06 looks very similar to another Touch and Type slider that leaked in March, though there are some differences (the area below the display mainly). The phone runs the touch-enabled version of Series 40 and has a resistive display (likely, QVGA again).
                

It is a dual-SIM phone but right now it is not clear if it’s a dual standby or not. The second SIM is easily accessible though, through a panel on the left. The Nokia C2-06 is a 2G-only phone and lacks Wi-Fi connectivity (it’s a low-end model after all), unlike its two official Touch and Type brethren.
The few other specs of the Nokia C2-06 Touch and Type are 2MP camera, 3.5mm audio jack, microUSB port and an a BL-5C battery. There’s an Ovi Maps shortcut visible but most likely no dedicated GPS receiver.

                        

That’s about all there is on the C2-06 Touch and Type for now. Nokia still has strong positions in the low-end market and a device like that can help out quite a bit, especially in developing markets.

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Nokia Indoor Positioning promoted on video, looks cool

Back in 2010 at Nokia World in London, the Nokia Research Centre demonstrated a neat concept of navigating indoors. Now, there's a new version of the system and Nokia has put up a video promoting it.





The system relies on a positioning beacon, which acts as a "satellite", but just indoors. It is placed on the ceiling and can track how far you are from your desired destination in real-time and is accurate up to 30cm.


A special tracking device, which can be attached to various objects and clothes is available, too. With its help, Nokia's Indoor Positioning can track valuables or even people for that matter. Useful if you have a bad habit of misplacing your belongings.


And here's the promo clip in question.





The novelty looks pretty damn promising, but unfortunately, there's no official word from Nokia when we can see the Indoor Positioning functioning in the wild and available to users.

Source : Gsmarena 

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Motorola XOOM Has An Apalling Sales Record

It was just yesterday when I said that Motorola XOOM isn’t a real iPad competitor in response to Consumer Report’s tagging of Motorola’s first Honeycomb as the first real ipad rival. And now I have an analyst’s backing to support my claim.



James Faucette, an analyst at Pacific Crest confirms what we suspected and saw – Motorola XOOM isn’t doing well in the sales department and isn’t returning revenue Motorola would have estimated it to return.

The trouble doesn’t end here for Motorola as the analyst reports of Motorola Atrix 4G having a hard time getting off the retail store shelves.

In case you forgot, both of these devices have a powerful hardware resume as they have a dual core Tegra 2 processor from Nvidia, are 4G enabled and have the usual bells and whistles that one expects from a tablet and a smartphone in case of Atrix 4G.

While the physical specs are impressive both these Motorola manufactured gadgets lack one key attribute – uniqueness. And that’s exactly the advice Faucette gave to Motorola – give something unique or shareholders
may be looking at another meaningful step down.

Incase you are still double minded about the Motorola Xoom, check out our Apple iPad 2 vs Motorola Xoom detailed comparison to make it easier for you to decide.

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HTC Sense 3.0 won’t be supported on older HTC devices

It turns out that the new Sense UI 3.0, showcased on the HTC Sensation a couple of days back won't be supported by older HTC devices, due to hardware limitations.

This would really create a serious software gap between the older and newer generation of HTC Androids and the recently released Desire S and Incredible S are on the bad side this time.


I guess the official position of HTC on the natter won't stop the enthusiasts from XDA Developers to port the new features. However latest phones like the Inredible S won't be able to benefit from those as their bootloaders have been factory locked hence locking out any attempts at flashing custom ROMs.
What's good to know is that at least the HTC Flyer, their upcoming tablet which has a single-core CPU running at 1.5Ghz, is getting the new Sense UI.

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Amazon launches Cloud Player for Android and the Web

Google and Apple fan boys are in for a surprise. Amazon has done what we were expecting the Android and iOS creators to do first, rolled out a cloud based music streaming service which they are calling Cloud Music Player. The streaming service works on your Android phones, tablets and of course the web.



Three services namely Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Amazon Cloud Player for Android combine together to deliver streaming music to your ears whether it be your mobile phone or your PC. Bill Carr, vice president of Movies and Music at Amazon explains the motive behind these cloud based services:

Our customers have told us they don’t want to download music to their work computers or phones because they find it hard to move music around to different devices. Now, whether at work, home, or on the go, customers can buy music from Amazon MP3, store it in the cloud and play it anywhere.

To use this service all you need to do is upload your music collection to Amazon Cloud Drive, and then listen to music using either the web based Cloud Player or by downloading the new version of the Amazon MP3 App which includes the music player on your Android phone

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White iPhone 4 Release Possible In The Coming Weeks

Once again, here we are hoping that Apple finally releases the white iPhone 4. The white iPhone 4 has been delayed many times, over and over again and it looks like our previous confirmation of white iPhone 4 hitting stores in April may actually turn out to be true. This time, it’s Bloomberg reporting that Apple may finally start shipping the white iPhone 4 in the next few weeks, after a delay of nearly 10 months.





Apple Inc. will begin selling a white model of the iPhone 4 in the next few weeks after a 10- month delay, according to three people familiar with the plans.

The new version will be available from AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless by the end of April, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The release was stalled as Apple resolved manufacturing challenges, including paint that peeled under heat, one person said.

If the white iPhone 4 is really coming out in the next couple of weeks, at least Apple fans would have something to obsess over for a month or so. Maybe, once the white iPhone 4 hits stores, people would actually be less worried about the iPhone 5 release, which we all know is a long way from now.

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How to Backup / Restore your Android Phone

You may need to backup your data if you are planning on changing your phone, be able to get back everything in case of a theft/loss or to just get the phone the way it was before (without losing Contacts/SMS).

I did it for the last reason & surprisingly the battery life doubled, exactly what I needed (probably because of lots of background services not running anymore).

Better backup before the world gets upside down on you.

(Note: This guide is for both non-rooted & rooted phones but users having root access should try Titanium Backup)

Things we will Backup

• Contacts
• System Settings
• SMS
• Call Logs
• - Applications

Software you’ll need

• Astro File Manager
• SMS Backup & Restore
• Call Logs Backup & Restore
• AVG Anti-Virus Free (Optional)

Contacts & System Settings

If you have a Gmail account associated with your phone (& definitely it is) than it’s a non-issue because all your contacts are automatically backed up with Gmail & in the same way restored automatically on a new/refreshed phone.

But if you still somehow want an offline backup or all you contacts in one file, go to Contacts, Press the Menu soft key, Select Import/Export, Select Export to SD Card, Select OK & all your contacts will be saved to the SD Card.

For system settings make sure in Privacy Settings ‘Backup my Data’ is checked (in previous versions, before Android 2.2, check ‘Backup my Settings’).

This will, like contacts, backup your settings online & restore them when needed. Some known settings that will get restored:

• WiFi Settings (including saved networks)
• Wallpaper
• Accessibility Settings
• User Dictionary
• Privacy Settings
• Certain Apps are Re-Installed

But don’t just expect you stuff to instantly re-appear after a restore. Give your phone sometime. The User Dictionary restore may only work in Android 2.2+.

Backing Up SMS

SMS Backup & Restore does what its name says and does just that. It exports all you messages to an XML file on your SD Card. You can get it Installed from the Market.

SMS Backup + is another tool that will backup all your SMS/MMS & Call Logs to your Gmail account. It actually sends them as email to your inbox & labels them appropriately. Am not exactly sure about it’s restore process though it claims it can restore them.

SMS Backup & Restore has a Preview feature to preview messages in the backup file before restoring it & also allows you to find duplicate messages, plus a delete all messages in memory option too.

Call Logs

Install “Call Logs Backup & Restore” from Android Market. The options are simple, just click Backup & it will save your logs into an XML file. The saved file has no ‘styling’ information so if you open it in IE, FireFox, Opera, and Chrome etc. it won’t look neat but is readable. The time, date & phone number can be read from it easily. Android keeps up to 500 logs, so that’s the max it an backup.

The same preview and delete options are here too.

Applications

Start Astro File Manager, press the Menu key & select Tools. Select Application Manager/Backup. Here you have an option to select individual Apps or all of them. Choose the ones that you like & click Backup, Oh you can’t click it… no worries just tap it ;)

[OPTIONAL] AVG Anti-Virus Free

AVG Anti-Virus Free is a ‘One App’ solution to all backup operations. The catch? You cannot backup individual category like say just the messages or just the bookmarks & the restore will delete all the previous info & replace it with the ones in the backup file. If it’s a new system that’s completely OK. Still it’s a powerful tool and largely hassle free. The ‘App Backup’ will backup your Applications, the same way as Astro. Why it is in the end and not recommended as the only solution? Because it is a Beta feature & may hang during the restore process.

Important Step:

Your call log, SMS, Contacts & Applications are now on your SD Card. Connect your phone to a PC & transfer the files/folders described below or email the smaller files to yourself (I use Gmail) as a fast easy way for online storage/retrieval.

Files: 00001.vcf (or 00002.vcf it that one already exists)

Folders: CallLogBackupRestore, SMSBackupRestore, backups (contains your apps), droidbackupdir (if you used AVG Anti-Virus Free).

Refresh Your Phone

Go to Settings > Privacy > Factory Data Reset.

You phone will restart and it will be like new :)

Copy the above mentioned files back to the SD Card, install the respective apps and hit restore on each one of them, that’s all. Besides these there are tons of different apps on the Android Market, you are free to explore them :) Do check Lookout Mobile Security, unlike the other apps it backs them up online.

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Mobilink & Ufone Sign Agreement for Tower Sharing

Mobilink and Ufone signed an accord to enter into an agreement for tower sharing.

The agreement was signed between Rashid Khan, President and CEO of Mobilink, and Abdul Aziz, President and CEO of Ufone at the Mobilink House.
This collaborative effort is in line with the initiatives taken by the Pakistan Telecom Authority and the Federal Government to encourage cellular providers to drive greater efficiencies while reducing the carbon foot print.

Sharing his views, Rashid Khan said,

“This alliance is mutually beneficial and will also facilitate us to better align ourselves with our strategic initiatives and become greener. This will further enhance Mobilink’s coverage footprint, already the widest, hence, bringing more value to the customer which is our top priority.”

Commenting on the accord, Abdul Aziz, CEO Ufone, said,

“Ufone has had a keen interest in exploring newer avenues for our “Go Green” initiative and this tower sharing alliance is another step forward to further enhance our initiative. With this alliance Ufone has moved ahead to ensure customers have seamless connectivity no matter where they are in the country. This follows similar alliances with other operators hence allows us to create a positive network layout most beneficial to the customer”

Through sharing of their network infrastructures the two cellular providers will be able to enhance the customer experience by offering a wider coverage footprint, driving synergies and reducing their respective carbon foot prints.

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Download Microsoft Bing App With Voice Search For iPad

In a rather pleasant move, Microsoft has released the iPad version of its Bing app for iOS. Bing for iPad brings all of the features from the iPhone version.

Bing is a decision engine that’s been designed to work beautifully with your iPad. Bingfor iPad brings you closer to what you’re looking for by delivering a visually rich, touch-enabled way to search and browse news, movies, Bing homepage images, localbusinesses, popular searches and much more.

Features of Bing for iPad:

• Swipe through our touch enabled Movie Listing, news articles, trending topics, localbusinesses and other rich, immersive search results.
• Stay current with the latest news, traffic, Weather, stock quotes, movies and popular searches from the main screen.
• Bing Local and Map integration to help you find the places you are looking for from directions with real-time tracking to immersive road, traffic, aerial and “bird’s eye” views.
• Follow the latest news and trending topics with beautifully iPad optimized results with rich images and magazine inspired layouts.
• Tell Bing what you are searching for with voice activated search.
• wonderful touch friendly, grid view of image searches, with source site details and full page Preview.
• Easily navigate between Bing results and websites as Bing frames the site to make it easy to return the search or to launch a new one.

Bing for iPad is available as a Free download from the App Stores and requires iOS 4.2 or higher running on your iPad.

Download Bing for iPad via iTunes

Download Bing for iPad

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Download Redsn0w 0.9.6RC9 To Jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 Untethered On iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

The iPhone Dev-Team has just released Redsn0w 0.9.6RC9 to jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 untethered on Windows and Mac. Moments earlier, Pwnagetool 4.3 for iOS 4.3.1 untethered jailbreak was also released.



Redsn0w 0.9.6RC9 will jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 untethered on your iPhone 3GS/iPhone 4, iPod touch 3G/4G, iPad 1 and second-generation Apple TV on iOS 4.2.1. The iPad 2 is not vulnerable to this exploit.

For unlockers:


WARNING WARNING — ultrasn0w users don’t update yet! We need to first release an update to ultrasn0w that fixes some incompatibilities when FW 4.3.1 is used on the older basebands supported by ultrasn0w. And remember once we do fix ultrasn0w for 4.3.1 (we’ll announce it here and on twitter), you must only get there via a custom IPSW from PwnageTool, Sn0wbreeze or xpwn! Don’t ever try to restore or update to a stock IPSW, or you’ll lose the unlock!

Download Redsn0w 0.9.6RC9 for Windows and Mac

Download Redsn0w 0.9.6RC9 for Windows

Download Redsn0w 0.9.6 RC9 for Mac

Download iOS 4.3.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

posted by : Sizlopedia

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