TheDolt's Blog

Happy Diwali! May You Rot In Peace!

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 04:05:14 +0000

Ahhh…It is that time of the year again. The amusingly cold weather, the smell of burnt gunpowder in the air, the heebie-jeebies of your parents transferred to you while lighting that extremely dangerous bomb and ofcourse the sweets. So many goddamn sweets! That, my friends, is Diwali. Wrapped up in 35 words. But there is so much more to it than only crackers and sweets.

There is family for the social bee,
there is food for the foodie,
there are gifts for the greedy
and love for the needy.

It is tacky, I know. Thanks for pointing it out anyway.

Happy Diwali

And that’s not where it ends. That is where it begins. A hectic day for basically every soul in every Indian household and a lovely night for most (read women don’t get to enjoy that much). While the shopkeepers make enough to buy a couple of gold bricks, the average guy is hit hard. Wow, I am diverting from the topic. The topic? What is the topic? BAH. Nevermind. This post is done. Happy whatever.

PS: The auspicious timings for pooja on 26th October 2011 for Diwali 2011 are from 6:03pm to 07:58pm in stable Ascendant (Taurus sign).

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

Should BlackBerry Have Made An Android tablet?

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:52:18 +0000

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This is a guest post by Joe Pawlikowski. He edits BBGeeks, a site dedicated to helping BlackBerry users get the most out of their devices. If you would like to write for TheDolt’s Blog, do read our page Be My Guest; Write A Guest Post.

When you announce a device in September for an anticipated first quarter release, you’re setting yourself up for abounding speculation. Research In Motion tried to get out ahead of the tablet market in 2010 when they announced the BlackBerry PlayBook. But even then they admitted that it would be a while until the official release. In the interim we heard rumors galore, some good and some bad. Yet one struck me at the time as a wonderful idea that had zero chance of happening.

At some point in early 2011, we learned that the PlayBook would support Android apps. The rumors were vague at the time, but sources pointed to two possibilities. The first was what actually happened: RIM would create an Android Player and allow developers to easily port their apps. That’s not a terrible solution, especially for a platform that lacks for apps. The only problem is that the number of apps available to RIM is necessarily limited:

Key features which will be unavailable to Android apps running under the compatibility layer on the PlayBook and future BlackBerry devices include Android’s famed battery-sucking Live Wallpaper, SIP and SIP VoIP, anything built using the Native Development Kit, apps containing only App Widgets, and apps containing more than one activity tied to the Launcher.

In addition, any packages which rely on Google Maps, in-app billing services, Android’s text-to-speech engine, or the cloud-to-device messaging system will all be rendered unusable under the company’s runtime system.

While these limitations don’t render the Android Player completely useless, it does mean that eager PlayBook users will be disappointed when they finally see what’s available. The pressure is back on RIM to attract developers that can fill out its library and replace many of these incompatible apps. That’s going to take some time, and RIM doesn’t exactly have a lot of time. The PlayBook is already six months old, and it doesn’t even have email, calendars, and contacts yet. By the time RIM gets all these updates out, it will probably be time to start thinking about the follow-up product.
The second rumors tantalized at the time, and in hindsight it absolutely should have been the path RIM took. The rumor: The PlayBook would be an Android tablet. This likely wouldn’t have been a pure Android tablet, as we saw in the spring with the Motorola Xoom. Instead it almost certainly would have been more along the lines of the Amazon Kindle Fire. That is, it would have run Android, but it would have been distinctly a BlackBerry tablet. That’s really the beauty of Android: anyone can build code on top of it and create something distinctly their own. RIM would have benefitted greatly from this, in a number of ways.

First, it would have given them a viable product at launch. When RIM launched the PlayBook, seven months after announcement, it came with little fanfare. Some BlackBerry users enjoyed it because of its integration with a BlackBerry smartphone. That is, they could get email, contacts, and calendars by bridging their two devices. But even then, it took a while for the PlayBook app library to grow. If they had launched with Android they would have had a full app library, plus all of the email, contact, and calendar features of Android. Gmail users would have loved it, and even those who don’t use Google services would have a number of external email options. It would have been a complete tablet.

In the meantime, RIM could have continued to work on its own tablet offering. As we’re starting to see, they do have something going with the BBX platform. Heck, it was easy to see that they had something going with the PlayBook. Despite its incompleteness, the PlayBook clearly has the potential to compete in the tablet market. But if RIM had released an Android tablet in early 2011, they could have been far along on their own tablet platform by now. In early 2012 they could have released a BBX-based PlayBook, complete with email, contacts, calendar, and, with a little luck, a relatively large catalog of BBX apps.

It’s easy to understand why RIM wanted to release a tablet in 2011. They had fallen behind in the smartphone race, and the tablet market was just starting to develop. By getting out ahead of the pack they might have made an impact. Yet I can’t help but think that they would have been better off creating an Android-based tablet to start. They would have then had enough time to work more on their own model, making sure that it was a complete product at launch. Unfortunately, they’re still running out an incomplete product. Even when the native functions drop, I have to say that I’m more excited about the Samsung Galaxy Tab. It’s a shame that RIM couldn’t have jumped on that Android bandwagon, both for the present and for the future.

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

Best 5 Pocket Camcorders

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:27:34 +0000

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This is a guest post by SD. SD is a student & blogger who works with Best Linux Web Hosting Company Webhosting clue, which also provides the Best Joomla Hosting. If you would like to write for TheDolt’s Blog, do read my page Be My Guest; Write A Guest Post.Many are not satisfied with the video quality of their mobile phone and feel the need for a device which is small, yet captures high quality videos. Enter Pocket Camcorders. It is time to throw all your old video cameras into the bin and use your phone for what it was initially made; making calls. Switch to new pocket camcorders. Here are 5 noteworthy pocket camcorders.

Pocket Camcorders

1. Sanyo Xacti VPC-PD2BK

Sanyo Xacti VPC-PD2BK can record Full HD videos, has a 3X optical zoom and can take 10 MP images. The 2-inch display is small when compared to other camcorders but then it makes up with its support for 64GB SD and SDXC memory cards. It boats of an image stabilizer and a high speed shooting mode.

price: 5,600 or $112

2. Kodak playfull

Kodak playfull is no less than the others and records Full HD videos. Stills are taken at 5MPs. It has, like all others, Face recognition and image stabilization but you’ll have to sacrifice on flash and optical zoom if you go for Kodak Playfull. A 32 GB SD card is supported. Sharing to Social networking sites takes a minute on this one.

Price: Rs 7500 or $150

3. Sony Bloggie Touch

Sony Bloggie touch is a wonderful camcorder which records videos at Full HD and takes still with the help of its 12-megapixel sensor. The 3 inch touch screen has a built in accelerometer. It has 4 GB/8 GB internal memory, face detection and SteadyShot image stabilization.

Price: Rs 7000 or $140

4. Creative Vado

Creative Vado is one of the best pocket camcorders in the market. It has a colorful 3.9 inches tall and 2.2 inches wide screen. There are touch sensitive buttons near the screen. Creative Vado records records videos at 720p but stills are taken at a low resolution.It has a wide-angle lens, one click record option, a good battery life and 4 GBs of internal memory. Content can be easily shared on the internet on social networking sites.

Price: Rs 8000 or $160.

5. Samsung HMX U20

Samsung HMX U20 has some great hardware. It can record videos at Full HD, take stills at 14-mega pixel and can zoom 3X optically to make that tree look closer. It supports SD and SDHC cards. It has a built in USB arm which facilitates easy sharing of content. The 2 inch screen is relatively vibrant. It has special features like curvy looks and 7-degree body shape to for a stronger grip. Samsung HMX U can also do time-lapse recordings.

Price: Rs 6,000 or $120

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

4 Benefits of Using VoIP over a Phone Plan

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 12:45:53 +0000

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This is a guest post by Paul who believes in the importance of using VoIP. He can also help you with the best internet and phone packages. If you would like to write for TheDolt’s Blog, do read our page Be My Guest; Write A Guest Post.

Decades ago, when the ability to make phone calls to people from all over the world was announced, it heralded a great new world. People were so excited at the kind of progress we have made and very few people could hardly believe we would be where we are today.

Then, it was very difficult to make phone calls, and only the rich could afford having a phone in their home. How things have changed. Now, we can make phone calls and even see those we are calling through the 3G technology. Over time, a lot of new things have happened, and one such thing is the introduction of the VoIP technology. This article will be giving you 4 benefits of using VoIP technology instead of a mobile plan with your ISP.

Benefits Of Using VoIP

1. Cheap Call Rates

One thing about making phone calls is that it has always been expensive. Developing a technology for people to make phone calls isn’t something just anybody can do, and the few ISPs who controlled the system either charge excessively for it or make people go through ridiculous long-term contracts. Communication is an essential part of our lives, and if not free, I believe it should be relatively cheap. If you’re tired of the excessive price you are being charged just for using the mobile calling system then you need to start using the VoIP technology. Most VoIP services allow you to make cheap calls to any part of the world for a cheap monthly, or yearly free, and there are even VoIP services that allow you to make a limited amount of free calls every month.

2 .Save Money on Mobile Purchases

A lot of us spend more money on devices that help us make phone calls than we can ever imagine. We spend money buying the right mobile phone, we spend money on the sim cards we need to make phone calls, we spend money on activating and recharging our mobile phone regularly, and some of us even spend money on long-term ISP contracts. This isn’t a problem as far as the VoIP calling technology is concerned. You can easily get high quality calling services to suit your needs for very cheap prices.

3. Save When You Travel

A lot of us love to travel the world and see cool places and people from other parts of the world, but aside from all the expensive airline tickets and travel fees we have to pay, we also have to go through the ordeal of paying excessively to communicate with our loved ones during our travels. One disadvantage to using your ISPs mobile calling technology when you travel is that you get to pay roaming fees; you have to sign special contracts and do some other irritating things. If you decide not to use your ISP you might end up paying excessively to use another ISP in the country you are travelling to and all that ends up sucking a lot of money from our pockets. With VoIP, you don’t have to worry about all that since you don’t need a sim card or an ISP. The only thing you need to make VoIP calls is an internet connection, and you can easily get that from any part of the world.

4. Get Better Quality Calls

Many people will think that VoIP calls will be of a worse quality because of how cheap it is, but that can only be farther from the truth. VoIP calls are generally known to provide a better experience than most mobile calling technology, and you also don’t have to pay heavily to enjoy better quality calls.

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

How Black Hat SEO Helps Search Rankings

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 23:45:14 +0000

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This is a guest post by Frederic, a freelance writer who covers webmaster topics, pc antivirus topics, social media trends, writes registry cleaner reviews and other reviews. If you would like to write for TheDolt’s Blog, do read our page Be My Guest; Write A Guest Post.

Black Hat search engine optimization is defined as the techniques that are used to get higher search rankings in an unprincipled manner. This search engine optimization provides better and faster results but on the other hand this is a bad news for users. The Black Hat SEO is considered as unethical because it violated the rules that are designed for search engines. Furthermore, those websites which uses Black Hat SEO techniques always gives a bad user experience. When any of these search engines techniques find that these types of methods are being used on the website then these web sites will always be blocked by the search engine techniques. Moreover, black Hat SEO techniques include these characteristics; Black Hat SEO breaks the rules and regulations of search engines, directly impacting a user experience because of the utilization of the Black Hat SEO techniques on the web site. It unethically presents the content in a different way to reach search engine spiders and search engine users.

Black Hat SEO

There are few SEO companies in India use Black Hat SEO techniques that show better and remarkable results to the users and they make money through these techniques and gets disappear when the website gets blacklisted. These SEO techniques are mostly used by those people who are marketing the sites and those who are hosting advertisements. The main purpose of these techniques is to attract the clients on the website. Black Hat Search Engine Optimization will influence strong engineering and latest and automation technology to develop tons of poor quality websites and entering web sites to get. The main intention of Black hat SEO techniques is that the site operator will use some sort of cloaking or redirect visitors to the page in order to show revenue terms. Furthermore, Black Hat Search optimization is looking for better and quick results in the final. The best method they use to optimize their web sites to often receive web site is best research engines quickly.

Furthermore, we will also discuss important Black Hat SEO strategies:

One of the most important and significant strategies of Black Hat SEO strategies is the link farming. This occurs when different websites are hyperlinked with each other. This strategy can be done manually but special software is designed for the link building.
Another important strategy of Black Hat SEO techniques is invisible text. This invisible text is available in white colour with a white background along with a full of keywords.
Black Hat SEO uses this strategy when portion of content is crowded with keywords and slight else. SEO company should generate a copy for the user for his/her website and the copy should be easy to read and convenient.
These types of pages are only designed for the search engine techniques. These pages only include the bogus articles along with garbage content.
Lastly, important strategy used by SEO techniques is the interview of the existing clients.

These SEO can ask various questions to the clients, and one of such questions can be; do clients have to share how their experience was with using the SEM?

On the whole Black Hat SEO, there is a short sighted solution for the long term problem, which is one of the main causes making a website reach a certain level where it provides a great user experience. Finally, Black Hat Search Engine Optimization helps in marketing high quality content writing. Moreover, these SEO techniques provide various services like web structure, review site materials, internet web hosting, promotion of the topic, key words topic or guidance to focus on the specific markets and regions.

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

The Dark Side Has…Toast?

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:28:11 +0000

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Cookies are so yesterday. The Dark Side has something new to lure you now. It now has a new apprentice. Toast.

The Dark Side Has Toast

Via I can has cheezburger

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What BlackBerry Needs To Go High-End

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:38:48 +0000

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There was a time when the BlackBerry was not only the highest of high-end smartphones, but it was one of the only practical smartphones on the market. Competitors such as the T-Mobile Wing and the Motorola Q came and went, but none matched the relative completeness of the BlackBerry. Their dominance extended into 2007, when they released their 8800 line, which at the time was state of the art.

And then along came the iPhone, which made the BlackBerry seem primitive by comparison. Year after year Apple released a new model, each one creating more distance between the iPhone and the BlackBerry. In 2008 Android entered the game, and by 2009 Android, too, had surpassed the BlackBerry in terms of practical usability.

Both Android and Apple represent the high end of the smartphone market. As Simon described in a recent guest post, the BlackBerry has been relegated to mid-range. That’s a tough place for the former kind to reside. Yet the BlackBerry’s placement is indisputable. Even with their new devices, which contain high-end hardware, they remain behind both the iPhone and Android platforms. It raises a weighty question: what would make RIM high-end again? Here are a few things they need to do with their future phones to make it happen.

BlackBerry Needs To Go High-End By

Attract Developers

One place where both Android and iPhone pummel the BlackBerry is in software. If you browse through the Android Market, the App Store, and App World, you’ll see the first two filled with popular, useful apps, while App World lags far behind. So many of the apps in App World are local radio station apps and e-books. Those inflate the overall numbers, but detract from the quality.

Part of the problem with previous BlackBerry platforms is that they weren’t attractive to developers. It wasn’t just the declining market share. The platform itself didn’t really attract developers. If RIM wants its future phones to gain any clout, they’ll have to make it attractive for developers. That means, first and foremost, avoiding Android’s issues with multiple device sizes. But it also means making it easy for developers to get devices and APKs ahead of releases, so they can create new apps and update their existing ones.

The main point:

if a smartphone lacks the hottest apps, people are going to ignore it. BlackBerry, Palm, and Windows Mobile learned this the hard way. If RIM is going to succeed it needs to make apps and software a priority.

Installing The Best Hardware

Thankfully, RIM has already shown signs that they’re minding the hardware. Starting with the AT&T BlackBerry Torch 9810, RIM has released a series of device with processors that rival the best on the market. Their screens feature improved resolution, and the devices themselves feel full and durable.

This is quite a departure from previous BlackBerry models. Even in 2010 RIM was releasing underpowered devices that couldn’t take full advantage of the device software. But clearly that has changed.

The status quo — even the higher-end status quo — will not hold. RIM needs to keep up with the market and continue creating devices that contain the best hardware the market provides. They do seem on this track. Not only does their latest line have improved hardware, but they’re talking about dual-core chips in their next line. That will keep them on a level with Apple and Android.

There is more to a device than hardware, of course. But a modern smartphone line cannot succeed without high-end hardware. As long as RIM evolves with the market, they should be fine on this front.

Changing The Game

Herein lies the biggest challenge for the BlackBerry, or really any smartphone brand that wants to compete. Why did the iPhone take the nation by storm? Because it redefined the smartphone. Why did Android eventually catch up? Because it provided features that the iPhone did not — and it evolved continuously while the iPhone remained static. If the BlackBerry wants to make a comeback, it has to redefine something we know about the smartphone. It’s not exactly an easy task.

Yet it’s something that BlackBerry will need if it’s going to again reach the highest end of the market. Filling App World with better and more popular apps is a necessary step along the way, as is stocking devices with high-end hardware. But there’s little chance that the BlackBerry will make a dent in the iPhone and Android dominance if it merely toes the line. Android and iPhone have already set the standard. Anyone who wants to compete with them has to raise the bar.

What can they do to change the game? That’s the beauty of all this: no one really knows until it happens. There are endless possibilities for RIM to ponder. But whatever it is, it has to be two things: 1) something that neither iPhone nor Android offers, and 2) something that people want, but don’t know that they want. If they knew they wanted it, we’d likely see it on smartphones already. But RIM’s challenge is to find something that’s missing and bring it to light. That’s what’s going to bring them back to the high end of the smartphone market.

No one said it would be easy. But the path is there for RIM to re-enter the high-end smartphone market. They’ll have to take pages from both Android and iPhone and then combine them with what has worked for the BlackBerry. But most importantly, they need to give us something new. Something that we didn’t even imagine possible. Otherwise they’ll be just another smartphone manufacturer that is constantly playing catchup with Android and iPhone.

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

How To Unlink Your Google AdSense and Google Analytics Account

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:16:07 +0000

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While Google AdSense’s integration with Google Analytics works flawlessly for some, it is a PITA for others. I have been trying to link my AdSense account with my Analytics account since the past 6 months and have successfully done so too, but unfortunately no data flows in and out of the two services. So today I decided to unlink the accounts and start the integration process again, from scratch. Unlinking an AdSense account with an Analytics account is not a straight forward process and cannot be done through the AdSense/Analytics dashboard. The unlinking process, though not manual, is fairly easy and quick. This is how you can delete the link between your AdSense and Analytics account:

How to unlink AdSense and Analytics

1. Login to your Google account

2. Head over to https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py?hl=en_GB&contact_type=analyticsunlink

3. You will have to fill the following form.

Enter your Gmail Email ID, which has access to both the accounts, in the first field. Enter you pub ID in the second field. You can find your pub ID from your AdSense page. It can be found in the top right corner on every AdSense page.

4. Once you fill in the details click the submit button.

5. A new page will be loaded and it will tell you that your application will be review and you will be contacted by Email once the disintegration process is completed.

How Much Time Will It take?

Taking into account the fact that it was Google I was dealing with, I was expecting a waiting time of around a week, if not more. You can imagine my surprise when I received this mail 15 minutes after submitting the application.

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

5 Best Top End Smartphones To Choose From

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:01:28 +0000

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This is a guest post by Simon. He writes on behalf of Best Mobile Contracts, the leading phone comparison website in the UK. If you would like to write for TheDolt’s Blog, do read our page Be My Guest; Write A Guest Post.

The smartphone industry is developing at a faster pace than ever before. Dual core processors have not long been on the scene but are already about to be replaced by quad core. 3D screens have just made an appearance in recent months and so by the same logic we should be seeing 4D screens by the end of the year. No not really, but the technology is developing at such a rapid pace that today’s cutting edge smartphone can quickly turn into tomorrow’s mid-range piece of nostalgia. Here are 5 best top end phones.

So what are the current top of the range smartphones? The devices that are pushing the boundaries and setting benchmarks for all others to aspire to? Let’s take a look at 5 of the best smartphones that are offering excellent combinations of all the latest technological wizardry in the palm of your hand.

Galaxy S2

Samsung’s current flagship Android phone is a real powerhouse of a smartphone, and currently the biggest selling Android phone on the planet. It has already become the first phone to knock the iPhone 4 from its position of dominance, and with little more than Siri being on offer to differentiate the iPhone 4S, it has the potential to cripple Apple’s latest efforts too.

The central highlight of the Galaxy S2 is its 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Plus screen. Samsung have a lot of knowledge when it comes to producing screens, what with being one of the largest producers of television sets in the world and all that. Super AMOLED Plus is currently the best technology on offer for smartphone displays, and is only really challenged by the iPhone 4/4S’ Retina Display.

One thing the Galaxy S2 has over the iPhone though is its size. iPhone screens are still a pokey 3.5 inches, making some things like games, videos and web browsing a little less enjoyable than they should be. The Galaxy S2 does not suffer this problem, offering the perfect compromise between large screen and comfortable phone.

Along with being one of the slimmest phones around the Galaxy S2 also received a lot of attention upon release for its 1.2GHz dual core chip. This is slowly becoming less impressive though, with talks of the S3 having a quad core 1.8GHz chip*, and phones like HTC’s Sensation XE already possessing a 1.5GHz dual core.

*It is unlikely that the S3 will actually be quad core, although the technology is not far off

Sensation XE

The original Sensation was HTC’s answer to the S2, although in terms of sales it didn’t manage to do quite as well. This was surprising considering the almost cult like following that HTC have within the Android community, especially regarding HTC Sense. Many ‘Fandroids’ will drool over Sense while at the same time being quite disdainful for Samsung’s TouchWiz.

The XE is an updated version of the Sensation which comes with a few minor hardware upgrades, but most noticeably now comes with Beats Audio music features. Beats Audio is a company that was founded by US rapper Dr Dre and who produce a range of high quality, albeit highly priced, headphones.

HTC recently purchased a 51% stake in this company for $300 million. A whole $300 million just so that they could add better music support into their upcoming phones – the Sensation XE and Sensation XL being the first of these.

The XE comes with a better loudspeaker and some Dr Dre headphones thrown in. Although, these are in-ear plugs rather than top of the range DJ headphones. The Sensation XE also includes improved music software and improved bass for listening to music.

On the hardware side of things, the XE has had its processor ramped up to 1.5GHz dual core, as already mentioned. In truth, the original Sensation came with the same processor, but it was underclocked to just 1.2GHz. Despite the additional music features, garish red paint job and additional boost to processing and memory performance (768MB RAM), the Sensation XE will cost quite a bit more than the original Sensation.

For music loving Android fans though it may be the phone of choice. The best bit is you don’t even need to be a fan of Dr Dre.

Xperia Arc S

The Xperia Arc S is the next big thing in Sony Ericsson’s line-up, and promises to improve on the deficiencies of the original Arc. Unfortunately Sony Ericsson has still not joined its competitors Samsung and HTC in the dual core market, as the Ray still comes with just a single core 1.4GHz processor. Still, this extra boost removes the minor stuttering problems of the original with things like the Timescape social media widget that blemished an otherwise smooth and seamless phone.

Not much else has changed from the first Arc, but considering that the first Arc was one of the best Android phones going, this is no big deal. The Arc S has a 4.2 inch LED backlit LCD screen that offers some of the best visuals on a smartphone this side of the Galaxy S2′s Super AMOLED Plus.

Although it doesn’t have the control pad found on its Xperia Arc sibling, the Xperia Arc S does have some excellent entertainment features up its sleeves. This is not in the form of any gimmicky feature like PlayStation support or a 3D screen, but simply because Sony are a company with a long standing history when it comes to entertainment. This knowledge makes its way into their phones, and the Xperia Arc S is the best phone from Sony Ericsson at present.

Some of these little tweaks include the option to go to related YouTube videos from your phones music player. The ability to get the Arc S to load to music player automatically once you insert your headphones, and even just little Sony apps like TrackID that can help you identify new music. Although all these things might seem minor and trivial, they vastly improve the musical experience of on a smartphone for die hard audiophiles.

HTC EVO 3D

Is 3D the next big thing in the world of smartphones? Maybe, maybe not. But either way, at present there is only a very limited selection of 3D phones to choose from. In the UK, there are just two: the LG Optimus 3D and the HTC EVO 3D. While these are fairly evenly matched in terms of hardware and specifications the EVO 3D is a better smartphone. Partly because of a few technical aspects that make it perform better than the Optimus, and partly just because it is made by HTC and not LG.

So what can you do with the EVO 3D that is so great? Well for starters, it comes with a 3D screen that uses what is known as a parallax barrier. This doesn’t offer the sort of 3D experience you would expect at the cinema when watching a film like Avatar, as it essentially works via a little bit of brain trickery rather than 3D glasses. The screen can control the viewing angles of pixels so that each eye sees a slightly different image. This plays on the parts of your brain that deal with depth perception, causing the brain to make it appear 3 dimensional.

The EVO 3D also comes with dual 5 megapixel cameras allowing you to record your own 3 dimensional home movies and capture stereoscopic images. If all of the 3D features of the phone start to give you a headache after a while, then you can just switch them off and use the EVO as a normal smartphone. The technology has a long way to go yet before it becomes commonplace, but if you want to partake of the current 3D craze then the EVO 3D is currently your best option for doing so at present.

Google Galaxy Nexus

Google has to date only released two smartphones under their brand name, and while being impressive devices featuring the latest versions of Android they have not been all that successful in terms of sales. The first Nexus phone, the Nexus One, went on to be sold by its manufacturer HTC as the HTC Desire – which was one of the bestselling phones of 2010 and a phone that truly cemented HTC’s position at the forefront of the industry.

Google’s second phone, the Nexus S, drew a lot of inspiration from Samsung’s Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 smartphones, and curiously came with a curved glass panel on its touchscreen. The third Nexus phone, which will apparently be called the Google Galaxy Nexus (or maybe Nexus Prime), will also be manufactured by Samsung and will be the first Android phone to come with Ice Cream Sandwich.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich will be Google’s answer to iOS 5. Not that it needs to be, as most of the new additions to iOS were features taken from Android in the first place, such as the slide down notification menu. Even so, iOS may have pushed the bar slightly with the addition of Siri, the virtual voice assistant, and it will be interesting to see what big feature Google will add into ICS to compensate.

The Galaxy Nexus comes with a hefty 4.65 inch screen and a staggering 720p screen resolution. It will have LTE support (where available), a 5 megapixel camera with 1080p video and a very impressive 1.5GHz dual core processor making it only equalled in power by the Sensation XE. Impressive hardware indeed, and if Google can provide the software to back it up with via Ice Cream Sandwich then we could already have an iPhone 4S killer on our hands.

Google and Samsung plan to launch the phone in the coming week, with plans for Galaxy Nexus deals to go on sale by the end of the month. The phone was supposed to be launched earlier, but the event was postponed by Google and Samsung to honour of the death of Steve Jobs

Some more posts by Pulkit you might like to see

Get 50 GB Cloud Space And An Increased Upload Limit Of 100 MB On Box.net

Pulkit Kaushik | TheDolt — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:07:49 +0000

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Apple’s iCloud seems to have intimidate the folks at Box.net. As a part of a 50 day promotion, Box.net is offering free 50 GB Cloud space on their servers and an increased upload file limit size of 100 MB to all iDevice users. The 50 GB is not be limited to one’s iDevice, and users will be able to use it on their computer’s as well. So you can even use the 50 GB on your Android mobile, just make sure to login once from an iDevice. A free account made on Box.net, without availing this offer, provides 5 GB of upload space with a file size limit of 25 MB.

The 50 GB offer is valid for the iDevices. Namely, the iPod touch 1G, iPod touch 2G, iPod touch 3g, the original iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, the iPad and the relatively new iPad 2. It’s quite a month for Apple fanboys. First iCloud and now this new irresistible offer from Box.net.

This is what you will have to do to get the free 50 GB’s and the new upload size limit.

This promotion only runs for 50 days
Visit the app store and download the Box app for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
Log in to your existing account or register for a new one directly from the app.

And voila! You are done.

Here’s a proof of it working. The image you see below is a screenshot from my iPod touch. I simply had to login using my existing Box.net account and was greeted with the following message without any nuisance:

It should also be noted that the box.net iPhone app is pretty sleek as well.

UPDATE: Since the publishing of this post I have realised that desktop syncing is not available for free accounts and to be able to use a Box.net desktop client the user will have to upgrade to the Business Plan which costs $15/user/month.